(2006, directed by Andrew Bujalski, 110 minutes, U.S.) BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC Andrew Bujalski’s 2002 debut Funny Ha-Ha was such a dead-on portrait of confused urban twenty-somethings that I was curious to catch his well-reviewed follow-up, Mutual Appreciation in the theater. Would a young audience find this devastatingly unvarnished study of dumb-struck hipsters funny, or would the humbling awkwardness of the main characters hit too close to laugh along with? Alas, I still don’t know; when I caught the film during its brief run at the Ritz in Center City, there were only three other attendees, all of them […]
BOOK REVIEW: Blonde On Blonde
The Blonde by Duane Swierczynski (St. Martin’s Minotaur. $23.95) BY MAVIS LINNEMANN From the opening line of Duane Swierczynski’s crime novel, The Blonde, you know you’re in for a wild ride. “I poisoned your drink,” says the titular blonde to Jack Eisley, a print journalist in Philadelphia to sign his divorce papers. Kelly White — The Blonde in question — has been infected with a deadly new technology, nanomachines, which have been designed to make privacy virtually obsolete. If there isn’t someone within 10 feet of Kelly at all times, she will die. Even more unnerving is that these nanomachines […]
THE B-52s: Private Idaho
On the ground like a wild potato. Don’t go off the patio…
OBAMA: The Man Comes Around, Wallets Open Sesame
The [fundraising] event was closed to reporters, an edict efficiently enforced by the senator’s staff. “I don’t want to put the folks raising money on the spot,” Obama said on his way into a ballroom at the Sheraton City Center Hotel, adding that he likes frank question-and-answer sessions with donors. “It gives people a chance to look under the hood and kick the tires,” he said. The dinner was Obama’s first big money event outside his hometown of Chicago since he announced his candidacy Saturday at the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Ill., the site of Abraham Lincoln’s famous “House […]
GUNCRAZY: Two Dead Since You Went To Bed
Jamal Richardson, 18, of the 1800 S. 30th St., was shot once in the chest in the 2600 block of Dickinson Street in South Philadelphia. He was still alive when found shortly before 5 p.m, but was pronounced dead less than a half-hour later at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. No arrests have been made, and police are still trying to determine a motive. Wesley Powaserys, 52, of the 2900 block of Livingston is the man found dead yesterday in a car in Kensington, the victim of an apparent robbery, police said. He had been shot in the […]
WEATHER: The Day After Tomorrow?
Hundreds of motorists were stranded overnight — when temperatures dipped to the low teens — and into yesterday afternoon on a 50-mile hilly stretch of I-78 west of Allentown. State officials, under mounting criticism over their handling of the storm, said an unusual combination of snow, ice and immovable vehicles left road crews unable to keep up. The storm dumped seven inches of snow on I-78, followed by a three-inch crust of ice. Gov. Rendell declared a state of emergency yesterday afternoon, directing all agencies to use full resources to cope with the storm. Late Wednesday, National Guardsmen deployed in […]
COMING ATTRACTION: Mr. & Mrs. au Naturale
On Friday, look for Phawker’s exclusive interview with the R. Crumb and Aline Kominsky-Crumb: Big butts, bigger boots, LSD, weird sex, piggyback rides, meeting the Beatles, leaving America, and growing up in Philadelphia…newly hired PHAWKER BOOK CRITIC Mavis Linneman‘s review of City Paper Editor Duane Swierczynski‘s The Blonde…FILM CRITIC DAN BUSKIRK‘s review of the hilarious hipster comedy of manners that is Mutual Appreciation. Plus, the new ARCADE FIRE on PHAWKER RADIO, NPR FOR THE DEAF, PhillyHistory Write-A-Caption contest, and, invariably, some wry riposte on the latest and seemingly regularly-scheduled snuffing of a human life by a gun. Damn.
Cover Wars: Whose Artfag Kung-Fu Is Stronger?
Here’s to the motivational power of Tough Love. After giving both alt-weeklies talk-to-the-hand last week, both have come back strong — as Mike Newall would say. (Whatever happened to that guy, anyway?) CP rocks yet another distinctive illustration by Evan M. Lopez to illustrate it Sarah Weinman‘s Where’s Waldo?-esque cover story on a nameless Philly boy missing for 50 years — complete with retro cherry top, spot-color blood stains and case-solving arrow (he was behind the cop the whole time, in the trees, right below the arrow!). Good stuff, CP, however, PW really upped their game this week. With a […]
FAIR WARNING: DANGER, DANGER!
[Click on image to activate]
THE VELVET WELK: Sister Ray
Whip it on me, Jim. Whip it on me, Jim.
REVIEW: FACTORY GIRL
(2007, dir. by George Hickenlooper 90 minutes, U.S.) BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC When you’re sent to review a film, you must have the patience of a priest and the endurance of a superhero, and refuse to pass judgment until the final credits finish rolling, no matter how badly your Spidey senses are tingling. Sad to say, it only took a few minutes of Factory Girl to sorely test my priestly patience. Director George Hickenlooper’s game plan — take this radical culture star and shoe-horn her life into the staid biopic formula — was apparent right out of the gate. […]
Hizzoner ’07: Milton Street In It To Win It, If Acquitted
Milton Street just held an impromptu press conference in City Hall to announce that he’s running for mayor in the Democratic primary. As for the pesky matter of his recent federal indictment for tax fraud? He said he didn’t know why that would be an issue, since, in his words, he hasn’t done anything wrong. He pointed out that he hasn’t been convicted of anything. Reporters also asked him about the residency requirement to run for mayor. Street seems to live in New Jersey — that’s where reporters tracked him down on the day of that indictment. He didn’t directly […]
JUNK SCIENCE: Like Schindler’s List, The Spice Is Life
BY ELIZABETH FIEND India is an ancient land of exotic foods flavored with sizzling spices, blended in sophisticated, aromatic, mouth- watering ways. Dishes are seasoned with a dazzling array of herbs and spices, ones we rarely cook with like fenugreek, asafetida, black mustard seed, mint, cardamom and rose petal essence. Complex, heady mixes like Tandoori spice are heady with ginger, nutmeg, coriander, cumin, paprika, black pepper, salt, cloves, cinnamon and turmeric, each blend particular to each cook, the recipes passed on down the generations. Compare the intricacy of Tandoori spice to our “special sauce” — a mix of mayo and […]