DARK SHADOWS (2012, directed by Tim Burton, 113 minutes, U.S.) BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC Eyebrows were raised when it was announced that Johnny Depp would be fulfilling a life-long dream by portraying Barnabas Collins in a film version of the late 60’s soap opera Dark Shadows directed by his longtime collaborator Tim Burton. The hypnotically-turgid Gothic soap opera is loaded with nostalgic appeal to baby boomers, who were a little aghast when the trailer arrived and revealed that Burton and Depp had turned the drama into an Addams Family-style comedy. Resigned to the fact the source of my […]
SH*T MY UNCLE SAYS: The Invisible Wars
BY WILLIAM C. HENRY The recent White House Correspondents “Laugh-In” reminded me of one past when Obama quipped about how young men with designs on Sasha or Malia could be met with Predator drones, and another when “dubya” pretended to search under and around the dais for WMDs. To me it was almost surreal (and, yeah, I’ll be criticized for this) conjuring up a picture of Adolf purportedly dancing a jig upon learning that France had been brought to its knees. So cute, and oh so unfitting. All three acts were so dispassionate and detached from the reality of […]
CONCERT REVIEW: Santigold @ The Troc
[Photo by Pete Troshak] On Tuesday night at the Trocadero, Philly born singer Santigold proved that you can go home again, kicking off her tour with a triumphant show in front of a raucous hometown crowd. She might reside in New York now, but her heart and soul is pure Philadelphia.The tour is in support of her strong second album, Master of My Make-Believe, Santigold’s first album in four years. Her music is a stew of different elements; punk rock, reggae, dance, dub, pop and rap elements swirl through her work, sometimes all in one song. Santigold and her band […]
SPIRITUALIZED: Hey Jane
SPIRITUALIZED PERFORMS AT THE TLA TOMORROW NIGHT
THIS JUST IN: Dead Sea Scrolls Still Dead
Robert Silvers, “Christ II,” an image of Christ composed of images of the Dead Sea Scrolls. NEWSWORKS: The Dead Sea Scrolls are now in Philadelphia. The ancient texts, written in Hebrew on parchment and stored in clay jars for two millennia, reveal much about the origins of Judaism. In the traveling show opening Saturday at the Franklin Institute, “Dead Sea Scrolls: Life and Faith in Ancient Times,” the scrolls are the last things visitors see. It begins with large, high-definition projections of lapping waves at the Dead Sea. “In the dry caves at the lowest point on Earth, that scroll […]
ACLU VS. THE PRIVATE PRISON INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX: Because Locking Up The Underclass In Cages For Fun And Profit Is Immoral And Obscene
NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union today challenged the chief executive officer of the nation’s largest private prison company to a public debate on the merits of prison privatization. The challenge, timed with Correction Corporation of America’s annual shareholders meeting today in Nashville, Tenn., comes after CCA has repeatedly criticized the views of the ACLU regarding for-profit incarceration. “We would welcome the opportunity to defend our views on for-profit incarceration in a public debate – one that also gives you a full and fair opportunity to express your views,” reads the ACLU’s letter, delivered today to CCA’s CEO […]
THE HIVES: Go Right Ahead
The Hives play the Electric Factory on June 20th.
WORTH REPEATING: Bissinger Agonistes
PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY: In the last 10 years, Bissinger had been seeing Zach, who lives with his mother in New Jersey, mostly on weekends. Enough of the weekend routine, he thought. They needed to bond. He needed to get as close to crawling inside Zach’s brain as possible. They needed, he decided, a great American road trip. “I love being on the road,” says Bissinger. “You’re in a car driving through New Mexico and Arizona, you’re spending a lot of time talking to each other whether you like it or not.” In July 2007, they set out on what Bissinger admitted […]
MILESTONE: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Turns 10
BY JONATHAN VALANIA so much depends upon a red wheel barrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens. That was written by William Carlos Williams, an American poet. Best I can tell, he was talking about the significance of insignificance, that little things truly do mean a lot—like if you could surf the past in a time machine and you did something as small as, say, kicking a stone in the Stone Age, it could send a ripple through the entire fabric of history. Everything after could be slightly different. You might even erase yourself from existence. I bring […]
SHOCKER: PPA To Stop Being Pricks Every Wed.
PPA: PPA offers FREE meter parking in Center City after 5pm on Wednesday evenings, except for rush-hour zones, which are free after 6:30 pm. The boundaries are from the Delaware River to the Schuylkill River and from Bainbridge St. to Spring Garden St. Rush-hour streets are between Market and Chestnut, even numbered streets in the morning are rush-hour, (2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th, etc.) and odd numbered in the evening, (3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, etc.) Metered parking is FREE for Old City’s First Friday (event happens on the first Friday of every month) after 5:00 p.m. between Callowhill and Walnut […]
DR. JOHN: Revolution
ALL MUSIC GUIDE: In the late ’50s, Mac Rebennack gained prominence in the New Orleans R&B scene as a session keyboardist and guitarist, contributing to records by Professor Longhair, Frankie Ford, and Joe Tex. He also recorded some overlooked singles of his own, and by the ’60s had expanded into production and arranging. After a gun accident damaged his hand in the early ’60s, he gave up the guitar to concentrate on keyboards exclusively. Skirting trouble with the law and drugs, he left the increasingly unwelcome environs of New Orleans in the mid-’60s for Los Angeles, where he found session […]
NORTH CAROLINA TO GAY PEOPLE: F*ck You!
CNN: “Despite the relentless lawsuits and attempts to marginalize supporters of traditional marriage, a clear majority of the American people have not given up on standing in support of marriage,” said Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council. “But instead, the evidence suggests they want to see it strengthened and preserved for future generations.” Vote for Marriage NC, which supported the amendment, said its passage ensures that the state — not a judge — will define what marriage is in the future. “We are not anti-gay, we are pro-marriage,” said Tami Fitzgerald, chairwoman of the group. “And the point — […]
RIP: Author/Illustrator Maurice Sendak, Chronicler Of The Dark Side Of Childhood’s Moon, Dead At 83
PHAWKER: Where The Wild Things Are creator Maurice Sendak is, in many ways, the dark side Doppelganger of Dr. Seuss and taken together they represent the twin titans of 20th Century children’s literature. If Dr. Seuss’ work vibes like a drug-free acid trip for children aged 8 to 80, then Sendak’s oeuvre is, to extend the metaphor, like Vicodin for the soul, numbing tender-aged psyches from the pain of growing up in a desultory world of de-saturated colors and unrelieved melancholia where adults do monstrous things to each other, and sometimes to children, too. There were two formative experiences […]