TRUE GRIT (2010 directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, 110 minutes, U.S.) BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC Every director who is in love with the history of movie making seems to have a desire to mount a classic Western, so it is more than a little surprising that it took the Coen Brothers twenty-six years and fifteen features to get around to it. With the cast and talent assembled, True Grit seemed like one of the few sure bets of the holiday season, and sure enough, it is a finely-detailed, confidently-plotted piece of old-fashioned entertainment. Part of the reason True […]
THE PEACE CORPS DIARIES: Astronomy Domine
BY SAINT JOHN BARNED-SMITH I’m not quite sure when Christian, 27, first invited me to go on a pilgrimage. But, in the spirit of “Why not,” — in which I’ve also learned how to help cows give birth, eat raccoon, and kill pigs — I agreed. I assumed we would go to the shrine of the Virgin of Caacupe, the main site of pilgrimages in Paraguay. But the shrine of Itape, located about 40km east of Potrero Pucu, is closer, and (more importantly) walkable. The night we left, I packed a couple of soggy empanadas my host mom had cooked […]
SEASONS GREETINGS: Happy Holidays!
Look for our Year In Review next week!
PAPERBOY: Slow-Jamming The Alt-Weeklies
BY DAVE ALLEN Like time, news waits for no man. Keeping up with the funny papers has always been an all-day job, even in the pre-Internets era. These days, however, it’s a two-man job. That’s right, these days you need someone to do your reading for you, or risk falling hopelessly behind and, as a result, increasing your chances of dying lonely and somewhat bitter. That’s why every week PAPERBOY does your alt-weekly reading for you. We pore over those time-consuming cover stories and give you the takeaway, suss out the cover art, warn you off the ink-wasters and steer […]
WORTH REPEATING: A Christmas Carol
BY CHARLES DICKENS Chapter 1 – Marley’s Ghost Marley was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it. And Scrooge’s name was good upon ‘Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.Mind! I don’t mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece […]
WORTH REPEATING: It’s A Wonderful Life
It’s a Wonderful Life Final Script Opening sequence/George saves Harry FADE IN –– NIGHT SEQUENCE Series of shots of various streets and buildings in the town of Bedford Falls, somewhere in New York State. The streets are deserted, and snow is falling. It is Christmas Eve. Over the above scenes we hear voices praying: GOWER’S VOICE: I owe everything to George Bailey. Help him, dear Father. MARTINI’S VOICE: Joseph, Jesus and Mary. Help my friend Mr. Bailey. MRS. BAILEY’S VOICE: Help my son George tonight. BERT’S VOICE: He never thinks about himself, God; that’s why he’s in trouble. ERNIE’S VOICE: […]
OFFICIAL: We Got A Serial Killer On The Loose
UPDATE: DNA evidence has linked the death of Casey Mahoney, whose body was found last week, to two earlier homicides at the hands of the so-called Kensington strangler. With the third confirmed victim, police say the suspect now fits the classification of a serial killer. MORE RELATED: Philadelphia authorities offered rewards totaling $37,000 on Tuesday for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the “Kensington Strangler” who raped and murdered at least two women since early November.”We are serious about getting this psycho off the streets of Philadelphia,” said Mayor Michael Nutter at a street-corner news conference in the […]
WORTH REPEATING: Yes We Can’t
TIMOTHY KARR: Internet users deserve far better, and we thought we were going to get it from a president who promised to “take a backseat to no one in my commitment to Net Neutrality.” Watch now as he and his FCC chairman try to spin tomorrow’s betrayal as another “mission accomplished.” Don’t believe it. This bogus victory has become all too familiar to those watching the Obama administration and its appointees squander opportunities for real change. The reality is that reform is just a rhetorical front for industry compromises that reward the biggest players and K-Street lobbyists while giving the […]
LIFE LESSIONS: With Your Life Coach, AP Ticker
Miss your auto inspection deadline? No problem, AP Ticker has the 411 on how to avoid getting hassled by The Man.
INCOMING: New Danielson Album Due In Feb.
The first Danielson album in five years, The Best Of Gloucester County, comes out February 22nd and features cameos from Sufjan Stevens, Jens Lenkman and Phawker alum Patrick Berkery on drums and percussion. RICK MOODY: Danielson has, during the five years, let go (reluctantly, perhaps) of some family collaborators—namely his brothers Andrew and David, the percussionists, and childhood friends Chris and Ted, on keys and bass/guitar respectively. While sisters Megan and Rachel and Daniel’s wife Elin, the essential chorus for many a Danielson Famile song, still appear, the bulk of Best of Gloucester County revolves around a completely new “team,” […]
THE COENS’ TRUE GRIT: Punch, Drunk, Love
DAVID EDESTEIN: The Coens’ True Grit isn’t as momentous an event as you might hope, but once you adjust to its deliberate rhythms (it starts slowly), it’s a charming, deadpan Western comedy. It’s true that “charming” is an odd description for a picture with so much death and ghoulish imagery. But the Coens rarely get worked up about such things. Their gaze is steady, serene. Roger Deakins’s cinematography is beautifully deep-toned and austere; the compositions are clean even when the settings and characters are muddy. Hathaway shot the same old Arizona–New Mexico buttes we know from other John Wayne movies, […]
PINK MOON: The Winter Solstice Is Upon Us
RELATED: A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth casts its shadow on the full moon, blocking the sun’s rays that otherwise reflect off the moon’s surface. Some indirect sunlight still pierces through to give the moon its eerie hue. The 3 1/2 hour celestial spectacle was visible from North and Central America where skies were clear. Portions of Europe and Asia only caught part of the show. The totality phase – when the moon was completely immersed in Earth’s shadow – lasted 72 minutes. Since the year’s only total lunar eclipse coincided with winter solstice, the moon glowed high […]
TONITE: Everything Is Fine
Film: Crispin Hellion Glover with It Is Fine! Everything Is Fine! dir. Crispin Glover, US, 2007, 35mm, 74 mins, color Co-presented by R5 Productions + Joseph A Gervasi Crispin Hellion Glover is an American film actor, director and screenwriter, recording artist, publisher and author. He is well know from such films as Back to the Future, River’s Edge, Charlie’s Angels, Willard, and this year’s Hot Tub Time Machine and Alice in Wonderland. Mr Glover performs his “Big Slide Show Part 1?, a one hour dramatic narration of eight different profusely illustrated books. Following the performance, Mr Glover screens his 35mm […]