Tom Stoppard is sometimes unfairly regarded as a playwright where ideas trump character, but in fact he has a rare ability to create characters who express themselves through the ideas they espouse. From his first success, Rosencrantz and Guilderstern are Dead, to his recent three-play epic of 19th century politics, The Coast of Utopia, he’s […]
Jay Aubrey-Herzog
Posted inNews
Escape From Arcata
Artist Dennis Handy looks at home at his perch behind the desk in his converted Arcata studio/gallery, and his stocky frame, gray beard and casual manner would seem to mark him as a natural fit for the town. Paintings and vintage ?’60s concert posters cover some of walls, and his large white Norwegian forest cat, […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Welcome Back Hellboy
With Emily Hobelmann Previews DARK KNIGHT.Batman returns to destroy organized crime in Gotham for good. Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and some menace. 152 m. At the Broadway, Mill Creek, the Minor and Fortuna. MAMMA MIA!Film adaptation of musical uses the music of ’70s supergroup ABBA to tell the story of a bride-to-be […]
Posted inMusic
Helvetica
Directed by Gary Hustwit Plexifilm A documentary where a bunch of graphic designers sit around giving their thoughts on the merits and deficiencies of a typeface would seem to be a sure recipe for boredom, but Gary Hustwit’s film takes this potentially dry subject and fills it with life and argument. Hustwit, who has a […]
Posted inMusic
Knockemstiff
Book by Donald Ray Pollock. Doubleday. Donald Ray Pollock’s debut collection of stories has some obvious antecedents: the trailer park realism of Raymond Carver and the comic Faulkner of the Snopes cycle, maybe even the drug-soaked prose of Denis Johnson in Jesus’ Son. Pollock has his own strong voice, though, writing intense stories that are […]
Posted inMusic
The Education of Hopey Glass
Graphic novel by Jaime Hernandez. Fantagraphics. It’s a commonplace claim that comic books (pardon me, Graphic Novels) are now literature. Jaime Hernandez’s latest graphic novel is typically engrossing, and may very well be literature, but it’s also a lot more fun to read than most "real" novels. The Education of Hopey Glass is as character-driven […]
Posted inMusic
Kimya Dawson
April 28 house concert in Arcata. House shows often make a virtue out of necessity, providing a place for touring bands that sometimes can’t find another venue, and providing a more intimate musical experience. The erasure of the segregation between audience and performer is a central tenet of the punk DIY ethic as well. So […]
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Survival of the Fittest
Opening REDBELT. Jiu-jitsu master breaks his avoidance of prize fighting and steps into the ring when he must overcome a financial crisis. Rated R. 99 m. At the Broadway. SPEED RACER. Full-length live action film adaptation of classic Japanese anime series. Rated PG. 135 m. At the Broadway, Mill Creek and Fortuna. WHAT HAPPENS IN […]
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Smart People, Dumb Movie
EXPELLED, NO INTELLIGENCE ALLOWED.Documentary on academic professionals blacklisted for their theories disagreeing with Darwinism. Rated PG. 97 m. At the Broadway. IRON MAN.Action/adventure flick based on Marvel’s iconic, comic book super hero. Rated PG-13. 126 m. At the Broadway, Mill Creek, the Minor and Fortuna. MADE OF HONOR.Man realizes his love for his best friend […]
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‘Sarah Marshall’: Forgotten
Opening BABY MAMA.Infertile business woman hires working-class woman as unlikely surrogate. Rated PG-13. 99 m. At the Broadway and Mill Creek. CJ7.Poor father goes to junkyard for kids’ clothes and brings home CJ7, a "pet" orb with mysterious powers. In Cantonese w/English subtitles. Rated PG. 86 m. At the Minor. DECEPTION.Business man meets womanizing lawyer […]
Posted inMusic
The Ten Cent Plague: The Great Comic Book Scare and How It Changed America
Book by David Hajdu. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. As the medium of comics has gained mainstream respect in recent years, several books have looked back on the unruly, disreputable origins of the art form. The most recent of these is David Hajdu’s chronicle of the early days of the comic book, its rise to mass […]
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War and High Society
Opening 88 MINUTES.College prof moonlighting as FBI agent receives death threat stating he’s got only 88 minutes to live. Rated R. 107 m. At the Broadway. FORBIDDEN KINGDOM.American teen is transported back in kung fu time when he finds weapon of ancient warrior in pawn shop. Rated PG-13. 113 m. At the Broadway, Mill Creek […]