Arts
Archived Stories
Big, Furry and More Than A Little Bit Sad
October 23rd, 2009We all grow tired of our realities — the weight of peoples’ expectations, the feeling of needing to provoke others into reciprocating our love. Amidst all of this, who wouldn’t want to, say, sail off to run through the woods in their PJs and sleep in a gigantic pile of down-covered limbs and furry backsides? Spike Jonze (Adaptation, Being John Malkovich) once again does just what he wants in his film adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are, one of the most beloved bedside stories of all time; he executes a minimum of editing in his fantastical vision and preserves his stylistic edge. Meanwhile, he reminds us how the playgrounds of our creativity can help us to recognize flaws in the ways we treat other people as well as remind us that, at the end of the day, we’re all only human. Whether it is between king and subject, monster and kin or mother and child, love is beautifully imperfect. Read More
Gerard Butler Rages in 'Law Abiding Citizen'
October 23rd, 2009Law Abiding Citizen is a whirlwind of premeditated madness. Saw, Fracture and Seven seemingly team up for a mind-blowing (literally) series of sadistic murders coordinated flawlessly by the brilliantly conniving Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler). Read More
Girl Power: Kitschy and Loving It
October 23rd, 2009“Girl power” movies occupy a tenuous space between the comfortable niche reserved for genre and cult status films, as feminist pieces, and on the other side, self-parody, all yap and no bite. Films with the best of intentions can accidentally swing both ways. Let’s rephrase that … Read More
Indie Rock That Will Make You Rock
October 23rd, 2009I hope that all you indie faithfuls out there were mad excited for St. Vincent yesterday!!! ’Cuz I know I was on Wednesday, as I wrote this — I hope I was not disappointed (woah, this is like talking to a past version of myself). Were you there or were you square?? (And we all know there’s nothing worse than being square. I prefer a trapezoidal form myself). Read More
Texan Love
October 22nd, 2009Going to see a play at the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts is a way to escape the doldrums of life — each and every performance has its own energy. The latest at the Schwartz, Nice People Dancing to Good Country Music is no different. The play, penned by acclaimed playwright Lee Blessing and directed by Schwartz Center Artistic Director David Feldshuh, is a unique and hilarious comedy about ordinary people living ordinary lives in Houston, Texas, set at a bar called Nice People Dancing to Good Country Music. Read More
Test Spin: Cartel
October 22nd, 2009MTV has unleashed many horrors upon the world: all the variations and spin-offs of The Hills, casts of the Real World that are actually pretty fake and immature brats on My Super Sweet 16. One of the only good things to come out of the network was the band Cartel, whose previous album was produced in Band in a Bubble. Once merely remembrance of the emo-pop phase, Cartel has returned with a new album, Cycles, with the desire to remain relevant. Read More
Test Spin: Nellie McKay
October 22nd, 2009Don’t worry. Normal as Blueberry Pie – A Tribute to Doris Day is a reference to a line from “Wonderful Guy,” and an ironic acknowledgment of the fact Nellie McKay is about as kooky as they come. Thank goodness. Read More
Balloon Boy, Regretsy and the D-List
October 22nd, 2009It’s a busy time of year, so I’ve turned to all sorts of crap to distract me. (The year is not busy enough for you yet? Oh, aren’t you just the luckiest duckling!) Actually, my “snark attack” on your lack of work is quite apropos to this week’s theme, sort of. Read More
From Printed Words to Paintings on the Wall
October 21st, 2009The New York City art culture was alive at Cornell University on Tuesday night. New Works on Paper is an art exhibit of Mollie Miller ’10 and Sarah Carpenter ’10, students in the College of Art, Architecture and Planning (Carpenter writes for The Sun). The exhibit opened Tuesday night and will remain so until this Friday at the Olive Tjaden Gallery. Read More
Miss Behaving: Putting the ‘Low’ in Halloween
October 21st, 2009As the leaves change color here in Manhattan and the winter coats emerge from storage, so do the ghostly costumes and memories from Hallows Eves past. Stashed away like contraband in the deep recesses of my storage boxes, the crinkled clumps of polyester and lace haunt me with past decisions to dress each October as sexualized versions of mice, ladybugs and various felines. Yet, as I regretfully admit to my annual patronage of sexy costume sites (try convincing your parents that the credit card statement of a $70 “smutty purchase” on 3wishes.com was for midterm study guides …), I find myself on the continuous mission to capitalize on the one holiday that allows a scantily clad self to prance the streets without judgment. Read More