Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Film / Film Reviews Newspaper series deals an Ace in the Hole
Posted by Matt Brunson on Wed, Feb 15, 2012 at 10:00 AM
- Paramount
- Kirk Douglas in Ace in the Hole
By Matt Brunson
ACE IN THE HOLE (1951)
***1/2
DIRECTED BY Billy Wilder
STARS Kirk Douglas, Jan Sterling
One year after scandalizing Hollywood with his bilious classic Sunset Boulevard, writer-director Billy Wilder was up to his old tricks with Ace in the Hole, which did to journalism — and to the average American — what his previous picture had done to Tinseltown.
Remarkably topical, the film stars Kirk Douglas as Charles Tatum, a conniving newspaper reporter who ends up at a small New Mexico rag after getting fired from too many big-city publications. Tatum's hoping for that one story which will take him back to the majors, and he stumbles across it when he learns that a local (Richard Benedict) is trapped in a cave. Starting with this small item, Tatum expertly expands it into a nationwide sensation, a "human interest" piece that eventually draws the attention of other media, a sheriff running for reelection, American families who travel from miles away to gawk at the spectacle, and even entertainers of all stripes (admission is charged just to see the cave, and a Ferris wheel is merely one of the many carny activities set up on the site).
Cynical to its core, this powerful film is prescient in the manner in which it mirrors our nation's current fascination with cheap sensationalism and shallow journalistic practices. A box office flop (even when it was re-released under the title The Big Carnival), this earned an Oscar nomination for its script (penned by Wilder, Lesser Samuels and Walter Newman), while Jan Sterling, as the victim's icy wife, snagged the Best Actress prize from the National Board of Review.
(Ace in the Hole will be screened as part of the "Extra! Extra! Celebrating the Newspaper Picture" film series at 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 18, at ImaginOn. Admission is free.)
News / Opinion South Charlotte Catholic church fires music director for getting married
Posted by Mark Kemp on Wed, Feb 15, 2012 at 9:50 AM
OK, so we're admittedly late to this to this story, but it merits further commentary. St. Gabriel Catholic Church in south Charlotte, according to a story in the Charlotte Observer, doesn't appear to be so family friendly.
Here's what Mike Gordon wrote over the weekend:
The last five months have been eventful for Steav Bates-Congdon.First he got married. Then he got fired.
The popular music director at St. Gabriel Catholic Church in south Charlotte lost his job last month for marrying his longtime partner in New York, one of seven states to recognize same-sex marriages.
We could make a snarky comment about what the Catholic church does allow, but that would be hitting below the belt. Not that St. Gabriel isn't already hitting below the belt.
Arts / Today's Top Five Today's Top 5: Wednesday
Posted by Anita Overcash on Wed, Feb 15, 2012 at 9:38 AM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, Feb. 15, 2012 — as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
• Dr. Horribles Sing-Along Blog at The Chop Shop
• Off the Record with Grown Up Avenger Stuff and The Local Traumatic at The Evening Muse
• Live show and TV taping with Johnny Millwater at The Comedy Zone
• Booze and Board Games at The Glass House at Fabo
• Mummies of the World exhibit at Discovery Place
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Arts LOL: Comedy in the Q.C.
Posted by Anita Overcash on Tue, Feb 14, 2012 at 5:50 PM
Listed below is a roundup of CL’s top picks for comedy shows in Charlotte this week. Hopefully, they keep you entertained and, more importantly, laughing out loud.
• Local comedian Johnny Millwater wants you to be apart of his show and Crazy Late Night With Johnny Millwater TV taping. This week’s special guests include Vani Hari aka Food Babe (as seen in CL’s 2012 Lust List here), comedian Lyndel Pleasant and musician Funky Geezer. $5. 8 p.m. The Comedy Zone at NC Music Factory, 900 Seaboard St., Suite B3. 980-321-4702. www.cltcomedyzone.com.
• Brit comedian John Oliver is best known as a correspondent on The Daily Show with John Stewart and frequent on Comedy Central. Don’t miss his funny act, filled with heavy political satire. $24. Fri., Feb. 17-Sat., Feb. 18, 8 p.m. & 10:15 p.m. The Comedy Zone at NC Music Factory, 900 Seaboard St., Suite B3. 980-321-4702. www.cltcomedyzone.com.
• Charlotte Comedy Theater’s R-Rated short form improv show isn’t complete without audience participation. If you're lacking the courage, try slurping on some of the colorful frozen alcoholic bevs that spin behind the bar. $10. 8 p.m. Wet Willies, 900 Seaboard St. 704-716-5650. www.wetwillies.com.
News Jennifer Roberts will run for U.S. House seat vacated by Sue Myrick
Posted by Joanne Spataro on Tue, Feb 14, 2012 at 10:33 AM
- Roberts
“Jennifer has a great message that people need to hear,” Jonker said.
Arts / Today's Top Five Today's Top 5: Tuesday
Posted by Anita Overcash on Tue, Feb 14, 2012 at 10:06 AM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, Feb. 14, 2012 — as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
• They Might Be Giants at McGlohon Theatre
• Taboo Tuesday Open Mic at Crown Station Pub
• Julie Scoggins at The Comedy Zone
• Bill Hanna Jazz Jam at Double Door Inn
• Conjoined Opposites exhibit at Winthrop University
Monday, February 13, 2012
Film / Film Reviews Film Flashback: Ghost Rider
Posted by Matt Brunson on Mon, Feb 13, 2012 at 3:38 PM
By Matt Brunson
This Friday will see the release of Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, with Nicolas Cage reprising his role from 2007's Ghost Rider. Since this sequel isn't being screened in advance for critics, we offer CL's original write-up on its predecessor, which was mauled by reviewers but nevertheless earned $115 million from stateside audiences (although its $110 million budget meant it barely broke even here, with the foreign market once again having to come to the rescue). If this review reminds you exactly how much you disliked the original (after all, it's hard to find anybody who champions it), then for God's sake, do us all a favor and stay away rather than convince the studio of the need for a third GR flick starring Cage.
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Is it possible that before making the big-screen version of Ghost Rider (*1/2 out of four), writer-director Mark Steven Johnson had never even read a Ghost Rider comic book? Yes, I know as well as anyone that faithfulness to the source material is a low priority when it comes to Hollywood, whether adapting Stan Lee or Lee Child. But Johnson, whose version of Daredevil wasn't quite as bad as the press made out, here botches what would have seemed to be a fairly manageable assignment.
The comics' original Johnny Blaze wasn't a joke-a-second character like Peter Parker or The Fantastic Four's Ben Grimm. He was more somber and serious, as one would expect from a biker who sold his soul to the devil (to save the life of a loved one) and then found himself living under a curse that transformed him into a flaming-skull creature whenever in the presence of evil. Of course, when you hire Nicolas Cage to star in your movie, it's safe to assume that camp was what was intended all along.
Cage, whose best film in recent years has been the hilarious Wicker Man re-edit on YouTube (check it out here; it has the power to brighten anyone's week), falls back on the eye-popping, head-rolling overacting that has turned him into this decade's Rod Steiger. Amazingly, though, he doesn't deliver the movie's worst performance; instead, he lands in the show position, right under Eva Mendes as the somnambular love interest and the mesmerizingly awful Wes Bentley as one of the least convincing — and therefore least threatening — villains of recent vintage.
On the plus side, the special effects are pretty cool, and it was inspired to cast Peter Fonda as Mephistopheles (Easy Rider, meet Ghost Rider). Otherwise, this is yet another comic book adaptation that goes up in flames before our very eyes.
News / Democratic National Convention 2012 Democratic National Convention 2012 Notebook: Why Madeleine Albright likes Charlotte
Posted by Mary C. Curtis on Mon, Feb 13, 2012 at 11:50 AM
Albright wore a new pin — a crown representing the Queen City — as she made the rounds to city officials and convention fundraisers, and began planning for convention visits from foreign leaders and diplomats through her National Democratic Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group that promotes democracy. They will be happy to get out of the New York-Washington orbit, she said.
The “very good Democrat” was cheerful about her visit, reminding me she made her entry into national politics raising money for Sen. Edmund Muskie. She said she had been meeting with the Charlotte mayor, Chamber of Commerce and others. Foreign visitors sometimes think of America as Washington and New York, “maybe San Francisco,” she said, adding that they appreciate seeing what’s called the “real America,” maybe dispelling misconceptions about the South in the process.
Charlotte, Albright said, “seems very friendly, which, if you live in Washington, you know is at a premium.”
News LGBT activists confront Charlotte's first openly gay City Council member
Posted by Mark Kemp on Mon, Feb 13, 2012 at 10:35 AM
Mayfield's comment was a reply to an audience member, who asked if the Charlotte City Council was considering a resolution officially opposing the anti-LGBT amendment that North Carolinians will vote on during the May 8 primaries. Other cities, including Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Greensboro, have already passed such resolutions.
Civil rights activist Matt Comer, former editor of Charlotte's LGBT magazine QNotes, wrote about it at his blog, InterstateQ: Destination Equality, on Friday and again today. Here's a snippet:
Anyone with even a single iota of knowledge on how local government works knows that city councils and other local governing bodies (e.g. county commissions, transportation commissions, etc.) take public positions on state and federal matters on a regular basis ... The City of Charlotte is no exception. The council’s Governmental Affairs Committee meets regularly in order to discuss, debate and propose the city’s annual state and federal legislative agenda. They even publish a calendar outlining the timing of their deliberations and subsequent approval by city staff and city council.
Arts / Today's Top Five Today's Top 5: Monday
Posted by Anita Overcash on Mon, Feb 13, 2012 at 8:00 AM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, Feb. 13, 2012 — as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
• AIGI Charlotte's Letterpress Fest at The Chop Shop
• Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School at Roux
• Monday Funday at Dixie's Tavern
• Rules for a Romance Novel Marriage lecture at Matthews Community Center
• Find Your Muse Open Mic at The Evening Muse
