Cover Story
St. Vincent redefines the visual elements within a concert performance
Perched atop a speaker on stage at October’s ACL Music Festival in Texas, Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent, throws her head back and casually runs two fingers across her elongated neck before she steps down and stalks the stage. With lavender-tinged, gun-metal gray hair and wearing a black dress with billowing gold fabric on the…
The Hobbit: Battle of Five Armies: That’s a wrap
THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES***DIRECTED BY Peter JacksonSTARS Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage As a fellow film fan recently confided, going to see The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies feels more like fulfilling a mandatory commitment than attending a must-see movie event. It’s an understandable sentiment that’s been echoed by many,…
Opening This Week
Here’s what’s new in theaters this week.
Pop up! Light Factory’s Moment Mile project on view at Mint Museum Uptown
Moment Mile project to showcase in pop-up gallery at Mint Museum.
Magic in the Moonlight, The Skeleton Twins, Tales from the Crypt among new home entertainment titles
(View From The Couch is a weekly column that reviews what’s new on Blu-ray and DVD. Ratings are on a four-star scale.) AND SO IT GOES (2014). Are there any replacement shows needed on the ABC prime-time schedule? Because here’s a doozy of a concept, just perfect for the boob tube: A cranky senior citizen…
How to tell if she’s just not that into you
It occurred to me that I’ve witnessed someone be a victim of mixed signals almost every single night I’m partying.
First Drip (12/16/14): Bank of America fails tests, Taliban attacks school
The news you need to know.
Today’s Top 5: Tuesday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
Live review: The Black Keys, Time Warner Cable Arena (12/12/2014)
St. Vincent opens at Charlotte stop of the Turn Blue tour.
Charlotte’s first edible walkway is planted
Thanks to the efforts of Wilmore resident/Crown Town Compost co-founder Kris Steele.
Charlotte Talks about film
Local film critics discuss the year-end movies.
Live review: Circa Survive, Amos’ Southend (12/12/2014)
Band thrills packed Charlotte venue with hard-rocking set.
Today’s Top 5: Monday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
First Drip (12/15/14): Hornets can’t breathe, Uber hikes rates in crisis
The news you need to know.
Today’s Top 5: Sunday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
Today’s Top 5: Saturday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
Cheap list: All Arts Market, Chocolate Buffet, NoDa Krampus Krawl, more
A list of cheap things to do in the Q.C. this weekend.
Top Five points regarding Top Five
TOP FIVE**1/2DIRECTED BY Chris RockSTARS Chris Rock, Rosario Dawson Top five thoughts that crossed my mind as I watched Top Five, the new film written by, directed by and starring Chris Rock. 1) The careers of Rock and Richard Pryor are similar in that both were brilliant stand-up comedians never quite able to translate that…
Exodus: Gods and Kings: The Wrath of God
EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS*1/2DIRECTED BY Ridley ScottSTARS Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton Edward G. Robinson remains one of the greatest actors the film world has ever known, but that doesn’t mean he was right for every single role he played. Case in point: 1956’s The Ten Commandments, in which he failed to convince in his portrayal…
Today’s Top 5: Friday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
First Drip (12/12/14): Attorney General balks at tax cuts for energy companies, torture questions linger
The news you need to know.
Kerrick makes first court appearance in Ferrell shooting
Members of the news media crowded with cameras, effectively blocking him from the protesters, which angered some in the crowd.
Opening Friday
What’s new in theaters this weekend.
The red flags were flying bright on this, uh, needy guy
A week of constant phone calls and text messages after one brief meeting does not a suitable lover make.
Today’s Top 5: Thursday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
The Yolk re-opens in Rock Hill
This ain’t your grandmother’s brunch.
Bizarre crime from Charlotte police files (Dec. 11)
Keep the Change: A vigilant shopper at an east Charlotte Food Lion spotted a rolled-up dollar bill on the floor near one of the registers. Said shopper picked up the bill and unrolled it, only to discover marijuana wrapped up inside of it. He turned the bill in to customer service, who in turn called…
Weekly horoscope (Dec. 11-17)
For All Signs: The power of the Uranus/Pluto square creates a blanket over the next three months. As I have written before, Uranus represents social justice and equality for all. Pluto, because of its association with raw power, represents the corporations, banks, governments, money, and the stock market. Tension between these two principles is rampant…
Body of Proof
I hate being fat. Other people seem to hate the fact that I’m fat, too. Strangers have told me to lose weight as I’ve walked down the street; TV shows and movies crack jokes about women who look like me; and when I make a self-deprecating but lighthearted joke about “my fat ass” not fitting…
Charlotte-based app Foodl.es could help you preserve your family recipes
Charlotte-based tech duo Jill and Torgny Bjers are working to raise money for a new project.
Today’s Top 5: Wednesday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
First Drip (12/10/14): Die-in blocks Trade and Tryon, Report cites CIA’s depraved tactics
The news you need to know.
Where to find rosca de reyes, panettones and other holiday treats
When it comes to the holidays, I am typically willing to do whatever it takes to celebrate the vast culinary heritage of my family. Order obscure ingredients online? Sure. Visit a handful of specialty shops to make one specific dish? No problem. Buy a springerle cookie mold on a Swiss, German-language-only, website, hoping I ordered…
Theater Review: The Great American Trailer Park Christmas Musical
With the invention of Santa, Sears, Macy’s, Wal-Mart, Amazon, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, we can confidently proclaim that the shelf life of Christmas as a religious holiday in America has passed. Indeed, the expiration date — when Christmas in the USA became a commercial package was probably stamped into history decades ago. So why…
ArtPop crowns billboards with local Q.C. talent
Billboards aren’t meant to be too distracting — even as you speed along in or sluggishly sit cursing at rush-hour traffic — but they are meant to catch your attention. In its second year, the ArtPop program has finalized the next round of local art to don these huge canvases around the Queen City. The…
CD review: Girl Pants’ Gloss; Jupiter
The Office Sessions acted as an interesting post-mortem for Charlotte screamo (read: Hot Cross, not Hawthorne Heights) outfit Oddczar. Oddczar was long finished by the time the quick-hit split single with Greensboro heavies Barrow hit the Internet in August, but it found the quintet bowing out on a high note. “Purple Hearts” was bigger and…
CD review: FKA Twigs’ LP1
R&B this decade has undergone a revision to expand the net of what could be considered rhythm and blues. Thank The Weeknd, Frank Ocean or the spirit of Aaliyah for making R&B cool enough to get descriptors like “experimental” and “forward-thinking,” I guess. FKA Twigs, a former dancer, is a British singer who has been…
North Carolina’s vague cyberstalking law makes it difficult for victims
I’m a domestic violence victim, and I never thought I would be,” says 38-year-old Melanie Johnson as she details her cyberstalking experience to me. “People try to give unsolicited advice all the time — call the police, get a restraining order — like I haven’t tried these things over and over again. It’s just not…
Three questions with The Asbury’s Pastry Chef Jossie Perlmutter
The first time I ran across Jossie Perlmutter’s name was on the menu at Clark Barlowe’s Heirloom restaurant in Coulwood. The slight, diffident young woman who came to our table at the end of our meal was completely at odds with the spectacular dessert plate she bore. Though I no longer remember just what composed…
