Dec 12-18, 2012

Dec 12-18, 2012 / Vol. 26 / No. 42

Cover Story

Artist Randy Shull fills the American void

“This work’s not intended to be political yet the very outline of the shape we know as the USA takes on a stance that resonates beyond the visual. It resonates in the arena of power, history, geography, economics and politics …” That’s what Randy Shull writes in his artist’s statement about his new exhibit, Channeling…

Scott Lucas

Dick Tracy, Les Miserables, Ted among new home entertainment titles

(View From The Couch is a weekly column that reviews what’s new on Blu-ray and DVD.) THE BOURNE LEGACY (2012). No Matt Damon? No problem! With the actor having ably tackled the role of Jason Bourne in the trio of films based on Robert Ludlum’s best-selling Bourne trilogy — and with attempts at bringing Damon…

Matt Brunson

Lewis family launches Twelve In Twelve

Even at 8, Buck Lewis knows how to work a crowd. Dressed in a blue T-shirt with the Twelve In Twelve Foundation logo, he makes his way around a conference room at the Dunhill Hotel with an iPad, asking people to donate. Many swiped their credit cards in the attached reader. He even tugs on…

Joanne Spataro

Review: J.R. Moehringer’s Sutton

When the infamous criminal Willie Sutton was asked why he robbed banks, he answered, “That’s where the money is.” Except, as Sutton himself later proclaimed in a memoir, he never said it. Instead, what is now known as “Sutton’s Law” was, in fact, the work of a creative journalist. Sutton and a creative journalist meet…

Erik Spanberg

Give ’em food!: Last-minute gift guide

Finding the Sweet SpotThe Secret Chocolatier in Cotswold is as charming and whimsical as the opening scene in the 2000 movie Chocolat. Rows of perfectly poised truffles tantalize the eye, while flavors range from haute to homey. The base ganache is either milk or dark, and infusions are seasonal. For the holidays, tins as well…

Tricia Childress

Bizarre crimes from Charlotte police files (Dec. 13)

The Fighter: An officer at Ashley Park filed a report last week after having a run-in with a kid who was either too stubborn or too stupid to make a good decision. The officer said that he received an email from a teacher stating that someone had broken into her office and stolen an iPod,…

Ryan Pitkin

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: Frame of reference

THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY *** DIRECTED BY Peter Jackson STARS Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman When 20th Century Fox debuted the revolutionary widescreen process CinemaScope with 1953’s The Robe — thereby allowing the medium to successfully distinguish itself from new-kid-on-the-block television and its boxy images — the critic for the New York Daily News responded…

Matt Brunson

An uncommon market

“I took her to a supermarket / I don’t know why, but I had to start it somewhere, so it started there…” — “Common People,” Pulp Outside, guys with skateboards convene around graffitied benches, laughing and bobbing their heads to tunes made fresh from the DJ booth. Inside, banker types swirl snifters of IPAs and…

Lynn Farris

The prodigal king Royal-Tee returns

Royal-Tee has always gone against the grain. “When I was younger, I had a fear of not being understood,” the Charlotte rapper says. “Everybody else had Jordans and I was rocking New Balances, and I felt like, ‘Why are they staring at me?’ But that’s what I liked.” The 30-year-old artist has charted his own…

Emiene Wright

Mount Moriah is burning down the house

The cover of Mount Moriah’s second album shows a dilapidated farmhouse wholly consumed by vivid orange flames that scar an otherwise barren landscape. The album is called Miracle Temple, named for a church near the Durham home of singer Heather McEntire. The religious implications heighten the emotional impact, keying on the violent conflicts that are…

Jordan Lawrence

Weekly horoscope (Dec. 13-19)

Sagittarius The Archer (Nov. 22-Dec. 20)Mercury travels rapidly through your sign between Dec. 10 and the end of the year. During this period there likely will be greater emphasis on communications, errands, and other short distance travels. Your mind will be quick and your attitude persuasive. You are loaded with ideas, so remember not to…

Vivian Carol

This week’s concert listings (Dec. 13-19)

** Bullet points indicate CL’s critics’ picks** Thursday, Dec. 13 Blues/Roots/International Bart Walker Band (Double Door Inn) Latin Thursdays (Dream Nightclub) Salsa, Cumbia, Norteno, Banda music w/ DJ (Las Rositas) Shana Blake Band (Tyber Creek Pub) Classical/Jazz/Smooth Beats and Keys (Encore Bistro and Bar) John Alexander (Blue Restaurant & Bar) Country/Folk Open Mic w/ Brett…

A Christmas list for local big shots

It’s the most wonderful and most awful time of the year. A time for gift-giving, celebrating with friends and peace — if you can avoid the season’s unhinged commercialism, parking nightmares and stress. Love it, hate it — or do both simultaneously — ’tis still a time for well-wishing. While you’re thinking of friends and…

John Grooms

Blumenthal becomes a Nutcracker suite

For families entering the BofA Tower via the overpasses from the nearby parking garages, navigating to the North Carolina Dance Theatre’s annual production of The Nutcracker could be a little confusing last weekend — particularly if you were a newcomer last Saturday night and your overpass took you across College Street. A posh wedding downstairs…

Perry Tannenbaum

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