Cover Story
Waiting for the end of the world
The hairs on your arm will stand up,At the terror in each sip and in each sup.Will you partake of that last offered cup,Or disappear into the potter’s ground?— Johnny Cash, 2002 On a chilly November day, I walk through a nondescript wooded area about an hour west of Charlotte. The destination is a secret…
Today’s Top 5: Wednesday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
Blu-ray Pick: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
This Christmas turkey is ready to be carved up by film fans.
Charlotte City Ballet presents seasonal spectacle
If you’d like to think a little bit outside the Nutcracker box this holiday season, head out I-485 to the Matthews Community Center, where Charlotte City Ballet Company presents its annual Holiday Enchantment. The show offers a different take on the Tchaikovsky classic than you’d find at Blumenthal Performing Arts Center. Costumes are familiar enough…
Bizarre crimes from Charlotte police files (Dec. 20)
Lost in Transit: A west Charlotte woman called police last week after her daughter was “misplaced” on a city bus. The mother told officers that her 14-year-old daughter missed the bus to school, so instead of driving the girl to class she told her to catch the city bus that stops on their street. Within…
Christmas Week Film Reviews: Django Unchained; Les Miserables; Jack Reacher; This Is 40; The Guilt Trip
What’s new and covered in theaters.
Django Unchained tosses off shackles of conventional filmmaking
DJANGO UNCHAINED *** DIRECTED BY Quentin Tarantino STARS Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz Exciting. Funny. Gratuitous. Inflammatory. Insensitive. Stylish. Stupid. Sophisticated. Grab just about any adjective out of a hat and chances are it will apply to Django Unchained, writer-director Quentin Tarantino’s messy mashup of the Western and the blaxploitation flick, with other conventions tossed into…
Jennifer Roberts awarded for public service
And, the surprising reason the former 9th District congressional candidate took an interest in Charlotte’s jail
Les Miserables hampered by Crowe’s feat
LES MISERABLES **1/2 DIRECTED BY Tom Hooper STARS Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe Now available for purchase is the CD Les Miserables: Highlights from the Motion Picture Soundtrack, and it’s too bad there’s not a way to provide moviegoers with the option of seeing either the full-length Les Miserables or, like the CD, a similarly edited…
Jack Reacher: Cruise in control
JACK REACHER *** DIRECTED BY Christopher McQuarrie STARS Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike With Tom Cruise whipping off his shirt and flexing his muscles with all the eager-to-please zestiness of Taylor Lautner doing likewise in the Twilight franchise, it’s clear that Jack Reacher is a vanity project of the highest order. But it’s also a movie…
This Is 40 gets old fast
THIS IS 40 *1/2 DIRECTED BY Judd Apatow STARS Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann In writer-director Judd Apatow’s 2007 hit Knocked Up, Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann (aka Mrs. Judd Apatow) owned their roles as Pete and Debbie, the gently squabbling but lovable couple who provided support to the leads played by Seth Rogen and Katherine…
The Guilt Trip: Are we there yet?
THE GUILT TRIP *1/2 DIRECTED BY Anne Fletcher STARS Barbra Streisand, Seth Rogen Even acknowledging the hardship of finding suitable roles for women over 40 in Hollywood, it’s difficult to believe that The Guilt Trip was the best that Barbra Streisand could nab for her first leading role since 1996’s The Mirror Has Two Faces…
Question the Queen City: Who were the Native Americans that lived here before Charlotte was colonized?
The Waxhaw, Cheraw and Catawba once ruled North Carolina and parts of Virginia and South Carolina
More gallery closings in Charlotte
Bad news for the Charlotte arts community: Gil Gallery, operated by Colombia-native and artist Edwin Gil, is closing its doors on Jan. 1, 2013. (Insert sad face here: ☹) In the newsletter announcement, Gil says “My community involvement will remain constant as will my desire to create pieces of art for loyal customers, businesses, nonprofit…
Local gun shop makes national news with huge sales
The Hyatt Gun Shop in Charlotte raked in $1 million just six days after the Newtown massacre
CL’s ‘Five Days of Christmas’: Friday
The grand prize: a new HP Mini from Coretek.
Let Cirque Dreams put you in a Holidaze
Sure, a name is but a name, but does Cirque Dreams sound as sweet as Cirque du Soleil? The renowned Montreal entertainment company tried suing the cadre of “cirque”-branded companies that emerged in the ’90s, but to no avail. Now, we’ve got plenty to choose from, most of which offer similar alt circus-style shows that…
Give the gift of envelopes
Those who remember letter writing as sentimental expression often ask why we don’t write each other any more (and no, e-mails don’t count). That’s exactly what Casey Cromer and Brandon Egiziano are hoping to change with the value of a new “old-school” product they’re calling Old Envelope. Old Envelope, a business that makes envelopes, magnets,…
Today’s Top 5: Friday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
Wherefore art thou, cocktail?
Just where did the word cocktail come from? One legend dates back to the American Revolution, in which an innkeeper served after-dinner drinks to French and American officers passing through for the night. The drinks were said to be garnished with feathers from a neighbor’s chickens. The drinking and celebrating continued into the wee hours,…
The Cranky Critic recommends some big ol’ picture books
Time for the cranky critic with a headache to recommend some Big Ol’ Picture Books, so take ’em or leave ’em. Some call them “coffee table books,” others say “gift books.” As usual during the holidays, bookstores are loaded with the pricey tomes, which you just know has to be a strain on store employees’…
Games for gifts
It’s the most wonderful time of the year … to be a gamer! With the holiday shopping season in full swing, video game developers and production companies are opening the floodgates, crowding shelves with must-have mega-sequels and hot new titles to excite the fanatic hordes of hardcore and casual gamers alike. When it comes to…
“Mami, you forgot to pray for the man with the gun”
How my small son helped me understand what happened in Newtown
Why Ron Rivera should stay
Despite a difficult year, the Panthers shouldn’t replace their head coach.
CL’s ‘Five Days of Christmas’: Thursday
Today’s prize: A $50 giftcard to Reddoor.
Today’s Top 5: Thursday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
Weekly horoscope (Dec. 20-26)
Capricorn The Goat (Dec. 21-Jan. 19)Giving attention to your health is important at this time. You have so many temptations all around that it may feel impossible, but do your utmost best. This week may be overshadowed by so many things you “have to” do, but give yourself plenty of rest and take your vitamins.…
Another season: Winter Wondrettes
Last time we looked in on Roger Bean’s obscure and aging girls group, The Wonderettes, they were singing together for the first time since the Springfield High School prom of 1958. It was now 1968 when they met again at their graduating class’s 10-year reunion, and it made a big difference: copycat girl groups actually…
Apocalypse loud: Pig Mountain
In its two years as a band, Pig Mountain has played through wrecked guitars, collapsed snare stands and snapped bass strings — a sound and stage show that’s downright apocalyptic. While many bands might consider such equipment failures disasters, this Charlotte trio enjoys the chaos — its gristly metal riffs ride serious grooves, like some…
The Sammies return after settling into adulthood
The Sammies were wild-eyed punk rockers — The Strokes with Southern accents, you might say. But that seems like a lifetime ago. After settling into adulthood over the past two years, a new Sammies has emerged, and they’ve been working on a new album in a new city. “It’s not as rowdy as the first…
High time for stricter gun control
I can’t believe I’m having to write about guns again, a mere four months after the slaughter in the movie theater in Colorado. I am writing this three days after a disturbed young man forced his way into an elementary school in Connecticut and riddled the bodies of 20 children and six adults with bullets…
This week’s concert listings (Dec. 20-26)
** Bullet points indicate CL’s critics’ picks** Thursday, Dec. 20 Blues/Roots/International Latin Thursdays (Dream Nightclub, Matthews) Salsa, Cumbia, Norteno, Banda music w/ DJ (Las Rositas) Classical/Jazz/Smooth Beats and Keys (Encore Bistro and Bar)John Alexander (Blue Restaurant & Bar) Country/Folk Open Mic w/ Brett Greer (Tommy’s Pub) DJ/Electronic Cameo Thursdays (Phoenix) Dance Party w/ DJ Glow…
Live review: The Business, Tremont Music Hall (12/18/2012)
The band flawlessly intermingles its songs with plenty of jokes.
NRA gives Watt “F,” Pittenger “A”
How do our local representatives stack up, according to the biggest gun lobby in the country?
CL’s ‘Five Days of Christmas’: Wednesday
Today’s prize is a gift certificate from Orange Olive Hair Gallery.
Today’s Top 5: Wednesday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
What would your last day on Earth look like?
We asked a few prominent Charlotteans what they’d do on the last day of the world. Here’s what they had to say. Patrick Cannon, Charlotte Mayor Pro-Tem What I would do is express to my children, and my family overall, how much I love them, because too often people don’t let others know how much…
