How to get in bed before 12 a.m. on the weekend
Cheers for being an adult!
Lunch Break (5/25/16): Crime in Uptown and east Charlotte, teen missing from south Charlotte
The morning already passed us by. What the hell happened?
Lunch Break (5/24/16): Economic impact of HB2 in Mecklenburg nears $300 million
The morning already passed us by. What the hell happened?
Lunch Break (5/23/16): City council to discuss HB2, nondiscrimination ordinance tonight
The morning already passed us by. What the hell happened?
The Nice Guys finishes first
THE NICE GUYS *** (out of four) DIRECTED BY Shane Black STARS Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling The original Lethal Weapon back in 1987 has been given far too much credit as the movie that largely birthed the “buddy action comedy” (48 Hrs. and Running Scared are but two which preceded it), but it was definitely…
Neighbors 2: Mediocrity rising
NEIGHBORS 2: SORORITY RISING *1/2 (out of four) DIRECTED BY Nicholas Stoller STARS Seth Rogen, Zac Efron The law of diminishing returns comes down with Mjölnir force on Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, a needless sequel that feels even more needless than the usual needless sequel. The 2014 hit Neighbors found married couple and new parents…
The Meddler: Happy Mother’s Way
THE MEDDLER *** (out of four) DIRECTED BY Lorene Scafaria STARS Susan Sarandon, Rose Byrne Overbearing mothers in movies are as plentiful as shells on the sand, but rare is the overbearing mother who’s written with such love and care that she ends up being less defined by her obnoxiousness than by everything else. Such…
Today’s Top 5: Friday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
Fun with the family goes without a hitch
Lounging at Blue after graduation celebration.
Charlotte Symphony ends its classics season seductively
When the Charlotte Symphony Chorus was known as the Oratorio Singers of Charlotte, they hooked up on numerous occasions with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra in the most popular piece in the classical repertoire, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. More often than not, those collaborations would happen at the end of a season – or even at…
Bizarre crime from Charlotte police files (May 19)
Peeved Police When nature calls, sometimes you just have to answer — no matter where you are. Police officers responded to calls of a man urinating in public in southwest Charlotte last week, but this was not your average alleyway piss; the man was inside the upper level terminal of the Charlotte Douglas International Airport.…
Weekly horoscope (May 19-25)
For All Signs: The planets Venus and Mars are in opposition at this time. Venus, the ancient goddess of love, carries broad feminine and romantic symbolism. Mars is the warrior god and prevails over masculine territory. This opposing alignment may suggest the conclusion of one relationship and the beginning of another. Alternatively the opposition suggests…
Cat Ballou, Father of the Bride, The Witch 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.) DIRTY GRANDPA (2016). The plot of this atrocity can be discarded with one sentence: After the death of his wife, the elderly Dick (Robert De Niro) talks his straight-laced grandson Jason (Zac Efron)…
Taking advantage of a historic moment in time
“I’ve seen trans issues take off as the full-on centerpiece of public discourse like never before … and perhaps for the first time ever, trans issues have been at the forefront of a two-week news cycle.” That’s what I wrote in this column last month. Six weeks later, it’s still true. HB2 has continued to…
A discussion on immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers with those on the front lines
For many Americans, the refugee crisis was just another trip through the news cycle. Near the end of 2015, government leaders called on the Obama administration to discontinue allowing Syrian refugees into the United States. That story overshadowed a similar crisis in which tens of thousands of women and children fleeing violence in Central America…
Theater review: The Addams Family at Theatre Charlotte
Gloomy lighting and cobwebs. Raging thunderstorms and decrepit dungeons. The whole Gothic horror thing, on screen or onstage, is a carnival of special effects — the bizarre compounded by the supernatural. Vampires, ghosts, werewolves, and monsters don’t often wear jeans and T-shirts. Costumers, wigmakers, prosthetic manufacturers, and makeup artists work overtime to get the right…
Making Markets Run
As spring looks toward summer, Saturday mornings in Charlotte find more and more residents heading to farmers’ markets. From outlying suburbs to central neighborhoods, farmers and shoppers come together in all parts of the city to sell, shop and socialize. Whether under metal-girded barns, temporary tents or blazing sun, each venue presents its own picturesque…
Three questions for Gavin Toth, general manager of The Improper Pig
True to its name, the Improper Pig has thrown out the rulebook on regional barbecue in favor of a menu that is equal parts southern comfort and Asian fusion. Alongside cook-out staples like mac and cheese and chicken wings, you’ll find ahi tuna salad and edamame. General manager Gavin Toth explains that the unique flare…
Artist collective returns for a second chance in a changing arts scene
It was like hearing your favorite band is reuniting and touring the neighborhood you live in. It was during a cold night in early 2016 that Henry Schreiber unexpectedly saddled up on the barstool next to me at a local watering hole. We caught up over cheap beers and nonchalantly, in his typical soft-spoken manner,…
Suitcase Junket turns trash into treasures
Bones and cutlery, a saw blade, a gas can and a drum pedal topped with an old beat up baby shoe. These are not items you’d imagine being useful in a band. And then there’s Suitcase Junket, a one-man band carefully constructed by Matt Lorenz and his junk — performing at Evening Muse on May…
