Don’t be a Scrooge in the Q.C.
Instead, make a December bucket list.
Howards End, Mad Max High-Octane Collection, Moby Dick 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.) THE HOLLARS (2016). This agonizing exercise in indie quirk suggests that director John Krasinski and writer James C. Strause watched Garden State and then simultaneously muttered, “Well, if Zach Braff can pull it…
Lunch Break (12/5/16): KKK rally moved due to counter protests; Dakota Access Pipeline construction halted
The weekend already passed us by. What the hell happened?
Today’s Top 5: Friday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
Manchester by the Sea: The Tide Is High
MANCHESTER BY THE SEA ***1/2 (out of four) DIRECTED BY Kenneth Lonergan STARS Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams The year-end awards season began in earnest a few days ago with the National Board of Review’s selection of Manchester by the Sea as Best Film of 2016. It’s a choice I can enthusiastically endorse. While I’ve seen…
Don’t Land on the Naughty List
What to do (or not to do) at your holiday office party.
Today’s Top 5: Thursday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
Bizarre crime from Charlotte police files (Dec. 1)
Fuel the Fire Police followed up on a call from the Charlotte Fire Department last week after a fire in a west Charlotte home was found to be arson. After fire crews put out the flames, they found that someone had lit up a pile of phone books for warmth in the house’s living room,…
One-Eyed Jacks, Pretty Poison, latest MST3K set 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.) MOSCOW ON THE HUDSON (1984). It wasn’t until 1987’s Good Morning, Vietnam that Robin Williams became a bankable box office star; before that, he was just another former TV actor taking most projects…
Mac ‘n’ cheese, please
Who knew noodles, cheese, eggs, milk and a few other simple seasonings would be enough to keep humans salivating for centuries? Macaroni and cheese is serious business here in the South, and discussing the rich iconic dish this close to the holidays is a sure way to either make someone’s mouth water, start a great…
Three questions for Sean Potter, director of eat and drink at Coco and the Director
Collaboration, community, connection, camaraderie and cooperation. These are few of the words that inspired the founding of Coco & the Director. They also lend themselves to the concept behind Coco: people working together in a space meant to foster creativity and productivity while also being a space to relax and recharge. “Director,” on the other…
Water protectors at Oceti Sakowin camp in North Dakota brace for cold weather, eviction deadline
It was a half-year ago in May that Desiree Kane found herself laying in the grass of the Sacred Stone camp in North Dakota with about 15 other people, most of whom indigenous “water protectors” who had gathered there for a prayer movement aimed to peacefully resist the construction of the now-infamous Dakota Access Pipeline.…
Weekly Horoscope (Dec. 1-7)
For All Signs: This is the quietest week we have experienced in the last couple of months. It is a time for tending to our routines and preparing for whichever holiday you celebrate at the end of December. You need to know that Mercury turns retrograde on December 19. We are in the “foreshadow” at…
Roasted roots
Roasted roots are a culinary rite of fall. To not eat them as the leaves fly would be to deny the intersecting realities of time, place and flavor. Forgoing the roasted roots would be as unthinkable as not serving cake at a birthday party. And like making a cake, roasting roots is more of a…
Julie Funderburk opens up about her debut book of poetry
There are many houses on the pages of Julie Funderburk’s debut book of poetry, The Door that Always Opens. You won’t find them around Charlotte, though: the poet’s childhood and family homes have been, one way or another, demolished to make way for new construction. “It’s kind of strange to live in a city where…
Getting Merry with Mummies
When it comes to alter-egos, the folks who make up Here Come The Mummies, a funk rock group performing at Neighborhood Theatre, have it all down pat. They perform dressed as mummies onstage — the costumed visuals akin to groups like Gwar and Mac Sabbath. The band also uses discretion towards revealing their real life…
Elise Davis tosses her ‘token’
Delivering country-tinged Americana music is a priority for songstress Elise Davis. The Little Rock, Arkansas, native grew up believing she’d follow in the footsteps of the women around her — marrying at a young age and having children — but she’s done quite the opposite. For Davis — who plays with Black Lillies and Radio…
Review of Children’s Theatre of Charlotte’s The Best Christmas Pageant Ever: The Musical
So the holidays are here, and we all know the live entertainment drill: inevitable revivals of A Christmas Carol, Nutcracker, and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever plus a few fresh novelties to liven the mix. This year, one of the novelties is also one of the inevitables. For while it’s possible to see the customary…
LGBTQ community should see year of struggle as opportunity to grow
As Thanksgiving weekend came and went, I found myself reflecting on this year. No doubt, 2016 has been nothing short of a tumultuous, challenging journey for LGBTQ Charlotteans and North Carolinians — indeed, for the entire national and global community. After this year’s election, as we stare down the onslaught of a Trump presidency and…
