Sep 10-16, 2014

Sep 10-16, 2014 / Vol. 28 / No. 29

Cover Story

Enter the FC

A subtle herbal aroma coats the air as a discussion on the recent Ferguson, Missouri, shooting heats up among the members of Charlotte hip-hop group Forever FC. Jimmy Kelso’s lean 6-foot-4 frame teeters atop a skateboard; he watches as SchylerChaise, the “elder” statesman at 26, and the normally laid-back Lute, 25, argue about stereotyping with…

Jeff Hahne

Frank: Head Case

FRANK***DIRECTED BY Lenny AbrahamsonSTARS Domhnall Gleeson, Michael Fassbender The band’s name is Soronprfbs, and it might be the most unpronounceable moniker since Mr. Mxyzptlk first hit the scene to vex Superman on the DC Comics landscape. Its frontman is Frank, who’s declared a genius by everyone around him in spite of — or should that…

Matt Brunson

The Drop gets a rise

THE DROP***DIRECTED BY Michael R. RoskamSTARS Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace Hollywood heavyweights have had such a blast bringing Dennis Lehane novels to the screen that it’s no surprise the author himself has elected to get in on the good times. In the wake of Clint Eastwood’s Mystic River, Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island and — the…

Matt Brunson

The Last of Robin Hood: Hoodwinked

THE LAST OF ROBIN HOOD*1/2DIRECTED BY Richard Glatzer & Wash WestmorelandSTARS Kevin Kline, Susan Sarandon If ever an actor was born to play Golden Age screen star Errol Flynn, it would be Kevin Kline. The only real question, I suppose, is why it took this long. In such efforts as A Fish Called Wanda (for…

Matt Brunson

Bizarre crime from Charlotte police files (Sept. 11)

Urine trouble: Someone opened their mail box and found something worse than a stack of bills. The victim stated that a family member, of all people, had left behind a cup of urine. The report states she felt as though he “intended to cause her emotional distress.” No sh*t. Coco no-no: A shop-lifter took Coco…

Ana McKenzie

Weekly horoscope (Sept. 11-17)

For All Signs: Each of the planets in the solar system represents one element in the recipe that makes up our human energy. Mars was the ancient god of war. In the horoscope, this planet represents the style in which we protect ourselves or defend our positions. As our personal warrior, the sign in which…

Vivian Carol

Diana Grisanti’s River City is a pleasant surprise

A year ago, when Diana Grisanti’s River City was first presented as a staged reading at the nuVoices Festival at Actor’s Theatre, the script irritated me more than it delighted me. Grisanti’s protagonist, Mary Christopher, seemed to be obsessed with an archeological excavation into her family’s past — to the detriment of her career, her…

Perry Tannenbaum

On the road with DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist

Vinyl Archaeology is the art of digging in crates of old records to find the perfect song, sample, break or loop — the one that another DJ or producer has yet to uncover and add to their repertoire. Years ago, one of the greatest in the field, Cut Chemist, visited Charlotte and I had the…

Erin Tracy-Blackwood

Gantt Center is 40 and Counting

Some good things do come with age, and the exhibit 40 and Counting: Celebrating Forty Years at the Gantt Center Through Art, Culture and Community is proof of that. Though the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture opened in its current Uptown location in 2009 — which is why some folks may…

Anita Overcash

Keep on truckin’?

On any other day of the week, it’s a dusty cutout of land in South End that accommodates on-the-clock lunchgoers looking for a quick place to park and grab a meal. Price’s Chicken Coop, Phat Burrito and Common Market are in close walking proximity. But at the end of each work week, the parking lot…

Keia Mastrianni

From field to farmers market

I’ll admit to a certain sense of self-righteousness when I make my weekly pilgrimage to the farmers market. Up early on a Saturday, sometimes before the sun, driving on empty roads through the first steeply slanted light cutting across the landscape, it’s easy to feel exceptional. While others are blearily pouring their first cup of…

Alison Leininger

Grading Charlotte

I arrived in Charlotte in late 2007 and quickly became aware of the negative impacts of the city’s rapid population growth. This, combined with a series of poor decisions, not only permitted but encouraged sprawl. Charlotte was considered one of the least sustainable large cities in the country at that time by various rankings and…

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