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Sunday, October 28, 2012
Arts 15 Short Film Fest at Evening Muse
Posted By Anita Overcash on Sun, Oct 28, 2012 at 9:30 AM
In just a few hours of sitting time folks attending this annual Charlotte fest will watch 19 films from 15 countries. The films — 15 minutes long or less — were each critically viewed by the festival organizers, who receive and weed through hundreds of submissions every year.
Transmission, a chilling Australian short by Zak Hilditch, is among those to be screened this year. In the film, a father and daughter struggle to survive in the outback after a bio-apocalypse has left them searching for safety. Sure, the short — shot prior to a full feature-length film centered on the same theme — sounds similar to Cormac McCarthy's The Road, but how can you argue with Aussie accents? For more information, visit www.15shortfilmfestival.com. $7-$10. Oct. 28, 7 p.m. Evening Muse, 3227 N. Davidson St. 704-376-3737. www.theeveningmuse.com.
Arts Home-wrecking poodle at CPCC
Posted By Perry Tannenbaum on Sun, Oct 28, 2012 at 9:00 AM
With its fourth Charlotte production about to bark at Pease Auditorium, Sylvia has moved to the head of the class among playwright A.R. Gurney's most beloved works, surpassed only by his deathless Love Letters. Sylvia's heroine is a home-wrecking poodle that Greg rescues from a nearby park, much to the chagrin of his wife Kate. Adoring the unemployed Greg, Sylvia begins to supplant the less-indulgent Kate in her master's affections — while gaining a territorial foothold in their Manhattan apartment.
We also join Greg and Sylvia on their sentimental returns to the park, where Sylvia can more fully display her playful, animal, and sexual tendencies among the other pooches. Featuring Dennis Delamar and Polly Adkins as Greg and Kate — not to mention Matt Kenyon romping about in various genders and breeds — Central Piedmont Community College Theatre's Sylvia is self-recommending for knowing theatergoers. Newcomer Shawnna Pledger is an unknown quantity in the title role, but with so many local actresses salivating after this doggie treat, she's bound to be good. $16. Oct. 28, 2:30 p.m., Nov. 1, 7:30 p.m., Nov. 2-3, 8 p.m., Nov. 4, 2:30 p.m. CPCC's Pease Auditorium, 1201 Elizabeth Ave. 704-330-6534. http://arts.cpcc.edu/.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Film / Film Reviews Halloween Countdown: The Orphanage
Posted By Matt Brunson on Sat, Oct 27, 2012 at 2:00 PM
(In anticipation of the coolest day of the year, this month-long series will offer one recommended horror flick a day up through Oct. 31.)
THE ORPHANAGE (2007). Juan Antonio Bayona's directorial debut arrived with the "Pan's Labyrinth Seal of Approval" — that is to say, it received the blessing of Pan writer-director Guillermo del Toro by way of a "produced by" credit — and it's clear it deserved the lofty honor. Frequently, the screenplay by another newbie, Sergio G. Sanchez, seems like it's merely a compendium of stellar moments from other horror hits: In addition to Pan, there are elements that strongly recall The Devil's Backbone (also by del Toro), The Others, The Innocents, The Omen and — I hesitate to add — Friday the 13th. Eventually, though, the homages coalesce to create a deeply absorbing and heavily atmospheric yarn that offers several noteworthy plot spins. In a commanding performance, Belen Rueda stars as Laura, who returns to the now-abandoned orphanage where she was raised as a child. With her husband Carlos (Fernando Cayo) and adopted son Simon (Roger Princep) in tow, she moves into the building with the hopes of reopening it in order to serve ill and handicapped children. But the bumps in the night begin almost immediately, with Simon insisting that anything abnormal is being caused by his new imaginary friends. As Laura digs deeper, she learns that the unusual circumstances tie back to incidents that occurred around the time she herself was a young girl residing at the institution. There are a few moments that employ the tried-and-true shock technique, but for the most part, Bayona expertly builds upon the unsettling sense of menace that's established from the start.
Film / Film Reviews Weekend Film Review: Cloud Atlas
Posted By Matt Brunson on Sat, Oct 27, 2012 at 11:03 AM
Click on the title to be taken directly to the review.
Also, be sure to check out our ongoing Halloween Countdown series; all films to date found conveniently here.
Arts In the Heat of the Night takes us back
Posted By Perry Tannenbaum on Sat, Oct 27, 2012 at 9:00 AM
That old-time aroma of Deep South bigotry is in the air as In the Heat of the Night takes us back to Argo, Ala., in 1962. A white man has been murdered, a black man has been arrested, and local Klansmen are thirsting for blood. Only, the black man is LA's top homicide detective, Virgil Tibbs — a dude who not only knows how to fend for himself, but is also the town's best hope, for solving the horrific crime.
Theatre Charlotte is presenting the local premiere of Matt Pelfrey's stage adaptation of the 1967 Oscar-winning film, leaning heavily on the original novel by John Ball. Ron McClelland stars as Tibbs and the malevolent Lamar Wilson tackles the role of Sheriff Gillespie — which catapulted Rod Steiger to his Academy Award. Director Dave Blamy is probably pinching himself after landing a seasoned cast and design team that refutes the notion that this is "merely" community theater. Robert Crozier, Jennifer Barnette, Dan Brunson, John Hartness, Josh Looney, and Ted Weiner are among the blue-chippers. $25. Oct. 27, 8 p.m., Oct. 28, 2:30 p.m., Nov. 1, 7:30 p.m., Nov. 2-3, 8 p.m., Nov. 4, 2:30 p.m., Nov. 7-8, 7:30 p.m., Nov. 9-10, 8 p.m., Nov. 11, 2:30 p.m. Theatre Charlotte, 501 Queens Road. 704-376-3777. www.theatrecharlotte.org.
News / Opinion Question the Queen City: What lurks in the woods of Camp Greene?
Posted By David Aaron Moore on Sat, Oct 27, 2012 at 9:00 AM
Editor’s note: In this series, local author David Aaron Moore answers reader-submitted questions about historic places in Charlotte. Submit inquires about unusual, noteworthy or historic people, places and things to davidaaronmoore@post.com.
A couple of years ago I moved into a house in the Ashley Park neighborhood. A longtime resident of the area and I were talking about Camp Greene Park, which is just a few blocks away. She’s never elaborated, but the neighbor always tells me never to go near when it starts to get dark. All she’ll say is she’s heard "stories." Do you have any idea what she’s talking about? — Connie Woods, Charlotte
Funny you should ask. I grew up not far from there, and I can still recall the stories as a really young boy from a very elderly neighbor who lived in the area most of her life. Her name was Sally Kennedy.
Camp Greene originally opened in July of 1917 and was a military training facility designed to prepare soldiers for fighting in World War I. Located in west Charlotte, the camp was constructed on 2,340 acres in an area that is bounded today by Wilkinson Boulevard, Tuckaseegee Road, Ashley Road and Morehead Street.
Tens of thousands of young men from all over the country descended upon Charlotte, causing the population to triple, from 20,000 to 60,000. Recruits for what was known as the Fourth Infantry Division would be deployed directly to Europe following their stint at Camp Greene.
- David Aaron Moore
- One of many World War I era structural foundations left behind on the grounds of Camp Greene Park.
Friday, October 26, 2012
News / Arts Video: Get to know Junior Webb, costume creator
Posted By Kimberly Lawson on Fri, Oct 26, 2012 at 5:08 PM
We couldn't let you read this week's cover story without offering you the opportunity to fully experience the ingenuity that is Junior Webb's costuming skill. Sure, the photo on the cover is pretty awesome. But you have to see this homemade "weird-lookin' alien thing," as he calls it, in action. Check the video below.
Film / Film News Savannah Film Festival starts this weekend
Posted By Web Editor on Fri, Oct 26, 2012 at 4:52 PM
So, who's up for a road trip?
- Weinstein Co.
- Bradley Cooper, Jackie Weaver and Chris Tucker in Silver Linings Playbook
The 15th Annual Savannah Film Festival will be held this Saturday through next Saturday, Oct. 27-Nov. 3, in (duh) Savannah, Georgia. The festival opens with a special screening of Silver Linings Playbook, starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, and closes with Rise of the Guardians, an animated effort featuring the voice talents of Hugh Jackman and Jude Law. In between, there will be approximately four dozen more screenings, as well as workshops, panel discussions and appearances by this year's honorees: Diane Lane, John Goodman, Michelle Monaghan, Matt Dillon, Geoffrey Fletcher, John Gatins and ... wait for it ... Stan Lee.
Creative Loafing film critic Matt Brunson will be on hand for half the festival, checking out screenings and blogging about the event. Among the films on his schedule are Flight, a drama starring Denzel Washington, On the Road, the Jack Kerouac adaptation featuring Kristen Stewart, and Quartet, with Dustin Hoffman (in his directorial debut) overseeing a heavyweight cast that includes Maggie Smith and Tom Courtenay.
The full festival schedule can be found here.
Film / Film Reviews Halloween Countdown: Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary
Posted By Matt Brunson on Fri, Oct 26, 2012 at 2:00 PM
(In anticipation of the coolest day of the year, this month-long series will offer one recommended horror flick a day up through Oct. 31.)
DRACULA: PAGES FROM A VIRGIN’S DAIRY (2002). Not since Francis Coppola's sharp take on Bram Stoker's Dracula has there been a vampire flick as deliriously off the wall as Guy Maddin's Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary. Produced for Canadian television and featuring the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, this film brings the dance form alive on screen, at once making it sexy, stylish and relevant. Yet this isn't merely a filmed stage performance — most of the time, the dancing is so minimal that you forget you're even watching a ballet. Instead, Maddin has integrated a new reading of the text with an old-fashioned shooting style straight out of the silent era. Influenced by the 1922 classic Nosferatu, this version employs black-and-white film stock (with the occasional striking burst of color), simple title cards and often overripe performances to convey the cinematic experience of a century ago. Yet where Maddin (working from Mark Godden's stage show Dracula) ventures out on his own is in his casting of Zhang Wei-Qiang as Dracula — conveying the fear the Western world often exhibits toward immigrants from the East — and in his portrayal of the so-called good guys as humorless puritans straight out of Arthur Miller's The Crucible. The rigidity of Dr. Van Helsing (David Moroni) is far more disturbing than the sensuality of Dracula and his brides, and it's no coincidence that the dancers are most alive after they've been involved in a little neck-nibbling.
News / Opinion Question the Queen City: Is the Palmer Fire School haunted?
Posted By David Aaron Moore on Fri, Oct 26, 2012 at 9:30 AM
Editor’s note: In this series, local author David Aaron Moore answers reader-submitted questions about historic places in Charlotte. Submit inquires about unusual, noteworthy or historic people, places and things to davidaaronmoore@post.com.
I’m not implying I believe in anything supernatural, but I have heard and read a number of stories about places in Charlotte that are said to be haunted. What’s your favorite scary place? — Corey Bartlett, Charlotte
Like you, I tend to be skeptical. However, I try to keep an open mind about such things. On a personal level I’ve had a few experiences that have raised questions about the world around me: Did I really see or hear that or was it the other 80 percent of my brain we purportedly don’t use suddenly kicking in?
Who knows?
Nevertheless, Palmer Fire School, which is located on 7th Street in the Elizabeth neighborhood certainly sent chills down my spine when I visited back in 2003. Built in 1940 by members of the Charlotte Fire Department, it was purchased by developer and historic architecture enthusiast Bryan Barwick the year I visited the site. He has since repurposed it in to a multi-use facility.
- David Aaron Moore
- The Charlotte Fire School was constructed in 1940 from the salvaged stones that were once part of an old tannery in center city Charlotte.
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Longtime dancer to leave NC Dance Theatre 3
Mia Cunningham, a dancer who has spent 18 seasons performing with the North Carolina Dance Theatre, is set to retire.
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Question the Queen City: Hugh McManaway, the man behind the statue
It pays homage to a traffic director, friendly neighbor and one of Charlotte's most beloved local characters
