Wednesday, October 31, 2007

American Gangster

Posted by John Stoehr on Wed, Oct 31, 2007 at 11:52 AM

We ran out of room in this week's paper to run our movie critic's review of the new Ridley Scott movie, American Gangster. Fortunately, we've got this here internet thingamabob. Check out our MaryAnn Johanson's glowing review here. Then check out the trailer. We've got that technology, too -- believe it or not! (said with Jack Palance's trademark mid-'80s hiss).

Topics: Film

Ghost Rider would be proud

Posted by John Stoehr on Wed, Oct 31, 2007 at 11:41 AM

So that's what they teach those cadets at the Citadel . . . .

History repeating itself

Posted by John Stoehr on Wed, Oct 31, 2007 at 11:19 AM

Dance styles have changed, but not much, it seems. Check out this video: The Charleston set to Daft Punk's beats. Honestly, it there much distance to go from this to poppin-'n'-lockin'?

Monday, October 29, 2007

Coming Up Wednesday

Posted by John Stoehr on Mon, Oct 29, 2007 at 4:36 PM

Here's a small preview of what's coming up in my arts and film sections on Wednesday.

Artist Karin Olah is inspired by the "geometric elegance" of Amish quilting. Our writer Nick Smith talked to her about using the Amish tradition in her contemporary mixed-media abstracts for her big show at the Corrigan Gallery in November.

Halloween is a good time to play scary video games, but columnist Aaron Conklin says that this year's crop of gaming gore has more shoot-'em-up and less balls-out horror.

A.R. Gurney's has a thing for narrative gimmicks. Most of the time it works. For Sweet Sue, it didn't. Hence, the Footlights Players production is a meritorious effort to make a good dish out of poor ingredients, says theater critic William Bryan.

The Charleston Symphony Orchestra didn't look far to find three master musicians to perform Beethoven's Triple Concerto. Critic Lindsay Koob reviews last Saturday's Masterworks concert.

I talk to filmmaker Jay Craven about Disappearances, the final installment of his trilogy set in the Vermont north country. The film turns the Western movie genre on its head. It also stars Kris Kristofferson as a dreamer and former-bootlegger embarking on one last whiskey run to save his family.

Plus, news about a short film about pubic hair wigs and TVs news and the Charleston County Public Library strikes a deal with the Metropolitan Opera to broadcast it high-definition productions for free. All that and an online review of Ridley Scott's new film American Gangster by critic MaryAnn Johanson on Wednesday.

Friday, October 26, 2007

Tick, Tick ... Zoom!

Posted by John Stoehr on Fri, Oct 26, 2007 at 9:05 AM

click to enlarge unknown.jpg

It's gone by faster than you thought. The last two shows of Jonathan Larson's rock 'n' roll musical "Tick, Tick .. Boom!" are tonight and tomorrow night. It's a worthy production by Charleston Stage. I saw it last night (I'm just getting started with this arts editor thing so forgive me for not having seen opening night) and it was a solid performance, entertaining and even touching at times with bits of Larson's self-effacing humor sprinkled throughout.

As our critic Nick Smith noted in his review, the plot isn't for everyone -- and I suspect this might have something to do with less-than-robust ticket sales.

"Tick, Tick .. Boom" is autobiographical, about Larson's life before the gangbuster success of "Rent." Driving him to distraction is the impending possibility of turning 30 without having achieved all the things he'd hoped to achieve by that time: namely, Broadway kudos.

When Jon (played by Sam Weber) complains about his quarter-life crisis to his sympathetic friends, it struck me that Weber's job is made all the more difficult by having to elicit the same level of sympathy from an audience of 50-plus-somethings.

Perhaps Charleston Stage felt a show about a so-called Boomer Junior, and the creator of "Rent" no less, would appeal to a younger audience. (To be honest, my first reaction to Jon's mewling was "oh, please," but I did find myself growing more and more sympathetic.) Indeed, there were numerous young folk in the audience, but their just-walked-out-of-a-salon hair styles only punctuated a mise-en-scene of gray heads. Which, I think, is too bad. The show is worthy of attention. See for yourself.

Topics: Theater
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