Fact or fiction? ‘Anonymous’ looks for the ‘real’ Shakespeare
ANONYMOUS **1/2 Call it the anti-Shakespeare in Love. Call it the more cultured cousin to Inglourious Basterds. Just don’t call Anonymous a fact-based story. There have been many speculations advanced that William Shakespeare actually did not write the countless classic works attributed to him, but the conspiracy theorists can’t quite agree on the true identity…
Hugo, Muppets, Arthur Christmas, The Descendants
HUGO ***1/2 Movie mavens startled by the fact that Martin Scorsese has elected to direct a family film when he’s exalted for his string of hardcore crime flicks clearly know little about either the man or his achievements. Scorsese has hopscotched between genres far more often than he’s given credit for — the costume drama…
For the farmers
With the swarming proliferation of big box stores, shoddy subdivisions, and distribution warehouses, it’s easy to forget that Chatham County was mostly rural not so very long ago. Indeed, some portions, such as off Highway 17 near the Bryan County line, were mostly rural only a few years ago, before the development that overwhelmed West…
Occupying an ‘eff you’ system
Governments are supposed to fulfill the basic needs of their citizens. Ours doesn’t pretend to try. Sick? Too bad. Can’t find a job? Tough. Broke? Can’t afford rent? We don’t give a crap. Forget e pluribus unum. We need a more accurate motto. We live under an “eff you” system. Got a problem? The U.S.…
The most dangerous game
Two men were shot after two separate dice games over the course of three days. Jeffrey Sams, 18, of an Egmont Road address was participating in a dice game on the 300 block of Lewis Drive in Patterson Terrace on the southside. About 2 p.m., another man walked up and tried to rob the participants.…
Enormous electronica
IT CAME FROM THE ROCKIES. It’s loud, and strong, and defiant, and for the last three years it’s been wreaking havoc across America, in nightclubs, dance halls and on festival stages. No one who’s encountered it has been quite the same afterwards. It’s big. It’s gigantic. In point of fact, it’s Big Gigantic, a two–man…
Giving thanks for local musicians
Seeing as it’s a holiday weekend, when (presumably) the vast majority of college–age music fans are out of town for the big turkey–go–round, Savannah’s club owners (a lot of them, anyway) have opted out of booking those sometimes pricey touring bands. This state of affairs gives us time to re–examine some of our homegrown talent…
Deepening denial
There’s enough misinformation circulating about the proposed Savannah harbor deepening project to make a Greek bank loan look solid by comparison. Consider the following in relation to recent news about South Carolina officials refusing to issue a permit needed for Savannah’s harbor project under the Clean Water Act. South Carolina’s objections are primarily based on…
Filipino food is here
The pursuit of genuine ethnic food rages on — and I’m happy to report a find in Savannah Filipino Authentic Cuisine off Waters Avenue at 70th Street. I haven’t had authentic Filipino chow since a generous neighbor used to ply me with lumpia to de–ice her car windows. It was a worthwhile trade. Of course,…
Letters to the Editor
Bottoms up! Editor, I do not always agree with your opinions but I always find them well thought out and interesting. However, I find myself in total agreement with your Editor’s Note regarding the recent city–wide elections (“It’s all over but the drinking”). The realistic presentation of the politics and demographics of the city and…
Dig that crazy beat
In 2010, bassist Stephen Palmer was considering the Savannah music scene. “I thought ‘You know what this town doesn’t have? A straight–up rockabilly band. They seem to like that genre of old Johnny Cash and old Elvis, and things like that.’” Palmer had moved here in 2004 from Seattle, where he’d fallen under the spell…
The plum diary
Everybody dance now! In The Nutcracker, a little girl named Clara has a series of increasingly strange (some might say pseudo–psychedelic) dreams in which toys come to life and dance, mice come to life and dance, snowflakes dance, candy dances, coffee (!) dances. There’s combat, romance, international intrigue, bickering and family squabbles, all induced by…
Trade rules
AS THE HORDES prepare to flood the malls and big box stores with their credit cards for Black Friday, some smart folks checked off their holiday shopping lists early. The best part? They didn’t have to spend a dime. Wallets were nowhere to be seen at the NuBarter Holiday Gift and Trade Show last week,…
Gratitude in the Garden
It’s almost three o’clock on a recent balmy autumn afternoon, and Susan Giddens is fretting over the sweet potatoes. “I’m worried that I only made one pan,” murmurs the vivacious owner of Gratitude Gardens, a pretty patch of earth between Ogeechee Road and Highway 204, as she busily rearranges Pyrex dishes on a long table.…
Mark your calendar: Lewis Black
As a professional talker, Lewis Black only needs a subject — a word — to get him going. When we spoke with him last year, prior to an appearance in Savannah, the word was “politics.” “You can Democrat, Republican me to death, all you want, the bottom line is what does it mean to the…
Exhibits & openings this week
‘Weather or Not’ call for entry – ‘Weather or Not’ asks artists to consider the many possibilities that face the world as we enter 2012. This calendar year has increasingly become the subject of theories and speculation, many based on the ancient Mayan calendar. The rash of recent natural and weather related disasters begs the…
Countering global warming with cooling
In your recent column on conspiracy theories about the government injecting chemicals into the atmosphere, you disparaged the idea of geoengineering, or at least using sulfur dioxide to counter global warming. But you don’t defend your position. Is it a good or bad idea, and why? – Rob The basic idea is simple. Our problem…
