The Switch, Nanny McPhee Returns, The Expendables, Vampires Suck
THE SWITCH * A vile scenario doesn’t necessarily have to translate into a vile movie, providing there’s some objective or empathy on the part of the filmmakers. Gaspar Noe’s 2002 French release Irreversible, for example, centers around arguably the most brutal rape sequence ever committed to celluloid, but several factors, specifically Noe’s decision to tell…
Web Exclusive: Geekend announces 2010 lineup
Geekend, the design and technology conference that debuted with resounding success last Fall, has just announced most of its lineup for 2010. Geekend runs November 4 through 6 at the Coastal Georgia Center. Any concerns that their sophomore attempt might not match their inaugural event seem to have been addressed. The biggest name amongst the…
Bars in the crosshairs
One thing we’ve learned over the past year or two: the City of Savannah has some serious issues with local bars. Let’s go down the list of recent crackdowns: • The all-ages ordinance change; • Increased (and some say selective) enforcement of noise ordinance violations; • The bar employee licensing system (itself stemming from a…
An A-Positive afternoon
Two Thursdays ago, with butterflies in my stomach, I drove to an office in Market Walk on Hodgson Memorial Drive. I sat down at a table and completed one of those “fill in the bubble” forms, as if I were taking a test. Less than an hour later, I was on my way home, upbeat…
Nesting habits
Feathers will fly this weekend, as the Collective Face brings Elizabeth Egloff’s tensile drama The Swan to town. It’s the group’s second staged reading – not a full production, with props, costumes and all that pesky stuff – and it’s taking place on the Savannah Children’s Theatre stage. Ah, but The Swan is anything but…
Mark your calendar: Savannah Craft Brew Fest
Stop the presses! The 2010 Savannah Craft Brew Festival is on the books for Sept. 3 and 4 at the Savannah International Trade & Convention Center. The beer is here! More than 120 different craft brews will be yours for the sampling (age 21 and over only, of course) with food pairing meals, seminars, tastings…
Tips for bad parenting
Police received a call that an intoxicated woman was trying to leave a residence with her children in the vehicle. The caller said that he and his girlfriend had gotten into an argument and that she was intoxicated. Prior to the arrival of the police, the woman loaded up the kids and drove away. A…
The Runaways @ Muse Arts Warehouse
Granted, Chewbacca is a memorable movie character, but would Star Wars have become such a huge smash had the bellowing Wookiee been the protagonist rather than Luke Skywalker? And who doesn’t love the character of Peter Clemenza in The Godfather (“Leave the gun; take the cannoli”), but would we have rather spent the majority of…
Over the moon
With their pockets all but empty, the four members of Atlanta’s Today the Moon, Tomorrow the Sun had to find a way to raise enough dough to record all their new songs. The answer was Kickstarter, an online funding platform that creates a public outlet for an artist’s fans – plus friends and family, of…
Winnebago Man @ The Jepson
There’s a very real sense of satisfaction in the documentary Winnebago Man, when filmmaker Ben Steinbauer finally tracks down his quarry: A man named Jack Rebney, whose profane rants and temper tantrums between takes on a 1988 industrial video shoot had become the stuff of Internet legend. Until Steinbauer – a University of Texas film…
Art kick-start
The dog days of summer might be slowly coming to an end for the local visual arts scene, which is showing the first signs of waking from its summer siesta. There’s no groggy eye-rubbing as we regain our bearings, and this week offers up a little something for everyone with three very diverse events that…
Public hearing aid
There were no doubts that last week’s City Council meeting was going to be contentious. After all, the two matters up for discussion were an increase in the property tax millage rate and the first reading of the smoke free ordinance, but nobody foresaw how events would play out (except maybe Paul the psychic octopus.)…
Tubby Love
TUBBY LOVE At 10 p.m. Aug. 21 Live Wire Music Hall, 307 W. River St. Free. There’s a song I can’t get out of my head this week. It’s called “Signs,” and it was written (and performed in an utterly captivating YouTube video) by Tubby Love and Emily Elbert, a couple of students at the…
Bites & Pieces: Red Chimney, Geneva Geneva’s
The Red Chimney The open air front porch of this Garden City barbecue joint really wasn’t that uncomfortable in the midday heat. A nice breeze was blowing and the only distraction was the steady drone of tractor–trailers gearing up and down the busy highway. I was going somewhere else, but spied the sign, a puff…
Pair of critter whiskeys
Bow hunters may be practicing for the upcoming deer hunting season, but those of who score our bag limit at the package store may want to keep lookout for a whitetail of a different sort. Whitetail Whiskey recently hit shelves and is proving there continues to be a market for classic liquors flavored to soothe…
Exhibits & openings this week
2D*2.5D*3D – A collection of work from three artists: Amanda Hanlon (linoleum block relief prints ironwork), Carol Williams (assemblage of found objects), and Dicky Stone (turned wood sculptures). Opening reception: Aug. 19, 5:30-8:30pm. Kobo Gallery, 33 Barnard St. , http://www.kobogallery.com/ Fashion in Focus – Photos and evening wear from the SCAD Museum collection, including original…
Alcohol in your cupcake: Effective?
I read a letter to Dear Abby from someone who had served cupcakes made with Kahlua liqueur. Abby said enough alcohol remained to affect someone with alcohol sensitivity. In my opinion, the woman claiming to be drunk from a cupcake was just trying to get attention. How much alcohol is there in spiked cupcakes? How…
Neo-Nazi redemption stories
Lead Story A recent surge of neo-Nazism in several countries — including, improbably, Israel, and Mongolia (where some dark-skinned natives are rabidly anti-Chinese) — has generally been denounced, but Corinna Burt credited it with rescuing her from a life of acting in pornographic videos. According to a hate-group watchdog, the Portland, Ore., woman is “the…
