Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Sherlock Holmes, Mission Impossible, Young Adult, Tintin
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO ***1/2 Think of it as the “close but no cigar” brand of cinema, where American adaptations of foreign hits prove to be better than expected yet don’t quite trump their highly regarded predecessors. Let Me In, Matt Reeves’ take on the Swedish vampire yarn Let the Right One In,…
Happy Happy Joy Joy
AFTER THE recent city elections — the results of which, let’s just say, didn’t completely satisfy everyone — I kept hearing this comment: “The people have spoken. It’s time for everybody to just accept the results and move on.” Well… of course the people have spoken. Has anyone actually said that we shouldn’t accept the…
Real nourishment
IT’S THAT TIME of year when for some of us, food starts appearing out of nowhere. Fruitcakes left on the doorstep. A pile of powder–dusted cookies in thebreakroom. Fourteen kinds of cheese at the neighborhood open house, not including whatever is in those logs showered in chopped walnuts. Yesterday I found myself running away from…
A Christmas vision
A lot has changed for the Performing Arts Collective of Savannah since last year’s inaugural performance of Langston Hughes’ Christmas play Black Nativity. First and foremost, Clinton Powell, who shaped and directed the production – a blend of music, poetry, dance and dramatic narrative – passed away on Jan. 2. “A lot of it was…
Instant legend
Pardon me if I gloat about the best biscuit I’ve ever eaten. That speaks volumes to anyone who knows I grew up with homemade biscuits at every meal. As a chef, I prepared hundreds of dozens of scratch biscuits. A critic or two, albeit they were Yankees, raved about my biscuits. But last week I…
Saddest thing in a while
An investigation by Metro Police Violent Crimes detectives has led to the identification of the 18–year–old mother of a baby found dead in a trash collection truck. The mother, a high school student, admitted giving birth and placing the baby in the trash. Police identified her after tracing items to the her. A driver for…
Gifts that keep them riding
DID SOMEONE YOU know start riding a bike to work or class or using a bicycle to run errands this year? If so, this list provides some gift suggestions to keep that person riding on through the new year and beyond. If that person is you, consider adding these items to your list if they’re…
Deepening challenged
The Southern Environmental Law Center has filed a challenge to the South Carolina permit that clears the way for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dredge 38 miles of the Savannah River shipping channel to a depth of 48 feet, calling into the question the apparent “horse–trading” that allowed the approval to happen. The…
This One’s For Him: A Tribute to Guy Clark
Many songwriters would give their left arm for a half–dozen enduring tunes – lyrics that provoke the imagination, massage the spirit and leave an indelible impression. Such things are second nature to Texan Guy Clark, whose 40–year catalog spans an astonishing range of sensitivity, perception and humor, musical poetry of such substance and emotive depth…
Ms. Coleman’s kitchen
Savannah’s largest homeless shelter, The Salvation Army, serves three meals to approximately 330 people each day. That would be nearly impossible without the help of one woman, The Salvation Army’s lead chef, Lotchie Coleman. Coleman may not seem like your typical hero, but in her 32 years of service with The Salvation Army, she’s fed…
Holiday fun in the clubs
HOMEGROWN HOLIDAY HOEDOWN At 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 16 American Legion Post 135, 1108 Bull St. $10 advance, $15 at the door Unopened, unwrapped toys will be collected at the door for Toys for Tots, as the Accomplices, a relatively new, acoustic-based Savannah string band – celebrate the release of the CD Canned Beans. The…
Mark your calendar: Bay Street benefit
Hitman Blues Band drummer Marc Cordray is in desperate need of a kidney transplant, and they don’t come cheap. A bunch of Cordray’s fellow musicians, including the Hitman group, Jan Spillane, Eric Culberson, Todd Murray (Sincerely, Iris), GE Perry and others are banding together this Thursday night (Dec. 15) at Bay Street Blues to play…
Rock and hard places
In rock ‘n’ roll, as in life, the only constant is change. The Chicago–based band Styx has followed an extraordinarily complex evolutionary road. Founded in the early 1970s by singer/pianist Dennis DeYoung and lead guitarist James “JY” Young, both of them songwriters with big visions (and big egos), Styx landed on a winning formula when…
Broughton Street Bingo
Bingo may be the hallmark hobby of blue–haired old ladies, but some of Broughton Street’s swankiest shops have given it a chic makeover this holiday season. Twenty–one local purveyors of clothing, art supplies, gifts, spices and more have launched Bingo on Broughton, a collaborative effort to lure locals into spending some of their shopping budgets…
