Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, The Thing
TUCKER & DALE VS. EVIL *** At this late date, “smart slasher flick” might seem like an oxymoron, but Tucker & Dale vs. Evil isn’t your typical slasher flick. Instead, it’s a cleverly plotted gem that uproots the whole genre in a manner that’s both savvy and satisfying.While assembly-line movies like Final Destination 5 and…
Creative solution to budget problems
TIMES ARE tough, and they’re tough for The Creative Coast as well. The local nonprofit knowledge-based business incubator has seen its budget cut significantly in recent months. But an effort called DonorCharge will help shore up its resources, and offers the additional plus of building a community of like-minded local entrepreneurs. Creative Coast has teamed…
Exhibits & openings this week
‘Shredded Greens + White Flags’ and ‘Visual Thinc-ers’ – ThincSavannah hosts two concurrent shows through Nov. 4. “Shredded Greens + White Flags” features ll feature Betsy Cain’s shredded paintings. John Spurlock displays drawings and paintings. “Visual Thinc-ers” features work by eight current and former ThincSavannah members working in visual disciplines. Gallery hours are Monday -…
‘Good old-fashioned greed’
IRONICALLY, the candidacy of Ruel Joyner to represent the First District on City Council may be even more important now that he’s been told he’s no longer eligible to run. The effort by the City of Savannah to throw him off the ballot — despite the Chatham County Board of Elections’ OK — shows in…
Square trees? Umm, okay?
About 20 years ago when I lived in Vancouver, I watched a TV local news segment about how the University of British Columbia’s forestry department had created a system for injecting hormones into growing trees to produce a “square tree.” Much was made of the advantages for the lumber industry, but I’ve never heard any…
Five-star community cinema
Deb Riney founded the Savannah Gay and Lesbian Film Society in 2008, and the organization hasn’t flagged in its mission to bring the most acclaimed gay–themed cinema to the city. Gaining acceptance from “everybody else,” of course, is something of an uphill battle, as certain elements of the hetero community tend to be suspicious of…
‘Made with love’
It comes last but not least, at the tail end of four months of hard work, four months of making spanakopita, baking chicken, rolling meatballs. Baklava: The last item they make at St. Paul’s Greek Orthodox Church for the menu of their annual Savannah Greek Festival. About 7,500 pieces of baklava, to be exact. “Many…
Price is right but more is needed
SAVANNAH’S elected and appointed officials haven’t exactly drawn rave reviews from citizens this year. From casual grumbling to pointed outrage, a lot of folks are dissatisfied with local government for a host of reasons. In this context, instances of good and effective governance sometimes don’t get the attention they deserve. One example is Savannah City…
A name that will live forever
IN A TIME when African Americans could be killed for learning to read and write, he boldly signed his work: “Dave.” His pottery, all made in the mid–1800s just up the Savannah River near Edgefield, S.C., is some of the most beautiful functional art ever made in America. You can see some of it for…
‘I just can’t believe how good freedom feels’
Wish Me Away is not only the title of the documentary film about country singer Chely Wright, it’s one of the highly personal songs she wrote for her Rodney Crowell-produced 2010 album, Lifted Off the Ground. The album was timed to accompany Wright’s announcement to the world that she was gay – the first platinum-selling…
How to raise a subversive rabblerouser
You say you want a revolution? Well, you know —the first thing you have to do is show up. So I did, with my kids. The skies were dreary last Sunday afternoon at Emmet Park on Bay Street, and I figured the Occupy Savannah people would’ve packed up their signs and gone home once it…
45 years
A Savannah man who pleaded guilty to attempted murder of a police officer has been sentenced to 45 years in prison. Keenan Ramon Greene, 19, apologized to officer Jason Pagliaro for shooting out the back window of his patrol car and pursuing him for several blocks firing at him multiple times before leading police on…
Mark Your Calendar: Tony Arata
Savannah’s had a few success stories in the singer/songwriter department, but none so impressive as Tony Arata, who was born here in the waning days of the 1950s and put down roots in Nashville in 1986. Among Arata’s most famous compositions are “The Dance” (one of Garth Brooks’ biggest–ever hits) and Patty Loveless’ stunning “Here…
Holiday Shores, Wild Moccasins, American Aquarium
HOLIDAY SHORES, WILD MOCCASINS, BUXTON, NEW YORK CITY QUEENS At 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 14 Muse Arts Warehouse, 703D Louisville Road. $5 public, free with SCAD ID The Savannah Record Fair has moved into the Civic Center’s Martin Luther King Arena this year (it’s Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.), and sponsoring SCAD has…
A room without a view
Although he’s best known for the Pulitzer–nominated A Walk in the Woods, Lee Blessing is one of the most prolific playwrights of the last three decades. Three of his shows have been on Time magazine’s list of the year’s best. Two Rooms, which the Masquers of Armstrong Atlantic State University are producing this weekend, was…
Just muscle & melody
Every hour, every day, some classic rock radio station somewhere is playing a 38 Special song – “Caught Up in You,” “Hold on Loosely,” “Back Where You Belong” or a half-dozen others – as if it were hot off the presses. Like all the best stuff that forms the bedrock of that popular airwave format…
La bella Bella’s
Savannah is rich with restaurant traditions: The Olde Pink House for crispy scored flounder, Johnny Harris Restaurant for fried chicken and pit smoked barbecue — and Bella’s Italian Cafe for Italian cuisine. I know families who have a standing lunch or dinner gathering at Bella’s every week, with no exceptions. This stalwart little eatery has…
Concrete dreams
Back when Ben Maher was a kid, the only public place to skateboard in Savannah was a lame little park way out on the southside. Twenty years later, the skating situation is even lamer. That basic concrete park, likely built by some industrious kids in the ‘70s, is long gone. A few pre–fabricated jobbies popped…
The ocean up close
As far as sea creatures go, it doesn’t get much cuter than a baby loggerhead turtle. Three inches long with beady eyes and an upturned beak that looks very much like a grin, the newest resident at the UGA Marine Education Center and Aquarium could be Savannah’s next heartthrob once visitors get a peek at…
