Arts and Culture (All)

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 5/17/12

Dark Shadows

Don’t lead women on, or you’ll turn into a vampire

Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp: The Rum Diary) has two curses in his life: He’s irresistible to women, and he’s a vampire. One might seem more serious than the other, but his callous treatment of chambermaid/witch Angelique (Eva Green: Camelot) is the cause of his undead undoing. This cautionary dating tale starts in 1772, when young fishing magnate Barnabas sows his wild oats with Angelique before settling down with his one true love, Josette (Bella Heathcote: In...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 5/10/12

The Avengers

When in doubt, Hulk Smash!

Banished from Asgard by brother Thor, Loki (Tom Hiddleston: The Deep Blue Sea) is a god without subjects. So he takes a page from his brother’s book, traveling to Earth. Sadly, Loki is no God of Thunder. So instead of romancing winsome astrophysicists, the God of Mischief makes a deal with an alien nation to subjugate humanity. All Loki has to do is steal a mysterious energy source held by the government and trade it for an alien army. When an alien...

Article - Theatre Reviews; by Jane C. Elkin - 5/10/12

Going to St. Ives

You’ll see Colonial Players at its best in the cat-and-mouse game of two women

What could be more suitable for Mothers Day than the tale of two mothers sharing tea and sympathy over Blue Willow china: helping each other deal with life’s unexpected twists and turns, bartering favors tit for tat — life for death? Over the past three years, Annapolis stages have featured four plays by the prolific Pulitzer- and Tony-nominated playwright Lee Blessing: Chesapeake, Two Rooms, Fortinbras and now Going to St. Ives, showing through May 19 at Colonial Players. His work...

Article - Food and Drink; by J. Alex Knoll - 5/3/12

Where There's Smoke ...

Naptown barBAYq returns with good tastes for good works

Come May 4, the air will be heavy with the smell of charcoal, smoke and slow-cooked meats as dozens of hard-core barbecue aficionados fire up their grills at the second annual Naptown barBAYq contest and music festival. Hosted by the Parole Rotary Foundation, this year’s event kicks off Friday afternoon at the Anne Arundel County Fairgrounds and continues all day Saturday, culminating in the crowning of the Kansas City Barbecue Society Grand Champion. ...

Article - Theatre Reviews; by Jane C. Elkin - 5/3/12

Compass Rose Studio Theater’s Oliver!

I was choked up from the moment the somber workhouse orphans marched onstage

Lionel Bart’s musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic Oliver Twist has seen a lot of action in 50 years: 10 Tony nominations and five Oscars, including 1969’s Best Picture. It’s the tale of an innocent orphan among a den of thieves in Victorian London, a story I’ve seen and performed countless times. Yet Compass Rose Studio Theater’s production is in some ways the most memorable, the most heart-wrenching. I was choked up from the...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 5/3/12

The Pirates! Band of Misfits

Yo-ho! Yo-ho! A claymation life for me!

The pirate captain (Hugh Grant: Did You Hear About the Morgans?) is having a bad year. As the Pirate of the Year competition looms large, the good captain has little to show for his pillaging. Other pirates like Cutlass Liz (Salma Hayek: Puss in Boots), Peg Leg Hastings (Lenny Henry: Tinga Tinga Tales) and Black Bellamy (Jeremy Piven: Entourage) boast rare jewels and mountains of gold. The pirate captain? He has a lustrous beard and a very fat parrot. He’s the joke of...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 4/26/12

Chimpanzee

Nature is cute, if you live in a Disney documentary

Oscar is a baby chimpanzee, living a blissful life in the jungles of Uganda. His mom dotes on him. He romps with other baby chimps during upbeat musical sequences. But in the distance the evil Scar and his hoard of chimp raiders threaten Oscar’s idyllic life. If it sounds like a Disney movie, it is. The latest documentary from Disneynature, Chimpanzee, makes a monkey out of the term documentary. This is nature without death. This...

Article - Theatre Reviews; by Jane C. Elkin - 4/26/12

The Belle of Amherst

This Bay Theatre Company show will appeal to any with emotion and ears to hear

“How was the play?” my son-in-law, the family sports, poker and comics buff, asked. “Good,” I said, “but two hours of Emily Dickinson wouldn’t be your style.” “Parting is all we know of heaven and all we need of hell,” he said. Poem 96 of her 1800 published posthumously. He knew it by heart. You could have knocked me over with a fountain pen, but I shouldn’t have been surprised. Dickinson’s...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 4/19/12

The Cabin in the Woods

Zombies and ghosts and mermen. Oh my!

When five attractive college co-eds spend the weekend at a creepy isolated cabin in the woods, it’s no surprise they’re marked for death. We’ve seen this movie, and it always ends the same way: Someone gets high, someone flashes her breasts and almost everyone dies. Such is the world of slasher filmmaking. Fans love it just the way it is. It’s a formula so common that many movies have poked fun at its absurdity while still getting...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 4/19/12

Bully

It’s hard not to beat up on this well-intentioned film

Alex is a sweet kid with huge lips, glasses and ears that stick out. To an adult, he’s an adorably awkward adolescent who hasn’t grown into his features. To his peers, he’s a target. Every day his school bus ride is a gauntlet of humiliation. He’s punched, choked and stabbed with pencils. When he comes home, his sister calls him a loser. But Alex smiles because at this point he’s used to it. His parents complain to the school...