Articles by DIana Beechener

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 1/20/11

Blue Valentine

Come for a love story, stay for an emotional evisceration

Blue Valentine isn’t a romantic drama; it’s a horror movie for romantics. Derek Cianfrance’s (Cagefighter) film asks questions that most modern romantic movies attempt to avoid: What happens to a married couple when they fall out of love? What if you’re not meant to be with the person you married? The answers to these questions are often painful, messy and uncomfortable. So is Blue Valentine. But it stirs up all of these emotions without once turning into a melodrama....

Article - Creature Feature; by Diana Beechener - 1/20/11

This Week’s Creature Feature

He’s Got His Mother’s Nose

He doesn’t have a name yet, but the National Zoo’s baby giant anteater already has a photo blog and a ghostwriter. Keeper Marie Magnuson has been posting status updates and photos of the long-nosed baby boy since his birth in December. Magnuson had close contact with the baby in the early days, because mother Maripi wasn’t producing enough milk to keep the little guy gaining weight. How do you surrogate nurse an anteater? It’s pretty complicated considering the creature...

Article - Features; by Diana Beechener - 1/13/11

What's with That?

Finding the source of a local river

“What on earth does Magothy mean?” asked a guest as we walked down to the river by my Pasadena home. “It’s the name of the river,” I explained. “But what is it? Is it a person? Or a special word?” persisted my curious guest. It was a mystery. I spent 27 years living along the banks of the Magothy River, and not once had I questioned the origin of the name. It was just the river. Well that’s not good enough anymore. My first source was, of course...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 1/13/11

Season of the Witch

A B-movie with an A-List cast earns a failing grade

A priest, some crusaders and a witch wander into the woods. Turns out the joke is on whoever pays to see the movie. An overwrought, overstuffed tale of medieval mysticism, Season of the Witch fails on every possible level, from storytelling to acting to star Nicolas Cage’s improbable hairpiece. The film follows two Crusade deserters, Behman (Cage: Kick Ass) and Felson (Ron Perlman: Tangled), who return to their homeland only to find that the Black Plague has ravaged the people. The clergy...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 1/6/11

The King’s Speech

A speech impediment proves to be a royal pain in this excellent drama

At the close of the 1925 Empire Exhibition, England’s Duke of York Albert (Colin Firth: A Single Man) stands before a live audience for his radio broadcast debut. Instead of a refined address, the Duke broadcasts a halting stuttering address as his countrymen regard him in horror. This is the next in a long line of humiliations for Albert — called B-b-b-bertie by his family — who chokes on marbles and smokes heavily under doctor’s orders in attempts to cure his...

Article - Creature Feature; by Diana Beechener - 1/6/11

This Week’s Creature Feature

The Latest Addition to the National Zoo Has a Nose for Trouble

Born on the seventh of December, the latest addition to the National Zoo has already caused a fuss among the zookeepers. The giant anteater pup was found lying outside his mother’s cage with a dangerously low body temperature. The month-old cub was rushed to the vet, then given the all-clear to go back to his mom. “We’re not sure what happened,” says animal keeper Leigh Pitsko. “But he pulled through like a trooper.” He’s also learned his lesson. This...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 12/23/10

Black Swan

Natalie Portman pirouettes to the dark side in this ballet thriller

When watching ballet dancers leap and spin across a stage, it’s hard to remember that these dedicated athletes punish their bodies to create such grace. Director Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler) is happy to remind you. His psychological dance thriller (which may be the best new genre in years) — Black Swan is awash with close-ups of battered toes, bony arms and raw bloody flesh — and that’s just the normal ballerinas. The real gore starts when timid, emotionally...

Article - News; by Diana Beechener - 12/23/10

Culture in a Flash

The Annapolis Chorale takes Messiah to the masses

In the middle of the shopping rush on the last Saturday before Christmas, one Nordstrom customer stopped browsing and started singing. Another 100 voices joined in, singing a seemingly impromptu but suspiciously professional “Hallalujah Chorus” from Handel’s Messiah. The reason for the effortless harmony: The Annapolis Chorale was adding an enticing fourth performance to the usual three nights of singing the Messiah. That’s right, Nordstrom Annapolis was Flash Mobbed....

Article - Good Living; by Diana Beechener - 12/9/10

What Are You Doing Next Year?

12 calendars to spruce up the march of time

In the pages of this illustrious paper, I get credited only as staff writer occasionally. For the most part, I’m Bay Weekly’s Calendar Editor. I’m the one who tells you what’s happening in Bay Country every day of every week. It’s my job to rely on calendars, to get the dates right and to plan ahead. I look at a calendar every day. Every. Single. Day. To do my job, you really need a good calendar. John Wayne watches over my desk, a strong black-and-white image to...

Article - People; by Diana Beechener - 12/2/10

Debut of a Dream

December 5, Andrew Greene’s Peacherine Ragtime Orchestra plays Buster Keaton

In his right hand, Andrew Greene lofts a conductor’s baton. In his left, a DVD remote. The 19-year-old University of Maryland civil engineering major lives in the 21st century, but he longs for the 20th. Compressing time, he is conducting the Peacherine Ragtime Orchestra in rehearsal of its original score to Cops, Buster Keaton’s silent 1922 classic. The orchestra is Greene’s tribute to an entertainment form that died away nearly seven decades before he was born. “Back...