Checking in with Matthew Farrell

What were you doing when we called? I was working on an essay for an artist book that Lydia Moyer, a local experimental video artist, is doing. It’s a collection of photographs of old houses. Mostly she does experimental video, and this is a side project. Hypocrite Press founder Matthew Ferrell says that he is […]

The King’s Speech; R, 111 minutes; Regal Downtown Mall 6

Having grown up with a strict father (Michael Gambon) and a prominent older brother (Guy Pearce), an otherwise capable and courtly fellow (Colin Firth) finds himself with a problem. He stutters, severely. Colin Firth plays Bertie, a stuttering Duke who finds himself crowned King George VI of England just as the country goes to war. […]

“Live to Dance,” “The Cape,” “Shameless”

“Live to Dance” Tuesday-Wednesday 8pm, CBS I’m all for the resurgence of dance in pop culture, but I wonder if we haven’t hit the saturation point with televised dance competitions. I guess we’ll find out. CBS tries its hand at the genre with this new show, headed up by Paula Abdul, who acts as both […]

True Grit; R, 110 minutes; Regal Downtown Mall 6

Of what does true grit consist? Grit, presumably. But also something else, something that makes it easy to distinguish from false grit. True Grit the film consists of a young teenage girl in 1880s Arkansas and the old, fat, drunk, half-blind marshal she hires to track down her father’s killer. For the girl, true grit […]

Scrooged, “Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade,” “Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol”

Scrooged Saturday 10am-6pm, AMC If your family is as sarcastic yet sentimental as mine, this 1988 masterpiece—aired all day by AMC—should provide appropriate background viewing as you unwrap presents and deliver thinly veiled personal attacks. There have been countless take-offs of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol over the years, but I’d argue that this remains […]