Love is a Muxtape

How do you herald the start of an enormous musical experience? Do you move from the ground up, or from the top down? Bring a thunderous ruckus like Wu-Tang Clan, or testify to “the strength of street knowledge,” like N.W.A.? Do you walk like an Egyptian, smell like teen spirit, dance with yourself? Do you […]

He talk pretty

Every writer (especially the self-absorbed ones) dream of being David Sedaris, the author and memoirist whose every book shoots to the top of the bestseller list, and whose Santaland Diaries on NPR (about working as a Macy’s elf) has become a seasonal classic.

Movies playing in town

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (PG, 140 minutes) The Pevensie kids return to the magical land of Narnia, only to find that 1,000 years have passed since their last visit, leaving Narnia a far different place than it was before. Wouldn’t you know it, an evil general has taken over the land and it’s […]

“Sorry about that, chief”

Nostalgia is a powerful tool, and it’s one of the driving forces behind the new, feature film adaptation of the ’60s spy spoof TV series, “Get Smart.” Rather than totally reinvent the show (Mission: Impossible), slavishly re-create it (The Addams Family) or completely lampoon it (The Brady Bunch Movie), the makers of this action comedy […]

Game show mania

“I Survived a Japanese Game Show”Tuesday 9pm, ABC There’s a great episode of “The Simpsons” where the family gets stranded in Japan and, to earn plane fare home, they subject themselves to the unspeakable humiliations of a Japanese game show. I’m guessing the producers of this series saw that one, since this is pretty much […]

Storm’s coming

There are more than 60 versions of “Peaceable Kingdom” by Quaker painter Edward Hicks—different iterations of all creatures great and small, sleek-coated predators and skittish prey, hunkered down together wearing expressions that could make a Zen master jealous. The “Peaceable Kingdom” series comes from a line the Old Testament prophecies of Isaiah (and, for brevity’s […]

Movies playing in town

Movies playing in town The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (PG, 140 minutes) The Pevensie kids return to the magical land of Narnia, only to find that 1,000 years have passed since their last visit, leaving Narnia a far different place than it was before. Wouldn’t you know it, an evil general has taken over […]

Controlling herself

Not entirely, because the 26-year-old actress performs with a “stage is my world” savviness that suggests she does well in social interaction; if she doesn’t, she has the improvisational skills to give the impression of comfort (thanks a lot, Second City workshop!).