Station to station

If you’re a gamer—or, more pointedly, one the friends and family members who’ll be buying gifts for one in the next three weeks—you might be pardoned for feeling like one of the hapless burglars in Home Alone whose face just met the business end of MacCaulay Culkin’s swinging paint can trap.

Box your ears

It used to be that when Christmas holidays approached, many in the music industry celebrated the success of the CD box set. It was the gift that said both, “I tried to be more thoughtful than a gift certificate,” and “I knew you would never spend 60 bucks on yourself, so Merry Christmas.” In the […]

Heartbreak hotel

“The Lost Room”Tuesday 7pm, Sci Fi Channel Look at little Sci Fi go! A couple of years ago, the cable net was a dumping ground for “Stargate” repeats and crappy made-for-TV movies starring, like, Kari Wuhrer. Now thanks to cult hits like “Battlestar Galactica” and “Who Wants to Be a Super-Hero?” it’s getting some cred […]

Have guitar, will travel

One of the main reasons to be in a band (apart from the money and the girls, of course) is the opportunity to travel and play gigs in interesting places. As our friend Dave Grant used to put it, to go drinking in different languages. Jodie Foster’s loss is Bill Gates’ gain when Big Ray […]

Reviews

Anathallo, with Shapiro and Page FranceStarr Hill Music HallThursday, November 30 Performing like a well-oiled machine, Anathallo disappointed.     music When a band introduces its second song of the evening as “a song for the heavy-hearted”—as Anathallo did Wednesday night at Starr Hill—you have a pretty quick idea of what you’re in for. While most […]

Feats of clay

“Top Chef” Wednesday 10pm, Bravo I skipped Season 1 of this chef-based reality show, but caught up during one of Bravo’s countless marathons. It’s not nearly as engaging as its fashion-minded sibling, “Project Runway,” but it’ll do. My main issue is that it’s tough for the audience to get a real sense of the contestants’ work. […]

Music for these times

Typically, I wait until December 23 to try and put myself in the holiday spirit, but some people prefer to take their time with the holidays. Get in the spirit: Debbie Hunter and her group will present medieval English carols and more at St. Paul’s Memorial Church. Debbie Hunter’s early music vocal group, Mira, will […]

Reviews

Arms and the ManUVA Drama DepartmentThrough December 2 Autumn Shiley and Joel Grothe star in UVA’s production of Shaw’s "Anti-Romantic Comedy," which seethes with bitterness behind its jaunty humor. Stage Watching a play by George Bernard Shaw is a double pleasure. On the surface, he dabbles in formula, producing effects that are heavenly for being […]

Show me the funny

“The Office”Thursday 8:30pm, NBC Ricky Gervais, the genius behind the original British “Office,” guest wrote tonight’s episode of his sitcom’s American counterpart. It’s an interesting challenge as our “Office” has already lasted about three times longer than his. The extended run has allowed the American writers to dive much deeper into the various characters and […]

What’s playing?

Babel (R, 142 minutes) Alejandro González Iñárritu (director of 21 Grams and Amores Perros) contributes another weighty ensemble piece. This complex rumination on communication (or the lack thereof) in modern-day society takes place in three places at once. In Morrocco, a couple (Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett) gets involved in a shooting crisis. In California, […]