Aug 17-23, 2005
How Mediators Are Helping Families End Their Feuds; A By-the-Numbers Look At Working and Vacationing; Joe Cleary’s New Musical Invention; Montreal’s Film Fest
Opinion: Uncivil Disobedience
Last summer I found myself sipping wine on a porch with a woman who had met William Rehnquist at a soiree in Greensboro, where the Supreme Court chief justice summers. “Bill” was lovely, she said, gracious, funny and “so brilliant!” How could anyone dislike such a person? Easy, said I, and then outlined a career…
Astrology 08.17.05
ARIES(March 21-April 19) It’s time to play a game called Do-It-Yourself Horoscope! Here’s how it works: I provide a skeleton outline of your fortune, and you fill in the blanks. This exercise is designed to boost your self-reliance and compel you to seek answers more aggressively from your inner teacher — skills that are especially…
News Quirks 08.17.05
Curses, Foiled Again Authorities in Richland County, S.C., reported that Booker Boyd, 49, disguised himself in women’s clothing to rob a bank, donning a black dress with red flowers and a red straw hat to go with his black mustache. Sheriff’s deputies arrested him a few minutes after the robbery, driving a stolen Ford Expedition,…
From Alice to … Jack?
Seven Days directs readers to Four Amendments and a Funeral, an eye-opening Rolling Stone article in which Matt Taibbi follows Sanders around the Capitol.
Deja Nous, The Romance of Paris
(Self-released, CD) Let me come right out and say that I know next to nothing about traditional French music. In fact, it was only this week that I the discovered meaning of musette, a French term to describe the accordion-heavy, urban folk music popular in 1930s Paris. I also have no comprehension of the language.…
Gregory Douglass, Stark
(Emote Records, CD) The title of Vermont singer-songwriter Gregory Douglass’ fifth release suggests it is a stripped-down affair. That is partially true; several of the 11 original songs on Stark are quiet and introspective, with spare guitar or piano and cryptic lyrics about love, loss and/or longing — some even hint at political discontent. Perhaps…
OFF THE MAP***
Joan Allen and Sam Elliott are paired in this story about a summer in the life of an offbeat early 1970s family living off the land in rural New Mexico. With Valentina de Angelis. Directed by Campbell Scott. (105 min, PG-13) Web: http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/off_the_map.html
LOOK AT ME****
From French filmmaker Agnes Jaoui comes this bittersweet comedy in which the lives of an aspiring singer, a struggling writer, a voice coach and an influential book publisher intersect with surprising, illuminating results. Featuring Marilou Berry and Laurent Grevill. (111 min, PG-13) Web: http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony/look_at_me.html
KUNG FU HUSTLE ****
Stephen Chow wrote, directed and stars in this semi-surreal send-up of the Hong Kong martial-arts movie in which a would-be bad guy gets caught in a war between a vicious gang and the inhabitants of a particularly tough neighborhood. Also featuring Yuen Qiu and Leung Siu Lung. (99 min, R) Web: http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony/kung_fu_hustle.html
BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE**1/2
Wayne (Smoke) Wang directs this family film about a young Florida girl who adopts an orphaned dog. Based on the bestseller by the same name. Starring Jeff Daniels, Cicely Tyson and Dave Matthews. (106 min, PG) Web: http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/
