Dec 6-12, 2006
Chinned County Rethinks its Approach to Mentally Ill Offenders; Casey Rea on the Guitar Case; Dems and Socialists Rally in Barre
The Sword, Age Of Winters
(Kemado Records, CD) Today’s metal bands owe a massive debt to genre progenitors Black Sabbath. But some acts, such as Australia’s inexplicably popular Wolfmother, are mere copycats with attention-getting hairdos. This isn’t the case with Austin’s The Sword, whose monolithic sludge is vital and original. The quartet knocked ’em dead at this year’s South by…
News Quirks 12.06.06
Curses, Foiled Again Sheriff’s detectives investigating the murder and robbery of a 60-year-old man in Jackson County, Mich., made little progress until officers in neighboring Calhoun County identified their suspect. A woman they were questioning about a series of break-ins mentioned that while playing a game in which players name the stupidest thing they’ve ever…
Reading Between the Lines
From “I Spy” to stage: A local theater troupe gets personal
Lords of the Strings
Vermont guitar makers Dan DeMars and Creston Lea are in tune with the times
THE ANT BULLY***
John A. Davis (Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius) directs this animated morality tale about a boy who soaks an ant colony with his squirt gun, only to find himself shortly shrunk to insect-size and taught a life lesson. Nicolas Cage, Paul Giamatti and Julia Roberts lend their voices. (88 min, PG) Web: http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/theantbully/
SUPERMAN RETURNS***1/2
Brandon Routh plays the title role in Bryan Singer’s franchise-resurrecting adventure, the story of the man of steel’s return to Metropolis after a mysterious five-year absence. With Kate Bosworth, Kevin Spacey and Parker Posey. (153 min, PG-13) Web: http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/supermanreturns/
SEE NO EVIL*
Gregory Dark makes his feature directorial debut with the grisly saga of a homicidal maniac running amok in a hotel. Starring Glen Jacobs and Christina Vidal. Web: http://www.apple.com/trailers/lions_gate/seenoevil/
CLERKS 2****
Writer-director Kevin Smith checks back in with New Jersey check-out clerks Dante Hicks and Randal Graves and reports on the changes the two uber-slackers have gone through over the past 10-plus years. Starring Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Trevor Ferhman and Rosario Dawson. (98 min, R) Web: http://www.apple.com/trailers/weinstein/clerks2/
The Steve Blair Septet, Momentum
(Self-released, CD) Vermont guitarist Steve Blair is one of the most technically accomplished players in the Green Mountain jazz scene. He’s performed with fusion titans Freefall and Science Fixion, and is currently the director of jazz studies at Johnson State College. Blair’s latest disc, Momentum, provides a good example of his exacting musicality. Blair has…
