Mar 29 – Apr 4, 2006
Why is “Mr. Happy” So Angry, and What Should We Do About it?; How to Preserve Open Space; Saving the World by Julia Alvarez
Patricia Julien Project, Glee
(Self-released, CD) When I used to think about jazz flute, I would picture a hairy-chested Herbie Mann posing Playgirl-style on the cover of his 1971 album Push Push. Well, thank goodness for flutist Patricia Julien. Her new disc, Glee, has finally vanquished the image from my mind. Julien, who teaches in the University of Vermont’s…
John Brown’s Body, Pressure Points
(Easy Star Records, CD) The historical John Brown was an abolitionist who employed guerrilla war tactics in the hopes of ending slavery. Eventually executed by hanging, he was immortalized in a Union marching song called “John Brown’s Body.” More than a hundred years later, a Boston-based roots-reggae octet appropriated the moniker. The band John Brown’s…
News Quirks 03.29.06
Curses, Foiled Again Police in Levittown, N.Y., said that Frank Traina, 36, walked into a Chinese restaurant, pointed a handgun at the owner and demanded cash. When the victim noticed water dripping from the gun barrel, he realized it was a water pistol, which Traina apparently had filled before the robbery attempt. He fled but…
THE SQUID & THE WHALE****
Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney star in writer-director Noah Baumbach’s tragicomic portrait of a New York family dealing with its disintegration in the mid-1980s. Costarring Jesse Eisenberg, Anna Paquin and Owen Kline. (88 min, R) Web: http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/thesquidandthewhale/
PARADISE NOW****
Easily one of the most controversial releases of the year, Hany Abu-Assad’s drama looks at the motivations of suicide bombers through the eyes of two young Palestinian men. Starring Kais Nashef and Ali Suliman. (90 min, PG-13) Web: http://www.apple.com/trailers/warner_independent_pictures/paradisenow/trailer/
EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED***
Actor Liev Schrieber makes his behind-the-camera debut with the big-screen version of the bestselling novel by Jonathan Safran Foer. Starring Elijah Wood and Eugene Hutz. (104 min, PG-13) Web: http://www.apple.com/trailers/warner_independent_pictures/everything_is_illumina
DERAILED**1/2
Clive Owen and Jennifer Aniston are paired in Mikael Hafstrom’s suspensefest about a married ad exec and an alluring stranger who meet on a morning commute, begin an affair, and get drawn into a dangerous plot by a violent criminal. With Vincent Cassel and Melissa George. (110 min, R) Web: http://www.apple.com/trailers/weinstein/derailed/
CHICKEN LITTLE **1/2
Zach Braff, Joan Cusack and Don Knotts are among the voice cast in Disney’s computer-animated comedy in which the sky really is threatening not to stay where it belongs. (81 min, G) Web: http://www.apple.com/trailers/disney/chicken_little/hd/
