May 17-23, 2006
Why Young Entrepreneurs See Green in Vermont; the Human Price of Military Conflict; Bristol’s Mushroom Man
Kris Gruen, Lullaby School
(Mother West, CD) Central Vermont’s folk scene is populated by graying hippies trying to recapture the ancient, and often tired, sounds of yesteryear. Montpelier-based singer-songwriter Kris Gruen may play acoustic guitar, but he’s hardly part of that crowd. Gruen’s debut disc, Lullaby School, showcases contemporary influences from well beyond the Green Mountains. The result is…
Dark Park, Dark Park
(Self-released, CD) Burlington’s Dark Park straddle the line between two seemingly disparate genres: jam-rock and indie-pop. Like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, this combination of flavors is sweeter than you might expect. The band’s self-titled debut might not win over hipper-than-thou scenesters, but it’s a nice alternative to the jam-by-numbers acts so prevalent in the…
News Quirks 05.17.06
Curses, Foiled Again Police investigating a break-in at a television and appliance store in Middletown, Ohio, learned that the thieves had made off with a Hitachi flat-panel TV. Moments later, other officers noticed a Mercury Sable going down the road with a 55-inch flat-screen TV, just like the one reported stolen, hanging out a back…
Astrology 05.17.06
ARIES (March 21-April 19): The general consensus is that Americans are getting dumber. A recent study, for instance, reported that more people can name the characters in “The Simpsons” TV show than know the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment. Yet an article by Malcolm Gladwell in The New Yorker notes that Americans’ IQ scores…
Nonprofit Motive
Dozens of young people come to work in Vermont’s other service industry, and many of them stick around
THE NEW WORLD***1/2
Colin Farrell and Q’Orianka Kilcher are paired in writer-director Terrence Malick’s historical epic chronicling the first encounters between European and Native-American cultures in 1607 Jamestown. With Christopher Plummer. (150 min, PG-13) Web: http://www.apple.com/trailers/newline/the_new_world/
RUMOR HAS IT**
Rob Reiner directs this romantic comedy in which a young woman stumbles upon a family secret that changes her life. Starring Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Costner and Shirley MacLaine. (PG-13, 97 min) Web: http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/rumor_has_it/
NANNY MCPHEE***
Emma Thompson stars in director Kirk Jones’ supernatural babysitter saga based on Christianna Brand’s bestselling “Nurse Matilda” series and Thompson’s own screenplay. With Colin Firth and Kelly MacDonald. (98 min, PG) Web: http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/nanny_mcphee/
MUNICH*****
Eric Bana, Daniel Craig and Geoffrey Rush star in Steven Spielberg’s historical thriller about the murder of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. (R)
GRANDMA’S BOY*1/2
Allen Covert plays a middle-aged videogame tester who moves in with his 80-year-old grandmother and her two roommates when his best friend blows the rent on hookers. Doris Roberts costars. Nicholas Goossen directs. (96 min, R) Web: http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/grandmasboy/
FATELESS ****1/2
Marcell Nagy stars in director Lajos Koltai’s adaptation of Imre Kertesz’s Nobel Prize-winning novel about a Jewish boy’s experiences in Nazi-occupied Hungary. (140 min, NR)
BIG MOMMA’S HOUSE 2**
Released just a few weeks too late to qualify for Oscar consideration, this sequel has Martin Lawrence reprising the role of an FBI agent who goes undercover as an overweight, elderly woman. Nia Long costars. John Whitesell directs. (99 min, PG-13) Web: http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/bigmommashouse2/
