Red Riding Trilogy
with barely any buzz among the mainstream, IFC Films’ “Red Riding” trilogy is one of the very best home-video releases of 2010. The epic is a singular achievement; it’s difficult enough to make one great crime drama, so imagine the task of creating three “? and with different directors at that! Based on David Peace’s…
Piranha 3D
This summer, only one movie features Oklahoma City porn starlet Ashlynn Brooke losing her top and then losing her top half. (Well, to my knowledge, as I don’t watch porn.) That film is “Piranha 3D.” It’s a loose remake of Joe Dante’s “Piranha,” which was born in 1978 because producer Roger Corman wanted to cash…
The Call’s Michael Been, an OKC native, dead at 60
The Call’s vocalist/guitarist Michael Been, an Oklahoma City native, died Aug. 19 after suffering a heart attack backstage at the Pukkelpop Festival in Belgium. The 60-year-old rocker passed away on tour working as sound manager of his son, Robert’s, band, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, which appeared at the festival along with The Flaming Lips. The…
OKC moves Halloween a day early this year
Kids dressed as superheroes, cartoon characters and more will take to the streets for Halloween a day early this year. The City of Oklahoma City has scheduled its trick-or-treat night for Saturday, Oct. 30. “Trick or treat is a longtime tradition for area families,” said Kristy Yager, public information officer for the city. “It’s an…
OKC moves Halloween a day early this year
Kids dressed as superheroes, cartoon characters and more will take to the streets for Halloween a day early this year. The City of Oklahoma City has scheduled its trick-or-treat night for Saturday, Oct. 30. “Trick or treat is a longtime tradition for area families,” said Kristy Yager, public information officer for the city. “It’s an…
Exec stresses Oklahoma City, Tulsa cooperation in children’s education
The executive director of the George Kaiser Family Foundation urged leaders in Oklahoma City and Tulsa to work together to help better educate children. Speaking before Thursday’s large crowd at the Cox Convention Center for “2010 Oklahoma State of the Schools,” Ken Levit laid out the similarities ” and challenges ” between the state’s two…
Agatha
Although not yet an Oscar winner, Dustin Hoffman was already a superstar by the time he teamed up with director Michael Apted for 1979’s “Agatha.” It’s a rare disappointment for Hoffman’s otherwise hot streak at the time. (“Kramer vs. Kramer” came next, so he did just fine.) Based on the true story of legendary mystery…
Made for Each Other
p;l=as1&asins=B003NLE5JU&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr”> Sex comedies are a difficult balancing act, as filmmakers risk putting off audiences for overdoing the raunch. You can be “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” and pull it off, or be “41-Year-Old Virgin” and eff it up. Although it tries harder than recent efforts, “Made for Each Other” falls in the latter camp. The film hardly…
Tormented
<iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=oklahgazet-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B003NLE5MM&fc1=000000&IS2=1 I’m completed puzzled over the online raves for the British slasher “Tormented.” It’s been called “funny” and “awesome” by those who caught it in the UK last year; I found it anything but on both counts. Here’s the gist: At a fancy-schmancy prep school, a fat, asthmatic kid with the unfortunate name of…
ARIES (March 21-April 19)
In the 18th century, the French Academy laid down rules about the differences between professional and amateur paintings. For example, it was decreed that true artists must create a “licked surface,” hiding all evidence of their brushstrokes. The illusion was more convincing that way; viewers could sink their attention fully into the image without being…
TAURUS (April 20-May 20)
If your home is like a museum, a staid assemblage of fine memories, I suggest you shake things up a bit. If your imagination is filled with tape loops that keep running storylines you’ve heard a thousand times before, shake things up a bit. If your daily actions are so thoroughly possessed by the anesthetizing…
GEMINI (May 21-June 20)
Maybe you know a person like my friend Joanna. She’s bright but terse, open-minded but not chatty. Like an inscrutable Buddha, she watches everything closely and churns her thoughts carefully. Silence is her ally. Now and then, though, when moved by an inner prompting that has nothing to do with drinking wine, she will suddenly…
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)
In one possible scenario I could foresee for you in the coming week, you’re sweaty and tearful, enmeshed in an extreme state that causes an internal blockage to dissolve. The sweat is purgative, the tears are cathartic, and you’re riding a wave of relief and release that clears out a backlog of emotional congestion. In…
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)
My favorite baseball player Tim Lincecum told San Francisco magazine: “I think you either get in the canoe with your oar and control the boat, or get into it and let the current take you. I’m kind of in between. I want to be able to enjoy the ride but don’t want to be swept…
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)
The poet Jean Perrin dreamed “of marrying the dawn with the light of the moon,” and I invite you to do the same. The darkness you’ve been immersed in will leave you soon. As it does, please don’t forsake the pale, moon-like radiance that has provided you with a bit of guidance and consolation. Rather,…
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)
I know two people in their 80s who have accomplished a sensational long-running creative art project: They’ve been happily married for 65 years. The amount of reinvention they’ve had to dream up in order to keep loving each other is so profound that it confounds the imagination. How could they possibly have continued to stay…
Rep. Kern clarifies statement against homosexual community
Speaking at the Wake Up, America! Conference on Aug. 7 in Oklahoma City, state Rep. Sally Kern said God wanted her to run for state office, and defended her comment about homosexuals being a bigger threat to America than terrorism. “I did say to them that day that I feel that homosexuality is more dangerous…
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Based on a series of graphic novels by Bryan Lee O’Malley, “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” is a movie with ADD and a lapsed Ritalin prescription. That’s not particularly a bad thing. The film moves as fast as a bullet train, crackles with wit and has enough hipster references to snag an invite to an…
OK Hooker
Chicken-Fried News enjoys a cheap laugh as much as anyone. That’s why Alan Scherstuhl’s recent blog for The Pitch in Kansas City, Mo., caught our attention. The Out & About blog’s headline, “Hooker, Oklahoma, knows its name is hilarious,” is pretty self-explanatory. So are the pictures posted on the blog of the following establishments: the…
Line of reasoning should be rejected
In response to philosophy professor John A. Murphy’s Aug. 11 request for an explanation of the meaning of Reclaiming Oklahoma for Christ’s mission statement (Letters, “What the hell?,” Oklahoma Gazette), I would like to offer the following opinion: After reading the quotation in your letter, it seems clear they would like to reintroduce the public…
Georgie Rasco works to improve OKC neighborhoods and civic involvement through her position as executive director of The Neighborhood Alliance
Some people’s lives are their jobs. It’s the rare ones who meet this fact with a joyous energy, getting lost in their work. Driving back to work, Georgie Rasco, executive director of The Neighborhood Alliance of Central Oklahoma, wanted to check out a Military Avenue cul-de-sac someone had mentioned earlier. “Oh! If that’s the neighborhood…
James Lankford and Kevin Calvey scramble for money and endorsements before Tuesday’s runoff election
James Lankford and Kevin Calvey are in a mad dash for money and votes in the closing days of their runoff election. The two Republicans are vying for their party’s nomination to become the next representative of Oklahoma’s 5th Congressional District. Calvey and Lankford were the two top vote-getters at the end of primary night…
Mainsite Contemporary Art focuses on fine-art photography with an exhibit showcasing a range of imagination and technique
Photos by Ann Sherman, Joshua Meier, Esteban Pulido and Trent Still through Sept. 4 Mainsite Contemporary Art 122 E. Main, Norman www.mainsite-art.com 310-9426 Modern society is awash with imagery as hastily snapped smartphone pictures litter social-networking sites. Parents proudly record every millisecond of their child’s life with point-and-shoot cameras and fixing their amateur eye with…
The state’s premier horse racing track gets a new owner and a major face-lift to entice crowds for its next season
Thoroughbred Season Opener 6:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday Remington Park 1 Remington Place www.remingtonpark.com Remington Park’s 22-year history started off brightly, as the venue emerged as a premiere track with bustling enthusiasm from the state’s race fans. Time passed, and the track’s status as a top-notch attraction faded to the point that the park faced closure. After…
The Oklahoma County Juvenile Justice Center seeks grant money for monitoring bracelets
Every weekday morning, Larry Hicks looks at the daily rap sheet and sees a familiar theme: Too many kids, not enough beds. As director of the Oklahoma County Juvenile Justice Center, Hicks continuously has to find ways to keep the center’s population below its maximum occupancy count of 80. One idea that was working involved…
Local and national comedy groups will perform at this weekend’s second annual Improv Festival Oklahoma
rticle_Thumbnails/JoeandJill1_7-06×10-58cm.jpg” />Improv Festival Oklahoma 7 p.m. Friday/7 p.m. Saturday Lyric Theatre 1727 N.W. 16th Individual show tickets are $15; festival passes are $50 As Cueless prepares to open the second annual Improv Festival Oklahoma, you can’t help but notice how far the troupe has come in a year. Beginning in the summer of 2009, the…
The Girl Who Played with Fire
nding the central character, or the first hint of a too-sterile bookend to a fantastically flawed, immensely likable character. Larsson’s books are a hit entirely because of Salander, a character expertly carried by Rapace, and briefly by Tehilla Blad, who plays a young Salander, when all the pain began. She’s troubled, but her mania comes…
Eat Pray Love
s a necessary contrast and perspective to our own humdrum existence, recharging our batteries and making the familiar tolerable again. But how much would you have to hate your life to transform it into a permanent vacation? Or, more to the point, how much would you have to hate yourself? In “Eat Pray Love,” Julia…
Point: Ultrasound law is unconstitutional
The injunction that prohibited House Bill 2780, the “Ultrasound Law,” from going into effect serves Oklahoma’s citizens well. This law requires a woman seeking to terminate a pregnancy to undergo an ultrasound whether or not it is medically necessary, and to view and hear a detailed explanation of the ultrasound image. In this law, Oklahoma…
Ready to say sayonara to the Tamagotchi? Dump it at this OKC recycling event
What do you do with the iPhone 3GS after you buy the iPhone 4? Or the LCD TV when you buy the LED version? Or the bulky iPod when you buy the Nano? For most people, it’s as easy as throwing the outdated device in the closet to collect dust along with the starved Tamagotchi…
The Expendables
Strip away the nostalgic value in seeing old-school action heroes in one movie and what’s left? Another attempt by Sylvester Stallone to make us think that over 60, he still has everything the Italian Stallion had when he was under 30. He does, but now it all has wrinkles on it. For the current generation…
In your Face
You talk, we listen! Here’s what readers said on some of last week’s Oklahoma Gazette stories, via unedited comments left on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/okgazette: On the rally to support alleged WikiLeaks source, Pfc. Bradley Manning from Crescent: “”I am probably the only person that agrees with this soldier getting punished. If he thinks…
Pops stopped
A man who was dubbed the “Granddad Bandit” ” when he may not be a grandfather at all ” has finally been caught after an alleged string of bank robberies across 13 states, including Oklahoma. The FBI caught 52-year-old Michael Francis Mara at his home in Louisiana. The Associated Press reported the balding Mara went…
Please give a little respect
I am angry. I am a 12-plus year resident of Oklahoma City, proud to live in Oklahoma and have been a resident and citizen of the United States all of my 53 years or life. I have watched life at its onset and life at its end. I volunteer of my time and money on…
Goodwill is raising money to complete a move to a larger space
Operating in the Oklahoma City area for nearly 75 years, Goodwill Industries of Central Oklahoma has made its mission putting people to work and improving lives. Now, however, the organization needs its own helping hand. Goodwill is trying to raise $300,000 through public donations to fund its ongoing relocation, made necessary by the city’s “Core…
Pollard kicks off its season with a take on the silly, award-winning ‘Harvey,’ but this bunny is too heavy to leave its burrow
Harvey 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday through Aug. 28 Pollard Theatre 120 W. Harrison, Guthrie $20, $18 seniors, $15 students www.thepollard.org 282-2800 Pollard Theatre has opened its 24th season with Mary Chase’s comedy “Harvey,” winner of the 1945 Pulitzer Prize. You may be wondering why Pollard opted to begin the season with this particular…
Turn and face the strain
Jenni White (Letters, “Just following orders,” Aug. 4, Gazette) contends that having non-white friends associated with the Tea Party and children in her family from Africa somehow absolves the Tea Party of its racist elements. While John R. Junger III (Letters, “Social discourse,” July 28, Gazette) wanted to “put aside the racism that is obvious…
Rest of Best of OKC
and shake our asses and put a smile on our face and flirt with pretty women.'” “Bleu Edmondson 3. “This is the darkest stuff you can manifest to balance that out, I need to look like a f—ing cupcake.” “Emilie Autumn 4. “And that theme song with the synthesizers just f—ing blew my mind.” “J.P.…
Kids and families will be amazed and entertained at Saturday’s “Pandemonium of Magic” event
“Pandemonium of Magic” 2 p.m. at the City Arts Center 3000 General Pershing. www.okcmagic.org $10 At age 2, kids think everything in the world is magical. By two or three years later, however, a child starts to appreciate the fantastical. That’s why movies like “Toy Story” hit it big with children (and adults, too) at…
Blackwatch Studios’ engineers adjust the mix of Norman’s music scene, blending bands and blurring lines for a monthly concert series
Blackwatch Presents The Burning Hotels, The Pretty Black Chains and The Boom Bang 9:30 p.m. Friday The Deli 309 White, Norman www.thedeli.us 329-3534 $5 Those who have borne witness to the Norman Music Festival know that the artistic community in Norman ” fans and musicians alike ” is a force to be reckoned with, although…
The members of Nashville country quartet Gloriana are ‘Wild at Heart’ and well on their way
Gloriana with Steel Magnolia 8 p.m. Saturday Frontier City 11501 N.E. Expressway www.frontiercity.com 478-2140 Free with park admission, $22.99-$36.99 Among the multitudes trying to make a career in music, precious few find that golden ticket in the corner bar where they languish. Tom and Mike Gossin, Rachel Reinert and Cheyenne Kimball spent plenty of time…
Staten Island’s 10-piece afrobeat brigade The Budos Band is all-instrumental, impossibly cool and more soulful than ever
The Budos Band with DJ Bronzai 9 p.m. Tuesday The Conservatory 8911 N. Western www.conservatoryokc.com 607-4805 $12 If Blood Sweat & Tears stole The Doors’ electric organ, raided a university percussion closet and grabbed anything that would fit in a hand or under an arm, local cops would be justified in calling up their New…
Ravaged by flooding, Stage Center will close for at least a year as the Arts Council of Oklahoma City figures out a long-term plan
The lights are out at Stage Center, but arts organizers are optimistic that the curtain hasn’t dropped permanently on the downtown community arts hub. The multiuse arts complex at 400 W. Sheridan was decimated by flooding on June 14, a torrential “500-year rainfall event” that brought 9 inches of rain in hours and left many…
Diane Jackson’s posthumous retrospective exhibit sheds light on life and work of local photographer
“Diane Jackson: A Retrospective” Individual Artists of Oklahoma Gallery 706 W. Sheridan through Sept. 4. noon to 6 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday 232-6060, www.iaogallery.org. Diane Jackson is remembered for her kindness, humor and empathy. She also had a practiced eye behind the camera. With a team of her friends assembling some of her most remarkable…
Metro-area religious coalition says it’s dedicated to helping community, but critics claim it’s ‘a socialistic-type organization’
Improving public schools and addressing the needs of senior citizens are the first two items on the Oklahoma Sponsoring Committee’s agenda. Not exactly the items you’d expect on the to-do list of ’60s-style radicals. Depending on whom you believe, the Oklahoma Sponsoring Committee (OSC) is either a part of a nefarious socialistic plot, or they…
Investing in education
The educational system is money-driven, instead of child-driven. The child is the book. We must learn to read him/her. We must recognize that he or she has an identity or role, and that it precedes our goals. As educators, our mission should be to help prepare students for success in school, work and life by…
Exploring meth
Sometimes, you just have to make do. So you wanted a new backpack ” we understand, that “Dora the Explorer” pack you’ve been sporting is a bit too “¦ let’s say young. But when times are tough, you just have to store your meth lab components in what’s available. Oh, how we wish this one…
Hayden Miller’ Self-titled
Muskogee-born Hayden Miller’s self-titled debut is an earnest effort, but it’s not sincere enough to be completely heartfelt, nor rowdy enough to be a real barnstormer. Musically, the 11-song country release is fine, although not particularly noteworthy. There’s Dobro, fiddle and pedal steel aplenty, but none of it proves interesting enough to draw attention from…
Whether the weather is stormy or calm, Norman’s National Weather Center is on the case
When the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain, the meteorologists at Norman’s National Weather Center, 120 David L. Boren Blvd. on the University of Oklahoma campus, are on high alert to anticipate Mother Nature’s sometimes-nasty moods. Student-led tours take visitors into the heart of the facility’s weather warning and storm forecasting nerve center for a…
A ‘somewhat amusing’ effort
I find all the talk about renewing Oklahoma’s effort to promote industrial development somewhat amusing, if not a little sad. As a nation, our governments have given American and foreign manufacturers carte blanche to do whatever they want. Since the Reagan years, what they have wanted was the cheap labor they could find overseas, and…
Counterpoint: Ultrasound law empowers women
Most of Oklahoma’s approximately 6,000 annual abortions are performed in the area of Central Oklahoma served by the Oklahoma Gazette. Thus, it’s greatly disappointing that an Oklahoma County district judge has blocked enforcement of an important state law that provides much-needed information to pregnant women considering abortion. The “Ultrasound Law” requires abortion providers to perform…
Dark and Stormy Night / The Lost Skeleton Returns Again
w.amazon.com/gp/product/6305882649?ie=UTF8&tag=oklahgazet-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=6305882649″>Clue.” All involve a large group of people trapped in a classy mansion on a rainy evening, where murder turns out to be the main course. Secret passageways are involved, and sometimes, a runaway ape. Such is the case here, all the better to lovingly poke fun at all the moldy conventions, right down to…
Dexter: The Fourth Season
John Lithgow, you are forgiven for all that silly slapstick stuff on “3rd Rock from the Sun.” Because now you scare me. Lithgow gives an Emmy-nominated (and hopefully Emmy-winning) performance as Arthur Mitchell, aka The Trinity Killer, the primarily villain for our favorite serial killer of serial killers, forensics tech Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall,…
OSS 117: Lost in Rio
French secret agent Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath is like Inspector Closeau, Maxwell Smart and Lt. Frank Drebin rolled into one, and given the 007-esque code name of OSS 117. As played by Jean Dujardin in “Oss 117: Lost in Rio,” the sequel to 2006’s hit “OSS 117: Cairo, Nest Of Spies,” he’s officially France’s…
Abandoned
Funny that the back cover of “Abandoned” references “The Twilight Zone,” because this should be an episode of that series instead of a full feature. There’s simply not enough story to sustain itself for the hour and a half it asks of you. Many “? myself included “? will watch it anyway, curious to see…
City Island
indicate a deeper problem. The only character who might experience real consequences is Vince’s acting class partner (Emily Mortimer), but her reality isn’t allowed to bleed into the general wackiness. Without the possibility of danger there’s no emotional investment, and therefore, no real interest in the characters. “?Mike Robertson
