Sherlock Holmes
Two new movies titled “Sherlock Holmes” currently dot the landscape. One, of course, features Robert Downey Jr. The other features rockets and dinosaurs, junior. Confused? Then I’m assuming you’ve never heard of Asylum Home Entertainment, which specializes in riding the coattails of Hollywood’s big-budget offerings with direct-to-DVD productions. Fans call them “mockbusters”; Asylum prefers the…
Wanda Sykes: I’ma Be Me
” Let your imagination fill in the verb. Change becomes a running theme throughout her set, from the roll on her expanding midsection (she’s nicknamed it “Esther”) to her new role as a mother of twins. Oh, the double whammy of coming out and getting married, which leads to a hilarious recollection of doing a…
The Invention of Lying
What do you make of a romantic comedy ballsy enough to challenge belief in God? We’re not in Matthew McConaughey territory anymore. Last year’s “The Invention of Lying” is a romcom with a subversive streak, but writer/director/star Ricky Gervais (“Ghost Town”) prefers his rebellion with a smile. It’s a curious, if uneven, sensibility, but at…
Presenting Roger Corman’s … Best of the B*s Collection 1: Hot Bikes, Cool Cars & Bad Babes
As of right now, the award for the most needlessly complex DVD title of the year seems in the bag for “Presenting Roger Corman’s … Best of the B*s Collection 1: Hot Bikes, Cool Cars & Bad Babes.” Although a viable force independent cinema for more than five decades, Corman’s visibility has strengthened of late,…
Surrogates
The quasi-sci-fi thriller “Surrogates” takes place at least 14 years in the future. Everything looks the same “? all that’s different is that people no longer leave their homes, because genius Dr. Canter (James Cromwell) invented robotic surrogates to get out and live people’s lives for them. Trouble erupts when someone “? a real person…
Copyright Criminals
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Get ahead of the next ice-pocalypse by stocking up on worst-case-scenario products
When dawn broke on city streets Christmas morning, it revealed hundreds of abandoned vehicles littered along the shoulders and stuck in snowbanks from the previous day’s blizzard. Emergency checklist The scene was an eerie reminder of the devastating ice storms Oklahoma has endured in the past 10 years, including the 2007 event that led to…
Marriage a private matter
Well, it seems that in this legislative session we are going to debate divorce. With all our fiscal troubles, I’m sure you didn’t have that on your list of legislative priorities for the year.The proposed House Bill 2279 disallows a court from granting a divorce on the grounds of incompatibility if there are minor children,…
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)
One of the musical Jonas Brothers got married last month. Up until then, 22-year old Kevin Jonas was a virgin, having long ago pledged himself to abstinence until his wedding day. At Huffingtonpost.com, humorist Andy Borowitz reported that when Jonas and his bride returned from their honeymoon, he had some shocking news. “To be honest,…
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)
Dear Rob: I’ve been listening to your audio messages on my laptop in my bedroom. And I’ve noticed a curious thing: My cat goes NUTS trying to get to you. She never shows any interest in the other videos and music I play. But when your voice comes on, she does everything she can to…
Fans should prepare to pucker up and smooch for big screen at Thunder games
You have to have some serious pull. You have to be celebrity-big. A Ford Truck Man. A movie star. You gotta be known. If you’re not, and most folks interested in going to an Oklahoma City Thunder basketball game don’t have their own nickname or get the opportunity to call the shots, every shot, every…
Least Competent Criminals
Failed to Keep a Low Profile: A news summary of traffic stops on Christmas Eve in Alice Springs, Australia, noted that 11 people were charged with DUI, including one man who was spotted driving despite his car’s hood being broken in the “up” position and having smashed through his windshield. The driver maneuvered down the…
Just Can’t Stop Myself!
In November, Oprah Winfrey’s mother, Vernita Lee, and the luxury fashion store Valentina Inc. announced a settlement of the latter’s lawsuit over Lee’s $155,547 outstanding tab. On a previous tab of $174,285 in 2002, Lee had agreed to make periodic repayments, but the store apparently allowed her to open another account, and as the new…
Arizona’s post-hardcore Scary Kids Scaring Kids give up the ghost with a farewell tour
Scary Kids Scaring Kids with Our Sky Is Falling6:30 p.m. tonightthe Conservatory8911 N. Westernwww.conservatoryokc.com879-9778$12 advance, $14 door By the time a band reaches the point of implosion, there’s usually no going back. Farewell tours are a relatively rare occurrence, unless you’re with The Who, which has made goodbyes a central tour-promotion gimmick for the last…
Two soldiers tasked with notifying next of kin deliver an emotional narrative in ‘The Messenger’
Each United States war has produced its own kind of war movie. World War II films generally celebrate the virtues of heroic sacrifice; the Cold War warned against the soul-vampirism of functional Communism; Vietnam showed us the futility of imperialism and the fragility of the human psyche. What most of these had in common is…
Fireplaces offer variety, utility for winter season
There’s nothing like being cozy on a lazy Saturday around the crackling fireplace, while the bitter cold sets in outside your window. Burning GreenGreat Balls of FireName of the Flame “A fireplace says family, it says gathering, it says romance,” said Kandi Isenbart, owner of Bachle’s Fireplace Furnishings & Outdoor Living, 9422 N. May, a…
Crossover-thrash original D.R.I. rides high on the return of a sound it helped pioneer
D.R.I with GRG, Violent Affair and Soul Craft Black6:30 p.m. Saturdaythe Conservatory8911 N. Westernwww.conservatoryokc.com879-9778$10 advance, $13 door Timing is everything. While thrash pioneers Dirty Rotten Imbeciles (aka D.R.I.) have been at it for 28 years, touring regularly much of that time, the musicians are fresh back from a four-year hiatus brought on by guitar player…
ARIES (March 21-April 19)
Philosopher David Pearce is committed to the abolition of suffering. While he acknowledges that we’ve got a long way to go before accomplishing that goal, he believes it’s possible, mostly with the help of technology. (More at http://bit.ly/8oTsCV.) More than two millennia ago, Buddha also articulated a vision for the cessation of suffering. His methods…
The Continuing Crisis
A man identified in China’s Chongqing Evening News in November as Mr. Zhang, 32, admitted he is competitive with his wife and “never wants to lose an argument,” but inevitably his contentiousness leaves him with “bruises and scars all over” because Mrs. Zhang is a kung fu master. After negotiations led by Mrs. Zhang’s parents,…
With a little help from my friends
Big-time traffickers who smuggle illegal immigrants into the U.S. from Mexico rely on GPS devices to evade the Border Patrol, but starting in June, border-jumpers who travel on their own can have protection, too. Three University of California, San Diego faculty members have designed inexpensive cell phones with special software to locate water, churches and…
Conservation easements set to preserve Okie paradise from becoming parking lots
John D. Potts remembers when he was very young and driving in the dairy cows to be milked at the independent, family- owned Potts Dairy south of the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman. “When a person grows up with the land, you come to appreciate what it was,” said Potts, reminiscing about the large trees…
Gone fishin’
So, apparently the University of Oklahoma has a fishing team ” and we don’t mean young studs competing to reel in the ladies. According to an article from The Norman Transcript, OU not only has a fishing team, but the duo just won a division event that places them in contention for a regional championship.…
When Animals Attack exhibits exaggeration and hilarity
ts and seniors, and $5.75 for children 4-12. 478-2250, www.nationalcowboymuseum.org. Even before television made a place in every home, Americans found “When Animals Attack” to be prime viewing material. The only difference: The attacks in those days were very staged and much more amusing “? and sometimes in 3-D. The “When Animals Attack?: Humorous Hunting…
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)
I have a Piscean friend who does modern-day cave paintings. She hikes out to underground caverns and abandoned gold mines, where she creates murals on stony walls. Only a few friends know about her unusual hobby. She shows us photos of her work, but otherwise keeps it secret. She says it’s a pleasurable spiritual practice…
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
I don’t mean to sound melodramatic, and I certainly don’t want to encourage you to do something foolish, but if you’ve been pondering the possibility of storming the castle, this would be a good time to do so. What exactly am I implying with the phrase “storming the castle”? Well, anything that involves a brave…
Legendary Globetrotter began career in Oklahoma
Every once in a while, Marques Haynes allows himself to recount the amount of basketball he played during his professional career ” which spanned an unimaginable 51 years ” and he just shakes his head and smiles. “Honestly, it almost sounds unbelievable to think I played so many games for so many years,” said Haynes,…
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)
Cartoon character Homer Simpson is on record as saying that whenever he learns something new, it pushes some old stuff out of his brain. For example, when he took a course in home winemaking, he forgot how to drive. But I don’t see this being a problem for you as you enter the High-Intensity Educational…
A Single Man
In “A Single Man,” George (Colin Firth, “A Christmas Carol”), a 52-year-old, gay college professor of English undone by grief at the loss of his beloved partner of 16 years, first-time writer/director Tom Ford elicits an emotionally stunning performance from Firth. He also evokes the look and feel of a repressed 1962 world that draws…
The imagination of Owl City’s Adam Young runs wild, right up the charts
Owl City with Lights and Deas Vail7:30 p.m. FridayDiamond Ballroom8001 S. Easternwww.diamondballroom.net(866) 977-6849Sold out Owl City auteur Adam Young prefers e-mail interviews ” emblematic of his musical oeuvre and style. His reliance on computers is reflected in the burbling electronic backdrops of his songs, which he creates alone in a home studio, first in his…
The public does not need these releases
Lots of press releases related to the Sooner State cross our desk. Over the last few weeks, these titles least screamed, “Stop the presses!” “”Fish Survival Study on Hydrokinetic Power Turbine Shows Device is Ultra Fish Friendly”””United Recovery Systems Opens New Call Center”””Biostar Pharmaceuticals Strengthens Corporate Governance with Appointments of New Independent Directors, Establishment of…
‘Getting off’ from the soapbox
R. Thompson’s response to my letter (“Get off your soapbox and do something,” Jan. 13, 2010, Gazette) really had me thinking. However, the response came out swinging but didn’t land a punch. In my letter, (“MAPS 3 needs a spanking,” Dec. 30, 2009, Gazette), I was neither for nor against MAPS 3, and I stated…
The Skys – Small Dreams in an Elevator
The brainchild of Green Lemon guitarist/singer Wayne Allen, The Skys’ debut album, “Small Dreams in an Elevator,” is an eight-track collection of circuitry-inflected songs assembled by a small cast of studio musicians. Released earlier this month, “Small Dreams” is a significant departure from the jam-edelic Oklahoma City-cum-Fort Collins, Colo., band, but Allen’s voice is sufficiently…
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)
Take what you really need, Capricorn, but don’t take what you just sort of want. That’s my advice to you. Haggle with life, yes, but insist only on the specific essentials and forgo irrelevant goodies. A similar principle applies as you seek the information you crave: Formulate precise questions that will win you the exact…
Commentary: Strengthen the prenup
I’ve never heard it said that a prenuptial agreement could save the world, but I’m starting to believe that it may be able to actually save a few marriages. As an attorney who works with divorcing couples on a daily basis, I’ve had a professional perspective on the issue. However, with many friends and acquaintances…
Having Fun Now!
On the heels of the “Balloon Boy” fiasco in which a super-ambitious father exploited his child to win a reality TV job, Jim Dunn of North Vancouver, British Columbia, submitted a demo reel to reality-show producers featuring him and his entire family turned into gasoline-soaked fireballs. Dunn, one of Canada’s leading film stunt men, and…
CC Sabathia to receive award in OKC at Warren Spahn Award Gala
Warren Spahn Award Gala Tuesday, Jan 25, 7 p.m. Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame & Jim Thorpe Museum, 4040 N. Lincoln. individual tickets, $150 605-2375, www.okcspahnawards.com. The Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame Museum, Bricktown Rotary and the Jim Thorpe Association will host the Warren Spahn Award Gala Tuesday to honor the careers of three Oklahoma…
The Lovely Bones
In the Bad Movie First Lines Hall of Fame, a special place has been reserved for “My name is Salmon, like the fish. First name, Susie.” Credit for that can’t go entirely to “The Lovely Bones” screenwriters Fran Walsh, Phillippa Bovens and Peter Jackson (“The Lord of the Rings” trilogy), because they were working from…
Adventurous Oklahomans seek slopes with sleds, snowboards and more
Oklahoma City might not get the same snowfall of Aspen, Colo., but there is still fun to be had on metro slopes. At even the slightest hint of flakes, enthusiasts dig out sleds, baking sheets, cardboard boxes and plastic lids to zoom down neighborhood hills. Sled controlNot so easy According to Chris Downham, owner of…
A new program hopes to put local businesses at the forefront of consumers’ minds
Awareness is the Achilles heel of locally-owned businesses. Without the multimillion dollar advertising budgets to saturate television, radio and print, locally owned shops, eateries, bars and charities are handicapped against big-box retailers and nationwide restaurant chains as they fight for market visibility. Keep It Local OK is a new group looking to even the odds…
Down, set, but
Still basking in the glow of the MAPS 3 victory, Mayor Mick Cornett’s Jan. 13 State of the City address drew attention to Oklahoma City’s original wish list submitted by citizens three years ago. No. 10 on the list? That would be a new NFL stadium, which garnered 65 nominations (along with soccer) on OKC’s…
Two sisters squabble over stamps in ‘Mauritius,’ a serviceable morality tale
Mauritius8 P.M. Friday-Saturday, through Feb. 6Carpenter Square TheaterArena Theatre, Stage Center400 W. Sheridanwww.carpentersquare.com232-6500$18, $15 Seniors, military and students Worth several million dollars, the right postage stamps can almost get a philatelist killed. In “Mauritius” by Theresa Rebeck, now being presented by Carpenter Square Theatre, Jackie (Holly McNatt) and her half-sister, Mary (Courtney L. Hahne), are…
Author A.A. Milne’s birthday to be celebrated with two Winnie-the- Pooh parties
Pooh Bear Parties in celebration of A.A. Milne’s Birthday 2 to 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan 21. and Saturday, Jan. 23 Oklahoma City Zoo, 2101 N.E. 50th. $15 for ZooFriends members, $20 for nonmembers. Reservations are required and can be made at 425-0218 or www.okczoo.recware.com. There are five bears at the Oklahoma City Zoo, but only…
Swedish Reader Liking Vikings
As a 50 percent Swedish Euro-mongrel, I have been following the ongoing debate regarding Asatru, the ancient religion of The Great White Norse, appearing between the covers of the Gazette. I think the count is now up to one article and three letters to the editor. I haven’t seen so much interest in a topic…
Families get creative with fun to beat dull, frigid winters
It’s 5:30 p.m. as a mother ” fighting biting-cold winds” leaves her job for the day. The sun is but a faint blue glow in the horizon. By the time she arrives home, the sky is black. She opens the door and steps through a maze of coats, hats and gloves to find her children…
OKC Downtown College brings together five public institutions for college classes in downtown
Oklahoma City attorney James Jennings has always wanted to write a novel and get it published, but when he started getting serious about the idea, he realized it was easier said than done. “I discovered when I began to pursue that in earnest that you have to learn something about it, I mean, you have…
Hoop spirits
Never mind the fact that the New York Knickerbockers, Knicks for short, have been one of the worst teams in professional basketball for the past several years. (The last time they made the playoffs was six years ago.) No, it was those pesky Oklahoma City ghosts, not the Thunder, that caused them to lose their…
Reverend Horton Heat returns to spread the word of rockabilly good times
Reverend Horton Heat with Deadbolt8 p.m. ThursdayDiamond Ballroom8001 S. Easternwww.diamondballroom.net(866) 977-6849$20 advance, $23 door The cover of Reverend Horton Heat’s most recent album features a clown bedecked in suspenders, a cowboy hat and a red-and-white-checked bandana. The mixed clown/cowboy motif captures the spirit of the disc, “Laughin’ & Cryin’ with The Reverend Horton Heat,” which…
News That Sounds Like a Joke
Plastic surgeon Mark Weinberger, who skipped town in Merrillville, Ind., in 2004 to avoid mounting malpractice lawsuits and Medicare fraud charges, was finally cornered living in a tent on the southern slopes of Italy’s Mont Blanc in December. As authorities approached to arrest him, Dr. Weinberger grabbed a knife and plunged it into his neck,…
Bentin Review Not Too ‘Precious’
Doug Bentin wrote a review of the recent film “Precious” (Semi-‘Precious,’ Nov. 25, 2009, Oklahoma Gazette), and I had not seen the film until recently. Apparently, Bentin has been so privileged in his years on this earth he has not experienced illiteracy, physical and emotional abuse and neglect, rape, poverty, bullying and obesity. In the…
Cycling not just summer exercise
When Neill Harmer of Oklahoma City lost a tremendous amount of weight, the one thing he didn’t want was to put it back on.Warming upKeeping your cool That meant eating right and exercise ” lots of exercise. Running helped, but when he began cycling as part of a triathlon training, he found his new love.…
GEMINI (May 21-June 20)
Let us not underestimate the privileges of the mediocre, wrote Friedrich Nietzsche. “Life becomes harder and harder as it approaches the heights — the coldness increases, the responsibility increases.” I bring these thoughts to your attention, Gemini, because in the next two months you’ll be in a prime position to renounce some of the “privileges”…
Understand Cause, Propose Cures
I often disagree with the opinions, observations and positions taken by Professor Kurt Hochenauer in his commentaries that appear periodically in Oklahoma Gazette. This is to be expected because Hochenauer is a self-identified progressive (he used to be a liberal), and I have always been and remain a conservative. However, I do agree with some…
Studi the facts
We haven’t heard from Oklahoma actor Wes Studi (“The Last of the Mohicans,” “Dances with Wolves,” “Mystery Men”) for quite a while ” he always did seem like the quiet type ” but suddenly, he’s top-of-mind again. The main reason: “Avatar.” Perhaps you’ve heard of it. It’s only the second highest-grossing movie ever made. In…
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)
This would be an excellent time for you to do a lot less of everything. You’re entering a phase when you can actually help your long-term goals by being less ambitious. The point is not to give up your drive to succeed, but rather just put it to sleep for a while. Let it recharge.…
MAPS 3 campaign cost more than $2 million
More than $2 million was spent persuading voters to approve the MAPS 3 initiative, according to campaign reports. The latest reports filed with the Oklahoma City Clerk’s office show the Yes for MAPS campaign raised more than $2.025 million in contributions, with another pro-MAPS 3 group, Modern Transit Project, raising an additional $13,756. The majority…
Pontypool
<iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=oklahgazet-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B002TZS5G0&fc1=000000&IS2=1 Remember the opening of George Romero’s original “Dawn of the Dead,” when the broadcasters started freaking out in their control booths? Imagine a zombie film where the story stayed with them, and you have Bruce McDonald’s “Pontypool,” a 2008 horror indie that, for once, lives up to its hype. Ignore the silly name;…
