Chernobyl Diaries
From the mind of Paranormal Activity maestro Oren Peli and first-time director Bradley Parker, the film follows six 20-somethings (including former boy bander Jesse McCartney) taking an “extreme tour” of the town of Pripyat, abandoned since the Chernobyl nuclear reactor disaster of 1986. They’re not supposed to be there, but it wouldn’t be extreme if…
247?F
Three years after a horrific car crash all but destroyed her will to live, Jenna (Scout Taylor-Compton of Rob Zombie’s pair of Halloween remakes) takes a much-needed vacay with three pals to a lakeside cabin for some R-and-R. Part of the agenda includes drinking brewskies in the sauna, then jumping into the lake to cool…
The Girl
Premiering Saturday, The Girl is the first of two high-profile biopics of the master filmmaker to hit screens this season. The other, simply titled Hitchcock, is a larger-budget feature with a whiff of Oscar bait, yet there’s room enough for both. While that forthcoming film focuses on the making of 1960’s Psycho, The Girl concerns…
The Tortured
That said, I’m a big boy. I can take it. That’s my way of saying I kind of dug the evil game it plays, mammoth faults and all, because how often does that happen? Having a child kidnapped is something I hope never to experience, yet that’s the premise behind this nasty little thriller, which…
Savory Vista
Bella Vista Italian Kitchen’s neighborhood is not trendy. The restaurant sits next to an auto parts store and a florist with a carnicería right across the street. The homes nearby probably won’t be inhabited by hip young professionals anytime soon. Inside, the Greco-Italian decor is a melange of enormous potted plants, gurgling fountains and walls…
Go Western
An Oct. 9 community meeting called by Ward 2 Councilman Ed Shadid at the Crown Heights Christian Church featured presentations by city officials from public works, transit and planning. Institute for Quality Communities director Blair Humphreys also spoke. The corridor has been the site of several disputes brought to city officials over the past two…
Bright lights, big Halloween
During this time of year, the Celts believed, the spirits of the dead walked among the living. In order to scare them off, the living needed to make a scene. Fast-forward to Halloween in the 21st century. The living are still making a scene. And Tino Pascuzzi and his wife, Cathleen, are ratcheting that scene…
Examining Islam
Can a case for democracy be made from a religious Muslim perspective? The question is particularly timely given the recent attacks on the Libyan embassy. Mustafa Akyol, a Turkish journalist and columnist, will address the question in a lecture Monday at Oklahoma City University. Akyol, the author of Islam Without Extremes: A Muslim Case for…
Getting fracked
CNN Money reported recently that the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, found that Promised Land is partly financed by Image Nation Abu Dhabi, part of the state-run media company for the United Arab Emirates. The UAE is the world’s third-largest oil exporter. Promised Land, written by and starring Matt Damon and John Krasinski (Jim…
Local heroes
Vince Gill, who was born in Norman and grew up in Oklahoma City, has already taken home a record 20 Grammys. He has now been nominated for induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. The impressive roster of Gill’s fellow nominees includes Elvis Costello, B.B. King and Ray Davies of The Kinks. Anthony Shadid, originally…
Rumble ink
Cindy Evans is no fair-weather fan. The Ratliff City resident recently took the additional step of committing Rumble to a tattoo on her left arm. “I love him to pieces!” Evans said of Rumble. “He is the best, most loving, most fun and most exciting mascot. He loves his fans, young and old alike. He…
Oh, baby!
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB” lang=”EN-GB”> While I’m not personally with child, nor have I adopted one of my own, most of the people close to me have expanded their families by way of baby. It’s made me realize one thing for sure: through the 2 a.m. feedings and the fact that breast pumps look like they…
Stage fright
The structure, just west of Myriad Botanical Gardens, is facing the real possibility of becoming intimate with a wrecking ball, as the building’s owner, the Oklahoma City Community Foundation, is trying to sell it. The building, which arguably resembles something created with giant Tinkertoy pieces, was constructed in 1969 by John Johansen. It long served…
Haunting 101
Built on 111,000 acres in 1879 by Col. George W. Miller, the 101 Ranch once hosted one heckuva wild west show that rivaled Buffalo Bill’s. According to author Matthew Mayo, after Miller died in 1903, his three sons took over the sprawling operation, only to see tragedy after tragedy follow. First, in 1927, Joe Miller,…
Spooky scribes
If Alice thought Wonderland was bad, then Zombieland would have had her begging to be hassled by a disgruntled patch of daisies again. Author Gena Showalter’s new series, The White Rabbit Chronicles, begins with Alice in Zombieland, a novel based on Lewis Carroll’s adventurous heroine. Showalter, an Oklahoma City native, is the best-selling author of…
Degrading the grade
Most districts have opted not to release the grades until the State Board of Education certifies them at its Oct. 25 meeting. Board members voted last week to halt its issuance so agency officials could review the evaluation system, which many district superintendents claim is flawed. The one exception in the metro, Putnam City Schools,…
A question of equality
Tamya Cox Photo: Mark Hancock Its proponents say the measure will advance equal opportunity. Authored by Sen. Rob Johnson, R-Kingfisher, State Question 759 would amend the state constitution to ban current policies requiring state agencies to submit annual affirmative action plans. Public offices would be prohibited from weighing inclusion or diversity when hiring. Although it…
Locked out and loaded
Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins stepped off the plane from Edmonton, Canada, in late September and quickly found their way to Bricktown. Thanks to the ongoing National Hockey League lockout, two of the world’s best young forwards will spend the foreseeable future playing for the Oklahoma City Barons. Most NHL players are locked out of…
Who’ll let the pets out?
This weekend while you’re carving pumpkins and stocking up on treats, the Central Oklahoma Humane Society suggests you add “adopt a pet” to your Halloween to-do list. Saturday and Sunday, PetSmart Charities will sponsor Woofness on Wheels, an adoption tour scheduled to stop at five metro locations. “Our goal is to get 200 pets adopted…
Say my name
Angela Renee Ingram has the legal name of James Dean Ingram, but lives as a woman. On Aug. 30, Judge Bill Graves denied her request to make Angela her legal name. He said Ingram’s DNA could not be changed to that of a female, and therefore, allowing a name change would be the furtherance of…
OKG7 new places for feasting
Flatire Burgers 6315 N.W. 39th, Bethany 603-2822 Same great menu as the Edmond place, but an additional location. Start with the fried pickles or ranchero salsa and chips. As for burgers, have it plain or get creative with the Maui Burger, which comes with grilled ham, cheese, pineapple-jalapeño relish and barbecue sauce. Skipping meat? Try…
Oklahoma’s animal house
His response was lovely and instant: “I will be happy to pick up Dr. Rollin at the airport.” Bernard Rollin, Ph.D., is a serious animal ethicist from Colorado State University’s philosophy department. Cattle ranchers and animal-rights activists alike consider him a friend. The Kirkpatrick Foundation debuted its ambitious new animal initiative — to make Oklahoma…
The federal Titanic is sinking
This is an apt analogy for our nation’s current fiscal crisis. Because of an accounting gimmick where governments pretend future liabilities don’t exist and, therefore, don’t account for them, most Americans don’t know how big the problem really is. The amount typically reported, nearly $16 trillion, is actually only the surface of our debt. According…
Cosmo recipe
Singer/guitarist Maxwell Moore and drummer Raney Aboud were having some difficulty figuring out a name for their fledgling garage-rock duo when genius finally struck. “We both love the show Seinfeld, so I had the idea of George Costanza’s face floating in space, and then it came to me,” Moore said of the decision to call…
Two is the right ‘Number’
Jewel Box Theatre continues its 55th season with a double bill of one-act plays. First up is The Ugly Duckling, a comedy by Winnie-the-Pooh creator A.A. Milne. Set in an undefined fairy tale kingdom, the duckling in question is Princess Camilla, the recipient of a magic spell that fools the world into thinking that she…
Shiny Toy Guns — III
It marks not only singer Carah Faye Charnow’s return to the band whose founders were born in Shawnee, but also a return to the New Wave synth-pop sound that made them famous. The opening trio of “Somewhere to Hide,” “Waiting Alone” and “Carrie” are just as synthsational as the band has ever been. “Carrie” is…
Chasing tailgate
At noon the day before home games, the Sooner-centric city transforms into a veritable land run, with people staking claim to prime boozing spots. They put up tents and set down generators. They heat up the grills, and the whole town has a big party. Norman topped the list above the likes of Seattle and…
Movin’ Melvins
The Melvins aren’t the household name they deserve to be. Hopefully, time will favor the American rockers, but if not, at least they will go down in the record books: Appearing Saturday at Opolis, the Melvins are in the midst of becoming the first band to play all 50 states (plus Washington, D.C.) in 51…
Come, the new Jerusalem
Preachers — the sophomore album from indie-rock outfit My Jerusalem, playing Thursday at The Conservatory — is as much indebted to a certain ’80s horror sequel as it is any musical influence. “I was at my usual coffee shop, and I saw this guy that looked like the creepy old guy from Poltergeist II. I…
Rational on climate change
It has become gospel among many on the political left that warmer temperatures are all our fault. Some on the right say don’t worry, be happy. Neither seems aware of the science behind it all. You cannot look at climate in 50-, 100- or even 1,000-year terms. For example, between 900 and 1300 A.D., the…
Toe ’nuff
Oklahoma City Ballet kicks off its new season Saturday with Director’s Choice, a series of three ballets chosen by Robert Mills, the artistic director. “Although five years is a relatively short amount of time, we are celebrating the fifth year of our transition as an organization to Oklahoma City Ballet [from Ballet Oklahoma] and my…
You’re doin’ vine, Oklahoma
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB” lang=”EN-GB”> Currently, Oklahoma wineries account for nearly $100 million in economic impact annually. As of 2010, there were 51 licensed wineries and 139 grape-growers in the state. The industry provided 840 jobs for Oklahomans. The numbers come from a survey by California-based Frank, Rimerman + Co. “Ninety to 95 percent of all…
Argo
There’s no way the movie industry could have resisted this stranger-than-fiction yarn. The film chronicles how CIA operative Tony Mendez (Affleck) saved the six by establishing a phony cover story that they were a Canadian movie crew scouting locations in Tehran for a science-fiction cheapie titled Argo. Details of that real-life mission would not be…
All systems go?
The situation surrounding city’s plans for new police, fire, dispatch and municipal courts information and computer systems — as well as allegations by a police captain against the city’s project manager overseeing the program — is the subject of a state auditor investigation. The investigation was forwarded by the city to the state auditor and…
Beyond the Black Rainbow
Ostensibly, the film’s plot — wait, perhaps I should put that word in quotation marks, and then quotation marks around that set of quotation marks just to be safe. Yeah, I’ll do that. Let’s start over. Ostensibly, the film’s ““plot”” centers on Elena (Eva Allan, TV’s Caprica), a young woman trying to escape the labyrinthian…
Sinister
Had I been watching it at home, alone, on a dark and stormy night, my neck likely would be sore by the end of it, from making repeated glances behind the couch — you know, just to be safe. It’s this year’s Insidious: well-built, respectful of audience members’ intelligence and yet genuinely freaky. Ethan Hawke…
Excision
Her Pauline is an 18-year-old high school senior with caked hair, unkempt eyebrows and a zit-ravaged complexion. Needless to say, she’s the opposite of popular, but harbors strange desires and experiences wild, clinical, bloody nightmares that David Cronenberg might classify as “a good sleep.” Where this goes is not immediately spelled out for viewers, adding…
Be true to your schools
Comtech owner Michael Morrison, who founded the Team Up OKC drive four years ago, said it’s possible that this year’s campaign exceeded last year’s efforts, which raised more than $100,000 in supplies. “Our community cares about the children in our schools and wants them to have the supplies they need to be successful,” Morrison said.…
The principal’s office
Fired Douglass teachers who raised the allegations, however, contend the district officials had ignored their complaints for three years. Oklahoma Gazette first reported the allegations in June, when district officials launched the probe at the request of former teachers and the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Sandra Park,…
