Under Still Waters
About the worst thing I can say regarding “Under Still Waters” is that its title bears little relevancy to its plot. “Three’s a Crowd” would be more appropriate, although that would make it sound like a comedy, and if there’s one thing this film doesn’t have, it’s laughs. Good thing it’s a thriller, then. Lake…
The Phantom
<iframe marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" style="width: 120px; height: 240px;" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=oklahgazet-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B003Q7B71K&fc1=000000&IS2=1 I’m one of the few people who thinks there’s nothing inherently wrong with 1996’s “The Phantom,” which featured Billy Zane as the purple-suited superhero. Back then, comic-book movies weren’t dime-a-dozen as they are today, so you happily took what you could get. I remember it being promoted…
Deliver Us From Evil
What’s $600,000 among friends? A 1973 made-for-TV movie from Playboy Films, for starters. That’s “Deliver Us From Evil,” an obscure crime adventure now available through Warner Archive’s burn-on-demand online store. Its premise reads like D.B. Cooper meets “Deliverance,” minus the threat of man-on-man rape. (Seriously, even the first two words of the title sound like…
Big Truck Tacos currently winning national contest
Although it took the category in this year’s Best of OKC, Big Truck Tacos is not content with being only OKC’s best food truck. It’s setting its sights to be America’s favorite food truck, and currently sits at the top of the heap. Food Network’s “The Great Food Truck Race” is hosting a contest to…
Food bank distributes almost 12 million pounds of food in county
During fiscal year 2010, the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma distributed nearly 11,985,460 pounds of food and product in Oklahoma County through its network of partner agencies, which reported up to a 50-percent increase in needs. “In total, we distributed nearly 36.5 million pounds last year throughout our 53-county service area,” said Rodney Bivens, executive…
Fragile
<iframe marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" style="width: 120px; height: 240px;" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=oklahgazet-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B003T04NC4&fc1=000000&IS2=1 Completing my eight-film tour of the debuting “Fangoria FrightFest” line, I had saved the two Spanish, medical-themed ghost stories for last: “The Haunting” and “Fragile.” The former, my son and I found so boring, we admitted defeat and couldn’t finish it. The latter, much better. In fact,…
GLBT awareness bicycle trek takes woman through Oklahoma City
In order to bring awareness to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered (GLBT) rights issues, one woman has embarked on a journey that only two others have completed, and it’s taking her through the Sooner State. Ride the Arc resulted from a dream Danielle Girdano had after being laid off from her job. When she woke…
Action Figure Museum won’t hit the Bricks
Confronting relocation temptation, fighting the magnetic pull of higher foot-traffic and big-city positioning, the Toy & Action Figure Museum has unveiled its superpower: not moving. Despite Magneto-like efforts by the Bricktown Association to pull the museum from Pauls Valley to Oklahoma City, the fortress of figurines will stay put ” permanently. In a statement, curator…
A locally-focused art gallery breaks with tradition to feature German artist Sebastian Otto
Sebastian Otto Opening 7 p.m. Friday On display through Sept. 30 DNA Galleries 1705-B N.W. 16th www.dnagalleries.com 371-2460 Online social networking is usually reserved for bitching about work and sharing videos of people suffering trauma in their bathing-suit area, but it’s not all a cultural wasteland, as evidenced by www.iloveartbastard.com. The networking platform is designed…
Lottery Ticket
ta neighborhood. His best friend is Benny (Brandon T. Jackson, “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief”), and the gal he’s in love with but doesn’t know it yet is Stacie (Naturi Naughton, “Fame”). He lives with his grandma (Loretta Devine, “Death at a Funeral”) and works at the Foot Locker at the mall.…
Kind of Like Spitting’s Ben Barnett takes things a little easier with Blunt Mechanic
Blunt Mechanic with Andrew Jackson Jihad, O Fidelis and P.S. Conductor 8:30 p.m. Monday the Conservatory 8911 N. Western www.conservatoryokc.com 607-4805 $7 If you haven’t heard of Blunt Mechanic founder Ben Barnett’s old band, Kind of Like Spitting, don’t feel bad. “I think we did three interviews in 10 years,” Barnett said. “Nobody gave a…
Oklahoma City Council handed race organizers a ‘shocker,’ denying city funds to bring American Le Mans to OKC
Oklahoma City Grand Prix organizers aiming to bring big-league auto racing failed to hurdle an Oklahoma City Council vote on Aug. 31. Race organizers insisted the 6-2 “no” vote wasn’t a deathblow, but admitted it did throw a wrench into their hopes. “This is, without a question, one of the real shockers of my professional…
Cristela Carrizales’ one-woman show argues that size and color have little to do with character
Short, Round, & Brown 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday Ghostlight Theatre Club 3110 N. Walker www.ghostlighttheatreclub.com 286-9412 $10 Not content to wait on the sidelines of the musical-theater world any longer, acclaimed local actress Cristela Carrizales is challenging the status quo and taking center stage in her own one-woman show, “Short, Round, & Brown,” which debuts Thursday…
The Orr Family Farm combines a whole lot of adventure into one location
City slickers looking for a little “Green Acres” don’t have to leave the metro to find a bit of farm livin’ at the Orr Family Farm, 14400 S. Western. Billing itself as “agri-tainment,” the plantation play place is an outdoor oasis catering to kids. Llamas, pygmy goats, sheep, bunnies and pot-bellied pigs reside in…
State Question 750 would lower the threshold for citizen petitions to make it onto the ballot
With some of the highest hurdles for citizen initiative and referendum petitions to surmount in the United States, the chances of such measures coming to a statewide vote in Oklahoma could get a significant boost if State Question 750 is approved in November, according to the measure’s primary sponsor. “State Question 750 does one very…
Septemberfest is art, food, stories and all things that celebrate the state of Oklahoma
14th annual Septemberfest Oklahoma Governor’s Mansion, 820 N.E. 23rd the Oklahoma History Center, 2401 N. Laird the Harn Homestead, 1721 N. Lincoln 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday 557-0198 Free Between the days of Popsicles, poolside adventures and the crisp, leaf-strewn days of fall, comes Septemberfest. Hosted by Gov. Brad Henry and first lady Kim…
PR BS
Lots of press releases related to the Sooner State cross our desk. This week, these titles least screamed “Stop the presses!” “”P&G Voluntarily Recalls a Small Amount of Dry Cat Food” “”Magellan Midstream Closes Acquisition of Petroleum Storage and Pipelines” “”SmithAmundsen Greatly Expands Financial Services Practice” “”Kruse Energy and Equipment Auctioneers Hosts 3 Historic Auctions…
The City Lives concentrates three years and a string of bad luck into an EP of aching energy
The City Lives 9 p.m. Friday VZD’s Restaurant & Club 4200 N. Western www.vzds.com 524-4203 $8 The murmur could be heard from blocks away, a low rumble underlining an otherwise calm, tree-lined neighborhood just west of the Gold Dome. A bench seat from the van lined the entryway, and stacks of road cases and tour-marred…
Feeling sorry for Rep. Paul Wesselh
Paul Wesselhöft was right (Letters, “A call for nonviolent civil disobedience,” Aug. 25, Gazette): We “Gazettites” did “pounce” all over his letter and “demonize” him, because that’s what we do. Well, maybe not. I just feel sorry for the guy. Imagine spending your entire adult life serving as an official of the Christian religion and…
CFN Tweet of the Week
“Now that @okgazette is following me, I’ll watch my tweets. Don’t want to end up in Chicken Fried News.” “House District 84 candidate Brittany Novotny, posted at her Twitter page on Sept. 1
Isn’t it ironic?
Is it not the least bit ironic that Rep. Paul Wesselhöft (Letters, “A call for nonviolent civil disobedience,” Aug. 25, Gazette) accuses liberals of demonization immediately prior to launching into a spurious, factually challenged attack on the supporters of Park51, the Islamic cultural center planned several blocks from where the World Trade Center buildings once…
Extra Man
English students of all stripes have written many a term paper about Nick Carraway in “The Great Gatsby.” They often wonder, if the book is about Gatsby, why did Fitzgerald choose to have a young, socially awkward, milquetoast Everyman narrate? Wouldn’t it be easier to just have Gatsby explain his own thoughts and feelings? The…
Could it be … Satan?
They’ve kept it all pretty hush-hush, but we’ve heard a few rumors about a band of Satanists renting out the Civic Center for a rousing party complete with a side of exorcism. Nobody else is really talking about it. (Wait “¦ except for every news network out there, plus The Lost Ogle.) OK, so we’re…
Storytellers and performers to teach and entertain at the Oklahoma City Storytelling Festival
Oklahoma City Storytelling Festival Kerr Auditorium 123 Robert S. Kerr 9 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday www.artscouncilokc.com From bedtime stories featuring three little pigs and a big bad wolf, to the anecdotes that comprise daily conversations, storytelling is no new practice. In keeping with the ancient art’s staying power, the Oklahoma City Arts Council is…
An exhibition of Venetian paintings inspired by myth and history explores the legacy of the Floating City
La Serenissima: Eighteenth-century Venetian Art from North American Collections Opens Thursday On display though Jan. 2, 2011 Oklahoma City Museum of Art 415 Couch www.okcmoa.com 236-3100 $12 adults, $10 seniors, students and children 6-18 When living in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, one might assume that art would be derived by…
Long a prolific songwriter, Ariel Pink is finally lapping up overdue praise
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti with Depth and Current and Gang Starr Museum 9 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 15 Opolis 113 N. Crawford, Norman www.opolis.org 447-3417 $10 advance, $12 door $12 advance, $14 door under 21 The journey into a career in music has been a lifelong process for Ariel Pink, although he didn’t necessarily intend it…
Wesselh
The hysterically anti-Muslim letter from state Rep. Paul Wesselhöft (“A call for nonviolent civil disobedience,” Aug. 25, Gazette) reveals alignment with Glenn Beck’s anti-Muslim ranting on Fox News Radio. Beck and Wesselhöft should take a deep breath and consider some rational observations: Worldwide, al-Qaida’s political murders have killed more Muslims than Christians. The 9/11 terrorist…
Fire-breathers, stilt-walkers, art and more comprise the 2nd Friday Circuit of Art in Norman
2nd Friday Circuit of Art Norman Friday $2 for the night or $.50 per ride Public transit may not sound very exciting when considering the wait at the bus stop, the fare and finding a seat, but all of that changes on the second Friday of each month in Norman. That’s when the Norman Arts…
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 total mileage of the MAPS 3 trails addition: “”Pssh, all the funds (and attention) are going towards the very unnecessary new convention center. … they certainly have…
Wesselh
In his letter to the Oklahoma Gazette regarding a “mosque” at Ground Zero (“A call for nonviolent civil disobedience,” Aug. 25), Rep. Wesselhöft misrepresents the actual plans and mischaracterizes the organizer of this project. Further, he warns that this project will embolden Muslims to “renew their jihadist war on Americans” and our values. Wesselhöft is…
Them bones
A federal judge, according to The Associated Press, recently threw out a lawsuit last month filed by Geronimo’s descendents. Twenty of the Apache warrior’s descendants were hoping to rebury him near his birthplace in New Mexico. Last year’s suit alleged that Skull and Bones, a secret society at Yale University, pilfered Geronimo’s remains from his…
New poll shows Oklahomans don’t have very favorable view of mainstream media, with some exceptions
A recent survey of Oklahomans’ views of broadcast news finds perception meets reality as political views dictate viewer choice, with one exception. SoonerPoll.com asked 500 registered voters across the state for their thoughts about mainstream media, including selected cable news channels. Some of the results are hardly surprising. When it comes to the mainstream press,…
New York Summer’ Ticking Clocks and Masquerades
“Ticking Clocks and Masquerades” must have occupied a lot of New York Summer’s time. Sonically, the dozen tracks assembled by the four Oklahoma City musicians are crystal-clear and as near-perfect as locally produced albums go. In fact, the recording itself is as good as anything I’ve heard emanating from any corner, anywhere, so kudos to…
Lawmaker’s logic is flawed
I read with interest the letter from Rep. Wesselhöft (“A call for nonviolent civil disobedience”) in your Aug. 25 issue. I weighed his arguments as carefully as I could, and re-read the letter to be certain of its intent. Unfortunately, Rep. Wesselhöft’s logic is flawed in several key areas, but let’s focus on one: If…
The American
Our hero is an assassin, so there’s no telling what he did to upset those pesky Swedes, a tenacious, hardy breed. Jack (George Clooney, “Up in the Air”) is on the run. Things didn’t go well up north, and three bodies bloodying up the snow means it’s time to lay low. Jack’s handler, Pavel (Johan…
New law requiring medical approval after a student athlete suffers a concussion comes under debate
Justin Barney would be a senior this year. He could have been a captain on the football team, a shoo-in for homecoming king or the star pitcher for Rush Springs, just waiting to play college baseball for his beloved Rice University Owls. These were the dreams of a 14 year old, and with just 3:52…
Things old, new and borrowed are all a part of Eric Sardinas’ blues
Eric Sardinas with Zen Okies, Roland Bowling Band and The Blackhawk Blues Band 7 p.m. Friday Oklahoma City Limits 4801 S. Eastern www.oclimits.com 619-3939 $15 Eric Sardinas loves the blues. You can hear it in his voice when he starts talking about its artists. He sounds as excited as a little kid, which is appropriate…
Alcohol in grocery stores
Over the past year, several commentaries have promoted wine sales in grocery stores. I wanted to offer the public safety and public health perspective on the grocery store sales debate. Oklahoma has 630 liquor stores, or one for every 5,800 people in the state. If every retail outlet that currently sells cigarettes were also allowed…
The Office: Season Six
On Friday mornings, after a new episode of “The Office” airs the night before, we talk about it around our office. This past year, I’ve heard a lot of, “It’s not as good as it used to be.” While I agree to some degree, it’s still funnier than all other comedies on network TV, minus…
Star Crash
When “Star Wars” broke box-office records, producer Roger Corman responded by putting the Italian-made “Star Crash” into wide release in 1978, hoping it’d be the start of a blockbuster sci-fi franchise of his own. It wasn’t. But I am totally and completely serious when I say that “Star Crash” is better than “Star Wars.” I’d…
Boogie Woogie
Weep once more for the 2006 passing of Robert Altman, because he might’ve knocked something like “Boogie Woogie” out of the park, even if it’s thematically reminiscent of his middling “Pr
Hatchet
<iframe marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" style="width: 120px; height: 240px;" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=oklahgazet-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B003PBYSTA&fc1=000000&IS2=1 Now that the 2007 slasher opus “Hatchet” obviously didn’t spawn “the next icon of horror” as hype had it, it’s much easier to separate the film from the flam and enjoy it more. That goes double if you listen to director Adam Green’s commentary on the film’s…
