Romola Garai (Atonement) plays Sugar, a 19-year-old prostitute pimped out by her own mother (The X-Files’ Gillian Anderson, almost unrecognizable) to the hoity-toity about town. One such uncool customer is William Rackham (O’Dowd), a soap titan married to a mentally ill woman (Amanda Hale, Bright Star). So taken is he by Sugar’s honeypot that he […]
novel
Posted inMusic
Shadow of no doubt
Photo: Alex John Beck George Lewis Jr. — the New York City-based New Wave musician who performs as Twin Shadow — is in a different place than he was in the time surrounding the release of his 2010 debut, Forget. Touring behind that record found him abusing drugs, canceling some shows and waking up in […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The Lucky One
His books sell millions of copies, and Hollywood’s adaptations of them sell millions of tickets more: The Notebook, Message in a Bottle, Dear John, The Last Song, A Walk to Remember, Nights in Rodanthe. Love means never having to say anything of value. Now there’s The Lucky One, a big-boy vehicle for High School Musical […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Headhunters
Compared to the continent of Europe, the rate of death by guns in America is six times higher. You wouldn’t know it based on the current wave of crime films from that half of the globe. Arguably kicked off by the worldwide success of Sweden’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy, the movies of […]
Posted inArts & Culture
‘Time’ bandit
Avid readers keeping up with the current paranormal-fantasy scene will recognize Sherrilyn Kenyon’s name. With 60 published books across multiple series — and more than 50 of those titles landing on the New York Times best-seller list — the popularity of her work is undeniable. But Kenyon is not one to rest on her laurels, […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Steve Niles’ Remains
Making Reno, Nev., look like a miserable stinkhole of a city — and that’s even before any undead show up — Remains focuses on the dozens of denizens who play and work in the Silver Star Hotel and Casino. When a government test of a new “nuke oven” goes awry, everyone who’s not, say, having […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Fight for light
As the lead character in her novel weaves his way through a new relationship with a drag prostitute, read- ers are taken on a tour of Oklahoma City’s gay lifestyle. “I wanted to tell a story of what it was like for me and other people like me, who find it harder and harder to […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Storied speaker
A stranger is watching. Where are the children? A cry in the night. Suspense killing you yet? Those phrases also are titles of novels written by The New York Times bestselling author Mary Higgins Clark, the “queen of suspense.” The esteemed crime writer will speak Tuesday at Literary Voices, annual fundraising dinner to benefit the […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
However, those who have seen the original may wish to approach this version only to witness what Fincher brings to it, as the story remains unchanged in all but minor details. Many scenes seem shot on the very sets of Niels Arden Oplev’s 2009 film. What Fincher grants is a sharper, crisper look; a brisker […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Statuary world
A play by local author Bob Perry, based on his novel, staged its world premiere last week at Jewel Box Theatre. “Broken Statue” tells the compelling true story of the rise and fall of the Marland family, beginning in 1911, when down-on-his-luck former millionaire E.W. Marland comes from Pennsylvania to Ponca City, looking for oil. […]