Masking baldness is a small ruse, to be sure, but it’s par for the course in David O. Russell’s (Three Kings, Silver Linings Playbook) loping, loopy and very funny caper set in the late 1970s and early ’80s. The story is loosely based on Abscam, a 1980 FBI sting operation that netted bribery convictions of […]
review
Posted inArts & Culture
Saving Mr. Banks
This holiday season, Hollywood’s gift to itself — oh, you shouldn’t have! — is also Walt Disney Pictures’ Christmas offering to moviegoers: Saving Mr. Banks, a depiction of the trying times that went into the making of Disney’s 1964 classic Mary Poppins. Unwrapping it, you may be surprised to learn that so much material is […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Sanitarium
Coming in before the New Year’s bell is Sanitarium, in which three unknown directors contribute tales exploring mental illness, each centered on a patient at a padded-wall institution run by Dr. Stenson (Malcolm McDowell, Silent Night), our host. First up, in “Figuratively Speaking,” an artist played by Scrooge‘s John Glover (sporting dreadlocks that make him […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Unhung Hero
That poor schmo left kneeling awkwardly is Patrick Moote, a Los Angeles actor/comedian who later found out that his girlfriend wouldn’t accept his marriage proposal for one teeny-tiny reason: his penis. As in, it’s too small. Until her admission, Moote wasn’t aware of his deficiency, so he instantly joined one of the 2 billion men […]
Posted inMusic
Magna Carta Holy Sh*t
The former is, of course, met with deafening applause, wild cheering and a palpable sense of excitement, as is the latter. But the icon is greeted with something more, this sort of split-second pause, wherein that uncontainable anticipation is temporarily supplanted with an awestruck, almost audible gasp of, “Oh my god. He is real.” That’s how […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Muscle Shoals
Even in what has been an impressive year for the rock ’n’ roll documentary — or rockumentary, if you wanna sound like Rolling Stone magazine — Muscle Shoals stands out. How could it not? The film, which screens Thursday through Sunday at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, chronicles the irresistible oddity of Muscle Shoals, […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Escape from Tomorrow
With Escape from Tomorrow, one fears the story behind the movie would loom larger than the movie itself. Luckily, that is not the case. After all, it opens with a decapitation on Disney World’s Big Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster. For those who don’t know, much of Escape from Tomorrow was shot surreptitiously at Disney […]
Posted inMusic
Soul Williams — Love, Soul: The Musical Letters Collective, Part 1
With a humble swagger and beats that could knock down the walls of Jericho, Williams’ newest album fills the pews with a low-down gospel message that, refreshingly, isn’t afraid to pull out a whip and strike down the false prophets crowding the temples of the holy. For example, the second track, “Revolutionary Minds” — co-written […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Inside Llewyn Davis
There are several shots in Joel and Ethan Coen’s latest that (intentionally) offer a similar imagery, only with one very significant difference: Its protagonist, Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac, Drive), is a lone wolf in the truest sense — aloof, misunderstood and tragically unsuccessful in his personal and professional endeavors. Set in 1961, the film opens […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Pollo outlet
Depending on who you trust, El Pollo Chulo could have several meanings. Google decided it means “The Pimp Chicken,” and if I’m being completely honest, this is the definition I want to believe is true. El Pollo Chulo (5805 NW 50th St.), strutting down the street. Fancy feather-fur coat. Chicken cane. Hens all over the […]