ALMOST FAMOUS. Written and directed by Cameron Crowe. 124 minutes. Rated R. Cameron Crowe’s “Almost Famous” is about a 15-year-old boy coming of age in a world of rock stars, rock groupies, mind-bending drugs, sex, single motherhood and – underscoring it all with an exclamation… Read More
ORONO – “I was everything and nothing,” says a dying Cyrano de Bergerac to his love, Roxanne. The same could be said of Aquila Theatre Company’s production of Edmond Rostand’s classic play Sunday afternoon at the Maine Center for the Arts. googletag.cmd.push(function () { //… Read More
A familiar name strikes again on NBC tonight as “Deadline” debuts at 9. The newspaper drama is the brainchild of Dick Wolf, whose “Law & Order” and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” already are dependable ratings draws for the network. “Deadline” stars Oliver Platt… Read More
The success in recent years of first “Providence,” then “Judging Amy” has shown the networks that there’s an audience out there for family series without all the sturm und drang of many of today’s dramas. Think of these as the television equivalent of “chick flicks.”… Read More
BANGOR – Amiable and informal, the Husson College Piano Series in the intimate Kominsky Auditorium in Peabody Hall could give chamber music a good name. Audience and performers are reasonably close together, acoustics are good (the listening is easy) and a musician can talk about the program if… Read More
In Theaters URBAN LEGENDS: FINAL CUT 94 minutes. Rated R; directed by John Ottman, written by Paul Harris Boardman and Scott Derrickson. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0;… Read More
THE PLEASING HOUR, by Lily King, Atlantic Monthly Press, New York, 1999, 250 pages, $24. Everything about Lily King’s book “The Pleasing Hour” is designed to keep the reader slightly off balance, to withhold pat solutions and easy answers. That’s entirely appropriate, given the situation… Read More
WOMAN ON TOP, Directed by Fina Torres. Written by Vera Blasi. 93 minutes. Rated R. There’s something about Penelope Cruz, the sexy star of Fina Torres’ “Woman on Top,” that’s suggestive of something, well, overtly suggestive. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes =… Read More
Darren Star seems to be savoring the taste of respectability. The veteran producer has always been able to supply good ratings as the creator and producer of nighttime soap operas “Melrose Place” and “Beverly Hills 90210.” But now he’s become a critical darling thanks to… Read More
In theaters BAIT 110 minutes. Rated R; directed by Antoine Fuqua; written by Tony Gilroy, Andrew Scheinman and Adam Scheinman. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i… Read More
The Bangor Symphony Orchestra launched its 105th season dramatically, romantically and robustly to a packed audience at the Maine Center for the Arts in Orono on Sunday afternoon. The familiar red performance area of the MCA filled up early with a crowd eagerly awaiting the… Read More
SHOWER, directed by Zhang Yang, written by Liu Fen Dou, Yang, Huo Xin, Diao Yi Nan and Cai Xiang Jun. In Chinese with English subtitles. 92 minutes. PG-13. Now playing, Railroad Square Cinema, Waterville. In the fun, energetic opening moments of Zhang Yang’s “Shower,” a… Read More
IMAGES OF AMERICA BREWER, by Richard R. Shaw; Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, SC.; 2000, 128 pages, $18.99. Arcadia’s Images of America series topped 1,000 editions last year – with good reason. The sepia-covered slim volumes really capture the essence of communities in historic pictures and accompanying… Read More
BANGOR – “I’m shy,” confided 27-year-old pianist Konstantinos Papadakis, speaking barely above a whisper as he greeted his capacity audience Monday evening in the intimate Kominsky Auditorium in Peabody Hall at Husson College. When his listeners laughed encouragingly, he continued with his comments about the program to come,… Read More
In theaters THE WATCHER 93 minutes, R, directed by Joe Charbanic; written by Darcy Meyers, David Elliot, and Clay Ayers. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i… Read More
BUGIALLI ON PASTA, by Giuliano Bugialli; Stewart, Tabori & Chang, New York; 2000, 399 pages, $35. It may be because I’m about as far from Italian as a girl can get. Or because I’m lazy. Or because I’m always pressed for time. Whatever the reason,… Read More
In theaters THE LIFE AND TIMES OF HANK GREENBERG. Directed by Aviva Kempner. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length; i++) { if (isMobileDevice()) { if… Read More
WINDOWS ON THE PAST: FOUR CENTURIES OF NEW ENGLAND HOMES, written by Jane C. Nylander with Diane L. Viera, color photographs by David Bohl, historic photographs courtesy of the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, Bulfinch Press, Boston, 2000, 208 pages, hardcover, $45. Read More
OGRES! OGRES! OGRES! A Feasting Frenzy from A to Z, written by Nicholas Heller, illustrated by Jos. A. Smith, Greenwillow Books, New York City, 1999. 32 pages, hardcover, $16. Are you in the market for an alphabet book your child can really sink his or… Read More
HOW IS MY FOURTH GRADER DOING IN SCHOOL?, HOW IS MY FIFTH GRADER DOING IN SCHOOL?, HOW IS MY SIXTH GRADER DOING IN SCHOOL?, by Jennifer Richard Jacobson and Dottie Raymer, Becker and Mayer Books, New York City, 2000, 208-225 pages, paperback, $12 each. You’ve… Read More
MANITOU by Ramona du Houx, Polar Bear & Co., 1999, paperback, 210 pages, $7.99. A polar bear appears out of a blinding ball of phosphorescent light. A calico cat lectures on philosophy, when she’s not lapping up cream. A Bengal tiger morphs into a man… Read More
Father Tim Farley is very good at comforting the afflicted, but he has forgotten that part of a pastor’s job is to afflict the comfortable. Seminarian Mark Dolson bluntly reminds the aging priest of this fact in Bill C. Davis’ two-character play “Mass Appeal,” opening this weekend at… Read More
THE MINERAL PALACE, by Heidi Julavits, Putnam Publishing Group, New York, 2000, 400 pages, $23.95. Although the 1934 American Dust Bowl may seem as different from late summer Maine as it’s possible to get, Portland-born Heidi Julavits is up to the task: After just a… Read More
In theaters AIMEE AND JAGUAR. 125 minutes; not rated, though would be R; directed by Max Farberbock, written by Farberbock and Rona Munro. Based on the book by Erica Fischer, in German with English subtitles. Starts Friday, Railroad Square Cinema, Waterville. googletag.cmd.push(function () { //… Read More
In theaters WHIPPED. Written and directed by Peter M. Cohen. 85 minutes. Rated R. Just when you think movies can’t get any worse, along comes a film like “Whipped,” which takes misogyny to a whole new low. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes… Read More
In Theaters “Bring it On” 95 minutes, PG-13, directed by Peyton Reed, written by Jessica Bendinger. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length; i++) { if… Read More
In theaters THE ART OF WAR, directed by Christian Duguay, written by Wayne Beach and Simon Davis Barry, based on a story by Beach. 105 minutes. Rated R. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner =… Read More
In Theaters “Trixie” 117 minutes, R, written and directed by Alan Rudolph. Starts Friday, Railroad Square Cinema, Waterville. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length; i++)… Read More
In theaters THE CELL. Directed by Tarsem. Written by Mark Protosevich. 108 minutes. Rated R. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length; i++) { if (isMobileDevice())… Read More
A CERTAIN SLANT OF LIGHT, by Cynthia Thayer, St. Martin’s Press, New York, 2000, hardback, 259 pages, $23.95. Readers looking for an engrossing novel peopled with unusual, yet sympathetic characters will find much to like in Cynthia Thayer’s second novel, “A Certain Slant of Light.”… Read More
In theaters THE REPLACEMENTS. 114 minutes, PG-13, directed by Howard Deutch, written by Vince McKewin. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length; i++) { if (isMobileDevice())… Read More
In theaters AUTUMN IN NEW YORK. Directed by Joan Chen. Written by Allison Burnett. 100 minutes. Rated PG-13. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length; i++)… Read More
RIPTIDE, by Catherine Coulter, Putnam, 2000, 400 pages, hardcover, $23.95. If there were an award for thriller of the year, then “Riptide” by Catherine Coulter would win it, hands down. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var… Read More
THE MAINE DICTIONARY, by John McDonald, illustrated by Peter Wallace; Covered Bridge Press, 106 pages, paperback $12.95. In Maine, the greenhorn summer tourist is the one who, hopelessly lost, asks a native for directions and actually trusts the Mainer’s directions and his inevitable parting assurance,… Read More
BREAKING THE GAZE by David Betts, 200 pages, Riverhouse Publishers, $6.95 at www.firstprint.com, $9.95 on disc at area bookstores. A Bucksport author says he beat Stephen King to the online publishing punch by six weeks. In fact, David Betts’ memoir of the 1960s can be… Read More
MAKING OUR HIGH SCHOOLS BETTER, by Anne Wescott Dodd and Jean L. Konzol, St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1999, 276 pages, hardcover, $26.95. School shootings are becoming all too common. American teens seem to lag behind their peers worldwide in just about every subject area. Read More
ABBIE AGAINST THE STORM, written by Marcia Vaughan, illustrated by Bill Farnsworth, Beyond Words Publishing, Hillsboro, Ore., 1999, 32 pages, hardcover, $15.95. In a rush to catch a ferry to her Vashon Island (Washington) home, author Marcia Vaughan scribbled down a call number and located… Read More
For the best description of the Acadia Repertory Theatre production of “Appointment with Death,” which opened earlier this week at the Masonic Hall in Somesville, I defer to a stranger who sat next to me on opening night. Throughout the evening, she laughed. Between the… Read More
“Songs for a Summer Night”, Opera Maine’s title for the program presented Tuesday evening at Oceanside Meadows Inn at Prospect Harbor, suggests music that is enchanting and perhaps light-hearted, but not quite as serious or substantial as concert fare. Enchanting the evening certainly was. Lighthearted? More often than… Read More
In theaters SPACE COWBOYS, Rated PG-13, 123 minutes, directed by Clint Eastwood and written by Ken Kaufman and Howard A. Klausner. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i… Read More
In theaters HOLLOW MAN. Directed by Paul Verhoeven. Written by Andrew W. Marlowe. Running time: 114 minutes. Rated R. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length;… Read More
Agony, thy name is Pokemon. The producers of last year’s “Pokemon: The Movie,” not content with the bajillions they’ve already made, are back to torture parents everywhere with “Pokemon 2000.” The sequel featuring these Japanese imports once again proves that these creatures have successfully wrested… Read More
The lighthouse, long a symbol of the rugged Maine coast, has been depicted in many art forms. Paul Bruce Jalbert is one of those who have attempted to capture the mystique of the lighthouse in his medium. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes… Read More
In theaters GROOVE. Rated R, 86 minutes, written and directed by Greg Harrison. Now playing, Railroad Square Cinema, Waterville. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length;… Read More
In theaters NUTTY PROFESSOR II: THE KLUMPS. Directed by Peter Segal. Written by Barry W. Blaustein, David Sheffield, Paul Weitz and Chris Weitz. 110 minutes. Rated PG-13. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false;… Read More
Somewhere in the middle of the first act of “Blithe Spirit,” which opened earlier this week at Acadia Repertory Theatre in Somesville, my mind wandered. I suspect this was because, from time to time, Cheryl Maher, as Ruth, spoke too slowly. Robert Libbey, as Charles, clunked over his… Read More
In theaters LOSER. 93 minutes. Rated PG-13; written and directed by Amy Heckerling. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length; i++) { if (isMobileDevice()) { if… Read More
It’s impossible to sit through the Maine Shakespeare Festival, taking place through Aug. 12 on the Bangor waterfront, without having mixed responses. On the one hand, this is Shakespeare and hooray for us that we get it performed in our own back yard. This year’s… Read More
In theaters WHAT LIES BENEATH. Directed by Robert Zemeckis. Written by Clark Gregg. 130 minutes. Rated PG-13. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length; i++) {… Read More
USA Network continues to become ever more adventurous in its original programming, as is evident from two of the three new series the cable channel unveils this week. USA got its start in original programming with a number of cop shows featuring voluptuous females, including… Read More
THE BLUESTONE WALK: POEMS by Edward Nobles, Persea Books, New York, 2000, 96 pages, trade paperback, $14. Ed Nobles used to be a stonemason. It was slow, labor-intensive work. At the time he also wrote poetry, and maybe the similarities between the two occupations were… Read More
In theaters X-MEN. Running time, 96 minutes, PG-13; directed by Bryan Singer, written by David Hayler. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length; i++) { if… Read More
When Arcady Music Festival organizers decided to devote the first concert series of the summer season to Germany’s great romantic writer Goethe, they must have known they ran the risk of producing an evening of sturm und drang. But “Music Inspired by Goethe,” which was performed Monday at… Read More
In theaters CROUPIER, directed by Mike Hodges. Written by Paul Mayersberg. 91 minutes. No MPAA rating. Now playing at the Railroad Square Cinema, Waterville. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i… Read More
If ever there was a play about the sentimental side of Maine summers, it’s “On Golden Pond,” which opened this week at Acadia Repertory Theatre in Somesville. Written in the 1970s and popularized in the 1980s by a hit film version (starring Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn, both… Read More
In theaters THE KID. 101 minutes, PG, directed by Jon Turteltaub, written by Audrey Wells. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length; i++) { if (isMobileDevice())… Read More
In theaters SCARY MOVIE, directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans, written by Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Buddy Johnson, Phil Beauman, Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. 85 minutes. Rated R. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner =… Read More
THE VOYAGE, by Phillip Caputo, Alfred A. Knopf, 1999, hardcover, 420 pages $26. On a misty June morning in 1901, teen-agers Nathaniel, Drew and Eliot Braithwaite are preparing for their annual summer sailing trip in Penobscot Bay aboard the family’s schooner, Double Eagle. But their… Read More
FACE DOWN BENEATH THE ELEANOR CROSS, by Kathy Lynn Emerson, St. Martin’s, 2000, 280 pages, $23.95 Elizabethan England comes to life again in Kathy Lynn Emerson’s fourth mystery featuring herbalist and amateur sleuth Susanna, Lady Appleton. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes =… Read More
THE ORPHAN SEAL, written by Fran Hodgkins, illustrated by Dawn Peterson, Down East Books, Camden, 2000, paperback, 32 pages, $9.95. A baby seal is torn from his mother by a storm. Even after he has freed himself from the pounding surf and struggled to shore,… Read More
MABEL TAKES A SAIL, written by Emily Chetkowski and illustrated by Dawn Peterson, J.N. Townsend Publishing, Exeter, N.H., 2000, paperback, 45 pages, $10.50. Two years ago I fell in love with a spunky little Tibetan terrier. In “Mabel Takes the Ferry,” the canine heroine left… Read More
WOMEN OF THE DAWN by Bunny McBride, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, Neb., 1999; 152 pages, hardcover, $22. The last four centuries have brought unspeakable suffering to the native people of North America. By the 1700s more than 90 percent of them, in some estimates,… Read More
ON THE TRAIL OF ELDER BROTHER: GLOUS’GAP STORIES OF THE MICMAC INDIANS, by Michael B. Running Wolf and Patricia Clark Smith, Persea Books, New York, 2000, 148 pages, hardcover, $17.95; includes glossary of Micmac words. After the ice storm of 1998, if you remember, everything… Read More
Hokey smoke! Moose and Squirrel are back, and they have been updated successfully for the new millennium in the new Universal release “The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle.” Yes, every Boomer’s favorite dimbulbs return from a devastated Frostbite Falls to foil, again entirely inadvertently, the… Read More
THE PERFECT STORM. 129 minutes; PG-13. Directed by Wolfgang Peterson. Written by Bill Wittliff, based on the book by Sebastian Junger. Wolfgang Peterson’s excellent film, “The Perfect Storm,” is a fantastic example of how special effects, when backed by a strong script and an even… Read More
A production of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” has to steam and bubble with magic. If you don’t believe in the charmed world of Oberon and Titania, or the mischievous world of Puck, or the dreamy world of the lovers, then the spells simply don’t work. Read More
THE PATRIOT. Directed by Roland Emerich. Written by Robert Rodat. 160 minutes. Rated R. In “The Patriot,” Mel Gibson teams up with director Roland Emerich (“Independence Day,” “Godzilla”) to mount an enormous, big-budget epic of the American Revolution. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var… Read More
If you’ve read a novel by Stephen King, then you know the reaches of his spooky tales and the jittering juju they work on your head. It could be an unexpected thud against the car. Or a big drooling dog. Or your husband, who’s working on a book… Read More
This summer’s best children’s movie so far actually doesn’t come from Disney, the long-running ruler of the genre. “Chicken Run” is the first full-length feature from Aardman, the same British studio that created Wallace and Gromit. The movie, distributed by Dreamworks SKG, shows a lot… Read More
In theaters CHICKEN RUN. 85 minutes, G. Directed by Peter Lord and Nick Park. Written by Karey Kirkpatrick. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length; i++)… Read More
In theaters ME, MYSELF & IRENE. Directed by Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly. Written by the Farrellys and Mike Cerrone. 116 minutes. Rated R. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i… Read More
While the networks are busy wringing their hands over lily-white programming, Showtime is doing something about it. This week, the premium cable network is unveiling two new series centering on minority families: “Resurrection Blvd.” and “Soul Food.” googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes… Read More
THE PLEASURE OF THEIR COMPANY, by Doris Grumbach, Beacon Press, Boston, 2000, 128 pages, $22. TOWER: FAITH, VERTIGO AND AMATEUR CONSTRUCTION, by Bill Henderson, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 215 pages, $22. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes… Read More
A newcomer to the cinemas is a breathtaking thrill ride. From 20th Century Fox, “Titan A.E.” represents a wedding of traditional animation techniques with computer graphic imaging, and the result is startlingly realistic. As in any good space opera, “Titan A.E.” centers around an epic… Read More
In theaters FANTASIA 2000. 75 minutes, G, directed by Pixote Hunt, Hendel Butoy, Eric Goldberg, James Algar, Francis Glebas, Gaetan Brizzi and Paul Brizzi. Music performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = [];… Read More
RECIPES TO THE RESCUE; editor, Chuck Smothermon; illustrator, Lou Brooks; Meredith Books, Des Moines, Iowa; 2000, 112 pages, $15.99. If you want to talk about good-looking cookbooks, you could do worse than steer the conversation around to “Recipes to the Rescue.” Not that this new… Read More
In theaters SHAFT. Directed by John Singleton. Written by Singleton, Richard Price and Shane Salerno. Running time: 98 minutes. Rated R. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i… Read More
What would happen if Twin Peaks were inhabited by the troupers of Monty Python? It would probably be something like “The League of Gentlemen,” which premieres at 10:30 tonight on Comedy Central. This BBC import also answers the question, “What if the Addams Family had… Read More
In theaters MAP OF THE WORLD. Directed by Scott Elliott, written by Peter Hedges and Polly Platt, based on the novel by Jane Hamilton. 125 minutes, R. Starts Friday, June 16, Railroad Square Cinema, Waterville. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]];… Read More
PERFECT VINAIGRETTES: APPETIZERS TO DESSERTS, by Linda Dannenberg, Stewart, Tabori & Chang, New York, 1999, 112 pages, $19.95. “A great vinaigrette is a simple yet sublime component of countless appetizers, salads, and main course dishes,” says Linda Dannenberg in the introduction of her new book. Read More
In theaters GONE IN 60 SECONDS. Directed by Dominic Sena. Written by Scott Rosenberg. Running time: 119 minutes. Rated PG-13. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i… Read More
WICKED FIX, by Sarah Graves, Bantam, 290 pages, paperback, $5.99. From page one to page last, Reuben Tate and his viciousness leave a deliciously slimy trail of nastiness throughout the narrative of “Wicked Fix” (a deadly mix of home repair and homicide, according to the… Read More
FORT KENT — Don’t ever tell members of the Maine rock band Empty Head long-distance relationships can’t work. On the eve of the release of their first full-length studio CD, “Who’s Talking … Who’s Listening,” the band’s five members are spread from one end of… Read More
PINKY AND REX AND THE SCHOOL PLAY and PINKY AND REX AND THE PERFECT PUMPKIN, both written by James Howe and illustrated by Melissa Sweet, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, New York, both 1998, both 40 pages, hardcover, $15. Last year my Katie, then in… Read More
SPIKED BOOTS: SKETCHES OF THE NORTH COUNTRY, by Robert E. Pike, The Countryman Press, Woodstock, Vt., 1999, 287 pages, paperback, $14.95. I have never met, nor will I ever meet Vern Davison, the main character and first-person narrator for much of “Spiked Boots,” a compilation… Read More
Sci Fi Channel’s newest offering offers a new twist on an old concept. “The Invisible Man,” debuting at 8 tonight, has little to do with the old Claude Rains movie. For one thing, it’s funny and sarcastic, in an indie-film kind of way. googletag.cmd.push(function ()… Read More
In theaters BIG MOMMA’S HOUSE. Directed by Raja Gosnell. Written by Darryl Quarles and Don Rhymer. 97 minutes, PG-13. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length;… Read More
Alan Ayckbourn is one of the most unsparing and shameless writers of contemporary farce. In his 1994 comedy “Communicating Doors,” he makes the lead character a dominatrix who stumbles into territory that could curl the nails on even the most committed “specialist sexual consultant” (her preferred job description). Read More
Ever dread a first date? Ever dread a second date? A third? Well, why not skip right ahead to the fourth — or, for that matter, the first fight, or the breakup, or the bump-into a year later when you can wax nostalgic with the line: We were… Read More
In theaters EAST-WEST (in French and Russian, with English subtitles), directed by Regis Wargnier, written by Roustam Ibraguimbek, Serguei Bodrov, Louis Gardel and Wargnier. Running time: 120 minutes. Rated PG-13. Railroad Square Cinema, Waterville. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var… Read More
Barbara Kent Lawrence’s “Bitter Ice: A Memoir of Love, Food and Obsession,” is more than a tell-all tale of dysfunctional family life. The purported theme of the book, which is Lawrence’s failed marriage to an apparently tyrannical anorexic, charges alongside the more detailed recounting of her own marred… Read More
In theaters SHANGHAI NOON. Directed by Tom Dey. Written by Alfred Dough and Miles Millar. Running time: 110 minutes. Rated PG-13. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i… Read More
In theaters MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 2. Directed by John Woo. Written by Robert Towne, based on a story by Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga, and the television series created by Bruce Geller. Running time: 120 minutes. Rated PG-13. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var… Read More
In theaters SMALL TIME CROOKS. Written and directed by Woody Allen. Running time: 95 minutes. Rated PG. Railroad Square Cinema, Waterville. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i… Read More
In theaters DINOSAUR. Directed by Ralph Zondag and Eric Leighton. Written by John Harrison and Robert Nelson Jacobs, based on an original screenplay by Walton Green. Running time: 84 minutes. Rated PG. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes =… Read More
In theaters “Screwed,” written and directed by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski. Running time: 75 minutes, rated PG-13. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length; i++)… Read More
If you plan to attend the Winterport Open Stage production of “Black Comedy,” one of two shows running through May 21, you may want to take out laughing insurance. In other words, be prepared to fall off your chair when the lights come up — or when they… Read More
Edward Albee’s “Three Tall Women,” which opened last weekend at the Opera House in Bangor, is one of the most infuriating plays you may ever see. The women in it are vixens and vultures, and the one actual man is virtually mute and most of the others are… Read More
PORTLAND — Last stop? Yeah, right. With Dave Grohl traipsing through the crowd and Anthony Kiedis, Flea and John Frusciante bouncing on stage, it was hard to believe Sunday’s show at Cumberland County Civic Center was the end of a 14-show tour leg for the Foo Fighters and… Read More
In theaters BATTLEFIELD EARTH. Directed by Roger Christian. Written by Corey Mandell and J.D. Shapiro, based on the novel by L. Ron Hubbard. Running time: 117 minutes. Rated PG-13. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner… Read More