In theaters EYE OF THE BEHOLDER 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 (slot_sizes[i][0] googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot… Read More
Gary Wittner’s new CD “Roadway” is a stylistically ambitious recording, covering solo guitar arrangements of country blues and original tunes to quartets playing Thelonious Monk. Backed by Howard Johnson on tuba and contrabass clarinet, Bruce Ditmas on drums and Dominic Richards on acoustic bass, Wittner has produced a… Read More
Staging a classical concert on Super Bowl Sunday — and a sunny one at that — is a daring move. But the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, which played to a loaded Maine Center for the Arts, gave the pre-game crowd something impressive to take home. While… Read More
SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS. Directed by Scott Hicks. Written by Ron Bass and Hicks, based on the novel by David Guterson. Running time: 130 minutes. Rated PG-13. Capturing the essence of a complexly layered, multifarious novel and bringing it to screen is one thing, but… Read More
In theaters MAGNOLIA 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 (slot_sizes[i][0] googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes =… Read More
PLAY IT TO THE BONE. Written and directed by Ron Shelton. Running time: 125 minutes. Rated R. Ron Shelton’s new boxing movie, “Play It to the Bone,” should have thrown in the towel long before it ever went into production. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define… Read More
Finally! The wait is over! The WB has unveiled a consistently funny sitcom! That show is “Brutally Normal,” which debuts as a special one-hour episode at 9 tonight. (It will air normally 9-9:30 p.m. Mondays.) googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]];… Read More
In Theaters “Supernova” Look, this time let’s play it safe and not go where man hasn’t gone before. This time let’s just stay rooted to Earth and be thankful our names aren’t attached to 2000’s first big cinematic bomb, “Supernova.” googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define… Read More
THE ITALIAN COUNTRY TABLE, by Lynne Rossetto Kasper, Scribner, New York. 1999, 416 pages, $35. Lynne Rossetto Kasper really spoke to me in her new book. Her definitive style of cooking: seasonal, good-quality ingredients used simply and well, and prepared with love. Her message was… Read More
Twenty of figure skating’s brightest lights shone in Portland on Friday night, as the Champions on Ice tour stopped for a nearly sold-out show at the Cumberland County Civic Center. Twenty former world and Olympic titlists and medalists performed, ranging in age from 43-year-old Dorothy… Read More
In Theaters THE HURRICANE, directed by Norman Jewison, written by Armyan Bernstein and Dan Gordon. Based on “The Sixteenth Round” by Rubin Carter and “Lazarus and the Hurricane” by Sam Chaiton and Terry Swinton. Running time: 125 minutes. Rated R. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define… Read More
Here’s what many people noted first about Frederick Wiseman’s new documentary called “Belfast, Maine”: length. “Four hours?” said one person who hadn’t seen the film but heard it was long. “That can’t be geared toward the common Joe. Seems like a half-hour might have been… Read More
In his latest effort, much-honored TV creator Steven Bochco shows viewers the polar opposite of “Chicago Hope.” In other words, the urban medical drama “City of Angels” (guess the setting) is gritty, first and foremost (Bochco’s finest works inevitably are). None of the flashy kooks… Read More
On video BOWFINGER 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 (slot_sizes[i][0] googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes =… Read More
In theaters RIDE WITH THE DEVIL. Directed by Ang Lee. Written by James Schamus. Based on Daniel Woodrell’s novel “Woe to Live On.” Running time: 138 minutes. Rated R. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner… Read More
Somewhere I lost my heart. Somewhere I lost my soul. 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 (slot_sizes[i][0] googletag.cmd.push(function ()… Read More
THE PRAYER OF THE BONE, by Paul Bryers, Bloomsbury Publishing, New York City, 1998, 279 pages, paperback, $23.95. The atmosphere is grand, but it’s not enough to make a great novel. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = [];… Read More
LIFELINES: Selected Poems 1950-1999 by Philip Booth, Viking, New York, 1999, 292 pages, hardback, $29.95. If Alexander Pope could forgive most 20th century poets’ inability to count, he would, I imagine, greatly admire Philip Booth’s poetry. “Lifelines” contains exquisitely crafted verses that consistently reveal, in… Read More
“Malcolm in the Middle,” debuting at 8:30 p.m. Sunday on Fox, isn’t doing anything particularly novel or something that can’t already be seen during this current TV season. The new family sitcom is just doing things a little better than most. The series’ protagonist, Malcolm… Read More
NO PLACE FOR A WOMAN: A Life of Senator Margaret Chase Smith, by Janann Sherman, Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, N.J., 299 pp., hardbound, $24.95. The story behind the writing of “No Place for a Woman: A Life of Senator Margaret Chase Smith,” by Janann… Read More
EVENING by Susan Minot, Vintage Books, New York, 1998, paperback, 264 pages, $12. Susan Minot’s “Evening” begins with a line from “The Sound and the Fury,” an excerpt that delivers an emotional wallop to those who know and love the Faulkner masterpiece: googletag.cmd.push(function () {… Read More
PUPPIES IN THE SNOW, written and illustrated by Helen Earle Simcox, Windswept House Publishers, Mount Desert, 1997, 48 pages, paperback, $8.95. “Read the puppy book,” Adam, 3, demands. We’ve read it so often he has it memorized. But he never fails to sigh with delight… Read More
A LETTER FROM THE SNOW, by Ellen Bryan Obed, illustrated by Gordon Hammond, published by Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance, 1999, 40 pages, paperback, $10. WIND DANCE, by Ellen Bryan Obed, illustrated by Shawn Steffler, Scholastic Canada Ltd., 1999, 40 pages, paperback, $7.95. googletag.cmd.push(function ()… Read More
And now for something completely different, even by far-out Sci Fi Channel standards. “Lexx,” which debuts at 10 tonight on the cable network, is named for a living, Manhattan-sized, dragonfly-shaped bug that has been genetically altered for use as a spacecraft. Lexx’s inept captain is… Read More
You won’t find two poets more different from one another than Baron Wormser and Constance Hunting. Wormser is rock ‘n’ roll. Hunting is opera. That’s one way to look at it. But neither is an opening act. They are both feature presentations, and they both have rhythm and… Read More
In theaters GALAXY QUEST “Galaxy Quest” does what all good satires do — it rises fully to the level of what it’s skewering. In this case, that leap isn’t exactly Herculean — the film satirizes the “Star Trek” television series and its cast, which, to… Read More
Every so often, a cookbook comes along that makes a mark in culinary history. Think Julia Child. Think “Joy of Cooking.” Think “Silver Palate.” For vegetarians, one of the landmarks in 1970s cooking was Mollie Katzen’s “Moosewood Cookbook.” In addition to offering recipes that offered… Read More
On video THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR. Directed by John McTiernan. Written by Leslie Dixon and Kurt Wimmer. 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 =… Read More
In theaters THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY 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 (slot_sizes[i][0] googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot… Read More
MISS MANNERS: A CITIZEN’S GUIDE TO CIVILITY, by Judith Martin, Three Rivers Press, New York, 1999, 366 pages, paperback, $18. Etiquette is not elitist, snobby, old-fashioned or stuffy, as many of us think. After all, Miss Manners (a k a Judith Martin) writes, it embodies… Read More
MAN ON THE MOON. Directed by Milos Forman. Written by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski. Running time: 118 minutes. Rated R. Those going to Milos Forman’s “Man on the Moon” hoping for insight into what made Andy Kaufman one of comedy’s more peculiar bit players… Read More
IF THE WALLS COULD TALK, by Margo Cobb, YWCA Bangor-Brewer, Bangor, 1999, 66 pages, $15.77. Telling the story of a landmark requires a love of history, a strong sense of community and an ability to really “connect” with the property’s occupants over the years. googletag.cmd.push(function… Read More
In theaters ANNA AND THE KING 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 (slot_sizes[i][0] googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot… Read More
Stuart Little Directed by Rob Minkoff. Written by M. Night Shyamalan and Greg Booker, based on the book by E.B. White. Running time: 92 minutes. Rated: PG. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false;… Read More
In Theaters — “The Green Mile” If audiences could walk into Frank Darabont’s “The Green Mile” every week, the cineplex would be a better place. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var… Read More
Here’s what’s magical about Charles Dickens’ classic tale “A Christmas Carol,” which Penobscot Theatre opened Thursday at the Opera House. You can see a good production of it. You can see a bad production of it. You can see a modern revision of it (such as the 1988… Read More
COOKIES FOR CHRISTMAS, by Jennifer Dorland Darling, Meredith Press, 1999, 240 pages, hardcover, $24.95. I love Christmas. I love cookies. 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 THE LIMEY. Directed by Steven Soderbergh. Written by Lem Dobbs. Running time: 89 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++)… Read More
THE MISTLETOE GIRL and other Christmas stories, written by Ethel Pochocki, illustrated by Peter LaGue, Forest of Peace Publishing, Leavenworth, Kan., 1999, hardcover, 63 pages, $15.95. I will never forget the day I read my first Ethel Pochocki book. Right in the middle of the… Read More
When “Hearts in Atlantis,” Stephen King’s latest work, came out in September, it was immediately labeled “the Vietnam book.” True enough. A collection of five stories — two novellas, two short stories, and a postscript — “Hearts” anticipates, exemplifies and even glorifies the era of bell-bottom jeans, Saigon,… Read More
FENCING WILDNESS by Nancy Nielsen, Slow Dancer Press, Nottingham, England, 1999, 28 pages, $6. LUBEC — Anyone who has ever taken a walk on the beach or paused to look at a star will want to bathe in the imagery in this book of poetry. Read More
‘Tis the season for musical cheer with hot pop stars, hoping to cash in before their careers plunge, competing against senior citizen crooners for those end-of-the millennium Christmas CD dollars. Just as in Christmases past, the seasonal CDs run the gamut from offensive to inspiring. Read More
THE YARD: BUILDING A DESTROYER AT THE BATH IRON WORKS, by Michael S. Sanders, HarperCollins Publishers, New York City, 1999, hardcover, 272 pages, $26. If you’ve driven Route 1 anywhere near the riverside city of Bath, you could not have failed to notice the two… Read More
THE UNIVERSITY OF MAINE: THE COLLEGE HISTORY SERIES, compiled by Bob Briggs and Debra Wright, Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, S.C., 1999, 128 pages, paperback, $19.99. With apologies to the NBC peacock and television tycoon Ted Turner, who once shamelessly colorized such Hollywood classics as “Casablanca” and… Read More
IT TAKES A WOMAN: Women Shaping Public Policy, by Melissa MacCrae, Goddess Publications, Brewer, 1999, 93 pages, $12. In a state where Margaret Chase Smith is a legend and where both current U.S. senators are female, it’s easy to take for granted that women can… Read More
Four books written and illustrated by Gail Gibbons: BATS and THE PUMPKIN BOOK, published by Holiday House, New York, 1999, hardcover, 32 pages, $16.95 each; BEHOLD THE DRAGONS and SANTA WHO?, published by Morrow Junior Books, New York, 1999, hardcover, 32 pages, $16 each. Have… Read More
YOU AUTO SEE MAINE, by Will Anderson, Anderson & Sons’ Publishing Co., Bath, 1999, 167 pages, $19.95. If you know about riding over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house in a Studebaker, a Packard or a Flying Cloud Reo, perhaps you’ve been… Read More
In Theaters — “Anywhere but Here” As mother-daughter movies go, there’s good schmaltz — “Imitation of Life,” “One True Thing,” “Mildred Pierce,” “Gypsy,” “Postcards from the Edge,” “Terms of Endearment” — and there’s bad schmaltz — “Stella” (1990), “The Other Sister,” “Hope Floats,” “Stage Mother,”… Read More
CHRISTMAS 101, by Rick Rodgers, Broadway Books, 1999, 173 pages, $15. Christmastime is a feast for the senses. 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
Christmas came early for me this year. It happened at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 4, as the curtain parted and graceful dancers pirouetted onto the stage at the Maine Center for the Arts on the University of Maine campus in Orono. googletag.cmd.push(function () { //… Read More
“Of all the wonders of nature, a tree in summer is perhaps the most remarkable; with the possible exception of a moose singing `Embraceable You’ in spats.” — actor Woody Allen THE QUOTABLE GARDENER, edited by Charles Elliott, The Lyons Press, 1999, 271 pages, hardcover,… Read More
BEING JOHN MALKOVICH. Directed by Spike Jonze. Written by Charlie Kaufman. Running time: 112 minutes. Rated R. Lately, it seems as if you can’t open a newspaper or a magazine without being hit with some sort of praise for Spike Jonze’s new movie, “Being John… Read More
FEARLESS, by Francine Pascal, Pocket Pulse, New York, 1999, 199 pages, paperback, $5.99. “I am powerful. I am graceful. I am angry. I am pure. I am raw. I am alone. I am just like you. But, I’m not. I’m FEARLESS.” googletag.cmd.push(function () { //… Read More
Meet Elmer Watkins of Klan 249. He’d like to invite you to the annual Christmas night and skeet shoot. And here’s Vera Carp, leader of the Smut Snatchers of the New Order. She’d like to eliminate the term “merry gentlemen” from the traditional Christmas song because it has… Read More
In theaters TOY STORY 2 To infinity and beyond, indeed. 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 (slot_sizes[i][0] googletag.cmd.push(function ()… Read More
APHRODITE: A MEMOIR OF THE SENSES, by Isabel Allende, HarperPerennial, New York, 1999, paperback, 315 pages, $16. To many of us who’ve approached cooking as a dreaded task in our kitchens especially when we’re trying to lose weight, Isabel Allende offers a steamy new outlook… Read More
In Theaters END OF DAYS. Directed by Peter Hyams. Written by Andrew Marlowe. Running time: 118 minutes. Rated R. Protect your daughters! Break out the chastity belts! Get thee to a nunnery! googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes =… Read More
In Theaters `Sleepy Hollow’ Tim Burton’s “Sleepy Hollow” is one of the best films ever made about decapitations. 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 WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH, directed by Michael Apted, written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Bruce Feirstein. Running time: 128 minutes. Rated PG-13. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for… Read More
In theaters DOGMA 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 (slot_sizes[i][0] googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes =… Read More
There was little risk of a power outage Sunday night at the Bangor Auditorium, not with all the energy being produced by the evening’s two performers. Opening act Jenny Paquette and headliner Jo Dee Messina put on a dynamic show for the 1,984 in attendance… Read More
The rain had been drizzling down all Sunday morning. A nasty chill gusted through the wet air. Could there be a more perfect time for a little Beethoven and a little Mozart? The answer, of course, is no — except, when the Bangor Symphony Orchestra tuned up yesterday… Read More
“Cokata Upo!” is the name the Lakota Sioux Indian Dance Theatre gives to a lavish presentation of social dance which the company presented in fringed finery Friday, Nov. 12, at the Maine Center for the Arts in Orono. The title translates from Sioux as “come to the center,”… Read More
“Pokemon: The First Movie,” directed by Kunihiko Yuyama and Michael Haigney. Written by Takeshi Shudo. Running time: 89 minutes. Rated G. After seeing “Pokemon: The First Movie,” there’s little question that its title is meant as something of a threat to parents. Clearly, other Pokemon… Read More
THE STORY OF THE SEA GLASS, written by Anne Wescott Dodd, illustrated by Mary Beth Owens, Down East Books, Camden, 1999, hardcover, 32 pages, $15.95. There is little in life as satisfying as discovering just the right picture book that delights and nourishes the eyes,… Read More
Barbara Smith does not think of herself as a composer. Although Smith has retired, the Orono resident still thinks of herself as a piano teacher. With the release this summer of her CD, “A Sense of Acadia,” Smith is redefining herself. An inspiration to painters,… Read More
JOSHUA CHAMBERLAIN: A HERO’S LIFE AND LEGACY, by John J. Pullen, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, Pa., 1999, 189 pages, $22.95. FANNY AND JOSHUA: THE ENIGMATIC LIVES OF FRANCES CAROLINE ADAMS AND JOSHUA LAWRENCE CHAMBERLAIN, by Diane Monroe Smith, Thomas Publications, Gettysburg, Pa., 1999, 352 pages, $30. Read More
Linda Tatelbaum used to live two separate lives. At home in Appleton, west of Belfast, she didn’t tell locals she was an English professor at Colby College. At Colby, she rarely mentioned that she was a homesteader, growing her own food and hauling water from a well. Read More
A TASTE FOR MONEY, by Peter Mars, Commonwealth Publishing, Boston, 1999, 320 pages, paperback, $14.95. “Write what you know” is good advice that more authors should heed. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false;… Read More
In Theaters “The Bone Collector” No offense, but as hobbies go, the one found within Phillip Noyce’s “The Bone Collector” is right up there with collecting Beanie Babies: One just wants to ask, “Why?” googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var… Read More
Someone once said that the long-running hit musical “Annie” was critic-proof. That is a good thing, since I know a few critics and, well, I’m not one. Despite that, however, there I was last Sunday night in the critic’s chair at the Maine Center for… Read More
After seeing “Anything Goes,” which opened over the weekend at the Grand Auditorium in Ellsworth, you’ll get no kick from champagne. Mere alcohol won’t thrill you at all. What you’ll want is to stow away with director Ken Stack’s cast into the romping, rhyming, reeling world of Cole… Read More
Paula Vogel’s “How I Learned to Drive,” which Penobscot Theatre opened over the weekend, is a cruise along the very secret and slippery side roads of American family dysfunction. You will be uncomfortable in your seat for this 90-minute fast ride. You will squirm. The scenery will scare… Read More
In theaters THE INSIDER. Directed by Michael Mann. Written by Mann and Erich Roth. Running time: 155 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
In theaters THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL 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 (slot_sizes[i][0] googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define… Read More
In Theaters MUSIC OF THE HEART. Directed by Wes Craven. Written by Pamela Gray. Running time: 110 minutes. Rated PG. As hard as it may be to imagine Meryl Streep accepting a role that Madonna turned down, that’s precisely what the actress did to star… Read More
In Theaters ROMANCE In spite of what its title might suggest, Catherine Breillat’s “Romance” has little to do with romance. It is cold and clinical art house porn, a lofty little skin flick from France that’s causing an international stir because of its extremely graphic,… Read More
“HELP! MY APARTMENT HAS A DININGROOM” COOKBOOK: HOW TO HAVE PEOPLE OVER WITHOUT STRESSING OUT, by Kevin Mills and Nancy Mills, Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston and New York, 1999, $16. Let’s just say, a little bravery sneaked into your life one day when you boldly… Read More
“Molly.” Directed by John Duigan. Written by Dick Christie. Running time: 103 minutes. Rated PG-13. With clear echoes of Daniel Keyes’ novel “Flowers of Algernon” and the Academy Award-winning 1968 film “Charly,” on which “Flowers” is based, John Duigan’s “Molly” follows an autistic woman (Elizabeth… Read More
The last of the fall’s new shows debuts tonight, coming after the first of the cancellations have already occurred. The revamped “Time of Your Life,” which premieres at 8 p.m. on Fox, is an insubstantial but harmless star vehicle for the ubiquitous Jennifer Love Hewitt. Read More
A NEW DAY DAWNING, by Philip B. Turner, New Ireland Press, 174 pages, $14 U.S., $14.95 Canadian. The latest historical novel by Philip Turner, a Caribou author who has explored various aspects of the settlement of Aroostook County in his previous books, is about Loyalists… Read More
Often a sense of civic good-deed-doing chides you to buy a ticket to a community theater production of a musical. As if merciless, such shows can be ploddingingly fun and discouragingly cornball. The situation, ultimately, strong-arms any decent theatergoer into justifying a slew of gushy fibs to cast… Read More
In theaters “Fight Club” 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 (slot_sizes[i][0] googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes… Read More
Ever feel as if life has no plot? No action? And a whole lot of time? Welcome to the world of Estragon and Vladimir. Better known as the tramps Gogo and Didi, and beloved as the main characters in Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot,” which The Assembled Players… Read More
“The Story of Us” Directed by Rob Reiner. Written by Jessie Nelson and Alan Zweibel. Running time: 92 minutes. Rated R. Rob Reiner’s “The Story of Us” is so removed from reality, so undermined by Hollywood’s idea of what marriage needs to be in order… Read More
“Ryan Caulfield: Year One,” which debuts at 8 tonight on Fox, is a show about choices. The titular character, like many 19-year-olds, is at a crossroads. He feels like he’s losing touch with his friends, who have headed off either to college or dead-end menial… Read More
THE MAINE POEMS, by Leo Connellan, Blackberry Books, Nobleboro, 1999, 107 pages, $10.95. Reading Leo Connellan under the best of circumstances is always a heart-rending experience. His dark, enigmatic poetry about abusive men, abused women, victimized men with no way out and the rhythmic impact… Read More
In Theaters “American Beauty” 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 (slot_sizes[i][0] googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes… Read More
Think cowbell. Now extend it to the size of, say, a long cake pan. Thread it onto a string, sling it around the neck and beat it with two sticks. That’s how several percussionists in the West African group WOFA began a two-hour music and dance program Wednesday… Read More
A IS FOR APPLE, by Greg Patent and Dorothy Hinshaw Patent, Broadway Books, New York, 1999, 276 pages, $15. Before humanity began to number the years, there were apples. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner… Read More
The first of the midseason replacement shows has hit the air, prematurely it appears. Several series, including Fox’s “Manchester Prep” and ABC’s “Then Came You,” got held back from the fall roster for fine-tuning (a euphemism for major revamping). “The Strip,” which debuts at 9… Read More
When Moliere wrote “The School for Wives” in 1662, he had recently married Armande Bejart, a woman 20 years his junior. She was the younger sister of his longtime and, one hopes, former girlfriend, Madelaine. It was a scandalous affair and theater pests gossiped that Armande might even… Read More
If Fate (with a capital F) comes knocking at your door, here’s hoping it has all the sexy, vexing moves of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, which was among the works that opened the Bangor Symphony Orchestra’s classical concert season Sunday at the Maine Center for the Arts. Tchaikovsky… Read More
WE’LL PAINT THE OCTOPUS RED, written by Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen, illustrated by Pam DeVito, Woodbine House Inc., Bethesda, MD., 1998, 25, $14.95. A rainbow of balloons bobbed and danced against a leaden sky as the Buddy Walk participants, 250 strong, marched down State Street in Bangor. Read More
MOUNT HOPE CEMETERY: A TWENTIETH CENTURY HISTORY by Trudy Irene Scee, Mount Hope Cemetery Corp., Bangor, 1999, hardcover, 160 pages, $18.95. Tightly written, well-organized and livelier in places than one might imagine, this long-awaited chronicle of America’s second-oldest garden cemetery proves that, like graveyards, administrative… Read More
CAT UP A TREE, by John and Ann Hassett, Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1998, 30 pages, hardcover, $15. If you’re a primary grade teacher or the parent of a beginning reader, I have a real find for you. John and Ann Hassett’s “Cat Up a… Read More
THE PRESENCE OF ABSENCE: ON PRAYERS AND AN EPIPHANY by Doris Grumbach, Beacon Press, Boston, 126 pages, paperback, $13. God happened to Doris Grumbach in the 1940s. Sitting alone on her back porch in a village near New York City, she was visited by a… Read More
CALLOW, BRAVE AND TRUE, A Gospel of Civil War Youth by Jay S. Hoar, Thomas Publications, 267 pages, paperback $20. Today, we would no more think of allowing children to serve in the armed forces than we would contemplate sending our octogenarians off to Marine… Read More
A IS FOR THE AMERICAS written by Cynthia Chin-Lee and Terri de la Pena, illustrated by Enrique O. Sanchez, 1999, Orchard Books, New York, 32 pages, hardcover, $15.95. Children’s literature is evolving at the speed of light. And no genre within it has been transformed… Read More
“X-Files” creator Chris Carter is back on track this fall with his latest creation, “Harsh Realm,” which debuts at 9 tonight on Fox. “Harsh Realm,” adapted from a comic-book series, inherits the slot of “Millennium,” which never found its rhythm in the three years that… Read More