AltWeeklies Wire
Tucker and Dale vs. Violent Coincidencesnew
We live in a post-Shaun of the Dead world. Not only can the comedy horror film be done, but it can be done well — and it can make a lot of money. The key is character development. Zombieland worked. Jennifer's Body? Not so much. Written and directed by Eli Craig, Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil sits comfortably somewhere between the two. Set in the utterly terrifying landscape of West Virginia, the hyperbolically named film employs an interesting concept: What if the villains in the typical slasher film weren't really all that bad? What if it was all in the minds of their "victims"?
Charleston City Paper |
Susan Cohen |
11-03-2011 |
Reviews
Twenty Years Later, Julie Dash's Film Daughters of the Dust Continues to Inspirenew
It is 1902, and the Peazant family is celebrating. Black women in white dresses twirl on the white sand, bordered by blue water and blue sky, clapping hands and playing games. They are preparing to pass over to the mainland, and what's past is prologue, says Viola Peazant. The Christian missionary and cousin is returning to her family to mark the occasion, photographer in tow. Meanwhile, Nana, the matriarch, sticks to her home in the woods. She fears what may be lost when her clan migrates north without her.
Charleston City Paper |
Susan Cohen |
09-15-2011 |
Profiles & Interviews
John Sayles' Characters Push Amigo Forwardnew
Set in 1900, Amigo's main focus is on the amigo, Rafael (Joel Torre), head man of the San Isidro barrio, deprived of the young men who have gone to fight in the revolution led by Emilio Aguinaldo.
Charleston City Paper |
Susan Cohen |
09-14-2011 |
Reviews
Tags: Amigo, Amigo Movie
How Our Lives Have Changed Since Harry Potternew
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone premiered on Nov. 16, 2001.
Charleston City Paper |
Susan Cohen |
07-14-2011 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Harry Potter
After a Brutal Beating, Mark Hogancamp Rebuilds with 'Marwencol'new
When Mark Hogancamp could no longer afford the rehabilitative services that he needed, he created his own version of therapy: a Belgian town, populated by Barbie dolls and their male counterparts, set in World War II and starring an inanimate version of himself.
Charleston City Paper |
Susan Cohen |
04-13-2011 |
Reviews
Cary Ann Hearst Charms National Public Radionew
The real story: A friend of hers that she met in Charleston years ago now works at NPR, and he suggested the singer/songwriter for the show. An e-mail later and Hearst was on the air on April 3, talking about her dog, Townes Van Zandt, and life after her song "Hell's Bells" appeared on an episode of True Blood last summer.
Charleston City Paper |
Susan Cohen |
04-11-2011 |
Profiles & Interviews
Evangelical Christians Reinvent the Haunted Housenew
A Charleston church presents an alternative not only to traditional Halloween, but to the darker and more violent hell houses that have garnered so much controversy in the last 20 years.
Charleston City Paper |
Susan Cohen |
10-27-2010 |
Policy Issues
Micmacs: Cute and political at the same timenew
Micmacs mixes cute characters with a political message.
Charleston City Paper |
Susan Cohen |
08-27-2010 |
Reviews
Debut Novel Depicts Chuck Klosterman's Former Small Town Lifenew
Downtown Owl is Klosterman’s first novel. Though he manages to name-drop ZZ Top, the Rolling Stones, and The Price is Right, he mostly offers a fictional supplement to his debut book, Fargo Rock City: Owl is a small North Dakota town of 800 in the early 1980s, devoid of pop culture.
Charleston City Paper |
Susan Cohen |
09-04-2008 |
Fiction
Tags: Chuck Klosterman, Downtown Owl
Americans Might Find it Hard to Enjoy a Novel About Men Who Hate Womennew
This is easily one of the worst books I've ever read. And bear in mind that I've read John Grisham. I've read the Sweet Valley Middle School, High School, and University books.
Charleston City Paper |
Susan Cohen |
08-13-2008 |
Fiction
In Catherine O’Flynn’s New Novel, Your Heart Breaks -- Eventuallynew
O'Flynn, author of What Was Lost, gives a pretty spot-on description of mall life. Green Oaks, the Birmingham shopping center detailed in the novel, is a nightmarish complex, and she gives an accurate insight on how suffocating it may be to work there long after you should have moved on.
Charleston City Paper |
Susan Cohen |
07-23-2008 |
Fiction
