AltWeeklies Wire
LeBron James Doc 'More Than a Game' is an Incurious and Narcissistic Puff Piecenew
This slick 90-minute promo film -- tarted up to resemble a doc -- for Nike's crown jewel overflows with energy, style and a great soundtrack, but shows zero insight and honesty.
Metro Times |
Corey Hall |
10-20-2009 |
Reviews
Josh Bazell Turns His ER Experience into the Year's Best Debut Novelnew
Bazell, who wrote Beat the Reaper while working on his residency at a California hospital, crafted an ingenious, fast-paced thriller that also managed to be a work of art.
New Haven Advocate |
Drew Taylor |
10-20-2009 |
Fiction
Downtown Phoenix is Full of Gleaming Progress Surrounded by Vacant Lots -- Now What?new
With boring old suburban McMansions commanding a half-million dollars, you can see why developers decided that downtown Phoenix would be the next big thing. And then the bottom dropped out.
Phoenix New Times |
Sarah Fenske |
10-20-2009 |
Housing & Development
In 'Shop Class as Soulcraft,' Matthew B. Crawford Says: Get Off Your Assnew
Ex-Bush think-tank dynamo-turned-vintage motorcycle shop owner Crawford calls out the trend in America's displacement of values pertaining to manual trades while questioning the misguided future of would-be knowledge workers (a dirty word as far as Crawford's concerned).
Metro Times |
Travis R. Wright |
10-20-2009 |
Nonfiction
Kids' Horror Movie 'Cirque du Freak' is all Trick and No Treat
Cirque du Freak is an obvious grab at the current vampire-crazed teen audience spawned by the Twilight franchise. That it fails so miserably is a predictable symptom of overreaching greed.
City Pulse |
Cole Smithey |
10-19-2009 |
Reviews
Roger Daltrey Isn't Quite Ready for His Senior Discountnew
As of today, Daltrey's spent more than 65 years on the planet -- a benchmark that's even more noteworthy given the fact that he famously sang "I hope I die before I get old" in the early Who classic "My Generation."
Westword |
Michael Roberts |
10-19-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
As 2010 Senate Race Draws Near, the Health Care Debate Reminds Us Why Primaries Matternew
Joe Lieberman might have veto power over health reform. Establishment Democrats might remember that when they support Arlen Specter over progressive challenger Joe Sestak in 2010.
Philadelphia Weekly |
Brendan Skwire |
10-19-2009 |
Commentary
Jerry Powers, the Man Behind 'Ocean Drive,' Refuses to Surrendernew
After 15 years as publisher of one of America's best-known glossy magazines, Powers was recently pushed out by the new owner, Niche Media. Now he's at war with his former partners. On one front, he has sued Niche in federal court for illegally trying to silence him. Meanwhile, the widow of former Ocean Drive investor Derick Daniels has accused Powers of swindling her out of millions of dollars.
Miami New Times |
Francisco Alvarado |
10-19-2009 |
Media
'Egg on Mao' Praises a Truly Brave Iconoclastnew
With the publication of Egg on Mao: The Story of an Ordinary Man Who Defaced an Icon and Unmasked a Dictatorship, Denise Chong has revived interest in the moral heroism of Lu Decheng and his friends Yu Zhijian and Yu Dongyue.
The Georgia Straight |
Alexander Varty |
10-19-2009 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
A Snitch in Time: A Philly Gunshot Victim Defies the Inner-City Code of Silencenew
It's been five months since Maurice Ragland testified against the man he says shot him. In doing so, he broke the cardinal rule of the Philadelphia streets -- Do Not Snitch. That he survived his wounds is amazing enough, but that he testified is just as amazing.
Philadelphia Weekly |
Mike Newall |
10-19-2009 |
Crime & Justice
Is it Too Easy to Clobber a Cabbie in Chicago?new
Walid Ziada's fellow cabbies say his attackers are getting off lightly -- despite a new Illinois law intended to protect taxi drivers.
Chicago Reader |
Kari Lydersen |
10-19-2009 |
Crime & Justice
The Cave Singers Craft Songs Underground, After Cereal, in Seattlenew
"Living together makes it so we can play music together more than most people in bands probably do," says guitarist Derek Fudesco. That sense of ease and unhurriedness is the glue that holds the Cave Singers together as a band, and can be heard on their latest record, Welcome Joy.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian J. Barr |
10-19-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Welcome Joy, Cave Singers
Dallas Acts Like it Supports Community Gardens, but That's Not the Real Truthnew
City officials adamantly deny they harbor any anti-organics bias and say they are committed to moving the entire city closer to organic methods of land management. But longtime local garden advocates insist City Hall has never given them anything but the back of the hand, beginning years before the recent spike in interest.
Dallas Observer |
Jim Schutze |
10-19-2009 |
Gardening
Electronic Duo Gatekeeper Looks to the Classic Slasher Film Soundtrack for Inspirationnew
All the flavors of synthesizer on Optimus Maximus evoke the heyday of the slasher flick in the late 70s and early 80s, when masked maniacs roamed shadowy streets, Ouija boards not only worked but inevitably summoned nameless evils, and vividly red fake blood was spilled by the gallon.
Chicago Reader |
Miles Raymer |
10-19-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
'Black Dynamite': Like 'Shaft' Played for Laughsnew
Thoroughly silly and enjoyable for film geeks who know the old '70s blaxploitation canon, Black Dynamite suffers from the Grindhouse paradox: As Quentin Tarantino discovered, not everyone outside his immediate circle of friends actually cares that much about lovingly reviving cinematic curios of the past.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian Miller |
10-19-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Black Dynamite, Scott Sanders
