TheState.com: Entertainment

On the Scene: The Movement gives reggae a new beat

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 18:43 EDT

COOL RUNNINGS: You might recall this dismissive phrase: You’re all in the Kool-Aid and don’t know the flavor.

In the song “Cool-Aid,” off The Movement’s latest CD, “Set Sail,” the message is simple: “Cool-Aid is a terrible thing to waste,” with the emphasis on cool.

Thankfully, The Movement knows how to add a little kick to trendy reggae-flavored music.

“It’s like we’re helping you get cool, helping these people get down,” said Jordan Miller, who shares guitar and vocal duties with Josh Swain.

The Movement will release the CD at 8 tonight at Headliners.

Trick or treat?

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:03 EDT

HERE ARE A FEW PLACES TO GET A SUGAR RUSH TONIGHT

ST. ANDREWS PARK: Halloween flashlight candy scoop, 6-7 p.m. today at 920 Beatty Road. Ages 2-10. Bring a flashlight. $1 per child. (803) 772-6598

BLYTHEWOOD PARK: Halloween candy chase, 7-8 p.m. today at 126 Boney Road, Blythewood. Ages 4-12. $1 per child. To register, call (803) 691-9786.

BLUFF ROAD PARK: Halloween candy drop, 6-8 p.m. today at 148 Carswell Road. Ages 6-11. $1. (803) 776-8698

MIDTOWN AT FOREST ACRES: Trick-or-treating at the mall, 6-8 p.m. today at 3400 Forest Drive. Free, for ages 12 and younger. (803) 782-7575

Local writer’s ‘Sleepy Hollow’ adaptation is published

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 22:31 EDT

Christopher Cook may have gotten a kick out of donning 19th century garb and fighting with a sword as Ichabod Crane, but he really wanted to a paperback writer.

After a six-year journey, his stage adaptation of the Washington Irving tale “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” finally has made it to the printed page. The book, self-published through AuthorHouse, is available from online retailers and at “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” performances tonight and Saturday.

Since its debut in 2003, the show, performed at the West Columbia Riverwalk Amphitheater, has become a Halloween tradition — one Cook felt he was ready to share.

“We have had so much time to work out the kinks,” the 44-year-old Crayton Middle School teacher said. “The time was ripe for a script.”

The book is faithful word for word to the show that hundreds of people have seen by the river.

‘Little Shop’s’ bloodthirsty Audrey returns

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 09:22 EDT

Costumes aren’t just for the actors on the Town Theatre stage tonight. Those attending opening night of “Little Shop of Horrors” are encouraged to wear costumes for the show and the party after.

What would be appropriate?

The nerdy florist? His lovely girlfriend? The evil dentist?

And there’s always the star, the man-eating-plant.

The 1982 musical about a florist who finds an exotic little plant that turns into a bloodthirsty baritone was a perfect fit for the time slot.

Alodia’s tempting Italian menu enhanced by friendly service

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 22:33 EDT

On a recent fall evening, Adam Huneau walked around Alodia’s Cucina Italiana greeting guests and inquiring about their meals.

Many of the responses the restaurant’s owner received had a familiar ring: We enjoyed it so much the first time we had to come back.

Patrons gesticulated with forks toward big plates of pasta and colorful salads for emphasis.

Huneau encouraged his customers to let him know what else he or his staff could do to help in their experience.

It’s this kind of personal attention that sets the tone at the 7-month-old restaurant on North Lake Drive near Irmo. White tablecloths and dark wood give the establishment an upscale feel, while a casual, friendly atmosphere prevails.

Raven Cliff Falls provides varied, beautiful trail experiences

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 22:34 EDT

As I lean back savoring a peanut butter and jelly sandwich after a leg-burning climb, two squawking ravens glide to the edge of a cliff on the 120-foot rock wall known as the Cathedral.

Cloudless blue skies. Temperatures in the 60s. The red leaves of dogwoods and sourwoods blasting a sentinel cry of the color explosion to come.

Can the hike to Raven Cliff Falls get any better than this?

Amazingly, it can. After another difficult climb, we hit the suspension bridge over the falls themselves, with the spectacular view across the valley and the roar of water underneath.

And the view could be even better in the next two weekends as the fall foliage hits its peak. No wonder Raven Cliff Falls ranks as one of the most popular hikes in South Carolina.

Kurt Cobain like you’ve never seen him

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 22:27 EDT

“Cobain Unseen” is a deeply personal, tactile, even visceral examination of the late, troubled Seattle rock star, Kurt Cobain.

Through his artwork and writing, you can see — and, thanks to the many facsimile pullouts, even feel — tangible evidence of the mental and physical torment that plagued Cobain throughout his short life.

Suicide was part of his personality from adolescence, the book shows in quotes and writings, so that when he finally does it (in 1994, when his band, Nirvana, was at the height of its fame and popularity), it seems almost inevitable.

The gut aches and back pains he suffered most of his life are played out in drawings and collages of raw meat, bones, skeletons and doll parts. His alienation and escapism are seen in drawings of spindly aliens and references in his writings (including his suicide note) to his imaginary friend, Boddah. The heart-shaped boxes he collected and turned into art objects, mostly as gifts for his wife, Courtney Love, seem to symbolize his empty heart and unfulfilled desire for unconditional love.

But the most moving and heartbreaking elements of “Cobain Unseen” (Little Brown, $35) are the many personal photos, most of which have never before been published. The childhood snapshots of the cute, towheaded, strikingly blue-eyed Cobain show a seemingly happy boy, especially the one where he’s at an easel he got for his 8th birthday, copying the cover of a comic book called “Giant-Sized Werewolf 4.”

Movies: Jolie shines in good, solid drama

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 22:37 EDT

In various, slightly parted poses of defiance or nine kinds of sultriness, Angelina Jolie’s lips have been deployed by studio marketing departments every which way. And with Jolie done up like a melancholy Edward Hopper figure, her eyes downcast, her lips are the visual focal point of the ad campaign for the new Clint Eastwood film, “Changeling,” which is a little odd, considering the wrenching subject matter.

The film, based on Southern California’s infamous Wineville chicken coop murders of the late 1920s, is a good, solid addition to the 78-year-old Eastwood’s directorial career. From a forlorn young boy’s doom-tinged farewell to his mother near the beginning, to the precise moment (on the “Silent Night” lyric “mother and child”) a heinous predator dies on the scaffold near the end, Eastwood, working from a script by J. Michael Straczynski, tells a painful true story neatly and well, with one foot in rousing Hollywood melodrama and the other in a story that resists tidy resolution.

In 1928, Walter Collins, 9, disappeared from the Los Angeles-area home he shared with his mother, Christine.

Five months later, another boy claiming to be the son of Christine Collins was reunited with his doubting mother in a highly public way by the Los Angeles Police Department. Collins said bunk: The boy is someone else’s.

The police, ruled with murderous impunity by Chief James E. “Two Guns” Davis, were not interested in any more bad publicity and summarily tossed Collins in the psychiatric ward of the county hospital under a Code 12 violation. Feminine hysteria was the crime, in so many words. Only the newfound boy’s admission of guilt freed her (it plays out somewhat differently in the film). The facts are cloudy, but Walter Collins’ abductor appears to have been Gordon Northcott, whose Riverside County ranch held the remains of various missing persons.

Dress up to get down at parties on the spookiest night of the year

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 09:41 EST

Halloween is today — a Friday! Here’s a selection of the best costume-themed events in town.

HALLOWEEN MASQUERADE BALL

The ball, an all-black-attire affair where guests also are encouraged to wear decorative masks, will be at Pure Ultra Lounge, 14 Berryhill Road. It starts at 9 p.m. $15; (803) 451-7873

WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU: Possibly the weekend’s most anonymously seductive party.

HALLOWEEN MASQUERADE PARTY

‘RocknRolla’ doesn’t make sense — but who cares?

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 22:36 EDT

For better and for worse, “RocknRolla” is a pretty typical Guy Ritchie movie: intentionally convoluted plotting, eccentric underworld characters, hyperstylized editing and, of course, a killer soundtrack.

It’s a blast, as usual, with wildly sexy visual flourishes that harken to the best of his work — “Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels” and “Snatch” — but since the trailers alone make “RocknRolla” look like a parody of a Ritchie film, it makes you wonder what else the writer-director has inside of him.

Oh, wait, we know the answer to that — it was called “Swept Away,” an unfortunate byproduct of his time with Madonna.

Ritchie is back on comfortable, familiar footing here with this story of British gangsters who are so busy trying to screw each other over, they don’t realize they’re in over their heads. He draws lively performances from his eclectic cast, especially Tom Wilkinson in a hilariously brash turn as Lenny Cole, a bumbling London crime boss. Beneath his bald cap and Cockney accent, the esteemed two-time Oscar nominee is nearly unrecognizable.

Orbiting Lenny is a sundry assortment of lowlifes, schemers and thugs, including an ideally rugged Gerard Butler as a gangster named One Two. Thandie Newton dazzles as Stella, the sleek, seductive accountant, and Karel Roden is quietly intimidating as Uri, a wealthy Russian property developer whose lucky painting serves as the movie’s McGuffin. Mark Strong, perhaps the best part of “Body of Lies,” is one of the best parts of “RocknRolla,” too, as Lenny’s longtime second-in-command.

Movies: Too much juvenile humor in Kevin Smith’s ‘Porno’

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 22:38 EDT

The “it” boy of crude comedy, Seth Rogen loses some of his comic heat when he teams up with the guy who invented the genre, Kevin Smith, in “Zack and Miri Make a Porno.”

It’s a raunchy R-rated farce (appealed from an NC-17) in the standard Smith style — comical sex talk with the women just as dirty as the guys, dated pop culture references, a big gross-out moment and an endless litany of oral sex jokes.

But it’s a slow-footed film that confirms that Smith may never be able to lift his game to that “40-Year-Old Virgin” level of heart and romance. He’s just too juvenile to pull it off.

Art imitates porn in this dully shot and edited comedy about a couple of desperate platonic roommates (Rogen and Elizabeth Banks) who decide to do a cheap porno together to make the rent. When Zack jokes that their high school classmates are one target audience and doing a spoof of “Star Wars” will give them another, he’s breaking down Smith’s marketing scheme. Put “porno” in the title and “Star Wars” in the plot, and the Smithheads will come.

Zack cons a colleague from the coffee shop where he works (Craig Robinson of “Pineapple Express”) to put up the money. And he sweet-talks the too-hot-but-still-single roomie into being his co-star.

Scaring up a party’s no problem

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 12:20 EDT

If your costume hasn’t been planned, bought or rented, this afternoon is probably when you’ll start freaking out.

What am I going to be for Halloween?

Once you get that answered, you’ll have to text, e-mail and huddle before tackling the next question: Where am I going to party?

Halloween is on a Friday for the first time since 2003, and you’ll have more choices than you’ll have candy bars in your trick or treat bag.

“People know they can go out and party and they don’t have school or work the next day,” said Bobby Dredd, bassist for the funk-rock band Villanova, which will play two Halloween-weekend shows, including Friday night at Wild Wing Cafe in the Vista.

‘Senior Year’ hits all the right notes for HSM fans

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 00:54 EDT

“High School Musical 3: Senior Year” can’t be dissected and discussed the same way as most movies.

By design, it is not intended for the general masses, but for a young audience. So if you want to appreciate it like its target audience of tweeners, you have to look at the movie through their eyes.

After two cable films on the Disney Channel, with the cast singing and dancing through the halls of East High School, the action moves to the big screen.

It’s senior year. And in a piece of obvious writing, the gang gets cast in the school play called “Senior Year.” There are problems. No one wants to concentrate on the play — they’re too busy thinking about what they will be doing after high school. After all, they could be in “High School Musical 4” if this film lives up to its box-office expectations.

The gang’s all back. Zac Efron, who has graced more magazine covers than both presidential candidates combined, is Troy Bolton. Vanessa Hudgens returns as the generally optimistic Gabriella. Troy and Gabriella’s relationship has hit a major crossroad. And Ashley Tisdale gives the film its big laughs through her over-the-top performance as the snooty Sharpay Evans.

On the Scene: Looking ‘beyond the dance beats’

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 19:11 EDT

NEXT BIG THING:This Machine is Me’s ecstatic, electronic pop-rock has the kind of rhythmic entanglements dancers like. The beats are shifty, the guitars and keyboards glide, and the vocals strut volcanically.

The band’s new four-song EP, “Make Your Move,” is a delectable appetizer to the band’s future.

“We’ve all agreed that (the songs) define our sound,” said Blake Arambula, who plays guitar and synthesizers.

The band will release the EP at 8 tonight at Headliners, part of Rock 93.5’s “Friday Night Live” concert series. Say Vandelay, Marry A Thief and PharonPittman will open.

The EP comes at a particularly good time. Baumer, the electro-pop band that galvanized local clubs with its dance-pop, is calling it quits. If they haven’t already, fans of Baumer’s sound should consider TMiM.

This week in the arts

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 19:11 EDT

THEATER

“The Lieutenant of Inishmore” continues through Nov. 8 at Trustus Theatre, 520 Lady St., 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 7:30 p.m. Thursdays; 3 p.m. Sundays.

“(The play) won’t be everyone’s cup of tea — or bucket of blood. But for those with a twisted sense of humor, this satire on the stupidity of retribution is both hilarious and eye-opening,” wrote Jeffrey Day.

Tickets are $17.50-$22.50; half-price for students 15 minutes before evening shows; (803) 254-9732 or trustus.org

“Othello,” a tragedy by William Shakespeare performed by the S.C. Shakespeare Company, continues at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and Wednesday -Nov. 1 at Finlay Park amphitheater, Gadsden Street between Laurel and Taylor streets. $12, $7 for students, free for children younger than 12; (803) 787-2273 or www.shakespearesc.org