Sometimes an author produces an extraordinary piece of fiction, only to remain unheard of for the rest of his or her life. This fact led Mark Moskowitz to the production of his latest film, "Stone Reader." Acclaimed by critics for its depth and originality, the film has won both the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at the 2003 Slamdance Film Festival.
Critics are already raging about "Bringing Down the House," a racially charged flick staring Queen Latifah and Steve Martin due out Friday. Saying their worst about the movie, they claim that it promotes negative racial stereotypes and liken it to Minstrel Shows.
Velma Kelley nails it when she breathlessly says, "OK fellas, keep your socks up, 'cause you ain't seen nothin' yet," because the musical has returned to the big screen with all that jazz and then some. Not since "Grease" has a musical created such a buzz, but the new film version of "Chicago" has wowed Hollywood, the Oscars and American audiences.
by Rafael Gallegos Daily Lobo The Cell Theatre and its resident professional-theater company, Fusion, have brought another hot new play to town. Edna Walsh's "Bedbound" just had a run in New York City at the Irish Repertory Theatre. It now comes to off-Broadway Albuquerque with a different cast and crew to kick off The Cell's second season.
Like the bomb it gets its name from, Molotov is made from simple ingredients -- rock, underground rap, mainstream rap, dance music and equal parts English, Spanish and Chilango. And it's explosive. On its third CD release Dance and Dense Denso, the Mexico City-based quartet defies categorization, tweaking with styles and sounds as easily as some musicians tweak the levels on their amplifiers.
On Monday, a worldwide cry for peace was made with a 2,500 year-old play performed in 60 countries more than a thousand times. The play, "Lysistrata," was written by Greek playwright Aristophanes in 411 B.C. and tells the story of Grecian women deciding to end the Peloponnesian War by withholding sex from their partners.
“Voces Feministas,” a radio collective focused on political topics surrounding women of color, has been operating out of KUNM for more than 20 years. This remarkable organization, presently comprised of Cynthia G¢mez, Riti Sachdeva, Cindy Hong, Kee Straits, Mar°a Del R°o and Guille Quiroz, has consistently functioned as a training ground for its contributors and an avenue for commonly marginalized political issues and voices.
Singer, songwriter, musician, producer and jack of all musical trades Ani DiFranco is back and ready to shock anyone who isn’t prepared with her new album Evolve. The album is an eclectic mix of horns, guitars, piano and DiFranco’s soul-penetrating, sexy, raw voice.
“When I was a child and would see scary things on the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’” —Fred Rogers In a world of reality television where vacuous supermodels are the ideal, it’s always good to remember a time when things were a little simpler.
The UNM Unicycling and Juggling Club hopes to drum up interest for the group tonight with a free presentation of world-renowned juggler Jason Garfield at 7:30 p.m. in Woodward Hall. Garfield, the “bad boy” of professional juggling, will bring his act to campus in a performance sponsored by Student Special Events.
by Rafael Gallegos Daily Lobo The Southwest Film Center does it again by bringing the work of animator Bill Plympton back to the screen this weekend. Plympton’s animated film “Mutant Aliens” will be featured on a bill with work by Joan Gratz, a contemporary of Plympton’s who works in clay.
This weekend the Outpost Performance Space will play host to what has become an Albuquerque tradition -- the fifth-annual Tap Jam. Tap Jam coordinator and choreographer, Bill Evans, began making up dances at age three when his aunt took him to see a musical.
For those who think "Half Baked" is their all-time favorite movie, Feb. 25 was a sacred night in the history of our little town -- Dave Chappelle came through Albuquerque on Tuesday as a part of his nationwide tour, "Dave Chappelle is Blackzilla." Gracing the stage a little after 11 p.
by Rafael Gallegos Daily Lobo The SouthWest Film Center, always the haven for the cutting-edge, will play host to The MadCat International Film Festival this weekend. Based in San Francisco, the all-volunteer organization provides a forum for experimental and avant garde media makers.
A visually stunning production of Alain Boublil's "Miss Saigon" opened last night at Popejoy Hall as part of the Ovation Series. The backdrop, a stylistic drawing of a stereotypical village in Vietnam, set the stage for a night of beautiful vocals, vibrant instrumentation, decent acting and, unfortunately, a problematic story.
by Jacque Oldfield Daily Lobo If you're looking for a laid-back alternative to the chromatic bar scene, check out "Smooch's," on the corner of Buena Vista Drive and Central Ave. Prosaic exposed wood ceilings and a massive antique beer cooler lend a casual cantina atmosphere to the place -- picture "Cheers," set deep in New Mexico.
If you've never driven outside of the city limits in order to experience a star-filled sky minus all the crummy light-pollution, you should. Or, if you're keen on the city life but still love the idea of space-gazing, you can drive an even shorter distance to the Lodestar Astronomy Center, where on display is a new exhibit entitled "Infinity Express.
It's not often that a speaker begins an evening insulting the Sunshine Theater by saying "it's a nice change from comfortable, well-lit venues to go to a cold, dark hall with terrible acoustics." Then again, it's not often that Henry Rollins comes around.
Just when you thought American entertainment could sink no further, along comes "Bum Fights" by Indecline productions. Advertised on their Web site as the "world's fastest selling independent video," "Bum Fights" has found a low that even ancient Romans, who threw Christians to lions for popular entertainment, would find disturbing.
The UNM jazz program has a deep vein of talent, as was proven Thursday night in Woodward Hall when the jazz band classes I and II showed off their talents. Led by Jazz Studies director and assistant professor Glenn Kostur, the classes went through a variety of jazz tunes that kept the audience tapping their feet.
Solutions by The State News
