Wednesday, April 1, 2009
News 5 things to do: Wednesday
Posted by Amber Robinson on Wed, Apr 1, 2009 at 4:15 AM
1) Decatur Library hosts A Night of Recluse Artists.
2) Jenny Lin performs at Spivey Hall.
3) Emory Cinematheque presents Jaws.
4) Drive-By Truckers perform at Variety Playhouse.
5) Atlanta Symphony Hall hosts Conversations of Note — Atlanta School Part II: The Music of Composer Christopher Theofanidis.
(Photo courtesy Decatur Library)
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
News Vincent Fort eyeing Council president's seat
Posted by Scott Henry on Tue, Mar 31, 2009 at 10:47 PM
I recently related the rumor that state Sen. Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta, is considering a run for Atlanta City Council president, now that Lisa Borders is re-entering the mayor's race. Well, yesterday I tracked Fort down at the Capitol and asked him if the rumor is true.
He was cagey about it – admittedly so – but I came away with the strong conclusion that he is indeed weighing a run for the position. He may ultimately decide against it, but for now I'd say he belongs firmly in the "possible" column – which was where Borders herself was until last week with regard to the mayor's race.
"My heart's always been with the city of Atlanta," he said.
As a politician, Fort has always been a bit of an odd bird. Like former Rep. "Able" Mable Thomas and ex-Councilman Derrick Boazman, Fort has presented himself as a rabble-rouser who's not above getting arrested in order to draw attention to some populist cause, such as his battle against the restructuring of the Grady board.
However, unlike Thomas and Boazman, Fort isn't simply a professional protester. He can also be an effective lawmaker, such as when he successfully shepherded sweeping anti-predatory lending legislation through the General Assembly a few years back.
The Council president's job isn't an obvious fit for an outspoken social activist like Fort. It really seems better suited to someone who excells at process and mediation. But that could change.
Uncategorized Artadia announces 2009 Atlanta winners
Posted by Debbie Michaud on Tue, Mar 31, 2009 at 10:30 PM
Just over a month ago, nonprofit arts foundation Artadia announced the 15 finalists (out of 292 applicants) in the running for its inaugural Atlanta awards. From March 26-29, judges/curators Jeffrey Grove (Wieland Family Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Ga.), Clara Kim (gallery director and curator, REDCAT, Los Angeles, Calif.), and Hamza Walker (associate curator and director of education, the Renaissance Society, Chicago, Ill.) made the rounds here to determine the award's 2009 recipients. Seven artists were chosen.
The Artadia Awardees 2009 Atlanta at the $15,000 level are: Don Cooper and Jerry Siegel. The five recipients of the $3,000 awards are Tristan Al-Haddad, Ruth Dusseault, Fahamu Pecou, Larry Walker, and Angela West. In honor of Atlanta arts patron Judith Alexander, Don Cooper has been named the Judith Alexander Artadia Awardee.
Uncategorized Community-based media and 'WonderRoot TV'
Posted by Jeremy Abernathy on Tue, Mar 31, 2009 at 10:12 PM
Night of the Knife (Music Video) - by Cassavetes from Cassavetes Band on Vimeo.
The music video above, "Night of the Knife" by the local band Cassavetes, was included in the very first episode of "WonderRoot TV." Expect more from episode two — including a spotlight on the Disregardables, a local punk act, and a visit with Dosa Kim at his recent Beep Beep Gallery opening — premiering tomorrow night, Wed., April 1 at 8 p.m at WonderRoot.
Each 30-minute program, featuring short art films, animation, music videos, and profiles on local artists and musicians, is comprised of original footage (shot and edited by WR volunteers) as well as submissions collected via an open call to the community. The final product is then broadcast on cable every Thursday on channel 24 People TV Atlanta. ("WonderRoot TV," episode one is also available online at YouTube in four separate parts.) WonderRoot hosts a screening on the first Wednesday of every month.
If you're an aspiring filmmaker, animation artist, or a local band working on a music video, here's your opportunity to get on TV. Interested? If so, WonderRoot has scheduled an informational meeting about the program Thursday at 7 p.m.
Uncategorized ‘24:’ Episode 16, 11 p.m.-midnight
Posted by Debbie Michaud on Tue, Mar 31, 2009 at 7:51 PM
This week's episode opened with a downtrodden Jack perched on the side of the interstate next to a hijacked semi robbed of its very precious cargo. Jack curtailed the bio-weapon threat the previous hour by plugging a leak and exposing himself to the chemical only seconds before Starkwood swooped in and airlifted the WMDs straight out of the 18-wheeler.
CDC meds arrive on the scene this week in full-on body suits and command Jack to get undressed, which he does right there in the middle of the road. No one holds up a sheet or anything (I'm not complaining...), but our view was strategically obscured by some indefinable blur in the foreground. Foliage? The back of someone's head? Stray woodland creature? At any rate, we finally know that Jack's definitely a boxers guy.
Jack gets hosed down, tested and quarantined. Meanwhile, Hodges and his boys are trying to "convince" Tony to reveal what the FBI knows with the help of their fists and a chain-link fence. Hodges tries to play the Michelle card, telling Tony he's familiar with his file. (It's apparently crazy easy to get your hands on people's files. Who hasn't read everyone's file at this point?) Greg Seton interrupts to tell Hodges they should destroy "the evidence" i.e., the bio-weapons. Hodges disagrees strongly and leaves in a huff, barking to Tony, "Think about what I said young man!"
News CL CEO keeps company — UPDATED
Posted by Mara Shalhoup on Tue, Mar 31, 2009 at 7:00 PM
Fresh from a Tampa courtroom, our colleague Wayne Garcia has the scoop on CL's ownership dispute:
- Federal Judge Caryl E. Delano has ruled in Creative Loafing CEO Ben Eason’s favor, denying major creditor Atalaya’s motions to take control of the company.
- Though Eason keeps the company, Judge Delano ruled that the reorganization plan put forth by CL would be tough to confirm.
- As a result, the judge is suggesting mediation for the two sides to come up with a mutually compatible reorganization plan.
Wayne will have all the details when he returns from the courthouse later today.
Uncategorized Brian Cox breaks out in The Escapist
Posted by Debbie Michaud on Tue, Mar 31, 2009 at 6:48 PM
Scotland’s Brian Cox consistently proves himself to be one of film's best working character actors, although he used to be most famous as a kind of footnote. He played Hannibal Lecter in Michael Mann’s Manhunter in 1986, before Anthony Hopkins took ownership of the part in perpetuity with The Silence of the Lambs. Thanks to such roles as a redeemed pedophile in L.I.E. and a traveling thespian on “Deadwood,” Cox has enjoyed a big-screen resurgence in the past decade.
He reliably steals scenes as bombastic authority figures, but the English prison drama The Escapist confirms that Cox makes an arresting screen subject even while simply thinking and reacting. He anchors The Escapist as desperate lifer Frank Perry, even though he hardly speaks for long stretches, so you don’t know what he’s thinking about or reacting to. His concerns have their own gravity.
Director/co-writer Rupert Wyatt gives the film a twisty structure that matches the labyrinthine underground escape route of its jailbird antiheroes. Continue reading "Brian Cox breaks out in The Escapist"
News DNA frees Dekalb County man convicted of bear attack
Posted by Andisheh Nouraee on Tue, Mar 31, 2009 at 5:26 PM
News Mayor's race begins in earnest at witching hour Friday
Posted by Scott Henry on Tue, Mar 31, 2009 at 5:14 PM
If you happen to see a crowd on the steps of the state Capitol at midnight this Friday, relax – you haven't missed the release of the newest GameBoy console.
Instead, it's what I consider to be the starting whistle of the Atlanta mayor's race. Just after the stroke of midnight will have brought the 2009 General Assembly to a merciful close, state Sen. Kasim Reed, D-Atlanta, is scheduled to convene a campaign rally on the steps on the Capitol.
At that moment, all three (or four, depending who's counting) of the leading candidates will be firmly in the race:
- City Council President Lisa Borders will have just announced her return to the race a day or two earlier (we'll let you know when it happens…)
- Councilwoman Mary Norwood undoubtedly will have conducted her 5,712th community meet-and-greet that afternoon
- Reed will be done with the legislative session and able to raise funds again, assuming he doesn't get mugged this Friday on the Capitol steps (hey, that can be a rough neighborhood after dark)
- and attorney Jesse Spikes will, presumably, still be trying to tell Atlanta who he is
Frankly, with Borders about to re-enter the race, I don't see any more room for Johnny-come-lately candidates. That includes such folks as Fulton County Commissioner Robb Pitts, who would have to share whatever constituency he still has with Borders (the business community); Norwood (Buckhead residents); and Reed (people who want to vote for a black man).
No, my guess is that the field that hits the campaign trail this weekend is what we'll see on the November ballot, minus whoever drops out along the way.
Uncategorized League does justice to lit history
Posted by Curt Holman on Tue, Mar 31, 2009 at 5:07 PM
Anyone familiar with the dense, dizzying work of Watchmen writer Alan Moore, especially the two prior chapters of his League of Extraordinary Gentlemen graphic novels, shouldn't have a problem with the basic premise of the third volume, Century. In the LXG series (to borrow the name of the misbegotten film adaptation), Moore and illustrator Kevin O’Neill envision a superhero team comprised of characters from classic literature such as Captain Nemo and the Invisible Man. Published by Marietta’s Top Shelf Productions, the three-part Century leaps forward to 1910 and draws on 20th-century literary creations. The subsequent volumes take place in 1968 and 2008.
The fact that Century: 1910 presents a supernatural historical thriller in which Edwardian antiheroes tangle with pirates, satanists and serial killers is business as usual for the series. The fact that Moore conceives the graphic novel partially as a musical is harder to get your head around.
Moore crafts 1910’s major subplot as an elaborate homage to Kurt Weill’s The Threepenny Opera and the book’s supporting roles croon new lyrics to the German composer’s most famous songs. The murderous Macheath, for instance, sings a pastiche of “The Ballad of Mack the Knife” that scans perfectly with the original. Moore seems especially inspired by Weill’s musical moralizing, and the numbers condemn the cruelty of the haves and have-nots alike.
