Arts and Culture (All)

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 11/1/12

Cloud Atlas

You can make Hugh Grant old, but you can’t make him Asian

A butterfly flaps its wings in 1849 and starts a revolution in a futuristic Korea. Seven stories traverse time and space, interweaving in an overly simplified metaphor for reincarnation. Such is Cloud Atlas, a bloated, visually stunning, poorly acted and frustrating exercise in filmmaking. The film follows a core group of characters through several lives. The choices they make in each current life affect their next life. They are also bound to meet certain individuals over...

Article - Performing Arts; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 11/1/12

Calling All Would-Be Directors

Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre needs you

Bay Weekly theater reviewers, take notice. You’ve got your chance — you and everybody else who’s ever said I could do better after seeing a community theater production. Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre needs directors for all three of the musicals it will stage in the summer of 2012, its 47th season. “Community theater is an ever-evolving group of people, so we’re constantly looking for more people to...

Article - Books; by Sandra Olivetti Martin - 11/1/12

Predicting the Next President: The Keys to the White...

Allan Lichtman has unlocked the secret to counting the vote

Can’t stand to wait another week to know who’s going to be president? Ask Allan Lichtman. “My 13 questions will tell you who will claim the popular vote,” says the American University political professor, a Marylander who ran for the U.S. Senate in 2006. His keys have called it right in every election since the middle of the 19th century, when the popular vote was first counted. Of course...

Article - Theatre Reviews; by Davina Grace Hill and Jane Elkin - 11/1/12

Dignity Players’ Crimes of the Heart

It will make good memories for the months the company revamps

With Crimes of the Heart, Dignity Players closes a season devoted to love conquers all and adds a new dimension to its billing as “theatre for change.” After wowing audiences for eight years without technical smoke and mirrors, Dignity Players is upgrading its theatrical infrastructure. Crimes of the Heart, a family drama, makes good memories to carry through the six months when the theater goes dark. Beth Henley won a Pulitzer Prize for her...

Article - Theatre Reviews; by Jane C. Elkin - 11/1/12

The U.S. Naval Academy Masqueraders’ Titus Andronicus

Plenty of gore and breathtaking power, but at 2¾ hours, it demands staying power

The online gore-ometer measuring gallons of blood spilled in The U.S. Naval Academy Masqueraders’ production of Titus Andronicus reached five gallons after opening night. With nine onstage murders, one rape, six dismemberments and one incidence of cannibalism, the midshipmen were determined to milk Shakespeare’s bloodiest play for every drop. On Halloween weekend — as the players competed with the Academy’s annual Halloween concert and new Haunted...

Article - Theatre Reviews; by Michelle Steel - 10/25/12

Twin Beach Players’ Frankenstein

Yes, it’s scary. My nails prove it.

Twin Beach Players works Gothic magic recreating Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in North Beach Boys and Girls Club’s gymnasium. On opening night, the 14-year-old community company sent a full house back in time to 1816, into Dr. Frankenstein’s madness and Arctic ice. From the front row, I watched every detail, biting my nails. I’d have none were it not for Tyschka’s hilarious Grandmother, a welcome relief from the sit-on-the-edge-of-your-seat...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 10/25/12

Paranormal Activity 4

The scariest part of this movie is its lack of creativity

Five years ago, Katie Featherston killed her boyfriend, sister and sister’s family, sparing only her infant nephew Hunter. Katie and Hunter’s whereabouts are still unknown. Since the murders were all caught on tape, you’d think there would be an active investigation, at least a manhunt and a lot of news coverage aimed at finding the woman who brutally murdered three people and absconded with an innocent child. But when a woman and her...

Article - Books; by Ann H. Wolfe - 10/25/12

The Reader: 2012 General Election Voters’ Guide

by League of Women Voters of Anne Arundel County

The Voter’s Guide is a superb primer to the Maryland and Anne Arundel County ballot questions on which we will vote November 6. The League of Women Voters is a well-known nonpartisan political organization. In its own words, the League “encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues and influences public policy through education and advocacy. The League does not support or oppose any...

Article - Food and Drink; by Margaret Jane O’Brien - 10/25/12

Ripening on the Vine

From my vineyard, I can see the thriving growth of Maryland wine

Late this summer, my son and I finished the fifth harvest from our vineyards in Southern Maryland. At the same time, Slack Wine and Vineyards also finished our second showing at the Maryland Wine Festival in Westminster, along with 39 other licensed Maryland wineries. Both events were deemed great successes. The 2012 grape harvest ranks as our favorite harvest to date, due to the extraordinary dry growing conditions and the lack of hurricanes. Last year’s Hurricane...

Article - Theatre Reviews; by Davina Grace Hill - 10/18/12

To Kill a Mockingbird

Compass Rose Studio Theatre sets a new standard for a classic

Now playing at Compass Rose Studio Theatre is a powerful, moving production of an American classic. The Pulitzer Prize went to Harper Lee in her first and only novel, and Oscars for the 1962 film went to Gregory Peck and to Horton Foote for his screenplay adaptation. It takes guts to present To Kill a Mockingbird because Gregory Peck is seared into the role of Atticus Finch. When the American Film Institute ranked movie heroes of the 20th century, Atticus Finch ranked...