Articles by DIana Beechener

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 7/26/12

The Dark Knight Rises

The bane of this movie is the lead villain

Eight years after the Joker held Gotham City in his grip of terror, the rich have gotten richer, the poor are in Dickensian straits and the city is at a stalemate. With the Harvey Dent Act, the city has reduced crime by stuffing the jails. Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale: The Flowers of War) is now a retired recluse who pines for lost love and hopes to heal a mind and body battered by his Batman stint. Gotham and Wayne are pulled out of indolence by meaty mercenary Bane (Tom...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 7/19/12

Beasts of the Southern Wild

A charming fairytale about a little girl who lives in the bathtub

On the other side of the Delta levees is a shantytown called The Bathtub. It’s so cut off from the outside world that six-year-old Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis) envisions her community as a wonderland. Life is simple, clothes are dirty and magic is everywhere. Hushpuppy lives next to her father Wink (Dwight Henry) and spends her day collecting pets, feeding the hodgepodge of animals, listening to the heartbeats of every creature she encounters and making sense of the...

Article - Theatre Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 7/19/12

Not All Puppets Live on Sesame Street

The googly-eyed creations of Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre’s Avenue Q offer a lesson on what happens when you don’t fulfill your dreams

“If you brought your kids to this, you’re [expletive] parents!” So begins Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre’s latest production, which features puppets, songs and decidedly adult situations. It’s a show so crude, rude and politically incorrect the only thing you can do is laugh. The show follows Princeton (Colin Hood), a recent college graduate who realizes the real world isn’t as great as he imagined it. Jobless, holding...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 7/12/12

Savages

Two drug dealers find out the Mexican cartel means business in this tale of sex, blood and marijuana

Ben (Aaron Johnson: Albert Nobbs) and Chon (Taylor Kitsch: Battleship) are two California boys who made it big in a volatile market. No, they’re not investment bankers. This pair of best buds grows the greatest ganja in the world. Ben is a brilliant botanist and businessman who believes in Buddhist philosophies and letting problems go. Chon is a former Navy SEAL who believes in beating any problem into a bloody pulp. With Chon in charge of the less savory parts...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 7/5/12

Ted

Teddy bears can be pigs

Young John Bennet (Bretton Manley) didn’t have many friends, so for Christmas his parents bought him a stuffed bear named Ted (Seth MacFarlane: Family Guy). Thanks to the magic of the season and the power of a child’s wish, Ted became real. At first, Ted is a godsend, giving John confidence and companionship. Twenty-seven years later, however, Ted keeps 35-year-old John (Mark Wahlberg: ) stuck in permanent adolescence. Ted and John...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 6/28/12

Brave

Never accept a tart from an angry teenager

Being a lady in ancient societies was a real drag. You had to truss yourself up in uncomfortable dresses, follow the rules of court and be prim even as the men around you acted like imbeciles. If you were really good at following the rules, your grand reward was to be married off to some drooling noble who made up in breeding what he lacked in intelligence and sensitivity. So it’s not that surprising that young princess Merida (Kelly McDonald: Boardwalk Empire) balks...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 6/21/12

Moonrise Kingdom

Kids do the darndest things, like stab people with lefty scissors

Two troubled 12-year-olds find that their broken pieces fit perfectly in this latest Wes Anderson (The Fantastic Mr. Fox) fantasy. Sam (newcomer Jared Gilman) is an orphan with emotional issues and excellent scouting skills. Suzy Bishop (newcomer Kara Hayward) is a quiet girl prone to violent outbursts, observing the world through the detaching lens of binoculars and wearing too much eye makeup. Meeting on a small New England island, they discover they...

Article - History & Lore; by Diana Beechener - 6/21/12

An Olive Branch Snapped

Bay Weekly commemorates the War of 1812 bicentennial with a look at this week in history.

Bay Weekly commemorates the War of 1812 bicentennial with a look at this week in history By June 23 of 1812, the United States of America was at war with Great Britain. Though neither nation was aching for a fight, trade disputes, Britain’s support of Native American rebellion and the forceful conscription of Americans into the British Navy pushed the old and new nations to an impasse. But this week 200 years ago, America flirted with the idea of suspending its six-...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 6/14/12

Prometheus

Sometimes, you might not want all the answers

If you could ask our creator one question, what would it be? Why do bad things happen to good people? What’s the meaning of it all? Why does Adam Sandler continue to get his movies green-lighted? This thought exercise makes one big assumption: there will be answers. In Prometheus, director Ridley Scott (Robin Hood) takes on the question of our origins —at least our origins in the Alien mythos. Archeologists Dr. Elizabeth...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 6/7/12

Snow White and the Huntsman

Mirror mirror on the wall, I prefer the wicked queen after all

Once upon a time in a magical kingdom there lived a beautiful princess. Young Snow White (Raffey Cassidy: Dark Shadows) was so good, innocent and pure that the townspeople loved her even though she wasn’t very interesting. Luckily, wicked queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron: Young Adult) showed up to seduce the king and lock the boring princess away in a tower. Ravenna is more dynamic than Snow, but she lacks leadership abilities. The earth turns to ash, the kingdom starves...