‘Arts’ Archives
Interview with Local Artist Noelle
By MARY ELLEN KALUZA Late last summer my 19 year old cat died and I was sad. I told my neighbors and their four children about it. They were sad for me. One day the young neighbors came over with something to help cheer me up. They gave me beautiful paintings of things they knew I liked: butterflies, bees, flowers. And fairies. (I had been asked the previous week if I liked fairies. I replied incredulously, “Who doesn't like fairies?!”) Noelle and her siblings were taking art classes online at the time – a COVID inspired pastime. Besides being very touched by their kindness, I was immensely impressed with the paintings, which then inspired this new feature in the alley highlighting young artists in our Phillips Community. Noelle's creations that were gifted to me are featured here. I recently sat down with Noelle at her home to ask her about her art and herself. And, I had the great fortune to see several more of Noelle's paintings while we talked – all [...]
The Batman
Warner Bros. Pictures (2022) ★★★★☆ Movie Corner By HOWARD MCQUITTER II Welcome, again, to the dystopian world of Gotham City where crime is out of control, the mayor is murdered, Batman's nemeses the Penguin (Colin Farrell)and the Riddler (Paul Dano)are loose on the streets, the police officers are overworked and weary. But there's Batman (Robert Pattinson) in the midst of all the chaos, with a surly attitude of his own, bound and determined to solve the murder and see that the misfits are behind bars. Initially, many city officials and high-ranking police officials see Batman as a vigilante, more part of the problem than part of the solution. But wait! There's Lt. James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) whois more than glad to work with Batman to find the culprit(s) in the crime waves in Gotham City. (So much of Gotham City is a reflection of the typical American city today.) Director Matt Reeves' version of Batman spends little time with Batman's alter ego Bruce [...]
Movie Corner – Ten best of 2021
By HOWARD MCQUITTER II 1. Summer of Soul (Questlove) 2. The Power of the Dog (Jane Campion) 3. CODA (Sian Heder) 4. Passing (Rebecca Hall) 5. Belfast (Kenneth Branagh) 6. Last Night in Soho (Edgar Wright) 7. Parallel Mothers (Pedro Almodóvar) 8. Nine Days (Edson Oda) 9. Spider-Man: No Way Home (Jon Watts) 10. Nightmare Alley (Guillermo del Toro) Other films of 2021 to see: West Side Story (Steven Spielberg), In the Heights (Jon M. Chu), The Lost Daughter (Maggie Gyllenhaal), Respect (Liesl Tommy), The Eyes of Tammy Faye (Michael Showalter), Licorice Pizza (Paul Thomas Anderson), Dune (Denis Villeneuve), The French Dispatch (Wes Anderson), and Drive My Car (Ryusuke Hamaguchi). (movie posters are [...]
