News & Views of Phillips Since 1976
Sunday December 21st 2025
Movie Corner Bonus: Candyman
Horror/Thriller
Universal Pictures (2021)
★★★★ (4 out of 5)
By HOWARD MCQUITTER II
If one says “candyman” five times consecutively in an audible voice one can expect a ghost from the past, a large Black man with a hook on his right hand who will kill anyone daring to repeat his name five times in a row. Director Nia DaCosta takes a slightly different take from the original Candyman, directed by Briton Bernard Rose (Frankenstein [2015], Paperhouse [1988]), whose horror film is referred to by some to be the Halloween of the 1990s. Behind DaCosta’s version is a steady and reliable hand of one the screenwriters – Jordan Peele.
A 2020-21 look at the former Cabrini-Green neighborhood (still there in the 1990s but crumbling in desperate need of repair) which is “nicely” hidden by white developers and whites who have fled to the suburbs and exurbs. Candyman still hangs around, usually appearing to do people in that dare to call his name five times in a loud voice. Now, would there ever be a Candymanif in his past he had not been lynched in the 1890s for daring to paint a portrait of a wealthy white woman when the white neighbors find out?… Read the rest “Movie Corner Bonus: Candyman”
Comparing Metro Transit to Des Moines DART
METRO TRANSIT
By JOHN CHARLES WILSON
Unfortunately, this is a slow month for local transit news. However, since a friend of mine just moved to Des Moines. Iowa, I thought this would be a good time to compare our Metro Transit with Des Moines DART.
Des Moines is a fairly small city; their metro area is comparable to Saint Paul without Minneapolis and with a lot less suburbs. Like Saint Paul, it is the state capital and home to their state fair. Their downtown is slightly more lively than Saint Paul”™s. However, it is a conservative city in a conservative state, and that affects both funding for and public attitudes about transit.
Their local transit system is called DART, short for Des Moines Area Regional Transit. They have only regular buses, no light rail or bus rapid transit. There just isn”™t enough traffic at this time to justify either. There are 19 local routes, all except four converging on the downtown Central Station. (Having an enclosed transfer station is common for smaller transit systems.) There are seven express routes which use the freeways to take people between the suburbs and downtown at rush hour, but these stop on the downtown streets and don”™t go to the Station.… Read the rest “Comparing Metro Transit to Des Moines DART”
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