Archive: April, 2010

ONE TRACK MIND: Xylos' "Not Enough"

POSTED: Monday, April 12, 2010, 11:05 PM

Filed Under: Music One Track Mind

"Not Enough," the first single of Xylos' soon-to-be-dropped debut LP, is effervescent bubble-gum that'll stick your shoes to the pavement, complete with bombastic interludes that will bump you into next week and back and enough lyrics about the kind of one night stands that the summer is known for to make a boy's hands clammy. The song brews up the same hazy-headed rush of that first drunken kiss under a June moon.

Tue., April 13, 8 p.m., $12, with Chris Pureka, Johnny Brenda's, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 215-739-9684.

Posted by Tom Tiballi @ 11:05 PM Permalink | Post a comment

NOW SEE THIS: Suzanne Vega + The Roots, "Tom's Diner"

POSTED: Monday, April 12, 2010, 8:45 PM

Filed Under: Music | Now See This | TV Philly Bands

Posted by Patrick Rapa @ 8:45 PM Permalink | Post a comment

THE SHOWDOWN: Bag of crazy in tow

POSTED: Monday, April 12, 2010, 8:00 PM

Filed Under: Music The Showdown

Monday: The Legendary Shack Shakers bend rockabilly over European gypsy sounds. Just like the gypsies, they use their tunes as storytelling devices, leaning away from the typical rockabilly standards of Caddies and curvy babes. With Danny Barnes, $12, 9 p.m., Johnny Brendas, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 215-739-9684. Tuesday: Xiu Xiu's hot mess Jamie Stewart is back — bag of crazy in tow — to promote their latest, Dear God, I Hate Myself. Uplifting as always. Opening for them is an equally wild experimental group, Tune Yards, who have fun with a kaleidoscope of vocals and percussion. With Tune Yards, $12, 8 p.m., First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St., 215-563-3980. Wednesday: Last week's cover girl Meghan Remy — who performs as U.S. Girls — plays a set of weird, gritty lo-fi. The looped droning is not without a sense of purpose. And there's always lots of warbley fuzz, which makes everything better. With MI Ami, Hot Guys and My Mind, $5 - $10, 8 p.m., Danger Danger Gallery, 5013 Baltimore Ave. Thursday: Titus Andronicus are punk, but catchy enough to borderline on pop punk. Then you hear the lyrics and realize this ain't the music your teenager sister listens to because nobody understands her. This is the sharp, snappy punk with a thousand pounds of intelligence. Plus they're from Jersey and they don't come without a proper nod to the Boss. With The Babies, $10, 7 p.m., The Barbary, 951 Frankford Ave., 215-423-8342 Friday: Dark, aloof dance music? Yes, please. Hear the angelic melodies and crushing keys of the Liars. These guys aren't sweet, though, they're disturbed. Just how we like them. With Fol Chen, $12, 8 p.m., The First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St., 215-563-3980. Saturday: Jersey locals the Feelies have some '80s moments that make you wanna dance alone in your room. That vibe may be a result of the fact that the band has been around — off and on — since the mid-'70s. They still manage to make relevant, guitar-loving quirk pop that's spunky but at times dreary. Just like the Jerz. At 8 p.m., $24 - $34, World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St., 215-222-1400. Sunday: Real Estate make really gentle lo-fi with basic guitar chords on repeat, rising above the insecure lyrics and solid bass drum. Oohhh... lovely, soft, hazy, and with a lazy Hawaiian feel. With The Beets and Family Portrait, $10 - $12, The Barbary, 951 Frankford Ave., 215-423-8342.

Posted by Julia West @ 8:00 PM Permalink | Post a comment

CONCERT REVIEW: Baby Dee & David E. Williams @ World Cafe Live, 4/8

POSTED: Monday, April 12, 2010, 7:15 PM

Filed Under: Music Concert Review

photos by K. Ross Hoffman

Baby Dee

Careening pyrotechnically from an operatic quaver to a witchy cackle. Thursday's uncommonly (and at times uncomfortably) intimate performance at the World Cafe Upstairs was a striking study in contrast. Although on some level it must have seemed eminently logical and fitting to put Baby Dee and David E. Williams on a bill together — both are classic outsider artists; highly idiosyncratic songwriters whose appeal falls far outside the mainstream — it's hard to imagine two performers who could be more dissimilar in their personal energy and emotional tone. I came to the show as a relative newcomer to the world of Baby Dee, and knowing next to nothing about Williams (a local legend, says A.D. Amorosi), but it didn't take long to grasp the essence of either's work. Williams, a shaggy sheepdog of a figure, sat at his keyboard, flanked by a younger long-haired drummer who flailed at his serious-looking kit with prog-rock precision and a much younger pixie-ish violinist who twirled girlishly and turned in several excellently droney solos — all three dressed in varying degrees of black — and presented a set of intensely melodramatic songs whose lyrics, when they could be deciphered (the drumming was loud, plus some of it was in German) were bookishly overwrought and unremittingly dark. His stage banter was jaunty in a somewhat offputting fashion — a casual mention that many of the songs had been written "just down the street at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital" raised some eyebrows at my table — and a glance at his offerings on the merch table revealed an amusingly wry way with album titles. But aside from the occasional droll non-sequitor ("a million Margarets make a Meg"?) there was nothing light or comical about either his subject matter — suicide, the Holocaust, dead flowers — or his treatment of it, particularly on the grisly and uncomfortably straight-faced "Hymn to the Genius of Idi Amin" and a horrifically unsettling song about an altar boy (apparently, he has a bunch of these) with "blood, semen and chocolate smeared on his cheek." If this stuff was meant as a joke, it wasn't funny — but it was somehow hard to know what to do other than laugh.

As if to underscore the contrast between her unassuming gentleness and Williams' disturbed, oppressive bleakness, Baby Dee slipped on stage discreetly and sat quietly at the piano for several minutes, smiling and shrugging her shoulders at the continued noise of the crowd (including some worryingly enthusiastic Williams fans), until the lights dimmed and she began to sing: "Look at me — I'm an April day!" Dee is used to being looked at: her colorful, legend-worthy past includes stints as a street artist and circus performer — notably, appearing as a "bilateral hermaphrodite" at the Coney Island Sideshow — while her ungainly, androgynous frame (Dee was born a man) has no doubt invited its share of unkind looks (and worse) over the years. But her visual presentation last night was refreshingly, even goofily casual — her awesome fuzzy, spotted pajama pants an apt reflection of her invitingly natural ease and comfort on stage; her chummy chatter with the audience peppered with sudden, violent spurts of laughter. If Dee's appearance is striking, her voice is simply astounding, careening pyrotechnically from an operatic quaver to a witchy cackle to an elegant, honeyed lilt to the magically hushed timbre of twinkle-eyed storytelling grandparent. As often as not, it's the sound of her singing, more than the actual words, which fully convey the sentiments of her songs, but either way the unbridled emotion and generosity of spirit behind them is unmistakable. She introduced each of her first six or seven numbers — most of them taken from her exquisitely tender latest opus, A Book of Songs for Anne Marie — as a love song, promising us she'd save her "dark, nasty, miserable stuff" for later. And sure enough, after the sublime sweetness of that newer material, gently buttressed by the understated accompaniment of a handsome young cellist and violinist, Dee turned to some of her more vigorous, fiery, and unsettling selections, pieces hinting at the haunted, twisted, tortured corners of her experience. But even here, though there was definitely darkness, and anger, and even violence in these songs — the fiery, demented ragtime of "Teeth Are The Only Bones That Show" and the powerfully evocative cabaret-style "Dance of Diminishing Possibilities" (a true story, as she explained to us, of childhood neighbors who destroyed a piano on their front lawn) — there was love too, a lightness and hope borne out of that darkness, all the more unspeakably precious. It's not too much of a stretch to imagine that both Baby Dee and David Williams have lived difficult lives; clearly, neither one is a stranger to darkness and trauma. But the differences in the how those experiences have been translated and transformed into each performer's art are as stark, and as clear, as night and day. Baby Dee's set list 1. April Day 2. Prelude 3. A Book of Songs for Anne Marie 4. Lilacs 5. Endless Night 6. Set Me As A Seal 7. As Morning Holds A Star 8. Flowers On The Tracks 9. The Earlie King 10. Teeth (The Only Bones That Show) 11. Dance of Diminishing Possibilities 12. Safe Inside The Day

Posted by K. Ross Hoffman @ 7:15 PM Permalink | Post a comment

GET LIT: Win a copy of Philadelphia Phillies: Past and Present

POSTED: Monday, April 12, 2010, 6:30 PM

MVP Books, 144 pp., $25.00, March 2010

Because the Phillies head into their home opener (today, 3:05) on a 5-1 season-opening roll, we're feeling pretty generous. We've got a shiny copy of baseball historian/writer Rich Westcott's new coffee table-ready Philadelphia Phillies: Past & Present (144 p., MVP Books) sitting on our desk. And we're gonna give it away. The photo-rich tome spans the 128-year history of the Fightin' Phils, from old black-and-white newspaper clippings to dazzling color shots of the current stadium and players. While books like this can sometimes dwell in the superficial, Westcott takes you down the memory hole, introducing you, yes, to the stars of the World Series teams, but also to the casts of loveable losers (for instance, Hugh "Losing Pitcher" Mulcahy, a pitcher who received at least one MVP vote in each of his two 20-loss seasons and Gene Mauch, the skipper of the infamous 1964 collapse) who helped the franchise rack up 10,000 losses in record time. To win a copy, be the first to answer the following trivia question: What and who do the symbols below represent?

Image | Baseball Reference

E-mail your answers to carolyn.huckabay@citypaper.net.

Posted by Brian Howard @ 6:30 PM Permalink | Post a comment

Celeb spotting: Where to see Bradley Cooper and Bobby D. around town

POSTED: Monday, April 12, 2010, 6:00 PM

Filed Under: Movies On set

Our Twitter is blowing up with sightings of the film crew for Dark Fields, the new thriller starring Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Bright Star's Abbie Cornish and Land of the Lost's Anna Friel and directed by Neil Burger. The film is about a writer who take "Viagra for the brain" to make him smarter, only to hit a roadblock. So, who is down for some stalking? On Location Vacations (a.k.a. @olv) said:

OLV released that Tweet after they reported what Marathon Grill (@EatMarathon) later confirmed:

But the Greater Philadelphia Film Office (@GPFO), clearly, has the scoop on where they'll be later in the month:

Friend of Crit Mass Dan McQuade also reports that trolley stops on 19th street have NYC subway signs up, which makes sense considering the 2000 blocks of Delancey and Spruce are the usual NYC stand-ins. Team Meal Ticket has the scoop on where Cornish is dining out. RELATED >> Philly-filming Robert De Niro/Bradley Cooper movie gets release date RELATED >> ICE CUBE: Cooper and De Niro's co-star and boxing with the woman who bedded Bullock's hubby

PhillyChitChat

Posted 2010-04-12 13:22:56

I think Michael Klein scooped them all when he wrote about all those upcoming sightings last week in his column in the Inquirer. I wish the GPFO really would release the upcoming film sites, like the film office in NYC does.

Posted by Molly Eichel @ 6:00 PM Permalink | Post a comment

COVETED: Reinventing the wheel

POSTED: Monday, April 12, 2010, 5:00 PM

Filed Under: Arts | Shopping Coveted

Collectors of pretty things, take note: Every Friday Monday, we're rounding up a what's-what of what we [heart], culled from the scores of design blogs, artist sites and Etsy treasuries we stalk on the regular.

This week we're doing things a little bit differently. You'll see more pictures, fewer words, simpler links and condensed shout-outs, because when we decided we'd do a bicycle-themed edition of Coveted, we didn't know what we were getting ourselves into. We could have spent an entire week scrolling through cycling-related Etsy crafts (much thanks to The Storque for pointing us in the right direction). Here's the best of what we've found (click on the pics for product info), grouped by color because we are nerds.

Way up top we've got a Stop Honking T-shirt by MyORB, which would most definitely cause the opposite effect than desired, but we like the idea. Then above, from left to right: Things we love about Rotorcaps' circular cuff links include a) they're handsome, b) they're made from beer bottle caps, and c) they're local. Speaking of beer, Vital Home's colorful set of screen-printed bike pint glasses would do just the trick. Still speaking of beer, Steel Toe Studios has a pricey but worth-it bottle opener made from recycled bike gear. Finally (and, we guess, still tangentially related to beer if you know what we mean), you don't have to put Heckfire's bike decals on your toilet, but it's something nice to look at.

Set two (above, L-R) starts off with a rotating bike-wheel pot rack by Plaid Clad. What does "normal ceiling height" mean and will this work in our kitchen? We couldn't pick just one necklace, so we've got the more straightforward (and local) U-Lock necklace by Maggie Wood, plus a funky, less-obvious inner-tube necklace from Minnesota artist TRStonyhill. Lastly, we couldn't not shout out Philly gal Girls Can Tell, whose bike-related merch includes these simple, black-and-white tea towels. Want.

Finally, set three (above, L-R) includes the brightest of the bunch. If you have a kid (or if you're a grown-up who likes pictures of birds riding bikes), check out Barking Bird Art's sweet nursery print. Adorbs. If you've mastered adult skills like time-telling, keep it up with One By Liz's recycled-parts bike clocks, which come in tons of colors and styles. Heather Jeany's affordable, sunshiney screen-printed stationery caught our eye, as did Dark Cycle Clothing's animals-on-a-bike tee series. We're smitten by the giraffe-on-a-tall-bike version, but the whale and the badger are pretty cute, too. PREVIOUSLY >> COVETED: Take a look, it's in a book

Posted by Carolyn Huckabay @ 5:00 PM Permalink | Post a comment

Been There/Done That: April 12

POSTED: Monday, April 12, 2010, 4:04 PM

Filed Under: Been There, Done That

moviebanter.wordpress.com

What We Watched

When we're not editing and writing and proofing and stressing, we A&E editors keep busy getting our culture on. Since we (that'd be Patrick Rapa, music editor; Carolyn Huckabay, arts editor; Molly Eichel, movies/agenda editor; and occasionally Holly Otterbein, staff writer/arts patron) know Philly's teeming with artsy happenings, we'll give you a weekly roundup of where we've been and what we've seen. But we can't see it all. We're taking a cue from Team Meal Ticket — who diligently report on how they've spent their foodie weekends — and opening the floor to you: Leave a comment and let us know what you've been up to since Friday at 5.

CH: Carolyn Huckabay ME: Molly Eichel PR: Patrick Rapa

What We Watched: — Have you ever seen the two-part episode of Criminal Minds where Garcia gets shot by her date? OMG it's so intense. Also, The Gube. —CH — Caught the Schwarzenegger-starring Last Action Hero, which I hadn't seen in a minute. I was a huge fan of the meta-actioner when I was a kid but it's funnier now that I get all the movie in-jokes (i.e. Joan Plowright talks about Hamlet and screens a clip of the version by her former husband Laurence Olivier). Take a look at Austin O'Brien now! Where We Went: — Trekked up Delaware Avenue Saturday afternoon for Grid magazine's one-year anniversary party. And it was PACKED. I guess that's what happens when you say things like "open to the public" and "free snacks from Birchrun Hills Farm" and "beer." Big ups to Grid! —CH — Had a blast at the Philly Roller Girls season opener. Whoever sings their National Anthem needs to become Philly's new Kate Smith. The Philthy Britches beat out their trans-Atlantic rivals London Brawling in a close match and the excellently-costumed Broad Street Butchers made mincemeat out of the Heavy Metal Hookers (both teams got mad bonus points for their mascots). Then spent the rest of the evening coming up with my roller derby named: Tina Fey-tal. But the best one I saw is still Axl Rolls. What's yours? —ME — Saturday morning I volunteered with my neighborhood association, East Passyunk Crossing, for some Philly Spring Cleanup action. Our group's assignment: cleaning up the 1300 blocks between Tasker and Snyder. Not technically A&E, but at least the theme — "keep up the sweep up" — was entertaining. —CH What We Read: — I canceled my subscription awhile ago because I was tired of reading about Bernie Madoff, but scooped up a copy of Vanity Fair with former local gal/Golden Age Girl Crush Grace Kelly on the cover. "Grace Kelly's Forever Look" by Laura Jacobs was an interesting read, nothing shocking but the pictures are stunning (check out the slideshow). The real must-read in the issue, though, is the piece on filmmaker Preston Sturges by Douglas McGrath. It's an excellent round-up of the forgotten screwball genius. —ME — This was the weekend I finally quit David Foster Wallace's The Broom of the System. I kept coming back to it because I did the Infinite Summer thing last year and it was just awesome. Turns out the relatively tiny Broom is no Infinite Jest. I found it tiring, wacky, hard to get lost in. Maybe one day I'll come crawling back, cause there's only so much DFW out there. —PR — Found a copy of Mommie Dearest by Christine Crawford, the tell-all memoir by Joan Crawford's adopted daughter, at Philly AIDS Thrift. Oh Holy Gods of Camp, I cannot wait for this scene:

—ME

So, what did you do? Tell us in the comments.

Jessie Bikel

Posted 2010-04-12 15:01:52

Really?!?!? Really??!?!  That was your favorite rollerderby girl name??? Are you kidding?  How does that beat "Heavy Flo" of the Heavy Metal Hookers?  I will say that Roller Derby was one of the few times in my life where (if there was one, I certainly wouldn't start one) I wanted to join in on a "USA! USA!" chant, we'll get it in next time London Brawling.

Lindsey

Posted 2010-04-12 15:16:40

do they have songs that they play when they come out by any chance? i hope at some point someone played "welcome to the jungle" for axl rolls!!

Drew Lazor

Posted 2010-04-12 16:37:21

I watched the movie Post Grad this weekend and I don't think I've ever regretted a $4.99 On Demand purchase more. (This is coming from a guy who's On Demand-ed shitfests like Silent Hill and No Reservations, aka the cooking movie that is ALL MONTAGES.) 

Girlie and I decided to watch it because we're both big Gilmore Girls fans and by proxy both fans of Alexis Bledel. But her character in this movie was such an unlikeable self-absorbed douchebag trollop. She graduates from college, doesn't land her dream job and can't find a job right away. Then she's forced to — ew — TEMPORARILY WORK FOR HER DAD. OH YOU POOR BABY, THAT'S NEVER HAPPENED TO ANYONE BEFORE! Making matters worse is her turd-ass male best friend who plays shitty acoustic guitar music and broods even though he got into Columbia Law School, as well as a completely unnecessary turn from Rodridgo Santoro (aka Xerxes from 300 — "All that Godking Xerxes requires is this: A SIMPLE OFFERING OF EARTH AND WATER!") as a Brazilian informercial director who she fucks/has tedious conversation with.

The only redeeming characters in the whole movie are Michael Keaton as Alexis Bledel's eccentric but lovable father and the kid who plays her Aspberger-afflicted little brother.

Rajiv

Posted 2010-04-12 17:45:55

If I were in the roller derby, I'd favor a more Phillycentric name like Benjamin Shanklin. Or maybe just go with something classic like Destroyer of Worlds. 

My favorite player name was definitely Robin Drugstores.

Scott

Posted 2010-04-12 18:13:24

Went to Mr. Martino's Trattoria on E. Passyunk for anniversary dinner on Saturday. It was wonderful. The food was very good and the atmosphere was great. Really did remind me of Italy. Not at all the kreepy karnival vibe I was expecting from the outside sign.

Emily G

Posted 2010-04-12 19:03:24

Robin Drugstores was clearly the best name!

FRIDAY: Karaoke at Ray's, which has a bizarrely high ratio of on-key singers to off-key singers. Designated cockblocker for friends of friends from out of town. May have slow-danced to a Disney song.

SATURDAY: Breakfast at New Deal Diner. Happy hour at White Dog with waitress who seemed very irritated about our sitting outside. Then, like apparently everyone else on the Philly internet, went to the roller derby, which was the most fun I've had shouting WOOOOO in a while. Then Sidecar and nachos. May have shouted woo about the nachos, too.

SUNDAY: Free Wake Up Yoga class cuz you gotta train student teachers somehow! Then got overpriced food at Mugshots on the way home. Ugh sorry writing this has made it really clear to me that I turned into a yuppie at some point over the last few years.

Caitlin

Posted 2010-04-12 19:38:13

Spent Sunday afternoon on the Schuylkill Banks with the Sarcone's hoagie (the Sinatra, of course) that I had been too hungover to enjoy on Saturday.  Alternatively gawked at the parade of rollerblading  twentysomethings and finished off Tao Lin's "Eeeee Eee Eeee" which is much better than its association with Miranda July would suggest.

Posted by Molly Eichel @ 4:04 PM Permalink | Post a comment

PROJECT RUNWAY: Episode 12, This competition is getting in tents

POSTED: Friday, April 9, 2010, 9:47 PM

Filed Under: TV ProjRun

blogginprojectrunway.com

Anthony, Emilio, Jay, Mila, Seth Aaron

It was circus freak fun this week for the remaining five designers. They met up with Tim (who was not dressed as a clown or riding on an elephant to everyone's dismay) at Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus for a big top rendezvous. For this final challenge before Bryant Park, the eager beavers had to draw inspiration from watching the jugglers, acrobats, clowns and the great ring leader. With the exception of Miss Thang's (aka, Anthony's) blue dress, most of the ensembles created this week were literal interpretations — near carbon copies — of the ring leader's outfit. Emilio, who needed to rent another Atlas apartment just to fit his ego in the building, won the challenge yet again. For his design he used black and white stripes as the bulk of the skirt, adding black and white polka dot chiffon at the hem. The floor-length dress was bunched in the front, making a reverse bustle look happen. He slipped in details of red and grey stripes, and a deep red lining on the underside of the skirt. It was masterful, yes, and innovative. But aren't we all just so sick of seeing Emilio win week after week? I thought this was a competition I was watching. Jay, Mila and Seth Aaron each made a pair of pants and a wild jacket to match. Jay decided again to make bottoms that added volume to the lady's physique, which the judges didn't even seem to notice. It was hard to see anything past that red, black and gold jacket that screamed MJ. So, essentially, Jay made a beefy pair of trousers, a black tank top, and a jacket that may have been lifted from some Hard Rock Cafe Michael Jackson memorabilia case. It wasn't cute. Mila (who we all hate, but I think it's important to take a moment and recognize that she is the only woman left in the challenge and there's no doubt she's holding her own with the boys) made pink shiny pants to go with the shiny gold top, that was under the shiny black and white jacket. This jacket was nicely tailored: cinched in the waist, flared from the hips to the thighs in the front, down the the knees in the back, and fitted with a super high collar that Maleficent would kill for. Both Mila and Jay will make collections, but only one of them will proceed on to Bryant Park. This shit's about to get real Thunderdome. Continuing on the Beetlejuice train, Seth Aaron made a black and white striped version of the same jacket he always makes and left on stupidly long sleeves. Looked like some kind of straitjacket jawn. Like Mila and Emilio's design, the front was shorter, and the back cascaded down like coattails. To top off this Mad Hatter finally gets committed little number, he put the model in a pair of dumpy red leather pants that were high waisted, but not fitted. And yet he came in second. If this competition is rigged, they're doing a terrible job of hiding it. Poor little Anthony was sent home for the second time when he made a blue dress that Heidi pointed out was made of $300 worth of polyester. Gross. There was a plunging neckline that shaped ruffled wings that were inspired by those graceful acrobatics. At least the man didn't replicate the ring leader's clothes. But the bottom of the dress was floor length, flowy and slit high. Um, that's pretty much exactly what he did last week when he won. Everyone else is doing the same thing over and over (I'm looking at you, Mila, Seth Aaron and Em), so why shouldn't Anthony? Because his work isn't as strong as the others', that's why. It's a cruel existence when the person who consistently wins and will be one of three sent to Bryant Park is the guy who he wanted the judges to "pee on themselves" when they saw his design. Anthony, you'll be missed. Again.

Sossy

Posted 2010-04-12 20:12:41

Maybe I'm missing something, but Mila's outfit looks like those big coats worn by the guards in the Emerald City (Wizard of Oz).  Dye it green, and you'll see Dorothy, the flying monkeys, the lion & all the other Oz characters. She does have good craftsmanship, but her designs just don't do it for me.

Posted by Julia West @ 9:47 PM Permalink | Post a comment

NOW SEE THIS: Nash Edgerton's Spider

POSTED: Friday, April 9, 2010, 9:00 PM

Filed Under: Movies | Now See This Film Fest

Nash Edgerton's feature debut The Square gets its Philly premiere tonight at the Philadelphia FIlm Society's Spring Preview. The Square features Edgerton's short film Spider. Watch it so you know what you're getting into and don't say we didn't warn you.

Here's what Gary M. Kramer had to say about The Square:

Delivering on the promise director Nash Edgerton displayed in his short, Spider (which unspools here, too), The Square alternates between nervous hilarity and gasp-inducing shock. After Carla (Claire van der Boom) discovers her husband's bag of cash, she gives her married lover, Ray (David Roberts), an ultimatum: Help her steal the cash and escape or she will end their relationship. Ray reluctantly, perhaps foolishly, agrees. Using the kickbacks he's getting at work, Ray hires an arsonist (Joel Edgerton, the director's brother and co-screenwriter) to mask their crime. This being a film noir, nothing goes as planned. Soon, Ray is being blackmailed, and he must discover his tormentor and cover his tracks. Edgerton ratchets up the tension throughout, boxing Ray and Carla into tight, uncomfortable situations that are riveting to the end, when the filmmaker pulls the rug — if not the floor — out from under everyone.

The Square, Fri., April 9, 9:45 p.m., free, Prince Music Theater, 1412 Chestnut St., filmadelphia.org.

Posted by Molly Eichel @ 9:00 PM Permalink | Post a comment

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PHILLY LOVE NOTES: An ode to Spruce Street
Q&A with SHARI SOLANIS: "The goal isn't pornography"
ICE CUBE: In Memoriam: Joe Tartaglia
CONCERT REVIEW & PHOTOS: James Blake @ TLA 5/11
What we're trying to do this weekend
SEXY TIME Q&A: I've never had an orgasm during sex with a man — and I'm 30!
Coming soon to Philly: Two cockamamie movie promotion schemes
Q&A with Tony Goldwyn: "Life is gray, and relationships are, too"
CONCERT REVIEW: Primus (3D & quadraphonic sound) @ The Tower 10/17
ICEPACK ILLUSTRATED: The Archbishop meets the Geator, the Mayor goes suit shopping, Le Bec Fin fin.

About this blog

Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

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