Award-winning Durham filmmakers Rex Miller and Elisabeth Haviland James are almost ready for moviegoers to see their new documentary, Althea, which is about legendary African-American athlete Althea Gibson. They just need to finish paying for it. “I like to tell people we could basically show it tomorrow, that the story and editing are all set,” […]
Zack Smith
Link: http://zacksmithwriter.wordpress.comTwitter: http://twitter.com/thezacksmith
Posted inCulture
Neal Bell on In Secret, a new film adaptation of his stage play
After its professional New York premiere, it took almost 17 years for Neal Bell’s stage play Thérèse Raquin to make it to the big screen in the form of the recently-released In Secret, directed by Charlie Stratton and starring Elizabeth Olsen and Oscar Isaac. But for Bell, the result was worth the wait. “It’s exciting […]
Posted inArt
A revival of Wit in Raleigh
Wit Justice Theater Project @ Clare Hall, St. Francis of Assisi Through Feb. 23 Margaret Edson’s darkly comic cancer drama Wit has been an excellent showcase for such top-caliber actresses as Cynthia Nixon on stage and Emma Thompson in the HBO film version. In a new production directed by Carnessa Ottelin at Justice Theater Project, […]
Posted inFilm & Television
The Oscar shorts return
Oscar shorts Carolina Theatre Opens Jan. 31 There’s an international flavor to the short films nominated for Academy Awards this year, with no American entries in live-action and only two in animation (one of which is by Disney). Despite some predictable qualities to some of this year’s nominees, there’s also work that features more inventiveness […]
Posted inCulture
Forget Newsroom. Aaron Sorkin should go back to politics
This is an interesting moment for the playwright and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin. After months in limbo, his HBO series The Newsroom was just renewed for a third and final season. This should excite hardcore Newsroom fans, but there’s another opportunity we’d like to see him pursue—his long-promised adaptation of Andrew Young’s tell-all account of John […]
Posted inCulture
Aaron Becker takes children on an illustrated Journey
Aaron Becker Journey Cover Aaron Becker has worked on such big-budget CGI-animated films as The Polar Express and A Christmas Carol. But for his first picture book, Journey (Candlewick Press, $15.99), he turned to a simpler, old-school format. Although he uses computer models of his landscapes to help figure out the look and lighting cues […]
Posted inCulture
Author Jan Brett clucks up the Cinderella story with Cinders
If you ever want to get Jan Brett excited, ask her about her chickens. The award-winning author and illustrator’s tales often combine international settings and folklore with the interactions of the human and animal worlds. One such title was The Mitten. a retelling of a Ukrainian folk tale where forest animals come up with their […]
Posted inArt
Burning Coal Theatre’s Kindertransport explores a wrenching emotional situation
Kindertransport A Big Wig Production at Burning Coal Theatre‘s Murphey School Auditorium Through Nov. 24 Eva, the protagonist of Diane Samuels’ Kindertransport, was one of the luckier Jews in World War II. She got out of Germany before the Holocaust, grew up and avoided most of the horrors that met her countrymen. All she had […]
Posted inCulture
NC Theatre’s Elf is lovely but forgettable holiday fare
While I’m not a die-hard fan of the 2003 Will Ferrell-in-tights holiday film Elf, I enjoyed it enough to notice all the times the stage musical version produced by NC Theatre strained to recreate a big laugh line from the film, or introduced some new element to the plot that didn’t click. The musical overall […]
Posted inCulture
Otis and Little Santa authors bring Christmas early to the Triangle
Though they’re among the best-known names in children’s picture books, authors Jon Agee and Loren Long only met last week when they went on tour together to promote their new Christmas-themed books. “I think people are surprised when they learn we just met a few days ago,” says Agee, whose new book Little Santa (Dial, […]
