Brooklyn-based filmmaker Becca Roth had never actually been to North Carolina before starting work on her award-winning documentary One: A Story of Love and Equality, which chronicles her interactions with people on both sides of a controversial anti-gay-marriage constitutional amendment. Still, the state and its rocky history with gay rights had always intrigued her. “I […]
Zack Smith
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Posted inArt
As The Painted Bird opens, Paperhand Puppet Intervention cofounder Donovan Zimmerman reflects on 15 years of puppet theater
THE PAINTED BIRD Paperhand Puppet Intervention Forest Theatre Aug. 8–Sept. 7 7 p.m. Fri.–Sun., 3 p.m. Aug. 24, Aug. 31 and Sept. 7 @NCMA Sept. 12–14, 7 p.m. $8–$12 www.paperhand.org On Aug. 8, Paperhand Puppet Intervention once again braves the late-summer heat to put on its annual show at UNC’s Forest Theatre. THE PAINTED BIRD, […]
Posted inCulture
Heroes, wizards and signings, oh my!
San Diego Comic-Con International officially opens on July 24, but for Triangle residents unable or unwilling to travel 3,000 miles to stand in line with thousands of other fans, there are a number of comic-related events coming up in the Triangle, ranging from visits from top creators to superheroes coming to “life” on stage. One […]
Posted inArt
In Noir at the Bar, indie crime writers shunned by bookstores go straight to the readers
NOIR AT THE BAR 106 Main, Durham June 19, 6:30 p.m., free Downtown Durham goes dark on Thursday when it becomes the latest city to host NOIR AT THE BAR, a gathering of crime-fiction writers whose work is the hardest of the hardboiled. Local novelist Eryk Pruitt, author of Dirtbags (see Recent Books column at […]
Posted inFilm & Television
How to Train Your Dragon 2 soars on spectacular animation and unusually high stakes
How to Train Your Dragon 2 Opens Friday The first How to Train Your Dragon movie stood out from the mass of CGI animated films, creating a genuine sense of wonder and excitement without overdoing the rapid-fire jokes that often bog down such would-be crowd-pleasers. HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 is another pleasant surprise, […]
Posted inFilm & Television
How is the transition from film to digital affecting local theaters and moviegoers?
When you see a film in one of the Triangle’s many theaters, what you’re seeing might not actually be a “film” at all. In recent years, local theaters and film programmers have found it increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to get 35mm prints, often relying instead on files called Digital Cinema Packages provided on hard […]
Posted inCulture
Free Comic Book Day swag picks
Following this week’s article on Free Comic Book Day, Zack Smith picks a few freebies to watch for this Saturday. Guardians of the Galaxy—This team of C-list cosmic heroes is aiming for the A-list with a movie this summer. Marvel Comics offers a tie-in to the ongoing series, written by superstars Brian Michael Bendis and […]
Posted inArt
For area shops, Free Comic Book Day holds the brick-and-mortar line against a rising digital tide
FREE COMIC BOOK DAY Saturday, May 3, free Triangle-wide freecomicbookday.com California comic book retailer Joe Field had an epiphany when he saw the long line for a free-scoop promotion at a Baskin-Robbins ice cream parlor. “I thought, ‘This could easily be adapted to comics,’” he says. He realized that to lure more customers into his […]
Posted inArt
After a hiatus, the North Carolina Literary Festival resumes attracting big authors to the Triangle
THE NORTH CAROLINA LITERARY FESTIVAL Free, April 3–6 James B. Hunt Jr. Library N.C. State University lib.ncsu.edu/literaryfestival/ The North Carolina Literary Festival was one of many organizations derailed by the economic crisis of 2008. Formerly known as the N.C. Festival of the Book, it rotated between libraries at North Carolina State University, Duke and UNC-Chapel […]
Posted inFilm & Television
A tale of two Gyllenhaals in Denis Villeneuve’s obscure erotic thriller, Enemy
ENEMY Now playing Director Denis Villeneuve gave Jake Gyllenhaal one of his best roles yet in last year’s Prisoners. Their new collaboration, Enemy (which was actually shot before Prisoners), retains the atmosphere and ambiguity of that thriller, but forgets to have a plot. An adaptation of Nobel Prize-winner José Saramago’s 2002 novel The Doublenot to […]
