PROVIDENCE

Kristof on the ‘paramount moral challenge’ of our era

Q+A
Since he began writing a column for the New York Times eight years ago, Nicholas D. Kristof has become the closest thing we have to a voice of conscience on human rights abuses around the world.

By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | December 16, 2009

Animal Collective | Fall Be Kind

Domino (2009)
This nifty little five-track postscript to January's celebrated Merriweather Post Pavilion demonstrates further how adept the members of Animal Collective have become at deploying their bottomless bag of electro-psych tricks in the service of songs.

By MIKAEL WOOD | December 16, 2009

Tilting at Windows

Software 'Saint' Richard Stallman fights for computing freedom — and against corporate control
Stallman — a legend in the programmer community for more than a quarter century — considers it his life's work to proselytize the free-software gospel, educating the lay people who'd otherwise assume that Microsoft or Apple are exclusively synonymous with computing.

By MIKE MILIARD | December 18, 2009

How is Obama doing?

Not as well as he thinks
In response to a question from Oprah Winfrey about how he would grade his time in office, President Barack Obama gave himself a "solid B-plus."

By EDITORIAL | December 16, 2009

Photos: “Andy Warhol: A Recent Acquisition Exhibition” at Bannister

Warhol's tossed-off, diaristic, fabulous Polaroids
At Rhode Island College’s Bannister Gallery, through January 8

By ANDY WARHOL | December 16, 2009

Sexiest video-game studs of 2009

The cream of the crop
Video-game characters get more realistic all the time - and by more realistic, we mean sexier. This year offered a plethora of digital delights and graphical innovations, and although developers don't cater to their straight female and gay male audience nearly as much as they could, we still had no shortage of contenders for this list.

By MADDY MYERS | December 18, 2009

Review: Avatar

Machine dreams: James Cameron plays games
For someone who's determined to reduce all experience to mechanical reproduction, James Cameron sure hates machines.

By PETER KEOUGH | December 18, 2009

Pouring it on

Six Star General’s raucous Take Your Teeth Out
Like most of us around here, 75orLess Records founder and Six Star General frontman Mark "Slick" MacDougall would like to put 2009 to bed.

By CHRIS CONTI | December 16, 2009

Still Wonderful

Center Stage interprets Capra’s Life
It's a risky gamble, creating a stage version of Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life .

By BILL RODRIGUEZ | December 16, 2009

Fears and rages

Dehumanization is at the heart of Woyzeck
Woyzeck isn't a play, it's a Rorschach inkblot test for directors and theater companies.

By BILL RODRIGUEZ | December 16, 2009

Charlotte Hatherley | New Worlds

Minty Fresh (2009)
Charlotte Hatherley is to the 1990s as the Black Crowes are to the 1960s: not a revivalist, mind you, but a sympathizer — a careerist.

By ZETH LUNDY | December 16, 2009

GNU and the free-software movement

You may not know it, but the free-software movement has changed your life
You use Firefox for Web browsing. You know it's a free Web browser that's safe, quick, and has all kinds of add-on modules (there are thousands of these — for chatting, bookmark management, social networking, image-processing, and even federal court-file browsing — at addons.mozilla.org ). It has frequent updates to fix bugs, and every new version seems to find a new cool way to make the Web easier.

By JEFF INGLIS | December 16, 2009

Review: Assassin's Creed II

Death in Venice: a macabre Italian getaway
Assassin's Creed II is a macabre Italian getaway

By MITCH KRPATA | December 15, 2009

Feel the drama

Dr. Lovemonkey answers your questions
I am very friendly with a guy from school who I have known for many years. Recently I realized that I was falling in love with him ...

By DR. LOVEMONKEY | December 15, 2009

Various Artists | Where the Action Is: Los Angeles Nuggets 1965 - 1968

Rhino (2009)
More than three years in the making, the most recent installment of Rhino's legendary archival garage-rock series offers an amazingly comprehensive excavation of an absurdly fertile scene.

By MIKE MILIARD | December 16, 2009

Various Artists | Nippon Girls: Japanese Pop, Beat & Bossa Nova 1966–1970

Domino (2009)
Girl-group records are great and everything, yet the countless compilations out there were becoming a little hit-or-miss until 2005, when the great Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found box set finally gave this diverse genre a proper taxonomy.

By JONATHAN DONALDSON | December 16, 2009

Photos: Stewart Martin’s “Personal Favorites 1975-2007” at AS220

Martin’s black-and-white documentary photography of unknown folks populating the old, weird America
Martin’s black-and-white documentary photography a t AS220 through December 27

By STEWART MARTIN | December 16, 2009

Review: Did You Hear About the Morgans?

If not, it'll sound familiar pretty quickly
Just in time to round out my Ten Worst Films list comes this witless and excruciating rom-com from Marc Lawrence ( Miss Congeniality ). If you haven't heard about the Morgans, their story will sound familiar pretty quickly

By PETER KEOUGH | December 16, 2009