PROVIDENCE

Gift guide galore 2009

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad season
The Guide to the Season isn’t about any particular gift, just like it’s not about any particular holiday. It’s a feeling. A sensation. A supplement.

By PHOENIX STAFF | December 11, 2009

On Westminster: Coffee and Iggy Pop

Storytelling Dept.
Andrew Losowsky and Lyra Monteiro, husband and wife, are huddled around a small table in a chilly and mostly empty room on the bottom floor of the Kresge building on West-minster Street in downtown Providence.

By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | December 09, 2009

Crossing the line

Belo Sells out. Plus, talk like a Brit, Chicago Vin acts up, and faithless football.
The news from the Dallas-based A.H. Belo Corp., owners of the Dallas Morning News and our own Providence Urinal, hit home hard and quickly last week in Our Little Towne.

By PHILLIPE AND JORGE | December 09, 2009

Review: Invictus

Clint shows team spirit
Poetry, muses Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) in a reflective moment in Invictus , consists only of words, yet it can inspire perseverance and greatness beyond our own expectations of ourselves. Sport, similarly, consists of oversized, overpaid athletes pounding one another in simulated combat, but it's also a form of poetry.

By PETER KEOUGH | December 09, 2009

The Doors | Live in New York

Rhino (2009)
In 1970, Doors producer Paul Rothchild assembled a tight “live set” out of a bunch of different concert recordings from the band’s 1969/early-1970 shows and Elektra released it as the Absolutely Live LP.

By GUSTAVO TURNER | December 09, 2009

Miles Davis | The Complete Columbia Album Collection

Columbia/Legacy (2009)
Given the consensus that the CD era is drawing to a close, labels have begun to look increasingly toward the well-heeled — those who not only still buy their music on something they can hold but aren't averse to buying it in supersized, extravagant configurations they can show off and savor.

By JEFF TAMARKIN | December 09, 2009

The Rolling Stones | Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert

ABKCO (2009)
This live 1969 Madison Square Garden set was released at the band's peak, following Beggars Banquet and Let It Bleed , preceding Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street , and recorded a week before the disaster at Altamont.

By JON GARELICK | December 09, 2009

Review: Brothers

Maguire, Gyllenhaal go deer hunting
Operation Enduring Freedom seems to have replaced Vietnam as Hollywood's go-to military quagmire from which to dredge gut-wrenching meditations on the psychological carnage of war.

By SHAULA CLARK | December 09, 2009

Review: Everybody's Fine

It's . . . fine, we guess
You'll be forgiven if you mistake Robert De Niro's face for Robert Young's next to Kate Beckinsale's, Drew Barrymore's, and Sam Rockwell's on the poster for Kirk ( Waking Ned Devine ) Jones's remake of Stanno tutti bene .

By BRETT MICHEL | December 09, 2009

Review: The Princess and the Frog

Disney becomes slightly enlightened?
Fans of traditional animation will be relieved to learn that 2004's Home on the Range was not the final nail in Disney's 2-D toon coffin.

By SHAULA CLARK | December 09, 2009

Review: Armored

Flat-footed Tarantino-esque hodgepodge misfires
In view of its credentials, Armored should be a lay-up.

By TOM MEEK | December 09, 2009

Review: New Super Mario Bros. Wii

OId news: nothing super about it
The staggering commercial success the folks at Nintendo have achieved in recent years has made it easy to overlook their more unfortunate habits.

By MITCH KRPATA | December 09, 2009

Wild about Harry

Trailblazing along a narrow path
What I want to do — what most photographers want to do — is write Harry Callahan a love letter. At the very least, he deserves an elaborate thank-you note for innovating or validating 80 percent of the successful photographs we ever took.

By CLIF GARBODEN | December 09, 2009

Spelling-bound

URI’s makes Putnam County worth visiting
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a harmless enough little confection for, say, when you've had enough high-protein Shakespeare.

By BILL RODRIGUEZ | December 08, 2009

Séance

Rachel Berwick conjures ghost birds in Zugunruhe
Rachel Berwick's art is concerned with conjuring ghosts — in particular the spirits of creatures or peoples near extinction or already died out.

By GREG COOK | December 09, 2009

‘A good experience if you’re a sociopath’

Television
The “Golden Mic” crew isn’t bitter.

By ABIGAIL CROCKER | December 09, 2009

Pop music for picky people

Stalemate’s eclectic ways
Lincoln-based quartet Stalemate host their CD release party at the Blackstone on December 23 in honor of their sophomore effort, We Will Carry You Out to Sea .

By CHRIS CONTI | December 09, 2009

Blues summit

Off the Couch
All-stars at Lupo’s, and more!

By PROVIDENCE PHOENIX MUSIC STAFF | December 08, 2009

Super friends

Move over, Clark Kent. All over New England, mild-mannered citizens are suiting up and doing their part to play the hero.
THWAK! I swing with my right fist, trying to connect with my opponent's face. In a smooth motion, he deflects my punch with his forearm, which is protected with a black and metallic-plastic arm gauntlet. I swing with my left fist, and am again knocked away effortlessly. I can see my reflection in his sunglasses, framed in white.

By TEA KRULOS | December 11, 2009

Elvis Presley | Elvis 75: Good Rockin' Tonight

RCA/Legacy (2009)
There's a plethora of Elvis Presley albums on the market, most of them compilations and box sets, each focusing on certain hits, eras, and/or styles.

By ZETH LUNDY | December 08, 2009