The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - UICA Films review
Submitted 06-18-2010 under OPINION
Frequently cited as “the most popular European film of 2009”, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, is based on Stieg Larsson's international best-selling novel. The story begins with the multitude of legal problems facing Mikael Blomkvist, a well-...
Local artist invites you into the living room of an immigrant family
Submitted 06-07-2010 under LOCAL LIFE
Mandy Burrow, a local artist and art professor at Calvin College, seeks to foster an exchange between United States natives and immigrants in her current installation, "Americans." "Americans" invites viewers into the recreated living rooms of three...
Casino Jack and the United States of Money - UICA Films review
Submitted 06-03-2010 under OPINION
CASINO JACK AND THE UNITED STATES OF MONEY is a 120 minute documentary starring a veritable dream roster of the elite super-criminals and/or movers-n-shakers of Washington DC. In the central role is the infamous Jack Abramoff, “the most...
Review: West Michigan Gay Men's Chorus
Submitted 05-17-2010 under OPINION
The East Grand Rapids High School theater is insanely luxurious. It might be one of the best performance stages in the area. And Saturday night, the 700-something capacity theatre was nearly full for the spring concert of the West Michigan Gay Men’...
Review: Michigan Land of Riches
Submitted 05-17-2010 under OPINION
Back in February, at a panel organized by the GRAM, Fred Sebulske, the founder of the Actors’ Theatre in Grand Rapids, bemoaned the poor coverage of local culture by the press in the city. He pointed out that the John Mayer concert at the Van Andel...Review: "The Drawer Boy" at Actors' Theatre
Submitted 05-16-2010 under OPINION
Actors' Theatre's production of "The Drawer Boy" This melodrama is a "three-hander" — just three characters — in which decades-old secrets get revealed, a main character has a disability, and a naïve young actor learns lessons. The actors, G.M....
An interview with Talib Kweli
Submitted 04-30-2010 under LOCAL LIFE
On April 24, internationally renowned hiphop star Talib Kweli, came to the Intersection for his third show in a little more than five years. Opening acts featured local hip hop stalwarts Rick Chyme and La Famiglia, while Kweli featured his long-time...
The Art of the Steal - UICA Films review
Submitted 04-30-2010 under OPINION
The Art of the Steal is the story of The Barnes Foundation and it’s founder, Dr. Albert C. Barnes, a cantankerous philanthropist of Philadelphia. With a fortune derived from the development of the antiseptic drug Argyrol in the early 1900...4/20 hiphop show: an interview with Suport
Submitted 04-26-2010 under LOCAL LIFE
To celebrate an annual event on April 20 at the Intersection, I had the opportunity to interview one of Grand Rapids' up-and-coming hiphop artists, Sean Powell, who goes by the stage-name of Suport. Earlier in his career, he was LifeSkillz,...
A conversation with the SEVENth
Submitted 04-26-2010 under LOCAL LIFE
I like to consider myself an astute listener to the local trends, and, in particular, the local music scene, especially as it relates to hip hop. So, it comes as somewhat of a surprise that I had never attended a show by the SEVENth (7th), or...