Fresh Loaf

COURT OF SURRREALS: Mobile, Ala.'s African-American Mardi Gras court

The Order of Myths presents Mobile, Ala.’s Mardi Gras as the country’s first such celebration, predating New Orleans’, and as one of the South’s last bastions of segregation. Mobile’s white and African-American communities each embrace the pomp, pageantry and parades of Mardi Gras, and while their festivities may be unequal, they’re definitely separate.

Director Margaret Brown, a white native of Mobile, returns to her hometown to chronicle the preparations for the 2007 Mardi Gras, particularly the hoopla and costuming surrounding the queens of the respective “royal courts.” Willowy Helen Meaher hits the country club circuit as the queen of the white organization, while schoolteacher Steffanie Lucas serves as her African-American counterpart of sorts. The two have more connections than they or the audience realize. Brown’s interviewees allege that the well-established Meaher family hired a slave ship that ran in the Mobile area in 1859, and that some of the unwilling passengers were distant relatives of Lucas. “My people was on her people’s ship,” Lucas says. (more…)

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I sooo don’t want to have to buy a digital converter box. The government-mandated switchover from old-school analog broadcasting to digital is still scheduled for Feb. 17 following the failure of a bill to postpone the switch to June:

Bucking the Obama administration, House Republicans on Wednesday defeated a bill to postpone the upcoming transition from analog to digital television broadcasting to June 12 — leaving the current Feb. 17 deadline intact for now. The 258-168 vote failed to clear the two-thirds threshold needed for passage. It’s a victory for the GOP members, who warn that postponing the transition would confuse consumers.

Honestly, I couldn’t be much more confused than I already am. I found a couple of FAQ pages about the switchover — an already-dated one from the L.A. Times, another from the Federal Communications Commission — that help clarify a few things.

But my household gets by just fine with an analog antennae on our TVs, supplemented by DVD, video and on-line TV viewing. We don’t particularly want or need any more broadcast television, so investing in at least one converter box seems like money down the rat hole. We’ll probably wait until Feb. 18 to see how crappy (or nonexistent) the UHF/VHF signals we get before we make the plunge.

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HAND OUTS: Followers beg Jesus (Darius de Haas, center) for healing.

Devout apostles of musical theater should flock to the Alliance Theatre for Jesus Christ Superstar GOSPEL as soon as possible. Watching Darius de Haas’ performance as Jesus, particularly his solo of “Gethsemane,” offers such breathtaking thrills, it’s like being present at the creation.

“Gethsemane” finds Jesus on the eve of his execution, confronting God with fear and rage: “Take this cup away from me.” Anxiety, indignation and other emotions seem to ripple across his features, while he raises a voice that seems capable of shaking heaven’s foundations. It may be a miracle if de Haas can sustain the song’s power throughout the show’s entire run, providing justification to make haste to the Alliance. (more…)

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It’s a clash of the titans. Superhero publishers Marvel and DC Comics have had a pitched rivalry for decades, and in the battle for the big screen, Marvel has enjoyed more victories at getting its costumed characters like Spider-man into movie theaters (the huge success of DC’s The Dark Knight notwithstanding). DC takes the consolation prize for crafting much better shows for television and straight-to-DVD, from the longstanding live-action hit “Smallville” to last year’s intriguing cartoon feature Justice League: New Frontier.

Apart from such tolerable, kid-oriented series as “X-Men: Evolution” and “The Spectacular Spider-man,” Marvel’s animated output isn’t nearly as interesting. DVDs like The Invincible Iron Man and the two Ultimate Avengers films feel more like marketing trial balloons for future film products. Marvels newest animated movie, Hulk Vs. (released today) proves to be a notch above its predecessors, but its eyes still seem more focused on the cinema than its immediate audience.

Hulk Vs. contains two films of about 40 minutes apiece. “Hulk Vs. Wolverine” seems like a way to prime the pump for this May’s theatrical X-Men Origins: Wolverine prequel starring Hugh Jackman. The other, “Hulk vs. Thor,” provides an animated dry run for the characters tapped for 2010’s announced Thor film, reportedly to be directed by Kenneth Branagh. Essentially, the Hulk is a sort of guest star in his own films.

In a sense, the films succeed by aiming low. Hulk Vs. harks back to the pleasures of special double-length, giant-size issues of comic books that would contain two stores of monster mayhem for the price of one. Although the Hulk’s Jekyll-and-Hyde relationship to his alter ego Bruce Banner provides plenty of metaphors for the tension between emotion and intellect, Hulk vs. puts all the emphasis on the monstrous green protagonist’s ability to smash stuff. So which film is better? Who wins in “Hulk vs. Wolverine” vs. “Hulk vs. Thor?”

(more…)

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HUSTLE AND FLOW: Bryan Brendle (left) and Chris Kayser in 'Mauritius'

Actor’s Express’s twisty thriller Mauritius turns on a question of authenticity: Is a pair of rare stamps really worth a seven-figure payout? Theresa Rebeck’s play explores issues of forgery and perceived value, questions that could be applied to Mauritius itself, which initially resembles a facsimile of American Buffalo.

David Mamet’s 1975 classic depicts a trio of losers in a hole-in-the-wall junk shop planning a score around a rare coin. For a while, Mauritius comes across as a Mamet-wannabe with women added to the mix. The play proves truly worthy in its second act, as if the real thing were only disguised as a fake. (more…)

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In 2006, Theatrical Outfit staged one of Atlanta’s most impressive world premiere Southern plays of the decade, Keeping Watch by Thomas Ward. For Going with Jenny, opening Wed., Jan. 28 at Theatrical Outfit, the playwright shares writing duties with his wife, Sherry Jo. The play’s a semi-autobiographical, he said/she said account of dating and marriage starring Mandy Schmeider and Travis Smith. Married for 11 years, the Wards currently teach at Baylor University in Texas and discuss the perils of writing about their relationship while still being in their relationship.

How did you meet?
Thomas: We met in college doing theater together. It’s almost so romantic it makes me puke, but we played Tevye and Golda opposite each other in Fiddler on the Roof and started dating.
Sherry Jo: We had to fight not to have “Sunrise, Sunset” at our wedding.

Thomas, you were more experienced as a playwright before Going with Jenny. How did you decide to collaborate with Sherry Jo?
Thomas: Right when Keeping Watch opened, I guess I wanted to strike when the iron was hot. I told Tom Key (Theatrical Outfit’s artistic director) I had a one-man play in my drawer, and I wanted his feedback on it, for his expertise in the one-man show form. He came back and said he wanted to produce it. After Sherry and I left Atlanta and went to Baylor, I talked to Tom who said he was still interested but that it was too short for his 2008-2009 season. During that conversation, I said “What if Sherry wrote Act Two?” Tom jumped at that, and I told Sherry. She was familiar with what I’d written, and I said “Write a response to it.”
Sherry Jo: It’s been an interesting process because it felt like a commission for me. I felt close to the play because Thomas had always shown me his writing. Plus, it was about marriage and ex-girlfriends, so I was happy to get my two cents in and make him the punch line of some of the jokes. (more…)

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GENRE: Fantasy adventure for Harry Potter fans

THE PITCH: Single dad/bibliophile Mo Folchart (Brendan Fraser) is a “silvertongue,” with the power to draw characters out of books and send real people into them. He and his daughter (Eliza Bennett) track down an obscure fantasy novel named Inkheart to find his long-lost wife, despite the interference of such “fictional” personalities as the villainous Capricorn (Andy Serkis) and the conflicted antihero Dustfinger (Paul Bettany).

MONEY SHOTS: Dustfinger’s pet ferret chases Mo. Capricorn keeps a stable with creatures such as Peter Pan’s ticking crocodile and the Wizard of Oz’s flying monkeys. Mo reads the cyclone out of Oz to cover their escape from Capricorn’s castle. A big smoke monster called the Shadow looks pretty cool (if suspiciously like Lord of the Rings’ balrog). Oscar winner Dame Helen Mirren rides a mythological beast into an action scene, which is almost worth the price of admission.

BEST LINE: “You barbaric piece of pulp fiction!” Mirren snaps at Serkis, who each give such plummy, charismatic performances, it’s as though they’ve been read from a better movie.
(more…)

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MIST-TAKEN IDENTITY: James Caviezel as Kainan

GENRE: Vikings vs. aliens!

THE PITCH: Like I said, Vikings vs. aliens. Kainan (Jim Caviezel of The Passion of the Christ), a human from another planet, crashes his spaceship in Norway circa the Iron Age, and must enlist the suspicious mead swillers against a glowing, whip-tailed beastie called a Morwen.

MONEY SHOTS: The opening shot of Kainan’s spacecraft hurtling down to Earth. Kainan and alpha male Wulfric (Jack Huston) race atop upraised shields in the Viking equivalent of a “Survivor” challenge. Great monster battles, along with details like blood dripping on the tip of a spear, or the Morwen snuffing out a torch under its claw. An interplanetary flashback reveals personal stakes for the Kainan/Morwen rivalry.

BEST LINE: “I’m hunting a dragon,” Kainan tells his hostile captors when they ask why he’s in their territory. (The explanation doesn’t go over well.)

BEST WORD: Kainan uses his computer to download the Norse language into his brain, causing him to scream, vomit and utter the film’s first comprehensible word, “Fuck.” (more…)

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FULL FRONTAL: A streaker rocks a small town's world in 'Just Like Home.'

Reports of a late-night streaker throw a small town into a tizzy in the doggedly quirky comedy Just Like Home, the final film of the High Museum’s Danish Film Festival. The scandalized gossips repeat the words “You could see everything,” which proves particularly funny given that practically no one did see the unclad pedestrian. Plus, the refrain hints at the villagers’ reflexive panic that their secret selves will be revealed.

Just Like Home relies on the kind of wryly comic contrivances that defined the cult TV series “Northern Exposure.” Laborers go on strike when wrongfully suspected of streaking, leaving the town square as a raw, unfinished construction site. A handful of neighbors, each with their own eccentricities, band together to run “The Silent Ear,” an advice hotline that they hope will flush out identity of the unknown nudist. By the end of the film, everyone gets exposed in one way or another.

Director Lone Scherfig belongs to a generation of Dutch filmmakers who gained international attention through the Dogme 95 film movement and its “vow of chastity:” a series of aesthetic restrictions (hand-held cameras, no artificial lighting, etc.) meant to focus the filmmakers’ attention on story and acting over special effects and other gimmicks. Much of the Dogme 95 output had a scrappy energy. Scherfig stood out with her 2000 film Italian for Beginners, a charming ensemble romance with a similar vibe (and several of the same actors) as Just Like Home. The Dogme films shared a grungy look, and Scherfig seems to revel in the chance to present the town in a loving photographic sheen.

(more…)

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This is no joy in Gotham City this morning following the Academy Award nominations. Heath Ledger earned the expected, posthumous Best Supporting Actor nod for The Dark Knight, but that’s the only major award garnered by the downbeat Batman film, which happens to be the second-highest grossing film ever made. The Producers, Directors and Writers Guilds all nominated The Dark Knight, but the Academy, never one to eagerly embrace genre films, shut it out of the Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay categories while giving it eight nominations overall.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk and Slumdog Millionaire all earned major nominations, including Best Picture, as expected. Button got the most total nods, at 13, with Slumdog the runner-up, with 10.

So what took the Dark Knight’s “slot?” Apparently The Reader, the post-Holocaust drama starring Kate Winslet (pictured). Not only did Oscar give it nominations for Best Picture, Best Director for Stephen Daldry and Best Adapted Screenplay, Kate Winslet triumphed over herself in Revolutionary Road. The studios had campaigned for Winslet as Supporting Actress in The Reader and lead in Revolutionary Road, but Academy instead gave her lead nomination and snubbed Revolutionary Road in the rest of the major categories, except Michael Shannon as supporting actor.

(more…)

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WEB SITE: Oxford Comics' Zack Overton flips through the special-edition comic.

Inaugural Obama-mania extends to our nation’s comic book stores as the retailers can’t keep enough copies of The Amazing Spider-man #583, which features Barack Obama on the cover and a six-page story in which the 44th president plays a supporting role. Oxford Comics proprietor Mike Van Houten said that retailers didn’t pre-order enough copies and demand “went nuts,” until first editions were selling for $75 a piece when they went on sale on Jan. 14. Van Houten says that more than 500 customers reserved copies of the second printing, which went on sale today, and that more than 2,000 copies of the third printing will be due in the store next week.

The story, incidentally, finds photographer and Spider-man alter ego Peter Parker attending the inauguration where he sees two Barack Obamas — one of which is longtime Spider-foe the Chameleon, a master of disguise. According to the AP:

Parker decides “the future president’s gonna need Spider-Man,” and springs into action, using basketball to determine the real Obama and punching out the impostor.

I know Barack loves the game, but basketball? Really? The first African-American president has to use basketball to prove his real identity? Oh well, I guess there are worse stereotypes they could have.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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One of the lines that stuck with me from Barack Obama’s Inaugural address, one that I’ve heard repeated several times today, came when he said, “Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.” Something about the words rang a bell, and after a little Googling, I realized they echo the song “Pick Yourself Up,” a show tune/jazz standard sung by the likes of Frank Sinatra and Diane Krall. Apparently lyricist Dorothy Fields and composer Jerome Kern wrote it for the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers musical Swing Time (which, appropriately enough, dates back to 1936, when the United States was still struggling to get out of the Great Depression). Here’s the clip from Swing Time: listen out for the line “Pick yourself up, Dust yourself off, Start all over again:”

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OVER MY DEAD BODY: Don Finney as Major Powell (left) and Daniel May as Evelyn Farrant

During the most suspenseful moments of Aurora Theatre’s comedy/thriller Corpse!, the audience wonders whether Daniel May will catch himself red-handed.

In Gerald Moon’s play, May plays feuding twins living in London in 1936. Flamboyant Evelyn, an unemployed actor, gets by as a con artist more than a stage artist, while his icy brother Rupert enjoys a huge fortune. Evelyn enlists Major Powell (Don Finney), a petty criminal, in a complex scheme against his brother to coincide with King Edward’s VII’s radio broadcast of his abdication. Tension arises when things go wrong and Evelyn and Rupert appear to be on the verge of confronting each other onstage at least once.

Which is impossible, of course, since May can’t play both roles silmultaneously before our very eyes, and we know it. May creates such distinctly entertaining characterizations, and we grow so engrossed in the first-act plotting, that we half-expect the Aurora production to subvert the laws of physics.

(more…)

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Broadway and film composer and music director Louis St. Louis may be best known for his treatments of 1950s and 1960s rock ’n’ roll with Smokey Joe’s Café, Grease and Grease 2. (He even hints that his real name appears somewhere in Grease 2.) For the Alliance Theatre’s Jesus Christ Superstar GOSPEL (opening Jan. 21), he received permission from hit-making composer Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber to reinterpret the rock opera through the prism of contemporary black gospel music.

You’re credited as the music supervisor, dance arranger and conceiver of the show. How did you get the idea to “gospelize” the material? It seems like a natural fit.
That’s what everything seems to think, but no one ever did it. I was conducting a concert for the New York League of Theatres in 2002 called Broadway Rocks. All of the women wanted to do “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” from Jesus Christ Superstar. Generally, if I can up come up with a new slant on something in a half hour, I’m excited about it. We gave the song a gospel treatment, with an African-American singer on one side of the stage and a white one on the other. It was plugged in the center of an 80-minute concert and brought the house down. The next morning, I had the revelation that I could do the whole show that way. I wrote a letter to Andrew asking permission in intentionally the worst Shakespearean language I could muster: “I beseech thee on bended knee, my lord…” Someone told me that when Sir Andrew heard about my idea, he said “None of you a-holes ever knew what to do with the old material. Who is this?”

How well did you know the material?
Jesus Christ Superstar has always been my favorite Andrew Lloyd Webber piece, and I can honestly say that I like all his work. In 1971, I auditioned 12 times for Judas on Broadway, but after awhile they started saying “You should come back for Herod.”
(more…)

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COUNTRY ROAD: "América," from 'Walking to Guantanamo'

Richard Fleming, a world traveler thanks to his career as a documentary sound recordist, had his “Eureka!” moment while walking in the hills of Haiti.

Given the weekend off from his latest film, he went backpacking on Haiti’s remote mountain trails and found them to be anything but isolated. “I was walking along what amounted to a pedestrian superhighway. There were hundreds of merchants and farmers on this footpath, carrying stuff to market,” he says. “This is a great way to get to know a culture,” he thought.

Fleming hit on the notion to trek the length of Cuba on foot as a way shake off a mid-life rut and better learn a country that had fascinated him for years. He envisioned that Cuba would offer an even more illuminating walking experience than Haiti, since the collapse of the Soviet bloc had created a transportation crisis on the island, with severe shortages in fuel, vehicles and replacement parts. Fleming’s four-month Cuban adventure in 2000 led to his new travel book, Walking to Guantanamo, published in November by Commons, and now an exhibit, Walking to Guantanamo: The Photographs, on display at Whitespace Gallery through Feb. 18.

Whether through his descriptive writing laced with self-deprecating humor or through snapshots rich with illuminating details, Fleming shares his experience of Cuba as a nation of lush beauty seemingly forgotten by history. Typewriter repair shops enjoy brisk business, revolutionary slogans cover pitted walls and Afro-Caribbean religions such as Santeria have gradually come out of the closet. Although the book concludes at Guantanamo Bay, Fleming focuses more on its history as a thorn in the side of U.S./Cuban relations than the current prisoner abuse scandals at “Gitmo.” (more…)

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You’ve probably already heard that Ricardo Montalban died Wednesday morning at the age of 88. Montalban was best-known as Mr. Rourke from “Fantasy Island” and Khan Noonien Singh from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, but was also celebrated for his unique pronunciation of “Corinthian leather” and had a late-career resurgence in the Spy Kids sequels. One of Montalban’s most peculiar gigs, however has stuck with me for two decades. He plays a unique role in this “celebrity science experiment” on Spy Magazine TV special “How To Be Famous,” hosted by Jerry Seinfeld and Victoria Jackson. Look out for the “stunning display of hubris.”

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ARMED AND DANGEROUS: Brothers Zus (Liev Schreiber, left) and Tuvia (Daniel Craig)

Like the Tom Cruise vehicle Valkyrie, the wartime drama Defiance seeks to put an asterisk beside the conventional wisdom of World War II history.

The sound-byte version of WWII would say something like, “The evil Germans victimized the Jews and threatened Europe until the Americans came to the rescue,” which may be true, but not complete. Valkryie challenges the blanket “evil German” preconception with its account of conscientious Nazi officers who tried to topple Hitler’s government. Meanwhile, Defiance corrects the “Jewish victim” stereotype with a rousing account of Jews in Western Poland who took up arms rather than passively wait for German invaders.

In adapting Nechama Tec’s book Defiance: The Bielski Partisans, director/co-writer Edward Zwick tends to flatten wartime moral complexities in the name of telling a cracking good story. Less nuanced than Zwick’s Glory or The Last Emperor, Defiance nevertheless makes a thrilling action drama of non-soldiers combating not just vicious storm troopers, but also the harshness of the elements. (more…)

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SIZE MATTERS: Kevin Phillips (left) and Jamal Woolard as Biggie Smalls

GENRE: Rags-to-riches rap biopic

THE PITCH: Christopher Wallace, a.k.a. Biggie Smalls, a.k.a. the Notorious B.I.G. (played by newcomer Jamal “Gravy” Woolard, who only has two names) rises from the violence of Brooklyn drug dealing to the violence of the 1990s hip-hop scene.

MONEY SHOTS: Young Biggie triumphs in a street corner rap battle. A fight breaks out — or does it? — during one of Biggie’s first concerts. At his wedding to singer Faith Evans (Antonique Smith), Biggie shoots the preacher an amusing look during the part about “forsaking all others.” Faith gives a beat-down to a hotel room ho when Biggie fails to forsake all others. Biggie’s ex, Lil’ Kim (Naturi Naughton), raps in full woman-scorned mode before an audience.

BEST LINE: “What kind of man, a grown-ass man, calls himself ‘Puffy?’” wonders Biggie’s perpetually worried mother (Angela Bassett) about her son’s Svengali. (more…)

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LAST CALL: Dustin Hoffman as Harvey (left) and Emma Thompson as Kate

In Last Chance Harvey’s most winning moment, Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson make faces at each other. Hoffman plays Harvey Shine, a jazz musician turned frustrated composer of commercial jingles. Thompson’s Kate Walker, a book-loving airline employee, explains to him the origin of the expression “stiff upper lip” with exaggerated mouth movements.

It may be the most charming scene of any romantic comedy of the past year, but that’s less an endorsement of the well-acted but disposable Last Chance Harvey than a reflection of the shrill, sorry state of rom-coms in general. Lately, movie love stories hit their jokes so hard and rely on such predictable romantic ups and downs, human moments seldom have the chance to emerge. Last Chance Harvey director Joel Hopkins’ best talent is an instinct to give plenty of breathing room to his leads, who happen to be two of the best actors of their respective generations.

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RAM JOB: Mickey Rourke as Randy “The Ram” Robinson

Randy “The Ram” Robinson brings a razor blade to a wrestling match in one of The Wrestler’s first scenes.

Initially, director Darren Aronofsky watches Randy (Mickey Rourke) from a distance, his camera taking in the athlete’s weathered but expansive musculature. Right before the bout, Aronofsky comes in for a closeup of Randy hiding a piece of razor on his person. During the bruising, blustery, low-rent match, Randy secretly uses the blade not against his opponent, but on himself, so his bloody forehead can increase the drama and showmanship of his preordained victory.

Randy’s thin gash to his own brow marks just the first wound he inflicts on himself in The Wrestler. Randy ruled the ring as a pro wrestler in the 1980s, but 20 years later, his beefy, abused physique serves as a monument to his punishing profession and poor choices in his personal life. At one point Randy describes himself as “an old, broken-down piece of meat,” and the scrutiny The Wrestler brings to Randy’s flesh elevates a potentially sentimental drama about a washed-up palooka into a showcase for an enormously compelling piece of acting. You can’t tear your eyes away. (more…)

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Anticipating the exciting new books of the year can be tricky. Often my personal favorites will be the out-of-nowhere titles I’ve never heard of, like 2007’s workplace satire Then We Came To The End by Joshua Ferris. The Guardian anticipates a resurgence of fiction in 2009, anticipating new novels from the likes of Martin Amis and Thomas Pynchon. The late Roberto BolañoFresh Loaf › Edit — WordPress’s 2666, although published in November, should be considered an “honorary” 2009 novel, since it’s more than 900 pages: The New Yorker magazine’s Book Bench blog has dubbed January 2009 “National Reading 2666 Month.”

This spring features three intriguing-sounding books from authors with local connections:
Bound South – Susan Rebecca White (Feb. 10). The debut novel by an author born in bred in Atlanta offers a portrait of the city from the view of three women seeking to find themselves and their place in the New South. The Margaret Mitchell House hosts an author event for White on Feb. 9.
The Age of Orphans – Laleh Khadivi (March 3). A fellow in Emory University’s Creative Writing Program, Khadivi received a 2008 Whiting Writers’ Award for this historical novel set in Iran during the first Shah’s rise to power.
The King James Conspiracy – Phillip DePoy (May 12). The playwright, mystery novelist and Creative Loafing Fiction Contest judge pens a historical mystery set around the creation of the King James Bible. It sounds more Name of the Rose than Da Vinci Code.

Here’s a handful of other potentially cool books scheduled for 2009 publication; avid readers should feel free to suggest others:

(more…)

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TWO TIMERS: Jill Jane Clements (left) and Steve Coulter

Jill Jane Clements and Steve Coulter may be the best possible couple of Atlanta actors to cast in an “opposites attract” romance like Georgia Ensemble Theatre’s Southern Comforts. Clements can turn even a staid role into a firecracker, infusing her dialogue and body language with funny interpretations and curlicues. Her women always seem to be vividly “present,” while Coulter often excels at playing men who are somehow absent. Underneath the Lintel and Side Man are two terrific prior examples of Coulter playing absent-minded or easily distracted characters.

Georgia Ensemble Theatre artistic director Robert J. Farley paired up Clements and Coulter so well when he directed Southern Comforts last year at Theatrical Outfit that he’s remounting the show for his Roswell playhouse. Georgia Ensemble Theatre’s Southern Comforts initially avoid clichés before turning all too predictable.

Superficially, Clements’ Amanda Cross and Coulter’s Gus Klingman embody regional differences. She’s a spunky widow from Tennessee visiting her daughter in New Jersey, while he’s a taciturn retired stonemason and widower who hates to travel. Amanda stops by Gus’ house to pick up a church donation, but a thunderstorm and a mutual fondness for baseball lead them to hang out for a while. To the credit of Kathleen Clark’s script, Southern Comforts explores their early, mutual attraction in a mature, respectful way. A more formulaic rom-com would have launched into rote bickering and name-calling before the couple fell into each other’s arms.

Southern Comforts broaches a more complex problem in the notion as to whether individuals can truly change, particularly older people too set in their ways to compromise. (In fact, Clements and Coulter may be a little young for their roles as written.) Unfortunately, the play emphasizes simplistic situations, such as Gus’ embarrassment at Amanda’s frank discussion of sex, and a funny but seemingly endless sequence with Gus trying to install storm windows. A plot point involving cemeteries creates an intriguing crisis in the relationship, but Southern Comforts chooses such a simple resolution that the play’s final scene feels like an evasion. Fortunately, the audience can enjoy Clements and Coulter’s pleasing interplay as Southern Comforts takes the easy way out.

Southern Comforts Through Jan. 25. $17-$33. Wed., 7:30 p.m.; Thurs.-Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 4 and 8 p.m.; Sun., 2:30 p.m.  Georgia Ensemble Theatre, 950 Forrest St., Roswell. 770-641-1260. www.get.org.

(Photo by Bill DeLoach)

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CRITIC'S CHOICE: Viggo Mortensen as John Halder in 'Good'

Every year since 2000, the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival has reliably presented the diversity of movies by Jewish artists or otherwise reflecting the Jewish experience. This year, films relevant to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict range from Alan Dershowitz’s legalistic documentary The Case for Israel to the family friendly drama The Little Traitor, starring Alfred Molina.

The 2009 festival runs Jan. 14-25 and includes 48 narrative and documentary features and shorts representing 20 nations. This year’s program particularly conveys the breadth of other art forms involving Jewish themes, as viewed through the prism of cinema. It’s like the filmmakers’ cameras stand on the foundation of Jewish culture.

One of festival’s highest-profile screenings is the Atlanta debut of Good (3 stars), an adaptation of a 1981 play by late English playwright C.P. Taylor. Viggo Mortensen plays John Halder, a German novelist and literary professor who understandably worries when his work draws the attention of Hitler’s government in the mid-1930s. A smooth-talking member of the Reich (RocknRolla’s Mark Strong) expresses interest in Halder’s treatment of euthanasia in a novel and asks the writer to draft a paper on the subject. (more…)

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Is it just me, or is there something eerie about that “Feed the Pig” ad campaign? I totally appreciate the thriftiness message behind the spots from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, but the mascot scares the bejesus out of me. Allegedly known as Benjamin Bankes, he’s merely meant to be a friendly representation of a piggybank. Instead, with his pink suit, his three-fingered, “hoofy” hands and that knowing smile, he looks more like a potential serial killer from the Island of Dr. Moreau. Plus, he apparently stalks people and shows up without warning:

He’s not even a funny pig man, like the one Kramer thought he saw on “Seinfeld,” but a scary one, like the cello-playing porcine humanoid in the “Mr. Krinkle” video from Primus or the hog-masked chainsaw killer in Motel Hell. Maybe the ads have a subliminal message that runs contrary to the stated one. Since Americans are being encouraged to spend as much as possible to resist the economic slump, maybe it’s a good thing to be frightened of our piggy banks.

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To paraphrase “The Simpsons,” it’s currently the start of everybody’s second-favorite TV season: mid-season! “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report” returned on Monday, “30 Rock” came back last night (you can watch it now on Hulu) and “24″ launches its seventh season on Sunday, opposite the Golden Globe Awards. For a comprehensive run-down, Ain’t It Cool News has a list in both alphabetical and chronological order, but you might find the CinemaBlend list a little more readable. Apparently you can see the pilot of Showtime’s “The United States of Tara” (starring Toni Collette and written by Juno’s Diablo Cody) online ahead of its Jan. 18 debut. Some notable others include:

“The Office” (NBC) Jan. 15 (with additional episode on Superbowl Sunday, Feb. 1)
“Battlestar Galactica” (SciFi) Jan. 16
“Flight of the Conchords” (HBO) Jan. 18 — now available on FunnyorDie.com.
“Lost” (ABC) Jan. 21
“The Closer” (TNT) Jan. 26
“Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” (Fox) Feb. 13
“Dollhouse” (Fox) Feb. 13
“South Park” (CC) March 11

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