the 941

COVER STORY

— 2009 Drinking Guide: The Outsiders. We’re on a mission to find the unsung watering holes on the Suncoast.

NEWS & VIEWS

— Don’t panic! Your war questions answered: What can Americans do to support Iran’s pro-democracy movement?

FOOD & DRINK

— Chunky lil bites of food news.

— Restaurant review: Blue Marlin Cafe tries to seduce a fish-shack hater?

— Suggestive selling: Burger King goes too far.

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Eastbound & Down: The Complete First Season (2009), HBO
Ingredients:
Danny McBride (Kenny Powers)
Katy Mixon (April Buchanon)
John Hawkes (Dustin Powers)
Andrew Daly (Terrence Cutler)
Ben Best (Clegg)
David Gordon Green, Jody Hill, Adam McKay (Directors)

Take one part mullet-sporting former relief pitcher turned substitute gym teacher and place in a Southern small town. Mix in strange characters, off-color humor and a multitude of NSFW one-liners. Expect complete character-dedication by scene-stealer Danny McBride (Powers) and a ton of fantastic outtakes, backstory videos and amazing commentary for this soon-to-be cult classic.

Se7en: New Line Platinum Series [Blu-Ray] (1995), New Line Home Video
Ingredients:
Brad Pitt (Detective David Mills)
Morgan Freeman (Detective Lt. William Somerset)
Gwyneth Paltrow (Tracy Mills)
Kevin Spacey (John Doe)
David Fincher (Director)

Add equal parts grit, grossness and great performances to this thrilling murder mystery; mix in the seven deadly sins and stomach-churning details as two homicide detectives, one rookie (Pitt) and one retiring (Freeman), frantically search for a serial killer. Allow actors to marinate in dramatically dark mise-en-scene and horrific circumstances. Relish in Kevin Spacey’s creepiness, a head-in-a-box and fantastic Fincher direction.

Also out on DVD and Blu-Ray today:

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Cliff Roles Interviews Jessica K. Peterson

From our boy Cliff Roles:

Here’s my interview with the lovely Jessica K. Peterson, who is currently starring as Maureen Folan together with Kim Crow, Gordon Woods and Derry Woodhouse in “The Beauty Queen of Leenane“, the Banyan Theater Company’s first production of the season that is currently running thru July 12 in the Cook Theatre.

“The Beauty Queen of Leenane” touches nerves and takes the audience on a roller coaster of twists and turns, deceit and dysfunction. Set in desolate, rural Ireland in 1990, it could just as well be 1890. I found it dark and disturbing, which speaks for the strength of the outstanding acting of the four cast members. The play opens wounds – many a woman will look differently at her mother after seeing this.

Tickets 358-5330; http://banyantheatercompany.com.

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You have to hand it to the producers of Public Enemies; their timing is impeccable. After months of watching the banks loot the nation’s treasury of billions under the guise of the TARP bailout, the public is bound to be receptive to heartthrob Johnny Depp as charismatic bank robber John Dillinger. It helps that Depp is stellar here, his Dillinger a smooth cat who’s quick to give a lady his coat or his word. As directed by Michael Mann (The Insider, Heat), Public Enemies is a gripping gangster flick that works both as a Depression-era period piece and a throwback to the films of that era.

When we first meet Dillinger, he’s orchestrating the jailbreak of some associates, including his mentor Walter Dietrich. The prison break goes wrong, gunfire breaks out and Walter is fatally wounded — the first of Dillinger’s associates to die in his presence. After a stop at a safe house, Dillinger and the remaining men head for Chicago to make some money and hide in plain sight among the teeming masses that love the charismatic Johnny.

Dillinger is a folk hero, exacting a little poetic revenge on the banks that had plunged the nation into the Great Depression. Dillinger and his crew are professionals, knocking over banks in a minute-forty and charming the patrons on the way out the door. In the days before surveillance cameras, dye packs and helicopter patrols, law enforcement is simply overmatched. Or as Dillinger explains, the cops have to guard all the banks all of the time, he’s just got to hit one.
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Ed. note: This piece, by Mark E. Leib, will appear in this week’s issue of Creative Loafing.

The Banyan Theater Company is one of the best things that’s happened to Sarasota theater in the last 10 years, and its first production of the new summer season, Martin McDonagh’s The Beauty Queen of Leenane, is just as impressive as area residents have come to expect. Featuring one stunning performance and another of top quality, Beauty Queen is a shattering look at filial hatred, desperate love, madness and missed chances. It shows us two flawed characters locked in a battle for survival, and two others whose innocent actions have a momentous effect on that life-or-death struggle. It’s funny, horrifying, surprising and suspenseful. It’s also proof that the writer of The Lieutenant of Innishmore and The Pillowman is one of the most important playwrights in the contemporary theater.

The story Beauty Queen tells is about vicious Maureen Folan, a 40-year-old virgin, and her nasty mother Mag, whose most urgent concern is keeping Maureen as her caretaker. Neither of these women is anyone’s idea of a dramatic heroine: Mag is clutching and devious and Maureen is spiteful, bad-tempered, and abusive — verbally and physically. Still, they’ve reached a sort of sadistic day-to-day equilibrium, and it would seem that they’ll go on hurting each other for years.

But then an intruder appears — Ray Dooley, a neighbor, with an invitation for Maureen to come to a party where Ray’s brother Pato, just back from England, will be the guest of honor. Mag does her best to keep Maureen from knowing about the party, but the younger woman finds out anyway, and goes off in a sexy new dress, bought just for the occasion. Next thing we know, it’s late in the evening, and Maureen and Pato are circling each other. He finds her sexually enchanting and she sees in him a possible escape from her dead-end life. With trepidation, he places his hands on her breasts, and she not only doesn’t spurn him, she asks him to stay, and to put his hands lower.

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Ed. note: This piece was compiled by Jennifer Almond.

Electric Myakka plays at Olympia Performing Arts Center Sat., July 4

THURSDAY, July 2
CHA CHA COCONUTS 606 The Retro Duo
THE GATOR CLUB The Boneshakers/The Cherry Bombs
LEBARGE BC Hathaway
MOTHER’S MUSICAL BAKERY Open Mic
OLD PACKINGHOUSE CAFÉ The Wire Beaters
RINGSIDE CAFÉ Sean Kellerman
RUTH ECKERD HALL Boz Scaggs/Michael McDonald Two of the most popular vocalists of the 1970s join together in a co-bill. My strong preference is Scaggs, with his round, throaty soul croon. His Silk Degrees (’76) is an unmitigated classic. Lately, Scaggs has added standards from the American Songbook to his repertoire, so his show will be a compendium of material over several decades. (Concertgoer alert: He’s going on first, and should start pretty close to the scheduled 7:30 p.m.) When McDonald joined the Doobie Brothers in 1975, they went from a guitar-oriented bar band (albeit a slick one) to a Grammy-winning pop outfit dominated by McDonald’s keyboards and syrupy voice. He had a solid solo career in the 1980s, despite the blemish known as “Yah Mo B There.” —Eric Snider
SHARKY’S David Moore
SKIPPER’S SMOKEHOUSE Grateful Dead Night w/Uncle John’s Band
STATE THEATRE Ballyhoo/B-Foundation/Mike Pinto/Unmotivated/Muphin Chuckrs/Burning Tree

FRIDAY, July 3
ACE’S Automatic Heat
AMERICAN LEGION POST 312 Showtime

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Ed. note: This piece was compiled by Tim Sukits and Robert Johnson.

15 South Ristorante 15 S. Blvd. of Presidents, Sarasota, 388-1555, 15southristorante.com

Ace’s Lounge 4343 Palma Sola Blvd., Bradenton, 795-3886, 4aceslounge.com

The Alley Bar 2831 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, myspace.com/alleybarsarasota

Bacalao Sports Bar & Grill 1100 N. Tuttle Ave., Sarasota, 366-0157, sarasotabacalao.com or 6713 14th St. W., Bradenton, 727-0000

Badda Bing 6574 Superior Ave., Sarasota, 921-5109

Bahi Hut Lounge 4675 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, 355-5141

Beach Club 5151 Ocean Blvd., Sarasota, 349-6311, beachclubsiestakey.com

Big Sugar Rum Bar 1900 Hillview St., Sarasota, 388-7679, bigsugarsarasota.com

Boar’s Head Lounge 6523 Gateway Ave., Sarasota, 922-4066, myspace.com/boarsheadlounge

Cabana Inn 2525 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, 955-0195

Captain Curt’s 1200 Old Stickney Point Road, Sarasota, 349-3885, captaincurts.com

Ceviche 1216 First St., Sarasota, 952-1036, ceviche.com

Cha Cha Coconuts 417 St. Armands Circle, Sarasota, 388-3300, chacha-coconuts.com/sarasota.aspx

Champions Pub 3676 Webber St., Sarasota, 927-7686, championspubofflorida.com

Clancy’s Irish Pub & Grill 6218 Cortez Rd. W., Bradenton, 794-2489, myspace.com/clancys777

Club Phoenix 1266 Old Stickney Point Road, Sarasota, 346-1711, myspace.com/phxtemple

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Ed. note: This piece was compiled by Danielle Favreau.

VISUAL ARTS: OPENING

ARTCENTER MANATEE 209 9th St. W, Bradenton (746-2862 or artcentermanatee.org).The Kellogg Gallery will showcase photographer Yvonne Butler and painters Jeanne Bessette and Kimberly Charles’ exhibit More Than Meets the Eye. The Searle Gallery will feature Chickens and Cherry Bombs, works by artists Tim Jaeger and Joseph Arnegger. The Reid-Hodges Gallery will feature imaginative works by participants in the Arts Initiative at Easter Seals program in the exhibit Art Knows No Boundaries. Exhibit runs through Aug. 15 with an opening reception from 5-7 p.m. July 3. Regular hours are 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. Free.

ARTCENTER MANATEE COMCENTER GALLERY 9040 Town Center Parkway, Lakewood Ranch (746-2862 or artcentermanatee.org). The Coalition of Hispanic Artist and Art Manatee present Latin Art Comes to the Ranch in honor of the Latin Chamber of Commerce., Exhibit runs through Aug. 28 with an opening reception from 5-7 p.m. July 16. Regular hours are 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. Free.

ART UPTOWN 1367 Main St., Sarasota (955-5409 or artuptown.com). Janine Hoffman’s vibrant colored pencil works of sports renderings will be on display through July 3. Works by Michael Dowd and Eleanor Merritt will be on display July 4-10. Regular hours are 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat. Free admission.

DABBERT GALLERY 76 S. Palm Ave., Sarasota (955-1315 or dabbertgallery.com). The Summer Showcase features works from nine different artists in their mediums. Runs July 3-Sept. 30. Normal hours are 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Free.

THE DANCING CRANE GALLERY  1019 10th Ave. W., Bradenton (744-1333 or dancing-crane.com). The Dancing Crane Gallery artists will unite to present a month of artwork for sale at $300 or less. Opening 6-9 p.m. July 3 and runs through Aug. 1. Call for hours. Free.

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MR. BIG’S
The basics: 3877 Clark Road, Sarasota, 927-1888 [map it]
Signature drink(s): Bud Light, Jäger bombs
Most friendliest bartender(s): Jennifer

3877 Clark Road used to be a legendary dive named The Swamp Bar: Happy-hour patrons at Mr. Big’s told me it had dirt floors and white plastic for a bar top, far removed from the classy environs of the address today. The Big’s logo includes a martini glass with a golf flagstick poking out, and that lets you know this is a destination for golfers ducking into the A-C for a post-round cold one or two. On the day I stopped by, the guys chilling at the bar all knew each other, and didn’t need to tell their orders to the pretty bartending staff. A cool dĂ©cor, nice people and, um, floors: Why wouldn’t you stop by Mr. Big’s?

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— Perhaps one reason why Rep. Vern Buchanan voted against the House of Representatives climate change bill: “Talk show host Rush Limbaugh, and conservative bloggers Michelle Malkin and Erick Erickson of Redstate.com all singled out Buchanan as one of the five undecided Republicans late last week. The bloggers published his office phone number to encourage readers to call him and tell him to vote no on the bill.”

— State Sen. Mike Bennett has decided he won’t pursue the Florida Senate presidency.

— And, in case you missed it, MC Coolidge appeared last Friday on WEDU’s Florida This Week.

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