What's new and/or interesting in Philly theaters this weekend. Most Likely to Suck: Hell Ride Larry Bishop writes, directs, and stars in this throwback to biker exploitation films of the '60s and '70s. The story is about a biker gang that rallies to avenge the violent murder of a fellow gang member. Dennis Hopper, Michael Madsen, and Vinnie Jones also star. We like all those guys, and this sounds like a fun idea for a......

Some updates on local criminal cases: the Bucks County mother accused of turning a sleepover into a sex party was ordered to stand trial yesterday. Andy Reid's son Garrett Reid was sentenced to two years in a relatively new state corrections program that combines incarceration and intensive drug treatment. Mumia Abu-Jamal lost his latest appeal for a new trial on Monday. Perhaps not surprisingly, the DRPA got an earful from angry commuters yesterday at......

Photo of Cody by Dan Bergeron Torontoist took a look at Regent Park, a low-income neighborhood whose soon-to-be-demolished buildings are being graced with huge wheatpastes of the area's displaced residents. (On that note, they also tried to find a legal middle ground for street art.)Phillyist curated their first art exhibition, and posted pictures from its opening.Gothamist was shocked when surveillance footage was released of a Brooklyn hospital's staffers repeatedly ignoring a patient—who had waited......

The Inquirer covers yesterday's early school closings due to heat, and points out that we'll see more of the same today. They also talk about the help and charity inspired by an article about a family struggling without air conditioning in the heat. A while back, state legislators increased pay for injured police officers and made it easier for them to resist returning to work. Now on any given day, roughly 250 Philadelphia police......

You know that movie Super Size Me, where that guy Morgan Spurlock ate McDonald’s every meal for 30 days? People actually paid money to see that. Well, if that’s a movie, I’ve got a movie! I’m going to smoke pot every day for 30 days, and it’s going to be called Super High Me, or Business As Usual… I haven’t decided on a title yet. But guess what? McDonald’s is going to be in my......

Psych!......

Photo of Free Tibet protesters at 5th and Market Streets taken by the author this past weekend The Daily News has more on how faulty the emergency radio system is, and also a bit on how personnel are under-trained on its functionality. Meanwhile, PHA cops have similar problems with their radios. The Daily News interviewed three women from Philadelphia's Asian American community on the controversy going on now over the 2008 Summer Olympics. (If......

The police got the guy who beat up and robbed that 81-year-old lady, who subsequently gave him a good smack on the head with a chair leg and sent him running from her home. A memorandum sent to the School Reform Commission from the state's school-safety watchdog informed the group that it was flunking when it comes to properly disciplining the majority of violent students and thoroughly reporting serious crimes. Mayor Nutter had proposed......

The shapeless dough of the internet, formed into tasty pellets and baked to perfection, just for you. There are Burger King-licensed potato snacks now in two flavors: Ketchup & Fries and Flame Broiled. We are horrified, yet curious. (Via Sarah) Yo, it's hard out there for a blogger! (Via Jill) At this year's annual Rube Goldberg competition, the task was to assemble a hamburger in 20 or more steps. The winner managed it in 156......

Yesterday, Governor Rendell requested that New York City release more water from its three brimming reservoirs in the Catskills, on the chance that the lowered levels will help protect residents along the Delaware River from flooding. Obama came to Philadelphia to talk to the state AFL-CIO convention yesterday, a day after Clinton had done the same. No word on whether he compared himself to Rocky—or Apollo Creed, for that matter. Meanwhile, Clinton was talking economics......

Photo credit: sushiesque/Flickr Bostonist attended the Anime Boston convention and took some glorious pictures of anime fans showing off their costumes at the mall, much to the delight of civilians.Seattlest took a trip on Virgin America Airlines and lived to tell the tale of its awesomeness.Londonist experienced a total lack of surprise at the chaos, crisis, and near-collapse of famous English reserve at the opening of the hotly opposed new airport terminal T5 at......

The tiny Bucks County borough of Yardley is home to some of the most frequently flooded properties in the nation, thanks to the Delaware River's chronic deluges. Thus Yardley expects to receive $655,000 from a pilot grant program aimed at stemming federal flood claims in hard-hit towns. Apparently our new soccer club's anthem is "I'm Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover." Well it's appropriate for today, anyway. "Handgun-control proponents in the State House are attempting......

An Associated Press investigation has shown that "a vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans." That includes the drinking water supplies here in Philly, where testing uncovered "56 pharmaceuticals or byproducts in treated drinking water, including medicines for pain, infection, high cholesterol, asthma, epilepsy, mental illness and heart problems. Sixty-three pharmaceuticals or byproducts......

D'oh! We up and forgot to celebrate Pennsylvania Day yesterday! While we were forgetting, Pennsylvania was earning the national average grade of B-minus in the Pew Center on the States scorecard on the effectiveness of state government, which just happened to get released yesterday. PA "was praised for creating a plan to respond to its alarming backlog of bridges in need of repairs and furnishing meaningful information about programs funded with state money." Meanwhile,......

Highway Patrol Officers were passing a house on Jefferson Street near 26th on Friday night when they spotted a man who matched the description of someone who had robbed and shot another man earlier that night. When they arrested him, they discovered that the house had a cache of drugs, money, and weapons, including seven loaded handguns, an AK-47 assault rifle, a shotgun, two Kevlar vests, $3,000 in cash, and $25,000 worth of cocaine. In......

Senator Vincent Fumo was eating dinner at his Spring Garden home at 7PM last night when he started experiencing chest pains. He was taken by ambulance to Hahnemann University Hospital where it was determined that he had suffered a heart attack and that his right coronary artery was 100 percent blocked. He had emergency surgery and remains in critical condition this morning, although he was alert and speaking with his family after the procedure. Hey,......

For awhile there, it was looking like this column could be retitled "Educators Gone Wild," as one of our winners and a number of our runners-up work(ed) in the Philadelphia area's schools. There was the ecstacy-dealing high school basketball coach, the "abstinence education is the only appropriate sex education" administrators at Archbishop Ryan, the elementary school teacher who wrote threatening messages throughout her school and the pedophile special ed teacher. But it's not just educators......

The Inquirer takes a hard look at the soccer stadium that's being proposed for Chester and whether it will really help the city as much as some people say. "The fate of the city's public golf courses is in the hands of City Council today in a hearing to examine a proposed contract to run them and, hopefully, improve them." Well, it's good to know City Council is taking care of the really important things.........

Every weekday of December (except for December 25, that is), Phillyist will be counting down to 2008 with our highlights from the past year and our predictions for the next. If you have a list you'd like to submit, let us know! Twelve months and ten epochal collapses later, we're nearing 2008 and a fresh calendar year for career (or structural) decimation. Let's count 'em down from 10: 10. Pete Doherty (again) 2007 hasn’t been......

What's new and/or interesting in Philly theaters this weekend. Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains - A documentary by director Jonathan Demme following Jimmy Carter on his recent book tour for his controversial book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. A great director and an interesting subject should make for a good film. Trailer Showing at: Ritz at the Bourse Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten - Another documentary opening at the Ritz at the Bourse this weekend......

CBS3 broke a story this morning about a heroin bust in Northeast Philly. Over one million dollars in heroin was seized by Philadelphia Police "near 'G' Street and Hunting Park Avenue." The drugs purportedly originated in New York and Colombia (CBS3 put themselves in the crosshairs of our very own Proofreading Philly by misspelling the name of the coffee-and-drugs capital of the world). The cheeky criminals hid the stash, totaling over eight pounds, in the......

The best of the internet, squirted out in flavorful neon globules, just for you. Here is a cake that you might not want to make for Timmy's 6th birthday party. But for the 40th birthday party of that creepy guy who works at the comic book store, absolutely. (Via) Hewlett-Packard is licensing a medical patch, designed based on their inkjet technology, with up to 90,000 microscopic needles per square inch, microprocessors, and a thermal unit.......

...S-M-R-T: Miss Teen South Carolina swears she is, despite vast evidence to the contrary. (Via Jessica and Ross, on Yahoo! and across the internets.) ...Missed Points: Yeah... this isn't how rehab is supposed to work. (Via The Superficial.) ...Brainwashing: Somebody please stop Tom Cruise! (Via What Would Tyler Durden Do?) ...Outings: Yeah... this wouldn't surprise us. (Via JJ's Blog.) ...Wow: We're still shocked by Owen Wilson's alleged suicide attempt, but this article left us reeling.......

One of the more hilarious perks of writing for Phillyist is that we occasionally receive press releases and statements from overworked press flacks trying to make their musician clients look like the second coming of The Beatles. It's rare, however, that we get a press release that actually reduces us to helpless laughter, which is what happened when we got an email from Amy Winehouse's spokesperson announcing that Amy Winehouse was cancelling her US tour......

The best of the internet, chopped into tiny bits and grilled for your enjoyment. Maxim Online has collected for you a list of the best movie scenes involving drugs, and they even included video clips. Beware some NSFW language. Why would you get the text of Windows' blue screen of death tattooed on your arm? We don't know, but somebody did, and we respect that. (Via Mike V.) Hey, you can vote for Philly's best......

...Why? The Spice Girls have reunited. For what reason, we can't tell you. (Via People.) ...Over It: Us Weekly has done what everyone should have done a long time ago and decided to stop covering Paris Hilton. (We just mock her. That's okay.) (Via Yahoo!) ...Overstatement: About to die? We somehow doubt it. (Via The Superficial.) ...Cheating: Suspicion confirmed: Britney is no better than Milli Vanilli. (Via What Would Tyler Durden Do?) ...Artwork: Paris Hilton......

Seattlest has a talk with the photographer from last week's "Segway Mom" and then experiences some dissension in the ranks over the question of wine vs. beer. It's not West Side Story, but about as close as they'll get. They're also still waiting on some inbox relief after a spammer is arrested. As Chicagoist counts down the days to its third anniversary party, they found all-organic pizza to be underwhelming amidst the hoopla, tried......

...Cover Songs: Seriously, who in Shakira's entourage thought that covering AC/DC was a good idea? (Via Horny Oyster.) ...Breakdowns: Oh, Paula! We thought you were "Forever [Our] Girl!" (Via The Superficial.) ...Aww: Did he pledge his heart to her, or just give her his dick in a box? (Via What Would Tyler Durden Do?) ...Ew: We're not entirely sure who this guy is, but he's famous enough for his naughty behavior to be on all......

Knox, facing tough opposition from the other candidates in ads and at a recent debate, decides to fight back with... more of the same! He just bought $400,000 worth of time for his TV commercials. The Kingsessing Recreation Center, site of an April 12 shooting, has long had, and continues to have, problems with drugs and violence. Residents don't feel the city is doing enough. The regular monthly meeting of the Kingsessing Recreation Center......

The times they are a changing. A quick sweep of the web now brings back incredible results. Check out these barnacles we found floating around: - We feel like you are less likely to be caught with a prostitute. Pulling a B&E on a prison seems extreme. Just pay for it already, screw jail time. - Of course this happened in Pennsylvania. We have some advice for you, pal. Keep drinking. What else are you......