Results tagged “westcoast”

Phillyist VIP: Matt Nelson

Ever since I saw Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind—the wildly imaginative, deeply moving, incredibly insightful sci-fi/romance/drama/comedy with Jim Carrey that came out in 2004—I've been pretty keen to see what else writer-director Michel Gondry can do. I found his next fiction feature film, The Science of Sleep, ultimately unsatisfying, but just as imaginative and affecting as ESotSM. So I was thrilled to hear about Gondry's latest project: Be Kind Rewind. This film—set over the bridge and up the road a piece in Passaic, New Jersey—is about one of those small, privately-owned video rental stores that are still fighting it out against the big chain stores. The shop is called Be Kind Rewind, and it's run by an aging man named Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover). His only employee is Mike (Mos Def), a young man who looks up to him as a kind of father figure. And, in fact, Mr. Fletcher has fatherly feelings for Mike, and tends to keep things from him that he knows will make him unhappy – like the fact that the shop is not doing well, the building has been condemned, and if he doesn't make a lot of money and do a lot of repairs in a very short period of time, it's going to be taken away from him to be demolished and turned into a modern apartment building. Mr. Fletcher tells Mike he's going on a trip and leaves him to take care of the store while he spies on the nearby West Coast Video in the hopes of getting the information he needs to turn his business around. Mike has been given only one hard-and-fast rule while Mr. Fletcher is away: keep Jerry out! Jerry (Jack Black) is Mike's buddy, and the local kook – a paranoid weirdo who works down at the junkyard, and lives there in a small trailer, right by the power plant. He's convinced that his mind is somehow being altered or controlled by the power plant, and so one night he convinces Mike to help him sabotage the place. Mike has second thoughts, but Jerry goes through with it – or at least tries to. Actually, all he succeeds in doing is getting himself electro-magnetized, so that the next time he walks into the video store, he erases all the tapes.

Normally we could start this post with some quip about chasing off the winter doldrums with some laughter. But seeing as how the mercury is riding high today, and should be for a while, we got nothing. That’s why we’re not comedians. Luckily, there are some very talented folks who are, and they are presenting a 5-day smorgasbord of improv and sketch comedy goodness for your gluttonous consumption.

Holy smokes! Giant fish on the MTA, Paris Hilton in jail, then out, then in again, Al Gore, goatses, blumpkins, Matt Damon, and baby art critics! It's been a busy week across the Ist-A-Verse, and here's a smattering of what's been going on.

DISCLOSURE: Jill, our editor, is working on Out of Sight, but she is not in the production nor had any input with this review. Wow. I was not ready to jump into Sara Felder's life on opening night of Out of Sight. I was in the middle of a conversation with my friend (whom I'll later discuss) when suddenly Felder appeared on stage. As she welcomed us to her one-act performance, she cautioned us on...

Jarrod Gorbel of The Honorary Title

Being a native Californian, Philadelphia's culture and variety of neighborhoods continues to intrigue me in so many different ways. As there are so many different neighborhoods, I try not to venture into uncharted territory unless something really exciting is happening and I know where I am going. One wrong turn, and you could end up in an area that’s unsavory, or, even worse, Camden. (Trust me...it has happened several times) On Friday night, I put my fears to rest and decided to venture to the World Cafe Live to hear the up and coming new artist, Paolo Nutini play. His debut album, "These Streets," was just released Jan. 30th, 2007.

What's interesting on TV this week.

could be frightened by anthropomorphised, singing cats.) What we want to know is what'll it take to get your behinds back into theater seats? A tale embroiled in lust and tragic love? A little rock and roll? The triumphant return of Lon Chaney?

Chris and Phil are back again this week to talk about Citizens Bank Park, Jim Thome, and Ugueth Urbina, among other things. This will be Phil's last post for a while, as he's on something he likes to call "vacation." Personally, we just think he doesn't like staying up late for the Phils' west coast swing.