Better Mus' Comeseen @ AMC Empire 25, New York, NY3.16.13So what, if anything, does Jamaica, Queens and JAMAICA Jamaica have in common? Not a whole lot, based on what I know of the latter. There is a visible Caribbean presence here; for example, in Queens and Brooklyn there are privately-owned commuter vans that supplement the city buses and are cheaper (though not by much), and many of them are run by Caribbeans. On the rare occasions I use one of them, I always hear reggae music playing in the van's CD... read more »
The most important news - for me, at least - is that the Queens World Film Festival returns next week, and once again I'll be there to cover it. It's a long one this year, March 5-10, but I'll do my best to cover as much of it as I can. I was not prepared for the level of hospitality and generosity I received from festival heads Don and Katha Cato last year, which included being invited to Don's birthday party last summer, which I totally did not expect. Therefore, I'm fondly looking forward to returning... read more »
My Brooklynseen @ reRun @ reBar, DUMBO, Brooklyn2.2.13The first time I worked in Brooklyn was in 2004. It was in Park Slope. For those of you who are unaware, this is one of the most popular, and heavily coveted, neighborhoods in all of Brooklyn, in large measure because of the beautiful brownstone buildings lying amidst tree-lined streets, next to Prospect Park. I had passed through it before when I was younger, but only fleetingly. Now, I would work there and experience everyday life there.Eventually I... read more »
Cloud Atlasseen @ Cinemart Cinemas, Forest Hills, Queens, NY11.29.12Awhile back, when I was still writing my online comics column, I did a piece about a woman named Hilda Terry. I met her late in her life - her career went all the way back to the 40s, when she did a newspaper strip named Teena. She was, in fact, one of the first prominent women cartoonists in America. She went on to other accomplishments in her long life, but one of the most significant aspects of her personality was her belief in past l... read more »
King Kong (1976)seen on TV @ AMC11.16.12I only visited the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center once. It was during college, and I'm fairly certain it was before the first time terrorists attacked it, in 1993. It was nothing particularly noteworthy. I was with friends, and I remember getting a touch of vertigo from looking down on Manhattan from the observation deck.That first attack scared the crap out of my friend Becky at the time. Becky's from a tiny little town upstate, going to college in the city... read more »
Battle for Brooklynseen @ the Dean Street playground, Brooklyn, NY9.28.12Even if you're not a sports fan, chances are you've heard by now of the new sports arena that has been built in Brooklyn, the Barclays Center, at the nexus of several major thoroughfares in the heart of the borough. The one-percenters responsible for its creation would have you believe that it'll elevate the borough's cultural profile in the eyes of the world, as well as restore Brooklyn's glory and pride because a spectacularly med... read more »
The Muppets Take Manhattanlast seen @ High Line Movies @The High Line, New York NY9.6.12The next time you visit New York, make sure you spend an afternoon on the High Line. The High Line is a totally unique reappropriation of public space that's unlike anything you've ever seen. Located on the far west side of Manhattan, running up Chelsea and into Midtown, it used to be a set of elevated train tracks for freight usage. It fell out of use in 1980 and laid fallow for many years until 1999, when the idea t... read more »
Red Hook Summerseen @ AMC Magic Johnson Theaters, New York NY8.16.12In the book The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, the noted scientist and outspoken atheist devotes an entire chapter to the way organized religion can be harmful to children's development. He makes a strong case for giving them the opportunity to think for themselves while they're still starting out in the world:...I thank my own parents for taking the view that children should be taught not so much what to think as how to think. If, hav... read more »
Zombielandseen @ Red Hook Flicks @ Valentino Pier, Red Hook, Brooklyn, NY8.7.12Red Hook, like many a Brooklyn neighborhood before it, is currently in the slow process of gentrification, but in this case, the process puzzles me a bit for one simple, but vital reason: it feels cut off from the rest of Brooklyn. In a literal sense, it is: one has to cross the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway to get there. However, it's also relatively far from the nearest subway.There are buses, of course. There are always buses.... read more »
Beasts of the Southern Wildseen @ Kew Gardens Cinemas, Kew Gardens, Queens, NY7.17.12New York, for better or for worse, is my home, the place that shaped who I am, but it's always been difficult for me to be fully attached to it. I'm not one of those types who crow about how it's the greatest city in the world and this and that, though there are, of course, lots of things about this city that are unique and spectacular. Without going into a laundry list of things I hate about it, though (not the point of... read more »
