And speaking of New Orleans...

GP tickets are sold out BUT there are some limited view and benefactor seats still left. Call BAM for more info @ 718.636.4100

A Streetcar Named Desire

Nov 27—Dec 20* @ BAM

"...how often do you get to watch an actress of such virtuosity pulling out every stop of her instrument and then some?" —The New York Times on Cate Blanchett

Tennessee Williams has a way with his women. Both sympathetic and merciless, he cuts to their core, revealing their longing, vulnerability, and pride. His most poignant creation—and the dream role of every leading actress—may be the narcissistic and deeply troubled Blanche DuBois of A Streetcar Named Desire.

An aging Southern beauty, Blanche is all artifice, pomposity, and need, traits that Cate Blanchett, a transcendent performer (who made her New York stage debut at BAM in 2006 as an unforgettable Hedda Gabler), conveys with the most delicate balance of hysteria and pathos. Playing off of Joel Edgerton as the remorseless monster Stanley, and Robin McLeavy, as her conflicted sister Stella, Blanchett and the outstanding ensemble cast of the Sydney Theatre Company bring new life to this celebrated work.

Liv Ullmann—whose own soul-baring performances in the films of Ingmar Bergman defined an era—directs, granting Williams' fraught characters a full spectrum of emotions while witnessing the old South's losing battle against a coarse modern world.

*Nov 27 & 28, Dec 1, 2, 4, 5, 8—12, 15—19 at 7:30pm
Nov 28, Dec 2, 5, 9, 12, 16, & 19 at 2pm
Nov 29, Dec 6, 13, 20 at 3pm
Dec 3 at 8pm (Belle Rêve Gala)

Source - BAM website

SCREEN: Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans @ BAM

Tues, Nov 24—Wed, Nov 25 at 4:30, 7, 9:30pm
Thu, Nov 26 at 2, 4:30, 7, 9:30pm

"Fueled by Nicolas Cage’s performance—which requires adjectives as yet uncoined, typed with both the caps-lock key and the italics button engaged—Mr. Herzog’s film is a pulpy, glorious mess. Its maniacal unpredictability is such a blast that it reminds you just how tidy and dull most crime thrillers are these days."—The New York Times

In Werner Herzog’s new film Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans, Nicolas Cage plays a rogue detective who is as devoted to his job as he is at scoring drugs—while playing fast and loose with the law. He wields his badge as often as he wields his gun in order to get his way. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina he becomes a high-functioning addict who is a deeply intuitive, fearless detective reigning over the beautiful ruins of New Orleans with authority and abandon. Complicating his tumultuous life is the prostitute he loves (played by Eva Mendes). Together they descend into their own world marked by desire, compulsion, and conscience. The result is a singular masterpiece of filmmaking: equally sad and manically humorous.

Synopsis courtesy of Apparition.

Source - BAM website

SCENE: A Deck of Lives

A Deck of Lives

After the murder of his son, Tom Lucas created a special deck of playing cards, now used in South Carolina prisons. He hopes they will bring clues to cold cases.

Read Dan Barry's NY Times article here, watch the video here.

SCREEN: That Evening Sun

An aging farmer fights to keep the home that is rightfully his after fleeing from a nursing home and discovering that his son has leased the family farm to his old nemesis. Placed in a nursing home by his son and promptly forgotten, Abner Meecham (Hal Holbrook) realized that waiting to die was no way to live. Determined to enjoy his last days, Abner packed his bags and set his sights on the family farm. At least there he could die on his own land, in familiar surroundings. But Abner is in for a rude awakening, because upon returning home he discovers that his son has leased the farm to Lonzo Choat. Abner never cared much for Lonzo, and when Lonzo refuses to leave, Abner takes up residence in an old tenant shack on the property. Before long, their dispute becomes volatile, each man believing himself to be in the right, and refusing to back down from his position. Betrayed by his son and haunted by dreams of his beloved deceased wife, Abner draws a line in the sand in an attempt to reclaim his life. As threats are made and tension begins to brew, it's only a matter of time before the situation turns savage. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Playing now at City Cinemas 1, 2, 3

ART: R.I.P. Jake McCord

Photo: Mike's Art Truck

Jake (JT) McCord passed away September 1 at the age of 64. Funeral services were held at Zion Baptist Church near Lincolnton, Georgia. A native of Lincoln County, where he picked cotton as a child, McCord moved to Thomson as a young man and worked for the city for over 40 years.

Jake will be missed by many. He was a soft-spoken gental soul, despite his tragic and abusive childhood. Jake became famous for his paintings on plywood, which he would nail to the walls of his porch. He called this his gallery and said he put them on his porch, so the town children could come by and see his art.

His paintings were usually children playing with their pets, cats, dogs and animals from the farm. He had a unique vision using bold strokes and bright enamel paint. The McDuffe Museum will reconstruct the front porch of Jake's home and display his art as he did for years.

One of his paintings of his home church rested against his casket, during his funeral service. Henry Drake, a longtime friend of Jake, said during the service "I was always glad to see J.T coming to see me. Sleep on my friend J.T. and save a seat for me."

(courtesy of Ted Oliver, Oliver’s Folk Art. REPOSTED FROM DETOUR ART TRAVELS)

WISH LIST!!! Garden & Gun Auctions!

Well leave it to my fave magazine to offer the coolest experiential travel experiences ever! Here's the deal (sorry the spacing's a bit janky):

G&G AUCTIONS

Let the Bidding Begin Since our first issue in spring 2007, Garden & Gun has brought the South to life with highly evocative writing, design, and photography. The idea was to make the magazine so rich that readers could taste the mint juleps, smell the jasmine, and feel the shade of the live oaks. Metaphorically, of course. Starting now, Garden & Gun will make some of those experiences literally come to life with the introduction of G&G Auctions. Working with select Southern partners, and with the auction Web site igavel.com, our staff has designed a series of unique adventures that capture the essence of G&G as well as the magic of the South. Throughout the year, we’ll introduce new auction items that cover a broad range of experiences. Some of the upcoming lots include a private dinner party at a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Southern plantation, a coastal tour (by yacht) of the South’s best golf courses, and an exclusive weekend with chefs, authors, and musicians at Tennessee’s Blackberry Farm. Whether or not you decide to bid, we hope you’ll enjoy reading about these experiences as much as we've enjoyed crafting them. Follow the links below to see the first G&G Auction lots on igavel.com. Going once, going twice… Browse Lot 1: All Access Music & Literary Weekend at Blackberry Farm, including cocktails with Chris Thile and the Punch Brothers band, and dinner with proprietor Sam Beall, G&G editor Sid Evans, and author Julia Reed / June 23–26, 2010 Browse Lot 2: Custom G&G Cypress Kayak and Half-day Paddle with master boatwright Aaron Wells

BOOK: Undeniable Truths by A. M. Garner

The ghost is not much of a ghost, as ghosts go, and he knows it. Most of the time, the ghost sleeps, sometimes so long that when he awakens he hardly recognizes where he is. He sleeps in the short, low-ceilinged upstairs hall between a bedroom and the upstairs bath. Occasionally, he
bangs the bedroom door shut, and he always keeps the light bulb blown in the upstairs hall light fixture. The various people who’ve lived in the house assume the door is not level, the wiring faulty. He knows this because he has heard them say these things, and the ghost was perfectly satisfied with the people believing such explanations since he never cared whether or not they knew he existed. Being a very old ghost, he had been in the two previous houses which
have stood on the property. He has forgotten—or forgets to remember—exactly why he is here, what he did or didn’t do or think that has made him a ghost, and when he has slept for an unusually long time, he often has to roam the surrounding hills for a while until he can once again claim his bearings. That’s how he knows about the spirit of the lake.

The above is an excerpt from A.M. Garner's new book Undeniable Truths, out now. From Amazon: The twelve stories that make up Undeniable Truths have an unmistakably Southern sensibility and are rich in humor, violence, wisdom, mystery, ghosts, dogs and troubled humans. The stories resuscitate stereotypes and reinvent the South.

Born in rural Coosa County, Alabama, award-winning author A. M. Garner writes and teaches writing in North Alabama. She blogs about Southern culture at Talking in Accents online.

HAPPY VETERAN'S DAY

BOOK: The Interrogative Mood

Are you happy? Do we need galoshes? Are bluebirds perfect? Do you know the distinctions, empirical or theoretical, between moss and lichen? Is it clear to you why I am asking you all these questions? Should I go away? Leave you alone? Should I bother but myself with the interrogative mood?

The acclaimed writer Padgett Powell is fascinated by what it feels like to walk through everyday life, to hear the swing and snap of American talk, to be both electrified and overwhelmed by the mad cacophony—the "muchness"—of America. The Interrogative Mood is Powell's playful and profound response, a bebop solo of a book in which every sentence is a question.

Perhaps only Powell—a writer who was once touted as the best of his generation by Saul Bellow and "among the top five writers of fiction in the country" by Barry Hannah—could pull off such a remarkable stylistic feat. Is it a novel? Whatever it is, The Interrogative Mood is one of the most audacious literary high-wire acts since Nicholson Baker's The Mezzanine. Powell's unnamed narrator forces us to consider our core beliefs, our most cherished memories, our views on life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In fiction as in life, there may be no easy answers—but The Interrogative Mood is an exuberant book that leaves the reader feeling a little more alive. (source)

SOUNDS: Monsters of Folk

Kentuckyian Yim Yames (a/k/a Jim James from My Morning Jacket) hits NYC with Monsters of Folk for two shows: Nov 6 @ United Palace Theatre and Nov 8 @ the Beacon Theatre.

Monsters of Folk is an American supergroup, consisting of Jim James from My Morning Jacket, Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis from Bright Eyes and M. Ward. The band was formed in 2004 when the members were on tour with their respective bands and solo projects. After playing together both on-stage and backstage, they started working together on various material. (source)

SCREEN: A Streetcar Named Desire

Playing 11/6 - 11/12 @ Film Forum.

BOOK: The Help

I'm finally getting around to reading "The Help." Some of the book's well-deserved praise:

"Set in the rural South of the 1960's, The Help is a startling, resonant portrait of the intertwined lives of women on opposite sides of the racial divide. Stockett's many gifts - a keen eye for character, a wicked sense of humor, the perfect timing of a natural born storyteller- - shine as she evokes a time and place when black women were expected to help raise white babies, and yet could not use the same bathroom as their employers. Her characters, both white and black, are so fully fleshed they practically breathe - no stock villains or pious heroines here. I'm becoming an evangelist for The Help. Don't miss this wise and astonishing debut."
--Joshilyn Jackson, Bestselling author of Gods in Alabama


"I love THE HELP. Kathryn Stockett has given us glorious characters and a powerful, truth-filled story. Aibileen, Minny and Skeeter, show that people from this troubled time came together despite their differences and that ordinary women can be heroic."
--Jill Conner Browne, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of The Sweet Potato Queens series and resident of Jackson, MS

SCREEN: Mississippi Damned

I just missed Mississippi Damned (again) in NYC but it's making the rounds so hopefully it'll be back. Up next for the film, screenings at North Carolina's Cucalorus Festival:

Wanting to escape was the easy part. Taking place in 1986 and 1998 and based on a true story, three poor, Black kids in rural Mississippi reap the consequences of their family's cycle of abuse, addiction, and violence. They independently struggle to escape their circumstances and must decide whether to confront what's plagued their family for generations or succumb to the same crippling fate, forever damned in Mississippi. Bitterly honest and profoundly subtle, writer/director Tina Mabry successfully captures growing up in a world where possibilities and opportunities seem to die in the face of the suffocating reality of physical and sexual abuse, obsession, and a myriad of destructive compulsions.

Mississippi Damned won the Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature at the 2009 Urbanworld Film Festival, the Grand Jurty Award for Narrative Features at the 2009 American Black Film Festival, the Jury Award for Best American Independent Film at the 2009 Philadelphia Film Festival and the Special Jury Award for Narrative Breakthrough at the 2009 Atlanta Film Festival.

Director Tina Mabry and Producer Morgan Stiff will be in attendance.

Show Times:
Saturday, November 14, 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM @ Lumina Theater
Sunday, November 15, 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM @ Lumina Theater

Click Here for more information about Cucalorus Festival venues. (source)