No Strings AttachedPuppets, pussycats, soldiers and spiders will all be taking center stage in various metro Jackson theaters this month. Puppet master Peter Zapletal is directing the "Hansel and Gretel" puppet show, which runs April 15-17 at Millsaps College. Featuring music, fairy-tale …
Light FantasticA great work of art seems effortless, with an inevitability about it; an "of course" almost crosses your lips when you see it for the first time. So it is when looking at glasswork from Pearl River Glass Studios. Great …
A Filmmaker in MovielandWhat amazes me after having read "Scorsese on Scorsese" (Faber and Faber, revised 2003, $15) is how much divergent work this one great American director has been able to get done in Hollywood. It took this book, edited by Ian …
A Wild RideAlan Huffman's "Mississippi in Africa" (Gotham Books, 2004, $27) is a remarkable book that will capture your imagination and ground you in reality. For anyone who has ever been haunted by the ruins of Windsor, or wandered through an ancient …
Rich Dog, Poor Dog<i>The world premiere of "Benji Returns: Rags to Riches" will be Thursday, March 25, at the Parkway Theater on Lakeland Drive. The black-tie event includes a silent auction, a meet-and-greet with Benji and Camp, and an advance viewing of the …
[Crossroads] Beah SpeaksJust as it was in every scene she ever played, Beah Richards' presence is commanding and unforgettable in "Beah: A Black Woman Speaks," a documentary about one of the finest actresses of her generation. It will screen April 1 at …
Optimisme BienvenuI admit it: I'm a snob. I can hear the slightly superior voice in my head: "One really should see works in their true context to fully understand them. One really should travel." (Funny how that voice always begins sentences …
‘American Astronaut'Scattered across the desolate solar system exist the bleary-eyed mining men of Jupiter who know nothing of women and the sexually frustrated, all-female (Southern Belle no less) population of Venus. The surrealist noir B-movie landscape of a 1950s-style, campy black-and-white …
[Crossroads] Let the Music PlayLet's say you're like me—cannot play any musical instrument and can't, as the saying goes, "Carry a tune in a bucket." But, like me, you can be a curious consumer of all types of music. Most important, whether you're like …
Escape from Hollywood<i>Attend "Daddy Cool" Feb. 23, at 7:30 p.m. Millsaps College, Ford Academic Complex, room 215. Free. 974-1299.</i>
Tolerance Onstage<i>"Papa Married a Mormon" will be performed Feb. 19-21 at 7:30 p.m. and Feb. 22 at 2 p.m. on the main stage in the Marion L. Smith Auditorium, located in the Christian Center on the Millsaps College campus. </i>
No Fires BurningFor filmmaker Tom Rice, patience is paying off. Rice, a Jackson native, began work on "The Rising Place," his feature film debut as a writer and director, in the late '90s. The film was finally released on DVD and video …
Deconstructing ThomasWearing a black T-shirt and perched on a wooden stool under track lights in his fourth-floor live-work loft in the Fondren Corner building, Jackson native Thomas Morrison hasn't quite shed his former life as an actor in Los Angeles.
Sampling ‘Strange Fruit'<i>The Jewish Film Festival takes place Nov. 1 through Nov. 6. Call 956-6215 for tickets.</i>
Her PerspectiveTo be 19 years old from a small town outside of Petal, newly married and living in "the big city" provides opportunities to see things other people take for granted. Jackson isn't far from photographer Natalie Bancroft's home outside Hattiesburg, …