PROVIDENCE

Walk on the wild side

Inner beasts are unleashed in Avenue Q
With Douglas Adams dead, where have we to turn for quirkily unconventional questions about life, the universe, and everything?

By BILL RODRIGUEZ | October 21, 2009

Affordable housing in a wealthy redoubt

At Home
Barrington, not exactly known for its welcome mat to working poor families, now has its first affordable housing project in living memory.

By RICHARD ASINOF | October 21, 2009

Can we fix our broken suburbs?

Action Speaks!
Action Speaks!, the panel discussion series at Providence art space AS220, wraps up its fall run with a look at the American adventure in suburbia.

By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | October 21, 2009

Get Scarce

Off the Couch
Plus two benefits for Dan Tanner

By PROVIDENCE PHOENIX STAFF | October 21, 2009

The ubiquitous Scott Duhamel

He’s everywhere! Plus, a new jewel in Cvanston, BeloJo notes, and more.
Saturday morning breakfast as Casa Diablo over the years has changed considerably.

By PHILLIPE AND JORGE | October 26, 2009

Comforting elegance
The Knightsville section of Cranston is an undeniable haven for Italian home-cooking, where legendary portions (Marchetti's), chic hotspots (Caffe Itri and L'Osteria), and marquee chef/owners (Tony Papa's) have successfully rubbed elbows along a suburban Cranston intersection. But don't forget the little guy on the corner -- Antonio's Trattoria.

By CHRIS CONTI | October 21, 2009

Emotional traffic

A love disconnection in Boy Gets Girl
As Halloween approaches and a frisson of fright chills the air, URI Theatre is presenting a psychologically taut staging of Rebecca Gilman’s Boy Gets Girl .

By BILL RODRIGUEZ | October 21, 2009

Sarah and the shipmates

Vowell on the Puritans and the founding of Rhode Island
Humorist, historian, superhero. Sarah Vowell is a woman of letters and voices.

By MICHAEL ATCHISON | October 22, 2009

Hootenanny!!

AS220’s ‘Do It! Show It! Sing It! Work It!,’ and Holly Ewald
It's not quite right to call "Do It! Show It! Sing It! Work It!" the AS220 biennial.

By GREG COOK | October 21, 2009

Newport’s rock royalty

The diePods — straight outta the City by the Sea
If 75orLess Records CEO (and Six Star General bassist) Mark MacDougall decided to host an East Bay Desert Sessions, the diePods would be the 3 am headliner.

By CHRIS CONTI | October 21, 2009

Review: Amelia

Plane bad
The hallowed formula for an Oscar Best Picture nomination — legendary figure, pat rise and fall scenario, overproduced visuals and music, a showboating performance from a name actor, reassuring platitudes — falls flat in what is Mira Nair’s worst picture.

By PETER KEOUGH | October 29, 2009

United Nations Day

Hoopleville
I'll break the pinata!

By DAVID KISH | October 21, 2009

Mom breaks bended kneecaps, and other drama

Dr. Lovemonkey answers your questions
I have been dating a woman, J., for the past three months. About a month ago, we decided to be "girlfriends" ...

By DR. LOVEMONKEY | October 21, 2009

Review: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

A real treasure
Nathan Drake walks like a man. Not so much in a macho, John Wayne kind of way — though there is plenty of that in him — but as if he were a real person occupying physical space.

By MITCH KRPATA | October 21, 2009

Review: The Stepfather

Remake fails to get any blood flowing
If you call a film The Stepfather , then your title character should have the decency to marry into that perfect little family that he’s predisposed to butcher and kill.

By BRETT MICHEL | October 21, 2009

Review: Good Hair

Chris Rock will make your head itch to know more
According to Chris Rock, this documentary directed by Jeff Stilson was born when his young daughter asked him: “Daddy, how come I don’t have good hair?”

By SHAULA CLARK | October 26, 2009

Review: Astro Boy

Partisan politics rain down like meatballs
Five-year-olds who attend MoveOn.org rallies in between tee-ball and bath time are sure to love the new David Bowers–directed interpretation of Osamu Tezuka’s flagship character.

By CHRIS FARAONE | October 21, 2009

Flying Machines | Flying Machines

Meteor (2009)
It really is a bitch nowadays for young musicians not only to come up with their own voice but to do so in a way that will draw attention. One can go the petulant-brat route, banking on notoriety to lead to eventual absolution through some sort of awesome catharsis.

By DANIEL BROCKMAN | October 21, 2009

Erin McKeown | Hundreds of Lions

Righteous Babe (2009)
This local folkie has spent the past few years sifting through the ample riches of the Great American Songbook, first on 2006’s excellent Sing You Sinners , then on Lafayette , a spirited follow-up taped live at Joe’s Pub in New York.

By MIKAEL WOOD | October 21, 2009

Spiral Stairs | The Real Feel

Matador (2009)
As his former band prepare to stage their much-ballyhooed reunion next year, Scott Kannberg is breaking his five-year recording silence with what is arguably his least cryptic post-Pavement release.

By ZETH LUNDY | October 21, 2009