PORTLAND

Review: Precious

Purple's prose makes for wrenching melodrama
If you thought Celie in Alice Walker's The Color Purple had a tough time of it, wait till you get a load of Precious.

By PETER KEOUGH | November 18, 2009

Despite what you may think, it's not a Sandra Bullock movie
It’s tough for any self-respecting critic to refrain from joyously tackling a Sandra Bullock movie — so it’s a good thing The Blind Side isn’t one.

By CHRIS FARAONE | November 17, 2009

Them Crooked Vultures | Them Crooked Vultures

DGC/Interscope (2009)
One day, maybe in a decade or three, somebody will dig this LP out of the future virtual version of a record crate in a Salvation Army and be blown away by the deep grooves this supergroup generate

By DANIEL BROCKMAN | November 18, 2009

Heather Woods Broderick | From the Ground

Preservation (2009)
Let not the minimalist packaging of Heather Woods Broderick’s From the Ground mislead you into assuming it’s some sort of heady ambient work that you’ll get around to next time you’re cleaning — as happened to me.

By MICHAEL BRODEUR | November 17, 2009

Swollen Members | Armed to the Teeth

Battle Axe (2009)
I’m not completely sure why the mere mention of Swollen Members rubs so many underground rap snobs the wrong way.

By CHRIS FARAONE | November 18, 2009

Annie | Don't Stop

Smalltown Supersound (2009)
Things have gotten pretty crowded in the electro-pop demi-monde since Annie released her indie-hit debut, Anniemal , back in 2004.

By MIKAEL WOOD | November 17, 2009

Campaign crash

Press Releases
The single biggest factor contributing to the repeal of same-sex marriage in Maine was how pro-marriage forces used — or failed to use — the media to their advantage.

By JEFF INGLIS | November 18, 2009

Ex-USM staffers claim age discrimination

Litigation Watch
In complaints filed with the University of Southern Maine's Office of Campus Diversity and Equity, a state legislator and five former colleagues allege they were discriminated against in a recent department restructuring because of their ages. The complainants' ages range between 56 and 63.

By JEFF INGLIS | November 18, 2009

Tom Waits | Glitter and Doom Live

Anti- (2009)
Arriving five years after his last release of new material, and two after the three-disc Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards box of outtakes and oddities, this live set culled from assorted 2008 gigs could be seen as a time marker.

By JEFF TAMARKIN | November 17, 2009

Interview: Gabourey Sidibe

A hidden gem discovered in Harlem
"While reading the book, I realized that I knew this girl in so many different people. Not just girls but boys, and not just black people but white and Asian and Indian."

By BRETT MICHEL | November 18, 2009

Review: Dragon Age: Origins

BioWare's latest gets lost in the details
BioWare's latest gets lost in the details

By MITCH KRPATA | November 18, 2009

Native Art

Hoopleville
Heap Big Outrage

By DAVID KISH | November 18, 2009

Peace Plants?

Drug cartels versus the military-industrial complex
Dank nugs, nukes

By DAVID KISH | November 18, 2009

Review: Planet 51

Even aliens get paranoid sometimes
The opening for the latest animated kids’ fantasy is promising — but it’s for another movie.

By PETER KEOUGH | November 18, 2009

Slideshow: Snow and ski art contest 2010

Finalists from our annual illustration contest
Finalists from our annual illustration contest

By PHOENIX STAFF | November 19, 2009

Holy terror?

Cutting through the muddled thinking about Nidal Malik Hasan's faith and its role in the Fort Hood shootings
On the afternoon of November 5, Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan walked into a building at Fort Hood, the sprawling military base in central Texas; sat briefly in solitary silence; and then opened fire with a semi-automatic pistol, shooting roughly a hundred rounds and killing 12 soldiers and one civilian.

By ADAM REILLY | November 16, 2009

Simple and distinct

Solid, serious abstractions at CMCA
“Planes of Abstraction” at the Maine Center for Contemporary Art brings together five artists with broad experience who share a common interest in a simplified image.

By KEN GREENLEAF | November 11, 2009

Has Obama peaked? Yes, he has

Yes, he made history. Unfortunately, it’s all downhill from there.
To listen to some pundits, Barack Obama's public image began taking a serious beating when the off-year election returns came in a week ago. Or maybe it was the undeserved Nobel Prize, his approach to the war in Afghanistan, or when he revved up his pursuit of national health-care reform.

By STEVEN STARK | November 12, 2009

Has Obama peaked? No, he hasn't

Obama’s days of greatest power and popularity lie before him. But be warned: he might not do what you want with it.
Barack Obama's popularity should not be judged by the day-to-day, media-driven vagaries of politics — nor by the wishful thinking of his opponents.

By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | November 12, 2009

Step right in

USM's spot-on view of '50s angst
Laura Reynolds, the young wife of a schoolmaster at a New England boys' boarding school in the '50s, has been advised about her proper role there: "Interested bystander."

By MEGAN GRUMBLING | November 11, 2009