THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS: ENTERTAINMENT

Grand Rapids Movies, Music, Reviews, TV Shows, Event Listings

GRAND RAPIDS -- Joseph Conyers, principal double bassist of the Grand Rapids Symphony, is leaving Michigan to take a post with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in Georgia.

AP PhotoA playful moment: Morris Chestnut and Taraji P. Henson appear in a scene from "Not Easily Broken."

Late in the melodrama "Not Easily Broken," the hero makes fun of his comic-relief buddy for weeping while watching an afternoon soap. This relatively insignificant moment serves as a reminder of how the aims and emotions of cinema must be skillfully controlled.

With too many purposes relying on an oversimplified script and shaky dramatic structure, "Not Easily Broken" eventually turns to soap opera formulas and dialogue to smooth its conflicts. It's entertaining and even meaningful in isolated scenes but, as a whole, the film won't stay long in the minds of many viewers.

AP Photo"The Unborn": Odette Yustman and Cam Gigandet appear in the film.

"Are you a twin?"

It's a line to send chills of terror down the spine -- at least for those of us sensitive and allergic to horror-movie cliches, which "The Unborn" boasts in abundance.

Possession by evil spirits? Check. Creepy little boy? Check. Young female lead parading around in teensy undies? Check. People walking ... very ... slowly ... through a house? Check. The dead twin coming back to haunt? Check. Exorcism? Check. Bizarre hallucinations? Check.

What better place than a brew pub to toast the recipient of the prestigious Local Spin of the Year award?

On Thursday night, before band members took the stage for a performance at Founders Brewing Co., I officially bestowed upon The Mighty Narwhale my snazzy and stylish 2008 Local Spin of the Year trophy for the band's "A Ship Without a Country, A Mast Without a Sail" CD, an innovative, lush display of rock the seven-piece group likes to describe as "orchestral pop."

I really enjoyed "Gran Torino." My esteemed colleague James Sanford, not so much. Listen to our debate about Clint Eastwood's latest film on the MLive.com New Movies Podcast:

Check out the show notes for the podcast, with the audio broken into bite-size chunks, and links to our print reviews.

Press Photo/Katy BatdorffIn a habit: Kimberly Richards plays "Sister" in "Till Death Do Us Part, Late Nite Catechism 3" on Thursday.

The three productions in the "Late Nite Catechism" series are a bit like the holy trinity -- each one is different, but they're all the same.

Like the previous shows created by Maripat Donovan and Vicki Quade, "Till Death Do Us Part," is an interactive class run by a sassy nun in traditional habit, who knows her stuff and won't put up with gum chewing or tardiness. But many of the 250 who attended Thursday's opening night session attended previous classes, so they came prepared to sass right back.

Sister, played this time by the petite but powerful Kimberly Richards, wasn't about to take any guff.

Courtesy PhotoClassic tunes: Mid-Life Crisis will play rock 'n' roll hits on Saturday at One Trick Pony.

So much is going on this weekend with Monster Trucks at The DeltaPlex Arena, AutoRama at DeVos Place and the Great Skate at Rosa Parks Circle. Today's list includes some hidden gems.

AP PhotoFace-off: Kate Hudson, left, and Anne Hathaway star in "Bride Wars."

"My wedding is going to be bigger than your (insert expletive for derriere) at prom!"

That's about the biggest "zinger" these dueling brides dish out for the entire 90 minutes we are meant to watch Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson do battle in "Bride Wars." And that one hardly leaves a mark.

The plot is as lame as the jokes: Two BFFs-turned-worst enemies duke it out over the right to have a wedding at New York's Plaza Hotel on the same day. They get mean and petty, and the proverbial claws come out.

Bee Vang, as Thao, left, and Clint Eastwood, as Walt Kowalski, star in "Grand Torino."

Walt Kowalski fixes things.

For things mechanical, he uses the tools from his well-stocked garage. For interpersonal problems, his tool is his tongue, used to unleash a torrent of racial slurs and insults -- or his Korean War-era Army-issue rifle, pointed at the object of his ire.

Seeing Clint Eastwood squinting down the barrel of his gun, warning a gang of young toughs to "Get off my lawn!" in a retirement-age reiteration of Dirty Harry, is at once invigorating and warmly nostalgic. But "Gran Torino" doesn't find this cinema icon rehashing past glories.

GRAND RAPIDS -- The show can go on for the second Rothbury music festival, following an agreement in the bankruptcy case of the Double JJ Resort in southern Oceana County. The lead creditor in the case will allow the festival to go on while the trustee attempts to sell the resort.

Meanwhile, the Grant Township Board of Trustees earlier this week gave preliminary approval for the second festival.

Read the full story.

Press Photo/Emily ZoladzEvie Vander Ark, 3, throws herself down on the stairs in defeat after insisting Grand Rapids Press photographer Emily Zoladz not leave her home before taking a picture in her pink tutu. Larger view of photo

I had the pleasure of photographing Brian Vander Ark, local celebrity and lead singer from "The Verve Pipe," this week. The photograph was for our Ada to Zeeland section, a.k.a., "neighbors," traditionally group shots with multiple people smiling at the camera.

Vander Ark's daughter, Evie, ran upstairs during the group photo shoot and put on her pink tutu, in hopes of getting a photograph of herself while I was there. When Evie came down and saw I was putting on my coat to leave, she threw herself down on the stairs and very dramatically closed her eyes, asking for her own photo.

Of course, I was happy to oblige :)

E-mail Emily Zoladz: :edudderar@grpress.com

Animal Collective  'Merriweather Post Pavilion' 4 out of 4 stars

Since "Sung Tongs," each Animal Collective full-length has been heralded as their "pop" record.

That was three albums and five years ago, and so the steady progression continues with "Merriweather Post Pavilion," a doozy of a release that has inspired, among other things, a whopping 9.6 slobber job from Pitchfork.

Calling anything from Animal Collective pop is to grossly overstate the band's mainstream credentials, but the past half-decade has indeed found the Baltimore group making incremental movements from the experimental fringe toward broad indie accessibility.

This week's trailers were selected in a frenzy of self-interest, considering one is about "Star Wars" fans (guilty), and the other is a translation of a book by Neil Gaiman (a truly gifted writer, and one of my favorites).

First, "Fanboys":

Note to the "Twilight" fan who e-mailed me about how much she wanted Steven Strait to take up the Jacob Black role for "New Moon": Sorry.

Grand Rapids native Taylor Lautner will officially reprise the role for the movie sequel, due in theaters Nov. 20. Director Chris Weitz (who replaced Catherine Hardwicke behind the camera) confirmed it, and "Twilight" book-series author Stephenie Meyer posted the note on her blog.

Press File PhotoRockin' at Rothbury: Will young faces in the festival crowd be replaced by the older set? Stay tuned.

A word of caution to the organizers of Rothbury Festival 2009:

Be careful whom you book.

Mastadon would be most excellent. So would Nine Inch Nails.

And my kids, reveling in my absence, would stay happy.

But the folks putting together the second outdoor fete at Oceana County's Double JJ Ranch this summer better think twice before inviting acts like AC/DC, Prince, Pearl Jam or Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

The Pogo Dudes

Brace yourself for the next extreme sports trend -- pogo.

No joke. The pogo stick is making a comeback, and leading the charge are the Pogo Dudes, a trio of pogo stunt guys and tricksters who will perform throughout the weekend at AutoRama.

"I think it'll be the next skateboard or BMX," said Chadd Deitz, 24, who handles wacky master-of-ceremony duties for the group.

The group also consists of seasoned pogo artists Fred Grzybowski and Nick McClintock. Grzybowski holds the unofficial world record for highest pogo jump at about 8 feet.