Columnists
The cast, script of 'Iron Man' freshens up comic book genre Friday, May 09, 2008 At its core, Jon Favreau’s "Iron Man" is about one man’s massive mid-life crisis, and all the drama that springs from it. |
Mother's Day DVD Gifts Monday, May 05, 2008 Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 11, but this year, instead of — or in addition to — the usual gifts of flowers, perfume or a night out on the town, a worthwhile gift for Mom might be one of several recommended movies and-or television series new to the market. |
Spring chores different 100 years ago Monday, May 05, 2008 Spring came to eastern Maine a century ago in a burst of glory just as it does today. |
 DVD CornerSaturday, May 03, 2008 Piercing, but in a good way. Mariah Carey might have a new CD out in 'E=MC2,' but it pales in comparison to her previous album, 2005's Grammy Award-winning 'The Emancipation of Mimi,' which was the focus of her successful 2006 worldwide tour. |
 Black chokeberries provide beauty and nutritionSaturday, May 03, 2008 I recall lecturing to a woody plants class about chokeberries, native shrubs with fruits supposedly so astringent that they are shunned by the birds, hence the common name. |
 Poehler and Fey's chemistry help deliver laughs in 'Baby Mama'Monday, April 28, 2008 The new Michael McCullers movie, 'Baby Mama,' goes down like a tall bottle of warm Similac. And that's a good thing. |
 Appreciative audiences helped establish Bangor as 'musical city'Monday, April 28, 2008 IS BANGOR A MUSICAL CITY? asked a headline in the Bangor Daily News on March 14, 1908. 'Everyone Thinks So, But Grand Opera Season Will Be the True Test.' |
Spring bounty can put sensory deprivation in the past Saturday, April 26, 2008 You can't complain about this month of April. Not when you've survived the winter we had, where a mere month ago all was an unending canvas of stark, cold white with nary a sign of greenery in sight. |
Local gardens, woodlands lush with spring-flowering cherries Saturday, April 26, 2008 After the red of early maple flowers and the soft grey-green of aspen tassels, a chronological blooming of white-flowered native trees and shrubs begins. |
DVD Corner: 'America at War' Saturday, April 26, 2008 From A&E and the History Channel, a well-done, 14-disc collection that explores our nation’s war efforts, beginning with the American Revolution and the Alamo and following straight through to our conflicts in the Persian Gulf and our current war in Iraq. |
 Powerhouses team up on ‘Kingdom’Friday, April 25, 2008 The new Rob Minkoff movie, 'Forbidden Kingdom,' would be little without its superb martial arts sequences, so it's good to report that the movie isn’t just filled with them, but that each fight was choreographed by Yuen Wo-Ping. |
 Wayne Reilly: Remembering Bangor fireMonday, April 21, 2008 Early on the morning of April 16, 1908, a century ago last week, a fire was discovered in J. Frank Green's hay shed at 156 Broad St. on Bangor's waterfront. |
'Sarah Marshall' has the laughs, it just takes a bit to get to them Monday, April 21, 2008 Nicholas Stoller's new movie, "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," is a romantic comedy about getting dumped. It's also about the ramifications of finding out you were being cheated on before you got dumped. Oh, and it's ultimately about trying to get your life back on track in spite of the crushing depression that follows. |
DVD Corner: 'American Dad' Saturday, April 19, 2008 The CIA under direct fire. The third season of "American Dad"follows CIA agent Stan Smith, whose life continues to be unconventional in ways perhaps only animation can best underscore —the medium finds truth in the abstract, and this show is all about the abstract. |
It's like watching the grass grow on greens on TV Saturday, April 19, 2008 It finally happened. I never thought it would, I am so ashamed. I hope no one saw me. |
 Blooming of these small trees evocative of Maine's pastSaturday, April 19, 2008 It was just this past week, on Tuesday, when the shadblow serviceberries around Eastport signaled the true arrival of spring, the loosening of winter’s grip on their pointed buds. |
 2 horror films, and 1 isn't horribleFriday, April 18, 2008 Currently, audiences can choose between two horror movies new to the market. One was Spain's official entry for this year's Academy Awards. The other is Sony's unofficial entry for next year's Razzie Awards, where it almost certainly will be nominated for the revered Golden Raspberry. |
 'The Other Boleyn Girl' transforms Tudor history into a garish soap operaMonday, April 14, 2008 The new Justin Chadwick movie, 'The Other Boleyn Girl,' follows sisters Mary and Anne Boleyn in a film that easily could have been called 'The Other Woman,' with all that implies. |
 Bugle boy: Fire safety issue spurred unusual drill measures 100 years agoMonday, April 14, 2008 ARE CONDITIONS SAFE IN BANGOR SCHOOLS? asked a bold headline in the Bangor Daily News a century ago this month. |
 Counting (as well as counting on) beesSaturday, April 12, 2008 Soon there will be bees, the moment there are flowers to forage. Marjorie and I plan to participate in a nationwide summer census, counting the bees that visit the garden's sunflowers. |
Emmet Meara: At these prices, it's hard to get the point Saturday, April 12, 2008 You were nothing if you didn't have a knife. The more blades the better. Oh, God, it was nothing malicious. We were Huck Finn innocents. We needed the blades for something we called mumbletypeg, which consisted of dropping a knife from every part of the body into the dirt. |
DVD Corner: "Alien vs. Predator/Alien vs. Predator-Requiem": Blu-ray Saturday, April 12, 2008 Two reasonably well-crafted, B-horror movie cheapies from Fox. |
In 'Penelope,' Ricci taps her inner quirk once again Friday, April 11, 2008 Mark Palansky's "Penelope" is the movie in which Christina Ricci is saddled with the face of a pig. More specifically, the wrinkled snout and little floppy ears of a pig. |
Why not let lawn imperfections grow on you Saturday, March 29, 2008 I blame this column on 1) winter, 2) snow, 3) cabin fever and 4) the snow-sleet-rain that fell on the first day of spring. |
 Janine Pineo: Plants that go bloom make winter a little more bearableSaturday, February 23, 2008 There's something to be said for a plant that blooms all winter. |
 Spineless beauties, devils ears defy piles of snowSaturday, January 26, 2008 It's not hard to dream of greener days whilst shoveling unending mountains of snow. |
 Shopping for the gardener on your listSaturday, November 24, 2007 Hard to believe that a month from this weekend is Christmas. Perhaps it was the 80-degree temperatures at the end of October that threw me off. |