PROVIDENCE

RISD's hope-less situation

Outrage over the Alswang 'Resignation.' Plus, too many sad passings
On August 3 it was announced by the Rhode Island School of Design that Hope Alswang had resigned as the director of the RISD Museum. Those who have followed the coverage of this story may be somewhat confused by the revelation that absolutely everyone acknowledged that Alswang was a superlative museum director and that absolutely no one involved in the arts scene at RISD or in the state of Vo Dilun thinks that she voluntarily "resigned." It was said that she loved the job, and the vague announcement that Alswang left to "pursue other opportunities" sounds as suspicious as elected officials dropping out of election campaigns to "spend more time with their families."

By PHILLIPE & JORGE | August 12, 2009

Knowledge in a flash

Ingenuity
Jake Rolan sat at Starbucks on Thayer Street one day last month, busy on both his laptop and iPhone, seemingly no different from the other students who had carved out an itinerant workspace there, cursing out the wireless network that seemed to fade in and out.

By RICHARD ASINOF | August 12, 2009

Trucking along with the Mobile Art Project

Street Art
When the Hera Gallery left its customary perch on Main Street in Wakefield last fall for a time, artist and curator Viera Levitt started thinking of ways to bring art back to the heart of South County. She struck upon the idea of the Mobile Art Project and this week it's hitting the road with stops in West Kingston, Peace Dale, and Providence.

By GREG COOK | August 12, 2009

Our Don Drapers, Ourselves

The Mad Men mystique
This Sunday is the premiere of the third season of Mad Men (AMC, 10 pm), the Emmy-winning show that made fans of good television have to figure out where AMC was on their basic-cable schedules.

By GUSTAVO TURNER | August 12, 2009

The Funn(k)y Drummer

What's the connection between comedy and percussion?
Johnny Carson was revered for his impeccable comic timing. It was "so precise," wrote one newspaper in his obituary, "that we wouldn't be surprised to find buried in his skull a quartz crystal." And why might that be? Perhaps because Johnny Carson was a drummer. In drumming, after all, timing is everything.

By MIKE MILIARD | August 13, 2009

Review: GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra

If only they'd brought Mr. Potato Head into the mix.
In the hands of director Stephen Sommers, who did better with the Mummy series, Joe looks like a cheap video game brightened by good actors.

By TOM MEEK | August 13, 2009

Review: Ponyo

Visually stunning, but leaves you shaking your head
In a film like Spirited Away (2001), Hayao Miyazaki takes flight and creates his own seductive animated universe. When tied to a Disney fable about the environment and true love, he lurches from cliché to myth to things that just leave you shaking your head.

By PETER KEOUGH | August 12, 2009

Review: Bandslam

Where the Disney Channel and MTV2 intersect
This Todd Graff film suggests a year's worth of Degrassi plots squished into one overcomplicated bouillon cube.

By SHAULA CLARK | August 12, 2009

Review: Cold Souls

Paul Giamatti can't heat up Cold Souls
What if human souls were as interchangeable as hearts, kidneys, movie concepts, and auto parts? Writer/director Sophie Barthes's feature debut toys with the notion, but instead of breaking new ground, Cold Souls settles for rehashing elements from other films.

By PETER KEOUGH | August 17, 2009

Review: District 9

Apartheid gets the sci-fi treatment
You have never seen anything like District 9 — or so went the early buzz for Neill Blomkamp's feature-length directorial debut. The concept is the stuff nerdgasms are made of: a vérité sci-fi thriller set in an alternate-reality South Africa where 2.5 million Cthulhu-faced bug aliens crash-land into human society and a zillion boffo explosions ensue.

By SHAULA CLARK | August 12, 2009

Review: A Perfect Getaway

Well-crafted, entertaining pulp
David Twohy's film may be pulp, but it's well-crafted, entertaining pulp.

By JEREMY MASSLER | August 13, 2009

Tron

Hoopleville
Oh, Janet.

By DAVID KISH | August 13, 2009

Going streaking

Snapping out of the annual NFL training-camp lull. Plus, Plaxico Burress gets his.
It has been an unusually quiet week or so in sports crime, which is perhaps not unexpected, since this is the one time of year when the most arrest-prone class of athletes in America — NFL players — are sequestered in training camps and usually too dog-tired from two-a-days and running suicides to bother to punch out bar skanks or kick in police cruiser windows.

By MATT TAIBBI | August 12, 2009

Bacdafucup, indeed!

Remember Onyx? They’re still pissed.
There was a moment between the late ’80s and the early ’90s when hip-hop was cheerier than diaper commercials.

By CHRIS FARAONE | August 11, 2009

Kollective soul

Kris Hansen's ever-evolving sound
Singer/songwriter Kris Hansen and longtime pal Bob Giusti certainly are no stranger to the local music scene, having played out and hosted scores of gigs and all-star, open-mic jam sessions for more than a dozen years as Kris Hansen's Left Hand Band, a tight-knit jazzy/folky-type trio. Their 08 self-titled debut (at CDbaby.com and iTunes) zigged and zagged across acoustic blues and roots-rock, with Hansen's pen celebrating a second chance at life after the Scituate native battled a near-fatal brain aneurysm on the eve of his 24th birthday, as well as Hansen, drummer Giusti, and bassist/engineer George Dussault all becoming dads during the recording process.

By CHRIS CONTI | August 12, 2009

Review: 'Splosion Man

Blowing up Xbox Live Arcade
Perhaps no platform has more consistently delivered solid indie titles than the Xbox 360, whose Live Arcade now offers hundreds of selections, from high-definition updates of the classics to forward-thinking boutique games.

By MITCH KRPATA | August 11, 2009

Covering the bottom end - and the bottom line

Newport Jazz comes back with a bang
The biggest news made by the Newport Jazz and Folk Festivals the past two weekends was that they happened at all.

By JON GARELICK | August 14, 2009

Foo-palooza!!

Empire Street, Saturday. Nuf sed.
Something for everyone THURSDAY (the 13th), from the roughshod blues of THE KILLDEVILS at Nick-a-Nee's (401.861.7290) to rap icons ONYX at Jerky's Bar (401.621.2244) to diabolical rawk icons SIX FINGER SATELLITE at Everyman (401.751.3630).

By PROVIDENCE PHOENIX MUSIC STAFF | August 12, 2009

Crossword: ''No ham for me, thanks''

Don't be a pig about it
Don't be a pig about it

By MATT JONES | August 13, 2009

The farce within

CTC'S Noises Off is a laff riot
Farces have been keeping audiences slapping their knees ever since cavemen learned to trip into the fire on purpose. A case can be made that the most exquisitely funny farce ever devised is Michael Frayn's Noises Off .

By BILL RODRIGUEZ | August 11, 2009