Coolidge Corner

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Review: The Divide

The horrors of human nature
Many a teleplay for The Twilight Zone threatened atomic Armageddon, and though Frontier(s) director Xavier Gens nukes New York in the opening shots of his latest thriller, he finds more inspiration in the horrors of human nature as seen in the old TV show's episode "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street."
By BRETT MICHEL | January 10, 2012

Review: From the Back of the Room

Amy Oden's documentary about sexism in the punk rock community
Chronicling the past 30 years of women in DIY punk, Amy Oden's documentary deconstructs the myth that punk is an ideal world free of gender prejudices.
By LIZ PELLY | December 06, 2011

Review: Janie Jones

A generic riff on the Crazy Heart template
Borrowing the name of a Clash song with which it has nothing in common, this generic riff on the Crazy Heart template by writer/director David M. Rosenthal ( Falling Up ) also cribs from Sofia Coppola's Somewhere .
By BRETT MICHEL | November 08, 2011

Review: Take Shelter

Mid-life breakdown
Shannon's got the crazy bit down pat, and director Jeff Nichols has an eye for turning everyday items — a pile of trash, a clear sky, a barking dog — into signs of immanent doom.
By PETER KEOUGH | October 18, 2011

Review: Girlfriend

Concerned only with the truth
One night Evan's mother (Amanda Plummer) asks him to make a wish. He says he wants a girlfriend, and his wish comes true, but at a cost.
By PETER KEOUGH | September 27, 2011

A new trio hits the Coolidge

Introducing
Soloff, now 67, has a long list of impressive credits that includes the Carla Bley Band, the Carnegie Hall Big Band, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, a passel of Latin jazz bands (including Machito's), seminal jazz-rock outfit Blood, Sweat, and Tears, and a long association with the man he considers his mentor, composer/arranger Gil Evans.
By JON GARELICK | September 14, 2011

Review: The Arbor

Clio Barnard tells Andrea Dunbar's cursed story
Andrea Dunbar turned her smothering, abused, and abusive life in a West Yorkshire housing project into a series of raw autobiographical dramas, and, as a teen playwright in the '80s, she became a star in London with acclaimed productions of The Arbor and Rita, Sue and Bob Too — the latter an excellent film, as well.
By GERALD PEARY | July 19, 2011

Review: Orgasm Inc.: The Strange Science of Female Pleasure

Is "female sexual dysfuction" real?
For nine years, Vermont-based filmmaker Liz Canner raced around the country with her camera doing research and interviews for this exemplary, absorbing, muckraking documentary.
By GERALD PEARY | March 25, 2011

An (almost) A-to-Z guide to Boston

From Ben Affleck to Yawkey Way
Welcome to Boston, college kids.
By LUKE O'NEIL | January 27, 2011

Review: Jerusalem Pita & Grill

Savory, kosher, and so much more
Our first real review of the new year, and already we are ticking off one of last week’s resolutions for restaurateurs.
By ROBERT NADEAU | January 06, 2011

Yasu

Tiptoeing into the shallow end of the Korean-cuisine pool
I adore Korean “BBQ”: marinated slices of raw meats that you cook on a little grill inset directly into your tabletop.
By MC SLIM JB | May 05, 2010

Video: Our 10 most popular videos from 2009

Hardcore bands, porn stars, vampires, zombies, and vandals
The most popular videos from the Phoenix in 2009
By BOSTON PHOENIX STAFF | December 28, 2009

There will be blood

Beacon Hill is green-lighting elbow smashes to the face, as Mass. officially welcomes mixed martial arts
This past Saturday, Dover-raised gladiator Kenny Florian beat the pretty out of long-haired Chicago carpenter-turned-ass kicker Clay Guida.
By CHRIS FARAONE | December 18, 2009

Avoiding a border war

Rape in Brookline
It's a matter of moments before the likes of Lou Dobbs and Bill O'Reilly scapegoat the believed-to-be-illegal-immigrant suspects in last week's Brookline rape case for every problem in America.
By CHRIS FARAONE | August 26, 2009

Dorado Tacos and Cemitas

Braving the early crowds for street-food flavors from Baja and Puebla
Braving the early crowds for street-food flavors from Baja and Puebla
By MC SLIM JB | August 12, 2009

Aerosmith's Kramer put the 'Line' in 'Brookline'

In this book excerpt, Kramer recalls his life in greater Boston before the boys hit it big
All I know is that it's a fucking miracle that none of the five of us are dead.
By JOEY KRAMER | June 24, 2009

The Queen of Masturbation

Coming clean with Carol Queen, the San Fran-based sexologist who created National Masturbation Month
A professional essayist, erotic story writer, and scholar, Dr. Carol Queen is the brains behind National Masturbation Month.
By ALEXIS HAUK | June 11, 2009

Gay deceivers

Outrage isn't outrageous enough
The California State Supreme Court just upheld Proposition 8, denying gay people the right to marriage. This should disabuse the complacent of the illusion that the religious right has relinquished its death grip on America. So, too, should Kirby Dick's documentary about the homophobic power of closeted right-wing politicians in America.
By PETER KEOUGH | June 04, 2009

Jerusalem Pita and Grill

Fresh, kosher, and underrated online
It's important to know your amateur online reviewers. While some are reliable cheap-eats dowsers, a rave from a Chowhound who also adores the Cheesecake Factory loses some credibility.
By MC SLIM JB | April 01, 2009

Enrich thy neighbor

'Buy local' and take care of business
'Buy local' and take care of business
By JULIA RAPPAPORT | December 12, 2008

Starting from Scratch

The Upsetter screens at the Coolidge
If the hip-hop generation ever calls for martial law, the revolution will be sponsored by Scion. The rectangularly adventurous car company is our closest corporate ally, bankrolling a large segment of the low-slung-pants community, and providing the rest of us with sweet events that rarely dent the pocket.
By CHRIS FARAONE | November 25, 2008

“Found Footage Festival 2008”

The third incarnation of the FFF may be the best yet
After years of rummaging through Goodwill bins for videotapes, FFF curators Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher have amassed a formidable pile of bizarre ephemera.
By SHAULA CLARK | November 11, 2008

Ends of the earth

The 20th Boston Jewish Film Festival reaches deep and far
Now in its 20th incarnation, the Boston Jewish Film Festival is almost the oldest three-ring circus of its kind (San Francisco’s annual program got there first by nine years), and in that span we’ve seen the elusive idea of “Jewish film” become an institution.
By MICHAEL ATKINSON | November 07, 2008

Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story

An excellent and frightening documentary
Barack Obama is darn lucky that Lee Atwater, who died in 1991, isn’t around to lead the Republican dirty-tricks department.
By GERALD PEARY | October 25, 2008

Friends remember Alan Lupo

The Boston Phoenix is collecting memories from all those whose lives were touched by our friend and colleague, Alan Lupo.
By CLIF GARBODEN | October 22, 2008

Fiend footage festival

“Feast Of Flesh VII” at the Coolidge
We’ve got a formidable line-up here: Banana Zombie and Housewife Zombie are joined Bike Courier Zombie, and a mangled-shirt-and-tails zombie Cannibal dubs “Dr. Teeth.”
By SHAULA CLARK | October 01, 2008

Ne Le Dis À Personne|Tell No One

A convoluted thriller
French actor director Guillaume Canet demonstrates in this convoluted thriller why not many filmmakers other than Chabrol can get away with imitating Hitchcock.
By PETER KEOUGH | July 30, 2008

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired

An engrossing documentary of the filmmaker's celebrity trial
A 1977 afternoon of drugs and intercourse with a 13-year-old led to Polanski's arrest in California, and to his celebrity trial, the subject of Marina Zenovich’s engrossing HBO tabloid documentary.
By GERALD PEARY | July 16, 2008

Beyond therapy

The Wackness looks back in languor
This is the stoner comedy that might make people take adolescence — and getting stoned — seriously again.
By PETER KEOUGH | July 09, 2008

Virtual brotherhood

Uniting the world by two-way video
Three kids camped out in front of Brookline Booksmith’s storefront window in the middle of June and peered into a video screen broadcasting real-time views of a street corner in Dudley Square.
By IAN SANDS | June 25, 2008