Granted, I was in Illinois when I watched this morning's announcement of the 82nd Annual Academy Award nominees. But I'm still reasonably sure that, as Anne Hathaway finished reading the list of 10 Best Picture nominees, I could hear Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Science President Sid Ganis sigh with relief - along with the Academy's Board of Governors, Oscar-telecast producers Adam Shankman and Bill Mechanic, and everyone at ABC.

Future RockMusic

Future Rock

The Redstone Room

Saturday, February 6, 9 p.m.

 

If you visit the Web site for the musical wizards of Future Rock (FutureRock.net), you'll find bassist Felix Moreno explaining that one of the great joys of his band's blend of electronics and traditional musical instruments occurs "when the audience sees me play my bass, and they have no idea what's coming out. I love that look of confusion." The next time the guys are in town, they should book themselves a gig at the Reader offices. They'd be in heaven.

Jessica Nicol White and Chris White in 2009's Almost, MaineOn February 11, Geneseo's Richmond Hill Barn Theatre opens its 43rd season with Wrong for Each Other, playwright Norm Foster's two-character comedy about a reunion between a long-estranged divorced couple. If, however, that seems an ill-fitting title to open over Valentine's Day weekend, know that the production's stars wound up receiving far more of a Happily Ever After ending than their characters did, as area actors Chris White and Jessica Nicol (White) were married this past Halloween.

Mel Gibson in Edge of DarknessEDGE OF DARKNESS

For better and/or worse, Mel Gibson hasn't exactly vanished from the public eye since his last starring role on-screen, in 2002's Signs. Yet even if, like me, you've spent an inordinate amount of time bemoaning the Crazy Mel antics - both public and directorial - of recent years, you might find it hard to resist his turn in director Martin Campbell's Edge of Darkness: Gibson's back, and, happily, he's pissed. The movie is a frequently ludicrous and borderline incoherent revenge thriller, but its leading man, busting heads and blasting weaponry, is in excellent form, lending his bereaved-dad role considerable passion and emotional urgency. Between the mid-'80s and late-'90s, no one delivered anguished-and-wrathful acting better than Gibson. Ten-plus years later, there's still no one who does.

Jeremy Renner in The Hurt LockerA Best Picture slate for the Oscars with twice as many titles as usual? A female front-runner for the Best Director trophy? Not one, not two, but three science-fiction films potentially up for the big prize? What the hell is going on this year?!?

We'll know more when the nominees for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards are revealed on Tuesday, February 2. In the meantime, there's no harm -- although there is the possibility of an eventual loss of dignity -- in my making a few predictions... .

Dwayne Johnson in Tooth FairyTOOTH FAIRY

With his cartoonishly buff physique, his unwavering sincerity and geniality, and his happy willingness to play the goofball, it's easy to see why young audiences love Dwayne Johnson, aka The Artist Formerly Known as The Rock. What's less fathomable, especially considering Johnson's continually questionable taste in material, is why I still love the guy.

Dr. Peter KivistoLecture

Peter Kivisto

Wallenberg Hall, Augustana College

Thursday, January 28, 7 p.m.

 

On January 28, editor, author, and Augustana College faculty member Peter Kivisto will speak at the school's Wallenberg Hall, in a public event celebrating Augustana's new Center for the Study of Pluralism & the Civil Sphere.

On January 28, editor, author, and Augustana College faculty member Peter Kivisto will speak at the school's Wallenberg Hall, in a public event celebrating Augustana's new Center for the Study of Pluralism & the Civil Sphere.

That was my attempt at a "pluralism" joke. Did it read?

Saoirse Ronan in The Lovely BonesTHE LOVELY BONES

The Lovely Bones, director Peter Jackson's long-awaited take on Alice Sebold's beloved novel, is a stupefyingly bad movie, the kind of big-screen debacle that makes you wonder if its entire creative team wasn't suffering through some hideous, collective blockage of talent all throughout filming. You can feel it going wrong in the first minutes, when a car's quick swerve results in an unconvincing and inappropriately comedic loss of a hubcap, but the shock of Jackson's endeavor is that practically nothing in it goes right. Tonally, just about every scene here feels a little bit off, and the rest feel way, way off; it's almost as if Jackson, screenwriting collaborators Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, and a (usually) wildly gifted cast purposely set out to make the absolute worst Lovely Bones adaptation possible.

Ethan Hawke in DaybreakersDAYBREAKERS

There are probably perfectly valid reasons that I'm unaware of, but for all the wonders that CGI effects have delivered over the years, why is it so hard to produce a decent fireball?

Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor DreamcoatTheatre

Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse

Wednesday, January 13 through Saturday, March 20

 

Like the swallows to Capistrano, you can count on Ann Nieman to make an annual return to the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse, as the Texas-based director has helmed each of the venue's January productions since 2005. And 2010 finds her returning for one of Circa '21's most popular titles in Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, which Nieman last staged for the theatre five years ago, and which was noteworthy for being the last Circa '21 production to feature a certain local Arts Editor amongst its cast. Modesty forbids mentioning who that is, exactly, but ... .

Oh, screw it. It was me. I was in it. It was awesome.

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