Sf pride parade

Even by the heavily multicultural standards of New York City, Jackson Heights, a neighborhood in the northwest part of Queens, boasts a truly remarkable degree of ethnic diversity. Reportedly, 167 languages are spoken there, though only a few of them are heard and subtitled in Frederick Wiseman’s latest documentary, In Jackson Heights. This is another of Wiseman’s occasional docs focusing on a location rather than an institution—previous examples include Belfast, Maine (1999), Aspen (1991), and Central Park (1990)—and there’s little doubt that he was drawn to the neighborhood precisely because it offers such a wealth of disparate nationalities, cultures, and viewpoints. Anyone familiar with the director’s working method (strictly observational, with no voice-over or direct-to-camera interviews) will know what to expect, but this particular parade of context-free anecdotes covers so much different ground that it may be hard for those who’ve … [Read more...] about Frederick Wiseman’s

Tough guys don’t age gracefully, but that’s only really a problem if they try to age gracefully. Sylvester Stallone and others have spent the last couple of years parading their oiled physiques through the Expendables films. While it’s hard to imagine them doing anything else, it’s equally hard to imagine Clint Eastwood ever joining them. That’s partly because Eastwood has a busy directing career to worry about, but also because he’s never tried not to grow old onscreen. Eastwood last appeared onscreen as a grizzled senior citizen in Gran Torino. Before that, he played a cop with a heart condition, a summoned-from-retirement astronaut, and other roles where the adjective “aging” usually preceded his job description. Eastwood knows he can’t keep up with the younger generation, so he’s made a theme of not keeping up. “Get out of here before I have a heart attack trying to kill you!” Eastwood’s protagonist … [Read more...] about Trouble With The Curve

Brian P. Hickey woke up at 5 a.m. today to go watch the 18th annual Philadelphia azzzhole convention known as the "The Wing Bowl." He filed this report.(See Philly.com's full Wing Bowl Gallery here .) I've always been mesmerized by stripper philosophy, but never more so than 5:15 Friday morning. Driving down to South Philly, I heard "pornographic actress" Mary Carey tell a sports-talk show that "the governor of Philadelphia, I could do that. … Can you tell people to throw money at me?" Little matter that Philly isn't, in fact, an official American state, or the dudes in this crowd would be apt to throw coins. See, it's mesmerizing. Advertisement Having lived within eye-shot of America's birthplace for 34 of my 36 years, I've come to accept that it's always the classiest of days when 18,000 people get down to the Wachovia Center before sunrise with a few cocktails already in 'em, ready to repeatedly scream that they should be shown tits. (It's our birthright, Philly … [Read more...] about Philadelphia Wing Bowl 18: They Did It All For The Snooki