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MUSIC

SANTA’S DIN

ARTS

MUSIC, GEAR, & HOLIDAY CHEER

NATASHA,

PIERRE,

NEWS

SECRET RECORDS

GREAT COMET AND THE

MAKING A LIST, CHECKING IT TWICE

of 1812

THE ART GETS ALL TOLSTOY UP IN HERE

EATS

SICHUAN GARDEN

HAVE A JEWY X-MAS

2 0 1 5 H O L I D AY G U I D E !

E AT S , D R I N K S & K I D D I E K R O A K E R S

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VOL 17 + ISSUE 50

DECEMBER 16, 2015 - DECEMBER 23, 2015 EDITORIAL

DEAR READER

EDITOR + PUBLISHER Jeff lawrence

By now you’ve probably attended several holiday parties and found yourself on the wrong end of some really strong eggnog a few times. That’s to be expected, so no shame in that! But there’s still time to pick up some last-minute gifts for your spoiled cousins and stocking stuffers for besties, while also treating yourself to more booze and cheer. That’s where we come in. We’ve compiled a quick and easy Guide to the Season that includes everything you need to make it a successful Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Whether it’s choosing from our list of the very best local IPAs, trying out a new distillery in your holiday punch bowl, or grabbing some gift cards from our taste-maker’s choice of great local food places, you can’t go wrong. Then of course, we have Kiddie Kroakers, a rambling selection of the Most Dangerous Toys available this year. If you can’t make a child smile and cry all in one sitting from the gifts on this list, you might have try duct tape and My Little Pony. It’s a must-read for anyone with a sense of humor and a dark soul.

In addition, our usual experts churn out great music, arts, and film reviews, as well as a look back on the Black Lives Matter protest one year ago, complete with a soon-to-be-classic holiday film from none other than the BPD. So enjoy the read and from all of us here at DigBoston, we wish you a safe and happy holiday season no matter your choice of celebration or deity.

NEWS + FEATURES EDITOR Chris Faraone ASSOCIATE MUSIC EDITOR Nina Corcoran ASSOCIATE FILM EDITOR Jake Mulligan ASSOCIATE ARTS EDITOR Christopher Ehlers COPY EDITOR Mitchell Dewar CONTRIBUTORS Nate Boroyan, Renan Fontes, Bill Hayduke, Emily Hopkins, Micaela Kimball, Dave Wedge INTERN Oliver Bok, Mary Kate McGrath

DESIGN CREATIVE DIRECTOR Tak Toyoshima COMICS Tim Chamberlain Brian Connolly Pat Falco Patt Kelley INTERN Chesley Chapman

ADVERTISING FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION sales@digpublishing.com

BUSINESS ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Marc Shepard

THEO VON Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central + TBS

FRI + SAT —KICK OFF 2016 AT LAUGH—

JEFF LAWRENCE - PUBLISHER + EDITOR, DigBoston

SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER Jesse Weiss OPERATIONS MANAGER John Loftus ADVISOR Joseph B. Darby III DigBoston, 242 East Berkeley St. 5th Floor Boston, MA 02118 Fax 617.849.5990 Phone 617.426.8942 digboston.com

ON THE COVER Cast members from the A.R.T.’s production Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet (p.28) of 1812 help us ring in our Holiday Guide (p 10).

Cover photo by Gretjen Helene.

©2015 DIGBOSTON IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY DIG PUBLISHING LLC. NO PART OF THIS PUBLICATION CAN BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT WRITTEN CONSENT. DIG PUBLISHING LLC CANNOT BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. ONE COPY OF DIGBOSTON IS AVAILABLE FREE TO MASSACHUSETTS RESIDENTS AND VISITORS EACH WEEK. ANYONE REMOVING PAPERS IN BULK WILL BE PROSECUTED ON THEFT CHARGES TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW.

DIGTIONARY

Slánta

abstract noun 1. A seasonal toast or cheer offered by a drunk person in a Santa costume. Usually takes place in an Irish Pub but can be heard anywhere, usually after an office party, by that someone special who feels it’s not enough to just celebrate the holidays in cheap khakis and your North Face jacket.

OH, CRUEL WORLD Dear White Guy, Who the fuck do you think you are asking me to show you my ID? Or what’s in my backpack?

I’m an educated woman, and frankly I don’t even feel that you deserve for me to tell you where my family originally came from. You’re not the only asshole going around the MBTA playing toy cop, making people of color feel uncomfortable. But the next time you or one of your hillbilly buddies tries to shame me or someone who looks like me in public again, I promise I will turn the spotlight right back on your racist ass.

APRIL MACIE from Last Comic Standing + Jenny McCarthy's Dirty Sexy, Funny Headlines Laugh Boston's New Year's Eve Shows Dec 31 @ 8 + 10:15 PM Also headlining: Jan 1 + 2 For tickets and information please visit laughboston.com or call 617.72.LAUGH 425 Summer Street at the Westin Hotel in Boston's Seaport District NEWS TO US

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NEWS US RARE FOOTAGE FREE RADICAL

The Black Lives Matter protest tape MuckRock got from BPD is amazing

BY EMILY HOPKINS @GENDERPIZZA For a lot of people, last year’s holiday season was punctuated not by shopping deals but rather by chants and protests. Thousands of protesters flooded Boston Common for the annual tree lighting, some pushing against the State House gates where they were arrested.

A number of activists stopped traffic while motorists threatened to hit them, and some even shut down travel on major arteries including the Green Line and I-93.

At the time, some select reporters and vigilant citizens documented the occasion from the ground. The Boston Police Department also filmed the whole thing, and now thanks to the work of Beryl Lipton of MuckRock (with which I have worked closely in obtaining public records), anyone can watch six CDs from the state’s effort to record the events. If you don’t have time to dig through the footage yourself, Lipton has boiled the expansive material down to a 90-second documentary that captures the entire evening. This is raw footage of the city during an important moment, and certain parts play out like a real-

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life citizen action version of Die Hard. In that sense, shout out to the BPD for providing fodder that I hope and expect will fill many more documentaries to come.

Some moments are priceless. At one point in the video, a protestor holds a mirror that he brought as a prop toward one of the camera-wielding police officers.

Protesters have used mirrors in attempts to give officers a moment of, ahem, reflection, and in this case the result is a beautiful representation of surveillance and the citizen’s right to film cops. For a moment, the protester becomes the videographer, reclaiming power and turning the cop’s camera on himself. It’s a symbol of the right we have to document police.

It’s ironic that the very tool the BPD hopes will suppress these kinds of actions will, thanks to FOIA and a little crowdfunding, allow the event to live on forever. To record history, the BPD essentially deployed a three-person, taxpayer-funded amateur film crew to capture the event at all angles. Lipton calls the footage

“a clear piece of documentary record,” and this is only the beginning.

It’s unsettling to think about the amount of protest footage that Boston authorities have in storage, let alone the terabytes of video files held by departments nationwide. This information all belongs in the hands of the public. Police officers are not editors, and they should not have the power to decide what people can see. When Laquan McDonald was executed by a Chicago police officer, it was the video that exposed the latter’s lies.

Without FOIA and vigilance, we may never have seen any turn of events in that case.

In the text that accompanies Lipton’s video, she urges readers to do their own research and file their own requests for protest videos. With a number of pockets of unrest throughout the country, and with many policerelated incidents turning violent, I echo her call that such videos belong to the public. Otherwise, filmmaker cops only stand to serve the interests of their departments.

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BuffaloExchange.com NEWS TO US

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THE TOKIN’ TRUTH

CANNABIS KRINGLE The Parents 4 Pot holiday wishlist

BY JILL OSBORN @PARENTS4POT Parents 4 Pot was founded just over three years ago with the mission of helping families harmed by cannabis prohibition. Immediately after its inception, the organization (affectionately dubbed P4P for short) began its initial holiday drive to support families of individuals who are incarcerated for cannabis crimes.

The group served 10 families that first year, fulfilling Amazon wishlists and providing Christmas cheer and a sense of community for families that often feel abandoned by the more mainstream marijuana movement.

Last year around the holidays, Parents 4 Pot more than doubled the number of people served, adding cannabis refugee families that have had to abandon their homes, pack or sell their belongings, and in certain cases even move in order to adequately treat their medically fragile loved ones—often children—in states with legal and accessible cannabis legislation. We also added some activist families that had fallen on hard times. Last year’s campaign was a roaring success, fulfilling every list in its entirety and proving yet again that there is widespread generosity within the cannabis community.

This year, we have more than 30 families, including some from previous years and many new ones as well. Fundraising is difficult in December, as many organizations compete for a limited amount of money. Still, we have families from across the country to help, from New England, to Pennsylvania, to Colorado, to the Pacific Northwest. Some have left behind their homes, jobs, and families in Connecticut, Florida, Texas, Milwaukee, and Tennessee. What they all have in common is that they have had their families torn apart over a plant.

These are the casualties. Take the families of Luke Scarmazzo and Ricardo Montes, who are each serving in excess of two decades for operating a dispensary in California. Their children can use our help, as can the daughters of Crystal Munoz, who was sentenced to more than 19 years for offenses related to a map of drug trafficking checkpoints. Parents 4 Pot received handwritten holiday lists from Crystal’s daughters, one of whom, an 8-year-old, simply asked for, “My Mom home.” Her letter puts into perspective why we work so hard to bring these stories to light. Though we can’t bring Crystal home, we can bring her some holiday cheer.

We can also bring cheer to the Meehan family, which has been divided for two years. Mother Susan and her daughter CyndiMae left behind the rest of their family and their home in Connecticut in order to legally treat CyndiMae’s devastating seizure disorder. While living in Maine, Susan advocated for pediatric access in her home state.

When that didn’t pass, she made the difficult decision to relocate her entire family. Parents 4 Pot is committed to bringing them some holiday cheer as they struggle to make ends meet in their new home, which did not come equipped with a central heating system.

And then there is Lindsey Beck. Lindsey is an adult cannabis patient who is also with the Connecticut chapter of Parents 4 Pot. With cannabis treatment, Lindsey has been able to decrease her use of pharmaceuticals that were limiting her quality of life. In her struggle, she has faced the Department of Children and Families, and also advocated at the State House for patient rights. Lindsey’s medical conditions make consistent employment difficult, and Parents 4 Pot wants to help make a small miracle come true for this activist and her son.

At Parents 4 Pot, we connect every day with people who are in desperate situations, and who are making difficult decisions. This is the time of year when we can turn that despair into hope—hope that comes in a tangible package with a bow. The reward comes in the smile of a little girl who forgets for a fleeting moment that the one thing she really wanted was her mom home. We strive to bring education, awareness, advocacy, and support year-round. But right now we aim for something even larger. A Christmas miracle.

To help out, visit Parents 4 Pot at parents4pot.org and read more about the families and their wishlists. You can purchase items there for as little as $2, or you can make a direct donation to Parents 4 Pot, who will ensure that it is distributed among families. Want to sponsor a family? They can arrange for that too!

Jill Osborn is an activist but more importantly a mom. She began advocating for cannabis in 2012 with the medical use ballot initiative in Massachusetts, advocating for reasonable pediatric regulations and for her daughter, who has a severe seizure disorder and can greatly benefit from cannabis medicine. Jill documents her journey as a mom and activist on her blog Seizing Hope, and serves as the family outreach director and Massachusetts chapter leader for Parents 4 Pot. She likes to remind legislators and the public alike that kids are patients too.

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MEDIA FARM

STATE SECRETS

There aren’t any public records—only records the Secretary of the Commonwealth hasn’t gotten around to declaring exempt yet

BY MAYA SHAFFER OF THE BAY STATE EXAMINER The secretary of state’s office recently used me to set a precedent exempting all police reports from the public records law. The next time anyone attempts to obtain such a report in Massachusetts that they personally filed, they could be denied as well.

Dianne Kane-McGunigle contacted me because she was having a hard time getting a copy of an incident report she filed with the Quincy Police Department in September 2014. She was trying to obtain documentation of an episode in which she caught her neighbor peeing in public, and claimed police responded to her by aggressively insinuating that she broke the law by recording the urinator.

Kane-McGunigle wanted the police report that she filed to corroborate her story, and knowing that I am well-versed in navigating the state’s dysfunctional records law, she reached out to me for help.

Bottom line: I requested the same police report and was denied. The reason Quincy police gave for the denial was that since I identified the person who filed the report in my request, they could not provide the report without confirming her identity. This logic makes no sense because they confirmed her identity when they admitted the records existed.

In response, I filed an administrative appeal with the supervisor of records, a state employee who works under the secretary of the Commonwealth and has oversight of the public records law. He issued two especially disappointing decisions; so disappointing, in fact, that they set a dangerous new precedent.

Shockingly, at least for those unfamiliar with the handiwork of Supervisor of Records Shawn Williams, the denial was upheld, with Williams writing, “In your April 27 response to Ms. Shaffer you explained that the [Quincy Police] Department is withholding the responsive records as disclosure would identify the ‘voluntary witness and complainant.’ In her request Ms. Shaffer identified the complainant; therefore it is not possible for the Department to release the responsive record without confirming the involvement of that specifically identified person and jeopardizing future witness cooperation.”

I then asked Williams to revisit the case, and provided a note from KaneMcGunigle requesting that the report be made public. The supervisor reopened the appeal, but then issued a second denial finding, “The fact that the identified individual consented to the release of the record does not afford any greater right of access to the requested information because the Public Records Law does not distinguish between requesters … As a result, the individual’s consent to release the record has no bearing on the public status of the record.”

This determination negatively impacts the ability of anyone to get a police report in Massachusetts. I was blocked from obtaining records because I knew the identity of the complainant and, according to the ruling, the complainant has the same level of access to the report that I do, which is none. Additionally, since the ruling states that everyone has this same level of access, no one can obtain this particular police report.

The precedent set here is disastrous. Now if anyone knows the identity of a complainant or a voluntary witness in Mass—including complainants and witnesses themselves—police reports are not subject to disclosure. The supervisor of records has effectively punched a giant new hole in the already decrepit Massachusetts public records law. At best, people who file police reports or are voluntary witnesses no longer have the right to obtain copies of their reports. At worst, virtually all police reports are now exempt from disclosure under the public records law.

Gauging the potential wider impact of this ruling, the next time an insurance company requests a police crash report for an incident involving one of their customers, they could be denied access because they are aware of their customer’s involvement. Ostensibly, the only police reports still available to the public are those generated without any voluntary witness or complainant.

To test the impact of this seemingly critical if not unfortunate ruling, I went with Kane-McGunigle to Quincy Police Department headquarters to document on camera her making a request for the report in question. QPD officers did indeed refuse to give her a copy, and cited the aforementioned supervisor’s decision, thus confirming the disastrous impact of this ruling. We have now appealed the denial, giving Williams one last chance to get this right, and we also asked the supervisor to comment on the damage his determination might inflict on the accessibility of police records. His office did not respond.

All things considered, the supervisor of records needs to be removed. Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin’s office is the number one contributor to dysfunction in the current system. If the current pattern continues, Galvin’s legacy will be the indefensible rulings made by his appointed supervisor of records, the lot of which threaten to take Commonwealth public records law off life support, and render it dead once and for all.

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AB O OZ ING Y U Y GU D B TH N I D A E , G TO D R I N K I N G , E AT I N EM SON A OST E E S DANGER O U S T O YS O F T H Happy Ho Ho! It’s that time of the year again when we unleash our Annual Holiday Guide to all things krunk and Krampus.

Whether it’s picking the best beers and booze for a holiday drinking game, buying a sweet gift card from a list of local eateries for Uncle Ralph or the office manager everyone loves to hate, or simply choosing the Most Dangerous Toys of the season, we’ve got it all right here for you. Strap on your Rudolph Red Nose mask and dive into what’s sure to be the best gift guide around that keeps on giving long after the Christmas lights burn out and the fruitcake turns into a brick.

BY DIG STAFF @DIGBOSTON

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SEASONS EATINGS 2015 The 10 Best Picks for Gift Card Giving

BY DIG STAFF @DIGBOSTON When it comes time to grab a quick present for the Yankee Swap, nothing fits the equally diverse and yet difficult personalities of your family and friends like a gift card. Stop by a local restaurant and it’s doubly good. Who doesn’t like to eat and/or drink for free, amirite?! With that in mind, our dining and dish master Marc Hurwitz, from Hidden Boston Restaurants fame of course, put together a top ten list of eateries that doubles as a can’t-miss buying guide for gift cards. Chow down.

Sunrise Restaurant

O’Sullivan’s

Donna’s Restaurant

Joe Sent Me

Village Sushi and Grill

A completely under-the-radar Vietnamese eatery near Savin Hill that offers cheap eats including an outstanding duck soup.

A somewhat small and unassuming pub that features some of the best burgers in the entire Greater Boston area.

A spacious, family-friendly breakfast spot that only locals seem to know about in the Orient Heights neighborhood.

A “speakeasy” that has aboveaverage pub grub, a great jukebox, and lots of nooks and crannies throughout.

A serene Japanese and Korean dining spot in Roslindale Village with a backdoor patio that feels like a secret.

Dogwood Cafe

Skampa

Mul’s Diner

Atwood’s Tavern

Genki Ya

A plain-looking sub shop featuring roast beef sandwiches that rival some of the best the North Shore has to offer.

An old-school greasy spoon diner that’s one of the last old-fashioned eateries in this booming part of Southie.

A dark and atmospheric beer bar with great live music and a closed-in side patio that few seem to know about.

The original of a growing group of sushi bars featuring organic sushi along with a handful of excellent Japanese entrees.

SUNRISE, O’SULLIVAN’S, VILLAGE SUSHI AND GRILL, SKAMPA, ATWOOD’S TAVERN, AND GENKI YA PHOTOS BY MARC HURWITZ

1157 Dorchester Ave., Dorchester

3712 Washington St., Jamaica Plain A cozy and somewhat romantic comfort food spot in Forest Hills that includes a fireplace and an attractive bar area.

282 Beacon St., Somerville

424 Cambridge St., Cambridge

980 Saratoga St., East Boston

75 West Bdwy., South Boston

2388 Mass. Ave., Cambridge

877 Cambridge St., Cambridge

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14 Corinth St., Roslindale

398 Harvard St., Brookline

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LIQUID CHEERS 2015 The 10 Perfect Beers (and Hard Liquor!) for the Perfect Holiday Drinking Game

BY DIG STAFF @DIGBOSTON When it comes time to get the staff together for some after-work fun at Santa’s expense, nothing says HR nightmare like a holiday drinking game. Not limited to just coworkers, the act of trashing your liver to give thanks can be equally awesome with friends and family as well. In order to make it a localvores dream, we’ve rounded up some hometown suds and sin along with a few Cyber Monday items to make it complete. So gather around, share the rules, and get ready to face-plant on old tannenbaum!

Rules of the Game: It’s best when played with at least 10 or more people, and you must sit in a circle.

You’ll need 10 six-packs of beers and two bottles of liquor (We recommended a list of our favorite IPAs for maximum enjoyment!) and one small glass (2-4 oz. is sufficient but no more 6 oz.) for each person. You’ll need two extra glasses for the hard stuff as well, but set them aside for now.

Recommended Beers:

Harpoon IPA

Boston Beer Company Double IPA / 8.40% ABV samueladams.com

Left of the Dial

Draw straws for who goes first and hand the winner an ugly sweater to put on (again, we’ve recommended one here, complete with Jesus!). The person wearing the sweater must then take one shot of booze to start the game. They will then pick any one person and assign them a letter from the alphabet (any letter, doesn’t have to start with A). That person then has to state one holiday themed word (E is for Elf, J is for Jesus, M is for Mrs. Claus, etc.) and the game then moves to the person on their left who, after repeating the first word, must pick a new word using the next letter in the alphabet. It then moves to the left again and that person must repeat the previous two words and, using the next letter in the alphabet, state their own. And so on. This continues until someone cannot repeat all of the previous words and their own.

Meadowlark IPA

At that point, the person wearing the sweater picks one of the ten beers and pours a sample size into the glass of the person who screwed up. They must now chug it.

They then receive the sweater, take a shot of booze, and pick a new person (anyone in the circle) and assign them a new starting letter. (Pro Tip! During the course of the game, use a koozie to keep the open beers cold; we’ve recommended our pick for bottles specifically but cans are acceptable too.)

The game continues until either all of the booze is gone or someone drops out/ throws up. At that point, everyone’s a winner! Merry Holidaze!

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Rebel Rouser Double IPA

Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project American IPA / 7.00% ABV prettythingsbeertoday.com (Note: Soon to be gone forever so grab it now!)

Sleeper Street IPA

Trillium Brewing Company American IPA / 7.20% ABV trilliumbrewing.com

Boom Sauce

Lord Hobo Brewing Company American IPA / 8.00% ABV lordhobo.com

Harpoon Brewery English IPA / 5.90% ABV harpoonbrewery.com Notch Brewing American IPA / 4.30% ABV notchbrewing.com

Hoponius Union

Jack’s Abby Brewing India Pale Lager / 6.70% ABV jacksabby.com

Be Hoppy

Wormtown Brewery American IPA / 6.50% ABV wormtownbrewery.com

Mayflower IPA

Mayflower Brewing Company American IPA / 6.10% ABV mayflowerbrewing.com

Flagraiser IPA

Somerville Brewing Company (Slumbrew) American IPA / 7.50% ABV slumbrew.com Recommended Booze:

Deacon Giles Distillery Salem, MA Rum 40% Gin 43% deacongiles.com

Recommended Shwag:

Bottle Keeper Koozie bottlekeeper.com

Ugly Sweater

tipsyelves.com

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KIDDIE KROAKERS 2015 The 10 Most Dangerous Toys of the Year

BY DIG STAFF @DIGBOSTON Toys are lots of fun—unless they kill, murder, or maim. In 2015, dismemberment is the minimum, as kids are bound to lose at least a couple of fingers in an average trip to the big box store. Even with so much guaranteed danger, though, we went out of our way—halfway to hell actually—for this umpteenth annual Kiddie Kroakers, a compendium of the most horrible and tasteless rejected infant death traps and bad influences. Play at your own risk.

Frozen “Sinaloa Sing-A-Long” Elsa

Tagline: “Let it snow” Description: Croon along with ruthless coke Queen Elsa as she belts narcocorridos for the whole empire.

Price: $50/gram

Gluten Orphan Annie

Tagline: “The runs will come out tomorrow” Description: Like the little redhead Annie, only more annoying because she can’t eat at regular restaurants.

Price: Whole Paycheck

Mister Dictator Head

Tagline: “Potato skinheads” Description: Dress your plastic spud up like your favorite domineering megalomaniac. New Donald J Trump wannabe edition on back order.

Price: Your Freedom

Milf on the Shelf

Tagline: “Hot to squat” Description: A cleverly rhymed children’s MILF explaining the story of Santa’s MILVES, who are sent to be Santa’s eyes and ears at children’s homes around the world! Adopt your own MILF and learn the tale of Santa’s flirtiest helpers.

Price: Two Martinis 14

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CELEBRATE THE HOLIDAYS & SAVE AT GOODWILL When you shop at THE GOODWILL STORES you support Goodwill’s job training, career services, and youth programs.

www.goodwillmass.org

Allston-Brighton • Boston • Cambridge • Hyannis • Jamaica Plain Quincy • Somerville • South Attleboro • South Boston • Worcester Follow us @ goodwillboston

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KIDDIE KROAKERS 2015

Teenage Mutant Ninja Girdles

Tagline: “Heroes in a quarter shell” Description: You didn’t really think your favorite pizza-eating ninjas squeezed into that armor without cheating a little, did you? With these new bulletproof waist ties for good guys, you’ll have no trouble at all convincing a new generation of kids that you’re not the same old chubby Italian tortoise from the ’90s.

Price: Market Price/Seasonal

Vintage clothing and home goods

Filet Minions

11 Sanborn Ct., Somerville MA 781.789.9910 instagram.com/stow_union

Tagline: “Despicable meat!”

Description: Evolving from prime singlecelled organisms, Filet Minions live to be served and have caused dysentery in masters from T. Rex to Napoleon. May cause deep depression, irritating ticks.

Price: $12.99/pound

Barbie Saddle ’N Ride Pope Francis

Tagline: “Uber Catholic” Description: Kind of like the Barbie Saddle ’N Ride Horse, but with a sweaty Pope Francis where the horse would be.

Price: 50 Hail Marys

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Stop waiting in line for brunch Brunch served Saturday and Sunday 11 : 0 0 AM - 3 : 0 0 PM 9 2 H A M P S HIR E S T, CA M B R ID G E , M A | 6 1 7-2 5 0 - 8 4 5 4 | L O R D H O B O.C O M NEWS TO US

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KIDDIE KROAKERS 2015

R2-DWI

Tagline: “You’ll C-3 pee in your car” Description: Face it—R2-D2 has been one of the drunkest Star Wars characters for a long time. But until now, you couldn’t ride inside a pony keg resembling his cannister while recklessly speeding down the highway.

Price: Varies depending on attorney fees

Girl Scouts Deluxe Wookie Oven

Tagline: “Chewy Bacca” Description: An actual oven for children that is designed for young girls to incinerate toys belonging to their older brothers.

Price: À la carte

GOP D E T REJEC GAMES V IDEO

S P E CI

AL

Curious Jeb

“Where did all the voters go?”

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Womb Raider

“A Mike Huckabee adventure.”

Ted CruZ’n World

“The game where you fuck cars.”

.. .

S T .

N E ..

U D S T T N E S D E U G T LL E S E O G C E Y H LL E O HEY C Haanngg e m H o r C e m o te C in r W is te in h W T is h T OOuutt oonn ooInuufacrrt,QweQuuhaaavedd3!!of them!

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To order or for more details go to

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MAC ATTACK

EATS

SICHUAN GARDEN

The Brookline Sibling of an Increasingly Well-Known Spot

BY MARC HURWITZ @HIDDENBOSTON

WEDNESDAYS DECEMBER 2nd-30th 5-11pm MAC-ANCINI

Flash Fried Mac & Cheese Croquettes | Spicy Tomato Herb Gravy

DECADENCE

Crème Fraiche | Fontina Cheese | Gemelli Pasta | Bordelaise Sauce Truffle Essence

SOUTHERN STYLE Macaroni | Cheddar Cheese | Fried Chicken | Collard Greens Corn Bread Crumble

ROASTED PUMPKIN Shell Pasta | Mascarpone Cheese |

Vermont Cheddar | Maple Cured Bacon Crispy Fried Sage

BACON BOMB

Penne Pasta | Pepper Jack Cheese | Smoked Bacon | Pork Belly Pancetta | Crackling

FARMER’S MARKET Spinach Pasta | Vermont Goat Cheese | Roasted Local Veggies

Portobello Mushroom | Foccacia Herb Crumbs

BLUE RIBBON Macaroni | Cheddar Cheese | Buttermilk Biscuit Crust

Slow Smoked Baby Back Ribs Before placing order, please inform your food server if anyone in your party has a food allergy *Consuming raw or undercooked meat/poultry/ seafood/shellfish/eggs may increase risk of food borne illness

at

May The Four Courses Be With You Seating begins at 5pm $50 per person

@MAGOUNSSALOON OLDEMAGOUNSSALOON 518 Medford St Somerville

magounssaloon.com|617 - 7 76 - 2 6 0 0 20

12.16.15 - 12.23.15

|

DIGBOSTON.COM

Reservations available at:

www.MilkyWayJP.com 284 Amory Street Jamaica Plain, MA 02130 617-524-6060 X12 www.MilkyWayJP.com

The formerly unknown Sichuan Garden II at the Baldwin in Woburn has been making waves of late, as its bar is considered by many to be one of the top drinking spots in the entire Boston area, thanks in part to its sublime cocktails.

The name “Sichuan Garden II” hints at another location, and there indeed is an original spot in Brookline Village that is much different (in some ways) from the one north of Boston. And while the Washington Street eatery might not attract those who love a good pisco punch or a velveteen rabbit, it does attract those who prefer real-deal Szechuan fare to the more common Chinese-American food that’s popular with the late-night crowds and those doing takeout.

While Sichuan Garden II seems to have it all in the atmosphere department— history, romance, charm, coziness, and elegance—the original Sichuan Garden in Brookline is rather plain both inside and out, though it is a comfortable and serene spot, making it perfect for quiet conversation and a relaxed meal. The setup of the interior is rather basic, with a small dining area to the left, a larger dining room to the right, and a few more tables in between—and with nary a bar in sight where people can sit, which makes it a lot different from its sister restaurant in Woburn. The main dining area has large round tables, which help make the place both family friendly and a good spot for social gatherings, and the restaurant is rarely crowded, especially on weeknights.

While the Brookline location of Sichuan Garden does offer a handful of cocktails, the two Sichuan Gardens are worlds apart when it comes to their drinking scenes—mainly because the original location doesn’t have one. But as for dining, the two are a lot more similar, with the menus being almost identical. If you like spicy dishes, the original Sichuan Garden is a dream come true, offering sweat-inducing takes on pork dumplings, dan dan noodles, and glass noodles with minced pork—this last dish creating a literal buzz thanks to the Szechuan peppers that cause a tingling and numbing feel in the mouth. For the less daring, items such as sauteed beef filets and veggies in a savory tea sauce or shredded pork in a relatively mild garlic sauce are offered, while those who want more traditional Chinese items can choose from braised whole fish, lacquered duck, wok-roasted prawns with pepper-spiced salt, and more.

The original Sichuan Garden in Brookline doesn’t quite have the “wow” factor that its newer Woburn spot has, but those who frequent the place don’t seem to mind, as the food is marvelous, the prices are reasonable, and the vibe is pleasant and laid-back. Add to this plenty of parking nearby and a location convenient to Boston (whose border is only a minute away), and you have a nearly ideal spot for those who love good Chinese food. >> SICHUAN GARDEN. 295 WASHINGTON ST., BROOKLINE. SICHUANGARDENRESTAURANT.COM

WHEN YOU GIVE, YOU GET!

deals

GIVE YOUR FRIENDS & FAMILY GIFT CARDS TO THE BEST RESTAURANTS, BARS, SHOPS, & SERVICES IN TOWN

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FEATURE

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

21

ARTS ENTERTAINMENT

22

WED 12.16

THU 12.17

FRI 12.18

SAT 12.19

SAT 12.19

MON 12.21

Art on the Marquee Opening Reception

The Winter’s Tale Opening Night

Under the Underground 4

Making 8-bit Music With Arduino

Rhythm & Laughs at the Riot Theater w/ James McCarthy

Story Slam: “Debauchery”

Art is cool. Free art is even cooler, and boy do Boston Cyberarts and the MCCA have a treat for you. Art on the Marquee is an exhibit focused on public art of the media variety. With the works of Sarah Bliss, Sean Bowes, Jan Roberts-Breslin, Corey Corcoran, Evelyn Eastmond, Gina Kamentsky, Roscoe Lamontagne, Fish McGill, Allison Maria Rodriguez, Rebecca Wasilewski, and Ben Pender-Cudlip, you’ll experience digital art like you’ve never seen before on a colossus of an LED.

The Winter’s Tale is a weird show, and that’s saying something since Shakespeare has some pretty odd plays. It starts off as a seemingly straightforward tragedy: A king suspects his wife is having an affair and locks her in a jail cell. Simple stuff. There’s a heavy focus on psychological drama that gives the play a dreary atmosphere, but then, suddenly, it becomes a comedy. Not a half bad one, either. Lucky for you, Actors’ Shakespeare Project is giving you the chance to check it out. It’ll definitely be an experience.

In its fourth installment, Under the Underground shies away from horror and the burlesque to focus instead on the satirical. New York director, screenwriter, and performance artist Julianna Schley leads the evening as filmgoers get an inside look to a world of cross-dressing and boyfriend seeking. Before the screening, there’ll be a live performance featuring the silky smooth jazzy tunes of Mega Bog and some folk-rock-inspired atmosphere by Somerville’s very own Lina B Tullgren.

Ah, chiptune: It’s that vintage, magical sound that lingers in your head after a visit to the arcade.

It’s the 8-bit melody that’s stuck with you after all these years. It sings songs of nostalgia without ever having to say a word, and now you’ve got an opportunity to try your hand at making some 8-bit music of your own.

Head on down to Parts and Crafts and let your creativity come to life.

Improv comedy and live music are both pretty great on their own, but what happens when you combine these two titans of entertainment?

Well, you get Rhythm & Laughs. Performers will improvise based on live music featuring the soulful acoustic talents of James McCarthy. It’s a test of both comedic endurance and sheer rockability. With stand-up comedian Chris J Browne opening up the night, it’s bound to be a riot of an event.

Let’s face it: We’re all a little bit depraved. Everybody has their own set of vices they carry through life, so why not talk about it and get a chance to perform at the Big Mouth Off? In the fashion of an open mic, 10 random participants will be chosen out of a hat after submitting their names.

The goal of the night?

Deliver a five-minute personal story that revolves around debauchery. Lay out the dirtiest laundry you can find and claim your rightful place as the greatest deviant at Club Passim.

Boston Convention & Exhibition Center.

415 Summer St., Boston.

6-8pm/all ages/FREE. artonthemarquee.com

Willet Hall at United Parish. 210 Harvard St., Brookline. 7:30-10pm/ all ages/$15-50. actorsshakespeareproject. org

Out of the Blue Too Art Gallery & More.

541 Mass. Ave., Cambridge.

8-11pm/18+/$510. facebook.com/ events/1530906970559793/

Parts and Crafts.

577 Somerville Ave., Somerville. 10am-Noon/ all ages/$15. partsandcrafts.org

The Riot Theater.

146A South St., Jamaica Plain. 8-9:30pm/18+/$10. theriottheater.com/ rhythm-and-laughs.html

Club Passim. 47 Palmer St., Cambridge. 7-9pm/21+/$10. clubpassim.org

12.16.15 - 12.23.15

|

DIGBOSTON.COM

IMAGES BY JULIANNA SCHLEY

CHECK OUT JULIANNA SCHLEY’S CROSS-DRESSING AND BOYFRIEND SEEKING ADVENTURES

NEWS TO US

FEATURE

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

23

MUSIC

ART HISTORY

Worriers frontwoman Lauren Denitzio paints scenes on and off the canvas

BY NINA CORCORAN @NINA_CORCORAN

MUSIC

SANTA’S SLEIGH

Your one stop shop for last-minute Christmas gifts is here

BY NINA CORCORAN @NINA_CORCORAN Sometimes Santa Claus doesn’t deliver. Give him some slack. The guy’s got a busy schedule. If your boyfriend has more band shirts than button-downs or your mother’s record collection never stops growing, you’re in luck. Consider this your gift checklist for the music aficionados and rising musicians. Best of all, everything’s in the three-digit price range or less.

WHAT: Project Debut Carbon DC record player WHERE TO GET IT: Q Audio, 5 Brookline St., Cambridge WHY: The sleek, modern, manual Project Debut Carbon DC is a big step up from your clunky Urban Outfitters record player. If you ever run into issues, bring it back worry free. Audio Q fixes any record player malfunctions in a heartbeat, from tricky rewiring to swapping parts.

PRICE: $$ WHAT: Thee Oh Sees’ Floating Coffin vinyl WHERE TO GET IT: Deep Thoughts JP, 138 South St., Jamaica Plain WHY: Drown out family arguments with special edition splatter vinyl by Thee Oh Sees. But if you’re looking for ’70s psychedelic jams instead modern garage rock riffs, move to the next aisle.

Deep Thoughts JP has just about everything.

PRICE: $ WHAT: CDs actually worth buying WHERE TO GET IT: Store 54, 16 Harvard Ave., Allston WHY: The joy of Store 54 isn’t finding exactly what you’re looking for, but finding what you didn’t know you needed. The hidden cove holds treasures that change

overnight. Our favorites? The old CD section where rarities (Parliament!

Genesis!) or mainstream hits (Missy Elliott! Nick Drake!) are only a couple bucks.

PRICE: $

store hours for only $25 a half hour.

Considering the shop is like a living room and he’s played in countless bands over the last 30 years, it’s a hell of a bargain.

PRICE: $$

WHAT: Dark wood Triangle speakers WHERE TO GET IT: The Audio Lab, 36 JFK St., Cambridge WHY: Stop listening to music out of your laptop speakers. The Audio Lab has HQ sound system parts (like, you know, Triangle speakers) which can be installed directly in your home.

It’s like hearing music for the first time... again.

PRICE: $$$

WHAT: The Beach Boys’ 1963 tour shirt WHERE TO GET IT: Vivant Vintage, 318 Lincoln St., Allston WHY: Not everyone knows how to play music, but everyone can appreciate it. For the music lover in your life who was born in the wrong era, Vivant Vintage has the apparel you’re looking for. Don’t be surprised to find authentic tour shirts from Joan Jett’s 1980 tour or the Beach Boys’ 1963 tour, both in mint condish.

PRICE: $$

WHAT: Analog Alien FuzzBubble-45 pedal WHERE TO GET IT: Mr. Music, 128 Harvard Ave., Allston WHY: Dying to have a ’60s tube amp but can’t afford to drop that much dough? Time to pick up the FuzzBubble-45 pedal by Analog Alien, a simple pedal whose tones allow for flexible haze control without numbing the fuzz. Wait for one of Mr. Music’s helpful sales to chip even more dollar signs off the price.

PRICE: $$$ WHAT: Guitar lessons WHERE TO GET IT: Mike’s Monster Guitar, 896 Mass. Ave., Cambridge WHY: The best teachers are those who don’t take themselves too seriously. Meet Mike. The owner of Mike’s Monster Guitar just next to Central Square offers lessons during

WHAT: Priests live tour sketch WHERE TO GET IT: Squishy Sandwich Art, facebook.com/squishysandwich WHY: Louis Roe, the genius behind Squishy Sandwich Art, one-upped Boston’s show documentary game. Instead of photographing live sets, he draws them—and he draws them well. From doodles of Screaming Females at Great Scott to sidestage sketching the Front Bottoms at House of Blues, his work looks best when framed on a music aficionado’s wall.

PRICE: $

Lauren Denitzio is the busiest woman you’ve never heard of—unless your ear is sharply sewn to the DIY punk scene. The 32-year-old musician currently resides in Brooklyn neighborhood Crown Heights, where her punk band Worriers slashes through traditional stereotypes and melodies. While that’s more than enough to merit applause, Denitzio’s resume runs much longer than that.

Everything started when she picked up a guitar for the first time at age 14. In the five years that followed, she formed her first major band, went to college to pursue art, graduated, ended the band, and tackled grad school for fine arts. Once she nabbed her masters, Denitzio began taking up artist residencies everywhere from Iceland to Berlin before returning to Brooklyn for a more permanent residency to expand her art. Not only is she still making music, but she’s still actively creating solo work, detailed zines, visual art, and political paintings. Denitzio, clearly, doesn’t sleep.

“I don’t see my music or art as separate things,” she says over the phone, laughing at her own drive.

“I’m thinking about the same types of things with both forms of media. Music tends to be a more personal and narrative side of things, whereas visual arts is a bit more abstract. The same political issues come through, but the conceptual lens changes.”

On the music side of things, she’s straightforward. This year’s excellent full-length, Imaginary Life, is some of Worriers’ tightest work to date. Denitzio sings about public rights (“Most Space”), sinister expectations (“Life During Peacetime”), and the importance of getting gender pronouns right (“They / Them / Theirs”). Onstage, she’s joined by bassist Audrey Zee Whitesides, guitarist Lou Hanman, and drummer Mikey Erg, all of whom she considers close friends, which makes stage fright ease up. As such, Worriers fit comfortably on Don Giovanni records, New Jersey’s notoriously punk record label with a cult following that’s done nothing but grow over the last decade.

During tours, it’s hard to find time for painting, but she manages. She has to. “I worry about my communicative ability to pursue the things I’m interested in, to collaborate with others, and make a point,” she says. “How do I function in a world that’s not supportive of someone who’s adamantly feminist, queer, anti-racist, and supportive of radical politics? When I was a kid, I wondered how I would get through a ton of my life like this— though looking back, I realize I’ve actually come a long way.” >> PALEHOUND + WORRIERS + MAL DEVISA + MINI DRESSES. FRI 12.18. MIDDLE EAST UPSTAIRS, 472 MASS. AVE., CAMBRIDGE. 8PM/18+/$12.

MIDEASTOFFERS.COM

MUSIC EVENTS WED 12.16

THU 12.17

[The Middle East Upstairs, 472 Mass. Ave., Cambridge.

8pm/all ages/$12. mideastoffers.com]

[Great Scott, 1222 Comm.

Ave., Allston. 9pm/18+/$8. greatscottboston.com]

HARDCORE CREW PERFECT PUSSY + BIG UPS + PHANTOM RIDES

24

12.16.15 - 12.23.15

|

LOCAL ROCK RESIDENCY PILE + ANCIENT FILTH + ANEURYSM + CLOWDER

DIGBOSTON.COM

THU 12.17

SPITTIN’ OUTTA PITTSBURGH MAC MILLER + MICHAEL CHRISTMAS + CHOO JACKSON + EARTH GANG [House of Blues, 15 Lansdowne St., Boston.

6pm/all ages/$31.50. houseofblues.com]

FRI 12.18

SAT 12.19

[The Middle East Upstairs, 472 Mass. Ave., Cambridge. 8pm/18+/$12. mideastoffers.com]

[Paradise Rock Club, 967 Comm. Ave., Boston.

7pm/all ages/$25. crossroadspresents.com]

BOSTON MUSIC AWARDS “BEST NEW ARTIST” WINNER PALEHOUND + WORRIERS + MAL DEVISA + MINI DRESSES

THE BENEFIT OF MR. DISPATCH CHADWICK STOKES + MATT EMBREE + BONNIE PAINE + PARKINGTON SISTERS

TUE 12.22

SPIRITED FOLK POP PEOPLE LIKE YOU + KISSISSIPPI PERSPECTIVE + A LOVELY HAND TO HOLD + STRANGE MANGERS + DU VIDE

[The Middle East Upstairs, 472 Mass. Ave., Cambridge.

8pm/all ages/$10. mideastoffers.com]

Boston’s Best Irish Pub

512 Mass. Ave. Central Sq. Cambridge, MA 617-576-6260 phoenixlandingbar.com

THU Dec. 17 12AM

ALL GOOD

THU 12/17 - SECRET SESSIONS:

MCLOVINS FRI 12/18

VIVA LA HOP WEST END BLEND NOVI SAT 12/19

POWER OF LOVE ARCADE BASH SAT 12/20

YULE BALL XI HARRY & THE POTTERS SAT 12/26

HELLO ECHO & GRIMIS DAY POST X-MAS THU 12/17 - LEEDZ PRESENTS:

CAPPADONNA

FRI 12/18 ILLEGALLY BLIND PRESENTS:

PALEHOUND WORRIERS MAL DEVISA SAT 12/19

RES SHEA ROSE SAT 12/19

SOULELUJAH!

SUN 12/20 - RTT PRESENTS:

FRIENDS LIKE FAMILY

Thaddeus Jeffries, Eastman Garcia, Yvng Pavl BREAKS, HIP HOP, R&B, REGGAE, SOCA, CARIBBEAN, CLASSIC HOUSE, INDIE DANCE FRI Dec. 8 9:30PM

THE FUGLY

SWEATER

PARTY VS. UNITY Madd Miks, Alcide & Amero + Bob Diesel, Francesco Spagna & Cruzz downstairs DOWNSTAIRS = CLASSIC, SOULFUL, AFRO AND LATIN HOUSE / UPSTAIRS = HIP HOP, TRAP, REGGAE SAT Dec. 19 9:30PM

SWEET

SHOP

C.S. McNeill + DJ Knife TECHNO, HOUSE + HIP HOP, TRAP, PARTY JAMS & REGGAE SAT Dec. 26 9:30PM

LOUD MINDS

PARTY TBA Host: Michael Christmas HIP HOP, TRAP, & PARTY JAMS

WEDNESDAYS GEEKS WHO DRINK Free Trivia Pub Quiz from 7:30PM - 9:30PM

MONDAYS

RE:SET WEDNESDAYS

MAKKA MONDAY 14+yrs every Monday night, Bringing Roots, Reggae & Dancehall Tunes 21+, 10PM - 1AM

Weekly Dance Party, House, Disco, Techno, Local & International DJ’s 19+, 10PM - 1AM

THURSDAYS

FRIDAYS

SATURDAYS

ELEMENTS

PRETTY YOUNG THING

BOOM BOOM ROOM

15+ Years of Resident Drum & Bass Bringing some of the worlds biggest DnB DJ’s to Cambridge 19+, 10PM - 2AM

80’s Old School & Top 40 Dance hits 21+, 10PM - 2AM

80’s, 90’s, 00’s One Hit Wonders 21+, 10PM - 2AM

THE BEST ENTERTAINMENT IN CAMBRIDGE 7 DAYS A WEEK!

1/2 PRICED APPS DAILY 5 - 7PM RUGBY WORLD CUP SHOWN LIVE, STARTING ON SEPTEMBER 17TH WATCH EVERY SOCCER GAME! VOTED BOSTON’S BEST SOCCER BAR ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE

Saturdays & Sundays Every Game shown live in HD on 12 Massive TVs. We Show All European Soccer including Champions League, Europa League, German, French, Italian & Spanish Leagues.

CHECK OUT ALL PHOENIX LANDING NIGHTLY EVENTS AT:

WWW.PHOENIXLANDINGBAR.COM NEWS TO US

FEATURE

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

25

FILM

HONORABLE MENTIONS

On the best movies that won’t be on our “Best Movies” list

BY JAKE MULLIGAN @_JAKEMULLIGAN Any top-10 list worth the ink used to print it won’t bother trying to identify the “most important” or “highest quality” artworks of a given period. One reason for that is because most “important art” is terrible. Another reason is that to think in terms of “best” or “most” is to be downright clinical—and as our readers know, we don’t write this film section to help you fill your prescriptions.

So when you read our “Top Films of 2015” feature next week, know that it only signifies one thing: the films listed are the ones that rented the largest amount of space in this writer’s head. Nothing more, nothing less: they’ll be the 10 movies that refused to move the fuck out.

That’s why, when you’re reading any worthwhile top-10 list, the one to look to first is entry #10. That’s the anomaly. The wild card. The sixth man who becomes a starter, because his inimitable energy adds whatever his fundamentals might lack. And we’ve been lucky: there’ve been a few sixth men on the bench of the American cinema this year.

So here—“for your consideration,” as the industry we’re surveying likes to say—are three movies that won’t be on our top-10 list next week. But what does it matter that we’re leaving them off? They’re going to outlive any best-of features you read between now and New Year’s. The commercial cinema is a factory, and these three look like nothing else that came off the production line this year.

BLACKHAT

directed by Michael Mann

lone wolf (imprisoned hacker Hathaway, played by Chris Hemsworth) who’s set on an increasingly complex mission (he’s working with US and Chinese government officials to track another hacker) and meanwhile finds himself falling in love with someone who speaks a different language (Wei Tang, playing sister to one of the officials). The educated badass (Hathaway’s got philosophies, but they all dissolve into one-liners) eventually taps into his own inner villain, which allows him to figure out his enemy’s plan (gaming stock crashes and national disasters for profit). He even quotes another of the director’s movies (Manhunter) while he does it (“That’s what you’re doing, isn’t it, you son of a bitch?”). Mann’s got more recurring features than Esquire—his movies are like a men’s magazine with a philosophy degree.

That might sound like an insult. And when we hear some of those aforementioned one-liners, we mean it as one. But men’s magazines have something that most Hollywood movies don’t: a voice. Mann’s pictures—Heat, Collateral, and Thief among them—tell stories taken from pulp fiction. But his own voice is defined by sensual facts. In Blackhat, it might be a fire-tinged survey of shrapnel as it precedes a larger explosion. Or the sight of Wei Tang’s exposed shoulder sneaking away from the strap of her tank top. There are two sex scenes, and they’re shot with similarly impressionistic qualities: The first is between people, and the second is between a USB drive and its corresponding port. The combat shifts between the same two worlds; first they hack with laptops, then they do it with knives. Since he first began working with digital photography—and became more willing to compose unwieldy and disorienting photography—Mann has been playing around with the relationship between technology and tactility. Now he’s made it the subject of a whole movie.

GLASS CHIN

directed by Noah Buschel Take an individual image from a Michael Mann movie— something at random, like a close-up of an actor talking— and it might resemble an image plucked from any other Hollywood thriller. It might also look like abstract art, if you get the right one. But movies aren’t just individual images. And Mann orders his shots, ordinary or otherwise, in the same way that a recently lapsed alcoholic orders his: with great passion. In another movie, it’s just a streetlevel composition that stares up at a skyscraper. But once Mann links it with with two eyes looking up, it becomes something like an existential inquiry. Normally we just look. Mann’s movies make us work at that—he compels us to actually see.

His films do a lot of other things, too, and Blackhat checks off each of the auteur’s boxes. There’s a stone-jawed

Bud “the Saint” Gordon sprints his way, left to right, straight through the first shot of this modern-day boxing noir. But that doesn’t mean he’s got anywhere to go. He threw too many fights to contend in his own right. Now the kid he’s been training is getting asked to make the same dives. And his “day job”—making collections for a

local crime boss—is threatening to get him locked down in a more literal sense. There’s a boxing movie out, right now, that’ll make you feel happy and uplifted. This isn’t the one.

On that note: It’s s no accident that Gordon (Corey Stoll) and Sylvester Stallone’s famous fictional boxer share a profession outside the ring. (Rocky once broke legs for a loan shark). The original Rocky changed the whole subgenre of boxing movies: Before Sly went the distance, they were movies about getting beaten down, noirs and crime pictures about men facing their last punch. Rocky made it so boxing movies became about punching back.

Creed gave the Rocky character a revival—and Glass Chin gives him a counterpoint.

Director Noah Buschel is about as well known as Gordon is. Which is to say, he’s not. But in five films, he’s carved out a voice as specific as the other two filmmakers we’re talking about here today. He knows how to use physical space to enliven a character’s inner life, and this time he watches as everything closes in on Gordon. Shots start out from afar, studying an entire location, before slowing and closing in on the aged pugilist. And the compositions get tighter as they go, working their way toward a climactic close-up that lets you study each of Stoll’s facial crevices. By the time we see him get into a shower, it starts to look like a jail cell. He’s flying nowhere, and every composition seems to know it.

THE WALK

directed by Robert Zemeckis

Highwire artist Philippe Petit stands on top of the Statue of Liberty, stares into the screen, and starts talking. Some characters break the fourth wall, but he breaks the clouds.

That’s appropriately hokey: The Walk doesn’t have “edge.”

It’s barely got corners. But when Zemeckis makes you look down, your palms will be sweating too. It’s 1974, and Petit—previously profiled in the nonfiction feature Man on Wire—is walking a tightrope strung illegally between the two World Trade Center buildings. Sure, everything we’re watching, including the birds overhead, is digitally rendered. But it wasn’t real when George Melies’ rocket flew into the smiling face of the moon, either. And Zemeckis finds the same palpitation-inducing wonder that Melies’ silent-era magic tricks must’ve drawn. This movie was originally composed for 3D, and even without it, its defining feature is depth. If there’s an antagonist, it’s the sky—and each shot gives it imposing scale. The Walk’s imagery has vanishing points that you stare into as though they were the void. You leave knowing that you’ve seen something no other movie has shown you. Not this year, anyway.

>> BLACKHAT. NOW AVAILABLE ON DVD, BLU-RAY, AND VOD SERVICES. >> GLASS CHIN. NOW AVAILABLE ON DVD, NETFLIX, AND VOD SERVICES. >> THE WALK. WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR RENTAL ON VOD SERVICES, INCLUDING AMAZON INSTANT, ON 12.22.

FILM EVENTS THU 12.17

THE BRATTLE’S ALT-XMAS BEGINS EDWARD SCISSORHANDS

[Brattle Theatre. 40 Brattle St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge. 9pm/PG13/$9-11. Also screens 12.20. brattlefilm.org] 26

12.16.15 - 12.23.15

|

FRI 12.18

THE “PREVIEW CUT” OF ORSON WELLES’ TOUCH OF EVIL

[Harvard Film Archive. 24 Quincy St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge. 9pm/NR/$7-9.

35mm. hcl.harvard.edu/ hfa]

DIGBOSTON.COM

COOLIDGE AFTER MIDNIGHT PRESENTS SCROOGED [Coolidge Corner Theatre.

290 Harvard St., Brookline.

Midnight/PG-13/$9-11.

35mm. coolidge.org]

SAT 12.19

ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S PSYCHO

[Museum of Fine Arts. 465 Huntington Ave., Boston.

2:30pm/R/$9-11. Also screens 12.26. 35mm.]

SUN 12.20

MON 12.21

[Coolidge Corner Theatre.

290 Harvard St., Brookline.

10:30am/G/$6-8. coolidge. org]

[Harvard Film Archive. 24 Quincy St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge. 7pm/NR/$7-9.

35mm. hcl.harvard.edu/ hfa]

KID’S SHOW! THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL

MORE WELLES AT THE HFA THE STRANGER

3 GOLDEN GLOBE AWARD NOMINATIONS I N C LU D I N G

* ( D R A M A)

®

BEST ACTOR* EDDIE REDMAYNE • BEST ACTRESS* ALICIA VIKANDER

“A CINEMATIC LANDMARK.” PETER DEBRUGE, VARIETY

#TheDanishGirl MOTION PICTURE: © 2015 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ARTWORK: © 2015 FOCUS FEATURES LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

BROOKLINE CAMBRIDGE AMC Loews Coolidge Landmark’s Kendall NOW BOSTON Common 19 Corner Square Cinema PLAYING Boston amctheatres.com (617) 734-2500 (617) 621-1202

GOT AN EVENT? LIST IT.

WALTHAM Landmark’s Embassy Cinema (781) 736-7852

DIGBOSTON WED 12/16 Fri 12/18 2 7PM (Jazz) X 6" COL- (4.62")

THE EITHER/ ORCHESTRA 7 BELOW JAMES MCMURTRY SOLO THE JAUNTEE + MOXA SUPERHONEY (REUNION) BARRY CRIMMINS NRBQ ALL.DNG.1216.BWD

MR

#1

Fri 12/18 10PM - (Tribute to Phish)

Sat 12/19 7PM - (Singer-Songwriter/Folk)

Use our self-serve listings page to get your event online TODAY!

digboston.com/listings We offer a free basic listing as well as enhanced and premium listings to really get you noticed.

Sat 12/19 10PM - (Rock)

Sat 12/26 7PM - (Funk)

Tues 12/29 8PM - (Political Satirist)

Tues 12/29 10PM - (Rock)

Sat 12/26 7PM

SUPERHONEY (REUNION) (Funk)

Tues 12/29 8PM

BARRY CRIMMINS Wed 1/20 8PM

GLEN DAVID ANDREWS + NEW ORLEANS SUSPECTS + BEN KNIGHT (Funk/New Orleans)

17 Holland St., Davis Sq. Somerville (617) 776-2004 Directly on T Red Line at Davis NEWS TO US

FEATURE

17 Holland St., Davis Sq. Somerville (617) 776-2004 Directly on T Red Line at Davis DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

27

ARTS

OH, HOW SHE BLUSHES

Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 lands at A.R.T. for yet another reinvention

261 MAIN ST., WORCESTER, MA

JUST ANNOUNCED!

BY CHRISTOPHER EHLERS @_CHRISEHLERS

ONCE Lounge & Music Hall

156 Highland Ave. ONCEsomerville.com

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19

12/19 The Aldous Collins Band w/ Champney Street (previously known as The WonderMics) Dinner service starts at 5pm for a holiday dinner feast! |$10 adv/$15 dos | 21+ to Drink | 7pm 12/16 Spectacular Gift Drive for DCF Kids Fund 12/17 Drengskapur+Yellow Eyes +Desolate+Infera Bruo 12/21 New Music Night hosted by DJ Bad Squirrel 12/28 Ticklejuice (Zany sax driven jazz) 12/31 NYE w/ SSO+Ruby Rose Fox +Cask Mouse+Cactus Attack 1/7 Defeated Sanity(Germany) +Iniquitous Deeds(CA)+more 1/23/16 The Vikings are coming… back!

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If there is any consistency to be found in the unorthodox path to success of Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, it is not only that each remounting has played in a drastically different space, but that the audience of each iteration has either doubled or tripled in size. When the show opens at Cambridge’s American Repertory Theater on Dec 6th, Great Comet will play to its largest audience yet. In fact, the Loeb Drama Center has been drastically altered to recreate the kind of intimate, immersive experience that thrilled Off-Broadway audiences.

Great Comet premiered in New York at the 99-seat Ars Nova in 2012, and it was received so rapturously that producers began circling, eyeing a commercial run.

The concept of the show is that the audience is seated at banquettes and tables, like at a Russian dinner club, with the action happening around them; during the Ars Nova run, carafes of vodka were placed on each table. The idea stemmed from composer Dave Malloy’s visit to Moscow’s Cafe Margarita, a place he describes as an “old world-feeling tavern with vodka and dumplings everywhere.” Rather than trying to fit the show into a standard space, a custom-made tent called Kazino—with around 275 seats—was constructed in the Meatpacking District in the Spring of 2013. That September, the tent was moved uptown to the Theater District. Great Comet was one of the hottest tickets in town, and it earned a record-breaking 11 Lucille Lortel Award nominations. A.R.T.’s Loeb Drama Center, with over 500 seats, is being transformed into its own Russian nightclub for what will most assuredly be the must-see event in Boston this winter.

Based on a 70-page dollop of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace, the play was conceived and written by Dave Malloy: “As someone who had been raised on movie musicals, I just instinctively thought of this as a perfect musical,” said Malloy. “The structure is perfectly suited to that form.” Director Rachel Chavkin— who has been on board since the beginning—is again at the helm of yet another Great Comet reinvention. Scenic designer Mimi Lien, who was awarded a 2015 MacArthur “Genius Grant,” is also reimagining her work for the Loeb.

The size of the Loeb does present a unique set of challenges and a new set of problems for the creative team. “This is about continuing to figure out what needs to change and how it works in a much larger space,” said Chavkin. “We are shifting about half of the audience onto the stage. Of course, the goal is to ensure that wherever you are sitting in the Loeb that you have a really intimate and consistent access to the performers.”

A larger space has also allowed for the possibility of a larger cast and more musicians, something that excites Malloy. The A.R.T. production will also welcome a sort of “roving quartet of musicians” that will be completely mobile. “The idea is that no matter where your seat is, you will always have some proximity to someone, no matter where you are,” Malloy said. “It’s been such a thrill to go back to a score that I wrote two to three years ago and seeing what else I have to say about it.”

But what of the vodka? The original Ars Nova production had carafes sitting on each table. At Kazino, audience members could drink and enjoy plates of seafood and caviar. Due to the maddening liquor laws of Massachusetts, there won’t be carafes, but drinking is still encouraged. “You will respectfully buy your beverage at the bar and bring it to your seat,” Chavkin said. “You’re very encouraged to do that.” >> NATASHA, PIERRE AND THE GREAT COMET OF 1812.

RUNS 12.6 – 1.3 AT LOEB DRAMA CENTER, 64 BRATTLE ST., CAMBRIDGE. AMERICANREPERTORYTHEATER.ORG

PHOTO BY EVGENIA ELISEEVA

SATURDAY, MAY 28

'Tis the season for good eatin' Show tickets make great Gifts Visit us at CuisineEnLocale.com

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NEWS TO US

FEATURE

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

29

SAVAGE LOVE

ROUGHLY SPEAKING

WHAT'S FOR BREAKFAST

BY PATT KELLEY WHATS4BREAKFAST.COM

BY DAN SAVAGE @FAKEDANSAVAGE | MAIL@SAVAGELOVE.NET I’m a straight 26-year-old man who wants advice on helping my fiancée realize a particular fantasy. We have been dating for three years and are in a happy monogamous relationship. I was always vanilla, but she enjoys rougher sex and light bondage.

We’ve incorporated some of this into our sex lives, and we are both happy with how fun it is. She has expressed interest in a rape fantasy. Both of us want to be safe when we do this, and we trust each other completely. But I cannot think of a way in which she can get the experience she desires while still maintaining a safe dynamic. I am wondering if you have advice on how I can help act out her fantasy in a way that we both have fun.

Seeking Erotic Advice Now You and the fiancée are obviously capable of communicating about varsity-level sex play, SEAN; your track record with bondage and rougher sex demonstrates that. Now you just have to use the same interpersonal skills that made your past kinky fuckfests possible—along with the same respect for limits, boundaries, and each other—to negotiate and realize your girlfriend’s edgy-but-thoroughlycommon fantasy.

I recommend reading “Rape Fantasy: How to Carry It Out Safely,” a long and thoughtful post at Slut Lessons (slutlessons.wordpress.com), an engaging sex blog that’s sadly no longer being updated. The first recommendation from Educated Slut, the site’s anonymous author: Maybe we shouldn’t call them “rape fantasies” at all.

“A rape fantasy is almost invariably more about forced sex and not a desire to actually BE raped by someone,” writes Educated Slut. “Very few people have the desire to be put through the physical and emotional trauma of a real rape. This is the primary reason I refer to this as ‘forced sex fantasy’ rather than rape fantasy; it just gives the wrong impression to some people.”

You might to be one of those people, SEAN. You seem to be under the impression that there’s something inherently more dangerous about realizing/role-playing your way through a forcedsex scenario. And it may be more dangerous and/or triggering on an emotional level—talking through any past traumas or fears will be important—but slapping the label “rape fantasy” on rough(er) sex shouldn’t result in you having some sort of out-ofbody experience that leads you to go apeshit on your helpless fiancée. Talk things through in advance, just like you have before, agree on a safe word—a word that stops the action cold should either of you utter it—and take it slow the first few times you go for it.

THE STRANGERER

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BOWERY BOSTON

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ROYALE 279 Tremont St. Boston, MA • royaleboston.com/concerts RON POPE + THE NIGHTHAWKS

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