ARTS à la Mode

ABOUT LIFE LESSONS

12 ANGRY MEN - 1957

THE HUSTLER - 1961

THE JUNGLE BOOK - 1967

STAND BY ME - 1986

GHOSTS OF MISSISSIPPI - 1996

ATONEMENT - 2007

THE BUCKET LIST - 2007

The Mint Museum presents Colorblind: The Emily and Zach Smith Collection through August 12, 2012. .....Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts, more info here
NOTICE!! Please be aware that fraudulent on-line sites are trying to sell tickets to Blumenthal Performing Arts events. Do NOT buy tickets unless they are from these two sites: .....Blumenthal.org,

.....CarolinaTix, here

2012 Festival in the Park "Youth Performer and Variety Stage" seeks performers of all ages for the 48th Annual production. .....a merger of Youth Stage and Theatre Stage, more.
Jerald Melberg Gallery presents Susan Grossman: Bright Lights, Big City through May 19, 2012. ..... a major exhibit of new drawings, more
The Charlotte Film Festival reviews. .....our reviews and information, read more here
The Light Factory presents The Calm Before the Storm: Human Interaction with the Natural Landscape at the Knight Gallery through May 13. .....an examination of man and his relationship with the environment, more

LIFE LESSONS

"The most important lesson that man can learn from his life is not that there is pain in this world, but that it depends upon him to turn it into good account, that it is possible for him to transmute it into joy… Man's freedom is never in being saved troubles, but it is the freedom to take trouble for his own good, to make the trouble an element in his joy…"

Rabindranath Tagore, Bengali philosopher/poet
Nobel Prize in Literature 1913

"Underneath the Lintel" at CAST May 17 - 20, and at Warehouse PAC May 24 - 26. River Jam Concert Series at the U.S. National Whitewater Center May 17 & 24. SlamCharlotte Poetry Slam at the Booth Playhouse May 18. 5th Annual Charlotte Clean and Green Festival at Little Sugar Creek Greenway May 19 at 10 am, FREE. Bruce Molsky at the Evening Muse May 19. Caravan of Thieves at the Evening Muse May 19. Speak Up Youth Poetry Slam at the Duke Energy Theater May 20. The Blumey Awards Ceremony at the Belk Theater May 20. Ballantyne Performing Arts Center presents "Eleemosynary" May 11 - 26 (for ages 15+). The Light Factory presents Cult Movie Mondays: "Jaws" at Actor's Theatre of Charlotte May 21. Queen City Theatre Company presents "Passion" at the Duke Energy Theater through May 19. Paint 'Til You Drop at the Civic & Cultural Arts Center Pineville June 22, September 21. Look under Latest News for information on some of the best, most interesting local arts events.

BATTLESHIP Aliens try to destroy the earth--yet again. Very loosely based on the Hasbro game "Battleship" where each side tries to out-maneuver the other, the Navy has to stop them, or more precisely a Navy screw-up does. He is Lieutenant Alex Hopper (Taylor Kitsch, redeeming himself) who has come into the military after his older brother Commander Stone Hopper (Alexander Skarsgard, nice job and with an undetectable accent) has had it with his antics. The final straw is .....more

ALVIN AILEY DANCE THEATRE Last night's curtain speech was given by none other than Robert Battle. Looking out into the Knight Theater--filled with well-dressed Charlotte dance fans--the newly appointed Alvin Ailey Artistic Director asked us: "Where do you get your barbeque?" In that folksy moment, Battle expressed the importance of Ailey to this generation of dance audiences: Alvin Ailey is important, successful, and enduring, but he is also accessible, and he belongs to us. .....more

Weekend Box Office Estimates

May 13, 2012

Marvel's The Avengers $103M
Dark Shadows $28.8M
Think Like a Man $6.3M
The Hunger Games $4.4M
The Lucky One $4M
The Pirates: Band of Misfits $3.2M
The Five-Year Engagment $3M
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel $2.6M
Chimpanzee $1.6M
Girl in Progress $1.3M

Marvel's The Avengers will probably break another record after this weekend. Even accounting for a 50 percent drop, it is estimated to make $103M in ticket sales with only Dark Shadows opening. It is also estimated to top $1B world wide. Incredible. Dark Shadows came close, but didn't break $30M. It was expected to do better but middling reviews may have hurt it.

New York Times - May 13, 2012

Top Ten Combined Print & E-Books

FIFTY SHADES OF GREY by E.L. James (Knopf Doubleday Publishing)
FIFTY SHADES DARKER by E.L. James (Knopf Doubleday Publishing)
FIFTY SHADES FREED by E.L. James. (Knopf Doubleday Publishing)
THE LAST BOYFRIEND by Nora Roberts.
(Berkeley)
DEADLOCKED by Charlaine Harris.
(Penguin Group)
THE INNOCENT by David Baldacci.
(Grand Central Publishing)
THE LUCKY ONE by Nicholas Sparks. (Grand Central Publishing)
FIFTY SHADES TRILOGY by E.L. James.
(Knopf Doubleday Publishing)
THE WITNESS by Nora Roberts.
(Putnam)
CALICO JOE by John Grisham. (Knopf Doubleday Publishing)