StaticBlog

In what is turning out to be a crowded summer for marquee albums, Jay-Z will closely follow tomorrow’s release Kanye West’s “Yeezus” with the modestly titled “Magna Carta Holy Grail.” That album title might not be an overstatement given the cast of characters assembled for the...

A witty coming-of-age story and a thoughtful look into the impact of the digital revolution won top honors at the 2013 deadCenter Film Festival, held June 5-9 at multiple venues in downtown Oklahoma City. “The Spectacular Now,” directed by James Ponsoldt, was selected as the grand jury...

The 92-minute feature “Computer Chess” sees The White Stripes’ “Elephant” (which was recorded without the aid of computers, on pre-1968 equipment) and raises it: The film was shot with the hardware of the time it depicts, which means a 4:3 aspect ratio and the occasional...

If the immediate goal of Negin Farsad’s and Dean Obeidallah’s (that’s them above, respectively) comedy-roadtrip-documentary “The Muslims Are Coming!” was merely to ridicule the anti-Muslim rhetoric that ramped up in the national discourse in 2010 then they achieved it in the first few...

My notes from watching the 54-minute documentary “Out of Print,” which examines the past and present and speculates on the future of the written word, are mostly just hastily scribbled questions its subjects ask throughout the film. Here are a few of better, bigger ones: “Is the...

I bumped into veteran war correspondent, journalism professor, documentarian, and generally well-rounded badass Mike Boettcher (that’s him on the left, with his son Carlos) last night at deadCenter’s official opening party and got to ask him a few questions. I say “got to” because it...

A hard-fought expertise informs Mike Boettcher’s “The Hornet’s Nest,” a wrenchingly visceral account of the 101st Airborne’s heroic efforts during the Strong Eagle III mission in June 2011. This is intensely personal reporting, a documentary that sees what Boettcher saw as he and his...

“The Kings of Summer” screens at 7 p.m. Friday at the deadCenter Film Festival in the Devon Auditorium. The school year hasn’t gone well — assignments missed, opportunities to ask out that “special girl” botched. And for Joe Toy (Nick Robinson), the summer ahead doesn’t look much...

A couple tidbits about Andrew Bowser’s gritty black-and-white whodunit “Worm,” before we get into this thing: It is one unbroken, 90-minute-long shot. (You read that correctly.) That one 90-minute-long shot comes from a Go Pro Hero 2 camera. Bowser claims it’s the first feature-length...

“The Rolling Stones: Charlie Is My Darling” kicks off the 13th Annual deadCenter Film Festival at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday on the Great Lawn at Myriad Gardens. This is a free show. In celebration of the Rolling Stones’ 50th anniversary, ABKCO Films unearthed the long lost ” Charlie is My...

David Norman’s psychological thriller “Left of Center” opens, literally, with a bang. It’s a sudden, jarring shot of an Oklahoma Highway Patrolman —having pulled over a sedan along Highway 177, presumably for a routine stop— who catches a bullet with his skull, fired out the...

I’ve been waking up early every morning to enjoy some coffee, watch the news and go for a work out. Today I made my coffee and turned it to CNN. Pierce Morgan was on talking to storm chasers in Oklahoma City.

Due to the possibility of another round of bad weather, the Wise Guys tornado relief benefit concert originally scheduled for 8 p.m. Friday on the Great Lawn at Myriad Botanical Gardens has been canceled. The band will return to collect funds and supplies for recovery at 8 p.m.

Rating: 90 One of the hallmarks of apocalyptic fiction is the electromagnetic pulse, that technology-frying event that destroys modern car ignitions and turns most of the gadgetry we all depend on into paperweights. Now, just imagine what would happen if David Guetta, deadmau5, AVICII and...

I had no idea what the food was going to be like in Bangladesh. It’s between India in South Asia. I had read that the food was spicy and used a lot of curry. I didn’t know how much I’d be eating in Dhaka.

First of all, Emirates Airline is fantastic. The airplane is decorated with a glossy wood interior, and they served a nice meal of fruit, chicken and a bulgur type salad. Going through immigration was reminiscent of the airline scene from Argo when they are taken into a room and questioned.

I never thought I’d visit Bangladesh. It was never on my radar of places to visit. I received the opportunity through an email from Dean of Gaylord School of Journalism and Mass Communication at University of Oklahoma, Joe Foote. He was organizing exchange with a group of media professionals...

Joe Jonas of the Jonas Brothers will be helping to distribute supplies with Convoy of Hope, an organization he and brothers Nick and Kevin have been affiliated with since 2009. In addition, Jonas will be helping debris removal crews throughout the day.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd BY GEORGE LANG AND BRANDY MCDONNELL Blues guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd remembers what it’s like. He grew up in Shreveport, La., and has vivid memories of the sky turning a sickly color and the winds suddenly whipping up around his town.

It’s travel day. Five media professionals from OKC, many from University of Oklahoma, left the Oklahoma City airport at a time when our city is left bruised after the Moore tornado. I have been anticipating this media professional exchange to Bangladesh since I heard about it a month ago, but...