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LIFE&ARTS Coming Friday
THURSDAY MAY 27, 2010
Online
A search for ‘real’
A ‘RACE-BENDING’ FURY
FATHER’S DAY TRIBUTES
Hollywood down on plastic surgery D6
Casting in films criticized
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Dispatch.com/now
MOVIE REVIEW
TELEVISION
SEX AND THE CITY 2
FOX
Lee DeWyze, the ninth idol
Lee wins ‘Idol’ over Crystal By Lynn Elber ASSOCIATED PRESS
WARNER BROS. PHOTOS
The Abu Dhabi crew, from left: Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Samantha (Kim Cattrall) and Charlotte (Kristin Davis)
WEAK COSMOPOLITANS Carrie and pals cavort in Middle East for safe, muddled sequel
Sex and the City 2. Directed and written by Michael Patrick King. Photographed by John Thomas. Sarah Jessica Parker.............. Carrie Kristin Davis......................Charlotte Cynthia Nixon .....................Miranda Kim Cattrall .....................Samantha John Corbett ..........................Aidan (out of four) Absolutely (not so) fabulous. MPAA rating: R (for strong sexual content, language) Running time: 2:26 Now showing at the Arena Grand, Crosswoods, Drexel, Dublin Village 18, Easton 30, Gateway, Georgesville Square 16, Lennox 30, Movies 16 Gahanna, Movies 10 at Westpointe, Movie Tavern Mill Run, Pickerington, Polaris 18, River Valley, Star and Westerville 8 theaters
By Nick Chordas THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
ortions of Sex and the City 2 were reportedly filmed in the same Moroccan desert where David Lean shot Lawrence of Arabia. Perhaps inspired by the shared setting, director and writer Michael Patrick King has crafted a veritable girls-night-out epic. The sequel clocks in at two hours and 26 minutes — 60 seconds longer than the needlessly bloated 2008 original. One wishes that King would have airbrushed out an entire reel. As advertisements promised, Sex and the City 2 trades New York for glistening Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates — but not until an hour has passed.
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See SEX Page D3
Comfortable couple: Carrie and Big (Chris Noth)
To hear Nick Chordas discuss Sex and the City 2 and see clips, visit Dispatch.com/movies.
See IDOL Page D3
SO TO SPEAK
ART LINKLETTER 1912-2010
TV host saw humor in ordinary people By Lynn Elber ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — Art Linkletter, who hosted the popular TV series People Are Funny and House Party in the 1950s and 1960s, has died. He was 97. Linkletter died yesterday at his home in the BelAir section of Los Angeles, son-inlaw Art Hershey said. Art Linkletter’s House Party, one of Art the longestrunning TV variety Linkletter shows, made its debut on radio in 1944 and was seen on CBS from 1952 to 1969. “On House Party,” Linkletter wrote, “I would talk to you and bring out the fact that you had been letting your boss beat you at golf over a period of months as part of your campaign to get a raise. “All the while, without your knowledge, your boss would be
LOS ANGELES — Lee DeWyze, a paint-store clerk who impressed American Idol judges and viewers with his spirit and soulful voice, triumphed last night over bluesy musician Crystal Bowersox of the Toledo area in the ninth season of the TV talent show. Asked by host Ryan Seacrest how he felt, an emotional DeWyze said: “I don’t know. It’s amazing. Thank you, guys, so much. . . . I love you. Crystal, I love you.” The finalists had closely matched fan bases, with just a 2 percent voting gap between them before the finale, Seacrest said. The victory was based on votes cast after the Tuesday performance show, which actually drew more compliments from the judges for Bowersox, 24, than for DeWyze, also 24, of Mount Prospect, Ill. DeWyze closed the finale with a performance of his first single, the U2 song Beautiful Day. The rest of the evening made the most of Simon Cowell in his last appearance as a judge. A taped package recounting highlights from the Cowell years was shown, and comedian Dane Cook sang a tune blending barbed comments from the British judge and cracked a few jokes. “You have the honesty of Abe Lincoln and the charm of the guy who shot him,” Cook told Cowell, who took the ribbing with a smile. The walk down memory lane continued with ex-judge Paula Abdul, who often played his sparring partner during the first eight Idol seasons, before her departure last year. “I’ve loved all the fun we’ve
Little voices of Haiti draw student back
sitting a few feet away listening, and, at the appropriate moment, I would bring you together. Now that’s funny because the laugh arises out of a real situation.” Although the show had many features, the best-known involved the daily interviews with children. Linkletter collected sayings from the youngsters into the book Kids Say the Darndest Things! — which sold millions of copies. 70 Years of Best Sellers 1895-1965 ranked Kids Say the Darndest Things! as the 15th-highest seller among nonfiction books of the period. The prime-time People Are Funny, which was begun on radio in 1942 and presented on television from 1954 to 1961, emphasized slapstick humor and audience participation. It would throw a pie in the face of a contestant who couldn’t tell his Social Security number in five seconds, for example, or ask him ERIC ALBRECHT DISPATCH
Amber Bruns of Upper Arlington, who used her volunteer experience in Haiti for her senior project See LINKLETTER Page D2
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Life is difficult in Haiti, but its children love to sing. “It’s part of their culture,” said Amber Bruns, 18. “The kids, even if they cannot hold a tune in a bucket, they’re singing wildly. That’s just what they do. I can’t hear myself, because the kid next to me is just belting it. It’s beautiful.” Bruns knows Haiti better than most other American high-school students. She has been going there for a JOE week or two every summer BLUNDO for four years as a church volunteer. Which explains her senior project at Upper Arlington High School: study how music aids memorization by teaching Creole songs to American and Haitian schoolchildren. She is well-connected to both constituencies. Bruns helps with children’s choirs at See BLUNDO Page D2
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THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Life & Arts
THURSDAY, MAY 27, 2010
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JOHN WATERS
Filmmaker celebrates oddballs in new book Waters’ book Role Models, out this week, combines his giddy love for the fringe with his compassion for its dwellers. Speaking from Baltimore, Waters, 64, detailed his lifelong fascination with outcasts.
By Carla Meyer MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS
An artist drawn to the margins, John Waters achieved infamy with low-budget 1970s films starring garish, up-for-anything transvestite Divine and other horrifyingly lovable Baltimore misfits. Adding heart and movie stars through the years, Waters’ freakshow movies (Multiple Maniacs, Pink Flamingos) morphed into cockeyed calls for understanding. Hairspray — the 1988 film, 2002 Broadway-musical and 2007 movie-musical — replaced exploitation with sincerity, promoting racial harmony, chubby-teen empowerment and a man’s right to pad up to play a mom.
Q. What does the term role model mean to you? A. A role model is somebody whose life has been so extreme — good or bad — that they have had to be braver than I have had to be. So I look up to them.
Role Models (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 320 pages, $25) by John Waters
Q. Your early films called attention to oddballs for camp value. But your book is thoughtful and humane. Did your outlook change?
A. I think it did. I also think shock is old hat. Every movie tries to be shocking. Everyone wants to be an outsider. This isn’t about my movies. . . . This is more about my personal life.
She is not prone to violence. She has not had one moment of violence in her whole life except that horrible, horrible night.
Q. What if someone sees Role Models in the bookstore and says, “Oh, that’s by that nice John Waters of Hairspray” — then Q. You make the case in your book that, as a model prisoner for opens the book to your homage to Bobby Garcia, an amateur pornogalmost 40 years, Leslie Van rapher specializing in Marines? Houten — a convicted killer and A. That happens all the time former Charles Manson disciple — has been unfairly denied parole anyway with Hairspray: “Oh, we because of the notoriety of the loved Hairspray, so we watched all case. Have you encountered flak your movies.” “Oh, really? You for your support for her? liked Desperate Living and A. The prosecution knows she Multiple Maniacs?” (laughing). I don’t think Role Models is should get out, she has great support, and she is hardly a danger to mean-spirited. Yes, it might raise a few eyebrows. any community.
SHOP TALK A weekly chat with a store owner or clerk in central Ohio
IDOL FROM PAGE D1
KYLE ROBERTSON DISPATCH
Kelly Morris in her Powell store
Kelly Morris 39, OWNER OF SHYNE, 50 S. LIBERTY ST., SUITE 120, POWELL (614-439-0553, WWW.SHYNEINC.COM) Q: You and your husband opened this store about a month ago in the heart of Powell. What does it offer? A: Women’s accessories and gifts. We want to reach all ages. We have stuff for little girls. We have stuff for teenagers — items in their price range. And we have stuff for women. Q: You carry everything from Elegant Baby clothing and Thymes bath and body products to jewelry. What’s the price range? A: We have gifts that you could purchase for as low as $5 — that would actually be a gift — to $500.
Kristy Eckert is editor of Capital Style, a women’s fashion magazine published bimonthly by The Dispatch Printing Company. Its website, Capital-Style.com, is updated daily. Q: You have beautiful custom frames and signs for $40 that make great gifts. Can you talk a little about those? A: You can do wedding. You can do baby. You can do graduation. You can . . . (design) it in about five minutes. It ships in 48 hours. Q: What has been the biggest surprise? A: Marie Osmond. I brought . . . (the line) in and thought: We’ll just see. She has quilted bags. She has her own jewelry that she designs. She has bath and body. She has silk scarves. And what I really like is that she gives back to the
nected comic episodes. Basically, the movie is a long-form (and we do mean FROM PAGE D1 long) excuse to hang out First, Carrie (Sarah Jessica with the ladies who have Parker) attends the elaborate been paragons of New York fashion and imbibers of wedding of a gay couple, fuchsia-colored cocktails Stanford and Anthony since the TV series first (Willie Garson and Mario made viewers blush in 1998. Cantone), who promptly That’s OK, I suppose; but disappear from the movie the act is wearing thin. after being married by Carrie is worried about officiant Liza Minnelli. becoming half of a “boring, Then it’s on to a gala old married couple,” while movie premiere, where Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) is Carrie’s new husband, Big struggling with a boss who (Chris Noth), hits it off with doesn’t respect her. a beautiful banker named Cheerful Charlotte (Kristin Carmen (Penelope Cruz). Davis), meanwhile, is threatSurely, Carmen will reappear, especially consider- ened by a buxom nanny, and cougar queen Samantha ing that Big seems to be (Kim Cattrall) continues to having belated cold feet in his relationship with Carrie, aggressively pursue anything who fears that the “sparkle” in jockeys. Soon, though not soon is already gone. Nope. The audience never enough, Samantha invites her gal pals on an expensessees Carmen again. The viewer begins to won- paid trip to the “new Middle East,” where the women der when the plot will start enjoy the finest Abu Dhabi until it becomes apparent has to offer in luxury resorts, that, well, there really is no including personal butlers. plot — not in a beginning, Based on its premise — middle and end sort of way. Sex and the City 2 — even sexually liberated women vacationing in a country more than the first film where public displays of based on the R-rated HBO affection are frowned upon series — plays out like a (or worse) — one would series of tangentially con-
SEX
Children’s Miracle Network. I was open four days and had to do a reorder. I can’t keep certain things in stock. . . . People just love it.
Q: What’s your favorite line? A: Kameleon. That’s the interchangeable jewelry pops — that and Trollbeads. But Kameleon, I personally just have an attachment to. Q: You live in Powell, too. What do you like about it? A: The hometown thing. I just feel like it’s a tightknit community. Q: How has the community responded to the store? A: We’ve had a wonderful response. Everybody who comes in, they really do say, “I love your shop!” I had kids coming in on their bikes with $10 in their pockets to get their moms something for Mother’s Day — which was too cute.
expect Sex and the City 2 to be more risque than it actually turns out to be. Yes, Samantha eventually earns the ire of law enforcement, but it unfolds mostly as harmless and ineffective farce. Some attempt is made to explore the notion that all cultures try to silence women, but the message is muddled. The movie’s saving grace is the leading quartet, especially Parker and Nixon. Not surprisingly, the four long-
DAILY SUDOKU
Q: Your children are 13, 11 and 8. Have they helped get the store up and going? A: Yes. The kids helped paint; they helped clean; they stickered. But I think they like going to Rita’s (Italian ice shop next door) the best! They’re like “Have I done enough for Rita’s?” Q: Where does the store’s name come from? A: It is (the name of) a Christian song that motivated me to open my own business. It’s all about feeling good. Q: A month into your dream, what do you love? A: I love the people (and) seeing the reaction. I worked so hard, and they’re just wowed. I want people to feel comfortable, not like they have to buy something. I want them to feel happy. — Kristy Eckert keckert @capital-style.com
time co-stars demonstrate an easy chemistry that earns more laughs than the lightly sketched script deserves. In the best scene, the women sip cocktails and trade guilty confessions about the joys of taking an extended break from their families and children. It’s funny and honest — elements that the TV show embraced and the movies have tossed aside like last year’s Jimmy Choos. nchordas@dispatch.com
DIFFICULTY: 4 OF 5 How to play: Each row must contain the numbers 1 to 9; each column must contain the numbers 1 to 9; and each set of 3-by-3 boxes must contain the numbers 1 to 9. Today’s solution D2
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had together,” Abdul told Cowell. “American Idol’s not going to be the same without you. But, as only I can tell you, it will go on.” Cowell, in turn, shed his usual cool after seven of the eight previous Idol winners — along with dozens of contestants from the various seasons — serenaded him with the anthem Together We Are One. “I didn’t think I was going to be this emotional,” he said, “and I genuinely am. “Everybody asks who’s going to replace me, who’s going to be the next judge. The truth is,” he told the audience, “you guys are the judge of this show and you’ve done an incredible job over the years.” The finale, as usual, was stuffed with humor — including the return of Larry “Pants on the
Ground” Platt — along with appearances by recording stars. Christina Aguilera, Joe Cocker, Barry and Robin Gibb, Daryl Hall & John Oates, Janet Jackson and Michael McDonald were among those whose performances were scattered throughout the two-hour show. Bret Michaels — the ailing Poison frontman and, as of this week, Celebrity Apprentice winner — joined Idol finalist Casey James on the Poison hit Every Rose Has Its Thorn. Seacrest, who seemed to have a testy on-air relationship with Cowell this season, had only warm words for him this week. “We really are going to miss you,” the host said. “You are a dear friend, and we wouldn’t be here without you.” Starting next year, Cowell plans to produce and judge The X Factor — a Fox version of his British talent contest.
OUT OF THE BOX lululemon athletica Boogie Crop pants $84 AT LULULEMON ATHLETICA, 841 N. HIGH ST., IN THE SHORT NORTH Key ingredients: made with the company’s signature luon fabric — chafe-resistant with flat seams The pitch: all-purpose cropped pants The process: I’ve been wearing these for yoga and running (and sometimes just around the house because they’re so comfy). Pros: They’re suitable for any workout. They look cute. And they wash beautifully. If I could own only one pair of workout bottoms — pants or shorts — I’d choose these.
Con: the price Bottom line: The best workout pants ever are definitely worth the splurge. — Kristy Eckert keckert@capital-style.com