Philadelphia City Paper, August 14th, 2014 by Philadelphia City Paper

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LET SEPTAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S 24-HOUR SERVICE TAKE YOU HOME. The Broad Street and Market-Frankford Lines are running all night long, all weekend long, all summer long.

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cpstaff We made this

Publisher Nancy Stuski Editor in Chief Lillian Swanson Senior Editor Patrick Rapa Arts & Culture Editor Mikala Jamison Digital Media Editor/Movies Editor Paulina Reso Food Editor Caroline Russock Senior Staff Writers Daniel Denvir, Emily Guendelsberger Staff Writer Ryan Briggs Copy Chief Carolyn Wyman Associate Web Producer Carly Szkaradnik Contributors Sam Adams, Dotun Akintoye, A.D. Amorosi, Rodney Anonymous, Mary Armstrong, Meg Augustin, Bryan Bierman, Shaun Brady, Peter Burwasser, Mark Cofta, Alison Dell, Adam Erace, David Anthony Fox, Caitlin Goodman, K. Ross Hoffman, Deni Kasrel, Alli Katz, Gary M. Kramer, Drew Lazor, Gair “Dev 79” Marking, Robert McCormick, Andrew Milner, Annette Monnier, John Morrison, Michael Pelusi, Sameer Rao, Elliott Sharp, Marc Snitzer, Tom Tomorrow, John Vettese, Nikki Volpicelli, Brian Wilensky Editorial Interns Maggie Grabmeier, Jim Saksa, Lauren Clem, Katie Krzaczek, Indie Jimenez Production Director Michael Polimeno Editorial Art Director Allie Rossignol Advertising Art Director Evan M. Lopez Senior Editorial Designer Brenna Adams Editorial Designer Jenni Betz Contributing Photographers Jessica Kourkounis, Maria Pouchnikova, Neal Santos, Mark Stehle Contributing Illustrators Ryan Casey, Don Haring Jr., Joel Kimmel, Cameron K. Lewis, Thomas Pitilli, Matthew Smith Human Resources Ron Scully (ext. 210) Circulation Director Mark Burkert (ext. 239) Sales & Marketing Manager Katherine Siravo (ext. 251) Account Managers Colette Alexandre (ext. 250), Nick Cavanaugh (ext. 260), Amanda Gambier (ext. 228), Thomas Geonnotti (ext. 258), Sharon MacWilliams (ext. 262) Office Coordinator/Adult Advertising Sales Alexis Pierce (ext. 234) Founder & Editor Emeritus Bruce Schimmel

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30 South 15th Street, Fourteenth Floor, Phila., PA 19102. 215-735-8444, Tip Line 215-735-8444 ext. 241, Listings Fax 215-875-1800, Advertising Fax 215-735-8535, Subscriptions 215-735-8444 ext. 235 The printing of City Paper was provided by Calkins Media (215-949-4224). Philadelphia City Paper is published and distributed every Thursday in Philadelphia, Montgomery, Chester, Bucks & Delaware Counties, in South Jersey and in Northern Delaware. Philadelphia City Paper is available free of charge, limited to one copy per reader. Additional copies may be purchased from our main office at $1 per copy. No person may, without prior written permission from Philadelphia City Paper, take more than one copy of each issue. Pennsylvania law prohibits any person from inserting printed material of any kind into any newspaper without the consent of the owner or publisher. Contents copyright © 2014, Philadelphia City Paper. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. Philadelphia City Paper assumes no obligation (other than cancellation of charges for actual space occupied) for accidental errors in advertising, but will be glad to furnish a signed letter to the buying public.

contents Cover story, see p. 10

Naked City ...................................................................................5 A&E ...............................................................................................15 Movies.........................................................................................18 Events..........................................................................................20 Food ..............................................................................................25 COVER PHOTO BY EMILY GUENDELSBERGER DESIGN BY ALLIE ROSSIGNOL

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naked

the thebellcurve

city

CP’s Quality-o-Life-o-Meter

[ + 2]

Philadelphia will attempt to woo visiting Democratic Party bigwigs to hold their 2016 convention here with fine dining, sports jerseys and a tour of the area. And,of course, our famous Cavalcade of Bellowing Teamsters, cheering them on as they walk to and from their shuttle buses.

[ - 3]

Shepard Fairey’s new mural in Fishtown looks a lot like the logo he designed for his new line of Hennessy cognac. The mural is immediately shrouded in a brown paper bag as per local tradition.

[ + 1]

After four years of campaigning, the blogger behind zoowithroy.com finally goes to the Zoo with former Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay. And, as expected, the attraction is immediate, and the two just start going at it, right there in front of the Galápagos tortoises.

[ - 1]

[ + 2]

[ - 2]

The city considers shortening the Mummers’ New Year’s Day parade route — from City Hall to Washington Avenue and skipping South Philly. Or, and we’re just throwing this out there, maybe the Mummers could just mill around in the storm drains between Pat’s and Geno’s for a couple hours. CHOP announces it will open a nonprofit breast milk bank. Right next to the Cold Hands Creamery. Bell Curve immediately regrets that joke. A doctor who formerly practiced in Philly is tied to an anti-Western insurgent group in Afghanistan. “Ha ha, I learned a lot about working with militant fanatics from dealing with Eagles fans,” he says. “But seriously, death to America.”

[ + 10] Philadelphia’s Taney Dragons, led by

female pitcher Mo’ne Davis, advance to the Little League World Series. Look, it’s been a rough couple weeks and this story’snothing but good news. So, yeah: plus 10 and no joke. Bring the heat, Mo’ne.

This week’s total: +9 | Last week’s total: -5

BIG BIRD CAGE: Katie Newsom Pastuszek, executive director of Outward Bound Philadelphia, at East Park Reservoir. The fence will stay, but public access will increase. MARIA POUCHNIKOVA

[ nature ]

CITY SIGNS LEASE FOR NEW URBAN OASIS A “Discovery Center” for wildlife viewing and outdoor-education programs is planned for East Park Reservoir. By Jon Hurdle

n abandoned city reservoir on the edge of Strawberry Mansion, hidden by dense vegetation and guarded by a chainlink fence, has long been an important stop for birds migrating on the Atlantic flyway. But the city’s recent decision to lease the land to two environmentally friendly groups means the 37-acre wilderness soon may become an urban oasis for people, too. The west basin of East Park Reservoir, located on a plateau a few hundred yards from 33rd Street, is the site of the pioneering joint venture between Audubon Pennsylvania and Outward Bound Philadelphia called the East Park Leadership and Conservation Center (EPLCC). The partners hope the center will be a place where young people will benefit from rigorous outdoor education and improvements can be made to attract more birds in migration. Under discussion for years, the project passed a crucial milestone on July 18 when the city leased the land to EPLCC for $1 a year, allowing it to move into the final phase of a $16 million fundraising project.

On the southern shore of the reservoir, the groups plan to build a 16,000-square-foot “Discovery Center” that will include wildlifeviewing areas, classrooms and space for Outward Bound parties to prepare for their expeditions. The $11 million building is slated for completion in 2016. Outdoors, the development will include hiking trails, observation decks, a canoe dock and a ropes course for Outward Bound’s physical-challenge activities. The center will become the city headquarters for Outward Bound, which has outgrown its current base at the Sedgley Porter House in East Fairmount Park, and will allow Audubon to improve a site that is already an important stopover point for many migrating bird species. The conservation group has had only limited access to the reservoir for many years, despite its significance. The center will be open to the public on a limited basis, and will provide access free of charge to some of its facilities such as hiking trails. But the perimeter will still be fenced, and public activities will be separated from those of Audubon and Outward Bound, said Katie Newsom Pastuszek, executive director of Outward Bound Philadelphia. “There will be days when the center is open for public access,” she said. The combination of outdoor education and conservation makes

The $1 lease is a big step forward for the project.

>>> continued on page 6

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[ police ]

COP WHO LIED GETS DESK DUTY By Daniel Denvir

hiladelphia Police Officer Christopher Hulmes was taken off the street on Aug. 6, the same day City Paper exposed that he had admitted in December 2011 to lying in open court and on a search warrant affidavit. Police spokesperson Officer Tanya Little said Hulmes, a member of the Narcotics Strike Force, has been assigned to administrative duties, pending an open Internal Affairs probe. Attorney Guy Sciolla, who represented defendant Arthur Rowland in a drug and gun case in which Hulmes admitted lying, said action should have been taken sooner. “It’s the same thing as closing the barn door after the horse is gone. Why wouldn’t they have done that two years ago?” Hulmes claimed he made the false statements to conceal an informant’s identity. Common Pleas Court Judge James Murray Lynn criticized Hulmes’ lying in a January 2012 ruling and granted a defense motion in the Rowland case that suppressed key evidence. Lynn called Hulmes’ lying “reprehensible,” saying, “You cannot lie to the

[ the naked city ]

judges and expect the judges to do justice.” He also chastised the District Attorney’s Office, saying, “You cannot put an officer on the witness stand who is going to say, ‘I lied to an issuing magistrate.’” The Police Department said on Aug. 5 that it had no knowledge of Hulmes’ testimony before being contacted by City Paper. Members of the District Attorney’s Office, however, were familiar with Hulmes’ admitted perjury. But it is unclear precisely who knew, and when. Prosecutors have continued to call Hulmes to testify in narcotics cases since the judge’s ruling. Defense lawyers say that cases that depended upon his testimony since then may be subject to challenge. And for anyone wrongfully convicted, the city could be forced to pay expensive settlements. (daniel.denvir@citypaper.net)

✚ City Signs Lease for New Urban Oasis <<< continued from page 5

Already, the venture is halfway to its fundraising goal. a lot of sense in an urban neighborhood that lacks outdoor-education opportunities, said Newsom Pastuszek. “It’s a perfect fit,” she said. The joint venture also offers the opportunity to create a continuity of environmental education, starting with elementary school students — Audubon wants to expand its outreach to this group — and moving on to middle and high school students who participate in Outward Bound programs, Newsom Pastuszek said. Between the two organizations, the center could offer environmental education to 10,000 young people every year. Outward Bound will use the new center to promote its goal of developing leadership skills through challenging activities like hiking and canoeing expeditions, and will emphasize the connection between environmental and human health, officials said. Audubon plans to use the center for sciencebased conservation projects, and firsthand observation of the natural world in a location that has been off limits to the public for decades. There will be no entrance fees for wildlife viewing. Keith Russell, Audubon Pennsylvania’s coordi6 | P H I L A D E L P H I A C I T Y PA P E R |

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nator for “Important Bird Areas” within urban regions, said that in its new life, the reservoir will allow the group to manage vegetation and water quality to attract more of the approximately 150 bird species that visit the reservoir at various times of the year. The reservoir, which ceased to be a part of the city water system in the 1950s, is well known for its wintering population of canvasback ducks, he said. The venture is halfway to its fundraising goal after donations from the Allerton and William Penn foundations, and a capitalprojects grant from the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is now stepping up its fundraising for the remainder, with the aim of breaking ground at the end of 2015, Newsom Pastuszek said. She predicted that fundraising will be easier now that the city has signed the lease for the reservoir. (jonhurdle@gmail.com)

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hostilewitness By Daniel Denvir

MAYOR NUTTERâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S SAD MEDIA SPECTACLE Âł MAYOR MICHAEL NUTTER last week mocked

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[ the naked city ]

legislation passed by City Council that would make carrying small quantities of marijuana subject to a $25 fine rather than an arrest. And he mocked its supporters. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Suddenly, this is the great civil rights issue of our day â&#x20AC;&#x201D; that black guys should be allowed to smoke as much dope as they want,â&#x20AC;? Nutter said, according to the Inquirer.â&#x20AC;&#x153;Eighty to 85 percent of the people being murdered in this city are black, 75 percent of them are young black men. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see anyone writing about that. I find all of this sudden interest in the lives of black men by â&#x20AC;Ś some elected officials fascinating. They never talk about the real issues black men care about, like getting a job.â&#x20AC;? A civil rights issue indeed: Eighty-three percent of the 4,314 marijuana-possession arrests made by Philly police in 2013 were of African-Americans. The comments Nutter made showed him at his worst: arrogant, condescending and combative. And particularly so when speaking about poor black people. So goes Nutterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s favored posture, keeping his raised middle finger in sharp focus even as he fades into political obscurity. Do you recall April 2012, when the School District announced its radical â&#x20AC;&#x153;Blueprint for Transformationâ&#x20AC;?? In response to widespread outrage over school closings and privatization, Nutter told critics to â&#x20AC;&#x153;grow up and deal withâ&#x20AC;? it. Or last year, when he basically defended the state of Philly schools to MSNBCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Chris Hayes? But it is on the subject of crime that Nutter excels at being Philadelphiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s stern father. In August 2011, amid the flash-mob commotion, he delivered a sermon decrying absent black fathers as a â&#x20AC;&#x153;human ATMâ&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;sperm donor[s] â&#x20AC;Ś what the girls call out in the street, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s my baby Daddy!â&#x20AC;? And last year, when he appeared on CNN to warn against the â&#x20AC;&#x153;knockout game,â&#x20AC;? host Don Lemon pointed out that it was unclear whether such a game existed. Nutter responded, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not exactly sure whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s real or not.â&#x20AC;? Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s real is that Nutter, a onetime crusader on City Council for police accountability, has never articulated a proposal to strengthen police oversight as mayor â&#x20AC;&#x201D; not even in the wake of the recent tidal wave of federal indictments against Philly narcotics officers accused of being abusive and corrupt. No wonder Nutterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s primary opponent in 2011, former state senator and onetime convict Milton Street, garnered an enormous protest vote in the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s black wards after running a campaign appealing to Phillyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t counts.â&#x20AC;?

By September 2013, Nutterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s approval ratings among black Philadelphians had tumbled to a meager 30 percent. Another 2013 poll found that he had a higher approval rating in the suburbs. It makes you wonder for whom Nutter, famously but quixotically pondering higher office, is performing. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an attitude thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s repeated ad nauseam by this administration and its top law-enforcement officials. In response to the July 31 article I wrote with Ryan Briggs about a police crackdown on small-time crime, Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey lashed out on WHYYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Radio Times. He criticized reporters who donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t â&#x20AC;&#x153;live in one of these communities,â&#x20AC;? but are â&#x20AC;&#x153;writing about it and then going up to Abington [in suburban Montgomery County] to go home where you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to deal with it.â&#x20AC;? The fact is both Ryan

The mayor needs to talk to the â&#x20AC;&#x153;donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t counts.â&#x20AC;? Briggs and I live in West Philly. Nutter spokesperson Mark McDonald quickly followed suit, tweeting that â&#x20AC;&#x153;CP styles this an â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;investigation.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Hardly. Why not interview lots of area residents. CP cites unnamed guy at corner.â&#x20AC;? The guys, plural, who complained of being targeted were unnamed because they asked us not to name them, or they gave us their names but we withheld them because of our concern that they might be mentally ill. Crime is a serious concern on my block, and Nutter and Ramsey should be applauded for overseeing a steep decline in this cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s high murder rate. But the mayor would do well to speak to some of these unnamed men on the corner, the â&#x20AC;&#x153;donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t counts,â&#x20AC;? before he mocks the great civil rights issues of our time. (daniel.denvir@citypaper.net)

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a&e

artsmusicmoviesmayhem

soundadvice By Mary Armstrong

THE REST OF THE FEST “How to Make Friends with Fear Onstage and Off” ³ THE EDUCATIONAL ELEMENT has returned

to the Folk Festival in a big way, and you’ll find participatory workshops are thick among the miniconcerts. Janis Ian, one of the few who has sold big numbers of folk recordings, promises to teach you “How to Make Friends with Fear Onstage and Off” (noon, Saturday). In the not-too-distant past, just about everybody made music for their own entertainment. The Rev. TJ McGlinchey (of Fistful of Sugar, see right) makes reviving that practice part of his ministry. Bring an extra $50 and you’ll leave with a new uke and some rudimentary skills (1 p.m., Friday and Saturday). Or maybe harmonica’s on your bucket list. Forty bucks gets you a basic instrument and lessons with two of the area’s best, Ansel Barnum and Seth Holzman (3 p.m., Sunday). Look for these guys to be prominent in the tribute to blues harp legend Sonny Boy Williamson which follows. Now, let’s talk about the pros that’ll have the whole hillside shimmying. Shemekia Copeland,Tempest and Old Crow Medicine Show are guaranteed to bring out the dancers on Friday. Saturday, count on ReBirth Brass Band to get your blood pumping. On Sunday, check out new acoustic Canadian Celtic-style sleepers Ten Strings and Goat Skin from Prince Edward Island, followed by our own old-time act Orpheus Supertones.Dakha Brakha started as a project of an avant-garde theater troupe in Kiev who learned the old Ukrainian songs then put them to modern dramatic purposes. Sarah Jarosz is a refined mandolin player whose music is based in bluegrass but roves far beyond. As for mainstream bluegrass, the Steep Canyon Rangerssurprise and delight with the way they blend old-school instrumental phrases with modern songs. Two of the best contemporary songwriters close out the festival: Jason Isbell and Loudon Wainwright III. (m_armstrong@citypaper.net) ✚ Philadelphia Folk Festival, Fri-Sun., Aug. 15-17, Old Poole Farm, Upper Salford Township, Pa., 215-247-1300, pfs.org.

STARTING SIX: When A Fistful of Sugar plays the Folk Fest tomorrow, they’ll be 12-strong. LISA SCHAFFER

[ folk festival ]

DIRTY DOZEN A Fistful of Sugar aims to turn the Folk Festival into their playground. By Mary Armstrong

Fistful of Sugar started out as a trio — just Michael Shax, his wife Lisa Watson and their friend Meaghan Kyle — but that didn’t last long. By the time they left the Connie’s Ric Rac stage after playing their first official gig, Philly folk veteran the Rev. TJ McGlinchey emerged from the shadows to say he liked what he saw and wanted in. That was back in 2010. By the time A Fistful of Sugar opens the main stage at the Philadelphia Folk Festival tomorrow, they’ll be 12-strong, with six songwriters and a litany of instruments fleshing out their bluegrass-roots-rock-country-jug-kitchensink sound: fiddle, accordion, ukulele, horns — it’s a long list. “We’ve spent the last few years trying to wrestle our different approaches to the writing and performance into a somewhat cohesive sound, and we’re excited at where this is going,” says Shax. Americana-loving, crate-digging music geeks will relish this band’s inventiveness. You’ll hear flashes of the Lovin’ Spoonful, Even Dozen Jug Band and Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks all over their full-length studio debut, Perspicacity, released earlier this year. A good example of this band’s eclecticism is “Lady Midas,” written by Will Mills, a classically trained fiddler who also plays with Irish punk band Clancy’s Pistol. The song kicks off with a vaguely Eastern European sound

that calls to mind spooky ’30 classic cartoon “Mysterious Mose,” then breaks to a grander section that could be from Kurt Weill, then breaks back. Shax’s “Brother Brother,” meanwhile, is a years-in-the-making rambler that recollects a cross-country drive, polished and perfected from notes scribbled in the margins of his highway atlas. “Three hippie kids bound for Barstow/ Were hitchin’ for a ride …” Obviously, there aren’t a lot of opportunities for a 12-piece band to show its stuff. “Nobody is strictly making it on AFoS,” says Shax, “Everybody has other projects going.” Among them are Watson, Kyle and Jess McDowell’s red-hot No Good Sister, whose impeccable vocal harmonies scored some buzz at last spring’s SXSW. The band’s interests aren’t strictly musical, either, as they’re launching the Folk Fest’s first-ever scavenger hunt. “I was sitting around with [Watson and McDowell] when I tossed out the idea. The floodgates opened! We had three pages of ideas within minutes,” recalls Shax, an avid geocaching enthusiast. The hunt will have music fans trekking across the festival grounds, taking photos, solving riddles and collecting points — all while enjoying the music and exploring the area. (Meet the band in Dulcimer Grove, around 3:30 p.m. on Friday. If you get there late, pick up an instruction sheet from the information center.) (m_armstrong@citypaper.net)

“We’re excited at where this is going.”

✚ A Fistful of Sugar plays the Philadelphia Folk Festival, Main Stage, Fri., Aug. 15, 2:30 p.m. For more info, see left.

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Located on the corner of 2nd and Arch. All PAWS animals are spayed/neutered, vaccinated, and microchipped before adoption. For more information, call 215-238-9901 ext. 30 or email adoptions@phillypaws.org

INVITE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY TO A SPECIAL ADVANCE SCREENING

LOG ON TO SONYSCREENINGS.COM AND ENTER THE CODE: CPAPSTANDSTALL FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN SCREENING PASSES FOR YOU AND YOUR FAMILY THIS FILM IS RATED PG for thematic material, a scene of violence, and brief smoking. Please note: passes received through this promotion do not guarantee you a seat at the theater. Seating is on a first come, first served basis, except for members of the reviewing press. Theater is overbooked to ensure a full house. No admittance once screening has begun. All federal, state and local regulations apply. A recipient of tickets assumes any and all risks related to use of ticket, and accepts any restrictions required by ticket provider. TriStar Pictures, Philadelphia City Paper and their affiliates accept no responsibility or liability in connection with any loss or accident incurred in connection with use of a prize. Tickets cannot be exchanged, transferred or redeemed for cash, in whole or in part. We are not responsible if, for any reason, recipient is unable to use his/her ticket in whole or in part. All federal and local taxes are the responsibility of the winner. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase necessary. Participating sponsors, their employees and family members and their agencies are not eligible. No phone calls!

IN THEATERS AUGUST 22 @WTGST #StandTall Facebook.com/WhenTheGameStandsTall WhenTheGameStandsTall.com

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curtaincall

[ arts & entertainment ]

By Mark Cofta

IN A GLASS HOUSE ³ SUMMER IN PHILADELPHIA is becoming not just

Shakespeare season, but the time for classics, as demonstrated by GoKash Productions’ Death of a Salesman (through Sunday) and Commonwealth Classic Theatre Company’s The Glass Menagerie. The latter, Tennessee Williams’ first big success, receives an enjoyable — albeit puzzling — revival directed by Joshua Browns in the suitably intimate Off Broad Street Theatre. Enjoyable, because the performances are clear and sincere, led by Allen Radway’s Tom. He’s great at reacting as Tom in the moment — trapped with his mother and sister in their small apartment — and simultaneously watching from the future, haunted by memories. E. Ashley Izard gives a focused, restrained performance as Tom’s overbearing mother Amanda, but Isa St. Clair overplays sister Laura’s crippling shyness and fear while Laura’s actual limp is no impediment to dashing around the stage. Jamison Foreman’s Gentleman Caller, whom Tom calls the play’s most realistic character, is detailed and believable. Puzzling, because the production lacks the

magic and poetry of Williams’ words. “Being a memory play,” Tom says early on, “it is dimly lighted, it is sentimental, it is not realistic. In memory, everything seems to happen to music.” This production feels tethered to bleak reality. Laura’s titular glass figurines receive no special light, and the nightclub beckoning Tom is feebly suggested by a pulsing red special. The play’s too good to suffer from CCTC’s muted approach, and rejecting Williams’ invitation to portray the memories that haunt Tom when, years later, he sees “pieces of colored glass ... like bits of a shattered rainbow” feels like a missed opportunity. (mark.cofta@citypaper.net) ✚ Through Aug. 24, $20, Commonwealth Classic Theatre Company at the Off Broad Street Theatre, 1636 Sansom St., 610-202-7878, commonwealthclassictheatre.org.

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WE WANT YOUR PHOTOS

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FILMS ARE GRADED BY CITY PAPER CRITICS A-F.

Show us your Philly. Submit photos of the City of Brotherly Love, however you see it, at photostream@ citypaper.net and we’ll publish the best in each week’s paper and online.

“An INVENTIVE WHODUNIT With a PITCH-BLACK HEART.” Rodrigo Perez, INDIEWIRE

“One Of The Year’s Most Powerful Films.

BRENDAN GLEESON Is MAGNIFICENT.” Kyle Smith, NEW YORK POST

Land Ho!

✚ NEW THE EXPENDABLES 3 Read Drew Lazor’s review at citypaper.net/movies. (Wide release)

THE GIVER | C

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It’s almost comical how much YA juggernauts like The Hunger Games and Divergent owe to Lois Lowry’s The Giver, the prototype for every “big-dreamin’ teens in fucked-up future” novel on the shelves. Lowry’s Newbery-winning 1993 book has long been admired and respected by the library set, so it’s disappointing that its long-awaited adaptation plays it so safe, struggling to fit in with the glitzy copycats it begat. In a carefully calibrated world free from suffering, hatred and oppression, Jonas (Brenton Thwaites) and his classmates complete their secondary schooling and are matched with vocations that speak to their personal strengths. (Sound familiar?) Jonas, who possesses a rare mix of attributes, is selected to become the new “Receiver of Memories,” a walking archive of human history — including all the messed-up stuff from which everyone else has been conveniently shielded. As the current Receiver (Jeff Bridges) fills his protégé’s head with the bad, Jonas begins realizing he’s also been deprived of all the good wrought by raw emotion, forcing him to make some difficult decisions on behalf of a society stunted by overreach. Aside from the playful, Instagram-like way director Phillip Noyce transitions between flat black-and-white and hot color a la Pleasantville, The Giver and the people populating it are remarkably bland, dragged laterally over a timeline that telegraphs its every twist in advance. The cast seems more

concerned with keeping up with the dystopian Joneses than telling the story that predated the competition. Even Meryl Streep, as the status quo-maintaining Chief Elder, is so complacent she’s nearly napping her way through it. —Drew Lazor (Wide release)

LAND HO! | B+ A well-worn genre is brought to bottomlessly charming life by Aaron Katz and Martha Stephens, who send mismatched codgers Paul Eenhoorn and Earl Lynn Nelson on a road trip through Iceland. Eenhoorn, last seen in the quietly moving This Is Martin Bonner, plays peevish and uptight without passing on his annoyances to the viewer, but the movie’s real star is Nelson, a foul-mouthed plastic surgeon whose only acting roles have been in Stephens’ few films. (She’s his second cousin, and about four decades his junior.) Were it not for the gusto with which Nelson approaches his role as a retired doctor, his character could easily come off as a caricature, a dirty old man who funnels his desires into everything but sex. (When the two stop by an exhibition of vaguely suggestive art, he doesn’t hesitate to bring the subtext to the surface.) But you gradually develop the sense that the character is a put-on as well, or at least a deliberate externalization: He’s using his age to get away with things he’s wanted to say his whole life. Eenhoorn, by contrast, is still swimming in worries, bedeviled by debt and professional dead ends, but his unexpected weakness for Jim Carrey movies hints at a playful side that’s just waiting for a chance to be seen. (No points for guessing if it does.) Land Ho! doesn’t reinvent the wheel: The scenes where its two protagonists pick up up much younger women and smoke a little weed are like low-key

riffs on the likes of Last Vegas. But the movie’s more tender than it is crass: The aforementioned pickup, which includes Nelson playfully leering at his much younger cousin (Karrie Crouse), is purely platonic, just a case of two older men flexing their muscles to make sure they’re still there. It’s a warm soak rather than a squirt in the eye. —Sam Adams (Ritz at the Bourse)

✚ CONTINUING BOYHOOD | A With Boyhood, director Richard Linklater proves himself to to be an insightful chronicler of the changes wrought by time on a relationship as he shows one young boy’s growth and maturation over the course of nearly three hours. Linklater’s unconventional approach — filming a short segment each year for 12 years — has been wellpublicized, but in practice it never feels like a gimmick. The focus is on Mason (Ellar Coltrane), who is introduced as a 6-year-old pondering the heavens to a Coldplay soundtrack and exits as an 18-year-old college freshman. His round, chubby face takes on angular definition and his inquisitive boyishness sharpens into an actual personality. But we watch his family age and grow as well. His older sister Samantha, played by the director’s daughter Lorelei, goes from teasing annoyance to jaded teenager to thoughtful young woman. Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke appear as Mason’s divorced parents, who reluctantly settle into maturity, their lessdramatic physical changes showing the burdens and wear of time. As we check in on their progress, what we see are not necessarily the most dramatic moments; crucial events unfold offscreen and banalties accumulate. If nothing in Mason’s experience is particularly novel, it’s stunning to watch how the same truths become new discoveries in each person’s life. —Shaun Brady (Ritz Five) CALVARY | B Director John Michael McDonagh reteams with star Brendan Gleeson for Calvary, where the laughs come with an almost overpoweringly bitter aftertaste.The film begins in the confession booth, where Father James Lavelle (Gleeson) is confronted by a victim of childhood sexual abuse who declares his intention to kill Lavelle a week later, as murdering a good priest would make a stronger statement than vindictively killing a bad one. Lavelle spends the next several days attending to his parishioners as he grapples with how to deal with his impending doom.

He is well aware of his determined murderer, even as he refuses to disclose that identity to the local bishop, the would-be killer or the audience. Like Gleeson’s character in The Guard, a substance-addled cop who ultimately does the right thing, Father Lavelle is a deeply flawed character with good intentions. He’s accepting of his wayward flock even as he grows bitterly angry at their resistance to his ministrations. Gleeson is adept at sketching a character’s history with just a few reactions, so that even those townsfolk who only appear for a scene or two are given a life and a history. Unfortunately, McDonagh doesn’t draw them quite so deeply, embodying arguments rather than inventing characters, so that ultimately the film becomes a schematic argument about redemption and forgiveness rather than a fully fleshed-out story. —SB (Ritz Five)

MAGIC IN THE MOONLIGHT | C+ Magic in the Moonlight isn’t Woody Allen’s worst movie, but it’s one of his least necessary, the kind that could be wiped from the world’s hard drives without anyone raising much of a stink. Disappearing, as it turns out, is a speciality of Stanley (Colin Firth), a magician who beguiles audiences in between-the-wars Europe with his tricks under the guise of the “Oriental” conjurer Wei Ling Soo. Despite the deception inherent in his profession, Stanley is obsessed with unmasking the deceptions of others, especially spiritualists like the American Sophie (Emma Stone), who’s entranced a British dowager (Jacki Weaver) by conveying messages from her late husband. At some point, it becomes clear that Magic in the Moonlight is meant to be a romance, despite the evident lack of chemistry between its stars and the fact that Stanley’s behavior merits nothing so much as a swift kick in the balls. Firth finds the character’s sympathetic corners, especially when Allen suggests that his antipathy to those who claim a connection to the unseen world is rooted in a deep desire to believe. But at its core, the movie seems to think that a man treating a woman with cruelty and disdain is reason enough to fall for him, which would be revolting if it were put forth with any conviction. —SA (Ritz Five)

MOOD INDIGO | C+ By the time Michel Gondry’s director credit appears at the beginning of Mood Indigo, viewers may already feel like they’ve binge-watched a season’s worth of Pee-wee’s Playhouse while listening to every track on a

Duke Ellington box set. The whimsy is unrelenting in Gondry’s adaptation of Boris Vian’s novel L’Écume des jours, and while the director’s prodigious visual imagination can lead to some delightful surprises, the accumulation here is akin to a cocaine-force sugar rush. There’s less plot than in your average fairy tale: Independently wealthy Colin (Romain Duris) meets and instantly falls in love with Chloé (Audrey Tatou), but their gleeful romance is interrupted when she falls ill. Gondry crams the empty spaces around that meager story with inventive confections, blending the retrofuturism of Brazil with the gamine preciousness of Amélie. The crush of madcap trifles becomes so overwhelming that its residue masks the tonal shift when Chloé’s disease begins to blanch the film of color and life, accompanying the final moments with a sigh of exhausted relief rather than a moan of grief. —SB (Ritz at the Bourse)

a quirky animator with compatible senses of curiosity and humor — perfect for him, but committed to longtime boyfriend Ben (Rafe Spall), who, of course, is a dick. The When Harry Met Sally school of platonic gender relations is cited early and often, with all the expected “will they?” moments and advice-bestowing besties. But even though the bones aren’t fresh, the spirit and sentiment is. Radcliffe nails the malaise of the rudderless urban twentysomething with detail and dimension, while Kazan, who needs to be a bigger star, is the saving-grace acquaintance we all want to make at the stuffy cocktail party. The tension when they’re together is as intellectual as it is sexual, and that makes it damn believable. —DL (Ritz East)

A MOST WANTED MAN | A-

International House, 3701 Chestnut St., 215-387-5125, ihousephilly.org. Eroica (1957, 85 min.): Two stories of questionable heroism in World War II Poland. Thu., Aug. 14, 7 p.m., $9. Ashes & Diamonds (1958, 103 min.),

Anton Corbijn’s moody Le Carré adaptation gains inevitable, and almost unbearable, poignancy from featuring one of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s final performances. But had he never played a role other than Günther Bachmann, he would still have been one of his generation’s greatest actors. Günther, whom Hoffman plays with a heavy German accent and a heavier weight on his shoulders, is the head of a secret German intelligence unit that operates in the moral and legal netherworld. Although A Most Wanted Man is set in the present, Corbijn strands the film in a gray nowhere, the better to depict a landscape that no one, least of all Günther, knows how to navigate. The plot, which involves tracking down a Chechen militant who may have trained with Islamic terrorists, is relatively low stakes by espionagethriller standards, but that’s entirely to the point: What changes there are to be made will be small, and even those will come at a cost. The drama is about personal integrity and trust, not ticking bombs and rogue nukes. Though there’s not a shot fired or a body dumped, it’s still thrilling, because Günther’s struggle is never farther away than Hoffman’s magnificently worn face. —SA (Ritz East)

✚ SPECIAL SCREENINGS MARTIN SCORSESE PRESENTS MASTERPIECES OF POLISH CINEMA

[ movie shorts ]

The Last Day of Summer (1958, 61

min.): A frequent best-film-list topper starring a European James Dean, and a low-budget drama that somehow nabbed the documentary prize at Venice. Fri., Aug. 15, 7 p.m., $9. Night Train (1959, 98 min.): A claustrophobia-inducing hunt for a murderer on a train. Sat., Aug. 16, 2 p.m., $9. Mother Joan of the Angels (1960, 110 min.): After the priest at a small convent is burned at the stake for demonic possession, hysterical nuns are left to fend for themselves. Sat., Aug. 16, 5 p.m., $9. Jump (1965, 104 min.): A man leaps from a train and tells imaginative stories to the inhabitants of a nearby town. Sat., Aug. 16, 8 p.m., $9. Pharaoh (1966, 152 min.): The uncut version of a historical epic set in ancient Egypt. Wed., Aug. 20, 7 p.m., $9.

citypaper.net/events

WHAT IF | B+ Sad-sack med-school dropout Wallace (Daniel Radcliffe) drags through dayto-day life in Toronto, directionless since breaking up with his disloyal ex. Then he meets Chantry (Zoe Kazan),

IN THEATERS EVERYWHERE AUGUST 15 C I T Y PA P E R . N E T | A U G U S T 1 4 - A U G U S T 2 0 , 2 0 1 4 | P H I L A D E L P H I A C I T Y PA P E R |

events LISTINGS@CITYPAPER.NET | AUGUST 14 - AUGUST 20

[ the casualties could be your hearts and souls ]

QUACK IN TIME: Delorean plays Morgan’s Pier tonight. NACHO ALEGRE

Events is our selective guide to what’s going on in the city this week. For comprehensive event listings, visit citypaper.net/events. IF YOU WANT TO BE LISTED: Submit information by email (listings@ citypaper.net) or enter it yourself at citypaper.net/submit-event with the following details: date, time, address of venue, telephone number and admission price. Incomplete submissions will not be considered, and listings information will not be accepted over the phone.

8.14

thursday [ comedy ]

CURSES! $5 | Thu., Aug. 14, 8 p.m., PhilaMOCA, 531 N. 12th St., philamoca.org. If you wanna know how Philly comedian Alex Grubard ended up hosting an obscenity-laden game show, look to his childhood. “When I first learned swear words as a little kid I 20 | P H I L A D E L P H I A C I T Y PA P E R |

had a swear jar for my parents and with the money I bought a Super Nintendo,” he says. “Then when I started swearing at 9 no one cared to charge me any money. It was damn near encouraged.” Now, fast forward to this Thursday at PhilaMOCA, where Grubard will lead Curses!, which is being billed as the “filthiest game show since The Newlywed Game.” Local comics and storytellers Hillary Rea, Mike Rainey and Trey Galyon will attempt to outclass each other in reverse while trying to win possibly fabulous prizes for their chosen audience members. The answers will demand the contestants to violate all the common-sense decency instilled in us by our moms, the FCC and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). “There’s no sexual penetration so I don’t think it’d get an NC-17 unless an MPAA rater had a vendetta against us,” figures

Grubard. “We’re going to have a lot more than one ‘fuck’ in the show though, so it has to be rated R.” —Patrick Rapa

They should sound sweet on a breezy August night by the water. —A.D. Amorosi

[ rock/pop ] [ rock/pop/electronic ]

DELOREAN FREE WITH RESERVATION | Thu., Aug. 14, 9 p.m., with City Rain, Morgan’s Pier, 221 N. Columbus Blvd., 215-279-7134, r5productions.com. Give Animal Collective a Spanish accent, and you could have Delorean, the toast of Barcelona with its mix of electro-dance vibes (Balearic house division) and cluttered, indie-pop sounds. There are no signature hits or elaborate marketing schemes to make Delorean flashy; the now 14-year-old ensemble led by vocalist/bassist Ekhi Lopetegi has had to rely on some sturdy, diverse-sounding albums, remix projects and EPs within the electronic-groove genre to make their reputation.

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TIM MOTZER $10 | Thu., Aug. 14, 9 p.m., Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 215-739-9684, johnnybrendas.com. When Philadelphia guitarist Tim Motzer hosts a record party, the question is always “which record?” The Fripp-like six-stringer — and collaborator to Jaki Liebezeit, David Sylvian, King Britt, etc. — is constantly releasing quality albums on his 1K label. This spring, the prolific Motzer dropped his band Bandit 65’s eponymous debut (with Kurt Rosenwinkel and Gintas Janusonis) and Nascal from his Goldbug quartet (with Theo Travis, Eric Slick and Barry Meehan) is due out soon. Best guess about this August night? Motzer will probably focus on his lustrous

solo album, Live From Stars End, a softly note-bending affair full of dark breezy atmospheres with a cover designed by the concert’s visual support Dejha Ti. —A.D. Amorosi

[ reading/signing ]

MARIE-HELENE BERTINO FREE | Thu., Aug. 14, 7 p.m., Barnes & Noble, 1805 Walnut St., 215-6650716, barnesandnoble.com. The Philly-born, Brooklynbased author of the acclaimed new novel, 2 A.M. at the Cat’s Pajamas (Crown), returns home for a reading and signing at Barnes & Noble tonight. The former One Story associate editor’s short story collection, Safe as Houses, won the 2012 Iowa Short Fiction Prize and the Pushcart Prize. Cat’s Pajamas — in the novel, the name of a fictional Fishtown jazz club — follows three characters on a magical Christmas Eve eve (meaning Dec. 23).

Philadelphia is “a city of contradictions,” Bertino says, “a city of storytellers,” and admits that, “in Philly terms, I am a traitor, because I live in New York now.” The loving way she portrays her birthplace in her debut novel, 11 years in the making, should allow us to forgive her. —Mark Cofta

8.15 friday

[ film/reading ]

RICHARD BARRIOS/ FUNNY FACE $20-$25 | Fri., Aug. 15, 6 p.m., William Way Community Center, 1315 Spruce St., 215-587-9377, thesecretcinema.com. Secret Cinema returns this week to the Gayborhood with a stunning 35 mm print of Funny Face in tow. As part of the 15th annual AIDS Law Project Sum-

FRIDAY.

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mer Movie Musical Party, the 1957 Audrey Hepburn musical will be screened thanks to cinephile curator Jay Schwartz, who also brings with him a very special guest — noted film historian Richard Barrios. This author’s new work, Dangerous Rhythm: Why Movie Musicals Matter (Oxford University Press), surveys the Old Hollywood landscape that made this evening’s Fred Astaire masterpiece possible. Barrios’ work also explores earlier musicals, ducking back to the first (The Jazz Singer), the genre’s flops (Jolson’s Say It With Songs), the charms of Maurice Chevalier and even the Village People’s musical vehicle, Can’t Stop the Music. Now that’s a book. —A.D. Amorosi

[ rock/pop ]

BITBY SUMMER SOUNDS $8 | Fri., Aug. 15, 7 p.m., with Commonwealth Choir, Pine Barons, Air Is Human, Shorty Boy-Boy, Weekender, Sad Actor and Mark Lanky, TLA, 334 South St., 215-9221011, livenation.com, bitby.tv. Bands in the Backyard (BITBY) is still professing its love for the modern sounds of the Philadelphia area the only way it knows how: by putting on shows. On Friday, however, they’re ditching the improvised ambiance of a backyard in favor of the TLA’s rock ’n’ roll largesse.

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[ events ]

The lineup is a strong one, too, including sweetly rocking Commonwealth Choir and rad little psychedelic rascals the Pine Barons. —Patrick Rapa

8.16

saturday [ comedy ]

FUNNY OR DIE ODDBALL FESTIVAL $20-$120 | Sat., Aug. 16, 5 p.m., Susquehanna Bank Center, 1 Harbour Blvd., Camden, N.J., 856365-1300, oddballfest.com. A peek at the #OddballFest hashtag on Twitter tells you a lot of what you’ll need to know when purchasing tickets for this compendium of comedy — as if you’d have any doubts with Louis C.K. and Sarah Silverman on the roster. Chris Hardwick, after the Charlotte, N.C. show tweeted, “SOOOOOO that’s what telling dick jokes to 10,000 people feels like,” and Twix, apparently a festival sponsor, says the candy is “the one tasteful thing at #OddballFest.” The comedians on the lineup are sure to be exhausted, as the tour has been on since

[ events ]

thegrumpylibrarian Caitlin Goodman tells you what to read

s LOVED: Edward St. Aubyn, The Patrick Melrose Novels s LOVED: Teju Cole, Open City HATED: Elizabeth Strout, Olive Kitteridge ³ Recommendation:A series of educated guesses: You eat lunch on a bench in a public park at least once a week. You’ve gotten into at least one argument about how smartphones these days remove you from the Real Life Out There. You have a Kindle, but you only load it with library books. How’d the Grumpy Librarian do? Has she found a new calling, or should she just stick to book recommendations? Oh, for a lover of sardonic memoir-ish fiction about the complications of connection, the bookstore is your oyster. A nice big doorstopper of a bad time is Jonathan Littell’s The Kindly Ones (2009), the fictional autobiography of an SS officer recollecting the little bureaucracies of war. Or you could go with The Kindly One’s nonfiction second cousin, Günter Grass’ 2006 memoir Peeling the Onion, an oblique investigation of memory (and also sort of his “surprise, and sorry!” about the SS thing). Or you could go with that Karl Ove Knausgaard fellow everyone’s nattering on about — but you probably own My Struggle already, don’t you? No Updike though: The GL thinks you’ve had quite enough of that sort of thing. (grumpylibrarian@citypaper.net) Send the Grumpy Librarian two books you like and one you hate and she’ll tell you what to read.

Aug. 8 and ends Sept. 21 in Austin. The set list rotates, and the SBC crowd will miss out on headliners Aziz Ansari, Amy Schumer and Jim Gaffigan — don’t worry, Jim’s at the Borgata Aug. 16, Aziz is at the Wells Fargo Center Sept. 26 and Amy’s at the Borgata Oct. 11 — but if it’s any consolation, C.K.’s the one to see, and is sure to deliver on the tastelessness/oddball promises. He’s riffed on the gradual loosening of his asshole with age in his most recent standup special, after all. But considering what’s off limits in his sets (nothing), would that even be considered odd? —Mikala Jamison

[ rap ]

DRILLADELPHIA $25 | Sat., Aug. 16, 8 p.m., with DJ Solo, District N9NE, 460 N. Ninth St., 215-769-2780, districtn9ne.com. The crowded Drilladelphia marquee features local rapper Asaad, who, looking to revive the career he seemingly walked out on, returned earlier this year with Flowers II and all of his prodigious talent intact. Then there are two stars of the Chicago drill scene: its OG, King Louie, and Drillary Clinton herself, Katie Got Bandz. One of the scene’s most pleasant surprises is that the female MCs are treated as equals C I T Y PA P E R . N E T | A U G U S T 1 4 - A U G U S T 2 0 , 2 0 1 4 | P H I L A D E L P H I A C I T Y PA P E R |

[ rock/pop ]

SHADY HAWKINS/ BAD CANOES $7 | Sat., Aug. 16, 6 p.m., with Downtown Boys, Mighty Paradocs, The Kominas, JJX and Haram, Boot & Saddle, 1131 S. Broad St., 267-6394528, bootandsaddlephilly.com. Consider this your nice price/ super saver show of the week. Seven bucks. Seven bands. Headliners/politically-active witches Shady Hawkins will earn their keep; they’ve been a gnarly, snarling presence in the D.I.Y. scene since 2010. Bad Canoes — fronted by Marissa Paternoster of Screaming Females — is guaranteed to bring it, too. Don’t know much about Downtown Boys, but “bilingual political sax dance punk party from Providence”

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[ events ]

sounds pretty damn promising. —Patrick Rapa

8.20

wednesday [ rock/pop ]

SPIDER BAGS/NO OTHER

$10 | Wed., Aug. 20, 8:30 p.m., with Tygaton, Boot & Saddle, 1131 S. Broad St., 267-639-4528, bootandsaddlephilly.com. Why do so many garage rock bands sound so neat and tidy? Spider Bags (pictured) are more like actual garages: greasy, gross in the corners and generally messy — because dirty work is getting done. Frozen Letter, just released on Merge Records, is heavy with riffs and thick with vena cava guitar solos that take root in the middle of most songs and carry things out to the finish. “Back With You Again in the World” is the feel-good, fist-pumping single, but for a sense of Spider Bags’ paranoid braininess, check out “Chem Trails,” where layer

after layer of swooping, swirling noises conspire to consume the melody (but never quite do). Be smart and show up early on Wednesday for the high-energy guitar-pop of Philly’s No Other. JEREMY M. LANGE

(check King L and Katie’s crimeis-a-good-time music video for “Pop Out”). Which is a matter of practicality if violence and survival are the order of the day. The trigger yields to both genders, the wasteland spares neither. —Dotun Akintoye

Maria Sciarrino and co. should be pretty fired up after taking most of the summer off. Look for a new single from them next month on Negative Fun records. —Patrick Rapa

citypaper.net/events

f&d

foodanddrink

feedingfrenzy By Caroline Russock

COOKNSOLO

³ NOW SEATING

The Yachtsman | There was a time when you didn’t have to look too far for a Volcano bowl, Zombie cocktail or thatched tiki bar in Philly. But since the closing of Kona Kai on City Line Avenue in the late ’80s, the city has been sadly bereft of tropical drinks and tiki vibes. Happily, fans of all things tropical primitive once again have a place to indulge in fruit-forward, rum-based drinks. Say aloha to The Yachtsman, a Fishtown tiki escape that is brought to you by Tommy Up of PYT and Phoebe Esmon and Christian Gaal of Emmanuelle. Mon.-Fri., 4 p.m.-2 a.m.; Sat.-Sun., noon-2 a.m.; 1444 Frankford Ave., 267-251-3234, yachtsmanbar.com. Dizengoff | The hummus at Zahav is a thing of beauty. Now, with the opening of Dizengoff, Mike Solomonov and Steve Cook’s Sansom Street hummusiya, that hummus is going to be available west of Broad Street. Made fresh several times a day and served with straight-out-of-the-oven pita and a rotating selection of seasonal salatim (vegetable sides), the hummus can be ordered with toppings like locally made Soom tahina and ground lamb with cardamom and pistachio. Daily,10:30 a.m.-sell out; 1605 Sansom St., dizengoffphilly.com. ³ LOOKING FORWARD

Big news from the Vetri group this week. Lo Spiedo, the soon-to-open Navy Yard restaurant, has named current Osteria sous Scott Calhoun chef de cuisine. It looks like Pizzeria Vetri is going to be opening a satellite at Lincoln Financial Field. In other opening news, Michael Schulson has plans to open a sushi-and-robata concept with Izakaya chef Kevin Yanaga in Midtown Village. Got A Tip? Please send restaurant news to restaurants@ citypaper.net or call 215-735-8444, ext. 207.

MODERN RANCH: Independence Beer Garden is doing bar bites and craft beer with historic views. MARK STEHLE

[ review ]

GARDEN VARIETY At Independence Beer Garden, a democratic menu of bar fare. By Adam Erace INDEPENDENCE BEER GARDEN| 100 S. Independence Mall W., 215-922-7100, phlbeergarden.com. Sun.-Mon., 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Tue.-Thu., 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 11 a.m.-midnight. Appetizers, $5-$8; entrees, $8$14; desserts, $3.

ichael Schulson is all over the place, geographically and stylistically. The chef and restaurateur counts Izakaya in Atlantic City (Japanese), Sampan on 13th Street (panAsian) and the St. James in Ardmore (American) among his ventures. This summer, he added a beer garden to his portfolio. The aptly named Independence Beer Garden sits across from the Liberty Bell’s lawn, occupying the front patio and cavernous central plaza of the historic Dow (formerly Rohm and Haas) building. In July, the empty area was transformed with picnic tables, plants and a pair of bars stocked with watermelon sangria. The gun-metal-gray shipping container that’s set way back houses the kitchen, the purview of chef Travis Masar. The Colorado native relocated here from Denver during the airing of Top Chef Season 11, where he competed alongside homeboy Nick Elmi. Masar’s boyfriend was already here to attend law school, “and it made sense to

try out Philly,” he says. “I wanted a change of scenery.” A friend connected Masar with Schulson, who was looking for a chef at Sampan. Schulson remembers Masar being late for his tasting audition: “I wanted to hate him, but he did a really nice job,” Schulson says. Masar got the gig — and six months later Schulson tapped him for the new beer-garden project. Masar remembers it this way: “He told me we just had to keep it American.” You might think it would be difficult for a chef who’s spent the past few years immersed in Asian food — he opened Uncle, “Denver’s version of Cheu Noodle Bar,” before coming to Philly — to switch gears like that. But Masar said, “growing up in Southeastern Colorado, in what I consider the Midwest, it came easier for me than you’d think. I had to take a minute to remember the classics I grew up with, but the menu developed to include some things I loved as a kid.” Like white gravy, flavored generously with rosemary and splotched over slender, prefab fries and cheese curds for an American take on poutine. And ranch dressing. “Ranch went on everything,” he says. “Salads, pizza. … I grew up with ranch with my wings instead of blue cheese.” And that’s how the crispy, twice-fried, chipotle-honey Buffalo wings come at IBG, only instead of importing the dressing from Hidden Valley, Masar makes his own, folding cucumber and fresh dill into the tangy buttermilk base.