DVD Review

With the recent Oscar win and upcoming DVD release of The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, you may want to do some springtime repairs and make sure your Middle Earth multimedia is up to date. Aside from the books, soundtracks, tcho

• by Marty Demarest

Quotes & amp;amp; Notes

Exporting Passion -- Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ is a huge success in the Middle East, where it's been filling theaters since its premiere last week. In a region where anti-Israeli feelings are on a constant simmer, the news a

• by Inlander Staff

Greed is Good

Exulting in the limelight, commanding thunder and lightning to do his bidding, a man glories in thoughts of revenge. The first act of director Michael Weaver's production of The Miser on Spokane Civic Theater's Main Stage (through April 2

• by Michael Bowen

Words with Kurt Vonnegut

Has the President ever read Vonnegut? Is a well-loved paperback copy of Slaughterhouse-Five moldering away somewhere in his box of Yale memories? Somehow, I can't see it. Kurt Vonnegut Jr. is one of most beloved and widely read American a

• by Mike Corrigan

Letters to the Editor

Oh My, Oh Mullet! -- Amy Sinisterra truly warmed my heart with her Best Of mullet article, "Best Place For Mullet Watching" (3/25/04). Mullets really are a tragedy. They're not right; in fact, they are just pure wrong. I mean, mullet

• by Inlander Readers

Recently Reviewed

the Old Spaghetti Factory -- The Factory has been serving up steaming plates of pasta for 34 years to everyone -- older couples, teenagers dressed up for formal dances, families, and entire teams in matching jerseys. Entrees include the f

• by Inlander Staff

Get Lit Guide

Borders presents Northwest Fiction Greats North Division Borders Teri Hein grew up on some of the most idyllic farmland to be found anywhere in the Palouse, yet many of her neighbors and her own father struggled with recurrent bo

• by n/a

Silence and Story

Artists don't need to talk. I don't want to know about their childhoods, or how their art relates to their travels and experiences. It's hard enough coming to terms with how art interacts with our -- the viewer's -- life. Anything else you

• by Marty Demarest

Learning from 9/11

Condoleeza Rice will come before the 9/11 Commission with a fully prepared and rehearsed revisionist script. She will say that the Bush administration didn't underestimate Al Qaeda and that terrorism was high on their agenda. She will say

• by Robert Herold

It Came From the '80s

I've got this old Berlin song in my head. It pops in there every time I think about the Metro Caf & eacute;. Not that the Metro Caf & eacute; has anything at all to do with early-'80s synth-pop. It's just that... wait. Maybe there is a connection after all.

• by Mike Corrigan

Garrison Keiller

Get Lit! will provide Spokane with a host of opportunities to hobnob with literary giants. But few of those figures will be as familiar in aspect and voice as Garrison Keillor. With his fuzzy caterpillar eyebrows, ironic smile, and tradem

• by Kris Dinnison

Sarah Vowell

Sarah Vowell is mad at me. I've just told her that despite being called "cranky," "querulous" and, by her own admission, "partly cloudy" (from the title of her last book, The Partly Cloudy Patriot), she seems incredibly sweet and nice.

• by Marty Demarest

Opening Films

The Alamo -- Forget the Alamo. Only the most devoted of Texas history buffs should bother to be irritated by this slashed-down epic that seems not to have any special reason for hanging around. With Billy Bob Thornton as Davey Crockett,

• by Inlander Staff

Game Review

Here's the problem with first-person shooter games: You can only play one of them. The problem doesn't stem from the basic elements of these games. Those are pretty simple. You run around viewing what your character views; you avoid enem

• by Marty Demarest

Hot Tickets

Just three years ago, Mel Brooks' blockbuster show, The Producers, debuted on Broadway, garnering 12 Tony awards and smashing attendance records. The show is still one of New York's hottest tickets, but now local musical theater buffs ge

• by Ann Colford

Now Playing

50 First Dates -- Drew Barrymore has genuine sparks with a (surprisingly) sweet Adam Sandler. But neither of them brings any sense of character to this story about a relationship that must start anew each day due to Barrymore's short-ter

• by Inlander Staff

Dave Barry

Literary genius? No. Master of the Pen? Depends on who you ask. While he may not have been his English teacher's dream pupil, Dave Barry is a damn good writer -- and isn't that what the Get Lit! festival is all about? It's a party for great

• by Leah Sottile

Here's to You, Mr. Vonnegut

I first met Kurt Vonnegut in my junior high school library in 1977. Already swollen with pre-teen literary ambitions, I was scouting the spot my future novels would be filed; this happened to be right after Vonnegut. So I picked up his Bre

• by Jess Walter

Forget The Alamo

The Alamo is a battleground, but I don't know if it's bloodier in front of or behind the camera. The current incarnation began as a dream project for Ron Howard: an epic three-hour awards grab, pushing the R rating for a war movie further th

• by Ray Pride

Buzz Bin

Big Bad Sue -- Do you ever think about how much liquid could fit inside of your head? Probably not -- and it's likely that Sue didn't either. Sue was a big lady, too. But, in fact, her head could only hold about a quart of milk (or soda,

• by Inlander Staff

Harvey Pekar

Harvey Pekar is one of those names that sounds sort of familiar, but maybe you can't quite figure out why. Chances are, if you were a big fan of Late Night With David Letterman back in the day, or if you recognize the name R. Crumb, or if y

• by Sheri Boggs

Under Contract

You've no doubt noticed your cable rates going up. It's happening to everyone. According to the Consumer's Union, the nonprofit that publishes Consumer Reports, cable rates have skyrocketed 53 percent since the 1996 Telecommunications Act

• by Cara Gardner

CD Review

Symphony conductors determine the program for an evening -- why not let recording soloists do the same? On Credo, her first Deutsche Grammophon release, French pianist Helene Grimaud has assembled a conversation about faith -- about the te

• by Michael Bowen

The Great American Activity

Here's a riddle for you: 98 percent of American households have one. By the time most American children enter kindergarten, they have spent more hours doing this than they will spend in college classrooms getting a degree. In fact, accordi

• by Cara Gardner

Reviewing the Facts

After a relatively River Park Square-free few months in the local media, the story that has defined Spokane for nearly a decade is back in a big way. Last week, Mayor Jim West unveiled a plan to possibly head off, or at least alter

• by Ted S. McGregor Jr.

Public TV?

More than seven years ago, the City of Spokane used an emergency ordinance to join the River Park Square public private partnership in order to "save downtown," as public officials put it at the time. Now a new set of public officials may

• by Cara Gardner

Men and The Media

Most parents try to protect their children as much as possible from acts of violence. They would never, for example, let one person come into their house and brutally attack another in front of their children, but kids see these things wit

• by Cara Gardner

In Brief

Cross Steps Down -- SPOKANE -- On time and on budget -- that could very well be the new slogan for the Public Facilities District (PFD), the entity that's in charge of building the convention center expansion. The PFD Board has lost a few

• by Pia K. Hansen

Rock's Commander in Chief

Eight o'clock is early. Eight o'clock is usually when my cat is pawing at my face begging for food. Its when I hear the first drop of liquid caffeine hit the bottom of the glass carafe, and its when I sit on my couch for 1