Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/45019
All Hail Pearl Jam TV by DEAN ROBBINS I prefer Nirvana to Pearl Jam, but now Pearl Jam has something its Seattle rivals don't: a career-capping documentary by a brilliant filmmaker. American Masters' "Pearl Jam Twenty" (Friday, 10 p.m., PBS) was directed by Cameron Crowe, known for Jerry Maguire and Say Anything, as well as his side career as a Rolling Stone music jour- nalist. Crowe does justice to 1990s grunge with ferocity and wit, put- ting as much creative energy into his art as Pearl Jam does into theirs. Compare "Pearl Jam Twenty" to "Prohibition," the recent docu- mentary by PBS mainstay Ken Burns. Burns' subject has similarly juicy elements — gangsters, flappers, jazz, misbehavior on a mass scale — but he opted for his usual plodding approach. The camera pans left over a still photograph; the camera pans right over a still photograph. Anybody want to join me in a letter-writing campaign to replace Ken Burns with Cameron Crowe as PBS's house documentarian? Once Upon a Time Sunday, 8 pm (ABC) This new drama begins in old-time puffy-sleeve fairytale world with the wedding of Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Prince Charming (Josh Dallas). The wicked witch (Lana Parrilla) bursts in to deliver (what else?) a curse: "I shall destroy your happiness if it's the last thing I do!" It turns out that the worst thing she can think of is sending all of them to Maine. There, Gepetto, Rumpelstiltskin and other overacting literary figures are trapped in a time warp where happy endings are impossible. Enter Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison), the long-lost daughter of Snow and Prince, who's grown up as a mod- ern-day bail bonds collector. Can she break the curse and, presumably, post bail for the wicked witch? Emma has a coarse way of talking and no charm whatsoever, so you find your- self in the weird position of rooting for the witch. Similarly, it's hard to sympathize with any of the "good" fairytale characters since they're so earnest and stupid. After the leering Rumpelstiltskin (Robert Carlyle) demands the name of Snow White's first-born child, cackling through rotten teeth, one of the seven dwarfs asks, "Can we trust Rumpelstiltskin?" If he doesn't know the answer to that question, he deserves to spend eternity in Maine. Homeland Sunday, 10 pm (Showtime) Homeland could have been a serviceable new drama about a Marine (Damian Lewis) who either did or didn't defect to Al Qaeda after eight years of imprisonment in the Middle East. But it's not at all serviceable with Claire Danes in the role of a CIA agent who breaks all the rules to discover the truth. I've pulled for Danes ever since her winsome teenage turn in My So-Called Life. Still, I have to admit that she has been wrong in every role she's played since then, including her overrated performance in Temple Grandin. For some reason, though, Danes continues to enchant casting directors. I have no idea why someone thought she'd be a good fit for Homeland, since she doesn't look or talk anything like a tough CIA agent. She looks and talks like the girl from My So-Called Life, with only a single expression of brow-furrowing concern. I predict casting directors will go wild for the performance. 2 Broke Girls Monday, 8:30 pm (CBS) Kat Dennings was making a nice career for herself in the movies, specializing in the tart-tongued hipster girl (Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, The 40 Year Old Virgin, etc.). But Dennings took a wrong turn into television and is now stuck playing the tart-tongued hipster girl in a crummy sitcom. In 2 Broke Girls, she's a Brooklyn waitress in an odd-couple friendship with a ditzy blond socialite (Beth Behrs) who's fallen on hard times. The script grasps for edginess with lots of bad jokes about sex and drugs. Movies, please take back Kat Dennings before it's too late! The grunge band is immortalized in a Cameron Crowe documentaryt Have boxes of sensitive material that needs shredding, but don't have a shredder? OUR FREE COMMUNITY SHRED DAY JOIN US FOR Sponsored by Fort Bragg Federal Credit Union Saturday, October 22 9:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. Fort Bragg FCU parking lot 1638 Skibo Road, Fayetteville, NC Free to general public. Individuals only. No businesses. For more information, contact Fort Bragg FCU's Marketing Department at (910) 487-8210 Bring nonperishable food items to benefit Second Harvest Food Bank of Southeast North Carolina. WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM OCTOBER 19-25, 2011 UCW 17 Rape Crisis Volunteers of Cumberland County Says Thank You to the following organizations, busi- nesses, and individuals for assisting us to stay open in a great time of need! Fayetteville Police Department and the City of Fayetteville The Florence Rogers Charitable Trust Legend's Pub, Holly Whitley and Biker Run Participants on August 28th Rick Hendrick Toyota • Luigi's Italian Restaurant Spectacles, Inc. and Sunglass Shack Applecover Inn in Maggie Valley, NC Dee Parris, Slumber Parties by Dee • Fusion Salon Bill Claydon's Tattoo World Majestic Ink • Performance Tattoo • Hot Hogz Leather Hot Rodz • Tramp Stamp Tattoo • Joe's Crab Shack F.Y.E. Electronics • Carrabba's All the wonderful individuals who sent in personal contributions!