The writer/director Bradley Rust Gray is capable of subtle character studies, like The Exploding Girl (2009), and he nearly creates something as good with Jack & Diane. But the weird, violent touches in the movie's margins cast a confusing and sickening shadow across the rest of it. The shy, distracted Diane (Juno Temple) comes to stay with her aunt (Cara Seymour) in New York City, and meets a damaged, streetwise, tough girl called "Jack" (Riley Keough). They quickly develop feelings for one another and spend a great deal of time kissing, though neither is sure how their relationship will progress, especially since Diane is leaving for Paris soon (and doesn't know how to tell Jack). Their feelings grow so strong that they eventually turn into monsters and devour each other. Is this all happening in their dreams, or is their love destined for destruction on a real level as well?
The monster attacks -- and the weird little interludes leading up to them -- don't make much sense, unless it's to underline something as simple as "they love each other so much they want to devour each other." If so, there has to be a better way to show it. Perhaps worse is the idea that Gray added these sequences as a way to cash in on the general horror/romance trend of the successful Twilight movies. Without the gore, Jack & Diane doesn't have much of a story, but it does have two interesting characters (with two strong performances). They could have been the subjects of a more emotionally involving, and less baffling, movie.
Working on the music scores for Jim Jarmusch's Ghost Dog and Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill - Vol. 2 apparently whetted rapper RZA's appetite for filmmaking, in addition to a childhood spent watching Shaw Brothers martial arts movies. Unfortunately, the result, The Man with the Iron Fists demonstrates why not all fans can be filmmakers.
The 52rd official Disney animated feature, Wreck-It-Ralph, which follows last year's excellent, underrated Winnie the Pooh, seems to have benefited from the influence of Pixar, the groundbreaking animation studio now owned by Disney. Specifically, it has a story and screenplay so tightly structured, and so consistently amusing and surprising, that it doesn't seem to suffer from any of Disney's usual shortcomings. And, above all, it's dazzling, hilarious, and a great deal of fun. (It's just one more entry in a series of excellent animated features in 2012.) 
After two decades of gimmick- and special effects-based movies, director Robert Zemeckis once again finds the perfect balance between characters and spectacle, as he did in his best films Back to the Future and Who Framed Roger Rabbit; it's also the most mature movie of his career. 
Experimental filmmaker Shirley Clarke (The Cool World) completed this documentary about jazz master Ornette Coleman -- who is still alive as of this writing -- in 1985. Now Milestone Films has given it a polish and a 2012 theatrical release, and it's a cause for celebration.
(1959), Change of the Century
(1959), and especially Free Jazz
(1961) changed the musical landscape with their bizarre, beautiful inventiveness.
Camera in hand, I hit the booths! First up was my new Watertown neighbor, Sofra. There were four kind ladies manning the table who warmly welcomed me to the neighborhood and offered to let me get up close and personal with Sofra's bakery items. Had I not just eaten a huge brunch, I would have spent a fortune at their booth.
A few tables away was the crew from Nashoba Brook Bakery. The old ladies next to me could not get enough of their bread! They sampled a piece of every loaf on the table.
A few steps away was the Equal Exchange coffee cart. It's a mobile coffee cafe! If I drank coffee, I'd find a way to get these guys to peddle right over to my house.
The folks from American Flatbread also brought something incredible on wheels, a pizza oven! How would you like to ride alongside that thing on the highway?
Just before crossing the street onto the next block I stopped at the Ula Cafe table. Though I spend a ton of time in Jamaica Plain, I had never heard of this bakery. They attracted me with their macaroons!
I also loved their poster that showcased all of their local ingredients and which farms they come from all across Massachusetts.
In the next block the crew from the Seaport's 606 Congress was hard at work shucking oysters for the crowd. Quite an elaborate booth set up!
Next I wondered to the Blue Glass Cafe which had a smoker going, complete with firewood! They also had the most impressive drink station I saw all day.
Further up the row were my friends from City Feed. Their booth was totally mobbed!
The team from American Provisions was also tending to eager customers. They chatted away while sporting black t-shirts that said in white across the chest, "Buy Local."
Throughout the day the festival was putting on a series of live demos. I happened to catch the tail end of this demonstration on the proper way to butcher meat. The demonstration was so packed I actually took this picture my sticking my hand up over the heads of about 30 people and hoping for the best.
My absolute favorite discovery of the day was the mobile farmer's market from Enterprise Farm. The market team is based in Whately, MA (western MA) and they have a school bus they drive from community to community bringing their farmer's market on wheels to people who otherwise would have zero access to that kind of fresh food at such a low cost.
I think this idea is genius. The farmer's market rolls into town, you climb aboard the bus, you purchase affordable, healthy food for your family (they take food stamps too) and then the bus rolls on to deliver the same health and hope to the next community. I love it.
Congratulations to the Sustainable Business Network on a hugely successful day! It was my pleasure to play a small role in spreading the word.
In last season's finale Dixon was in a car accident. Tonight Annie gets called down to the morgue to identify what she thinks is Dixon's body. Turns out Dixon was the only passenger who survived and he's in critical condition at a nearby hospital. Ok morgue man, how the hell could you wait so long to tell the gang that their was a fourth passenger? Good grief!
This hour Liam's ex Vanessa returns to stake her claim on his Hollywood career. After a drunk afternoon on the beach, Liam accidentally sets the bar on fire. He winds up seeing it as a blessing so he can collect the insurance money and use it to buy out Vanessa on his film contract. Too bad Vanessa overheard Liam on the phone with the insurance company. She is definitely going to ruin this.