Beyond the Boulevard

Beyond the Boulevard

Movie Releases

Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (PG-13)—"But wait!" you say upon reading the title of the newest dance film since You Got Served, "didn't they already make this movie in 1987?" Yes, yes they did, but it made a lot of money back then, so Dirty Dancing added Cuba and the salsa and is ready for another swing. (Feb. 27)

Hidalgo (PG-13)—Barely has Viggo Mortenson lain down his sword from Lord of Rings than he picks up the reins for Hidalgo. The King returns with a "based-on-a-true-story" (sort of) flick about the Ocean of Fire—a 3000-mile horse race across the Arabian desert. Starring quicksand, sandstorms, basically a lot of sand, Hidalgo could bring western-style adventure back into the Hollywood mainstream. (Mar. 5)

Starsky and Hutch (PG-13)—Because somehow, somewhere, there is a demand for bad 1970s crime drama, the off-kilter comedy duo of Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller bring us Starsky and Hutch, based off—what else?—the bad 1970s television crime drama of the same name. The movie may be worth it, if only to scope out the size of Stiller's afro. (Mar. 5)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (PG-13)—From the beautifully deranged mind that brought you Being John Malkovitch and Adaptation (that would be Charlie Kaufman) comes Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Jim Carrey tries to have his memories of former girlfriend Kate Winslet erased, but ends up on a trippy chase through the recesses of his brain to elude the doctors performing the operation and keep her memory alive. (Mar. 19)

Album Releases

En Vogue—Soul Flower—Though they've faded from popular radio in the last decade, the R&B trio En Vogue enjoyed enormous success in the early 1990s and, with the addition of a new member, hope to be back on top in the new millennium. (Feb. 24)
JC Chasez—Schizophrenic—This former N'SYNCer is out to prove that Justin's not the only one who can manage a hit solo career. As its title suggests, the album is designed as a voyage into more diverse and creative genres than the bubblegum pop of Chasez's boy band past. (Feb. 24)
John Frusciante—Shadows Collide With People—Boy bands are not the only groups spawning solo albums. John Frusciante, lead guitarist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, strikes out once more on his own with Shadows. Never fear, die-hard fans. Flea of RHCP is a guest star on the album. (Feb. 24)

Area Concerts

SR-71 at Recher Theatre, $10 (Feb. 20)
Evanescence at Dar Constitution Hall, $40 (Feb. 28)
Don McLean at State Theatre, $36 (Feb. 28)
Erykah Badu at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, $35-$60 (Mar. 2)
Kelly Clarkson and Clay Aiken at MCI Center, $35-$45 (Mar. 5)
The Strokes at Warner Theatre, $26 (Mar. 9)

Cool Websites

snowflakes.lookandfeel.com —The perfect distraction for those long, boring snow days, this interactive web-site allows you to create your own paper snowflake online with much better results than you'd get using your own scrap paper and cheap scissors.

www.xanga.com—Riding the popular bandwagon of online journals (or blogs) is Xanga, a site that lets users not only keep online diaries but group them into factions of similar interests, called blogrings. The free site hosts a Montgomery Blair Blogring which currently holds nearly 300 weblogs written by Blair students.

www.duirwaighgallery.com —Fairies fly under silver moons, dragons rampage on mountaintops and all other manner of strange creatures are beautifully rendered at Duirwaigh Gallery, an archive of fantasy art that compiles paintings, sketches, sculptures and more from talented artists around the globe.