Q&A: Djimon Hounsou at the Atlanta screening of Guardians of the Galaxy
Arriving at Tuesday’s advance screening of Guardians of the Galaxy, the latest superhero summer popcorn movie from Marvel Studios, two-time Oscar nominee Djimon Hounsou didn’t duck out for dinner with studio reps once the lights went down. Instead, Hounsou donned his 3D glasses, and settled into a seat with a large bottle of water and a bag of popcorn to watch the two-hour intergalactic comic book come to life. Hounsou is part of an ensemble cast that includes Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, The Walking Dead’s Michael Rooker, Lee Pace, John C. Reilly, and Glenn Close. Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel lend their voices to the flick, portraying mutant, mouthy raccoon Rocket, and Groot, a walking, talking tree with a severely limited vocabulary.
Regina King shares secrets from Southland, The Boondocks
When season five of the critically acclaimed TNT drama "Southland" premieres tonight at 10, LAPD detective Lydia Adams is trying to balance being a new mother and solving the rape of a Latino male who is too humiliated to help the cops assigned to his case. And whether she's scaling a fire escape chasing a suspect or attempting to feign cool detachment when her male partner points out she's lactating on the job, actress Regina King brings a world weary humanity to Adams beneath the brusqueness and wisecracks.
Spielberg-produced “Falling Skies” alien invasion starts Sunday on TNT
It doesn't take long for "Falling Skies" actor Noah Wyle to get cornered by some scary looking space creatures in Sunday night's premiere of TNT's much anticipated sci-fi drama. But the "ER" vet admits there was a lot of imagination used on the set of the two-hour pilot when it was shot nearly two years ago. In the premiere, all of the aliens are CGI and were edited into the show long after the actors wrapped their scenes.
All Hail Terminal West
After three years of drawing ravers to grind in the gallery spaces of the King Plow Arts Center, Robert Shaw and Alan Sher have set up the permanent venue Terminal West in Studio C of the refurbished farm-equipment foundry. With high-grade sound and light systems built around a twenty-by-thirty-three-foot stage, wide concrete floors, three bars loaded with twenty-nine different canned craft beers, and a back patio facing the railroad tracks, the unce-unce dance party will be beating strong in Westside. But starting this summer, Shaw and Sher say music lovers of all ages and metronomic temperaments will find a reason to stop in. “The first few months have been electronic music; that was our network,” says Shaw. “But we’ve got reggae and bluegrass acts coming to use this amazing performance space. The goal is to diversify the audience.”
Bow Hunting in the Suburbs
Willie Johnson’s dirty Toyota pickup rolls to a stop in a Walmart parking lot near I-285. Overhead, a jumbo jet howls. Johnson has to shout to be heard above the roar. “It’s not far,” he yells. “I’m thinking that we can cut through the parking lot instead of going out the main road.”
Johnny’s Hideaway
Nothing much has changed at Johnny’s Hideaway, the cougar bar buried in the strip mall homogeneity of Roswell Road. Not the disco ball or the parquet floor or the glamour shots of dead and dying celebrities. Divorcées in tight jeans and halter tops still troll the perimeter. The oldies soundtrack is the same, though founder Johnny Esposito, “Mr. Nightlife,” passed away in April at age seventy-nine. Chris Dauria, the son of Esposito’s partner Mike Dana, has run the place for years—still guarding the door with his entourage of big, bald bouncers, as if something valuable were inside. And maybe, in this age of disposable bars, there is.
The B-52s to roam no more
As the band flies into Buenos Aires for a tour stop this week, B-52s fans across the globe are absorbing the news that the Athens-birthed band is bringing its 36-year bounds-impaired party to an end. Over the weekend, frontman Fred Schneider announced on Facebook that he will no longer tour with the act after the band’s Nov. 13 show in Westbury, NY.
It’s a Zac Brown World
After years grinding out a living on Georgia’s music circuit, Cumming native Zac Brown has enjoyed seemingly overnight success. Since 2009’s chart-topping “Chicken Fried,” there have been two Grammys, two major-label albums, sold-out shows, and a number one duet with Jimmy Buffett. And like the sailor from Margaritaville, thirty-three-year-old Brown is parlaying the spoils into an empire: Southern Ground.
Coming Up: Bar for the Arts
From left: Holli Hines Easton, Tamara Bowens, CD Greene, and Jada Loveless On the evening of March 17, Neiman Marcus
Howlers and Scalpers
Q: I’ve heard about coyote sightings in the burbs, but now my intown newsletter is warning about them. What’s up?
The common coyote is in every Georgia county, but particularly Fulton and Gwinnett (for reasons as yet unstudied) and along the Chattahoochee corridor. As Looney Tunes taught us, they’re
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