Wednesday, October 12,2011

'I know what the hell side is'

As a teen, Patty Duke won an Oscar, had a TV series and starred on Broadway; away from the spotlight, she was battling the onset of bi-polar disorder

by James Sanford

One of the many difficulties in treating bi-polar disorder is that there is no single drug that works perfectly for everyone; it can take a lot of trial and error to determine what combination of medications works effectively for a patient.

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Wednesday, October 12,2011

Screening room

Craig Brewer gives ‘Footloose’ a foot massage

by James Sanford

“There was a really embarrassing moment in my life when my dad came from work to find me in my underwear, dancing to that Michael Jackson/Paul McCartney song ' what was it called? ' ‘Say Say Say,’” Brewer recalled during a stopover at Detroit’s MGM Grand last month.

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Wednesday, October 5,2011

Screening Room

Korean screen legend's performance is pure 'Poetry'

by James Sanford

She’s not sure she believes it, though. A 66-year-old South Korean trying to raise her surly 16-year-old grandson, Wook, while toiling as a maid for a wealthy stroke victim, Mija wants very badly to be a poet, but she’s frustrated by how difficult it is to find that elusive inspiration.

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Wednesday, September 28,2011

ArtPrize: Madness, money, multimedia and much more

by James Sanford

By JAMES SANFORD GRAND RAPIDS ' On this Saturday afternoon, there’s a 15-minute wait just to get into the Grand Rapids Art Museum. But the hundreds of people in line aren’t heading to see an Andy Warhol retrospective or new glassworks from Dale Chihuly.

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Wednesday, September 28,2011

The screening room

Craig and Weisz’s ‘Dream House’ might be a nightmare

by James Sanford

But the fate of the project that brought them together ' that may not be much of a cause for celebration. “Dream House,” in which Craig and Weisz play a couple spooked by weird goingson in their newly purchased New England home, began shooting in February 2010 and has since been what’s known in the film industry as a “problem picture.

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Wednesday, September 21,2011

Screening Room

If you want to get 'Footloose,' you're in the right town

by James Sanford

In my day, it was all about Kevin Bacon, Lori Singer and John Lithgow; in the 2011 version, Kenny Wormald, Julianne Hough and Dennis Quaid have taken on the lead roles. When it comes to remakes, it’s hard not to go along with the proposal made years ago by critic Roger Ebert:.

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Wednesday, September 7,2011

Screening Room

Electrifying drama 'Warrior' will knock you out

by James Sanford

Tom Hardy’s brilliance had already brought him a faithful following in his native England by the time director Christopher Nolan cast him as the delightfully deceiver forgery expert in “Inception,” last summer’s brainy blockbuster.

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Wednesday, September 7,2011

Girls, girls, girls

Riverwalk Theatre's 'Annie' features more orphans than ever

by James Sanford

“I’m very fortunate to have one of the funniest and most physically controlled actors around playing Miss Hannigan: Angela Dill,” Croff said. “She has this great, elongated form, and she’s really been putting her body into it. It’s hilarious watching the kids vacillate between wanting to laugh and wanting to run away from her.

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Wednesday, August 24,2011

The Screening Room

‘Another Earth’: Heavenly bodies, heavy hearts

by James Sanford

The discovery of another planet identical to our own is the starting point for director Mike Cahill’s “Another Earth,” a moody drama that’s not so much science fiction as it is an in-depth character study.

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Wednesday, August 24,2011

It's a new day at WLNS

Messing with success or making a good thing better?

by James Sanford

There’s the new news set, which will feature a 110-inch projection screen behind the anchor desk, a couple of new additions to the on-air team and the prospect of going to highdefinition in the fall.

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