The late 1960s movement in Italy called arte povera (literally, “poor art”) rejected traditions of elegance in favor of funky art-making that relied on ordinary, even unsightly materials. Of course, those artists were consciously choosing to use dirt, rags, leaves and similar elements rather than canvas, oil paint and all the other supplies they could have purchased at local art stores.... Read more

Richard Matheson’s story “Button, Button” takes five minutes to read and has the cruel efficiency of a fable that sticks with you for a lifetime. Writer-director Richard Kelly’s adaptation, The Box, takes nearly two hours to watch. But by the end, all you’re likely to remember are a few scenes that have the non-sequitur quality of a dream.... Read more

Suspenseful, glitzy, cutthroat, self-serving — awards season is many things. One thing it rarely is, however, is educational. This year is different. Aspiring filmmakers couldn’t ask for a more instructive lesson in the wrong and right ways to approach a biopic than the examples offered by Amelia and Coco Before Chanel.... Read more

When I tell people I don’t own a television set or have cable, they often assume that I don’t watch TV. They’re wrong. My laptop is my boob tube, thanks to an embedded DVD player and the Web.... Read more

Bob Fountain is teaching me to walk the line. It doesn’t involve any actual ambulation. I can walk the line from a sitting position if I choose. What it does involve is clicking this confounding white controller that is leashed to my wrist until my bobble-headed video game avatar moves to the extreme right-hand gutter.

See, Fountain is teaching me how to play Wii Bowling. As I am learning, “walking the line” is bowling speak for tossing the ball down the lane so it flirts with the gutter but doesn’t actually fall in.... Read more

A 7 Nights comment last week had us worried — apparently Phuong’s Kitchen on North Avenue had gone dark. But fans of egg rolls, Vietnamese stews and burgers can breathe easy. According to owner Phuong Lam’s sister, Saphe, Lam “just had a baby on Friday.” After a brief maternity leave, the Vietnamese takeout will be back in business. — A.L.

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Lots of free community dinners happen around the holidays, but the recipients don’t generally help roast the Vermont-raised bird or share family secrets for cooking sweet potatoes. This Thanksgiving, the Local Agricultural Community Exchange (LACE) in Barre is teaming up with the Salvation Army for an unusual benefit: People can pitch in by peeling potatoes and stirring up shepherd’s pie, then sit down and eat a localvore dinner gratis.... Read more

When you’re the hands-on owner of two restaurants, it can be hard to find time to sleep. “I work 16, 17, 18 hours a day,” says Sam Lai, proprietor of two North Street eateries: newcomer One Pepper Grill and China Express, where he’s also the head chef. “You have to have a good relationship with your wife,” he goes on. “I call the restaurant my first wife. My real wife doesn’t mind.”... Read more

What with the media blitz around Hardwick, the Northeast Kingdom has made a name for itself in recent years as a foodie haven. The logical next development: a homegrown publication to cover the bounty. With the debut of North Country Cooking, editor Denise Brown has produced just that.... Read more

Surrounded by moving boxes, I tugged open a closet door and let out a groan. Behind the board games, DVDs and puzzle books sat six hefty piles of food magazines, lightly dusted and forgotten since I moved in two years before. Owning them makes me feel like I have the culinary world at my fingertips, but relocating them? That’s a bitch.... Read more