Capital New York

The Last of Us, and other video games that leave absolutely nothing to the imagination

At the E3 video game expo in Los Angeles earlier this month, a crowd of gamers cheered on a camo-clad tough guy as he went room to room beating people to death and setting them on fire. More

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By Steven Boone

on June 20th, 2012 5:54pm

The very white poetry of 'Mad Men'

A few weeks ago, I attended a “Mad Men” viewing party hosted by my good friend, the brilliant Time Out New York film critic Keith Uhlich. More

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By Steven Boone

on June 8th, 2012 1:53pm

'Like you wouldn't believe': The sociable soup kitchens of Chicago

At Fourth Presbyterian Church's Monday Night Supper, they don't go by numbers but by famous authors. I was sitting at the Maya Angelou table. A substitute teacher and I talked politics and education to distract from our rumbling guts while waiting for our author's name to come up. At one point, a tablemate blurted, "Diamondbacks? Did they say 'Diamondbacks'? In fuckin' Chicago?" More

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By Steven Boone

on May 15th, 2012 1:37pm

Steven Boone commented on At Ebertfest, where no one mutters about the color of your ticket and the 'Times' doesn't rule

Roger, at the risk of setting off a mass vomiting incident with Capital readers: I love you, too, man. I'd be tremendously proud to call you a friend if your name was Joe Schmoe. And I'm starting to understand the relationship between Urbana and Champaign. It's sort of like the closeness of my hometown, Mount Vernon, NY to Yonkers or New Rochelle. With some, er uh, differences.

Posted on May 4th, 2012 1:23pm

Steven Boone commented on At Ebertfest, where no one mutters about the color of your ticket and the 'Times' doesn't rule

Hey, Lisa, Yep, Tony and I became instant friends the first day, but I don't like the way I ended up wording that passage on him. I was trying to clarify what a "host" does and ended up making it sound kinda like he was doing what a roustabout like myself would do at a festival-- namely bumming his way in, haha. For the record, Tony's an entrepreneur in the energy business who volunteers as an Ebertfest host, for the love and fun of it. He's tied with Carlo for coolest dude in town. Nice meeting you, too. See you next year. Steve

Posted on May 4th, 2012 12:03pm

Steven Boone commented on At Ebertfest, where no one mutters about the color of your ticket and the 'Times' doesn't rule

Hey, Lisa, Yep, Tony and I became instant friends the first day, but I don't like the way I ended up wording that passage on him. I was trying to clarify what a "host" does and ended up making it sound kinda like he was doing what a roustabout like myself would do at a festival-- namely bumming his way in, haha. For the record, Tony's an entrepreneur in the energy business who volunteers as an Ebertfest host, for the love and fun of it. He's tied with Carlo for coolest dude in town. Nice meeting you, too. See you next year. Steve

Posted on May 4th, 2012 12:03pm

At Ebertfest, where no one mutters about the color of your ticket and the 'Times' doesn't rule

Most film festivals can be summed up as a party, a marketplace or a platter of cultural fruit and vegetables. Ebertfest, now 14 years old, is a love-in.

Chaz Ebert presides over the film screenings the way my mother used to usher people into her kitchen and fix them a heaping plate. Chaz's famous husband Roger selects the films they show with an emphasis on love and understanding. The characters in Ebertfest films are motivated by love, hobbled by obstacles to understanding. More

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By Steven Boone

on May 2nd, 2012 2:45pm

Steven Boone commented on How the New York Film Academy discovered gold in the developing world

Loved this. And I was just reading about another colorful head of a New York trade school, NYIT's Alex Schure, in the book Droidmaker. I'll take the democratic spirit and hustler daring of certain suspected diploma mills over the haughty prestige of NYU and Columbia any day. Likewise, Nollywood's ragged energy and phenomenal soap opera acting beat the hell out of contemporary Ho'wood's technically superior formula filmmaking. Excellent piece, Andrew.

Posted on April 17th, 2012 1:16pm

Full circle: 'Lowlifes,' drifters and resettled New Yorkers on the outskirts of God's country

ATLANTA, Ga.—Outside the Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, I ran into John Carter, "not of Mars," he said with a grin.

This was John Carter of Muscle Shoals, Alabama. His parents brought him from there to Warner Robins, Georgia 30 years ago, when he was three years old. Now the clean-cut case manager said the move had been "a blessing from God." More

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By Steven Boone

on April 12th, 2012 11:19am

Macon Rescue Mission, where the security cameras are digital and the Four Horsemen are gods

MACON, Ga.—At Macon Rescue Mission, they're turning away the locals. It's too nice outside, and the facility space is too limited. But I'm from Warner Robins, the town next door, so I got a bed. More

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By Steven Boone

on April 4th, 2012 4:13pm