Kaleidoscope

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Published: Apr 21, 2009

Francis Ford Coppola's quarterly literary magazine Zoetrope: All-Story is usually a good bet for smart, ambitious short stories, but this spring's Latin American Issue is especially excellent. Pieces by Carolina Sanín, Ronaldo Menéndez and Daniel Alarcón — not to mention the beautifugly sketches of guest designer Guillermo del Toro — make this one a keeper.

It could have been a throwaway part played by some no-name. But Jason Bateman takes his role as the slicked-back hack in State of Play (see Sam Adams' review) and runs with it, showing up three Oscar winners in the process. Bateman brings humor and humanity to the sleazoid Dominic Foy, and inserts some much-needed levity into the oh-so-intense third act. Bateman's main fault in the film? He's not in it nearly enough.

Eschewing R&B after seeing Alice Cooper, the Hackney brothers formed Death in 1974, bridging the gap between the driving garage of the MC5 and loudfasthard punk. And then they faded into obscurity. Why? Because it would be impossible to market an all-black rock band from Detroit? Because they walked out on record man Clive Davis when he said they had to change their name? It's not the music. Drag City has collected it for the first time on ... For the Whole World to See. It's about time.

You've been telling yourself for a year now that you'll make it to musty-marvelous Rosenbach Museum & Library (2008-2010 Delancey Place, 215-732-1600, rosenbach.org) to wax nostalgic on the comfy creatures of your childhood — namely those Wild Things Maurice Sendak is famous for. Slackerdom pays off: Monday starts Museum Week (hit phillyfunguide.com for more info), which means half-price admission to see "There's a Mystery There: Sendak on Sendak" before it closes May 3. Hustle.

Power of Pryor
Jerry Spinelli's Eggs
Skin & Bones
Opera Co. of Philadelphia
Fairmount Arts Crawl
Avatard
Thomas Hine's The Great Funk