Jimmy Iovine was sitting on the floor of his sister’s house in Staten Island, on the phone with Bruce Springsteen, when he made the decision. It was 1985, and Iovine’s father, Vincent, had died suddenly on what the music producer says is “still the worst day of my life.” “I had an extraordinary relationship with […]
Leslie Bridgers
Columnist
Leslie Bridgers is a columnist for the Portland Press Herald, writing about Maine culture, customs and the things we notice and wonder about in our everyday lives. Originally from Connecticut, Leslie came to Maine by way of Bowdoin College and never left. She joined the Portland Press Herald in 2011 as a reporter and spent seven years as the paper’s features editor, overseeing coverage of arts, entertainment and food.
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Local & State
Society Notebook: Farms for Food Equity helps turn surplus into sustenance
The nonprofit kicked off its winter relief campaign with a party at Thompson’s Point.
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Posted inArts & Entertainment, Review
Whitney Houston gets a bland biopic
“Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” director Kasi Lemmons’s frustratingly one-note biopic about the pop songstress, who died in 2012 at age 48, suffers from an egregiously ironic musical sin: It’s all hooks and no bridges. Despite clocking in at nearly 2 1/2 hours, “I Wanna Dance” barely scratches the surface of its celestial […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Review
‘Babylon’ is a lavish yet unfocused valentine to Hollywood’s heyday
Say this much for Damien Chazelle: He shows his audience exactly what he’s giving them within the first few minutes of “Babylon,” his bruised, black-eyed valentine to Hollywood’s sybaritic heyday. In a whopper of an opening number, Chazelle films the delivery of an elephant to the estate of film producer Don Wallach (Jeff Garlin), a […]
Posted inRecipes
Instant Pot red beans and rice is a go-to weeknight meal
The first time I made red beans and rice for our then-foster son, 8 years old at the time, it was out of a sense of desperation. It was hard to get him to eat more than a few bites of anything that wasn’t pizza, but this dish (along with Frito pie) was an outright […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Books
Best-Sellers: ‘Big Truck Little Island,’ ‘The Light We Carry’
The current top-selling fiction and nonfiction books at Longfellow Books in Portland.
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Review
‘Puss in Boots: The Last Wish’ a serviceable, not stellar sequel
It’s a safe assumption that it will be mostly parents buying the tickets for “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” the latest installment in the adventures of the swashbuckling ginger cat. With that in mind, the takeaway from this review is this: The main villain, the Big Bad Wolf, is likely to give any kid […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Do This
Indie Film: ‘No One Told Me’ captures the hidden realities of new motherhood
In her observational documentary, Maine filmmaker Zulilah Merry trains her camera on a couple through the birth of their baby and their postpartum experience. The intimate result screens next month in Bucksport and Brunswick.
Posted inDo This, Food
Tap Lines: Cellars tours offer a new way to experience Allagash
The small group tours run Friday through Monday and include pours of barrel-aged, wild and sour beers.
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Local & State
Society Notebook: Gala at White Columns a step back in time
The event at the Greek Revival mansion raised $8,000 for the Kennebunk Historical Society.