Family, friends and fun - it’s a simple but perfect summary of East Passyunk Avenue in South Philadelphia. Part old-school Italian neighborhood, part up-and-coming Philly hotspot, Passyunk is a tight-knit community that offers something for everyone.
“Family is very important for the children. It’s more powerful and they learn respect,” Maria di Marco said. She is [...]

MTV’s channel geared toward college students, mtvU, will host its fourth-annual Woodie Awards show Nov. 17. Unlike the entertainment-heavy Video Music Awards, the Woodies focus on the musical achievement of independent artists, handing out awards that honor everything from originality to effective viral marketing, all of which are determined by online voting.
Stephan Friedman, the general [...]

Beneath Jessica Vale’s frizzy hair and dark eye shadow is the ideal product of Temple: diversified, independent and successful.
Since graduating from Temple in 2000, Vale has released two albums under Explicit Records - which she founded with guitarist Ivan Evangelista - and toured America and Europe with her band. Her second album, Brand New Disease, [...]

Edgar Allen Poe has been dead for 158 years, but his legacy lives on in Philadelphia forever more. The amount of activity surrounding the legendary writer is livelier in his death than it was in life.
Nearly 300 Poe fans gathered at the German Society of Philadelphia on Oct. 27 for a night of rock and [...]

Put on your dancing shoes and get ready to shake your butt - !!! plays the Fillmore at the TLA in South Philadelphia tomorrow night.
!!!, commonly pronounced “chk chk chk,” is an explosive mix of funky grooves, infectious dance beats and raw attitude. Guitar, percussion, bass, synthesizer, saxophone and vocals compose the Sacramento octet’s idiosyncratic [...]

Wrestling superstar Brett “Hitman” Hart once said that professional wrestling is a form of entertainment in America, tradition in Canada, art in Japan and the way of life in Mexico. Chikara is a Philadelphia-based pro wrestling promotional company that draws influences from each of these four nations’ styles.
Created by “Lightning” Mike Quackenbush in 2002, Chikara [...]

REVIEW - Don’t feel bad if you aren’t familiar with Martin Kreuzpaintner’s film Trade. Before reviewing it, I wasn’t either. Now I understand why.
While Kreuzpaintner makes a noble effort to raise awareness of sexual slavery in his American theatrical debut, Trade falls short with its cringe-inducing melodrama, predictable plot and stale character development.
The movie is [...]

Last Friday marked the ninth screening at the Eastern State Penitentiary for the Secret Cinema, the 15-year-old brainchild of Temple alumnus Jay Schwartz.
Nearly a hundred guests were neatly seated in the narrow corridor of Cell Block Seven to watch the original 1978 Scared Straight! documentary projected from film reel to screen. It was an appropriate [...]

Joe Stakun is in demand.
The 21-year-old film student’s resume includes interning for Ridley Scott, interviewing BMX superstar Mat Hoffman and working as a production assistant for Maroon 5. Now he can add directing a Modest Mouse video to his lengthy credentials.
Stakun won the opportunity for a taste of mainstream recognition in April 2007 when Modest [...]