City Paper grade: D With District 9, director Neill Blomkamp created a sci-fi parable for his native South Africa, an apartheid fable with insectoid aliens and comic-book violence. If it wasn’t exactly insightful it was at least a popcorn actioner…

In under the radar openings news Avram Hornik quietly opened William Street Common (3900 Chestnut St.) this week in University City. Somehow Hornik managed to avoid all media attention until just a few days before unveiling his no tipping-comfort food…

Chestnut Street Philly Bagels via facebook The Philadelphia bagel boom continues with this week’s opening of Chestnut Street Philly Bagels (1705 Chestnut St.) brought to you by the same folks from South Street Bagels. The storefront is serving a solid…

City Paper grade: C As much as Glenn Ficarra and John Requa might want you to think that Focus is a complex, keep-you-guessing series of slinky winks and artful twists, its true aim is much simpler. Call it a confidence…

ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES 1900 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy, 215-299-1000, ansp.org Anaconda (1997, U.S., 89 min.): The Academy’s “Mega-Bad Movie Night” series continues with this cheeseball classic, whose featured atrocities include a killer snake and Jon Voight attempting a Paraguayan accent.…

Philly Voice: Philadelphia University student Jackson Gordon created a functional Batman suit. Just see the YouTube video at the bottom of Lane Blackmer’s article. The suit can withstand punches (so what?), but when a knifepoint of a blade comes at…

City Paper grade: B+ Abderrahmane Sissako, frustrated by the lack of outrage over the 2012 strong-arming of Timbuktu by the fundamentalists Ansar Dine, has lent a humane lens to the ordeal with his melancholy and challenging Oscar contender. The production…

[+4]  Philadelphia is named the host city for the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Bell Curve has an idea. OK, we might need to fudge the timing on this, but: World, get ready for President Pope! [0]  Columnists from Columbus and…

Goodfellas, at Phoenixville’s Colonial Theatre Feb. 22 BRYN MAWR FILM INSTITUTE 823 W. Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr, 610-527-9898, brynmawrfilm.org Turbo (2013, U.S., 96 min.): DreamWorks tale about a slow, lowly snail (Ryan Reynolds) who aspires to win the Indy 500.…