Movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn once famously said of preachy movies, "If you want to send a message, call Western Union.". Well, Western Union is now out of the telegram business, so the Celtics had to send a message to Detroit some other way, playing stifling defense, fundamental offense, and grinding out a win that - well, that sends the message - that they just might actually be the best team in the East. Everybody chipped......

Short Cartoons You saw the nominees for the Live Action Short Film Academy Award last night; come back to the ICA for the contenders in the animated category. Formats include traditional 2D animation, CGI, and claymation. Check out the John Lennon interview film "I Met the Walrus." Institute of Contemporary Art, 100 Northern Avenue, South Boston, 7:00pm. $7/$9. Recover Heal a broken heart with laughter. Ben Karlin has assembled a collection of raucous breakup......

The All-Star Break couldn't have come at a better time for the Celtics. It's a few extra days of rest for KG, of course, but after last night, almost everyone over 6'8" is in agony this morning and needs some time off. Brian Scalabrine fled the court with a groin pull very early, then Glen Davis went down VERY hard in the second half. He was in so much visible pain that they didn't immediately......

This Valentine's Day, there's no shortage of options for those whose preferred wining & dining is beering & dining. Cambridge Brewing Company's skeezily-named Night of the Aphrodisiacs starts at 5 p.m. and includes a four courses "with every course built around an aphrodisiac and in some cases two or three": truffled artichoke, oysters, mango, anisette-honey, pinenuts, figs, coriander, chocolate. The beer menu includes Bostonist's beloved Weekapaug Gruit (an ale made with the herbs brewers used......

Bookgasms There is no public institution that inspires Bostonist with so many warm feelings as the public library. And there is no charity event quite like a library book sale to make Bostonist into a heartless marauder, fighting tooth and nail with no quarter given nor expected. City-wide Friends of the BPL are offering one today at Copley. Stay out of our freaking way. Central Library, Copley Square, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm. Movies It's......

Late-Breaking Event Johnny Pesky will be at the Barnes & Noble in Peabody tonight from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm signing books. Movies A Hong Kong drug-runner (Asia Argento) finds herself in trouble in Boarding Gate, Olivier Assayas' stylish thriller, which comes with side orders of sex and violence. Make that heaping side orders, plus a dash of Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon. (She acts? Who knew?) Assayas will be at the Harvard Film Archive......

Movies John Sayles will read from the story behind his latest movie, The Honeydripper. Coolidge Corner Theatre, 6:00 pm. The Sayles reading is followed up by a special screening of Night of the Hunter, which is cosponsored by the New England Institute of Art. Coolidge Corner Theatre, 7:00 pm. Books Bostonist dug Charles Burns before we even knew who he was thanks to his covers for The Believer magazine. Burns will be reading from and......

Movies Indie Short Film Night, featuring movies by local filmmakers, including the premiere of "Absent Meaning," which vows that "Nothing is as hopeful as a suicidal Belarusian waitress turned punk rocker!" Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St., Brookline, 9:30 pm, $5. Politics The Iowa caucuses are today. Why should Bostonist worry about what's up in Iowa? Many reasons. First, this is former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney's first big test. Second, the New Hampshire primaries are......

--First Night pictures are up! What you see above from Flickr user post406 is only a taste of the pictures you can find that are tagged "Bostonist" on Flickr. Thanks for adding your photos! --The L Street Brownies take a dip in the harbor. A really cool dip. [Boston Globe] --The state's minimum wage goes up to 8 bucks an hour today. [Boston Globe] --As the minimum wage went up, so went the tolls.......

First Night What to choose? Ice sculptures? The film festival? Harry and the Potters? Visit First Night's official site for a full schedule. Music --Bang Camaro will bring their huge band and their even huger metal sound to the Hard Rock Café. The Hard Rock should thank Bang Camaro for making them cooler. Hard Rock, 22-24 Clinton St., Boston, 8:30 pm. $20. --The Upper Crust will look bewigged, powdered, and bloody well gorgeous as they--ahem--rocque.......

First Night Monday, December 31 Everywhere (see below) All outdoor events are free. All indoor events are accessible with a First Night button ($15) Official First Night site Wizard-rockers Harry and the Potters will bring the magic to the First Night proceedings. At first, Bostonist was skeptical because, although the masses love their Harry Potter, that gimmick was bound to get old. And then we were thrilled to discover that they play straight-up, fuzzy......

First Night Film Festival Monday, December 31 All movies will screen in Room 312 of the Hynes Convention Center, except for the Dylan at Newport feature, which will be in Hall D. All indoor events are accessible with a First Night button ($15) Official First Night site First Night usually inspires thoughts of fireworks, ice sculptures, and outdoor activities. But movies are First Night's secret weapon because a) the lineup of movies is great and......

Who knew three little chipmunks could show so much strength? Alvin and company stayed near the top of the box office list this week with a #3 showing, losing only to the mighty Nic Cage (we never thought we'd call Nic "mighty," but there you go) and Will Smith (we've been calling him "mighty" for years). Cage's National Treasure: Book of Secrets had the third biggest Christmas opening weekend ever, after Lord of the Rings:......

Bostonist is still feeling the egg nog. Therefore, the following magazine cover featuring Bill Belichick hit us hard. Enjoy it in all its glory: Wow. How did Sports Illustrated know that we already envisioned a hoodie-clad Belichick commandeering a sleigh in "'Twas the Night Before Christmas (Redux Remix)"? Also, keep checking Bostonist, where we'll be gazing back on the sports highlights, not to mention a few lowlights, for the year. The list of disappointments, starring......

In a surprise move, the NFL has decided to expand the broadcast of the Patriots-Giants game, which it had previously limited to WCVB and the NFL Network, leaving many New England residents out in the cold. The game will air on Saturday, December 29, at 8:00 pm. Boston residents will be able to watch it on WCVB, but the Herald reports that the NFL will allow the game to air on CBS and NBC, too.......

First Night Monday, December 31 Everywhere (see below) All outdoor events are free. All indoor events are accessible with a First Night button ($15) Official First Night site Artists use the cold weather to their advantage with ice sculptures. The sculptures will be on the Common starting at 1:00 pm until midnight. You can look at a frozen version of Florida courtesy of Donald Chapelle, an American eagle that would make Stephen Colbert proud, and......

Ever get the feeling that life is turning into one long "Family Guy" episode? Particularly the episode in which the FBI shoots up Peter's VCR because he tries to tape "Monday Night Football"? The New England Patriots will finish up their regular season against the New York Giants Saturday, December 29, at 8:00 pm. Chances are good that they will win and enjoy a perfect record. But not everyone will be able to see it.......

Update: The Ted Williams tunnel has reopened. [WCVB] --The railroad bridge in Beverly, which got hit by a barge this morning, shutting down the Newburyport/Rockport commuter rail line, is now fixed. So they loaded up the truck and moved to Bev-er-lee!! [Boston Globe] --BUT, even though the commuter rail is better, the Ted Williams Tunnel just got shut down by a crash. WCVB says a cement truck hit a sign. [WCVB] --While every other college......

Hope you sports fans were able to relax yesterday. The disappointing non-slaughter of the Jets is in the rear view mirror, the Dolphins game isn't quite as exciting since the stupid Ravens ended Miami's bid for a winless season, everything is sewn up in the AFC, and the Monday Night game wasn't that exciting. Plus, the Celtics and Bruins were off. But we've got some big games coming up in the next 48 hours, so......

First Night Monday, December 31 Everywhere in Boston (see below) All indoor outdoor events are free. All outdoor indoor events are accessible with a First Night button ($15) Official First Night site First Night has been preparing to ring in the New Year. Revelers can enjoy all the First Night outdoor events, such as the ice sculptures and the fireworks, for free. But they'll need to pick up a button to attend the indoor events,......

Tourfilter DJ Night River Gods (125 River St., Central Square) Thursday, November 29, 9 p.m. -1 a.m. Free! If you're not already a member, you should definitely join Tourfilter.com. It's a music fan's dream: a comprehensive site that lets you track your favorite bands and get e-mail updates when they're coming to town--or, in the case of local bands, playing near you. The site's also a great way to get to know new bands, since......

Both the Herald and Globe wondered today about whether and why Victoria's Secret model Selita Ebanks was booed during a promotional appearance Sunday night at Gillette Stadium. Could it be that a stadium full of "red-blooded American football fans" (as the Herald's Inside Track ladies put it) actually booed any model, let alone a Victoria's Secret lass? Bostonist was there, and we heard all the boos. And much as we give credit to anyone speaking......

Some stories just sound like terrible jokes. But this one is all too real. WBZ reports that a priest from Boston got arrested last Friday for stalking Conan O'Brien. Pardon us for using the words "priest" and "hell" in the same post, but, seriously, what the hell? You couldn't make that up. And the Archdiocese of Boston took its own sweet time to release the news. They waited until today to announce that Reverend David......

--A man and his mother were shot while riding in a car yesterday in Dorchester. The Globe reports that Darnell Ricks Jr., 20, was hit in the arm, and his mother "appeared to have been grazed in the face by a bullet." Police have a detailed description of the alleged perps: "They were looking for three black males who appeared to be in their late teens and about 5 feet 8 inches tall. One wore......

Definitely a sad announcement to make: Lawrence, Massachusetts, native Robert Goulet died tonight at age 73. He was an international star who catapulted into fame in his 1960 Broadway musical role as Lancelot in Camelot. Originally befallen to stage fright, he was encouraged by his parents in his early teens to continue performing. Following the success of Camelot, he appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show," and began branching out into film and a recording career.......

Papercut Zine Library 45 Mt. Auburn St. Cambridge, MA http://www.papercutzinelibrary.org Sunday, October 28, 2007 See schedule below In addition to the many movie marathons to keep you from watching Rocky Horror 5 times on VH1 and eating all of your Halloween candy before Wednesday, the Papercut Zine Library is having a movie marathon from 10am until midnight for a measely $5. These films are unavailable in the US on DVD or VHS. Not only......

Attempt at Largest Gathering of Halloween Witches (Reciting Poetry) With Lesley Bannatyne Saturday, October 27 Book signing at 7:00 pm McIntyre & Moore Booksellers, Davis Square, Somerville Record-breaking at 7:30 pm Davis Square, Somerville Do the past few Halloweens seem to go by, leaving nothing more than a little tummyache after eating too much candy corn? Well, Somerville author and Halloween expert Lesley Bannatyne is aims to leave a mark this Halloween by attempting to......

'Nac Attack With Brad Searles Great Scott 1222 Commonwealth Ave, Allston Tonight, 9:00 pm Music blogger Brad Searles, the man behind Bradley's Almanac, is frequently seen dee-jaying for Tourfilter DJ Night on Thursday nights at River Gods in Cambridge. (Speaking of Tourfilter, have you heard about Antiplex?) However, tomorrow's Tourfilter DJ night has been cancelled because of the Sox-Indians game. River Gods is bringing a television into the bar so its patrons can keep up......

As it gets closer to Halloween for LAist, a contributer recollects her tale of staring down the serial killer, Richard Ramirez, otherwise known as the Night Stalker. Must think happy thoughts -- okay, free organic chocolate chip cookies for Los Angeles -- now that's a happy thought. Other happy Los Angeles thoughts include an interview with Jack Kehler of The Big Lebowski (he was the Dude's landlord), a beautiful and magical photographic moment in Venice......

This week, the Brattle Theatre presents a series called "Cult Double Vision," a trio of double features that should satisfy the completist neural pathways in the brain of even the most OCD film buff. Today, the Brattle screens Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead, the pair of gutbusting slapstick spoofs that made a name for director Edgar Wright and actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. The Wednesday offering is Danny Boyle's pair of......