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Film New at area theaters: Bolt *** (out of four stars) Wiggy, waggy-dog story about a shepherd who gets a new leash on life. In this Disney animation flick, Bolt (voice of John Travolta) is a canine James Bond who doesn't realize that his sonic-boom bark and supersonic speed are t

In the Mix: Broad Street

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'Don Giovanni' by the Curtis Opera: By David Patrick Stearns , Inquirer Music Critic

Don Giovanni belongs to a contingent of operatic masterpieces in which no one staging is artistically comprehensive. Its unremitting brilliance dwarfs even its most resourceful admirers.
A culture dwindles away in 'Dividing the Estate': By Howard Shapiro , Inquirer Staff Writer

NEW YORK - So much family history runs through Horton Foote's comedy Dividing the Estate, so much who-died-how and who-dissed-whom, that it threatens to suffocate the plot. And much of the history is extraneous.
Dave on Demand: Wasting a perfectly good hour with 'NCIS': By David Hiltbrand , For the Inquirer

By any measure, CBS's NCIS is a trouper: a show whose ratings continue to rise over time, a show that you can put on against the toughest competition - Dancing With the Stars, American Idol - and it will still perform reliably.
'Dukes' is a doo-wop disaster: The Dukes wants to be the Big Deal on Madonna Street of doo-wop nostalgia, Italian American division. As this shambling, cornball heist comedy - in which the members of a one-hit-wonder vocal group from the early '60s conspire in 2007 to steal the gold from the safe in a dental laboratory - plods along in its sloppy, joshing way, it tastes like pasta sauce that has sat on the shelf long after the expiration date.
A perfect comfort level: Hans Graf, conducting the orchestra in the Bruckner Fourth, reminds of the value of understated refinement.

By Peter Dobrin , Inquirer Music Critic

Sometimes when a conductor and orchestra find a relationship that's comfortable, neither challenges the other to take chances or explore new ideas.
Sideshow: Tabloid says Jacko now Muslim named Mikaeel: By Tirdad Derakhshani , Inquirer Staff Writer

The Way You Mecca Me Feel. That's the clever headline of a tale in Britain's imaginative tabloid, the Sun, that claims Michael Jackson, who has spent quality time in Bahrain, has converted to Islam. (Not that there's anything wrong with that. Right?)
'A good place to call home': In a Merion rancher, three men live with disabilities - and independence. They and their families pooled resources, got creative, and made it happen.

By Anndee Hochman , For The Inquirer

Two weeks before Election Day, and two days into the World Series, the house at Brookway and Montgomery Avenue in Merion was flying its partisan colors: Obama/Biden placards on the lawn, Phillies game on the tube.
A gift that keeps on giving.: Holiday treat for birds: Edible wreaths

By Virginia A. Smith , Inquirer Staff Writer

Eileen Boyle takes a bird's-eye view of the fall garden. She sees it as a bountiful buffet of fruits, nuts and seeds.
Changing Skyline: Cuts weren't in Carnegie's library plans: By Inga Saffron , Inquirer Architecture Critic

Sure, Andrew Carnegie was a robber baron who built the formidable business empire that became U.S. Steel. But most Americans probably know him as the guy who went from town to town, scattering public libraries the way Johnny Appleseed planted trees.
Ask Amy: Anonymous accusation of infidelity: By Amy Dickinson

Dear Amy: I received a typed, anonymous letter marked "Private" in the mail today at my business. It reads: "Your husband cheated on you. Or has been having an affair. I don't know which."
Sideshow: Bill Maher? Not an Oscar prayer: By Tirdad Derakhshani , Inquirer Staff Writer

Pray it ain't so, Oscar. At least, that may have been what political comedian and movie maker Bill Maher said after the documentary branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Wednesday the 15 semifinalists for next year's best-documentary Oscar. Maher's Religulous, the sharp-edged pan of organized religion, was not among them.
Cheat Sheet: You'll find a wide variety of yule lighting options: By Alan J. Heavens , Inquirer Real Estate Writer

Outside, it's sure beginning to feel a lot like Christmas - time to start looking for lights for the holidays, so you can hang them before it gets even colder. Right now, stores have ample supplies and variety, though lights tend to be pricier at the start of the season than at the end.