Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Three things we’ll be talking about this week

1The potty-mouthed puppets of Broadway’s “Avenue Q” have packed up and left town. Now it’s Jeff Dunham’s turn. The comedian/ventriloquist arrives Wednesday, when the “Identity Crisis Tour” lands at the Spokane Arena. Dunham’s Comedy Central show may not have lasted, but that doesn’t diminish his popularity. Pollstar.com named him the top-grossing touring comic worldwide in 2009.

2Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio team up for a fourth time – after “Gangs of New York,” “The Aviator” and “The Departed” – in the horror thriller “Shutter Island.” The film, which opens Friday, centers on two U.S. marshals sent to find a patient missing from a hospital for the criminally insane located on a remote island. Mark Ruffalo, Max von Sydow, Michelle Williams and Ben Kingsley co-star.

3The men’s college basketball season continues its relentless march to the madness. The Gonzaga Bulldogs, riding high in the polls, hit the road this week, heading to Southern California for games Thursday at Loyola-Marymount and Saturday at Pepperdine. The Washington State Cougars, meanwhile, return to Friel Court in Pullman for a homestand against UCLA on Thursday and USC on Saturday.