PD Reporters: Don’t Accuse Us of Having Balls
Please don’t think the PD is sprouting balls. Please don’t print stuff like that on your blog. The PD is not growing balls at all. Where was Editor Susan Goldberg after the racist cartoon about Cookie Thomas? Where was Reader Rep Ted “I can spin any BS” Diadiun? Where was Editorial Page Director Brent Larkin?…
Brian Jonestown Massacre Kicks Each Other’s Asses; the Roots Kicks Ass
Guess who made a surprise appearance at House of Blues Monday? The two musical acts that descended upon Cleveland on Sunday and Monday nights proved, as if it was ever in question, that hip-hop is better than emo. On Sunday, the Brian Jonestown Massacre somehow managed to make its Grog Shop audience both furious and…
Free Music Wednesday: A New Mixtape downloaded by Mick Boogie and Terry Urban, and every other rapper ever
Cleveland’s own Mick Boogie — the DJ with a Ph. D in mixology — was tapped by AllHipHop.com, the online hip-hop CNN, to create a mixtape in commemoration of the site’s annual AllHipHop Week. The rap dot-com gave Boogie and Terry Urban tunes from Kanye, T-Pain, 50 Cent, Kidz in the Hall, Lupe Fisaco, and…
This Just In: We tell you which concerts come to Cleveland, like, way before they come to Cleveland
This week, 31 new shows, from the Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s holiday extravaganza to an all-star rock, country, rhythm, and blues tribute to Jerry Lee Lewis — featuring the Killer himself, the Reverend Jimmy Swaggart (Lewis’ cousin) on piano, George Thorogood, and others. Also: Hard-and-heavy yucks comin’ at you from Brian Posehn and friends in the Comedians…
DEA Exposes the ‘Roid Trade’s Seedy Underbelly, Shrunken Balls
On Sunday, the DEA concluded a country-wide, four-day series of underground steroid raids. Federal agents busted down the doors of 56 labs, throwing handcuffs on 124 steroid-pushers. Several of the agents reported that they “really felt like Vin Diesel for a second there.” Among the items confiscated were 71 weapons, 25 vehicles, three boats, and…
McCormick & Schmick’s Comes to Beachwood
The very name is a mouthful at McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant, the newly opened seafood & steakhouse in Beachwood. (Part of a Portland, Oregon-based chain with 50 or so spots nationwide, it joins other Ohio locations in Columbus, Dayton, and Cincinnati.) But the menu is a big ’un, too, filled with scores of lunch…
Hate Mail of the Week: Sluts, Sociopaths & Really Bad Parents
This week’s moment of beautiful viciousness comes from some guy named Ran, whose venom is directed to those making an appearance in last week’s cover story, Getting Dad: Here is a question – where in the hell were her parents when she was out screwing and running round with a 35 year old sociopath/psychotic?? It…
Before LeBron Gets Live From New York, His Bodyguards Get Chippy in Akron
Surely, the writers of Saturday Night Live are having little trouble finding material for LeBron James, who’ll be hosting the show’s 33rd season premiere this Saturday. Andy Samberg probably already has a song, Amy Poehler, a Cleveland joke, and Kennan Thompson, a decent impression. King James in drag? A given. Still, C-Notes would like to…
Mike G’s Picks of the Week, With ?uestlove On the Ones and Twos
?uestlove spins at Liquid tonight. This week’s top arts and entertainment picks around town, from the guy who’s paid to pick them: Monday: ?uestlove is one of the illest hip-hop guys around. He not only plays drums for the super-cool Roots, he also pens some great liner-notes reads (check out his work in the two…
“The Jig Is Up:” Out with The Elf, says the county GOP
No one enjoys gently ribbing Dennis Kucinich with lyrical crowbars to the kidney like C-Notes does. But we’re gracious antagonists – we’ve never called for the little guy’s head. (I mean, seriously, where would that leave us?) But the Cuyahoga County Republican Party’s decided they want to crap on our crabcakes. They’ve launched a website,…
KRS-One At Rock Hall Tonight
Hip-hop godfather KRS-ONE will speak at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum (1 Key Plaza, Downtown) Monday, September 24, at 7 p.m. Admission is free with a reservation; contact edu@rockhall.org or call 216-515-8426. KRS-ONE stands for Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone. After introducing the tough street motif to hip-hop, KRS reinvented…
Twiztid/Ill Bill Canceled
The week starts off on a bad news for juggalos across the nation. The Twizitid/Ill Bill/Mower tour that was scheduled to stop at Peabody’s Tuesday, September 25 has been canceled due to Twiztid rapper Monoxide’s lingering damage from a recent accident. More bad news for Ill Bill fans: The rap-rock crossover ace’s new album, The…
A Plea to Elyria Police: Reinstate Patrolman Tanner. That guy rules.
Somebody buy Elyria police officer Michael Tanner a beer. In an arbitration proceeding right now, he’s fighting for his job, his pride, and his God-given right to get piss-ass wasted, stare at hooters, and play Twister with a can of whip-cream. Last July, when he heard his good buddy was having a party, Tanner decided…
Meet Your New Spokeswoman in the Fight to Cure Autism: Jenny McCarthy
Jenny McCarthy — a long ways from “The Jenny McCarthy Show.” Jenny McCarthy has joined the chorus of mothers wondering if there is a link between autism and common childhood vaccines (“Raising Joshua,” November 15). In an appearance on Oprah this week, the actress, known more for her boobs than her parenting skills, talked about…
Madonna Carries the Torch For Judaism, Despite Pleas From Actual Jewish People
For Madonna, Judaism is the new skanky. Starting at sundown tonight, in the name of atonement, Jews around the world will make the ultimate sacrifice: They won’t eat or drink anything at all for 24 hours. (Horrifying, we know). But at least they’ll be sharing hunger pains with the likes of Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher,…
David Brennan Cuts Check to Elms: How does something so right feel so wrong?
Schlitz: the official beer of … well … nothing, really. But the author of this blog likes to drink it sometimes, maybe. If you read Amy Rankin’s cover story about her time as a charter-school cubicle jockey [“Education at It’s Worst”, August 29], then you probably understand exactly how David Brennan’s White Hat Management cuts…
Lakewood Public Library Spies on Patrons?
A note from a reader who — and we’re just guessing here — isn’t all that fond of the Lakewood Library’s director. The director of the Lakewood Public Libary, snooty control freak Kenneth Warren, who has come under criticism for doing a poor job lately, has done it again. He recently ordered his staff in…
Smile! You’re About to Get Proposed to By the Guy You’ve Been Trying to Dump
The New York Times reports today that more men are hiring photographers to shoot pictures of their proposals. Scene reports today that this is super gay. — Michael Gallucci
Mike G’s Weekend Picks: King of Kong, Mandy Moore, and Poisoned Cocktails
This weekend’s top arts and entertainment picks around town, from the guy who’s paid to pick them: Editor’s note: Before we get started, it should be noted that the author of this blog wanted to include this photo: But the editor wanted to use this one: Just so you know. Moving on … Friday: Cedar…
Light Bistro Lunch Hours, V. 2.0
Launched just last month, weekday lunch service at Ohio City’s Light Bistro has become such a hit that co-owners Eric Dietrich and Matt Mathlage are already fine-tuning the schedule, adding Tuesday service and dropping Saturdays. Beginning September 25, that will make the new lunch schedule run from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., Tuesday through Friday.…
You Will Not Drink Any F*$king Merlot! Ohio slyly changes wine-shipping law
For those of you lucky enough to get California wine shipped directly to your drunken doorstep, we have some bad news. At least we think it’s bad. The wine world is buzzing about a change in Ohio state law—slipped into a budget bill this summer—that appears to prevent some large, out-of-state wineries from shipping directly…
Kill Bill: Meet the man who’ll make you (even more) ashamed to be a Browns fan
Maria Vargas, an ex-pat from Pittsburgh and huge Steelers fan, was sick and tired of the name-calling, the beer-throwing, and the taunting of Browns fans. All she wanted was a little peace and quiet and a few fellow Steelers fans to watch the games with. Was that too much to ask? Well, of course it…
Obituary’s Return: Underground metal legends return with strong new album
You can’t kill Florida death-metal legends Obituary. They’re immune to it. After a prolonged hiatus (from 1997 to 2003) and a nasty split with their longtime label (Roadrunner), the band is back to classic form with the thoroughly harsh new LP, Xecutioner’s Return. It’s a throwback to their early dark glory — after they decided…
After vacationing … er, campaigning in Hawaii, Dennis Kucinich loses luggage.
Congressman Dennis Kucinich’s taxpayer-funded vacation (err, presidential campaign) around America hit a snag last week, when Northwest Airlines lost the little guy’s luggage on a flight to Fargo, North Dakota. But Kucinich wouldn’t let the bump in the road spoil his good time. In an interview with a local Fargo reporter, Kucinich said he’s learned…
Busty Blues
HEY! Uh! I’m Bob Log III, one-man band! Tucson, Arizona. HEYYY! Let me introduce the band to ya! On cymbals, left foot. Over here on the bass drum, we got right foot. SHUT UP! This, my left hand, does all the slide work. Right hand does the pickin’. My mouth hole does most the talkin’,…
Nicole Willis and the Soul Investigators
Born in Brooklyn, vocalist Nicole Willis started her career in the early ’80s; she worked with everyone from The The and the Brand New Heavies to the late Curtis Mayfield. Relocating to Europe in 1999, she released her first solo album, Soul Makeover, the following year. Keep Reachin’ Up is Willis’ debut collaboration with Finland’s…
To Die For
In the comedy Arsenic and Old Lace, drama critic Mortimer Brewster tells his fiancée, “Insanity runs in my family. It practically gallops.” He’s not kidding. His two spinster aunts offer poisoned cocktails to lonely bachelors. Then they bury the bodies in the basement. “They’re the craziest family on the block,” says Drew Barr, director of…
Our top DVD picks scheduled for release this week:
As You Like It (HBO) Babel: 2-Disc Collector’s Edition (Paramount Vantage) Broken (Weinstein) The Bronx Is Burning (ESPN) Building Bombs (New Video Group) Chalk (Arts Alliance America) Cinema 16: European Short Films (Warp) Cujo: 25th Anniversary Edition (Lionsgate) Davey and Goliath: The Lost Episodes (Starlight) Drawn Together: Season Two (Paramount) 11:59 (Tartan) George Carlin: All…
Hasta La Muerte
MySpace is a baffling labyrinth. It’ll consume your whole day if you let it, and you’ll usually come away depressed by what you hear and see. But click the right link, and you can be neck-deep in a wondrous new world. Or, in this case, a very old world that’s somehow revived itself and gone…
Torrio
Torrio is driven, clever, and occasionally inspired, but those qualities don’t always come across on record. Producing his own tracks, the Cleveland rapper mixes thin keyboard tracks and predictable low-budget beats. Although the highlight of The Big Picture is a hook lifted from Stevie Wonder via Coolio, Torrio’s third disc is no paradise. That said,…
The Wheel Deal
At today’s Red Ribbon Ride Ohio event, bicyclists can check out three different routes that cover the entire 200-acre Rockefeller Park. The outing wraps up the summerlong Walk+Roll series. The ride spotlights area attractions like the Cleveland Clinic, Case Western Reserve University, and other historic locales. Ultimate Frisbee competitions, yoga demonstrations, and live performances will…
Alternative Media
Alternative Press has released Press Play: Volume 1, the first in a series of compilation CDs. The Cleveland-based music mag also has plans for further publishing and broadcasting endeavors. Now in its 23rd year, A.P. has been described as “the bible of emo and punk culture.” Press Play features tracks from Panic! At The Disco,…
Robert Cherry
Robert Cherry’s second album, Paint No Devils — which features mostly somber acoustic ballads and the occasional melodic rocker — deals with the emotional fallout from a troubled relationship. Cherry alone, with his breathy vocals, acoustic guitar, and introspective lyrics, would constitute an interesting listen. But Paint No Devils really shines when his stripped-down songs…
Knotty Boys
Brothers Chris and Tony Cuda have spent the past year trying to warm local music fans to their very special mix of prog-jazz. The guitarist and bassist combine modern jazz, world music, and 1970s prog-rock. You can check it out at their Barking Spider performance tonight. “Americans take whatever comes easy, and this music is…
Obituary
From 1989 to ’94, Obituary dropped a string of albums that defined tail-dragging Florida death metal. Slowly We Rot, Cause of Death, and World Demise are genre classics, marked by mid- to no-tempo crushers, aerial solos courtesy of axeman Allen West, and John Tardy’s horrendous growls, which sound as if he scraped his vocal chords…
Odd, but Awesome
Sometimes dinner is more than a meal — it’s an exercise in value clarification. Cook or dine out? Upscale setting or bargain prices? Cookie-cutter chain or someplace, shall we say, unique? In this last category, consider Venezia, Moroccan-born chef Moha Orchid’s pretty little dining room in Lakewood. Obviously, Orchid is not like you or me.…
Strike Force
In her new book, On the Picket Line, Mary E. Triece connects the dots among hungry mothers, the Depression, and stateside Commies. Intrigued by the perceived notion that ladies stayed inactive throughout the 1930s labor movement, Triece spent four years researching the subject. “I found that average, everyday women were very active,” she says. “They…
Martin Sexton
Along with 10 zillion Tracy Chapman clones, Martin Sexton cut his teeth around the subway stations and street corners of Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the late ’80s and early ’90s. So yeah, the singer-songwriter and guitar whiz has been on the periphery of the new folk scene for years and years. But Sexton has distinguished himself…
City Bar, Country Bar
We’re always on the lookout for unique spots to grab a sip and a sup, and recent reconnoiters have uncovered two winners — one a model of downtown sophistication, the other a rural retreat hidden in the Cuyahoga Valley. First, the Wonder Bar, one of the newest additions to downtown’s East Fourth Street district: Intimate,…
Grape Performances
Singles have the advantage at tonight’s Fine Wines by the Falls outing in Chagrin Falls. “If you [come] as a couple, you might be spending the whole evening at different tables, depending on your wine preferences,” says organizer Nancy Haag. Seven stations — featuring various reds, cabernets, and chardonnays — line up the vino by…
Turbonegro
There’s a charm to worshiping the big dumb rock of AC/DC, Alice Cooper, Van Halen, and Motörhead — when done with the proper lack of artifice, of course. Sadly, most American acts miss the difference between gloriously and insipidly stupid, and it’s that distinction that essentially separates Turbonegro from such humorless idiots as Puddle of…
Through the Valley
Even the most adamantly anti-war movies about American soldiers returning from Vietnam — Hal Ashby’s Coming Home (1978) and Oliver Stone’s Born on the Fourth of July (1989) — redeemed their mangled, embittered grunts through the love of good women, devoted parents, political resistance, or all of the above. You can’t pin that kind of…
Come on, Get Happy!
Listen for Lorain native Jaclyn Bradley’s shout-out to Danny Bonaduce tonight, when she plays songs from her new CD, Lost Angeles, at Jac’s. Part of the album chronicles the singer-songwriter’s two-year stint as a personal assistant to the Partridge Family star. Other sections deal with her frequent appearances on his reality TV show, Breaking Bonaduce.…
Mandy Moore
Mandy Moore survived the blond pop-tart revolution of the late ’90s by being, oddly enough, the most mediocre star of the bunch. Moore is not a flashy singer like Xtina, nor is she a sexed-up entertainer like Britney. She’s not even much of a paparazzi target, despite dating plenty of high-profile guys: Zach Braff, Wilmer…
Promises Delivers
Eastern Promises opens on a rainy December eve with a brutal gangland murder in a London barber shop. Anna (Naomi Watts), a midwife in a central London hospital, delivers a baby as the mother, a 14-year-old prostitute named Tatiana, dies in childbirth. Half-Russian herself, Anna filches the girl’s diary, hoping to discover who she is,…
Exposed Roots
Chicago’s Sleeper Car bends alt-country expectations on its second album, Love & Anxiety. The fiddles and pedal steel add twang, but the band’s real forte is its commitment to a folk-rock tradition that stretches all the way back to the ’60s. All five guys (including the excellently named Tie Die Charlie) plant roots in a…
Cedar Valley Settlers Celebration & Music Festival
Organized by Cleveland Metroparks, the Cedar Valley Settlers Celebration & Music Festival is an autumn Sunday affair that revives the sights, sounds, and tastes of Ohio’s pioneering days. Living-museum types demonstrate square dancing, serve biscuits, and tutor modern folk on butter churning and two-man sawing. To fully capture that old-timey atmosphere, Metroparks has booked the…
Not Quite Peggy
Almost everyone knows Peggy Lee’s signature sexy voice, which crooned famous tunes such as “Fever” and “Mr. Wonderful” It’s said that she came up with her soft, libidinous growl when a dinner-club crowd was making too much noise during her show. She kept lowering her voice until the room got very quiet, and all the…
House Calls
Gene Kirby and his fellow fright fans hope they can make at least one person faint at tonight’s Bloodview Haunted House opening. “Our show tends to be pretty intense,” says Kirby, who’s part of the 156-member Legion of Terror acting troupe that populates the house. “We take pride that we get people to pee themselves…
Black Lips
The relentless, hip-shaking crunch of the Black Lips’ voodoo garage rock has helped revive a lust for evil, Crypt Records-style rock and roll. In its short but storied career, the Atlanta outfit’s knack for getting banned in Georgia venues has attracted a lot of attention. Nevertheless, the Lips have been riding a wave of good…
Mockingbird Lives
There are powerful emotions that influence our lives — love and anger chief among them — and we usually recognize when they are working their will on us. But other, subtler feelings often have an even greater impact on shaping who we become. Take approval and acceptance. Those words sound benign enough, but they can…
Horsing Around
Expect to see some serious jumping at this weekend’s American Gold Cup horse show in Moreland Hills. At Sunday’s big face-off, barriers reach more than five feet high. Contestants must complete each course without knocking anything down. “This sport definitely takes dedication,” says organizer Betty Yopko Weibel. “If you work real hard and keep trying…
Cartel
Cartel mined the precarious no-man’s-land between the Warped Tour, TRL, and mainstream radio, and came out with a few nuggets. Chroma, which dropped on indie label the Militia Group, yielded the emo-tinted modern-rock single “Honestly.” The big winner from the Atlanta band’s new self-titled major-label debut is “The Fortunate,” a jump-up-and-down sing-along anthem. As good…
Capsule reviews of current area art exhibitions.
New From Here to Infinity — The Cleveland Institute of Art admissions staff’s job just got a lot easier. This exhibition, marking the 125th anniversary of the CIA, provides concrete evidence to the wary parents of prospective students that, yes, it is possible to graduate from art school and make the pages of art-history books…
Web Head
Comic Ted Alexandro has had a busy year. In addition to his usual grueling touring schedule, he’s been hard at work on web projects for Comedy Central. A few months ago, he taught the principles of stand-up comedy in a series of online clips. Now he’s putting together some exclusive sketches for the site. They’ll…
Carl Monday Is Everywhere
When a woman plowed her pickup into the Justice Center parking garage recently, she figured she could make a clean getaway. She backed up, then hopped on the freeway and headed east. Little did she know that someone was in hot pursuit. The name’s Monday — Carl Monday. [Cue the Tomorrow Never Dies soundtrack.] Sources…
DJ Nu-Mark
DJ Nu-Mark is best known as the funk-minded mixmaster behind half of Jurassic 5’s tracks, and he brings the same get-up-get-down sensibility to his DJ sets, whether he’s polishing an old gem, unearthing a new club banger, or putting a fresh shine on one of today’s hits. And when he’s rolling solo, he does things…
Capsule reviews of current area theater presentations.
The Magic Fire — The cast of The Magic Fire solidly creates a range of eccentric and likable characters in one extended family. But the effect is undercut by excessive talking and direction that more often muddles than clarifies. Speaking to the audience directly, Lise, a middle-aged immigrant living in the U.S., recalls the summer…
Party Animals
You’d better keep count of the number of Dortmunder Gold Lagers you down at tonight’s Zoo Brew bash at the zoo. Organizers will eventually lead revelers on tours that feature up-close-and-personal visits with some of the venue’s wildest animals. Getting belligerent with one of them may not be a very good idea. The Great Lakes…
Full Pull
Driving through the sleepy college town of Bowling Green, past front yards littered with empty kegs and cornhole games, you’d never know you’re descending upon the world’s biggest tractor pull. ESPN won’t be at this event, the culmination of the Pennzoil Cup. Corporate advertisers won’t waste their time on the 60,000 people who will converge…
Now That’s Class
Now That’s Class is the furthest thing from a jazz club, but Mingus Day might still be the coolest jazz night of the year. Because — with all due respect to Cleveland’s many fine jazz establishments — if Mingus were kicking around C-Town today, this punk- and metal-friendly rock room is the kind of hang…
Saturday Night Fever: 30th Anniversary Special Collector’s Edition
(Paramount) For all its camp-classic status as the ultimate disco-fever dream, John Badham’s movie truly is remarkable — a foul-mouthed, mean-streets masterpiece that just happens to feature a Bee Gees score that spreads like melted cheese 30 years later. And, of course, it contains the greatest performance in John Travolta’s up-and-down-and-downer career. It’s a thing…
Sowing the Seeds
Singer-songwriter Martin Sexton equates his songs to kernels of hope. That probably explains why he calls his seventh album Seeds. The Boston-based troubadour tosses a lot of different sounds into his music — pop, rock, alt-country, gospel, even a little soul. Opener Ryan Montbleau treks similar ground on his band’s latest CD, One Fine Color.…
Getting Dad
Detective Brian Sloan worked plenty of sex-crimes cases in his five years with Strongsville police. Enough to believe the sobbing girl next to him was telling the truth. Sloan and a rape counselor listened quietly as 16-year-old Colleen recounted that hot summer night at a carnival six months before. She remembered every detail — the…
Oakley Hall
Defining rock music as a common language for the American masses is the stuff of fiction, not the people’s actual history, which tells us that rock has always been a fragmented tribe of competing subcultures. But every now and then an album appears that builds a Babel that never existed. I’ll Follow You, Oakley Hall’s…
‘Roid Rage Returns
In space, no one can hear you scream, Jumpin’ Jesus, this is one of the greatest games ever! But that doesn’t mean you won’t try during Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Hard-core gamers know Metroid’s star, bounty-hunter babe Samus Aran, has been kicking ass since 1986 — back when Lara Croft was but a gleam in…
Hello, Cleveland!
In Il Millione, the late Gerald Levert and jazz singer Al Jarreau reminisce about Cleveland’s musical past. The documentary makes its world premiere at the Cedar Lee Theatre tonight. The movie — shot by local filmmakers Michael and Tricia Bell — provides an 80-minute history lesson on the city’s contribution to rock, blues, and jazz.…
Do the Math
White Hat + Black List = zero credibility: I truly understand why you leave Life Skills Center [“Education at Its Worst,” August 29] off your résumé. Not only do other jobs (not just educational jobs, but all jobs) look down at you, they will not consider your résumé. You have a better chance getting a…
Public Enemy
It’s been 20 years since Public Enemy first taught us that hip-hop isn’t just dance music. PE’s debut, Yo! Bum Rush the Show, released in 1987, proved that rap could also be a powerful voice of dissent. Chuck D. once called hip-hop the “black CNN.” But these days he’s pissed at the music’s star reporters.…
Queen of the Hill
TOP PICK — Lori McKenna: Unglamorous (Warner Bros.) New England singer-songwriter Lori McKenna penned a bunch of tunes on Faith Hill’s last album. Hill and her hubby, Tim McGraw, return the favor by backing McKenna on this terrific, unpretentious CD of songs about domestic bliss and the often-tumultuous path it takes to get there. Whether…
Crazy in Love
In Time, an insanely jealous woman thinks her boyfriend has grown tired of her. So she leaves without a word, has plastic surgery, and re-enters his life as a brand-new person. She begins dating him again — even though he’s still madly in love with his old girlfriend (he’s totally unaware that he’s going out…
Buckeye Rap
Derek Jackson wants to send a message to anybody who’s thinking of attending the 2007 Ohio Hip-Hop Awards, so he sets down his fork, leans over his Caesar salad, and bellows into my cassette recorder: “Leave your white tees at home, your do-rags, your saggy jeans. This is a black-tie, red-carpet event.” The decree sends…
50 Cent
Earlier this year, 50 Cent made millions from an investment in Glaceau Vitamin Water. He even bragged about how he no longer needs to rap. That’s clearly the case on Curtis. Fiddy is no longer hungry. This summer alone, he released five singles and four videos, but none of them caught fire — and it’s…
Our top DVD picks scheduled for release this week:
Beyond the Gates (Fox) Blade: House of Chthon (New Line) The Boss of It All (IFC) Boston Legal: Season Three (Fox) Brothers and Sisters: The Complete First Season (Buena Vista) Catherine Deneuve: Essentials (Wellspring) The Condemned (Lionsgate) Deliverance: Deluxe Edition (Warner Bros.) Family Guy: Volume Five (Fox) Flashdance: Special Collector’s Edition (Paramount) Ghost Whisperer: The…
Special Delivery
Knocked Up (Universal) Apparently, as Judd Apatow was making Knocked Up, he was also prepping for its DVD release, as most of the bonuses here were shot during breaks on location. And they’re no small treats, either — finally, here’s a “collector’s edition” worthy of the moniker. Chief among the bounty affixed to this comedy…
Pain and Progress
You can’t help but be intimidated by KRS-One’s voice, a booming tone that shakes walls from concert halls to Ivy League classrooms. It is deep and distinct, like what you’d get if James Earl Jones rapped about B-boys, Jesus, and Bobby Seale. So imagine what it’s like to pick up the phone and be greeted…
PJ Harvey
Sometimes the simplest music is the most affecting. And so it goes with PJ Harvey’s new studio album, White Chalk. Absent are the scorched-earth guitars and feral vocals of previous releases. Instead, Chalk finds solace and strength in ascetic arrangements. This is largely a piano-and-voice album. Icicles drip from the ivories on such standouts as…
Screech out
Dustin Diamond, who played Screech on Saved by the Bell, realizes he’s in the running as one of 2007’s biggest dicks. First, he appeared in an infamous sex tape that culminated in a feces-equipped move called the Dirty Sanchez. Then he acted like a complete jackass on VH1’s weight-busting Celebrity Fit Club. “People don’t realize…
Down in Flames
In terms of the yawning chasm between what was promised and what has been delivered, Lair earns the distinction of being the biggest letdown ever for PlayStation 3. Worse, it’s also one of those games where massive prerelease hype merely ended up underscoring its flaws, transmogrifying a game that would’ve been simply second-rate into a…
