Babylon A.D.
This is an ambitious, serious-minded sci-fi film that at times recalls such superior examples of the genre as Blade Runner and Children of Men. Based on the French novel Babylon Babies</i., it was something of a dream project for director Mathieu Kassovitz. Unfortunately, that dream turned into a nightmare as nearly everything that could go…
College
This dim-witted movie follows three high-school seniors as they get their first college “experience.” When they end up becoming the de facto pledges at a fraternity that’s been banned because of its hazing rituals, they get more than they bargained for. The amount of underage drinking and gratuitous sex is enough to shock even liberal…
Disaster Movie
For the quality of writing that gets written during a WGA writers strike, behold the latest — and unquestionably least — focus-free Hollywood spoof from parodists-for-dummies Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer (Meet the Spartans, Epic Movie, etc), poking fun at, in no particular order or rationale, Juno, Enchanted, No Country for Old Men, Superbad, Armageddon,…
Get Out!
Thursday 9.4 RALPHIE MAY Now that the Democrats have officially tapped Barack Obama as their presidential candidate, comedian Ralphie May can finally come clean about his political ignorance. He'll fess up at a slate of shows at the Improv this week. "I gave money to Barack Obama because I felt guilty," admits the 394-pound May,…
Letters 09-03-2008
IF ONLY WE COULD HARNESS THE POWER OF EXCUSES … I liked your article "Full of Hot Air" (August 27). The unfortunate part is that government always seems to think we have all this extra time. Why in the hell are they giving 'til 2025? That's ridiculous. Many experts predict that the supply of "cheap"…
Print Outs
The Newspaper Guild, a union for journalists, estimates that nationally, 3,000 industry jobs have disappeared since May. In recent weeks, more than 400 local newspaper employees have been offered the chance to walk away from the ailing business. Some were cut without a choice. On Tuesday, August 19, The Plain Dealer offered buyouts to approximately…
The Eye Of The Storm
Cuyahoga County's three wise men convene for yet another Thursday morning in the fourth-floor boardroom with the view of the "old" convention center, staring coolly around the room as they glide toward their conveniently musical chairs. It's Peter Lawson Jones' turn to act as president of the Board of County Commissioners these days, and as…
Mediocre Vibrations
You'd think Brian Wilson would have given up on concept albums by now. After all, his last one took 37 years to complete. That record, SMiLE, was started way back in 1967, when Wilson was still the brains behind the Beach Boys; nearly four decades, many false starts and numerous breakdowns later, he finished his…
Capsule Reviews Of Current Films
Babylon A.D. – This is an ambitious, serious-minded sci-fi film that at times recalls such superior examples of the genre as Blade Runner and Children of Men. Based on the French novel Babylon Babies, Babylon A.D. feels as if large chunks of narrative are missing, leaving plot holes the producers tried to fill with poorly…
Culture Jamming: Happy Campers
TOP PICK Camper Van Beethoven: Popular Songs (Cooking Vinyl) Back in the mid-'80s, before alt-rock had its own radio format, these California weirdos combined banjos, violins, Balkan folk stomps and psychedelic Americana on cuts like "Take the Skinheads Bowling." This 18-track survey of their career includes a handful of recent re-recordings of songs from their…
Who’s Really Killing Torso?
Cleveland Film Commission President Ivan Schwarz took a cue from his predecessor last week by making a bunch of noise to get his name in the paper. A Plain Dealer story by Sam Fulwood claimed that a movie based on Brian Michael Bendis' graphic novel about the Torso murders was going to film in Michigan…
Time To Ante Up
Michael Seifert, co-owner of Cleveland's Ante Up Audio Recording Studios, had offers to work in Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco after honing his chops working in his father Bruce Seifert's Cleveland recording studio, GTR Recording, in the '90s. Projects with Cleveland's Bone Thugs-N-Harmony led to an offer to produce major rap records that Seifert…
O’donnell On Cleveland
Half a century ago, the editor of Cleveland News wanted Doris O'Donnell to rework her lead. "Have you ever walked down Euclid Avenue and looked in the window at Beattie's?" he asked. "Their diamonds are displayed on satin pads and the lighting hits them just right. Make your lead as perfect as Beattie's makes their…
Your Weekly Concert Previews
Monsters of Metal Gorgeous Frankenstein at Peabody's on Thursday, September 4Gorgeous Frankenstein is the new act featuring former Misfits guitarist Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein and his wife, former WCW/ECW wrestling gal Gorgeous Frankenstein (née George). Doyle still takes the stage in full 'Fits fatigues, standing like 6-foot-14, chiseled from 34 years of religious weight-lifting, face…
To Infinity And Beyond
When they planned their Uniting the State of the Americas tour in 2003, performance poets Alixa Garcia and Naima Penniman laid out a map of the United States, drew an infinity symbol from coast to coast and planned their itinerary accordingly. The Brooklyn-based duo, known as Climbing poeTree, traveled down the East Coast, diagonally back…
Mike Gordon
Although Mike Gordon has done plenty of recording in the four years since the dissolution of Phish, there's a case to be made that his just-released new album, The Green Sparrow, is his first real solo project. The initial releases bearing Gordon's name came with the potent co-billing of extraordinary acoustic guitarist Leo Kottke, and…
Local Arts News
Student artists may do it for love, but of course they need money and feedback too. They can get both at the CWRU Graduate Art History Association's juried slide show, which takes place during MOCA Cleveland's annual college night, October 22. Selected participants will give PowerPoint presentations featuring slides of their work, and the jury…
Local Disc Reviews
Tilt 360 Day 11 (Love Muffin) tilt360.net These brazen rockers out of Youngstown have gotten a lot of mileage from the fact that boxing phenom Kelly "The Ghost" Pavlik uses their hard-hitting tune "Point Blank" as his theme song. But the band goes for a more melodic, Incubus-derived sound on Day 11, its full-length debut.…
A Perfect 10
What possible meaning could French New Wave architect Jean-Luc Godard have in a society so base and craven that The Dark Knight is treated like the second coming of Citizen Kane? It's hard to believe that once upon a time – say, 40-odd years ago – the first three letters of Godard's last name were…
Dead Alive
Indie kids are finally tuning in the Grateful Dead. At least, that's what the media claims. The August issue of Relix sports a vintage pic of Jerry for its cover story, as well as the dubious claim "Rock's Original Hipster." Before that, Arthur and The Fader ran similar spreads, both of which contain testimonials from…
Your Weekly Arts Picks
TALK THE LINE Bi-Lingual at SPACES, Friday, September 5 Artists who aren't tagged with a racial identity have the freedom to pursue expression without the burden or guidance of tradition. Those for whom a specific culture is a defining factor, though, walk a line between tradition and the freedom of expression without bounds. Ceramic artist…
Portrait Of The Artist As A Mad Man
Many years ago, when eminent documentarian Les Blank visited Cleveland with one of his short features about an "outsider artist," an eccentric self-taught painter-sculptor-costumer-composer-architect (The Maestro: King of the Cowboy Artists, highly recommended; catch it if you can), I tried to interest the famed filmmaker in East Cleveland's own Rev. Albert Wagner as a celluloid…
Martial Lawlessness
MTV Films and Paramount seemed to have been hoping Napoleon Dynamite lightning could strike twice, with the release of this similarly regionally flavored, low-budget, not-for-all-tastes, no-name comedy – no name, that is, unless you count sports-spoof regular Will Ferrell as one of the producers. The Foot Fist Way tackles martial-arts as it is observed at…
Dining Bites
Look for the area's second Melting Pot location to open in mid-September at Westgate Mall on the Rocky River-Fairview Park border. Seth Bromberg, the local owner behind the successful Legacy Village store (24741 Cedar Rd., 216.381.2700), is putting the finishing touches on the 200-seat fondue emporium. While slightly larger than the East Side outpost, Bromberg…
Right Said Fred
Kev Blaze's Smoke N Blaze is now out of major-label limbo. An internet sensation, the disc will now be an independent release but will receive some major exposure. The Cleveland singer-producer-rapper signed to EMI's Imperial label in fall 2007. Soon after, the label went through major corporate restructuring, which left the future uncertain for its…
Stereolab, Matthew Sweet, The Dandy Warhols, And More
Stereolab Chemical Chords (4AD) Expecting Stereolab to change things 15-plus years after it first plugged in its electronic gizmos is like waiting for Ice Cube to make a funny movie. Ain't gonna happen. On their 11th album, studio wiz Tim Gane and singer Laetitia Sadier assemble the usual set of yeah-baby bachelor-pad grooves and coolly…
‘Home’ Cooking
When Fat Cats openedin Tremont almost a dozen years ago, the area was far from the gastronomic playground it is today: Lola had opened its doors just one month prior, and Fahrenheit was still a good five years down the road. So to call Ricardo Sandoval, chef and partner of Fat Cats, a Johnny-come-lately would…
