The Incredible Hulk
Hulk 2.0 may please comic enthusiasts with its blunt, dumbed-down approach, but that doesn’t make it a better movie than Ang Lee’s unloved Hulk from five summers ago. Faster-paced and more action-oriented than the 2003 version, this new Hulk takes its primary stylistic cues from the campy, craptastic ’70s TV show instead of Greek tragedy.…
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D
In this day of overly convoluted popcorn movies filled with countless subplots, characters and explanations for everything, Journey feels downright minimalist. There’s no angst or edginess; this is just fun, classic pulp adventure. Trevor (Brendan Fraser) is a scientist carrying on the research into seismic activity started by his brother Max, who went missing years…
The Last Mistress
Controversial director Catherine Breillat ambitiously brings Jules Barbey d’Aurevilly’s 19th-century once-immoral novel to life in this torrid adaptation about love, passion, temptation and scandal. The film is set in France during a time when the politeness of Parisian aristocrats masked the dark, lustful actions of a more private sector. Ryno de Marigny (Fu’ad Ait Aattou)…
Mamma Mia!
Inspired by the music of ’70s Swedish pop group ABBA, Mamma Mia! features an all-star cast in this film adaptation of the Broadway musical phenomenon. Donna (Meryl Streep) is a single mother to 20 year-old Sophie (Mean Girls’ Amanda Seyfried), who runs a villa on a picturesque Greek island. When young Sophie decides to get…
Mongol
Proof that larger budgets don’t mean better films is Mongol, Sergei Bodrov’s satisfying epic about the young Genghis Khan, Kazakhstan’s entry in this year’s Academy Awards. Filmed under harsh conditions in China and Kazakhstan on a budget of only $20 million, the film recalls an earlier era that relied on solid storytelling rather than CGI…
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
The O’Connells (Brendan Fraser reprising the role of Rick and Maria Bello stepping into Rachel Weisz’s shoes as Evelyn) find themselves bored in post-WWII England. But when their son Alex (Luke Ford) unwittingly unearths the immortal Emperor Han (Jet Li), they get all the excitement they can handle. Michelle Yeoh and Isabella Leong provide support…
OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies
OSS 117 finds a new angle on the spy-spoof genre, steering well clear of the gross-out humor of the Austin Powers series. Most of the film’s jokes center around agent Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath’s sexism and colonialist disdain for foreign cultures, both of which backfire when he gets sent on a mission to Egypt.…
Priceless
Though it will likely only be seen by a fraction of the audience that will flock to What Happens in Vegas, Priceless is a much smarter romantic comedy about essentially the same thing. Namely, a one-night stand that has the potential to turn into something more. Audrey Tatou (Amelie, The Da Vinci Code ) plays…
Space Chimps
In this harmless animated feature, Ham III (Andy Samberg), the grandson of a famous simian astronaut, is recruited to assist Luna (Cheryl Hines) and Titan (Patrick Warburton) on a journey to recover a lost spaceship that’s fallen into the hands of an evil alien (Jeff Daniels). A smart aleck who’s never lived up to his…
Step Brothers
From the start, Brennan (Will Ferrell) and Dale (John C. Reilly), two adults forced to live with each other after their single parents marry, have it out for each other. Because space is limited, they have to share a room, and on their first night together, they threaten each other with extreme forms of bodily…
The Dark Knight
Writer/director Christopher Nolan took over the Batman franchise with 2005’s Batman Begins, giving the character back the dignity he had lost in Joel Schumacher’s execrable Batman and Robin. As the story begins, Batman/Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) has been making some real headway in cleaning up Gotham City, thanks in part to the help of policeman…
The X-Files: I Want to Believe
The good news about the latest movie spin-off of the once-hot X Files TV show is also the bad news. Even with original creators Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz at the controls, there are no flying-saucer conspiracies. No black oil, no Smoking Man, no Lone Gunman. There’s just a creepy, slow-moving, small-scale mystery/ICU thriller with…
American Teen
The characters in American Teen seem like stock figures from a high school comedy: It’s Mean Girls, Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Revenge of the Nerds. But American Teen is a documentary and the kids are real. Nanette Burstein made American Teen while living for 10 months among a group of high school seniors…
War Inc.
It’s unfortunate that this dark, futuristic satire directed by Joshua Seftel isn’t better, because its indictment of U.S. imperialism and war profiteering and its illustration of Naomi Klein’s “shock doctrine” are so timely. John Cusack plays Brand Hauser, a troubled, hot-sauce-guzzling hit man hired to assassinate the CEO of a competitor to Tamerlane (read Halliburton),…
Hell Ride
This film is the cinematic equivalent of constipation. There’s a great deal of grunting and straining, and much energy is expended, all in the service of producing a turd. Writer/director/star Larry Bishop is the guy putting forth all that effort, and in front of the camera he makes for a compelling screen presence in the…
Brideshead Revisited
Why anyone thought it necessary to make another Brideshead Revisited is a mystery. The fondly regarded 1981 British television miniseries should have been the last word on Evelyn Waugh’s elegy to friendship, art, aristocracy and religion in Edwardian England. The new adaptation, directed by Julian Jarrold (Kinky Boots, Becoming Jane) and written by Jeremy Brock…
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
There’s a scene in Hellboy 2 where Ron Perlman’s working-class demon cum superhero must do battle with a giant plant elemental. The elemental is a frightening and dangerous creature, and yet director Guillermo del Toro pulls off the difficult task of making the audience feel empathy for it. When Prince Nuada (Luke Goss), the villain…
Get Smart
Framed as a superhero-type “origin” movie, this reboot of the ’60s TV spy parody invents a backstory to explain how Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell) went from being a CONTROL wonk to becoming Agent 99’s Inspector Clouseau-ish partner. While the supporting characters are all pretty much the same (Dwayne Johnson’s Agent 23 is a gung-ho doofus;…
Your Weekly Events Calendar
Thursday 8.14 SALVATORE SCIBONA Northeast Ohio's Italian Americans are bracing for some heavy partying at tomorrow's Feast of the Assumption Festival in Little Italy. So it's fitting that Strongsville native Salvatore Scibona would take the wraps off his debut novel, The End, at today's book-signing at Joseph-Beth, since the novel is about a tightly knit…
Devine Right
“This isn’t like cheating on your wife; this is more like cheating on your abusive, negligent wife. It doesn’t feel bad. It actually feels good.” Over the phone from a tour stop in Florida, Mat Devine — founder and frontman of the Chicago quintet Kill Hannah — isn’t talking about partaking in some groupie action,…
Daze Of Thunder
In Tropic Thunder, Ben Stiller does some of the best work of his career. And for once, the movie doesn't look sitcom-dowdy (hiring Cleveland native John Toll, the Oscar-winning cinematographer of Braveheart and Legends of the Fall, was a smart move). Fortunately, Thunder has a lot more going for it than just good looks. If…
Tin Pan Man
From the very start, Randy Newman has been a rare commodity in the music industry. A contemporary songwriter with a Tin Pan Alley sensibility and an affinity for the Great American Songbook, Newman has also served as a laser-sighted social critic who offers glimpses into humanity's ills through straight reportage or wily narrative. In recent…
Your Weekly Concert Review Wrap-up
Esperanza Spalding Nighttown, Wednesday, August 6 During an interview prior to this show, singer-bassist Esperanza Spalding warned me that her recent self-titled album is the "safe-listening version" of what her band does live. Her concert to a sold-out house at Nighttown proved she wasn't just tossing around empty threats. Opening with "Jazz (Ain't Nothin' but…
Revolutionary Theory
When Linkin Park organized the initial Projekt Revolution tour in 2002, the rap-rockers were all about putting on a show that featured a groundbreaking, diverse musical caravan. "Back when we started this tour, our idea was to showcase groups that were doing something revolutionary," Linkin Park rapper/keyboardist/guitarist Mike Shinoda says in a conference call. "That's…
A Soldier’s Story
Battle for Haditha is the movie that Brian De Palma's Redacted wanted to be – and very possibly imagined it was. Yet Redacted failed miserably for the very same reasons Haditha succeeds. Both films use a vérité, fly-on-the-wall approach to examine horrific true-life incidents involving American soldiers stationed in Iraq. In De Palma's cri de…
Your Weekly Music Calendar
Trance in his Pants Paul Van Dyk at Cyrus Waterfront, Thursday August 14 DJ Paul Van Dyk bristles when asked what it's like to jet-set all over the world. "I have been all over the place," he admits via phone from his studio in Berlin, Germany. "I came back last weekend after going to Tokyo,…
Arts News
It's far too early to be thinking about the holidays – unless, of course, you're an orchestra, TV programmer or some other company that's booking talent and making arrangements for that Most Lucrative Time of the Year. That's the situation for the Cleveland Pops orchestra, which has just signed a deal to be part of…
Vince Neil
Mštley CrŸe singerMore than a quarter-century has passed since Mštley CrŸe formed in Los Angeles. The pop-metal band has experienced an extraordinary amount of well-chronicled ups and downs, but the hard-living outfit, which has sold more than 80 million albums, is still at it and has just issued a new studio release, Saints of Los…
Film Capsules
Blade Runner (US, 1982/2007) Ridley Scott's sci-fi film stars Harrison Ford as Rick Deckard, a former cop recruited to terminate earthbound androids in 2019 Los Angeles. Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque. At 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16. Brideshead Revisited Why anyone thought it necessary to make another Brideshead Revisited is a mystery. The fondly regarded…
The Piano Man
The best way to discover the Velvet Tango Room is by accident. With the ambience of a high-end mens' club of a half-century ago, meticulously mixed drinks and top-notch jazz musicians tickling the keys of the baby grand, it seems to have dropped from another world into the nondescript neighborhood of modest homes that bridges…
Tree Country, Toast Of Ohio, And More
For weeks, I have been mistakenly calling a new Coventry Road restaurant Three Countries. The blunder is understandable, considering that the place serves three different ethnic cuisines – Japanese, Thai and Korean – under the same roof. But alas, Tree Country (1803 Coventry Rd., Cleveland Heights, 216.321.0644) is the name, and multi-ethnic cuisine is the…
Local Disc Reviews
Cleveland Jazz Project Experiment 1 (www.myspace.com/clevelandjazzproject) The four young musicians (ages 19-21) in the Cleveland Jazz Project met at Cleveland Heights High School and have been playing together for three years. Their debut album shows confident players who've already developed instinctive ensemble skills that allow them to take off on exploratory flights more adventurous than…
Madge & Me
So I see that Madonna is struggling with her look. As I approach 53, my fashion journey has taken me about to where Madonna's has taken her. It looks like she's giving up the ghost. As another fashion icon, I understand. You get tired, people. That cutting edge begins to cut into you. The recent…
Bleeding Through
Life should be pretty sweet for Bleeding Through right about now. One of the most highly regarded U.S. metalcore bands, it opened a national tour with Slayer and Marilyn Manson last year and is set to release its impressive and highly anticipated fifth album, Declaration, at the end of September. But it's caught up in…
Brazilian Girls, Menya, Christopher Hedge, And More
Brazilian Girls New York City (Verve) New York City is the perfect title for the Brazilian Girls' third album. Sure, the trio is from the city and owes it success to many of the Lower East Side clubs and bars that gave the band its start, but just like New York, with its melting pot…
Pineapple Express
Dale Denton (Seth Rogen) has got it good. He might drive around in a beater car and wear a dingy, decidedly unfashionable brown suit, but he dates a hot high-school chick (Jeanetta Arnette) and holds down a job that doesn’t require too much effort (he serves subpoenas). Hell, he spends half his day getting stoned.…
Anarchist Flowers
Let's get tactical. That's what you find yourself thinking for the first half of Richard Reynold's pretty good book on a marvelously mischievous idea, one which holds enormous potential in depopulated and grossly neglected Cleveland. The idea is clearly expressed in the title, Guerrilla Gardening: A Handbook for Gardening Without Boundaries, but just in case…
Your Concert Calendar
THIS WEEK THURSDAY, AUG. 14 Bullet for My Valentine/Bleeding Through/Cancer Bats: 6:30 p.m., $25. House of Blues, 308 Euclid Ave., 216-523-2583. Cleveland Jazz Project: $10. Nighttown, 12387 Cedar Rd., Cleveland Hts., 216-795-0550. Jah Works: 9:30 p.m., $5. The Brothers Lounge, 11609 Detroit Ave., Lakewood, 216-226-2767. Jimmy's Chicken Shack: 7 p.m., $10. Peabody's, 2083 E. 21st…
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2
Lena (Alexis Bledel), Tibby (Amber Tamblyn), Carmen (America Ferrera) and Bridget (Blake Lively) reunite for this surprising but most welcome follow-up to 2005’s Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Based once again on the novels of Ann Brashares, the sequel picks up the sisterly quartet’s individual and collective stories a year after the first movie ended.…
Great Big Brass Ones
EMPIRE BRASS The Empire Brass is a musically promiscuous ensemble that stretches the already-broad repertoire typically espoused by brass quintets. It's common for its ilk to mix baroque and classical composers like Bach, Handel and Mozart with jazz in a single program. But trumpeters Rolf Smedvig and Marc Brian Reese, French hornist Michelle Perry, trombonist…
Spanish Flyweight
THE ADVANCE BUZZ on Woody Allen's latest film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, was that it featured a hot lesbian sex scene between Scarlett Johansson and Penélope Cruz. The gossipers should have known better: Woody Allen movies are seldom about sex. Relationships, yes. Art and philosophy, certainly. But erotic heat is just not his thing. Woody Allen…
Step Right Up!
The show begins outside the theater where Artistic Director Clyde Simon, in the role of ringmaster and owner of Mr. Flip's Traveling Freakshow, takes your ticket. There are no rubes in the middle-class, middle-aged crowd that streams inside to fill the theater's 41 seats. Convergence-continuum is dedicated to working outside the mainstream, proudly offering a…
Time And Time Again
Cancer knocks any life off balance at every level, from the cellular to the metaphysical, especially when the patient is young. Jamie Davis was 17 when she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in her femur and underwent a grueling course of chemotherapy. Then, as if this were a modern fairy tale, doctors found her bone cells…
letters-08-15-2008
THINK AGAIN Your article on "The Thinker" at the Cleveland Museum of Art ("A God Among Men," by Erin O'Brien, July 30) was one of the finest pieces of writing I have read in recent memory. The poetic grace and broad sense of compassion of your writing moved me to tears. Thank you for writing…
Italian Getaway
I have nothing against old people. Some of my favorite people are elderly, and I hope to find myself in that condition one day. But there must be something about Café Toscano that attracts the mature set, because in the course of one dinner, I tally six canes, one walker and countless door-to-door drop-offs. And…
Star Wars, Bottle Shock, And I Don’t Hear The Guitar Anymore
The Lucas Empire Strikes Back Star Wars: The Clone Wars keeps the fading franchise alive In the Star Wars universe, the Clone Wars were a three-year skirmish involving the Republic and the burgeoning Empire that filled the gap between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. For George Lucas, the Clone Wars have…
Lovelee’s View
Brenda Lovell-Wakut used to run Vanessa's in Tremont, but she was a tenant there, and she wanted to own a piece of the city. So she and her husband bought an old building on Denison and turned it into Lovelee's, an Italian American restaurant with a bar. The inside is bright, and everything is new.…
Around Hear: Black Label
Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach has co-founded Polymer Sounds to release Kent musician Jessica Lea Mayfield's upcoming record, With Blasphemy, So Heartfelt. Auerbach's partner in the project is Jody White, Mayfield's Tennessee-based manager. "Jessica, Dan and I all had a specific vision of how we wanted to market the album, and we were anxious to…
Culture Jamming: Touchdown!
TOP PICKNCAA Football 09(EA Sports)What better way to celebrate the back-to-school season than with this features-stuffed videogame for pretty much every platform? NCAA has become just as indispensable as Madden’s annual offering, and it keeps getting better each year. The latest edition includes an online dynasty that spans a whopping 60 seasons and a mode…
Watch Out
"UGLY BITCH!" That's vomiting from the mouth of one of four big kids in bigger white Ts in the spit-shined van that just chirped up 153rd Street at Bartlett. Two blocks shy of the Shaker border, with its veritable wall of cop cruisers and NIMBY stares, Rhonda Jones, a rail-thin widow and single mother of…
Advertising Rage
Since 2005 a new kind of billboard has risen along highways in and around Cleveland: digital panels that are like TV sets the size of drive-in movie screens that only play commercials. Mounted high, the mercenary Jumbotrons dominate the landscape with a different message every eight seconds. Each time a digital billboard has been installed…
