Still Wicked
You handle Wilson Pickett gingerly, even by phone. The great soul singer is notoriously volatile. Known for his hairspring temper, affinity for guns, and affection for intoxicants (word is, cocaine sidelined him fairly seriously in the ’80s), he’s recovering from a recent bout with bronchitis. But the Wicked One is a pro, so his famous…
Byrd Flies North
There’s a lot of pressure on this New Year’s to do something memorable, like sitting on top of the Great Pyramid for the first sunrise of 2000, or hopping on a cruise ship and “chasing” the time change back to port. Still, most of us will be stuck, as usual, in Ohio, and there just…
Playback
Various Artists The Best of KROQ’s Almost Acoustic Christmas (Time Bomb) It’s common knowledge, at least in Southern California, that the Los Angeles-based alternative radio station KROQ has had some hand in determining the majority of musical trends in the ’90s. A spin on FM-106.7 virtually guarantees hundreds of stations will follow suit — and…
Fish Tale
Come December 31, an expected crowd of 10,000-plus in Port Clinton, Ohio, will be looking up to Capt. Wylie — a 20-foot-long, 500-pound, fiberglass walleye. Hype heightens, excitement escalates, and Capt. Wylie experiences a big letdown. The Wylie Drop has become a New Year’s tradition in Port Clinton, located on Lake Erie’s western basin. As…
Soundbites
Most of what you’ve read about the best albums of the decade has focused on records that were issued on CD at some point or another. But if you know anything about the music industry, you know that every decade has a record or two that just doesn’t make it to the racks. In the…
The Year In Pictures
New Times film critics weigh in with their top 10 lists of the best movies of the year. Gregory Weinkauf of Los Angeles kicks it off with his own unique take on the process. For the sake of being obnoxiously frank, he’s opted to divulge his favorites while pretending, in keeping with the season, to…
It’s all about having fun
1. Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze) Completely original and off-the-map, without feeling forced. Hysterically funny, but ultimately not really a comedy at all; rather, something in between a tragedy and a horror story. 2. The Matrix (Andy and Larry Wachowski) Philip K. Dick meets Hong Kong action cinema: What more could one possibly ask for?…
A more refined list
1. Cider House Rules No other film this year captures the complex, bittersweet nature of life so movingly. Michael Caine and Delroy Lindo are standouts in a terrific ensemble cast. Filled with grace, compassion, and humor, this is director Lasse Hallstrom’s best work since My Life as a Dog. 2. The Insider Idealism and harsh…
Screw you guys, I’m watching South Park
1. South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut A comedy about censorship, war, dysfunctional relationships, and misunderstood children ruled the day, despite having the most deceptively primitive animation since Rocky and Bullwinkle (who, by the way, get their own movie next year). Director Trey Parker’s obvious love of musicals made the film both a great musical…
Y2K Hooray!
The moment of truth is only a few hours away. It won’t be long now until we discover whether all the Y2K hype was, well, just hype. We’ll find out if the doomsday militia wackos are less crazy than we think, if computer analysts actually earn their six-figure salaries, and if that unemployed neighbor who…
Reel Inspiration
In Albert Brooks’s summer comedy The Muse, a ravishing daughter of Zeus — in the person of Sharon Stone — gives a burned-out Hollywood screenwriter a fresh jolt of inspiration. For a price. Brooks’s desperate scribbler must first lavish Tiffany trinkets on his newfound benefactor, put her up at the Four Seasons, provide car and…
The Edge
Sweet erotica! As a holiday treat, The Edge is delighted to present a tasty sampling of this neglected genre, penned by none other than the local TV weatherman whose amorous exploits were recounted in this column several weeks ago. Instead of charting storm fronts, it seems our starry-eyed prognosticator was busy composing flowery entreaties to…
Cream of the Schlock
Funeral directors like jokes about zombies. A Christmas tree fits nicely in a hearse. Never sit on a cannon in a deep freeze wearing a frog suit. For hardly ever leaving the building, Eddie and Natalie Wille, the Gomez and Morticia of Lakewood, have a lot of wisdom to dispense. For instance, cannibal films should…
Divine Perspiration
T.S. Eliot didn’t originally begin “The Wasteland” with the pronouncement that “April is the cruelest month.” Surviving rough drafts show that he started out by describing a drinking match among three Irish men. Later on, Eliot rewrote this passage. Sometimes it’s hard to imagine that monumental artistic achievements were ever fragmentary bits full of corrections…
Small Wonder
Slipping through the doors of Karen Small’s Ohio City restaurant, Flying Fig, is like entering a cocoon of good tastes. Sparsely decorated walls, painted the earthy colors of herbs, wild mushrooms, and sundried tomatoes, soothe the eye while stimulating the palate. Rich, meaty aromas caress the olfactory sense. And the foods, an eclectic blend of…
Side Dish
There’s no shortage of restaurants hoping to feed you the millennium’s last supper, but assuming the world does keep turning, where are you going to go for breakfast the following morning? One option? Johnny Mango, Ohio City’s world café and juice bar (3120 Bridge Avenue, 216-575-1919). While the staff doesn’t promise to walk softly and…
Metal With Soul
Some folks get sweaters for Christmas. A new lawn mower. A Furby, perhaps. But the five distinguished gentlemen in the Atlanta-based metal combo Sevendust will soon receive a much more bombastic holiday gift: a two-week tour with Metallica. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. “James Hetfield is my idol for sure,” raves Sevendust guitarist…
The Jerky DJs
“We’re used to talking to each other in complete sentences. If you took the same conversation and broke it into fragments, you might understand it better.” Or so believes Jay Kennedy, one of three Cleveland radio hoodlums responsible for the late-night WRUW show, Press the Button. He and pals Paul Smith (a.k.a. Paul Ryan) and…
