Local Art News
Restaurants and theaters both notoriously operate in continual danger of financial collapse, which doesn't soften the blow of Carousel Dinner Theatre's recently announced demise due to economic hard times. But perhaps bearing that in mind makes it all the more remarkable that a company combining those two services was able to exist at all -…
Short Cuts
British artist Ryan Gander, whose video work "Man on a Bridge" is among those featured at the Carnegie International Exhibit at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, talks about "desire lines." It's a term used by city planners and architects to describe the paths people take through public spaces, between or around pre-designed roads…
Imagining The Past
The phrase "natural history museum" comes with no shortage of gravitas; every word carries the weight of authority and fact. In such a place, one expects to find documentation solid as a rock: the irrefutable record of the natural world revealed through evidence – fossilized, petrified or safely preserved deep in some bog. But of…
Culture Jamming: Knight Moves
TOP PICK The Dark Knight (Warner) The best movie of 2008 is also one of the best DVDs of 2008, with a two-disc set that includes Gotham Tonight clips and a half-dozen scenes from the IMAX version of the film. But the real reason to add this to your collection is for the stellar storytelling…
Happily Never After
Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet's first pairing since Titanic made them stars in 1997 is a totally different kind of love story. Totally different. In fact, most of the time Revolutionary Road is a hate story about a 1950s suburban couple who can barely stand each other. DiCaprio and Winslet play Frank and April Wheeler,…
The Truth At Last?
Less than a week after Scene reported on the Wayne County prosecutor's apparent reluctance to help Tina Harmon's family learn who really murdered her 27 years ago ("Ghosts of Wayne County," December 31, 2008), the county sheriff finally used his authority to send the evidence to the lab. On Tuesday morning, Wayne County Sheriff Thomas…
A Perfect Ten
Back in college, Andrew Sarris’ The American Cinema was my unofficial gospel. And since Sarris famously dissed the revered British filmmaker David Lean — relegating the two-time Oscar winner to his reductive “Less Than Meets the Eye” category — I did too. I was even suspicious of the Lean films I loved as a kid…
Sun Setting?
When Chester Township Clerk Michael Spellman embezzled $4.3 million, Sun Newspapers was there, reporting circles around The Plain Dealer's coverage of the local scandal. When the Cleveland Division of Water overcharged Solon residents thousands of dollars on their water bills, Sun News was there to right the wrong. When Hunting Valley's tap water took a…
Going Native
"You lived in Africa?! That's so cool! How was it?" You know, I have yet to come up with a proper answer to that question. The response "Africa was, um, good" feels a bit trite. I could think of many one-word adjectives to describe my experience living and working in Tanzania. Frustrating. Beautiful. Dirty. Mango-tastic.…
Get Out! Starting Out 2009
Wednesday 1.7 NICK GRIFFIN Kansas City-born comedian Nick Griffin is pumped about going onstage at Hilarities this week. But there's a downside to his profession: He doesn't get to spend a lot of time with other people. "If you're a comic who travels 40 weeks a year, you find yourself in the middle of nowhere…
12 Bands To Watch
As If myspace.com/asifakron The members of As If were last seen as part of Akron indie-rock group Either/Orgami. In their new trio, they're all hopped up on the 'NCX sound, with enough garage undercurrents to make it fresh and contemporary. "We went for more of a straight-up rock 'n' roll sound," explains drummer Anne Lillith,…
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Briefs On The [box]ers
Along with the gloomier holiday aftereffects of hangovers and credit-card max-outs, for the past seven seasons the new year has also brought Cleveland Public Theatre's award-winning Big [Box] series. The series, says CPT head Raymond Bobgan, has become a main vehicle by which "we look to nurture artists who are developing adventurous new ways of…
Club Girl
Measha Brueggergosman is going to be spending a lot of time with the Cleveland Orchestra in the next month: first at Severance Hall to sing Wagner's Wesendonck songs (Thursday and Saturday) and then again January 22-24 to join the orchestra and Cleveland Orchestra Chorus in Janácek's Glagolitic mass. Franz Welser-Mšst conducts both. Then the soprano,…
Dirty Harry’s Dotage
When asked if he would make a Dirty Harry 6, Clint Eastwood used to joke that he could imagine Harry Callahan, long retired, fly fishing with his .44 Magnum. It turns out this wasn't exactly a joke. In Gran Torino, the 78-year-old Eastwood plays a cranky old codger who yells at the neighbor kids to…
Capsule Reviews Of Current Releases
August Evening (US, 2007) – Chris Eska's slice-of-life approach in this simple film (its budget was well under a half million dollars) helped it win the John Cassavetes Award at 2007's Independent Spirit Awards. And while it does have the look and feel of indie features such as You Can Count on Me, it just…
Cold, Comfort
As the mercury plummets simultaneously with our nest eggs and optimism, now is no time to diet. What else do we have to comfort us if not for the cheesy, gooey, hearty and creamy goodness that is wintertime food? Here is a list of 15 fabulous dishes guaranteed to add a of bit cheerfulness to…
Steady As He Goes
Not sure what inspired mustachioed Hold Steady keyboardist Franz Nicolay to release a solo album. The guy's been plenty busy with his day job (the Hold Steady toured relentlessly after the release of last year's terrific Stay Positive). But Nicolay, whose solo debut, Major General, comes out this week, goes for broke, mimicking the Hold…
Gateway Music
Anyone who watched MTV in the late '90s knows Reel Big Fish. The California band has been a mainstay in the music scene since singer-guitarist Aaron Barrett started the group in high school. Even though interest in ska waned over the years, Reel Big Fish has continued to pack concert venues and release an impressive…
Around Hear: Rock On
Sixty-five high-school bands from Northeast Ohio will compete in the 13th Annual Tri-C High School Rock Off. Starting January 9, the battle of the bands will take place Fridays and Saturdays through January 24 at House of Blues (308 Euclid Ave). The finals are on Saturday, January 31. Most of this year's bands are new…
