The Pink Panther 2
This time around, a master thief called the Tornado is swiping famous ancient artifacts, like the Shroud of Turin. A “Dream Team” of detectives — Andy Garcia as an Italian lothario, Alfred Molina as a blustery Brit and Yuki Matsuzaki as a Japanese tech whiz — from around the globe is called in to investigate.…
Absurdistan (Germany, 2008)
Director Veit Helmer (Tuvalu) creates a storybook world of sorts in this film about two young lovers who live in a remote part of the Soviet Union where a rusty pipeline has stopped delivering much-needed water. In order to get the lazy men to fix it, the women start withholding sex, and it’s only young…
Coraline
This animated adaptation of a Neil Gaiman book attempts to be something like The Nightmare Before Christmas, though the 3-D doesn’t pop with nearly the same magnitude. The storyline involves a young girl named Coraline (Dakota Fanning) who discovers a secret passage to an alternate version of her life where her parents actually listen to…
Fear(s) of the Dark (France, 2007)
An animated, black-and-white anthology from France, Fear(s) of the Dark promises thrills and chills of a subtle and psychological nature. One of the segments is by underground comic artist Charles Burns, a guy whose cartoonish style belies a twisted sensibility. Burns’ segment, in which a strange insect finds a host inside a shy young man’s…
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29 (US, 2008)
You don’t have to be a football enthusiast to enjoy Kevin Rafferty’s (The Atomic Cafe) terrifically entertaining documentary about the storied gridiron match-up between Harvard and Yale on November 23, 1968 that ended in a 29-29 tie after underdog Harvard scored 16 points during the game’s final 42 seconds. Interspersed with archival footage of the…
Waltz with Bashir
Can a cartoon be a documentary, and vice versa? That’s the question posed by Waltz With Bashir, the wildly acclaimed, Oscar-nominated genre-bender from director Ari Folman, which takes an impressionistic look at the experiences of Israeli soldiers during the 1982 Lebanon war. Bashir’s visual style isn’t too far removed from the roto-scoping technique employed by…
Push
Basically a superhero movie without the costumes. Nick (Chris Evans) can move objects with his mind, and Cassie (Dakota Fanning) can see the future. The two are on the run from “Division,” a top secret U.S. government agency run by Carver (Djimon Hounsou), a man who can put thoughts into people’s minds. There’s also a…
He’s Just Not That Into You
Director Ken Kwapis (License to Wed, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) assembled an all-star cast to film this unfilmable book of anecdotes about why men treat women badly even when they like them. While the acting is generally solid across the board, the movie, much like the book, has only moments of inspiration. The…
Reel Cleveland
The Cedar Lee Theatre's (2163 Lee Rd., 216.321.5411) Cult Film Series continues this week with a showing of Clue, the campy 1985 film based on the board game. The film shows at 9:30 p.m. and midnight Saturday, February 7, and 9:30 p.m. Sunday, February 8. The February 8 showing will feature a live, interactive cast,…
Early’s Release
Much has been alleged about Cleveland Councilwoman Fannie B. Lewis' final wishes. The Bible-thumping vibe at her cozy yellow bungalow on Star Avenue had shifted to one of respectful visits at her bedside from a coterie of loved ones. Everybody huddled close for some heat from that dying torch. But whom she endorsed to carry…
Bullspat
Lakewood drew the line last summer: No more of them mongoloid-necked pit bulls and the visions of Death by Animal they impart. If you were one of the estimated 60 pit bull owners already living in the city, you had until December to get them set up for annual registration, insured and penned correctly. And…
Nights Of The Soul
For the past 20 years, Cleveland-based artist Christopher Pekoc has been known mainly for works created from shards of black-and-white photographs, mixed with other reality-evoking translucent materials and stitched into a provisional whole on a sewing machine. Often, the abrupt transitions of his high-contrast photos are softened with the warm amber tones of shellac or…
Hammered Down!
"The L-Train was Johnny on the spot, catching himself a bird deep in the Q. That's how you do it, young man. Right, Fred? Heh heh heh." If you were playing the Austin Carr drinking game, that would be … one, two, five, carry the one. Let me stop typing for one second so I…
Hallelujah. Yo Da Lay Hee Hoo.
Laurie Anderson does everything you expect from an artist: She uses culture as a springboard for comment, weaving stories that are sad, funny and revelatory of attitudes so deeply ingrained that they're part of our language. She also likes to play around with things like the talking stick, a wireless instrument that synthesizes sounds; microphones…
How To Win Friends And Influence People
Taking on the System: Rules for Radical Change in a Digital Era By Markos Moulitsas Zuniga Celebra, 2008 288 pages, hardcover, $23.95. There's passion. And intrigue. And big egos and big voices. And that's just the jacket copy. From Markos Moulitsas, founder of the self-proclaimed "most influential political blog in the nation," comes Taking on…
BLACK BOTTOM SHAKING
Those with lachrymose tendencies would bemoan the demise of black playwright August Wilson three years before the election of Barack Obama. They might even liken it to Moses expiring at the gates of the Promised Land. Don’t be so sure. Like all great writers, Wilson had his own idiosyncratic vision, which didn’t include any PC…
Bending The President’s Ear
It was less than two weeks after the election that Quincy Jones told John Schaefer on WNYC radio, "The next conversation I have with President[-elect] Obama is to beg for a secretary of the arts." The legendary composer and arranger wasn't the first to promote that idea, but his comment juiced the possibility like no…
Don’t Think Pink
There are movies that should never be remade. Like, say, Planet of the Apes. Then there are movies that should never, ever be remade. The Pink Panther remake was doomed from the start. Originally scheduled for a summer 2005 release, the Steve Martin vehicle was pushed back to the gutter month of February of the…
Local Arts News
Clarence E. Van Duzer was born November 12, 1920, in Pittsburgh. He was six years old when his family came to Cleveland, and he graduated from West Technical High School. He would become one of Cleveland's most collected and widely exhibited artists, with work in the collections of the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Butler…
Capsule Reviews Of Current Releases
OPENING Absurdistan (Germany, 2008) – Director Veit Helmer (Tuvalu) creates a storybook world of sorts in this film about two young lovers who live in a remote part of the Soviet Union where a rusty pipeline has stopped delivering much-needed water. In order to get the lazy men to fix it, the women start withholding…
Local Foodie News
Perhaps more than even his fans, Dante Boccuzzi can't wait to begin the next chapter of his Cleveland restaurant story. "This is why I came back to Cleveland," he says. "This is what I came home to do." The chef is referring to his new restaurant in Tremont, a project that, when completed in May,…
Taming The Bistro
Not since Michael Symon opened Lola Part Deux has the Cleveland dining scene been so breathless over a new restaurant. With the launch of L'Albatros, owner Zachary Bruell apparently has scratched an itch of such fierce intensity that food fans citywide have uttered a collective "ahhh." Like every great restaurant, L'Albatros satisfies a longing we…
Family Ties
It doesn't take long to figure out what the secret is in Claude Miller's A Secret. The surprising part is the number of levels to it. Based on true events and spanning 50 years, the film tells the story of a Jewish family's plight in France before, during and after World War II. The movie…
Heels Of Steel
Friday, February 6 The Hell on Heels tour featuring Von Iva and Semi Precious Weapons (pictured) is a rare indie-rock club bill that features tons of sass and booty-shaking grooves. San Francisco trio Von Iva is known for its sultry lesbian disco-punk flavor. With only drums, synthesizers and vocals, its sound is danceable and doesn't…
Short Takes
Waltz With Bashir Can a cartoon be a documentary, and vice versa? That's the question posed by Waltz With Bashir, the wildly acclaimed – and Oscar-nominated – genre-bender from director Ari Folman, which takes an impressionistic look at the experiences of Israeli soldiers during the 1982 Lebanon war. Bashir's visual style isn't too far removed…
The Boss Leads This Week’s New Releases
Bruce Springsteen Working on a Dream (Columbia) Hope is all over Bruce Springsteen's 16th album. It's there in the title, Working on a Dream, and it's in the songs – odes to love, life and the Great Beyond. Of course, hope has always been at the center of Springsteen's songs, even when they seemed hopeless.…
Back To The Beginning
Howie Smith's annual Concert in Progress, now in its 29th year, tends to defy expectations. Anyone who has attended past shows or seen Smith in other musical settings – from playing with a jazz trio to performing with the Cleveland Orchestra – knows that the thrill and challenge of continually pulling off something new is…
Carr Talk
Austin Carr isn't only an NBA announcer with his own drinking game. He's a Cleveland legend, a fantastic broadcaster and a great sport. Here's the rest of our conversation. Scene: Do you script any of what you're going to say? Austin Carr: No, it just kind of happens. I just try to be myself. Some…
One Ringy-dingy … Two Ringy-dingies …
Now that there's a new face in the Oval Office, Lily Tomlin has been scrambling to switch up her standup act. Problem is, she's been having a tough time finding anything funny about Obama. "You want him to succeed so badly that I'm a little bit loath to say anything when he's only been in…
Local Rebviews
Various Artists Cleveland Lottery League Volume 1 (self-released) myspace.com/bandsofworld Last year, a motley group of 130 local musicians randomly divided themselves into 33 groups and set out to write and rehearse a song to play before a live audience. In the wake of that performance, which took place last April at the Beachland, the Lottery…
Culture Jamming: Love Stories
TOP PICK TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection (Warner Bros.) Just in time for Valentine's Day, two new DVD sets spotlight timeless "Romantic Dramas" and "Romantic Comedies." Each collection includes four movies, like Philadelphia Story and A Streetcar Named Desire. A third volume – "Best Picture Winners," featuring Casablanca – preps you for the Oscars later…
Rubber City Rebel
Chrissie Hynde moved back to Akron to care for her aging parents and possibly begin her own retirement. But like so many other times in her life, fate intervened. She opened a vegan restaurant, began re-absorbing the Midwestern atmosphere that defined her upbringing, and then, after a six-year gap since the last Pretenders album, began…
