Last Chance Harvey
While en route to London for his daughter’s wedding, New York music-jingle composer Harvey Shine (Dustin Hoffman) learns that he’s about to be phased out of his ad agency. Already depressed, Harvey soon discovers that his daughter (Liane Balaban) has asked stepdad Brian (James Brolin) to walk her down the aisle. Ouch! Deciding to skip…
Oliver Twist (Britain, 1948)
David Lean’s adaptation of the Charles Dickens’ novel shows in a restored 35mm print from the British Film Institute. Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque. At 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 18.
Splinter (U.S., 2008)
This minimalist torture porn is kind of like an Eli Roth splatterfest scripted slightly up to grad-student level. Setting is some unnamed old-growth forest in the boondocks (filmed in Oklahoma). A camping couple, a mild-mannered biology PhD (Paolo Costanzo) and his incongruously sexy girlfriend (Jill Wagner), are taken hostage by a misunderstood white-trash desperado (Shea…
Notorious
Raised by his single mom (Angela Bassett), the young Christopher Wallace (played by Wallace’s real-life son) is a straight-A student who becomes disenchanted with his grade-school education and starts hustling drugs at an early age to show he’s not just “the kid on the stoop.” After he grows up, he starts rapping as the Notorious…
Defiance
There’s a scene in Defiance — the true story of a group of Jews who take refuge in the woods of Poland during World War II — where a Soviet army commander tells star Daniel Craig “Jews don’t fight.” Craig, as one of the four Bielski brothers who form the woodland community, snaps back, “These…
My Bloody Valentine
Praise the horror movie gods! My Bloody Valentine 3D makes murder and mayhem fun again, proving not all remakes have to suck. The script, while by no means Oscar caliber, is a reasonably engaging “whodunit” that actually spends a little time on character development. The film also boasts a solid cast, including genre veteran Tom…
Paul Blart: Mall Cop
The climate of low expectations that made some commentators twist themselves into pretzels insisting Bush was a fine president also makes movie comedies like Paul Blart: Mall Cop seem pretty darn good. And in truth, Mall Cop isn’t nearly as bad as it ought to be, given its shopworn plot (misfit who lives with his…
Around Hear
Earth Night Club has opened in the former location of the Odeon (1295 Old River Rd.), the long-running concert club on the East Bank of the Flats. Developer Mike Tricarichi owns the building, but the club is operated by Eric Buckner, who ran Heaven and Earth, a former fixture further north on the street. Buckner…
She’s Come Undone
Liz Maugans and Jen Craun have used similar vocabularies of images in their printmaking, especially idealized human figures and gender roles from half a century ago, and they've shown their work together before. But in their upcoming show, Coming Undone, they are taking on different subjects and even different media. Craun writes that her new…
Art We Can Believe In
It says one thing to artists that Barack Obama’s campaign invited them to submit work that would be exhibited in gallery shows associated with the candidate. His finely tuned organization recognized the value of images and individual expression, and used it to good advantage. It should say something to the rest of us that artists…
Much Ap-preciated
Lucia Colombi, longtime area theater eminence and founder of Ensemble Theatre, died January 4 at age 60. It came as a slight surprise, even to those who knew her well, that she wasn’t older. This was no doubt due to her having been a prominent figure at various theaters as actress, director, teacher or administrator…
Local Foodie News For January
Don't be surprised if, in the coming weeks and months, you stumble across an unexpected gourmet luncheon, complete with china, glass and linen, in the lobby of the Terminal Tower. Or smack dab in the middle of Public Square. Or perched atop a HealthLine station. "The weirder the better," says Greg MacLaren, chef of Marigold…
Larger Than Life
George Tillman Jr.'s biopic about the life of Christopher Wallace (Jamal Woolard), better known as superstar rapper Notorious B.I.G., doesn't take any liberties with the Brooklyn native's life. It doesn't have to. His story is a compelling one. Raised by his single mom (Angela Bassett), the young Wallace (played by Wallace's real-life son) is a…
Reel Cleveland
The Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque (11141 East Blvd., 216.421.7450) began its David Lean 101 series earlier this month with a screening of the British's director's 1942 debut, In Which We Serve. The series continues this week with adaptations of the Charles Dickens classics Great Expectations (1946) and Oliver Twist (1948). Great Expectations, which won…
Short Takes On Current Releases
Masters at Work Irrepressibly charming and so beautifully performed by its lead actors (the incomparable Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson) that it's like watching a master class in screen acting, Last Chance Harvey snuck into theaters at the end of 2008 in the hopes of gaining some awards-season traction. It didn't, but that's no reason…
Do I Dare Disturb The Universe?
In her memoir Do I Dare Disturb the Universe?, Charlise Lyles describes growing up in Cleveland public housing in the 1960s and 1970s amid stifling poverty but with a burning desire to become an intellectual. Her father sparked that desire by introducing her to great books at an early age – and then he abandoned…
The Year Of The ‘bron
To say you will be inundated with LeBron coverage in the media during January is an understatement akin to saying the King is moderately talented at basketball and has a few dollars in the bank. Let's start with the viral marketing campaign for an as-yet-unknown company. The spot shows the back of LeBron's head as…
Local Reviews
REMORA Brainwash (self-released) myspace.com/remoraband You can't totally fault these Brunswick guys for having a singer whose thin, hoarse vocals are about as abrasive as nails on the proverbial chalkboard. After all, Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, whom Remora singer-guitarist Bill Scheutzow echoes, didn't have great pipes in the traditional sense. So while Scheutzow really stretches his range…
A Dream Deferred
From Cleveland, Louis Stokes and his little brother blazed the trail that Barack Obama followed to the White House. As Stokes prepared to travel to Washington D.C. for this historic inauguration, he spoke to Scene about how this moment came to be and what Obama’s victory means for our town. As told to James Renner.…
Culture Jamming: Return Of The Mutha’uckas
TOP PICK Flight of the Conchords (HBO) New Zealand's greatest export since, well, ever, returns at 10 p.m. Sunday for its second hilarious season, picking up where it left off – with Jemaine and Bret still trying to launch their non-starting music career. In this week's episode, the guys split with manager Murray after his…
It’s Freaking Cold. Time To Do Things That Remind Us Summer Is Coming.
Wednesday 1.14 COYOTE UGLY LADIES' NIGHT Jimmy's Bar & Grill celebrates a recent facelift and a new sound system tonight with the debut of the weekly Coyote Ugly Ladies' Night. To mark the occasion, club manager Ronnie James will fill several vats with gelatin, where barely dressed chicks will duke it out. "We know people…
Reviewing This Week’s Best Releases
THE GOURDS Haymaker! (Yep Roc) Over the course of their 13-year career, the Gourds have come to reflect the stylistic gumbo of the Austin scene that spawned them. On any given night, the quintet shudders and slams through a set that offers up shades of Americana, Tex-Mex, roots, country, folk, rock and pop, blended together…
Brothers In Arms
There's a scene in Defiance – the true story of a group of Jews who take refuge in the woods of Poland during World War II – where a Soviet army commander tells star Daniel Craig, "Jews don't fight." Craig, as one of the four Bielski brothers who form the woodland community, snaps back, "These…
Sharp-dressed Man
Singer-songwriter Chuck Prophet's reticence in the wake of his excellent 2007 album Soap and Water isn't unusual. "It's appallingly unfashionable to make records that hold together as an album, but I keep doing them – it's like hitting your dick with a hammer," says Prophet with a laugh. "People I talk to in the business…
Capsule Reviews Of Films Playing Now
OPENING Alexander Nevsky (USSR, 1938) – A 13th-century prince drives Teutonic invaders from Russia in Sergei Eisenstein's film. Cleveland Museum of Art Lecture Hall. At 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 21. Ballast (U.S., 2008) – When a poor black man commits suicide, his ex-wife (Tarra Riggs), son (JimMyron Ross) and twin brother (Michael J. Smith Sr.)…
The Rainbow Theory Lead This Week’s Concert Picks
The right concoction of psychedelic rock can make a listener see all sorts of colors. So say the members of Oklahoma's Colourmusic. The crafty quartet from Stillwell creates music in a very unique way, by envisioning its vivid indie-pop as a rainbow of different sights and sounds. "Color is essentially our producer," explains Colourmusic co-founder,…
Of All The Burger Joints In All The World …
Restaurants, like multimillion-dollar bridges, have breaking points. Often it comes at 8 p.m. on a Saturday night, 30 minutes past the city's most coveted seating time. Hosts are strategically positioning arrivals; bartenders are hard at work crafting cocktails; servers are simultaneously reciting specials, taking orders and delivering food; and the kitchen is drowning beneath a…
George Clinton
I'm the way I always was. I got to play fresh stuff and old stuff at the same time. I can play the hits, I can be old-school but also slip in the hip-hop. I've been doing this for so long, I can't change now. If I ever play just old stuff, I'll retire. You…
Gatlin Keeps Going
When Gatlin split in 2004, it was the last unsigned local band that could still pack big clubs like the now-shuttered Odeon. But after two albums, two demos and a handful of major-label showcases, the Cleveland metal quartet felt it had taken things as far as it could. "We knew we still weren't going to…
Clowns To The Left Of Us
The drumbeat of worrisome news surrounding the project that's supposed to save us all has become steady and ominous. New York is planning to build one! Medical Mart Properties Inc. doesn't like the site that our big, expensive study chose! MMPI's owners are seeking federal bailout money! Even Mayor Inaction Jackson, who previously seemed content…
