Easy Target
The opening scene of JCVD plays out like a typical Jean-Claude Van Damme action flick from the '90s, as the Muscles from Brussels single-handedly takes down an army of bad guys with kicks and punches. Suddenly, the movie set's wall topples behind him, in effect knocking down another wall: the one between actor and audience.…
Capsule Reviews For Current Releases
OPENING Cage/Cunningham (France, 1981) – This documentary explores the collaborations between dancer Merce Cunningham and composer John Cage. Cleveland Museum of Art Recital Hall. At 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 4. Lola Montes (France, 1952) – A restored version of Max Ophuls' final film, an epic about the celebrity- and scandal-obsessed France of the 19th century.…
It Never Snows In The Bar
There's beer pong. Then there's beer pong at Time Warp (26261 Center Ridge Rd., Westlake, 440.871.8463, timewarpbar.com). "I didn't want this to look like some college game," says owner Rob Rogers. "We have something more going on." And how. The bar invested in a slick, custom-made table from California that looks nothing like the card-table-and-plastic-cups…
A Horny Issue
Given that the guys in the retro-leaning Rainy Day Saints collectively own as much music as you'd find at most record stores (especially in these downsized days), the Westpark basement where they rehearse looks like what you'd expect. There's a worn, pinkish rug on the floor and a Ramones poster plastered to the hot-water heater.…
New Pornographers’ Frontman A.c. Newman Leads This Week’s New Releases
A.C. Newman Get Guilty (Matador) Carl Newman is the middle man in the New Pornographers. With Neko Case bringing the sweet and Dan Bejar providing the sour, Newman falls squarely in the center. He's a power-pop mastermind who isn't afraid to get weird once in awhile. He's also the one with most traditional hooks and…
ALWAYS OPEN
<i>Browns great Dante Lavelli died January 20 at age 85. The Hudson native had been a star receiver for Hudson High, then Ohio State and then — following a torturous tour of duty in World War II — the Browns. In 1946, he had a perfect season, catching all 40 passes thrown to him. After…
Around Hear
More than four years after its last release, Keelhaul has a new record ready, with its fourth album, Triumphant Return to Obscurity, slated for mid-spring release. Avant-metal indie label Hydra Head, home of underground godheads like Jesu, Pelican and Torche, as well as Keelhaul's last two albums, will issue the LP. "It sounds great," says…
Mystery Woman
Kristin Scott Thomas brings such a flinty, coiled intensity to her role as a middle-aged woman newly released from prison after serving a 15-year sentence in I've Loved You So Long that she damn near burns a hole through the screen. Cautiously navigating the particulars of an outside world she left long ago, Scott Thomas'…
Dave’s Here
When Tommy Chong parted ways with Cheech Marin in the mid-'80s over the usual "creative differences," the veteran comedians' split devastated Chong. A quarter-century later, the duo is back together, and Chong is giddy over the reunion. "It was one of those the-timing-is-right things," he says. "Most groups get back together because of financial reasons.…
Local Reviews
Reaching Your End Seraphim (City of Kings) myspace.com/reachingyourend While the cardboard packaging for this album is nothing spectacular, you gotta give the guys props for making it eco-friendly. It's made from recycled paper and printed with soy-based ink, all provided by local merchants and artists. The album is pretty typical thrash metal, but it benefits…
And Leave All This?
Cuyahoga County Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones, knee-deep in a contentious re-election bid last fall, respectfully eschewed a shot at the Show when Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones died unexpectedly in August, saying he had unfinished business here at home. The chair went to Warrensville Heights Mayor Marcia Fudge. But a few months into his new term,…
Culture Jamming: Royal Adventure
TOP PICK Prince of Persia (Ubisoft) This next-gen rethink of the videogame classic (for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360) opens up an expansive playing field, taking gamers on different paths to various adventures. All your favorite moves are here: the punching, the climbing, the jumping from one decaying ledge to another. Also, the new…
And Leave All This?
Cuyahoga County Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones, knee-deep in a contentious re-election bid last fall, respectfully eschewed a shot at the Show when Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones died unexpectedly in August, saying he had unfinished business here at home. The chair went to Warrensville Heights Mayor Marcia Fudge. But a few months into his new term,…
A Night At The Opera
Among the disarmingly blunt things Harvey Pekar says about his opera Leave Me Alone are "I'm not a big opera fan" and "I don't know anything about doing a libretto" and "When you see it, I don't know if you'll call it an opera or not." Regardless of whether it fits any conventional definition of…
My House, Out Of The Ordinary
Ever since her father put a paint brush in her hand when she was 5, Desiree Schmitt has fancied herself a handy kind of person. So six years ago, she plunked down $7,500 on the dilapidated but historic behemoth at 714 College Avenue. The equally worn house out back came with the package. Her plan:…
Timing Is …
Pity poor Fred Nance. Last week, Cleveland's superlawyer was thrust into an awkward position when his clients in the Medical Mart saga, the county commissioners, abruptly announced that they'd chosen a site for the new convention center. Apparently Nance was as gobsmacked as everyone else when, after years of inactivity and creeping doubt, Cuyahoga County…
Passing The Torch At 90
Modern-dance icon Merce Cunningham turns 90 in April, and Clevelanders will have an opportunity to participate in a little pre-celebration this Saturday. It's been 23 years since the Merce Cunningham Dance Company has performed here, so it's fitting that the program features three historic and distinct Cunningham dances that showcase the 14-member company's range of…
The Beat Goes On
After studying composition and piano at Julliard for a year in the early ’70s, New York-born Paul Collins decided he wanted to be a rock star. So he hitchhiked his way to San Francisco to pursue his dream. Answering a “drummer wanted” ad, Collins joined the Nerves, a proto-new-wave band that would release an EP…
Body Shop
In a piece called "Skinny Jeans," which opens MegLouise Dance's Nearly Nude: Deconstructing Beauty, 10 women put on their pants. Says artistic director Megan Pitcher, "At first they're staring them down, very animalistic, almost crawling and pouncing, before attacking them to force what isn't possible to be possible" – to put on those jeans, which…
Reel Cleveland
The Merce Cunningham dance company performs at PlayhouseSquare this weekend as part of the Cleveland Museum of Art's VIVA! & Gala Around Town series. To supplement that performance, CMA will show two related films. The first, Merce Cunningham: A Lifetime of Dance provides an overview of the dancer's life and work. It screens at CMA's…
Suffering And Simmering
George C. Scott, out of Wise, Virginia, always brought to mind an Anglo-Saxon warrior on the verge of world annihilation. Joel Hammer, probably out of Cleveland Heights, gives off the aura of a wiry Rothschild descendant perpetually cooking up some deal for sex and/or profit. It seems quite baffling that the latter actor reminds this…
The Zero Summer
"YEAH RIGHT" read the words printed across the clip-art photo of a sunset and an ocean. It's cheaply framed as befits a cliché, hanging near the center of a wall that also includes more than 60 mostly pessimistic, sarcastic phrases, stenciled in block letters with rubbed charcoal on chunks of paper. Though she's widely known…
The Sound Barrier (Britain, 1952)
In this David Lean feature, a man is so obsessed about developing a new jet airplane, he’s willing to sacrifice the lives of pilots. Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque. At 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 25.
The Wrestler
In the latest film from Sundance veteran Darren Aronofsky, it’s tough deducing just where aging wrestler Randy leaves off and Mickey Rourke — the actor playing him — begins. Like Randy, Rourke had a remarkable run back in the Reagan era. Also like Randy, shit happened to Rourke (drugs, messy break-ups, a misguided attempt at…
Hotel for Dogs
An abandoned building that’s become home to a group of wayward canines, the “hotel” in director Thor Freudenthal’s feature-length debut is virtually a character in itself. That’s where Andi (Emma Roberts) and Bruce (Jake T. Austin), two young orphans, set up an assortment of contraptions that enable the dogs to entertain themselves in the absence…
Inkheart
Inkheart German scribe Cornelia Funke’s wrote the lead role of Mortimer “Mo” Folchart with fantasy- adventure actor Brendan Fraser in mind. So it’s fitting that he actually got the role once director Iain Softley (Skeleton Key, The Wings of a Dove) signed onto the project. In Inkheart, Mo leads his 12-year-old daughter Meggie (Eliza Hope…
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
Director Patrick Tatopolous makes this prequel to the previous two Underworld films seem like some kind of holocaust drama. Not that a movie about werewolves rising up against their cruel vampiric masters can’t or shouldn’t play it straight, but it requires a deft touch that Tatopolous lacks. So when the movie awkwardly becomes an allegory…
Brendan Knows Best
Santa Monica, California — Brendan Fraser walks into a roomful of reporters staying at the oceanfront Casa del Mar Hotel and bellows out a hearty “Good morning!” When he gets no response, he offers a very sarcastic, “Good morning, Brendan,” as if he’s a substitute teacher having to lead a class that doesn’t treat him…
Mope
On the eve of Barack Obama's inauguration, a splinter faction of the Summit County Republican Party met in a small conference room in Akron's Four Points Sheraton to discuss plans for the future. These were members of the self-titled "New Republicans" of Summit County, the upper-class junta that tried to unseat Alex Arshinkoff in an…
Film Shorts — 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…
Point Of Impact
Ken Stewart's Lodge is a dimly lit upscale restaurant and bar in Bath, a favorite haunt of local Republican bigwigs and businessmen. On the evening of December 19, 2008, a strange crowd filtered in: skinny guys with bashful smiles, pudgy dudes with pale skin, accompanied by the occasional female. An IT herd. These particular techies…
Ram Tough
Randy "The Ram" Robinson (Mickey Rourke) is a beaten-down, washed-up pro wrestler who currently resides in a New Jersey trailer park. Gigs are few and far between since his '80s glory days when he played Madison Square Garden and had his image affixed to action figures and videogames. To make ends meet, he's recently been…
New Year’s Resolutions?
Thursday 1.22 SCREW YOUR NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS PARTY If the pacts you made a few weeks ago to quit smoking or lose weight in 2009 have made it this far, congratulations. But the staff at Legacy Village's Bar Louie applauds those of us without will power at tonight's Screw Your New Year's Resolutions Party. "It's…
Chatting With The Top Dog
Scene: How long has the Tribe been racing processed meats? SJ: This will be the third year. Two years ago we did a handful of games, not the whole season. Last season was the first we did it for every game. What was the impetus for starting the races? We'd been doing the animated hot-dog…
Benefits Package
When civic leaders talk about the benefits of trade shows in Cleveland, it's usually in terms of jobs created and money spent in the local economy. That dollars-and-common-sense story could certainly be told about the International Performing Arts for Youth Showcase, the performing-arts shopping spree for people who book shows for kids. For the second…
Always Wear A Condiment
What's really in a hot dog? OK, that's probably a question you don't want the answer to, and neither do I, since Opening Day is inching ever closer and I can practically taste the salty nitrate treat going down smoothly with a warm beer. (Yes, Father, I know the game's on Good Friday, but since…
Dude Drives A Pedicab
PlayhouseSquare's 14th Street Theatre brings a cast of talented locals (Ursula Cataan, Jessica Cope, Jodi Dominick, Matt Lillo, Corey Mach and Kyle Primous) to the stage for I Love You Because, a musical about two brothers and the women they date in New York. One writes greeting cards. The other is a pedicab driver. Gina…
Local Dirt
GOOD NEWS DOESN'T TRAVEL FAST ENOUGH Cleveland City Council President Martin Sweeney is bringing in the big guns to put a happy face on all the grim news coming out of council these days. Last month, local City Hall hawk Roldo Bartimole reported in his online column that Sweeney was hiring Mary Anne Sharkey, The…
Grand Tour
I must confess that I have fantasies of taking on the roles of two indomitable educators who have lit up the stage and screen for decades. Hence, I see myself as a rumpled Mr. Chips or a radiant Miss Anna in Siam, leading my devoted young charges out of the wilderness of videogames into the…
Local Reviews
Wally Boy Wonder Where's Wally? (Intolerance) wallyboywonder.com While his rapid-fire delivery of tongue-twisting rhymes seems a bit derivative (think a more urban Mike Doughty) and the moniker is a bit much, Wally Boy Wonder has assembled a talented bunch of musicians around him. The crew includes former members of Filter, Warrant and the Twist-Offs, and…
Capsule Reviews Of Current Releases
OPENING Alexander Nevsky (USSR, 1938) – Grandiose epic depicts 13th-century feudal prince Alexander rallying the downtrodden masses in what will be the future Soviet Union, to lead a proletarian peasant army in battle against implacable Teutonic (German) invaders. This enemy is so heavily armored as to be utterly dehumanized (and dig their ghoulish Catholic spiritual…
Culture Jamming: Croft Work
TOP PICK Tomb Raider: Underworld (Eidos) The best Lara Croft videogame in ages plops the world's hottest pixilated adventurer in the middle of a Mexican jungle, a ravaged Thailand and other faraway locales in search of the Hammer of Thor. It's available for pretty much every console, but stick with the Xbox 360 and PlayStation…
What’s In A Name?
In another time and place, Taste Food & Wine would be hailed as a welcome addition to any street, let alone Lee Road, where upscale joints are outnumbered by pubs four to one. The restaurant possesses considerable talent in the kitchen, service is at a level commensurate with a more seasoned establishment, and the space…
Early Bloomers
If you listen to Neil Young's recently released 1968 concert album Sugar Mountain, you'll find it virtually impossible to separate the charming 22 year-old kid in that recording from the grizzled, caveman-ish rock legend of today. There's too much historical context to wade through, preventing us from hearing young Neil's budding genius with objective virgin…
Deep Blue Organ Trio leads this week’s concert picks
Hailing from Chicago, the Deep Blue Organ Trio is on a mission to uphold the tradition of organ jazz, carrying the mantel of such legends as Jimmy Smith, Jimmy McGriff and Charles Earland. In fact, two of the trio’s members, guitarist Bobby Broom and drummer Greg Rockingham, enjoyed separate stints in Earland’s band. Deep Blue’s…
Reel Cleveland
When 40 of the world's most innovative thinkers (physicists, chemists, religious leaders and the like) went to India to visit the Dalai Lama on a quest to promote world peace, Baldwin-Wallace alumnus Khashyar Darvich decided to go along. Accompanied by an 18-person crew, he filmed Dalai Lama Renaissance, a documentary about the event. Narrated by…
Rojo Rising
Given that his dad is a jazz musician and his mom teaches classical piano at the Cleveland Institute of Music, it's no surprise Redwater RoJo singer-guitarist Jason Meyers became a musician. "Most kids grew up on Sesame Street and cartoons, but I grew up on Miles Davis, Thelonius Monk, Buddy Guy, and the whole jazz…
Heartless Bastards, Animal Collective, And More Get Graded
Heartless Bastards The Mountain (Fat Possum) Garage-rock rarely evokes soulful and cosmic visions, incorporating so much of what makes American music a still-bright beacon. Witness the stirring, swampy vocals and guitar-handling of Heartless Bastards founder Erika Wennerstrom. After securing a slot alongside the Black Keys on the Fat Possum label in 2004, and then putting…
Around Hear
The Town Fryer is back. Again. The coziest nightspot for comfort food and roots/alt-country music has reopened in the Agora restaurant space (5000 Euclid Ave., formerly the Backstage Café), bigger and better than ever. "I went through a period for a minute [where closing seemed like an option]," says owner, chef and head barkeep Susie…
Skin Deep
What happened here? Susan McClelland's installation of soft/hard sculpture looks as if a puppy got loose in an attic, chewing and dragging old pajamas and quilts over not-so-gently used furnishings like chairs, a lamp and a bed. And yet McClelland's tangled objects in Accumulations Retraced have a logic all their own. The recent Kent State…
Local Foodie News
It's been two years since acclaimed chef Parker Bosley closed his eponymous Ohio City bistro. And for the many fans of Bosley's conscientious cuisine, sourced almost exclusively from local farms, it has been a sad two years indeed. On February 2, diners will have a rare opportunity to relive his culinary magic when Bosley presides…
Animal Instincts
Los Angeles – For Berlin-born Thor Freudenthal, a guy known for doing commercials and working on visual effects for the Stuart Little movies, taking on Hotel for Dogs – a movie that involved both kids and animals – as his feature-film directorial debut posed a rather enormous challenge. As a result, Freudenthal took the…
