Reviews of the Cinematheque’s weekend films
The Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque is showing several great films this weekend. Here are our reviews of what’s showing. Oliver Twist (Britain/Czech Republic/France/Italy, 2005) Roman Polanski’s gray version of the oft-filmed Charles Dickens classic has the noble implicit aim to rescue the iconic material from the Disneyesque overtones evoked by the upbeat musical Oliver!…
The Country Teacher makes its local debut tonight at CMA
A film about a school teacher who’s reluctant to tell anyone he’s gay, The Country Teacher has its local premiere tonight at 6:45 at the Cleveland Museum of Art. If you miss tonight’s screening, it shows again at 6:45 p.m. Friday, July 31. Here’s our review. The Country Teacher (Czech Republic/France/Germany, 2008) When a smart…
Leonard Cohen Concert Update
Remember that Leonard Cohen Cleveland concert that got us all excited last week? Well, we finally have some details on how to score tickets. Cohen is coming to the Allen Theatre on October 25. Tickets go on sale next Monday, August 3, at 11 a.m. at the PlayhouseSquare box office, online at PlayhouseSquare.org or by…
Square Records Celebrates Anniversary With a Concert
Cleveland indie-music store Music Saves just cleaned up the confetti from its fifth-anniversary celebration this past weekend, and now its Akron counterpart Square Records is gearing up to celebrate its sixth year in business. The store — which opened on August 9, 2003 — has become a gathering spot for under-the-radar musicians and artists, hosting…
Don’t Forget the Motor City
Motown’s been on people’s minds a lot lately with the recent death of Michael Jackson. The legendary Detroit-based record label launched Jackson and his brothers to fame in 1969 as the Jackson 5. In honor of the 50th anniversary of the label whose smooth, urbane version of soul music dominated the charts in the ’60s,…
Tuesday Music News Roundup
Some girl we never heard of dumps one of the Jonas Brothers. Probably because he wouldn’t put out. A bouncer who banged Madonna is selling her love letters to him. Probably because he doesn’t know how to read. Apple and record companies are working together to find new ways to fuck up the music industry.…
Tuesday Ticket Giveaway – Part 3
We got a pair of tickets to goofball rockers the Two Man Gentlemen Band’s concert at the Beachland Tavern on August 11. All you have to do is send your name, phone number and e-mail address to freetickets@clevescene.com. We’ll pick a random winner at noon on August 6.
Your WTF Post of the Day: Garko, Meet Darko
I was looking around for some fun Garko stuff after Ryan was traded to the Giants, and I came across this. Yes, I have no shame in telling you that I’ve watched this five times, and laughed each and every instance.
Tuesday Ticket Giveaway – Part 2
We got a pair of tickets to new-wave polka players Brave Combo’s concert at the Beachland Ballroom on August 7. All you have to do is send your name, phone number and e-mail address to freetickets@clevescene.com. We’ll pick a random winner at noon on August 5.
Lakers Favorites For NBA Title According to Sportsbooks
There’s been a whole mess of offseason moves by the contenders for the 2009-2010 NBA crown, and while the maneuvering isn’t nearly complete yet, it looks like nothing is going to change as far as the oddsmakers are concerned. Lakers remain tops, followed in various order by the Cavs, Celts, Magic, and Spurs. At MGM/Mirage,…
Catching Up With Eddie Harris
Bugs & Cranks talked with Chelcie Ross, who, of course played old-timey, junkballing pitcher Eddie Harris in Major League. Solid interview with the actor, covering who was the most athletic of the crew (Dennis Haybert — who hit a legitimate home run off a BP pitcher during filming), how his “pitching” made Bob Uecker want…
eBay Item of the Day: Vintage Browns Megaphone
I’m all for anything that has Brownie the Elf on it. Sneakily good logo. Under utilized for a long stretch of history, it made a comeback in recent years and now Brownie can be found on a whole bunch of “vintage” apparel and such. For real vintage, I’ll take this 1960’s megaphone bearing the endearing…
Tuesday Ticket Giveaway – Part 1
We got a pair of tickets to big-boobed blues singer Candye Kane’s concert at the Beachland Ballroom on August 5. All you have to do is send your name, phone number and e-mail address to freetickets@clevescene.com. We’ll pick a random winner at noon on August 3.
Two More Reasons It Sucks to Be in Cleveland
Most of the time, we’re rah-rah Cleveland, but sometimes it sucks to be here. Like when Bruce Springsteen says he’s going to play the entire Born to Run album (you know, one of the greatest albums of all time) … in Chicago. We’ll probably get the usual mix of greatest-hits and new stuff when he…
1,000 Free Songs!
Head on over to ReverbNation, like, right now, because they’re giving away 1,000 free downloadable songs. There aren’t many big names here (you have to shell out $1.29 at iTunes for those), but there are plenty of indie artists featured in the 52 pages. Plus, they’re free! Cleveland’s Chimaira are even featured on the first…
News No One Cares About
The Backstreet Boys have a new album coming out on October 6. It’s called This Is Us, and we’re pretty sure no one cares. Seriously: These guys are still around? —Michael Gallucci
This Just In: Concert Announcements
This week, we have more than 70 concert announcements, ‘cuz Cleveland rocks. All Leather (members of The Locust): 8 p.m., $8. Downstairs, at B-Side Liquor Lounge, Wed., Aug. 12. Grog Shop. Amazing Baby/Safari: Tavern, Wed., Sept. 30, 9 p.m., $10. Beachland. And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead: Thu., Sept. 24, 8…
DEMS ALREADY HAMMERING PORTMAN
It looks likely that Ohio Democrats won’t have a Senate candidate until after the primary next May, with Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher both going full steam ahead on their campaigns. But that hasn’t stopped the Ohio Democratic Party from getting a jump on introducing Rob Portman, the likely Republican…
Q’d UP
Steve Schimoler is an ambitious fellow. In addition to his successful downtown restaurant, Crop Bistro, and his online farmer’s market, Local Crop, Schimoler is the mastermind behind the non-profit Cleveland Food Rocks, a group of restaurants, chefs and musicians who share a love for our city’s food and music. Schimoler’s inaugural event for the group…
Another Hippie Fest Coming to Nelson Ledges
Jim Miller’s Lazy Daisy Festival, yet another weekend-long music fest coming to hippie haven Nelson Ledges Quarry Park, will take place August 15 and 16. Miller’s Jimiller Band headlines Lazy Daisy, which is being called “a celebration of the life and music of the Grateful Dead.” And you know what that means — jams! Also…
Talkin’ With Tom Hamilton About Surviving the season — “It’s a good thing I don’t like Jack [Daniels]”
Fans at Friday’s Indians game will be treated to fireworks, as they are every Friday, but this time will be a little different. Instead of music, the pyrotechnics will be flying to a soundtrack of the dulcet tones of Tom Hamilton. In honor of Hammy’s 20th anniversary in the booth, a compilation of some of…
Monday Music News Roundup
American Idol involved in hit-and-run. Sadly, it’s not Daughtry. Despite being within striking distance of Rihanna, Chris Brown doesn’t beat the shit out of her. Some shady things happening at a shady storage unit owned by Michael Jackson’s shady doctor. Shady! LeAnn Rimes splits with husband, will probably write an awful song about it. —Michael…
eBay Item of the Day: Vanity Nebraska Cavs License Plate
Your regular Ohio license plate not good enough? Or maybe you own a bar and you need a whole bunch of random garage-sale-type stuff to put on the walls. Maybe it’s your basement. Maybe you’re from Nevada. Those are about the only reasons to bid on this Nevada vanity license plate that says CAVS. $6.99…
Money Where Your Mouth Is: Winslow
This is the part of C-Notes where we let a band speak for itself, often because it’s Monday morning and the caffeine has yet to kick in. This week, homegrown funk-soul sensations Winslow. Band: Winslow. Website: Winslowsoul.com or Myspace.com/winslowsoul. Hometown: Kent/Akron. Sounds Like: Soul rock funkin’ goodness. Fun Fact: We were named after Winslownious, the…
Another Food Inc. panel discussion
The Food, Inc. panel discussion held earlier this month at the Cedar Lee Theatre was such a success, the theater is doing it again. After the 8:45 p.m. screening on Tuesday, July 28, Executive Director of the New Agrarian Center Brad Masi, Snowville Creamery Dairy Evangelist from Snowville Creamery Warren Taylor, Whole Foods Market Associate…
Loud and Bobnoxious Cult Movies: Girl on a Motorcycle
Recently issued on DVD by Redemption video, the 1968 film Girl on a Motorcyclecertainly lives up to its title. A significant portion of its running time consists of young, black leather clad Rebecca (Marianne Faithfull) riding her bike through Europe to visit her lover Daniel (Alain Delon), possibly leaving husband Raymond (Roger Mutton) behind for…
Friday Music News Roundup
Phish plan Halloween gig. How about dressing up like a band that doesn’t suck? Blink-182 play first reunion show. Yes, there were dick jokes. Where the fuck is Michael Jackson’s nose? Her milkshake brings $40,000 a month! Apparently Amy Winehouse didn’t beat the shit out of a fan. No, no, no. —Michael Gallucci
That Musta Been Some Health-Care Speech
Walking up the long and luxuriously paved hill to Shaker Heights High on Thursday afternoon with my two-year-old daughter Isabel in a stroller, a peanut-butter cookie smeared all over her face and dress, I’d never felt angrier at the president I helped to vote into office. Of course, how angry could I have been? But…
Concert Review: Cass McCombs/Walkmen at Beachland, 7/23
One album and a few extra bandmates later, Cass McCombs is a changed man. He’s not completely different; his jaded, sullen side still peaks through the darkness in his eyes. Yet his performance at the Beachland last night was a far cry from the set he played when he opened for Jose Gonzalez a year…
Concert Review: Black Francis at Grog Shop, 7/23
Black Francis, Frank Black, Charles Thompson — call him whatever you like (or any combination of the above). It’s an unavoidable fact: Dude was in the Pixies. In addition to the five albums he made with those indie-rock pioneers, Black Francis has recorded more than 15 albums as a solo artist or with his band…
Loud and Bobnoxious Cult Movies: Donkey Punch
In this British thriller, recently released on DVD by Magnet Films, Tammi (Nichola Burley), Lisa (Sian Breckin) and Kim (Jaime Winstone) are three college age girls on holiday in Spain. They get picked up by Marcus (Jay Taylor), Bluey (Tom Burke) and Josh (Julian Morris) who take the girls back to the luxury yacht where…
Just out on DVD, Grey Gardens revisits an old documentary
The Maysles brothers’ 1975 cult documentary about a blueblood mother and daughter who gradually lose everything (including their collective grip on reality) to become trapped by squalor has spawned a musical, a handful of plays and the most recent adaptation, an HBO original film starring Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore. The fact that the down-on-its-luck…
Flatbush Reunite … Again
Local bands tend to attract a crowd of regulars whose social life revolves around gigs and who become a family of sorts. So their reunions are kinda like a special class reunion — if you had one just for the gang you used to hang out with and not the snobs and jocks who made…
Guinea pigs go wild in G-Force
There’s an adorable Lorain County band called G-Force, fronted by little daughters of an area musician; check the girls out at the community fete sometime, doing their peppy covers of Gwen Stefani or Avril Lavigne. If I were their father I’d make ’em do “Rehab” or some Marilyn Manson or Niggaz With Attitude. Just to…
LeBron Dunk Video at Ten… Well, Actually, 6:45, Courtesy of TMZ
TMZ LeDunk Footage? TMZ.com — the gossip news site that broke Michael Jackson’s death —claims it has the supressed footage of LeBron being dunked upon. TMZ says it will post the footage today at 6:45EST. — D.X. Ferris UPDATE: Thanks to Deadspin, we now have some particulars on how they bought it (there was a…
eBay Item of the Day: “Rare” Bartolo Colon Bisons Bobblehead
Got a spare $25 (at least) around and love Bartolo Colon? Well have I got a deal for you, young earnest and wealthy baseball fan. This rare bobblehead from Colon’s days in Buffalo is up for bidding on eBay. Maybe it’d make a good gift for Ozzie Guillen, so he’d have Colon around even when…
Photo Show: The Sights and Skanks of Cruefest
Scene’s Johnny Angell went to Cruefest yesterday and brought his camera. Here’s what he saw.
Psychostick Pre-Show Meet & Greet Friday
Shticky nu-metal sensation Psychostick will meet and greet fans before Friday’s concert at the Outpost (4962 St. Rt. 43, Kent). The pre-show tailgate party runs from 4 to 8 p.m., with cheap drafts and a cash prize for a sandwich-eating contest. The show kicks off at 7:30, tix $10 (expect a sellout). Opening acts are,…
An appealing cast distinguishes The Ugly Truth
At this late date in movie history, it seems almost unnecessary to provide detailed narratives, since the tropes are so familiar. The Ugly Truth, which opens areawide on Friday, is a case in point. This romantic comedy stars Katherine Heigl as a lovelorn TV producer and Gerard Butler as the crass misogynist her station hires…
Leonard Cohen’s Comin’ to Clev
Singer-songwriter icon Leonard Cohen has announced dates for the second leg of his first U.S. tour in 15 years. He’ll play Cleveland’s Allen Theatre on October 25. Cohen is the guy who wrote “Hallelujah,” the classic song that’s become this age’s great musical-cue cliche, covered by Jeff Buckley, John Cale, Cleveland’s Kate Voegele, some televised…
Rock Hall Snubs Cleveland … Again
In yet another fuck-you to Clevelanders, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has scheduled a 25th anniversary concert for itself … in New York. The two-night concert — scheduled for October 29 and 30 at Madison Square Garden — stars heavyweights (and inductees) like Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Simon & Garfunkel, U2, Aretha Franklin,…
Whiskey Daredevils Tour Diary
The Whiskey Daredevils just returned from a road trip in Europe. Frontman Greg Miller fills us in on what happened. Day 13: Barcelona, Spain — off day At 6:30 a.m. the jackhammer starts. Then a machine that sounds like a pounding anvil pile driver from a Roadrunner cartoon kicks in. Just when it seemed impossible…
Ryan Humbert Gets Strung Out on Friday
Akron singer-songwriter Ryan Humbert, who has recently been performing in the area again following his move to Nashville last year to record his latest album, will be doing a special show at the Kent Stage at 8 p.m. Friday that he’s calling “Ryan Humbert: Strung Out.” A nine-piece acoustic lineup, complete with a string quartet,…
Concert Review: Cruefest at Blossom, 7/21
The latest incarnation of Cruefest rolled through Blossom Tuesday and brought a mixed bag of goodies with them. A second stage featuring Cavo, Rev Theory, 16 Second Stare and Shram brought additional noise. The only problem, with such little time, music played from both stages at once, and fans had to choose whether to watch…
Concert Review: Adrian Belew at the Grog Shop, 7/21
Adrian Belew is out on the road again — this time with friends. Adding Eric (drums) and Julie Slick (bass) to form the Adrian Belew Power Trio in May 2006, Belew’s take on funk/boogie has never sounded better. Five cities into their fifth tour in three years, the Trio have the energy and chops of…
ON THE FLIP SIDE OF FOCUS
Sherman Lee (1918-2008) was a commanding figure in the world of American art museums, known for transforming the Cleveland Museum of Art from a small regional museum to major institution of international importance during his 1958-1983 tenure as its director. The exhibition Streams and Mountains Without End: Asian Art and the Legacy of Sherman E.…
Far From Homegrown
HSBC, one of the biggest banks on the planet, has taken to calling itself “the world’s local bank.” Winn-Dixie, a 500-outlet supermarket chain spanning five southern states, recently launched an ad campaign under the tagline “Local flavor since 1956.” The International Council of Shopping Centers, a global consortium of mall owners and developers, is pouring…
Soundcheck: Mark McGrath
One of the most popular SoCal acts of the ’90s, Sugar Ray combined Sublime-like riffs with summertime vibes on their platinum-selling albums, delivering hits like “Fly,” “Every Morning” and “When It’s Over.” Then the band took a hiatus while frontman Mark McGrath hosted Extra, the entertainment-news program. McGrath is now done with Extra, and the…
Stage Fright
TOP PICK Björk: Voltaic (Nonesuch) The latest project by everyone’s favorite swan-wearing Icelandic elf is available in five different packages. The best (and one of the cheapest) is the set that combines a live CD from a London studio with a concert DVD from the tour in support of 2007’s Volta. Cool, trippy and sublime…
Local Music Reviews
Chief Network and Jai Kincaid (Tomahawk) myspace.com/tomahawkrecordsllc Tomahawk Records dates back to 2002, and since then, leader Chief Network has been a strong presence on the local scene, performing at both churches and nightclubs. Poet at heart, producer by trade, Network makes references to LeBron James as an example of the kind of success he’s…
TEST OF FAITH
A few weeks before the Ingenuity Festival, Cuyahoga Arts and Culture released its first report to the public during a meeting at Severance Hall. Under the title “Sound Investment, Solid Impact,” it tells of the services provided by arts groups in the county, thanks in part to support from CAC, plus a financial statement. The…
Glory Days
Sitting on the couch at his Kent-area house, drinking a beer and sporting a Stooges T-shirt, singer-songwriter Ryan Kralik talks about his major influences (Pearl Jam, Neil Young, Nirvana). But the 10 songs on Desperate Measures tell a different story, one of love for nostalgic adult rock, laced with shimmering Americana ballads that might come…
Sideswiped
Just when you’re cruising comfortably past the predictable local art scene, you’re sideswiped by a gang of unknowns — and it’s Tremont gallerist Dana Depew behind the wheel. Every summer for the past five years, Asterisk Gallery’s maverick director has hunted down 19 local artists and grabbed a representative sampling of their work for an…
CD Review: Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs
Whoever came up with the idea of pairing pop-rock maestro Matthew Sweet and Bangles angel Susanna Hoffs should get some kind of congressional recognition or the American version of knighting. The twosome got together three years ago for the first installment of Under the Covers, where they revisited some of the seminal songs from their…
LAKE EFFECT IN A BOTTLE
Napa Valley wines don’t taste like Columbia Valley wines. Willamette Valley wines don’t taste like Cumberland Valley wines. And Lake Erie wines don’t taste like Finger Lakes wines. So to ask whether an Ohio-grown chardonnay tastes as good as one from Washington State completely misses the point, explains Arnie Esterer of Conneaut’s Markko Vineyard. “We…
CD Review: Wye Oak
There was a popular black-pride slogan from the ’70s (also the title of a 1994 album by the Halo Benders): “God Don’t Make No Junk.” Merge Records could truthfully market a similar T in honor of its 20th anniversary, paraphrased as “Merge Don’t Sign No Junk.” Baltimore duo Wye Oak are no junk, although they…
Bites: Local Wineries
There are dozens of wineries between Cleveland and the Pennsylvania border. Here are just a few. (Note: Always call before visiting wineries.) Debonne Vineyards (7743 Doty Rd., Madison, 440.466.3485, debonne.com) is one of the largest and most commercially successful wineries in the state. The 110-acre vineyard produces riesling, chardonnay, cabernet franc, ice wine and scores of…
CD Review: David Bowie
The CD portion of Bowie’s 1999 VH1 Storytellers appearance redundantly contains the audio from the eight songs heard on the VH1 show, but irritatingly omits the four “bonus performance” outtakes included on the DVD. Although they’re not “unplugged,” Bowie’s top-notch electric band sounds wonderfully warm and intimate here. The low-key nature of the show yields…
Love Stinks
Screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber originally intended (500) Days of Summer, which opens Friday at the Cedar Lee Theatre, to be set in San Francisco. But after taking a walking tour of Los Angeles one day with director Marc Webb, they decided to shift its setting. With its decaying art deco buildings, grungy…
CD Review: Voivod
Voivod might be the most respected true metal band of the ’80s. Metallica, Slayer and Megadeth are all polarizing, but you either love this Canadian crew or don’t care much — nobody actively hates them. And nothing about their 15th and final album will change anyone’s position. The songs are the last scraps from the…
Reel Cleveland: Fargo Plus Memento?
Having spent the past five years working for SLAMjamz, Chuck D.’s record label/production company, Youngstown-born filmmaker David C. Snyder has made plenty of short films and music videos. Now the Pittsburgh-based director has made his first feature-length film. He wrote a screenplay that, much like Fargo, involved a kidnapping and ransom, but he gave it…
CD Review: Our Lady Peace
Our Lady Peace charted a few modern-rock hits in the ’90s and then quickly dropped off the radar. Like their last studio album, 2005’s Healthy in Paranoid Times, and 2002’s Gravity, Burn Burn, the group’s seventh record, is tailored for mainstream success, built on arena-ready melodies and radio-friendly rock hooks. But the album, which takes…
A Fighting Chance
The Hurt Locker may or may not be a masterpiece, but it’s certainly the first Hollywood movie about the Iraq War that stands a fighting chance of attracting an audience. The most fascinating thing about director Kathryn Bigelow’s (Point Break, Near Dark) film — and why it seems so revelatory and brave — is how…
CD Review: Ian Hunter
Having recently turned 70, Ian Hunter embraces a certain familiarity on Man Overboard, which picks up where 2007’s Shrunken Heads left off. Quickly getting back in the studio after Shrunken, Hunter was able to revisit the Heads experience before the vibe wore off. Most of the band from those sessions is back, including veteran drummer…
Wild Child
When Leonardo DiCaprio sends a film idea your way, you pay attention, even if it’s written by a no-name like Alex Mace, whose sole claim to fame is that he’s a good friend of the titanic star and works for his production company. Veteran producer Joel Silver (The Matrix, Lethal Weapon, Die Hard) received Mace’s…
CD Review: The Most Serene Republic
The Most Serene Republic … And the Ever Expanding Universe (Arts & Crafts) 1/2 Hot on the heels of April’s Digital Population EP, which remixed five tunes from 2007’s Population in 16-bit Nintendo-style, this album shows off the Most Serene Republic’s uncoventional streak. The Toronto group’s first two records of sprawling, progressive indie-pop are solid,…
Northwest Passage
When the guys behind the gothic Americana band the Builders and the Butchers decided it was time to start playing shows, they came up with an ingenious idea. Instead of trying to get booked into clubs, they would play outside of clubs. As the Builders’ frontman Ryan Sollee explains, “We were thinking, ‘Where are there…
CD Review: The Starlight Mints
Let’s be honest: Any idiot can write Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face.” What takes real creativity is a hooky pop song that stays fresh after 20 listens. The Starlight Mints are a complex pop group capable of that: The Oklahoma five-piece take songs you might hear on the radio and adds magic ingredients: spacey psychedelic sound…
Around Hear: Strange Familiar Release Party
Akron’s Strange Familiar play a release party for their new album, This Is Gravity, at 9 p.m. Saturday, July 25 at Musica (51 E. Market St., Akron) with the Early Hours opening. The band is releasing the album independently. Singer Kira Leyden says its title is “a statement … [about] letting go and doing what’s…
CD Review: Megafaun
When North Carolina alt-country band DeYarmond Edison split, lead singer Justin Vernon retreated to Wisconsin and re-emerged as Bon Iver. The remaining three members became Megafaun and released the experimental-folk album Bury the Square last year. That record was interesting, if not altogether listenable. For their second attempt, they have (mostly) toned down the experimentalism,…
Film: Capsule Reviews
Opening Burma VJ (Denmark, 2008) The amazing thing about Anders Østergaard’s film is the way it’s able to construct a cohesive narrative out of nothing more than underground footage and re-enactments of political strife in Burma. But the English voiceover (with subtitles, since the narrator has a heavy accent) does more than a capable job…
CD Review: Various Artists
While not exactly cohesive, the soundtrack to (500) Days of Summer, a romantic comedy that is not — as the film’s narrator tells us — “a love story,” is a great collection of songs that stays true to the movie’s story about a guy who falls for a girl who doesn’t fall for him. The…
Boys to Men
It’s been three years since Incubus’ last studio album, Light Grenades, and the SoCal band hasn’t played a show in about two years. But Incubus bassist Ben Kenney says the group never split up or even came close to calling it quits during the hiatus. “We came home from a tour and said, ‘All right,…
Arts District: More SALT
For the past few months, a couple of dozen mostly visual arts organizations have been meeting under the moniker SALT (Sustainable Arts Leaders Talks) to figure out ways to cooperate, save money and ensure that they last a long time. Some of the participating groups include BAYarts, Zygote Press, Art House, Arts Collinwood, the Sculpture Center,…
