Who’s Hotter: Brady, Grady, or the Mayor of Seven Hills?
Don’t look now, but the raging Grady vs. Brady forest fire is spreading. If you haven’t been paying attention, you’re a loser. But don’t worry. I’ll be your guide through this philosophical conundrum of hotness. Basically, The Plain Dealer recently posed a very meaningful question, the sort of thing Kant would have considered if his…
The Top Five Amusement Park Disasters of All Time
It was a close call for riders of the Magnum XL-200 rollercoaster at Cedar Point Saturday, after a train coming into the station failed to brake, smashing into a departing train. Luckily the ride was only traveling at about 10 miles per hour at impact, so no one was seriously injured, although two people were…
Breaking news: Cavs to start James at point guard
With point guard Larry Hughes sidelined with a foot injury, the Cavaliers will start forward LeBron James at point guard in tonight’s Game 4, team sources say. It will mark the first time in league history that one player will start at two positions in the same game. The Cavaliers struggled with the decision, but…
The Quotable Chuck D Comes to Akron, Part One
Chuck D visited the main branch of Akron’s public library last week as part of its excellent series of free lectures. The introduction described his hip-hop squad, Public Enemy, as “arguably the most important rap group in history.” PE brought combined intellectual substance, militant style, and dense, sampled-based funk in tunes like “Bring the Noise.”…
This Just In… Concert Announcements
Scene has 24 new shows for you this week, from the Black Keys to Beyonce. This week: Saturday Big Leg Emma: West Park Station, 17015 Lorain Ave., Cleveland, 216-476-2000. THIS JUST IN… Benni Hemm Hemm (Iceland): Sun., July 8, 9 p.m., $7. Beachland Tavern. Beyonce/Robin Thicke: Sun., Aug. 19, 7:30 p.m., $59.75-$89.75 (LiveNation.com). Quicken Loans…
Mikey G’ Entertainment Picks of the Week
This week’s top arts and entertainment picks around town, from the guy who’s paid to pick them: Tuesday: Pop-culture symbols share the spotlight in Friends and Family, on view at Shaheen Modern and Contemporary Art. The exhibit features more than a dozen paintings of famous dead people — like James Dean, Marvin Gaye, and Elvis…
Lakewood’s Maria Gigante a Finalist for MTV Film Award
Lakewood’s Maria Gigante has made it to the final of Best Filmmaker on Campus Award for her short movie Girls Room. The film is about two young girls who enter a public rest room at the same time. Both have to pee, but are embarrassed that others might be listening. They try to hold it…
Mikey G’s Weekend Entertainment Picks
This weekend’s top arts and entertainment picks around town, from the guy who’s paid to pick them: Friday: Like former sparring partners the Killers, the Bravery give the synths a rest on their second album, The Sun and the Moon, and aim for the cheap seats with a set of guitar-guided arena rockers. Without the…
Sympathy for the Bad Guys: The Good Rev. Olds Heads Back to the Slam
When we last met the Reverend Mark C. Olds, he was pushing state legislation that would allow ex-cons with multiple convictions to get their records sealed [“Forgive and Forget?” September 21, 2005]. “It’s a jobs bill,” he said at the time. Olds painted himself as the perfect spokesman for reformed criminals. He claims to have…
The Namesake: A Movie Review from the Douchebag Sitting Behind You
I couldn’t be more thrilled about The Namesake when I saw the preview a while back. I didn’t have the sound on, but when I saw Kumar from Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle looking kinda stoned in his graduation gown, I figured it couldn’t miss. A sequel to the best movie ever made?…
Dancing with the Bums
Dozens of grade-schoolers aboard Lolly the Trolley yesterday were treated to a uniquely Cleveland spectacle that wasn’t exactly on the list of sightseeing stops – a bum ripping his shirt off and dancing like Paula Abdul circa 1989. The children were laughing hysterically and pointing at none other than Charles Edward Gist – a.k.a. the…
The Smoking Police Pay a Visit to Twist
Ohio’s three-week-old smoking ban in bars has left at least one Cleveland nightclub owner “bitter” over the way health inspectors regulate it. John Katsaros of Twist (11633 Clifton Blvd.; 216-221-2333) says investigators came into his gay club on May 7 after someone filed a complaint the day after the law kicked in May 3. The…
The Modern Greek Trend is Catching on Everywhere — except Cleveland
We’ll let you draw your own conclusions about what it says regarding our hometown, but it was fun to read about NYC’s fascination with “modern Greek” cuisine in Gourmet’s June issue – particularly since our own celeb-chef Michael Symon (Lola and Lolita) gets a nod. Of course, the recognition was for Parea, Symon’s svelte Greek…
Slideshow: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony CD Release Party
Cleveland’s Bone Thugs-N-Harmony celebrated its five-years-in-the-making return with a CD release party at the House of Blues on May 8. The hip-hop group blew away a nearly packed room, dropping a smattering of urban classics and new tracks off Strength & Loyalty, the trio’s new disc for Interscope. Action Scene photographer Wanda Santos-Bray was there…
The Doors — sort of — come to the House of Blues
It’s a big week for Doors fans in Cleveland. The Rock Hall is opening a Doors exhibit, and two-thirds of the surviving band members will play a Thursday night set at the House of Blues (308 Euclid Ave., 216-423-2583). The set will comprise Doors material, but the band’s not exactly the Doors. After a couple…
The Great Grocery Swap: Dave’s takes over Giant Eagle
Last Wednesday, when Cleveland Heights residents went to bed, their main grocery store on Fairmount was Giant Eagle. When they awoke Thursday, they found the same supermarket, only with a new name: Dave’s. Employees were just as baffled by the change. “I only found out when I got my paycheck last week that the store…
Art: A 4,000-foot Cave Built of Papier Mache
Papier mâché may be French, but it’s hard work mixing strips of newsprint with water and flour and then shaping it all into something that doesn’t look like a rotting taco. Yet that’s exactly what Zack Shocklee did for 60 hours a week from last August through April. The Akron native – now a freshly…
New father-son Levert CD due out next month
Before Gerald Levert died last November, he went into his Cleveland studio and recorded some songs with his dad, O’Jay Eddie Levert. Next month, those recordings will be released as Something to Talk About. It’s their second album together. The first – 1995’s Father & Son – was a hit with fans of loverman soul…
God’s Wrath
The Reverend Jerry Falwell died last week, ending his reign as general in the war on sin, depravity, and vaguely effeminate TV characters named Tinky. Falwell was felled by cardiac arrhythmia, a condition believed to be caused by accidentally watching Ellen. Heaven admissions officers immediately assigned him to the Truman Capote Wing. Here on Earth,…
Random Movement
Although DJ/producer Random Movement (born Mike Richards) is all about drum-and-bass, while the ultra-hip RJD2 specializes in instrumental hip-hop, they share some notable similarities: Originally hailing from Columbus, both practice a deft brand of sampling, working with a litany of venerable names in soul, jazz, dub, and funk. Soulful vocals and funky drums pop up…
Three for the Road
Whether your idea of a killer concert is a night spent slow-dancing under a starlit sky, stalking your favorite American Idol loser, or upchucking into a dumpster behind Mongolian Barbeque, we’ve got the show for you. Three of ’em, in fact. Recommended if you like . . . Massive Crowds Nickelback/Staind/ Daughtry Nickelback’s sandpaper melodies…
Super Sonic
When Johnnie McGinnis takes on his DJ Sonic Era persona, he likens himself to an artist at an easel. Every Sunday at Club Shadows, he transforms two turntables into a canvas and a catalog of 400 vinyl LPs into a colorful palette. “I got into this as an art form,” says the 25-year-old McGinnis. “I…
The New Terrorists
Taped to the door was a sign of the Apocalypse: Hometown Buffet, Center Ridge Road, R.I.P. My son and I were crestfallen. I had raised him in the tradition of our people, the Vikings, teaching him the virtues of aimless aggression, hockey, a disinterest in real estate, and, of course, the joys of large piles…
Mike Epps
Get a dose of Def Comedy from Day-Day: Comedian-actor Mike Epps has hosted the Def Comedy Jam, and he rolled with Charlie Murphy in Roll Bounce. And maybe his two Friday movies weren’t the best, but some people swear by Next Friday (in which he played Ice Cube’s hapless cousin, Day-Day, a self-declared player). Live,…
Day Trippin’
You promised the fam a summer vacation, but that was before gas prices skyrocketed and wildfires laid waste to half the land. Besides, who wants to log the same number of hours in a car that it’d take to fly to Prague or Luxembourg or Euro-freakin’-Disney? Save yourself the headache by pocketing Scene’s handy summer…
Resurrecting the Dead
Bury Your Dead has had a hell of a year so far. Singer Mat Bruso left the Massachusetts metalcore band back in December to return to school. The group quickly rebounded, recruiting former I Killed the Prom Queen screamer Michael Crafter and hitting the road. A few weeks ago, Crafter quit, citing homesickness for Australia.…
Bait & Switch
Six years ago, the sales pitch was hard to resist. East High’s gym roof had collapsed, and school officials went into Chicken Little mode. They insisted that every school in the district needed fixing, and there was no better time to do it. The state was offering free money. If Cleveland taxpayers ponied up $335…
DJ Terry Urban
celebrates his birthday this week with the Dirty 30, a deluxe edition of I Got Five on It, a monthly old-school throwdown. Resident mixmaster Mick Boogie will be in the house, and he’ll be joined by Baltimore’s DJ Neru, who will serve up a set of Baltimore house, old-school hip-hop, funk, and soul. And when…
Perfect Fit
Fitness clubs are too stuffy for a summer workout. Who wants to be wedged between spandex-clad StairMaster zealots sweatin’ to early-’90s rap, when it’s sunny and gorgeous outside? Fortunately, you’ve got options. And unlike some “recreational” pastimes, these actually do a body good. We’ve outlined a few of our faves below — one for every…
Pride and Joy
The all-female Early Girl breaks out Ani DiFranco, Commonbond, and Indigo Girls covers at its show at the Nickel tonight. Yep, they’re gay. “But you’d be amazed at how many male fans we have,” says drummer Becky McMahon. Still, she hopes audiences pay attention to the music, rather than waste time “figuring out our sexual…
Unimpeachably Honorable
Kucinich calls ’em out — seriously: Mr. Kubulis of Lakewood [Letters, May 9] complains that the actions of Congressman Dennis Kucinich prove that he doesn’t represent his constituents — specifically, by initiating articles of impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney. There’s more than enough to convict Cheney, Bush, and Rumsfeld. Kucinich is not toeing the…
House of Swing’s 30th Anniversary Party
Show up early to get into the House of Swing’s 30th anniversary party. Long a cornerstone of the city’s true blues scene, the club will get to shaking with an all-star open jam session, hosted by Blues deVille. A night of giveaways and catered food will turn serious for a moment, with a tribute to…
Get Inside. It’s Summertime!
Summer movie season has arrived. There is an insane number of films on the following list and plenty of room for optimism. To that end, we’ve tried to cut back on the snarky comments about pointless sequels and loathsome actors — although it’s nearly impossible to let those infernal pirates sail by without a slap…
Human Nature
The Cleveland Institute of Art’s Ansel Adams: A Legacy exhibit charts the evolution of a tree-hugging shutterbug who became the grand master of American nature photography. “He was a primary advocate for artistic photography, going beyond its basic ability to absorb reality,” says Tom Hinson, curator of photography at the Cleveland Museum of Art, which…
Addicted to That Cream
When rapper Bow Wow decided to call his fifth album The Price of Fame, it wasn’t just another one of those metaphorical sob stories endemic to the music business. After the 19-year-old MC made it in Hollywood, starring in 2002’s Like Mike, he very nearly gave up hip-hop –but had a change of heart at…
The Bad Plus
If you’re a classic-rock fan with a jazz jones, check out the Bad Plus’ Prog — and do it without looking at the track list; you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Here’s a couple of hints: 1) Last time out, the instrumental jazz trio covered Sabbath’s “Iron Man.” 2) Tony Platt, the dude who engineered AC/DC’s Back…
A Place in the Sun
When the temperature in Cleveland climbs above 60 degrees, patio furniture emerges from storage, front porches become the best seats in the house, and watering holes everywhere find creative ways to offer alfresco options. And while we appreciate some bars’ halfhearted attempts to get our pasty butts in the sunlight, there are a few standouts…
Flower Power
Green thumbs rock the Cleveland Botanical Garden’s music-themed Flower Show 2007: Rhythm & Hues. Ohio landscapers contribute 18 colorful gardens to one of the nation’s largest bloom bashes. Look for flower-filled displays with names like Bluegrass Retreat, Opera Hortensia, and Cotton Club. Plus, top designers pay tribute to instruments (the interactive Garden of Percussion, which…
Unyielding Muse
Kristen Hersh’s bus is broken down by the side of the road somewhere around Monterey, California. Cast adrift by flooding that took her Cleveland home — as well as propelled by what you might call an unconscious yearning — Hersh has literally made the road her home for the last 18 months. “It’s not an…
Si, Para Usted: The Funky Beats of Revolutionary Cuba
During the ’70s, a slew of Cuban songwriters and musicians — who all had their ears turned to illegal radio from the States — started blending Afro-Cuban music with the sounds of American soul and funk. In this collection — compiled by music historian Dan Zacks, who found some of the source tapes in a…
Idiot-Proof Love Connection
Ghost-hunting, crate-digging, and dickering over bushels of broccoli — can you think of anything more romantic? We sure can’t. And since we’ve got enough suave moves to last nine lives — please, ladies, take a number — we’ve decided to spill some of our secrets. Even you Match.com lifers can’t botch these dates. (Although we…
U.S.A.! U.S.A.!
New York cop Daniel Rodriguez says he has much to celebrate at tonight’s The Spirit of America concert with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra. For one thing, he marks 20 years of sobriety. “There have been a lot of dark roads I’ve walked along,” he says. “Singing is where I can do the most good for…
In-A-Gabba-Da-Vida, Baby
Since becoming a parent, I’ve increasingly believed the following: If a toddler doesn’t respond to music, there’s a strong chance it’s not so hot. A nine-month-old won’t try to tell you Thursday’s music is really sophisticated pop. (It’s not.) A two-year-old won’t bore you with an argument that Slayer is one of the best rock…
Ov
Meditative dronescapes and folkie clatter are all the rage among indie stoners. But here’s my issue with this stuff: It’s too easy to produce something that sounds bong-a-rific, but lacks a sense of meticulous craftsmanship. Simply slap together some archaic woodwinds, post-Fahey axework, moody feedback, witchy women, delay pedals, an exotic instrument or two, and…
We’ll Never Stop Singing “Maria”
Guys in street gangs and male dance groups have more in common than one might guess. They tend to wear similar clothes, prefer to stay in constant motion, and stab each other in the back at the slightest provocation. So it’s surprising that the musical West Side Story created such a stir when it opened…
King of the Hill
August Wilson’s King Hedley II, opening tonight at Karamu House, is set in Pittsburgh’s economically depressed Hill District. But director Caroline Jackson-Smith says the play could easily be transported to one of Cleveland’s decaying neighborhoods. She says she has to look no further than the crumbling structures she sees on her way to the theater…
Good Luck, Kid
Dear Kate, Thanks for hanging out last Sunday. It meant a lot, considering you had just gotten back from L.A. the night before. You must have been exhausted, seeing as how your mom then had to drive you from your family’s house in Bay Village to the Rocky River Reservation. Well, at least we got…
Maroon 5
When Maroon 5 rose from the ashes of Kara’s Flowers in late 2001, it was clear that frontman Adam Levine and company had made a very interesting decision: Instead of playing dorky suburban rock à la Weezer, we will play unapologetically poppy white-boy R&B. I attended one of their first gigs in L.A., where my…
Capsule reviews of current area theater presentations.
Lunacy — Playwright Sandra Perlman has come up with an intriguing premise in Lunacy, now at Dobama Theatre: A lauded actor rehearsing to play King Lear is invited to interact with a man in an insane asylum who believes he is Lear. Although this piece has some interesting moments, the central conceit and an ever-shifting…
Grape Escape
Tonight’s Pacific Highway 101 Wine Tasting at Stan Hywet focuses on delectable Northwest vintages. Instead of the usual suspects from Northern California, the vino was selected from Washington, Oregon, and central California. “We’re not doing Napa-Sonoma,” says spokeswoman Rhonda Howell. “I want people to get something different.” Picks include sherries, zinfandels, and plenty of surprises.…
The Zen of ClePunk
In Ohio, Brad Warner is best known as the bassist for Zero Defex (0DFX), an Akron punk band from the ’80s. He has since traveled the world and become a Zen master (though he dislikes the term “master”). Sit Down and Shut Up is Warner’s second and latest book about his punk-rock approach to the…
BJ O’Malley
Youngstown’s sorely underappreciated BJ O’Malley occasionally turns in a last-minute opening set at House of Blues or the Beachland, opening for a twangy A-list act like Neko Case. And like Case, the romantically star-crossed chanteuse is too old-school country for the country establishment. She tried the transition to straight-up singer-songwriter on 2005’s In Love and…
Capsule reviews of current area art exhibitions.
NEW Robert Roth — Impressionism blossomed in the late 19th century, but it’s still useful here, in the early 21st, as American Greetings staffer Robert Roth demonstrates in this thoughtful display of paintings inspired by New York’s Long Island. Acrylic dries rapidly, but Roth doesn’t seem hurried, even as he captures all the sensory details…
The Single Guy
Scott White didn’t become a stand-up comic because he loves telling jokes. He just isn’t qualified to do anything else, he says. “If the comedy business does not work out for me, I’ll have a tin cup and a sign in about three weeks,” he says. The thirtysomething Michigan native plays up his single-guy status…
Riders on the Storm
After a lawsuit by John Densmore, the two remaining Doors have stopped using the D word — but they’re still playing the same songs, now under the name Riders on the Storm. The Cult’s Ian Astbury fronted the band during its initial revival a few years back, a pairing that sounded better on paper than…
Masters of Luxury
With one foot in Akron and the other in Columbus, the Masters play high-concept biker rock as if they frequent every dive bar off I-71. What’s more, the band names songs after numbers that don’t correspond to the track listing; no. 5, however, is “Five,” and its prolonged double-kick flurry rates about a seven on…
Good Clean Smut
Porky’s: The Ultimate Collection (Fox) When writer-director Bob Clark was killed by a drunk driver in April, the obits trumpeted his holiday classic A Christmas Story . . . but were somewhat reluctant to mention that, oh, yeah, he also wrote and directed Porky’s. But there’s no question which is the more important movie –…
Crazy in Love
Sullivan frontman Brooks Paschal can’t bring himself to say the “e” word. He finds many ways to convey “emo,” but he never actually utters it. “I’m really trying to get away from overemotional relationship rock,” he says. “As passionate as it is, it started to rub me as a bummer.” But make no mistake: Sullivan…
Gerritt/Sixes
In a tidy world, every musician would reflect the geography and weather of his or her home. Yet sunny Oakland, California, is where dark noise-manglers Sixes and Gerritt hang their hats. Gerritt Wittmer runs the label Misanthropic Agenda, which sports releases by Boris, John Weise, Merzbow, and Wittmer’s own highly focused electronics. Sixes (born Ryan…
Big City, Small World
I felt deliciously sophisticated earlier this month when I snagged 8 p.m. reservations at Parea, Cleveland chef Michael Symon’s one-year-old restaurant in N.Y.C.’s Flatiron District. By that late hour, I knew many hometown eateries would be folding up the napkins. But in Gotham, I figured, the party would just be getting started. Ha. Even at…
Superzero
There’s a unique challenge in designing superhero games: How do you make it fun to play a character who, by definition, is vastly more powerful than his opposition? Hulk encounters a purse-snatcher: Hulk smash! Hulk win! Hulk bored. With battles that one-sided, the thrill of being superheroic quickly wanes — which is probably why there…
Family Guy
Pop-culture symbols share the spotlight in Friends and Family, now on view at Shaheen Modern and Contemporary Art. The exhibit features more than a dozen paintings of famous dead people — like James Dean, Marvin Gaye, and Elvis — by New York artist Keith Mayerson. There’s even a somber 9/11 piece, inspired by Mayerson’s view…
Hellyeah
While it’s good to see the return of Pantera/Damageplan drummer Vinnie Paul (Abbott), you’d think a legend like him could find a burlier bunch of cowboys to take on the trail. On Hellyeah’s debut, the Texan pummels away like few others can, reminding listeners of the days when he and his late, great brother, “Dimebag”…
Mr. Brightside
Too often, Cleveland foodies get a bad rap, painted as a bunch of meat-and-potato heads whose most daring culinary decisions revolve around whether to order the strip steak or the filet mignon. But the crowds turning out for dinner at Light Bistro make me want to raise a cheer. Edgy, adventurous, and even challenging, the…
Here are the week’s best releases from the pop-culture universe:
DVD — Dinosaur Jr.: Live in the Middle East: The alt-rock noisemakers’ 2005 reunion tour resulted in some powerful shows — none as staggering as this homecoming from Boston’s Middle East venue. Co-founders J. Mascis and Lou Barlow hadn’t played together in 16 years, but you wouldn’t know it, listening to blistering versions of “Little…
Open Doors
Thirty-six years after his bloated corpse was placed in a Paris grave, Jim Morrison refuses to die. A decade after his 1971 death, he was branded a sex symbol by Rolling Stone, a bio topped the best-seller lists, and a Doors greatest-hits album sold a gazillion copies. In 1991, director Oliver Stone’s biopic The Doors…
Extreme Noise Terror
Along with their fellow countrymen in Napalm Death, England’s Extreme Noise Terror are credited with the creation of grindcore sometime in the mid-’80s. Combining the low-end rumble of Discharge and Chaos U.K. with the frenzied angst of American hardcore acts like Siege and Deep Wound, E.N.T. stumbled upon a dense roar of sound that was…
Pirates of the Caribbean: At Wit’s End
And so Disney’s immense, booty-busting, pro-piracy epic has come to an alleged End. But rumor has it that Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End isn’t, in fact, the last we’ll be seeing of Captain Jack Sparrow and, you know, all those other people. How could it be? Treasure remains to be squeezed from planet…
Our top DVD picks for the week of May 22:
Afro Samurai (Funimation) Airwolf: Season Three (Universal) Alone With Her (IFC) Breaking Point (Fox) The Complete Matrix Trilogy (Warner Bros.) Epic Movie (Fox) Escape to Canada (Disinformation) Fay Grim (Magnolia) The 40-Year-Old Virgin: Unrated 2-Disc Double Your Pleasure Edition (Universal) The Good German (Warner Bros.) The John Wayne Collection (Paramount) Kitchen Confidential: The Complete Series…
Batter Down!
Gary Moore reveals the lifelong secret of his dad, a teenage baseball phenom, in Playing With the Enemy. The book recaps Gene Moore’s career with the Brooklyn Dodgers in the early ’40s. After enlisting in the U.S. Navy, Gene shattered his ankle bone, causing permanent damage. The accident happened not on a World War II…
Z’EV
During New York’s No Wave years (the late ’70s and early ’80s), Z’EV played relentlessly crashing waves of percussion on stainless-steel gongs, titanium pipes, plastic tubing, bottles, and more. His bald head and muscular sense of broad gesture made his performances look like avant-garde dance pieces — sometimes very humorous ones. Although Z’EV was pigeonholed…
JitterBug
William Friedkin may have mellowed since unleashing The Exorcist, sliding into box-office hell, and marrying a major studio boss. Indeed, the bad-boy movie brat has directed more operas than motion pictures in the past decade. But his new Bug, made on the cheap for Lionsgate, is genuinely freaky, not to mention more inventively unsettling than…
Palm d’Hoberman
Cannes, France — Sometimes the competition is actually competitive. No one disputes that the official section at the 60th Cannes Film Festival has been the strongest in recent memory. The heavy favorites are the Coen brothers’ No Country for Old Men; Julian Schnabel’s surprisingly restrained and bizarrely chic French-language adaptation of Jean-Dominique Bauby’s harrowing post-stroke…
Casualties of War
The “fall” in Journey From the Fall refers to the collapse of Saigon after the U.S. pulled out of Vietnam in 1975. The film, written and directed by second-generation Vietnamese American Ham Tran, chronicles one family’s struggle to leave their torn homeland and start a new life in America. But after the father — a…
Les Claypool
As you may know, Les Claypool is the mustached bass wizard whose wacked-out musical creations, equally informed by funk and Rush’s Fly by Night, currently lie somewhere between jam-band land and Zappaville. While best known as the jig-happy frontman for Primus, Claypool has spent the past decade-plus hatching a plethora of oddball side projects, including…
America Cannes
CANNES, France–The world’s preeminent film festival celebrated its 60th birthday party — the opening banquet catered by the world’s hippest, or is that once-hippest? — filmmaker. Hardly the disaster many feared, but far from the triumph others anticipated, Wong Kar-wai’s first English-language feature, My Blueberry Nights — starring Norah Jones as an itinerant waitress working…
Is There a Doctor in the House?
I never gave much thought to the subject of health insurance until, in October of 2005, an odd swelling in my groin prompted me to make one of my infrequent trips to the doctor’s office. A referral to a urologist and one ultrasound later, the diagnosis was indisputable: testicular cancer. By Thanksgiving, I’d gone under…
Black Pack
The four comedians on the S.E.L.L.O.U.T. Comedy Tour, which comes to town tonight, have one thing in common: They’re black. But skin color is about all they share. In fact, the stand-up show (which clumsily stands for Serious Educated Laughing Learning Outrageous Unique Talented) was formed to dispel their similarities. “We’re tired of being portrayed…
The Quick and the Dead
The phone went off in the middle of a perfectly good night’s sleep. A body in the park. Three-thirty in the morning was a hell of a time to be doing CSI Painesville. But Detective Bob Sayer had seen enough bodies in his 28 years to do it in his sleep anyway. He was stepping…
The Deftones
Given the fall of nü metal, some fans are surprised the Deftones are still kicking, much less putting out potently beautiful albums like last fall’s Saturday Night Wrist. Then again, the band came this close to calling it quits while making the disc. According to bassist Chi Cheng, lingering problems came to a head when…
Savage Love
CANNES, France–The Cannes Film Festival is chiefly revered as a showcase for prolific, careerist auteurs, so the appearance of Savage Grace, the first feature in 15 years by New Queer Cinema co-instigator Tom Kalin (Swoon), was certainly striking — not that a film in which Julianne Moore stars as a woman who’s fucked and then…
Cannes and Abel
Cannes, France –“Whaddya love about it so much?” Abel Ferrara — director of the strip-club-set Go Go Tales, my favorite film at Cannes — is interviewing the interviewer. Well, I say it’s consistent with the Ferrara oeuvre — King of New York, Bad Lieutenant, Dangerous Game, et cetera — in that it’s about performance, about…
