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Tamra Davis is bound by contract not to discuss the film that, at this very moment, she’s editing for release next year. “I’m officially not supposed to do any press for it,” the director says sheepishly, so she offers a few off-the-record comments about the movie, a road-trip comedy-drama starring some newcomer named Britney Spears…
Found Religion, Lost Son
A parent’s trials with an International man of mystery My son has been a member of the International Churches of Christ for over three years, and after reading David Martin’s article [“The Jesus Pyramid,” May 10], a lot of things started to make sense. My son failed college despite being a bright kid, never has…
The Language of Art
Exhibits that combine drawing and language are always in danger of remaining stuck at the terminology phase: What constitutes a drawing? What is “language”? Luckily, the current exhibit at Spaces, called Drawing on Language, skips the abstruse theory. It’s about art and not about classification schemes. Among the 18 artists represented, George Fitzpatrick, Mira Schor,…
Saving Grace
It defies logic that Terrence McNally, a noted opera aficionado and erudite regular on the Metropolitan Opera’s radio quiz, wrote Master Class. He has distorted the memory of opera legend Maria Callas in this fever dream of a play, turning her into a tortured and torturing Hollywood leading lady. The real Maria Callas was noted…
Future Perfect
We’ve always enjoyed our stopovers at Lakewood’s Pier W, if for no other reason than the restaurant’s magnificent lakeside location and spectacular view of the downtown skyline. But while that sparkling panorama has never failed to wring a few appreciative sighs from our lips, we haven’t been equally impressed by the quality of either the…
Zoning In
Every night, once the kids are in bed, 32-year-old Frank Satullo goes into the basement of his Strongsville home, boots up his computer, and logs onto zonefreecleveland.com. It’s not that the website is something he needs to hide — quite the opposite. He created and maintains it with the purpose of providing a sense of…
Budding Bistro
Strapping young chef Bridget McGinty is dishing it out these days at Tastebuds, her new café and deli in Cleveland’s Chinatown. The pleasant 30-seat bistro, all done up in bold shades of chartreuse, plum, crimson, and gold, offers a small but still-expanding menu of homemade soups, gourmet salads, and hot and cold sandwiches in the…
Beary Treasure
Not all teddy bears were made to soothe six-year-olds to sleep. Distant cousins of the hugged-till-their-fur-wears-off stuffed toys, artist bears are very much a grown-up obsession. Handmade right down to their clothing and accessories, they have working joints, alligator-skin paw pads, and onyx eyes. Thirty artists who create such beauties will have their works on…
Royal Treatment
Neil Michael Hagerty has made a long and contentious career out of doing exactly as he pleases. His stint with Pussy Galore opposite Jon Spencer led to some truly chaotic moments both onstage and off, while his long-standing gig with Jennifer Herrema as Royal Trux evolved from a guerrilla noise-pop outfit to a wonderfully lo-tech…
Sheer Gaul!
Remember glee? Perhaps not, given our penchant in recent times to chuck giddy hearts aside in favor of being stupid, obnoxious, and mean. But hey, it’s all right, because the fizzy, caffeinated beverage known as Baz Luhrmann seeks to re-create this elusive emotion for all of us, in the form of his truly ecstatic new…
Eroding Integrity
In conversation, Dwid, the heavily tattooed lead singer of the local hardcore/metal band Integrity, is soft-spoken and polite. But on record, he screams his lungs out. For example, on “Bloodlust” and “No Time for Sudden Glances,” two songs on the band’s new album, Closure, his hoarse vocals sound like an animal being tortured. Dwid didn’t…
The Company Loves Misery
“Now wait a minute,” you may say to yourself during the setup of Ken Loach’s new film, Bread and Roses. “Is that Tom Green? Because it sure looks like Tom Green, and judging by the way he’s climbing into that garbage can, he certainly acts like Tom Green . . .” Well, take a breath…
The Walkmen
The Walkmen are a rarity: They’re a superior project stirred from the ashes of a renowned predecessor. The result of the unfortunate and disastrous crash of carnival noise provocateur Jonathan Fire Eater, the Walkmen, over the course of four songs, portend a pretty imposing future. Although it’s tough to claim relative distinction with just an…
Ill Luzhin
The crimes Hollywood has committed against the major Russian novelists would themselves fill a pretty hefty tome. While reducing giants like Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, and Pasternak to lavish costuming and snappy dialogue over the years, the studio moguls also made some eccentric casting choices — for instance, cover boy George Hamilton as the brooding antihero of…
Eric Clapton
Ah, classic rock. It’s the record-buying public’s affordable friend. While the hip kids shamble after trends and take their Visa cards with them, classic rockers are all but spared the pain of updating their record collections. The stairs they huff up always lead to heaven, where Clapton is God and the guitar solos last longer…
The Lost Boys
“The values that you grew up with are that people come before things,” offers the mother of one of the protagonists of Startup.com, “and that didn’t seem to be a part of this new world.” You sure got that right, ma’am. While this new video documentary by Chris Hegedus and Jehane Noujaim strives hard to…
The Arsonists
Released three years ago, the Arsonists’ full-length debut, As the World Burns, helped the N.Y.C. hip-hop quintet build a substantial underground following. But apparently, shit got a little too hot when, several months ago, core members D-Stroy and Freestyle left the group amid controversy. According to Freestyle, D-Stroy insisted that the group, which also includes…
The Sporting Strife
As he stirred from his sleep, Jeff Harvey looked toward his dorm room door and wondered, Who the hell is that? It was almost 2 a.m., and somebody was making a lot of noise. Even by the unorthodox standards of Oberlin College, this was not normal. Suddenly, the door swung open. Two figures entered his…
Bad Company
When Bad Company’s first single, “The Nine,” was released in December 1998, the British drum ‘n’ bass scene latched onto it with a fervor that it hadn’t shown in years. Shooting straight to the top of BBC Radio One’s drum ‘n’ bass chart, it was played at least two or three times a night during…
Dr. Andrejic’s Guide to Self-Destruction
She was very blond, her outfit very blue, so it was hard not to notice the silent send-off Sharon Andrejic offered her husband as she departed the courtroom that day. Sitting in the witness box, the 32-year-old former nurse with the ready-made tan and sweep of flaxen hair looked up at the man who had…
Pleasure Forever
In stark contrast to the majority of generic indie-rock bands, Pleasure Forever is exceedingly grandiose and ambitious, and this album is a refreshing change of pace from the usual self-loathing and insecurity that purveyors of the genre usually serve up. From the somber opening bars of “Goodnight,” in which singer Andrew Rothbard stages a brief…
Abortion 101
One week before finals, two medical students are cutting class to talk about abortion. Their knowledge of the subject is impressive, considering it won’t be on their exams. In fact, the extent to which abortion has been covered in their coursework can be summed up in three sentences. “This is a new drug,” says Binit…
Staind; Static X
Staind and Static X share more than the first three letters of their names. They are part of the new breed of hard rock that has risen from alternative rock’s ashes. Both rely on the sins and successes of their forefathers for inspiration. And both of their debut albums, released in 1999, became slow-build, word-of-mouth…
The Cult of the Car Stereo
The first thing Rob Ford does after settling into the driver’s seat of his 1988 Aerostar minivan is unhook the rearview mirror from the windshield. “It’s fallen off so many times, I don’t even bother with it anymore,” Ford says, stashing the mirror on the floor. He selects a CD, a black disc labeled “Bass…
Whiskeytown
The swan song of a group heralded as the paradigm of “no depression” folk rock is a pensive, checkered album highlighting the songs of Ryan Adams, a singer who has trouble staying on key, but who nevertheless seems destined for stardom. Last year, he released a highly acclaimed solo album on Bloodshot, one of the…
White Out
It made for the best of political props: Miles Standish Elementary. From here, Mike White, son of Glenville, had risen to become the most powerful man in Cleveland. It was all so symbolic. Fresh off the school bond victory, White, long criticized as the Downtown Mayor, was here to announce he would run again, this…
Blow-Up Dolls
Paul Wolanski, a.k.a. the Blow-Up Dolls, works in a Berea car service department by day and, in an unlikely twist, becomes a local version of early Joe Jackson the rest of the time. Sharing the same kind of agitated soulful growl that Elvis Costello, Graham Parker, and Jackson used to define the post-punk new-wave pub-rock…
