When here, do as the Haitians do
Going to South OBT to dine in a strip mall can be kind of like going to another country. But don’t be fooled; behind the surplus of fast-food restaurants on the Trail lurks a hidden culinary culture and we found a new adventure — Bon Appetit is an epicurean experience in every sense of the…
Movie: The Punisher
Our Rating: 2.50 Payback, as they say, is a bitch. But couldn’t revenge movies be more rewarding to sit through? Two current films that wallow in the principle of lex talionis barely bother to address the moral implications of retributive ass-kicking — and their limited entertainment value isn’t about to smooth over the failing. “The…
Strain spotting
Movie: Intermission
Review – Madvillainy
Artist: Madvillain
Review – Lao Tzu Sonatas
Artist: Horatiu Radulescu
Review – Over the Sun
Artist: Shannon Wright
Movie: The United States of Leland
The United States of Leland Studio: Paramount Classics Website: http://www.paramountclassics.com/leland/ Release Date: 2004-04-16 Cast: Don Cheadle, Ryan Gosling, Chris Klein, Jena Malone Director: Matthew Ryan Hoge WorkNameSort: The United States of Leland Our Rating: 2.00 If it’s still possible to perceive new depths in the whiny-teen canon, the title Worst in Show could easily go…
A dish served stale
Movie: Kill Bill Vol. 2
Movie: The Punisher
The Punisher Studio: Lions Gate Website: http://www.punisherthemovie.com Release Date: 2004-04-16 Cast: Thomas Jane, John Travolta, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Laura Elena Harring, Samantha Mathis Director: Jonathan Hensleigh Screenwriter: Jonathan Hensleigh, Gerry Conway, Michael France WorkNameSort: The Punisher Our Rating: 2.50 Payback, as they say, is a bitch. But couldn’t revenge movies be more rewarding to sit through?…
Strain spotting
Movie: Intermission
Movie: The Alamo
The Alamo Studio: Touchstone Pictures Release Date: 2004-04-09 Cast: Dennis Quaid, Billy Bob Thornton, Emilio Echevarria, Jordi Molla, Patrick Wilson Director: John Sayles WorkNameSort: The Alamo Our Rating: 3.00 Hey, any picture that draws the ire of Oliver North can’t be all bad, right? Disney’s already-tanking epic is actually a fair contribution to that curious…
What’s yours is mine
Movie: Blind Shaft
Movie: The Alamo
Our Rating: 3.00 Hey, any picture that draws the ire of Oliver North can’t be all bad, right? Disney’s already-tanking epic is actually a fair contribution to that curious subset of the historical genre, the Waiting Around to Die Movie. (“Titanic,” of course, is the gold standard). Given the inherent inertia of its citadel-under-siege setup,…
Movie: Connie and Carla
Connie and Carla Studio: Universal Pictures Website: http://www.connieandcarla.com Release Date: 2004-04-16 Cast: Nia Vardalos, Toni Collette, David Duchovny, Stephen Spinella, Christopher Logan Director: Michael Lembeck Screenwriter: Nia Vardalos Music Score: Randy Edelman WorkNameSort: Connie and Carla Our Rating: 0.00 Having gone tits-up in her attempt to bring Big Greek-hood to TV, Nia Vardalos beats a…
What’s yours is mine
Movie: Blind Shaft
Food that sticks to your ribs and clothes
In William Least Heat-Moon’s travel journal, Blue Highways, he says the best indicator of good diner food is how many calendars there are on the walls. I stipulate that the indicator of a worthwhile Cuban cafe is how long the smell stays on your clothes. And after a visit to Cindy’s Tropical Cafe, the aroma…
Review – Madvillainy
Artist: Madvillain
Movie: Connie and Carla
Our Rating: 0.00 Having gone tits-up in her attempt to bring Big Greek-hood to TV, Nia Vardalos beats a path back to the multiplex, enlisting Toni Collette in a tale of two women forced into posing as female impersonators. (Not reviewed)
Review – Madvillainy
Artist: Madvillain
Review – Lao Tzu Sonatas
Artist: Horatiu Radulescu
Movie: The United States of Leland
Our Rating: 2.00 If it’s still possible to perceive new depths in the whiny-teen canon, the title Worst in Show could easily go to this waste of precious art-house space, which sees a glum antihero-type (Ryan Gosling) incarcerated for the murder of his girlfriend’s mentally disabled younger brother. He doesn’t deny it, either; but by…
Review – Lao Tzu Sonatas
Artist: Horatiu Radulescu
Review – Over the Sun
Artist: Shannon Wright
A dish served stale
Movie: Kill Bill Vol. 2
Review – Over the Sun
Artist: Shannon Wright
Food that sticks to your ribs and clothes
In William Least Heat-Moon’s travel journal, “Blue Highways,” he says the best indicator of good diner food is how many calendars there are on the walls. I stipulate that the indicator of a worthwhile Cuban cafe is how long the smell stays on your clothes. And after a visit to Cindy’s Tropical Cafe, the aroma…
Grand Slam for Broken Speech and Michael Wanzie
The next time someone tells you this pathetic tourist trap of a burg lacks culture, you look them square in the eye and say, “Hey, we’ve got two national poetry teams.” This is an honor reserved for cities that have enough poets to support two national teams, places like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and…
MEDIOCRE is THE NEW GREAT
I’m lost in the Austin Convention Center but my sense of displacement goes much deeper than figuring out which escalator/hallway combination to take. I’m here — like many others — for South by Southwest, the insular and self-congratulatory orgy the music business undertakes every year under the pretense of “sharing ideas” and “finding new bands.”…
Save Devin
“We’re Bloom, we’re from Florida and we don’t know any Slayer songs.” So says bassist and vocalist Devin Moore. He and Bloom are onstage at the cavernous Trocadero theater in Philadelphia and he’s just gotten his first taste of that city’s legendary heckling tendencies. In a city that verbally assaults sports teams and rock bands…
Concert reviews by a 9-year-old
I was so excited, we were going to the Aerosmith and Cheap Trick concert at the TD Waterhouse Centre. As we walked in, Cheap Trick had just begun to play. We made it just in time. We were up close and personal. The stage is set with lots of strobe and multicolored lights. It is…
In ‘n’ out of grace
It’s an early Saturday morning in Seattle, a few weeks before the official coming of spring, and the day is already shaping up in an all-too-familiar fashion to Emerald City denizens: low-hanging heavy gray clouds and tiny spits of drizzle threatening to turn into soaking rain at any moment. Fourth Avenue downtown is practically deserted,…
A breath of fresh Nayer
Pay only cursory attention to the eclectic rave-up outfit known as the Billy Nayer Show, and you might get the impression that vocalist/songwriter Cory McAbee is some sort of misanthrope. “When you see how I’ve suffered/ you’ll know I am tougher than you,” he whisper-sings on the group’s sixth CD, “Goodbye Straplight Sarentino, I Will…
“The big bounce”
Last week, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said that it had received at least 24 complaints from Walt Disney World guests who claimed to have been fondled by the costumed character Tigger. Investigators were said to be sifting the truths from the potential falsehoods in the guests’ tales of being felt up by Tigger’s hairy…
I am a lesbian
“Long time no see,” says the will-call box office lady at Hard Rock Live. You’re telling me. Prior to becoming this chop-headed swirl of self-destruction you read today, I used to have a (sorta) real, bona fide concern for humanity. You know, your standard-issue, liberal/socialist, dormitory-without-air-conditioning, long-curly-hippie-haired concerns. Something happened on the way to Moscow,…
It’s a wide world indeed
The common definition of the word “sport” usually goes something like this: physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively. This vague definition leaves a lot open for interpretation. Sports fans love a good argument that can’t be answered by statistics, and this one is a…
