DESERTERS SONGS
Garden Ruin Label: Quarterstick Rated: NONE WorkNameSort: Garden Ruin This isn’t the same Calexico that’s been lurking around the music scene for the past 10 years, standing partly in the shadows of Howe Gelb as his backing band, or the eclectic duo prone to mariachi static and Tex-Mex/spaghetti-Western rubdowns. No, Joey Burns and John Convertino…
INFINITE FACETS
The promise made by the out-of-the-ordinary exterior of Wazzabi Sushi extends to the dining experience. A fenced outdoor patio efficiently utilizes a sliver of space adorned by boxy lanterns and naturally shaped tables made in Vietnam from slices of cypress trees. Inside, the fine quality of the food and the lively atmosphere distinguish this establishment.…
MASSA OF REALITY
CSA: The Confederate States of America Studio: IFC Films Rated: NOT RATED Website: http://www.csathemovie.com/ Release Date: 2006-04-07 Cast: Evamarii Johnson, Rupert Pate, Larry Peterson, Charles Frank, Fernando Arenas Director: Kevin Willmott Screenwriter: Kevin Willmott WorkNameSort: CSA: The Confederate States of America Our Rating: 4.50 At last, a movie that understands the surest way to sell…
2006 Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts
2006 Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts Rated: NOT RATED Release Date: 2006-04-07 WorkNameSort: 2006 Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts Our Rating: 3.00 Advance PR to the contrary, Pixar’s "One Man Band" is not included in this touring showcase of 2006 Oscar nominees – blame ongoing rights issues for the sore-thumb omission. In its place is Bill Plympton’s…
CRADLE WILL ROCK
Tsotsi Studio: Miramax Films Rated: R Website: http://www.tsotsimovie.com/ Release Date: 2006-04-07 Cast: Gavin Hood Director: Presley Chweneyagae, Mothusi Magano, Kenneth Nkosi, Zenzo Ngqobe, Terry Pheto WorkNameSort: Tsotsi Our Rating: 4.00 At this point, appreciating Tsotsi is largely a matter of context. What does it say that this South African export won the 2006 Oscar for…
The Benchwarmers
The Benchwarmers Studio: Sony Pictures Rated: PG-13 Website: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thebenchwarmers/ Release Date: 2006-04-07 Cast: Rob Schneider, David Spade, Jon Heder, Jon Lovitz, Craig Kilborn Director: Dennis Dugan Screenwriter: Allen Covert, Nick Swardson, Adam Sandler WorkNameSort: Benchwarmers, The Our Rating: 1.00 Rob Schneider and David Spade welcome Jon Heder into the fraternity of comic actors who will…
Lucky Number Slevin
Lucky Number Slevin Studio: The Weinstein Company Rated: R Website: http://www.slevin-movie.com/ Release Date: 2006-04-07 Cast: Josh Hartnett, Lucy Liu, Ben Kingsley, Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman Director: Paul McGuigan Screenwriter: Jason Smilovic WorkNameSort: Lucky Number Slevin Our Rating: 1.50 The Tarantino school of filmmaking reaches its nadir – one hopes – in this initially promising mistaken-identity…
Take the Lead
Take the Lead Studio: New Line Cinema Rated: PG-13 Website: http://www.taketheleadmovie.com/ Release Date: 2006-04-07 Cast: Antonio Banderas, Rob Brown, Yaya DaCosta, Dante Basco, John Ortiz Director: Liz Friedlander Screenwriter: Dianne Houston WorkNameSort: Take the Lead Our Rating: 3.50 Making the most of its well-traveled story outline – "underdogs dance" – the dramatic-feature equivalent to Mad…
TAR NATION
Thank You for Smoking Studio: Fox Searchlight Pictures Rated: NONE Website: http://www2.foxsearchlight.com/thankyouforsmoking/ Release Date: 2006-04-07 Cast: Aaron Eckhart, Robert Duvall, Katie Holmes, William H. Macy, Sam Elliott Director: Jason Reitman Screenwriter: Jason Reitman, Christopher Buckley Music Score: Rolfe Kent WorkNameSort: Thank You for Smoking Our Rating: 5.00 Being a smoker – either current or reformed…
Meds
Meds Label: Astralwerks Rated: NONE WorkNameSort: Meds Big in Europe and barely noticed here (what else is new?), the U.K.’s Placebo is one of those bands that seems destined to create a love-hate relationship with its listeners. A glammy sense of style, singer Brian Molko’s robotic, Geddy Lee-like vocal delivery and a tendency toward arena-styled…
The Last Legend
The Last Legend Label: Kitty-Yo Rated: NONE WorkNameSort: Last Legend, The Raz Ohara mutters to himself in that put-on way that rappers and soul singers use to pretend they’re being spontaneous; he’s prone to using multitracked vocals of himself as background harmony; he’s got a quivering, staccato vocal delivery that’s all understated confidence and breathy…
Alternately Deep
Alternately Deep Label: Big Dada Rated: NONE WorkNameSort: Alternately Deep Roots Manuva dropped the well-received Awfully Deep last year, and even at 51 minutes, it wasn’t exhaustive. Alternately Deep is the best of the cuts that didn’t make it past the mastering process; some B-sides, some unreleased. A couple of numbers succumb to the curse…
Randana
Randana Label: Fairplay Rated: NONE WorkNameSort: Randana The oud is an instrument – like the sitar or the koto – that is instantly evocative of the land from which it comes, and from the first note on Randana, the expansive, nomadic melancholy of the Middle East is brought to the fore. Le Trio Jourban is…
Police Beat
March 25, 9:52 a.m.: Officer Fiorino responded to a commercial burglary at Eagle Nest Park in the 5100 block of MetroWest Boulevard. The 48-year-old complainant “advised that when he opened up the concession stand this morning for the baseball game, he noticed all the frozen hot dogs and buns had been stolen. He stated that…
HOW TO END UP IN PRISON
It was just like any other brief. On Page 3 of the Local & State section in the Aug. 4, 2004, Orlando Sentinel, sandwiched between stories about a funeral and a hotel fire, was an article headlined "Car theft suspect hurt in leap.” It began, "An unidentified youth suspected of stealing a car jumped off…
Happytown
Yes, it’s time once again for Happytown’s™ endorsements! District 3: Until last week, we were all set to back Robert Stuart over Vicki Vargo. It was an easy choice. Or so we thought. Luckily, we discovered that Stuart is unfit for public office just in time. What changed our minds? A transgression so heinous, so…
DEEPER THE BRUISE
So an actor and some acoustic musicians got together to make some music as an “experiment.” What did they end up with? Coffeehouse pretension? Dramatic moodiness? Silly but incredibly ironic pop songs? All definite possibilities, but in the case of The Punching Contest, this combination yielded the kind of punishing, explosive post-punk that could only…
VEGGIE TALE
In the comics business, they call it a crossover: A character or characters from an underperforming book guest-stars in a more popular title, bringing much-needed exposure to the visitor(s) and ensuring glorious excess for the fans. In a typical example, The Thing would happen to spot his hated nemesis, The Hulk, lumbering down some New…
I Love Televison
Religion: Not a big fan. Partially because they insist you climb on board with the most ridiculous assertions – worshipping someone who was gruesomely killed and rose from the dead, living a moral life and then being reincarnated as a slug, or avoiding psychologists because you were originally dropped into a volcano by an alien…
POWER TO THE PEDALS
Lucas Brunelle, a computer technician from Boston, has discovered an even more efficient means than porn for creating great cinema: bike porn. With a pair of video cameras mounted on his helmet, he simply records the action as he and his fellow bicyclists recklessly careen through crowded city streets, dodging taxis, pedestrians, potholes and whatever…
“THEY SCREWED ME”
Danny Ramos is bitter. You can see his indignation boiling just below the surface. But as he shuffles between an interview (in English) and a torrent of phone calls (in Spanish), he keeps a tight lid on it. He stays matter-of-fact, resigned to the reality that, in his view, he’s been shafted and there’s little…
Savage Love
I’m a straight guy with conventional tastes in women. But a few years ago I accidentally ended up at a bar with drag queens. I found myself surprisingly turned on by this drag queen in a G-string who came over and shook her tits in my face. Ever since then I’ve had fantasies about male-to-female…
Letters
Fancy footwork What a great article `”Who leads?”, March 30`. I’ve been reading reporters covering ballroom dance for over a decade and inevitably their treatment of the subject is insulting and inaccurate. Bravo for writing something that is thoughtful, engaging, a tiny bit provocative and fun. Juliet McMains, Orlando Poison pen Jason Ferguson: While `we`…
News of the Weird
Urine trouble On Feb. 23, a woman asked a clerk at a convenience store in McKeesport, Pa., to “microwave something for me. It’s a life-or-death situation.” The clerk complied, but when she realized that the item might be a severed penis, she called police. The woman later explained that it was a dildo-shaped container of…
Notable Noise
Contrary to rumor, I was not "two-fisting PBRs" at The Sword show on Friday night (March 31). Granted, there was a guy there who looked an awful lot like me and, yes, this person was holding two deliciously cold Pabst Blue Ribbon bottles in his hands, while screaming at the top of his lungs and…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES If you live to be 90 years old, you will have spent a total of eight months sitting in your car stopped at red lights. In addition, you will have wasted 10 months standing in lines at stores, banks and government agencies, and you will have lost almost two years killing time while hoping…
Editors, Alkaline Trio, Two Surrealists and a Hypervisualist Seth Green and more
Thursday • 6 GRAFFITI — AN URBAN LIFESTYLE In a city as assiduously scrubbed as ours, the notion of graffiti as an "urban lifestyle" is such an anomaly that the OMA asked Robin Van Arsdol, Orlando ‘s aerosol-art kingpin, to import a few taggers from New York and Miami to complement the work of local…
Blister
Ten years ago, in the eye-twitch midst of my 19th nervous breakdown, a spoon bent inside my brain and I completely crossed over. Having just lost my record-store job the day after I spent a night in jail for precisely nothing (being so damned cute, I imagine), I decided to pack up all my unused…
FLYER LEARNING
;; ;; Harvard University, the oldest college in the United States, is now offering free tuition to students from families with a combined income of $60,000 or less. According to the Mercury News wire services, Harvard President Lawrence Summers said the new arrangement – which also reduces the burden on families in the $60,000 to…
