HIS OWN MAN
RT: The Life and Music of Richard Thompson Label: Free Reed Rated: NONE WorkNameSort: RT: The Life and Music of Richard Thompson It might not have seemed a blessing at the time, being labeled a ‘cult artist’ and then living up to the reputation, but the singer/songwriter, guitarist extraordinaire, former Fairport Convention member, half-of-duo with…
SHANGHAI ANXIETY
The White Countess Studio: Sony Pictures Classics Rated: PG-13 Website: http://www.sonyclassics.com/whitecountess/ Release Date: 2006-02-10 Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Natasha Richardson, Lynn Redgrave, Vanessa Redgrave, John Wood Director: James Ivory Screenwriter: Kazuo Ishiguro Music Score: Richard Robbins WorkNameSort: White Countess, The Our Rating: 3.50 The final collaboration between Ismail Merchant and James Ivory, The White Countess, isn’t…
Imagine Me & You
Imagine Me & You Studio: Fox Searchlight Pictures Rated: R Website: http://www2.foxsearchlight.com/imaginemeandyou/ Release Date: 2006-02-10 Cast: Piper Perabo, Lena Headey, Celia Imrie, Matthew Goode, Anthony Stewart Head Director: Ol Parker Screenwriter: Ol Parker WorkNameSort: Imagine Me & You Our Rating: 1.00 In writer/director Ol Parker’s Imagine Me & You, a just-married woman (Piper Perabo) finds…
The Pink Panther
The Pink Panther Studio: MGM Rated: PG Website: http://www.pinkpantherthe movie.com Release Date: 2006-02-10 Cast: Kevin Kline, Steve Martin, Jean Reno, Emily Mortimer, Beyoncé Knowles Director: Shawn Levy Screenwriter: Len Blum, Steve Martin, Michael Saltzman Music Score: Christophe Beck WorkNameSort: Pink Panther, The Our Rating: 1.50 Steve Martin’s dreaded riff on Peter Sellers’ Inspector Clouseau comes…
When a Stranger Calls
When a Stranger Calls Studio: Screen Gems Rated: PG-13 Release Date: 2006-02-10 Cast: Camilla Belle, Katie Cassidy, Brian Geraghty, Tessa Thompson Director: Simon West Screenwriter: Jake Wade Wall WorkNameSort: When a Stranger Calls Our Rating: 1.00 Doing its damndest to vanquish its myriad of competitors for the title of Most Unnecessary Remake in Modern Horror,…
Present Delta Heavy
Present Delta Heavy Label: System DVD Rated: NONE WorkNameSort: Present Delta Heavy Four years ago, the Clear Channel-sponsored Delta Heavy tour’s massive production and turnout prompted a shift in the popularity of electronic music. Legendary club DJs Sasha, John Digweed, and opener/tour co-creator Jimmy Van M dragged their equipment across the United States for nine…
Everyone Into Position
Everyone Into Position Label: Beggars Banquet Rated: NONE WorkNameSort: Everyone Into Position Manchester quintet Oceansize sounds a lot like the punchline to one of those rock-geek “What if …” questions. As in, what if Radiohead decided to do away with those avant-garde, electronic and minimalist bents they’ve had for almost a decade, but held onto…
Magnificent City
Magnificent City Label: Project Blowed/Decon Rated: NONE WorkNameSort: Magnificent City Magnificent City shines as a result of what sparked in 2003, when Philly-based producer/crate-digger RJD2 offered some beats for legendary Freestyle Fellowship MC Aceyalone to spit over on his Love and Hate LP. Aceyalone’s rep as a sharp-tongued wordsmith barreled out of the West Coast…
SUBTLE CONCUSSIONS
Played without preface at any social gathering, Orthrelm’s OV will provoke panic attacks. Some of the terror comes from the music’s approximation of distress signals: Riffs blare and undulate like sirens, while other guitar notes hover at an urgent pitch like emergency broadcast transmissions. Also, this 45-minute, one-track album can induce claustrophobia. It generates power…
ABOUT THE FONT
The text of this week’s issue was set in 10-point Rigatoni Condensed, a classic font that has recently been experiencing a well-deserved resurgence in popularity. Often confused with the Verbina typeface that was used on the Acknowledge-ments section of the Magna Carta, the font is actually a wholly original construct with a distinctive look and…
Rob Brezsny’s Free Will Astrology
ARIES What advice would be most likely to energize your love life? I thought of what Clarissa Pinkola Estes said in her book Women Who Run With the Wolves. “The desire to force love to live only in its most positive form is what causes love ultimately to fall over dead.” She doesn’t mean you…
Savage Love
I am a straight, monogamous man with normal sexual predilections. I don’t need someone to pee on me, paddle my butt, tell me about fucking other men or anything else too weird. So why am I writing to you? First, I wanted to thank you for printing all the letters from the perverts. I feel…
Notable Noise
For reasons I can’t go into right now (besides complete embarrassment), I’ve been listening to a lot of ’80s hard rock and metal lately. I wish I could say that it’s been a steady diet of the “good” and “credible” stuff, but in addition to my Slayer and Metallica, I’ve been indulging in Skid Row,…
Blister
“Come on, Nancy! I think I smell a clue!” At least I hope it’s a clue; Nancy’s been known to leave any flavor of clue in the fabric of my car seat before, and in fact her name isn’t really Nancy (she isn’t really a she outside of queer parlance, either). Taylor may be puffing…
Gil Mantera’s Party Dream, Peanut Butter Wolf, V.A.G.I.N.A. Fest and more
Thursday • 9 GIL MANTERA’S PARTY DREAM Although these Ohio boys would likely cringe at being called a comedy/ novelty/gimmick act, the fact remains that they’re a whole hell of a lot funnier – and more fun – than a lot of other independent rock bands out there. While so many bands are concerned with…
Police Beat
Jan. 28, 3:54 p.m.: Officer Bailey, responding to an “audible alarm” on the 200 block of East Livingston Street, met with the owner of the burglarized establishment. According to his report, he “noticed a 2-foot by 3-foot hole cut out of the wall in the conference room.” The report continues, “Upon further investigation, I noticed…
News of the Weird
Words to live by In 2003, News of the Weird reported on the grand design of Bill Martin to build a Christian-themed nudist park, Natura, in Florida’s Pasco County, already the home of five nudist camps. (He argues that nakedness is more Christian than the expensive, garish clothes worn by worshippers at megachurches’ Sunday galas.)…
Letters
Signs of the apocalypse Enjoyed Jay Boyar’s piece on the state of stand-up comedy `”Stand-ups and sit-downs,” Feb. 2`. The reason Steinberg’s talk show is on TV Land might be that Comedy Central already covered this ground more than 10 years ago with Inside the Comedy Mind, hosted by the late Alan King. Most guests…
CHEAP THRILLS, CHEAP THROWS
Though I was raised in New Orleans, I was as surprised as anyone by sociologist David Redmon’s remarkable Mardi Gras: Made in China, which won the Grand Jury Prize for documentaries at the 2005 Florida Film Festival. Exposing far more than flesh, the movie reveals that almost all of the beads tossed in New Orleans…
I Love Television
Sure, I write a LOT of stuff in this column that just … doesn’t … make … sense. I realize that. I’m not stupid. However, today I’m going to talk about two separate TV events that may appear to be – at the outset – completely unrelated. BUT THEY AREN’T! They are irrevocably entwined –…
YOU GOTTA HAVE A GIMMICK
Viewing a theater show with a full belly and nursing a drink starts one off with a sense of satisfaction. Knowing that dessert will arrive at intermission is something else to look forward to. Starlight Theater has its performances and meal service in balance, flowing from one to the other smoothly and without rushing. The…
IF THE CHOO FITS
Men aren’t intentionally evil (at least not most of us), but the entire process of meeting someone for a permanent relationship is fraught with danger. Do you act as perfect as possible and wait for sparks to fly to reveal the true you? Or is it better to start with the ugly truth and present…
HEY, BIG SPENDER
Inside a seedy Maitland warehouse, six would-be exotic dancers are being put through their paces. A single low-wattage light fixture casts dim yellow illumination on their scanty outfits and lazily suggestive movements. A dingy scrap of carpet is laid out on the crumbling floor in emulation of a strip-club runway; at either end, a hand…
RIGHT-WING RADIO
On Sept. 28, Bill Bennett – the sermonizing drug czar in George H.W. Bush’s administration who turned out to be a habitual gambler – was taking calls on his conservative radio show, Bill Bennett’s Morning in America. One caller wondered if Social Security’s ills were due to legalized abortion reducing the number of tax-paying citizens.…
SORT OF A WIN
Note to Republicans: Be careful what you wish for; you just might get it. You wanted to outlaw gay marriage by putting a ban on it in the state constitution – even though same-sex matrimony is already illegal by state law – as a means of showing just how far you’ll go to “protect” marriage.…
Happytown
And now it’s time for another installment of What’s Up With Ric?™, our attempt to keep you up to date on the comings and goings of Orlando’s favorite congressman, U.S. Rep. Ric Keller! Ric is a big fan of Pell Grants; he talks about them all the friggin’ time. Not only did he use them…
LOUD AND CLEAR
“Have you guys seen King Kong yet?” asks Megaphone’s lead guitarist Paul Smith. “It’s amazing. I’m not kidding, I cried and just wanted to go home and hug my dog.” Not exactly what you’d think of when you think of the quintessential rock star, but within the context of Megaphone, such overt sentimentality is fitting.…
