R.I.P.
So, my ex-wife’s dad died last week. Which were it just a part of my personal history, would be of no concern to, well, anyone. But he was also a for-real part of music history. Jamie Lyons was, as well as my eldest kid’s grandfather, also the lead singer of ’60s garage-pop band The Music…
School for Scoundrels
School for Scoundrels Length: Single Studio: MGM Distribution Company Rated: PG-13 Website: http://www.schoolforscoundrels-movie.com/ Release Date: 2006-09-29 Cast: Billy Bob Thornton, Jon Heder, Jacinda Barrett, Michael Clarke Duncan, Horatio Sanz Director: Todd Phillips Screenwriter: Todd Phillips, Scot Armstrong, Stephen Potter Music Score: Christophe Beck, Randall Poster, George Drakoulias WorkNameSort: School for Scoundrels Our Rating: 3.00 As…
MAKE THE PIE HIGHER!
Trio of joints carve out a slice of the glutted pizza market
Open Season
Open Season Length: Single Studio: Sony Pictures Releasing Rated: PG Website: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/openseason/ Release Date: 2006-09-29 Cast: Paul Westerberg, Gary Sinise, Jon Favreau, Patrick Warburton, Ashton Kutcher Director: Jill Culton, Roger Allers, Anthony F. Stacchi Screenwriter: Steve Bencich, Nat Maudlin, Ron J. Friedman, John Carls, Steve Moore Music Score: Ramin Djawadi, Paul Westerberg WorkNameSort: Open Season…
Jackass: Number Two
Jackass: Number Two Length: Single Studio: Paramount Pictures Rated: R Website: http://www.jackassmovie.com/ Release Date: 2006-09-22 Cast: Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Ryan Dunn, Stephen Glover, Jason Acuna Director: Jeff Tremaine Screenwriter: Sean Cliver, Preston Lacy Music Score: Tom Wolfe WorkNameSort: Jackass: Number Two Our Rating: 1.00 Only the most ironic or reactionary critic could trumpet Jackass:…
INSIDE MY HEAD
The Science of Sleep Length: Single Studio: Warner Independent Pictures Rated: R Website: http://wip.warnerbros.com/scienceofsleep/ Release Date: 2006-09-29 Cast: Gael Garcia Bernal, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Alain Chabat, Jean-Michel Bernard, Emma de Caunes Director: Michel Gondry Screenwriter: Michel Gondry Music Score: Jean-Michel Bernard WorkNameSort: Science of Sleep, The Our Rating: 2.00 Unencumbered by any plotting beyond a single…
My Name Is Earl – Season 1
My Name Is Earl – Season 1 Studio: 20th Century Fox WorkNameSort: My Name Is Earl – Season 1 A peculiar presentation of white-trash absurdism, My Name Is Earl is one of the few recent bright lights of network television comedy. With a simple device ‘ good-for-nothing Earl (Jason Lee) wants to turn his life…
Hypothesis of The Stolen Painting
Hypothesis of The Stolen Painting Studio: Facets Rated: NOT RATED WorkNameSort: Hypothesis of The Stolen Painting Watching Raoul Ruiz’s idiosyncratic puzzler Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting educes similarities to spending an hour with a learned art theorist: It’s exhausting, difficult and fascinating. To find the secret behind a pilfered painting, a pedantic art collector (Jean…
Inhaling The Spore: A Journey Through the Museum of Jurrasic Technology
Inhaling The Spore: A Journey Through the Museum of Jurrasic Technology Studio: Microcinema Rated: NOT RATED WorkNameSort: Inhaling The Spore: A Journey Through the Museum of Jurrasic Technology With contents that might seem more appropriate in an outpost of Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, the Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles displays items such…
Grease (Rockin’ Rydell Edition)
Grease (Rockin’ Rydell Edition) Studio: Paramount Rated: PG WorkNameSort: Grease (Rockin’ Rydell Edition) Like the film versions of such classic stage musicals as Guys and Dolls and Carousel, Grease (1978) abounds with awesome songs and a dynamite cast but suffers from flat-footed direction. Somehow, that didn’t prevent it from becoming one of the highest-grossing movie…
Angel Guts – Red Porno
Angel Guts – Red Porno Studio: Arts Magic Rated: NOT RATED WorkNameSort: Angel Guts – Red Porno Red Porno was the fourth in a series of five Angel Guts films produced by Tokyo’s Nikkatsu Studios between 1978 and 1988. All five were marketed as a boxed set last year, but Arts Magic’s decision to release…
Live At CBGB 1982
Live At CBGB 1982 Label: MVD DVD Rated: NONE WorkNameSort: Live At CBGB 1982 Something of a holy grail of hardcore, the Bad Brains’ three-day run at CBGB in late 1982 is spoken of in hushed tones, referred to reverently and as the object of attendance fibs. Audio recordings of the shows have floated around…
Nashville Rebel
Nashville Rebel Label: RLG Nashville / Legacy Length: LP Rated: NONE Media: CD Format: Album WorkNameSort: Nashville Rebel Like Rick Nelson’s Legacy, Waylon Jennings’ Nashville Rebel chronologically follows a talented singer from catchy standards to self-penned honky-tonk numbers. But while Nelson’s rejection of his teen-idol past alienated fans, Jennings’ decision to shun Nashville’s factory system…
Dreamt for Lightyears in the Belly of a Mountain
Dreamt for Lightyears in the Belly of a Mountain Label: Astralwerks Length: LP Media: CD Format: Album WorkNameSort: Dreamt for Lightyears in the Belly of a Mountain I root for guys like this: guys who make weird, creaky music that’s beholden to no known genre. No generic blues licks. No heavy-metal breast-beating. No pitch-corrected emo…
Sexor
Sexor Label: Last Gang Length: LP Media: CD Format: Album WorkNameSort: Sexor After releasing several mix CDs and singles and running his record label Turbo Recordings, this is the first album from the Montreal DJ/techno pinup boy Tiga Sontag. With a seductive groove that’s also technically sound, Sexor is better than it needs to be…
Why I Hate Women
Why I Hate Women Label: Smog Veil Length: LP Media: CD Format: Album WorkNameSort: Why I Hate Women Much of what you’ll read about Pere Ubu will turn you off. Their fans take that hipster pride in liking them for their difficulty, for the way they twist musical conventions to the point of nausea, as…
MAKE THE PIE HIGHER!
Trio of joints carve out a slice of the glutted pizza market
House of Sand
House of Sand Length: Single Studio: Sony Pictures Releasing International Rated: R Release Date: 2006-09-29 Cast: Fernanda Montenegro, Fernanda Torres, Ruy Guerra, Seu Jorge, Luis Melodia Director: Andrucha Waddington Screenwriter: Andrucha Waddington, Elena Soarez, Luiz Carlos Barreto Music Score: Joao Barone WorkNameSort: House of Sand Our Rating: 4.00 Taking place over six decades in the…
MAKE THE PIE HIGHER!
Trio of joints carve out a slice of the glutted pizza market
HAPPYTOWN
Sept. 23-30 is the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week, the time of year when classics like Leaves of Grass and Catcher in the Rye get props, despite being full of nasty language and bad thoughts you shouldn’t be allowed to read. This year, the Orlando chapter of Amnesty International wants to take it a…
NEWS OF THE WEIRD
;Trunk lines ;; In September, police in New Zealand dropped the dangerous-driving charge against the armless driver reported in News of the Weird in April, satisfied that he steers well enough with his left foot (though his speeding ticket remained). In August, though, the St. Petersburg Times profiled Michael Wiley, 39, of Port Richey, Fla.,…
POLICE BEAT
Sept. 18, 7:26 A.M.: What’s hotter than your sister in a tutu? No, not crack. It’s copper! Officer Gilbert was dispatched to the 2900 block of North Orange Avenue in reference to a commercial burglary and met with 42- and 22-year-old complainants who represented the two businesses victimized by the theft. It appears that some…
SAVAGE LOVE
;I’ve been dating a wonderful guy for four months. We enjoy each other’s company immensely; we laugh a lot and he fucks like a champ — definitely a keeper. The issues I have with him are manageable, but I don’t know how to broach these subjects: He has a dental bridge that looks like it’s…
SAYS YOU
If it were it up to me, Orange County’s tourist taxes would be used to build roads or schools, or to fund health care, or build a new shelter for the homeless. But state law forbids using this money for any of these purposes. It can only go toward promoting tourism, sports and culture. That’s…
I LOVE TELEVISION
;An I Love Television™ reader writes, “Dear Wm.™ Steven Hump-Me: You, sir, are an AGEIST. Though I tend to enjoy your weekly rants on the vagaries of television, I take umbrage with the fact that you belittle older TV stars, such as Ted Danson, Calista Flockhart and that handsome fellow that plays Matlock. Meanwhile, you…
FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
ARIES Love isn’t as simple as you wish it would be. On the other hand, it’s nowhere near as complicated as you fear it is. My advice to you is to extinguish any itch you might have to compel love to serve any agenda at whatsoever. Instead, bow down before it with all the innocence…
SELECTIONS
Thursday•28 Princess Superstar Upping the ante on their recently christened tradition of bringing the bitter aftertaste of MisShapen Greenwich Village night life to Saturdays (on Thursdays!), this week the Club at Firestone plays willing turntable host to pretty mess Princess Superstar. Known in tight circles as both an “over it” rapper and a beat-matching jockey…
THIS LITTLE UNDERGROUND
;What’s going on here? ;Right about now, some of you may be shocked, awed, horrified or an awkward combination thereof to see my name in this space. Then again, you may be muttering, “Bao Le who?” So before we tango, let’s tackle some formalities.;; ;Not really a coup ; Contrary to rumor, this column space…
AESTHETIC FUSION
Brian Eno has long been combining technology and creativity. Whether it was incorporating synthesizers into Roxy Music’s art pop, developing the notion of nonspecific soundscapes or crafting bleeding-edge video installations, Eno’s love of innovation has gone hand-in-hand with his aspirations to realize some complex theories about the presentation of multisensory works. The core of his…
FILTH, OR FREE SPEECH?
;Under no circumstances would Toilet Man 6 be considered family viewing. As the title suggests, this fetish flick features feces-eating and vomit-smearing, and it stars a guy who calls himself Mike, “The Prince of Scat.” ;;Disgusting as it may sound, the original was popular enough to warrant five sequels, so somebody’s watching it. Until at…
COOLER
There’s a sure way to bring a curse down upon your social life. Just say (in a pathetic, whining voice) these five words: “There’s nothing going on here.” Whether you need the antidote or just want proof of the evil of such a forlorn belief, turn the pages. If nothing else, you’ll feel a breeze.…
THE FAMILY GUY
;Singing and dancing zombies. Insane lactating mothers. Incestuous killer sisters. A son rebuilt by mad science from pieces of a father figure. A minotaur-licking loser. Two daughters literally joined at the hip. Images that mix literal, metaphoric and just plain bizarre Oedipal nightmares. Others that gush over-the-top gore and sentimentality in equal parts. In the…
WOMAN OF THE CLOTH
Lauren Austin has lived many lives. While she is currently the community artist—in-residence at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach, she only recently dedicated her life to being a full-time textile artist. She majored in Latin American studies at Dartmouth College, even though a teacher had told her that she didn’t…
MAKE THE PIE HIGHER!
No man’s pie is freed from his ambitious finger,” Shakespeare wrote in King Henry VIII, and though I’m not exactly sure what that means, I’m sure there are scores of you out there with digits as desirous as mine when it comes to pies layered with tomato sauce and mozzarella. So, given that ’tis the…
LETTERS
Godless, part II Hey, I don’t know you, you don’t know me, just wanted to drop a quick line saying kudos for the article about atheists `”Atheists among us,” Sept. 14`. Well-written and to the point, Broseph. Although it doesn’t speak directly to my apathetic/agnostic beliefs, I like to see the ruffling of self-appointed pious…
AMERICAN CHEESE REVISITED
;When most people hear the words “American cheese,” they think Velveeta or Cheez Whiz. Not so anymore. Thanks to a handful of dedicated farmers, America is producing cheese that stands up to some of Europe’s most elegant cheeses. ; ; I love stinky European cheeses, but over the years, American artisanal cheeses have become some…
BLISTER
Once, upon the glittering occasion of my 5th birthday party, way back when bumblebees were pinned to butter lids, the caked snot cleared from my freckled nose long enough to allow the inhalation of a certain kind of self-defeating drama. There, amid the kindergarten swimming-pool cacophony and Fudgie the Whale Carvel ice cream cake, a…
