A Very Local Music Christmas
Sunday at 7 p.m., WVXU's local arts and culture program, Around Cincinnati, airs a two-hour holiday special that's sprinkled with plenty of holiday flavor (and, perhaps, nutmeg). Instead of culling the standard "White Christmas"/"Dogs Barking 'Jingle Bells' " tunes for the show, producers gathered an impressive lineup of local musicians to record songs in the…
Cover Story: Critical Shortage
Weta Digital LTD King Kong don't need no stinking critics. After rampaging New York City in at least three movies, the giant ape King Kong needs no introductions — much less a critic's recommendation — to convince people that he's worthy of big-screen treatment. The film critic — whether he's full of praise, derision…
Cover Story: Return of the Rebel
Movie attendance was down 8 percent in 2005. Lame remakes, creatively bankrupt sequels, astronomical tickets prices and a crowed entertainment market enjoy a large part of the blame. So does the rise of the DVD. Armed with crystal-clear images and booming soundtracks, not to mention the ever-evolving high-tech equipment used to present them, the…
Protect the Children
Make no mistake, based on Larry Gross' description in his Living Out Loud column ("A Slap in the Face," issue of Dec. 14-20), what he witnessed was a crime, possibly even a felony. How do I know? Simple. When you, or anyone, witnesses such an act of aggression perpetrated by a parent on a child,…
Film: Bloody Patriotism
Karen Ballard Eric Bana (left) and Geoffrey Rush star in Steven Spielberg's Munich, a story set in the aftermath of the 1972 Olympic Games. The childlike thrills of his recent War of the Worlds remake are over, and director Steven Spielberg's reputation as the creator of movie roller coasters remains rock solid. If audiences…
Cover Story: Hot Docs
Thinkfilm Muderball failed to find an audience despite a wide release. The Year of the Documentary — proclaimed in 2004 after the success of Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 and Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me — is turning into the Golden Age of Documentaries after 2005's successes. Once it was rare for a documentary to…
News: CityLink Divides West End
Stephen Novotni West End resident Carlos Sartor collects scrap metal from a lot recently cleared by One City. Sartor plans to sell the scrap to a local junkyard. Depending on whom you ask, the CityLink project is something that could save the West End or kill it. CityLink is planned to be the largest…
Living Out Loud: : Sit or Spin
Getting Change Yes, of course, I was there to clean, but in my trips to local Laundromats (I have frequented many, in search of cheaper machines and best candy selection), I uncovered some stories that had set in long before any bleach. The Laundromat: A microcosm of larger, deeper, universal issues. Names have been changed…
Sparkling Wine In The NEw Year
Once more, 'tis the season for trying to decipher the world of sparkling wine to toast the holidays and ring in the New Year. When you shop for sparkling wines, it doesn't take long to recognize that there are a multitude of styles and makers of bubbly. Some wines are light and fruity, while others…
News to Use
Block the Patriot Act The effort to renew the Patriot Act is not going according to the White House script, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). A bi-partisan coalition thwarted the White House's effort to force through a reauthorization bill that would make most provisions of the law permanent. The ACLU is asking…
Disability Doesn’t Define the Holidays
Years ago a new friend asked me how I could appreciate the Christmas season. It initially seemed a foolish question. Then I realized it was a very culture-based question. Look at some distinctions with me. One culture celebrates the season with tea and shortbread, another with ham and greens. One lights candles in a menorah,…
Cover Story: Listopia 2005
Danny Clinch My Morning Jacket Baker's Dozen (Minus Two) By Brian Baker 1. New Pornographers: Twin Cinema This disc could not be pried out of the player from the moment the advance showed up. Carl Newman's ability to shapeshift notes and words into the most virulently catchy Pop music since a certain Liverpudlian quartet…
Film: What Matters Most
Walt Berkman delivers his infamous rendition of Pink Floyd's "Hey You." The Squid and the Whale is more than just a movie. It's a way of life. Or, perhaps more aptly, it serves as a guidepost to what mattered culturally in the life of a close-knit but divorcing family of Brooklyn intellectuals circa mid-1980s.…
Around Cincinnati
Harlan Taylor Lauren Dragon has found success as Janis Joplin, now playing in Cleveland Although a few theaters continue presenting shows (for two recommendations look below), you might be sticking closer to home for the holiday this weekend. So let me recommend some spoken word performance that you might enjoy on Sunday evening between…
Bengals Do What They’re Supposed to Do, and That’s Good Enough
Jerry Dowling We knew it would be different when they wrapped up Carson Palmer as the top selection before the 2003 draft and announced he would sit on the bench for a year. Nothing dogged the Bengals quite like their wipeouts at quarterback, and here was a commitment to taking it slow. Palmer is…
News: Not All Aboard
Matt Borgerding The Freedom Center aims to teach people how to talk about racial conflict and other kinds of "unfreedom" but its tools are sometimes mired in the language of sexism. The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center had barely finished celebrating its first year — surpassing its attendance goal of 260,000 visitors by more…
Cover Story: The Year In Film & Music
Woodrow J. Hinton Writers, Penguins & Bastards For several years journalists have been portrayed in cinema just about a notch above fanatical, bomb-toting terrorists. Actually, sometimes the journalist is a notch below, because the terrorist usually has his God on his side. The journalist? When he enters the frame, it's usually to smear the…
Homes for the Holidays
I've been thinking lately about embracing a personally forgotten aspect of the holiday season. I want to go home again, despite the sentiment expressed by fellow Asheville, N.C., native Thomas Wolfe. I haven't been back in almost 10 years. There was a stretch when the main reason for a visit was to attend funerals. I…
Away In A Manger
Lest I be accused of waging a War on Christmas by the pro-Christmas lobby — oh, whatever would I do if the all-powerful puckerbutts at the American Family Association called for a boycott of Savage Love? — I'm presenting a heartwarming selection of how-I-lost-my-virginity horror stories submitted by my readers. What do these stories have…
Death Be Not Loud
Like sexuality, like God and patriotism, like voting and like getting to Cuba from America, the death penalty is complicated. Complicated in theory, not difficult when enacted. It's easy to flip a switch, push a plunger or yank a noose. The executioner and the man signing the decree both can carry out their jobs, drive…
Cover Story: The Good, the Bad and the Sucky
Jonathan Mannion Czar*Nok became the first Rap group from Cincy to sign to a major label. 1. In a great year for CD releases by Greater Cincinnati artists (see next week's CityBeat for a full run down of the best local discs of 2005), it was hard to top the debut from Heartless Bastards,…
Curly Tales of the City
Matt Borgerding Michelle Sass (left) and Chris Link of PETA share the vegetarian message with Kimberlee Brooks. Resisting War and Wiretaps Opponents of the U.S. occupation of Iraq last week took petitions to the offices of U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Milford) and U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Westwood). Hundreds of local MoveOn.org members added their…
Diner: True to Principles
Something about a white tablecloth makes a girl feel like a lady. Even if the lady in question does happen to emboss the linen with red imprints from her glass of Sangiovese ($9). At Barresi's Italian Restaurant the server will ignore this faux pas out of good manners. The restaurant is legendary to a native…
Locals Only: : Getting down to business
6 Sigma 6 Sigma Google "6 Sigma" and you'll get approximately 426,000 results that mostly regard a philosophy practiced by corporations faced with the pressures of decreasing flaws and increasing immaculate production. Among this throng of instructional Web sites, 6 Sigma — the Cincinnati band of the same name — can also be found.…
