The Witch
Writer-director Robert Eggers has previously operated in the realm of horror shorts (Hansel and Gretel and The Tell-Tale Heart), but his leap to the narrative-feature format is assisted by a sure command and wielding of historic record. The Witch documents the plight of a family expelled from their settlement village in 1630s New England as…
Risen
The Lenten season kicks off with this Kevin Reynolds (former Kevin Costner partner-in-crime on Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Waterworld) interpretation of the story of Jesus Christ and the Resurrection as told from the perspective of a Roman non-believer named Clavius (Joseph Fiennes). He, along with his aid Lucius (Tom Felton), is tasked with…
The Lady in the Van
As a writer-critic, I embark on this examination of the new release from Nicholas Hytner (The History Boys) with a heightened open-minded approach. Produced from a script by Alan Bennett, it’s based on his own memoir detailing his experiences with a transient woman who called herself Miss Shepherd (Maggie Smith), who parked her van in…
Boy & The World
Embrace the opportunity to catch Alê Abreu’s Best Animated Feature Oscar nominee, Boy & The World, about a little boy who embarks on a journey to find his father. This Brazilian tale basks in glowing imagery married to stirring rhythms intended to anchor its heartwarming message. At its root, though, Boy & The World seeks…
Music: Bill Frisell
G uitarist Bill Frisell, to dredge up an all-too-often used description, is a “musician’s musician.” His immense talent and approach to music has not only found him exploring many styles of music and the various nooks and crannies of genres, but also enabled him to make a living while playing with a wide variety of…
Art: 20 x 20 x 20
Weston Art Gallery, in the heart of downtown, a block away from the Contemporary Arts Center, has for 20 years provided the most prominent consistent venue for the work of area artists, if not the most welcoming space. 20 x 20 x 20, now on display at the gallery, celebrates the milestone by presenting 20…
Art: Daubigny, Monet, Van Gogh: Impressions of Landscape
The Taft Museum of Art’s chief curator, Lynne Ambrosini, has spent 14 years organizing the Daubigny, Monet, Van Gogh: Impressions of Landscape show that opens Saturday and believes it will be one of the museum’s most important presentations. Inspired by the fact that the Taft owns three Charles-François Daubigny oil paintings, Ambrosini’s exhibition aims to…
Event: 20th Century Cincinnati
Cincinnati’s annual retrospective of Vintage Modern design — now in its third decade — returns this weekend with more than 70 dealers. Participants will showcase classic Modernist forms, specifically those that emerged in the time period between World War I and the Information Age. Although the show is best known for its selection of lighting…
Music: Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown
With a well-constructed, Classic Rock sound and songs that would easily slide onto the playlists of every major FM Rock station in the country, Tyler Bryant & the Shakedown seem well on their way to following fellow Nashville-area crew Kings of Leon into the mainstream spotlight. The group is signed to Republic Records and has…
Event: Entomology DIY Workshop
For those who lose sleep wondering how an insect collection is best displayed, this workshop is an answer to a prayer. Jeremy Johnson, founder of Meddling with Nature, a local taxidermy, art and education organization, will teach the basics of preserving, mounting and displaying an insect collection at home. The DIY demonstration includes a large…
Classical Music: American Masters with ‘Appalachian Spring’
Join the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra this weekend as Louis Langrée conducts a performance featuring work by four of America’s most iconic composers. The concert opens with Ives’ “The Unanswered Question,” followed by Barber’s “Violin Concerto” performed by Timothy Lees, CSO Concertmaster. Copland’s “Appalachian Spring” is the centerpiece of the night and captures the openness of…
Comedy: Kevin Bozeman
Kevin Bozeman knew it was time to leave his day job to pursue standup comedy when he kept coming up with the same answer to his clients’ questions. “I sold insurance,” he says. “People used to ask me, ‘Why should I buy life insurance?’ And I used to tell them, ‘Because I need a commission…
Art: It’s the Political Economy, Stupid at DAAP Galleries
The traveling exhibition organized by Austrian artist and activist Oliver Ressler and New York-based artist, scholar and activist Gregory Sholette titled It’s the Political Economy, Stupid, will have an opening reception at DAAP’s Reed Gallery this Thursday evening. The show consists of more than a dozen contemporary videos and artworks that critically address issues of…
Event: Bockfest Sausage Queen Preliminary Rounds
Do you have a passion for bock beer and sausages? If so, you’re a viable contender for this year’s Little Kings Sausage Queen, a gender-neutral competition that distinguishes one outstanding individual as Bockfest royalty. Hopefuls are pitted against each other during four preliminary rounds held at sponsoring local saloons, the first of which takes place…
Onstage: Avenue Q
Watching Sesame Street as a kid, you learned you could do anything. Well, Avenue Q, up next at Price Hill’s Incline Theatre, is the R-rated answer to that mantra, a musical coming-of-age tale that revels in the anxieties of growing up — using puppets who say and sing stuff you never heard on PBS, operated…
Nonprofit Spotlight: Matthew: 25 Ministries
Matthew 25: Ministries is a nonprofit organization based in Blue Ash dedicated to international humanitarian aid and disaster relief. Since its inception in 1991, the nonprofit has been able to go from carrying suitcases of medical supplies to small villages in Nicaragua to now distribution 15 million pounds of product each year that reaches 20…
Holy Spirits
T he Elm Street corridor in Over-the-Rhine is in the midst of a makeover. Music Hall and Memorial Hall are under renovation, and an adjacent 149-year-old church just had new life breathed into it. The Transept, on the corner of 12th and Elm streets, was built in 1867 and was once the home of St.…
The ‘Girls’ Grow Up — Sort Of
Fans of Girls (Season Premiere, 10 p.m. Sunday, HBO) have watched the core group of Hannah, Marnie, Jessa and Shoshanna go from flailing college students/recent grads to, well, flailing twentysomethings. But this fifth season finds the young women in completely foreign territory — sometimes literally — giving them each an opportunity to truly mature. Marnie…
Still Running the Tragic American ‘Race’
The question of who is deserving of a biopic came to mind as I watched director Stephen Hopkins — television series specialist known for contributions to Showtime originals like Californication, Shameless and House of Lies — dedicate himself to his recent well-intentioned history lesson. Race, from screenwriters Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse, documents the powerful…
Collective Retrospective
Weston Art Gallery, in the heart of downtown, a block away from the Contemporary Arts Center, has for 20 years provided the most prominent consistent venue for the work of area artists, if not the most welcoming space. 20 x 20 x 20, now on display at the gallery, celebrates the milestone by presenting 20…
Dream Weaver
While living in Kenya, Sylvia NebSa Harmon witnessed poverty firsthand and answered her call to social justice by making beads out of paper and teaching Kenyan artists how to make and distribute them for income. What first trickled by word-of-mouth throughout South African villages became Inspirit Arts, a humanitarian fundraising collective Harmon founded in Africa…
Their Education Is Entertainment for the Rest of Us
There’s plenty of professional theater in Cincinnati to keep you occupied — from contemporary works at the Cincinnati Playhouse and Ensemble Theatre to classics at Cincinnati Shakespeare and zany shows at Know Theatre. But don’t lose track of theater on university campuses, because there’s a lot of it. It’s a chance to see works that…
Artist-Centered Conversations
B ecause we live in an art historical moment in which it seems just as normal to see art critics like Roberta Smith and Jerry Saltz in Jay Z videos as it does to wonder whether or not Drake filmed his music video inside of a James Turrell light installation (spoiler alert: he didn’t), it…
The Wussification of America
When Wussy’s name was announced as the Rock winner at the 2016 Cincinnati Entertainment Awards last month, the band was not in attendance to accept its CEA bling. Presenter Eddy Mullet, host of Class X’s long-running local music radio show Kindred Sanction, took a quick photo of the band’s name on the sheet that revealed…
All Eyes on Walnut Hills
Olivia Harper remembers the last time Walnut Hills went through major changes. The retired Cincinnati Public Schools instructor has lived in the community for 68 years. She was there when it boasted busy corridors of shops and theaters, when white residents began leaving in the 1950s and 1960s and when I-71 came through her part…
Old Feuds Die Hard
HOT: Old Feuds Die Hard After initially saying he would play with Chicago at the band’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, singer Peter Cetera (a founding member who left the group 30 years ago) said that negotiations broke down and he wouldn’t be there. Perhaps Cetera insisted Chicago play his solo smash, “Glory…
Check It Out
I’ve never understood reporters who invent stories, events, sources or quotes. It can range from inventing conventions of young political activists to 8-year-old heroin addicts. Whether reporters expect to get away with it is unclear, but getting caught can be a career-killer. Who trusts a proven cheat or unreasonable litigation risk?Inventing events, sources and quotes…
Morning News and Stuff
Tucker's Restaurant in Over-the-Rhine is set to reopen on July 25 — exactly one year after a kitchen fire badly damaged the iconic restaurant. The diner first opened its doors in 1946 and has been a staple in the neighborhood for decades. Community volunteers are hosting a brunch fundraiser for the reopening at St. Francis…
Head to the Sky
Remembering Maurice White is to recall when black folks smelled of incense, Egyptian Musk Oil, sweat from dancing along to Soul Train and Afro Sheen. White, the Jazz drummer-turned-bandleader of the Funk, Jazz and Soul group Earth, Wind & Fire, died Feb. 4 after a serious and prolonged illness that kept him home and out…
Worst Week Ever! Feb. 10-16
Kentucky Takes Action to Make Hate-Spewing Employee as Comfortable as Possible As Midwesterners, we have to be sensitive to coastal elitists making fun of where we live and acting like spending $2,500 a month to live in a closet and watch rats carry pizza home on the mass transit system is the bee’s knees. That’s…
Music: Voivod
Voivod could be considered the musical equivalent of the post office: The Canadian Progressive Metal quartet cannot be stopped by wind, rain, snow, sleet, dark of night (in fact, they rather prefer it), death, break-ups, lawsuits or stylistic shifts. In the band’s 32-year history, it’s released 13 albums, including the 1984 debut War and Pain,…
Sound Advice: Voivod with Vektor and Eight Bells
Voivod could be considered the musical equivalent of the post office: The Canadian Progressive Metal quartet cannot be stopped by wind, rain, snow, sleet, dark of night (in fact, they rather prefer it), death, break-ups, lawsuits or stylistic shifts. In the band’s 32-year history, it’s released 13 albums, including the 1984 debut War and Pain,…
Music: TEEN
The Electro Pop quartet TEEN has been busy since forming in Brooklyn in 2010. Following two EPs and a pair of full-length albums (2012’s In Limbo and 2014’s The Way and Color), the band’s latest LP, Love Yes, is set to drop this Friday. TEEN — which consists of sisters Kristina, Katherine and Lizzie Lieberson…
Sound Advice: TEEN
The Electro Pop quartet TEEN has been busy since forming in Brooklyn in 2010. Following two EPs and a pair of full-length albums (2012’s In Limbo and 2014’s The Way and Color), the band’s latest LP, Love Yes, is set to drop this Friday (listen here). TEEN — which consists of sisters Kristina, Katherine and…
Music: Mickey Avalon
Hip Hop sensation Mickey Avalon has experienced enough life drama to fill a dozen albums and a string of Law & Order episodes. Born Yeshe Perl in Hollywood, Avalon was raised by his drug-addicted father and sold pot as a child under the tutelage of his mother, but sought the straight and narrow when he…
Sound Advice: Mickey Avalon and Dirt Nasty with Lazy Ass Destroyer, DJ Brizo and The Nightbeast
Hip Hop sensation Mickey Avalon has experienced enough life drama to fill a dozen albums and a string of Law & Order episodes. Born Yeshe Perl in Hollywood, Avalon was raised by his drug-addicted father and sold pot as a child under the tutelage of his mother, but sought the straight and narrow when he…
Music: Anderson East
Pop culture’s microscopic focus on fame and celebrity means that Anderson East’s recognition has risen more because of his recent status as Miranda Lambert’s boyfriend than for his incredible musical abilities. The saving grace is that East is so phenomenal that it really doesn’t matter how you get to him, just as long as you…
Sound Advice: Anderson East
Pop culture’s microscopic focus on fame and celebrity means that Anderson East’s recognition has risen more because of his recent status as Miranda Lambert’s boyfriend than for his incredible musical abilities. The saving grace is that East is so phenomenal that it really doesn’t matter how you get to him, just as long as you…
Songwriters Team Up for Ancient News
Local singer/songwriters Andrea Cefalo and David Kisor have teamed up for an interesting new project dubbed Ancient News. Together, the pair has a wealth of experience performing music in Greater Cincinnati. Cefalo has been in AltRock bands and other diverse projects; currently you can find her singing Jazz in clubs around town. Kisor has composed…
Score Keeper
G uitarist Bill Frisell, to dredge up an all-too-often used description, is a “musician’s musician.” His immense talent and approach to music has not only found him exploring many styles of music and the various nooks and crannies of genres, but also enabled him to make a living while playing with a wide variety of…
Morning News and Stuff
Good morning all. Hope you enjoyed your weekend and got an extra day off, either thanks to past presidents or present precipitation. I went sledding in memory of Abraham Lincoln on my President’s Day holiday. Anyway, here’s the news today. Speaking of past presidents: Former commander in chief Bill Clinton came to Clifton Friday to…
Bill Clinton Calls on Cincinnati to Support Hillary
Former President Bill Clinton urged a group of more than 200 people in Clifton today to support his wife and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid. Clinton called his wife a “changemaker” who held the expertise and experience to become the next president. Much of his speech touched on the need to grow…
Morning News and Stuff
Good morning, Cincinnati! Here are your morning headlines. Former University of Cincinnati police officer Ray Tensing is expected to testify at his trial, which has been set for Oct. 24. Tensing is charged with the murder of motorist Samuel Dubose during a traffic stop in Mount Auburn last July. Tensing's attorney indicated in a pre-trial…
Where to Invade Next
Taking back the country and making America great again have been slogans and talking points throughout the Obama presidency. Yet, the people clamoring for a return to American values and ideals would probably not be all that interested in Michael Moore’s ideas about how to conduct this offensive. The genius of Moore, though, rests in…
Deadpool
The creative team behind this reboot of the Deadpool character from Marvel Comics — director Tim Miller and screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick of Zombieland and GI Joe: Retaliation fame — has channeled the raw spontaneity and manic energy of the fourth-wall-breaking figure and, in the form of Ryan Reynolds, comes as close as…
Your Weekend To Do List (2/12-2/14)
FRIDAYEVENT: CINCY WINTER BEERFEST Cincy Winter Beerfest is one of the top 10 craft beer festivals in the nation and one of the Queen City’s biggest beer bashes of the year — and that’s saying a lot (we have a lot of beer festivals). More than 350 craft beers from more than 100 breweries will descend…
Morning News and Stuff
Good morning, Cincinnati! Here are your morning headlines. A trial date has been set for former University of Cincinnati police officer Ray Tensing, who fatally shot unarmed motorist Sam DuBose in Mount Auburn in July. Tensing will face murder and manslaughter charges brought against him by Hamilton County prosecutor Joe Deters on Oct. 24, a…
Sweet Selections
So, it’s Valentine’s Day, the alleged queen of made-up, Hallmark holidays. Love it or hate it, everything is pink, love is in the air and grocery stores are overflowing with giant stuffed animals. But the 14th doesn’t have to be all cards and candy. Events in and around Cincinnati have something for everyone to love…
Love List 2016: Carolyn Evans
TITLE: Founder and event organizer of My Furry Valentine; owner of PhoDOGrapher pet photography studio HOMETOWN: Chicago WHY WE LOVE HER: For her drive to lead the animal adoption revolution in Cincinnati and change the conversation about what we can do as a society to end shelter euthanasia. Carolyn Evans lives her life by two…
Love List 2016: Eddy Kwon
TITLE: Director of MYCincinnati youth orchestra HOMETOWN: Minneapolis WHY WE LOVE HIM: Because of his work changing the lives of Cincinnati youth in Price Hill and beyond through Classical music. Growing up in Minneapolis, violinist, composer and teacher Eddy Kwon was surrounded by water and trees, but also arts and music via the city’s diverse…
Love List 2016: Todd Hudson
TITLE: Executive chef/owner of Wildflower Café in Mason HOMETOWN: Fairfield WHY WE LOVE HIM: Because he proves the ’burbs can be cool and because his delicious farm-to-table food makes the drive outside the 275 loop worth it. The same exit off Interstate 71 that will take you to both Kings Island and The Beach Waterpark…
Love List 2016: William Thomas II, Derrick Braziel & Allen Woods
TITLES: Founders of MORTAR Cincinnati: chief financial officer; chief relationship officer; chief vision caster HOMETOWN: Cincinnati; Indianapolis; Indianapolis WHY WE LOVE THEM: They help non-traditional entrepreneurs manifest their dreams through mentorship and brand-development courses with community partners. In a small office located on the bustling Vine Street drag of Over-the-Rhine, three guys can be found…
Love List 2016: Patty Brisben
TITLE: Founder and chairwoman of Pure Romance HOMETOWN: Cincinnati WHY WE LOVE HER: Because of her passion for empowering women in and outside of the bedroom. Let’s talk about sex, baby. Patty Brisben, Pure Romance founder and chairwoman, created her company more than two decades ago with the goal of empowering women to discuss, explore…
Love List 2016: Chuck Beatty & David Wolff
TITLE: Founder and festival director; program director of OutReels Cincinnati HOMETOWN: Cincinnati WHY WE LOVE THEM: For championing everyone’s right to love and for supporting the creative vision of the LGBTQ film community. OutReels Cincinnati (formerly the CNKY Film Festival) operates under the umbrella of the Cincinnati Film Society and champions the larger organization’s mission…
Local Couple Makes Artisan Drinking Shrubs
Getting back to basics by fermenting foods has become a ubiquitous practice, and so has making drinking vinegars. Following in the footsteps of other local brands that ferment food and drink, like Fab Ferments and The Pickled Pig, husband-and-wife team Mercy Mabalot and Arie Vandenberg started Chimera Shrubs in June. Shrubs are typically unpasteurized, unfiltered…
Gone Phishing
Having recently discovered Piccolo Wine Room in Glendale, I was intrigued to learn that one of the owners of nearby Tēla bar + kitchen, L. R. Hunley, had been instrumental in setting up that wine bar a few years back. Then, last July, Hunley teamed up with longtime friend and restaurant veteran Doug Nawrocki to…
‘Vinyl’ Is an Ode to ’70s Rock Heyday
Sex, drugs and Rock & Roll — it’s a tale as old as time. Something about stories of success and excess in the music industry turns audiences on. So when Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger team up to transport viewers to the 1970s New York music scene in Vinyl (Series Premiere, 9 p.m. Sunday, HBO),…
Protecting ‘Son of Saul’
Walking the path of another and gaining a different perspective gets lauded often. Film sometimes allows for an uncomfortably literal approximation of this notion. At this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, a couple of films sought, through very unique means, to immerse viewers in the realities of their protagonists. In one case, the recently renamed…
Jean Cocteau’s Surreal Spectacle
Following the horrific destruction of World War I, Paris countered the aftershocks with its own explosions of wildly original creativity, led by artist, writer, filmmaker and playwright Jean Cocteau. His frequent collaborators were six composers dubbed with the highly original name “Les Six.” Nothing bound the musicians other than friendship and appearing in concerts together,…
Library’s ‘Tiny Tomes’ Adds Up to a Big Hit
Andrea Vetter has a dream job for anyone who likes books — the physical, three-dimensional, real kind rather than the electronic version. She’s a marketing office assistant at the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County who, among other things, helps social media specialist Adam Baker find interesting holdings worthy of Facebook or Instagram posts.…
Space Travel
Only a few of us can travel in space like Neil Armstrong or Yuri Gagarin, but we all travel through myriad spaces in everyday life. Think about it — in our homes, we move from room to room via hallways, staircases, doors and foyers. Outside, we travel through the same environments at work, but also…
Deadly Additions
On a cold day last January, 38-year-old Scott Kehrer bought $200 worth of heroin from a Norwood dealer named Kenneth Gentry. Kehrer, an Arlington Heights resident and employee at Children’s Hospital Medical Center, had been struggling with addiction since a friend introduced him to the drug, which he had been getting from Gentry regularly. Later…
On Writing (Sort Of)
When I say someone is a “serious writer,” I do it secretly during a private, one-sided conversation with myself. Because the public sharing of artistic output is often so randomly and arbitrarily judged, who really cares what I think? Answer: By and large my journalism students, and they are only just finding themselves when they…
Sound Advice: Whitey Morgan and the 78’s with Cody Jinks
Well, looky here. The CMA Awards derned got turnt around this past November when the corporate Bro-Country boys and girls got to sit in their chairs and watch a true Honky Tonk hero, Chris Stapleton, win three top honors. The pendulum shift is nothing new — the battle between lame Nashville Pop (the mainstream cookie-cutter…
Sound Advice: Seratones with Orchards
Shreveport, La., foursome Seratones began playing together in 2014. After working on its live profile, by the end of 2015, the band had signed a deal with Fat Possum Records, played acclaimed shows at the South by Southwest and CMJ fests and were named one of the 20 best new bands of 2015 by Paste…
Sound Advice: Mike Stud
As a general rule, adopting the name “Stud” as a Hip Hop handle would be little more than chest-thumping braggadocio. But for Mike Seander, aka Mike Stud, it’s more or less a factual declaration. The Rhode Island native lettered in both baseball and basketball in high school. As a senior, Seander averaged 21 points and…
Sound Advice: Turkuaz with Ghost Note
Brooklyn nine-piece Turkuaz is a musical powerhouse that takes cues from throughout Funk’s history and mashes them together with its own personalized groove and vibe. From Parliament-Funkadelic through Fitz and the Tantrums, with stops in Electro Funk, Disco and AfroBeat, Turkuaz has all the Funk bases covered and then some. The band was formed about…
Cheers to Big Joe
Legendary Blues/Boogie Woogie pianist Big Joe Duskin passed away in 2007, but thanks to the Big Joe Duskin Music Education Foundation, his legacy is living on and helping to build the future. Since 2010, the foundation has organized performances and educational opportunities for thousands of Greater Cincinnati-area school children, while also raising money for various…
Mothers of Expression
The sound that emanates from a band called Mothers could take a number of disparate directions. Frank Zappa’s group of highly talented misfits under that banner cornered the market on orchestral complexity, scatological Rock, Doo Wop, Jazz and a veritable kitchen sink of assorted weirdness, so that’s off the table. Befitting the name, Mothers could…
Star Wars Goes Electro
HOT: Star Wars Goes Electro The original Star Wars films are timeless — by using “a galaxy far far away” as the setting, current viewers don’t get distracted by the flashback trends of the ’70s. Something that does date the original trilogy is the 1977 Disco version of the Star Wars theme by producer Meco…
Love List 2016: D. Lynn Meyers
TITLE: Producing artistic director of Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati HOMETOWN: Cincinnati WHY WE LOVE HER: For believing in Over-the-Rhine’s renaissance before the Gateway Quarter and bringing world-premiere theatrical productions to the city. D. Lynn Meyers grew up in Bridgetown on the West Side, attended Mother of Mercy High School and studied at Thomas More College. A…
Love List 2016: Lindsay Nehls
TITLE: Artist, host of Drink & Draw evenings at the Contemporary Arts Center “and other weird events” HOMETOWN: She wasn’t born here but claims Cincinnati as home. WHY WE LOVE HER: She’s a talented local artist who gets the community involved with and inspired to create art. Artist Lindsay Nehls seems to have fallen hard…
Love List 2016
Love. It’s in the air — as the theme of the Super Bowl halftime show, in all the Jared the Galleria of Jewelry commercials on TV and in the email newsletters you’re receiving from every retailer at which you’ve ever shopped. But as much as some complain that Valentine’s Day is a commercial holiday created…
Considering Pre-‘Spotlight’ Reporting on Sexual Abuse by Catholic Priests
Thirty years ago, Jason Berry and National Catholic Reporter ignited Americans’ awareness of sexual abuse by Catholic priests. Yup, it’s been in the news media at least that long. Twenty-four years ago, Boston Globe’s Alison Bass wrote about a Massachusetts priest accused of molesting at least 100 altar boys and girls. Fourteen years ago, the…
