Live Music and Projected Film
The use of live music with film goes all the way back to the silent era of cinema, when an in-house player was used to provide a soundtrack to accompany on-screen action. Seven years ago, documentary filmmaker Sam Green had the brainstorm to revive the concept in order to create a one-of-a-kind movie experience that…
Interest of Conflict
It’s Brian Regan against the world, or at least that’s how it seems when he’s on stage. “Years ago I remember talking to my mom,” he says by phone from his home in Las Vegas. “I think she was talking about my emergency-room bit.” One of his most popular, it’s the story of how he…
Was Dürer a Modernist?
On the face of it, Albrecht Dürer — the German Old Master who was one of art history’s greatest printmakers, deeply accomplished at engravings and woodcuts — wouldn’t have much in common with modernist sensibilities. He lived from 1471-1528, the “age of Reformation and Renaissance,” as the current Cincinnati Art Museum exhibit devoted to him…
‘Phantom Thread’ is Stitched to Perfection
With Phantom Thread, director/writer Paul Thomas Anderson fits audiences into the warm embrace of a perfectly conceived and stitched garment of a movie. Its appeal is timeless, even when its story contains overtones of today’s issues. That may make the film a bit of a challenge for those mired in the cultural and political moment.…
What’s the Hops: New Year, New Brews
It’s a brand new year, which means new beers and new breweries. Nine Giant just released Save Ferris, a cranberry-orange Berliner weisse. It’s available on draft at the taproom. Monocle is the latest in Urban Artifact’s Midwest Fruit Tart Ale series. The mango-enhanced beer is available on draft at the taproom (no cans). MadTree’s hoppy…
FC Cincinnati could buy CMHA land in West End; CPD: overall crime dropped in 2017, but violent crimes rose; more news
Good morning all. Here’s a quick news rundown as we all struggle through the middle of the week together. What’s that? You’re not struggling through your Wednesday morning? Cool, great, nice I guess. Glad for you. • Another sign that FC Cincinnati is eying the West End for its potential stadium: the team has signed…
The Kids Are Not All Right in this New, Disturbing TV show
It’s charming to watch a couple of misfit kids join forces on screen to take on the world in a heartwarming underdog love story. The End of the F***ing World (Netflix) is not that type of story. At least not at first. In this British series, boy meets girl, boy plots to murder girl, boy…
ONSTAGE REVIEW: A Circuitous Trip into the Woods
Karen Hartman’s comedy SuperTrue currently is getting its world premiere at Know Theatre via the National New Play Network. (In fact, it was on a 2015 list of noteworthy unproduced scripts by women and trans playwrights.) In advance publicity about the show, Know’s artistic director Andrew Hungerford stated, “This is a very timely play that…
The Affordability Puzzle
Olivia Harper was here when workers tore a yawning gulch through Walnut Hills. It ran up to her mother’s door before swallowing her house whole, making way for a wave of concrete that still runs through the neighborhood. The highway, I-71, claimed her sister’s house, too, some 45 years ago. In its wake, Harper saw…
This Week in Questionable Decisions: Jan. 17-23, 2018
This Week in Questionable Decisions… Adult film star Stormy Daniels — who made headlines last week when it was reported that Trump’s lawyer paid her $130,000 in hush money — claimed she slept with Trump in 2006 while he was already married to Melania. And says he compared her to his daughter. Come on, Stormy.…
What a Week!: Jan. 17-23
I’m Sorry, Dr. Jackson (Ooh!) Is This For Real? The White House last week released the results of Donald Trump’s recent physical. This is standard procedure for any president, but of course nothing can ever be normal with this administration, and the report did raise some eyebrows. Presidential physician Dr. Ronny Jackson found Trump to…
Minimum Gauge: U.K. government steps in to stop widespread shuttering of music venues
HOT: Shutting Down Music Venue Shutdowns File this under “Something that would never happen in Trump’s America” — the U.K. government is stepping in to protect music venues from property developers, recognizing their importance to artist development and the national economy. The support comes on the heels of a campaign (backed by Paul McCartney, Ray…
Cincinnati Indie Rock trio Ampline returns with its best album yet
This Friday, Greater Cincinnati’s Ampline returns to the record-store bins with Passion Relapse, its first album since 2010’s You Will Be Buried and fifth full-length overall. It’s also Ampline’s best work to date, which isn’t completely shocking given the musicians’ experience and extensive history. Together since 2001, Ampline’s members have refined the band’s chemistry with…
Audley expands artistic vision on ‘Pink’
After dynamic and energetic appearances in 2017 at the massive Ubahn Festival (alongside music titans like Big Sean and Steve Aoki) and the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards (where he performed with local Rock band and regular collaborator Sylmar), 2018 is looking to be an even bigger year for Cincinnati singer/songwriter Audley. This Friday, he is releasing…
FC Cincinnati eyes West End; Wasson Way won’t receive $1 million from state; plus more news
Good morning all. The weather is returning to a normal January level as I type. The federal government is unshutdown — for now. ("Functioning again" may be too charitable). CityBeat has an incredible issue hitting the stands tomorrow, the first under editor-in-chief Maija Zummo. A universe in flux eventually finds a moment of balance. Or…
Folk Medicine: Aimee Mann’s latest album is a moody acoustic rumination on emotional distress
Beginning with Whatever, Aimee Mann’s 1993 solo debut, the renowned Pop/Rock singer/songwriter has used melancholy as though it were another instrument in the studio. She’s never been afraid to admit that sadness is a palpable presence in her nine-album catalog. But even with that consistent and pervasive moodiness threading through her material, Mann has an…
Coming Soon to Mercantile Library: Steve Earle, Colson Whitehead and More
Because Downtown’s Mercantile Library has been around since 1835 — it was started by 45 merchants seeking to better themselves through education — some might regard it as a tradition-minded organization slow to change with the centuries. But such people probably aren’t the new members flocking to it — it ended 2017 with its highest…
Braxton Brings Back Black Raspberry Graeter’s Beer
Graeter’s and Braxton are continuing their successful and tasty collaboration by releasing an encore limited-edition run of their super popular Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip Milk Stout. Starting Feb. 6, the stout is slated to hit shelves at Kroger stores in Cincinnati, Dayton, Lexington, Louisville and, for the first time, Columbus and Nashville. First released to…
Sound Advice: Flobots with McLovins (Jan. 27)
For the past dozen years, Flobots has mixed Indie Rock and Hip Hop with a chemist’s precision to create an engaging and adrenalized hybrid that has attracted fans from both ends of its creative spectrum. Although Flobots began in Denver in 2005 with its self-released debut EP Platypus, frontman Jamie “Jonny 5” Laurie actually experimented…
Sound Advice: Zach Deputy with Elementree Livity Project (Jan. 27)
Reading about, listening to and witnessing a performance by Zach Deputy are three entirely different experiences, and all of them are a mildly disorienting at first. But everything makes complete sense about two minutes into seeing him live. Deputy’s music incorporates a plethora of technology — including drum and looping machines, among several other effects…
Women’s Voices, Women’s Votes
On Jan. 20, roughly 10,000 people holding signs and chanting took to the streets of downtown Cincinnati, joining protests across the country on the one-year anniversary of marches protesting the inauguration of President Donald Trump. But a key group abstaining from the event highlighted a fundamental difference among activists looking to build movements for women’s…
Sound Advice: The Bad Plus (Jan. 25)
Rock and Jazz have always had an uneasy alliance. When artists in one of those genres have attempted to incorporate elements of the other into their work, they have more often than not been castigated by purists on both sides of the musical equation and found themselves in the no-man’s-land of alienating fans and critics…
Streetcar won’t operate over the weekend; Ohio online charter school shuttered; plus more news
What’s up Cincy? Let’s get news out of the way as we speed toward a (hopefully) warmer weekend. All five of Cincinnati’s streetcars will be shut down until at least Monday, according to a news release from the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority yesterday. Cincinnati Metro buses will run their routes along the 3.6-mile streetcar…
STAGE DOOR: Storytelling Is in the Air
It’s a weekend for great stories. The Moth, the renowned storytelling organization from New York City that stages events around the country, will be in town at Memorial Hall on Saturday evening. It’s an event sponsored by WVXU-FM 91.7, which airs The Moth Radio Hour on Sunday evenings at 8 p.m. I’m sad to report…
Anthony Bourdain’s Food Waste Film Screens at Memorial Hall
The United States throws out 40 percent of the food it produces. The film Wasted!, executive produced by celebrity chef/writer/globe-trotter Anthony Bourdain, seeks solutions to help slice this dicey problem with waste down to size. Featuring a cast of culinary icons from Dan Barber to Eve Turow Paul, the film reclaims the parts of plants…
Could Clifton Become a Community Entertainment District?
You might soon have more nightlife options in Clifton if neighborhood groups get their way. Cincinnati City Manager Harry Black today filed a memo with Cincinnati City Council and the mayor’s office regarding an application from Clifton Town Meeting — the neighborhood’s community council — and the Clifton Business and Professional Association seeking to establish…
Councilmembers to City Administration: Supplement Affordable Housing Efforts
Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley says he has a long-term plan to shore up the city’s affordable housing. But a super-majority of Cincinnati City Council is calling for more action in the meantime. Seven members of council have signed a motion by Councilman David Mann asking the city to move more quickly on supplementary efforts, saying…
All five streetcars out of service overnight; Cincy out of running for Amazon HQ2; plus more news
What’s up Cincy? It’s news time. All five of Cincinnati’s streetcars were out of commission last night with mechanical problems. As of 6:30 this morning, one is back in service, meaning riders will experience extended wait times of up to 30 minutes. The Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority hopes to have all five cars back…
What a Week! Jan. 10-16
Gas Pumping in Oregon: How’s it Goin’? Nearly 70 years ago, Oregon and New Jersey banned self-service gas, which means gas stations in those states have old-timey assistants to pump gas into your car for you. How quaint! Oregon’s law was modified in 2015 to allow some stations to offer self-service at night and, beginning…
Listermann Releases New Fiona Birthday Beers
To celebrate Fiona's first birthday party at the zoo on Saturday (Jan. 20), Listermann is releasing three new Fiona-themed brews. Head to the taproom at 10 a.m. Saturday for the releases. The three beers are variations on their popular Team Fiona: Team Fiona: Birthday Edition is a New England-style IPA with citra and centennial hops (100 cases…
You’re Invited to Fiona’s First Birthday
On Saturday, the Cincinnati Zoo is hosting a birthday party for Fiona, otherwise known as the cutest hippo around town and the pride and joy of the zoo (and, honestly, the whole city). Since she was born, she has gained national attention, had her (sweet, kind and plump) face plastered over T-shirts, beer cans, Skyline…
A New, Artful Way to Tour the CAC
Visual artist Britni Bicknaver had a very successful MFA thesis show in the spring of last year at the Contemporary Arts Center. As her contribution to the exhibition, which included 11 graduates from the University of Cincinnati’s DAAP School of Art, she created Audio Tour. It led visitors on a guided journey of the various…
“The Post” Is Old News
Steven Spielberg kicks off The Post, his telling of how The Washington Post defied the Nixon administration in 1971 by publishing the Pentagon Papers, with a late-1960s warfare sequence in Vietnam. While not nearly as harrowing as anything in his Saving Private Ryan, Spielberg captures the deadly frenzy of combat in the jungle and sets…
Spike TV Transforms Into Paramount Network
When Spike TV launched in 2003 as a rebrand of another network, it was dubbed “the first television channel for men.” With content like UFC mixed martial arts coverage, adult cartoons, Baywatch reruns, James Bond flicks and, eventually, the Guys Choice Awards, the station was definitely geared toward the traditional dude viewer. While Spike evolved…
Recreating Rock & Roll History
Hunter Foster knows his way around the musical Million Dollar Quartet. When it debuted on Broadway in 2010, he played Sam Phillips, the legendary owner of Memphis’s Sun Records and the man behind the careers of young singers who went on to become icons of Rock & Roll music. The show recreates a fortuitous moment…
“Waitress” Is a Tasty Serving of Musical Theater
CRITIC'S PICK Waitress, the touring Broadway musical currently onstage at the Aronoff Center, combines music, talent, stagecraft and heartfelt storytelling. Based on Adrienne Shelly’s 2007 movie about a young woman, in a loveless marriage who escapes her painful existence by pouring herself into the pies she creates for a local diner, this adaptation staged by…
Rufus Wainwright Preps New Opera Here
Rufus Wainwright will be here in March to workshop his new opera Hadrian, as part of the Opera Fusion: New Works partnership between Cincinnati Opera and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music’s Opera Department. Wainwright, a prolific and Grammy-nominated popular songwriter and vocalist with a keen interest in contemporary Classical music, is working on…
Morning News: UCPD has named first female chief; DOJ weighs legal action against sanctuary cities
Hello, Cincy. I’ll spare you the short rant I just typed and deleted about how it’s still snowing so we can get straight to the news. Former Cincinnati Police Department Captain Maris Herold will become University of Cincinnati's new police chief, stepping up from her current role as UCPD assistant chief. Herold is the first…
CityBeat Joins Euclid Media Group
Most of the time when you hear about changes to alt-weekly papers in the news, it’s because they’ve closed, ceasing to exist and evaporating into the annals of history. But — great news — that’s not what’s happening here. As of this week, CityBeat has joined Euclid Media Group, a Cleveland-based media company that also…
Five Big Questions with Jeff Pastor
City Council’s three newcomers will have to wrestle with a number of tough questions now that they’ve been sworn in. CityBeat reached out to each — Republican Jeff Pastor and Democrats Greg Landsman and Tamaya Dennard — to ask five in particular. Find responses by Dennard here and Landsman here. This week, Pastor, an educator endorsed…
