Forgotten Classics: Silverado
As planet Earth drew closer and closer to the new millennium, the American cinema scene started to see a decline in a genre that was born here: The Western. That’s not to say there haven’t been any new Western films released — there have been quite a few. Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven was a hit in…
Morning News and Stuff
Hey all. Let’s talk about news for a minute. Now that Union Terminal looks to be on its way to renovation and Music Hall has received significant contributions toward the cost of its own fix-up, some preservationists have focused again on Memorial Hall. The building, which sits next to Music Hall on the west side…
Kasich Floats Income Tax Cuts in New Budget
Gov. John Kasich is touting half a million dollars in tax cuts in his new budget proposal, released Feb. 2. But Ohio’s tax scheme could get more regressive if state lawmakers take it up as is. The budget proposal would lower income taxes by 23 percent over the next two years and pay for it…
Leftovers: What We Ate This Weekend
Each week CityBeat staffers tell you what they ate this weekend. We're not always proud — or trendy — but we definitely spend at least some money on food. Danny Cross: A couple of my friends' girlfriends had a birthday death wish on Saturday night, taking a party of more than 15 to Krueger's Tavern. My girlfriend and I…
Sens. Paul and Boxer Team Up on Transportation
It sounds a little like an episode of a zany sitcom: a tea partying conservative from Kentucky and a classic California liberal team up to clean up some roads. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., announced Jan. 29 that he and Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., would introduce a bill seeking to shore up the nation’s federal Highway…
Beyond Idol Chatter: America Meets Jess Lamb
For many Cincinnati natives, seeing Jess Lamb perform her audition in Kansas City for the American Idol judges was the first time they had ever heard her powerful and emotive voice or seen her honest, determined spirit. But for anyone who has their ears to the ground in Cincinnati’s local music scene (or has drunkenly…
Morning News and Stuff
Good morning all. Here’s what’s up in the news today: City Manager Harry Black today announced that Thomas B. Corey will be the head of the city’s recently created Department of Economic Inclusion. The department is charged with increasing the availability of city contracts for women and minority owned businesses in the city. Corey is…
Dining Out for Life Cincinnati Returns
Significant progress has been made since the 1980s HIV/AIDS epidemic, but there is still research and work to be done in finding a cure. Spearheading the movement in Ohio is Caracole, an organization that provides affordable housing and supportive services for individuals and families living with HIV/AIDS. You can help, too. The annual Dining Out…
Brouhaha at the BBC and Al Jazeera
Turmoil at Broadcasting House in London affects what I hear in Cincinnati on BBC’s overnight World Service on WVXU-FM. As it is with any news medium where neutrality is a goal, complaints increasingly focus on word choice and allegations of political correctness rather than overt story bias and slant. The latest BBC brouhaha arose from…
The Other Place (Review)
Critic's Pick Lynn Meyers, producing artistic director at Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati, has a knack for finding thoughtful, engaging new plays that haven’t been seen on any local stage and giving them memorable productions. They’re frequently shows that recently debuted in New York City as important Broadway productions or off-Broadway hits. Meyers typically stages them herself…
Your Weekend To Do List (1/30-2/1)
Art, beer, live theater and more. Friday, Jan. 30 SUPER BOWL PREP: Football: Most people enjoy the game, some consider the sport their religion and others pretend to not even know what it is, filing it under the athletic umbrella of “sportzball.” But no amount of hipster cynicism can stifle the excitement surrounding the Super Bowl. From…
David Lewis’ Music Lectures at the Main Library Expand to Saturdays
The presentations on The History of Cincinnati Music that David (“Uncle Dave”) Lewis has been presenting at the Main Library over the last year or so have been so good — so enlightening and entertaining — that one wishes he could do it for much larger crowds at the Aronoff Center or Music Hall. Or…
Morning News and Stuff
Good morning! I’ll be brief in my news update this morning, since I’m also keeping an eye on today’s White House task force on 21st century policing taking place at the University of Cincinnati today and tomorrow. You can live stream the event here. Anyway, here are a few bits of news floating around today:…
Q&A with Umphrey’s McGee
Umphrey’s McGee is one of the most popular bands in America on the Jam Band scene. Its sound can attract an eclectic audience with hints of Rock, Jazz and R&B and the well-rounded, phenomenal musicians in the lineup. The band has been touring nationally for over 15 years and is a staple on the summer…
Stage Door: Women in Distress on Local Stages This Weekend
Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati continues its hot streak of well-cast and engaging scripts with Sharr White's The Other Place, the story of a brilliant but abrasive woman who is losing her grip. Regina Pugh is excellent in this moving and sometimes funny production, ably supported by Michael G. Bath as her perplexed husband, and with two…
I Just Can’t Get Enough
The Ghostbusters reboot has its leading ladies! Director/co-writer Paul Feig posted a picture on Twitter of what he’s confident will be the next ghost-busting foursome: Talk about some badass funnywomen. Now, considering that tweets aren’t legally binding at this point, it isn’t an official cast announcement. But why would Feig lie to us? Let’s indulge…
Why Not Sherrod Brown for Prez?
If you’re a spectator of Democratic Party politics right about now, you’ve probably watched the 2016 presidential election sweepstakes unfolding with interest. Dems probably won’t get close to the huge stable of potential nominees the Republican Party is currently wrangling with, and Hillary Clinton seems to have the nomination locked up, so much so that…
Morning News and Stuff
Morning all. Here’s what’s happening around town today. Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear would like to see the looming effort to replace the Brent Spence Bridge, currently estimated to cost $2.6 billion, trimmed by $300 million, they said yesterday in a news conference. That will be a tall order, Kentucky transportation…
From the Copy Desk
Good morning readers! After a break last week, I'm back at it. I know you've all been waiting anxiously for your next vocabulary lesson. (And by that I mean not at all.) This week, Kathy Wilson's editorial on the infamous letter the mayor of Norwood penned to Norwood's police department is full of Words Nobody…
Dad, the Days Are Getting Longer
I usually think of my father more during this time of year, because the days are getting longer. He always liked that. Fall and winter were the worst seasons for him. He hated it when the clocks were turned back an hour and when the days would start getting shorter. He was a farmer, a…
Forgotten Classics: The Dark Crystal
“Another world, another time, in the age of wonder…” It’s with that mystical and somewhat haunting quote that the audience is set up for something truly special. In the 1980s Jim Henson, maestro behind the creation of the lovable and hilarious Muppets, decided to expand his creative mind and came out with two non-Muppet movies.…
Project Almanac
This teen science fiction thriller has tickled my fancy, if only for all of the films it seems inspired by, because I hope it does justice to the crazy patchwork that includes everything from Shane Carruth’s Primer (definitely the more esoteric of the bunch), Chronicle (from Fantastic Four reboot helmer Josh Trank), Back to the…
The Loft
Crafting the perfect thriller starts off with nailing down a tantalizing premise and The Loft certainly provides a chilling tease. Five married guys (with Karl Urban and James Marsden included in the mix) enter a secret pact to share a penthouse loft, but complications arise — as they must — when a dead body winds…
Black Sea
Kevin Macdonald has tested his visionary skills in a variety of genres, from The Last King of Scotland and State of Play to Marley, the documentary dedicated to the legendary Reggae performer, but in each case he brings a gritty sense of character and place that is second to none. So Black Sea arrives with…
Black or White
What we’re talking about when we talk about race depends on our individual perspectives, but it is not the talking that matters. What truly matters is how willing we are to listen to those other perspectives. During the Toronto International Film Festival, I found myself challenged by Mike Binder and his take on race relations…
Football-centric Fare for Super Bowl Week
Football: Most people enjoy the game, some consider the sport their religion and others pretend to not even know what it is, filing it under the athletic umbrella of “sportzball.” But no amount of hipster cynicism can stifle the excitement surrounding the Super Bowl. From sports nuts to Pop music fans, ad aficionados to crazy…
Overcoming ‘A Most Violent Year’
Two ideas came to mind as I prepared to critically grapple with A Most Violent Year, the new film from J.C. Chandor (Margin Call and All Is Lost). The title lays bare its intentions and the film’s setting — early 1980s New York City, noted for being mired in crime and vice — strips away…
Opera Fusion: New Works Enables Completion of Daniel Catán Work
In 2008, the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music and Cincinnati Opera launched Opera Fusion, an initiative to share resources and nurture emerging talent in artistic and technical areas. That spring, Mexican-American composer Daniel Catán worked with CCM students on an eerie staging of his opera Rappaccini’s Daughter and with Cincinnati Opera’s stunning production of…
Photographer William Messer Observes Two Decades of Giverny
Were Claude Monet to look at the black-and-white photographs that William Messer took of Giverny over a 20-year period — photographs featured in the Over Time exhibit at The Carnegie through Feb. 7 — he would say, “You missed the point!” The point, so clearly illustrated through Monet’s many paintings of the water lilies in…
Full Circle Funny
L ike many future comedians, Cincinnati native Alex Stone discovered he was funny almost by accident. “I remember specifically having a moment maybe in seventh or eighth grade,” he says. “I don’t even know what was said or what happened, but I vividly remember a girl laughing, looking at me and going, ‘You’re funny.’ And…
A Farmer in Winter
Sidle up to a farmers market on a summer Saturday and you’re spoiled for choice between tables piled high with brightly colored produce, fresh cuts of meat, loaves of bread and gorgeous flowers. In fact, at some stands you can barely see the smiling faces of the farmers themselves behind the bounty. And of course,…
Krueger’s Tavern (Review)
L ike many Cincinnatians, there is a decent amount of German in my blood. Growing up, my dad liked to highlight it by cooking various tube meats in sauerkraut and serving them over mashed potatoes. The dish was never my favorite, and I still struggle to feign excitement over it. So when I heard that…
Revved Back Up
F ans of the Reverend Horton Heat haven’t exactly been flooded with new music from the band lately. After cranking out eight studio albums over the first 13 years of a recording career that began with the 1990 release Smoke ‘em If You Got ‘em, the group’s most recent album, Rev, marks only the second…
Umphrey’s McGee with Tauk
Music labels can be helpful when used to define a band to neophytes, or it can be a hindrance when a descriptive term jumps the shark. In the 1970s, the tags “Prog Rock” and “Fusion” went out of favor when many bands in those genres succumbed to their own musical excesses. The Jam Band moniker…
Keb’ Mo’
Success comes in the strangest forms. For more than four decades, Keb’ Mo’ has been considered one of the leading contemporary lights in the Delta Blues tradition, a guitarist of infinite skill and invention who can easily play straight Delta translations or seamlessly hybridize the genre with dashes of Pop, Jazz, Folk and Rock. Yet…
BoomBox
While founded on the backbeats and synth sequences often associated with Electronic music and the riffing guitar and improvised sets known to Jam music fans, BoomBox avoids association with the term “Jamtronica.” Rather, they like to think of themselves as a single DJ, operating as a unit built to get the party going, very much…
Shooter Jennings & Waymore Outlaws with Travis Meadows and Josh Morning Star
Following a father’s musical footsteps is hard enough, but boots don’t come harder to match than those of Country icon Waylon Jennings. Yet, in a similar (if somewhat less extreme) manner as fellow Country scion Hank III, Shooter Jennings has honored and reflected his father’s incalculable Country contributions while forging his own unique and successful…
Morning News and Stuff
Hello Cincy. There’s a lot happening today, so let’s get it going. Later today, Mayor John Cranley and the Economic Inclusion Advisory Council he appointed last year will present the results of a study on ways to make the city more inclusive for businesses owned by minorities and women. The EIAC has been tasked with…
Midwest Movie Town
D eep beneath the streets of Over-the-Rhine sprawls a labyrinth of brick archways and dark tunnels where beer was aged and stored during the city’s brewery boom of the mid-1800s. It’s a historic underground world ripe for the curious visitor or adventurous local. And it has recently become a movie location attracting the likes of…
CCV Pushes for Removal of Flynt Adult Store Billboard
Conservative group Citizens for Community Values is seeking the removal of a billboard next to I-71 that it says is obscene. The billboard, which advertises adult store Jimmy Flynt Sexy Gifts, reads “end boring sex.” The billboard does not contain any images. It stands near the Red Bank Road exit of the highway, just a…
Ohio AG DeWine Files Suit Over Obamacare Fees
The state of Ohio, lead by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, filed a lawsuit in federal district court against the federal government Jan. 26 over fees associated with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) paid by state and local governments. DeWine says the fees amount to an unconstitutional tax. Joining the state in the lawsuit are…
Study: Income Inequality Rising in Ohio
Ohio’s top 1 percent of earners make 21 times more than the other 99 percent of earners in Ohio, according to a study released by the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank based in Washington, D.C. The EPI report found that half of economic growth between 1979 and 2012 went to the top 1…
Talking Points
M ore than 70 people sat in the chilly auditorium at Truth and Destiny Covenant Church in Mount Airy Jan. 24 listening raptly to two attorneys talk about traffic stops. The presentation on legal rights was part of a three-hour teach-in and community discussion put on by a group of local activists who have recently…
Norwood: UpSouth
Norwood, Ohio, our urban Appalachian city/burg without discernable lane lines and with seemingly endless road construction that never results in better roads; the city betwixt and between us and the other places we’d like to be, will always get what it gets — a bad rap and a bad reputation — because of its so-called…
Cincinnati Entertainment Awards Honor Local Music for 18th Year
It was another great celebration of the Greater Cincinnati music scene Sunday, Jan. 25 at Covington’s Madison Theater as CityBeat presented the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards for the 18th straight year. Sara Celi from Fox 19 hosted the event and kept things rolling nicely (a tough feat given the numerous performances and award presentations). Nominees Mad…
Cincinnati vs. The World 1.28.15
The city of Cincinnati added new capabilities to the city’s parking meters in response to issues surrounding increased hours and enforcement that went into effect at the beginning of the year. Residents now can prepay meters before enforcement hours begin and also have the option to pay for more than two hours at a time…
Worst Week Ever!: Jan. 21-27
Norwood Mayor Wishes the Blacks Would Stop Getting Upset About How Police Mistreat Them Many white people in America don’t have a problem with the heavy-handed and unjust way in which deep-seated racism tends to affect the way black people’s interactions with law enforcement transpire. Even though prejudice occasionally results in black people being beaten,…
