HBO Expands Summer Doc Series For Year-Round Films
Sometimes a true story is far more fascinating than anything Hollywood could dream up. If you’re a fan of interesting documentaries and you’ve already conquered Netflix’s detailed doc genre list, tune into HBO on Monday nights. The network has expanded its popular summer documentary series to a year-round schedule of entertaining, thought-provoking programming. New offerings…
Cracking the Code with ‘I Origins’ Director Mike Cahill
For fans of the current wave of independent filmmaking, there’s a certain romantic curiosity surrounding the power-trio of Brit Marling, Zal Batmanglij and Mike Cahill. Marling holds the center, anchoring and serving as the face of the trio’s projects together. She co-wrote Another Earth with Cahill, as well as two features with Batmanglij — Sound…
Street Artist Elliott James Is Cincinnati’s Yeti
A yeti is rumored to be a large human-bear creature that creeps around the bottom of mountain slopes gobbling up slow skiers. Is it reality or a myth? No one knows, and, frankly, its authenticity is overshadowed by its purpose to humanity. The hunt for a yeti unites us and brings friend and foe together…
Find Your Way to a Local Park for a Dose of Shakespeare
Sixty years ago visionary producer Joseph Papp dreamed up the idea of Shakespeare in the Park. It’s become an institution in Central Park in New York City and, since 1954, dozens of other locales have repeated the concept across the United States and beyond. Our own Cincinnati Shakespeare Company has been at it for at…
New Novel Chronicles City’s Weirdest Museum
As part of her duties for Taft Museum of Art in 2007, Tamera Lenz Muente — now an assistant curator — was doing research for an exhibit on the work of acclaimed 19th century sculptor Hiram Powers. The show included works that Powers made during his early adulthood in Cincinnati (before he moved to Florence,…
Art Shook Up
The strange ways we remember Elvis Presley are best summed up by the lyrics of the late Warren Zevon’s “Jesus Mentioned,” in which he imagines traveling to Memphis to see the dead King: “He went walking on the water … with his pills.” Zevon thus concisely explains how our culture both deifies Presley, who died…
Public Money, Private Problems
As quasi-private schools funded with public money across Ohio face scrutiny, some say they need to be held to a higher standard. Supporters of charter or community schools say they do a better job at a lower cost than public schools. But critics say the schools are inconsistent, that state oversight of charters is too…
Le Chef
The restaurant world has no shortage of drama, with chefs embroiled in legal battles with their restaurant backers over the right to use their celebrity names once the two sides part ways over control of the kitchen. It is a wonder that such pairings could ever produce mouthwatering delights in the first place. Daniel Cohen’s…
Guardians of the Galaxy
Marvel Studios has excelled thus far by creating characters that neatly fit into segmented niches that are easily identifiable for audiences — Iron Man is the quippy inventor, Captain America is the old-fashioned moral exemplar and Thor is the seemingly immortal “alien” — but with the release of James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy, all…
Cincinnati vs. the World 07.30.2014
Sarah Palin has found another way to make money off her status as a celebrity political commentator, with her new online Sarah Palin Channel. For $10 a month, subscribers can get news delivered by Palin that “cuts through the media’s politically correct filter,” along with a dose of the Palin household’s “real-life” “outdoor adventures.” WORLD…
George Clooney vs. the Tabloids
Here’s a twist on the old “Don’t pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the gallon.” That was when print ruled. Now, it’s don’t pick an online fight with an immensely popular actor and a respected lawyer who come from journalism families: George Clooney and fiance Amal Alamuddin. They’re not afraid of London…
Elevators
Violent black mega-stars and violent black athletes and the women who try to love them should avoid elevators like most black people avoid therapy. The truth comes out in both. In the wake of Baltimore Ravens’ running back Ray Rice allegedly caught on an elevator camera knocking out his then-girlfriend and then dragging her unconscious…
Who’s Gonna Drive You Home?
It’s hard to imagine now, but there once were things you couldn’t do with an app on a smartphone. Until recently, one of those things was catch a ride in Cincinnati. That changed when ridesharing companies Uber and Lyft came to town in March. But as catching a ride has gotten simpler, questions around the…
Dayton’s Brewery Co-op Builds Community
Dayton, Ohio’s Fifth Street Brewpub co-op served its own beers to patrons for the first time on July 16. While the doors to the brewery, taproom and restaurant opened last year — and beer from other brewers has been pouring from their taps ever since — the brewery just received all of the necessary legal…
Cincinnati’s Doscher’s Candies Has Been Making French Chews and Candy Canes for More Than 100 Years
Doscher’s Candies has been a Cincinnati staple for more than a century. Yet there are still locals who aren’t aware that the company, founded in 1871 by Claus Doscher, is the maker of French Chew, the popular taffy that generations of candy lovers grew up purchasing at drug stores, swim clubs and mom-and-pop joints across…
Greater Cincinnati Gets the Blues This Weekend
It’s Christmas in August this weekend for local Blues fans. The big event is the 22nd annual Cincy Blues Fest, presented Friday and Saturday at the riverfront’s Sawyer Point by the Cincy Blues Society. Once again, the Blues Fest will feature some excellent national headliners, including soulful New York singer/songwriter Dana Fuchs on Friday and…
Eric Johnson
Coming on the scene in the late ’80s/early ’90s as a new guitar hot shot, Eric Johnson lit up the frets and the music world with a Grammy Award win for his original instrumental, “Cliffs of Dover,” in 1991. Though a multi-instrumentalist of the highest order, he is mostly known for his fluid guitar pyrotechnics.…
The Casket Girls with Dreamend
The original derivation of a casket (or casquette) girl referred to an early 18th century female who had been repatriated from France to the French colonial South in order to marry; “casket” referred to the small chest that held their belongings. These girls were desirable because they were procured through church auspices and therefore guaranteed…
Cheers Elephant with The Ready Stance
Cheers Elephant is a blatantly hook-laden AltPop band that brings a sense of humor and 1960s-era verve to their sound. With reverb-a-plenty and blue-sky harmony vocals, the up-tempo band keeps its big beats front and center. When I say that Cheers Elephant brings a ’60s Pop groove to the table, it is more along the…
Morning News and Stuff
Good morning all! Here's what's happening today. A Hamilton County judge yesterday ordered the city to pay back the $4 million it borrowed from neighborhood funds in 2012. We reported on that money and other budget-related cuts to neighborhood funds in June. Common Pleas Judge Robert Gorman wasn’t amused, called the arrangement, which borrowed a…
Onstage: A Mid(week) Summer Night’s Dream
“And yet, to say the truth, reason and love keep little company together nowadays.” This week you can have your love of Shakespeare at a reasonable price: free. See the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company in the Bard’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream on the front lawn of the Clifton Cultural Arts Center. It’s A Mid(week) Summer Night’s…
Event: Ohio Valley Greenmarket
Green-minded vendors and sustainability experts coalesce to sell their products and share their knowledge during Gorman Heritage Farm’s third annual Ohio Valley Greenmarket. Stop in to hear from special guest Daniel Klein, co-founder of Perennial Plate and host of Edible Feast on PBS, and to participate in hands-on demonstrations. Leave with resources and shared knowledge…
Event: Sam Adams Brew & View
Sam Adams’ traveling summer party is making a Cincinnati stop in Eden Park. At sunset, Wedding Crashers will play in HD while food trucks sell favorite summer fare and games of corn hole heat up by round. And, in accordance with the beer baron’s Rule #76 to “play like a champion,” beer will be poured…
Event: Greater Cincinnati Radio Control Club Flying Circus
The 54th annual Greater Cincinnati Radio Control Club Flying Circus lands in Butler County for a two-day event. Dubbed a “model aeronautics extravaganza,” the show will feature more than 175 model aircraft, ranging from helicopters to jets to a rocket-powered space shuttle. To make it fun for the family, kids will be able to spot…
Literary: Jessica Null Vealitzek
Jessica Null Vealitzek's first novel, The Rooms Are Filled, centers on a pair of people searching for their place in the world: a 9-year-old boy from rural Minnesota transplanted to suburban Chicago, where he crosses paths with a school teacher dealing with the realities of her closeted sexuality. The two form a unique bond, one…
Music: Hi-Tek and Friends
Cincinnati Hip Hop icon Hi-Tek’s legend began when he established his singular production sound with Cincy’s own Mood, as well as his early work with Mos Def and Talib Kweli. From there, Tek became one of the more in-demand producers in Hip Hop, working with 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg, Lloyd Banks and Dr. Dre, among…
Event: Wild for Pets Festival
Jungle Jim’s hosts its inaugural Wild for Pets festival, welcome to cats, dogs and birds alike — and their owners, of course. Treats and activities will keep furry and feathered companions entertained, while pet owners have the chance to mingle with vendors and get free samples of pet products. Several pet experts, including a pet fitness…
Event: Lumenocity
Last year’s smash-hit Lumenocity — the pairing of Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Cincinnati Ballet set to pulsating lights on the backdrop of Music Hall— returns bigger and better this year with brighter lights, more performances and the Lumenocity Village for a full festival experience. Although the 42,500 free tickets for the three performances and…
Event: Holy Cross-Immaculata Festival
Holy Cross-Immaculata Parish continues its 40-year festival with live music and fun for everyone. Friday night will feature ’70s sounds from Gee, Your Band Smells Terrific, and Saturday night The Modulators are queued up for your enjoyment. This year the festival has added a “Bier Garten with a View,” which allows guests to take in…
Comedy: Tony Rock
Tony Rock is best-known as the host of the newly revamped talent show, Apollo Live, as well as one of the stars of the sitcom All of Us. But at heart he is stand-up comic, like his brother Chris. More subdued than his sibling, Rock is just as adept at observing human foibles, often by…
Event: Progressive Pre-Prohibition Dinner
Four historic Cincinnati eateries that were in operation before Prohibition — Arnold’s Bar & Grill, Campanello’s, Scotti’s and The Washington Platform — have teamed up to host a progressive downtown dinner. This five-course meal will start with appetizers at Washington Platform, with hourly seatings starting at 5 p.m. After apps, head to Scotti’s for salad…
Art: Visionaries + Voices Open Studio
Although exhibition opening receptions can be a great opportunity to meet with artists in a more formal gallery setting, if one wants to truly get into the mind of the artist, nothing compares to the chance to visit a working studio — that sacred space where many artists hone their craft. Visionaries+Voices, always searching for…
Onstage: Footloose
It’s the second weekend for Cincinnati Young People’s Theatre’s all-student production of Footloose, the hit 1998 musical (based on a hit 1984 film that starred Kevin Bacon). What a perfect show for high-school kids! Ren and his mom move from Chicago to a farm community where a local preacher is trying to suppress teen energy…
Music: Listen to This! at the Main Library
David Little, a longtime progressive political activist and public policy communications consultant, will play records and talk about “Political & Protest Music Part 1: The Post-World War II Awakening 1946-1962" at Wednesday's Listen to This! session at downtown's Main Library. He will show how, beginning with the Beat Era, politicized Folk music flowered in conjunction…
The Forsyth Saga
Back in the ‘70s, John Denver wrote the line, “I’d no more love just one kind of woman than drink only one kind of wine.” Guy Forsyth takes a similar approach when it comes to playing music in general, and the Blues specifically. Forsyth could hardly be accused of repeating himself, from band to band,…
The Iguanas
These days, it’s an accomplishment to find something that lasts 25 months, let alone 25 years. And yet The Iguanas are still making vital music and crisscrossing the country to present it in its most elementally satisfying live fashion, a quarter century after the band’s formation in New Orleans. Perhaps even more amazing, save for…
Morning News and Stuff
It's Monday and stuff is already getting crazy. Here's the good, the bad and the befuddling in the news today. Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones shared his thoughts Friday on… something… ostensibly related to Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley’s recently announced immigration initiative. The initiative looks to attract documented immigrants who will contribute to economic growth…
Most Wanted Man
Anton Corbijn follows up The American, his intriguing formalistic pairing with George Clooney, with a thriller based on a John le Carré novel that will likely draw far more notice, since the release is one of the last to feature Philip Seymour Hoffman. The narrative — the tale of a tortured Chechen-Russian immigrant who surfaces…
Lucy
Luc Besson, the French one-man action studio system, presents his latest gem, about a drug mule (Scarlett Johansson) moving an illegal and highly experimental concoction that accidently seeps into her bloodstream and transforms her into a matrix-level warrior with unlimited capacity for damage and a desire to get revenge on the people who trapped her…
Hercules
It is time to re-imagine what happened to Hercules (Dwayne Johnson) upon the conclusion of his legendary 12 labors. The Greek demigod wanted nothing more than to enjoy the fruits far away from any talk of gods and family, I suppose, but the muscleman takes on the challenge of transforming a soft collection of troops…
The Grand Seduction
Sometimes an obviously hokey premise — like a small harbor town seeking to woo a doctor (Taylor Kitsch) by any means necessary — can rise above its broad strokes to achieve a degree of the sublime. Canadian director Don McKellar (Last Night, Blindness) has the wit and darkly comedic sensibilities to tempt and tease a…
And So It Goes
Diane Keaton has cornered the market as the mistress of the aging Hollywood lothario set onscreen. Having given the goods to Jack Nicholson in Something’s Gotta Give in order to reform the seemingly irredeemable swinger, now she’s matched up opposite Michael Douglas (as a selfish realtor drafted to care for his granddaughter) in Rob Reiner’s…
Maury’s Tiny Cove Beer Dinner
Maury's Tiny Cove hosts a themed "Summer Grilling" beer dinner. The six tastings and seven dishes include beers Lagunitas Imperial Red, Ft. Collins Major Tom Wheat, Lagunitas Day Fractional Day Time Fractional IPA, Southern Tier Harvest, Lagunitas Little Sumpin’ Extra Ale and food — cheeseburger sliders, grilled hot dogs, corn fritters, chicken kabobs, sausage on a…
Progressive Pre-Prohibtion Dinner
Four historic Cincinnati eateries that were in operation before Prohibition (1920) — Arnold’s Bar & Grill, Campanello’s, Scotti’s and The Washington Platform — have teamed up to host a progressive downtown dinner. This five-course meal will start with appetizers at Washington Platform, with hourly seatings starting at 5 p.m. After apps, head to Scotti’s for…
Stage Door: Shakin’ It
If you paid attention to the local theater season just concluded, you will recall that Cincinnati Shakespeare Company completed a herculean task: During its 20-year existence, the classic theater has produced all 38 of Shakespeare's plays. This summer three of Cincy Shakes' best actors are repeating the feat — sort of — with a production…
Family German Night
Mecklenburg Gardens hosts Family German Night on Wednesdays, with live music from Alpen Echoes Duo in the biergarten. Starting at 6 p.m., enjoy music, an Oktoberfest chicken dinner (for $16) and free chicken dance lessons for the kids. Kids eat free with every adult entree. 6 p.m. Wednesdays. Free. 302 E. University Ave., Clifton, mecklenburgs.net.
Morning News and Stuff
News time! As we reported yesterday, Mayor John Cranley rolled out his new immigration task force at Music Hall. The volunteer group, made up of 78 community leaders split into five committees, will look for ways to make Cincinnati a welcoming city for immigrants with an eye toward economic development and growth. The initiative is…
Farmer Mike’s Market at Krohn
Krohn Conservatory hosts Farmer Mike's Market every Saturday in July, coinciding with their current summer floral show, Edible Landscape (through Aug. 24). Farmer Mike from Martin Hill Farms in Aberdeen, Ohio, will set up shop on the outside patio with local fresh produce. 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday in July. Free. Krohn Conservatory, Eden Park, cincinnatiparks.com.…
Cranley Announces Immigration Initiative
Mayor John Cranley today announced the creation of a 78-person task force that will work toward making Cincinnati "the most immigrant-friendly city in the country." The effort will work to bring more investment from highly-educated and well-to-do immigrants to the area. Few specifics were offered about how the initiative would address the hot topic of…
Morning News and Stuff
Tons going on today in Cincinnati. Check it out. Vice President Joe Biden spoke this morning at the National Urban League Conference, which is here in town this year. Biden’s speech touched on the challenges the black community has historically faced and the progress the country has made toward economic and social equality. But there…
From The Copy Desk
The well of vocab was no longer dry this week thanks to our cover story "America's Best Worst Politicians," a supplement from the Association of Alternative Newspapers. You’ve got to read it to believe it, folks. And yes, I copy edited the entire, 15-page piece (Oxford commas and all) and I inserted every single mean…
I Just Can’t Get Enough
"Weird Al” Yankovic pulled a ‘Yoncé last week, dropping eight music videos in conjunction with the release of his 14th studio album, Mandatory Fun. As inherently corny as Weird Al may be, you have to commend the guy for sticking with his schtick for almost 40 years — not to mention finding such success with…
Review: Pitchfork Music Festival 2014
Three years ago on summer vacation, I heard about Pitchfork Music Festival from my older sister. She went to the festival with friends from her college radio station, and told me about spending the weekend in Chicago, crashing on a friend’s apartment floor and navigating the train system. It didn’t sound particularly comfortable, but I…
Morning News and Stuff
It’s a pretty good morning for news, so let’s get to it. Cincinnati City Council's epic struggle this spring over the Central Parkway bike lane is barely a memory and the city is well on its way to a protected bike route from uptown to downtown. Crews are painting the new lanes right now, like,…
America’s Worst Politicians
King George III was “a Tyrant… unfit to be the ruler of a free people,” Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence just over 238 years ago. Tommy had it right. Ever since then, Americans have been calling out their leaders. “Tyrant” was just the start. We’ve moved on to crook (Nixon), liar (Clinton)…
Media Musings From Cincinnati and Beyond
Fox’s WXIX 19 had a bizarre “investigative” report which not only rehashed an earlier story at unseemly length but also repeated itself during the rehash. City departmental managers are supposed to live in the city, according to Cincinnati City Council. Some apparently don’t. Good story. But how many times do we have to see the…
Golden Lamb Hosts Warped Wing Beer Dinner
The historic Golden Lamb in Lebanon, Ohio is hosting a paired beer dinner with Dayton's Warped Wing Brewing Company. The dinner will feature five seasonal courses prepared by chef Ben Toney with the following beer pairings: Ermal’s white bean hummus with caramelized pear, arugula and grapefruit; paired with Ermal’s Belgian Cream Ale Flying Rye garlic chicken…
