May 17-24, 2017
Send In the Clowns: Ugo Rondinone transforms the Contemporary Arts Center with his strange clowns and rainbow colors
Cincinnati-filmed ‘Sacred Deer’ makes its Cannes debut
The Killing of a Sacred Deer, the Cincinnati-filmed psychological thriller from the director and star of last year’s perverse hit The Lobster, made its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday and early reviews are strong. One approval came in a short video that Kristen Schlotman, Film Cincinnati executive director, made in Cannes just after…
Minimum Gauge: Toby Keith gets in on the “money trumps personal beliefs” fun in the Middle East
HOT: How Do You Like Him Now? A “money trumps personal beliefs” theme was strong in Saudi Arabia this week. Handsome Boy Modelling School graduate Toby Keith took a break from writing songs about boozing to show once again how much he loves America and stands up for its values by performing a concert in…
Review: ‘Twin Peaks’
In the midst of a ’90s-revival era of television — including Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, Fuller House and Girl Meets World — sits FBI Agent Dale Cooper’s doppelgänger (complete with grungy hair and a leather jacket), sipping his coffee not from a mug but from a modern paper cup complete with a lid. …
Morning News: Luken: Banks group should meet or quit; is Covington a hipster haven?; Trump budget could mean big cuts to area anti-drug efforts
Good morning Cincy! Let’s talk about what’s happening around town, shall we? Is Cincinnati paying for advice on parking it doesn’t use? The city has paid Conduent, a New Jersey company, $1.2 million since 2014 to run its parking meters, operate enforcement activities and suggest pricing in various neighborhoods based on parking spot vacancy data.…
November ballot issue leaves lower drug prices up to Ohioans
This November, Ohio voters will decide on a referendum that sounds like a sure thing for passage: lower drug prices. No, this isn’t a follow-up to last year’s marijuana measure, which failed anyway. The discount would only apply to drugs purchased by state employees and retirees and through state programs like Medicaid. An estimated 3.7…
Springdale grocery cited for working 15-year-olds too much on school nights
The U.S. Department of Labor has filed suit against Springdale’s Delicias Supermarket for allegedly underpaying its workers and giving three 15-year-olds too much work on school days. Beginning on Aug. 11, 2014, the store on Northland Boulevard and its owner, Ignacio Perez Negron, “repeatedly” violated provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the agency contends.…
Morning News: COASTer forms group to oppose stadium spending; Ohio lawmaker seeks to ease concealed carry penalties; activists gearing up for Tensing retrial
Good morning all. Here’s what’s going on around Cincinnati and beyond today. Last November, local faith leader and civil rights activist Bishop Bobby Hilton found himself in the middle of activity around Ray Tensing’s first murder trial, and now, with the retrial kicking off this week, he’s expected to once again play a central role…
Morning News: Ghiz keeps tight grip on Tensing retrial; Cranley apologies for mistaken procalamation honoring officer’s killer; Sens. Portman, Brown agree — at least on Mueller
Happy Friday Cincy. There’s plenty of news happening to last you through the weekend, so let’s get right to it. Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Leslie Ghiz has set tight protocols ahead of the retrial of former University of Cincinnati Police officer Ray Tensing. Only three reporters, chosen by lottery, will be allowed in…
Stage Door: Spring theater productions winding down
With Memorial Day right around the corner, several theaters wrap up their 2016-17 seasons this weekend. It’s a good weekend to catch something entertaining. There won’t be much to see on Memorial Day weekend, so you might plan to use those three days to rest up for Cincinnati Fringe, which begins performances on Wednesday, May…
Your Weekend To Do List (May 19-21)
FRIDAY 19 EVENT: OTR SUMMER CELEBRATION AND 5K Lace up your running shoes for the 11th-annual OTR 5K. The 5K, which featured more than 1,200 runners last year, will kick off at Washington Park 9 a.m. Saturday and loop around OTR and the Brewery District. But it isn’t just a race: It’s also a two-day…
Champion of Cities
Documentarian Matt Tyrnauer (Valentino: The Last Emperor) presents, in Citizen Jane: Battle for the City, an unlikely redefinition of the story of David versus Goliath. As the stand-in for the little guy, you’ve got Jane Jacobs, a writer carving out a name for herself on the architecture beat, with a common-sense approach based on ground-level…
Morning News: Overdoses surge again in Greater Cincinnati; Clifton Market to offer grocery delivery; questions mount about Ky. Gov. Bevin house purchase
Hey hey Cincy. It’s been a heck of a week and it’s only Thursday morning. There have been more developments in the growing drama around President Donald Trump’s administration. Controversial former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes reportedly passed away yesterday. Former Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell also died last night. I suggest you revisit this classic,…
Interns at Lunch: Taste of Belgium
Ah, the perks of being an unpaid summer intern — sometimes your editor sends you to lunch. In this recurring online Eats segment, we’ll be picking up the tab while our interns eat lunch and report back. This week, we sent them to Taste of Belgium to try the resurrected buckwheat crêpes. Taste of Belgium…
All the News That’s Fit to Ignore
When I consider whether news can survive as a foundation of our participatory democracy, I’m more a soiled idealist than the optimist I used to be. Reasons for optimism include some national news media that refuse to be cowed and myriad local news media where toilers remain dedicated to fact-based journalism and traditional ethics. However,…
What a Week! May 10-16
WEDNESDAY, MAY 10 The 2016 U.S. presidential election might have been a circus show, but South Korea’s recent election was a game of thrones. SBS, a top Korean news network, pulled out all the stops with its graphics for election night. As the tallies came in, the station depicted candidates as Rocky-style joggers, Pokémon Go…
Aziz Ansari’s Rom-Com for the Ages
Comedian turned multi-hyphenate Aziz Ansari might have claimed the title Master of None (now on Netflix), but after two seasons of the show he created and stars in, he’s clearly a master of his craft. Master of None’s debut was a runaway hit in 2015. Audiences gobbled it up in single sittings; Ansari and co-creator/writer Alan…
Richard Gere is the perfect fixer in ‘Norman’
Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer, the full title of the new film from American-born Israeli writer-director Joseph Cedar (Footnote), has the potential to be a bit misleading. It all comes down to our associations with the idea of what a “fixer” is. When I hear someone being called…
Carnegie’s ‘Wordly’ whispers rather than shouts
Although it’s an exhibit examining how language is employed by visual artists, The Carnegie’s Wordly is not wordy. This sparsely installed show doesn’t spell out each artistic intention with wall text. It’s up to you to translate. At times, a work will remain impenetrable. But with just one or two words, or sometimes only a hint…
Art Museum Receives Huge Gift
The Cincinnati Art Museum has announced the largest single monetary gift in its history — an $11.75 million endowment for its collections of art from South Asia, Greater Iran and Afghanistan. It was bequeathed by Alice and Carl Bimel and establishes the Alice Bimel Endowment for Asian Art. She died in 2008; he in 2013.…
Is creative philanthropy an art form?
As social-practice art picks up momentum, some blurring of definitions is occurring. The People’s Liberty philanthropic lab, an extension of the Carol Ann & Ralph V. Haile Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation, has been giving $10,000 project grants to individuals who submit ideas for projects. Sometimes, those projects involve the arts — other times, there’s artistic inspiration…
After a 26-year absence, David Lynch revives his touchstone ‘Twin Peaks’ series for Showtime
In dreams, David Lynch walks with us. In dreams, he talks with us. In dreams, we’re his, all the time. And here’s a little Lynchian secret — you can’t binge-watch dreams. That’s why filmmaker Lynch (Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive) and his production partner Mark Frost have refused to sign with Netflix or Amazon to revive…
Mountain Dew’s Patriotic Pop
Americans use many different names to talk about flavored carbonated beverages — those in the Northwest and Midwest call it “pop,” the upper East Coast and lower West Coast call it “soda” and Southerners call any and all bubbly beverages, regardless of flavor profile and color, “coke.” However, there is one thing all Americans can…
Regional farmers and farmers markets offer myriad convenient chemical-free produce options
In 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency — in response to a petition filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council and Pesticide Action Network North America — proposed a ban on all uses of the chemical Lorsban on food. The frequently utilized pesticide has been applied by farmers for more than 50 years but was banned…
Morning News: Local Trump voters unmoved by recent controversies; city to hold stormwater damage info session; Ohio tops for breweries — sort of
Hello all. I have coffee. The sun is out. There is some big news happening. Let’s get into it. Normally we’d get to the local stuff first and then make our way, after a nice news warmup that keeps us from straining something, to the big, shocking national stories. But heck, let’s just start with…
Ugo Rondinone transforms the Contemporary Arts Center with his strange clowns and rainbow colors
In a world that seems increasingly divided between scary clowns and jovial ones, the artist Ugo Rondinone provides a third choice: introspective, meditative, puzzlingly perplexing clowns. You can see 45 of them at the Contemporary Arts Center now through Aug. 20 in an installation titled “vocabulary of solitude” that takes up much of an entire…
Riff Riders
Miguel Richards, vocalist and lead guitarist for Cincinnati-based rockers Casino Warrior, is a man of discerning taste, even if his wife disagrees. His newest endeavor is to grow a “skullet” — envision a mullet but with the business part in the front completely shaved and the party in the back flowing freely. Before that, Richards…
Root Cellar Xtract captures spirit of Country Rock’s zenith
With a sound based on the breezy, dusty Country Rock model conjured in the ’70s by bands like Buffalo Springfield, Poco, Eagles, Little Feat, Pure Prairie League, Sweetheart of the Rodeo-era Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers, Root Cellar Xtract is a relatively new Cincinnati band featuring some veteran area musicians. The group was formed in…
UC’s Secret, Money-Losing Investments
College alumni and the parents of college students have grown quite accustomed to the persistent phone calls and snail-mail pleas for donations. It’s not like the robo-call you just hang up on, or the junk mail you trash. Colleges have a place in the heart. Their base wants to help. The University of Cincinnati is…
Sound Advice: Yngwie J. Malmsteen’s Rising Force with The Raskins, Crooked Rook and 80 Proof (May 20)
“Unconventional” doesn’t begin to describe Yngwie Malmsteen, the Swedish prodigy who has been cited by uncountable publications as one of the world’s greatest guitarists. At age 10, the Stockholm native — born Lars Lannerbäck — started his first band, a guitar/drums duo, with a friend. Two years later, he changed his name to Yngwie Malmsteen,…
Sound Advice: Paul Taylor (May 20)
In recent years, the genre tag “Smooth Jazz” has come into the same disfavor as Prog, with both descriptors inspiring the notion that the music therein is comprised of overinflated puffery that is devoid of substance. The fact is, every genre is inflicted with artists that create nothing out of something and Smooth Jazz has…
Sound Advice: Adrian Belew Power Trio with Saul Zonana (May 18)
Adrian Belew should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Northern Kentucky native’s career as a performer might be too under the mainstream radar to get him in, though you could make an argument that his influence has cast a pretty big shadow on the “Alternative” music of the past 40 or…
