Nov 30 – Dec 7, 2016
The Dark Dreamscape of ‘Nocturnal Animals’: A beloved University of Cincinnati professor’s novel becomes an edgy, thrilling new movie after his death
Austin Wright and Me
Jonathan Valin, a Cincinnati native and resident, is the executive editor of The Absolute Sound. He has written 11 Harry Stoner detective novels; 1989’s Extenuating Circumstances won the Shamus Award. It may not be news to say that a teacher can change your life, but it is a fact that professor Austin Wright, who passed away in…
Art Museum staff gets its own exhibit
It’s not uncommon for employees of any business — be they mechanics or office workers — to also create art in their free time. It’s also not that uncommon for their employer, every now and then, to give them an opportunity to display work at a “staff art” exhibit. In this regard, the employees of…
Sound Advice: She Wants Revenge with Raw Fabrics (Dec. 9)
In the early to mid-’00s, enough bands (from both the U.S. and the U.K.) that showed the influence of seminal ’80s Post Punk in their music had emerged that the label “Post Punk revival” was created. Of course, bands like The Killers, Bloc Party, Interpol and She Wants Revenge have pretty disparate sounds. Some groups…
Minimum Gauge: Mozart rocks the sales charts
HOT: CDs Still Dying In news to no one, due to the rise of downloading and streaming, CD sales aren’t what they used to be. In the past decade, CDs reportedly dropped from reaping nearly $9 billion a year in sales, to this year making just under $2 billion. One of this year’s Best Rap…
State Sen. Cecil Thomas calls for Confederate flags to come down
As the 13-star flag of the Confederacy returns to prominence nationally along with public outbursts of racial animosity, a black state senator from Cincinnati — Cecil Thomas — is testing Ohio’s tolerance for the old Southern standard. Thomas testified last Wednesday in Columbus in support of an Ohio Senate resolution co-sponsored by Sen. Charleta Tavares,…
Kentucky braces for second stab at legalizing LGBTQ bias in business transactions
When Republicans assume control of the Kentucky House of Representatives next month, the Bluegrass State could become the next state to put merchants’ “religious freedom” ahead of the sexual orientation of their customers. A bill introduced in February by state Sen. Albert Robinson, R-London, would prohibit the passage of any laws, ordinances or regulations that…
Stage Door: Ho, Ho, Holiday Shows
Yes, it’s the season. If you couldn’t tell by the decorations and the department stores, all you need to do is wander into many of Cincinnati's theaters. The always dependable and heartfelt staging of A Christmas Carol is under way at the Playhouse. If you’ve never seen it, you owe it to yourself to make the…
What a Week! Nov. 23-29
WEDNESDAY NOV. 23 Two weeks after the presidential election, most Americans have at least somewhat made peace with the results. Others continue to protest, eagerly awaiting the outcome of calls for recounts. And then there’s Joe Chandler of Brunswick, Ga. This guy claims he does not know which candidate is now president-elect. And he doesn’t…
Amanda Shires redefines her concept of where her heart is
Mercy Rose Isbell recently celebrated her first birthday and, ironically, the album she helped inspire was recently released. Synchronicity is beautiful. Mercy Rose is the daughter of singer/songwriters Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires, two of Americana’s most gifted artists, and the album in question is her mother’s fifth full-length, My Piece of Land. While Mercy…
Jody Stapleton Releases Potent Sophomore Solo Album
Cincinnati Americana singer/songwriter Jody Stapleton is celebrating the release of his excellent new solo album, Roe Street Cathedral, with a trio of performances in the coming weeks. This Saturday at 2 p.m., he’ll preview the new album with a performance at Everybody’s Records (6106 Montgomery Road, Pleasant Ridge, everybodysrecords.com). Saturday night at 9 p.m., Stapleton…
The Dark Dreamscape of ‘Nocturnal Animals’
During the second day of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, I joined my international critical brethren for what would turn out to be an intriguing double feature, grounded by nuanced performances from five-time Academy Award nominee Amy Adams. One of those films I saw that day, the second, has already opened in theaters and…
Gilmore Girls are at home on Netflix
In this age rife with stale remakes and reboots, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life (now on Netflix) is a welcome relief. The four-part miniseries catches up with Lorelai, Rory and all the usual suspects living in Stars Hollow, Conn. — yes, even Melissa McCarthy’s Sookie — over the course of four seasons, starting…
Critic’s Pick: ‘Much Ado’ gets a fresh interpretation
The comedy Much Ado About Nothing is among Shakespeare’s funniest plays and Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s current production, running through Dec. 10, fires on all cylinders. There is a fine line between love and hate. Beatrice (Miranda McGee) and Benedick (Jeremy Dubin) are treading that line carefully. The smirking wisecrackers have sworn off marriage, but their…
Review: ‘Man Down’
Man Down is from director Dito Montiel (A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints) and roams a seemingly post-apocalyptic American landscape in which a former Marine named Gabriel Drummer (Shia LaBeouf) returns from his tour in Afghanistan and searches for his lost son (Charlie Shotwell). He is aided by his best friend Devin Roberts (Jai Courtney),…
Sadly, rules do apply for Warren Beatty
For the past three weeks, since the election of Donald Trump to be our next president, the media have engaged in an epic level of handwringing over how he did it. What seems quite clear, in hindsight, is that Trump subverted the commonly recognized political order and flouted expectations by cavalierly disregarding the rules. And…
Critic’s Pick: A lively ‘Darkest Night at the Gnarly Stump’
Most successful pitchers need to throw a change-up occasionally to be effective. If Know Theatre ever needs to take up something other than onstage work, the Over-the-Rhine company might consider a career on the mound. Current evidence: Darkest Night at the Gnarly Stump, a world-premiere play by Lauren Hynek and Elizabeth Martin. When I first…
The Adventures of a Creeping Baby
Kay Fisher, the director/curator of Wilmington, Ohio’s Clinton County History Center, remembers her reaction when she first found a Creeping Baby in an old desk drawer. A clockwork doll, or automaton, in that it has mechanical parts, it was patented and produced in the 19th century. Its discovery in Wilmington came right around the start…
A Poet Among Visual Artists
Matt Hart sits for an interview with CityBeat in the small café at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, where he currently serves as associate professor in creative writing and the chair of liberal arts, and from where he will soon embark to Ann Arbor, Mich. for a poetry reading later this evening. It will mark…
Sound Advice: Pete Yorn (Dec. 6)
Now more than 15 years into his successful career, New Jersey native Pete Yorn had a rather unusual start in the business. Yorn moved to Los Angeles to pursue a life in music and in 1999, he signed a deal with Columbia Records. But the first music by Yorn to be heard by the public…
Sound Advice: Psychic Twin with Fluffer (Dec. 5)
Although Psychic Twin has been active since 2011, Erin Fein, the group’s primary creative force, has a long history dating back to the late ’90s when she joined her brothers Adam and Seth as keyboardist in their band Absinthe Blind. When Adam left, the band morphed into a new group dubbed Orphans, which then became…
Sound Advice: Bad Luck Jonathan (Dec. 3)
Jon Langford must have some as-yet-unidentified musical psychosis that drives him to form bands with little regard for the number of chainsaws he’s juggling. Langford continues to front The Mekons, sporadically his primary group since 1977, but he also maintains Waco Brothers, his solo/Skull Orchard activities and occasional appearances by Men of Gwent and The…
With Clifton Market set to open, other efforts to increase access to healthy foods also move forward
You only have to peek in the window of the old Keller’s IGA space on Ludlow Avenue in Clifton to see that things are happening. With a massive remodel nearing completion, dozens of shelves and coolers await delivery of what is likely to be a decidedly Cliftonian collection of goods. It’s been half a decade…
French Crust Café offers an extended menu of bistro classics and jaunty bonhomie
French Crust Café and Bistro stands out among the restaurants Jean-Robert de Cavel opened this year as the best expression of the man himself. That’s not to suggest his heart isn’t in the upscale restaurant L downtown, or that there’s anything impersonal about Frenchie Fresh, his take on fast-casual dining in Norwood. I love both…
