Art: Review: The Parishioner Series
Tom Davie's "Garrett. (Mr. Garrett H. Moore, 1974)" What happens when a former altar boy from Sandusky, Ohio, begins to question the religion he grew up with? For artist Tom Davie, the result is a compelling series of paintings that not only explores his personal spiritual dilemma but also considers the universal themes of…
News: Screaming About Genocide
Maya Releasing Serj Tankian (right) with U.S. Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) Cincinnatians will have the opportunity to become "screamers" when the Armenian National Committee (ANC) of Ohio hosts the local premiere of a documentary film on genocide Oct. 10-11. Screamers is an award-winning film that uses archival footage, interviews and live music from the…
Music: That ’70s Whoa
Amy Giunta Matthew Friedberger (right) says The Fiery Furnaces have made a "girls' record," an "old person's record" and now "a young adult record." My conversation with Fiery Furnaces composer Matthew Friedberger got off to a rocky start, aided and abetted by the Furnaces' own media kit. In the notes, it is stated that…
News: Fun With Jesus
Sean Hughes Jesus is unsafe for small children. The package says so: "Choking hazard — small parts, not for children under 3 years." When I bought Jesus for $14.99, I knew there was something wrong with him. He was appearing on a shelf at Wal-Mart. That might not be the same as hell, but…
Onstage: Review: My Fair Lady
If you were planning to skip My Fair Lady and wait for more recent Broadway blockbusters at the Aronoff Center later this season, please reconsider. This show, a hit in 1956, is getting a top-notch revival imported from London where it was staged at the Royal National Theatre by Trevor Nunn. He won an Olivier…
2007 CEA nominees announced, and voting begins
CEA voting is now open During the pre-parties at the MidPoint Music Festival last week, CityBeat announced this year's crop of nominees for the musical program of the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards. The awards are to be dolled out at the ceremony at the Taft Theatre on Nov. 18. (Also, mark your calendars for Nov.…
Onstage: Review: Othello
Sandy Underwood Esau Pritchett plays the title character in the Playhouse's Othello. Well, that old spellbinder Ed Stern has worked his magic at the Cincinnati Playhouse again. On opening night more than 200 people watched the 80-minute second act of Othello in pin-drop silence, interrupted only by an occasional mass gasp or an edgy…
MainEvent: Isreali Film Festival of Cincinnati
Isoul Harris / Black Eye Media Frozen Days Israeli Images We live in a rapidly-evolving age, one in which multiculturalism is both spreading and fracturing at the same time. Humans are now aware of almost everything but know almost nothing deeply. The key to survival? Better understanding. What does this philosophical tidbit have to…
All My Loving (MVD Visual)
ALL MY LOVING 1968, Not Rated When British filmmaker Tony Palmer made this documentary about the Rock revolution for BBC in 1968, Marshall McLuhan's "the medium is the message" theory was — like the groundbreaking British Rock of the time — in the air everywhere. So Palmer shock-edits and intercuts his 52-minute film with…
Onstage: Review: Gilgamesh in Uruk (G.I. in Iraq)
Performance Gallery Derek Snow is a wild man worn down by the attentions of Lindsay Valitchka as the goddess of love and vengeance in Gilgamesh in Uruk: G.I. in Iraq. Perhaps the activity that most makes us human is our ability to tell stories. One of the oldest stories ever told is the epic…
Bug (Lionsgate)
Bug 2007, Rated R With a disquieting mixture of subtle horror, drama and Lynchian freak-outs, Bug follows the bizarre events that transpire when lonely but wild cocktail waitress Agnes (Ashley Judd) crosses paths with odd, quiet drifter Peter (Michael Shannon). After meeting at a cocaine party in her seedy, nowhere-Oklahoma motel room, Agnes takes…
Bob from Dayton
Robert Pollard, the prolific former captain of the starship Guided By Voices, is just as busy as a solo artist with two new albums out next week. He's also hitting the halfway point in his new monthly 7-inch single series. Merge Records is behind all the wax-loving love, as both the "Pop" CD, Coast To…
Ohio’s Justice System Flawed
After reading the article "Law Group: Stop the Killing" (issue of Sept. 26), I think that one thing is clear to people on both sides of the death penalty issue: Something needs to be done about the way Ohio has been handling sentencing and judicial rulings so casually. It seems that two people convicted of…
Council Candidates Cover Themselves in The Enquirer
Adam J. Benjamin/Courtesy Michael Moose/Glaserworks City Council is considering a downtown-based streetcar system like this one in Portland, Ore. Some political candidates are privately complaining that The Cincinnati Enquirer is using a subtle form of extortion to gain their participation on the newspaper's Web site and increase its Internet traffic. The Enquirer this week…
Daveed’s at 934
Daveed's at 934 will take part in the second annual celebrity dinner and auction scholarship fund-raiser at the Summit Dining Room at Midwest Culinary Institute 6 p.m. Friday. The event will feature a five-course dinner paired with fine wines and a silent auction. For reservations, call 513-569-1779. Join the folks at Newport on the Levee…
Cover Story: Raising the Bar
Jacob Drabik Raising the Bar They're responsible for making sure potholes get filled and garbage gets picked up, as well as guaranteeing police and fire protection are available when you need them. To do all of that, of course, they also decide how best to spend your taxes and whether they need to dip…
Music: On ‘Point
Andy Houston Locals Johnnytwentythree jam with visuals. Organizers estimate that around 40,000 people attended this year's MidPoint Music Festival, which had the streets of the once-robust Main Street Entertainment District bustling as much as it ever has. The independent-musician-focused fest caused quite a reaction from CityBeat's music writers, who were out in full force…
Bite the Hand That Doesn’t Feed
What better represents Cincinnati: the Bengals on Monday Night Football or the MidPoint Music Festival? Luckily for us Cincinnati is a big enough city that this isn't an either/or question. We can have both, even on the same weekend, and both can be successful. But which event puts Cincinnati in a better light? Which tells…
Sound Advice: : Regina Spektor, Frisbie and Jupiter One
Big Hassle Regina Spektor Regina Spektor Wednesday · Bogart's Part songstress, part pianist and all beast, Regina Spektor is a tour-de-force in the murky world of singer/songwriters. Born to a violinist father and a music professor mother in the former USSR, Spektor emigrated to the United States when she was 9 years old and…
Pathways to Serenity
Serenity, like happiness, is a byproduct. Like planting a garden, we reap what we sow in consciousness. Plant watermelons, get watermelons. It helps to know that we're part and parcel of the continuing process of creation and that the whole of the universe courses through our veins. As part of our cosmic inheritance, we have…
Imagining a World Without People
Some years ago I read, with macabre fascination, a book that described what happens to our bodies when we die. The chapter on embalming and the anaerobic decomposition process influenced my decision to be cremated, and the descriptions have stayed with me ever since. The end might not be nigh, but it is real —…
Diner: Review: Molly Malone’s (Covington)
Scott Beseler Molly Malone's When I prepare to go to a new restaurant I often look for a menu online. I genuinely get excited by descriptions like "steamed mussels in garlic white wine, fresh herbs and cream" or "chicken and vegetable pot pie with chunks of chicken and vegetables in a thick sauce topped…
Locals Only: : Steve Gattermeyer
Steve Gattermeyer Like Michael Corleone, Steve Gattermeyer tried to get out of the life but the life kept pulling him back in. But unlike that fictitious mobster, "the life" for Gattermeyer doesn't include having his rivals catch bullets with their eye sockets. Instead, "the life" means long road trips, late hours and clubs full…
The Reds’ Lack of Bullpen Help Doomed Their Season
Jerry Dowling The Reds are no closer to winning a championship today than they were on the day club owner Bob Castellini announced his purchase and promised a championship in January 2006. Then again, George Steinbrenner, with all his New York money, couldn't have finished that job in 20 months. But the Reds, with…
The Tick Season Two (Disney)
THE TICK VS. SEASON TWO 1995, Not Rated The Tick returns to face even wackier villains in this second collection from the cult cartoon classic. He continues to battle evil aided by sidekick Arthur and some very dry humor. Little Wooden Boy, an assembly of scrap wood, temporarily teams up with the deadpan duo.…
Fat Pig
Michael Shooner Ryan Gilreath and Nicole Tuthill star in New Edgecliff Theatre's Fat Pig, which opens Thursday. Hardly a day goes by that we don't read that Americans (or Ohioans or Cincinnatians) are overweight. It's not only an issue of health; it's also a societal obsession. So it should come as no surprise to…
News: Supporting Elders
Alberta Stinson (right) with her Council on Aging care manager, Anne Balsley. Alberta Stinson wants to stay home. For a woman who is 73 and blind since birth, living on her own seems an impossible expectation. Thanks to the Hamilton County Elderly Services Program (ESP), Stinson is one of almost 8,000 Cincinnatians who were…
Film: The Season of Dark Dreams
Universal Pictures Cate Blanchett hopes lightning strikes twice in Elizabeth: The Golden Age, director Shekher Kapur's sequel to his critically lauded first film. After multiple repeats of summer, the time has come for audiences to sleep, perchance to dream a little dream of more serious film fare. Fall ushers in the Prestige Season with…
Living Out Loud: : A Tale from the Hood
It was another depressing night. Once again, I was stuck at home changing another dirty diaper. I stared out of my cracked bedroom window and watched my life pass through the night. I live with my alcoholic mama in a tiny apartment in Over-the-Rhine. My father is absent from my life. I would probably miss…
