Minimum Gauge: Minnesota Vikings’ game intentionally and unintentionally honors Prince
HOT: Football for Prince Prince’s Super Bowl halftime performance was the best ever, so it actually made a lot of sense for his hometown NFL team, the Minnesota Vikings, to pay tribute to the legend during halftime at its home opener in its new stadium. The stadium was lit up in purple (fittingly and conveniently…
Morning News: City seeks to improve streetcar speed; more CPD officers get body cams; big pharma gave to Ohio pols to fight opioid restrictions
Hey hey Cincy. Did you enjoy Oktoberfest or any of the other million things that were going on around town this weekend? I definitely did. But now it’s back to the grind, eh? So let’s get to some news. If you took the streetcar this weekend during your festival revelry, you might have waited a…
A Strange New Video Store
In the heyday of video stores, driving to a brick-and-mortar to rent a movie from a limited selection of titles didn't prompt gaffaws — instead, business was booming. Netflix didn't exist, computers and tablets hadn't made their appearance and "streaming" held no meaning. Fast-forward to the present: Blockbuster cards are obsolete, and news of an…
Morning News: Commissioner candidates debate, ramp up campaigns; Boehner gets dream job; Columbus officials urge calm after police shooting
Hello all. We’re mere hours away from Oktoberfest Zinzinnati, so I’ll be brief. Candidates for the two open Hamilton County Commission seats are duking it out today in a debate in Price Hill put on by WCPO. Democrats State Rep. Denise Driehaus and incumbent Todd Portune are battling their respective Republican opponents, interim commissioner Dennis…
Theater season kicks off with compelling productions
The fall theater season is in full swing this weekend. There are more choices than you could possibly attend, so read up and pick one or two that you find appealing. I’ve given Critic’s Picks to the productions at Cincy Shakes, Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Playhouse — very different shows, all worth seeing.…
Your Weekend To Do List (Sept. 16-18)
FRIDAY ONSTAGE: THE LEGEND OF GEORGIA MCBRIDE When his Elvis impersonation gets dumped at a small-town Florida bar and his wife tells him she’s expecting a baby, Casey has to evolve to stay employed. The bar’s new entertainment is a drag show: Can he reinvent himself? That’s what Ensemble Theatre’s season opener, a feel-good comedy,…
Morning News: Streetcar to run at full strength for Oktoberfest; did city get hacked?; Owens departs Health Department
Hello all. We’ll get to the news in a minute, but first I just have to share this: I visited Terry’s Turf Club for the first time in forever last night, and it was, as always, fantastic. We even got the elevated booth in the corner of the neon-lit restaurant, which is the best seat…
Review: ‘The Beatles: Eight Days a Week — The Touring Years’
At 137 minutes, this documentary from Ron Howard could have been twice as long and still just skimmed the surface, so monumental is the history of The Beatles and their impact on popular music and culture. But director Howard, working with music producer Giles Martin (son of Beatles producer George Martin) and editor Paul Crowder,…
What a Week! Sept. 7-13
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 07 Usually when a president lands in Air Force One, the airport people wheel in those giant stairs for him to exit, he waves while walking down and everyone goes about their business. But when Obama arrived at the airport this week in China, there were no stairs. He had to exit through…
Playing the Vet Card
America had barely come down from the buzz of winning a bunch of gold medals in Rio when it faced another national moment of reckoning around its racism, this time brought to us by San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Kaepernick’s decision to sit during the pre-game ritual playing of the “Star-Spangled Banner” ignited a…
‘Mr. Robot’ has a hacked narrative
Fans of the 1999 film Fight Club refer to “the Tyler Durden Effect” when a hidden detail about a character is revealed in such a way that it changes not only the course of action that follows but also everything that came before it. It’s a psychological pulling back of the curtain — the ultimate…
‘The Birth of a Nation’ bears strange fruit
TORONTO – Here at the Toronto International Film Festival, the screening of The Birth of a Nation attracted much attention. With daring and defiance, actor and first-time feature-film writer-director Nate Parker chose that as the title for his take on Nat Turner’s 1831 slave rebellion in Southampton County, Va. Parker sought to seize the title…
The outdoors is a featured player in ‘Nature’
You may have experienced outdoor theater before, be it Chillicothe, Ohio’s Tecumseh! or Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s summer tours of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. But there is a difference between staging a production in the park and casting the great outdoors as a main character in the play. This weekend will provide a clear example. Minneapolis-based…
‘Stillpass Collection’ revels in the experimental
Depending on its host site, exhibiting artwork owned by one collector can be fraught with both financial and ethical implications. A win-win for the owner as well as the institution itself, exhibiting the work at a site with cultural cachet — such as a museum or another collecting institution — can preternaturally boost the work’s…
‘Director’s Cut’ highlights Victoria Morgan’s two decades as artistic director of the Cincinnati Ballet
“I feel like it’s the strongest season ever in my tenure,” says Victoria Morgan about this year’s Cincinnati Ballet lineup. The season — her 20th as artistic director and ninth as CEO — opens Friday at the Aronoff Center for the Arts with Director’s Cut, which the Ballet proudly hails as an “all star” collection…
OTR Cider Co. unveils first two brews
The six-pack cans are red and green, like your choice of apples at the grocery store. Pop the tab and you have access to OTR Cider Co.’s Original Hard Cider (red) and Crisp Hard Cider (green), both of which debuted at Taste of Cincinnati this past spring as part of the popular trend of breweries…
Durum Grill is a quick and customizable Middle Eastern lunch spot
As long as you haven’t been living under a falafel for the past few years, you’ve probably noticed a trend in the way Americans have been ordering fast food: We still need it quickly, but we also want it to be fresh and exactly how we like it. You’ve heard of Chipotle, obviously, the most…
Fall Guide: Slightly Strange Seasonal Fun
As the weather begins to change in Cincinnati and we all start to break out our coziest ’80s-inspired sweaters, thoughts turn to apple cider, pumpkin pie and …which telekinetic powers we can use to help decimate monsters from other dimensions. For this year’s Fall Guide, we’ve drawn from the nostalgic Netflix cult hit Stranger Things…
Unlock the Curiosity Door
September Director’s Cut: A Celebration! Cincinnati Ballet CEO and artistic director Victoria Morgan has selected a group of all-star performers to celebrate her 20th season with the company to showcase some of her favorite works and choreographers, plus two world premieres. 8 p.m. Sept. 16; 2 and 8 p.m. Sept. 17. Tickets start at $32.…
Unleash the Demogorgon
Ah, the Demogorgon. The powerful, two-headed demon prince is largely regarded as one of the greatest villains in Dungeons & Dragons. The Stranger Things kids refer to the show’s slime-dripping beast by the same name — one of many D&D references they use to try and make sense of the events unfolding around them. Storytelling…
All Treats, No Tricks
Turn on your #SweaterWeather playlist and sew your cut-off jean shorts back into pants: Fall is here, and that means it’s time to eat your weight in comfort food before hibernating for the winter. For the next few months, use this handy-dandy dining list to explore Cincinnati’s seasonal goodies. Happy Chicks Bakery’s Fall Cupcakes Happy…
Seasonal Screen Time
Did you miss out on summer because you were busy staying inside, trying to understand the Upside Down? Don’t worry! Stay in there and check out these addictive series. It’s going to get cold soon anyway because, like a second season of Stranger Things, winter is coming. ON NOW: Chef’s Table (Netflix) – There’s certainly…
Color Correction
If you’re looking to enhance your fall foliage experience and are color-deficient, don’t worry — Frameri x EnChroma has an antidote. The Cincinnati-based eyewear company and online retailer Frameri officially partnered with EnChroma, a California-based color-enchancing lens manufacturer, last September. Color blindness affects approximately one in 12 men and one in 200 women, and there…
Find Fall Foliage
As the days begin to shorten and the fall season looms, Cincinnati’s coordinates have an advantage, providing the perfect opportunity to embrace and explore a vivid natural color palette over the next couple of months — fiery reds, golden yellows and warm oranges. Whether by foot, bike, golf cart or car, there are myriad ways…
