Spoonful of Cinema: The Green Inferno
Whether or not you like The Green Inferno probably depends on whether or not you can put up with the guy at parties who says, “I don’t want to be that guy, but…” and then suggests something inconvenient (usually they want your food). This gore-fest of a horror film knows it’s being “that guy.” But…
Morning News and Stuff
Good morning all. Here’s the news today. A study covering the last five years of city of Cincinnati contracting found that the city hasn’t hired nearly as many minority and women-owned businesses as it should for taxpayer-funded jobs. The 338-page study on racial disparities, called the Croson Study, was conducted by outside researchers with public…
Morning News and Stuff
Good morning, Cincinnati! There was a lot going on around the city this weekend, and I hope everyone got out and enjoyed something, whether it was Midpoint Music Festival, Clifton Fest or the "blood" supermoon eclipse last night. Here are today's headlines. • In case you were distracted by having too much fun this weekend,…
Your Weekend To Do List (9/25-9/27)
FRIDAY Spend the weekend at the MIDPOINT MUSIC FESTIVAL The most common question associated with Cincinnati’s MidPoint Music Festival — besides “Are you going?” — is probably something along the lines of, “Who should I go see?” The festival, which returns to various venues around Over-the-Rhine and downtown this Friday-Sunday, has always been about exploration…
Stage Door
New Edgecliff Theatre’s Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune is under way a week later than initially announced following some issues with its not-quite-ready new home in Northside. So it’s been moved to the Essex Studio (2511 Essex Place, Walnut Hills), in a performance space routinely used by Cincinnati Actors Studio & Academy,…
Spoonful of Cinema: Mistress America
I thought I was going to see Sicario, the border crime drama starring Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro on Sunday night. I originally didn’t think it was in town yet, so when I Googled the movie and a lone show time for 7:30 p.m. popped up, I immediately headed out to catch…
Morning News and Stuff
Good morning, Cincy! Here are your morning headlines. Cincinnati State Technical and Community College President Dr. O'dell Owens has stepped down to become the medical director of the Cincinnati Health Department. Cincinnati's health commission approved Owens' appointment Tuesday night, and he stepped down Wednesday evening after he reportedly felt like tensions between him and the…
Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine
Documentarian Alex Gibney (winner of the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature with Taxi to the Dark Side) beats Danny Boyle’s narrative examination of Steve Jobs, the mercurial late CEO of Apple, to theaters, offering up what will likely be a more personal and private look at the man’s life. Gibney had access to Jobs’…
The Second Mother
Class warfare and parenting debates dominate Brazilian writer-director Anna Muylaert’s new film, The Second Mother. Val (Regina Casé), a hardworking nanny in São Paulo, laments having to leave her own daughter in a remote part of Brazil with relatives in order to make a good living. When her daughter comes to São Paulo to live…
Pawn Sacrifice
The ultimate chess match, between America’s troubled prodigy Bobby Fischer (Tobey Maguire) and the Russian champion Boris Spassky (Liev Schreiber), spilled over into the geopolitical realm, since the two masters faced off during the Cold War between the two global superpowers. Edward Zwick’s take on the encounter seeks to locate the dramatic conflict in the…
The Intern
The upscale urban chic of Nancy Meyers (It’s Complicated) will be on full-display in The Intern, her latest comedy, but this time, the trick is that she’s not focusing on romantic entanglements. Ben Whittaker (Robert De Niro), a 70-year-old widower, can’t quite face retirement alone, so he jumps at the chance to get back into…
Hotel Transylvania 2
As a parent in the early 2000s, I have fond memories of Genndy Tartakovsky’s cartoons. His work on The Powerpuff Girls, Dexter’s Laboratory and Samurai Jack came to define the period, and many parents in-the-know probably decided to check out the initial Hotel Transylvania feature due to his behind-the-scenes presence. Of course, an argument could…
Goodnight Mommy
The screenwriting and directing duo of Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz has concocted a diabolical hybrid — a movie that taps into the current indie horror fascination with real slow-building chills, rather than a slavish adherence to the trend of the moment, found footage, which thankfully is exiting the frame, but with formal filmmaking nods…
Event: Art Off Pike
The 11th-annual Art Off Pike is an urban arts festival that transforms Covington’s Seventh Street into an art walk full of performance works, installations and live music, with added food trucks and beer. The work of more than 60 local and regional emerging artists will be showcased and available for purchase. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday.…
Event: Cincy Summer Streets
The final Cincy Summer Streets event of the season takes over Pleasant Street in Over-the-Rhine. The street will be shut to car traffic, allowing humans to play. The pedestrian party features free activities, including a climbing wall, mini golf, lawn bowling, life-size paint-by-numbers, yoga and dancing. Stroll the street, chat with neighbors, support local businesses…
Beyond the Books
Writing can be so frustrating. As I sit here trying to spit out a catchy introduction, I struggle to make sense of anything in my brain, which seems to cause an even greater muddle. Most of the time writing is simple; you put a thought into words on a page. But the more I write…
Event: Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Opening Night Gala
The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra kicks off its season with a weekend of events, featuring performances of Hector Berlioz’s psychedelic Symphonie fantastique, a tale of “opium, obsession, murder, fantasy (and) hell,” says CSO conductor Louis Langrée. Before Saturday’s performance, there will be a themed gala with dinner and cocktails in Music Hall’s Ballroom, and an afterparty…
Art: Zory’s Stories: The Other Side of Music Hall
Matthew Zory, besides being a bassist for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, is a photographer with an interest in images that convey a narrative about the neighborhoods surrounding Music Hall and the greater city. A show of his work, Zory’s Stories: The Other Side of Music Hall, opens Friday at Wash Park Art gallery. As part of…
Event: Fire up the Night
Fire Up the Night is an international fireworks competition over Lake Como at Coney Island featuring competitors Fantastic Fireworks of England, News de Brazil, Fireworx/Sky Lighter of Australia and a finale from local favorites, Rozzi’s Famous Fireworks. If the thrills of massive, music-synchronized fireworks shows just aren’t enough for you, admission will also include access…
Event: Country Applefest
There are a couple of distinct signs that autumn has hit the Tristate: Leaves begin to fall, pumpkin spice flavor is everywhere and the cooler temperatures force hipsters to start breaking out the flannel. But the most welcome and certainly the most delicious harbingers of fall are the myriad festivals featuring our favorite recurrent foods…
Music: Robyn Hitchcock
Robyn Hitchcock, the British singer/songwriter whose intimately resonant, raspy voice and mysteriously peculiar worldview were shaped by such skewed troubadours of his youth as Nick Drake, Syd Barrett and the Incredible String Band, plays Southgate House Revival in a show rescheduled from February when he couldn’t get here due to inclement weather. It will be…
Art: The Michael Lowe Collection
The Art Academy of Cincinnati provides a rare opportunity to view artwork from the collection of local collector/dealer Michael Lowe. Much of Lowe’s diverse collection features radical, reductive and revisionist art from the 1960s and 1970s, firmly rooted in Minimal, Post-Minimal and Conceptual art, which helped to define the 20th-century avant-garde. Lowe’s exhibition, which features…
Onstage: Silence! The Musical
Of course you know The Silence of the Lambs, the creepy movie about “Hannibal the Cannibal.” It was a big hit in 1991 with Anthony Hopkins as the brilliant, manipulative serial killer and Jodie Foster as the young FBI cadet who recruits him to help her catch a different psychopath. Well, wouldn’t you know that…
Attractions: Weeki Wachee Mermaids
Mermaids are no longer a myth — they are a limited-time attraction at the Newport Aquarium. Watch the graceful and finned Weeki Wachee Mermaids as they swim underwater with sea creatures daily inside the aquarium’s tanks. The Weeki Wachee Mermaids, a classic roadside attraction from Weeki Wachee Springs State Park in Florida, have been swimming…
Event: CliftonFest
The fourth-annual CliftonFest promises the ultimate Clifton experience — casual, eclectic and local. Throughout the weekend, attendees can enjoy local eats from food trucks and restaurants; dance to live music from the likes of Wade Baker, Baoku and The Image Afro Beat band and Elementree Livity Project; run a 5k through Burnet Woods; shop neighborhood…
Art: Myopia
“ C incinnati, in some ways, was the start of me being an artist,” says Mark Mothersbaugh, relaxing as best he can, given his constantly enthused, exuberant state, in a meeting room at downtown’s Contemporary Arts Center. “So there’s something about coming back here that is this completion of a cycle.” In the building on…
Music: 2015 MidPoint Music Festival
The most common question associated with Cincinnati’s MidPoint Music Festival — besides “Are you going?” — is probably something along the lines of, “Who should I go see?” The festival, which returns to various venues around Over-the-Rhine and downtown this Friday-Sunday, has always been about exploration and discovery, and word-of-mouth recommendations are some of the…
Comedy: Tom Dustin
It’s not immediately apparent that comedian Tom Dustin is from Boston, as he doesn’t sound like the guys from Car Talk or the cast of Good Will Hunting. “Every time I get on a plane to go to another part of the country, particularly the Midwest, I make a conscious effort to sound like the…
Morning News and Stuff
Hey hey! Here’s what’s going on around the city today. The Cincinnati Police Department won’t get federal money to supply officers with body cameras, but that won’t stop CPD from equipping its officers with the technology. The department has planned on purchasing the cameras for months, and the issue became even more urgent after footage…
It’s Apple Season: Bake Something
There are a couple of distinct signs that autumn has hit the Tristate: Leaves begin to fall, pumpkin spice flavor is everywhere and the cooler temperatures force hipsters to start breaking out the flannel. But the most welcome and certainly the most delicious harbingers of fall are the myriad festivals featuring our favorite recurrent foods…
Northside Yacht Club (Review)
The best thing about the new Northside Yacht Club has to be the quality of the drinks. Owners Jon Weiner and Stuart MacKenzie, along with other staffers, have worked with our city’s Queen of Cocktails, Molly Wellmann, and it shows. The well-stocked bar — replete with special glasses and Tiki-drink pottery awaiting the bartender’s mixology…
Spoiler Alert: ‘The Last Man on Earth’ Is a Lie
As The Last Man on Earth (Season Premiere, 9:30 p.m. Sunday, Fox) returns this week, we already know a few things: First off, the title is a blatant lie. Phil Miller (Will Forte) is not the last man on Earth. He’s not the last (hu)man on Earth. He’s not the last male on Earth. He’s…
‘Stonewall’ Hides Behind Dramatic Stereotypes
Roland Emmerich, over the course of his illustrious filmmaking career, has attempted to write disaster fantasy on the largest canvas possible. He has stood at the helm when American landmarks and monuments have fallen at the hands of aliens (Independence Day), giant lizards (Godzilla), natural disasters (The Day After Tomorrow and 2012) and terrorist attacks…
Thunder-Sky Rescues Art From Goodwill Box
A curious exercise in “found art” is occurring now through Oct. 15 at Northside’s Thunder-Sky, Inc. It’s called The Goodwill Biennial 2015 and, while it has insights and pleasures, the results aren’t consistently as hoped for. Thunder-Sky is the six-year-old nonprofit space primarily dedicated to preserving, archiving and promoting the work and legacy of late…
Dead for Super Bowl Halftime?
HOT: Dead for Super Bowl Halftime? After rumors about the forthcoming Super Bowl halftime show began circulating that suggested Bruno Mars (who just did the big gig two years ago) had been asked to perform again this year, a presumable Deadhead named Douglas Machado decided to rally fans to sign a petition asking that the Grateful…
Seeing Clearly
Mark Mothersbaugh – Photo: Jesse Fox “ C incinnati, in some ways, was the start of me being an artist,” says Mark Mothersbaugh, relaxing as best he can, given his constantly enthused, exuberant state, in a meeting room at downtown’s Contemporary Arts Center. “So there’s something about coming back here that is this completion of…
His Roots are Showing
Pokey LaFarge is proud of his Midwestern heritage. The singer/songwriter is also a staunch baseball fan who grew up in Illinois, but now makes his home in Missouri. “I’m trying to listen to the Cubs game,” LaFarge says at the beginning of our phone interview. “I think I might be the only St. Louisan trying…
The Creative Life of Ryley
Ryley Walker’s song “Primrose Green” stops you in your tracks when you hear it on the radio. And it’s been played on the radio a lot, both on Americana and AltRock/college stations, since Walker’s album of the same name was released earlier this year. With its loping, melancholy yet sunny melody and loose but insistent…
Knocked Out by a Bully
Bully burst onto the scene armed with founder and frontperson Alicia Bognanno’s uniquely emotive voice and incisive and direct lyrical excursions, which bring to mind Juliana Hatfield crossed with L7. It’s also probably no coincidence that, sonically, Bully comes on like a cross between Hatfield’s first band, Blake Babies, and L7’s more accessible outings. A…
The Youngish and the Restless
It’s been six years since Erika Wennerstrom picked up stakes and moved herself and Heartless Bastards from Cincinnati to Austin, Texas. Since then, the band has released two of its best albums, 2012’s brilliant Arrow and this year’s diverse and equally amazing Restless Ones. If there is a correlation between her relocation and the rise…
Choose Your Own MidPoint Adventure
The most common question associated with Cincinnati’s MidPoint Music Festival — besides “Are you going?” — is probably something along the lines of, “Who should I go see?” The festival, which returns to various venues around Over-the-Rhine and downtown this Friday-Sunday, has always been about exploration and discovery, and word-of-mouth recommendations are some of the…
Weed-Legalization Ballot Language Faces Tough Scrutiny
It usually takes a graduate-level comparative literature class to parse a text as much as the state’s 6,600-word marijuana-legalization ballot initiative has been scrutinized in the past few weeks. The proposed amendment to the Ohio constitution legalizing marijuana will still be called a “monopoly” on the November ballot after an Ohio Supreme Court ruling last…
Census: 1.7 million Ohioans Live in Poverty
Almost 16 percent of Ohioans lived in poverty last year, according to newly released data from the 2014 American Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau. That rate is nearly identical to 2013 and puts Ohio below average among states. Ohio ranks 36th in the country for median household income, clocking in at about $49,000…
Safer Spaces
T hirty-one years ago, Susan Bruggeman was just two months into her freshman year at the University of Cincinnati when she was raped at a Halloween party by a date her friend set her up with. The incident quickly became public after she reported it to the school, beginning a series of events that left…
Worst Week Ever! Sept. 23-29
Presidential Candidate You Might Not Have Heard of Knows Who Shouldn’t Be in the White House America has a long and storied tradition of denying opportunities because of skin color and/or religion. Our nation is also quite fond of generalizing large demographics narrowly, except when those generalizations make white Christians sound like the kind of…
Music: Torres
When it came time to pick a producer for the follow-up to her 2013 self-titled debut, Mackenzie Scott (aka Torres) decided to enlist PJ Harvey’s longtime drummer Rob Ellis, who in turn recruited several of his buddies, including Portishead guitarist Adrian Utley. That’s pretty heady company for a 24-year-old self-described “Baptist girl” from Macon, Ga.,…
Sound Advice: Torres with Brandi Carlile
When it came time to pick a producer for the follow-up to her 2013 self-titled debut, Mackenzie Scott (aka Torres) decided to enlist PJ Harvey’s longtime drummer Rob Ellis, who in turn recruited several of his buddies, including Portishead guitarist Adrian Utley. That’s pretty heady company for a 24-year-old self-described “Baptist girl” from Macon, Ga.,…
Music: Ivan & Alyosha
For the uninitiated, Ivan & Alyosha falls into the same nomenclature category as Jethro Tull and Pink Floyd — there are no Jethros, Floyds, Ivans or Alyoshas among their ranks. Ivan & Alyosha was initially comprised of vocalists/guitarists Tim Wilson and Ryan Carbary, who gravitated from working in a variety of musical relationships to forming…
Sound Advice: Ivan & Alyosha with Plastic Ants
For the uninitiated, Ivan & Alyosha falls into the same nomenclature category as Jethro Tull and Pink Floyd — there are no Jethros, Floyds, Ivans or Alyoshas among their ranks. Ivan & Alyosha was initially comprised of vocalists/guitarists Tim Wilson and Ryan Carbary, who gravitated from working in a variety of musical relationships to forming…
Music: The Wood Brothers
Brothers Chris and Oliver Wood grew up in Colorado surrounded by the campfire music of their father and the storytelling poetics of their mother. So it was no surprise that both ended up as successful creatives, although, despite their shared roots, they didn’t work together for a significant portion of their careers. Oliver started his…
Sound Advice: The Wood Brothers with Gill Landry
Brothers Chris and Oliver Wood grew up in Colorado surrounded by the campfire music of their father and the storytelling poetics of their mother. So it was no surprise that both ended up as successful creatives, although, despite their shared roots, they didn’t work together for a significant portion of their careers. Oliver started his…
Music: Chris Robinson Brotherhood
In early 2011, just after The Black Crowes entered their second major hiatus, lead singer Chris Robinson decided to branch out, embarking on a solo endeavor that has become a new powerhouse of modern American Rock & Roll — Chris Robinson Brotherhood, known by devoted fans as CRB. One of the many bands drawing delicate…
Sound Advice: Chris Robinson Brotherhood
In early 2011, just after The Black Crowes entered their second major hiatus, lead singer Chris Robinson decided to branch out, embarking on a solo endeavor that has become a new powerhouse of modern American Rock & Roll — Chris Robinson Brotherhood, known by devoted fans as CRB. One of the many bands drawing delicate…
Moonbow Goes Acoustic but Not Soft on New Release
Northern Kentucky’s Moonbow has been making a name for itself with the heavy, Sabbath-indebted sound exemplified on the group’s impressive 2013 debut, The End of Time, which received glowing reviews from press outlets all over the world. But instead of going down the same path for its second effort, the foursome decided to throw a…
‘Taiga’ Burning Bright
N ika Roza Danilova (aka Zola Jesus) grew up in rural Wisconsin as a precocious child known for her interest in all things opera and the otherworldly. By the time she was a teenager, Danilova had immersed herself in the music of myriad Rock & Roll outsiders — from Ian Curtis and Michael Gira to…
