Black Rooster
The Kills is yet another age-old reaction of the raw, gutsy factions (read: indie lo-fi) trying to oust the glossy pop (whatever pop may be) that clogs the contemporary mainstream. Much like grunge delivered the knockout blow to the ’80’s Sunset Strip hair bands, this decade’s lo-fi set appears to be on a mission to…
Beggars, radios & shocks
Stratford broadens its Shakespearian focus with two unexpected productions….
The Blue
As long as Jeff Maylin has been around the Detroit blues scene, it’s surprising that The Blue is his first solo project. It seems everybody who knows more than a couple tunes has a photo and a CD to pass out these days, so what gives? Sometimes the better things in life take a little…
Bug in the bassbin
Paxahau gets back to throwing some of the wildest parties in Detroit….
Don’t fence me in
Director Dover Kosashvili’s first feature — the highest grossing Israeli film in Israel since 1984 — proposes the question: If a monster came out of the sea and said he was "tradition," then insisted that you follow him no matter what your mind, body and soul tell you, what would it take for you to…
Damn the jam
The entire universe is not universally enthralled with the Woodward Dream Cruise.
The Kid Stays in the Picture
If you’ve ever suspected that movie producers are basically businessmen under the delusion that they are creative people, then here’s a film to justify your suspicions: the story of Hollywood producer Robert Evans’ rise and fall. There’s not a pinch of insight in the whole enterprise, but as Hollywood yarns go it has its moments.
Last rites for Credo
Ultraconservative Catholic newspaper Credo is closing its doors.
Swimming
This simple yet subtle coming-of-age drama avoids tear-jerking while taking its time making its emotional way between the commonplace perils of its heroine (Lauren Ambrose of HBO’s "Six Feet Under") and the fine shades of often amusing irony that saturate her environment.
Juicy secrets
Q: Do women ever lubricate for no apparent reason? I always associated lubrication with sexual stimulation of some sort. But I picked up my girlfriend’s panties one day after work and they were pretty lubricated, just dried up a bit. She said that this is normal and it happens from time to time. Is that…
Revolution’s in the red
Revolution Books faces eviction for past-due rent.
Notorious C.H.O.
Following up on Margaret Cho’s previous, inspiring concert movie (I’m the One That I Want), this one’s less of a horrific autobiographY using humor to plow through the pain, and more of a standard stand-up routine, with jokes that graphically dance around sex, sluts and self-esteem.
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): A new mockingbird arrived in my backyard four days ago. It has been chirping its buoyant tunes in long, relentless concerts. Today it began at 7 a.m. and is still going strong at 2:30 p.m., having paused for only a few brief breaks. I admired the creature’s inexhaustible rapture at first,…
Art-lover’s haven
You may recall the day a few years back when the city of Detroit’s bulldozers launched an attack upon significant portions of Tyree Guyton’s world-renowned Heidelberg Project. But not all the splendid artwork thereabouts fell victim. This week’s abandoned house is testimony to that. This dilapidated and burned structure, located just one block west of…
Elling
Here we go again, on another trip into the whimsical world of mental retardation and emotional disorders. This time it’s Norwegian style, as two 40-something men are released from an institution and placed in an apartment. What fun will ensue as they clash with each other and the outside world? Yeah, it’s that corny.
Standing at the Gate
Whatever you do, don’t ever call Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown a blues musician. “I play American music and world music,” said Brown when I got the chance to talk with him via phone for a few minutes between tour dates. “I’ve been stressing that everywhere I go.” I figured then that the natural question to ask…
Slipping up
Detroit is plagued by staggering liability claims….
The Adventures of Pluto Nash
With Eddie Murphy trapped in the lead balloon of this action-comedy vehicle factory-made from worn clichés, wearing riffs and vacuum-sealed away from both adventure and laughs, the low gravity of the moon ironically seems to accelerate his free fall from comic grace.
Aug. 21-27, 2002
23 FRI–25 SUN • FUN FOR ALL The Detroit Blues and Cruise Festival — You could hardly combine two more distinctly American traditions than gas-guzzling classic cars and high-octane electric blues. The sounds of roaring engines and wailing souls will fill the air this weekend at the Gibraltar Trade Center North (237 N. River Rd.,…
Sexy beasts
Finally, good news for women who like to fuck around….
Blue Crush
Summer beach-and-bikini movies are supposed to be bad in a good way. Blue Crush might have overcome its problems if it had a serviceable script or a cast that didn’t look either embarrassed (Michelle Rodriguez) or too stupid to know better. Somewhere, Frankie Avalon is turning over in his tanning bed.
Ballot 2002
If you don’t vote, the terrorists win….
Doin’ the Hitler rag
Rock ’n’ roll graveyards are littered with the corpses of departed supergroups, from Genesis (euthanized in 1996 by the departure of frontman Phil Collins) to the Traveling Wilburys (done in shortly after the 1988 death of founding member Roy Orbison). And though many established pop stars are reluctant to join forces with their peers –…
The fur keeps flying
Q: You cast furries in a bad light. Whatever your research indicated, furries and furry fandom arose in the mid-1980s, not the late 1990s. It grew out of a love for anthropomorphized (i.e. talking) animals, anything from Yogi Bear to Planet of the Apes. Just about every major science-fiction convention of the time would have…
Abandoned Shelter of the Week
You may recall the day a few years back when the city of Detroit’s bulldozers launched an attack upon significant portions of Tyree Guyton’s world-renowned Heidelberg Project. But not all the splendid artwork thereabouts fell victim. This week’s abandoned house is testimony to that. This dilapidated and burned structure, located just one block west of…
Hurry up and romance
Nervous glances and music fill the room. Women brush their skirts, trying to iron out wrinkles as they casually survey the fresh meat. Fifty people have paid $40 each for the privilege of gathering at Fifth Avenue Ballroom in Novi, where they will sit and converse for five minutes with a succession of other lonely…
Quips and rants from the lowlands
Never mind the White Stripes-Strokes-Vines-Hives-hype: Bring on the real rock ’n’ roll revolution!…
Letters to the Editor
Classic rock I must say, I have been reading Metro Times a lot more lately. You guys had a great article on Dave Gilbert of the Rockets ("Rocket to the crypt," Metro Times, July 31-Aug. 6) a few issues back and now Grand Funk ("Still in a Grand Funk, Metro Times, Aug. 14-20)! Yes! This…
Faux-island flavors
Bahama Breeze, a chain of Carribbean themed restaurants, has a unique approach to food preparation. Namely, to take a familiar American or Americanized dish and slap a Caribbean name and/or some coconut on it. BB is alcohol-oriented; the drinks list goes on for pages and has more ways to disguise the flavor of tequila, rum…
Kevorkian’s issue is still alive
They moved Jack Kevorkian last week, from a tiny solitary cell in the sprawling state prison complex at Jackson to a medium-security joint in Lapeer, closer to his home. Nobody much noticed. Once, a mere stroll down the sidewalk was enough to guarantee Jack the Dripper a mention on the news. Now, he’s been all…
Self Matters: Creating Your Life from the Inside Out
In a recent issue of Harper’s, Jonathan Ree suggested that the central issue of our age is not whether you have religious faith but whether you approach existence intelligently or not. That is to say, are you mindful of the fact that the universe is vast, you are small and the clock is ticking? A…
For whom the Bell tolls
Unpacking and deciphering the loaded imagery in Dana Bell’s seemingly stripped-down, flat pastel, Hollywood movie poster-like paintings on display at David Klein Gallery is a job for an art historian, a semiotician, a social philosopher — and a critic to boot. The arrival of the exhibition announcement in the mail sent the antennae up in…
Le Funk
Listening to Le Funk, it’s hard to believe its makers were once an avant-noise band from the inbred Louisville, Ky., indier-than-thou scene — which is why Le Funk is as intriguing as it is good. The story goes that VHS or Beta, tired of the self-exiled indie pretension of its name (which inspired a debut…
Hard time
Amateur Detroit cops cause unwarranted upheaval and embarrassment for Motown.
Sea Change
Talk about a confounding chronology. Following the 1999 release of Midnite Vultures, Beck was quick to volunteer that it, and not 1998’s acoustic offering Mutations, was intended as the “true” follow-up to his 1996 smash, Odelay. Now, three years later, comes Sea Change, the long-awaited follow-up to — you guessed it — Mutations. Not that…
