Martz’s mission
Macomb’s Sludgebuster Doug Martz joins up with a national group to save Lake St. Clair for future generations.
Martial arts marketing
Bruce Lee action figures, complete with nunchucks.
Transformer
The close-up of a mouth and chin and the muted painting of a pleased, plump woman on the cover of The Danish Girl parallel the direct, unpretentious writing within. This fictionalized account of 1920s Danish artist Einar Wegener and his artist wife, Greta, is billed as a love story. But there’s a twist: Einar becomes,…
Show ’em the money, boss
After the city is prodded, Wellness House gets its grant money two years late.
Feelin’ it
Frog Island Festival 2000 features a red-hot ‘n’ cool afternoon of Motor City Jazz.
Intimate epic
Sunshine requires what few films ask of viewers anymore: patience. This three-hour intimate epic has a leisurely pace which belies its grand ambitions. Writer-director Istvan Szabo attempts to show the historical sweep of the 20th century and its impact on his native Hungary through the lives of one fictional family, the Sonnenscheins. Their name means…
Dis-Spencer
Fun-filled Web site exposes Spencer Abraham’s special interests.
Scream along with Mitch
Screamin’ Mitch waxes freakin’ poetic on Detroit Rock City and shows up that old Handyside dude.
Millennial angst
William Shakespeare’s work endures in large part because his plays can be infinitely reinterpreted. Just look at Michael Almereyda’s take on Hamlet as a rumination on millennial angst. Here, Hamlet is stripped bare of his iconic power and shown to be a petulant, self-indulgent and extremely troubled young man, one whose psyche is as fragmentary…
Pot shot
Pro-pot supporters still need more signatures to get on the ballot.
Badass babes and drag beauties
It’s rough being a gossip columnist, you know?
All about Patty
The Patty Duke Fanzine began as a joke. For founder Mike D. (not to be confused with Mike D. of the Beastie Boys), it was a way to reprint long-forgotten articles on the former teen sensation that date back to when she was an identical cousin – a perfect means of killing time and reaching…
Councilman Hill cracks wise
City council president Gil Hill tries to make us laugh.
Fine finny favorites
With just 60 seats and a well-deserved reputation for wonderful fish, Streetside Seafood fills up fast every day of the week. A menu supplemented with three or four daily specials keeps things lively even if you’re a regular at this tiny eatery. Chef Sharon Juergens belives in cooking up, “… simple, well-prepared food that is…
Hamlet
William Shakespeare’s work endures in large part because his plays can be infinitely reinterpreted. Just look at Michael Almereyda’s take on Hamlet as a rumination on millennial angst. Here, Hamlet is stripped bare of his iconic power and shown to be a petulant, self-indulgent and extremely troubled young man, one whose psyche is as fragmentary…
Chew on this
Ameritech workers protest loss of rights.
Gotcha!
Playing snoop & sneak in the post-digital age.
Boys and Girls
Although Boys and Girls isn’t the trashy, dim-witted, teen sex movie you might expect, it is an inferior, teen/20-something version of When Harry Met Sally. In Robert Iscove’s (She’s All That) take on the now-classic romantic comedy, the love-torn twosome, Ryan (Freddie Prinze Jr.) and Jennifer (Claire Folani) meet briefly while in their preteen years,…
War torn
Wissedi Sio Njoh and her family fled for their lives; now the U.S. wants to send them back to Liberia.
Double identity
The question about James Carter has never been whether or not he can play his horn; he is one of the most amazing saxophonists of his generation. It’s not just because of his technical proficiency, which all by itself is enough to terrify the faint of heart, but Carter delivers coherent ideas and honest emotional…
Sunshine
Sunshine requires what few films ask of viewers anymore: patience. This three-hour intimate epic has a leisurely pace which belies its grand ambitions. Writer-director Istvan Szabo attempts to show the historical sweep of the 20th century and its impact on his native Hungary through the lives of one fictional family, the Sonnenscheins. Their name means…
Raising Cain
Kenneth Cain wants to set the record straight about Liberia’s violent seven-year civil war.
Double identity
The question about James Carter has never been whether or not he can play his horn; he is one of the most amazing saxophonists of his generation. It’s not just because of his technical proficiency, which all by itself is enough to terrify the faint of heart, but Carter delivers coherent ideas and honest emotional…
Shaft
Describing his often tenuous status as a New York City police detective, John Shaft (Samuel L. Jackson) tells his uncle John (Richard Roundtree, the original Shaft) that he often feels “too black for the uniform, too blue for the brothers.” That statement sums up not just his ambivalence, but the conflicting forces at work in…
Prometheus unbanned
Bare-toned alto saxophonist and demandingly precise jazz composer Greg Osby leads a soulful, heroic quartet at the SereNgeti.
Heir apparent
Man, talk about the anxiety of influence – just imagine the slabs of inhibition Ravi Coltrane, son of John, must have had to bust through simply to pick up a tenor saxophone, let alone take it on stage. No wonder he waited until he was in his 30s to record as a leader (1998’s Moving…
Sheila Landis
Singing is Sheila Landis’ passion and jazz is her religion. It’s been a long time since the jazz community has heard a vocalist who embodies such poetic lyricism, one who uses her voice to entice and enliven. At times, Landis’ music has a healing and sustaining force. She transforms herself when he sings, her voice…
Suicides rescue
AOL customers can’t get The Suicide Machines newsletter.
Kickin’ up
Since 1995, the Deftones have steadfastly established themselves as one of the new-school leaders of the hip-hop nation/aggro-rock world. Originally accused of being a poor man’s Korn, the band defied all odds by securing a huge touring base for themselves through their relentless roadwork. In the past five years, the Deftones have also released two…
Spencer Barefield
Jazz Times calls Spencer Barefield “the best guitarist ignored by the U.S. jazz industry.” That may be true. But Barefield’s thoroughly unique sound is perhaps too challenging for today’s narrow minded jazz biz. A pity… Barefield’s fusion of classical guitar stylings with Afro-jazz instrumentation effortlessly morphs Segovia with modern jazz. Barefield gigs internationally, but he…
Hussle and bustle
Celebrate the grand opening of Pemajju School of Dance and Related Arts’ new studio.
Well-oiled machine
There’s no way to get around it: The Damage Manual is an industrial supergroup. Just listen to 1 once, and you can’t help but hear that these guys are somebody. This band is brand-spanking-new, formed this year and composed of a slew of heavy-handed hitters, all sprouting out of influential bands of the ‘80s and…
Wendell Harrison
Saxophonist and clarinetist Wendell Harrison plays big, lives big and produces big results. On his instruments, he stomps and swings. Describing his music as bebop meets free jazz, he’s the kind of jazz musician who does things on a large scale. Early in his career, Harrison demonstrated that he was destined to turn the jazz…
The late, great…
As part of the granddaddy generation of rockers, he looks pretty good. But how does he hold up on stage?
With the lid off!
As the tower-coiffed, bespectacled co-leader of the Squirrel Nut Zippers, Tom Maxwell penned and sang the group’s 1997 breakthrough hit, "Hell," which nearly in and of itself crystallized the then-nascent popular neo-swing movement. His debut after breaking from the Zipper ranks, Samsara, is a diverse, rollicking, meditative and heartrending solo set, full of grounded, back…
Gopher a boogie
He’s alright… that wacky dancing gopher from Caddyshack could be yours forever.
Creative loafing
I’m not always good at channeling my creativity. I’ll hunker down in my studio with every intention of working on a project, but inevitably lose concentration and wind up cleaning out my desk, or making a mix tape or folding paper airplanes, when I really ought to be, say, writing a review for the newspaper.…
Now for a real abortion
Jack Lessenberry looks for a brave soul to stand up to right-to-life bigot Chris Smith.
Bubblegum pop
She’s really made it – Britney Spears now has her own bubble gum.
Missing white boy
Mystery White Boy starts with the sound of an amp warming up and the gentle din of a crowd drifting to the background, nearing silence, as Buckley’s gentle guitar opening to "Dream Brother" coaxes his band to join him. After a quiet three-minute first verse, lost somewhere in an exotic sonic locale, Buckley picks at…
Cool treats and arty martinis
Waterford-based Chef Lou DeCillis pops by the MT offices with his new sorbet flavors … Plus: Two new spirits lovely enough to frame.
Hard water
Down the hatch with high-tech hootch.
Hear me… See me
If Mystery White Boy makes sure Buckley’s history is heard properly, in all its Cohen-meets-Cobain glory, then Columbia’s DVD, Live in Chicago, drives the history lesson home by showcasing a single show from the same tour in its entirety. The effect, like the record, is awesome. But overall, the visuals mute the power of the…
Gnomenapping
Liz re-evaluates her opinion of the French after admitting their superior attitudes on wine, sex and ceramic garden gnomes.
Naked accessories
Truck driver-style tennies … for those who want to take bad taste to the next level.
Man of mystery
Describing his often tenuous status as a New York City police detective, John Shaft (Samuel L. Jackson) tells his uncle John (Richard Roundtree, the original Shaft) that he often feels "too black for the uniform, too blue for the brothers." That statement sums up not just his ambivalence, but the conflicting forces at work in…
