Attention Span
LARRY, MOE & BREW Retro trends used to be chronological: The 1950s were popular in the 1970s, the 1960s in the 1980s, and the ‘70s & ‘80s in the ‘90s. But now it seems retro has reached its logical end – anything can be recycled as hip, as long as it’s also old. The beer…
Blowin’ in the wind
Throughout the summer smog season, people along the Eastern seaboard can see brown clouds hovering over their cities, seacoasts and national parks. The sight is particularly alarming to thousands of asthma suffers whose problems often worsen when they breathe that acrid air. Now the Environmental Protection Agency, which has been fighting smog aggressively for decades,…
Same as it never was
Critics call it one of the finest working musical partnerships in contemporary American music, but Yo La Tengo just wants to make one incredible record at a time.
A Brief History of Time
Can the study of black holes and other fairly recent cosmological discoveries be explained in a way that the layman can understand? Probably not, though Stephen Hawking makes a game attempt in this 1992 Errol Morris documentary on the famous scientist’s life and work. Hawking always begins his explanations with gentle patience, but quickly reaches…
Wind from the East
Russian postmodern: present and future….
No radio is an island
Rockin’ Down the Dial spends most of its 288 pages following the ups and downs of Detroit radio through the first 25 or so years after the popularization of TV. As Carson contends, after TV, the power of traditional radio drama to generate ad revenue was virtually destroyed and a desperate time in radio ensued,…
Miss Wiggy
Flipping our lids with longing for big hair….
Pops and props
The March issue of JazzTimes is an attention-grabber for experimental and rock music fans alike. The painted faces of Wynton Marsalis and John Zorn represent the unlikely duo putting their heads together for a story on the future of jazz. Two separate interviews weave an interesting piece of speculation about where the genre is going…
Burning inside
Sculptor, teacher, farmer, Hugh Timlin finds many ways to tend the flame…
Tumbleweeds
What sets Tumbleweeds apart from other films about mothers and daughters is the frank and open relationship between Mary Jo Walker (Janet McTeer) and 12-year-old Ava (Kimberly J. Brown). Nothing is taboo between them, even the usually thorny subject of sex. But then, Mary Jo isn’t shy about her sexuality or desires. Married four times,…
Chasing the elements
“This is the most challenging show that I’ve put together – nothing would sit still – it was hard to pin down.” Michelle Spivak, director of the Center Galleries, is referring to “Fire + Water,” her space’s current pairing of works by sculptor Hugh Timlin and painter Sherry Hendrick. In an amazing stroke of symbiosis,…
Wonder Boys
Grady Tripp (Michael Douglas) is Peter Pan with tenure, a grizzled, paunchy English professor who – instead of leading the lost boys on new adventures – scans his creative writing workshop for the next “wonder boys,” young novelists headed for the literary stardom he once enjoyed. Wonder Boys opens on a seemingly typical Friday in…
In One Ear
HEADS UP! Hip-hop heads and heads-up music heads seeking retail enlightenment may have noticed lately, as they cruise Woodward downtown, that the unassuming music mecca, Kaboodlz (you know, the shop with the Chuck E. Cheese Elvis in the window) hasn’t had its doors open for business. Kaboodlz has, in its relatively brief existence, established itself…
Reindeer Games
Have audiences become so movie-saturated that every genre has to be turned inside out in order to still be effective? In the past, Reindeer Games would have been a straight-ahead heist film, an action movie peppered with psychological conflicts and characters who turn out to be different than they initially appeared. Certainly not the series…
On the penalty of death
No law shall be enacted providing for the penalty of death. –The Constitution of the State of Michigan, Article IV, Section 46 George W. Bush might have done better in Michigan had he been running in 1830. That was an era when pigs were allowed to run freely through the streets of Detroit, as long…
Rosetta
Rosetta, the new film by the Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, is not an easy movie to like. It has no conventional entertainment value; it assaults the eye with its constant use of jittery handheld camera; it’s relentlessly claustrophobic, both visually and emotionally, and it has no proper beginning or end. When it won…
Miniserious
This is the second part of a two-part miniseries. What? You missed the first part? No matter, it’ll play again during summer replacements. In the meantime, join the action in progress, which shows the Lizard of Fun lounging on a plush barstool, looking despondently into its half-finished margarita. Of course, this being television, the Lizard…
Simpatico
The careless mistakes of unrepentant youth can lead to tormented adulthood: That’s the lesson learned, or not learned, by the core characters of Simpatico, a suspense thriller that offers a moderate dose of suspense, but not quite enough thrills. As inseparable friends and teens obsessed with horseracing, Lyle, Vinnie and Rosie unleash an incredible scam…
Loose Lips
TOKIN’ FOR BUDDHA "Break it for me down, just a one more time; what was our name? Buddha Fulla Rymez!" They may sound like hokey lyrics in print, but the live version, belted out by Detroit’s own Buddha Fulla Rymez, filled the Token Lounge in Westland Friday night at their WRIF-presented show. The Token polled…
Oh my God! They killed Jeopardy!
The lovably offensive characters from "South Park" might have worn out their TV welcome, but, with Chef’s Luv Shack, the four prepubescent grade-schoolers prove themselves worth our attention once again. Similar to Merv Griffin’s Jeopardy! franchise, this wild and unexpectedly fun cartridge provides hours of gameplay (and it’s a great time-killer when waiting for "Must…
News Hits
Ferndale election hijacked? It wasn’t enough for the Mississippi-based American Family Association and Auburn Hills Mayor Tom McMillin to team up at the 11th hour to help defeat Ferndale’s proposed human rights ordinance by a slim 117 votes last week. Now American Family Association of Michigan President Gary Glenn says his organization is prepared to…
Vintage sauce
Throughout Latin America, Miami and even a good part of New York and California, this is the music that defines the past two generations. It’s the Latino equivalent of classic rock – only this music is infinitely more fun to dance to! The compilers at World Music Network have been hard at work, finishing nearly…
Food Stuff
OODLES OF STRUDELS Unless you’ve been to Allen Park’s Hungarian Strudel Shop – or have an industrious Eastern European grandmother – you may never have eaten hand-pulled strudel. "The thinner the flakier" is Helen Blessing’s motto, so she and her brother John Arnoczki, who emigrated from Hungary as children in 1956, spend hours stretching a…
U.S. Jungle Queen’s Odes to NFL Franchise Cities
The American take on jungle has always had trouble distinguishing itself from its English roots. U.S. DJs and producers either pay too much homage to their U.K. brethren (i.e. Dieselboy) or try to pass off the skittish beats as some kind of next-school hip hop (i.e. Ming & FS). Jordana – the artist formerly known…
New traditionalist
If you’re a fan of the Chicago blues sound, particularly the sound of Muddy Waters, then you’re likely to enjoy this album quite a bit. "Steady Rollin’" Bob Margolin, known and respected for his years of sideman work accompanying the late Muddy Waters, has both paid his dues and earned all the credentials necessary to…
Joys of chaos
Usually he sits with one or two much younger men, students of his, wonder boys whose hearts are filled with the dread and mystery of the books they believe themselves destined to write. He has known a number of famous and admired authors in his time, and he likes to caution and amuse his young…
When we were the young dudes
Have the Bollocks Brothers dropped the ball? Have they lost the plot in a fog of paparazzi flashbulbs, drug benders, tepid reception and newfound "maturity"? All this brouhaha and distraction from the task at hand is enough to make anyone forget how to take a sad Beatles song and make it bettah. But not Noel…
Being nothingness
The Nothing That Is: A Natural History of Zero By Robert Kaplan Oxford University Press 225 pages, $22 Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea By Charles Seife Viking 248 pages, $24.95 One may be the loneliest number, but zero gets no respect. It’s the place-holder that can’t hold its own. Impotent in addition and…
Oscar needs a spanking
Last week’s announcement of Academy Award nominations got me thinking: Now that it’s a brand new century, what if we just did away with all those award ceremonies? This, I know, is not popular opinion. Audiences love award shows as much as all those million-dollar TV quizzes, and the Hollywood machine greedily covets the millions…
