Enemy at the Gates
Love during wartime — David and Goliath meets an ironic Peter and the Wolf in this cinematic storybook of romantic fairy tales set against the grim backdrop of the Nazi siege of Soviet Stalingrad. But as one of the characters discovers, war is not child’s play — with Jude Law and Joseph Fiennes.
Multiethnic fear
In California, one lone crook escapes capture partly because nobody knows what box to put him in … sometimes race just isn’t so easy to define.
C-Pop takes a trip…
A new post-pop show takes a journey into the past.
Too Much Sleep
A daydreaming security guard has his gun stolen from him one day while riding the bus. His pursuit of the lost object leads him to encounters with characters who seem to have hidden agendas and speak in assertive non sequiturs. Director David Marquiling maintains a properly spaced-out tone, even as the story slips away into…
Geeks in retreat
Freewheeling Web forum Slashdot backs down from a censorship fight with the Church of Scientology, and raises questions about the true meaning of free speech online.
Exit Wounds
Steven Seagal’s clichéd, loose-cannon cop is exiled to walk a beat in Detroit’s worst precinct. Director Andrzej Bartkowiak seems to avoid showing Seagal’s moves and, though DMX is charismatic and Anthony Anderson provides comic relief, this flick shoots itself in the foot.
Run, Sharon, run
For the most part, the Detroit City Council hasn’t acted anything like a real, independent branch of government for a long time. Which is why Sharon McPhail ought to run.
Funk rarities
For every scratchy old groove dropped into a hot track or a DJ set, someone dug through hundreds of dusty records looking for a little-known cut to cannibalize. There are already bin-loads of compilations that collect funky rarities, but British label BBE’s Funk Spectrum series towers over the rest, thanks to a string of expert…
Gun moll goes wild
The Trash Brats and friends celebrate St. Patty’s Day in style (and give our reporter a concealed weapon) … Gallery 212 hosts Mark Arminski and other artistic and musical types … A2 indie film inspires one big jam session … & more.
Junk blues
Knoxville Girls ain’t girls, and they ain’t flashing grit-eating grins south of the Mason-Dixon either. These misbehaved no-wavers are just five Big Apple boys with a bogus band name and impressive rock resumes (Sonic Youth, Pussy Galore, the Cramps, etc.). Misleading moniker and punk pedigrees aside, however, Knoxville Girls do a bang-up job on their…
Coming clean
Bill Moyers TV special to take viewers behind the closed doors of the chemical industry….
Good soups, hot sandwiches
Rick’s Irish Pub takes the place of O’Leary’s Tearoom in Corktown. The front room is now a smoky bar, with Harp, Killian’s, Labatt and Bud Light on tap. The back room serves good soups and hot sandwiches, some of which, like kielbasa, have nothing to do with Ireland. O’Leary’s charming unmatched, flowered plates are still…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Your birthday is your personal New Year’s Day, the launch of a fresh astrological cycle. As you approach this glorious holiday, I’d like to provide two assignments that will help you take maximum advantage of the hatching energy. First, promise yourself that you will be voraciously observant. Each day, find at…
Take a bow
Some local black churches hesitate to acknowledge AIDS crisis…
2 Days Straight
You don’t have to be from Nashville to sound like you are, but Detroit’s 2 Days Straight recorded its latest album there and damn, does it ever sound like it. The Chrome Album drives home 11 shots of biting bourbon-soul and funk-blues rock. With a gruff ‘n’ gritty soul slinger on the mic and riffs so powerful…
Looking for a friend
Q: I separated from my wife about 18 months ago, and the divorce became final a few months back. We were together for more than 10 years, and I find myself a bit lost. I never really had to think about what to do for company. Now I find myself in my late 30s, living…
Over the Moon
Friend-of-Bush Rev. Moon is on the rise again….
Being
In a career that’s spanned almost 40 years, Rod Stewart has roamed all over the stylistic map, from British-invasion R&B to blues-rock to cheeky disco. But for the past decade or so, he’s been content to serve up big whiffs of adult-contemporary cheese, sounding a helluva lot more like Michael Bolton than the earnest soulster…
Dreams live on
Another shining addition to downtown Detroit’s rapidly growing art community, City Gallery opens its doors with a new Tyree Guyton exhibit.
DeVos and his MoJo
Michigan’s DeVos family tops list of Republican/right-wing contributors…
Brute force
“The Bouncer” is like an upper-class struggle — the bourgeoisie representing graphical elegance and feudal miscreants playing out the plotline. Thus, the internal conflict arises: the beauty of the opulent can’t feasibly cooperate with the illiteracy of the many unfortunate street urchins; too many disputes arise. Undoubting, this is a sad day for gaming. As…
Sparking interest
Take an anonymous chance at romance….
Whole lotta sense
Whole Foods Market spearheads campaign to ask the FDA to regulate genetically modified foods…
Not funny
Try putting your ear up to a black-velvet painting of a hobo clown. You¹ll notice a lot of … silence. The same thing goes for America’s Funnyman, yet another endeavor by comedian (?) Neil Hamburger: a phenomenon of irony and the most painful parts of the stand-up shtick. He has the delivery and signature moan…
Toilet humor
One-liners from famous imbibers….
Speak up
Join fight to enforce Detroit’s living wage ordinance…
Social-science school
Most famous for its nostalgic 1998 indie hit “Return,” Los Angeles duo Self-Scientific has dropped a steady, but tantalizingly slow string of amazing singles. Finally, they release a full-length album, and it proves worth the wait. Resurrecting the tried and true formula of one DJ/producer and one MC, DJ Khalil and Chace Infinite prove that…
Do each other… or lunch
Compare stats of non-celebs on collectible cards….
Group hug
Memories of the Hamtramck Blowout and Mid by Midwest local music festivals … Cold As Life thrashes the Shelter … U-M’s Halfway Inn threatened by a dining-hall generator … & sound-artist Viki rocks the coffeehouse world.
Down-tempo and dirty
Arab Strap whisks bare the bedroom whispers usually softened by metaphor when in song form. The only things softened in The Red Thread are Aidan Moffatt’s tone of voice and the guitar plucks and strums of Malcolm Middleton. Even more sparse and breathy than previous works, the exaggerated subtlety downplays the blatancy of the lyrics…
Go with the flow
Oh bloody hell, would you really wear this?
Vive la différence!
Celebrate the year’s best indie films….
Finger on the pulse
Think that the most important independent labels in the United States are still Touch and Go, Matador and Sub Pop? Silly you! While those dinosaurs struggle to infuse themselves with new talent, upstart labels such as Tiger Style, Jetset and Astralwerks have quickly positioned themselves as the possessors of the new cutting edge. So why…
Crass with class
Just who does this Dame think she is?…
Opera monstro
21st Century opera includes computer-generated flourishes….
Junk blues
Knoxville Girls ain’t girls, and they ain’t flashing grit-eating grins south of the Mason-Dixon either. These misbehaved no-wavers are just five Big Apple boys with a bogus band name and impressive rock resumes (Sonic Youth, Pussy Galore, the Cramps, etc.). Misleading moniker and punk pedigrees aside, however, Knoxville Girls do a bang-up job on their…
Waking up slowly
Windy & Carl open new levels of consciousness….
Who, what, where
Two new directories offer creative, artistic listings….
One way out
Director Lynne Ramsey’s feature debut is one of those movies which manages to find poetry in grimy surroundings and stunted lives. Set in a Glasgow slum in the 1970s, the film carefully balances turgid reality with abstracted images and episodes of magic realism.
Letters to the Editor
Facts wrong? Jack Lessenberry’s amusing commentary regarding Royal Oak’s upcoming May 15 vote on a discriminatory, so-called “gay-rights” ordinance ("Human rights and Royal Oak," MT, Feb. 28-March 6) included at least one misstatement of fact that Jack knows to be false — that being his inaccurate characterization of Christian bookstores as “nonprofit” or “religious” institutions.…
The chemical papers
More than 1 million documents were obtained from chemical companies via the litigation discovery process … will the public be outraged at what was found?
Benjamin Smoke
Co-directors Jem Cohen and Peter Sillen use a cut-and-paste approach to build an emotional portrait of Benjamin, singer in the band Smoke, whose beautifully discordant sounds not only underscore this film, but seem to dictate its very structure.
Psychokiller
Qu’est-ce que c’est? Our favorite celluloid psychokillers are Frankenstein’s monsters of cinema, pieced together from nightmares, grim fairy tales and news clippings.
Police secrets
An attorney prosecuting a civil suit against Detroit Police Officer Eugene Brown raises new questions about a shooting report that the police may have repressed.
