The man who loved movies
The Detroit Film Theatre lovingly screens everything by French cineast François Truffaut….
For Love of the Game
Far more horrifying than Evil Dead, Sam Raimi’s attempt at making a sports-oriented romance strikes out, forfeits and loses three times before its two hours and 10 minutes are up. The script, based on a novel by Michael Shaara, is all goofy dialogue, unearned personal victories and relentless clichés that don’t even leave room for…
Happy New Year, mon fréres
What very few experts (well, actually, nobody but me) have discovered is that the Y2K mess is the Roman Catholic Church’s fault. Back when the French Revolution was in high gear, Danton, Robespierre and those other garçons didn’t just chop off heads. They also invented an entirely new, much better calendar in which the months…
Jules and Jim
Surely François Truffaut is remembered as the most likable and accessible of the French New Wave directors, a filmmaker whose movies, unlike the avant-garde works of Godard and Resnais, the razor-edged societal critiques of Chabrol or even the philosophical romances of Rohmer, radiate a special charm. Odd, then, to look back now and realize that…
Foul balls
A swoosh and a grunt. The sudden thwack of metal on leather. Another grunt, then the sound of running and a yell of pain. "Are you OK?" I yell out the window to the Lizard of Fun, who’s in the yard with a catcher’s mask over its face. "What’s all that noise?" "I’m practicing my…
Stigmata
Two great tastes don’t always taste great together. Take The Exorcist and MTV, for instance. You love them equally, but probably not as a combo – unless of course, you’re the type who could sit through a two-hour Marilyn Manson video without spewing green like Linda Blair. If ex-video maker Rupert Wainright’s Stigmata can’t mesmerize…
Pianos, players and the Post
I’M AN ASS, TOO It has been brought to my attention that my debut in this column exhibited a certain cattiness incongruous to my nature. Those who know me, as the harbinger of good will that I am, were taken aback at the barbs peppering my items. But making interesting social commentary necessitates pointing out…
Shoot the Piano Player
Surely François Truffaut is remembered as the most likable and accessible of the French New Wave directors, a filmmaker whose movies, unlike the avant-garde works of Godard and Resnais, the razor-edged societal critiques of Chabrol or even the philosophical romances of Rohmer, radiate a special charm. Odd, then, to look back now and realize that…
Rolling on the river
The last time I cruised along the Detroit River was nearly 10 years ago when taking a boat to Boblo Island before the amusement park closed. I didn’t pay much attention to the isle, but danced with others who smiled and clapped to Stevie Wonder booming on the sound system. Last Saturday I traveled on…
The Soft Skin
Surely François Truffaut is remembered as the most likable and accessible of the French New Wave directors, a filmmaker whose movies, unlike the avant-garde works of Godard and Resnais, the razor-edged societal critiques of Chabrol or even the philosophical romances of Rohmer, radiate a special charm. Odd, then, to look back now and realize that…
Raining mercury
To paraphrase a song from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, "The mercury drops keep falling on our heads …" The National Wildlife Federation reported in a study released last week that the Great Lakes Region is "being poisoned by the mercury in rain, snow and other precipitation." Among the areas most affected is Detroit,…
Weird-ass blasts
Rahsaan Roland Kirk was one of jazz’s great mad geniuses, a passionate player who flung his rough edges in your face, a technical virtuoso who liked to play three horns at once and who perfected the art of circular breathing to where he could play for up to two hours without pausing to inhale. Kirk…
Ferndale’s rainbow law
Gay rights activists won a major victory when Ferndale passed a human rights ordinance that prohibits discrimination against anyone because of their sexual orientation in the areas of housing, employment and public accommodations and services. Under the ordinance, passed Sept. 13 by City Council, such discrimination is also prohibited on the basis of a person’s…
No turntables, one mic
If you say it fast, "raw as hell" sounds like Rahzel. And he is. Just listen to the mad array of oral pyrotechnics he puts down on his first solo effort, Make The Music 2000, and you’ll be a believer. With just a microphone and no turntables, Rahzel, of Illadelphia’s legendary Roots crew, follows in…
Phreaks, fish, Fire Talk
Autumn is here, and with it comes word that the Web is more intertwined than ever. The scientific journal Nature reports that any two randomly picked Web pages are separated by an average of just 19 links. Thus, like some bizarre high-tech version of the "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" party game, anything you might…
Pitch’d
Ghetto Tech Detroit has always been known for its DIY independent stance, and no scene operates with as much funk sold from the trunk as techno-bass. When you think of Detroit’s top booty producers, you usually think of DJ Assault and DJ Godfather, but with at least three Detroit radio classics, you can’t overlook Erik…
Food stuff
SUPER SOURS Vinegar is mainly acetic acid and water. You can use vinegar as a salad dressing, a preservative, a mild disinfectant and a fiber softener in cooking. I especially like using vinegar in sweet-and-sour dishes, using a recipe provided by my friend Victor Hsia. It’s easy to make and also easy to remember: 1…
Hollywood Gomorrah
Last weekend I witnessed a miracle. Croatian pianist Ivo Pogorelich, ever the iconoclast, gave a super-lugubrious, super-emotive performance of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Reaction was predictably mixed: Half the audience sat on their hands while the other half clapped themselves silly. As I was perusing the program at intermission, I noticed that when…
Net profits
PICKUP ARTISTS: STREET BASKETBALL IN AMERICA By Lars Anderson and Chad Millman Verso, $15, 203 pp. How do we explain seemingly sane adults spending hard-earned money to watch a bunch of hot, sweaty people they’ve never met run around a court trying to throw a ball through a hoop? Is it the thrill of competition,…
Roads to ruin
More so than in most states, Michigan’s culture and economy have been shaped by its experience with roads and cars. No other program undertaken by state government has affected the lives of residents the way our nearly 10,000-mile state highway system and 109,000 miles of local roads have. Now, for the first time since Michigan…
Live through this
Indie-rockers Superchunk want to create music that lasts, makes you think, and dares you to find a life less ordinary.
Taken for a ride
In 1997, Gov. John Engler looked across the paved portion of Michigan’s landscape and didn’t like what he saw: maddened motorists on pothole-pocked roads. So he called for and got a hike in the state’s gasoline tax and other fees that delivered an additional $300 million a year for road repair. Then in 1998, more…
Wild horses
Sneak a peek into an unauthorized biography of rock poet Patti Smith, who created a new genre for herself: raw, undomesticated, electric and sexy.
Easy punk rawk target
This grand ’90s punk tribute to ’80s New Wave is such a great idea for a cover compilation that Vagrant Records decided to do it twice. Surprisingly, these bands sound almost as in touch with the original versions of the songs as the original artists did — especially the Get Up Kids doing "Close To…
Lost in the K-hole
Club culture chronicles in the Big Apple of despair….
American Beauty
Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) looks up one day from his cubicle and wonders just when he became a 40-something drone. He has the things you’re supposed to want: the beautiful house, beautiful wife, even the large automobile. What he can’t fathom is: How did he get here? In their scathing portrayal of middle-class anxiety, screenwriter…
