Why this election matters
Detroit can be fixed — but if we really want to fix it, we’ll have to take action. The first item on the agenda is getting your butt down to the polling booth.
An American Rhapsody
Director Eva Gardos bases this intimately powerful film on her own childhood in Hungary and her adolescence in 1960s America. She exposes aspects of her life which weren’t openly discussed, those things immigrants are supposed to pack away after they’ve arrived in America but need to remember if they’re going to make sense of their…
Payback time
Despite many opponents and obstacles, the struggle to institute reparations for the slavery of African-Americans is neither hopeless nor useless.
Bread and Tulips
The screen crawls with colorful characters, each craftily designed by director Silvio Soldini to solicit our fond indulgence. And though this "crowd-pleaser" takes a while to show its hand, once it finally does, its sinking into sentimental goo is rapid and merciless — with Bruno Ganz.
Ancient familiar
Doug Martsch (Built To Spill’s multitasking singer-guitarist) has a poetic take on the past. And he likes potatoes.
O
He Got Game
meets Othello, O breaks down Shakespeare’s super-sized tragedy to Othello Jr. It boils the plot down to the bones, evaporating its high tragedy into racial and violent bitterness, then dresses up what remains in varsity-basketball jerseys and prep-school uniforms — with Mekhi Phifer and Julia Stiles.
Imagine all the people
A classic album artist showcased at CPOP … New recordings from Elephant Gerald, The Trembling and New Grenada … plus quality local shows you don’t wanna miss (or did you already?).
You said it
Two years later, MCA Financial partners are brought up on felony securities fraud charges….
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): If I were designing your dream home — which I hope you’ll be pushing hard to move into in 2002 — I’d be sure to include a two-story master bedroom, gym, spa, guest house, swimming pool, gazebo, stereo system in every room, aquarium, tantric playroom, state-of-the-art film theater, terraced garden and…
Speaking of Jennifer
David Bonior calls Jennifer Granholm to task for boondoggley fairgrounds deal….
Requiem for Aaliyah
Detroit suffers the loss of hometown girl Aaliyah, who represented our city better than most….
School rule
Judge opens Beard Elementary School despite continuing concerns about kids’ health….
Back-alley fiesta
It’s time for the Dally in the Alley, which means frolicking in the inner city with local musicians, artists, vendors — and absolutely no corporate sponsors.
Social insecurity
We’re worried about the future … does anyone else care?
I, Ike
Back from exile with a new album and renewed respect, Ike Turner rocks Ann Arbor’s Blues and Jazz Festival.
Money for nothin’
Candidate Kwame Kilpatrick denies new allegations of special-interest kickbacks….
Sugar, spice & so long
Labor Day already? Summer may be almost over, but there’s lots of fun to be had around town, including blissful Sugar Hiccup Wednesdays at Fifth Avenue … Ass-spanky fun at the Groove Room … Deep, dark dance at Labyrinth … & much more!
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Thank goddess, Aries, that I rarely have to nag you to be brave. Forceful enterprise comes naturally to you. But this week I’ll ask you to take inventory of this beautiful capacity. Please check and see if you ever act boldly on behalf of an urge that would be better suppressed…
Letters to the Editor
Why don’t we care? I believe the reason for widespread lack of interest in the forthcoming mayoral election is simple, but tragic ("Swept aside," Metro Times, Aug. 8-14). No one has a vision of the city’s future, either as a player in the national economy and politics, or as a contributor to the nation’s culture.…
School bored
A landmark documentary reminds us that high school was hell….
Lethal passions
With storylines involving interracial dating and school shootings, Tim Blake Nelson expected his film to ruffle some feathers. But no one expected O would be shelved for a year and a half.
Confessions of a blockhead
How struggling creative types can stop being so hard on themselves and learn to follow the fun.
How scared should we be?
Mad cow disease … West Nile virus … antibiotic-resistant tuberculosis … Is it all just a bunch of nonsense? The scary thing is, no one seems quite sure.
Weenie wagging
Q: I’m a 30-year-old married black male who enjoys exposing his penis. I’m a voyeur and an exhibitionist. I’ve been showing off since I was 12 and it really gets me hard and excited. Since I was around 21 or so, I have really enjoyed masturbating while driving or sitting in parking lots. I truly…
It’s been great, but good-bye
Well, folks, this is the last issue of Metro Times that will bear my name as editor. After four-and-a-half years at what I consider one of the best jobs in Detroit, I’ve decided I need to slow down, chill out and take stock of myself. The reason I got into this business was because I…
Letters to the Editor
Immaterial girl Michigan native Madonna broadcast her Detroit concert live on HBO ("Nobody’s perfect," Metro Times, Aug. 29-Sept. 4). I’m sure many Michiganders watched it. But I wonder how many of them noticed how she mocked the state of Michigan. Around mid-concert, she took a pause from singing and talked a bit to the crowd.…
Strange days ahead
Doctor, doctor, give us the news — and please tell us what to do about the latest health scares plaguing the nation.
Back-alley fiesta
Dally in the Alley means frolicking in the inner city….
Shockheaded theater
Unhappy endings abound in this “junk opera,” where twisted black humor is wrapped up in rhyme and song.
Crossed swords
Japanese director Nagisa Oshima’s first feature in 14 years is set in a militia barracks in mid-19th century Kyoto and tells of the disruption caused by the arrival of a young samurai with an unsettlingly androgynous demeanor. Eminently watchable, it’s a lesser film from a former agitator who’s become an old master — with Beat…
