Blog
Puscifer
With both Tool and A Perfect Circle, singer Maynard James Keenan preferred to perform in the background. He was often little more than a silhouette as the other members in those bands – both of which play a heady, aggressive form of prog rock – toiled away in the foreground. His other band Puscifer, which stopped at the Lakewood Civic Auditorium last night, Keenan comes out of his shell.0 Comments
Electric Flower
A band featuring drummer Josh Garza and singer-guitarist Imaad Wasif, Electric Flower makes psychedelic rock that hearkens back to the days of Hendrix and Blue Cheer. The duo just released a self-titled EP and made its live debut last week at the Los Angeles rock club Harvard and Stone. Speaking in a phone interview from his L.A. home, Garza recently discussed the band’s approach and responded to allegations that the group might just be as loud as My Bloody Valentine.0 Comments
Eva Longoria discusses the eye-opening documentary ‘The Harvest/La Cosecha’
Well-versed on the subject of migrant labor issues, actress Eva Longoria was shocked to realize the extent that children are used to work on U.S. farms to pick fruits and vegetables. She was introduced to the issue through director U. Roberto Romano, whose documentary The Harvest/La Cosecha, which just came out on DVD, centers on the stories of three young Hispanic children who are among the 400,000 who struggle to work long hours in the fields. She recently called in to talk about the film.0 Comments
They Might Be Giants with Jonathan Coulton
Friday, September 16, 2011
Beachland Ballroom, Cleveland OH
Review and Photo by Michael David Toth
For years, They Might Be Giants’ Cleveland tour stop has consistently sold out weeks in advance. Their 2011 appearance proved no exception, as fans packed in for a roughly two-hour retrospective of the cult band’s quarter-century career.0 Comments
I, Alex Cross Filming in Cleveland, Ohio
Casually encountering the Detroit Bomb Squad truck, Detroit police cars and various strategically placed black Cadillac SUVs, one might think they were transported to Detroit, only this was Cleveland on a beautiful September day watching the filming of the James Patterson novel turned movie, "I, Alex Cross". On this day it could pass as the "windy" city with 30 MPH gusts, which would prove to be a hazard later. As with most movie shoots, there is the standard waiting many hours for the exciting parts to happen. In talking to nearby office workers on break, they tell of the excitement they witnessed the week before, with helicopters, snipers, and the actual actors, Tyler Perry and Matthew Fox, on set right outside their office building.0 Comments
Stroh Center Rap
Even if you don't have an affiliation with BGSU, you'll enjoy this hilarious video! #RollAlongBGWarriors Enormous talent went into the production of this hilarious homage to the funders of the new sports complex on Bowling Green's campus, set to a catchy rap tune and full of G-rated slang and SNL-like humor.
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The Young Electric
With influences like A Wilhelm Scream, Bright Eyes, Tom Petty, and The Cure, and musical guilty pleasures like Enya and Third Eye Blind, one would think that a band would get confused when the time came to write their own music. However, for The Young Electric, these influences have helped them sculpt their music to be focused, exciting, and just plain good. Members Riley Hamnett (vocals), Drew Hamnett (bass), Natty Coleman (drums), and Mat Deason (guitar) sat down to discuss their new sound, their struggles with the industry, and working with producer Jim Wirt to create their debut album, Machines.
Tell me a bit about The Young Electric? What’s the difference between any of the music you recorded in the past and this new music?0 Comments
“Bucky Larson: Born to be a Star” is One of Year’s Worst Movies
Nick Swardson is a funny guy. He had a great recurring role on Reno 911 as a smart-ass roller skating prostitute, and he’s made memorable appearances in films such as I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry and 30 Minutes or Less. As outrageous as some of the characters he’s played have been, nothing will prepare you for his turn as Bucky Larson, a buck-toothed Iowa kid who picks up and heads to Hollywood with the hopes of becoming a star. But Larson doesn’t want to be just any star. Having just learned that his seemingly innocent parents were famous first-generation porn stars, he sets out to follow in their footsteps. His small penis and un-groomed crotch turn out be a real turn-off, at least for most directors. And when Miles Deep (Don Johnson) decides to let Larson do a screen test, he’s equally disappointed until Larson becomes an Internet sensation, and Deep figures he can market him as an anti-porn star. Before you can say “preposterous,” Larson is one of adult film’s biggest sensations, and he cleans up at the year-end award ceremony, pissing off rival Dick Shadow (Stephen Dorff) and alienating his well-intentioned girlfriend Kathy (Christina Ricci) along the way. Co-written by Adam Sandler, this film has little to no merit. It’s almost as if you can hear Sandler and friends snickering to themselves as they put the concept together. Too bad they never thought to wonder whether anyone else would find the script humorous. And as much Swardson tries to give the character some kind of pathos, even he can’t salvage this lame-brained flick.0 Comments
Avengers Movie Filming – It's a Wrap!
Visiting the site of the previous destruction for the Avengers filming I found that just like all movie magic, the props were gone, the street rubble cleaned up and the destroyed cars non-existent. Gone too were the passionate movie set “bouncers” controlling the crowds. But moving further down the street we found a smaller section of streets still active with movie-making activity. One unplanned prime vantage point was from the parking garage. Surprisingly I was able to park in the lot marked “extras” and the view from the 3rd floor deck was perfect for viewing one of the side streets still filled with movie equipment. Unfortunately timing is everything and the only action taking place was by the crews moving rubble & props around. We then moved on to street level, as far as the barricades would allow, only to find it was 1:00 and except for a few crew members watching the set, they were at lunch. At least one thing is predictable with movie-making, lunchtime seems to be non-negotiable.
We found a perfect viewing spot to eat our lunch and had a front row seat (spectator seating is rare) to what was to be the smashing of a fully operational hot dog cart by a large plate of steel, the kind used for covering construction holes in the pavement. Eventually my friend had to go back to work, but would be able to see the action from high above the street. Since it was evident that the only immediate action was from spectators waiting patiently for the slightest bit of movie-making, I decided to walk to Public Square. I wanted to see if I could catch a glimpse of the German village (Stuttgart) that had been filmed the day before. Again, quite surprising that there was not one leftover German sign, facade or discarded prop. It was as if nothing had ever happened there, except that the road was still blocked and crews were putting back up the traditional American street signs. Time to head back to 9th Street to see if anything had progressed on the hot dog cart.0 Comments
Avengers Filming In Cleveland, A Visit To The “Action”
NYPD cars, rubble, explosions and New York street signs, all might seem common if you were in NYC, or even a sound stage in L.A., but this is Cleveland! The props were all brought here by the Marvel Comics crew who are are in Cleveland this month shooting scenes for next year's Avengers film. It's usually the talk of the morning news... who has been there to see the filming, what they have seen, stars spotted (or lack of) and what roads are closed. For the most part, it's not like a visit to the Universal Studios lot. The action is sporadic and sometimes disguised with smoke blown by giant fans, so you have to be in the right place at the right time. We arrived at the area seeing road closed signs so we knew we were in the right place. There were several pre-smashed cars, vans and taxis amongst rubble that resembled a typical road construction project. The crosswalk was taped off to pedestrian traffic, so from our vantage point we HEARD the car flipping scene, but didn't get to actually see it. What little we might have seen between obstructions was obscured by the fake smoke blown by giant fans. Then they announced it was their lunch break, so we took the opportunity to cross where it had previously been closed to scope out a better “after lunch” vantage point. We did see a few guys walking around in padded spandex pants containing sensors which obviously have some movie-making magic powers. The downtown Cleveland East 9th street area was hopping with energy, everyone trying to get a better view of the action and taking pictures of themselves in front of the rubble and “fake traffic”. We found a perfect shady spot on the patio of a restaurant that clearly wasn't serving outside because no one was eating. There was no shortage of movie bouncers with headsets getting increasingly annoyed at people loitering on the sidewalk. It was as if they thought the same people from 5 minutes ago weren't following their instructions, but it was really new sets of people. A humorous exchange if you were an innocent observer on the safety of the approved viewing spot. We could see the crains of large diffused lighting and cameras getting into position down the street. Then just before the action started, they decided to clear the restaurant patio, so much like herding turtles, they cleared the patio and sidewalk to a spot down the street. Seeing this was going to get us nowhere but bored, we decided to move to the other end of the closed street through alleys. On the way we did see the commissary, but nothing exciting was happening there. On the other end of the street we did have a different view, but much the same as the other side, the action was far away. We did get to speak to an extra who described his experience applying to be an extra, waiting 4 ½ hours in the hot sun in a suit. He hadn't done any filming yet, but was scheduled to report in a tuxedo the following Monday, for $10 per hour. A young college freshman with a headset in charge of keeping the sidewalk clear was answering questions about working on the crew. She told the crowd they usually work 12-14 hour days, standing, and she got the job because she interned for a movie last summer. She really went the extra mile with her best bubbly customer service charm to keep the crowd entertained, in a completely different way than the bouncers on the other end of the street. After another 30 minutes in the hot sun with nothing much to see, we decided to call it a day.0 Comments
Kid Rock
Imagine 8:30 pm on a Tuesday night in Northeast Ohio, motorcycles in the parking lot as far as you can see, and through the haze you're stepping over people who have already enjoyed the evening a little too much! Where would that be? A Kid Rock concert would be a good guess! There was no end to the people watching opportunities, but as soon as Kid Rock hit the stage, all eyes and ears were on him. His powerful voice, confident style, unpredictable behavior (although you can predict that it will be unpredictable) and quite physical stage presence on a fire-breathing stage kept people on the lawn of Blossom Music Center standing for his entire two hour performance. Frankly, where else can you vocalize strings of profanity with 10,000 of your closest new friends without repercussion? Kid Rock peppered in newer songs from his Platinum-selling Born Free album, but it was clear by audience participation that the fan favorites were his more raucous and often raunchy earlier songs.0 Comments
A Recap of Lollapalooza’s 20th Anniversary Concert
Even Lollapalooza founder Perry Farrell has admitted he didn’t expect Lollapalooza to get a second wind and become the three-day behemoth that it has become. Staged as a destination festival in Chicago for the past seven years, Lollapalooza celebrated its 20th anniversary this year over the weekend of August 5-7 (and during a press conference held on Day One, Farrell announced Lolla will expand to Brazil next year). Even though some fans found the anniversary line-up to be lacking, that didn’t keep a capacity crowd of 90,000 away from Grant Park.
Festival fans had plenty of good acts to choose from, too. Day One featured the Vaccines, a great Brit garage pop band that delivered spot-on renditions of its overseas hits from its stellar debut, What Did You Expect from the Vaccines? Even though Everyman singer Justin Young didn’t look or act much like a rock star, he sure sounded good. Backed by a live band, Brit rapper Tinie Tempah delivered a high energy set of hip-hop, and Electric Touch, a terrific Austin band with a well-polished classic rock/bar band sound, was the day’s real surprise. They gave a white-hot performance in front of a small but enthusiastic crowd. Hot off an appearance at President Obama’s birthday party, OK Go was a side stage smash as its matching, colorful suits added some panache to its perky power pop.0 Comments
Too much stereotypical monkey business in Rise of the Planet of the Apes
A Planet of the Apes prequel, Rise of the Planet of the Apes gets off to a strong start. It commences as San Francisco scientist Will Rodman (James Franco) thinks he has found a cure for Alzheimer’s. But when an experiment involving a chimp called Bright Eyes goes awry, his boss pulls the plug on his entire operation. All the chimps are put down. Except for one. Will adopts a baby he calls Caesar and raises it as if it were his own child. Bright Eyes’ offspring, Caesar is unusually intelligent and quickly learns sign language. But after it bites a neighbor as it’s defending Will’s father (John Lithgow), Caesar is sent to quarantine. At this point, the mild-manner chimp becomes enraged after its caretakers prove to be rather vicious. It craftily begins to hatch an escape plan, rejecting Will’s offer to come back home. In one showdown with a guard, Caesar actually speaks and it’s this point that the movie officially jumps the shark. A human vs. chimp battle on the Golden Gate Bridge ensues and the film’s carefully crafted plot spirals out of control. To its credit, Rise of the Planet of the Apes features some of the most real looking apes you’ll ever see. The computer graphics are stunning (and for a budget of $93 million, you’d damn well better get some good-looking monkeys). But despite the fact that Will remains an ape sympathizer until the end, this movie resorts to man vs. beast clichés we’ve seen plenty of times before.0 Comments
Keith Urban Concert...a View from the 4th Row, Unfolding Many Days Later
There is no marketing machine that could have accomplished what Keith Urban has in the last 14 years without what he's got. And what he's got, besides raw talent, is the unquantifiable, immeasurable “it” factor. July 21 at the Quicken Loans arena in Cleveland, Keith Urban lit up the arena for two and a half hours with his exceptional guitar playing and emotional songs, expressed by his enthusiasm for living! His well above average good looks don't hurt either. Sitting in the 4th row right smack in the middle of the stage has it's obvious advantages, but you really get a sense of what is going on up on the stage when you can see the expressions on the band's faces and the apparent inside jokes. Keith Urban's genuine hospitality shows through as if you are all personal guests who he has invited over for a foot stompin', rawkus party, and much to the chagrin of the security staff, he encouraged everyone to get up on their seats!1 Comment
Cowboys & Aliens is a Rather Dull Shootout
Director Jon Favreau (Iron Man) sets out to combine genres with Cowboys & Aliens, a sci-fi/Western based on a graphic novel. Taking place in a small town in the wild, wild West, the film commences with a scene in which Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig) wakes up to find a bracelet strapped to his arm. He quickly dispenses with a few roughneck cowboys who try to take him out, and he ends up in the town of Absolution, where he has a run-in with Percy (Paul Dano), the trouble-making son of rich cattleman Colonel Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford). When Dolarhyde comes to rescue his son, the alien invasion begins and his son along with a group of townspeople are captured and whisked off to a giant spaceship that has attached itself to the base of a mountain. Jake’s bracelet, it turns out, is the key to defeating the aliens. It possesses the ability to destroy their entire colony, but Jake has to get close enough to the bad guys to make that happen. Jake and the Colonel realize they must put aside their differences and organize a posse to defeat the evil aliens. It’s at this point that that the plot begins to slow. The film will undoubtedly appeal to anyone who loves Westerns. Ford and Craig both make for good grizzled cowboys (Olivia Wilde, however, is miscast as Jake’s love interest). But once the aliens arrive, all the nuances disappear and the movie turns into a video game of sorts as heavily armed cowboys and aliens engage in one long, dull shootout.0 Comments
Captain America Just Isn’t a Compelling Character
Billed as the story of “the first Avenger,” Captain America almost serves as a prequel to films such as The Incredible Hulk and Ironman. The storyline here predates what happens in those movies, and the film version, which was originally conceived back in 1997, is a period piece of sorts that centers on the early life of Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), a Brooklyn kid who wants to go to war to fight the Nazis but can’t get accepted into the military on account of his poor health and diminutive stature. He gets a break, however, when he meets Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci), a German defector who heads up a pilot program designed to produce super soldiers. Steve volunteers to be the guinea pig and after getting inoculated with Erskine’s special serum, he puts on the muscle and becomes a fighting machine. At first, he’s designate to the sidelines and takes on the Captain America persona to recruit new soldiers. But once he performs a daring rescue mission, he becomes the military’s go-to-guy as it tries to take down Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving), a mad scientist who has aspirations to destroy the United States. There’s a lot of exposition in this movie and once Captain America finally has his showdown with Schmidt, it’s all rather anticlimactic. While the film certainly captures the look of the era and is a refreshing departure from all the special effects flicks we’ve seen this summer, it doesn’t establish Captain America as a compelling character. The guy lacks Iron Man’s humor or Thor’s physique. Perhaps that’s supposed to be part of his charm, but even the romance between Steve and Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) doesn’t resonate.0 Comments
Sleeper Agent
Though only 15 at the time, singer Alex Kandel knew she wanted to join guitarist Tony Smith’s garage-pop band Sleeper Agent the minute she saw the Bowling Green, Kentucky band play live. So she pestered the heck out of the guy, and two years later when he scratched his original line-up and was looking for a new singer, he knew Kandel was his go-to gal.
The band immediately started writing new songs and then recruited Jay Joyce (Cage the Elephant, the Whigs) to produce its thrilling debut, Celebracion, which comes out next month. After commencing with the snappy single “Get It Daddy,” a song that makes the group sound like a Southern-fried White Stripes, the album doesn’t have a dull moment on it. Its raw energy is seductive, especially when Kandel and Smith take to harmonizing over the thrashy garage pop melodies. After high profile tours with Cage the Elephant and Manchester Orchestra, the band is ready to hit the road hard in the fall in support of Celebracion. We talked to Kandel and Smith via cell phone from Bowling Green and they filled us in on the details of the upcoming release.1 Comment
August Burns Red Hopes to Move Beyond Metalcore
With its new album, Leveler, which hits stores today, Manheim, Pennsylvania’s August Burns Red aspires to move beyond the metalcore tag that it has been tagged with ever since it made its debut with 2005’s Thrill Seeker. Not that the nomenclature has hurt sales. The band’s last album, 2009’s Constellations, debuted in the top 25 on Billboard’s charts, and the group has been enlisted to be one of the headliners on this year’s Warped Tour. With its distinctive time signature changes, lead single “Internal Cannon” is certainly going to raise some eyebrows. Guitarist JB Brubaker recently phoned in to discuss the new album and the pros and cons of having a Christian fanbase.0 Comments
Cars 2 Takes a Few Wrong Turns
At the onset of Cars 2, the sequel to the 2006 film about a group of talking cars who The film begins with British spycar Finn McMissile (Michael Caine) sneaking into a suspicious oil platform and finding that evil scientist Professor Zündapp (Thomas Kretschmann) is planning something, but is discovered and forced to escape before he can find more details. Meanwhile after winning the Piston Cup for the fourth time, Racecar Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) returns to Radiator Springs and rejoins his best friend tow truck Mater (Larry The Cable Guy). While watching the announcement of the first World Grand Prix, sponsored by former oil tycoon Miles Axlerod (Eddie Izzard) to promote his new renewable fuel Allinol, Mater gets angry when F1 car Francesco Bernoulli (John Turturro) starts boasting about how he is far faster than McQueen and he manages to contact the TV studio by phone to confront him. McQueen intervenes and accepts Bernoulli's challenge to race against him in the Grand Prix.0 Comments
Super 8 Pays Homage to Old school Sci-Fi
Written and directed by J. J. Abrams (Cloverfield, Star Trek), Super 8 pays homage to the old school sci-fi flicks of the ’70s. It’s a little bit like E.T. and Close Encounters, only with more explosions and violence. Set in 1979, the film takes place in a small Ohio town. It commences with a scene depicting the funeral for the mother of Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney), a well-mannered 13-year-old who has been coddled by his departed mom. His father Jackson (Kyle Chandler) is a police officer who takes his job more seriously than parenting. While he’s not abusive, he’s so stern, you wonder if he really loves the kid. Joe, however, has a good group of friends led by the chubby Charles (Riley Griffiths), who’s trying to enter a film he’s making into a competition. One night, he and Joe and a cadre of kids head to a train station to take some footage. They’ve recruited one of their classmates, a pretty young girl named Alice (Elle Fanning), to join them, and Joe is instantly smitten.0 Comments