News of the Weird Update
In November, News of the Weird reported the arrest of Michael McPhail of Spanaway, Wash., who was charged with bestiality under the state’s brand-new law, having allegedly been caught by his wife having sex with the family dog. In May 2007, a jury in Tacoma, Wash., found McPhail not guilty.
Leading Economic Indicators
Zimbabwe’s almost comically sad hyperinflation, which News of the Weird reported had reached 1,593 percent in January (one could buy a house, pool and tennis court in 1990 for the same dollars as would buy a single brick today), was up to 3,731 percent in May, and is expected to get much worse. Star Trek…
Least Competent Criminals
Claude White, 34, was arrested in April in Elizabethton, Tenn., and charged with stealing a forklift, which sheriff’s deputies later found overturned in the middle of a road, but with a pair of shoes and socks trapped underneath. Around the same time, a call came from Sycamore Shoals Hospital about a patient (White) telling an…
‘Wicked’ offers most bewitching family fun
It’s easy to see why the touring production of “Wicked” broke Celebrity Attractions’ box-office records in Oklahoma City: The musical is a real crowd-pleaser. Based on the Gregory Maguire novel, “Wicked” purports to tell “the untold story of the witches of Oz,” making it a prequel to “The Wizard of Oz.” Our heroines are…
Bitch
Reviewer’s grade: A Keira Leverton works in a record store and is a total bitch. She yells at and punches people she sees on the street and in her store. Leverton hates people, hates poseurs, hates life and hates her sister, whom she refers to only as “dipshit.” Everything makes her mad, including herself.…
Coming to Town
Reviewer’s grade: C- Saintly 11-year-old JoBeth Smalls writes a letter to Santa Claus asking for revenge against the classmates and principal who torment her. What she gets is Klaus, a sweaty, dirty, foul-mouthed evil-twin version of St. Nick, who shows up with two alcoholic, porn-obsessed elves to wreak havoc on her enemies. After using…
Try to Read This Without Wincing:
A cable broke on a leg extension machine at a YWCA facility in Akron, Ohio, in 2004, catapulting a steel bar forcefully at a 22-year-old football player working out for a shot at a college scholarship, hitting him squarely between his parted legs, whacking his left testicle. Three years later, he still walks gingerly and…
A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash
Reviewer’s grade: B- If skyrocketing prices at the gas pump haven’t already darkened your mood, check out “A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash” “? and you’ll be flat-out terrified. This Swiss-produced documentary sounds the alarm on the oil crisis, and if it occasionally indulges in doomsday theatrics (the musical score can be a bit…
Man with a Moustache
Reviewer’s grade: A Ted wishes his mustache were like Freddie Mercury’s, but unfortunately, it more resembles Jason Lee’s in “My Name Is Earl.” In other words, it’s what I like to call a “disgustache,” prompting his girlfriend to leave him, passers-by to recoil in disgust, friends to disown him and others to mistake him…
Big Story in a Small City
ir public viewings. The bureaucratic and personal mix-ups are related with a perfectly straight face by director Gor Kirakosian, working from a story that recalls the deadpan satire of Nikolai Gogol. This one’s funny as hell and should do well on the film festival circuit. “?Doug Bentin
Trail of Tears
Reviewer’s grade: C “Trail of Tears” weaves fascinating quotes with photographs, commentary and dramatic re-creation to educate about one of the most inhuman acts in American history: removal of the Cherokee to Indian Territory in 1838 and 1839. Produced by an American Indian company, the film doesn’t avoid the tribe’s slave-owning past or Cherokee-on-Cherokee…
Fetishes on Parade
In January, Ronald Dotson, 39, pleaded no contest to attempting to break into a Ferndale, Mich., store in order to steal a mannequin outfitted in a French maid’s uniform, which authorities said was his seventh “statuephilia”-related offense in 13 years. “I thought I was getting my life together,” he told the judge, even though his…
Something’s Burning
Reviewer’s grade: D+ This short vampire comedy could be called “Looking for Raimi,” as it borrows heavily and unsuccessfully from the tone of “Evil Dead II,” with globs of Sergio Leone, Edgar Wright and John Carpenter blended in, as well. When vampires rule the earth, they keep humans chained as sanguinary lunch pails on…
Love in the Key of Z
p of Horrors,” while acting and production values are nil. When a film is going to be this short, the audience has the right to expect something big in the small package. This tired stuff just isn’t as clever as the people responsible for it think it is. “?Doug Bentin
The Continuing Crisis
At least five convicted sex offenders in Florida’s Miami-Dade County have their official residence in a makeshift encampment underneath a bridge on the Julia Tuttle Causeway to Miami Beach, with the blessing of the state Department of Corrections, according to an April report by CNN. Officials say that the state’s tough zoning law for sex…
Cherokee Constitution Amendment on Ballot, but Freedmen not ready.
ion. However, Marilynn Vann, spokeswoman for the Cherokee Freedmen association, said the hastily called-for election is an attempt to keep the Freedmen contingent from being registered in time, thus, removing them from the voting process. “The decision is an attempt to legitimize a shoddy election,” said Vann. “They gave 11 days to notify the…
Charlotte’s Fridge
Reviewer’s grade: C+ A family of three (one of whom, inexplicably, is a puppet) travels with its chauffeur to a spooky mansion to dine with a woman named Ramona. It turns out that Ramona has a motive other than pleasant dinner conversation, followed by a slice of pie: Her zombie daughter, Charlotte, who lives…
The Eyes of Edward James
Reviewer’s grade: A From horror mag Rue Morgue comes this suspense short, which manages to pack a load of tension into its 15 minutes. Alfred Hitchcock and Brian De Palma would be proud of writer-director Rodrigo Gudiño’s tale of a psychiatry patient recalling the night his wife was murdered. As we hear him discuss…
Blood Car
Reviewer’s grade: B+ Set in a future in which gas is more than $30 a gallon, “Blood Car” follows sensitive vegan kindergarten teacher Archie (Mike Brune) as he tries to invent a wheat germ-fueled engine. Then, while drunk, Archie discovers the engine runs much better on “? you guessed it “? blood. Archie’s…
Flesh & Blood
Reviewer’s grade: B- This well-made but unsettling documentary by Larry Silverman takes as its subject the “art” of radical body modification. Steve Haworth is the Big Kahuna of this stuff, and we see him splitting the head of a penis “? his own “? and just generally doing things, by request, to genitalia that…
OKC Public Schools hires new deputy superintendent
Oklahoma City Public Schools will open next fall with a new deputy superintendent, the district announced Thursday. OKCPS named Memphis, Tenn., school administrator Brenda Cassellius to the position, in which she will head up “planning, development, assessment, and improvement of instruction and educational programs,” according to a release. ACCOMPLISHMENTS Cassellius has been serving…
Year of the Fish
Reviewer’s grade: B You know you’re not in Kansas anymore when a movie is narrated by a fish. In this Cinderella fable set in New York City’s Chinatown, 17-year-old Ye Xian (An Nguyen) arrives from China, only to find herself a virtual slave in the employ of a massage parlor. Enduring abuse by…
Strictly Background
A- Woe be the extras. This documentary examines the life of professional Hollywood background players: those people who fill out crowd scenes in films and television without you even noticing. Director and Tulsa native Jason Connell follows 10 as they attempt to secure gigs “? which pay a measly $50 a day “? and…
Henry signs college tuition bill
Gov. Brad Henry signed one bill and vetoed another bill today, completing his work on legislation passed during the 2007 session. He signed House Bill 2103 regarding college tuition and vetoed House Bill 1930 regarding Oklahoma Health Care Authority. Rep. Lance Cargill (R, Harrah) and Sen. Mike Johnson (R, Kingfisher) wrote the college…
My Secret Record
Reviewer’s grade: D This documentary comes across more like a mockumentary than the latest Christopher Guest film. Too bad it isn’t funny. At all. Following the breakout solo career of Matchbox 20 lead singer Rob Thomas during the writing, recording and release of his album “Something to Be,” this film “? directed by Gillian…
Eco-friendly bus to visit OKC temple
Eight musicians, artists and activists are combining their love of music with their love of the environment. In an effort to educate the masses on going green, this group ” dubbed the “Chillaroo Crew” ” has created a vegetable oil- and solar-powered school bus, called the “Moishe Mobile.” The bus will stop at…
Star-Spangled’ air show flies into Tinker
Oklahoma City skies will be filled with airplanes as the 10th annual “Star Spangled Salute” air show takes place this weekend. Held Saturday and Sunday at Tinker Air Force Base, the event will showcase planes new and old. The Air Combat Command F-16 East and F-15 West Demonstration Teams will be perform precision maneuvers,…
Recently Deceased
n 0pt”>”Recently Deceased” is about a guy named Jim. Seconds after winning the lottery, Jim is murdered by his acquaintance Reggie, who desperately wants to open a bakery with the money. The kink is that Jim hasn’t completed that day’s to-do list, so he rises from the dead to buy a headband and take out…
Countrybilly’ band Two Tons of Steel drops into Oklahoma
For 11 years, San Antonio-based Two Tons of Steel has held down the fort at the legendary, un-air-conditioned Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, Texas, for its annual Tuesday-night summer concert series, averaging 12,000 fans each year. Yet despite trips to Europe and Cuba, they’ve never played in Oklahoma. “We go east and south, but we…
Tulsa television station’s typo results in energy trading excitement
News providers would call it a bad knock-on-wood moment, but metro residents sick of grimacing at the gas pump might’ve savored a fleeting taste of irony, recently, when a Tulsa TV station’s reportedly erroneous Web story caused oil prices to jump briefly worldwide. According to a Reuters report, “Web site error rocks global oil…
The Valet
Reviewer’s grade: B Francis Veber, the French writer/director who wrote “La Cage aux Folles” nearly 30 years ago, has sent us a new farce, this time about a parking valet who is hired by a billionaire to pretend to be the boyfriend of the rich guy’s mistress so the rich guy’s wife won’t find out…
Touring makes The Gunship homesick for Norman
Norman’s The Gunship set out to play 50 shows in two months, and that’s just what they did. From one coast to the next, the Okie rockers have been firing off round after round of its own brand of post-punk vintage rock and finding out just how special home is. “We didn’t realize just how…
The Hold Steady gets personal in lyrics
With little to no love from radio or television, Hold Steady cracked the charts at 124 with its latest album, “Boys and Girls in America.” On this third disc, the self-described bar band rambles and soars through 11 tracks about drugs, infatuation and the complexities of young love. “One thing I love about Craig (Finn)’s…
Local firefighters raise record amount for MDA
Oklahoma City firefighters set a new record this year with their “Fill the Boot” campaign, collecting $176,000 in donations for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. This is an increase of $64,000 from last year. For the campaign, firefighters stood on metro street corners with their boots in hand as drivers from passing cars dropped change…
Banishing misery
I have discovered true misery. All it takes is a case of old-fashioned, “killer-diller” flu ” the kind that can be endured only if you curl up in a fetal position and sleep ” combined with a sick dog that needs medicine, meals and doors opened to the back yard approximately 20 times per day.…
Jimmy Webb prefers intimate venues
Jimmy Webb, an Oklahoma native best known for his continuing career as one of America’s most highly regarded and prolific popular songwriters, is accustomed to performing in venues of all sizes. However, he said he has a special regard for performing in the intimate surroundings of small spaces that place him close to the audience.…
David Bowie
The Best of David Bowie 1980/1987: Sight & Sound Virgin By now, the amount of hits compilations released by David Bowie must outnumber his various personas in his long, storied career. But each successive one seems to up the ante, if not in terms of track selection, then certainly in the crispness of…
Note to visiting “Witchy Woman:” Arkansas claims Clinton, not Oklahoma
Stevie Nicks must be traveling without MapQuest. At her May 30 Zoo Amphitheatre performance, the “Witchy Woman” wanted to dedicate “Landslide” to someone in the audience. Since Nicks didn’t know anybody locally, she said she’d dedicate the ditty to her favorite Oklahoman: Bill Clinton. Now, we all know Clinton hails from Arkansas, the land…
Deliver Us from Evil
2006 “Deliver Us from Evil” might sound like a schlocky horror flick, but this 2006 Oscar-nominated documentary actually wades through realities far scarier than any B-movie. Director Amy Berg examines the Catholic priest sex scandal by zeroing in on disturbing saga of one pedophile priest, Father Oliver O’Grady. A serial predator whose youngest victim…
OCU to offer divinity master’s degree
Oklahoma City University’s Wimberly School of Religion will begin offering a master’s of divinity degree in the fall semester of 2007. Currently, only two universities in Oklahoma are accredited by The Association of Theological Schools to offer the degree. Despite an abundance of undergraduate programs at Christian colleges and universities in Oklahoma, there has been…
Rocky Votolato
yle=”MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt”>Track three, “Before You Were Born,” is more upbeat, with a country shuffle, fast guitar picking and a reverby vintage Telecaster twang. The last song on the CD, “Silver Trees,” is beautiful and lonesome, with a crying harmonica punching and piercing through acoustic guitars. At least half the songs on the disc…
New kind of camp debuts for girls
The inaugural Athena Girls’ Camp for girls ages 6-12 aims to: ” encourage knowledge, ” emphasize communication and confidence, and ” inspire girls to make a difference in their communities. The four-day camp will run 8:30-11:30 a.m. Tuesday through Friday, June 15, at Junior Achievement’s Omniplex headquarters, 2100 N.E. 52nd. THEMES The camp’s day themes…
Gracie
Reviewer’s grade: B- As underdog sports flicks go, “Gracie” is earnest, well-acted and occasionally rousing. Those are all commendable attributes, but they don’t completely make up for the fact that it’s an underdog sports flick, and therefore, subject to that genre’s wheezy predictability. Still, the film is more heartfelt than most; that heart-on-the-sleeve aesthetic pushes…
dead’ invades OKC
Now in its seventh year, the deadCENTER Film Festival has something ‘reel’ big planned this weekend: more than 100 movies! When filmmaker Justan Floyd started the deadCENTER Film Festival seven years ago, his only help was from his brother, Jason, and his mom, who made T-shirts and helped sell Snickers candy bars, nachos and…
SoonerCon hosting ‘Rocky Horror’ live shadowcast
Since its release in 1975, the film “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” has become legendary for its obsessive fans and lively showings. On Friday, SoonerCon will host one of them with a “shadowcast,” with performers pantomiming the action playing behind them on screen. “We’re there to ham it up. We’re here to make fun of…
Defeated in Oklahoma, spyware bill up for federal passage
Federal legislation that claims to protect citizens from malicious programming but may actually empower large computer software companies to do just that has been introduced to the U.S. Congress, records show. HR 964 ” or the “Securely Protect Yourself Against Cyber Trespass Act,” the “SPY ACT” ” “will still allow any vendor you do business…
Remodeled Heritage Center boasts interactive history exhibits
The Oklahoma Heritage Center at 201 N.W. 14th recently reopened its doors in May after five years of renovations, and it tells the story of Oklahomans through high-tech, interactive exhibits. “The goal of the Oklahoma Heritage Center is to bring Oklahoma’s colorful history to life through the state’s greatest asset “¦ its people,” said Shannon…
Capitol Hill hoops star’s whereabouts unknown
There was a time when the mere mention of Winford Boynes’ name automatically raised debate as to whether or not he is the best basketball player the state of Oklahoma has ever produced. That began when Boynes was still burning up the nets for Capitol Hill High School back in the mid-Seventies. But his legend…
No singers wanted in Maserati
The members of Athens, Ga., four-piece Maserati forego vocals in favor of bringing their expansive melodies and muscular, yet intuitive percussion to the spotlight. They blend ambient rhythms and modern dance rock with a Seventies groove to create highly emotive tracks on its latest release, “Inventions for the New Season.” “When we have an idea…
Oklahoma Hall of Fame finally includes Super Luper
For the second year in a row, the Oklahoma Heritage Association has inducted a person to the Oklahoma Hall of Fame whose honor was long overdue. Last year, Okemah’s legendary folksinger Woody Guthrie received his spot among the state’s greats. This year, Luper will take her place, along with seven other inductees in November.…
The Litigious Society
In lawsuit-friendly Madison County, Ill. (termed “the promised land” by some trial lawyers), a judge awarded $311,700 to Amanda Verett for a long series of painful injuries that her courtroom-veteran chiropractor has been treating. Verett said she was holding a door open at a Pizza Hut when an employee yanked it open farther, and calamitous…
Bug
Reviewer’s grade: D- This laughably overacted melodrama is based on a play by Tulsa native Tracy Letts. I haven’t seen the play, but if I ever do, it will be a better production than this mess overseen by the once-reputable director William Friedkin. Ashley Judd stars as a lonely woman who takes into her…
No dead soldiers, please
Another Memorial Day has come and gone, but instead of a sobering reminder that war is hell and requires the ultimate sacrifice, we are more disconnected from the war in Iraq than ever. Most Americans don’t know that May was one of the deadliest months, or that the surge has produced nothing but a surge…
Cessna aircraft company has roots in flyswatter salesman
A brief partnership between a 70-year-old Waynoka flyswatter inventor and an Enid garage mechanic resulted in the creation of the multimillion-dollar Cessna Aircraft Co. empire, according to The Oklahoma Aviator and SW Aviator magazines. In 1909, 70-year old William Lindsley was selling a new style of flyswatter while designing a single-winged airplane he called the…
OKC Arts Spectacular raising funds for art education
A score of artists, musicians, students and community members will ply their skills for the sake of improving arts education for Oklahoma City Public Schools students Sunday at Stage Center. The eighth annual OKC Arts Spectacular features songwriter Jimmy Webb, Ballet Oklahoma, Lyric Academy and other acts. It’s an “entertaining” evening, said Ann McNellis, communications coordinator…
Compelling Explanations
Local music producer Ricky Lackey, during questioning in March by a judge in Cincinnati to help her determine an appropriate sentence for Lackey for his crime of attempted theft, told her that he has no children but that he has “six on the way.” The judge sought clarification. “Are you marrying a woman with six…
Ironies
So many U.S. executives want to visit India to make deals to outsource their companies’ jobs that in March, India’s Washington, D.C., embassy said it was forced to outsource the job of processing the executives’ visa applications. Yet another U.S. job was outsourced to India in May, that of “local government reporter” covering city hall…
Mr. Brooks
Reviewer’s grade: B Kevin Costner stars as Earl Brooks, a box tycoon with an imaginary friend named Marshall (William Hurt) and a penchant for serial murder. After breaking his vow never to kill again, Brooks attracts the attention of Mr. Smith (Dane Cook), a would-be murderer/thrill-seeker and Detective Tracy Atwood (Demi Moore), a police investigator…
Fountains of Wayne
Traffic and Weather Virgin In the fourth and latest offering from the Fountains of Wayne, the band doles out more of the amusing storytelling and blimp-sized hooks that have made them America’s reigning deities of power-pop. And yet the approach is starting to wear thin. It starts out promising enough. “Someone to…
Some roller derby players get dirty on the rink
In the highly physical realm of roller derby, where’s the line between being dirty and merely aggressive? “Apparently I have no idea!” said Tornado Alley Rollergirls’ Brooke Burleson, aka Victory Doll Sally Strych9. “I see myself more as a mean player than a dirty player. I actually don’t try to get penalties; it just happens.…
A correlation between Oklahoma legislators, condoms and tort reform compromise?
Who knew so-called tort reform and sex had so much in common? During this past legislative session, lawmakers again wrestled with “tort reform,” a means by which to adjust to the legal system to prevent frivolous lawsuits. Would-be reformers claimed the system is rigged and costing the state and business community millions of dollars…
Shut Up and Ride
Reviewer’s grade: B A documentary about the eight seconds that separate “the cream from the crap,” “Shut Up and Ride” follows four men chasing bull-riding glory to the world finals in Oklahoma City. Jamie Davis battles a broken leg, Danell Tipton is only 19, Dale Stowe drags his family along on the small-town rodeo…
‘The King and I’ plays in Edmond
Since its Broadway debut in 1951, “The King and I” has been an enduring hit, and songs like “I Whistle a Happy Tune,” “Hello, Young Lovers,” and “Something Wonderful” have become toe-tappingly familiar. In Summerstock Productions’ staging of the musical in Edmond, Billie Thrash directs and choreographs her sprawling cast with a sure hand and…
Oklahoma sanitation service owner faces felony dumping charges
That’s southeastern Oklahoma for ya ” they’re rough, tough and they don’t take any “¦ well, wait. One does. A PushmatahaCounty man faces a felony charge because of a complaint he was taking raw sewage and grease and dumping them on his own land without a permit. According to a recent story, Clyde…
The Fountain
2006 Darren Aronofsky’s “The Fountain” is one of those movies that predictably went nowhere upon initial release, yet whose rep only will strengthen over time. In jumping between three time periods and exuding a trippy, Zen vibe that makes “2001” look lucid by comparison, the film seems as if it were designed deliberately not to…
The Fearmakers Collection
2007 Ten legendary (well, mostly) horror directors are given their due in “The Fearmakers Collection,” a three-disc documentary set from Elite Entertainment. The package is a bit misleading in promoting the 10 docs as “full-length,” since each runs just under half an hour, but that still amounts to a lot of bang for the buck.…
Texas rocket leaves Oklahoma soil, returns
The Texas space firm, Armadillo Aerospace — backed by a game software designer — successfully launched, landed, and launched again a prototype lunar lander at the Oklahoma Spaceport in Burns Flat June 2. The craft, dubbed “Pixel” by the Armadillo design team, took off from a launch pad, hovered for about 90 seconds, then landed…
