Is it art? A fully nude woman suspended on a wall, perched on a bicycle seat. Is it art? A man lying on the floor with a skeleton reclining atop his naked body, perhaps as if his sexual partner. Is it art? A couple stands facing one another, nary a thread, and museum visitors must […]
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Honey, I quit the band
Divorces can be messy, but married couple Natalie and Ryan Houck’s split from Green Corn Revival to form altcountry act Honeylark was as amicable as possible, with both sides citing the ol’ “irreconcilable differences.” “Ryan and I had been writing our own stuff for a long time,” Natalie Houck said. “You know how artists are: […]
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Beasts of the Southern Wild
Just as did director Guillermo del Toro in Pan’s Labyrinth, first-time feature director Benh Zeitlin requires a suspension of disbelief to become part of a world seen and understood through a young girl’s eyes. Just as the creative force of Ofelia’s imagination in that 2006 film fought back against Franco’s fascism, this one, embodied in […]
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Bros before woes
Photo: Moses Namkung Some bands rue the day where they play in massive arenas and amphitheaters instead of midsized concert halls. Folk rock’s The Avett Brothers, however, relish it. “We have more tools at our disposal than we ever have. There’s been a gradual progression, watching the size of the rooms we were playing in […]
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Bastards!
Ohio garage rockers Heartless Bastards were a little road-weary after two years touring with Wilco and Wolfmother, and on their own, both here and abroad. They finally wound down to record what would later become Arrow when their producer, Spoon drummer Jim Eno, suggested the band head right back out there. “He recommended we go […]
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Steve Niles’ Remains
Making Reno, Nev., look like a miserable stinkhole of a city — and that’s even before any undead show up — Remains focuses on the dozens of denizens who play and work in the Silver Star Hotel and Casino. When a government test of a new “nuke oven” goes awry, everyone who’s not, say, having […]
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Casting the Runes
Those working on a TV special on the history of witchcraft have peculiar run-ins with a mysterious, reclusive alchemist known as Karswell (Iain Cuthbertson, Gorillas in the Mist), a man who openly espouses lust, deviance and all-around evil. When one character recalls a co-worker’s fatal brush with Karswell (depicted in the prologue) and says that […]
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The Girl from the Naked Eye
All of 16 years old, but with the soul of an old poet, fresh hooker Sandy Wright (Samantha Street, Alien Raiders) is dead, and Jake (Jason Yee, who co-wrote the script), the club’s driver, takes it upon himself to track down her killers and dish out the requisite payback. Having saved the runaway girl from […]
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Casa de Mi Padre
Shot in “Mexicoscope” by director Matt Piedmont (TV’s Funny or Die Presents …), the movie casts Ferrell as dumpy ranch hand Armando Alvarez who inadvertently gets mixed up in the drug war between his favored brother, Raul (Diego Luna, Contraband), and Raul’s nemesis (Gael García Bernal, Babel). To further complicate matters, he falls for his […]
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Lockout
I know exactly what a Besson production will mean: high-concept action rendered as a high-octane cartoon in live-action, with a severe chance for martial arts. The French filmmaker’s name equals a style equals a brand. His aesthetic appears even when he doesn’t direct. His creative stamp supersedes all. And so it is again with Lockout, […]