The story surrounds a hostage situation during the attempted theft of a diamond butterfly broach commissioned by Napoleon and valued at some $1 million and change, and the efforts of a mild-mannered errand runner (Craig Roberts, Jane Eyre) to become a hero in the face of danger. So what if it mostly to impress the […]
comedy
Posted inArts & Culture
Magic Mike
To play the titular male stripper nicknamed Magic Mike, Channing Tatum drew upon his own pre-fame experiences as a exotic dancer, and it shows. To put it bluntly, the guy thrusts his pelvis like a pure professional, like a wave lapping the shore. No wonder female audiences ate this movie up. Too bad eye candy […]
Posted inArts & Culture
No laughing matter
Looking out at a room of 40 people, Dan Skaggs sighed and wondered if he was doing something wrong. His group, OKC Comedy, had brought Los Angeles comedian Brent Weinbach to town. When tickets to the March didn’t sell, they dropped the price to free. And they still drew only 40 people. “That was maybe […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Nitro Circus: The Movie
Sandwiched between a faux-stakes framing device of preparing for its first live show in Las Vegas, ringleader Travis Pasternak and his Nitro Circus crew perform X Games-friendly stunts that must have earned a nod of the helmet from Evel Knievel in heaven. The guys — and lone woman, Jolene Van Vugt — often defy gravity […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The Phynx
To review the movie, I need only tell you what it’s about. The dictator of communist Albania has swiped dozens of United States “world leaders,” including Butterfly McQueen, Johnny Weismuller, Maureen O’Sullivan, Dorothy Lamour, Xavier Cugat, Col. Sanders, Busby Berkeley, the Bowery Boys, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. (Mind you, all of them appear as […]
Posted inMusic
‘Free’ at last
Rap has long held domain over comedy skits between songs until country crooner Jerrod Niemann laid claim to them with his breakout 2010 album, Judge Jerrod & the Hung Jury. “We were just laughing, having a blast and couldn’t stop between takes,” said the self-described half-Oklahoman who grew up in Liberal, Kan. “We’d get these […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The Campaign
After helming two fact-based political dramas for HBO in Recount and Game Change, director Jay Roach must have found the opportunity to poke fun at the circus irresistible. I’m glad he did. In North Carolina’s 14th congressional district, the four-time incumbent is Cam Brady (Will Ferrell, Casa de Mi Padre), a shoo-in for a fifth […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Safety Not Guaranteed
Feature-debuting director Colin Trevorrow’s Safety Not Guaranteed marks the rarest of indie comedies — the speculative kind — as Jeff, a cocky magazine writer (Jake Johnson, TV’s New Girl) in Seattle, relies on his intern, Darius (Aubrey Plaza, TV’s Parks and Recreation), to use her feminine wiles to get close to the lonely grocery clerk/would-be […]
Posted inArts & Culture
‘Shout’ it out loud
Although we live in Oklahoma — Native America, as the license plates read — many people still believe the popular cinematic images of American Indians as tepee-dwelling folk clad in ceremonial headdresses and quick to dispense ancient wisdom while passing a peace pipe. It’s a stereotype that Lawton-born Kiowa/Choctaw screenwriter Steven Judd, co-writer of the […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Supernatural Activity
The gist is that for its season/series finale, one of those ridiculous ghost-hunting shows goes to Hicksville, Texas, in search of the “yeti-demon” known as Smallsquatch. To give you an immediate idea of the level of humor the flick operates, the creature tickles its victims to death. Ha-ha! I mean, ha-ha? This flimsy setup allows […]