1. Parker Millsap and Michael RosePalisadeWhile it’s been another great year of quality Oklahoma releases, no one had quite the star-making performance that Millsap did with Palisade. The humble, 19-year-old Purcell native went from unknown to local favorite in less than half a year, thanks to his Tom Waits howl of a voice tearing through […]
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Posted inArts & Culture
Lawless
Reteaming with his unlikely Proposition screenwriter, Bad Seeds rocker Nick Cave, Hillcoat again delivers a quasi-Western with this true tale of the Prohibition-era’s bootlegging Bondurant brothers in Virginia, played by Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises), Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty) and Shia LaBeouf (the Transformers trilogy). When Lawless begins, the Bondurant boys rule Franklin […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The write stuff
Photo: Shannon Cornman Oklahoma has a long, varied history in pop culture. From actors and filmmakers like Brad Pitt and Blake Edwards to musicians and singers like Charlie Christian and Garth Brooks, the state has been a leader in exporting world-class talents. One area that often gets overlooked is the state’s role in the realm […]
Posted inMusic
‘Grease’ girl
Although Olivia Newton-John earned her stripes well before starring in 1978’s Grease and released her debut album an entire decade before 1981’s Physical, odds are that when you think of the Australian pop star, you think of one of two things: black hot pants or a leotard. Despite those benchmarks, she has performed nonstop for […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The Man Who Created Halloween — Irwin Yablans
This self-published paperback is his story — emphasis on The Man, not Halloween. The making of that 1978 now-classic movie is only a small part of the autobiography, which covers his entire life. Luckily, Yablans is an engaging storyteller who’s full of amusing anecdotes — some of which are intentional (John Wayne declaring his wish […]
Posted inMusic
One direction
Six months ago, John Johnson and Joie Sherman-Johnson, both University of Oklahoma alum who make up the duo North Meets South, were working corporate jobs in Washington, D.C., playing “casually, not even weekly, not even monthly for about two years,” per Johnson, before relocating to Norman. Fresh from a short tour of the Midwest, the […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Piranha 3DD
It is there in the prologue where two former Okies (Gary Busey and Clu Gulager) and a farting dead cow get the party started, sending hatched baby piranha to Merkin County, Ariz. — a joke that should calibrate you with the movie’s wavelength … as if the bra-size title didn’t do that already. (I’d like […]
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Best Laid Plans
Subbing as the British film’s George and Lenny are, respectively, drugged-out thug Danny (Stephen Graham, Al Capone in TV’s Boardwalk Empire) and mentally handicapped giant Joseph (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, TV’s Lost). The former enrolls the latter against his will in unregulated MMA scuffles for quick paydays. Danny and Joseph are friends out of necessity, depending upon […]
Posted inNews
Bear clod
BY PHIL BACHARACH Ted is a foul-mouthed, hooker-loving pothead prone to comments of racism, homophobia and misogyny. Ted is also a stuffed teddy bear. That’s the premise, plot and central joke of Ted, the movie-directorial debut of Seth MacFarlane, creator of TV’s animated series Family Guy. It’s a funny enough idea, but stretched mighty thin […]
Posted inMusic
Calvin and jobs
Releasing an album is cause for celebration, and Norman-based singer/ songwriter John Calvin did his share as he let loose of his second album, “Wish Alloy.” But, like a good artist, he didn’t stop there. “When you make an album, it’s a snapshot of you in that point of time — a sonic photo album, […]