Contrasting the band’s first two albums (Youth & Young Manhood and Aha Shake Heartbreak) with their last two (Only by the Night and Come Around Sundown) is like comparing the Rolling Stones to One Direction. Where there used to be cunning bite, there is now mawkish arena rock, and not even the good kind. The “Southern […]
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’Live and well
It’s a common occurrence within urban sprawl: Historically thriving neighborhoods succumb to Father Time as new developments arise, businesses relocate and the activity of city-dwellers inevitably shifts from one area to another. Until recently, Oklahoma City’s Plaza District — the mile-long strip along 16th Street between Classen Boulevard and Pennsylvania Avenue — was merely another […]
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Grand theft bravado
Reluctantly, Nathan Williams — the leader of indie rock outfit Wavves — is growing up, and pretty fast, too. Sure, the notorious stoner might have spent a good chunk of this month plopped on the couch, under the influence, playing Grand Theft Auto V, but consider it the reward for a good amount of work […]
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V/H/S/2
With one fewer segment than the original, this stack of mo’ lo-fi tales of taped terror opens with no credits — just the wraparound story of two private investigators searching for a college student missing for a week. Their gig takes them to his house, where in front of a bank of TVs, littered VHS […]
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Wish You Were Here
Jeremy’s girlfriend, Steph (Teresa Palmer, Warm Bodies), is the younger sister of Alice (Felicity Price), who also went on the trip with her husband, Dave (Joel Edgerton, Zero Dark Thirty). One of those three knows more than he/she lets on; furthermore, two of the three hold an additional secret from the other. Price co-wrote the […]
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The Fugitive: 20th Anniversary Edition
Even people who have never seen it — shame on you — tend to know what it’s about: Dr. Richard Kimble (Harrison Ford, never better) is accused of murdering his wife. The cops don’t believe his story of the real culprit being a one-armed man … and neither does the jury that sentences him to […]
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Grooms — Infinity Caller
Through these changes, Johnson remained steadfast in his approach, hammering away at a sound that pays homage to his roots and influences while, at the same time, retaining a distinct individualism. Now, with two albums released on two separate labels behind them, Grooms sound rejuvenated on their third proper full-length, Infinity Caller, their most intricately […]
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Let’s Scare Jessica to Death
Fresh from a mental hospital, Jessica (Zohra Lampert, The Exorcist III) is taken by her husband, Duncan (Barton Heyman, The Super Cops) to a farmhouse with a cove nearby for a fresh start. If only Duncan had known that it’s reportedly haunted, which can’t be good for Jessica’s fragile psyche. Almost immediately upon their arrival […]
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Stories We Tell
In this intensely personal, potentially embarrassing work, actress-turned-director Sarah Polley (Take This Waltz) gathers her brothers, sisters, father and family friends in order to piece together a portrait of her late mother, Diane, who died of cancer when Sarah still a child. That alone is hardly remarkable enough to merit a feature-length look. Note, however, […]
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Barling — Barling With a “B”
Whether it was cheap truck-stop cassette tapes of Freddy Fender or just turning up Ricky Skaggs’ “Honey Won’t You Open That Door” just a little bit louder, it was what I learned to dig, mostly because it was all I had and it was better than nothing. That said, I used to think most new […]