Photo: Trevor Henrich Ten years back or so, it was nearly impossible to get away from the pop-punk craze. Just a half-decade later, it was just as hard to find it. Then came along bands like The Wonder Years, The Swellers, Handguns and Forever Came Calling, and a revival was born. “We’ve been touring for […]
torrent
Posted inArts & Culture
Lincoln
As if the subject alone isn’t worthy of adulation, it comes with a towering pedigree: Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg (Saving Private Ryan), Oscar-winning actor Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood) and a script by Pulitzer-winning playwright Tony Kushner. To its credit, Lincoln has lengthy stretches in which it’s as absorbing as it wants to be. […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Frankenstein
And, in the early ’90s, he starred as the mad doctor in Frankenstein … for TNT, not Kenneth Branagh. Provided you missed it on during its CableACE Award-nominated broadcast, the better-than-average production is now alive — alive! — on MOD DVD from Warner Archive. Bergin’s Dr. Frankenstein is even more enterprising than in the Mary Shelley […]
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 inMusic
Times bold
Photo: Doug Schwarz It doesn’t take more than a minute or so into Defining Times’ new record, Separate Tongues, to sense the intimacy, closeness and trust the Oklahoma City alternative band members must feel for one another. You’d think they’d been playing for a decade, not a year and a half. “It’s a brotherhood,” front […]
Posted inMusic
Future’s so bright
Imagine for a moment that you’re perched atop a pristine body of water. As you gaze downward, ripples contort the natural world, and all of your tangible surroundings seem strangely elusive and engulfed in fantasy. The other side of that reflection? The world in which Future Islands live. Appearing tonight at Opolis, the Baltimore trio […]
Posted inMusic
Chud — Chud
Well, it might, actually. But the band’s music sounds as non-damn-giving as can be — in the best way possible. The rising hardcore enthusiasts steadily have ascended the local ladder with their blistering live presence — a barrage of piercing guitar riffs, staccato rhythm section and singer-guitarist Alex Barnard’s slobbery howl. The impression left has […]
Posted inMusic
Perfect situation
Haters will hate, but of bands established in the 1990s, Weezer remains one of the most recognizable due to its sound: wailing guitar solos, harmonies owing as much to The Beach Boys as punk rock, and lyrics dripping with all the nostalgia and self-obsession teenagers could possibly muster. If fans, however, would rather not drop […]
Posted inMusic
Ghost of a chance
Photo: Krista Spears Most parents aren’t thrilled about their kids playing in punk bands. The mother of Corporate Ghost drummer Max Harris, however, has fostered the entire underground scene by giving fledgling punk and garage rock bands a place to call home while honing their skill. “It’s provided a place for the punk and underground […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The Outlaw Brothers
Yes, it comes from the Dragon Dynasty line — release No. 57, to be precise — but it’s sillier than the bulk of Dragon Dynasty product, which largely skips this period in favor of old-school Shaw Brothers. But Frankie Chan’s The Outlaw Brothers? It’s as of-the-times as a 1990 flick can be, right down to […]