As part of the Nylon’s Magazine Tour, The Virgins performed at the Fine Line Music Café on Friday the 13th. Also hitting the stage that night were She Wants Revenge, Be Your Own Pet, and Switches. The probably-not-so Virgins, with their ‘60s vintage style, charming boy-next-door looks, and charisma, hit the stage with hits like […]
Wanted: Action Flicks with Swagger
June 26, 2008 by
Wanted comes on like a batshit crazy mash up of a dozen other genre movies but manages to stand alone as something more by the time it reaches its frenetic and bloody conclusion. It’s probably (but only a little) curmudgeonly to gripe about the apparently permanent change in the visual language in action films in […]
Why Wacko Jacko Must Play Poe
June 25, 2008 by
Given Edgar Allan Poe’s well-known fear of being buried alive, the claim that the horror writer and poet "must be rolling over in his grave" at the prospect of Sylvester Stallone writing and directing the biopic Poe is more than rote recitation of cliché. It’s definitely a curious way for 61-year-old Sly to follow-up the […]
Rock the Garden
June 24, 2008 by
A small army of bicycles standing guard outside the Walker Art Center glints like miniature sunbursts while lines stretch like anxious snakes down the sidewalk. The sold out crowd of 7,500 brave hour long entry waits, sunburns, and sweat for Rock The Garden and a chance to see indie pop’s brightest talents. As Bon Iver […]
This Space for Rent
June 22, 2008 by
After six million three hundred and seven thousand two hundred minutes, Rent’s lease on life will expire in the Big Apple this fall. In the Mini Apple, aka Minneapolis/Saint Paul, it will expire in a few days. Through June 22nd the touring company of the iconic musical will be at the Ordway Center for the […]
Ryan's Daughter — So Misunderstood
June 22, 2008 by
The response from critics was so harsh it allegedly kept David Lean away from the director’s chair for 14 years. Pauline Kael’s oft-discussed review is so scathing it makes you wonder if Lean put gum in her hair or something. And while The Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia, and Doctor Zhivago were […]
Blood, Tits, Guts, Boobs, and Scary, Scary Witches
June 20, 2008 by
Mother of Tears is bad. Unfortunately, "bad" is a word so far past its usefulness in describing the horror genre, that I may as well call it a cherry red bicycle. I mean, are we talking bad-good or bad-bad? Good horror is an all together different animal, some unusual mixture of great execution and that […]
It's a Mystery
June 18, 2008 by
Very occasionally, this critic can get it all wrong. Looking at the bespectacled electronic trio (black rectangular frames, black rectangular frames, and ’80s nerd chic frames) with their unobtrusive fashion (jeans, jeans, and khakis), I drew a few conclusions. Later, I asked keyboardist Ryan Olcott whether I had Mystery Palace figured out. Erin Roof: Are […]
Sci Fi Nerds and Bee Gees' Love Children
June 18, 2008 by
Forget what the press says. Devonte Hynes does not look like AIDS. "It’s pretty harsh," Hynes says about the cruelest comment published about him. "’You look like a terminal illness. You look like death. I don’t know what AIDS looks like." It definitely isn’t him. Decked out in cut-off short shorts, a faux fur hat, […]
The 160th Trimester
June 13, 2008 by
MUSICElectric Fetus 40 year Anniversary Party It’s hard for me to believe the Electric Fetus has been slingin’ records almost 10 years longer than I’ve been alive. I’m not sure if that makes me feel young or old; I’ve still got a few years to go before I need to start validating my youth. I […]