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Kevin Costner Saves Our Broken Democracy

Posted Jan. 10 at 4:02 pm by Brian Miller

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Just when we'd forgotten about Joe the Plumber, here comes Bud the Poultry Worker. Arriving Tues., Jan 13 on DVD, Kevin Costner's Swing Vote was timed—in its initial August release—to have some election-year topicality. Judging from the film's quick exit from theaters, with all of $16 million to its credit, actual voters were too concerned on the actual presidential race to pay attention to Costner's alternate America.

A producer on the film, who reportedly put his own millions into its ad campaign, Costner has been somewhat right-identified in the past, yet without outing himself as an actual Republican. A native of the SoCal suburbs who came of age in the sunny '70s, he seems like a moderate, no Rush Limbaugh ditto-head. Swing Vote (our review here) reflects his genial, middle-of-the-roadism. Which, in a year when more strident political films from the left (see W.) and right (see An American Carol) didn't do so well, still didn't save Swing Vote from box-office obscurity.

What went wrong with the picture? It's not the grandiose, ego-tripping, career-sinking epic that Waterworld represents in the Costner canon. In a year when "change" was the winning slogan, Swing Vote may've been doomed by its centrism. Though, unlike most political flicks, it was willing to name sides and parties, calling the Dems and the Republicans for what they are, the movie was unwilling to choose sides. You don't want to alienate moviegoers of either political stripe, of course, but I think Swing Vote underestimated the electorate...

Continue reading "Kevin Costner Saves Our Broken Democracy"

Topics: DVD and Film

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Why Don't They Hand Out Awards for DVD Extras?

Posted Jan. 6 at 2:31 pm by Mike Seely



Keith Fenimore, a pal of mine who now works for Howard Stern, has long had what I think is a brilliant idea to stage an awards show devoted to character actors (i.e., non-movie stars who are in just about every flick you've ever seen but whose names you don't know). The Character Actor Awards is what Fenimore has titled his idea, and he's still trying to get the requisite backing to pull it off.

Anyhow, I thought of Keith and his idea last night as I was watching the actors' commentary on Tropic Thunder, which has garnered Golden Globe supporting actor noms for Tom Cruise (undeserved and overhyped, in my opinion) and Robert Downey Jr. (who should win, in my opinion). Downey plays an Australian actor who has a pigmentation operation in order to authentically portray a black Vietnam soldier in the movie with the movie, and employs a Dolemite-era dialect throughout.

The performance is risky and brilliant by itself, but on the DVD commentary, Downey does the unexpected: he doesn't drop character, thus staying true to his character, a method maniac who says he never drops character until after the DVD commentary is in the can. Downey's improvised riffs are funnier on the commentary than they are in the movie — and they're very funny in the movie. For this he should receive some sort of award — only there aren't any awards acknowledging the genius of special features on DVD. Keith: Maybe if you combined this concept with the Character Actor Awards, you'd have a truly irresistible package.

Topics: DVD and Film

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Oh My Gods! BSG 4 on Shelves in One Week

Posted Dec. 30, 2008 at 9:44 am by Laura Onstot

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Human? Robot? Like it isn't obvious.

By the end of Season 3, Battlestar Galactica fans (who refer to the show as BSG, use "frak" as an obscenity, and conclude sentences with "so say we all", what's up, nerds!) had a lot to contend with. If you don't watch the show (and why the frak don't you?) here's where we're at.

Eons ago, us humans invented robots—the cylons—to help us run things. Then, shocking plot twist, the artificially intelligent droids asked themselves why they should take orders, and rebelled. After an ugly war (and a hokey 70s sci-fi serial) the cylons took off, spending the next several decades avoiding us lowly humans. But then, just as it seemed the war could safely be called over, the cylons returned and nuked all the inhabited planets.  The remaining 50,000 or so humans on space ships at the time are now floating around trying to find a mythic planet called Earth to settle on, dodge the cylons, and not kill each other.

For the most part its pretty formulaic sci-fi drama—super sexy people in silver outfits doing battle in space. (A friend likes to point out that the producers somehow dug up the only Playboy Centerfold that can actually act. See above.) And the people who aren't lovely to look at are uber-inspiring, specifically Admiral Adama (played by Edward James Olmos of Stand and Deliver fame) who is relentless with his crew but would happily lay down his life for any of them.

But it's much more than just a drama some indeterminate time in the future, it's a space opera, there's even a little singing. The whole series could easily serve as the subject of a freshman ethics philosophy class. The characters are constantly faced with moral quandaries—when to leave someone behind, who to trust, who to kill—and the characters don't always make the choice your heartstrings tell you they should.

If you haven't started the series yet (and why the frak haven't you?) stop reading now. For everyone else, here's a bit of what to expect from the first half of Season 4:

Continue reading "Oh My Gods! BSG 4 on Shelves in One Week"

Topics: DVD and Television

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Beltway Bumblers

Posted Dec. 18, 2008 at 4:30 pm by Brian Miller

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The Coen brothers' dark comedy—almost redundant, I know—Burn After Reading got not so much love in September from critics (including our own), and only one award nomination this month, from those mysterious folks at the Golden Globes. Coming to DVD next Tuesday, the movie made me laugh, and quit a bit. (My dissent here.) If you want full, psychologically rounded characters, look elsewhere. The Coen universe amounts to a parade of fools who deserve violent deaths, and usually receive them. Though the Minnesota-born brothers provide no commentary, as usual, some of the DVD extras on this single-disc package provide insight into their methods, and why A-list talent (like Tilda Swinton, pictured above) flock to participate in their projects, even if that means possible demise by wood chipper or hatchet.

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Topics: DVD

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Mamma Mia Out on DVD Today!

Posted Dec. 16, 2008 at 1:40 pm by Suzie Rugh

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Several years ago, just as my love affair with the Swedish rock group, ABBA, was beginning to bloom, I saw the stage production of Mamma Mia in Los Angeles with my parents. At the end of the show, they did a mini-concert when everyone was encouraged to get up and dance and, because we rarely turn down an invitation to make fools of ourselves, we jumped up and started grooving immediately. I looked around and saw that we were the only ones in the balcony brave enough to shake it, save one gentleman, several rows back who was dancing with his eyes closed in complete ecstasy. He looked like the ABBA tunes had whisked him away to a fantasy wonderland where he was the king of the Dancing Queens and there was no need for an SOS. I believe it was a combination of that vision, the show, and having excellent taste that ensured ABBA would be the soundtrack to which I would live my life from that moment on.

If you don't totally understand what Mamma Mia is, let me back up. The plot of the musical has nothing to do with the band ABBA except that when the characters break into song, they sing ABBA tunes. So when single mother Donna (Meryl Streep) can't believe that her soon-to-be-married daughter Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) has invited all three of the men that might be her father to her wedding (Donna was a bit of a loosey goosey in her younger years), she sings the song "Mamma Mia." Or when Donna's friend Tanya (played by the amazing Christine Baranski) is chiding a younger man for hitting on her, she sings, "Does Your Mother Know." Make sense?

This film is not without its flaws. Not everyone in the cast can sing, occasionally it looks like they inexplicably used two completely different types of cameras and it often feels a bit rushed, like the lease on their Greek isle locale was was about to run out. Yet despite all that, I still LOVED it. It works because you get the sense that they know what they're showing you isn't exactly perfect, but it's been filled with so much heart and fun, you'll be willing to look beyond the wrongs and see all those glorious rights. Julie Walters and Christine Baranski, who play Donna's two best friends steal almost every scene they're in and Seyfried has just enough wide-eyed cuteness to pull off her role without being too sappy. Meryl Streep proves once again that she can conquer any character she wants and the three male leads are endearing even if they can't all carry a tune. Plus, the Greek beaches and sun will transport you out of these frigid winter days and plant you into a story playfully told through some of the most wonderful music in the world. Don't take it too seriously and you'll love it too.

And if the stage production comes through town again, do yourself a favor and go buy tickets. You will never regret being the only person in your aisle dancing your little heart out.

Mamma Mia, Universal Studios, $29.98

Topics: DVD

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Popcorn in December

Posted Dec. 14, 2008 at 7:42 pm by Brian Miller

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The series of Mummy pictures, launched in 1999 and staring the Cornish-trained Brendan Fraser, were better than they needed to be. In its first two installments, at least, the franchise had a certain lightness beneath all those impressive CGI effects. Fraser knew that his pre-WWII adventurer-archaeologist was a poor man's Indiana Jones. And the pictures continued the anything-for-a-scare legacy of the original Universal Studios horror films of the '30s and '40s, which basically wrote the mummy rule book.

Released in August, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor changed locales, kept the effects (and added some), bloated its run time (two and one-half hours), forced a new family theme (with an heir to anchor a new series), and made some crucial cast substitutions. Among the latter, we're always glad to see Michelle Yeoh (pictured above). But as the largely indifferent reviews indicated, something had been lost from the originally fun Mummy formula...


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Topics: DVD

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Why L&O's Sixth Season Is Worth Reliving

Posted Dec. 10, 2008 at 2:38 pm by Chris Kornelis

thegang6.jpgDVD: Law & Order: The Sixth Year
Release Date: Dec. 2
Universal, $59.98
Stars: Jerry Orbach, Sam Watterson, Jill Hennessy, Benjamin Bratt, etc.

From my futon in the winter of 2008, I see three acts of Law & Order: the Chris Noth days of thick leather jackets and no female leads; the Jerry Orbach (Det. Lennie Briscoe)/Sam Watterson (Executive A.D.A. Jack McCoy) domination; and everything after Orbach.

Season six is the sweet spot in act two, the halcyon days of the venerable series that makes today's L&O seem like it's gasping for breath compared to the yarns spun and structural liberties taken by Dick Wolf's crew in what is, rather dramatically, Jill Hennessy's (A.D.A. Claire Kincaid) swan song.

This was before the series would be spun off three efforts (you've already forgotten the canned Trial By Jury, I'm sure), and it is perhaps because the franchise has yet to stretch it legs with Criminal Intent and Special Victims that the writers and producers allow themselves to stray from the billion-dollar formula. They try campy moves like cross-over episodes with Homicide: Life on the Street, where we meet Richard Belzer (Det. John Munch, later to jump to Special Victims). And it's just harder to predict the outcome by the clock on your wall (Wait, he couldn't have done it, there's 15 minutes left!)

1996 was a different time, to be sure. And for those suffering from a bout of '90s nostalgia of late, this is the gift that won't quit. Det. Rey Curtis (Benjamin Bratt) comments that he had to get down on his knees for a seven-percent interest rate on his home. Amanda Peet turns up as a pre- "Ripped From the Headlines" Patty Hearst; Jennifer Gardner appears as the seductive college kid that beds the married Curtis. Detectives ask their suspects if they're "online," and Briscoe muses," Did you know 100 million new words go on that thing every day?"

Ahhh, the '90s.

Topics: DVD

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Deadwood: The Complete Series (Or, My Life Is Now Complete)

Posted Dec. 10, 2008 at 12:17 pm by Sara Brickner

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Title: Deadwood: The Complete Series
Price: $179.97, HBO
Release Date: December 9, 2008

That's right: for those of you who don't own any of the DVDs yet, you can now have them all in one neat, clean little package. Unfortunately, this release pretty much dashes my hopes that Deadwood, the "based-on" historical Western series known for scandalizing America with its liberal use of fun curse words, will ever be revived to conclude in a somewhat satisfactory manner. I won't give it away, because I know there are a lot of you out there who have, but the ending totally pissed me off, because it wasn't even an ending. The show seemed to have been building up to something, and then it just stopped abruptly.

Which is why the first disc I watched out of all 19 discs in the box set was the final bonus disc, which contains creator/producer David Milch's commentary on the meaning of endings. It was very obvious to me, and pretty much everyone else who watched the entire series, that the conclusion of the series was not planned for, because it was messy and unsatisfying. Well, Milch admits that, which is a minor consolation— always nice to bask in the glow of your own rightness. "The consolation I try to find, when I'm not busy just being pissed off, is that the idea of the end of a thing...is one of the lies agreed upon that we use to organize our lives," he says. And he also said that while a TV show may appear to be building up to a grand conclusion, this is an untruth. The reality, he explains, is that everyone in this business of TV is that the show happens one episode and one day at a time. Nothing is guaranteed in TV, and nothing is guaranteed in life. Touche, David Milch, touche. It's advice that all those pissed off Arrested Development fans (myself included) should probably take to heart. But the best quote from him, I think is this: "The biggest lie is that we are entitled to a meaningful and coherent summarizing— a conclusion of something which never concludes."

Topics: DVD

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Bard 2 Bad

Posted Dec. 20, 2008 at 7:00 am by Brian Miller

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Another case of Sundance-induced hypoxia, Hamlet 2 sold for 2 much money (a rumored $10 million) during that January film festival, opened 2 rather poor reviews, and 2 predictably sank at the box office, grossing around $5 million. 2 bad, you ask?

Hamlet 2 arrived at a moment when mocking the small-town Arizona dreams of a frustrated actor and high-school drama teacher (Steve Coogan) was easy, 2 easy. In an Americanized version of his British TV host Alan Partridge (which is genius), Coogan plays yet another guy fundamentally deluded about his place in life, mistaken about his talent (i.e., the lack thereof), whose unfounded hubris is played for laughs. Dana Marschz, his clueless character here, tries to save the school drama program by staging his own sequel to Hamlet. The surprise—for him, anyway—is that Hispanic kids from Tucson take the assignment seriously, and save his sorry ass. The film came out in August, by which time any striver would be grateful for such community support. Dana led them into this mess. The movie's plot is essentially his bailout.

With the song "Rock Me, Sexy Jesus" as a hook, Dana's musical stage production of Hamlet 2 drags in controversy—cue the ACLU—the way it does supporting performers (Amy Poehler, Elisabeth Shue, David Arquette, and Catherine Keener). As a movie, however, it just plays like a series of sketches. On YouTube or as a SNL digital short, Hamlet 2 might've succeeded. Here, as the actual Hamlet gravediggers might say, the jokes are mostly food for the worms.

Hamlet 2. Universal Home Ent., $26.98. On DVD Tues., Dec. 21.

Topics: DVD

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When Remakes Go Wrong

Posted Dec. 19, 2008 at 6:59 am by Brian Miller

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Thirty-three years ago, there was a perfectly good drive-in/exploitation flick called Death Race 2000 starring David Carradine and Sylvester Stallone. The futuristic premise was that, like the Roman circus, we the violent mob would find entertainment in a cross-country race in which the motorists scored points by running down pedestrians. So simple. So sick. So effective. It was a video game premise before there were video games. The movie was produced by Roger Corman, who understood how to mix cars, guys, and violence in a highly cost-effective formula.

So eight years past the actual date of 2000, what do we get? In the remake (review), wrongly incarcerated family man Jason Statham must race for his life in some futuristic Alcatraz at the behest of evil warden Joan Allen—to essentially drive and kill other convicts to achieve his freedom, while we watch on pay-per-view. Before, we moviegoers were the victims of Stallone and Carradine. We were implicated in our own impulse for nasty, bloody entertainment. Crushed beneath its wheels. Here, Statham and co-star Tyrese Gibson never threaten us at all. We might as well be controlling them with joysticks and Wii maneuvers at home, without moral compunction.

Like the original Rollerball (also an insipid remake), the movie framework here suggests something very disturbing about our lust for blood and gasoline. This Death Race updating could've fused NASCAR and Ben-Hur. The closest it comes is when Allen instructs her minions to "keep the viewers interested." But do our pay-per-view dollars help keep Statham and Gibson in the slammer? Is their suffering our fault? This Death Race won't say. And its vehicles never harm us as we step off the sidewalk after seeing the latest screen carnage.

Death Race, Universal Home Entertainment, $29.98. On DVD Tues., Dec. 21.

Topics: DVD

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Can't Keep the Devil in the Hole in Baltimore

Posted Dec. 8, 2008 at 12:15 pm by Laura Onstot

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Life ain't easy in this Sherwood Forest. www.hbo.com/thewire

What if the Sheriff of Nottingham wasn't so much a self-righteous man of evil pomposity as a well-meaning and sharp detective with a weakness for booze and women and a seeming inability to follow the rules?

In this alternative to the Disney version, Robin Hood carries a shotgun, steals cocaine from drug dealers to give to the... well... no one really, then heads home to make sweet, sweet love to Little John. That's all fine and good for Maid Marian, a prosecutor taking on the corrupt at every level of the city from the streets to the Hall and a tendency to hop in the sack with married men.

Instead of an arrogant nincompoop—King Richard really wants to do right by his kingdom, but the ugliness of a place where schools are failing, new drug dealers pop up faster than anyone can lock up the old ones, and the kingdom budget spirals into the toilet, makes that a little difficult.

Welcome to Baltimore.

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Topics: DVD

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Lost in Primetime

Posted Dec. 8, 2008 at 4:21 pm by Brian Miller

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Only six more weeks to go! On extra-long hiatus until Jan. 21 of next year, ABC's sandy, surreal hit primetime soap opera predictably has a lot of fans scratching their heads. The arrival this Tuesday of an augmented season four box set, which totals about 10 hours of original and supplemental material, may not provide much clarity. Yes, it's well-timed for the holiday gift season. If you can't afford a vacation to Hawaii, this isn't a bad alternative during our current recession. On the show, it still seems that mysterious industrialists have unlimited funds at their disposal. But there, of course, it's still the fall of 2004.

In Lost time, the stranded island inhabitants have only been marooned for three months. For us, it's been four years. Think about the discrepancy: Our fictional friends flew away from a world only recently embroiled in Iraq; the economy was strong; the iPhone hadn't even been introduced. Meanwhile, here in the real world of today, we just elected a guy for president from Hawaii, where the series is filmed, who was basically unknown four years ago.

Time is all messed up in season four, which relies so heavily on flash-forwards that the show's producers have supposedly renounced the temporal device. Also essential this season was the replenishing of characters. Too many of the castaways got killed off; so more had to take their place. And the third essential characteristic of the 14-episode arc was that Jack seriously began to get on our nerves with all his flaky behavior...


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Topics: DVD

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18 Days in Paris

Posted Dec. 1, 2008 at 6:16 pm by Brian Miller

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Anthology films are tricky to manage. Usually they're a producer's construct to harness together disparate directors with no stylistic affinities. Let's make 10 short films about wheat! Let's tell Beethoven's life in 12 chapters. Let's make a film about love, with each segment set in a different quarter of Paris!

In Paris, Je T'aime, released on DVD last month, there are 18 such chapters. At first, I thought that was because there are 18 arrondissements in Paris. But no, apparently only 18 directors (19 if you count both Coen brothers) signed up for the job. So 18 installments is precisely the right number we need to explain love, or Paris, or both. Not convinced? Neither am I. No matter the quantity of talented directors (Alexander Payne, Gus Van Sant, Walter Salles, Tom Tykwer, etc.), no matter the copious cast (Nick Nolte, Natalie Portman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Willem Dafoe, Gena Rowlands, etc.), nothing adds up in this Euro stew. (The dialogue's mostly in French, with some in English.)

Seen at SIFF '07 (review), PJT never subsequently reached Seattle theaters. On home video, the effect isn't like closely reading a short-story anthology. It's better suited to one of those kitchen counter DVD players—something to watch out of the corner of your eye while you're cooking, to see if you recognize architectural icons, arrondissements, and actresses. (Look! There's Catalina Sandino Moreno—the Maria Full of Grace star, pictured above.) Later, you won't remember a thing about their stories. If you need to be reminded, the cute metal box contains a second disc of extras; among which, it's nice to see the notoriously terse Coen brothers relaxed on the Paris metro set with Steve Buscemi. "We like beating Steve up," quips Joel (the taller one). "Or killing him."

Hey, that gives me an idea for a new anthology film...

Paris, Je T'aime, First Look Studios, $19.98

Topics: DVD

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Who Wants Angelina Jolie?

Posted Dec. 2, 2008 at 10:45 am by Brian Miller

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So this is how Angelina Jolie affords all those babies and pregnancy leave. Occupying the middle station in the holy trinity of comic book, movie, and videogame, Wanted (released today on DVD, $34.98, Universal Home Ent.) was predictably trashed by critics this summer. Adapted from the graphic novels by Mark Millar and directed by that flashy Russian dude behind the Night Watch/Day Watch movies, the flick racked up $134 million—every ticket sold, I'm sure, to teenage males who wish their lives could be more like that of James McAvoy (The Last King of Scotland, Atonement). Meaning: your wretched cubicle life is cast off by the discovery that you have hidden superpowers that permit you to join a secret society of assassins led by Morgan Freeman, who says, "You have the blood of a killer flowing within your veins." Dude! Sign me up! Sure, it sounds a little crazy, and McAvoy expresses a few doubts (like Neo and Luke Skywalker before him). But who are you gonna believe: so-called reality, or the gaunt, tattooed, silently sneering/leering Angelina Jolie? Released today on DVD, Wanted is a testosterone fantasia of warped, slo-mo bullet trajectories, cars leaping over cars (and onto buses, and into trains), a mash-up of The Matrix and Office Space that also cribs extensively from the Chuck Palahniuk canon of thwarted male rage (particularly Fight Club). It's the kind of good, dumb fun that doesn't even slow down for a sex scene (wah?), where every gunshot is between the eyes, and self-defense consists of shooting other bullets mid-flight with a satisfying CGI squish. And you know what? I'd watch it over Changeling any day of the week.


Topics: DVD

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Beautiful People Fight Beautiful Narnians in Beautiful Blu-ray

Posted Nov. 26, 2008 at 4:49 pm by Laura Onstot


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Thanks to the giant leaps and strides in computer animation over the last two decades, nerds can see their greatest lit loves come to life—Peter Jackson made Middle Earth a reality and we were willing to wear flowly elf robes at midnight in December to watch it. Robert Rodriguez, with help from Frank Miller himself, turned Sin City into a captivating mural of a graphic novel in motion.

But with so many nerdy devotees now having access to the technology needed to really bring their fantasies to life, the bar is substantially higher for the genre. Clearly nerds did not make the first two installments of the Chronicles of Narnia. Where Jackson, Rodriguez or the parade of directors taking on the Harry Potter series seem to carefully contemplate how to use technology to enhance their ability to tell their beloved stories on film, Disney's Narnia uses it as a crutch. Why find a real landscape when you can CG it? And that of course requires beautiful people; otherwise their corporeal selves stand out too much from the fakey surroundings. Even the centaurs are gorgeous.

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  • Comment of the Day: Furious Styles Member Didn't Expect T-Shirt Controversy

    Posted November, 20 at 5:05 pm by Caleb Hannan, The Daily Weekly
    clueless.jpg
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    A reader who calls himself a current member of the band Furious Styles responds to Local Hardcore Band 'Furious Styles' Uses Cop-Killing to Sell T-Shirts. He says the murder of an innocent police officer isn't going to change his group's views on law enforcement.

    "The past day has been a shit-storm for a shirt that wasn't even supposed to reach mainstream society. This shirt wasn't a silly publicity stunt and frankly we're supprised at the ammount of attention it's recieved. We've never wanted or expected mainstream success or attention. This shirt was meant to sell to a select few fans, not to be peddled off onto Seattle's teenagers at Hot-Topic.

    Anyone who knows Furious Styles knows our stance on police and just because an officer is actually killed doesn't mean we're going to change our tune, so to speak. It wasn't a joke then and it's not a joke now.

    Continue Reading >>
    Topics: Crime & Punishment

  • Saturday's Set Times and "Itinerary" for Them Crooked Vultures' Seattle Visit

    Posted November, 20 at 5:02 pm by Chris Kornelis, Reverb
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    ​
    7 p.m.: The Paramount doors open.

    8 p.m.: Mini Mansions take the stage in support.

    9:15 to 10:45 p.m.: Them Crooked Vultures (Zeppelin's John Paul Jones, Nirvana's Dave Grohl, and Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age) take the stage.

    11:15 p.m.--12:15 a.m.: Jones leads the band in a nostalgic bit of fishing out the window of their suite at The Edgewater Hotel.

    12:15--2 a.m.: The band break into Anthony's, raids the liquor, heats up a pan, and Jones cooks up some Zeppelin-style fish 'n' chips.

    2 a.m. til Exhaustion: Homme and Grohl take their pants off and reenact that damn statue at the Olympic Sculpture Park.

    Sunrise: With the park finally open, the three men enjoy a leisurely stroll past the eraser.


    Topics: News

  • It's Official: Schoolyard Heroes Are Calling It Quits

    Posted November, 20 at 3:42 pm by Chris Kornelis, Reverb
    noschool.jpg
    Justin Dylan Renney
    Schoolyard Heroes at Vera Project.
    ​
    To close the book on the band after eight years of making music reaching back to core members' high school days, horror rockers Schoolyard Heroes will regroup with their classic lineup -- Ryann Donnelly, Jonah Bergman, Steve Bonnell, Brian Turner -- for December 19's Horrordays at El Corazon. It will be their last show. Kane Hodder will also be reuniting their original lineup for the show, and promptly break up.

    "I'm really glad schoolyard heroes are being put to rest the way it started," vocalist Ryann Donnelly told us yesterday before today's official announcement. "And, honestly, the reason we're calling it a day on Schoolyard isn't because we don't love it."

    Donnelly says the reason it was time to move on was that she and Bergman couldn't see working as Schoolyard without Bonnell and Turner, who exited separately within the last year.

    "It was strange to play shows as Schoolyard Heroes with different people," she says.

    In the announcement on their web site, Schoolyard hinted at the future:

    "Don't freak out! If Schoolyard Heroes has taught you anything over the years, it is that death is always around you... and that from death shall emerge new channels of destruction. Loud, distorted, maybe even operatic channels."

    We'll post more info as we get it.

    Topics: News

  • David Mendoza, Former Owner of Pazzo's Pizza, Weed Smuggler, Gets 14 Years in Prison

    Posted November, 20 at 3:21 pm by Vernal Coleman, The Daily Weekly
    Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Pazzo's(1).jpg
    Definitely under new management
    ​
    David R. Mendoza's life in summation: former Garfield High School class president. Owner of the historic Liberty Theater in Bend, Oregon, and the bro-friendly Pazzo's Pizzeria in Eastlake. Apparent friend to the entire B.C. chronic smoking nation.

    As of today, however, you can add sentenced pot smuggler to that list.

    Continue Reading >>
    Topics: Crime & Punishment

  • Sighted: A Taco Truck Parks in Pioneer Square

    Posted November, 20 at 3:16 pm by Maggie Savarino, Voracious
    campesino.jpg
    ​
    My car just automatically followed this truck after spotting it on Jackson Street, followed it to it's Thursday through Saturday parking spot. Tacos El Campesino sets up on Occidental between Yesler and Washington and opens for business at 4:00 p.m., but the honking cars behind me precluded me from getting the closing time and more info. This truck usually produces a better than decent torta (carne asada over carnitas).

    Topics: Eats report

  • Two Very Different Opinions on the Seattle Housing Market

    Posted November, 20 at 1:57 pm by Caleb Hannan, The Daily Weekly
    houseforsale.jpg
    To buy or not to buy? That is the question.
    ​
    CNNMoney.com reports today that if you're in the market for a lifetime's worth of debt, Seattle is a great place to live. The Emerald City placed second behind only San Francisco in a list of cities most likely to see their home values increase by 2011.

    According to forecasters polled by the cable-news giant, that means a 3.8% jump thanks to our "better than average" job market. A welcome softening of the 15% free fall housing values have taken since the bottom fell out. And a seriously delusional load of crap if you're to believe the lovable cranks over at real-estate blog Seattle Bubble.



    Continue Reading >>
    Topics: Economy

  • OMG! Jonas Brothers to Endorse Microsoft Xbox360!

    Posted November, 20 at 1:30 pm by Brian Miller, The Daily Weekly
    Jonas_bros_resize2.jpg
    The Jonas Brothers want...more brains!
    ​
    You know what? Let Apple have its annoying Justin Long and nerdy John Hodgman for those Mac versus PC commercials. Microsoft just upped the celebrity stakes by announcing that teen rockers the Jonas Brothers will be endorsing its Xbox360 videogame console.

    The NYT and others are reporting that a new MSFT ad campaign will prominently feature the tween rockers. The spots are built around the catchphrase "It's more fun time." (Not something you could ever imagine Steve Ballmer saying.) Given that gamers are overwhelmingly male (not the brothers' fan base), it's unclear how the clean-shaven, Disney-created trio will connect with those who prefer Grand Theft Auto and first-person shooter games to bubblegum pop.

    Unless, of course, a game can be developed that features the Jonas Brothers as evil, brain-eating zombies who, with the power of their their stupefying music, turn millions of preadolescent girls into their army of slaves. Oh, wait...

    Topics: Business

  • Local Hardcore Band 'Furious Styles' Uses Cop-Killing to Sell T-Shirts

    Posted November, 20 at 1:20 pm by Caleb Hannan, The Daily Weekly
    furiousstylescoverart.jpg
    ​
    UPDATE: Another former band member disowns the shirt. Details after the jump.

    A big tip of the hat to SeattleCrime.com for what they accurately titled as today's classiest story.

    A local hardcore metal group didn't have the same reaction as most Seattleites to the assassination of Officer Tim Brenton. Whereas most of the city saw the murder of a cop as a good time to remember that peace officers have a very dangerous job and we should be thankful for the work they do, the charming fivesome that is Furious Styles (that'd be those fine gentleman to your right) decided now would be a good time to make money selling t-shirts.

    Continue Reading >>
    Topics: Crime & Punishment

  • Before You Go See Them Crooked Vultures, You've Gotta Give The Sporting Life a Spin

    Posted November, 20 at 1:08 pm by Krist Novoselic, Reverb
    sportinglife.jpg
    Krist Novoselic is a regular contributor to Reverb. His column on music and politics runs every Tuesday on the Daily Weekly.
    ​
    With Them Crooked Vultures coming to The Paramount on Saturday, everybody's talking and writing about the members previous musical associations (Led Zeppelin, Queens of the Stone Age, Nirvana). I need to mention the work that Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones did with vocalist Diamanda Galás.

    Released in September of 1994, The Sporting Life is passionate and violent. It's a rock record to the core with Pete Thomas on big drums and Jones on bass. The first track, "Skôtoseme," establishes a rock-groove rhythm section you'd expect from Jones, and this keeps consistent throughout the record. Galás gives a voice that wails in precision over the bass and drums.

    There's no electric guitar and perhaps that would have been redundant - or even stock - considering the unique instrument that is Galás' vocals. It's piercing and intense. Put all these parts together and you've got a heavy rock band that not only has you bobbing your head to the groove, you also recoil from the sheer ferocity.

    Galás plays keys also. There's soul with the old tune "Dark End of the Street". The songs are compelling and tend to menace. Galás wields a knife on the cover of the album and you'll find out her intentions with the tune, "Do You Take This Man?"

    If you're grooving to Them Crooked Vultures and haven't heard The Sporting Life - check it out!!!!!!

    Topics: Krist Novoselic

  • Brian Barr Takes Pictures Now, And They'll Be Hanging at a White Center Brewery Saturday

    Posted November, 20 at 12:58 pm by Mike Seely, Reverb
    barrgaspic.jpg
    ​
    Most of you know Brian Barr as our former music editor and a still-prolific contributor to the section now headed up by Pity the Foo drummer Chris Kornelis (as well as the Weekly Wire). But since leaving Western Ave. at the end of last year, Barr has turned some of his focus to photography, and you can bear witness to the fruits of his lens this Saturday evening starting at 6 p.m. at Big Al Brewing in White Center. Barr lives nearby, and rumor has it that a post-exhibit trip to the Locker Room is in the offing, which should be all the incentive anyone needs.

    Topics: Happenings

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  • Comment of the Day: Furious Styles Member Didn't Expect T-Shirt Controversy

    Posted November, 20 at 5:05 pm by Caleb Hannan, The Daily Weekly
    clueless.jpg
    ​
    A reader who calls himself a current member of the band Furious Styles responds to Local Hardcore Band 'Furious Styles' Uses Cop-Killing to Sell T-Shirts. He says the murder of an innocent police officer isn't going to change his group's views on law enforcement.

    "The past day has been a shit-storm for a shirt that wasn't even supposed to reach mainstream society. This shirt wasn't a silly publicity stunt and frankly we're supprised at the ammount of attention it's recieved. We've never wanted or expected mainstream success or attention. This shirt was meant to sell to a select few fans, not to be peddled off onto Seattle's teenagers at Hot-Topic.

    Anyone who knows Furious Styles knows our stance on police and just because an officer is actually killed doesn't mean we're going to change our tune, so to speak. It wasn't a joke then and it's not a joke now.

    Continue Reading >>
    Topics: Crime & Punishment

  • Saturday's Set Times and "Itinerary" for Them Crooked Vultures' Seattle Visit

    Posted November, 20 at 5:02 pm by Chris Kornelis, Reverb
    davejosh.jpg
    ​
    7 p.m.: The Paramount doors open.

    8 p.m.: Mini Mansions take the stage in support.

    9:15 to 10:45 p.m.: Them Crooked Vultures (Zeppelin's John Paul Jones, Nirvana's Dave Grohl, and Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age) take the stage.

    11:15 p.m.--12:15 a.m.: Jones leads the band in a nostalgic bit of fishing out the window of their suite at The Edgewater Hotel.

    12:15--2 a.m.: The band break into Anthony's, raids the liquor, heats up a pan, and Jones cooks up some Zeppelin-style fish 'n' chips.

    2 a.m. til Exhaustion: Homme and Grohl take their pants off and reenact that damn statue at the Olympic Sculpture Park.

    Sunrise: With the park finally open, the three men enjoy a leisurely stroll past the eraser.


    Topics: News

  • It's Official: Schoolyard Heroes Are Calling It Quits

    Posted November, 20 at 3:42 pm by Chris Kornelis, Reverb
    noschool.jpg
    Justin Dylan Renney
    Schoolyard Heroes at Vera Project.
    ​
    To close the book on the band after eight years of making music reaching back to core members' high school days, horror rockers Schoolyard Heroes will regroup with their classic lineup -- Ryann Donnelly, Jonah Bergman, Steve Bonnell, Brian Turner -- for December 19's Horrordays at El Corazon. It will be their last show. Kane Hodder will also be reuniting their original lineup for the show, and promptly break up.

    "I'm really glad schoolyard heroes are being put to rest the way it started," vocalist Ryann Donnelly told us yesterday before today's official announcement. "And, honestly, the reason we're calling it a day on Schoolyard isn't because we don't love it."

    Donnelly says the reason it was time to move on was that she and Bergman couldn't see working as Schoolyard without Bonnell and Turner, who exited separately within the last year.

    "It was strange to play shows as Schoolyard Heroes with different people," she says.

    In the announcement on their web site, Schoolyard hinted at the future:

    "Don't freak out! If Schoolyard Heroes has taught you anything over the years, it is that death is always around you... and that from death shall emerge new channels of destruction. Loud, distorted, maybe even operatic channels."

    We'll post more info as we get it.

    Topics: News

  • David Mendoza, Former Owner of Pazzo's Pizza, Weed Smuggler, Gets 14 Years in Prison

    Posted November, 20 at 3:21 pm by Vernal Coleman, The Daily Weekly
    Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Pazzo's(1).jpg
    Definitely under new management
    ​
    David R. Mendoza's life in summation: former Garfield High School class president. Owner of the historic Liberty Theater in Bend, Oregon, and the bro-friendly Pazzo's Pizzeria in Eastlake. Apparent friend to the entire B.C. chronic smoking nation.

    As of today, however, you can add sentenced pot smuggler to that list.

    Continue Reading >>
    Topics: Crime & Punishment

  • Sighted: A Taco Truck Parks in Pioneer Square

    Posted November, 20 at 3:16 pm by Maggie Savarino, Voracious
    campesino.jpg
    ​
    My car just automatically followed this truck after spotting it on Jackson Street, followed it to it's Thursday through Saturday parking spot. Tacos El Campesino sets up on Occidental between Yesler and Washington and opens for business at 4:00 p.m., but the honking cars behind me precluded me from getting the closing time and more info. This truck usually produces a better than decent torta (carne asada over carnitas).

    Topics: Eats report

  • Two Very Different Opinions on the Seattle Housing Market

    Posted November, 20 at 1:57 pm by Caleb Hannan, The Daily Weekly
    houseforsale.jpg
    To buy or not to buy? That is the question.
    ​
    CNNMoney.com reports today that if you're in the market for a lifetime's worth of debt, Seattle is a great place to live. The Emerald City placed second behind only San Francisco in a list of cities most likely to see their home values increase by 2011.

    According to forecasters polled by the cable-news giant, that means a 3.8% jump thanks to our "better than average" job market. A welcome softening of the 15% free fall housing values have taken since the bottom fell out. And a seriously delusional load of crap if you're to believe the lovable cranks over at real-estate blog Seattle Bubble.



    Continue Reading >>
    Topics: Economy

  • OMG! Jonas Brothers to Endorse Microsoft Xbox360!

    Posted November, 20 at 1:30 pm by Brian Miller, The Daily Weekly
    Jonas_bros_resize2.jpg
    The Jonas Brothers want...more brains!
    ​
    You know what? Let Apple have its annoying Justin Long and nerdy John Hodgman for those Mac versus PC commercials. Microsoft just upped the celebrity stakes by announcing that teen rockers the Jonas Brothers will be endorsing its Xbox360 videogame console.

    The NYT and others are reporting that a new MSFT ad campaign will prominently feature the tween rockers. The spots are built around the catchphrase "It's more fun time." (Not something you could ever imagine Steve Ballmer saying.) Given that gamers are overwhelmingly male (not the brothers' fan base), it's unclear how the clean-shaven, Disney-created trio will connect with those who prefer Grand Theft Auto and first-person shooter games to bubblegum pop.

    Unless, of course, a game can be developed that features the Jonas Brothers as evil, brain-eating zombies who, with the power of their their stupefying music, turn millions of preadolescent girls into their army of slaves. Oh, wait...

    Topics: Business

  • Local Hardcore Band 'Furious Styles' Uses Cop-Killing to Sell T-Shirts

    Posted November, 20 at 1:20 pm by Caleb Hannan, The Daily Weekly
    furiousstylescoverart.jpg
    ​
    UPDATE: Another former band member disowns the shirt. Details after the jump.

    A big tip of the hat to SeattleCrime.com for what they accurately titled as today's classiest story.

    A local hardcore metal group didn't have the same reaction as most Seattleites to the assassination of Officer Tim Brenton. Whereas most of the city saw the murder of a cop as a good time to remember that peace officers have a very dangerous job and we should be thankful for the work they do, the charming fivesome that is Furious Styles (that'd be those fine gentleman to your right) decided now would be a good time to make money selling t-shirts.

    Continue Reading >>
    Topics: Crime & Punishment

  • Before You Go See Them Crooked Vultures, You've Gotta Give The Sporting Life a Spin

    Posted November, 20 at 1:08 pm by Krist Novoselic, Reverb
    sportinglife.jpg
    Krist Novoselic is a regular contributor to Reverb. His column on music and politics runs every Tuesday on the Daily Weekly.
    ​
    With Them Crooked Vultures coming to The Paramount on Saturday, everybody's talking and writing about the members previous musical associations (Led Zeppelin, Queens of the Stone Age, Nirvana). I need to mention the work that Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones did with vocalist Diamanda Galás.

    Released in September of 1994, The Sporting Life is passionate and violent. It's a rock record to the core with Pete Thomas on big drums and Jones on bass. The first track, "Skôtoseme," establishes a rock-groove rhythm section you'd expect from Jones, and this keeps consistent throughout the record. Galás gives a voice that wails in precision over the bass and drums.

    There's no electric guitar and perhaps that would have been redundant - or even stock - considering the unique instrument that is Galás' vocals. It's piercing and intense. Put all these parts together and you've got a heavy rock band that not only has you bobbing your head to the groove, you also recoil from the sheer ferocity.

    Galás plays keys also. There's soul with the old tune "Dark End of the Street". The songs are compelling and tend to menace. Galás wields a knife on the cover of the album and you'll find out her intentions with the tune, "Do You Take This Man?"

    If you're grooving to Them Crooked Vultures and haven't heard The Sporting Life - check it out!!!!!!

    Topics: Krist Novoselic

  • Brian Barr Takes Pictures Now, And They'll Be Hanging at a White Center Brewery Saturday

    Posted November, 20 at 12:58 pm by Mike Seely, Reverb
    barrgaspic.jpg
    ​
    Most of you know Brian Barr as our former music editor and a still-prolific contributor to the section now headed up by Pity the Foo drummer Chris Kornelis (as well as the Weekly Wire). But since leaving Western Ave. at the end of last year, Barr has turned some of his focus to photography, and you can bear witness to the fruits of his lens this Saturday evening starting at 6 p.m. at Big Al Brewing in White Center. Barr lives nearby, and rumor has it that a post-exhibit trip to the Locker Room is in the offing, which should be all the incentive anyone needs.

    Topics: Happenings

RSS

Monthly View >>This week's best events