Home > Sound and sight > Archives > 2008 > January
January 2008
Big, big Jesus statue
My colleague Terri Jo Ryan alerted me to this: the announcement of a Slovakian mayor’s plan to build a 110-tall concrete-and-steel statue of Jesus in Presov, Slovakia. The statue, which would be between Rio de Janiero’s Cristo Redentor and Lisbon’s statue of Christ the King in terms of size, would promote “religious tourism,” the mayor said. It also would top a 40-foot-tall statue of a Soviet soldier in Bratislava, presently Slovakia’s tallest.
No word on whether Jesus would be holding his rifle in a “threatening manner” …
Weekend feedback
It’s been awhile since I put up an open post and a busy weekend seemed like a good time for general commenting. A lot of stuff going on this weekend: A Big Band/’40s radio show at the Hippodrome, Baylor Opera’s “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” Harlem Globetrotters at the Ferrell Center, Baylor basketball at the Ferrell Center, the film There Will Be Blood finally reaching town (Catherine wasn’t impressed; see her comment), last night’s Screen Actors Guild awards
My wife and I made the opera (I’ll try and post on that later), and I saw the last half hour of the SAGs; anyone want to share what he or she saw this weekend and what the others missed? Step up here.
Permalink | |
Third birthday for local Texas talent radio program
“Texas Barn Dance,” a Texas talent showcase hosted by country musician/promoter/music advocate Johnnie Bradshaw, marks its third year on radio station KBCT-FM (94.5) tonight, Jan. 27, with a 7 p.m. to midnight special sampling about 50 area musicians and bands with other highlights from the last three years.
Started by Bradshaw and KBCT on-air personality Brian Thompson as “Brian’s Barn,” a Sunday night showcase for area country musicians, the program has broadened over time, surviving KBCT’s format change from country music to news-talk last year. Bradshaw said it’s now more about Texas music - which includes a healthy dose of southern rock and Texas blues-rock - than strictly country, and statewide/national performers as well as locals.
The program host estimates about 70 Central Texas performers and bands have had songs or interviews on “Texas Barn Dance” in its three years and while it’s not the only radio program showcasing local talent - KBRQ-FM has focused on area rockers for several years, for instance - any platform that’s friendly to local bands and creativity is worth a bit of praise and attention.
Permalink | | Categories: TV/Radio
2 U2 for u
Two items of notice for U2 fans, one out of town and the other local.
The biggest is the new 3D concert documentary, U2 3D, which opened at digital theaters across the country this week (at the Cinemark IMAX in Dallas, the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum IMAX in Austin). It’s a 85-minute film shot at four arena concerts on U2’s “Vertigo” tour and the reviews I’ve read say the digital images and sound feel like you’ve got a front-row seat. Waco’s theater multiplexes don’t have any digital screens, so no U2 film here.
Fans attuned to the band’s spiritual side may like to know about this Sunday’s “U2charist” service at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, 305 N. 30th St. in Waco. The service, which started four years ago at an Episcopal Church in Maine, blends a words, music and video footage of U2 with a liturgy and message about Millennium Development Goals targeting world poverty. The U2charist is at 5 p.m. in the church’s Mahan Commons. It’s free.
Permalink | | Categories: Music
There Will Be Blood will be here
Opening this Friday (Jan. 25) at both Starplex Galaxy 16 and Hollywood Jewel 16 in Waco: There Will Be Blood. That means all five films nominated for Best Picture honors at this year’s Academy Awards have played Waco.
May, June and November may be the bonus months for blockbuster films in Waco, but January with its pre-Oscar schedules isn’t a slouch, either …
Leaving town (or at least first-run theaters): Sweeney Todd, The Kite Runner, The Orphanage, Enchanted, The Water Horse, The Great Debaters and P.S. I Love You. Whew.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: Movies
Chicago, Chicago - Hippodrome adds second performance
“Chicago” won’t come to the Waco Hippodrome until April, but fans of the musical (of which I’m one) will be happy to hear that Scott Baker, the Waco Performing Arts Company’s executive director, has just added a second performance. The musical now will run April 23 and 24 (a Wednesday and a Thursday). With almost 600 season tickets sold, Baker and his office staff were looking at having to satisfy local demand for the show with only 300 or so remaining tickets (and almost all in the balcony). The extra show opens up a new set of downstairs seats for fans of the Broadway musical, who, if they didn’t have their tickets already, are sighing with relief.
Those intending to see this spring’s productions of “Evita” and “The Producers” better hurry. Single tickets are still on sale, but dwindling.
Permalink | | Categories: On Stage
About those Oscars … what do you think?
The Oscar nominations are in, thus waving the green flag for a month’s speculation on who will win.
Looks like the Academy played it safe, mostly. Lots of love for favorites George Clooney (Best Actor nom for Michael Clayton and 5 more noms for Michael Clayton) and Cate Blanchett (Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress noms). The four most-talked-about (critically, at least) films of the year - No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood, Atonement and (you go, girl ) Juno - got Best Picture nominations.
I was disappointed to see Baylor grads Michael Brandt’s and Derek Haas’ fine screenplay for 3:10 to Yuma didn’t get a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination, but I’m not sure if film remakes qualify under the Best Adapted Screenplay rules. The Academy’s incestuous music nominators struck again with three - three - of the five Best Songs nominated from one movie, Enchanted, written by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz. Director Tim Burton (Sweeney Todd) got snubbed again. And although the rules for Best Foreign Film nominations were tinkered with last year to prevent something like this from happening, Romania’s 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, a Golden Palm winner at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, and the acclaimed French animation Persepolis weren’t even nominated.
Of course, the only way I get to see acclaimed foreign films is to leave Waco or wait for the DVD release (maybe). That’s one thing that struck me about this year’s Best Picture nominations: just one hasn’t come to town (yet), There Will Be Blood. It’s only when you get into the acting and directing categories that you encounter the “not in Waco” releases: Away From Her, La Vie En Rose, The Savages, Into the Wild, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, I’m Not There, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. The first two, by the way, are in Waco on DVD, and The Assassination OJJBTCRF is due to arrive Feb. 5.
Enough blather. Any thoughts or comments on this year’s nominations? Feel free to chip in here.
Permalink | | Categories: Movies
Willie ticket info for March 13 concert
Here’s the ticket info I have:
Willie Nelson and Family With Deana Carter
7:30 p.m. March 13 at the Heart O’ Texas Coliseum
Reserved tickets are $45 and $40 (plus handling fees, etc.). Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Jan. 26 at the Coliseum box office, through Ticketmaster (752-8822) and at www.ticketmaster.com.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Categories: Music
Willie in Waco this March
Details are still being worked out and I don’t have ticket prices yet, but looks like Willie Nelson (and Family) will be coming to Waco for a March 13 concert at the Heart O’ Texas Coliseum. Opening act will be Deana Carter and tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. Jan. 26.
I’ll post more as I learn it.
Permalink | | Categories: Music
Props to our Ann Roz
There’s a retirement reception this afternoon honoring the Trib’s Ann Roznovsky, so I’ll take advantage of that time peg to point out the active role in Waco’s fine arts scene that she’s played over the years, largely under the public’s radar.
Part of it was due to her work in marketing and community relations, in which she was a point person for the monies that the Trib gives annually to arts and community organizations. But knowing Ann for many years, I can attest that she has a personal interest in the arts that goes beyond any job description or responsibilities. Ann has an open and engaged mind, and that makes for the best kind of arts advocate, particularly when coupled to her positive energy, broad cultural grounding and an unfailing sense of humor.
Her retirement Jan. 31 won’t mean her disappearance from the Waco arts scene; rather it will let her focus on the arts that she enjoys. She knows our newsroom doors are always open to her (and not just because she knows the security code); here’s best wishes for an enjoyable life beyond it.
Last call for “No Country”
The critically acclaimed No Country For Old Men winds up its run at Waco’s first-run theaters today, Jan. 17, for those who haven’t seen it yet or who want one last viewing before Oscar nominations come out next Tuesday. It’s considered a contender for a Best Picture nom, even though the Golden Globes didn’t show much love, with awards only for Javier Bardem (Best Supporting Actor) and writers/directors Joel and Ethan Coen (Best Screenplay - Motion Picture)
No word yet on when/if another possible contender, There Will Be Blood, will come to town.
Permalink | | Categories: Movies
Crawford at SXSW Film Festival
Crawford, Texas, gets its day in the cinema sun this spring (as if seven years of President Bush hasn’t been spotlight enough) at the South By Southwest Film Festival, March 7-15. The festival’s full film lineup hasn’t been released, but an email from the festival’s promoter this morning mentioned the film along with five others (including Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay)
Director David Modigliani’s documentary Crawford looks at the community and how being the Texas home of President and First Lady Bush has changed it. It’s called “balanced and comprehensive” - in the pre-festival publicity at least.
Last year’s SXSW Film Fest saw the theatrical screening of Waco native Tom Callaway’s noirish drama Broke Sky. A few more years of Waco-connected SXSW films and someone could run a Waco film festival …
Permalink | | Categories: Movies
Garfunkel soars, scores
Pop singer Art Garfunkel left a Waco Hall packed with Baby Boomers in a mellow vibe Friday night in his pops concert with the Waco Symphony Orchestra. Almost all the hits were there - his hits “All I Know” and “I Only Have Eyes For You;” his Simon and Garfunkel hits “Mrs. Robinson,” “El Condor Pasa,” “Cecilia,” “Scarborough Fair,” “The Boxer,” “American Tune,” “Sounds of Silence” (part of a three-song encore) and “Bridge Over Troubled Water” (set closer before the encore) - and his soaring, sweet tenor (mostly there).
If the concert seemed cut largely from the same piece of cloth - melodic pop, lovely vocal lines, intelligent arrangements for both his four-piece combo and the WSO, thoughtful lyrics - well, so’s an evening of slow dancing, but it’s nonetheless enjoyable.
Garfunkel’s trademark tenor hasn’t lost its soaring range after more than 40 years of performing, although it’s not as strong at its top. It took a breathy echo to reach the high notes on his program opener “El Condor Pasa” and on a couple of other songs he substituted lower pitches for the stratospheric notes on the original recordings.
Dressed simply in black velour pants, white shirt, unbuttoned black vest and long purple tie, Garfunkel was similarly straight-forward between songs: comments on his former partner Paul Simon; praise for songwriters Simon, Stephen Sondheim, Jimmy Webb, James Taylor, Randy Newman and Billy Joel; a lullabye dedication to his two-year-old son; thanks for a warm Waco Hall reception.
The WSO led by Music Director Stephen Heyde played well, but its contributions seemed intended more to amplify or sweeten the excellent musical support of Garfunkel’s combo, headed by talented keyboardist Clifford Carter.
The orchestra opened the concert with Heyde’s arrangement of the Puccini aria from “Turandot,” “Nessun dorma,” one which emphasized its melody and emotional crescendos and which carried a dedication to the late opera singer Luciano Pavarotti. A rousing Rossini’s “William Tell Overture” followed, highlighted by fine play from flutist Helen Ann Shanley, trumpeter James Sims, English hornist Erin Mitchell (corrected from original post; see first comment) and solid ensemble play in the work’s opening from cellos and basses.
The WSO sound was more open than blended in its numbers, possibly because of the absence of the Waco Hall orchestral shell, an extended seating arrangement due to the combo’s presence and/or an acrylic screen backing the combo’s drum set.
It was Garfunkel’s night, however, and he delivered. Smart song selection, such as Billy Joel’s “And So It Goes,” Randy Newman’s “Real Emotional Girl,” Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Quiet Nights (Corcovado)” and Garfunkel’s own “Perfect Moment,” showed he’s more than a pretty voice. Though the show pacing was leisurely, it never dragged
The evening’s one disappointment was in Waco Hall’s lighting. A spotlight operator had trouble centering Garfunkel in his light and the absence of a second folo left Garfunkel drummer Clint de Ganos receiving applause in the dark for his solo. The hall’s stage lighting also showed an embarassing limitation in the concert’s more rocking numbers such as “Cecilia” and “Mrs. Robinson” with a light show that seemed little more than alternating red and blue light, toggled by a switch. Granted, Waco Hall doesn’t field many rock, pop or country shows these days, but Baby Boomer audiences and younger are accustomed to getting more than meets the ear in their concerts.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: Music
TV alert - Wacoan on tonight’s “Las Vegas”
1999 Midway High grad Lindsey Kelley, daughter of Mike and Toni Kelley, appears in tonight’s episode of “Las Vegas,” seen at 9 p.m. on KCEN-TV, Channel 6. She’s in scenes near a swimming pool (she’s in a black bikini) and playing at the blackjack table. Country fans may remember Lindsey from her appearance in Trace Adkins’ “Swing” music video.
Permalink | | Categories: TV/Radio
Dame Edna, Pat Green and bum appendices
For those who know both, there doesn’t seem to be much of a connection between the brash Australian comic Barry Humphries, best-known as his cross-dressing alter ego Dame Edna, and Texas country singer Pat Green.
They can compare surgery scars now, however: Humphries had to cancel his Jan. 22-27 shows at Fort Worth’s Bass Performance Hall because of an emergency appendectomy. Only three weeks ago, that same surgery sidelined Green, a Fort Worth resident, from a Waco New Year’s Eve show.
Something in Cowtown’s water, maybe?
Permalink | |
Art/indie movie alert - Paydirt! “The Kite Runner” and “Atonement” this Friday
When it rains, it pours: Seven, count ‘em, seven movies opening in Waco this Friday, Jan. 11. Among them are The Kite Runner, Atonement and the Spanish (non-gory) horror film that’s winning critical attention, The Orphanage. My guess is the first two will play more than a week, but the general rule of thumb in Waco for art/indie movies is see them quickly …
Permalink | | Categories: Movies
Art Garfunkel and WSO concert sold out
If you were still undecided about attending Friday’s Waco Symphony Orchestra pops concert with Art Garfunkel, well, that decision’s been made for you: As of 11:45 a.m. today, Jan. 8, it’s a sell-out.
There’s already a waiting list for any turn-back tickets (such as seats a season-ticket holder can’t use and returns to the WSO for resale); call the symphony association offices at 754-0851 for info.
I was a big Simon and Garfunkel fan in my high school and college days. Apparently, I’m not alone in Waco …
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Music
2008 a Blu-ray tipping point?
For those of you waiting for the Blu-ray/HD DVD format wars to end before buying your next DVD player, this last week may have brought some resolution.
The latest buzz is that Paramount will follow Warner Brothers’ lead and start releasing its DVDs in the Blu-ray format, even though it went HD DVD-exclusive only four months ago. (Or not.)
On Friday, Warner Brothers cast its high-def digital lot with Blu-ray, tipping the balance of major Hollywood studios to the format. Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney and MGM now release their films in Blu-ray; Universal, Paramount and DreamWorks Animation, also Hollywood powerhouses, are in the HD DVD camp.
Warner Brothers’ Blu-ray decision means about 70 percent of Hollywood releases will be in Blu-ray, a percentage that will only increase if Paramount opts to change, too.
The Warner Brothers announcement got a lot of attention in the days before this week’s Consumer Electronics Show, but sneaking in with less notice was Sony’s announcement that it sold 1.2 PlayStation 3 game consoles during the holiday season. Those consoles are Blu-ray capable, by the way, which means another 1.2 Blu-ray players in the market - a growing indication that Blu-ray is closer to the top of the DVD format hill.
At least until the next great digital format breakthrough …
Permalink | | Categories: TV/Radio
Brave new music world only for the brave in 2008
Skimming through several Best Of 2007 lists and charts over the last few weeks, I was struck by their diversity and divergence. Here are the artists behind Billboard’s Top 10 Independent Albums: The Shins, Elliott Yamin, Jason Aldean (2 albums in the Top 10), The Eagles, Garth Brooks, Little Big Town, Arcade Fire and Jim Jones. The soundtrack to Hairspray, incidentally, topped that list and it’s somewhat a surprise to see The Eagles and Garth Brooks on an indie chart.
Leading artists on the Top 200, Billboard’s main chart: Daughtry, Akon, Fergie, Carrie Underwood, Nickelback, Justin Timberlake, Now 23, Linkin Park and Beyonce. In the top 10 were the Hannah Montana and High School Musical 2 soundtracks.
Here are the artists of the Top Digital Albums of 2007: Maroon 5, Kanye West, Daughtry, Amy Winehouse, Colbie Caillat, Linkin Park, Timbaland, John Mayer and Justin Timberlake.
And those behind Top Digital Songs: Fergie, Avril Lavigne, Soulja Boy Tell’em, Rihanna with Jay-Z, Plain White T’s, Gwen Stefani with Akon, Kayne West, Fergie with Ludacris, Beyonce and Fergie.
Now look at the artists of Spin.com’s Top 10 CDs: Against Me!, Arcade Fire, LCD Soundsystem, M.I.A., Radiohead, Amy Whitehouse, Jay-Z, Spoon and The White Stripes.
And listeners of NPR’s “All Songs Considered:” Radiohead, Arcade Fire, Feist, Wilco, The White Stripes, Spoon, Modest Mouse, The Shins, The National and Andrew Bird.
Granted, they’re measuring different audiences with differing methodologies (CD sales vs. digital, critics’ and listeners’ picks vs. music sales, etc.), but it seems fairly clear the days when a handful of superstar bands dominated national charts - and tastes - are gone.
CD sales declined another 15 percent in 2007. Where do we go from here in 2008? There’s a multitude of paths to the future and David Byrne shines a little light on a murky situation in his recent Wired article.
Permalink | | Categories: Music
Rush for those DTV converter box coupons
Somebody’s paying attention to the increased coverage of the impending digital television transition come Feb. 17, 2009: Broadcasting & Cable reports that a half million TV owners already have requested the $40 coupons toward a digital-to-analog converter box that will be needed for old analog televisions to receive digital television signals.
Most have requested the maximum of two coupons per household, too, which means if this furious rate of demand continues - it’s only been two days since one could apply for the coupons - the first pot of government money set aside for the coupons ($990 million) could run out by late February when the mailing of coupons begins. A second pot of money ($510 million) kicks in at that point, but it’s earmarked for households who don’t subscribe to cable or satellite television.
Call this number - 1-888-388-2009 - to order your coupon now or go here online.
Permalink | | Categories: TV/Radio
Art/indie movie alert - “Juno” opens Friday
A heads-up that the teen pregnancy comedy Juno comes to Waco’s Starplex Galaxy 16 on Friday. It’s doing gangbuster business in the cities it’s played in and rightfully so: smart script, great lead character (Ellen Page as the teen Juno), fun supporting characters and a touch of humanity.
Juno worked for me where Knocked Up fell short: Juno’s actions were believable (in a movie kind of way) for a smart teen where Knocked Up had a smart female professional (Katherine Heigl) marrying a less-than-compatible schlub because - well, I’m still not sure, outside of an easy, sentimental way to end the movie.
No word yet on when, or if, Atonement will make it to town. I think it will eventually, due in part to its strong showing in the Golden Globe nominations (winners are announced Jan. 13; we’ll see how it does then) and that it’s the sort of film (historical romance/drama) that holds its own in markets the size of Waco. We’ll see …
Permalink | Comments (4) | Categories: Movies
