Momma’s Man follows Mikey (Matt Boren), into and through his road of escaping real life. When we meet Mikey, he has been in New York City for a business trip and visited his parents before going back to California. For reasons unknown to the viewer and to Mikey; he has a laundry list of reasons why he cannot make it home. Filmmaker Azazel Jacobs’s real parents; Flo and Ken Jacobs, artist and filmmaker, play Mikey’s parents respectively. Flo and Ken Jacobs are quintessentially the dying breed of New York City artists that have called Tribeca their home and workplace. With a minimal number of characters, the Jacob’s home becomes a secondary character that displays numerous reasons why Mikey would stay in the home he grew up in verses the home he made in California. Their huge loft space is crowded with years of work and memories of the past. Mikey delves into a nostalgic adventure with no certain agenda other than the prospect of going back to his childhood; a life he is so far removed from now. Mikey visits an old friend played by Piero Arcilesi; who also was born and raised in Tribeca to artist parents. Arcilesi plays Dante who never left his childhood persona behind; Mikey revels in Dante’s personality because it is so different than his own. Azazel Jacob has a great amount of restriction when it comes to the extent of where this film could have gone. The script is minimal, but with the words spoken; volumes are said. The scenes between Mikey and his parents are heartfelt, but the emotions seem to recess back to an elementary state, Adding with the minimal basis that this film thrives on, it brings the viewer to a new generation of independent films. The film premiered at Sundance earlier this year and is now screening at numerous locations around the city!

TAGS: Reviews, Film Reviews

The slightly larger DSi screen

Tokyo, October 1, 2008.
Nintendo of Japan announced today that an update to their wildly popular portable game unit, the Nintendo DS, will be available in Japan starting November 1. Enhancements to the new unit, called the DSi, include a larger screen (3.25” instead of 3") a more lithe frame and not one, but TWO 0.3 megapixel (640x480) cameras - one on the inside and one on the outside of the case. The DSi also features an SD memory card slot, making it possible to take pictures with the DSi and then view them on a Nintendo Wii. The DSi features a built-in browser, and it’s possible to download games and keep them on the DSi.

TAGS: Reviews, Product Reviews

A new collaboration from Penguin, the world’s biggest publisher of English language books, and Bill Amberg, the British leathergoods accessories brand, hits stores in the UK, Australia and Canada in a holiday rollout stretching from November - January. The perfect Holiday travel companion, the collection of six Penguin classics—The Big Sleep, The Great Gatsby, Brideshead Revisited, A Room With a View, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Breakfast at Tiffany’s—is lovingly bound in leather in an easy, portable size. The folks over at Bill Amberg even included a great leather bookmark, avoiding any excuse for unsightliness like dogeared pages or my favorite, ATM receipts as bookmarks. Pick one up for yourself or for your favorite bibliophile...a book is a gift that keeps on giving.

TAGS: Reviews, Book Reviews, Things We Like

The Joy of Sake was held last thursday at Webster Hall. It was a joy to be a guest at this event. The Joy of Sake featured 327 selections that were entries in the 2008 U.S. National Sake Appraisal in Honolulu, August 26-27. The judging that took place in Honolulu was based on balance, taste, aroma, finish and overall impression based on a scale of one to five.

The event was divided up in floors based on the grade of production of the sake; the top floor was designated for “Daiginjo” classification and the second and first floor was designated for “Ginjo” and “Junmai” classification.  Not only were the best sakes produced in the world on display; there were also were highly notable restaurants that prepared appetizers to go along with the sake tasting. If that wasn’t enough; a large part of the 327 sakes present are not available for distribution in the United States. Here are some of my favorite picks from the event: wd-50’s Chestnut-Horseradish Soup with Smoked Mackerel & Verjus; plated in plastic cups, watching it was mesmerizing, Bond Street’s King Salmon Sashimi with Wasabi Zuke (served in a pipette to be squeezed after the first bite of the sashimi!) and Sushi Samba had Yellowtail Taquitos which was a fresh divergence from the classic forms of Asian cuisine. Now we move on to the sake tasting! Nagai Shuzo had a great “Ginjo” named Mizubasho, the flavors in this gold medal winner were distinctly fruity with a subtle tangy finish. Shindo Shuzoten’s “Daiginjo” named Gasanryu Kisaragi had a beautiful fragrence with a sharp finish. I know there were hundreds more than I stated but these were by far my favorites. 

TAGS: Reviews, Food Review, Things We Like

Photo by iTunes Store. Thanks Apple.

My first experience with Metallica was in 1989 when they came to my home country, New Zealand for the Damaged Justice tour. A friend of mine dragged me to the show, and I was all hip-hop at the time. I turned up to the show in saggy, baggy pants and New Era cap on backwards, and was met with about 600 long-haired be-denimed hessians in a tiny concert hall rocking out to a wall of sound, that I can only describe as - raw power. So much anger. So much power. I was instantly hooked. Suffice it to say, it changed my life, and my CD collection. Since then though the band has grown up, been through some rough times and have been strafed for their anti-music-sharing stance. The last album, the grammy-award winning St Anger, released in 2003 was mediocre at best (even with all its commercial success) and for all intents and purposes, most folks with a penchant for the hard, fast and heavy have moved on to younger and angrier bands.

From the first notes of Death Magnetic, the band tries to hit back at all their critics that have imagined putting the band out to pasture - ever since James Hetfield (vocals) and bassist Robert Trujillo were snapped by the press, shopping at Armani! From the searing “That Was Just Your Life”; which brings back the pace and drive of albums like Kill ‘Em All and Master of Puppets, where drummer Lars Urlich goes ape-shit on the double bass pedals - to the syncopated, and oddly rythmic “The Judas Kiss,” where the entire band gets to show off their tight musicianship, Death Magnetic is a Metallica journey, though perhaps with a couple of minutes left in most of the songs, you’re left with the age old refrain, “are we there yet?” Though I’m not a fan of the rock-radio-friendly lead-off single, “Cyanide,” the rest of the songs on this album are well worth the investment in this album if you’re a die-hard Metallica fan. For the rest of you, I’d save your money and leave this album for the middle aged hessians. 5/10.

TAGS: Reviews, Music Reviews

Ralf Daab is an art book publisher with a focus on finding young, up-and-coming talent for a worldwide audience. Along with the artist Feyyaz, Daab started his publishing and distribution house in November of 2003, transforming his last name into a convenient acronym for “design art architecture books.” His unique collection of design, architecture, and photography books can now be found in bookshops, furniture stores, clothing boutiques, and design shops worldwide; the Germany-based company goes way beyond the traditional markets of New York and London, spanning distribution throughout 120 countries and printing in five languages. And daab produces more than mere books--in addition to edaab, a web community for creative people, there are two daab club cds out, with Volume 3 available in June. This summer, look for daab releases from three artists--Argentinian photographer Fabio Borquez’s presentation of nude females, entitled Chicas, and self-titled monographs from both Japanese freelance designer Nendo Oki Sato and Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola. 

TAGS: Reviews, Book Reviews, Things We Like

Ginsberg. Beckett. Miller. Che Guevara. Kerouac. Burroughs. Malcolm X. I think its safe to say that few people think of book publishing (or even book reading!) as a revolutionary act. But in the oppressive monoculture of the US during the ‘50s and ‘60s, Barney Rosset, the owner and publisher of Grove Press and the literary journal the Evergreen Review, championed the voices of the underground. Publishing a range of work from the French avant-garde to the Beat Poets, black protest literature to the Black Mountain poets, Rosset fought government censorship in the courts and on the street. A new film, Obscene, documenting Rosset’s fascinating life and work hits theaters on September 26th with a rockin soundtrack with music by Bob Dylan, The Doors, Patti Smith, and other voices of the age. A passionate and creative businessman, Rosset only published books he liked and he had a keen feel for the market’s need for new voices. He was unrelenting in his vision for Grove Press and the filmmakers capture the energy of the man by interweaving interviews, archival audio and video, and the brilliant graphics of Roy Kuhlman’s iconic book cover designs. Rosset tells the filmmakers, “If you want to know who I am, look at the books I published.”

OBSCENE: A PORTRAIT OF BARNEY ROSSET AND GROVE PRESS
a film by Neil Ortenberg and Daniel O’Connor
opens in theaters September 26th

TAGS: Reviews, Film Reviews

At a time when fast food dominates, reconnecting eaters with producers “between the soil and the sky” is the mission of Outstanding in the Field. Started in 1999 by artist and chef Jim Denevan of Gabriella Café in Santa Cruz, Outstanding in the Field is a North American tour of al fresco dinners that celebrates organically-grown and naturally-made food while honoring the local farmers and food artisans who cultivate it. Locality is their chief ingredient to a successful meal; diners who are lucky enough to attend the routinely sold-out dinners have gardens, mountaintops, sea caves, islands, or ranches as their backdrop. and chat with other food lovers, farmers, and winemakers as their feast is prepared by a renowned regional chef. “Senses are heightened in the fresh air. And it’s not every day you get to sit next to the person who planted the beans, raised the lamb, and shaped the cheese on your plate,” says Denevan. For those unable to score reservations, a recipe book is on the way. Outstanding in the Field: A Farm to Table Cookbook contains more than 100 of Jim’s recipes and photos from past seasons and was released in early June.

TAGS: Events, Reviews

Possibly THE best band from New Zealand, ever. I’m from Auckland, I should know. This fall, The Mint Chicks will release Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No! on Milan Records on October 21st. Be on the look-out!

TAGS: Reviews, Music Reviews

The first in a series of dispatches from the Olympics with our Beijing Correspondent Qing Qing Chen

I finally met up with Madi, a contributor to Theme, for a Rebuilding the Rights of Statues’ (Re-Tros) show live at Mao’s. I had just learned about the Drum Tower murder of an American from MSN before heading out, and by the time I came home, Russia was already at war. Mao Live House happens to be about a block from the Drum Tower, in the lively Gulou area /Houhai that’s home to restaurants, bars, shops, and the easy-stroll of Chinese, foreigners, and cabs stuck in traffic alike. Security wasn’t as hyper alert as I’d imagined. The only sense of anxiety I picked up was from a policeman whisking by on a moped. His furrowed brows and uneasy expression made me wonder what was going to happen to the security guards at the Drum Tower.

Madi was joined by a group of her friends at the restaurant. Amusingly enough, she tells me that she had just met most of them for the first time herself. The group was assembled from an online Douban (think a more personalized, enthusiastic, and sophisticated cross between Amazon reviews and a Facebook) group. Around the table was a group of photographers, critics, persons in the magazine industry, and as we sat and pounced on the topic of the opening ceremony, it was almost difficult to imagine Beijing as being “unsafe.” This city has always been square and straight and wide and patient.

Photo by Jase Lam

Yet beneath the calm, under the shroud of 5000 years of the mandate of heaven, of heavy-handed politics and legitimacy, stirs the fists and feathers of something wild. Perhaps this is why Beijing will always be the cultural capital of China, because great art is often born out of a time of unrest, and there’s nothing like rebelling at the foot of Tiananmen. Such is the tone of the Re-Tros show. Rock ‘n’ Roll is re-made in China in the fits and strums of three music intrigues. When the lights dim, the harrowing voice of lead vocal/guitarist Hua Dong explodes with bassist Liu Min’s yelps in a cry that teeters between nihilism and revolution. Together with Ma Hui, a virtual one-man army contained in drums, Re-Tros were really, truly some of the most beautiful performers I’ve seen.

Re-tros’s latest EP Cut Off! is available at Tag Team Records and for download on iTunes. Check out their controversial video for TV Show (Hang the Police)

TAGS: Current Events, Reviews, Music Reviews