All of “The Hangover Part III”’s problems can be summed up in one short sentence: The movie isn’t funny. In the first ten minutes of the film, a giraffe is decapitated, its head flying in the air and landing on a car’s windshield. Moments later, the father of “Alan” (Zack…
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Comedian Jim Gaffigan Writes Bestseller, Goes On Book Tour
Back in the day when Jim Gaffigan was “only” selling out 4 shows at a time at the Warner Theatre, he would come to the TV station and hang and do an interview and usually give me comp tickets to the show. But these days, Gaffigan has appeared on Broadway…
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Great New Shows On Sale Now at The Birchmere
Tue. Jul. 23: BURTON CUMMINGS burtoncummings.com http://www.ticketmaster.com/burton-cummings-alexandria-virginia-07-23-2013/event/15004AAE9A722EF6 Thu. Aug. 22: AMY GRANT amygrant.com Tickets: http://www.ticketmaster.com/amy-grant-alexandria-virginia-08-22-2013/event/15004AA705207B46 Thu. Oct. 10: JORGE DREXLER www.jorgedrexler.com Tickets: http://www.ticketmaster.com/jorge-drexler-alexandria-virginia-10-10-2013/event/15004AAE9AE52F45 Sat. Nov. 2: TOM PAXTON www.tompaxton.com Tickets: http://www.ticketmaster.com/tom-paxton-alexandria-virginia-11-02-2013/event/15004AAE9B6E2F81 Fri. Nov. 8: DAVID BROMBERG BIG BAND www.davidbromberg.net Tickets: http://www.ticketmaster.com/david-bromberg-big-band-alexandria-virginia-11-08-2013/event/15004AAE9C2B301B…
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Movie Review: ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’
Whether you’re a stone cold Trek Nerd who comes to the multiplex in costume, or just someone looking for an early summer night out at the movies, ‘Star Trek: Into Darkness’ is just about perfect as an action/adventure flick. It has a great cast and stunts that are more thrilling…
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Movie Review: ‘Peeples’ Puts Craig Robinson In The Lead
Pay no attention to the “Tyler Perry Presents” pasted all over the ads for the new comedy “Peeples.” It may be some of his money on the line, but fortunately, writer and director Tina Gordon Chism has made a nice little rom-com, and not the kind of lead-footed, ham-fisted camp…
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Movie Review: ‘The Great Gatsby’ Entertains
a·nach·ro·nism [uh-nak-ruh-niz-uhm] Show IPA noun. something or someone that is not in its correct historical or chronological time, especially a thing or person that belongs to an earlier time: The sword is an anachronism in modern warfare. Get to know the word “anachronism” right now—I don’t think I’ve seen a…
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Concert Review: Shout Out Louds at 9:30 Club, Washington DC
After a three year absence from the venue that broke their Swedish cherries back in 2005, when they played the U.S. and the 9:30 Club for the first time, Shout Out Louds hit the stage with the kind of anxious energy that comes with the first night of a tour.…
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Theatre Review: ‘Other Desert Cities’ at Arena Stage. Love and Mercy and Secrets and Lies
“You always hurt the one you love The one you shouldn’t hurt at all You always take the sweetest rose And crush it till the petals fall” Song by Roberts and Fisher, 1944 At least three different times during Jon Robin Baitz’s sublime play “Other Desert Cities,” characters preface an…
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Is Dropping The F-Bomb On The Air Ever Acceptable? Does It Deserve Punishment Or Praise?
This past week or so, a couple of VERY high profile profanity situations have come up. The North Dakota dude who got fired on his first night on air, and the Boston Red Sox Player who proclaimed, “This Is Our F#$%ng City!” to the cheers of thousands. In this weekly…
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Movie Review: ‘Trance’
‘Trance’ Reviewed By Kyle Osborne Is it mere coincidence that my three favorite movies of the year, so far, are movies that I not only saw twice, but actually enjoyed even more upon the second viewing? I don’t think so. The movies ‘STOKER’ and SIDE EFFECTS share some important points…
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Theatre Review: ‘4000 Miles’ At Studio Theatre; You Won’t Want it To End
Review by Kyle Osborne Photos: Scott Suchman Ever walk through a door, take a look around and instantly decide that you like the place? That’s the feeling one gets when the lights come up on the East Village apartment belonging to Vera (the amazing Tana Hicken). Designed with authentic precision…
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Folger Theatre Announces 2013/14 Season Filled With Shakespeare Plays.
FOLGER THEATRE ANNOUNCES 2013/14 SEASON FILLED WITH SHAKESPEARE PLAYS ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** Shakespeare’s ROMEO AND JULIET Helen-Hayes Award winner Aaron Posner directs the most famous story of “star-crossed” love Shakespeare’s RICHARD III Robert Richmond, the director behind this season’s HENRY V, helms this play about a king…
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Theatre Review: ‘Mary T. & Lizzy K.’ at Arena Stage
It’s a play of “what if?” and “Wow, I didn’t know that” moments. Mary T. & Lizzy K., a play that elicits more respect than passion, asks “What if we could be a fly on the wall when Mary Todd Lincoln and her dressmaker and confidante, Elizabeth Keckly, were alone…
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Music Review: U.D.O. Release New Single Ahead of CD, Plus North American Tour Dates
Review By Kyle Osborne Artist: U.D.O. CD: Steelhammer (dropping May 2013) Single: “Metal Machine” The first thirty seconds of U.D.O.’s new single “Metal Machine” grab you by the undies and pull…real hard. It’s an intro with an announcement: you’re about to get rocked, and you’re gonna like it. Menacing guitar…
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Movie Review: ‘Spring Breakers’
Director and provocateur Harmony Korine fools some of the people some of the time, but I see him as The Emperor in his boxers—shouting incoherently from the town square. In “Spring Breakers,” that town square is a slice of beach along the Redneck Riviera, where college kids gather with beer…
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Movie Review: “Stoker” Creepy, Campy Fun!
I don’t know for sure if “Stoker” is high camp or an involving thriller, but I do know that it made me feel both creeped out and elated. There is pure joy in watching a film that inhabits its own universe, quite apart from the real world, and “Stoker” is…
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Movie Review: ‘Oz the Great and Powerful’
What is it with these half full/half empty movies lately? Last week, “Jack The Giant Slayer,” a movie with wondrous visual effects, had a slow first hour before getting on to a finish with great flourish. This week, “Oz the Great and Powerful” does just the opposite; It comes out…
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Theatre Review: “Metamorphoses” At Arena Stage
I was slightly apprehensive about two things going into “Metamorphoses” at Arena Stage: 1.Would the pool be a distraction or a gimmick? And 2.Would I have to be up on my ancient Roman mythology in order to “get it?” Happily the answers were “no” and “no.” The pool holding 30,000…
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Movie Review: “Identity Thief” Stole Two Hours From My Life
There are two things that the new movie “Identity Thief” is convinced are funny. 1. Teasing a man named “Sandy” because it’s a “girl’s name,” and 2. Punching someone in the neck (admittedly a phrase I use often because it sounds weird and funny, it doesn’t really “play” funny on…
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Movie Review: “Bullet To The Head” Like An 80’s Action Flick On Steroids
“Bullet To The Head,” a movie with about as much nuance as its title would suggest, finds Sylvester Stallone with black spray-powder “hair,” a roided out looking physique and a limp-along gait that has become more pronounced. But unlike Arnold Schwarzenegger, who sadly walked through his latest movie, “The Last…
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Jeffrey Osborne Music Review and Backstage Interview
. Hits like “On The Wings Of Love,” and You Should Be Mine (The Woo Woo Song) were crossover smashes that you still know by heart.
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Movie Review: “Mama” Mild Maternal Scares
You know, sometimes you get points just for being better than expected, better than you had to be for the target audience. If that sounds like damning with faint praise, it’s not. It’s actually praising with…faint praise. “Mama” starts out with the news that a man (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) has killed…
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Movie Review: “Amour” What’s Not To Love?
For me, “Amour” was a long slog–forget about watching the character’s life slip away–what about MY life? I’ll give it a second look. I mean, obviously I’m missing something. Let’s check in with guest critic Rick Sandlas from the great site http://www.dearfilm.net Sounds like Rick is picking up what…
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Interview: Jon Carroll Steps Into The Spotlight For A Night
The great Jon Carroll is playing a solo show this Thursday night at The Athenaeum in Olde Towne Alexandria. From the Starland Vocal Band To Mary-Chapin Carpenter, he’s had his plate full for decades. Fans of his solo recordings are going to be treated to a good humored raconteur, as…
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Watch Derek Evry’s First Official Video
I’m so proud of Derek Evry–this guy has steadfastly hammered away at songwriting and performing, growing with every passing year. His band’s first video looks great and you can view it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGW-4CCqbJQ&feature=youtu.be And Derek was kind enough to give me a fun interview when I was just starting my…
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Movie Review: ‘The Sessions’ Headed For Oscar?
No film in recent memory has come to the table with so many potential pitfalls. A man confined to an iron lung, except for a few hours a day, when he can be rolled around on his gurney, seeks to lose his virginity at the age of 38. Is it…
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Movie Review: ‘The Words’ With Bradley Cooper
“The Words” isn’t exactly a page turner, its story is both too obvious and told at too leisurely a pace for anything like that. It does, however, have its moments, plus a game cast that makes it the cinematic equivalent of one of those “guilty pleasure” beach paperbacks that a…
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Movie Review: ‘Lawless’ Serves Up Jugs Of Corn, Buckets Of Blood
Excerpt: “Let us turn our sites on Shia LaBeouf, who plays the wide-eyed youngest brother in the most literal sense: he actually keeps his eyes opened wide. Combine that with a southern accent you might hear at a theme park Wild West show, and you’ve got the weakest link of…
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Movie Review: Only The Songs Shine In “Sparkle”
The first two minutes of “Sparkle” telegraph to the audience exactly what they can expect for the next one hundred minutes that follow: some great singing and some very bad dialogue. And, sorry to say, some less than stellar acting from the beautiful Jordin Sparks and the late Whitney Houston;…
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Theatre Review: ‘Flight of Fancy’ for Capital Fringe
MOVEius Dance’s Flight of Fancy (A Steampunk Ballet) will invigorate your senses as you watch the beautiful ballerinas move to a killer playlist of songs by artists such as the Kinks, Arcade Fire, Florence and the Machine, Lykke Li, and Angus and Julia Stone. Read the review by Grace Kim, who gave…
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Theatre Review: ‘Beef Encounter’ for Capital Fringe
Take pause from your daily grind and go on a walking holiday with Belinda Donovan (Claire Carroll, and writer of the play) as she trudges through the English countryside. Read a review of her funny British quips about life in Beef Encounter here and then buy tickets to see her performance, please.…
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Theatre Review: ‘Beertown’ at Woolly Mammoth for Capital Fringe
It starts with lemonade and cookies. It’s true! Theatregoers entering the space at Woolly Mammoth Theatre set aside for “Beertown,” literally walk into a room with a dessert pot-luck set up behind the seats. Homemade cookies and brownies set the interactive scene for the town hall-style meeting that’s about to…
Read MoreMovie Review: “Bully”
As filmmaking, “Bully” may have its flaws, but director Lee Hirsch’s documentary shines a light on something all too common and shameful in American schools, and the nationwide discussion about the topic has already started weeks in advance of its release. Please read the full review: HERE Tweet Pin…
Read MoreMovie Review: “The Cabin In The Woods” Surprise, Surprise
Ever watch a bad movie with a smart-ass buddy, and the two of you heckle the flick, taking turns cracking wise at the idiots on the screen? Well, here’s a movie that does that to itself! “The Cabin In The Woods,” actually provides characters to stand back and heckle the…
Read MoreMovie Review: “Three Stooges” Zero Laughs
If you’ve ever seen a blooper-reel of news anchors completely losing their sh*t on live TV, you know very well that laughter is involuntary; you can’t stop it to save your life and you can’t fake it without sounding like a sycophant reacting to his boss’s bad jokes. It-just-happens. Or,…
Read MoreMovie Review” Lockout” You’ll Like This F-ing Guy (Pearce)
One of the things that makes a “Bad Movie” truly bad is its total lack of awareness. The movie must have absolutely no idea of its awfulness just to be considered among the bottom tier of cinematic offenders. For that reason alone, we can say that one may not love…
Read MoreMovie Review: American Reunion
When the first “American Pie” movie was released in 1999, it seemed to be riding a wave of “more is more” that had started with “There’s Something About Mary,” a film that took onscreen bodily fluids to an unprecedented level, yet became a huge box office hit. It was also,…
Read MoreMovie Review: “Project X” Is Just A Cannonball Into The Pool
As a movie, “Project X” is just a Cannonball into the pool. It makes an obnoxious splash with poor form and no skill. Let’s put aside, for a moment, that this movie is, in an abstract way, a schoolyard bully; it’s sneering and mean and spits on people. But what…
Read MoreMovie Review: “The Innkeepers” Boo? Hiss!
“The Innkeepers” is earning some praise for its lack of gore, but it’s the lack of content that left me struggling to stay awake. Even the music sounds like it’s been pulled from an after school TV movie soundtrack. A movie that might’ve been about bff’s planning a party, not…
Read More“The Grey” Wolfs Down Horror Movie Cliches
“The Grey” with Liam Neeson won the weekend box office, and earned plaudits from all corners of the critical universe…but not from me. What starts out as a classy, enigmatic film ultimately ends in a formulaic, paint by numbers, trudge through frozen tundra and icy clichés. Liam Neeson’s voice overs…
Read MoreMovie Review: “A Separation” , One Of The Year’s Best, Opens In The DC Area
So far, the Iranian film, “A Separation” is two-for-two, winning both the Critic’s Choice and Golden Globes statues for Best Foreign Language Film. Expect the trip to continue all the way to Oscar night. Set in present day Iran, this story goes places you never see coming, after starting with…
Read MoreThe Ten Best Films Of 2011
My Favorite Films of 2011 Why does Hollywood make us go through 10 months of hit and misses before back-end loading the year with all the good stuff in December, with releases that continue into January? The short answer is that the studios want their most “Award Worthy” films fresh…
Read MoreReview: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part I
Just the title, “Breaking Dawn: Part 1” appearing on the screen was enough to start the girls’ squeal s at the 2.5 second mark of the film. At approximately 27 seconds into the film, and I swear I’m not making this up, “Jacob” (Abs of steel owner Taylor Lautner) rips…
Read MoreMovie Review: “J. Edgar” All Dressed Up With No Place To Go
Like I have several times previously, I initially doubted that the still baby-faced Leonardo DiCaprio would be able to play a much older character of gravitas, but DiCaprio’s turn as the revered and reviled J. Edgar Hoover in his late 70’s is both a technical marvel and proof that it’s…
Read MoreInterview: Elizabeth Olsen, Rising Star From “Martha Marcy May Marlene”
When Elizabeth Olsen walks into the room, she is both confident and gracious. It’s hard to believe that the well-spoken woman before you just graduated high school four years ago. But then again, this 22 year old is the younger sister of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, she has a lifetime…
Read MoreReview: Paranormal Activity 3. Bored To Death.
If there’s one thing you’ll need to make it through the Paranormal Acitivity movies. Just one thing? It’d have to be patience. What else will get you through three movies that have a net total of, say, 15 minutes of “action” or “scares”? Not even a large soda was enough…
Read MoreRavi Kabob in Arlington. If You Can Find A Better Kabob In The Area, Call Me
Don’t you love finding great food in unlikely places? Ravi Kabob boasts, perhaps, the worst ambience of any eatery in Arlington. The lighting is dingy, the linoleum floor depressing, and the guy at the cash register does Not-Have-Time for you to glance at the menu and decide what you want,…
Read More“Merzi” Restaurant In DC Is Good and Fast. Imagine A Chipotle In Bombay.
I had about an hour to kill before the play at Woolly Mammoth Theatre in the Penn Quarter district of DC was to begin. I was starving, but knew I wouldn’t have time for a “sit-down” meal. I also knew that I was tired of fast food and figured I’d…
Read MoreMovie Review: “The Thing” It’s A Decent Ice-Breaker
Okay, here’s the thing about, um, “The Thing”…it does what it’s supposed to do for its intended audience. Nothing more, nothing less. I am not going to waste space comparing this to any other version that’s been made because,well,who cares? You’ve already decided whether The Thing is, um, your thing…
Read MoreWhy Do Shows At The Birchmere Always Sound So Great?
[bliptv AYLVn2cA] A quick look behind the scenes at the guys responsible for making the house sound amazing every night at The Birchmere in Alexandria VA Tweet Pin It
Read MoreReview: Contagion. Catch It This Weekend
Firstly, forget the over-amped ads that have titles like “Pulse Pounding” pushing out of the TV screen and into your lap. “Contagion” is smarter than that, even if it isn’t quite as exciting as the commercials will lead you to believe. You see, they underestimate you, those movie-selling folks—they think…
Read MoreReview: Bret Michaels At The Birchmere-Look What The Cat Dragged In
You can speculate on just how far his hairline recedes beneath his ever present bandana, and you can slag off his band Poison, now celebrating 25 years as one the 80’s most loved and loathed “Hair Metal” bands. But what you absolutely cannot do, ever, is suggest that Bret Michaels…
Read MoreFive Questions With Octavia Spencer and Director Tate Taylor From “The Help”
“The Help” is a rather nice movie about an ugly subject. Based on the bestselling book by Kathryn Stockett, and directed by her personal friend, Tate Taylor, it tells the story of African American “domestics” who, with the encouragement of a young white woman, recount their personal stories of…
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