Author: Rick Levin

Arts and Kraft

Music
Martine Kraft

“But what really matters is not what you believe but the faith and conviction with which you believe,” wrote the great Norwegian authur Knut Hamsun in his novel Mysteries. Hamsun — who, unfortunately, ended up believing some pretty vile stuff — nonetheless may have been forecasting the astral projections of fellow countrywoman Martine Kraft, the virtuoso violinist and songwriter whose ethereal sounds will provide a swan song for final staging at Mount Pisgah of the Faerieworlds festival this weekend. Continue reading →

One Thumb Up

Film

Bombastic, charismatic and iconic through and through, Roger Ebert was the Muhammad Ali of film criticism, a man whose face and voice became synonymous with our modern pastime of going to the movies. He was the champ: With a review in The Chicago Sun-Times or a little wiggle of his thumb on the syndicated TV show At the Movies, Ebert possessed the power to single-handedly revive a flailing filmmaker’s career or curse a new movie to oblivion. Continue reading →

Soul Men at the Fair

Music
Photo by Michael L. Smith

If all you know of Soul Asylum is a touching little torch song called “Runaway Train,” listen up: Long before that unexpected hit was released in 1992, Soul Asylum had achieved a rare kind of cult status among fans of guitar-heavy alt-rock — a status founded largely on the soulful songwriting and indubitable white-boy groove of frontman Dave Pirner.  Continue reading →

Monster Mash

Film

Fans of scary monsters and super creeps will have a lot to feast on in coming days, as the Bijou Classic Series unleashes its “Monster Blockbuster” tribute, featuring screenings of a handful of legendary films moderated by local film buffs. Coordinated by Joshua Purvis, Bijou marketing director and founder of the Eugene Film Society, the series puts together a chilling variety of freaker classics — from Jaws to Invasion of the Body Snatchers — pairing each with a moderated Q&A and discussion that will tackle critical, historic and technical aspects of the film. Continue reading →

Jellyheads

Film

Two dudes standing behind a service counter, slinging cheesecake for the masses and, during down times, brainstorming a tangle of ideas about music, movies and the end of the world: This is the genesis of Tectonic Jelly, a deliciously bizarre short film and companion comic book series that gets its first public airing Thursday, July 17, at Bijou Art Cinemas. Continue reading →

Relative Pursuits

Meet the Beyers — sibling artists featured at Art and the Vineyard

Visual Arts
‘Lotus, closed’ by Ian Beyer

Sculptor Ian Beyer tells me with a wry smile that his sister, painter Erika Beyer, is the smart one, what with her dual college degrees in scientific illustration and architecture. This is the sort of affectionate ribbing that commonly passes between siblings; what’s not so common is the level of talent that unifies the Beyers in their separate creative endeavors. Continue reading →

When the Levee Breaks

Film

In Kelly Reichardt’s new film, Night Moves, a ragged trio of would-be eco-saboteurs plot to blow up a hydroelectric dam in western Oregon. There is Josh (Jesse Eisenberg), a steely young man full of sidelong glances and inarticulate rage; Dena (Dakota Fanning), a doe-eyed rich girl levitating on hippie zen; and Harmon (Peter Sarsgaard), the elder, who emanates the cool, malevolent calm of nihilism. Continue reading →

Anything but Ordinary

OCT’s summer musical captures the grit and grandeur of New York City

Theater
Tony Coslett and Shannon Coltrane in Ordinary Days

A limitless cosmos of doorways and dead-ends, New York City is a dream, as much a state of mind as it is a place on the map. Adam Gwon’s 2009 musical Ordinary Days beautifully captures the chaotic flux of NYC in a nutshell, by reflecting in microcosm the city’s everyday influence on the romantic lives of two couples. Deceptively simple in form, Gwon’s love letter to Gotham is a minor masterpiece of lyricism and perk, condensing worlds of emotion into a mere 90 minutes. Continue reading →