ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, MARCH 11, 2004 Considering the critical and commercial success of The Ring, Gore Verbinski's worthy remake of the Japanese haunted-video flick Ringu, it's no wonder Hollywood has set its sights on adapting more scary Asian fare. Now Tom Cruise's production company has bought the remake rights to The Eye, a horror film helmed by … Continue reading Horror review: The Eye
Horror review: Club Dread
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, FEB. 26, 2004 Boy, the movie industry has sure been getting paranoid about the pirating of its product lately. Last week I went to a media screening of Club Dread at Capitol 6 that was attended by a small gaggle of reviewers, and the guy at the door still used a metal detector … Continue reading Horror review: Club Dread
Horror review: Wes Craven’s New Nightmare
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, OCT. 20, 1994 By Steve Newton In the last scene of the ninth Friday the 13th instalment, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, the famed goalie mask of recently destroyed Jason Vorhees is pictured resting serenely on a leaf-strewn forest floor. Just before the scene fades to black, the unmistakable … Continue reading Horror review: Wes Craven’s New Nightmare
Horror review: The Silence of the Lambs
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, FEB. 21, 1991 By Steve Newton In Richard Attenborough's superb 1978 thriller, Magic, British actor Anthony Hopkins played a struggling ventriloquist who loses touch with reality and transfers the murderous side of his personality into his wooden dummy. Hopkins portrayed the doomed performer as so pitiable that–even while he … Continue reading Horror review: The Silence of the Lambs
Beatles On Air LP sparks memories of childhood vinyl purchase
By Steve Newton Last night I listened to the new Beatles album, On Air--Live at the BBC Volume 2, which the fine folks over at MCA Canada were kind enough to supply me with a vinyl copy of. Yeah, vinyl! To be honest, I could do without the 19 "speech tracks" that litter this three-LP … Continue reading Beatles On Air LP sparks memories of childhood vinyl purchase
ZZ Top to play first-ever Vancouver theatre show this March
I've been lucky enough to have seen ZZ Top a number of times over the years, the first being at the Pacific Coliseum back in 1976 or so. I think it was on the Fandango tour, but I can't find any mention of that gig anywhere online. Anybody else see that show, before the big-beard period? Pretty … Continue reading ZZ Top to play first-ever Vancouver theatre show this March
Ear of Newt’s Top 30 Rock Albums of 1973
I've been reminiscing a lot lately about rock stuff that happened 30 years ago. I recently posted interviews originally published back in '83 with such still-active artists as British guitar phenomenon Allan Holdsworth and legendary Aussie earbusters AC/DC. Then I started thinking about maybe doing a list of my fave rock albums from 30 years back, … Continue reading Ear of Newt’s Top 30 Rock Albums of 1973
Ex-Georgia Straight editor spearheads blues-rocking benefit for Mary Steinhauser bursary
PHOTO BY THE NEWT By Steve Newton Remember "Hurricane", that great Bob Dylan tune about the imprisonment of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter? Bob Mercer sure does. Dylan's 1975 protest song came out five months after a notorious hostage-taking incident at the B.C. Penitentiary that took the life of 32-year-old prison social-worker Mary Steinhauser. Three years later, … Continue reading Ex-Georgia Straight editor spearheads blues-rocking benefit for Mary Steinhauser bursary
Rolling Stones Blu-ray sounds killer with Keef’s botched chords fixed up
By Steve Newton Just hours after the Rolling Stones finished the first of two shows at Hyde Park last July YouTube started getting flooded with fan-shot videos that showed Keith Richards seriously fucking up the opening chords to the big show's first song, "Start Me Up". It was not a pretty sound. Ironically, in a … Continue reading Rolling Stones Blu-ray sounds killer with Keef’s botched chords fixed up
New page: this is where we slag the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
By Steve Newton If there ever was a good reason to add a new page to Ear of Newt, this is it. I for one and sick and tired of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame making a mockery of the words "rock and roll". Sure, the Hall may have gained a few brownie … Continue reading New page: this is where we slag the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock Hall fucks up royally again, nominates Chic instead of Rory Gallagher
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, OCT. 16, 2013 By Steve Newton The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has done it again. It's made a complete ass of itself by nominating, for the eighth time, Chic. When you consider that somebody like Irish guitar hero Rory Gallagher hasn't once been given the nod, it's utterly preposterous. No less … Continue reading Rock Hall fucks up royally again, nominates Chic instead of Rory Gallagher
Albert King gets inducted into the Rock Hall tonight: it’s about fucking time
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, APRIL 18, 2013 By Steve Newton The brainiacs over at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will redeem themselves for years of bad calls when they finally induct blues legend Albert King into their hallowed institution tonight. The gatekeepers at the Cleveland-based facility have been getting flack for years for not inducting Canadian … Continue reading Albert King gets inducted into the Rock Hall tonight: it’s about fucking time
Rush is in, Deep Purple’s out: the Rock Hall’s worth is still in doubt
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, DEC. 12, 2012 By Steve Newton If you're a Rush freak who's been holding a grudge against the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for not inducting your heroes, you've probably already heard that the Cleveland-based institution broke down yesterday and finally—after 14 years of eligibility—let the Canuck prog-rock legends in. … Continue reading Rush is in, Deep Purple’s out: the Rock Hall’s worth is still in doubt