ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MARCH 5, 1998 By Steve Newton It’s pretty common for a recording artist to tout his latest work as his best ever. I’ve yet to hear one say, “Well, this new record’s okay, but it’s nothing like the one I did five years ago.” Sometimes you can tell whether a musician truly … Continue reading Steve Earle says his midlife crisis took place when he was about 24
Tag: 1998
Teen tunesmiths unplug for dark but down-home Days of the New
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON FEB. 26, 1998 By Steve Newton Days of the New is different from most international recording acts in a couple of ways. First off, the average age of the Louisville, Kentucky–based quartet is 19. Then there’s the fact that it’s a full-on guitar band that doesn’t have much use for Les Pauls … Continue reading Teen tunesmiths unplug for dark but down-home Days of the New
At 50, southern-rock legend Gregg Allman is Searching for Simplicity
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON FEB. 12, 1998 By Steve Newton Gregg Allman has released six solo albums over the years, but he never wanders too far away from the southern-rock sound he helped popularize as a founding member of the Allman Brothers. On his latest CD, Searching for Simplicity, Allman doesn’t even try to shake his … Continue reading At 50, southern-rock legend Gregg Allman is Searching for Simplicity
The Rolling Stones go from bogus to brilliant as the Bridges to Babylon Tour hits Vancouver
I’ve seen my fair share of B.C. Place rock concerts over the years, but none that have left me as perplexed as last Wednesday’s Stones show.
Guitar great Ronnie Earl makes dedication to Peter Green on new Tom Dowd-helmed CD
On the phone from his Boston home, Earl comes off as an artist driven as much by compassion for others as by a personal joy in making music.
On the Vancouver set of the unfathomable sea-beast flick Deep Rising
By Steve Newton Back in 1997 I went on the set of the Vancouver-shot action-horror flick Deep Rising on assignment for Fangoria. I chatted with director Stephen Sommers and actors Treat Williams and Famke Janssen. The movie wound up sucking but, hey, it wasn't my fault. It shouldn't come as any real surprise, when you … Continue reading On the Vancouver set of the unfathomable sea-beast flick Deep Rising
The sick and twisted Bride of Chucky brings loads of laughs to the Child’s Play franchise
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON OCT. 29, 1998 By Steve Newton While still a student at UCLA Film School, screenwriter Don Mancini wrote the original Child’s Play script as a reaction both to child-oriented advertising and to the Cabbage Patch Kids craze of the mid-’80s. His tale of a psycho killer’s soul transferred into the body of … Continue reading The sick and twisted Bride of Chucky brings loads of laughs to the Child’s Play franchise
As quickly made teen shockers go, Disturbing Behavior is not too hard to take
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JULY 30, 1998 By Steve Newton With the abundance of failed horror-thrillers made in Vancouver (Hideaway, Watchers, Needful Things), I wasn’t expecting the locally shot Disturbing Behavior to be anything special. And it isn’t, really. But it does boast an impressive cast and some keen direction, and—considering its stable of young TV … Continue reading As quickly made teen shockers go, Disturbing Behavior is not too hard to take
Robert Rodriguez’s provocative eye and frantic pacing keep The Faculty’s shocks top-notch
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON DEC. 31, 1998 By Steve Newton I’m not sure which is scarier in The Faculty, the way the alien-infested high-school teachers go about their violent take-over-the-Earth mission or the way the supposedly typical students treat each other on a day-to-day basis. By setting his sci-fi-tinged horror flick in your common hotbed of … Continue reading Robert Rodriguez’s provocative eye and frantic pacing keep The Faculty’s shocks top-notch
Urban Legend’s cookie-cutter stereotypes undermine its slasher capabilities
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON OCT. 15, 1998 By Steve Newton Usually, the youthful victims in slasher flicks get slaughtered for having sex, but in the opening scenes of Urban Legend, college student Michelle apparently gets her head whacked off just for driving badly and singing along, out of tune, to Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the … Continue reading Urban Legend’s cookie-cutter stereotypes undermine its slasher capabilities
Halloween H20 director Steve Miner once had Jason Vorhees squeeze a guy’s head until an eyeball flew out at ya in 3-D
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON AUG. 6, 1998 By Steve Newton Hollywood surely is the land of make-believe—especially for people like the producers of Halloween: H20. Why, they only had to close their eyes and click their heels three times and all those pesky Halloween sequels—including 1995’s nonsensical Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers—vanished from memory. That … Continue reading Halloween H20 director Steve Miner once had Jason Vorhees squeeze a guy’s head until an eyeball flew out at ya in 3-D
Horror review: Species II
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, APRIL 16, 1998 By Steve Newton Last week, David Letterman had as one of his guests Natasha Henstridge, the lovely young actor best-known for parading around in her birthday suit throughout the 1995 horror flick Species. At one point, Dave said something along the lines of, “So, are ya … Continue reading Horror review: Species II