Metro Times: Covers

Issue of 10/21/2009

Cover Story:

Making a race of it
by Curt Guyette
Why this mayoral duel is worth watching

Features:

From the Vaults by Corey Hall
Al Pacino’s tour de force kicks it in the Cass Corridor
Gone Hollywood? by Brett Callwood
After 10 years of popping Detroit, the Singles split for L.A.
He comes in colors by Laurie Smolenski
Hubert Massey enriches neighborhoods, one story and one mural at a time
Last call? by Detroitblogger John
A beautiful old bar with a storied past hangs in limbo
Living in Paradise by Travis R. Wright
The Virgil H. Carr Cultural Arts Center reinvents a storied, historic Detroit neighborhood
Ramblin' Gamblin' Men by Bill Holdship
New coffee-table book traces the history of one of Michigan's favorite rock 'n' roll sons

Columns:

Cheat Code by Metro Times game reviewers (Cheat Code)
On Brütal Legend and Need for Speed Shift
Comics (Comics)
Couch trip by Metro Times film writers (Couch Trip)
Gender, sex and addiction roles, those creepy flying monkeys and the Rwandan genocide all brilliantly revisited
Food Stuff by Metro Times food staff (Food Stuff)
Sea specials, green horizons and more for the foodie
Letters to the Editor by Metro Times readers (Letters to the Editor)
So many letters about Iggy, so little space
There goes a secret by News Hits staff (News Hits)
Span report's release angers bridge company
Night and Day by Megan O'Neil (Night and Day)
I did know Jack by Jack Lessenberry (Politics and Prejudices)
Looking back on Kevorkian, good and bad
Taking the plunge by Dan Savage (Savage Love)
Getting a handle on stimulating Uranus
A royal time by Metro Times food staff (Short Order)
A regal guide to restaurants in Royal Oak
LGBT safe and centered by Larry Gabriel (Stir It Up)
How the Ruth Ellis Center helps at-risk youth

Reviews:

Music/Books:
Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor - Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor Reviewed by Lee DeVito (Record)
Outdated Fate - Outdated Fate Reviewed by Brett Callwood (Record)
Strung Out - Gordon Staples and the String Thing Reviewed by Doug Coombe (Record)
Los Lobos Goes Disney - Los Lobos Reviewed by Bill Holdship (Record)
Think Rational! - The Rationals Reviewed by Brian Smith (Record)

Movies:
More Than a Game Reviewed by Corey Hall (Movie)
This slick 90-minute promo film — tarted up to resemble a doc — for Nike’s crown jewel overflows with energy, style and a great soundtrack, but shows zero insight and honesty. It’s a puff piece, an oddly dull tale of James bonding with his childhood pals and teammates from the gritty streets of Akron, Ohio, to the mountaintop of basketball immortality. The story draws obvious parallels to Hoop Dreams and For the Love of the Game, superior sports docs that showed the agonies and triumphs of athletes who gave all, but here the drama is questionable because important details are missing, and the outcome is never uncertain.
Earth Days Reviewed by Jeff Meyers (Movie)
Robert Stone’s gorgeous and engaging film will appeal to a small group of believers, make the casually curious feel guilty and powerless, and likely be ignored by the overwhelming masses. Which is a real shame, because, along with the eye-opening archival footage (see DDT sprayed onto kids at the public pool) and alarming facts (learn that Strontium-90, an element that didn’t exist 100 years ago, is now found in every living human) is an honest appraisal of the U.S. environmental movement — warts and all. Yeah, there’s a bit of gloom and doom prognostication and a handful of too-earnest hippies, but once Stone’s straight-faced documentary gets past its opening generalities it offers an intriguing look at how some unlikely historical events — Jacques Cousteau’s documentaries, Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, the space race — became the rallying points for the modern green movement.
Where the Wild Things Are Reviewed by Jeff Meyers (Movie)
Lyrical, beautifully shot and filled with poetic flights of fancy, Where the Wild Things Are starts with a Cassavetes-like honesty before exploding into a fantastical exploration of how children desperately and capriciously try to define their world. It’s a mature, melancholic approach to Sendak’s 1963 work that may not add to Warner Brothers’ riches but it certainly can to yours.

Restaurants/Places:
Beirut Kabob Reviewed by Jane Slaughter (Restaurant)
The menu is short but covers the usual bases — at prices well cheaper than those of the Lebanese restaurants a few miles further west in Dearborn. The highest priced entrée is $12, and that will get you three skewers of meat plus your rice, pickles and salad. Most entrées are $6 or $7 — for dishes that cost $12-$15 at other places. Sandwiches run $3.25-$3.99.