Music scene
Thursday, May 27-Go see Sub Pop prodigies The Shins play at In The Venue. Seriously, go-we’re still begging to get into this one. The Shins’ latest release, Chutes Too Narrow, was quite possibly the best record of 2003, and their live shows make for a reckless, non-elite, indie-fun time for the whole family. Brother/sister ber-duo, Firery Furnaces, one of four (yes, four) opening acts ain’t bad either. Expect one hell of a show.
Friday, May 28-Charlie Mars (see review) brings some Wallflower-flavored Mississippi lovin’ to Club Halo.
Orgy brings together like-minded people at Park City’s Club Suede.
The U’s own multi-talented musical prodigy, Will Sartain (of Redd Tape fame), will play to a crowd of in-the-know locals and crickets tonight at Kilby Court. Sartain is kind of shy, so play nice.
Saturday, May 29-Emotional sellouts Dashboard Confessional, The Get Up Kids and Thrice headline the Honda Civic Tour at the E Center. Make sure to wear a vindictive black t-shirt, tight jeans and converse tennis shoes or they won’t let you in. Scene dress code, you know.
Sunday, May 30-Churches everywhere in Salt Lake City hold some kind of shindig today for you to absolve your sins. Expand your horizons and check a few out.
Monday, May 31-Anyone missing the soul-crushing chills of a Utah winter can rest easy: blustery narrative rockers The Decemberists play the Lo-Fi Cafe with The Long Winters. Intelli-hipster snowball fight, anyone?
Summer movie
releases (Friday)
Jake Gyllenhaal (Mr. Donnie Darko) cutely parades some leftist nonsense about the polar ice caps melting and New York and LA getting wrecked in The Day After Tomarrow. What kind of jackass would ever think New York City could come under siege? BROOKLYN, STAND UP! By the way, director Roland Emmerich is a pro at destroying civilizations-go rent the last good big city/box office-demolishin’ summer blockbuster, Independence Day, for refrence.
Raising Helen is the most recent Fempowerment-comedy-with-kids-in-it about…Kate Hudson being hot? Something about her raising kids, or kids raising her, or whatever. Kate Hudson is hot. So is her mom. Damn you Chris Robinson. Damn you, hippie! Rated PG-13 for Kate Hudson being too hot for 6-year-olds.
Two Sundance flicks hit theaters this week, too. “Saved,” a satirical look at Bible-school fundamentalism starring Mac “Lookie! I’m all grows up!” Culkin in a wheelchair, Patrick “I Ruined My Chance With Kate Hudson” Fugit, and Jena “Mrs. Darko” Malone.
If A & E writer Eryn Green had lost one thumb in The War, he’d give it one-and-a-stub thumbs up! Also, BAADASSSSS, Mario Van Peeble’s homage to his father Melvin’s original blaxsplotation film (and also coolest movie title ever) Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, opens today. When this film ended, people stood up at Sundance and clapped. For a while. We hear this is a good thing.
Soul Plane hits theaters today, starring Snoop Dogg, Method Man and, uh, Tom Arnold. Good luck seeing this one in Utah without being profiled.
Theatre alert
Start salivating for the June 15 opening of Salt Lake Acting Company’s perennial Utah fun-bash, “Saturday’s Voyeur.”