B.B. King: The Life of Riley (May 27th at Tower City Cinemas)

[B. B. KING: THE LIFE OF RILEY screens Tuesday May 27th at 7:30 pm at Tower City Cinemas - 1 showing only!.]

Review by Pete Roche

We’ve all seen pauper-to-prince tales of rock and roll glory depicted in documentaries and concert films on the big screen, but few guitarists boast more humble beginnings than B.B. King.

Born in 1948 in a rickety plantation cabin outside Berclair, Mississippi, the man now known as The King of Blues first had to overcome poverty and racism before conquering the world with his booming voice and signature guitar style.  Now, for the first time ever, B.B. gets the “behind the music” treatment in a new film by director Jon Brewer, who helmed similar features about British rockers like Yes and Moody Blues.

Repost: The Blues Brothers (February 18th at the CWRU Film Society, Strosacker Adutiorioum)

Clevelanders get DIRECT TV and watch all of your favorite movies!

[THE BLUES BROTHERS screens Saturday February 18th at 7 pm and 9:30 pm at the CWRU Film Society, Strosacker Adutiorioum. Admission is free.]

Review by Charles Cassady Jr.

Of all the stuff that's remembered about THE BLUES BROTHERS, perhaps the most important is one least remarked on. Yes, kids, this was the trailblazer, the brave pioneer, the groundbreaking movie milestone…The first feature that was a spinoff of a Saturday Night Live recurring-character sketch.

True, without the existence of the somewhat culty 1980 John Landis epic it's still possible that WAYNE'S WORLD, IT'S PAT, MACGRUBER, THE LADIES' MAN, CONEHEADS etc. etc. etc. argh! might have still happened. Never underestimate Lorne Michaels, AKA Dr. Evil. But this one opened the floodgates, for good or ill. Good, I guess, if you're into budget Halloween costumes, because the matching Men-in-Black suits, sunglasses, briefcases, handcuffs etc. now allows most any two whites to become Jake and Elwood, AKA John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, two extremely Anglo-looking guys who sing blues music (the race switch was the essential joke, I’m told, but Aykroyd has since been an iconic partner in the House of Blues restaurant and music-venue chain and thus puts his money where his schtick is).

The Blues Brothers (July 2 at 9:30 p.m. and midnight at the Cedar Lee)

[THE BLUES BROTHERS screens Saturday July 2nd at 11:59pm at the Cedar Lee Theatre.]

Review by Charles Cassady Jr.

Of all the stuff that's remembered about THE BLUES BROTHERS, perhaps the most important is one least remarked on. Yes, kids, this was the trailblazer, the brave pioneer, the groundbreaking movie milestone…The first feature that was a spinoff of a Saturday Night Live recurring-character sketch.

True, without the existence of the somewhat culty 1980 John Landis epic it's still possible that WAYNE'S WORLD, IT'S PAT, MACGRUBER, THE LADIES' MAN, CONEHEADS etc. etc. etc. argh! might have still happened. Never underestimate Lorne Michaels, AKA Dr. Evil. But this one opened the floodgates, for good or ill. Good, I guess, if you're into budget Halloween costumes, because the matching Men-in-Black suits, sunglasses, briefcases, handcuffs etc. now allows most any two whites to become Jake and Elwood, AKA John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, two extremely Anglo-looking guys who sing blues music (the race switch was the essential joke, I’m told, but Aykroyd has since been an iconic partner in the House of Blues restaurant and music-venue chain and thus puts his money where his schtick is).