Month: June 2019

Categories
Film/TV TV Features

Good Omens

David Tennant as the demon Crowley and Michael Sheen as the angel Aziraphale in Good Omens.

If there’s one specific genre trick the British seem to do a lot better than Americans, or any other English-speaking writers, it’s combining comedy and sci fi/fantasy. The quintessential example is Douglas Adams. He was a writer and story editor (what we would now call “showrunner”) for Doctor Who in the late 1970s whose speciality was punching up scripts where the Time Lord slyly acknowledged how silly it was to be saving the world from stuntmen in rubber suits. He originally pitched The Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy as a BBC radio play, and it metastasized into a bestselling book and hit TV series, before becoming, after a long delay, a mediocre-at-best film in 2005.

Neil Gaiman was Adam’s biographer before becoming a one-man publishing juggernaut with the seminal Sandman comics series and a run of novels such as American Gods. Early in his career, Gaiman had the incredible good fortune of co-writing a novel with Terry Pratchett, whose Discworld novels were the underground darling of the fantasy community. Pratchett’s work has plenty of social commentary, and they’re dripping with British wit, but they’re not, strictly speaking, satire, because he was able to make you care deeply about his comic characters, even as they fell down and humiliated themselves in baroque manners.

The novel they wrote together was Good Omens, and it’s been a classic for two decades. Pratchett died in 2005, and since Gaiman had good fortune converting American Gods to TV (at least one season of it), Amazon and Aunty Beeb teamed up to create a big-budget adaptation.

Remember that Looney Tunes cartoon where the sheep dog and the wolf are friends until they clock in to their respective, adversarial jobs? That’s pretty much the relationship of the two co-protagonists of Good Omens. Crowley (David Tennant) is a demon from hell who took the form of a snake and tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden. Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) is the angel who was given a flaming sword and tasked with keeping the fallen humans out of the Garden. They’re minor characters in a famous, sweeping story — in this case, the traditional Judeo-Christian narrative of creation and revelation or at least the Anglican/Catholic version. Like Rozencrantz and Guildenstern in Tom Stoppard’s play, they take a jaundiced view of their role in the sweep of cosmic history. After being on Earth for a few thousand years, they come to like the humans they’re tasked with helping and/or tempting. And more importantly, they like the finer things in life the humans have invented. Since their respective home offices don’t really care too much about the details of what happens on Earth, occasionally they fill in for each other when one of them, say, wants to see this excellent new play called Hamlet that is currently playing at the Globe Theatre in London.

They’ve got a pretty good scam going on until it hits a snag. Crowley is tasked with delivering the baby antichrist to his prospective parents, an American diplomat who will be well positioned to help kick off Armageddeon. Unfortunately, there’s a mixup at the Satanic convent masquerading as a hospital where the baby switch is to take place, and the son of Satan goes home with the wrong set of parents—an average English couple who make the Dursleys from Harry Potter look positively fascinating.

Crowley and Aziraphale, faced with the possibility that they won’t be able to get good sherry in either heaven or hell, conspire to stop Armagedeon by subtly sabotaging the Divine Plan. Their biggest enemy turns out not to be The Adversary, but their own decadent incompetence. By the time they realize, 11 years too late, that the Antichrist has been misplaced, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are getting saddled up.

Josie Lawrence (right) as Agnes Nutter

And there are other complications. The subtitle of Good Omens is “The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch.” Nutter (Josie Lawrence) was the last witch burned in England, and the only person who ever wrote a book of prophecy that was actually accurate. Her distant descendant Anathema Device (Adria Arjona) has the only remaining copy of the book and, since Agnes specifically told the family to invest in Apple early, a lot of money. It’s her job to stop the Antichrist, while the descendant of the Witchfinder General who burned Agnes, played by Michael McKean, searches England for her.
Good Omens has the kind of byzantine literary plot that inevitably gets flattened into incoherence when you try to make a two-hour movie out of it. The six-part miniseries is the perfect amount of time to devote to it, and Gaiman, who wrote the scripts, knows exactly how to use the format. With Frances McDormand narrating as the Voice of God, the result is like The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Apocalypse.

Tennant, the best 21st-century Doctor Who, absolutely shines as Crowley. He puts his whole lithe body into the performance. Even glimpsed in silhouette as he rescues his friend from Nazi spies during the London Blitz, he’s instantly recognizable. Sheen, a veteran actor who has done everything from Emperor Nero to a minor part in Twilight, is his exact opposite, a twee goody-goody who secretly wants to be talked into some fun. The par are like an infernal/holy version of Molly and Amy from Booksmart, and every minute they’re on screen together is electric.

Gaiman and Sherlock director Douglas MacKinnon fearlessly play with form, such as in the third episode which stretches the cold opening out for 25 minutes before rolling the opening credits. It looks great, it’s full of twists and turns, and most importantly, it’s subtly hilarious. Some may find Good Omens too twee and byzantine for their tastes, but I’ve loved every second of it.

Good Omens

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Fino’s Opening Thursday: A Sneak Peek!

Fino’s will open its doors tomorrow, Thursday, June 6th, at 11 a.m.

“It’s the same,” says chef Kelly English, who took over the venture from Jerry Wilson. “I didn’t change a damn thing.”

But, it’s not exactly the same. The place looks brighter and cleaner and seems more spacious. There’s new paint and nice white tiles on the inner columns.

A nook in the back will eventually be curtained off for cannoli- and pizza-making parties for the kids.

But you can expect crowd favorites such as the Acquisto (English’s pick), the New York Club, and the Penn Station.

Acquisto

Penn Station

Italian Roast Beef

New York Club

In addition, expect local treats from purveyors such as the Macaronagerie. They are also selling T-shirts designed to mimic classic album covers (Wilson was known for his rock T-shirts, btw.), and will eventually offer take-home items such as lasagne.

English vows to use the same suppliers; he’s hired most of the staff back. He’s veering a bit from the model to use fresh dough for the pizzas and Fino’s will offer house-made mozzarella, burrata, and ricotta cheeses.

“The sandwiches don’t change,” he says. “I’m excited about the fresh dough and the future.”

Samantha Davis, Kelly English, Todd English

Fino’s will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Breakfast service will begin on Monday. 

Categories
News News Blog

Appeals Court Sides With City in Confederate Statue Suit

Minutes before Nathan Bedford Forrest’s statue was removed from Health Sciences Park

The Tennessee Court of Appeals upheld a decision made by Davidson County Chancery Court denying the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) a temporary injunction against the city of Memphis for removing Confederate statues from formerly city-owned parks.

The SCV sought a temporary injunction in 2018 to preserve two Memphis parks that were the home of three Confederate monuments, until they were removed in 2017.

Last year, the Davidson County Chancery Court determined that the monuments were no longer on public property and therefore were not covered under the Tennessee Historical Protection Act (THPA) of 2013.

In a decision filed Tuesday, Judge Frank Clement Jr. upheld that ruling, saying that SCV cannot seek an injunction because the Forrest statue is no longer on public property and “thus was no longer a memorial whose status could be preserved.”

“Thus, our purpose is not to address the merits of SCV’s underlying claim or whether, in an enforcement action, the trial court might have jurisdiction under the THPA to enjoin a private entity from further disposing of memorials or issue a mandatory injunction to restore memorials already removed,” Clement wrote. “Rather, we are called upon to decide whether the trial court erred in denying SCV’s request for a preliminary injunction.

“We affirm the trial court’s judgment and dissolve the trial court’s stay of its decision pending this appeal.”

The THPA prohibits removing any monuments or memorials in public spaces without being granted a waiver from the Tennessee Historical Commission (THC).

The city sought a waiver in 2017, but the THC denied it. The THPA doesn’t prohibit the city from selling the parks to a private entity, which the city did in December 2017.

The same night that the city sold the two parks containing statues of Jefferson Davis and Nathan Bedford Forrest, as well as a bust of James Harvey Mathes, to the nonprofit Memphis Greenspace for $1,000 each, the city removed the statues.

Members of the SCV could now take the case to the Tennessee Supreme Court.

Categories
News News Blog

‘Bluff City Law’ Will Shoot in Memphis with $4.25M Incentive Package

CREDIT: NBC

NBC

NBC will shoot “Bluff City Law” in Memphis and Shelby County, according to Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, after winning a multi-million-incentive package from local agencies.

After shooting a pilot here earlier this year, it wasn’t immediately clear whether or not the show would be filmed in Memphis. But NBC was given a $4.25-million incentive package to secure Memphis as its location. The network got $2.5 million from the state, $1.4 million from both the city of Memphis and Shelby County and $350,000 from Memphis Tourism.

Here’s what Strickland had to say about the news:

“Welcome home, ‘Bluff City Law!’ This is a tremendous opportunity to showcase our city every week on the national stage starting this fall. I’m very excited about having the show filmed here and am even more thrilled about the economic implications it will have. Many thanks to all those involved to make this happen.”

Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris:

“More great news for Memphis and Shelby County with ‘Bluff City Law’ shooting right here in the Bluff City. This is a great opportunity to show off the talented men and women in the local film scene and our famous hospitality. I look forward to the partnership and shots of our one-of-a-kind skyline.”

Kevin Kane, president and CEO of Memphis Tourism:

“Memphis can’t be duplicated and authenticity is the heart of this city that moves to its own beat. Viewers will get to see that with ‘Bluff City Law’ shooting on location in our vibrant city, which was visited by nearly 12 million travelers last year. Memphis Tourism views this as an opportunity to leverage this visibility to grow new visitor demand and the visitor economy while creating unique awareness for our travel destination to millions of viewers on a weekly basis.”

Reid Dulberger, president and CEO, Economic Development Growth Engine (EDGE):

“’Bluff City’ Law has found its rightful home in Memphis. The show will mean hundreds of jobs for Memphis film production crews and increased revenues for local business. It will also be a greater advertising tool for the community.”

Here’s a description of “Bluff City Law” from NBC:

Coming from a famous Memphis family known for taking on injustice, brilliant lawyer Sydney Strait used to work at her father Elijah’s celebrated law firm until their tumultuous relationship got in the way.

After barely speaking to him for years, Sydney is suddenly thrust back into the family fold when her philanthropist mother passes away unexpectedly. In the wake of her loss, hoping to reconnect with the daughter he loves, Elijah asks Sydney to rejoin his firm.

She agrees because despite her lingering resentment and distrust, she knows that working alongside her father is her best hope at changing the world … if they can ever get along.

The cast includes Jimmy Smits, Caitlin McGee, Scott Shepherd, Barry Sloane, Michael Luwoye, MaameYaa Boafo, Stony Blyden and Jayne Atkinson.

Categories
News News Blog

Council Recap: Budget Passes Without Delay, Beale Street Cover Stays

The Memphis City Council passed the 2020 fiscal budget Tuesday after little discussion.

A large portion of the budget is dedicated to public safety, as the council voted to give both Memphis Police Department officers and Memphis Fire Department personnel a 4 percent pay increase — up 1 percent from what Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland proposed in April.

The 4 percent raise will cost an additional $2 million, according to the city’s chief operating officer, Doug McGowen.

Before the vote, representatives with the Memphis Police Association (MPA) urged the council to pass a budget including a 5 percent raise, which the council had agreed upon during an impasse hearing late last month.

Deborah Godwin with the MPA told the council she was there to make sure the council included that 5 percent raise in the budget it passed Tuesday.

According to Godwin, the city’s impasse ordinance requires the council to pass a budget with the amount agreed upon during the impasse.

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However, council attorney Allan Wade said the council’s role is to solve the dispute between the unions and the administration. But, any decision the council makes during an impasse, isn’t binding.

John Covington, chief negotiator for MPA told the council that 5 percent is an important number.

“Any kind of raise is welcomed,” Covington said. “Police officers can never be paid enough. That 5 percent number was important, though, because it sends a message about recruitment, as well as morale.”

Covington said police pay is an important part of creating a “safe and prosperous community.”

Michael Williams, president of MPA echoed those sentiments, adding that he wants to “trust the system to actually work.”

“We still want to trust the council to do what’s right,” Williams said. “You always ask us to trust the system, trust the process. You guys heard our proposal, heard the city’s proposal, and adopted our proposal.”


Without discussion, the council voted unanimously in favor of the amended budget.

The newly passed budget also includes a 1 percent pay raise for all city employees and no property tax rate increase, which remains at $3.19.

The council also voted Tuesday to keep the $5 cover charge to enter Beale Street in place until the end of September.

The fee was put in place after a pair of shootings and stampedes took place one weekend in May. Now it will be in place on Friday and Saturday nights, except on nights when conditions aren’t conducive to large crowds.

Conrad said the $5 fees will go toward implementing security measures on the street, such as installing more SkyCops. About $600,000 is needed.

Before the vote, Councilman Martavious Jones said he will not support the cover charge without seeing data showing that there is a cause-and-effect relationship between having a fee in place and the number of incidents that occur on the street.

Jones maintained that having the fee in place over Memorial Day weekend did not deter crowds from rushing the street and causing disturbances.

But, Jennifer Oswalt, president of the Downtown Memphis Commission, said the fee has “proven effective” and that there is evidence that the $5 fee is substantial enough to decrease the crowd just enough to reduce the likelihood of a stampede that results in a serious injury.

“It doesn’t reduce it such that no one comes to Beale Street,” Oswalt said. “It’s not as effective as a $10 fee at reducing crowds, but it’s enough to keep the number of exits slightly below that dangerous level.”

Oswalt said that if there continue to be incidents while the fee is in place, then “we can discuss it again.”

Memphis Police Department Director Michael Rallings said the fee is a “reasonable response” to recent incidents occurring over Memorial Day weekend, and that his “obligation is to keep people safe.”

“If that helps keep people safe, then I think we should support that,” Rallings said. “We know there is no 100-percent solution that works anywhere, but if we see something that works, we should do it. … But I’m going to defer to the wisdom of the council to make a decision that helps to ensure the safety of our visitors, our officers, and business individuals.”

Rallings said Beale Street is an “open bar.” “If you run an open bar for 17,000 to 20,000 people, there are some issues you may run into. And I think the Beale Street security fee helps that.”

Councilwoman Patrice Robinson said she is “really struggling with paying a fee to participate on a city street in Memphis.

“But I do understand that we have a lot of people on the street and our police officers need additional support,” Robinson said, garnering applause from members of the audience.

Robinson said she believes the fee is not needed for safety, but as a way to raise money for additional security infrastructure on the street.

“If we don’t have $600,000 in our budget, I think this is a way to garner those dollars, but I would not go around saying that this is a way to keep down anything on Beale Street.”

Councilwoman Jamita Swearengen agreed, saying it’s a “big cop out” not to say the fee is needed to fund the tools required to keep Beale Street safe.

Swearengen also said when the fee has been in place, there were no checks and balances in place to keep the program consistent: “We haven’t heard of how the money will be collected, who’s going to house the money, how the money will be transferred to the Memphis City Council.”

Wrapping up the discussion, Council Chair Kemp Conrad, supporting the fee, said he trusts Rallings “implicitly, when it comes to public safety.”

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“If you haven’t been down there to see it and talk to the police officers and ask them what they need to do their jobs to keep themselves safe, to keep Memphians safe, and to keep visitors to Beale Street safe, then I’d say you haven’t done your due diligence to vote on this item and certainly not to vote ‘no’ on an emotional basis when people’s lives and safety are included.”

The council voted 8 to 4 vote in favor of the fee. Council members Conrad, Worth Morgan, Ford Canale, Sherman Greer, Frank Colvett Jr., Reid Hedgepeth, Cheyenne Johnson, and Gerrie Currie voted in favor. Council members Joe Brown, Robinson, Swearengen, and Jones voted against the measure.

The entrance fee is one of the 24 recommendations made by the crowd control consultant, Event Risk Management Solutions, last year. Council chair Conrad said all 24 of those recommendations have been implemented.

Categories
News News Blog

City Council to Consider Keeping Beale Street Cover Through Summer

CREDIT: Beale Street Merchants Association


Beale Street Merchants Association

Beale Street

The Memphis City Council will consider later on Tuesday (today) extending the fee to enter Beale Street on certain nights through the end of the summer.

The council voted in May to instate a temporary $5 entrance fee slated to last through Memorial Day weekend.

The fee was put in place after a pair of shootings and stampedes took place one weekend earlier in May.

Jennifer Oswalt, president of the Downtown Memphis Commission (DMC) said last month that since 2014, there have been 24 stampedes on a non-charging night and one on a night when there was a charge.

Memphis Police Director Michael Rallings said then that the fee would help with crowd control and that during his time with the department, the only solution that’s worked consistently to reduce the number of incidents on the street is Beale Street Bucks.

However, police reported that during the time the most recent fee was in place over Memorial Day weekend, despite barricades, crowds rushed the gates and surged the street. Police say this led to disorderly conduct, altercations with officers, and minor injuries.

Rallings said the incidents would have been worse without the fee in place. 

MPD

Live footage of the Beale Street crowd on the Friday night before Memorial Day

Now, the council will vote on a resolution sponsored by Councilman Berlin Boyd, that will keep the fee in place on Friday and Saturday nights through the end of September.

“Beale Street is a tough place, and I don’t want to discriminate against anyone, but I think it’s reasonable control,” Rallings said of the fee. “I’m just trying to make it to October without some negative incident that jeopardizes what happens on Beale Street.”

The entrance fee is one of the 24 recommendations made by the crowd control consultant, Event Risk Management Solutions, last year. Council chair Kemp Conrad said 20 of the 24 recommendations are in place or in the process of being implemented.

Conrad said the $5 fees will go toward implementing security measures on the street, such as installing more SkyCops. Since the fee was reinstated in early May, about  $160,000 has been collected. Conrad said about $340,000 more is needed.

The council voted in 2017 to end the Beale Street Bucks program, which charged a $5 fee on Saturday nights during peak season. In 2018, the council voted to implement the fee on a needs basis.

Some of the criticism of the fee in the past has been that it discriminated against certain groups of people. But, Rallings said Tuesday that the data collected through scanning IDs between May 24th and 27th doesn’t support that.

He highlighted a graph showing that the majority of visitors were from 38127, which encompasses Frayser and other parts of North Memphis; 38126 composed of parts of Downtown and South Memphis; and 38109 near the Tennessee/Mississippi border. The data also shows that a significant portion of the visitors that weekend were from Chicago. 

MPD

Beale Street visitors by zip code

Categories
News News Blog

Hans Bermel Still Cuts It

CREDIT: Michael Donahue

Michael Donahue

Veteran Memphis hair stylist Hans Bermel in his new digs at Phenix Salon Suites.

Hans Bermel still is cutting hair. The popular hair stylist now is at Hans Bermel Salon in the Phenix Salon Suites at 4699 Poplar, Suite 136.

The old Bermel’s Hair Salon at 2885 Poplar Avenue recently closed after 50 years, but Bermel is back in action. Other popular Bermel’s Hair Salon stylists — Anna Marie Bermel Williams, Brian Fairley, and Wendy Bellou — also have their own individual businesses in suites at Phenix.

“Bermel’s is not out of business,” Bermel says. “We just moved further east under a new name.”

And, he says, “Sometimes things are meant to be, and this is one of those things.”

Each stylist works alone in their own suite, Bermel says. “We do the shampooing, [put] the curlers on. We clean the place up. It’s a great concept.”

Bermel and his sister, Anna Marie Bermel Williams, were born in Doornenburg, Holland. “We did our training in Holland under a master hair stylist,” Bermel says. “You start from the bottom to the top while he teaches you to cut hair. It’s an apprenticeship under a salon owner.”

Bermel moved to Memphis in 1966 and opened Bermel Hair Salon with business partners. Other family members, all trained in Holland, later joined him in the business.

Jacob Fountain, co-owner of the Memphis franchise of Phenix Salon Suites, says they  feature 37 individual suites, which are “custom fit for salon professionals. It’s a way for them to own their own business without having to deal with any of the overhead, property maintenance, anything like that.

“Everybody will have their own business license as well as shop license. In line with it being their own individual business, they get to name their business and make it however they want,” he says.

“The majority of the people that have signed license agreements with us so far are stylists. It’s more catered toward stylists, but it’s anybody in the salon industry, such as masseuses, nail technicians, estheticians, as well as anybody in the service industry. We can even get a tattoo artist in here.”

Phenix Salon Suites, which is based in Carlsbad, California, has some 250 locations throughout the United States, Fountain says.

The Memphis Phenix location formerly was the site of the old Dixie Cafe. A major renovation was done to the building, Fountain says. “Everything basically had to be redone.”
MIchael Donahue

Hans Bermel and Jacob Fountain

MIchael Donahue

Anna Maria Bermel Williams, Hans Bermel, and Wendy Bellou.

Categories
Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Music Doc Talk, Superpowered Black Girls, and Donna Summer This Week At The Cinema

Gugulethu Sophia Mbatha-Raw as Ruth, a reluctant superhero, in Fast Color

It’s the first Tuesday of the month, which means it’s time for Indie Memphis’ Shoot and Splice series of filmmakers speaking on filmmaking. This week, it’s Southern Music Documentaries with Negro Terror director and University of Mississippi’s Southern Documentary Project head John Rash and documentarians Mary Stanton Knight and Rex Jones. Photojournalist Andrea Morales will be the moderator for the discussion. The free event starts tonight at 6:30 p.m. at Crosstown Arts.

On Wednesday, a different kind of superhero film at Studio on the Square. Fast Color is director Julia Hart’s acclaimed film about Ruth, a woman on the run played by Doctor Who veteran Gugulethu Sophia Mbatha-Raw, who is trying to reunite with her long-lost daughter and mother. The three women have mysterious superpowers that might just save the world from environmental disaster, but they need the help of a friendly sheriff (David Strathairn) to evade a scientist (Christopher Denham) who wants to learn their secrets. You can get your tickets here.

Music Doc Talk, Superpowered Black Girls, and Donna Summer This Week At The Cinema

On Thursday, you can get ready for the end of the week with the latest installment of the Crosstown Arts film series. Saturday Night Fever may be the definitive document of the disco era, but Thank God It’s Friday is a close second. Released six months after John Travolta sashayed across the screen, the film was co-produced by disco powerhouse Casablanca Records and Motown. It uses the American Graffiti frame of one eventful night in the lives of a group of loosely connected young people, except instead of cruising in small town California they’re flocking to a Los Angeles disco called The Zoo. The real point is the soundtrack, which was a triple album (!) produced by Giorgio Moroder and featuring the 1977 Academy Award Winner for Best Song, “Last Dance,” performed by Donna Summer. The film starts at 7:30 at Crosstown Theater.

Music Doc Talk, Superpowered Black Girls, and Donna Summer This Week At The Cinema (2)

Categories
Music Music Blog

Automusik Has All The Answers

Automusik

I recently received the most cryptic message of my career, a text from an unidentified source that simply read, “Obey imperative: Automusik words about Automusik images about Automusik.” Of course, light bulbs immediately went off in my head. Images of world domination by the music generation entity known as Automusik flashed before my eyes. A warm, comfortable wave overpowered me as I slumped in my seat and acquiesced to the flow of information.

As it turned out, the injection of data directly into my neocortex that followed served as an important reminder: Of how, in 2004, a new group came into being that did not make music with vibrating instruments but with electronic noise machines called “synthesizers.” It was as if the previous half century of popular music had never happened, swept away by the wonderful machinery invented by Automusik. As soon as I remembered that, the rest of was easy.

Automusik Can Do No Wrong, the film of the group that invented a music known as “electronik,” will be screening in a week’s time, thanks to the willing vessels at Indie Memphis. Before 2004, no one thought to pursue such a thing as machine-generated music. Thank goodness for Automusik.

As the group of three celebrity machine-servicers proclaim in the film:
Our music exists in an entirely self contained unit for the production and advancement of of acceptable representations of generally appealing reference waves which are synthesized in a manner that is both pleasing and disturbing and will allow for Automusik to become an object of sexual invitation and achieve a state of popularity within the prevalent attitudes of the current musical customs.

“And then we dance to them,” one adds.

Such are the insights the group shared with director Phil Johnson fifteen years ago, when the film debuted. Hailing from somewhere between Aberdeen and Adelaide, Johnson is an elusive character today. When a bit of sleuthing revealed that he was holed up in Belize with tech eccentric John McAfee, I was able to get a message through. The only reply from Johnson was that “The best decision I made with Automusik Can Do No Wrong was to feature myself prominently. Having completed it, I had nothing more to say. That is all.” Then a link appeared: “Would you like to know more?”

After a quick transfer of cryptocurrency, a dark web link was anonymously texted to me via WhatsApp. I followed. The Automusik platform engaged me enthusiastically with the words, “Our musik is krafted as a wholly original and inimitable werk. Please see your phone’s autokomplete for all other queries.” Curious, I began to text myself the answers.

The words to the left were created entirely by my device, although I’m not quite sure how the word “Automusik” kept appearing sporadically through the process. But the platform was right: no further queries were needed. For the rest, I needed only view the film, which documents the group’s rise from obscure German origins to complete saturation of the U.S. market.

The special effects budget was huge for this effort, ultimately creating the illusion that this multimillion-dollar production was shot on a shoestring. The true scale of the venture is revealed through the writing credits alone, as writers the caliber of C. Scott McCoy, Scott Moss, and Talbot Fields are not cheap. Allusions to other rock blockbusters like Purple Rain or Rattle and Hum can also cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing alone. These expenditures are why Automusik Can Do No Wrong makes us happy.

Go see this groundbreaking film, winner of the 2004 Indie Memphis Film Festival Hometowner Best Feature, while you can. Not only will you rediscover the rush of early-aughts Memphis, when anything seemed possible, you’ll fall in love all over with the endearing charm of a band beloved by billions. In their own words, “We are highly sexy. Automusik is sexier than you. The subject of your current affection is Automusik. You should be lucky to see us because we are celebrities. Und you and all these are nobodies. That is why you paid to be here.”

Automusik Has All The Answers

Automusik Can Do No Wrong (15 Year Anniversary Screening) will be shown at the Malco Powerhouse Cinema Grill and Bar on Tuesday, June 11, 7:00-9:00 pm.

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Catherine & Mary’s Unveils New Menu

CREDIT: Instagram: Catherine & Mary's

Instagram: Catherine & Mary’s

Catherine & Mary’s unveiled its new summer menu recently.

But don’t worry — certain favorites — Sunday Meatballs, the Cheese Plate, the lamb and veal, and the Rigatoni, etc. — are still available.

The new menu features an asparagus plate with artichoke, creme fraiche, horseradish, brown butter, and white cheddar; scallops with pork cheek, green tomato, cucumber, ramps, strawberry, and benne seeds; gnudi with watercress, sugar snap peas, basil, and panna gratta; and NY strip with bordelaise, asparagus, green garlic, tomato, and mustard greens. Full menu below.

Stay tuned for more news from the Andrew Michael brand.
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