Two major movie releases are happening this late spring: The Great Gatsby (Baz Luhrmann) on May 10 and Man of Steel (Zack Snyder) on June 14. Man of Steel is about a guy who gets transplanted from a strange alien world called Krypton to the wholesome, unassuming Midwest. The Great Gatsby is about a guy […]
Things to do in Iowa City
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Live music preview: May 23-29
The band name “4onthefloor” is a reference to the band’s onstage schtick; every member of the band has a kick drum in front of them at all times (and they never deviate from the 4/4 time signature). The Minneapolis four piece is straight up rock and roll.
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Tallest Man on Earth heads to the Englert on June 4
I’ll start with addressing the obvious point: Kristian Mattson is not the tallest man on Earth. While he is only of average height, Mattson’s shadow looms large. Armed with one acoustic guitar, slight backup instrumentation and a powerful voice, Mattson’s music channels the spirit of folk legends Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie as well as a modern pop sensibility.
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They Might Be Giants returning to Iowa City on June 2
Are you a child of the 1970s? 1980s? 1960s? Do you like science? Have you watched a cartoon in the past 20 years? Did you ever watch Malcolm in the Middle? If you can answer ‘Yes’ to any of these questions, you probably know who They Might Be Giants are.
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Iowa City Weekender: May 16-19
Welcome to the latest edition of the Iowa City Weekender, your weekly rundown of some of the best events Iowa City has to offer. What’s more, you also get a hearty dose of Joshua Hoffman and his charming personality.
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Rotten Tomatoes: Feminism revisited
Though we’ve made great strides toward women’s rights, in America our greatest complaint is the unequal distribution of jobs (there are far more female kindergarten teachers than female bricklayers, for example), throughout the world women are denied education and the vote, forced to marry, and trafficked into sex slavery.
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Andre Nickatina performing at Blue Moose
When San Francisco’s Andre Nickatina released his debut album under the stage name Dre Dog in 1993, the Bay Area hip hop scene was experiencing a gilded age of sorts. E-40 had just released his first studio album, Mac Dre–a dear friend–was coming off his first LP after a series of EPs and Too $hort’s infamous “Blowjob Betty” was the hot new track following the release of his soon-to-be-platinum album Get in Where You Fit In.
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Highlights from this year’s batch of UI MFA shows
It’s graduation time in Iowa City, and for the University of Iowa’s School of Art and Art History, that means an avalanche of visiting artist and MFA shows are going up and then coming down far too quickly. Off campus, there is the general upswell of creative activity that spring always seems to bring: A […]
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Iowa City Weekender: May 9-11
There is some really awesome stuff happening this weekend in Iowa City! First, I won’t be writing about Aziz Ansari at the IMU this Friday, because it is sold out and I am jealous. However, here are the haps that you must check out: Thursday, May 9 CJ Boyd w. Haunter, Phil Ochs, Dwelling Fruit […]
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Take 380 to Crazy: Pornstar’s Ball at Woody’s Showclub
Photos by Distraction Photography “Pornstar’s Ball. Tits and techno. This is going to be crazy.” On hearing that last utterance in my friend’s pitch for potential weekend plans, I couldn’t help but clench my fist. “This is going to be crazy” is usually all I need to shoot down whatever proposal follows. Say this to […]
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Screenshot: Late to the block party
I have a friend who is somewhat obsessed with a particular writer, but hasn’t read what is widely considered this author’s masterpiece, as he’s intentionally saving it for a particular moment. After I accidentally spoiled part of the novel for him this week, I teased him for being the only person I knew who was […]
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May: The month in theatre
Though the University of Iowa presents excellent theatre throughout the school year, its reputation in playwriting comes to full flower in the University’s annual New Play Festival. During the last week of spring semester classes, the department stages five full productions of plays by MFA playwriting students, daily readings of scripts by MFA and undergraduate students and roundtable discussions of the works presented.
