Blogcritics Author: Amanda Bittle

DVD Review: Your Mommy Kills Animals!

Amanda Bittle — Mon, 19 May 2008 03:14:34 EDT

The number-one domestic terror threat is � animal rights activists?
The FBI recently identified animal rights and environmental activists as the nation's biggest domestic terrorism threat. I know, it sounded far-fetched to me, too. But after I watched Your Mommy Kills Animals, Curt Johnson’s documentary peek into the world of animal rights activism, the claim sounded a little more plausible.Not that...

Theatre Review (Norman, OK): Lend Me a Tenor

Amanda Bittle — Fri, 4 Apr 2008 23:44:27 EDT

Just be glad your life is not this complicated.
The University of Oklahoma’s University Theatre puts on a fantastic show with Ken Ludwig’s madcap comedy Lend Me a Tenor. Identities are mistaken, doors are slammed, “flings” are flung, and tempers flare, and somewhere in the midst of all this insanity, a pair of young lovers realize that they’re meant to be....

Music Review: Putumayo Presents - Euro Groove

Amanda Bittle — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 08:53:48 EDT

A funky blend of jazz, Celtic, Middle Eastern, R&B, and electronica that'll make you cool just listening to it. No, really.
Euro Groove is a collection of laid-back tunes from across the continent. As Putumayo fans have come to expect, this compilation brings together an eclectic variety of artists and songs that still fit together in a common theme. The theme this time is, obviously, “groove.” And groove it does. It’s sassy. It’s funky. And...

Music DVD Review - Iron Maiden: Live After Death

Amanda Bittle — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 07:44:09 EST

Concert footage, backstage action, and retrospective musings from the spandexed metal masters.
Iron Maiden: Live After Death is five hours of Maiden madness, from 1980s show footage, to candid tour bus antics, to present-day interviews with the band and crew. The main concert footage represents a four-day stint at Long Beach Arena in Los Angeles, part of the World Slavery Tour. The shows were recorded on 35mm film. Though the footage has...

DVD Review: Bianca Beauchamp - All Access

Amanda Bittle — Mon, 7 Jan 2008 20:23:35 EST

Latex model Bianca Beauchamp hosts Montreal Fetish Weekend with a cameraman in tow.
French-Canadian model Bianca Beauchamp is known throughout the world for her work in the latex fetish genre. She first gained exposure over the Internet, with the creation of the website Bianca's Latex Lair. Since then, she has appeared not only on the covers of fetish magazines such as Marquis and Skin Two, but also in more mainstream...

Book Review: Gasoline, Texas by Joseph Flynn

Amanda Bittle — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 23:55:51 EST

A fast-paced hybrid of mystery, Western, and soap opera scandal.
Joseph Flynn's Gasoline, Texas reads like a mystery novel, keeping the reader guessing as to who’s up to what, and for what juicy and scandalous reasons. This makes the story hard to put down, but also hard to identify with. Flynn’s characters are interesting and dynamic, but they’re not very fleshed out, and I never could...

Book Review - Cruisin' the Fossil Freeway: An Epoch Tale of a Scientist and an Artist on the Ultimate 5,000-Mile Paleo Road Trip

Amanda Bittle — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 10:46:01 EST

Belongs on the coffee tables of every paleonerd, art lover and general science enthusiast and in the home of anyone with children.
Cruisin’ the Fossil Freeway: An Epoch Tale of a Scientist and an Artist on the Ultimate 5,000-Mile Paleo Road Trip follows the adventures of two unlikely travel partners: the chief curator of a science museum and a visual artist known for his interpretations of fish. Kirk Johnson, paleontologist, and Ray Troll, artist, are self-described...

Last-Minute Do-It-Yourself Gifts for the Crafting-Impaired

Amanda Bittle — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 12:25:22 EST

No one knew you were so creative - and no one ever has to know you waited until the last minute.
The consumer countdown to Christmas (initiated many weeks ago by clever marketing action) ticks away. Many folks have at least a few gifts left to cross off their lists. Perhaps you're one of them.Perhaps you've been procrastinating because you have absolutely no idea where to start. Perhaps the people on your list have such unique tastes that it's...

Music Review: Ghostwheel - Newborn

Amanda Bittle — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 14:49:11 EST

An ambitious cover album featuring some of Depeche Mode's lesser-known gems.
It must be nerve-racking to release an album to the public. It’s bad enough when that public has no real expectation of what the songs on the album will sound like. The pressure must increase exponentially when a band releases a cover album, full of tracks with which the potential audience already has an intimate relationship. With his debut...

Music Review: The Killers - Sawdust

Amanda Bittle — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 00:49:20 EST

This collection showcases The Killers' musical versatility and makes you want to go "Where the White Boys Dance."
Sawdust is a collection of “B-sides and rarities” from Las Vegas band The Killers, and as such it ventures into some brave new territory. Veritable badass Lou Reed is on board for the opening track, “Tranquilize.” Reed’s softly wavering voice sounds good with Brandon Flowers’ soaring vocal delivery. “Romeo...