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    Music Matters

    Concert picks of the week: Ginuwine, Kiss, Jay Reatard

    Michael D. Clark
    Dec 4, 2009 | 12:59 pm
    • Punker Jay Reatard at Walters on Washington Tuesda night.
    • R&B singer Ginuwine plays at Arena Theatre Friday night.
    • KISS comes to the Toyota Center Saturday night.

    (Sing this to the tune of "Let It Snow.")

    Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but these shows are so delightful. So as long we can rock n' roll. Let it snow. Let it snow. Let it snow.....

    Looking for some warmth as Houston's abbreviated version of winter lowers the mercury? Try any one of these shows. In addition to quality entertainment, each should draw enough live music junkies to raise the temperature via body heat. Kiss should even provide enough pyrotechnic fire to roast marshmallows.

    Stay warm and enjoy.

    Friday

    Ginuwine (Dru Hill & K-Ci & Jojo) at H'Town's Arena Theatre

    It's great to see the cozy, arena theater back in business and doing what it does best. Even better, it's great to see it booking some hip-hop and R&B packages with current radio clout like Ginuwine, Dru Hill and K-Ci & Jojo.

    I'm not saying that the usual retro shows that pair Club Nouveau with an early rapper like MC Lyte or disco delight Shalamar aren't a hoot. That's the music of my childhood.

    But Ginuwine is a complicated, brooding modern man whose new album, "A Man's Thoughts" shot to the top of the R&B/hip-hop chart last summer. He moves between two worlds. One is swaddled in the love he finds at home with his rapper wife, Sole, and their four children. The other is haunted by the suicide of his father and the premature death of his mother. These are serious issue not to be taken lightly. Houston singer-songwriter Bryan-Michael Cox has helped the singer navigate this bumpy terrain on the album's lead single "Last Chance."

    Combined with past flirty radio hits "In Those Jeans" and "I Need A Girl (Part Two)," Ginuwine's show is an emotional roller coaster, but highly entertaining.

    Dru Hill has been out of the game for a few years, but this might be a chance to hear some tracks from his upcoming comeback release, "InDRUpendence Day."

    Tickets $29.50-$49.50.

    Saturday

    Kiss at Toyota Center

    There is one very important aspect of this Kiss show that separates it from the many they have played in the Houston area: rock 'n' roll's favorite Kabuki dolls actually have new music to showcase.

    A couple months ago founding members Paul Stanley(vocalist/Starchild) and Gene Simmons ( Bassist/Demon), along with current band mates Tommy Thayer (guitarist /Space Man) and Eric Singer (drummer/Cat Man), released "Sonic Boom," the group's first album of new studio work in over 11 years.

    What they probably didn't expect was that the album would shoot to No.2 on the Billboard 200 album chart (the Detroit City Rocker's best chart position since they started recording 35 years ago) and become an international sensation. This unexpected originality is reported to have brought whole-sale changes the bands entire show. New outfits, new stage props and a set list that won't be simply based on past glories like "Deuce" and "Rock And Roll All Night." Expect one of the new singles like "Modern Day Delilah," and "Say Yeah" to freshen up the night.

    Note to members of the Kiss Army: There is no need to worry that things will change too much. Stanley will still scream double entendres in his hysterical falsetto between songs and Simmons will, no doubt, belch blood. I wouldn't count on hearing "Beth" though. That song was original drummer Peter Criss' moment in the spotlight and probably left the band when he and original guitarist Ace Frehley were ushered out the door for good a few years ago.

    Tickets $25-$125.

    Tuesday

    Jay Reatard at Walters on Washington

    Like Van Gogh, Brian Wilson and Billy Corgan before him, I am fascinated by Jay Reatard because he seems slightly insane. I don't mean this to sound derogatory. I have always thought the best artists are the ones that are battling themselves and Reatard seems to be at war with everything around him... including the man in the mirror. He's the type of artist that must tear everything he's created down just as the masses are starting to take notice.

    Reatard originally gained notoriety in a band called The Lost Sounds which created it's experimental music in a synthesizer lab and employed both male and female vocalists. He has claimed that the Lost Sounds was his original music love which means that an inevitable messy divorce from those bandmates had to happen. It came in 2005.

    Lately, Reatard has put all his energy into new solo album, "Watch Me Fall." The lo-fi rock album is a screaming, paranoid delight and definitely some of his best work. This sort of public approval doesn't come to Reatard without controversy, though. His band reportedly quit on him mid-tour in October which should make reproducing multi-layered album an interesting trick.

    It will be worth showing up at Walter's on Washington to find out how he does it.

    Tickets $10.

    unspecified
    news/entertainment

    Movie Review

    How to Train Your Dragon remake puts a fresh twist on the original

    Alex Bentley
    Jun 12, 2025 | 4:14 pm
    Toothless and Mason Thames in How to Train Your Dragon
    Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures
    Toothless and Mason Thames in How to Train Your Dragon.

    Let’s get it out of the way right at the top: The new live-action How to Train Your Dragon, coming a mere 15 years after the original animated film, serves no real purpose other than to make more money for Universal Pictures and Dreamworks Pictures. However, unlike Disney’s approach toward remaking their animated movies, this attempt manages to succeed on its own merits instead of being a half-baked vessel for nostalgia.

    As fans will remember, Hiccup (Mason Thames) lives in Berk, a town on a remote island populated by Vikings who constantly have to defend themselves against rampaging dragons. Hiccup’s dad, Stoick (Gerard Butler), is the community’s vaunted leader, with a legacy that seems impossible for Hiccup to measure up to, especially since he’s stuck in the armory alongside Gobber (Nick Frost).

    But Hiccup has a knack for inventions, and his use of one new weapon during a dragon attack takes down a feared Night Fury. Finding the wounded dragon deep in the forest, Hiccup decides against killing it, leading to an unexpected bond between the two of them. Most of the film shows Hiccup trying to prove himself to his townspeople, including the fierce Astrid (Nico Parker), while also nursing the dragon he dubs Toothless back to health with the help of another one of his ingenious creations.

    Written and directed by Dean DeBlois (who’s had the same roles on all four HTTYD films), the film is most notable for how engaging it is despite it retelling a story many already know and love. The biggest reason for this is a pivot away from telling a story mainly for kids toward one that feels like an extremely light version of Game of Thrones. Almost right away, there are real stakes for the people in the film, and the way DeBlois and his team stage the scenes, the danger can be felt by the audience.

    This sense of “realness” comes through especially well in the scenes between Hiccup and Toothless. The design of Toothless is faithful to the original, but the CGI makes the dragon feel amazingly believable. And when they start flying, the film literally and metaphorically takes off. At multiple points, the camera seems to have trouble keeping them in frame, a smart move toward verisimilitude when the filmmakers clearly could have made it an overly smooth watching experience.

    Even though it’s more serious than the original, the film still has plenty of fun to offer. Characters like Gobber (who replaces his two missing limbs with odd contraptions) and the ragtag group of teenagers who come to be in awe of Hiccup’s skills at taming dragons provide more than a few laughs. Hiccup isn’t quite as goofy as he was when voiced by Jay Baruchel, which turns out to be a good thing as his sense of purpose amps up the drama of the story.

    Thames’ performance gets better and better as the film goes along, as Hiccup goes from town whipping boy toward hero. He really shines in the last act when he’s given a few scenes that show off his acting range. Parker is equally good, demonstrating the girl power needed for the role, but also the softness of a potential love interest. Butler, the only actor reprising their voice role, is a great presence who sells the outsized personality of Stoick.

    Against the odds, this new version of How to Train Your Dragon is equal to the success of the first film, accomplishing the goal of making it feel like you’re watching the story for the first time. If live-action remakes are going to continue to come out, future filmmakers should study this film for how to respect both the history of the franchise and the audience paying good money to be entertained.

    ---

    How to Train Your Dragon opens in theaters on June 13.

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