play review: Four Chords and a Gun

Written by: John Ross Bowie
Directed by: Richard Ouzounian


ChinoKino score: B+

Review by Allan Tong

Let me be upfront: I'm a Ramones fan, which is why ChinoKino is making an exception and reviewing this play. And yes, it's a play, not a musical. Four Chords and a Gun examines the fateful collaboration between punk rock pioneers, The Ramones, and legendary, but batshit-crazy record producer Phil Spector. In 1979, Spector produced the Ramones' fourth album, End of the Century. They came together because, frankly, both were desperate for a hit.

If you know the Ramones, then you know the dynamics at work here. Sensitive, nice-guy singer Joey Ramone clashes with mean, tyrannical leader Johnny Ramone, culminating in Johnny stealing Joey's girlfriend, Linda. This betrayal forever breaks Joey's heart. Bassist Dee Dee is a junkie. And drummer Marky is an alcoholic, but is also grounded enough to act as the play's narrator. All characters supply comic relief. The focus, however, lies on the Joey-Linda-Johnny triangle, overlaid by Spector who acts as a catalyst for change in the recording studio and without.

VOD review: Jack of All Trades

Directed by: Harvey Glazer, Stuart Stone


ChinoKino score: B+

Review by Allan Tong

What are your old baseball cards worth?

That's the question behind the documentary, Jack of All Trades, where Toronto actor Stuart Stone searches for the answer, which in turns triggers a quest to find his estranged father who once ran a sports card empire.

Stone's adventure starts in his mother's condo where he rescues a few unopened boxes of vintage baseball cards from his childhood in the late-1980s. At that time there were 10,000 shops across North America, and the industry was worth $1.2 billion by 1991. Stuart's old man, Jack, was running 11 Sluggers shops and raking in the cash. A quiet hobby that began in the 1950's exploded in the 1980s.