Wondering what’s happening this weekend at the Dryden Theatre? It’s so strange that you would ask, because that’s exactly what we’re going to discuss. First, however, you might want to get comfy for a little history lesson… Madame de Maintenon was the second wife of Louis XIV, a.k.a. the Sun King. Born in prison to […]
Dayna Papaleo
Posted inMovies
The art of being yourself
When the gifted Jerome (Max Minghella, Bee Season) finally arrives at Strathmore, he assumes the Cro-Magnon bullying and unfair social strata of high school to be a thing of the past, the next four years chockablock with creative expression, respect, and open-minded (ahem) women. As Jerome will learn in the course of Art School Confidential, […]
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Sometimes size doesn’t matter
Whether the work hails from Paris, Los Angeles, or below the streets of Rochester, the assortment of short films that make up the 48th Rochester International Film Festival (some call it Movies on a Shoestring) seems unusually strong. This year saw 110 entries from 10 countries, with 32 films making the final cut. And since […]
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Playtime is over
When Charles Bronson died someone should have shredded the blueprint for the revenge flick and sprinkled the confetti in his crypt. It’s a distasteful genre, showcasing frustrated victims who get “justice” by stooping to the same lows (and often lower) as their guilty targets. Hard Candy is the latest film to embrace the vigilante storyline, […]
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From the mundane to the thrilling
Filmmaker Nicole Holofcener’s debut feature, Walking and Talking, is a near-perfect movie, one of the most accurate observations of female friendship ever committed to film. Friends with Money, Holofcener’s latest, continues to showcase her gift for portraying real women in realistic situations, from the mundane to the thrilling to the mortifying. And it certainly doesn’t […]
Posted inSpecial Sections
Gimme a break!
Look at them, just sitting there, with their filthy mitts and kissable cheeks. Oh, sure, it seemed like a good idea — “Let’s have a baby!” — but as time marches on they’re eating your food, watching your TV, and interrupting your precious slumber with their early mornings and late nights. Now your kids have […]
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Come to where the satire is
Among certain inalienable rights we Americans enjoy are life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and the freedom to harm yourself and those around you with cigarette smoke. And while there are many working overtime to strip you of that last privilege, you can rest easy knowing that there are others hell-bent on ensuring that you […]
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Your trench or mine?
World War I was considered “The Great War,” with a cost of more than 14 million military and civilian lives, but it remains one of the more puzzling modern-day conflicts, lacking the obvious good vs. evil distinction attendant to its horrifying sequel. It’s this ambiguousness that no doubt led to the Christmas Truce of 1914, […]
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Notes of triumph
During the Academy Awards telecasts, the moments that have traditionally lent themselves to viewers rustling up some snacks occur when the Oscars for short film are awarded. It’s been difficult for John Q. Moviegoer to care about something he will probably never see, but in recent years the shorts have been packaged up for mass […]
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Notes from a filmme fatale
As the ceiling wept into the bucket beside her bed, a million thoughts duked it out in her mind. She lazily poked at a succession of letters that might allow her to continue renting her porous palace but she daydreamed of an unlikely world in which her loved ones thrived and her enemies understood exactly […]
Posted inSpecial Sections
Not above name dropping
Rochester can boast a fair number of interesting citizens who continue to walk among us, but many that have shuffled off this mortal coil remain the subject of endless fascination. These former Rochesterians may not be as well known as groundbreaking giants like abolitionist Frederick Douglass, activist Susan B. Anthony, and inventor George Eastman, but […]
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Just ask Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben
It looks like something you’d see on PBS, with self-important talking heads, dramatic voiceovers, and vintage photos lovingly caressed by the camera, but writer-director Kevin Willmott’sCSA: The Confederate States of America is an audacious mockumentary that induces both laughs and squirms as it explores the last 150 years in a country where the South emerged […]
