Inbox 9.14.05
From: Barry Van Clief InboxRemarkable correspondence from the consistently unremarkable world of emailIf you’re just tuning in to Inbox, you can find the entire back catalogue of emails at www.rochester-citynews.com. Inbox rescues emails from recycling bins all over the world, and we really do welcome contributions from our readers. Please forward your nasty little surprises…
Falling far from the tree
“If you don’t know where the fuck we are right now, just look around. You’re making a goddamn documentary, so you don’t have to have me say in front of the camera where we are.” There’s probably nothing more frustrating for a director than to be directed himself, but filmmaker Mark Wexler should have expected…
Another visit from the Prince of
Ever since The Exorcist recognized the potential of demonic forces and opened up a whole new territory of dread — familiarly known as Hell on Earth — which the makers of horror flicks quickly explored, Satan in one manifestation or another became a frequent menace in the form. The devil and/or his assistants inhabit a…
City’s choice: Saraband
Although he had announced some time ago that he was giving up filmmaking, Ingmar Bergman, now 86, has directed a new movie, Saraband. A kind of sequel, after the passage of some 30 years, to his Scenes From a Marriage, the picture reunites the principals from that work, Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson, as Marianne…
Music Reviews 9.14.05
Cuong Vu It’s Mostly Residual ArtistShare The first sounds you hear on Cuong Vu’s new album are ethereal trumpet moans joined by equally otherworldly clusters of notes emanating from a guitar. These sounds herald the beginning of a musical marriage made in electronic heaven. On his latest album, It’s Mostly Residual, cutting-edge, electronic trumpet virtuoso…
How it feels up in the air
He has a fear of heights, but that has never interfered with his job. Bill Saunders has been a service technician with Frontier Communications for the last 18 years. If you’re having problems with your telephone service, he could be the guy who comes knocking on your front door or hoisting a ladder over your…
The XX Files 9.14.05
Let’s blame the mothers, okay? It’s all their fault. It always has been. Eve got busy with that apple and caused a world of misery. Pandora, ditto, except with a box. Freud’s archetypal mother, complete with her rejecting womb and withholding boobs, caused all our quirks and peccadilloes. Today we’ll start with Mother Nature. Mother…
Reader Feedback 9.14.05
Gannett and the Guild, Katrina’s aftermath, pot truth
Cost of war 9.14.05
The totals: 1,893 US soldiers, 197 Coalition soldiers, and approximately 24,712 to 27,963 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq from the beginning of the war and occupation to September 6. As of September 7, 14,362 US soldiers have been wounded in action. American soldiers killed between September 2 and 6: Specialist Luke C. Williams,…
On the money
Part two of a two-part series. Some people live their lives according to religious principles. Steven Landsburg looks at life through the filter of economics. And if you read a selection of his books or magazine columns, you may be persuaded that economics play more of a role in your life than you realized. A…
Designing a renaissance
“Brilliant.” That’s how Heidi Zimmer-Meyer, president of the Rochester Downtown Development Corporation, describes the preliminary design for the most controversial part of Renaissance Square: the bus terminal. Architect Moshe Safdie unveiled his concept for Ren Square at a public forum last week. And while this stage really is “concept,” not completed design, there was major…
Family Valued 9.14.05
Charlie, Buster, and the scragamuffins We all realize that children should be seen and not heard. That’s why we plant them in front of the latest Disney mishmash while we eat a quiet meal by ourselves, for once. Quite a bit has changed since that adage was first uttered, including cinema. What about the movies…
Taking the mic
“I’m into moving language, being moved by language; utilizing language, bending it and twisting it, and finding new ways by which to approach it in order to bring light to whatever subject matter I’m speaking on.” That certainly is a mouthful. But Rochester native Amir Sulaiman would have to have his mouth full of language…
Looking at tragic beauty
Vital Signs: Focus on Young Photographers, on view at the George Eastman House, is a thoughtful selection of photographs by 12 emerging artists from five different countries. Seen collectively, there is in these photographs beauty and terror — as well as a level of theatricality. Something seems just a little off. It’s a familiar notion…
Dark, exciting final three
Stratford made news with its last three openings, starting with one of its finest productions to date. Two, however, close at the end of September and should be seen. The superb production of Jean Anouilh’s The Lark marks many Stratford debuts: of theatrically and intellectually original French playwright Anouilh, of renowned actress Amanda Plummer as…
