You may remember Tom Green from his show on MTV, or his roles in 2000’s “Road Trip” and 2001’s “Freddy Got Fingered,” but the zany Canadian has been up to so much more than just movies. Green started in stand-up while a teenager growing up in the Ottawa area, and by his early 20’s, had […]
Comedy
Posted inCulture
Pleasantly enraged
It doesn’t take much to set Lewis Black off. The comedian, author, and actor — well-known for his appearances on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and his own Comedy Central show, “Lewis Black’s Root of All Evil” — has made a prolific career ranting about the things that agitate him. Madly gesturing with his […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
“The Man Who Came to Dinner”
Now being performed at Geva’s Nextstage through Saturday, December 27, “The Man Who Came to Dinner” comes to the stage courtesy of Rochester’s Screen Plays, a wonderfully creative theater group dedicated to performing classic American plays that were made iconic on film (in this case, the 1942 motion picture starring Bette Davis, Monty Woolley, and […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Theater Review: “The Man Who Came To Dinner” at Geva’s Fielding Nextstage
Now being performed at Geva’sNextstage through Saturday, December 27, “The Man Who Came to Dinner” comes to the stage courtesy of Rochester’s Screen Plays, a wonderfully creative theater group dedicated to performing classic American plays that were made iconic on film (in this case, the 1942 motion picture starring Bette Davis, Monty Woolley, and Ann […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Theater Review: “Naked in Encino” at JCC’s CenterStage
The title of Wendy Kout’s “Naked in Encino” conjures up images of performers stripped to their birthday suits, frolicking in the California sun, but in reality its indecent exposure is somewhat more metaphorical in nature. While the play (a world premiere being staged at the JCC CenterStage Theatre through December 21) promises its characters’ hearts […]
Posted inMovies
Film Review: “St. Vincent”
Despite the myriads of changes in taste and fashion, in audience demographics and box office appeal, the film industry still depends heavily on the ancient formulas of high concept and old hat. High concept refers to a simply understood movie idea that can be summed up in a neat phrase or sentence — “fish out […]
Posted inCulture
Tapping back in
It’s been 13 years since comedian Kevin James’ one-hour stand-up special, “Sweat the Small Stuff,” debuted on Comedy Central. In the years since, James has broken out as a major actor in comedy movies — he made his first film appearance with Will Smith in 2005’s “Hitch,” co-starred with Adam Sandler in “I Now Pronounce […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
The show must go on
If there is an Olympics of Theater, rehearsing and performing Michael Frayn’s “Noises Off” would be its equivalent of the triathlon: an endurance test for the participants, but a lot of fun to watch from the safety of one’s own chair. With its lovingly detailed look on backstage and onstage chaos, and the opportunities it […]
Posted inMovies
Film Review: “Sex Tape”
In the high-concept farce, “Sex Tape,” Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel star as a long-married couple who, in an attempt to reignite the marital fires, record an epic, marathon-length session of lovemaking, only to find out the next morning that their amorous adventures have been accidentally uploaded to “the cloud” and synced to several iPads […]
Posted inMovies
“Obvious Child”
Since its debut at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, “Obvious Child” has consistently been referred to as “the abortion romantic-comedy,” a reductive — if still fairly accurate — description of the film, which manages to tackle a hot-button issue with wit and honesty, while operating within the confines of a crowd-pleasing (and filthy) […]
Posted inCulture
Raunch and heart
Dave Attell is notorious for being a filthy, offensive, curmudgeonly old “Insomniac,” but he’s also a well-respected comedian in the business. Patton Oswalt tweeted: “Watching @attell‘s new special for a 3rd time since it premiered Friday. Same way I listened to Iggy Pop’s RAW POWER over & over.” Marc Maron said, “Dave’s a funny f**king […]
Posted inMovies
Film Review: “Bad Words”
Jason Bateman has made a successful career out of playing the straight man. From “Arrested Development” through recent big-screen work like “Identity Thief,” the actor excels at playing the mild-mannered nice guy, exasperated by the insanity that surrounds — and frequently threatens to overwhelm — him. The role suits him so well that it’s an […]
