It takes all of five minutes for a fight to break out. As the lights dim in the grand Lyric Theatre, a bass-driven rock song blares and cast members in dystopian military garb rush the stage. A battle ensues, and only the strong survive. Such a violent beginning for WallByrd’s latest show, “Macbeth,” establishes two […]
Home Follows
Posted inMovies
Director David Lowery tells a new kind of ghost story
Writer and director David Lowery’s “A Ghost Story” is bound to be one of the more divisive films to be released this year. It tells the melancholy tale of life and death, as experienced by a married couple played by Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara. When Affleck’s character unexpectedly passes away, he returns in the […]
Posted inCulture
Blind photographer Mohammed Saad lectures at Eastman Museum
Mohammed Saad may have learned English from watching “Titanic,” but he couldn’t tell you whether there was enough room for both Jack and Rose on the raft. Saad, a disability advocate, app developer, and photographer, is blind. Just shy of George Eastman’s 153rd birthday, Saad lectured at the Eastman Museum on Tuesday, June 11, the […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Health care is a right. Why is that debatable?
The tug of war over health care drags on and on in Washington, and some days it’s high comedy. Nobody knew health care could be so complicated. But in truth, a lot about health care is complicated. We’re living longer. Hooray for that, but longevity on a mass scale carries costs: for everything from joint […]
Posted inMovies
Film review: ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’
With three different live-action iterations of the web-slinging hero appearing across six different films over the span of the last 15 years, it was hard to work up enthusiasm for another. But fresh characterizations and an appealing cast set the new Spider-Man film apart.
Posted inNews & Opinion
Keeping the mentally ill out of prison
Ronnie Cox speaks in a soft, gentlemanly voice. His thinning, curly black hair is speckled with white, and his left hand wobbles with a slight tremor when he talks. Cox, who is 64, spent 16 years in prison. He was addicted to heroin and cocaine, and he contracted hepatitis C, a viral infection that often […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
It’s time to build support for a regional school
This time every year, many of us get a big emotional lift from the Jazz Festival. And for me, it’s not just the music. It’s all those people. Downtown. The Jazz Festival, Fringe, and other big attractions aren’t the only signs of a stronger downtown. Enough people are moving into the new developments that we’re […]
Posted inMovies
Preview: 2017 Rochester International Jewish Film Festival
The warm weather brings with it Rochester’s largest summer film event: the annual JCC Ames Amzalak Rochester International Jewish Film Festival. Marking its 17th year, the festival celebrates Jewish culture and heritage through nine days of film screenings, live performances, guest directors, and post-film discussions. The RIJFF begins Sunday, July 9, and runs through Monday, […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Seeking to change the climate on carbon
Climate activists have been bruised and bloodied over the past few months. And yet there’s a group in Rochester that still has hope that Congress will act to cut US carbon emissions. The local chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby has watched its numbers swell since President Donald Trump’s election. It now gets around 40 people […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Inching toward a regional school
[UPDATED AND REVISED 6/28/17] The Rochester school board has taken the first step in exploring the feasibility of a regional school designed to attract a diverse student body. Board members voted 5-to-0 at a special meeting Tuesday, June 27, to include the measure in a study of the district’s school choice policy already in the […]
Posted inMusic
Featured Artist: Caravan Palace
Does anyone remember “Hooked on Classics,” a schmaltzy record put out in 1981 by K-Tel that featured a cross section of classical masterpieces set to a driving disco beat? French band Caravan Palace takes a somewhat similar house beat and screws it onto the end of classic swing music. The difference here is that it […]
Posted inMovies
Film review: ‘Transformers: The Last Knight’
Despite being the right age, I was never into Transformers as a kid, so as an adult, I haven’t had much of an interest in the film series, and thus haven’t seen any of them. I can’t speak to whether “Transformers: The Last Knight,” the fifth installment of the massively lucrative global franchise, is any […]
