The characters in the Russo brothers’ new traumatic drama are people struggling with the all-too-common burdens of PTSD, addiction, and mental illness.
war
Posted inArts & Entertainment
The history behind Brighton’s ‘No Draft’ graffiti
While Defacer Eraser, Rochester’s graffiti removal operation, buffs walls soon after they’re marked up, graffiti tends to stick around on trains and other railroad property. Railroads choose to invest in structural maintenance rather than cosmetic considerations. And this is why, for 35 years, the well-known “NO DRAFT” graffiti, accompanied by a peace sign and the […]
Posted inMovies
Film Review: “Stalingrad”
In light of the current tensions involving Russia and Ukraine, a movie about the Soviet defense of Stalingrad in 1942 provides some relevant instruction in some of the history of that nation and its attitudes toward the rest of Europe. Most viewers probably know little or nothing of the suffering the Russians endured in what […]
Posted inMovies
“Ender’s Game”
The ambiguity of its title reflects some of the same quality in the content of “Ender’s Game.” Ender Wiggin, the protagonist and intermittent narrator, plays numerous advanced versions of video games throughout the movie, some of them forming an integral part of the action; at the same time, as the script puns on his name, […]
Posted inMovies
“World War Z”
The current proliferation of zombie books, movies, and television shows suggests that we now dwell in the time of the living dead, a horrible but not entirely surprising prospect. Born in the 1930’s, the most creative decade in cinema history, the genre reflected some particular realities of its era — the fact of race, the […]
Posted inCulture
“Race: Are We So Different?”
I have visited the “Race” exhibit at Rochester Museum and Science Center twice so far, and both times caught college classes crowding the different stations, with students and teachers strolling in pairs or small groups and discussing with one another — and with community members — the heavy things that we must discuss. I witnessed […]
Posted inMovies
“Phantom”
This time of year, the odd hiatus that occurs somewhere in between the competing distractions of the holidays, the Oscars, and the anticipation of the new spring crop, often serves as Hollywood’s dumping ground. It’s the place on the calendar where films that have languished on the shelf for one reason or another, films without […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
NEWS BLOG: Should we let Iran develop nuclear weapons?
More reading material to prepare for the presidential campaign: “Why Iran Should Get the Bomb” in the current issue of Foreign Affairs (payment required, unfortunately, although you can get a free summary). Kenneth Waltz, a senior research scholar at the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies and a Columbia adjunct professor of political science, […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
NEWS BLOG: The presidential campaign and our war on terror in Yemen
If you haven’t read Ibrahim Mothana’s “How Drones Help Al Qaeda” in today’s New York Times, do so. Mothana is an activist and writer in Yemen, and in his Times article, he argues that the Obama administration’s use of drones in Yemen is doing far more harm than good. It is, Mothana writes, “leading to […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
The XX Files
My sons are the same age now that my little brother and I were when my parents were protesting the war in Vietnam. We usually attended demonstrations in Boston, where we lived; once or twice we went to DC. I don’t remember anything specific, only the singing and marching. That and I had to wear […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
No war on our watch
Right now you may be thinking it’s over. The neo-cons who’ve long wanted the US to smash Iraq, only the first act in their global tragedy and domestic farce, have won the day. The Telepromptee, sounding like the Lyndon Johnson of “Come, let us reason together,” has uttered the fatal words. It doesn’t seem […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Sign of our times
“Let’s roll!” United Flight 93 passenger Todd Beamer’s last known words — before he and some of his fellow passengers ostensibly tried to overcome the terrorists who hijacked his plane on 9/11 — have become a battle cry (and patriotic marketing gimmick) in the wake of the attacks. In the immediate aftermath of the […]
