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The customary patterns in contemporary independent filmmaking involve a constellation of familiar elements, forming an inspiring saga that regularly enlivens the goosed-up press releases that pass for entertainment journalism. The stories follow a familiar model of aspiration and struggle, detailing the adventures of impoverished film school graduates with grand dreams. They beg loans from affluent
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The cool kids all dig John Woo, Quentin Tarantino, Jim Jarmusch, and Wong Kar-Wai, and those filmmakers all love Jean-Pierre Melville. Thusly, the laws of syllogism dictate that the cool kids will also adore Melville, whose Bob le Flambeur was just remade into The Good Thief. They'll get a chance to fall in love
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Miles Davis In Person at the Blackhawk, San Francisco Sony Legacy In April, 1961, Miles Davis and his band took the stage for a two-night gig at the packed Blackhawk Club in San Francisco. At the time it might have seemed like a routine performance for the band, but in retrospect the seven sets recorded are
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The dead center of downtown Rochester could thrive with life again, if only county Republicans would get out of the way. That's what Democratic city officials are saying, and though they do their fair share of useless political sniping, in this case, I
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Borrowing time Like an ex-smoker who breaks down and buys a pack of Camels in a moment of stress, Monroe County Executive Jack Doyle wants to dip into the county's tobacco settlement money to pay for general operating expenses this year and cover last year's deficit.
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It's no insult to say the village of Honeoye Falls is "off the beaten path." In fact, that's the phrase Mayor Steve Gustin uses to describe his hometown. A quick look at the map confirms the description. The village --- well known for Victorian homes, businesses, and restored mills along Honeoye Creek --- has profited
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There's a beauty and grace to picking cabbage. On a Brockport farm on a sunny June morning, men and machine move synchronously to harvest the crop. The pickers, three men ranging in age from early 30s to mid-40s, are bent over, slowly
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What about the homelessh? One of Rochester's Center City Master Plan proposals is the conversion of the former Erie Canal aqueduct (below the Broad Street Bridge) into a pedestrian passageway, history display, and retail space. When I
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Under new artistic director Jackie Maxwell, the Shaw Festival opened its 42nd season with what looked like a typical line-up of five plays --- typical, that is, of recent seasons, but hardly traditional. Their world-class ensemble again brings dazzling aplomb to a
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Are you paying attention? Now it's Iran that is harboring terrorists. And building nuclear weapons. And developing biological and chemical weapons. And, says the Bush administration, Iran is stirring up trouble in Iraq. The drumbeat is
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Perhaps the old clichÈ about Greeks running diners is going to be replaced by one about it being the Vietnamese. There's Tam Van Tran, owner of the South Wedge Diner, and my neighbor, Tai Le, manages the Highland Park Diner. Now we have the Central Park Family Diner, which is run by Ben Tran
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The Nextstage at Geva Theatre Center is offering the fully staged, world premiere production of September Shoes,by Jose Cruz Gonz·lez --- a work Geva helped develop as part of its 2002 Hibernatus Interruptus Festival. A very accomplished Hispanic director and cast give this mysterious, passionate play a vibrant, affecting performance. But though it ends in
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In the ring, two young hopefuls are thrashing each other around. A powerbomb is followed by a suplex. Pile driver, D.D.T., arm drag, suicide dive --- the moves come fast and fluid. Outside the ropes, another dozen or two are yelling, joking, kibitzing, and making small talk.
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The actor-director Maximilian Schell once suggested that a country needs a population of at least 50 million to generate a genuine national film industry. Whatever the accuracy of Schell's theory, history demonstrates that a comparatively limited number of citizens has not necessarily precluded the making of motion pictures in, say, Cuba, Sweden, or New Zealand.
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The biggest edge-of-your-seat summer thrill ride isn't The Matrix Reloaded, Charlie's Angels 2: Full Throttle, or even the sex-change drama From Justin to Kelly. It's a little documentary called Spellbound (opens Friday, June 13, at the Little) that follows eight children to the national finals of the Scripps-Howard Spelling Bee in Washington, DC.
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It was Hell's house band playing the Dinosaur last Wednesday. All that's good and decent didn't stand a chance as San Diego Diablo Eric Sardinas played some of the raunchiest, dirtiest blues you'll ever hear, while wearing some of the tightest pants you'll ever see. Women who looked like they were more up on
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National Forest watch To walk the Finger Lakes National Forest --- a 16,000-acre complex of federal lands near Trumansburg --- is to love it. But there are, as they say, competing interests for this forest's attentions. On June 5, the US Forest Service, which
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Democrats' choices I am writing to express my disappointment regarding the lop-sided nature of Chris Busby's report, "Welcome to the Machine" (May 28). Based on the introductory paragraph, one would assume that the article would have dealt equitably
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Going west from Kodak Park these days, you've got your work cut out for you. Traffic on Ridge Road, now in the destruction phase of a multi-million-dollar rebuilding project, moves fitfully. Within the city limits, a shallow trench runs down the south side of a rocky road. Across the way, debris and dust throw down
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Overdue The county's laissez-faire approach to the library by Chris Busby It's no big deal to have an overdue library book or two. Almost everyone has done this at one time or another. And most folks return the books in short order and pay the small fine, mildly rebuking themselves for their absent-mindedness.
