For the Bible Tells Me So
Leviticus 18:22. It’s among the several Bible citations some folks quote to support their contention that God abhors homosexuality. But can cherry-picking text prove what God thinks about gays? Daniel Karsake’s documentary cogently examines the roots of Bible-based prejudices, the rise of literal Bible reading and the parsing of doctrine that enables adherents to “be…
Media: Trib op-ed policy seems a little “ic”ky
Is proper grammar and style forgotten in Trib‘s quest to tweak liberals?
How She Move
The plot is familiar: Plucky girl from the hood plies streetwise dance talent into economic and social opportunity, even as assorted forces (parents, mean friends, lack of cash, feelings of inadequacy) try to hold her back. But Ian Iqbal Rashid’s feel-gooder, a low-budgeter produced in Canada, easily trumps its flashier, more hollow Hollywood cousins (Step…
Drink Tax: Bar owners trying to soften the blow for patrons
No matter how much you imbibe, it’s hard to get the taste of the drink tax out of your mouth.
Scaife at Home
Apparently rich trash put their pants on one leg at a time, just as we poor trash do.
The Lion King
It’s the work that happens before the curtain rises — and between Acts I and II — that keeps the young and young-at-heart riveted to their plush seats.
Northern Soul DJs launch “Vipers Soul Club” at Shadow Lounge
“We’re really trying to build on the communal aspect of what Soulcialism and Cashin’ In were.”
Costa del Sol
The menu presents a select number of classic tapas dishes with a twist, such as traditional risotto topped with hazelnuts.
Ritchey Longhorns
Pop Quiz: Where would you expect to see a Texas longhorn? A) In Texas B) Emblazoned on the seductive chaps worn by University of Texas cheerleaders. C) A 40-minute drive from Pittsburgh D) All of the above That’s right, pardner — those twisty-horned beasts and their tender loins can be found far from the…
This Just In: Jan 23 – 30
Best of the Local TV News Blogs
Savage Love
I’m a 25-year-old male. I’m a zoophile and always have been. I’m a longtime reader, so I know my interests aren’t on your approved list of sexual activities. Not trying to argue that point. However, it’s clear what turns my head when I walk down the street and it’s never the person holding the leash.…
Next Stage for Open Stage
Open Stage Theatre is in the middle of its season, and in the middle of reinventing itself. It’s also in the midst of rehearsing The Mineola Twins, by acclaimed playwright Paula Vogel. Unlike Vogel’s Pulitzer Prize-winning How I Learned to Drive, it’s no straightforward drama. Rather, Twins mixes outlandish satire, farce and theatrical gamesmanship (like…
Letters to the Editor: Jan 23 – 30
Feedback from our readers: A rejoinder from Cyril Wecht … do Hill residents deserve reinvestment?
Pittsburgh n’@
From: http://angrydrunkbureaucrat.blogspot.com/ Thing We’ve Learned From the City Financial Disclosures If you haven’t done so already, go check out the City Controller’s release of the Financial Disclosure forms for some of our most upstanding city officials and Bill Peduto. Twenty-Four hours ago, I would have never known … That it’s hard to…
Making Changes
PrideFest — Pittsburgh’s long-running celebration of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) communities — is under new management. And organizers are planning to turn the annual gay-pride weekend into a full week’s worth of programming … complete with national corporate sponsors like Bank of New York Mellon. “We just wanted to compete with other…
Tom and Suzanne Roberts blend klezmer and stride piano
“There’s a beat and rhythm that’s very buoyant, as well as a poignancy to this music.”
Jeffrey M. Robinson deconstructs the Warhol
“It’s not a band, it’s not music — you can’t call what I do music.”
Ember Swift performs at ModernFormations’ queer singer-songwriter series
But political ire is the engine that drives Swift’s music and her popularity, and she hasn’t dropped the motif completely — and surely won’t.
The Violin
Francisco Vargas Quevedo’s languid, black-and-white, politically inspired drama about peasant guerrilla fighters in rural Mexico recalls the genre’s antecedents of the 1960s. The battle is significant — the film opens with a violent torture scene — but the struggle is writ small, cast in the deceptively frail form of the elderly campesino Plutarco. He tends…
There Will Be Blood
If Anderson’s 1999 masterpiece, Magnolia, was a story about our struggle to find our humanity, his new movie is a story about our struggle to forsake it. Set largely in 1911, it’s about an oil man (Daniel Day-Lewis), a preacher man (Paul Dano) and a nation whose thirst for petroleum products would soon rival a…
The veteran women artists of The Pittsburgh Group offer a striking 30th-anniversary show.
There is candid feminine electricity that crackles within each work, even the most abstract.
Cloverfield
In Matt Reeves’ thriller, you don’t know why a hideous, skyscraper-sized creature is rampaging through the city. But it is, and since you’re in its way, you’d better figure out how to deal with it before your butt gets killed. The film is that simple, intense and crazy for its 80 minutes, as you travel…
Acclaimed young poet Ben Lerner relocates to Pittsburgh.
“Last year alone, every American choked to death on a red balloon.”
Cassandra’s Dream
In writer-director Woody Allen’s third London-based film, a pair of brothers — Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell — need cash, and fast. One, disguised as a prosperous entrepreneur, is keeping a romance afloat; the other’s got huge gambling debts. As the consequences creep closer, benevolent Uncle Howard (Tom Wilkinson) arrives from abroad and offers a…
Activism: Home Invasion
Usually content to protest in the city, POG taking its Robotics Center protest on the road.
