Record Breaking

Small-time is big-time for a crafty local label Sort Of Records.

• by Aaron Jentzen

Flying the Coup

An unprecedented number of residents want a seat on a North Side nonprofit, so what's the motivation?

• by Adam Fleming

Track Meet

A brief introduction to the Sort Of catalogue

• by Aaron Jentzen

Television: WQED to screen Gammage film and panel discussion

It's been 13 years since two motorists were killed by local police officers, but how much has changed?

• by Melissa Meinzer

Education: District's new University Partnership school still not finalized

Despite the new school slated to open in the fall, Pittsburgh Public Schools and the University of Pittsburgh still haven't inked a deal.

• by Chris Young

Like the proverbial phoenix, the Harris Grill rises from the ashes.

Harris Grill: Back, and With Bacon

• by Melissa Meinzer

Shady Grove

Sandwiches, wraps, salads and pizzas, in a comfortable atmosphere

• by Angelique Bamberg and Jason Roth

A sneak peek at WYEP's Pittsburgh Performance Project

Most of the venues on the list do not represent the kind of music played on WYEP since its switch to the Adult Album Alternative format in the late 1980s.

• by Manny Theiner

Experimental collective Arco Flute Foundation reunites for Gooksi's show

Get sufficiently into an Arco song and you feel like you're enveloped inside the sound.

• by Andy Mulkerin

Voting's for suckers, says Circa Survive's Anthony Green

"It's like the Mob disguised as democracy."

• by Justin Jacobs

Toronto hardcore heroes Fucked Up hit Belvedere's

Fans of classic hardcore and punk like Black Flag or the Stiff Little Fingers can appreciate that there's a band like this around in 2008.

• by Andy Mulkerin

Silk Screen Film Festival

The festival of films highlighting Asian and Asian-American experiences returns for its third year.

Iron Man

Jon Favreau's film looks and feels less like a comic book than do some other movies, in part because the actors play it so soberly. The charming Robert Downey Jr. delivers the script's copious quips with all the punch they require, and his watery eyes ably make us feel his pain. Where other comics-hero stories are about self-esteem and unconcerned with politics, Iron Man is pretty much the opposite. Tony Stark (Downey) is an ingenious playboy weapons inventor who has an epiphany about his role as a man of peace, and invents a justice-seeking alter ego, Iron Man. This is all a fanboy's wet dream: making war, like a video game, but with a conscience. [3 out of 4 stars]

• by Harry Kloman

Visiting filmmaker Eric Cheevers' "Las Historias Mas Sexy Del Mundo" spice up Film Kitchen.

The girl in the go-go dress talks quantum physics.

• by Bill O'Driscoll

Made of Honor

It's bad enough that a lothario won't make a commitment to the girl he loves -- now he's agreed to be the maid of honor at her hastily arranged wedding to Mr. Perfect. Here, Patrick Dempsey plays the male fool to his lost lady-love Michelle Monaghan, and the middle section of Paul Weiland's romantic comedy actually finds some traction. Inserting a game guy into the wedding planning at least brings a fresh twist to tried-and-true turf like the bridal shower gone wrong and the wedding-rehearsal dinner from hell. Pretty scenery from the best parts of Manhattan and the Scottish Highlands doesn't hurt either. But the lovely lochs and all Dempsey's roguish charms can't save a last reel whose sheer idiocy makes fools of even chick-flick fans. Really -- why bother having Dempsey's character mature emotionally if it only takes falling off a horse to win back the bride? (AH) [capsule review] [2 out of 4 stars]

• by Al Hoff

Priceless

The real star of this French piffle from Pierre Salvadori is actress Audrey Tatou's back, loving displayed in a seemingly endless series of adorable backless chemises. As wispy as any of her dresses is the plot, a lightly scripted farce about a golddigger (Tatou), working the best hotels of the Riviera. After mistaking a bartender (Gad Elmaleh) for a likely prospect, she instead trains him in the fine art of being an escort. That the two should spar -- now they are in competition, and, in truth, desire each other more than their well-heeled marks -- is obvious. But Priceless achieves neither the slightly frantic, madcap tone needed to shift the contrivance into delightful entertainment, nor the sharper satirical bite to suggest a class comedy. That's a shame, because such pretty people and fabulous fabled resorts deserve more sparkle. In French, with subtitles. Manor (AH) [capsule review] [2.5 out of 4 stars]

• by Al Hoff

Speed Racer

Andy and Larry Wachowski unleash their box of digital tricks on this live-action adaptation of the 1960s Japanese cartoon about the young auto racer. As expected, the Matrix brothers bring a lot of visual flair, though there's nothing you haven't seen before: kooky screen wipes, hyper-color and dense, fantastic, digitally produced sets. The highly stylized car races are somewhere between a video pinball game and Tron, but their narrative excitement is conveyed in voiceovers, seriously compromising our involvement. The cast, headed by Emile Hirsch, look like they're having fun -- nobody has to break much a sweat aping cartoon characters -- though Christina Ricci, as Trixie, is woefully underwritten. Only Roger Allam rises above, bringing a delicious British nastiness to his role as the corporate villain. (Though any pointyheads in the audience will be distracted by his remarkable resemblance to writer Christopher Hitchens.) In all, it's a pretty faithful if frivolous adaptation of Speed Racer, which begs the obvious: Why is this high-octane goof stretched beyond the two-hour mark, and who bogged it down with all the deadly dull dialogue? Starts Fri., May 9. (AH) [capsule review] [2 out of 4 stars]

• by Al Hoff

In Wood Street's Text Memory, technology pulses with emotion.

As long as his heart beats and he breaths, they will be remembered; when he dies, their memories will be obscured.

• by Savannah Guz

Artist Craig McPherson exhibits heavy mettle in Steel: Pittsburgh Drawings.

In "Oven #1" (1998), the velvety black areas of the mezzotint are supplemented with exquisite minutiae in pastel: Cracks and textures on the exterior of the oven are contrasted with a fiery red glow from inside.

• by Melissa Kuntz

Same Sex, Different Day

On gay marriage, GOP can't tell it straight

• by Chris Potter

This Just In: May 8 - 15

Highlights from the local TV news: Yet another attempt to prevent the young people from leaving.

• by Frances Sansig Monahan

The History Center's new compilation of Pittsburgh biographies amuses, informs ... and leaves out too many scalawags.

It's a birthday gift from the Heinz History Center -- a picture of how things would be if the jagoffs had never been born.

• by Chris Potter

Laughing Stock

It's the perfect vehicle for Little Lake to open its 60^th season of continuous production.

• by Ted Hoover

Harvey

Aren't rabbits supposed to do things quickly?

• by Alan W. Petrucelli