Steelpan City

Local woman hoping to use Caribbean drums to revitalize historic opera house

• by Andrew Moore

New Ideas for the New Year

Personal cameras for police officers

• by Chris Young

Policy Changes

Duquesne University opens new pharmacy in the Hill.

• by Shawn Klocek

Expand "pop-up retail" opportunities

• by Al Hoff

Start a Pittsburgh bike-share program

• by Bill O'Driscoll

Vertical farming in the city

• by Andy Mulkerin

Legalize Online Poker

• by Charlie Deitch

Stop HIV/AIDS with a topical gel

• by Lauren Daley

Tupelo Honey Teas

Hand-blended teas are a soothing, tasty treat

• by Chris Young

Coriander Indian Grill

A new Indian restaurant's expansive menu offers a taste of Goa

• by Angelique Bamberg and Jason Roth

Looking for some great "devil's music"? Try a church

Packing the pews at the First Unitarian Church were Pegi Young, backed by musicians who pull double-duty with husband Neil Young, and acoustic-guitar virtuoso Bert Jansch.

• by Aaron Jentzen

An August Wilson Center exhibit traces hip hop's story -- and Paradise Gray's

Timing is everything with a photo of Barack Obama and Jasiri X: Was it taken before or after the emcee made national headlines with "What If the Tea Party Was Black?"

• by Aaron Jentzen
• Tags: Music Features, Hip hop

Cloud Nothings reign in fuzz and buzz as they ready their coming-out album

The Cloud Nothings' clamorous noise-pop generated significant buzz in the past year, vindicating 19-year-old Dylan Baldi's decision to forsake education for the pop muse.

• by Chris Parker

TM Eye combines the talents of Modey Lemon's Phil Boyd and Preslav Lefterov

"We do like a lot of dark electronic music, but we also like poppy songs," Boyd says. "This was a way we could mix things together, and maybe mix them up in a different way."

• by Andy Mulkerin

Carlos

A nearly six-hour docudrama takes us behind-the-scenes with an international terrorist

• by Al Hoff

Hands of fate goose the next Film Kitchen.

Glenn Syska's most impressive production yet is "Fortunex," a wickedly satirical 2010 piece about a new pharmaceutical that makes poor people think they're rich.

• by Bill O'Driscoll

Leaving

Suzanne (Scott Thomas) lives with her husband and two teen-age children in a gorgeous house in the south of France. But her well-padded ordinary life is upended when she falls for Ivan (Sergi López), a rough-edged Spanish handyman. When their affair is revealed, everything -- quite understandably, even among the genteel bourgeoisie -- turns ugly. Catherine Corsini's melodrama covers familiar ground, with a tale deeply reminiscent of 1940s Hollywood noirs where a star-crossed love affair finds a true path to a gun going off. But, Corsini's film is somewhat more ethereal, with lots of bright sunshine, al fresco romance and an occasionally languid pace. A tale told a thousand times can still be compelling, and most viewers should find an easy affinity with Scott Thomas' quietly devastating portrait of woman rendered both powerful and powerless by an amour fou. In French, with subtitles. Starts Fri., Jan. 7. Oaks (Al Hoff) [2.5 out of 4 stars] 

• by Al Hoff

Summer Wars

Holy head-spin! Mamoru Hosoda's animated feature is a colorful tangle of cyberpunk, Japanese clan history, coming-of-age comedy, a gentle rebuke of contemporary family life, a cautionary tale about trusting technology, an inspiring tale about trusting technology and a rousing we-can-do-it battle in which a deadly villain is defeated when we all pitch in. Briefly, a teen-age math nerd, visiting a classmate's family reunion in the country, accidentally sets loose a destructive artificial-intelligence bot named "Love Machine" in "Oz," the computer-generated cloud that controls everything from gaming and e-mail to banking and city sewer systems. Then it's up to everybody to pool their talents to take down Love Machine. The artwork in this anime ranges from strictly manga-style narrative and painterly moments of silence and light to straight-up, op-art kawaii-kaleidoscopes of an ever-shifting, rainbow-hued cyberworld populated with cartoonish avatars and flying bits of information. Likewise, the constantly shifting narrative tone is initially jarring. But by the final third, the film has settled into a choppy rhythm of its own, and the conclusion wraps all the disparate threads up into a gloriously colorful, family-positive and brain-beats-brawn finish. Dubbed in English. Starts Fri., Jan. 7. Harris (Al Hoff) [2.5 out of 4 stars]

• by Al Hoff

Vatican Splendors shows off Catholic treasures -- and a few ironies of church-sponsored art.

While church-sponsored art could seem to transcend worldly concerns, this exhibit traces cultural shifts as well as the growth of the Catholic Church's own power.

• by Chuck Lanigan

This Just In: January 6 - 13

Highlights from the local TV news

• by Frances Sansig Monahan

A local therapist publishes a new book for dealing with eating disorders.

"These girls, a lot of them can't speak. They can't express themselves."

• by Bill O'Driscoll

A new troupe debuts, specializing in contemporary concert dance

Evolve is making a name for itself, primarily for its showcase-style productions mixing up-and-coming pre-professionals and established artists.

• by Steve Sucato

Short List: Week of January 6 - 13