Point Park-produced doc series to air on STARZ
Ten episodes of The Chair follow the making of two locally shot features
New Wiz Khalifa video: “We Dem Boyz”
What’s hometown hero Wiz Khalifa been up to? Besides touring, being a daddy and participating in the first-ever-that-we-know-of sign-language-interpreter battle-rap? Apparently making a new video for a new single — he just released “We Dem Boyz,” featuring some Beats product placement, lots of auto-tune, some nods to dancehall, and some boss choreography. Watch:
Gertrude Stein Political Club announces Primary endorsements
Although happy with the LGBT and women’s rights positions of the four Democratic candidates running for governor, the Gertrude Stein Political Club chose two clear favorites in local state house races when they announced their Primary election endorsements Sunday. In a release, in fact, the club told voters, “If you want to make a difference.…
Garfield Gallery Opens Second Location at The Waterfront
Most Wanted Fine Art Grand Opening is Tomorrow
UPMC workers begin fasting to protest low wages
Photo by Charlie Deitch Chaney Lewis and Mary Hughes will fast for the next seven days to protest UPMC. There are lots of things that Chaney Lewis could be doing while he’s on vacation from his job at UPMC, where he works in patient transport. But he won’t be taking a trip, or even just…
Free Bus Trip for Veterans to World War II and Korean War Memorials
Volunteer group offers May 22 trip
New Film Kitchen Filmmaking Contest Announced
“Front Porch”-themed contest deadline is May 26
Local short films screen at CMU Filmmaking Club festival
Local student films make their debut at annual CMU Filmmaking Club festival
The film — The Venice Syndrome — moved to new venue
Tonight, the Italian Film Festival is presenting the recent docu-essay, The Venice Syndrome, which examines how the historically and culturally significant Italian city is being overrun with tourists.Ironically perhaps, the original screening venue has been changed in order to accommodate more viewers. Previously set for Posvar Hall, the film will now play at Pitt’s Alumni…
Lynn Cullen Live 04/11/14
Video Archive Guest: Chris Potter; Kathleen Kane urges DA to take sting case; Kathleen Sebelius resignation; Franklin Regional stabbing; stab victim selfie; what Pope Francis is saying now; Chevron facing DEP violations; male stripper goes to nursing home, elderly resident’s son forces mother to sue; Caller: Mike, DC. Audio Only Archive
Bible Belt Sinners at Howler’s Coyote Café tonight
Bible Belt Sinners Bible Belt Sinners are a punk rock/blues band out of St.Louis. They recently released their second album, Sunday Best, back in March. They’ve opened for the likes of rock legend Chuck Berry and Rev. Horton Heat. The band is fronted by Molly Simms, who has very powerful vocals and they also have…
Women Poets Perform Downtown Tomorrow Night
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust honors Women’s History Month and National Poetry Month with “Being … She Said,” with performances by 10 local poets. Featured are such high-profile talents as Tameka Cage-Conley, Christiane D. and Vanessa German. Other poets include Heather Arnet (who heads the Women and Girls Foundation), Veronica Corpuz, Barbara Dahlberg and Shaunda Miles,…
Lynn Cullen Live 04/10/14
Video Archive Phone guest: Susan; Franklin Regional stabbing; the pro-gun response; will the shooter be tried as an adult?; Tennessee gun laws; labor laws in European countries; Caller: Unknown. Audio Only Archive
Free “Forest Devil” Artist Talk at the Carnegie Tomorrow
Sculptor Kenneth Snelson will discuss “tensegrity”
In preliminary vote, City Council approves land bank bill
After more than four hours of debate this morning, City Council overwhelmingly voted to bring a controversial land bank bill one step closer to passage, with support of two City Councilors who have been vocal critics of the bill. The 7-1-1 vote came after votes to pass a series of amendments proposed by City Councilors…
Jon Langford and Skull Orchard at the Thunderbird
Mekons co-founder’s band delivers smart fun behind new album
Review: Protomartyr’s Under Color of Official Right (at Howlers tonight)
The sophomore effort of Detroit’s Protomartyr is very much of its time.
Capitol Offenses
You might not have heard, but Pennsylvania senators Bob Casey and Pat Toomey may be forging a new bipartisan consensus on who should run our justice system: either people who hold deeply conservative principles, or no one at all. Last month, Casey and Toomey led a Senate vote rejecting President Obama’s nominee to head the…
The Lunchbox
The gentle drama is nominally about two lonely people living in Mumbai, India, who meet via a mixed-up lunchbox. Ila (Nimrat Kaur) prepares meals for her emotionally distant husband, but they are mistakenly delivered to an older accountant named Saajan (Irrfan Khan). At first, he returns the tins with notes about the cuisine, but soon…
Savage Love
I’m an old guy, fast approaching geezerdom. After 45 years of marriage, the sex has fallen off to zero. We otherwise have a great and comfortable relationship. If I want any at all these days, the only options are masturbation or professional service-providers, and paid sex has become a regular thing. You stress honesty and…
Lynn Cullen Live 04/09/14
Video Archive Audio Only Archive
Short List: April 9 – 17
SPOTLIGHT: Wed., April 16 — Comedy Though the performers on the Wham City Comedy Tour aren’t exactly household names, you might have seen one of them in your household. Alan Resnick’s parody commercial that aired on Adult Swim featured him infotaining a studio audience: Hire him for free to create a talking 3-D avatar of…
The Pub Chip Shop
The Pub Chip Shop 1830 E. Carson St., South Side. 412-381-2447 Hours: Sun.-Thu. 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Prices: $4-9 Liquor: BYOB The Pub Chip Shop is a new venture by the proprietors of Pittsburgh’s hub of British dining, Piper’s Pub. It’s situated in an adjacent storefront, and is dedicated to the street…
The much-maligned grasshopper bounces back at Pittsburgh bars
When Sean Rosenkrans, a bartender at Tender in Lawrenceville, suggested a few weeks ago that I try a grasshopper, my initial reaction was, “You’re joking, right?” But he’d just made one for a big fan of the drink seated nearby: Brian Mendelssohn, principal at Botero Development. “People make fun of you for ordering a grasshopper,”…
A butcher shop on Butler Street, in Lawrenceville, gets new owners
When Butcher on Butler opened in the former Lawrenceville home of Foster’s Meats this February, the most obvious part of the inheritance was the awning, which still advertises the family butcher shop. But while Rob Voigt, a co-owner of the new shop, says the awning will be replaced “eventually,” he plans to hold onto other…
Oculus
It’s kind of an ugly mirror, and that’s reason enough to not drag it home, but tightly wound Kaylie (Karen Gillan) does, and invites her brother Tim (Brenton Thwaites), just out of a mental institution, over to look at it. See, 11 years ago, this mirror was in their dad’s office, and, as we see…
Today I Am Judy Garland
I am dressed plain, wear caps on my teeth and rubberized disks to reshape my nose. I’m Judy in Easter Parade, 1948. I’m not sure if Fred Astaire’s character loves me until the very end of the movie. I’m Live at Carnegie Hall I’m reshaping my eyebrows, lightening my hair, using a lip liner, throwing…
Particle Fever
Mark Levinson’s documentary about the launching of the Large Hadron Collider and its use in searching for the Higgs (or “God”) particle is a lot more fascinating than 90 minutes spent with badly coiffed physicists would have you believe. The LHC is situated in Switzerland, but its development and personnel is a global effort. Particle…
The artist behind Fraley’s Robot Repair gets a full-scale exhibit.
THE SECRET LIFE OF ROBOTS continues through April 27. Space, 812 Liberty Ave., Downtown. 412-325-3723 or spacepittsburgh.org Normally, you wouldn’t bat an eye at the sight of an old man shifting his weight onto a cane as he bends down to pick something up. Or at an exhausted worker who’s fallen asleep on the couch…
Fanfarlo takes book-learning as seriously as music-making
FANFARLO with LILLIES ON MARS. 8 p.m. Sat., April 12. Mr. Small’s Theatre, 400 Lincoln Ave., Millvale. $14. All ages. 412-821-4447 or mrsmalls.com The smooth and semi-psychedelic sound of chamber-pop quintet Fanfarlo might lead one to imagine their tour bus as a rolling cannabis hotbox, with cough-syrup cocktails in the cup holders. But it’s actually…
At Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, installations by Keith Lemley and Meghan Olsen play off one another
PAST PRESENCE and A MIND OF WINTER continue through April 20. Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, 6300 Fifth Ave., Shadyside. 412-361-0873 or pittsburgharts.org Past Presence, by Keith Lemley, and A Mind of Winter, by Meghan Olsen, are two autonomous installations, each artist working individually on his or her own project. But exhibited side-by-side at Pittsburgh…
Danny Brown showcases two personalities on his third album
DANNY BROWN with BODEGA BAMZ, ZELOOPERZ. 7 p.m. Tue., April 15. Altar Bar, 1620 Penn Ave., Strip District. $18-20. All ages. 412-206-9719 or thealtarbar.com Divided by the self-explanatory tracks “Side A (Old)” and “Side B (Dope Song),” Danny Brown’s latest, Old, is a record with a split personality. One half is a collection of harsh…
City Theatre’s Grounded
GROUNDED continues through May 4. City Theatre, 1300 Bingham St., South Side. $35-55. 412-431-2489 or citytheatrecompany.org America just ended the longest war in our history: After 12 years of fighting, the war in Afghanistan is officially over. How many knew that? More to the point, how many even knew it was going on? The sole…
DreamOn Festival brings The Foreign Exchange to Market Square
DREAMON FESTIVAL. Noon – 11 p.m. Fri., April 11; continues noon-11 p.m. Sat., April 12, and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun., April 13. Market Square, Downtown. omicelo.com The summer free-concert season is still a way off, but the folks at Omicelo and Dream Cream Ice Cream are teaming up this weekend to present a three-day outdoor…
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s Don Quixote returns with fresh faces in the lead roles
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre performs DON QUIXOTE 8 p.m. Fri., April 11; 2 and 8 p.m. Sat., April 12; and 2 p.m. Sun., April 13. Benedum Center, 719 Liberty Ave., Downtown. $25.75-96.75. 412-456-6666 or pbt.org Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre closes its 44th season with an updated production of the comedic classic Don Quixote, to be performed with…
Critics’ Picks: April 9 – 15
[HIP HOP] + THU., APRIL 10 There are few rappers more legendary than KRS-One: The Bronx native cofounded Boogie Down Productions in the ’80s, arguably setting the stage for the rise of gangsta rap, then quickly moved from violent imagery to socially conscious and politically radical lyrics. He’s uncompromising on everything from race relations to…
The Unknown Known
The Unknown Known Directed by: Errol Morris Manor. When we lefties recall America’s misbegotten wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, we often rely on a shorthand explanation: George W. Bush, famous for his intellectual disengagement, led us into a quagmire by following his gut. But as Errol Morris’ profile of Donald Rumsfeld reminds us, plenty of…
On the Record with Matt Zeoli of Household Stories
HOUSEHOLD STORIES EP RELEASE with SEA RIGHTS, THE RED WESTERN. 6 p.m. Sat., April 12. Club Café, 56 S. 12th St., South Side. $8. 412-431-4950 or clubcafelive.com Household Stories, based in Greensburg, has made a name for itself with a series of ’90s-alt-rock-style EPs. Guitarist Matt Zeoli spoke with CP about the band’s new No.…
Nymphomaniac, Vol. II
When last we saw the young woman Joe (Stacy Martin), in Vol. I of Lars von Trier’s cinematic double orgasm Nymphomaniac, she’d just had sex with the guy (Shia LaBeouf) to whom she’d lost her virginity years before. The older Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg) vividly recalls the encounter to Seligman (Stellan Skarsgård), and at the end…
Neighborhood Watched: Residents say negative picture of Homewood painted at Miles’ trial is a ‘shame’
When a federal jury issued its verdict in the Jordan Miles trial against three police officers on March 31, some hoped it would provide closure. “The arrest of Jordan Miles was a troubling and divisive event for the entire community,” said U.S. Attorney David Hickton hours after the jury handed down a split verdict. “The…
Brasslands
Every year in a tiny village in Serbia, half a million people gather for an international musical contest between brass bands that play Balkan music. This somewhat shaggy documentary, filmed by a collaborative known as the Meerkat Media Collective, is your ticket to the show. The film tracks three competitors: last year’s winner, who lives…
Unsettled Arguments: Fight over Jordan Miles’ jury award is likely just beginning
The court battle that partially vindicated Jordan Miles’ claim that his civil rights were violated by three Pittsburgh Police officers may be over, but a new legal fight seems likely to emerge over how much of the jury’s $119,016.75 award he will ever see. Under federal rules, experts say, Miles could be on the hook…
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
For me, most of the films based on the superheroes of Marvel Comics are pulpy and cartoonish. The Avengers, Iron Man, Spider-Man and even The X-Men have left me wanting the dark broodiness of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, which showed how a movie based on a comics-based superhero can still be menacing, tense and meaningful.…
After Iraq, the ring holds few terrors for Sammy Vasquez Jr.
Most boxers might be nervous about their first fight on a nationally televised cable program — a bout promoted by former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, no less. But Monessen native Sammy Vasquez Jr. is not most fighters. Sure, he’s slated to appear April 18 on Showtime’s ShoBox, a showcase for up-and-coming fighters. But as far…
Draft Day
Ivan Reitman’s enjoyable comedy takes place over 12 hours during one of America’s more recently minted sporting “events”: the annual NFL college draft. Sonny Weaver (Kevin Costner) is the new general manager of the struggling Cleveland Browns, and he’s under pressure to pick the right prospect — a hot young QB? The son of a…
