Local film: The Year in Review
A year that opens with the shutdown of the Carnegie Museum of Art’s indispensable Film and Video Department has a lot to answer for. Last January, amidst job cutbacks, the Carnegie pulled the plug on an internationally respected, quarter-century-old program it deemed inessential to its mission. Why the past century’s most important art form…
The Predictions Issue
Cover Illustration: MARK ZINGARELLI You know who Jayson Blair is, so of course you know it’s been a humbling year for print journalists. Most of them, anyhow. Here in City Paper’s state-of-the-art newsroom, we remain confident that we’re smarter, more insightful and more conscientious than you are. That’s why our commitment to journalism remains unwavering…
Bonding Process
This was the kind of year that makes you yearn for the good old days. Like, say, the mid-1980s. Sure, our sports teams sucked back then…about as much as they do now. And yeah, there was that whole “collapse of the steel industry” thing. But in one respect, those days look pretty good today.…
Eleven — no, 19! — for ’03
With all the flowers there are to smell, all the sunsets to watch, all the sylvan fields to frolic through — naked, and not alone (lover preferred, faithful dog acceptable) — who has time to watch a bunch of movies? Not me! This year I’ve spent too many days and nights trying to…
Iron & Wine
The state of today’s world being what it is, it’s perhaps not altogether surprising that sorrowful, acoustic finger-picking and barely-there vocals are so popular in alternative music circles these days. Sub Pop, in particular, has been extremely proficient in documenting this newest generation of Americana musicians who seem particularly adept at showcasing their post-punk roots.…
Sun Kil Moon
It’s always interesting to see what happens when a well-regarded musician breaks with his band and goes solo. Who can forget the disaster that was Slash’s Snakepit, for instance? But if going it alone is a gamble, singer Mark Kozelek — a road-weary veteran of the San Francisco “sadcore” scene — is just plain…
Vikter Duplaix
Vikter Duplaix is the best thing to happen to the booty call since the cell phone; he’s taken the computer’s sexual potential out of the dark ages of online porn and into actual emotionally engaged, two-person high-tech l-l-lovin’. The Japanese, Scandinavian and German nu-tech-jazz producers and deejays he works with hear Vikter Duplaix’s voice “uhm”-ing…
Strained Relations
Some members of the Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations can’t seem to relate to each other anymore. The 14-member appointed commission, whose job it is to resolve discrimination complaints in employment, housing and public accommodations, has been involved in internal disputes for months, to the point where one commissioner has recently resigned and another…
Bush League
“Bench Marks.” Notwithstanding a recent court ruling overturning Bush hits on the Clean Air Act, April Reese reports in E Magazine (January/February 2004) that environmental groups see a crisis looming in the judiciary: About 50 federal-bench nominations are on tap for consideration by the Senate, and Bush has a record of nominees who value property…
Heading South?
East Carson Street, with its once record-holding stretch of bars and clubs and its seemingly constant influx of partiers and pub-crawlers, might rightfully be assumed a hub of music-related nightlife to Pittsburgh. After all, there aren’t too many places in town where a music venue can count on walk-in traffic on the weekends, nonetheless on…
Bus (Un)stop
The big transit scare of 2003 — which threatened to end bus and trolley service after 9 p.m. and on Sundays, among other service cuts — is finally over. The state budget that passed last week — six months overdue — restores the 6 percent state funding cut to Pennsylvania’s mass transit agencies, including Allegheny…
Who was the greatest writer in the history of Pittsburgh?
That would have to be my boss, Andy Newman. I know, I know. But I’m still holding out hope for a holiday bonus. Plus, the guy owes me $10, so if I put in a good word with his boss, I stand a better chance of seeing that money back some day. Anyway,…
Screening Process
1. Geralyn Huxley Associate Curator of Film and Video, The Andy Warhol Museum American Splendor (above) 03, Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini). A great screen bio of groundbreaking comic artist Harvey Pekar. The Brown Bunny (USA, 2003, Vincent Gallo). A lingering camera and long…
