Annual 2012
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05/18/12Movie Review: The Best Exotic Marigold HotelThese great British thespians age like fine wine. Posted at 08:09 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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05/15/12Artpark's musical summer: Rising stars and longtime favesArtpark announces a solid summer lineup. Posted at 01:57 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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05/11/12Movie Review: KeyholeCanadian auteur Guy Maddin's newest black and white creation. Posted at 08:27 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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05/04/12Movie Review: Damsels in DistressWhit Stillman returns with his arrogantly youthful characters. Posted at 08:18 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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05/03/12Spree Theater with Darwin McPherson: A Delicate Balance
Familial dysfunction is currently on full display on Western New York stages. American Repertory Theater of Western New York is wrestling with a particularly aggressive strain in Killer Joe, which closes this weekend. Tracy Letts’ play illustrates what happens when the “trailer trash” Smith family (Scot Kaitanowski, Patrick Cameron, Jessica Wegrzyn, and Stephanie Bax) hire hitman Killer Joe Cooper (played by David C. Mitchell) to eliminate Kaitanowski’s ex-wife for the insurance money. What follows is a whirlwind rush through the seven deadly sins with a side of Kentucky Fried Chicken. Violent in both tone and presentation, Killer Joe is the kind of rough-hewn modern theater in which ART of WNY is beginning to excel.... Posted at 06:52 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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04/27/12Movie Review: Chico & RitaAn animated love story set to the Latin Jazz of the late-1940s. Posted at 09:19 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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04/20/12Movie Review: The Lucky OneNicholas Sparks sees another of his romances filmed for the big screen. Posted at 08:28 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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04/13/12Movie Review: The RaidNon-stop Indonesian action. Posted at 08:34 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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04/09/12BNFF 2012 PreviewThe Buffalo Niagara Film Festival returns this Friday. Posted at 01:20 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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04/06/12Movie Review: American ReunionThe whole gang is back for one more piece. Posted at 08:16 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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04/05/12Spree Theater with Darwin McPherson: Alternative Dimensions
Creative worlds collide as the Buffalo State College Dance Program presents Alternative Dimensions: A Multi-Sensory Experience in which visual art and food/wine pairings are incorporated into unique expressions of dance. Five choreographers, all BSC Theater Department faculty members, start with a visual artist’s work and use it to launch the creation of an experimental dance piece. Before the dance concert begins, a special event, Docents and Delicacies–a preshow session for the senses, will allow a limited number of audience members to have a docent led introduction to the work and a food/wine pairing. “Participants will view the artwork used as inspiration and hear an explanation of the artists’ process and how it... Posted at 04:00 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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03/30/12Movie Review: Wrath of the TitansA sequel that's better than the original. Posted at 08:34 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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03/27/12Spree Music with E. Lovria: Allan Holdsworth
Guitar legend Allan Holdsworth will be performing at the Tralf Music Hall on Wednesday, March 28. For those who desire to be in the presence of absolute guitar mastery, prepare to be shocked and awed by this musician whose guitar skills are simply impeccable.
Regarded by his peers and fans as one of the top guitar players of our time, Holdsworth has received accolades throughout his career without the use of the big label corporate music machine. This has allowed him creative control, ultimately producing music that transcends the rock and jazz genres. Influenced by the music of Eric Clapton, Django Reinhardt, John Coltrane, and Charlie Christian, Holdsworth began his career in his native England, gaining... Posted at 05:00 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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03/25/12A musician first—Bell with BPOBell returns; so does Valdes. Posted at 07:55 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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03/23/12Movie Review: We Need to Talk About KevinThe psychological turmoil of a mother digging into her past to understand how her son became a monster. Posted at 09:36 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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03/22/12Spree Theater Review with Darwin McPherson: Secrets of the Trade
One of the most disappointing things about the NBC drama Smash, which purports to tell the behind-the-scenes story of the development of a Broadway musical, is that it quickly resorted to cheap soap opera clichés and characters to illustrate its complex world. As those of us who work even on the fringes of the theater know, there are all types of characters in it, but very few of them are as petty and small-minded as those on that televised representation. That’s why I really enjoyed Secrets of the Trade, now playing at Buffalo United Artists. Though Jonathan Tolins’ script is supposed to be a comedy (and there are indeed many witty moments within), it is a very dramatic presentation of “life in the theater” from the... Posted at 06:57 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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03/16/12Movie Review: 21 Jump StreetJonah Hill transforms the 80s police drama to a big screen comedy. Posted at 09:05 AM | Permalink | Comments: 2 |
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03/13/12March Madness—with booksI'm pulling for The Namesake over The Help. Posted at 11:54 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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03/09/12Movie Review: Take Me HomeA "Parenthood" star's directorial debut comes to Amherst. Posted at 08:49 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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03/09/12Spree Theater Review with Darwin McPherson: Time Stands Still
When Mandy, one of the “lesser” characters in Donald Margulies’ Time Stands Still, questions why nature documentarians don’t help a lost baby elephant reunite with its mother (known by them to be a short distance away), she unveils the painful paradox that is the crux of the new play now playing at the Kavinoky. She is told that baby elephants die in the wild all the time, and that the filmmakers are only doing their job. Their job, of course, is to document what happens in nature, not change the course of it through their intervention. That philosophy also drives main characters James, a journalist who has seen and experienced too much on the battlefield, and Sarah, his photographer lover who, at the beginning of the play, has just... Posted at 01:00 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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03/02/12Movie Review: The LoraxHe speaks for the trees. Posted at 08:35 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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02/26/12BPO Joins Mark O’Connor in groundbreaking "Improvised Violin Concerto"
Since World War II, symphony halls have rarely been the settings for important new American music and most orchestras have survived as musical museums rather than showcases for new art. Much to its credit, the Buffalo Philharmonic has resisted this trend; indeed it was once an important outpost of the avant-garde, and under JoAnn Falletta it has taken every opportunity to feature contemporary music. Buffalo was rewarded by this sense of mission Saturday night when it hosted one of the first performances of Mark O’Connor’s Improvised Violin Concerto.
Now in his fifties, Mark O’Connor is one of America’s great child prodigies. Although he has chosen the violin as his musical voice, in his youth he performed professionally on the Posted at 06:16 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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02/24/12Movie Review: Act of ValorThe Seals may not know how to act, but they definitely have heart. Posted at 05:26 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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02/24/12Spree Theater with Darwin McPherson: Come hear the music playLife is a cabaret at Buffalo United Artists Posted at 04:00 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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02/23/12Spree picks the winners: Best PictureCan anything beat The Artist? Posted at 05:22 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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02/23/12Spree Music with E. Lovria: Yellow Ostrich
Once again Buffalo, here’s your chance to indulge your inner music snob as the up and coming music group Yellow Ostrich is coming to Mohawk Place on Sunday, March 4 in support of next album, Strange Land, set to release on March 6. Currently based of New York, Yellow Ostrich immediately reminds me of another New York based band, The Strokes, as they seem to blend a lo-fi 90s alt-rock vibe with subtle sounds of the 50s sound to create a majority of their songs. Yet, just when I thought I figured them out, the band threw a symphony of horns at me and then, the next moment, harmonious whimsy and worldly percussion evolved and I completely lost myself in it. At that moment, I decided the band’s sound... Posted at 04:00 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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02/22/12Spree picks the winners: Best Writing and DirectingInterestingly, two out of five best director nominees are virtually guaranteed to not show up. Posted at 10:54 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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02/21/12Spree picks the winners: Best ActorIt's a two-man race ... or is it? Posted at 05:33 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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02/20/12Spree picks the winners: Best ActressIt's Glenn vs. Viola vs. Meryl. Posted at 05:39 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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02/17/12Spree picks the winners: Best Supporting ActorBet on Christopher Plummer. Posted at 05:32 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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02/16/12Spree picks the winners: Best Supporting ActressOur trio agrees—Octavia Spencer is a sure thing. Posted at 05:13 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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02/15/12It's submission time for Echo Art FairArtists have a March 16 deadline. Posted at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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02/12/12BPO performs Strauss; guest pianist takes on Tchaikovsky
Buffalo was cold, snowy, and busy Friday night. At water’s edge the Sabres battled the Lightning (you can’t win if you don’t score goals) and Winterfest saw families playing in the shadow of City Hall. As for me, I was at a crowded Kleinhans Music Hall for the Buffalo Philharmonic’s performance of two Richard Strauss pieces for orchestra followed by guest pianist Barry Douglas performing Tchaikovsky’s famous Piano Concerto #1. The concert began with Symphonic Fragments from Strauss’s Die Liebe der Danae, an opera composed late in his life while living in Berlin during the death throes of the Nazi regime. As if in defiance of the monumental evil in his midst, Danae is romantic (small “r”),... Posted at 08:30 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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02/10/12Movie Review: ShameMcQueen and Fassbender reunite in this tale of sexual excess. Posted at 05:38 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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02/10/12Spree Theater with Darwin McPherson: Wonder of the WorldInside the new play from Buffalo Laboratory Theatre Productions Posted at 04:00 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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02/03/12Spree Music with E. Lovira: Miss Tess and the Bon Ton Parade
The delightfully charming and infectious Miss Tess and the Bon Ton Parade are coming to The Sportmans Tavern on Sunday, February 12 to showcase their rich blend of Americana, jazz, and country in support of their recent live album release, Live Across the Mason Dixon Line. Miss Tess and the Bon Ton Parade’s sophisticated style is a fresh take on a genre of music which I tend to associate with my father. While it’s may not be something you’d find on my normal play list, the catchy licks and smooth vocals make it almost impossible to avoid snapping your fingers or tapping your foot to the beat. Backing Miss Tess in the “Bon Ton Parade” are Matt Meyer (drums), Will Graefe (guitar) and Zach... Posted at 03:00 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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02/02/12UPDATED: New response from the BCP boardStill looking for answers Posted at 09:15 AM | Permalink | Comments: 16 |
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01/27/12Movie Review: Albert NobbsGlenn Close fearlessly earns her Oscar nomination. Posted at 05:07 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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01/26/12How "True West" was WonKaleidoscope Theatre Productions takes on "True West" Posted at 05:00 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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01/24/12Spree's Top 10 Films of 2011Spree lists its favorite films from the past year—and corrects the Academy. Posted at 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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01/19/12A Change of HabitO’Connell and Company does "Nunsense A-Men" Posted at 05:00 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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01/13/12Movie Review: Joyful NoiseNot even a cast of Broadway singers can save Joyful Noise from being static. Posted at 05:50 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
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01/11/12Spree Music with J. DiDomizio: The Lemonheads
The way I stumbled across The Lemonheads, was not unlike the process with which most of my musical discoveries occur. It was due to another band. In this case it was the Barenaked Ladies. While listening to the BNL’s song “Jane” I came across a reference to The Lemonhead’s lead singer Evan Dando and former bandmate Juliana Hatfield’s rumored intimate relationship. So off I went, tracking down any information I could about them and their band. How I had managed to avoid the heavy press that Dando, Hatfield, and the band was receiving is a mystery, considering the overexposure began with 1992’s now classic It’s a Shame about Ray and continued with 1993’s follow-up Come on Feel the Lemonheads. As it turns out, I... Posted at 05:05 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0 |
