I like the storytelling technique of setting up a cliché, then exposing the cliché as a sham. This is a movie takes down a bunch of them: the irredeemable junkie, the heroic schoolteacher, the drug-dealing thug, the poor but bright student, and the list goes on. Mostly the reality exposed is grim, but the film…

Husband and wife performers are always interesting to watch, knowing that we see the public face of a relationship that continues offstage. I had heard of violinist and conductor Pinchas Zukerman, but not his cellist wife Amanda Forsyth. We begin with only Pinchas conducting Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings, a piece whose hushed intensity was…

I think I might have let this one pass as just a reasonably entertaining movie, but it incorporated a few elements that have extra appeal for me. One is the research station on Pike’s Peak where Nikola Tesla conducted genuinely mysterious experiments. The other is a philosophical conundrum I read about in I am a…

This movie has aged pretty well – I think I liked it better this time than when I first watched it over a decade ago. A man with a warm heart and hands that injure himself and those he loves is such a good symbol. Tim Burton puts him to use for some social commentary…

Our friend Pete invited us to this show at the Gothic Theatre in Denver in recognition of his birthday. I’d never listened to Pinback before this. Their dual vocals were the first thing I noticed. One of the two singers often sings in a punchy, staccato way while the other stretches each word out into…