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FINNFEST: CELEBRATING FINLAND’S CULTURE OF INNOVATION

THEATER: SEND IN THE CLOWNS: A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC AT THE IRISH CLASSICAL

CENTERFOLD: SMOKE SIGNALS: NEW WORK BY ELIZABETH GEMPERLEIN

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Brown’s diversity pledge, the latest on medical marijuana.

ART: Louis Vastola’s paintings at Art Dialogue Gallery.

Our favorite spots near Kleinhans, home of FinnFest.

THE GRUMPY GHEY: Let’s face it: Madonna’s music is just not that good anymore.

SPOTLIGHT: Sonny Baker has a new record with a new band. But he’s still one singular dude.

ON THE COVER BILL STEWART’s exhibit of new work, entitled Trickster, runs through November 14 at Indigo Art (47 Allen Street). It opens Friday, November 9 with a reception, 6-9pm.

FILM: Pan, Coming Home, The Yes Men Are Revolting.

THE PUBLIC STAFF EDITOR-IN-CHIEF GEOFF KELLY MUSIC EDITOR CORY PERLA MANAGING EDITOR AARON LOWINGER FILM EDITOR M. FAUST ASSISTING ART EDITOR BECKY MODA EDITOR-AT-LARGE BRUCE JACKSON CONTRIBUTING EDITORS ENVIRONMENT JAY BURNEY THEATER ANTHONY CHASE POLITICS ALLAN UTHMAN

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ALAN BEDENKO, KEITH BUCKLEY, BRUCE FISHER, THOMAS DOONEY, JACK FORAN, MICHAEL I. NIMAN, NANCY J. PARISI, GEORGE SAX, CHRISTOPHER JOHN TREACY

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THE PUBLIC RECORD:

DIVERSITY HIRING, MEDICAL MARIJUANA UPDATE BY AARON LOWINGER & BY JUSTIN SONDEL BROWN SIGNS DIVERSITY PLEDGE, ADDRESSES SHORTFALL AT SOLAR CITY:

Mayor Byron Brown gathered with leadership from the social justice coalition Open Buffalo Monday to formally sign the group’s Opportunity Pledge, a commitment to expanding diversity and inclusiveness throughout Buffalo. The pact, which has been signed by nearly 3,200 individuals and more than 120 organizations, signifies a commitment to expanding diversity in institutions of power such as businesses and civic organizations. Brown, who noted that approximately $5.5 billion worth of development has come to the city since 2012, said it is important to make sure that people of all backgrounds are benefitting from the uptick in economic activity. “When you think of all of those new businesses, all of those new jobs being created, if all of that reflected the diversity of this community, think how much stronger Buffalo and Western New York would be,” he said. Despite recent economic development in the city and an unemployment rate the lowest it has been in a decade, Buffalo continues to rank among the poorest in the nation. Franchelle Hart, the executive director of Open Buffalo, said systemic racism and sexism has marginalized minority groups by denying them paths to prosperity and power. “We will never rid ourselves of prejudice,” Hart said. “But, we can remove systemic racism from institutions here in Buffalo, and that’s our aim.” Part of Open Buffalo’s strategy is to push for community benefit agreements on major development projects that use public money. The diversity hiring goals in those agreements, however, are not quotas and are unenforceable, with developers often falling short of the mark. Last week, Investigative Post reported that diversity hiring numbers at the Solar City Riverbend manufacturing plant were quietly lowered from 25 percent to 15 percent, and that contractor LP Ciminelli has failed to meet even that reduced goal. Brown held a press conference at Solar City later in the day, surrounded by minority employees on the site, to release the diversity hiring numbers for July. Those numbers showed the total for diversity hiring in that month to be 18 percent and the total for the project to date to be 16 percent— exceeding the amended goal, but far below the original goal. —JUSTIN SONDEL BUFFALO GROUPS POKE HOLES IN STATE’S MEDICAL CANNABIS PROGRAM: For those

who are anxiously awaiting a life-changing medicine, something smells funny with the

state’s attempted roll-out of its medical marijuana (MMJ) program scheduled for January 2016. With the deadline three months away, advocates worry that the five companies who won state approval in July have not begun growing the plant. Add to that, the ongoing concerns of the program’s ill-conceived dispensary location plan and its very narrow application limited only ten diagnoses. Last week, the Buffalo Marijuana Movement scored a victory in their months-long activism in City Hall as the Common Council passed a resolution urging the state to consider adding dispensaries expediting the process so there are no delays. “With more than fifty six thousand square miles in New York State, we only have twenty dispensaries available,” the resolution reads. “This means that many patients and/or their caregivers may have to travel several hours to access the supply. City of Buffalo residents that rely on public transportation will find accessibility quite challenging.” Two applicants that won the MMJ derby have plans for Western New York: Bloomfield Industries owns a lease at 52 South Union Road in Williamsville, while PharmaCannis has designs on 25 Northpointe Parkway in northern Amherst. MMJ patients among the roughly 1.3 million people of the eight counties of Western New York who don’t live in Amherst will have to travel to the one town in the region that will host both the local dispensaries. Using public transportation, the South Union Road location will be a 45-minute trip from downtown Buffalo, whereas the Northpointe location is a 75-minute haul. Other parts of the state will have similar issues; incredibly, no dispensaries are slated to open in Brooklyn or Staten Island. When reached by phone and asked if they were growing marijuana yet, Bloomfield’s chief operating officer, Collette Bellefleur, answered that they were “on target” for an early January opening. Bellefleur added that in order to be in compliance with state guidelines, they are shooting to open in the first week of January. PharmaCannis has not yet responded to attempts for contact. Marijuana takes about three months to grow to full term, and the state is requiring an extra step in the conversion of the drug into pill form. This means that patients and their caregivers may have to wait that much longer to access treatment. Speaking out on the issue and anxiously monitoring the state’s progress very closely is the pharmacy director of a local hospital, Daniel Ryszka. Ryszka has two children with epilepsy, one who suffered a grand mal seizure the morning he spoke by phone with The Public. Both of his affected children “seize daily” and have used com-

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE BUFFALO HISTORY MUSEUM.

LOOKING BACKWARD: MAIN & SOUTH DIVISION, 1938 Shelton Square was Buffalo’s miniature Piccadilly Circus or Times Square. It was one of three public squares, alongside Niagara and Lafayette squares, set aside by Joseph Ellicott in his 1804 plan for Buffalo—and is the only one to have been lost. This photograph, taken by Wilbur H. Porterfield in 1938, looks north along Main Street from Shelton Square and South Division Street. Shelton Square is shown here at perhaps its development apex—the center of the region’s streetcar network and by far its busiest shopping district. In 1938, more than 64 retail establishments were in operation on Main Street in only the two blocks between South Division Street and Lafayette Square. Signs are visible for the United Cigar Store, Singer’s Cut Rate Drugs, Mathias Cigars, Child’s Restaurant, Posmantur’s Clothing, Harvey & Carey Drugs, and E-Z Credit Clothing, among others. Visible at right, amongst a jumble of projecting signs, is the marquee for the Palace Theatre, 327 Main Street, built in 1915 and, after 1927, operated by Dewey Michaels as Buffalo’s leading burlesque house. Visible at left, a billboard advertises a 1938 Chevrolet—”You’ll be ahead with a Chevrolet, the car that is complete.” Few buildings in this photograph remain standing today. Even Shelton Square itself has been destroyed, replaced by a widened Church Street and the footprint of Main Place Tower. The west side of Main Street between Shelton Square and the Liberty Building was demolished in 1965 to make way for the Main Place Renewal Project, what is now recognized as a desperate and failed attempt to keep downtown competitive with suburban shopping strips. The east side of Main Street between North and South Division Streets was razed in 1967 for the Church Street Extension Mall, an eight-lane arterial intended to connect the I-190 to a never-built Elm-Oak Expressway. Downtown urban renewal “succeeded” in bringing order to the city center, and most major shopping destinations are now located only in the suburbs. -THE PUBLIC STAFF

binations of 25 conventional drugs with little relief. “The side effects are horrible,” he explained, “it slows their brain down.” Ryszka stated he has been studying marijuana’s effect on epilepsy for three years and while “there’s no guarantee it will work,” it remains “a viable option when you have conventional medicine that doesn’t work.” And the side effects of marijuana are far gentler than what he’s seen his children suffer through. He and his family are anxious to begin treatment and offer his children the chance of a better life. “States shouldn’t dictate medical care. Let the medical folks determine that,” he says. Advocates in New York City are also pushing that city’s council to allow a Compassionate Care Act [the New York bill that established the program] carve-out. Last month, the Village Voice reported that “the group’s proposed legislation establishes a ‘medical marihuana users’ bill of rights’” and

asks the City Council to support the creation of a “users cooperative.” The list of 10 ailments that qualify for a prescription leave out post-traumatic stress, glaucoma, and Alzheimer’s, making it one of the most narrow medical cannabis laws in the country. People who have a need for the drug in many cases will be tempted to acquire it the old-fashioned way, which will remain a criminal violation. Many are placing hope in the power given to the commissioner of the state’s Department of Health, which, according to the Compassionate Care Act, has the sole power both to grant additional dispensaries and to add to the list of eligible infirmities. Serving at the pleasure of the governor, the commissioner, Dr. Howard Zucker, may very soon be thrust into the spotlight as the political gatekeeper of what people like Daniel Ryszka clearly see as a quality-of-life medical isP sue. —AARON LOWINGER

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“ GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorina.

THE GOP VS. PLANNED PARENTHOOD Government shutdown drama about medical research, not abortion BY MICHAEL I. NIMAN THE PLANNED PARENTHOOD “controversy” that had congressional Republicans almost shutting the federal government again is not, despite media framing, a fight over abortion. If you allow the facts to interfere with a lively drama, it becomes clear that this is a Republican battle against fetal tissue research—plain and simple.

Planned Parenthood does not use federal funds to pay for performing abortions. This is the law. Planned Parenthood’s compliance is verifiable by financial audits. Despite Republican claims on the floor of the US Senate that 90 percent of what Planned Parenthood does is provide abortions, that number is actually closer to three percent. Slightly more than a third of their patients come in for treatment of sexually transmitted diseases and infections. Another 35 percent or so come for contraceptive services. Sixteen percent receive cancer screening and preventative care, and another 10 percent are there for routine gynecological treatment. The majority of these women live near or below the poverty line. The overwhelming majority of Planned Parenthood’s federal funding comes in the form of state and federal Medicaid fee-forservice reimbursement, paying for services rendered to impoverished Medicaid recipients. This same funding pool, rather than being an earmark for Planned Parenthood, pays for all medical services for Medicaid patients visiting a participating provider. Seventeen states provide state money to pay for abortion services rendered to Medicaid recipients by any abortion provider. Thirty-seven states prohibit poor women from receiving abortions under Medicaid. None of the laws governing how Medicaid funds can be spent are specific to Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood is the largest provider of sexual healthcare to women in the country. As such they are highly visible. Despite the fact that abortion services make up a miniscule fraction of their traffic, their 50-state footprint and their ability through size to resist anti-abortion terror make them a target of the anti-abortion movement. The current controversy surrounds Republican claims that Planned Parenthood sells and profits from fetal tissue from abortions—this based on a highly edited undercover sting video. When the video is viewed in its entirety, however, it discredits the doctored version, instead showing Deborah Nucatola, Planned Parenthood’s senior director of medical services, explaining that the organization does not sell tissue for profit. What Nucatola does say is that abortion provid-

ers want to accommodate “patients who want to donate their tissue” for medical research. Fetal tissue for research comes from miscarriages and some abortions and is classified as medical waste. Research facilities usually reimburse providers for costs involved in handling and preserving the tissue. Nucatola answers questions about these costs, explaining that individual clinics set these fees. The door opened for anti-abortion propagandists when Nucatola casually guesstimated that these costs might be $30-$100.

The Bills are in season, the Sabres begin their season this week, so this episode of A Public Conversation turns to sports. I chat with Dan Bryndle of Win Now Analytics. We focus mostly on hockey with a little bit of football and how to be a hero to your grandson.

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The tissue is primarily used in the testing and development of vaccines for diseases ranging from the flu to hepatitis. Researchers also use the material for research into diseases ranging from Down syndrome to Alzheimer’s. The use of vaccines derived from such research is widespread, with almost no noticeable protest movement targeting popular products, such as flu vaccines. Likewise, the public generally supports research into treating diseases such as Alzheimer’s, including research using fetal tissue. This is not surprising, considering that a plurality of the population also supports abortion rights.

Things heated up further for Planned Parenthood, however, during last month’s Republican presidential debate, with candidates once again breathing life into the discredited allegations. Republican presidential contender Carly Fiorina upped the ante, citing a related video from the same organization that produced the discredited Nucatola video. This video, she claimed, showed an aborted fetus with its “heart beating, its legs kicking, while someone says we have to keep it alive to harvest its brain.” Though it sounds like a cut from a zombie or cannibal horror film, the video in question does not actually show such a scene, instead featuring images of what appears to be the remains of a miscarriage. Also, according to Time magazine, the videographer does not claim that the images in his video “had anything to do with Planned Parenthood.”

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Despite what should be embarrassment not just for the punked Fiorina but for everyone at the GOP debate who let her slide, the Planned Parenthood body-part-snatching and -selling story is still trending among Republicans, who seem to be in a perpetual search for a reason du jour to shut the government and humiliate the nation.

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CULTURE FINNFEST

FINNFEST 2015 October 9-13, Start to Finnish: 5 Days of celebrating and learning from Finland’s culture of innovation BY THE PUBLIC STAFF PERHAPS YOU’VE HEARD THAT FINNFEST, an annual celebration of all things Finnish and

Finnish American, comes to Buffalo this weekend. And perhaps, like many others, you have asked yourself: Why Finland? Why Buffalo? Well, for a start, consider that it is the 75th anniversary of Kleinhans Music Hall, designed by the Finnish father-and-son team of Eliel and Eero Saarinen. And that it is the 150th anniversary of the birth of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. That presents a rare opportunity: to hear the Buffalo Philharmonic play Sibelius in a Saarinen-designed concert hall. Consider, too, that the director of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Janne Siren, is a Finn. Who better to present a retrospective of Finnish video artist Eija-Liisa Ahtila, and to organize an installation at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport of a work by fellow Finn Kaarina Kaikkonen?

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Then consider the variety of other institutions taking part in FinnFest: the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, Burchfield Penney Art Center, Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy, Road Less Traveled Productions, Just Buffalo Literary Center, National Statler Center/Olmsted Center for Sight, First Presbyterian Church, Jewish Federation of Buffalo, and Episcopal Diocese of WNY. All are producing or hosting programs that explore and celebrate Finnish culture and history, with an eye on learning from it. What makes the Finnish educational system among the best in the world? Why is Finland’s government consistently ranked among the least corrupt? How has such a small country, with so few natural resources, established so high a quality of life and so egalitarian a society? What can a region like ours, facing both challenges and opportunitiesMESSAGE to redefineTO ourselves, learn from the reADVERTISER markable rise of modern Finland? Thank you for advertising with THE

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OCT 9 - 11 / CHECK WEB FOR TIMES Please your adthe andvenues You’ll find your answers over five days of FinnFest.PUBLIC. Kleinhans is thereview epicenter, but any near errors. The original layout and activities span the region. (But check our map check of coolfor places Kleinhans on page 22) KLEINHANS MUSIC HALL havefor been followed as closely 3 SYMPHONY CIR / BUFFALO Learn more at finnfestusa.org—and keep an eye oninstructions dailypublic.com FinnFest highlights.

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IF YOU APPROVE ERRORS WHICH ARE ON THIS PROOF, THE PUBLIC CANNOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE. PLEASE EXAMINE THE AD The high and low of Finnish culture in one unique performance THOROUGHLY EVEN IF THE AD IS A PICK-UP. THIS PROOF MAY ONLY BE USED FOR BY CHRISTINA PUBLICATION SAARINENIN THE PUBLIC. KLEINHANS MUSIC HALL will become part of an international collaboration exploring high and low culture, immigration, and national identity when Finnish performance artist Pia Lindman takes the stage on Sunday, October 11, with Buffalo’s Wooden Cities contemporary chamber music ensemble.

In A Kalevala Duo: Playing Bones, a new performance piece produced by Claire Schneider of CS1 Curatorial Projects, Lindman invites the audience onto the Kleinhans stage to witness the practice of Kalevala bone-setting, an ancient Finnish healing art. Healing spells were traditionally sung while treating a patient, adding a musical element to the hands-on therapy. The composers of Wooden Cities are among the very few Americans who have experienced this ancient practice, and they’ve drawn on tradition and their own experience in composing new music for the performance. Lindman’s work has often examined social interactions in specific architectural settings, such as her saunas built for naked bathing by museum goers at MoMA’s PS1 and on MIT’s campus, as well as her video portraits of Amer-

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ican sports arenas and of the temporary viewing platform constructed at the World Trade Center site after 9/11. At Kleinhans, Lindman will work in a space with Finnish roots and significance for both Finnish culture and American architecture. The celebrated music hall was designed by the father and son team of Eliel and Eero Saarinen, and is perhaps the most significant of their joint projects. Eliel is known in Finland for his iconic Art Nouveau and national romantic buildings of the early 20th century, which contributed to the construction of a Finnish national identity and ultimately independence for the small country. When Eero was thirteen, the family immigrated to the United States; he later attended Yale and became known for his American neofuturist designs, including the St. Louis Gateway Arch. He became a naturalized US citizen in 1940, the same year that Kleinhans was completed. In bringing the ancient techniques of Kalevala bone-setting to the stage, Lindman digs much deeper into the roots of Finnish identity and gives oral tradition and common peoples’ cultural practice an opportunity to stand alongside architectural giants. The Kalevala is the Finnish national epic, constructed out of fragments of oral poetry collected in the early 1800s, and containing a wealth of folk knowledge. While the compiled and edited literary Kalevala is central in Finnish culture to this day, not all aspects of the traditional culture it represents have been retained and treasured – and bone-setting is a practice that was nearly forgotten. A Kalevala Duo: Playing Bones is a fascinating opportunity to experience the high and low of Finnish culture in one unique performance. A Kalevala Duo, Playing Bones takes place Sunday, October 11 from 6-7pm. The audience will sit on the Kleinhans (3 Symphony Circle) main stage with the performers. Tickets are $15 and can be brought through CS1 Projects here. Christina Saarinen is a native Buffalonian with a degree in Finnish language and culture from the University of Helsinki. She is a translator and importer of Finnish books at backhomebooks.net. P

AT DAILYPUBLIC.COM: JANA EISENBERG INTERVIEWS SIMON I. LIVSON, THE 33-YEAR-OLD CHIEF RABBI OF FINLAND, WHO SPEAKS AT ST. PAUL’S EPISCOPAL CATHEDRAL ON SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11.

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Pouring the Heat by Louis Vastola.

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Vastola at Art Dialogue Gallery BY JACK FORAN

IF YOU APPROVE ERRORS WHICH ARE ON THIS PROOF, THE PUBLIC CANNOT BE A SCORE OR SO of area artist Louis HELD RESPONSIBLE. PLEASE EXAMINE THEVastola’s AD industrial scene watercolor paintings and India THOROUGHLY EVEN IF THE AD IS A PICK-UP. ink drawings are currently on display at Art DiTHIS PROOF MAY ONLY BE USED FORfrom the early alogue Gallery. The works date PUBLICATION IN THE PUBLIC. 1960s to early 1970s. One of the watercolors is a view across a mile or so of swamp terrain of a panorama array of Lackawanna Bethlehem facilities under a smoke-laden sky tinted orange to blue-gray in the rich mix of air pollutants and light of the setting sun. A rather romanticized view of the industrial complex—literally distanced by the foreground marshland—in an impressionist artistic mode more usually associated with bucolic scenes. A beautiful work, but not one of the best works on show, which are the India ink dense dark sketch and scribble depictions of plant activities and process areas, often amid torrent clouds of dark smoke and steam, evoking the splendor and danger of the work and industrial milieu. There are two sorts of romanticism (at least). A recollected in tranquility sort. Distanced, that is. And the romanticism of the thing itself. Undistanced. The adventure. The excitement. The Joseph Conrad sort of romanticism. Man against typhoon. The futile voyage around Africa and headed east, when it turns out the cargo in the hold is on fire. The India ink drawings feature the Joseph Conrad sort of romanticism. About as close as you can get to the thing itself in a pictorial representation. A drawing from 1960 shows a medley of conveyor apparatus and smokestacks just beyond a fence of some sort across the forefront of the picture, parallel to the picture baseline. One from 1972 shows an outdoor area of what might be slag heaps and junk discarded items or in ad hoc storage for maybe years or decades. A number of what look like old railroad car wheels. Some railroad track and waterway snaking through the picture. Another drawing from 1972 looks down from an elevated walkway into a production process black cloud outer sphere around inner sphere white cloud. A frequent pictorial organizational strategy is a horizontal platform of some sort across the bottom front of the picture, a viewpoint ground to stand on for artist and audience alike, and rationalizing element versus the confused jumble of mechanism and process atmospherics in the picture main subject area just beyond. A work from 1961 shows part of a lake freighter across the picture forefront, a multi-arched 8

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Untitled sketch by Louis Vastola.

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bridge in the background, some industrial mechanism on a small land area adjacent to the bridge, and dark clouds—weather clouds this time rather than industrial emissions clouds— overhead. One from 1977 shows a veritable explosion of smoke and steam from a Hanna Furnace coke-making operation. The watercolors by and large lack the fierce immediacy of the India ink black and whites. They rather illustrate than directly communicate the industrial scene. One meant to illustrate process—actual or imminent pour from a gargantuan conveyor bucket of fresh-from-furnace molten metal—presents a broader visual field—and hence more distanced view—than typical in the India ink drawings. And dollop random spill from the pour bucket fireworks looking more decorative than dangerous. All in all, more in the recollected in tranquility mode. The artist, who died in 1988, was primarily a landscape painter in oils, acrylics, and watercolors. He seems to have made the industrial drawings and paintings as somewhat of an artistic interest sideline. Some of his best work, however. The industrial works display continues through P November 13.

IN GALLERIES NOW ARTS

IN GALLERIES NOW BY FRANCES BOOTS = ART OPENING 1045 Elmwood Gallery for the Arts (1045 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, 14222, 716-228-1855, photographics2.com/ store/welcome-to-our-studio-1045-gallery-store): Art Tales, mixed media show by Nicole Catalano-Ritchey. On view through Oct 31. Thu & Fri 1-5pm, Sat 11-4pm. Albright-Knox Art Gallery (1285 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, New York 14222, 882-8700, albrightknox.org): Screen Play: Life in an Animated World, on view through Sept 13; Shake the Elbow: Dan Colen on view through Oct 18; Artist to Artist, on view through Nov 8. Tue-Sun 10am-5pm, open late First Fridays until 10pm. Art Dialogue Gallery (5 Linwood Ave., Buffalo, 14209, 716885-2251): Industrial Studies and Watercolors, inks and watercolors by Louis Vastola. On display through November 13. Tue-Fri 11am-5pm, Sat 11am-3pm. Artists Group Gallery (Western New York Artists Group) (1 Linwood Ave, Buffalo, 14209, 716-885-2251, wnyag.com): 24th Annual Juried Regional Artists Exhibition. Opening Reception: Fri Oct 9, 7:30-9pm. On view through Fri Nov 13. Wed & Thu 11-5pm, Fri 11-4pm, Sat 11-2pm. Benjaman Gallery (419 Elmwood Ave. Buffalo, 14222, thebenjamangallery.com): Currently on view, works by: Charles Burchfield, George Renouard & Tony Sisti. ThuSat 11am-5pm. Betty’s Restaurant (370 Virginia Street, Buffalo, 14201, 362-0633, bettysbuffalo.com): Currently on view: Chicken Little, drawings by Matt Duquette. Big Orbit (30d Essex Street, Buffalo, 14222, cepagallery.org/about-big-orbit): Community Supported Art, CSA group exhibition with work by Joel Brenden, Kyle Butler, Marshall Scheuttle, Fotini Galanes, Megan Metté Anne Muntges, Stacey Robinson, virocode. FriSun 12-6pm. Box Gallery (667 Main St., Buffalo, 14203): Grounded, work by Bruce Bitmead and Karen Buchner. MonFri 5-8pm. BT&C Gallery (1250 Niagara Street, Buffalo, 14213, 6046183, btandcgallery.com): CHASM, works by Joe Bochynski, John E. Drummer & Pam Glick. Fri 12-5pm or by appointment. ¡Buen Vivir! (148 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, 14201 buenvivirgallery.org): The End of the Game–The Last Word from Paradise Revisited; photos by Orin Langelle. Opening reception Fri Oct 9, 6-9 pm. Tue-Fri 1-4pm, Fri 6-8pm, Sat 1-3 pm. Buffalo Arts Studio (Tri Main Building 5th Floor, 2496 Main Street, Buffalo, 14214, 833-4450, buffaloartsstudio.org): Anima Mundi, sculptures by Marissa Lehner; Fool’s Paradise, drawings by Elizabeth Gemperlein. Both on view through Nov 6. BAS Teaching Artist Exhibition on view through Oct 10. Tue-Fri 10am-5pm, Sat 10am-2pm, Fourth Fridays till 8pm. Buffalo & Erie County Botanical Gardens (2655 South Park Avenue, Buffalo, 14218, 827-1584, buffalogardens. com):Simply Succulents, photographs by Eileen Graetz; Natural Conditions, public art installation by Shayne Dark, both shows on view through Oct 4. MonSun 10am-5pm. Burchfield Penney Art Center (1300 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, 14222, 878-6011, burchfieldpenney.org): Squeaky Wheel: 30th Anniversary Exhibition, on view through Jan 24, 2016. Opening Fri Oct 9 5:30-8pm. Mystic North: Burchfield, Sibelius & Nature and Fluidity In Form: Selections From The Dean Spong Collection, The Artist’s Legacy, on view through Dec 4; Inquisitive Lens: Richard Kegler/P22 Type Foundry: Charles E. Burchfield (The Font Project), on view through Jan 10; Body Norms, selections from the Spong collection; Artists Seen: photographs of contemporary artists by David Moog; Charles E. Burchfield’s Gardenville Studio. Tue, Wed, Fri (Second Fridays until 8pm), Sat 10am-5pm & Sun 1-5pm. Admission $5-$10, children 10 and under free. Burchfield Nature and Art Center (2001 Union Road, West Seneca, NY 14224, 677-4843, burchfieldnac.org): See site for upcoming classes and events. Mon-Fri 10am4pm, Sun 1-4pm. Canisius College Mary and Lou Vogt Art Gallery (Bouwhuis Library, Canisius College 2001 Main Street, Buffalo, 14208, 888-8412): Arrangements, work by Augustina Droze. On view through Oct 9. CEPA (617 Main Street, Buffalo, 14203, 856-2717, cepagallery.org) Gregory Halpern, Ahndraya Parlato, and Nicholas Mueller. Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat 12-4pm. Dana Tillou Fine Arts (417 Franklin Street, Buffalo, 14202, 716-854-5285, danatilloufinearts.com) Fine art and antiques of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. WedFri 10:30-5, Sat 10:30am-4pm. El Buen Amigo (114 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo 14201, 8856343, elbuenamigo.org): Hispanic Christian folk art exhibit. Mon-Sat 11am-7pm, Sun 11am-5pm. El Museo (91 Allen Street, Buffalo, 14202, 464-4692, elmuseobuffalo.org): Annual community celebration with month-long exhibition through Nov 2 of ofrendas (altars) for Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) concluding with costume party on Oct 31. Tue-Sat 125pm. Fargo House Gallery (287 Fargo Avenue, Buffalo, 14213, thefargohouse.com, visit website for appointment): Currently on view, Caitlin Cass: Benjamin Rathburn Builds Buffalo. Hallwalls (341 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, 14202, 8541694, hallwalls.org): Amid/In Western New York, Part 4, includes work by Liz Bayan, Benjamin Entner, Dorothy Fitzgerald, Richard Huntington, Liz Lessner, and Jason Seeley. On view through Oct 30. Tue-Fri 11am-6pm, Sat 11am-2pm. Hi-Temp (79 Perry Street, Buffalo, 14203, 852-5656, 10am-4pm Mon-Fri, call for appointment): Color, Frequency & Flow, abstract paintings by Robyn Gallick. Indigo Art Gallery (47 Allen Street, Buffalo, 14202, 9849572, indigoartbuffalo.com): Trickster, ceramic works by Bill Stewart. Opening reception Fri Oct 9 6-8pm, gallery talk: 7pm. Wed & Fri 12-6pm, Thu 12-7pm, Sat 123pm, and by appointment Sundays and Mondays. Karpeles Manuscript Library (North Hall) (220 North St.,

P E T C

Buffalo, 14201): Robert Fulton and the United States Navy, on view through Dec 31. Tue-Sun 11am-4pm. Karpeles Manuscript Museum (Porter Hall) (453 Porter Ave, Buffalo, 14201): Maps of the United States. Tue-Sun 11am-4pm. Kenan Center House Gallery (433 Locust Street, Lockport, NY 14094, 433-2617 kenancenter.org/arts/gallery.asp)Vietnam Veterans: Our Photo Album. On view through Oct 11. Mon-Fri 12-5pm, Sun 2-5pm. Lockside Art Center (21 Main Street, Lockport, NY 14094, 478-0239, locksideartcenter.com):Monochrome, group exhibition. On view through Oct 10. Fri-Sun 12-4pm and by appointment. Manuel Barreto Furniture (430 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, 14202, 867-8937, manuelbarreto.com): Robert and Sylvia Coles Private Contemporary Art Collection. Market Street Art Studios (247 Market Street, Lockport, NY 14094, 478-0248, marketstreetstudios.com): Whalen: A Legacy, paintings by Joseph Whalen on view through Nov 14. Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 11am-4pm. Meibohm Fine Arts (478 Main Street, East Aurora, NY 14052, 652-0940, meibohmfinearts.com): Interludes of Light, paintings by Thomas Kegler. On view through Oct 17. Tue-Sat 9:30am-5:30pm.

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Native American Museum of Art at Smokin’ Joe’s (2293 Saunders Settlement Road, Sanborn, NY 14123, 2619251) Open year round and free. Exhibits Iroquois artists work. 7am-9pm. Niagara Arts and Cultural Center (1201 Pine Avenue, Niagara Falls, 14301, 282-7530, thenacc.org): Stick, Stone, and Steel, works by Richard Rockford, Robert Then, Jay Carrier, Brian Nacov, Victor Marwin, and Dennis Fulton-Sears. On view through Nov 12. Mon-Fri 9am5pm, Sat & Sun 12-4pm. Nina Freudenheim Gallery (140 North Street, Buffalo, 14201, 882-5777, ninafreudenheimgallery.com): On Forms & Forces, photography work by Amanda Means. On view through Oct 28. Tue-Fri 10am-5pm. Pausa Art House (19 Wadsworth Street, Buffalo, 14201, 697-9069, pausaarthouse.com): New work by Kate Parzych, on view through Oct 24. Live Music Thu-Sat.

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The Phoenix (269 Amherst Street, Buffalo 14207, 4471100 thephoenixbuffalo.com): Café Series, by Mary Begley. Wed-Sat 5pm-10pm.

Prism (MyBuffaloPride, 224 Allen Street, Buffalo, 14201): Spectra, group show with work from Nicholas Blazer, Dana Tyrell, Mickey Harmon, Dana McKnight, Steve Ambrusko, Steve Ardo, Pierce McCleary, Scott Kristopher Morrella, Michael Berdine, Stephanie Dubin, and John Carossi. Thu & Fri 4-8pm, Sat & Sun 3-7pm.

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Project 308 Gallery (308 Oliver Street, North Tonawanda, NY 14120, 523-0068, project308gallery.com): Tue & Thu 7-9pm and by appointment. Queen City Gallery (617 Main Street, Buffalo,14203, 8688183, queencitygallery.tripod.com): Group show with work from Neil Mahar, David Pierro, Candace Keegan, John Farallo, Chris McGee,Tim Raymond,Eileen Pleasure, Eric Evinczik, Barbara Crocker, Thomas Bittner, Joshua Nickerson, Susan Redenbach, Barbara Lynch Johnt, Michael Mulley. Tue-Fri 11am-4pm and by appointment. Ro Home Shop (732 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo,, 14222, 240-9387, rohomeshop.com): New work by Chantal Calato on view through Oct 31. Squeaky Wheel (617 Main Street, Buffalo, 14203, squeaky. org): Soldadera, solo exhibition with new work by Nao Bustamante, on view through Oct 24. Tue-Sat 12-5pm. Spot Coffee (406 Hertel Avenue, Buffalo, 14216): Celebrate Buffalo, paintings by Stephen Coppola. Stangler Fine Art (6429 West Quaker Street, Orchard Park, NY 14127, 870-1129, stanglerart.com): The Fine Arts League’s 62nd Annual Fall Member’s Exhibition. Opening reception Oct 10, 3-6pm. On view through Nov 7. Open Wed-Fri 12-5pm Sat 11-3pm Starlight Studio and Art Gallery (340 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, 14202, starlightstudio.org): big: Mutation of an Oil Painter, paintings by Richard Stamps. On view through Nov 13. Studio Hart (65 Allen Street, Buffalo, 14202, 536-8337, studiohart.com): Portraits: Works on Paper by Joe Radoccia, on view through Oct 31. Tue-Fri 11:30am3:30pm, Sat 12-4pm. Sugar City (1239 Niagara Street, Buffalo, 14213, buffalosugarcity.org): This Was Supposed to Happen, group show with work from Jaime Schmidt, Dylan England, Joshua Almendinger, Marissa Lehner, Thea Kegler, Jesse Pace, Emily Churco, Candace Camuglia, Caitlin Cass, Phil Freedenberg, Jesse Witt, and more. Open by event. TGW@497 Gallery (497 Franklin Street, Buffalo, 14202, 981-9415): Forgotten Faces, collages by Russell Ram. On view through Oct 31. Wed-Fri 12-5pm, Sat 12-3pm. UB Anderson Gallery (1 Martha Jackson Place, Buffalo, 14214, 829-3754, ubartgalleries.org): Robert De Niro, Sr. and Irving Feldman: Painter & Poet at UB in the late 60s. On view through Oct 24. Industrial Buffalo, paintings and drawings by Barbara Insalaco through Nov 8. Cravens World: The Human Aesthetic, on view through Dec 31, 2016. Wed-Sat 11am-5pm, Sun 1-5pm. UB Art Gallery (Center for the Arts, North Campus, 645-6913 ubartgalleries.org): A Prospective Glance, selections from Dept. of Art senior thesis 2015 on view through Oct 24 and Splitting Light, work from Shiva Aliabadi, Anna Betbeze, Amanda Browder, Erin Curtis, Gabriel Dawe, Sam Falls, Nathan Green, John Knuth, David Benjamin Sherry, and Hap Tivey. Tue-Fri 11am5pm, Sat 1-5pm. Villa Maria College Paul William Beltz Family Art Gallery (240 Pine Ridge Terrace, Cheektowaga, 14225, 9611833): Journey Inward/Journey Outward, paintings by Gary Wolfe. On view through Oct 16. Western New York Book Arts Collaborative (468 Washington Street, Buffalo, 14203, 348-1430, wnybookarts.org): Confluence: Collision of Form, works by Dana Saylor, on view through Oct 17. Wed-Sat 12-6pm.

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ALLENTOWNPIZZABUFFALO.COM Jenn Stafford as Desiree Armfeldt and Matt Witten as Fredrick Egerman in A Little Night Music at the Irish Classical Theatre. PHOTO BY PHOTO BY GENE WITKOWSKI

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A Little Night Music at the Irish Classical Theatre Company BY DOUGLAS LEVY THE SONG “SEND IN THE CLOWNS” has enjoyed a life of its own apart from the musical from which it is drawn, having been covered more than 80 times, including by the likes of Barbra Streisand, Judy Collins, and Frank Sinatra, who called it “a perfect marriage of words and music.” As magnificently wrought a jewel as the song is, you can only appreciate its true beauty and deep emotional significance when it is sung in the context of the second act of Stephan Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, brilliantly directed by Chris Kelly and produced by Irish Classical Theatre Company and running through October 18 at the Andrews Theatre. It is a showstopper and a reflection of all the ruminations on the expressions of love upon with the show is built.

First among these is maternal love, or in this case, grand-maternal love that the dowager Madame Armfeldt (the imperious Pamela Rose Mangus) has for her granddaughter Fredrika (the winning Faith Walh), whom she is caring for while the girl’s actress/mother Desiree (the abundantly talented Jenn Stafford) is on tour. For grandma Armfeldt, love is best limited to liaisons: Enjoy yourself but don’t leave without amassing a lot of gifts. Standing up for jealousy is Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm (played with delicious verve by Anthony Alcocer), whose opinion of himself as a lover is only exceeded by himself as a soldier. He apportions his leave home to the minute, spending more of it with his mistress Desiree than his wife, Charlotte (the cannily long-suffering Michele Marie Roberts), who is not the least bit fooled by him. The anguish of the innocents, portrayed here by the 18-year-old Anne (the hysterical Renee Landrigan) and her not much older step-son Henrik (the self-loathing Ben Caldwell), are lost souls desperately in need of any assurance that love is indeed possible.

These characters spin like dervishes around stolid Fredrik Egerman (the steady Matt Witten), who in the course of the play manages not to consummate his 11-month marriage to Anne; further alienate his son Henrik; suffer the calculated seduction by the Charlotte, which leads to a duel with the count; and rekindle an old, unrequited love affair with Desiree. It is at that moment that we hear “Send in the Clowns,” a final comment on true love, lost opportunity, bad timing, and regret. Oh, if only we could have clowns to distract us from ourselves and make it light-hearted again, Desiree seems to be saying. One might say that all the lovers, in their antic, high-strung characterizations, are the clowns, tangled up and seduced by the smiles of a summer’s night that, in Sweden, the play’s locale, never becomes fully dark. All these wonderful characters are a foil to Fredrik’s odd disengagement from them all. He doesn’t react to his madcap trophy wife Anne, or his son’s inner torment that compelled him to renounce love and study for the clergy. He doesn’t seem to care that Charlotte throws herself at him to inflame the irate count, nearly getting him killed. It is like this Fredrik is sitting things out. Perhaps a directorial decision, but one that puts him theatrically at odds with the concept for the rest of the characters; they being instantly identifiable types and whose vivacious energy bringing them to life is what propels the show, filling it with gaiety and moving it along so well that you hardly know where the time has flown. This ICTC production is as insouciant and entertaining as a little night music, and at the same time packs all the crises that accompany love in its multitude of expressions with honest emotional depth. At the end, new pairings hint of happily ever after, or so we are allowed to think as we exit the theater humming that wonderful tune about clowns.

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SONNY BAKER BY DANIEL BAUER I STOP INTO HARDWARE on a Thursday night

to see the Sonny Baker Band play. It’s their first show in a while, and the first since I’ve familiarized myself with the songs on their debut EP, Flesh It Out. It’s Baker’s first release since 2012’s Here Are Those Freaks You’ve Been Asking For that features more than just Baker and his guitar crooning into the wind. Even on Freaks Baker teamed up with Brandon Schlia, the creative force behind Steak and Cake Records, multi-tracking in a bedroom. Schlia recorded Flesh It Out as well, this time in a series of live takes in his studio. In other words, Flesh It Out, with its fuzz and chaos and the potency of a full band behind it, has been a long time coming. Not that there’s anything wrong with Baker playing by himself. His wit and musicianship set him apart from run-of-the-mill folk artists, who too often err on the wrong side of eager. The guitar work is inventive and angular; Baker, in his observations and sharp sarcasm, is more Larry David than Marcus Mumford. I had to get a huge tumor removed from my neck once and I loaded my phone with Baker’s music to listen to during my recovery because it was reassuring to feel like there was someone out there who might find the situation as absurd as I did. That said, I’m excited to see Sonny playing with a band, if only to see the musical movements his solo work implies brought to life. It’s one hell of a band, too: Baker drafted drummer Ryan Campbell (Rhubarb, Gravy, and many other groovy acts) and bassist Chris Gangarossa (who plays with Baker in the jammier Lazlo Hollyfeld) to back him up. I ask Baker later what it’s like to try to blend his predilections for jam bands and fuzzy rock into a single project. He sighs. “It’s just, both of those are in me,” he says bashfully. “I just went to see Phish for three straight days. But I love Sonic Youth. I’ve just always wanted those songs to have verses and scream more. I just want it to be loud.” More than volume, when the Sonny Baker Band finally strikes up there’s a physicality that’s borne of restraint. Too often, a band will try to cut through the noise by playing as hard as they can from open to close. In contrast, the Sonny Baker Band makes an impact with wise pacing, holding back and bursting forward as the set goes on. Major credit for this goes to the rhythm section, as disciplined as I’ve ever seen: Campbell’s drumming is dynamic but understated. And Gangarossa, Baker tells me later, the man could play four notes for an entire song and they’d be the most perfect four notes possible. Baker is no slouch, either. The album’s lead single, “You’re a Disaster/I’m a Disaster,” is an energetic standout, but as Baker rips into the song’s main riff live, he achieves something far more chest-thumping and unique. His guitar work would be equally at home on a Pile record or blaring over the loudspeakers at a baseball game. Baker’s presence is as striking as his performance. He behaves more like a bandleader than a frontman, facing the players to set the pace of

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the song before spinning back around to face the crowd. Once the rhythm section lays the foundation, Baker is free to let loose, throw his head back, and kick his legs out in a dance somewhere between Chuck Berry’s duck walk and Charlie Brown’s shuffle. Despite all the movement, no notes ring out of place and, despite the fact that he continuously describes his sonic goal for the band as “chaos,” the result is more like finely orchestrated noise. Baker strikes me as a reluctant individualist. It’s hard to say whether this is the result of playing by himself for so long or vice versa, but I’d wager the latter. That would explain why his guitar work has evolved to fill in the gaps a band would fill, why he cops to an affinity for Larry David, and why the fourth song on the album, “Put Your Phone Down,” is a takedown that declares, “There’s always an asshole in the crowd/ and you’re that asshole.” That last lyric is especially telling: Baker positions himself away from the crowd, but only just—still close enough to comment on it. A true individualist is also, I think, a true weirdo: You can’t quite melt in anywhere, even with the outsiders. Baker’s album art, lifted from his sketchbook, evokes this impression: Most illustrations feature grotesque, toothy, mangled faces, often smiling and sometimes friendly but much too strange to ever invite to dinner. It’s this quality, I imagine, which makes Baker a good bandleader and might have made it difficult for him to find a band in the first place. A good leader is impatient in wanting to forge ahead, expects and encourages excellence, demands cohesion but also stands alone. But that’s mere inference: All I can say for sure is that Sonny Baker suffers no fools, or else they later end up his targets, as evidenced by his song “Collapse, Something Important” from his 2014 release, Mangled in the Front, which begins, “If I could, I would punch you square in the throat,” and gets meaner from there. Baker does play well with others. In addition to playing guitar in the instrumental post-rock band Lazlo Hollyfeld, he plays drums in the indie-rock band Wooden Waves, among other projects. He’s a versatile, prolific, and talented guy. But still, there’s something singular about him, and even if the Sonny Baker Band stops being a solo act and changes their name—as they may well do—I really doubt Baker himself would P fade any into the background.

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AMHERST: Rental. 3BR 1BA unit w/ parking, low utility costs. 75 McKinley, $895+, Kiersten Minnick, 868-6613(c) ANGOLA: Neighborhood store with new catering, sub shoppe in 2nd bldg. Long walk-in cooler for beer sales; nice retail space. 515 Herr Rd, 69,900. Richard Fontana, 605-2829(c) CHEEK: Reduced! 3BR 1BA all brick Ranch on corner lot w/ 1car att’d gar, full dry bsmt. Hrdwd flrs under carpet. 77 Hedley, $64,900. G. Mike Liska, 984-7766(c DEPEW: Spectacular 3BR 1.5BA brick Ranch. LR w/ fp, updated kit, bsmt rec rm w/ fp, patio, garage. 121 Rumford, $154,900. Thomas Needham, 574-8825(c) GETZVILLE: 3BR 2.5BA w/ new hrdwd flrs, formal DR, mstr w/ en suite bth & walk-in, patio overlooks pond & re-sodded yrd. 141 Collins, $379,900. John “Jack” Sciuto, 903-5789(c) GRAND ISLAND: 4BR 3BA w/dock; great rm w/gas fp; kit w/ bfast bar; sunrm, 1st flr lndry; mstr w/water views. 10car gar! 3490 E. River Rd, $795,000. Susan D. Lenahan, 864-6757(c) NO. TONAWANDA: Open 4BR 1BA & office. Hrdwd flrs, upd. kit, remodeled bath & solid mechs. 189 Schenck, $69,900. Robert Karp, 553-9963(c) ORCHARD PK: 4BR 2.5BA on 1.3 wooded acres. Kit w/ granite, vaulted fam rm w/ sliders to deck, bsmt rec rm, upd. baths & many updates. 5 Cherry Tree Ln, $429,900. Susan D. Lenahan, 864-6757(c) WEST FALLS: Build your new home on 4.5 acres in Aurora schools w/ util. at street. Bring your offers! Old Glenwood, $49,900. Tina Bonifacio, 570-7559(c)

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EVENTS CALENDAR PUBLIC APPROVED

IN PRINT

KOPPS

SPIRITUAL REZ THURSDAY OCT 8

The Sound of Music (EP) Recommended If You Like: Sleigh Bells, Joywave The electro dance four-piece released its new EP via the Rochester-based creative collective Cultco late last month. Currently on tour with Joywave, KOPPS will be back in Buffalo this Friday to perform at the Waiting Room.

8PM / BUFFALO IRON WORKS, 49 ILLINOIS ST. / $7-$10

[REGGAE] Hailing from Boston, Spiritual Rez, is a seven-piece reggae-rock-funk outfit known for high-octane live shows. In 2014 they released their fourth full-length album, Apocalypse Whenever, which was chock-full of sticky hooks and end-of-the-world themes. The raw talent of each member is on display at their live shows, which offer a glimpse into the chemistry of their rich, textured sound and jazzy tones. Ian Miller beats the skins with rapid speed and precision, never losing the skin-tight rhythm. The spine-tingling guitar and keytar work coupled with the brass-soaked waves of sound melt the audience into a molten hot dancing frenzy. An array of swanky tones flow smoothly, riding Jesse Shaternick’s funky, driving bass lines. Finally, Toft Willingham’s honey-thick vocals and passionate charm take charge, swallowing the audience into a lush, amicable soundscape where dancing is rampant. Whether it’s the hypnotic riffs of “One Light,” the carefree vibes of “Alone Again” or the body-rocking bridge and fierce instrumental solos of “Steve Got Arrested,” The Rez effectively unites their individual talents into beautifully crafted, hard-hitting songs that never fail to shake a stage. Catch Spiritual Rez at Buffalo Iron Works with Gang of Thieves and Personal Blend on Thursday, October 8. -KELLIE POWELL

WEDNESDAY OCT 7 Josh Groban THE NATURALISTS “Fortune, Always Turning” (Song)

RIYL: the Vines, Manchester Orchestra The first single from the grunge trio’s forthcoming EP Home Honey, I’m Hi premiered last week on New Noise Magazine. The QCA-recorded EP will be the first Buffalo album released through Rochester tape label Dadstache Records.

7:30pm Shea's Performing Arts Center, 646 Main St. $73-$168

[POP] Josh Groban's voice is uniquely pure and tender as he belts out his high notes, serenading his faithful Grobanites. The operatic singer is one of today’s greatest and indisputable vocal talents, rising to fame with powerful, moving songs like “You Raise Me Up” and “To Where You Are.” He is our nation’s choirboy. Catch Josh Groban with Lena Hall at Shea’s Performing Arts Center on Wednesday, October 7. -KELLIE POWELL

THURSDAY OCT 8 Guy Torry 8pm Helium Comedy Club, 30 Mississippi St. $15-$31

CALIFORNIA COUSINS George’s Bridge (EP) RIYL: Tiny Moving Parts, Snowing, Del Paxton Former members of the Rochester emo/ punk outfit Keeler regrouped to release a collection of nostalgic and noodly emo jams at the tail end of September.

LOCAL SHOW PICK OF THE WEEK QCC PRESENTS FRICTION DUKE’S BOHEMIAN GROVE BAR 253 ALLEN ST / BUFFALO FRI, OCT 9 / 10PM / $5

BUFFABLOG.COM

[COMEDY] Guy Torry’s standup career didn’t begin on stage, but rather in the schoolyard of his adolescent St. Louis home. By the mid-1990s, Torry had become a hit on the LA comedy scene with his rapid-fire delivery and racial quips. An original member of the Kings of Comedy, Torry was the 2010 Last Comic Standing, has several film and writing credits, and hosted “Phat Comedy Tuesdays.” Catch Guy Torry at Helium Comedy Club on Thursday, October 8 through Saturday, October 10. -KP

Dodos 8pm Mohawk Place, 47 E Mohawk St. $12-$14

[INDIE] We wonder why these guys aren’t more famous, but we wonder that a lot these days. San Francisco’s the Dodos arrive in Buffalo to play Mohawk Place this Thursday, October 8 in support of Individ, which came out at the beginning of the year. Meric Long and Logan Kroeber rely on a third member when touring (in this case, likely Joe Haege) to bring their enchanting blend of drum-rim percussion and finger-picked melodies to full fruition. Arrive early for local openers Moody Cosmos. Note: Sleepy Hahas are no longer on this bill. -CHRISTOPHER JOHN TREACY

14 THE PUBLIC / OCTOBER 7, 2015 / DAILYPUBLIC.COM

FRIDAY OCT 9 Knock-Turn Alley 2 7pm Dreamland, 387 Franklin St. $10 for adults, $15 for adult + child on Sunday

[COSPLAY] Dust off your wands, cauldrons, and broomsticks, and bust out your Knuts and Sickels, because Dreamland's second annual, Harry Potter-inspired KnockTurn Alley is coming this weekend. Imbibe at the Blistering Toad, visit the Bizarre Bazaar, and get lost in the Black Garden. Running 7pm-12am on Friday and Saturday, the event will transform into something for the little wizards on Sunday featuring readings from the Harry Potter series, wand-making workshops, and, of course, Quidditch. -AARON LOWINGER

Pierce Fulton 10pm Lift Nightclub, 257 Franklin St. $10

[ELECTRONIC/DANCE] Brooklyn-based DJ and producer Pierce Fulton returns to LiFT Nightclub on Friday, October 9 for the beginning season of Factory Nightlife’s EDM series. A native of Vermont, the 23-yearold artist was influenced by a spectrum of genres and has built his repertoire on a foundation of electro house and down-tempo electronica after busting onto the scene at only 18 years old. His career in music has brought him performances at major festivals such as Electric Zoo, TomorrowWorld and Ultra Music Festival, additionally touring the states and around the globe. Local support will come from Jesse Aaron and Nik Styles. -ALICIA GRECO

side, and she’s there. It also bridges the gap between the indie-folk minimalism of her early work and the more sophisticated pop of something like “Broken Necks,” a look-onthe-bright-side breakup song that’ll hijack your brain for a while. NPR seemed to think it was special, and they were right. Eskimeaux comes to Sugar City this Friday, October 9 with Attic Basement. -CJT

Joywave 7pm The Waiting Room, 334 Delaware Ave. $15-$17

[INDIE] Rochester’s Joywave are going places. They’ve been on TV. They’ve had Billboard chart action. And the band’s debut full-length, How Do You Feel Now?, was released this spring on the Disney-owned Hollywood label (also home to Grace Potter). The results are impressive—a guitar

Eskimeaux 6pm Sugar City, 1239 Niagara St. $10

[INDIE] Gabrielle Smith’s Eskimeaux began as a one-woman production in the studio and a four-piece band on the road, but that seems to be shifting toward a full-time band dynamic, as the expanded sound of OK, out last spring, showcases. There’s a rare and intimate level of sincerity permeating the set that makes her seem like a concerned friend—thoroughly approachable, earnest, and well meaning—you want her on your

PHOTO BY RICHARD GIN

CALENDAR EVENTS

OCTOBER 23RD GRAMMY AWARD WINNER

PUBLIC APPROVED

RICK DERRINGER

LIVE AT BUFFALO IRON WORKS W. SPECIAL

GUESTS JIM CREAN BAND HITS:

“Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo” + Sloop” “Hang on

• 49 ILLINOIS STREET •

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P E T C

Th PU ch in as se TH er re ha Pl by

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MELVIN SEALS & JGB W. COSMIC KAT

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“Continuing the Musical Legacy of Jerry Garcia”

“Master Pianist returns to Buffalo”

�

SKISM THURSDAY OCT 8

OCTOBER 30TH & 31ST

8PM / TOWN BALLROOM, 681 MAIN ST. / $20-$25

[DUBSTEP] When people think dubstep, they usually think laptop DJs. If there is an exception to that rule, it’s SKisM. When the Never Say Die Records producer and DJ steps on stage he does so with four turntables. His massive live show is his bread and butter, but he also wears other hats— such as label founder and producer. As founder of Never Say Die Records, he’s signed artists like Zomboy. As producer, he’s released a slew of EPs and remix records including 2009’s Rise of the Idiots on a label called Wicky Lindows, 2010’s Down With The Kids, his first on his own label, and most recently, The Division. Last month he released a new track, “Black Hole,” which as you can imagine, sounds something like Godzilla battling Optimus Prime. SKisM comes to Town Ballroom on Thursday, October 8 with label mates Must Die! and Eptic, and local support from Notixx. Presented by MNM Presents. -CORY PERLA

NOVEMBER 7TH

The Sheila Divine Record Release Party 8pm Sportsmen's Tavern, 326 Amherst St. $15-$20

[ROCK] Fronted by Hamburg native Aaron Perrino, the Sheila Divine has gained a hot following in Western New York ever since their 1999 debut, New Parade, through which numbers such as “Hum” and “Like a Criminal” became college-radio staples. Despite breaking up in 2003, Perrino has kept up band activity through reunion shows and even a new EP released earlier this year titled Fossils From the Future. This Friday and Saturday the Boston-based post-punk outfit will return to Buffalo to throw a two-night CD release party at Sportsmens Tavern. Odiorne is set to open on Friday and Gathering Ground will be opening on Saturday. -JEANETTE CHIN

Squeaky Wheel 30th Anniversary Exhibition 5:30pm Burchfield Penney Art Center, 1300 Elmwood Ave

[ART] It’s a big year for area culturals, with Hallwalls and Just Buffalo Literary Center turning 40, and the pioneering media-artsengine-that-could known as Squeaky Wheel turning the big 3-0. On Friday, Squeaky will celebrate an a retrospective exhibition at the Burchfield Penney Art Center with work from its past and present to form an inclusive survey. And there’s a lot to take in: work from their myriad youth programs, their DIY zine The Squealer, AxleGrease/ArtGrease public access TV shows, and a lot more. At-

tendees will have the opportunity to make their own media in the form of 30-second videos in the center’s Project Space, and at 8pm in the Front Yard there will be a special performance by the multifacted mutlimedia Reactionary Ensemble. A veritable aural/ visual moveable feast, so come on Friday to whet your appetite. -AL

SATURDAY OCT 10 World on Your Plate 8:30am Daemen College, 4380 Main St.

[FOOD] The 12th annual Conference on Food & Sustainable Living will be hosted at Daemen College as a part of World on Your Plate this Saturday October 10 in the Wick Center. World on Your Plate aims to educate consumers on sustainable farming and food safety in order to “create a table where all are welcome.” Preregister online or at the door the day of the event and students with their valid ID may enter for free. -CORINNE MCCARTHY

Urban Drive-In 12pm Silo City, 120 Childs St. free

[SCREENING] Bad weather forced the cancelation of Urban Drive In when it was scheduled for the second week of September. Now the make up date is this Saturday, when Squeaky Wheel partners with Silo City to bring you the outdoor movie event of your dreams. Starting at noon and ending at approximately midnight, the grain elevators will be transformed into an outdoor cinema where attendees can enjoy a diverse selection of films ranging from the British cult-comedy Monty Python & the Holy Grail to this year's post-apocalyptic blockbuster, Mad Max: Fury Road. An assortment of games and food truck appearances will round out this day-long movie feast. -JC

Iss

AQUEOUS W. FUNKTIONAL FLOW

LEON RUSSELL

“Special Two Night Halloween Event”

“Multi-Award Winner & Musical Legend”

• VIEW ALL OUR UPCOMING EVENTS AT BUFFALORIONWORKS.COM • band at the base, dressed up with a tech savvy production that’s neither boring nor contrived-seeming. The tunes brim with introspective seriousness, but the soundtrack betrays the narrative with catchy grooves. It sounds like the type of thing that might be hard to replicate in a live setting, but their set at Lollapalooza in 2014 was really well received. See how they do at the Waiting Room on Friday, October 9 and be sure not to miss openers KOPPS, a dance-duo that’ll have the perspiration running down your face before they’re done. -CJT

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Four Year Strong 7pm The Waiting Room, 334 Delaware Ave. $15-$17

[POP PUNK] If there is one band keeping pop-punk alive, it’s Four Year Strong. They may have come after that wave of bands that included Blink 182, New Found Glory, and the rest of the Drive Thru Records lineup, but the band has always fit into that mold, unleashing pop-tinged punk tracks with a hardcore edge. They’ll come to the Waiting Room on Saturday, October 10 with Defeater and Elder Brother. -CP

THIS WEEK'S AGENDA FRIDAY OCTOBER 9

SPECTRUM TRANSGENDER SUPPORT GROUP 7–9PM at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 3107 Main St.

A monthly support group for transgender individuals to meet and socialize in a safe space. For more information, email spectrumwny@yahoo.com.

FRIDAY OCTOBER 9

KNOCK-TURN ALLEY 2 7PM–12AM at Dreamland, 387 Franklin St.

ELLIOTT SHARP & THE BUFFALO IMPROVISERS ORCHESTRA FRIDAY OCT 9 8PM / MONTANTE CULTURAL CENTER, 2001 MAIN ST. / $10-$15 [JAZZ] “I see music as an agent of psycho-acoustic chemical change,” said Elliott Sharp in a recent interview with Hyperreal. “I have always had strong feelings about how I wanted music to be manifested: the sonic elements, the structural elements, the balance of order and chaos, use of improvisation.” Throughout the decades, whether it’s applying the Fibonacci sequence to the tuning of his guitar, or creating his own instruments—like the pantar and the violinoid—or directing a science-fiction opera, music for Sharp has always been an experimental venture in the finest sense. Applying fractal geometry, chaos theory, and genetic metaphors to his compositional method, Sharp uses any and all sonic resources available to him to materialize his lofty musical vision in which sound and science combine to yield poignant expression. Upon earning his masters in composition at UB, Sharp went on to establish himself in New York City’s music scene during the late 1970s, where he played everything from hardcore to acid jazz, building the community that would help shape his prolific legacy. Since then he’s put out over 85 releases, composed scores for films and documentaries, curated monumental sound exhibitions, conducted his own orchestra (Orchestra Carbon), and bared prestigious titles from the Guggeinheim Fellowship alongside the New York Foundation for Arts. This Friday, October 9, he’ll be returning to Buffalo and performing original compositions alongside Buffalo Improviser’s Orchestra at Canisus College’s Montante Cultural Center as part of a three day residency under Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center. This is a rare opportunity for all those who seek to experience live boundary-pushing music. -JEANETTE CHIN

PUBLIC APPROVED

The resident artists transform the entire space into the dark corridors of Knock-Turn Alley district with other denizens from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Costumes mandatory for entry. Event repeats on Saturday at the same time. Tickets: $10 per night.

Camp Lo 9pm Duke's Bohemian Grove Bar, 253 Allen St

[HIP HOP] 1990s hip hop heroes Camp Lo make their annual return to Buffalo this weekend. The Bronx-based hip hop duo of Sonny Cheeba and Geechi Suede have made a comeback in recent years after rising to popularity in the late 1990s with golden era hits like “Lucini AKA This Is It.” They’ll return to Duke’s Bohemian Grove Bar on Saturday, October 10 as part of the venue’s Legends in Hip Hop series. DJs Milk, Scott Down, and Cochise open. -CP

Hexwork Burlesk Revue 8pm Mohawk Place, 47 E Mohawk St. $10

[BURLESQUE] Here’s an interesting combination: burlesque dancer and archaeologist? These are the dual professions of Eyrie Twylite, one fifth of the burlesque troop known as Hexwork Burlesk Revue. Her fellow dancers, Bella La Blanc, Laurie Glimmer, and Melody Magpie combine to create a strange and spooky, occult-driven, witchcrafty extravaganza. They’ll bring their traveling show to Mohawk Place this Saturday, October 10 with fellow archaeologists the Irving Klaws, self-proclaimed “scumbag Americana” band Pine Fever, and “Gorelesque” dancers the Zombettes. -CP

SUNDAY OCT 11

SATURDAY OCTOBER 10

Free Family Film Series: The Witches 2pm Shea's Performing Arts Center, 646 Main St. Free

BOU'S SALUTE TO DUKE ELLINGTON SATURDAY OCT 10 BUFFALO GAY BINGO 6–9PM @ Westminster Presbyterian Church, 724 Delaware Ave.

Not your grandmother’s bingo. Line reservations start at 5pm with doors opening at 6pm. Discounted game packets available for $20. Proceeds benefit local HIV/AIDS organizations. Entry: $5, plus game packets.

SATURDAY OCTOBER 11

NATIONAL COMING OUT DAY All Day and Worldwide

An internationally observed civil awareness day for coming out and discussion about LGBT issues. Come out, come out, wherever you are!

LOOPMAGAZINEBUFFALO.COM

8PM / 710 MAIN STREET THEATRE, 710 MAIN ST. [JAZZ] “There are two kinds of music. Good music and bad music.” That line is attributed to Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington. (It was also supposed to have originated with Louis Armstrong, Richard Strauss, and Gioacchino Rossini, but who cares: It’s still true.) What Ellington meant by bad music (he also referred to it as “the other kind”) is music that bores you (like for me, smooth jazz). When the music is good, you’ll know it when you look “at the listener and see how the music, without them knowing anything about it, how it affects them; that primal, visceral feeling that you get when you hear something,” says Tim Kennedy, the founder and artistic director of Buffalo Opera Unlimited, which presents Salute to Duke Ellington this Saturday, October 10 at 8pm and Sunday, October 11 at 2:30pm at 710 Main Theatre. Kennedy, along with singers Katy Minor, Zoe Viola Scruggs, Eric Wilbon, and Lorenzo Parnell, appear with the George Caldwell Quintet (Tim Clarke, trumpet; Bobby Militello, alto sax; Mike Foria, bass; Sean Jefferson, drums; and Caldwell at the piano). They and a dozen dancers will perform nearly a score of Ellington instrumental masterpieces and songs like “Take the ‘A’ Train,” “Caravan,” “Sophisticated Lady,” and “It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing.” Kennedy is especially pleased to have Caldwell, an alumnus of the Mercer Ellington and Count Basie Orchestras, as music director. He was amazed at first rehearsal when Caldwell started playing without any sheet music. He just knows it, enthuses Kennedy, who is also awed by his improvising and ability to transpose keys. Says Kennedy, “Jazz musicians just shrug their shoulders about it, while I’m fascinated by what they do.” Kennedy had the good fortune of performing for Ellington in the late 1960s when his Sacred Concert was performed in Philadelphia, Kennedy’s native city. “I’ll never, ever, ever forget that,” he says. Born in 1899, Ellington organized his first big band when he was 24, an ensemble he’d perform with for the next 50 years. Ellington composed collaboratively with his musicians: He’d have an idea and play it on the piano, and then ask for suggestions. This approach often credited him for the work of others, especially Billy Strayhorn. Still, it was the Duke who gave every composition that Ellington sound, which elevated these compositions, in the minds of many critics, to a level of complexity and elegance that far outshone the other swing and big bands of his day. One might say, if jazz is America’s classical music, then Duke Ellington is its Johann Strauss: Both took an indigenous colloquial musical form and perfected it, making it the emblematic music of its era. -DOUGLAS LEVY

16 THE PUBLIC / OCTOBER 7, 2015 / DAILYPUBLIC.COM

[FILM] Shea’s Performing Arts Center’s Free Family Film Series returns on Sunday, October 11 to screen the 1990 comedy-fantasy, The Witches. Roald Dahl’s 1983 classic is brought to life, blending the striking visual style of Nicolas Roeg, the wonderworking of Jim Henson, and a haunting performance by Angelica Huston. -KP

TUESDAY OCT 13 That 1 Guy 7pm Tralf Music Hall, 622 Main St. $15-$17

[POP] No, that is not a humongous bong, that’s a Magic Pipe—That 1 Guy’s signature homemade instrument. The one-man band hailing from Las Vegas uses his man-sized PVC pipe constructed instrument, among other interesting creations like the Magic Boot and the Magic Saw, to create some fantastic noises. That 1 Guy makes his return to Buffalo this Tuesday, October 13 for a show at the Tralf Music Hall. -CP

WEDNESDAY OCT 14 Saintseneca 7pm The 9th Ward, 341 Delaware Ave $13-$15

[FOLK] You could chock Saintseneca up as pioneers of the next wave of indie-folk, with influences that range from the Violent Femmes to Neutral Milk Hotel. They come to the 9th Ward on Wednesday, October 14 with the Sidekicks and Yowler. -CP

CALENDAR EVENTS PUBLIC APPROVED

PRESENTS

ON THE MENU

LIVEMUSICEVERYNIGHTFOROVER30YEARS!

WEDNESDAY

OCT 7

HOKAN

9PM FREE

THURSDAY

OCT 8

LOCKHOUSE OPENS DOORS TO NEW BAR/DISTILLERY Two weeks ago, the fine folks at Lockhouse Distillery opened the doors to their new downtown location. Located on Columbia Street in the Cobblestone District, the hip bar is exclusively stocked with New York state liquors, wines, beers, and cider. There’s a small food menu available but the main draws are the cocktails and watching the distillery at work. Given its proximity to the arena, this place will be required stop before heading to a Sabres game this winter.

OSTERIA 166 EXPANDS TO ELLICOTTVILLE AND THE MARKET ARCADE Buffalo's restaurant scene just keeps getting bigger and better. Downtown favorite Osteria 166 is expanding into two new locations in the coming months. Villaggio will be opening down in Ellicottville this month. Located in the now closed Barn on Monroe Street, it will be twice the size of Osteria and offer rustic Italian dishes. They will also open a stand in the recently announced Expo Market, a craft food hall, set to open in the Market Arcade atrium, hopefully in November.

KEEP SUMMER ALIVE WITH THE TED'S HOT DOGS TRUCK AND NEW DOWNTOWN RESTAURANT While the cold weather has finally made its way to WNY, we still have time to enjoy char-grilled hot dogs and food trucks. The Ted's truck has finally hit the streets and they are pumping out the same quality food that you can find in any of their brick-and-mortar locations. You can find them all around the county for lunch. In addition, their new downtown restaurant is set to open sometime in November on Chippewa. Rumor is they will debut a new online ordering system so you can get your dogs even faster.

BUFFALOEATS.ORG

6PM FREE

FRIDAY

OCT 8

7PM / TOWN BALLROOM, 681 MAIN ST. / $16-$19 [INDIE] On the brand new disc, All Across This Land (out last week on Vagrant), Portland’s kitchen-sink-folkies Blitzen Trapper ditch the chemistry set in favor of using one tried and true element: rock. Sounding a bit like Blackberry Smoke on the title track, Land cooks with 1970s FM spirit, and within that context it’s a fun, satisfying ride. Better yet, the band lets their restless spirit wander through the airwaves of yore, directly referencing Tom Petty (“Rock and Roll Was Made for You”) and Bruce Springsteen (“Nights Were Made for Love”), with less specific nods to Neil Young, Jackson Browne, Dire Straits, and the Grateful Dead along the way. Meanwhile, frontman Eric Earley remains every bit the storyteller we’ve always known him to be (“Cadillac Road”). As a five-piece musical unit, Blitzen Trapper shines bright in this unusually straightforward setting, alternating between jangle-pop anthems and something a bit ballsier—peppering bits of pedal steel, slide guitar, and harmonica in all the right places. Really, All Across This Land is Earley and company showing us yet another thing they do well, and while one could argue it’s a derivative move, the band has already reared their own inimitable personality over the course of seven albums—they’re entitled to pay homage, especially when they do it so well. Saturday, October 10 at Town Ballroom. -CHRISTOPHER JOHN TREACY

Space Junk / Stereo Nest Galactic Garbage 10PM $5

SATURDAY

OCT 10

WEDNESDAY

OCT 14

THURSDAY

OCT 15

Artvoice Presents:

Rocket to Allentown 10PM $5

Kathryn Koch FREE 9PM

The Observers Nathan Kalish & The Last Callers 9PM

Jony James FRIDAY

6PM FREE

OCT 16

Superhuman Happiness, Jack Topht & Little Cake 10PM $5

10PM MILKIE'S, 522 ELMWOOD AVE $5 [DANCE PARTY] Think today’s dance music has no soul? Can’t get down to the precision-cut beats churned out by a digital machine? Yearning for something that hits in the lower abdomen and inexplicably makes you gyrate hula-hoop-style? Milkie’s Elmwood Lounge has a remedy for what ails you, hosting the Sugar City Soul Night on Saturday, October 10 starting at 10pm. Featuring sets from the Good Rev, Johnny Drama, Handsome Dan, Steve Soulson, and Nicky G, you can expect some familiar sounds…but one of the best aspects of this party is the just-as-funky obscurities you’ll hear. Dress it up or dress it down, but be sure there’s plenty of room in that outfit to shake your ass around. It’s just what the doctor ordered. 18+, your $5 donation goes to keeping the fine folks of Sugar City doin’ their PUBLIC APPROVED thing. -CHRISTOPHER P JOHN TREACY

FREE 9PM

Reggae Happy Hour w/ The Neville Francis Band

BLITZEN TRAPPER SATURDAY OCT 10

SUGAR CITY SOUL NIGHT SATURDAY OCT 10

Family Bacon Funk Machine

SATURDAY

OCT 17

Dr. Pain’s Travelling Medicine Show: The Heavenly Chillbillies, Second Trip, Mr. Boneless, Pine Fever, Zuut 10PM $5

WEEKLY EVENTS EVERY SUNDAY FREE

6PM. ANN PHILLIPONE 8PM . DR JAZZ & THE JAZZ BUGS (EXCEPT FIRST SUNDAYS)

EVERY MONDAY FREE

8PM. SONGWRITER SHOWCASE 9PM. OPEN MIC W. JOSH GAGE

EVERY TUESDAY

8PM. RUSTBELT COMEDY 10PM. JOE DONOHUE 11PM. THE STRIPTEASERS $3

EVERY WEDNESDAY FREE 6PM. TYLER WESTCOTTS PIZZA TRIO

EVERY THURSDAY FREE

5PM. THE AFTERNOON TRIO W. JOHN, PAUL, & BILL

EVERY SATURDAY FREE

4:30-7:30PM. CELTIC SEISIUNS (TRADITIONAL IRISH MUSIC FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY)

248 ALLEN STREET 716.886.8539

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DAILYPUBLIC.COM / OCTOBER 7, 2015 / THE PUBLIC 17

FILM FEATURE

BUFFALO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

BUFFALO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL: THE NEXT GENERATION

OCT 15 - 18 / CHECK WEBSITE FOR TIMES & PRICES BUFFALOINTERNATIONALFILMFESTIVAL.COM NORTH PARK THEATER / 1428 HERTEL AVE / BUFFALO SCREENING ROOM / 3131 SHERIDAN DR SQUEAKY WHEEL FILM & MEDIA ARTS CENTER 617 MAIN ST / BUFFALO

Who am I: DON BURNS CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER

The heirs to founder Edward Summer pursue his dream of a world-class film festival

What I do: I am responsible for overseeing and creating promotional content for the festival.

BY M. FAUST WHEN EDWARD SUMMER, founder of the Buffalo International Film Festival, died last November, it seemed doubtful that the

festival would survive him. For the eight years of its existence it had been pretty much a one-man operation, with Summer calling on his industry connections and sheer determination to fulfill his dream. That there will be a ninth BIFF this year speaks to the ongoing influence of Summer’s tireless efforts to bring a world-class film festival to Buffalo. A new team has stepped up to pump fresh blood into BIFF. Executive director Raymond Guarnieri admits that their goal, to build the Buffalo International Film Festival into one of the top film festivals in North America, is ambitious. “But we’re not aiming to do this overnight, or in a year, or even three years,” he says. “We realize it will take time and careful planning. It will be a gradual process. But that is the track we are on.” You’ll get a chance to see what the new team has accomplished next weekend, October 15-18, as BIFF takes up residence in the place where no one doubts that a Buffalo film festival ought to be, the North Park Theater. (Ancillary events and screenings will be held at the Screening Room, Squeaky Wheel Film & Media Arts Center and the Pierce-Arrow Film & Arts Center.) The Festival will include 24 features and 38 shorts. Advance tickets and other information are available at buffalointernationalfilmfestival.com.

Who am I: RAYMOND GUARNIERI EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

What I do: When I came on board, my first order of business was to assemble a team and instill the organization with a sense of purpose: Let’s make Buffalo home to one of the top film festivals in North America. Our team is all active members of the filmmaking community and believers in the power of the moving image. I place a lot of trust in them and do my best not to micromanage. I believe my most important role is ensuring that BIFF stays on track to this mission. Background: Born in West Seneca and raised in Clarence, I now travel back and forth between Buffalo and New York City. Trained as an actor at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. Produced and directed Buffalo Boys entirely on location in Western New York, which has been released on every major digital platform. Owner/operator of Uptown Artists Productions, a full-service production company based in West Harlem. The BIFF film I’m most excited about: Tough question! Abby Singer/Songwriter is visually brilliant and hilarious, and star Jamie Block will be performing at Mac’s on Hertel after the Saturday night screening. My personal favorite might be the Iranian film Oblivion Season, about a former prostitute in Tehran, which provides a unique and rare look into a country and city that Americans seldom see. Also They Look Like People, Game Face, The Seventh Fire. Who am I: JOHN FINK FESTIVAL PROGRAMMER What I do: Selected what will be shown at BIFF from films submitted to us, those we saw at other festivals and films produced in Western New York. After that I spend time courting sales agents, distributors and filmmakers to bring their work to town. Background: Born in New Jersey, spent four years in Western New York working on an MFA at UB Media Study. My graduate thesis film Brandonwood was screened at BIFF 2013. I write reviews for TheFilmStage.com and run a small production company in North Jersey. The BIFF film I’m most excited about: As programmer I’ve seen everything in our line-up. If I had to choose a favorite just on the basis of pure fun it would be Sex & Broadcasting, about Jersey City’s free-form radio station WFMU and its staff of FCC-battling misfits. Also A Courtship and the local films Not Yet Junk: The Art of Lary 7 (with Tony Conrad), and Prescient.

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Who am I: TILKE HILL DIVERSITY DEVELOPMENT CO-DIRECTOR (W/ LUKIA COSTELLO) What I do: We are helping create a festival interested in sharing great stories created by a diverse population and not catering to the usual suspects. This year BIFF will screen seven features with women in key positions. And we have put together a panel featuring women who have played key roles in filmmaking. Background: Born in Hamburg, moved back to Western New York to be a part of the new developments in the city. I’ve been an actor since I was a child, and have worked professionally as a director, executive producer, producer, casting director, hair artist, and stunt coordinator for film, television, and theater in multiple markets. I’m currently the co-creator/co-showrunner for Why I Murdered My Roommate. The BIFF film I’m most excited about: I am excited that BIFF will be showing Why I Murdered My Roommate after it’s recent North Park premiere. I was impressed by A Courtship and the short films “Three in June” and “Kids who Jump off Bridges.” And I’m looking forward to Oblivion Season. Who am I: J. GARRETT VORREUTER CO-DIRECTOR What I do: Community liaison between the organization and artists, the public and vendors. Helping to secure the North Park was my first significant contribution. Background: Born in Auburn, New York, now an honorary native of Buffalo after spending 10 years here between college and work. After graduating UB’s Media Study program I founded the Film Video Collective, a digital platform to encourage collaborations among filmmakers, creatives and the acting community. I established the film arts center at the Pierce Arrow building, which has an 18,000-square-foot soundstage auditorium space and a green screen cyclorama studio. Just finished the production phase of The Rainbow Bridge Motel, a film I produced and co-directed with Scott Rubin. The BIFF film I’m most excited about: The short “Loyal to the Game,” about the free agency experience of an aging wide receiver, is my sleeper pick to be the BIFF buzz film, because Buffalo is both a football town and an underdog city. The Philosopher King is a beautiful international feature about two estranged brothers as they reconnect over a road trip through Sweden. The film’s Australian cinematographer Joel Froome has just moved to Buffalo to raise his family—I’ll speak for Buffalo and say that we’re happy to have him!

Background: Native of South Buffalo. I am a director of photography/film editor and director/producer of db Media Company. We create branded promotional, documentary style content for local and national clientele. I have worked on the Buffalo-based productions Buffalo Boys, Elizabeth Bathory, and The Siege of Niagara. The BIFF film I’m most excited about: The Seventh Fire. Terrence Malick is the executive producer, and it’s an honor to have one of his films playing at our festival. Who am I: LAURIE BROWN ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR What I do: My initial role was to solicit sponsorships and donations so that we could secure the North Park Theatre as the primary venue for BIFF 2015. After that, I’ve been working to develop a total experience for festival-goers featuring the many outstanding restaurants, bars, shops, and services on Hertel Avenue. Susan Tobin, head of the Hertel Business Association, has organized a weekend long event called “Explore the Avenue,” in which many HBA members will host special events and offer special discounts to BIFF ticket holders. Background: Born in Marathon, Florida, now a Buffalonian by choice. My husband was born in Buffalo, and I could not have asked for a better community in which to live and raise our family. With degrees in marketing/business administration and events planning, I have supported numerous not-for-profit organizations over many years. I met Ray Guarnieri was he was shooting his feature Buffalo Boys in 2011 and helped him feed his cast and crew on almost no budget. When he became the executive director of BIFF, he asked me if I would be willing to help. I was delighted to have an opportunity to work with Ray again and to help bring BIFF to my Hertel Avenue/North Buffalo neighborhood. The BIFF film I’m most excited about: I am most interested in seeing the films with local roots that BIFF will be showcasing, especially Prescient, Emelie, Let Them Have Their Way, and Long John. Who am I: BOB LINGLE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR What I do: My responsibilities include helping to establish relationships with local businesses on Hertel as well as building partnerships with elected officials. (We recently secured funding from Common Councilman Joel Feroleto.) I’ve worked with BIFF off and on for the last six years, most recently as the director of marketing in 2012. Having worked with BIFF in the past, I am well aware of the shortcomings it experienced. This year’s festival is very much a reboot, with a sense of community and passion for film that I’m positive will be felt by a wide-ranging audience. Background: I grew up in West Seneca/Orchard Park. My family and I currently live in South Buffalo. I’m a 2007 SUNY Fredonia graduate, where I focused on TV/digital film. I have worked on several indie projects as director of photography. More recently I’ve been a communications consultant for political candidates. The BIFF film I’m most excited about: Nefin Dincs’s documentary, Through My Lens, about young Turkish filmmakers sharing their views on democracy and human rights issues. (I’m biased P because Nefin was an instructor of mine at Fredonia.)

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FILM REVIEW

LONG TIME GONE COMING HOME THE YES MEN ARE REVOLTING BY M. FAUST ONE OF THE FIRST CHINESE FILMMAKERS to make an in-

ternational career for himself, Zhang Yimou initially caught the eyes of the world with films that married a rapturously colorful visual sense to stories that seemed repurposed from classic Hollywood: Ju Dou, Raise the Red Lantern, Shanghai Triad, To Live. His regular star Gong Li became equally well known, the kind of movie queen the world hadn’t seen in decades. Zhang had a second wave of popularity in the early 2000s with a trio of martial arts costume epics, including the hugely successful Hero and followed by House of Flying Daggers and the almost ludicrously gaudy Curse of the Golden Flower. Interwoven with these international successes have been smaller films that often didn’t travel outside of China. Although it also pays tribute to Hollywood classicism, Coming Home isn’t one of his splashy epics. Its tragic plot is as subdued as its visual palette. The story takes place after the end of Mao’s “Cultural Revolution,” which brought misery to China for two decades. Lu Yanshi (Chen Daoming), a university instructor who was imprisoned for his non-revolutionary attitudes, is finally released. He anticipates a reunion with his now-adult daughter Dan Dan (Huiwen Zhang) and his wife Feng (Gong Li). But happiness isn’t so easily recaptured. Although Feng has cherished his memory for many years, she has recently begun to suffer from what the local doctor calls psychogenic amnesia. While she remembers Lu and lives for his return, she doesn’t recognize him when she sees him. Had this been made in Hollywood in the 1950s, it would have been a story about a World War II veteran and would have starred Rock Hudson and Barbara Stanwyck. But to say that it would have been directed by Douglas Sirk gives the wrong idea: Aadapted from a novel, Coming Home is marked by a mood of resignation and sadness rather than melodrama. The characters seem too weary of their troubles to hold anger against the situation that ruined their lives. (Dan Dan was a promising dancer as a teen: I presume that actress Huiwen Zhang is a professional— you don’t do kicks like these unless you’ve been practicing since

IN CINEMAS NOW BY M. FAUST & GEORGE SAX

PREMIERES OPENING FRIDAY OCTOBER 9 COMING HOME—After a man returns home after 20 years imprisonment during China’s Cultural Revolution, he must re-win the love of the wife who no longer remembers him. Starring Gong Li and Chen Daoming. Directed by Zhang Yimou (Raise the Red Lantern). Reviewed this issue. Eastern Hills HE NAMED ME MALALA—Documentary about Malala Yousafzai, the Pakastani teenager who survived the Taliban’s attempt to kill for speaking out on behalf of girls’ education. Directed by Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth). Amherst, Eastern Hills PAN—Re-imagining of the characters in J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan. Starring Hugh Jackman, Levi Miller, Garrett Hedlund, Rooney Mara, and Amanda Seyfried. Directed by Joe Wright (Atonement). Reviewed this issue. TIME OUT OF MIND—Reviewed below. Amherst

ALTERNATIVE CINEMA

BEETLEJUICE (1988)—The archetypal Tim Burton movie. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, but Burton is clearly too busy indulging himself to care, and the sense of fun is infectious. With Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Alec Baldwin, and Geena Davis. SatSun 11:30am. North Park BODY HEAT (1981)—Lawrence Kasdan’s directorial debut sparked a revival of popular interest in film noir, borrowing liberally from The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity for this story of a femme fatale leading a lawyer into murder. Starring William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Richard Crenna, Ted Danson, and Mickey Rourke, all but Crenna unknowns at the time. Presented by the Buffalo Film Seminars. Tue 7pm. Amherst (Dipson) BORUTO: NARUTO THE MOVIE—Anime, and I’ve learned better than to try to summarize those. Sat 5pm,

Li Gong and Daoming Chen in Coming Home.

you’ve been able to walk.) It may be too restrained for audiences who enjoy a three-hankie weepie, though the emotions it evokes it earns. It opens Friday at the Eastern Hills Cinema. * * * The Yes Men Are Revolting is probably the best of the three Yes Men documentaries, and that’s saying something. Performance artists/pranksters Mike Bonnano (a former UB student and Squeaky Wheel intern) and Andy Bichlbaum (not their real names) have made it their job (aided by people who mostly and perhaps wisely remain offscreen), in their own words, to “pass ourselves off as representatives of big corporations we don’t like, make fake websites and wait for people to contact us.” In their most famous stunt, during the 20th anniversary of the Bhopal disaster, which immediately killed nearly 4,000 people and may have contributed over the years to the deaths of as many as 35,000 others, they appeared on the BBC as representatives of Dow Chemical to announce that Dow (which had recently purchased Union Carbide) had decided to pay $14 billion in restitution.

Sun & Tues 7:30pm. Screening Room; Sat 9pm, Amherst; Sat 4, 9pm, Sun 4, 7pm, Eastern Hills; Sat 7pm Flix FINDING VIVIAN MAIER—Oscar-nominated documentary investigating the life of the woman who worked as a nanny while taking tens of thousands of photographs that have won international acclaim after her death. Directed by John Mahoof and Charlie Siskel. Presented by the Roycroft Film Society, Sun 4pm. Parkdale School Auditorium, 141 Girard Ave., East Aurora. www.roycroftcampuscorporation.com GISELLE—From the Bolshoi Ballet, the romantic tragedy that is one of the one of the oldest and most beloved pieces in the classical repertoire the Sun 12:55pm. Amherst SILO CITY URBAN DRIVE-IN—Rescheduled from an unexpectedly rainy day in September: Bring your lawn chair or blankets to experience twelve hours of free movies at one of Buffalo’s most exciting new re-purposed spaces. A specially designed screen capable of daylight and nighttime projection will show Monty Python & The Holy Grail, Do the Right Thing, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Mad Max: Fury Road, and Hedwig & The Angry Inch, along with short films by local filmmakers. Other activities and food trucks will also be available. Presented by Squeaky Wheel. Sat noon-midnight. Silo City SLAP SHOT (1977)—Paul Newman as an aging hockey player who revives his second-rate team by encouraging them to get into more fights on the ice. Classic 1970s comedy (replete with hideous clothes) that became one of Newman’s biggest hits. Co-starring Strother Martin, Michael Ontkean, Jennifer Warren, Lindsay Crouse, Jerry Houser, Melinda Dillon, M. Emmet Walsh, and Swoosie Kurtz. Directed by George Roy Hill (The Sting). Fri-Sat 9:30pm. North Park THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965)—Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer in the 1965 Academy Award winner for Best Picture. It beat out Darling, Doctor Zhivago, Ship of Fools and A Thousand Clowns. Go figure. Sat 7:30pm. Screening Room STEVE JOBS: THE MAN IN THE MACHINE—Not to be confused with the upcoming drama starring Michael Fassbender as the late Apple CEO; this is a new documentary by Alex Gibney (Going Clear: Scien-

20 THE PUBLIC / OCTOBER 7, 2015 / DAILYPUBLIC.COM

Of course, Dow Chemical had promised no such thing. They and Union Carbide before them have for years steadfastly resisted taking blame for the accident. People have short memories, after all. The hoax was discovered within a day, though not before Dow’s stock price plummeted. (Helping people is not good for the bottom line, but we already know that.) Wisely, Dow did not press charges, presumably recognizing that to do so would only result in more publicity for an issue they have been hoping people will forget. Their first movie to delve into their personal lives, The Yes Men Are Revolting finds them scrambling to reconcile their activism with the demands of families and careers. Its work that will always need to be done, using humor to bring attention to underreported issues that are not remotely funny. (Video footage of Canadian forests after the tar sands oil extractors have finished with them is an image you won’t soon forget.) It is scheduled for only one local screening, at Hallwalls next Tuesday, October 13 at 7pm: Please do not think that I am resorting to a banal cliché when I say that you do not want to miss it. P

tology and the Prison of Belief ) Wed-Fri 7:30pm. Screening Room THE YES MEN ARE REVOLTING—The third film following the exploits of the duo that uses ridiculous public stunts to expose corporate malfeasance. Reviewed this issue. Tue 13, 7pm. Hallwalls

IN BRIEF

THEATER INFORMATION IS VALID THROUGH THURSDAY, OCT 9 BLACK MASS—The life of Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger, brutal, sociopathic, and darkly entrepreneurial, is a prime vehicle to reflect upon the American character, maybe too much so for the filmmakers here sufficiently to contend with. Focusing on his deal with the FBI, which agreed to take a tolerant attitude toward the activities of Bulger’s gang in return for information about the Boston Mafia, the film neglects other aspects of his criminal career, including his relationship with his brother, a respectable politician, and the support he received from the Irish-American community. Johnny Depp plays Bulger with a variable Boston accent, but the film’s best performance comes from Joel Edgerton as his FBI handler. With Benedict Cumberbatch, Dakota Johnson, Kevin Bacon, and Peter Sarsgaard. Directed by Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart). -GS Flix (Dipson), Maple Ridge (AMC), Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria EVEREST—Based on the story recounted in Jon Krakauer’s book, Into Thin Air, about climbers on Mt. Everest who are trapped by a severe snow storm. Starring Josh Brolin, Jason Clarke, and Thomas M. Wright. Directed by Baltasar Kormákur (2 Guns). Flix (Dipson), Maple Ridge (AMC), Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria GRANDMA—No one is better at snapping off a sarcastic retort than Lily Tomlin, and she gets plenty of them in this trim comedy-drama. In what was presumably written as a vehicle for her, Tomlin plays no one’s idea of a traditional grandmother, a feminist poet who at the film’s beginning is breaking

up with her much younger girlfriend. The plot contrives to have her look up a lot of old friends and lovers and uncover buried secrets, along the way providing acting workouts for Sam Elliott (who is particularly good), Marcia Gay Harden, Judy Greer, and Orange is the New Black’s Laverne Cox. Written and directed by Paul Weitz, one of Hollywood’s more interestingly uneven auteurs (About a Boy, Being Flynn); Buffalo native Andrew Miano is one of the film’s producers. –MF Amherst (Dipson), Eastern Hills (Dipson) HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 2—Animated sequel from the Adam Sandler production line. Directed by Genndy Tartakovsky. Flix (Dipson), Hamburg Palace, Maple Ridge (AMC), New Angola, Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls , Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria THE INTERN—Robert De Niro puts little of himself into his enervated performance here as a harmless sweetheart, a quietly avuncular retiree aiding a stressed corporate executive (Anne Hathaway in a tense, ill-conceived performance) through personal and professional difficulties. A comedy with pretentions with social commentary that it doesn’t earn. Nancy Meyers’ soggy, uninventive film is old-fashioned in the worst senses of the word, ditching its odd couple premise to become a sentiment-coated domestic-crisis dramedy built on small, easily-surmounted problem situations. Co-starring Rene Russo and Anders Holm. –GS Flix (Dipson), Maple Ridge (AMC), Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria LEARNING TO DRIVE—Is it possible to make a bad movie starring Patricia Clarkson and Sir Ben Kingsley? Maybe, but Learning to Drive isn’t it. Clarkson, whose endlessly expressive face is always a joy to watch, plays a newly divorced woman who decides to learn to drive (a skill less common in Manhattan than where the rest of us live). Kingsley is her instructor, a Sikh who comes by his equanimity from his religion and from having survived a difficult life, though entering an arranged marriage will test him even more than teaching driving in Manhattan. Inspired by a New Yorker essay written by Katha Pollitt, the film’s life lessons are perhaps obvious but graceful and optimistic: To call it a “feel-good” movie is not faint praise. Co-starring Jake Weber,

REVIEW FILM

LOCAL THEATERS AMHERST THEATRE (DIPSON) 3500 Main St., Buffalo / 834-7655 amherst.dipsontheatres.com AURORA THEATRE 673 Main St., East Aurora / 652-1660 theauroratheatre.com EASTERN HILLS CINEMA (DIPSON) 4545 Transit Rd., / Eastern Hills Mall Williamsville / 632-1080 easternhills.dipsontheatres.com FLIX STADIUM 10 (DIPSON) 4901 Transit Rd., Lancaster / 668-FLIX flix10.dipsontheatres.com FOUR SEASONS CINEMA 6 2429 Military Rd. (behind Big Lots), Niagara Falls / 297-1951 fourseasonscinema.com HALLWALLS 341 Delaware Ave., Buffalo / 854-1694 hallwalls.org HAMBURG PALACE 31 Buffalo St., Hamburg / 649-2295 hamburgpalace.com LOCKPORT PALACE 2 East Ave., Lockport / 438-1130 lockportpalacetheatre.org MAPLE RIDGE 8 (AMC) 4276 Maple Rd., Amherst / 833-9545 amctheatres.com MCKINLEY 6 THEATRES (DIPSON) 3701 McKinley Pkwy. / McKinley Mall Hamburg / 824-3479 mckinley.dipsontheatres.com NEW ANGOLA THEATER 72 North Main St., Angola / 549-4866 newangolatheater.com NORTH PARK THEATRE 1428 Hertel Ave., Buffalo / 836-7411 northparktheatre.org REGAL ELMWOOD CENTER 16 2001 Elmwood Ave., Buffalo / 871–0722 regmovies.com REGAL NIAGARA FALLS STADIUM 12 720 Builders Way, Niagara Falls 236–0146 regmovies.com REGAL QUAKER CROSSING 18 3450 Amelia Dr., Orchard Park / 827–1109 regmovies.com REGAL TRANSIT CENTER 18 Transit and Wehrle, Lancaster / 633–0859 regmovies.com REGAL WALDEN GALLERIA STADIUM 16 One Walden Galleria Dr., Cheektowaga 681-9414 regmovies.com RIVIERA THEATRE 67 Webster St., North Tonawanda 692-2413 rivieratheatre.org THE SCREENING ROOM 3131 Sheridan Dr., Amherst / 837-0376 screeningroom.net SQUEAKY WHEEL 712 Main St., / 884-7172 squeaky.org SUNSET DRIVE-IN 9950 Telegraph Rd., Middleport 735-7372 sunset-drivein.com TRANSIT DRIVE-IN 6655 South Transit Rd., Lockport 625-8535 transitdrivein.com

Levi Miller and Hugh Jackman in Pan.

THE PETER PRINCIPLE? NOT REALLY PAN BY GEORGE SAX YOU WANT OLD-FASHIONED, UNCOMPLICATED, FULSOME VILLAINY in your fantasy-adventure movies? Look no further, my friend. Hugh Jackman’s elegantly honed emoting as a pirate king (unimaginatively) named Blackbeard in Joe Wright’s Pan is about all you could ask for: grand-scale evil performed with a wicked panache and a semi-camp sense of the ridiculous. Jackman’s pirate enters the movie singing a self-celebratory anthem accompanied by hundreds of imprisoned miners arrayed below him on a rocky cliff face, the scene looking something like a digitally exaggerated rendering of one of photographer Sebastião Salgado’s big, wide-angle pictures of South American laborers. In the movie’s first half, Jackman is allowed some room to exercise his flair for archly hammy acting. (In effect, he’s supplying the functional equivalent of Captain Hook in J. M. Barrie’s classic Peter Pan, the inspiration

for this picture.) Actually, it also has a Hook (Garrett Hedlund), but we needn’t go into that now. This is not Barrie’s Pan nor even Mr. Disney’s, but rather a major overhaul of the original. Some of the main characters are borrowed—Peter (Levi Miller), Hook, Tiger Lily (Rooney Mara)—but they’ve been reimagined and repurposed. Peter is now a 12-year-old living in a London orphanage, having been abandoned there as an infant by his mother. It’s 1940, and above, at night, the Battle of Britain is being fought. Through a sequence of actions I’ll skip over, Peter finds himself on an airborne pirate ship perilously sailing amid the battling German bombers and British fighter planes. (This is the first spectacular use of the movie’s 3-D.) And then he’s deposited in Blackbeard’s mines, where he runs into one James Hook, another prisoner. Thenceforth, Pan is increasingly a swiftly paced series of cartoonish hairbreadth escapes and big, loud battles between Peter and his crew and Blackbeard’s pirates. The two thematic elements involve the boy’s possible birthright as the little prince who can lead Neverland’s natives to freedom from Blackbeard’s violent, exploitive overlordship. I hope you’re not expecting me to elucidate the dense, barely clarified backstory. Maybe a 10-year-old—probably the intended audience member—could make sense of it all, but I couldn’t keep up with everything. I can tell you that the pirate has been mining life-extending “fairy dust” and needs to extend his increasingly unproductive operations into the natives’ territory. (You could probably draw an analogy to the post-Columbus colonial exploitation and despoliation of the America’s Indians, but, really, why try?) Wright moves Pan along capably enough, but the movie takes its convolutions and bombast a little too seriously, though maybe not to those 10-year-olds. There’s some wise-guy repartee, a la Star Wars. What Pan lacks is the simple originality and charm of Barrie’s 1911 story. But it’s probable that the sentimental, twee side of the original wouldn’t work today. Nor would Barrie’s amused observation that children, like his ageless Peter, are “gay and innocent and heartless.” Our technically dominated, P hard-edged world has its own kind of sentimentality.

Sarita Choudhury, and Samantha Bee. Directed by Peter Sarsgaard, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Lily Rabe. Isabel Coixet (My Life Without Me). –MF Amherst Directed by Edward Zwick (Blood Diamond). –MF (Dipson) ENDS THURS Eastern Hills (Dipson), North Park THE MARTIAN—It makes sense to update science ficSICARIO—Emily Blunt as an idealistic FBI agent tion variants on the Robinson Crusoe story every assigned to keep drugs from coming over the so often to take advantage of both new technology US-Mexican border. Co-starring Benicio Del Toro, and new knowledge. And the armchair survivalist Josh Brolin, and Victor Garber. Directed by Denis will be engrossed by at least the first half of this Villeneuve (Prisoners), so expect violence. Flix adaptation of Andy Weir’s novel starring Matt Da(Dipson), Maple Ridge (AMC), Regal Elmwood, Remon as the can-do science guy stuck on Mars. But gal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Rescripter Drew Goddard, who has given us such loggal Walden Galleria ically wobbly films as The Cabin in the Woods and SLEEPING WITH OTHER PEOPLE—After years of SNL World War Z, is less interested in illustrating Weir’s nonsense and comedies in which he has mostly problem-solving than the more familiar stuff about been cast in straight-edge parts, who knew that NASA mounting a rescue operation. The overall reJason Sudeikis could be so charming? Writer-disult would be more enjoyable on a popcorn level if rector Leslye Headland’s take on the modern romthe first half hadn’t put you in a logical mode that com finds middle ground between the lightweight the second half abandons. (The disco music is parnostalgia of the Nora Ephron model and the doeticularly idiotic—like a mission to Mars in even the eyed raunchiness of the Judd Apatow model. As a near future couldn’t come equipped with at least platonic couple trying to help each other through as much music as you or I could fit on a thumb their relationship difficulties, Sudeikis and Alison drive right now.) With Jessica Chastain, Kristen Brie flesh out their somewhat extreme characWiig, Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Pena, ters into likeable people (though the movie would and Sean Bean. Directed by Ridley Scott (Prohave been better without the prerequisite happy metheus). -MF ending). Excellent supporting work from Amanda Peet, Adam Scott, Natasha Lyonne, and Jason MAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS—Teen dystopian sequel. Starring Dylan O’Brien, Ki Hong Lee and Mantzoukas; Headland is a talent to watch. –MF Kaya Scodelario. Directed by Wes Ball (BeginAmherst (Dipson) ENDS THU, Eastern Hills (Dipners). Flix (Dipson), Maple Ridge (AMC), Regal Elson) ENDS THU, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, mwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Regal Walden Galleria Walden Galleria TIME OUT OF MIND—Richard Gere’s longstanding PAWN SACRIFICE—Tobey Maguire lays any memoefforts on behalf of America’s underclass and ries of wimpy Peter Parker to rest with his intense homeless have probably earned him any credit he performance here as chess master Bobby Fischreceives for producing and starring in this drama er, whose highly publicized matches with Russian as an alcoholic who’s been homeless in New York champ Boris Spassky (Liev Schreiber) made world for almost a decade. The movie episodically folheadlines in 1972. Channeling James Cagney with lows him over several weeks of his daily rounds a dash of Anthony Perkins, Maguire is the center of of struggling for shelter and food and his panhanan equally fast-paced movie that is over before you dling. Director Oren Moverman (The Messenger) have tie to reflect on its substantial flaws. (Chief proceeds in a carefully rough-hewn vérité fashion, VISIT DAILYPUBLIC.COM FOR MORE LISTINGS & REVIEWS >> among them: Was Fischer, a Jew who despised with FILM echoes of Italian Neo Realism, usually avoidboth Jews and “Commies,” merely eccentric or ing dramatically composed shots in favor of busy, genuinely insane, and was the US government acsometimes semi-obscured, distanced takes. This tually responsible for abetting his madness?) With alienating technique is in service of an almost plot-

CULTURE > FILM

less narrative. Gere eventually creates a compelling presence, but we never get much of a purchase on his character or his background, although this may well be part of the firm’s perverse point of view. With a vivid Ben Vereen as a motor-mouth jivester acquaintance of George, and a very able Jena Malone as his estranged daughter. –GS Amherst THE VISIT—Two city kids armed with home movie cameras spend a week in rural Pennsylvania with the grandparents they’re never met. After a string of high-profile disasters, M. Night Shyamalan’s modestly conceived and budgeted horror thriller mixes a 1970s story with a “found footage” shooting style that costs the film more in distraction than it adds in effect. The same goes for the lightweight satire of film students as our 15-year-old heroine obsesses over her mise en scene: it just seems to be killing time on the way to the finale. Staring Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Deanna Dunagan, and Kathryn Hahn. –MF Flix (Dipson), Maple Ridge (AMC), Regal Elmwood, Regal Niagara Falls, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria THE WALK—Acrophobics needn’t fear this recreation of Philippe Petit’s 1972 walk between the twin towers of the not-yet-completed World Trade Center, 110 stories in the air; director Robert Zemeckis, always on the cutting edge of special effects technology, occasionally teases you with the knowledge that he could make you throw up at any minute but never quite goes there, even in the 3D IMAX version. Family-friendly in the best ways, the movie has fun recreating pop entertainments of the 1960s and 1970s (Sidney Lumet fans will be tickled) on its way to the climactic walk. Joseph Gordon Levitt plays Petit with a fruity French accent that suits the character’s good-natured theatricality (he has a lot of Charlie Chaplin in him). With Ben Kingsley, Charlotte Le Bon, and James Badge Dale. –MF P

CULTURE > FILM

VISIT DAILYPUBLIC.COM FOR MORE FILM LISTINGS & REVIEWS >> DAILYPUBLIC.COM / OCTOBER 7, 2015 / THE PUBLIC 21

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MISSED CONNECTION

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Some of our favorite spots around Kleinhans, epicenter of FinnFest

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3 BUFFALO ROME / 388 PORTER

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A progressive’s bookstore, Burning Books offers a selection of printed material covering the radical edges of history and contemporary issues.

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The E. B. Green-designed church is one of Buffalo’s most distinctive buildings, and its periodic jazz wespers events present a great excuse to visit.

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FAMOUS LAST WORDS BACK PAGE

THE GRUMPY GHEY distraction. So, the show, however entertaining, doesn’t cut it for me without a solid album behind it. Lately I feel like the victim of a bait-and-switch: She sold me on the tunes, then began offering me less music and more image. When the tracks from Rebel Heart appeared online, I cringed. The album’s concept is supposed to be one of personal reveal, but so much of Rebel Heart is over-calculated and melodically challenged, it’s almost hard to believe there’s a person at the bottom of the noisy pileup. Is Madonna soulless? Is that what she’s really trying to tell us? Is she a fragmented mess, unable to produce something cohesive that’s a product of a sustained relationship with one producer? Taken as a reflection of her true personality, which is what the album is supposed to be, that’s what comes across. “She worked on it with some of the biggest names in the business,” a friend asserted, blinking at me incredulously when I opined that Rebel Heart was a heinous, barking mess straight out of the gate. It’s a ridiculous assertion, as if to suggest that fame can save a project from creative failure. That only works if we all believe the lie.

THE HOLIDAY IS OVER It’s time for gay men to stop coddling and protecting Madonna

BY CHRISTOPHER JOHN TREACY SOMETIME DURING THE FALL OF 1983, I went to Musi-

cland in the White Plains Galleria and bought a 45 of Madonna’s “Holiday” on a whim. I didn’t know the song, but for two bucks I took a chance. I was 13. In the next few months, I wore out that little sliver of vinyl like no other I’d purchased that year. And I had help: My dad loved it too. I have amusing memories of us boogieing around the living room, putting up that year’s Christmas tree with my father’s souped-up turntable set to repeat. When my mom announced she had a headache, it was as if we’d succeeded on a mission. Gotta love the dysfunctional parental bonding. I got Madonna’s first album that Christmas. As far as I’m concerned, it remains her crowning achievement. Even the best of her output since fails to eclipse the post-disco tour de force of that Sire debut, now 32 years old. It’s sexy. It has soul. It’s honest and groove-based, and the production is even a little scrappy in places, which gave her some underground cred at the time. The gays went apeshit.

Why can’t we tell the truth about Madonna? It’s okay to acknowledge when the mascot unleashes a stinker. Really. This stubborn attachment to Madge also relates to AIDS, since she showed up at a time when things were grim and brought us together through the power of music. She offered us a joyous respite from the awful weight coming down. In the ensuing fallout, haters used Kim Davis logic to fortify their hate while we suffered innumerable losses from a sexually transmitted plague. Madonna, in turn, took on the church. She had her own agenda for questioning old, tired ideologies, but our crusades overlapped. Not long after that, she began playing with sexual taboo like never before, While our sex became a world of latex-laden anxiety, Madonna stumbled, seemingly medicated, down a hotel hallway in grainy black-and-white. Then she released a pornographic coffee table book. Her outlandish Erotica-era antics provided a vicarious thrill—at least someone was getting her freak on.

Since then, I’ve always paid attention to Madonna. Some discs have been great (Bedtime Stories, Ray of Light, Music) while others have struck me as uneven and mediocre. The last decade has been surprisingly consistent— consistently lousy, that is. And yet, when I dare to utter such words out loud, other gay men get upset with me. Really upset.

She also used the black-and-white medium as a vehicle to project intimacy via Truth or Dare, her Blond Ambition Tour documentary, which was effectively designed to make us feel like we were all her friends.

Our refusal to openly discuss Madonna’s increasing lameness is curious to me. As a group of extremely critical, catty, and abrasive guys—so quick to throw others under the bus for fashion choices we disagree with or music/acting/art that doesn’t produce the desired “feels”—it’s odd that we can’t admit when Madonna lacks. It’s as if acknowledging her failing is personal to us, as if we’ve somehow failed.

When she goes on tour, the folks she works with really know how to help her bring her A-game, and her current trek (which is passing though Toronto as I type) is no exception. Less actual concerts and more spectacles, Madonna’s live shows are a dizzying array of elaborate sets, choreography, costume changes, lasers, video clips, pyrotechnics, and things descending from the ceiling. For a bunch of theater queens, it’s heaven in a tin dome. On stage, she works very hard to deliver something entertaining, fun, and, for some of us, life-affirming. Particularly for gay men, Madonna reminds us of who we are, where we’ve come from, and what we’ve achieved.

Part of this is because she’s made a point of defending gays at every available turn. She’s been an ally from the beginning and her support hasn’t wavered. Maybe we feel ours shouldn’t either, but it’s nowhere near an even exchange: Despite her best efforts, Madonna doesn’t quite qualify as a civil rights movement.

That was more than 20 years ago. And it was all an act. But that’s all it’s ever been. And Rebel Heart is where I draw the line.

Maybe that’s where my big disconnect is. Because I was always in it for the music alone. The rest, to me, is just a

Bottom line? From Timbaland and Timberlake to Diplo, Avicii, and Kanye, all the king’s horses and men have failed to coax the Material Girl into making an engaging, consistent record in years. Instead, we get half-baked ideas, half-cocked execution, and a ton of filler. It’s a good album, you say? How do you define that? Because the deluxe version of Rebel Heart is a bloated, unwieldy 19 tracks (the super deluxe is 23!), maybe three or four of which are above average. So, a good album is comprised of 20 percent above-average material? Get real. “There’s a contradiction/And I’m stuck here in between,” she sings in “Wash All Over Me,” the final track of the non-deluxe version, touching on the project’s conceptual duality: the hellion vs. the romantic. But the ride to get there has been such a waste of time, it’s entirely too late for explanations. The infuriatingly sing-song “Bitch, I’m Madonna” makes for a better urban nursery rhyme than a pop song. “Holy Water” sounds like she’s singing with plugs on her nose at the public pool, and the “Bitch, get off my pole” refrain seems little more than gratuitous vulgarity. (Madge might want to look into the way Peaches does this for a more effective approach.) She makes matters worse at the chorus: “Kiss it better, kiss it better/Make it better, make it wetter (Don’t it taste like holy water),” which just isn’t sexy. Twenty-plus years ago it might have been shocking; now it reeks of desperation. “Devil Pray” could have been so much more, but in the process of rattling off a series of redundant drug-related terms (“And we can do drugs, and we can smoke weed, and we can drink whisky/And we can get high and we can get stoned…”), she comes across as hokey and outdated, like you’re getting a pep-talk from a counselor who’s out of her element. The free-association nonsense in “S.E.X.”—”Chopsticks, underwear, bar of soap, dental chair”—succeeds at being unintentionally hilarious, while “Iconic,” featuring Chance the Rapper and Mike Tyson, is a bombastic joke that underscores just how silly Madonna sounds making assertions about who and what she is to us. She was infinitely more convincing when she showed us, rather than insistently telling us, which she does again and again on Rebel Heart. With its gospel send-up and “I Will Survive” spirit, “Living for Love” hinted at a return to a flattering dance/house groove, but it’s the only truly stellar song in the whole set. Instead, we get hip-hop trappings galore, leaving her sounding one-dimensional, tacky, unemotional, and uninspired. The “sorry, not sorry” tone of “Unapologetic Bitch,” set to a synthetic shower of reggae beats, might be the one exception. Her tireless pursuit of relevancy has ended up being her biggest liability, thus exposing an insecurity that’s frantically beating at the core of Rebel Heart. To use her own term, Madonna’s frozen. It’s certainly not too late for her to find some creative chemistry in a producer-cum-kindred spirit who will help her really shine, but all I hear on these tracks is a lot of misguided choices from someone busy putting on airs. Recognizing this for what it is made me sad. But I’m not going to lie to myself about the qualP ity of the album just to avoid feeling that way.

DAILYPUBLIC.COM / OCTOBER 7, 2015 / THE PUBLIC 23

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