Mark it Up brings Doyle to WAER for my podcast debut

There’s a new wrinkle to my work for Syracuse Public Media site waer.org. Add a Mark It Up in Syracuse podcast to my weekly community blog column. For the debut edition, I interviewed veteran Syracuse guitarist, arranger, band leader and more Mark Doyle in the WAER-FM 88.3 studios. He’s bringing his quite cool Guitar Noir…

Offensive can have other messages

There are things happening up on the screen in “Get Hard” that, taken at face value, are offensive. Yet I wasn’t ruffled nearly enough to stand up, do an about face and march out of there as I sat through the Friday matinee at the Regal Cinemas theater in Syracuse mega shopping, dining and entertainment…

In the end, it’s Louisville and Michigan State fans that win

I was right in my prediction Thursday when I declared that the Sheraton University would not be empty in the Friday hours before the East Region of the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen up the hill a short stretch in the Carrier Dome. Interestingly enough, as my dear wife Karen and I made our way to…

How do you prep for a Sweet Sixteen?

There are many ways, I suppose, for a bunch of college-aged men to spend a few hours in a strange city before a very important evening. Add in the fact that they’re joined by the collective purpose of their university’s sports team, and it’s surely no surprise to discover them in a pack, dressed rather…

Is any movie worth a fourth swing at it?

To me, “A Star is Born” means a drunked-up rocker played by Kris Kristofferson doing the right/wrong/right/wrong dance with a wild-eyed optimist of a young singer played by Barbra Streisand. To a generation that came ahead of me, Judy Garland was the young singer. In the original, it was … well, you can trace the…

Vin Diesel feels family love as ‘Fast’ opening approaches

This emotional feeling about “Fast and Furious 7” is moving into overdrive. The movie made after the tragic death of star Paul Walker opens on April 3. For more than a year now, his co-stars and the crew have been dealing with the loss of their friend, who perished in a car accident in November…

In Syracuse, this parade marches me toward spring

It was in the 40s Saturday in Syracuse for the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade. There was still plenty of snow hanging around. But that didn’t deter thousands of partying people. The 33rd edition of the event was the setting for my weekly community blog for Syracuse Public Media site waer.org. You can read my…

When bad people do good in the movies

In “Run All Night,” I found myself rooting for the guy played by Liam Neeson. When, in the back story set in front of us, his character was every bit a bad a guy as the man played by co-lead Ed Harris. You can read my review of “Run All Night” as my weekly Movie…

Johnny Depp hurt Down Under

So while in Australia filming the fifth edition of “The Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, Johnny Depp hurt his hand. I discovered this disconcerting news while compiling my weekly Film News blog posted every Thursday morning on the Syracuse New Times site. You can read where that revelation led me by clicking the link below.…

Aretha Franklin, Wynton Marsalis, legends, will be coming to Syracuse in July

The names were announced for this July’s M&T Syracuse Jazz Fest and the top two were huge. Aretha Franklin will be singing on Saturday night, July 18, on the rolling hills of the campus of Onondaga Community College, and Wynton Marsalis will lead the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra the night of July 17. That’s…