Muse House

Review: "Invention" Invites Controversy
By Jason Berger
November 20, 2009 - 8:00pm
"The Invention of Lying", the new film from comedian Ricky Gervais, sparks debate with its polarizing views on religion.

The Invention of Lying, the new inflammatory (and very funny) comedy from TV mastermind Ricky Gervais, starts off simply enough.

More than a closet
By Phillip Crook
November 17, 2009 - 12:47pm
SU Professor Jeff Mayer's collection of vintage couture is his life's passion

Closet space is a precious commodity.

But in Jeff Mayer’s house, five of his six closets are crammed with clothes he doesn’t wear.

Mayer, 45 and an associate professor of fashion history and design at Syracuse University since 1992, has amassed a large private collection of vintage couture, perhaps one of the largest in Central New York.

Review: "Brütal" Fandom
By Jason Berger
November 17, 2009 - 12:31am
Heavy metal gets the video game treatment in "Brütal Legend," the new game featuring Jack Black.

 Combining unique worlds and laugh-out-loud dialogue is nothing new for video game designer Tim Schaffer.  From the alien controlled future in “Day of the Tentacle” to the Aztec-inspired afterlife of “Grim Fandango,” he’s made a career of it.  But with his latest game, “Brütal Legend” (available for Xbox360 and Playstation 3), he’s added his love of all things heavy metal.  And this affection, evident from the smallest details of a character’s wardrobe to the unnecessary umlauts in the title, helps to...

Review: "Air" Soars to Great if Uncomplicated Heights
By Jason Berger
November 16, 2009 - 11:43pm
A review of "Up In the Air," the upcoming film directed by Jason Reitman and starring George Clooney

Review:"The Bald Soprano" and "The Chairs"
By Kristen Rajczak
November 16, 2009 - 12:24pm
SU drama students talk nonsense in a pair of absurd plays by Eugene Ionesco.

It’s hard enough to make small talk at a party. Watching actors do it for almost three hours is almost unbearable. The SU drama department productions of “The Bald Soprano” and “The Chairs” embody playwright Eugene Ionesco’s belief that English language is full of empty clichés, the actors speaking nonsense for minutes at a time, repeating each other and altogether acting foolish. Their conversation has no art or meaning; it is words, occasionally even devolving into gibberish. Nevertheless, the gibberish is well produced.

Joseph Haydn in the 21st Century
By Rebecca Schmid
November 12, 2009 - 2:09pm
The Haydn Trio Eisenstadt will premiere a work by South African composer Bongani Ndodana-Breen for a free SU concert.

The Austrian composer Joseph Haydn once said that his musical language could be understood anywhere in the world. 

The Haydn Trio Eisenstadt is celebrating this sentiment for the bicentennial of Haydn's death this year. In a project entitled “D2H” (dedicated to Haydn), the group commissioned six Austrian composers, six composers from other European countries and six composers from outside the continent to write a piano trio in his honor.

An eclectic evening with the New York Chamber Soloists
By Rebecca Schmid
November 8, 2009 - 7:52pm
The varying range of musicianship among the members of the New York Chamber Soloists allowed for an enjoyable, but unstable, night of chamber music.

The New York Chamber Soloists do not fit easily into a mold. 

They champion repertoire for unusual combinations of instruments, which a core ensemble of 12 musicians undertakes in a variety of formations. The ensemble’s age-range extends from musicians in their early thirties to octogenarians. 

The Everson brings Turner and Cezanne to Syracuse
By Bonnie Rosenberg
November 7, 2009 - 4:50pm
European Modernism migrates to Central New York in Turner to Cezanne: Masterpieces from the Davies Collection, National Museum Wales.

Pick up a book on the history of 19th century European art and you’ll be more than adequately prepared to enjoy and perhaps curate the artistic coup that is the Everson Museum of Art’s Turner to Cezanne: Masterpieces from the Davies Collection, National Museum Wales.

CNY Jazz Orchestra Finds the Happy Medium
By Jessica Novak
November 1, 2009 - 8:33pm
The CNY Jazz Orchestra with special guests Joe Riposo and Steve Brown delivered a Friday night performance that lived up to its title: "Legends of Upstate New York, Part I."

 

Jazz can be a tricky genre to understand and appreciate. However, the Friday, October 30 performance of the CNY Jazz...

Review- "A Serious Man": Modern-day Book of Job. With Laughs.
By Thomas Riemschneider
October 31, 2009 - 5:26pm
The Coens' latest film finally comes to Syracuse.

When Murphy’s Law is kicking into high gear and everything in your life that can go wrong is, what then?  Do you find comfort in laughing at the even greater misfortunes of others?  If you do, go see A Serious Man, the new black comedy by Joel and Ethan Coen.