Here's my selection of events in Rochester this week:
Thursday, February 5

• Starting around 6 p.m. at the The California Brew Haus (402 W. Ridge Rd.) is Hip Hop Showcase Vol. 3 featuring King Zae , Reyskiii, King Worthy, Minority , S.Killz, BronxChild, Desperado, Mikey T, Contrast, Grande Wop, O2, Vicke Vyto, PMB, Glory, Shadi, Write – Jes, Sweet-T. [source: City Newspaper events calendar, 2015-Feb-1]
• Tonight at the Memorial Art Gallery from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. is an Art Social with Sara Davies. "Gather your friends for a fun, quick art experience in a unique setting. [source: MAG website, 2015-Feb-1]
• The Dryden will screen Losing Ground (Kathleen Collins, U.S. 1982, 86 min., DCP) tonight at 8 p.m.
  

  Largely overlooked on its first release, this smart and incisive comedy/drama by African American film director, writer, and film history professor Kathleen Collins has been newly re-mastered by Milestone Film and Video and released for the first time theatrically. Twenty-five years after Collins's death at age 46, her daughter Nina rescued the negatives of her mother's film and worked with Milestone to create a beautiful digital master. Collins's only independent feature film stars Seret Scott as Sara Rogers, a philosophy professor in a troubled marriage that pushes her onto a path of self-discovery with rapturous results. Hailed as a groundbreaking film that focuses on the issue of black female sexuality, Collins's forgotten masterpiece is not to be missed.

  [source: Dryden website, 2015-Feb-1]

• Tonight at 9 p.m. in Ingle Auditorium at RIT is a screening of The Theory of Everything (James Marsh, U.K. 2014, 123 min.) "A look at the relationship between the famous physicist Stephen Hawking and his wife." [source: RIT College Activities Board events site, 2015-Feb-1]

Friday, February 6

• From 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Hedonist Artisan Chocolates will have a tasting of the new Raspberry Chocolate Truffles with Lovestruck designs by Gretchen Spittler. [source: flyer, 2015-Jan-14]
• From 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Visual Studies Workshop Gallery is the Opening Reception for Amanda Chestnut's MFA Thesis Show, Why Do You Have to Make Everything About Race?, on display through February 14.
  

  Archival photographs and stories combine with contemporary imagery and the artists' narrative to connect socio-political history with personal history. In many brief books, archival photography and ephemera combine with poetry and periodical text to convey the history, the emotion, and the lasting impact of historic events. The bookworks presented are representative of two years of work within the Soibelman Syndicate News Agency Archive.

  [source: Visual Studies Workshop website, 2015-Feb-1]

• Tonight from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Printing and Book Arts Center at the Genesee Center for the Arts is the Opening Reception for Reclamation Prints by Doug Steward.
  

  After working in the computer industry for over 30 years Doug Steward is rejuvenating himself and his art by creating woodblock prints. Using very sharp hand carving tools and wood allows him to create graphic images much like they did in Europe in the 15th century. Each print is pulled by hand using a 50 year old press and paper made out of 100% cotton fibers. The resulting black and white prints are strong graphic images of planes, trains, cars and places.

  [source: Genesee Center for the Arts website, 2015-Feb-1]

• Tonight from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at RoCo is the Opening Reception for Makers and Mentors, on display through March 15. [source: RoCo website, 2015-Feb-1]
• Starting around 6 p.m. at Smugtown Mushrooms is a Potluck and Community Art Show with Live Music.
  

  Beat the winter blues with lots of food, music, art, and friends!! Come on down to Smugtown Mushrooms on First Friday. Potluck at 6 pm, bring something if you want, Rochester Food not Bombs will have stuff.

  [source: Facebook, 2015-Feb-2]

• Updated: Over at the Yards from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. is the The Chase Factory, "a celebration of the life and work of Jordan C. Greenhalgh."
  

  Jordan C. Greenhalgh attended RIT's School of Animation, where he studied stop-motion animation and created a plethora of films. His film, "Process Enacted" earned him the Princess Grace award in 2008. The film was also featured in the Nick Toons Animation Festival in the same year. Jordan was a founding member of the Sweet Meat Co. and his sculptures and installation work was part of the group's inaugural show in 2010. Shortly afterwards, he moved to Brooklyn, NY where he continued to create work until his passing in early December of this past year.

  [source: The Yards blog, 2015-Feb-5]

• Tonight at Writers and Books starting at 7 p.m. is Wide Open Mic, hosted by Norm Davis. [source: Writers and Books website, 2015-Feb-1]
• At 7 p.m. in the Visual Studies Workshop Auditorium is The Science Behind the Process with Roger D. Wilson available to discuss his films. The screening will include Against the Grain (Roger D. Wilson, Canada 2012, 16mm, Mono, B&W, 6 min.), My Friend Isabelle (Roger D. Wilson, Canada 2009, 16mm, Silent, Colour/B&W, 3 min. film loop), Experiment #1 (Roger D. Wilson, Canada 2009, 16mm, Mono, Colour, 13 min.), Camera Paint (Roger D. Wilson, Canada 2007, 16mm, Mono, Colour, 4 min.), Moving Forward (Roger D. Wilson, Canada 2010, 16mm, Silent, B&W, 5 min.), Baked Goods For Norman (Roger D. Wilson, Canada 2015, 16mm, Mono, Colour, 3 min.), Brain Static: a self-portrait (Roger D. Wilson, Canada 2009, 16mm, Stereo, Colour video projection, 5 min.), and My Last Words (Roger D. Wilson, Canada 2014, 35mm, Stereo, B&W video projection, 22 min.)
  

  Canadian Filmmaker Roger D. Wilson has been creating innovative experimental films for over a decade. His approach to the process of creating a film is based on exploration and examination of film's emulsion. He is known for his technique of manipulating film emulsion prior to photographing images. He treats his unexposed film stock to processes that alter the films emulsion. He has buried black and white film in soil, bathed it in baking soda, berg colour toner, household bleach and photographic bleach all before photographing images. His films are infused with thematically-related techniques such as layering images through optical printing and painting the film, adding textures through decay, hand processing and creating his own prints.

  [source: Visual Studies Workshop website, 2015-Feb-1]

• This week's 7 p.m. movie at the Cinema (except Monday—see Monday, below) is Inherent Vice (Paul Thomas Anderson, U.S. 2014, 148 min.) "In 1970, drug-fueled Los Angeles detective Larry "Doc" Sportello investigates the disappearance of a former girlfriend." The 9:30 p.m. movie is Black Hat (Michael Mann, U.S. 2015, 133 min.) "A furloughed convict and his American and Chinese partners hunt a high-level cybercrime network from Chicago to Los Angeles to Hong Kong to Jakarta." [source: Cinema coming soon page, 2015-Feb-4]
• The Eastman School Symphony Orchestra performs in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre tonight at 8 p.m. [source: Eastman School of Music calendar, 2015-Feb-1]
• Tonight at 8 p.m. and on Sunday at 2 p.m., the Dryden will screen Kismet (William Dieterle, U.S. 1944, 101 min., 35mm).
  

  Ronald Colman takes a rare, and welcome, turn as Hafiz, the "King of Beggars"—a trickster and magician—in this Arabian Nights-style tale. Promising his daughter a rich marriage, Hafiz tells stories and impersonates important people, leading to confusion and a climactic confrontation with the Grand Vizier (Edward Arnold). Marlene Dietrich is gloriously seductive as Lady Jamilla, the Grand Vizier's chief wife, and Florence Bates, Harry Davenport, Joy Paige, and James Craig round out the cast of this seldom-seen and visually stunning Technicolor treat.

  [source: Dryden website, 2015-Feb-1]

• Starting around 9 p.m. at the Bug Jar, The Lobby presents Broken Ritual, A First Friday Art Opening and Mural Launch with works by Shawnee Hill and music by The Shandeliers ("a new band from The Pickpockets' frontwoman Shannon Scally, with Jackson Cavalier of The Fevertones, Caitlin Yarsky, and Ryan Yarmel from Sparx and Yarms"), Passive Agressives Anonymous, and FyerWerx. [source: Bug Jar calendar, 2015-Feb-1]
• At the Little at 10 p.m. is a screening of Squirm (Jeff Lieberman, U.S. 1976, 92 min.) as part of the Mondo Movie Series.
  

  At the beginning of the film, we learn from one of the characters that earthworms can be called to the surface with electricity, but somehow it turns them into vicious flesh-eaters. Sure enough, a storm that night causes some power lines to break and touch the ground, drawing millions of man-eating worms out of the earth, and into town where they quickly start munching on the locals.

  [source: Little Theatre website, 2015-Feb-1]

Saturday, February 7

• Today at 11 a.m. and at 1 p.m. at Bernunzio Uptown Music is a performance by Bedlam Early Music to Showcase Voice and Lute.
  

  Stop by the store and experience music of the 16th and 17th century for voice and lute. The 20-minute performances will be held at 11 am and 1 pm. Bedlam is Kayleen Sánchez, soprano, and Laudon Schuett, lute. Bedlam is a 15th and 16th century colloquial term for the Bethlem Royal Hospital in London, England. Bedlam is dedicated to exploring the rich repertoires of music for voice and lute in the 16th and 17th centuries. The duo will showcase a selection of songs from their upcoming performance at the Pegasus Rising Concert Series.

  [source: Bernunzio Uptown Music website, 2015-Feb-1]

• Today from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. is the start of Firehouse Gallery at Genesee Pottery's annual Seconds From the Flame sale, running through February 21. "Get a dish for a deal and a bargain on a bowl. It's Genesee Pottery's annual Seconds Sale! Help us reduce our overstock of decorative and functional ceramics." [source: Genesee Center for the Arts website, 2015-Feb-1]
• Today from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Printing and Book Arts Center at the Genesee Center for the Arts is a Free Workshop to make Valentine's Day Cards. "You'll make the paper by hand and then letterpress print your greeting." [source: Genesee Center for the Arts website, 2015-Feb-1]
• Today and tomorrow at 1:15 p.m. and on Sunday and Monday at 7:10 p.m., the Little will screen Song Of The Sea (Tomm Moore, Ireland / Denmark / Belgium / Luxembourg / France 2014, 90 min.)
  

  From the creators of the Academy Award®-nominated The Secret of Kells comes a breathtakingly gorgeous, hand-drawn masterpiece. Based on the Irish legend of the Selkies, Song of the Sea tells the story of the last seal-child, Saoirse, and her brother Ben, who go on an epic journey to save the world of magic and discover the secrets of their past. Pursued by the owl witch, Macha, and a host of ancient and mystical creatures, Saoirse and Ben race against time to awaken Saoirse's powers and keep the spirit world from disappearing forever. As enthralling for adults as for children young and old, Song of the Sea is a wonder of magical storytelling and visual splendor that is destined to become a classic.

  [source: Little Theatre e-mail, 2015-Feb-4]

• From 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. tonight at Bernunzio Uptown Music is David Glasser performing with the Bob Sneider Trio. [source: Bernunzio Uptown Music website, 2015-Feb-1]
• At 8 p.m., the Dryden will screen 1971 (Johanna Hamilton, U.S. 2014, 80 min., Blu-ray) with Betty Medsger in person.
  

  Not everyone was glued to their TV set on the night of March 8, 1971, to see if Joe Frazier or Muhammad Ali would claim the world heavyweight boxing title. Eight deeply committed Vietnam War dissenters were busy burglarizing the FBI Regional office in Media, PA. Their release of FBI documents related to the surveillance, harassment, and blackmail of countless American citizens—and publication of those documents in the Washington Post—unleashed a firestorm of controversy and criticism of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. Never caught and only identified in 2013 when several of the conspirators went public, 1971 tells the amazing story of why and how eight ordinary citizens changed history. A discussion with former Washington Post reporter Betty Medsger will follow the film.

  [source: Dryden website, 2015-Feb-1]

Sunday, February 8

• Today at 10:30 a.m. at Temple Emanu-El (2956 St. Paul Blvd., Irondequoit) is a discussion titled Films and the Law.
  

  Pop culture adopts legal themes to add excitement, drama and even humor to storylines in films, TV series, and literature. A popular legal topic utilized in this way is trusts and estates, commonly known as wills. Karen Morris will address the quandaries bequests can create as portrayed in the TV series "Downton Abbey" and "True Blood," the film "Grand Budapest Hotel," and the real-life wills of several A-list actors. [source: City Newspaper events calendar, 2015-Feb-4]

• Today at 1 p.m. at The New York Museum of Transportation (6393 E. River Rd, Rush) is a discussion of the History of the Can of Worms with Charles Lowe.
  

  The I-490/I-590 expressway interchange is a complex engineering work with a fascinating history. Charles Lowe will tell how the infamous original interchange came into being along with a summary of how the present interchange was designed and built.

  [source: City Newspaper events calendar, 2015-Feb-1]

• Today at 3:30 p.m., the Little will screen Elementary Genocide as part of the Black History Month Film Series.
  

  This film takes the stance that the government has created a social mechanism by which elementary-aged publicly-schooled African American males are labeled targets for the U.S. penal system. It seeks to prove the theory that a corporate attack on the minds and productivity of Black youth is funneling them through the revolving doors of the criminal justice system.

  [source: Little Theatre e-mail, 2015-Jan-28]

• Then at 6:30 p.m., the Little will screen Half Of A Yellow Sun (Biyi Bandele Nigeria / U.K. 2013, 111 min.) as part of the Black History Month Film Series.
  

  Olanna (Thandie Newton) and Kainene (Anika Noni Rose) are twins from a wealthy Nigerian family. Upon entering a privileged city life in newly-independent 1960s Nigeria, the two women make very different choices. Olanna shocks her family by going to live with her lover, the "revolutionary professor" Odenigbo (Chiwetel Ejiofor – "12 Years a Slave"). Kainene becomes a fiercely successful businesswoman and falls in love with an English writer. Romantic entanglements and familial betrayal almost eclipses politics for the girls, until they are caught up in the Nigerian civil war.

  [source: Little Theatre e-mail, 2015-Jan-28]

• At 7 p.m. in the VSW Auditorium is The New England Home Movie Tour.
  

  The New England Home Movie Tour features handmade and homemade poetic film works from the northeast that celebrate the tactility and intimacy of celluloid-based moving images. As the commercial film industry forces us to embrace digital moving images and the planned obsolescence of the means to produce and distribute those products, this film tour aims to share films that embrace the contemporary DIY strategies, politics, and aesthetics of an enduring, artisanal, and personal approach to filmmaking. This traveling program carries with it more than thirty 16mm works and one hundred twenty 35mm slides that will ensure a uniquely arranged program at each stop along its way. With works by Luther Price, Jodie Mack, Robert Todd, Jonathan Schwartz, Jo Dery, Warren Cockerham, and Colin Brant.

  [source: Visual Studies Workshop website, 2015-Feb-1]

• All Them Witches, King Buffalo, The Well, and The Ginger Faye Bakers perform at the Bug Jar starting around 9 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar, 2015-Feb-1]

Monday, February 9

• Tonight at 7 p.m. at the MuCCC is an Open Mic Night hosted by Dario Joseph as part of the Laughingstock: Comedy Festival. [source: MuCCC website, 2015-Feb-1]
• Although our team opted out, the Exhibition and Awards Ceremony for the 2015 RMM 72 Hour Mind2movie Challenge is tonight at 7 p.m. at the Cinema. [source: Rochester Movie Makers website, 2015-Feb-1]
• The Eastman Jazz Ensemble performs tonight at 8 p.m. in Kilbourn Hall. [source: Eastman School of Music calendar, 2015-Feb-1]

Tuesday, February 10

• Today from 12:12 p.m. to 12:52 p.m. in Kate Gleason Auditorium of the Bausch and Lomb Library Building is a Tuesday Topics with Carolee Conklin, and Mike Leach discussing the Rochester Sister Cities.
  

  President Eisenhower initiated the Sister Cities Program in 1956 to encourage Americans to communicate with people around the globe on mutually-beneficial projects to bring about world peace. Presenters will tell how the City of Rochester shares and benefits from its twelve sister city relationships around the world.

  [source: Monroe County Library website, 2015-Feb-1]

• Tonight at 7 p.m. at the MuCCC is First Person Singular hosted by Kristen Stewart as part of the Laughingstock: Comedy Festival. [source: MuCCC website, 2015-Feb-1]
• At 7 p.m., the Little will screen I am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story (Dave LaMattina, Chad N. Walker, U.S. 2014, 90 min.) followed by a video question-and-answer with directors Dave LaMattina, and Chad Walker.
  

  I am Big Bird profiles Caroll Spinney, the 80-year-old puppeteer who has been behind Sesame Street's Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch since the show's first season. Relying heavily on Caroll's incredible archive of home videos dating back to the 1950s, I am Big Bird captures how the love radiating from Caroll has created a worldwide cultural icon and answers why he can't say goodbye to the characters he cherishes.

  [source: Little Theatre website, 2015-Feb-1]

• The Dryden concludes its screening of The Phantom Foe (Bertram Millhauser, U.S. 1920, 100 min., 35mm) tonight at 8 p.m. with live piano accompaniment by Philip C. Carli.
  

  Tonight's concluding chapters unravel the mystery of The Phantom Foe and, through a "veritable carnival of thrills and sensations," restore some order to Janet Dale's life. Through Prison Walls, Behind the Veil, The Attack at the Inn, Confession, and fittingly, Retribution, bring our story to a shocking, nail-biting climax!

  [source: Dryden website, 2015-Feb-1]

Wednesday, February 11

• Today at 1 p.m. in the Student Innovation Hall at RIT (159 Lomb Memorial Dr., Henrietta) is a MAGIC Speaker Series lecture by Yannick LeJacq titled Games Should Be More Violent, Not Less.
  

  Abstract: A question that always seems to surface in games criticism is: what do video games need to do to "get better?" The answer that's often given, in so many words, is that they need to become less violent. Games should become more civil, or more humane, to achieve a level of artistry and grace people appreciate in music, film, literature. LeJacq believes that this is misguided and that there is a good reason that violence seems intrinsic to many video games. LeJacq will discuss some of the biggest games in recent memory such as The Sims 4, GTA V, Shadow of Mordor, even Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. to demonstrate his point.

  [source: Facebook, 2015-Feb-2]

• The Little will screen Hedwig and the Angry Inch (John Cameron Mitchell, U.S. 2001, 95 min.) tonight at 6:30 p.m. as part of the Cult Musicals series.
  

  Hedwig, born a boy named Hansel in East Berlin, fell in love with an American G.I. and underwent a sex-change operation in order to marry him and flee to the West. Unfortunately, nothing worked out quite as it was supposed to – years later, Hedwig is leading her rock band on a tour of the U.S., telling her life story through a series of concerts at Bilgewater Inn seafood restaurants. Her tour dates coincide with those of arena-rock star Tommy Gnosis, a wide-eyed boy who once loved Hedwig… but then left with all her songs.

  [source: Little Theatre e-mail, 2015-Jan-14]

• Tonight at 7 p.m. at the MuCCC is The Improv Plate hosted by the BJ Scanlon with Jeff Andrews and the Broken Couch Improv Troupe as part of the Laughingstock: Comedy Festival. [source: MuCCC website, 2015-Feb-1]
• From 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Gandhi Institute is a Film Screening and Discussion with Erin Thompson on Munyurangabo (Lee Isaac Chung, Rwanda / U.S. 2007, 97 min.)
  

  As part of the Season for Nonviolence, we'll be screening films at the Gandhi House on Wednesday evenings. Join Erin Thompson for a film screening and discussion of Munyurangabo. "After stealing a machete from a market in Kigali, Munyurangabo and his friend Sangwa leave the city to return to their village. Munyurangabo seeks justice for his parents, who were killed in the genocide." [source: Gandhi Inistitute website, 2015-Feb-1]

• At 8 p.m., the Dryden will screen Ball of Fire (Howard Hawks, U.S. 1941, 111 min., 35mm).
  

  A group of professors—living under the same roof in New York City day in and day out—converse and research while attempting to compile the whole of human knowledge. The youngest of them, Professor Bertram Potts (Gary Cooper), is a grammarian currently studying modern slang. While researching in the field, Potts comes across nightclub singer Sugarpuss O'shea (Barbara Stanwyck) and seeks to examine her dialect. Refusing at first, she randomly shows up seeking the professor's house as a hideout, while evading the police and her mob boss boyfriend Joe Lilac. Before long she has the professors dancing and teaches Potts the meaning of "yum yum." Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, the vivacious Stanwyck is at her comedic best as the buoyant, hard-nosed Sugarpuss.

  [source: Dryden website, 2015-Feb-1]

• Fascinating, engaging orchestral folk band Paxtor, Cammy Enaharo, and B-Free perform at the Bug Jar starting around 9 p.m. [source: Bug Jar calendar, 2015-Feb-1]