Grace Potter Ready to Rock Stage AE; ‘Freeheld’ on Local Screens (Tues., 10/6/15)

1) With her bold, soaring vocals delivered in a rich blues-rock framework, Grace Potter has garnered increasing attention on the national rock scene and the chance to open two concerts for The Rolling Stones this past summer on their Zip Code tour. Best known as the lead singer for Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, she has ventured out on her own now with the August release of her second solo effort Midnight. “The Lion The Beast The Beat” is a great example of how Potter and the Nocturnals rocked many a house. The band also had a big hit with “Paris (Ooh La La)” in 2010. Potter says of her songs, “You have to either want to dance to it or cry to it. But there’s also a feistiness to these songs that’s completely unapologetic.” Her performance is like that of a joyful whirling dervish, singing, smiling, and playing her guitar. She’s at Stage AE with special guest Rayland Baxter. Doors open 7 p.m. 400 North Shore Drive, North Shore.

2) Freeheld—It was only a matter of time. First came marriage equality for the LGBTQ community … now comes the tearjerkers about the struggles behind the movement. Freehold is based on a true story that stars Julianne Moore as police detective Laurel Hester who lived in New Jersey with her partner, Stacie Andree (Ellen Page), who worked for the Ocean City Police Department. At the time New Jersey only offered domestic partnership, not marriage, to same-sex couples. When Hester developed brain cancer in 2005, she learned that local authorities would not extend her pension benefits to Andree. Her battle to see that her partner was taken care of after she died became a national sensation, and a documentary about the case won an Oscar in 2007. Steve Carell, Michael Shannon, and Josh Charles also star in the screenplay by Ron Nyswaner, the Oscar-nominated writer of Philadelphia. Check Fandango for screens and times. (TH)

3) Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials – So you finally got the kids off to school and just as you settle into the big comfy chair, you hear the cry that’s haunted parents since the beginning of time.  “I’m bored!”  So why not take them to catch the second installment of this young adult sci-fi series.  The franchise is based on the popular novels by James Dashner set in a post-apocalyptic dystopia (is there any other kind?) about a bunch of teenage boys who, under the control of a group known as “World in Catastrophe: KIllzone Experiment Department” (a.k.a. WICKED) are forced to run through a giant maze while being hunted by evil thugs. At the end of the first movie they escaped from the maze and now, in this sequel, they find themselves lost in a vast desert (known as “The Scorch”) and need to find a way out of there.  Meanwhile they’re being pursued by more henchmen from WICKED and they soon discover that some of them are being mind-controlled so they can’t even trust each other! Check Fandango for screens and times. (TH)

Allegheny County Radical Days 2015

Green Tree Library/Sycamore Room: Screening of The Shot Felt ‘Round the World: How the Polio Vaccine Saved Millions

Free admission 2-4pm
Locally-produced by Carl Kurlander, this film focuses on how Jonas Salk and his team at the University of Pittsburgh conquered the most feared disease of the 20^th century. This film was the winner of Best Documentary Feature at the San Luis Obispo Film Festival. Limited to ages 18 and older. Please register in advance at greentreelibrary.org.
10 West Manilla Ave. (Green Tree) greentreelibrary.org

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