A still from Riders of Justice. (Courtesy Rolf Konow/Magnet Releasing)
It begins with a stolen bike. Then a car won’t start. A stranger offers a lady his seat on the subway and suddenly we’ve got a story. For you see, that subway train is about to derail, killing not just a young girl’s mother but also a key witness in the upcoming trial of a feared criminal. In the hugely entertaining action-comedy “Riders of Justice,” this curious chain of events is obsessively investigated by three unemployed probability scientists who determine not without a fair amount of squabbling amongst themselves that the crash was no accident. But, as the movie keeps reminding us, if you stare at something long and hard enough, patterns are naturally going to appear, and how much we really believe anything often depends just as much on evidence as upon how much we want it to be true.
HomeFront: All hail Dionne Warwick, Shakespeare on the Common returns, dysfunctional TV families
By Marie Morris Globe Correspondent,Updated May 7, 2021, 8:55 a.m.
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Dionne Warwick is planning two Mother s Day concerts online.
Welcome back to HomeFront, where weâre slowly shaking off a year-plus of âGroundhog Dayâ-style sameness and reacquainting ourselves with the concept that big news can be good. Vaccination numbers climbing, Free Shakespeare on the Common back on the calendar, and especially the return of Broadway â all big, all good! For the scoop on all kinds of diversions, keep reading.
POP MUSIC: At 80,
Dionne Warwick has embraced livestreaming â sheâs performing two Motherâs Day concerts. She wanders memory lane in an entertaining Q&A with the Globeâs Christopher Muther, touching on her back catalog as well as Twitter fame (âI say things that give food for thoughtâ). Of Ego Nwodimâs uncanny take on
Kafi Dixon is one of the producers of A Reckoning in Boston and a subject of the film. (Courtesy)
Late one night in an adult education classroom in Dorchester, Kafi Dixon compares the toll of living in an environment that upholds white supremacy to a “slow drip, drip, on a hard stone.” Her comment prompts a burst of discussion. One student ups the comparison to a trickle and the group shares a laugh when another adds, “Turn that faucet off!”
Drawn to the intimacy and transformative potential of the Clemente Course in the Humanities designed to give adults with limited financial resources a chance to rigorously study literature, history, and philosophy Newton filmmaker James Rutenbeck thought he’d make a documentary full of scenes just like the one described, inspired by students like Dixon. And in fact, he tried.
A still from director Alex Camilleri s film Luzzu. (Courtesy IFFBoston)
“The timing is kind of cusp-y,” admits Independent Film Festival Boston program director Nancy Campbell. With shots in arms and restrictions beginning to lift as the city takes tentative steps toward reopening, the area’s annual springtime feast for cinephiles is staying at home for just a little while longer. This year’s IFFBoston runs from Thursday, May 6 through Sunday, May 16 in your living room, offering 26 features and 43 shorts culled by Campbell and executive director Brian Tamm from their virtual visits to festivals all over the world, as well as the usual panel discussions, director Q&As and a local student film showcase, all online this year.