The Moody Institute of Science produced hundreds of classroom films offering an intel­ligent design slant on science decades before that term came into vogue.

It's an appropriate entrance for the Philly-based artist, whose work delights in separating function from form and reuniting them in unexpected ways.

Clint Eastwood is no stranger to death — much of his career has been spent either doling it out or wrestling with its consequences. But Hereafter marks the first time the taciturn icon has peered beyond the inevitable.

The story of a sailor who works as a janitor in an insane asylum in order to keep an eye on his wife, committed there after the murder of their child, gilds its tragic storyline with a cavalcade of cinematic effects, experimental techniques that wouldn't come into vogue for decades.

Film culture tends to thrive under repressive conditions, so it should come as no surprise that North Africa and the Middle East seem to turn out more strong female filmmakers than the "liberated" West.

Yes, they're two of the most innovative and influential experimental artists of the past half-century, but that doesn't mean Michael Snow and John Oswald don't have a sense of humor.

The reach of the allegedly egalitarian Internet has upended the social order, as easily as ignoring a friend request.

Observing people examining the paintings in the Brandywine River Museum's new show is more like watching visitors at a funhouse hall of mirrors than patrons at an art exhibition.

Marc Ribot | Philly/New York All-Star Band | Amir ElSaffar's Two Rivers | Ari Hoenig Trio | Bobby Hutcherson and Cedar Walton | Cindy Blackman | Andy Laster's Sounds of Cairo | Dave Brubeck | Dave Liebman Orchestra | Curtis Fuller | PanaMonk Revisited | Ches Smith & These Arches | Greg Osby and 9 Levels | Joey DeFrancesco | Dave Holland Big Band | Mario Pavone's Orange Double Tenor | Tomas Fujiwara/Ideal Bread

With Ortlieb's and Zanzibar Blue gone, Chris' is the only full-time jazz joint left in Philly, but the owners don't see themselves as somehow victorious.