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December Short Fuses — Materia Critica

Coming Attractions

Coming Attractions: November 19 through December 5 — What Will Light Your Fire

Our expert critics supply a guide to film, dance, visual art, theater, author readings, and music. More offerings will be added as they come in.

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The Arts Fuse Currents

Music

Book Review: Ella Fitzgerald — A Sublime American Songstress

By Douglas C. MacLeod | December 1, 2023

Biographer Judith Tick is reverent about the singer without falling into hagiography: with honest scrutiny, she asserts the enduring value of Ella Fitzgerald’s achievement for generations to come.

Visual Arts

Visual Arts Commentary: “Fashioned by Sargent” — The Elephant in the Room

By Mary Sherman | November 9, 2023

The MFA’s Fashioned by Sargent alludes — only at whisper level — to the fact that many of John Singer Sargent’s clients represent questionable ideals.

Film

Film Anniversary: From Punchline to Plausibility — The 50-Year Transformation of “Soylent Green”

By Michael Morano | November 29, 2023

“Soylent Green” should be seen as a work of future history, a docudrama of things that, in 1973, had yet to happen but are happening now, 50 years later.

Books

Book Review: Ella Fitzgerald — A Sublime American Songstress

By Douglas C. MacLeod | December 1, 2023

Biographer Judith Tick is reverent about the singer without falling into hagiography: with honest scrutiny, she asserts the enduring value of Ella Fitzgerald’s achievement for generations to come.

Poetry at The Arts Fuse

Weekly Feature: Poetry at The Arts Fuse

November 30, 2023

This week’s poem: DeWitt Henry’s “From the Horse’s Mouth”

Dance

Dance Review: Brazil’s Grupo Corpo — Floating Free

By Jessica Lockhart | November 1, 2023

Grupo Corpo’s dancers are as technically astute as other top dance companies, but they excel at conveying a lushness of movement that feels sensual rather than sexual.

Theater

Theater Review: “The Game’s Afoot” — Ploddingly

By Martin Copenhaver | November 28, 2023

Murder mystery and farce can coexist in the same play… for a time, at least. Eventually, the two will pull apart, however, as they do in this production.

Television

Television Review: “The Curse” — Inept White Saviors

By Sarah Osman | November 11, 2023

The series’s fierce satiric take down of America’s enlightened white elite is brilliant.

Podcasts

Short Fuse Podcast #65: Arts Commentary and Criticism — The Canary in the Mine Shaft

By Elizabeth Howard | November 16, 2023

In this episode of the Short Fuse, host Elizabeth Howard and Editor-in-Chief and founder of the “Arts Fuse,” Bill Marx, discuss the vital role arts commentary and criticism play in nurturing an open and democratic society

Short Fuses

December Short Fuses — Materia Critica

By Arts Fuse Editor | December 1, 2023

Each month, our arts critics — music, book, theater, dance, television, film, and visual arts — fire off a few brief reviews.

Food

Film Review: “Flux Gourmet” — Food, Glorious Food

By Peg Aloi | August 23, 2022

Flux Gourmet occasionally reminded me of the films of Peter Greenaway, who often juxtaposed the grotesque or disturbing with the beautiful and ethereal.

About the Arts Fuse

The Arts Fuse was established in June, 2007 as a curated, independent online arts magazine dedicated to publishing in-depth criticism, along with high quality previews, interviews, and commentaries. The publication's over 70 freelance critics (many of them with decades of experience) cover dance, film, food, literature, music, television, theater, video games, and visual arts. Support arts coverage that believes that culture matters.