Arts Fuse Editor
Given these challenging cosmic themes and a nonlinear style, it’s unsurprising that most of Paul Simon’s So Beautiful or So What lacks vivacity. Still, the album maintains Simon’s reputation as one of the best songwriters in the business. By Michela Smith Paul Simon adores tinkering with words. In the past, lyrics like “when the radical…
Read More“People often ask what is the biggest change in the arts in Boston over 30 years, and it all has to do with technology. Diminished funding, economic downturns, and 9/11 all changed things. But what’s really driven change is technology.”
Read MoreIf you haven’t before had the keen pleasure of reading David Foster Wallace, THE PALE KING is a fine gateway drug. Its 550 pages are broken into 50 sections, each digestible on its own without reference to the larger work The Pale King by David Foster Wallace. Little, Brown, 560 pages, $29.99 By Michael de…
Read MoreLuckily, there’s plenty to this film besides it’s Middle Eastern setting. INCENDIES focuses primarily on relationships and human drama, while politics form the film’s periphery.
Read More“13 Assassins” is an affectionate salute to old-fashioned swordplay films, just as occasionally artful as it needs to be, and ultimately, it’s a highly-satisfying romp through and through. Is there really anything wrong with that?
Read MoreThat Rubber fails to accomplish much of interest is really a shame. Call it a waste of potential: this film is, perhaps in spite of itself, sharply current—an ideal cinematic concept of the Internet age, self-consciousness gone a muck. Rubber. Directed by Quentin Dupieux. At Kendall Square Cinema. By Taylor Adams French director Quentin Dupieux’s…
Read MoreSummer is quickly approaching, meaning big comedies and even bigger action. May gives us a sampling of what’s to come this summer season with Thor and later this month, The Hangover Part II. In addition, Boston’s LGBT community hosts its annual film festival, the ICA focuses on rising stars in the animation world, and the…
Read MoreThe Office has a history of flawlessly handling monumental episodes that require a balance of humor and heart—Jim and Pam’s wedding in season six was particularly stellar. Though Steve Carell’s last episode was uneven at times, overall it served as a great send-off to a beloved character and a fantastic actor. By Molly Jay. Michael…
Read MoreThere is so much that could have gone right for The Conspirator that it seems such a waste that it doesn’t amount to more than it does. It’s a complicated and rich story of Civil War vengeance versus justice with very high stakes on the line. The Conspirator. Directed by Robert Redford. The cast includes…
Read MoreRussian Winter is part mystery and part love story, drawing on the (overly) familiar tropes of each: the missing jewels, the deceived lovers, and so on. The material is not original, but it is workable and proffers plenty of Hollywood glamor. Russian Winter by Daphne Kalotay. Harper Perennial, 496 pages, $14.99. By Nora Delany It…
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Book Review: “American Purgatory” — Prison as a Form of Social Control