Arts Fuse Editor
In their understandable haste to cash in on the success of the Twilight series, director Catherine Hardwicke and writer David Johnson threw attractive people on a set without bothering to come up with a plot that makes them worth watching. Red Riding Hood. Directed by Catherine Hardwicke. The cast includes Amanda Seyfried, Gary Oldman, Billy…
Read MoreBare chested and sweating up a storm, singer Gavin Creel as Prometheus makes for a rock rebel with lots of snarly attitude, defying Zeus’s tyranny by flexing his abs.
Though unquestionably didactic, Skip Schiel’s images are also haunting glimpses of the perilous nature of life in Gaza. The photographs never feel invasive or forced; they simply capture moments of intimate truth between photographer and subject.
Read MoreThe Adjustment Bureau is a surprisingly good, romantic movie considering that angels are determining the fate of star-crossed lovers and the plot is driven by such lines as “if you stay together, you will not only ruin your dreams, you will also ruin hers.” The Adjustment Bureau. Directed by George Nolfi. The cast includes Matt…
Read MoreMoondogs comes of as an entirely fun jaunt through a foreign land that nevertheless hoped to do a bit more. Still, the promise of Alexander Yates’s first novel more than justifies picking up his second, even if it lacks villains, superheroes, and evil green roosters. Moondogs by Alexander Yates. Doubleday, 352 pages, $25.95. By Tommy…
Read MoreMarch is shaping up to be the month for strong, female leads. Hollywood has its eye turned toward the classics, with Jane Eyre, Red Riding Hood, and a modern, stylized take on Alice in Wonderland in Sucker Punch. In addition, Boston hosts several film festivals including Jewishfilm.2011, the Irish Film Festival, and Wild & Scenic…
Read MoreIn 2002, Iron & Wine debuted with The Creek Drank the Cradle, a brilliant Simon & Garfunkel-meets-Bob Dylan synthesis that caused many to proclaim a folk revival. Since this success, however, I&W’s singer-songwriter Samuel Beam has steadily drifted from his organic folk roots. Kiss Each Other Clean by Iron & Wine. Warner Brothers. By Michela…
Read MoreApril shows more promise on the film front with the release of the action thriller “Hanna,” the courtroom drama “The Conspirator,” and the adaptation of the best-selling novel “Water for Elephants.” Boston local film festivals continue to showcase the best in independent and international films.
Read MoreFor classical music connoisseurs, YouTube has morphed into a virtual museum of music, at once an oasis of archival material, rare recordings, and provocative content. Rare recorded materials, some of them dating back to the early 1900s that were once available only in the dusty archives of a research library, are now instantly accessible, often…
Read MoreThis first novel from Arab-American writer Thérèse Soukar Chehade, who teaches English Language Education at a school in Amherst, Massachusetts, turns out to be a thoughtful family portrait that deals subtly with the variegated experiences of being outsiders in a strange land and the pulls of loss, memory, and desire. Loom by Thérèse Soukar Chehade.…
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Music Commentary: A Mystery Solved on the 50th Anniversary of the Release of “Queen II”