Steve Erickson
“Amar Singh Chamkila” doesn’t hit the compelling heights of “Highway” and “Tanasha,” but the director Imtiaz Ali successfully infuses — within the limits of the musical biopic — a buoyant, rebellious spirit.
“Femme” proves that finessing the depiction of a toxic romance can lead to some ugly places.
Noora Niasari’s personal involvement elevates “Shayda” above melodramatic Lifetime fare: this is a compellingly warm tribute to the Iranian director’s mother.
The album’s layers of thick and swampy sound make Kim Gordon’s anxious point.
“How to Have Sex” doesn’t criticize teenage girls for wanting to get laid, but it points out how the cultural environment in which they do so is directed entirely towards male pleasure
Sonic Youth’s fans remain passionate enough to justify the release of a slew of live albums.
“Black Caesars and Foxy Cleopatras” celebrates Blaxploitation as a positive as well as a necessary turning point in American cinema.
It may not be one of ambient music’s masterworks, but this 2007 album deserved far better treatment than utter neglect from Lou Reed fans.
“Concrete Utopia” echoes “Parasite”’s sharp critique of class exploitation, but it applies a faster pace and more restless energy to its vision of economic meltdown.
The cultural critic’s wrestling with the compromises that the pleasures of mass culture inevitably demand is heartfelt. In a word, it’s normal.
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