Cormac McCarthy’s rambling but brilliant screenplay is given vigorous direction by Ridley Scott, whose elegant visual style captures the tense downward spiral of the film’s doomed characters.
Movie Review: “12 Years a Slave” — The First Masterpiece of the New Black Cinema?
With 12 YEARS A SLAVE, Steve McQueen, the brilliant British director of HUNGER and SHAME, has probably created the first masterpiece of the new black cinema.
Theater Interview: A Conversation with Artistic Directors Olivia D’Ambrosio and Joseph Rodriguez
Teaming up allows Bridge Rep, as a new company, to do a much, much bigger show than we might ordinarily be able to do: we can offer our audiences a large ensemble piece like The Libertine, which would be beyond our reach otherwise.
Theater Interview: New Rep’s “Elephant Man” — A Meditation on Frailty, Celebrity, and Healthcare
Why does John Merrick get a room in the London Hospital for the rest of his life? Because he’s charming and he’s witty, while the pinheads next door to him didn’t fare that well.
Film Review: Levon Helm — An Appreciation of The Man from Turkey Scratch
Musician Levon Helm’s folksy ideas about life, the anecdotes he shares, his reverence for American music and for the friends and comrades who gather around him, are inspirational.
Film Review: “The Canyons” — Yucky But Likeable
Lindsay Lohan is prostituting herself to a dreary vision of a Tinseltown shorn of even flickers of glory. And I like that.
Film Review: “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints” — Superbly Simple Noir
The understated soundtrack by Texas musician Daniel Hart and the ominous cinematography of Bradford Young complement director David Lowrey’s keen sense of pacing.
Theater Review: A Superb Staging of “This Is Our Youth” — A Perceptive Vision of American Muddle
In this brilliantly written play, Kenneth Lonergan finds both the humor and angst in the moral muddle generated by the Reagan Revolution.
Film Review: “Jobs” — A Diverting But Superficial Look At the Life and Career of Steve Jobs
Jobs is not an awful movie so much as an awkward one — it falls short of its intent, which I assume is to dramatize the tenacity of genius.
Film Review: “Elysium” — The Sound and Fury of CGI Signifying … Not Much
Overall, Elysium is an entertaining distraction posing as a meaningful global allegory.