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Film Reviews: Three Fine Docs at the Tribeca Film Festival — “Natchez,” “Underland,” and “I Was Born This Way”

July 10, 2025
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A trio of worthwhile docs at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival tour a city, stroll beneath the surface of the world, and stride through an inspirational life.

Book Review: “The Slip” — An Epic Exploration of the Elasticity of Identity

July 10, 2025
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“The Slip” raises issues of race and entitlement, as well as the malleability of identity, all in one big, sloppy, and occasionally gorgeous package.

Film Review: “Superman” — It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s a Mess

July 9, 2025
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“Superman” is overstuffed and bloated — so much so that it’s impossible to get an emotional toehold in the story being told.

Classical Album Reviews: Michael Daugherty’s “Blue Electra” and Philippe Quint’s “Milestones”

July 9, 2025
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Composer Michael Daugherty’s lovely survey of 20th-century touchstones continues; violinist Philippe Quint plays a lineup made up (mostly) of commissions.

Book Review: “The Power of Adrienne Rich” — An Aesthetic and Political Force

July 9, 2025
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Poet Adrienne Rich’s journey serves as a model for meeting the challenge posed for artists and the rest of us today, confronted with the rise of authoritarian forces in America.

Music Documentary Reviews: “Goddess of Slide” and “Sound of the Surf”

July 8, 2025
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For fans of guitar music, two excellent new documentaries offer plenty of insight into impressive musical accomplishments as well as some memorable playing.

Documentary Film Review: “The Atomic Bowl” — The Catastrophic Game Is Still On

July 8, 2025
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The at times chilling narrative of “The Atomic Bowl” raises probing and vexing questions about why we continue to face the threat of nuclear peril today.

Film Review: “Ghost Trail” — Alienated Espionage

July 8, 2025
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Instead of living the life of James Bond, the spy hero of “Ghost Trail” copes with PTSD, the result of living in exile and surviving torture.

Poetry Review: Words into Truth — Henri Cole’s “The Other Love”

July 8, 2025
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There are reassuring lyrics here that suggest that, no matter what terror comes along, our noble charge is to fight to the end, joyously.

Concert Review: Boston Symphony Orchestra plays Rachmaninoff

July 7, 2025
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Pianist Daniil Trifonov’s no stranger to playing Rachmaninoff with Nelsons and the BSO—they delivered a memorable outing of this very piano concerto in 2019—and, while Saturday’s traversal was periodically rusty, it built in spirit and tightness as the evening proceeded.

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