Commentary

Visual Arts Commentary: Preservation, Two Cases of To Be or Not to Be

February 7, 2021
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Today’s increasingly heated argument about architectural preservation revolves around discerning which pieces of the past are worth saving, which buildings are valuable to our present and future.

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Arts Remembrance: Christopher Plummer, 1929-2021

February 6, 2021
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It is difficult to think of a harder-working actor or one more devoted to his craft.

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Film Commentary: What If a Man Insinuates That a Woman Is NOT Attractive? And in Print?

January 31, 2021
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Variety is wrong and cowardly to give in to Cary Mulligan’s misguided, damaging accusations.

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Arts Publication Interview: The Coming of “Caesura” — Sustaining the Freedom of Art

January 26, 2021
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“The gallery system, publishing houses, and critical reviews — all that facilitates the production and criticism sides of art’s dialectic — need to be reconsidered.”

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Book Review: Yang Jisheng’s “The World Turned Upside Down”

January 19, 2021
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Those who admire Yang Jisheng’s distinguished career should pick up this book. Those searching for a solid, accessible history of Mao’s Cultural Revolution should look elsewhere.

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Film Commentary: “Nomadland” and Freedom’s Call — A Realistic Look at a Growing Subculture

January 18, 2021
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Director Chloé Zhao evokes the refreshing experience of freedom felt at the end of a nomad’s typical work day.

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Visual Arts Commentary: An Enduring New England Design Influence — The Shaker Style

January 16, 2021
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As we move into the 21st Century, with the Climate Crisis and consumerism on the rise, the Shaker’s “less is so much more” sensibility takes on even more significance, practical as well as spiritual.

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Commentary/Interview: Boston Globe Union Negotiations — Two Years On, More Anger and Resistance

January 14, 2021
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Those who value serious journalism (as well as the rights of journalists) should be quite worried about just how lethally Boston Globe management is attempting to undercut the newspaper’s union.

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Film Review: The Best Horror of 2020

December 28, 2020
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It was the most terrifying of times, it was the most horrifying of times.

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Theater Commentary: Where Is Our Rage?

December 27, 2020
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Why are Boston stages reacting so serenely to our current miasmas — pandemical, political, economic, and spiritual.

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