Belle didn’t quite make my heart sing, but it’s a nice change of pace to see a film that treats the internet as a place that can bring people together, not merely a cut-throat Thunder Dome of clashing egos and verbal slap fights.
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Short Fuse Podcast #49: “Race for Tomorrow” — On the Front Lines of the Climate Crisis
Host Elizabeth Howard and journalist Simon Mundy talk about his book “Race for Tomorrow,” which examines the implications of climate change, from the micro to the macro.
Opera Album Review: A Scandalous Liaison Makes a Wonderful Opera: Lennox Berkeley’s “Nelson”
Berkeley’s Nelson reinforces my sense that many fine composers of the twentieth century have largely slid off the map because they did not cater to the obsession of many critics and academics with “the New at all cost.”
Book Review: “Through a Screen Darkly” — Psychological Strategies for Moving Beyond the Pandemic
I found Through a Screen Darkly to be as enlightening as it is useful: we don’t just read about and invest our emotions in other lives; we learn what to do about our own.
Film Review: “The Lost Daughter” — Surviving Womanhood
Beyond its engaging plot and the tour de force performances by Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley, The Lost Daughter is a gorgeous and sure-handed work of cinema.
Classical Album Review: United Strings of Europe’s “Renewal”
A young ensemble, the USE is a technically accomplished one and, regardless of the interpretive strengths or weaknesses of each reading, the group’s sheer skill level is evenly impressive.
Classical Music Album Review: Boston Modern Orchestra Project plays John Harbison
A surprisingly moving collection, all of it mightily played and sung by musicians who clearly intuit John Harbison’s musical language.
Poetry Review: The Word-Whipped Verse of “Flame in a Stable”
Flame in a Stable admits the reader into the committed life of a literate, far-reaching, colloquial, passionate, playful, and witty poetic voice,
Film Review: “Sex Appeal” — Science Meets Teen Sex Romp
This is a fresh take on a teen sex comedy: someone who worships logic sets out to explore the complexity of sexuality.
Arts Remembrance: Film Critic Michael Wilmington — A Memory
Remembering film critic Michael Wilmington, a unique guy, and friend, whom I knew for 53 years.