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Theater Review: “2 Pianos 4 Hands” — One Highly Amusing Evening

July 11, 2013
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Some of the jokes in “2 Pianos 4 Hands” reach fairly deep into an understanding of how classical music works and is taught; other jokes will be recognizable to anyone who has taken piano lessons or raised a child to do so.

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Film Review: Four Examples of Magic in the Movies

July 10, 2013
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David Blaine, Criss Angel, and of course, David Copperfield have used technology to create some highly sophisticated illusions, but films about magicians have been rare.

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Book Review: From France with “L’Amour” — A Neglected Volume by Marguerite Duras

July 9, 2013
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For those of you who have never read Marguerite Duras, “L’Amour” is an invigorating place to start.

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Book/Theater Review: Vladimir Nabokov Does That Shakespeherian Rag

July 8, 2013
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Nabokov will become much more seriously playful about extinction and the nature of love in the increasingly complex fables to come. “The Tragedy of Mr. Morn” is his initial earnest fairy tale.

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Jazz CD Review: “Occupy The World” — Creatively Complicated Orchestral Music

July 7, 2013
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Over five extended compositions, composer and trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith leads a new large ensemble, TUMO, creating a challenging but engaging world of sound that combines composed elements with strong soloists and group improvisation.

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DVD Review: The Decision on “Admission” — The Waiting List

July 7, 2013
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The film “Admission” resembles many of the rejected college applicants it portrays: likeable and clever, with a good story and the best of intentions, but not quite Ivy League material.

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Fuse CD Review: Jay-Z’s “Magna Carta Holy Grail” — More Miss Than Hit

July 5, 2013
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Those cynical about the album’s extravagant promotional campaign will be glad to hear that Jay-Z’s latest studio effort is very hit-or-miss.

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Pop Music Album Review: Kyary Pamyu Pamyu’s “Nandacollection” — Blissful Bubblegum

July 4, 2013
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Every moment of Kyary Pamyu Pamyu’s album “Nandacollection” exudes bliss and is a blast to listen to. It is bubblegum with more than a touch of brilliance.

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Short Fuse Book Review: A Fascinating Tale of “Strange Rebels”

July 3, 2013
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Author Christian Caryl ends “Strange Rebels” with the idea that “if the experiences of 1979 suggest one conclusion, it is that we should never underestimate the powers of reaction.”

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Film Review: Back from the Moscow International Film Festival

July 2, 2013
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Russian intellectuals privately grasp that they must seem like jackasses to the outside world with their primitive attitudes about homosexuality, aligning not with Western Europe but with Nigeria and Uganda and the Muslim world.

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