Filled with galoots of all kinds, the novel might not have any true reason for existing, nor may it have any reason to end. But heck, it’s a good, old-fashioned, medicine show of a read.
Review
Film Review: Toxicity Roulette — 1969, 2020, and “The Trial of the Chicago 7”
In the end, The Trial of the Chicago 7 strikes a reasonable balance between historical document and cinematic art.
Film Review: “White Noise: Inside the Racist Right” — Planting the Seeds
White Noise is neither a polemic nor an exercise in agitprop: it is a journey into the dark center of a reprehensible movement that is growing more vocal every day.
Classical CD Reviews: Beethoven Concerti – Mutter, Ma, and Barenboim play the Triple Concerto, Martha Argerich plays the Piano Concerto no. 2, and Krystian Bezuidenhout plays the Piano Concerto no. 4
A round-up of fresh performances of Beethoven Concerti.
Book Review: “Death in Her Hands” — There’s No Mystery to This Mystery
It’s as if Moshfegh is testing the furthest limits of a “red herring”: what if everything is red and everything is herring?
Television Review: “Swamp Thing” — I Think We Love You?
Swamp Thing is downright ornery, at times questioning political and corporate power as well as environmental protections.
Classical CD Reviews: Michael Daugherty’s “This Land Sings,” Ethel Smyth’s “The Prison,” and David Lang’s “prisoner of the state”
A welcome political homage to Woody Guthrie, a new recording of Ethel Smyth’s 1931 choral symphony makes a strong case for a full reconsideration of her output, and David Lang’s rejiggering of Beethoven’s Fidelio is both stirring and timeless.
Dance Review/Commentary: “The Grand Union” — The Story of the Accidental Anarchists of Downtown Dance
This fascinating book, and the rich literature of films and writings around it, have helped me feel a bit more positive about these shrunken times.
Film Review: The Soulful Comic Legacy of John Belushi
Belushi is a warts-and-all look at one of comedy’s raging bulls.
Hip-Hop Concert Review: Run the Jewels’ Powerful “Holy Calamavote”
The best thing about Holy Calamavote may be that it presents Run the Jewels in a live presentation of RTJ4 that rivals the atmospheric might of the record itself.