Review

Film Review: “France” — A Comic Drama about the Shallowness of Contemporary Journalism

December 13, 2021
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Léa Seydoux claims the spotlight as the title character in Bruno Dumont’s pithy and entertaining France, giving a performance that’s cunningly calibrated to mesmerize.

Classical Album Review: Cleveland Orchestra Plays Schnittke and Prokofiev

December 12, 2021
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If you’re looking for instrumental music that grapples with tumultuous events, times, and circumstances, this may well be the disc for you.

Film Review: “Drive My Car” – A Saab Story

December 12, 2021
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The brilliant Drive My Car is about many things, but at its core the film is an exploration of loss.

Television: “Back to the Outback” — Our Heroes, the Icky and the Ugly

December 10, 2021
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Netflix may have yet to create an animated hit on the scale of Frozen, but this entry in the sweepstakes suggests that the streaming platform is moving closer towards that goal.

Film Review: “Licorice Pizza” — ’70s Bliss

December 9, 2021
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Licorice Pizza, director Paul Thomas Anderson’s ninth feature film, proves that he is a purveyor of cinematic joy.

Film Review: “West Side Story” — An Unnecessary Remake

December 9, 2021
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Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story is fairly entertaining, fairly decent, but that’s about it.

Film Review: “Benedetta” — Get Thee to a Nunnery, Go!

December 8, 2021
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Rather disappointingly, but perhaps not surprisingly, the expressions of lesbian eroticism in Benedetta are very obviously depicted for the male gaze.

Book Review: “Hot Maroc” — A Moroccan Walter Mitty as Internet Troll

December 8, 2021
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Hot Maroc is more of a three-ring circus than a drama, with a high-wire act at one end, tigers and elephants at the other, and scurrying clowns in the middle.

Book Review: “The Last Bookseller” — A Breezy Memoir of Life in the Rare Book Trade

December 8, 2021
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The arrival of the internet adds a sour-grapes ending to an otherwise fairly compelling narrative.

Children’s Book Review: Girls Rule! And Other Ways to Inspire Kids This Holiday Season

December 7, 2021
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Some splendid, new (and newish) books that are sure to inspire young children.

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