Review

Classical Reviews: Boston Modern Orchestra Project plays Harold Shapero, Peter Lieberson’s “Songs of Love and Sorrow,” and Charles Ives’s Complete Symphonies

October 30, 2020
Posted in , , ,

Discs dedicated to overlooked composers Harold Shapero and Peter Lieberson are well worth your attention. Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra don’t do well by Charles Ives’ final symphony, but the three preceding symphonies fare better.

Read More

Film Review: Frederick Wiseman’s “City Hall” — A Kinder, Gentler Government?

October 30, 2020
Posted in , ,

City Hall is a quiet, unsentimental celebration of civility in its many forms.

Read More

Book Review: “The Camera Lies: Acting for Hitchcock”  — The Art of Doing Nothing, Well

October 29, 2020
Posted in , , ,

Dan Callahan has crafted an entertaining and illuminating guide to understanding Hitchcock’s relationship with some of the most iconic actors of the day.

Read More

Jazz Album Review: “The Prospector” — A Saxophone-Bass-Drums Combination to Treasure

October 29, 2020
Posted in , ,

Nothing detracts from the essentials here – three fine players in creative conversation.

Read More

Rock Album Review: Puscifer’s “Existential Reckoning” — Amusing Ourselves to Death

October 29, 2020
Posted in , , ,

Existential Reckoning confronts today’s lethal inanity in blistering fashion, via songs that posit dire consequences for a country that wants to be entertained more than wants to be informed.

Read More

Folk Album Review: Fleet Foxes’ “Shore” — Finding Serenity in Anxious Times

October 28, 2020
Posted in , , , ,

For Fleet Foxes, Shore is impressively consistent. Each track presents a meticulously detailed soundscapes deepened by Robin Pecknold’s varied meditative perspectives.

Read More

Film Review: “Rebecca” Remade — Pretty But Unnecessary

October 27, 2020
Posted in , ,

What is the problem with this Rebecca? It is stunning to look at and well-crafted, but I sometimes felt as though the actors were striving for a tone more suitable to a film other than the one they were in.

Read More

Film Review: “Borat II: Subsequent Moviefilm” — A Suitably Savage Satire

October 26, 2020
Posted in , , ,

Sacha Baron Cohen uncovers enough destructive inanity in Borat II to justify the savagery of its satire of American ignorance.

Read More

Jazz Album Review: Keith Jarrett’s “Budapest Concert” — Crystalline Endgame

October 25, 2020
Posted in , , ,

My guess is that Keith Jarrett probably wasn’t satisfied with this performance. I wouldn’t change a note, a gesture, or a shading.

Read More

Book Review: “Cuyahoga” — An Old-Fashioned Medicine Show of a Read

October 24, 2020
Posted in , ,

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.

Read More

Recent Posts

Popular Posts

Categories

Archives