Review

Theater Review: “Last of the Red Hot Lovers” — Comic Froth Infused With Gravity

July 10, 2014
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Neil Simon’s Last of the Red Hot Lovers wears surprising well after nearly half a century, with the help of minimal, subtle updating of topical references.

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Film Review: The 19th Annual Boston French Film Festival — “Love Is the Perfect Crime,” “Abuse of Weakness”

July 10, 2014
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This year’s Boston French Film Festival (July 10 through 27) proffers a just-about 50-50 mix of male and female directors.

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Theater Review: Are the Iraqis “Waiting for Gilgamesh”?

July 9, 2014
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Playwright Amir Al-Azraki is in the camp that believes that the Iraqis themselves bear much of the responsibility for the chaos in their country.

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Classical CD Review: San Francisco Symphony’s “West Side Story” — A Brashly Invigorating Performance

July 9, 2014
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The music of West Side Story sounds grippingly urgent and colorful as ever in the hands of one of America’s best orchestras and conductors.

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Classical CD Reviews: Mozart’s “Haydn” Quartets and James Gaffigan conducts Dvorak (Harmonia mundi), plus James Brawn plays Beethoven (MSR Classics)

July 9, 2014
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Cuarteto Casals brings out Mozart’s playfulness, Luzerner Sinfonieorchester delivers a solid Dvorak’s Sixth, and James Brawn continues to brilliantly play Beethoven’s piano sonatas.

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Book Review: In “Europe in Sepia,” Croatian Writer Dubravka Ugrešić Bets a Few Chips on the Future

July 8, 2014
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Translator David Williams has hit upon a judicious combination of snappy repartee and dark underbelly that communicates essayist Dubravka Ugrešić’s rapier wit and black despair in equal measure.

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Book Review: “The Thaw” — Memorable Stories of Fear and Loathing in Iceland

July 8, 2014
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Throughout these superb stories, there is a certain desolation, of the heart as well as of the landscape.

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Fuse Film Review: “Third Person” — Too Mysterious for Its Own Good

July 7, 2014
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In Third Person , the characters are so intentionally mysterious that, oddly, the surfeit of enigma denies them any depth of personality.

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Fuse Theater Review: A Glitzy, But Empty, “June Moon”

July 7, 2014
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June Moon is a piece of satirical fluff with 27 characters, lots of piano playing, and a half-dozen memorable lines.

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Fuse Film Review: “Begin Again” — Lost Souls Making Uneven Music Together

July 5, 2014
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Begin Again is a film with considerable flaws and strengths. The later include stellar performances by Mark Ruffalo, Catherine Keener, and Hailee Steinfeld.

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