Review
SUBMARINE director Richard Ayoade has good taste. He loves movies so purely and energetically that it’s fun to watch him borrow from his favorites and patch together something new.
Read MoreYour reaction to PigPen Theatre Company’s “The Mountain Song” will depend on how much whimsical Americana you can stomach
Read MoreThis is adversarial criticism, with an eye on the martyred, fueled by grievances political and aesthetic — the return of the repressed as the comeuppance for the comfortable. No wonder Roberto Bolaño’s reviews garnered him fierce detractors as well as admirers.
Read MoreTwo New York stage productions offer sterling examples of going maximalist in an increasingly minimalist age
Read MoreThe Bobby Fischer that the documentary portrays is both a creature of the Cold War era, shouldering that burden, and a peculiarly American hero. It airs this Monday, June 6, on HBO Bobby Fischer Against the World. Directed by Liz Garbus. By Harvey Blume ( Also in The Arts Fuse: Harvey Blume’s thoughts on Fischer’s…
Read MoreThere is so much that could have gone right for The Conspirator that it seems such a waste that it doesn’t amount to more than it does. It’s a complicated and rich story of Civil War vengeance versus justice with very high stakes on the line. The Conspirator. Directed by Robert Redford. The cast includes…
Read MoreRussian Winter is part mystery and part love story, drawing on the (overly) familiar tropes of each: the missing jewels, the deceived lovers, and so on. The material is not original, but it is workable and proffers plenty of Hollywood glamor. Russian Winter by Daphne Kalotay. Harper Perennial, 496 pages, $14.99. By Nora Delany It…
Read MoreWhile there are some holes in “Hanna”, director Joe Wright doesn’t let them interrupt the overall enjoyable experience of the film. Known for period movies where he dotes on scenic landscapes, he takes this opportunity to prove himself a thoroughly modern director here. Hanna. Directed by Joe Wright. The cast includes Cate Blanchett, Saoirse Ronan,…
Read MoreWhat is a Judicial Review? It is a fresh approach to creating a conversational, critical space about the arts and culture. This is our sixth session, this time a discussion about the concert “Divine Sparks,” a provocative attempt to explore how Jewish cantorial music and other kinds of religious song can spark musical improvisation and…
Read MoreIn the best of all possible worlds, Duncan Heining’s biography will be the cornerstone of the edifice that time will erect to the memory of George Russell and his gift to music. Whether that will happen or not remains to be seen. In some ways, because of the vagaries of the book business, it’s up…
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Music Review: The Beatles are Still Here, There, and Everywhere