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Film Review: “Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché” — Courage and Artistry Relevant to Our Moment

May 10, 2021
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The documentary strikes a remarkably rich vein, covering not only music, fashion and a late-1970s social critique, but also matters of race, class, gender, mental health and spirituality.

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Classical CD Review: Elliott Carter Ballets

May 9, 2021
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Bottom line: these are excellent performances and a valuable documentation of Elliott Carter’s early work.

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Cultural Commentary: “Dogefather” Elon Musk on SNL – Banking on the Irony of the Rich

May 9, 2021
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“Fate loves irony” opines the billionaire. Will we be in on the joke, or left out in the cold?

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May Short Fuses – Materia Critica

May 9, 2021
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Each month, our arts critics — music, book, theater, dance, and visual arts — fire off a few brief reviews.

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Film Review: “A Reckoning in Boston” — Muckraking and Heartbreaking

May 9, 2021
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A Reckoning in Boston demonstrates that fifty years after the bussing-era failures to improve the lives of Black people, there is, in James Rutenbeck’s telling words, “No justice, no truth, no reconciliation.”

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Documentary Review: PBS’s “Hemingway” — Inside an American Legend

May 9, 2021
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If you love fiction you should devote several hours to watching Hemingway. Ken Burns and Lynn Novick have brought a special tenderness to this series, something deeper and more compelling than previous Burns documentaries.

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Theater Review: “TJ Loves Sallly 4 Ever” — Scattershot Satire

May 8, 2021
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An exciting, subversive idea animates TJ Loves Sally 4 Ever.

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Jazz Album Review: A Splendidly Spiritual Conversation — “Promises” with Floating Points and Pharoah Sanders

May 7, 2021
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Dedicated to experimentation and creative collaboration, Promises delivers an otherworldly, dreamlike experience.

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Book Review: “Up to Heaven and Down to Hell” — The High Price of Fracking

May 7, 2021
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This is an excellent deep dive into the ways fracking mirrors the many problems we face as we try to change the way we think about energy, individual choice, and climate change.

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Television Review: “Shrill” Season 3 — Concluding on an Unsatisfying Note

May 6, 2021
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Has Annie learned anything? Life can indeed be frustrating, and our insecurities do often get the best of us, but dealing with our limitations contribute to our eventual maturity.

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