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Television Review: “Biggie: I Got a Story to Tell” — Avoiding the Ugly Side of the Tale

March 5, 2021
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Biggie: I Got a Story to Tell does a solid job of introducing someone new to Biggie’s work and establishing his enormous influence on hip hop.

Jazz Special Feature: Chick Corea (1941-2021) — Memories and Impressions

March 5, 2021
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Fuse critics pay homage to Chick Corea performances and recordings that they found memorable.

Book Review: “Mike Nichols: A Life” — Portrait of a Protean Artist

March 4, 2021
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This nearly 600-page text is a closely detailed, comprehensive portrait by a biographer riveted, as many of us are, by his charismatic subject.

Film Review: Being and Time in “Truth or Consequences”

March 4, 2021
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This is a thoughtful, surprisingly moving, and extremely ambitious film, one that employs an innovative style and some unconventional pacing to explore an unusually complex philosophical and emotional landscape.

Literary Remembrance: Lawrence Ferlinghetti — The Modest Beat

March 3, 2021
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Ferlinghetti was a truly Whitman-like figure who really had been through it all, traveled the world, and fought for what he believed in. I have yet to hear anyone say an unkind word said about him.

Television True Crime Series: “The Investigation” — Unraveling Evil

March 3, 2021
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The Investigation is a slow-burning thriller that fuses the gravity of a documentary with the darkness of a complex murder mystery.

Film Review: Wither the People of Magnitogorsk — “Kombinat”

March 2, 2021
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Without ignoring the terrible-beautiful magnetism of the industrial imagery we love to hate and hate to love, the camera is gradually, gently, drawn across the river and away from the workday, to spend time with these very real humans who serve the machines.

Rock Album Reviews: New Musical Anarchy from Paul Leary and the Melvins

March 2, 2021
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Unlike so many of the iconoclasts from the ’80s, these architects of alternative rock stay true to their school.

Film Review: “Do Not Split” — A Compelling, Disturbing, and Imperfect Look at the Hong Kong Riots

March 1, 2021
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Is Do Not Split a fine example of provocative filmmaking? Yes. Should you watch it? Certainly. Will it help you understand the forces feeding the discontent and shaping the discourse generated by the conflict? Not really.

March Short Fuses – Materia Critica

March 1, 2021
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Each month, our arts critics — music, book, theater, dance, and visual arts — fire off a few brief bursts of criticism.

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