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Film Interview: Budd Schulberg on Being a Screenwriter in Hollywood

August 15, 2020
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“It’s really time for us to scrape off this cynicism and take a good hard look at what is happening in this country. There’s so much fakery and we don’t mind it.”

Book Review: “Why Visit America” — Compelling Speculations on the Homeland

August 15, 2020
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It didn’t take long for this eminently readable and bingeable collection to draw TV adaptation attention.

Jazz Concert and Album Review: Guitarist Bill Frisell — Mingling the Sublime and the Stimulating

August 14, 2020
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Leave it to guitarist Bill Frisell — he always knows where the musical goodies are to be found.

Television Review: “An American Pickle” — Sour to a Fault

August 13, 2020
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Seth Rogen puts in double duty as an early 20th century Jewish immigrant and his modern great grandson in a comedy that starts off sweet but leaves a bitter aftertaste.

Visual Arts Commentary: Street Furniture — The Dilemma of Making Urban Spaces Comfortable and Unique

August 13, 2020
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The City of Boston needs to think seriously about maintaining its distinctive charm, and street furniture is a very powerful tool to that end, when strategically applied.

Classical CD Review: The Symphonies of Max Bruch — Getting the Attention They Deserve

August 12, 2020
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This is a conductor and ensemble that have the measure of Max Bruch’s style and voice well in hand.

Pop Review: Glass Animals Lose Their Voice

August 12, 2020
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The Oxford band’s third album dispenses with personality in favor of bland trap pop.

Film Review: “Jazz on a Summer’s Day” — A Contrarian View

August 12, 2020
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This is not a music documentary, it’s a kind of jaunty-artsy immersion in and around the Newport Jazz festival, including scenes of the host city Newport, the America’s Cup race, festival goers, kids in playgrounds, etc.

Film Review: “The Rabbi Goes West” — Jews Coddled in Big Sky Country

August 12, 2020
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This is a film for another moment in time, an imaginary if not necessarily utopian moment when being Jewish is less roiled and bedeviled from within and without.

Classical CD Reviews: A Roundup of Beethoven Symphonies

August 11, 2020
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Evaluations of a smorgasbord of Beethoven symphony recordings.

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