Our critics salute three memorable films — anti-fascist (Cabaret), anti-capitalist (The Ruling Class), and anti-war (Slaughterhouse-Five) — that turned fifty this year. Perfect viewing for the holidays.
Daniel Gewertz
Television/Music Review: Next at the Kennedy Center — A Joni Mitchell Songbook, on PBS
I put Joni Mitchell on a short list of the most remarkable pop music artists of the ’60s and early ’70s. Longevity of excellence isn’t the point here, just peak incandescence.
Book Review: “Folk Music — A Bob Dylan Biography in Seven Songs”
At points Greil Marcus’ digressive style can seem like nervy brilliance, at others, idle whimsy. What ennobles the book is the critic’s love for his underlying subject: the soulful search for a truer America.
Jazz Album Review: Catherine Russell’s “Send for Me” — A Deep Dig into the Jazz of the ’30s and ’40s
If you’re a fan of the Great American Songbook, but have grown weary of the warhorses, Send For Me is a treat.
Arts Commentary: The Oscars 2022 — No Longer So White, But Still Not So Hot
It was soon clear what Oscar was after: two separate younger demographics — one with plebeian cinematic tastes, the other with hip politics.
Author Reconsideration: The A, B, and C of Sue Grafton
The conveniently tidy endings do turn killing into an entertainment. They also allow us to briefly believe in redemption. And that is not the vainest of hopes.
Film Review: “Ronnie’s” — The Story of a World-Famous London Jazz Club
Mel Brooks called Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club “a little nest of happiness. All our recent wounds are healed there.”
Television Review: “Reframed: Marilyn Monroe” — A Feminist Tribute or a Reframe-up Job?
The primary interest of Reframed isn’t film history; it is revisionist social statement, and a new twist on the celebrity documentary: star bio-cum-feminist essay.
Film Review: “Don’t Look Up” — A Pitch-Dark Satire that Dares to be Impudently Pessimistic
The knee-jerk, hateful reviews of Don’t Look Up possess comments so outsized, and so beside the point, that they bear a resemblance to the oblivious thinking of the movie’s anti-science ostriches.
Arts Feature: Music That Sustained Us Through (Another) Year of the Pandemic
Canadian singer/songwriter Allison Russell’s Outside Child made two lists. And so did Little Simz’s Sometime I Might Be Introvert.