If you’re a fan of the Great American Songbook, but have grown weary of the warhorses, Send For Me is a treat.
Daniel Gewertz
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.
For the Love of the Cover: Nanci Griffith and Keeping Folk Songs Alive, at Passim
The talent at Club Passim’s Nanci Griffith night represented at least two generations: it was a nice, low-key salute to the singer/songwriter, who played the venue often in the mid-’80s.
Book Review: “The Regrets” — Love Affair With the Semi-Dead
Is Amy Bonnaffons saying that heterosexual love is doomed? Probably not. But she gives no indication it can work in the world she creates here.
Music Remembrance: Singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith (1953-2021)
There were no performers who possessed more talent than singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith in the 1980s and early ’90s, when she was at her remarkable best.