REVIEWER’S NOTEBOOK: Terminator Genisys is mankind’s worst migraine
I’d promised Sonya I’d get her into a press screening. I’d also promised her she could choose which one...
A movie for dog-lovers, and dog-lovers alone
Max is a touching story about a marine dog who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after losing his handler, Kyle, in Afghanistan. As Kyle’s family tries to figure out the circumstances leading to his death, the movie tugs at heartstrings with its portrayal of the agile, strong, and loyal dog, Max, helping them at every stage. Max is the highlight of the film, which is very aptly named — the plot and acting are not extraordinary.
The Wolfpack: A chilling documentary that raises many questions, and even more concerns
Oscar and Susanne Angulo were terrified of living in New York City — terrified of the government, and terrified that their children wouldn’t learn to think for themselves and would be bullied into using drugs. Oscar forbade his children to leave the apartment or to have contact with anyone outside of their immediate family. He believed that employment would make him a slave, so the household’s only income was what Susanne received from the government for teaching her homeschooled children. Oscar imposed strict rules on the family’s life in isolation, going so far as to specify which rooms of the house the kids could occupy at any given time. In one particularly heartbreaking scene, Susanne hints that the rules were even more oppressive for her (if one can imagine such a thing), and the children reveal that their mother had suffered violent abuse at the hands of her husband. Perhaps the only thing the kids liked about their dad was that he brought thousands and thousands of movies into the home for them to watch and memorize (some of their favorites include Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, and The Dark Knight).
Pitch Perfect 2 is far from perfect
Pitch Perfect 2 is the long-awaited sequel to Pitch Perfect, released in 2012. The film opens with the Barden Bellas, now seniors in college, performing for Barack Obama. The performance goes terribly wrong after a wardrobe malfunction results in Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson) flashing the audience. This incident leads to the team’s suspension, and Beca (Anna Kendrick) strikes a deal that will allow the Bellas to be reinstated under the condition that they win the Acapella World Tournament. The rest of the film follows their shenanigans and mishaps as they make it through their final year of college and prepare for the final competition.
The Grief of Others
I had the opportunity to attend a screening of The Grief of Others with the director Patrick Wang ’98. Wang studied economics and concentrated in music and theater arts at MIT, and went on to direct theatre and recently, film. His first film, In the Family, was critically lauded and rightly so. The Grief of Others, his latest film, just showed at the Cannes Film Festival. Wang left early from the screening I attended at Harvard to go to the Festival; as a result, I did not get the chance to ask him about the film. But I did get the chance to ask the author of the eponymous novel on which the film is based, Leah Hager Cohen, about one of the film’s final shots.
Poltergeist (2015): lots of action, some comedy, hardly any horror
This remake of Steven Spielberg’s Poltergeist (1982) sees a jobless couple and their three children move into a new home that fits their budget. Griffin, their ten-year-old son, lives in the attic, where he experiences frequent nightmares and finds frightening clowns in the closet. To make things worse, he also finds his younger sister Madison talking to mysterious objects through the TV in the middle of the night. “They’re here,” she claims ominously. His parents disregard his nervousness and their youngest daughter’s sleepwalking until one night, their house is attacked and Madison is taken. The Bowens discover that their house was built on what was an old cemetery, moved to make way for construction. To cut costs, the construction company moved the headstones but left the bodies — leaving the Bowens to deal with some extremely unhappy poltergeists looking to move out of the limbo they are stuck in.
Edge of Vision engages the senses with three diverse dances
Boston Ballet’s Edge of Vision, a three-part performance featuring original choreography and eclectic music, grips its audience with stunning sensory detail.
United Nations’ first VR film pushes the bounds of empathy
Virtual reality has always been framed as the next big thing in gaming, but if the United Nations has anything to do with it, it will be the next big thing in humanitarian aid.
The Butterfly Effect
I recall a conversation I had with a friend about the future directions of Kendrick Lamar’s music career about six months after his first studio album Good Kid, M.A.A.D City was released. The album was a cohesive, thoughtful exploration of teenage life in Compton, and fans and critics alike received it as a defining album for hip-hop. Where could Kendrick possibly go from here to avoid being cast as a one-trick pony? It was clear Kendrick had the potential for rap greatness, but it was unclear whether this would be the sort of iconic status enjoyed by Jay Z or the niche appeal and recognition enjoyed by Nas.
Blake Lively stars in The Age of Adaline
Blake Lively is known to our generation for her glamorous role in the TV show Gossip Girl. Though the show has since ended its six-season run, Lively’s style and smile have found their way back to the screen in the movie The Age of Adaline.
Leonardo da Vinci and the Idea of Beauty
From now until June 14, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts is featuring an exhibit on Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings. In a more refined way, the exhibit is analogous to the behind-the-scenes reel of a movie — you won’t find his most famous paintings like the Mona Lisa or The Last Supper. Instead, the exhibit features an intimate series of sketches and drawings, ranging from portraits of women to the anatomy of a bird. Many of the featured works are loans from Italian collections, including the Uffizi Museum in Florence, and the Biblioteca Reale in Turin.
Dior and I: A look into one of the world’s most renowned fashion houses
Christian Dior was a renowned French fashion designer who founded one of the world’s top fashion houses (named after himself). Dior and I follows the newly appointed creative director Raf Simons as he works under the pressures of the fashion industry and keeping up with Dior’s legacy. Everyone is familiar with image of models strutting down runways, wearing the latest designer fashions; this film offers a rare and up-close look at the work preceding the exhibition. We witness the stages of production: sketching, prototypes, modeling, right up to the big reveal on the catwalk.
Marvel’s Daredevil: a Netflix original series
If you’ve seen House of Cards or Orange is the New Black, then you know that Netflix isn’t half bad at making awesome television series. On top of that, we all know that Marvel is pretty great too — whether you simply enjoy their movies or you’re a die-hard comic book reader, who can resist a good superhero story? Luckily for everyone eagerly awaiting Avengers: Age of Ultron or the next episode of ABC’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Netflix is here to save the day and satisfy your Marvel cravings.
Game of Thrones returns for season 5
It’s time to make good use of your HBO Go accounts — Game of Thrones season five launched this past Sunday, and if you haven’t had a chance to see the premiere, you have a couple of days to catch up before episode 2 airs. “The Wars to Come” picks up right where season 4 left off, reminding us of the events that nudged Westeros into a pit of chaos while hinting at the turmoil to come.
Revelations in body and soul
Try telling a wordless story in five minutes that inspires your audience and distills reality. At the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT), this art is perfected by a team of performers as graceful and poetic as they are energetic and assured. Billed as a “ballet”, Alvin Ailey is refreshingly accessible and attracts a more diverse audience than the typical “Nutcracker” or “Swan Lake.” While generally following the forms of classical ballet, the show includes contemporary music and costuming, and small gestures like jazz hands or waving goodbye help turn dancers into relatable people.
Capturing experience
Herb Ritts has returned to Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts for the first time since 1996. The exhibit opened on March 14, and it revisits some of the American fashion photographer’s finest works.
Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter: An unexpected spin on the adventure movie
I felt an overwhelming amount of empathy while watching Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter — both for Kumiko and the characters who interact with her. Kumiko is more than a little crazy, but she is brave enough to depart on a journey that most of us would only dream of. She is extremely depressed in Japan, so she leaves her job and her family behind in search of a hidden treasure she believes she will find in Fargo, Minnesota.
Afro-Latin jazz gains new fans
As part of the Celebrity Series of Boston, an initiative that brings famous performing artists to the Boston area, Arturo O’Farrill and Donald Harrison set the Berklee Performance stage aflame with flying fingers on the piano and alto sax, respectively. The pair and the Grammy winning Afro-Latin Jazz orchestra (founded by O’Farrill himself) had audiences shimmying in their seats during a performance that earned three standing ovations.
Another disappointing adaptation of dystopian teen fiction
A cast full of teenage heartthrobs? Check. Based on a popular Young Adult dystopian book series? Check. Was the book better? Probably.
Love’s Labour’s Lost: A labor of love
The MIT Shakespeare Ensemble put on their production of Love’s Labour’s Lost on March 19–22 in La Sala de Puerto Rico, directed by Liz Adams. Despite the challenges of performing one of Shakespeare’s more esoteric plays, the Ensemble executed it with both talent and enthusiasm.