THEATER REVIEW Capturing the English crown, and our attention
The MIT Shakespeare Ensemble is putting on <i>Richard III </i>by — you guessed it — William Shakespeare. <i>Richard III</i> is classified among Shakespeare’s history plays, which many of you might remember as the ones that are not taught in the average high school curriculum. Regardless, it is still performed with regularity, and its success is often contingent on the strength of the actor portraying the eponymous lead. In this particular production, the increasingly ubiquitous Ensemble member Christopher D. Smith ’12 delivered impressively.
CONCERT REVIEW An American classical music fest
Last weekend was truly delightful for classical music fans. A substantial portion of the music-making community came together to deliver two entertaining concerts, which included world premieres, surprises, awards, experiments and of course, great music. Last Friday, MIT Symphony Orchestra conducted by Adam Boyles, premiered the Symphony No. 2 by MIT music lecturer Charles Shadle and then joined forces with Aardvark Jazz Ensemble for an exquisite tour of the jazz world. A day later, the MIT Wind Ensemble led by Frederick Harris, featured the chamber chorus to premier the vocal suite <i>Spring Rituals</i> by MIT music lecturer William Cutter, after which it explored the unusual music of Charles Ives. Both conductors went to great lengths to dispel the traditional stuffiness of classical music concerts, by introducing funny anecdotes with the music to be played and demonstrating how the music works. Given these educational elements, the concerts were particularly engaging for the audience, constituting the perfect antidote to the gloomy, incessant rain that plagued the whole weekend.
ALBUM REVIEW Gorillaz comes back with Plastic Beach
More than a decade has passed since Blur’s lead singer Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlitt spun Gorillaz out of nothing more than a growing appreciation for electronic music and four punk-ass cartoon characters. Since 1998, the band has fused dance, African, gospel, electronic, rap, and rock music into three hypnotically good albums, long since eclipsing the popularity of Blur here in the United States. Albarn has collaborated with a huge number of varied artists over the last ten years, but is the sole music visionary behind Gorillaz, composing all the lyrics, setting all the orchestration, and writing all the music. Like <i>Gorillaz</i> (2001) and <i>Demon Days</i> (2005), his newest effort <i>Plastic Beach</i> (2010) features a range of musical guests that spans both decades and genres. These cameos, far from obscuring Albarn’s artistic voice, serve only to highlight his distinctive musical voice that eludes categorization but is easily identifiable.
MOVIE REVIEW The raw side of love
By the end of the <i>Remember Me</i>, Robert Pattinson proves, through a nuanced portrayal of the enigmatic protagonist Tyler Hawkins, that his acting career will outlive <i>Twilight</i>.
CONCERT REVIEW Surfer Blood packs Great Scott to the rafters
When was the last time you witnessed a teenaged Floridian play a guitar with his mouth? Those attending Surfer Blood’s most recent show saw that and other wonders: two drum kits and five musicians squeezing onto a stage designed for flea circuses, and the re-emergence of the cowbell as a rock instrument. Simply constructed, tightly orchestrated, and featuring two prominent, over-amplified guitars that reject the “lead/rhythm” stereotype, Surfer Blood songs — specifically “Swim” and “Fast Jabroni” — evoke the Pixies at their very best on <i>Doolittle</i> (1989). Whether this influence is direct or inherited through their unabashed Weezer-worship is hard to say. Driving their similarities with Weezer home, Surfer Blood strummed the first 4 bars of “Sweater Song” during the encore, only to stop abruptly and mock the crowd for its gullibility.
STORE REVIEW Central Bottle excites the palate
Just up Massachusetts Avenue, past Albany Street and across from IS&T Headquarters sits the recently opened Central Bottle Wine & Provisions. Central Bottle is a delightful shop opened by a team of four — including three veterans from the Cambridge restaurant scene — seeking to recreate the atmosphere of an Italian enoteca, an intimate wine storehouse where people can gather to taste wines and small plates of food. The shop’s wine selection is focused on small production, handcrafted, organic and biodynamic wines from around the world, so their offerings differ significantly from that of other Cambridge stores such as Trader Joe’s or the Harvard Wine Company. With its hefty wine racks that double as tables and its beautifully designed glass front, Central Bottle offers an exciting escape from the otherwise dreary and unremarkable walk up Mass Ave.
FEATURE 2010 Oscars recap and reflections
It’s that time of year again: Academy Awards season. Every year, Hollywood’s most popular and talented actors, actresses, and filmmakers come together to honor each other in a night full of fashion, comedy, and extravagance. This year’s Oscars were as surprising as they were fun to watch. Whether you missed the big show for the sake of your GPA, or are in denial that an entire year separates us from the next Academy Awards (like me), I’ve compiled below just some of the evening’s many memorable moments.
MOVIE REVIEW Scorsese taps into the core of fear
From the very start of<i> Shutter Island</i>, even in the opening credits, director Martin Scorsese is out to mess with minds. The first frames of the movie show a vomiting Leonardo DiCaprio, hunched pitifully over the toilet of a rusty ferry, stricken by the ruthless waves and impossibly thick fog. “Get it together, Teddy,” he coughs. Scorsese has no time for pleasant introductions. The ominous music never ceases.
FEATURE Making the most of restaurant week 2010
Restaurant Week is actually a two-week event that happens twice a year, once in March and once in August. Hundreds of Boston’s best (and priciest) restaurants prepare special menus at discounted prices. From March 14–19th and 21–26th, these restaurants will be offering 2-course lunches for $15.10, 3-course lunches for $20.10 and 3-course dinners for $33.10. See <i>restaurantweekboston.com</i> for full listings.
CONCERT REVIEW If high school’s a bitch, become a rock star
Returning from a hiatus that has kept them off the stage and out of the spotlight for the last couple of years, Rogue Wave kicked off the American portion of their latest tour at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston. Sporting a new keyboardist and a fairly recent guitarist, Rogue Wave sprouted no pretension in the two years since their last studio visit, playing more than 100 minutes of honest, earnest rock to the mostly full ‘Dise.
CONCERT REVIEW Perfectly inappropriate
Most of us remember our first times — especially if in the process we were rapped painfully on the head several times by streaming toilet paper rolls.
Bringing sugar and spice to the ice
I have always been drawn to figure skating for its combination of ballet, dance, and gymnastics — when executed well, a skater delivers a performance worthy of lush red curtains and a Broadway stage. Sadly, the beauty in figure skating is often lost in the number-crunching and the tallying up of how many points combination XYZ will produce. Though skaters must fulfill strict technical requirements, what really sets an amazing performance apart is the artistry.
DOUBLE SOY LATTE, PLEASE! Home is where the tea is
A common fantasy among my girlfriends is to quit MIT and open up a neighborhood café. Should that life-altering day come for me, I imagine my store will be a lot like Andala Café: cozy, charming, and a touch eclectic.
EXHIBIT REVIEW A little bit of Paris, in all its glamour and decadence Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts depicts turn-of-the-century Paris society
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec produced intimate perspectives into the decadent lifestyle of early 20th-century Paris. While we look back upon his work as modern and fashionable, his images had been considered provocative amongst his peers.
CONCERT REVIEW Two minds in one work
I anticipated bloodshed, broken bones, or at least tears. On Feb. 7, Jonathan Biss and Richard Goode, two of the greatest pianists alive, played a program of duets. Would these two prima donnas play nice?
CONCERT REVIEW Are they copycats, or merely derivative?
Music grows like old roadways: When the path cut by the avant-garde is narrow and new, only a few people can follow. As the road is widened subsequent artists, larger numbers of fans can travel. Some artists live their entire careers blazing trails for others to follow, and some spend their time retracing the same well-worn path over and over again. Following a fairly established Brit-rock tradition, We Were Promised Jetpacks gallivants along the roads laid out by their predecessors in style, producing ebullient, accessible music for a wide-audience.
MOVIE REVIEW Love Actually for Feb.14th? Think again.
When I saw the trailer for <i>Valentine’s Day</i>, I had an inkling that it would be an American version of <i>Love Actually</i>, featuring the February holiday.
MOVIE REVIEW All the old tropes, none of the horror
There has been a lot of hype leading up to the Universal Studios’ remake of the classic motion picture <i>The Wolf Man</i>. Though there have been a smattering of werewolf movies throughout the decades, the only one that’s really embedded itself in American culture was the original <i>Wolf Man</i> (1941) featuring horror legends Lon Chaney and Bela Lugosi. The new <i>WolfMan</i> trailer promised an exciting new take on the old-school thriller, complete with a graphic transformation scene, an overly spooky setting reminiscent of the old film, and the acting talents of Benicio del Toro, Emily Blunt, and Anthony Hopkins.
A distinctly american tradition
I think we can all agree that the Super Bowl is much more than a football game. Over the years, Super Bowl Sunday has morphed into an extravagant American holiday deeply rooted in the modern media culture. Aside from the loud parties, copious amounts of beer and hot wings, star-studded half-time time shows, and (of course) football, this national day of celebration has also become an advertising gold mine.
CONCERT REVIEW Mehldau tells the story of pop
Acclaimed jazz pianist Brad Mehldau, on his penultimate U.S. tour date before heading to Europe, treated Sanders Theater to a solo performance last Friday. The venue’s Steinway filled the space, highlighting notes in the upper registers and allowing lower notes to reverberate appropriately. Mehldau entered minutes after 8 p.m. wearing a brown suit, and promptly began after switching the piano bench onstage with one he’d found backstage. “There was another gig before me,” he informed the audience, eliciting laughs and foreshadowing what would be an intimate night.