THEATER REVIEW Gioia De Cari Searches for Truth
What is truth?” This is the question asked by one of Gioia’s professors in a sermon to a group of scholars. This is also the question that Gioia has to ask herself — what is <i>her</i> truth — as she presents to us an autobiographical portrayal of her time at MIT.
MOVIE REVIEW Equal Parts Melancholy and Hope
Before the screening of <i>The Burning Plain</i>, one of the film critics near me explained that he had been in the hospital for the last few weeks due to a bike accident. Still tending injuries of a couple broken ribs, he joked that he was “glad that today’s movie is not a comedy.” Indeed, <i>The Burning Plain</i> is perhaps as far as possible from comedy.
THEATER REVIEW Make Way for Hybrid Villains!
The MIT Musical Theatre Guild’s production of <i>Bat Boy: The Musical</i> (story and book by Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming, music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe) is briefly summarized as “Bat Boy’s search for love and acceptance,” which, though true, doesn’t quite capture the depth of the show’s… quirkiness. With a plotline that could be considered odd even by musical standards, <i>Bat Boy</i> is about neither a young Bruce Wayne nor the baseball equivalent of a roadie, although one could argue that it has elements in common with the former.
CD REVIEW Speaking to Love
At any other time during the miserable history of British music, Gerald Finzi would have been considered one of England’s greatest composers. Just his luck, he was born just as Ralph Vaughan Williams was realizing his full potential and died just in time for Benjamin Britten to be achieving his.
INTERVIEW From Dot Product to Drama
Gioia De Cari, the writer/performer of <i>Truth Values</i>, received a Masters degree at MIT in Mathematics and was enrolled in the PhD program before she left to pursue a career in acting. De Cari’s play <i>Truth Values: One Girl’s Romp Through MIT’s Male Math Maze</i> is an autobiographical solo show showing at Central Square Theater from Thursday, September 10th to Sunday, September 20th. De Cari’s play is aimed at telling her personal story of her experiences at MIT and explores the world of women in math and science. It is presented by the Underground Railway Theater and directed by Miriam Eusebio. For selected performances, the play will be followed by discussions with scientists and artists from both MIT and Harvard.
MOVIE REVIEW ★ ★ Designed for Destruction and Hope In ‘9’
Darkness and destruction pervade throughout much of <i>9</i>, directed by Shane Acker and produced by Tim Burton (<i>The Nightmare Before Christmas</i>, <i>Batman</i>, <i>Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street</i>). Based on the Academy Award-nominated animated short film of the same name, <i>9</i> takes place after humans have been annihilated by machines, leaving the world in rubble and ruin. The hero is a rag doll who is initially unable to speak but has an adventurous streak. He meets 2, a kind and industrious individual who enables 9 to speak. A mechanized beast captures 2 and injures 9, setting the rest of the film into motion.
CD REVIEW Eschewing Precision
My piano teacher used to cringe at the mention of Vladimir Horowitz. The Russian pianist was known for his particularly bad posture: sitting with the keyboard chest-level, Horowitz’s fingers would lie flat on the keys, tips almost pointed upwards as he played. Regardless, it’s hard to imagine another twentieth-century pianist who had such influence on the piano literature and the face of piano performance. Despite his questionable stance at the piano, Horowitz managed startling technical prowess at the keyboard, often performing musical acrobatics that were inaccessible to his contemporaries, premiering works both composers and performers thought impossible and forever changing what was considered par for his medium.
INTERVIEW Interview With ‘Orphan’ Screenwriter David Johnson
If you haven’t had the curiosity (or stomach) to check Jaume Collet-Serra’s appropriately horrific horror thriller <i>Orphan</i>, this interview with screenwriter David L. Johnson might do the trick in explaining the motives behind the film’s mysterious topic. I caught up with the busy writer–first-time father-to-be at the Comic-Con in San Diego last month. Clearly a part of the Comic-Con community, Johnson has worked with Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee when he adapted one of his original ideas into a two-hour teleplay for TBS Superstation.
ARTS FEATURE For the Comic Book Guy in All of Us
The action at Comic-Con officially started on Preview Night on July 22, with Warner Bros. Television’s sneak previews of “Human Target,” “V,” and “The Vampire Diaries,” all three of which, I have to say, left me with a vague sense of déjà vu, especially in the vampire department. “V,” however, is interesting in terms of high-tech visuals. The mosaicked mirrors of the Mothership beaming Morena Baccarin’s elfin face over Los Angeles are quite a sight.
CD REVIEW Tweedy Settles Down
I can remember, sometime in early spring, reading a blogger’s hilarious indie bulletin: “In other news, Wilco continues to take over the world.” Back then, before Wilco’s latest self-titled effort had even leaked, I reflected on this statement as a clear indicator of the upcoming year. Frontman Jeff Tweedy and his band of inidie-alt-folkers-whatever-you-wanna-call-ems (oh, all the genre dodging Wilco goes through) now sit close to the top of the music world, garnering steady attention ever since the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot debacle that cemented their name as true artists.
CD REVIEW Synth-Heavy and Self-Aware
Do you remember the goodie bags you used to get as party favors after an extravagant birthday party? It was usually a grab bag of treats: an obligatory shiny toy along with jelly beans that everyone tried to throw away. <i>Hot Mess</i>, Cobra Starship’s newest album, is akin to those grab bags. While there are a couple of catchy tracks and a few really good songs, others run the risk of being repetitive, and the dance-punk-synthpop style wears one’s patience thin.
RESTAURANT REVIEW Boston’s Finest (and Most Affordable) Al Fresco
Boston has had more than its fair share of rainy days this summer, but during its few sunny days, I managed to explore some of the city’s best outdoor dining options. Whether you are looking for a full meal or just a light afternoon snack, you can be sure to find an outdoor restaurant in one of Boston’s many neighborhoods. Here are some of my top picks.
CONCERT REVIEW A Wild and Wet Performance: Downpour Adds Organic Effect to Wilco Concert
There’s no better way to spend a cool summer night than at an outdoor concert featuring one of your favorite bands. On July 11 I stood among excited fans at Wilco’s performance in Lowell, Massachusetts. The evening began as one of those rainless nights we seem to be getting so few of this summer in Boston, and I could only hope that the lack of precipitation would last through the performance.
MOVIE REVIEW ★★ Men Are Pigs and Women Think Too Much: Is That All There Is to ‘The Ugly Truth’?
In the movie poster for “The Ugly Truth,” there are two stick figures, icons ripped straight from a public restroom door. They are adorned with hearts. The woman’s heart is in her head. The man’s heart is in his crotch. How original.
MOVIE REVIEW ★★★ ‘Summer’ Is Love Shattered, Put Back Together
5<i>00 Days of Summer</i> is not a love story. The narrator, in his rich public radio voice, warns of us this right away. It is about a boy who meets a girl. What? <i>500 Days of Summer</i> is not a love story? A clever indie film, it is a lovely thing that delves deeper into relationships and their complexities than most stories. While at a glance a simple love tale, <i>500 Days</i> triumphs due to its poignancy and dedication to detail.
MOVIE REVIEW ★★ It’s Funny, Bruno, but We Don’t Really Care
The next character in Sacha Baron Cohen’s arsenal of disguises is the flaming fashionista Bruno. Born Austrian and “forever” 19, Bruno falls from international prominence as a fashion TV host when he arrives at a Milan fashion show wearing a suit made entirely of velcro. Predictable but amusing antics follow, at which point a dramatic montage exhibits Bruno’s pain at the rejection by his once loving and familial community of fashion-conscious celebrities. Thus begins Bruno’s journey to America to become a celebrity, and the audience’s journey through a generally hilarious but often extremely awkward film.
CONCERT REVIEW At Tanglewood, Merry Mozart and Moody Mahler
During the summer, the Boston Symphony Orchestra performs in bucolic western Massachusetts in the Tanglewood Music Festival — essentially a concert series on steroids of mostly classical music. A couple of weeks ago, I made the pilgrimage for a night of Mozart and Mahler. I was shaken.
MOVIE REVIEW ★★ ½ ‘Harry Potter’ and The Magic of Adolescence, Which Is Quickly Wearing Thin
It’s never a good sign when you have difficulty remembering what happened in a movie soon after you leave the theater. And by soon, I mean before you hop on the subway after the film ends. I had been quite excited to watch <i>Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince</i>, the sixth movie in the series, especially after reading some very positive reviews. Perhaps they set my expectations too high; I should have known not to get my hopes up.
MOVIE REVIEW ★★ ½ Beautiful Backdrops, but Little Intrigue, Little Plot, Little to Care About in FBI Thriller
If ever a movie could capture the romantic and roguish atmosphere of the ’30s, <i>Public Enemies</i> has done it. Directed and produced by Michael Mann (<i>Hancock</i>, <i>Miami Vice</i>, <i>The Aviator</i>), the film is based on the non-fiction book <i>Public Enemies: America’s Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34</i> by Bryan Burrough. Johnny Depp plays notorious Depression-era criminal John Dillinger, a role in which his suave manner rather than his quirky humour finds the spotlight. Since every criminal anti-hero needs a brooding man of the law to oppose him, a grave and focused Christian Bale plays FBI agent Melvin Purvis. The film focuses on Purvis’s attempts to stop Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, and Pretty Boy Floyd, while also following Dillinger’s life more closely.
MOVIE REVIEW ★★ Guinea Pigs on the Loose; Funny but too Predictable
Recent years have seen a surge of rodents on the big screen, in the most unusual and diverse roles. Thanks to Disney’s Mickey Mouse legacy, mice have always had an easier time being featured; the newest fad focuses on another type of rodents. Movies like <i>Ratatouille </i>and <i>Alvin and the Chipmunks </i>have been extremely successful at introducing to the public endearing new rodent species. Disney’s newest rodent adventure, <i>G-Force,</i> attempts to do the same for guinea pigs, yet it falls a bit short on substance. Nevertheless, the movie is extremely funny and the fluffy protagonists are quite delightful, especially for the very young audiences.