The Best Concerts of May 2008
April showers bring May flowers, and in this case, the downpour of ex-lead-singer shows last month has led to a hefty crop of diverse acts (okay, Jeremy Enigk snuck in there, somehow). There are so many notable groups playing locally this month that I didn’t even get to list (The Teenagers, Los Campesinos!, The New Deal, Firewater, Eyedea & Abilities and Kevin Devine, to name a few), so I highly recommend scouring venue Web sites to see if I skipped over one of your favorites. But this is my column, after all, and so my picks get top billing. With that I present to you May’s best shows; especially notable ones are marked with stars.
OPERA REVIEW Lyric Opera’s Last Production
It’s no surprise that in Boston, a city inundated with eager students, free arts events harness high attendance. Last week, hundreds of such students attended a free performance of the Boston Lyric Opera’s last production of the season, <i>The Abduction from the Seraglio</i>. Though this is one of Mozart’s lesser known operas, the theatre filled to near full capacity. The Boston Lyric Opera has been offering free tickets to the public (but specifically targeting students) for the dress rehearsals of all its major productions. Before the beginning of the overture, Janice Mancini Del Sesto, the exuberant General Director of the BLO, arrived in the left box seat to announce this season’s recipient of the Stephen Shrestinian Award for Excellence. She then proudly led the audience in a grand applause for Joseph Valone, a Boston University music program alumnus; the award was a cash prize for a young, up-and-coming performer wishing to further his or her career in professional opera.
CONCERT REVIEW Are You That Girl?
Dear girl from Boston College who stood in front of me at the Third Eye Blind show,
Oliver’s Twist on These ‘Terrifying Times’
Ever since Briton John Oliver appeared as a correspondent on The Daily Show, I’ve wanted to see more of his work, and have hoped to some day be able to talk to him. Thanks to a Comedy Central special, I got to do both this past week. On Sunday, Mr. Oliver starred in his own one-hour stand-up special, “Terrifying Times,” in which he discussed the scariness that is world politics. Instead of crude humor, Mr. Oliver made intelligent observations about serious situations put in a comedic light. A few days before “Terrifying Times” aired, I was able to talk to Mr. Oliver by phone about his transition into comedy, his work on The Daily Show, and his new comedy special. Below is an excerpt.
MOVIE REVIEW ★★ 1/2 ‘Baby Mama’ Delivers Laughs, But Gags Are Far From Newborn
My new favorite thing when looking up a movie is to read the plot keywords on IMDB. They are usually hilarious and often surprisingly able to sum up a movie. For example, the keywords posted for <i>Baby Mama</i>, the new comedy starring Tina Fey, are “pregnancy,” “toilet,” and “surrogate mother.” These three words are absolutely accurate; the movie is indeed about pregnancy and surrogacy, but it’s also so absurd that the word “toilet” is not out of place.
MOVIE REVIEW ★★★ ‘Sarah Marshall’ Formulaic, But Not Forgettable
Comedy movies of the past few years have progressively gravitated towards in-your-face outrageous laughs. Movies like <i>Knocked Up</i>, <i>Superbad</i>, and <i>Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story</i> have led the way to this new form of R-rated comedy. These films are a direct result of Judd Apatow’s vision, who directed <i>Knocked Up</i>, produced <i>Superbad</i>, and most recently produced <i>Forgetting Sarah Marsall</i>. This movie serves up the laughs at a fevered pace, but Apatow’s formula is becoming a little predictable.
THEATER REVIEW A Rewriting of Shakespeare
Within 24 hours of beginning development, a group of less than twenty MIT Shakespeare Ensemble members had written a script, formed a cast, rehearsed it, made costumes, built a set, and completed everything else that a play needs. It all went down in 34-101, a lecture hall usually used for classes rather than plays. A very odd place to stage a play.
CONCERT REVIEW Sasha and Digweed Melt Faces, Shake Booties
April in Boston can be a rough time for electronic music fans. For those who couldn’t make the pilgrimage last month to Miami for the Winter Music Conference, the perpetual mist and bluster of the northeast might leave the heart yearning for the warm beaches and thumping bass of more hospitable party scenes.
CONCERT REVIEW Three Nights of Da Dirty Jicks
Disregarding the aching belly of my slim wallet, I shelled out to see Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks three times on their North American tour (well, okay, one night was compensated, but still). Had all three New York dates not sold out almost instantly, I’d probably have bought tickets for them, too. Did I do it out of fanaticism? For the sake of x-treme journalism? Or did I just have nothing better to do with my time? Regardless of motives, I got to catch three great concerts, each one markedly different from the last despite the unavoidable similarities.
MOVIE REVIEW ★★★ 1/2 A Bold Red Balloon
In Hou Hsiao-hsien’s <i>Flight of the Red Balloon</i>, the balloon in question seems to drift into every corner of a melancholy-tinged Paris; it drags through a quiet skyline and is glazed onto the side of a building, it sits within oil paintings and computer screens. Most prominently, the balloon occupies an unspoken space in a small network of Parisian lives: it sparks their perception and weighs on their memory.
CONCERT REVIEW Three Nights of Da Dirty Jicks
Disregarding the aching belly of my slim wallet, I shelled out to see Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks three times on their North American tour (well, okay, one night was compensated, but still). Had all three New York dates not sold out almost instantly, I’d probably have bought tickets for them, too. Did I do it out of fanaticism? For the sake of x-treme journalism? Or did I just have nothing better to do with my time? Regardless of motives, I got to catch three great concerts, each one markedly different from the last despite the unavoidable similarities.
EVENT PREVIEW Best Way to Get Your Flick Fix
I can’t be the only one sick of the terrible movies in theatres lately; the filth that comes out in this springtime post-awards season lull is pathetic. Thankfully, some relief is coming to Boston later this month is the form of the sixth annual Independent Film Festival of Boston. It may not be as well known a festival as Sundance, or SXSW, but this relative anonymity might be a good thing. The festival is small enough for anyone to enjoy but large enough to attract some fantastic entries.
CONCERT LISTINGS The Best Concerts of April 2008
It seems former frontmen and recently-gone-solo band members are presently dominating this month’s Boston music scene. Rather than worry that the duplicate prevalence of lead singers might bar new acts from booking shows at local venues, I recommend you revel in the prolific songwriting of these musicians and try to catch them outside of their comfort zones. Special recommendations are denoted with stars.
MOVIE REVIEW ★★★ Don’t Pass on ‘21’
In 2002, Ben Mezrich released his bestselling non-fiction story, <i>Bringing Down the House</i>, about a group of MIT students who counted cards to win millions playing blackjack and beat the house in Vegas. Now, the story has taken a new form in the recently released movie <i>21</i>.
RESTAURANT REVIEW Lunch Splurge
I decided to kick off my 2008 Boston Restaurant Week experience with lunch at Grotto with a couple friends. Grotto, one of Beacon Hill’s high-end Italian restaurants, looks unassuming enough from the outside; the restaurant is below street level and, like its name implies, is quite cave-like once you get past the heavy purple curtain at the entrance. Inside, the red brick walls are peppered with paintings done by local artists, and chandeliers and a fancy wall mirror juxtaposed against the red-piped ceiling (complete with greasy rag) give the place a funky, almost hip vibe. A glance around the small dining area made it clear that we were the youngest patrons there; perhaps Grotto entertains a younger crowd for dinner. The service, while not extraordinary, was decent, and the atmosphere relaxed, although a bit noisier than what I expected.
MOVIE REVIEW Paranoia, Innocence, and Skateboarding
Few films (that I’ve seen, at least) achieve what Gus Van Sant’s latest work, “Paranoid Park,” accomplishes with such elegance and ease. If the disjointed, hand-wound montage of San Francisco traffic in the opening scene isn’t enough to foreshadow the lack of order and peace in our hero’s young teenage life, then certainly it’s the haunting soundtrack. Or, you also have the eerie shift in lighting when Alex (Gabe Nevins), America’s John Doe of troubled teens, escapes to the seashore to write an epic letter. Then you consider the fact that the majority of the scenes shift in and out of focus, sometimes barely giving the viewer any clue as to where the scene is actually taking place. This is where the success of<i> “</i>Paranoid Park” triumphs beyond other films about the difficulty being a teenager: it is as though all the elements (artistic and practical) conspire together to make the viewer <i>feel</i> like Alex. We truly <i>see</i> and <i>live</i> as Alex is seeing and living.
INTERVIEW How to Lose a Movie Set in Vegas
A few weeks ago, I sat down with the charming Jim Sturgess, the up and coming 26 year old British actor best know for his role as Jude in the Beatles musical, “Across the Universe.” In the upcoming film “21,” (based on the book <i>Bringing Down the House</i> by Ben Mezrich) Mr. Sturgess plays Ben Campbell, an MIT student who uses his math acumen to win millions playing blackjack in Vegas. During our conversation, Mr. Sturgess talked about what it was like playing a character who is based on a real life MIT alum, Jeffrey Ma ’94, filming in Las Vegas, and working with Kevin Spacey. Below is an excerpt:
MOVIE REVIEW ★★ ½ Spices Alone Do Not A Curry Make
The ingredients are more than tasty: exotic curries, a spicy relationship with a business partner or lesbian lover, a secret marriage, a generational culture-clash, and a televised cooking competition involving Indian family-owned curry restaurants, all set in Glasgow, Scotland. From this tantalizing stew comes “Nina’s Heavenly Delights,” a flavorful romantic comedy during the first half that soon stumbles and struggles and winds up undercooked.
INTERVIEW MIT, Vegas, Hollywood
In 2002, Ben Mezrich released Bringing Down the House, the story of how a group of MIT students counted cards to win millions playing blackjack. Later this month, <i>21</i>, the movie based on the book, will be released. Recently, <i>The Tech</i> sat down with Mezrich and Jeffrey Ma ’94, who is the real life basis for Ben Campbell in the film. Below is an excerpt from the conversation.
BOOK READING Sharp and Familiar Ethnic Experiences
Jhumpa Lahiri isn’t the sort of writer who shies away from her heritage. Her writing is replete with details of the Indian-American experience, peppered with references to Raj Kapoor and salwar kameez, because she writes about what she knows. But to say that her stories are primarily about an ethnic-American experience seems to severely limit the scope of Lahiri’s writing. Her stories aren’t about immigrant families, but families in general. On March 4th, in front of a crowd that was spilling out of 32-123, Lahiri reinforced this resistance to the labels that frequently hamper writers such as her. She offered the audience a writing style that is crisp, discerning, and instantly recognizable to anyone who has struggled to reconcile generations and cultures, but also, parents and children.