FILM REVIEW The birth of Facebook
In the week and a half it has been since the release of <i>The Social Network</i>, I have raved about the movie to everyone I know, yet I hesitate to say anything too substantial about the movie itself. It is best seen with fresh eyes and no expectations — except, of course, the expectation to be entertained by a movie about one of the defining developments of our generation. Most people who haven’t seen it yet refer to it as “the Facebook movie,” and while it is indeed about Facebook (which, let’s be honest, provides a good enough reason to go watch it), it is, above anything else, an excellent film, already dubbed “the best movie of the year” by numerous critics.
IN MEMORY OF Joan Alston Sutherland
It’s difficult not to dwell in mid-century American nostalgia in remembering Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, who almost single-handedly ushered in a revival of bel canto opera. But so much more; the Australian dramatic coloratura soprano, dubbed as La Stupenda after her 1960 performance of Händel’s Alcina, was known for her magnificent flexibility and technique, her incredible range and her devotion to the performance as an organic whole. Dame Sutherland passed near her home in Montrieux, Switzerland on the evening of Sunday, October 10, at the age of 84. She is survived by a husband, son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren.
CONCERT REVIEW Electrifying performance of contempo-music
Artistically, October is often a busy month at MIT, and this year is no exception. Vicky Chow’s recital, as part of the Bang on a Can Residency (sponsored by MIT Music and Theatre Arts department) was the first notable musical event of October. This concert was highly anticipated, given the artist’s strong ties with Bang on a Can All-Stars, a chamber ensemble renowned for its free and experimental approaches aimed at blurring the distinction between all forms of music. Chow’s recital was a vivid demonstration of piano contemporary music, showcasing the possibilities of the instrument extended with the aid of computer generated effects. While this contemporary music might initially sound inaccessible and strange, the showmanship of Chow and her feisty technique kept the audience engaged and thoroughly entertained. In many ways, this recital was a veritable eye-opener, offering a glimpse of the distant future of classical music (and music in general), and highlighting the enormous range of the expressive possibilities of the piano, most of them still untapped today.
CONCERT REVIEW How do you play a Ratatat song?
My unfortunate tautological infatuation with tautology peaked around the same time as the Ratatat show Thursday night. This was fortunate because it allowed me to answer such questions like, “how do you play a Ratatat song?” Answer: you play a Ratatat song.
FILM REVIEW Claustrophia in a coffin
Let’s get this out of the way first — <i>Buried</i> is a disturbing, deeply uncomfortable film, and claustrophobic moviegoers would do well to avoid it. The film stars Ryan Reynolds as Paul Conroy, an American truck-driver working for a company in Iraq. After an attack on his unarmed convoy by insurgents, he awakens to find himself trapped in a coffin; armed with a phone, a Zippo lighter, and a knife, he frantically searches for a way to escape before it becomes his tomb.
ON CLASSIC CINEMA Here’s looking at you
Certain films are guaranteed to be at or near the top of every “greatest movies of all time” list you’ll ever read: <i>Citizen Kane, The Godfather, Vertigo</i> and of course <i>Casablanca</i>. Perhaps you can name it as one of the most well-known love stories in cinema, or you recognize actors Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, or you’ve heard one of its many famous lines (“We’ll always have Paris”); <i>Casablanca</i> is one of those films that has so permeated cinematic culture that nearly everyone has some level of awareness of it.
Chic clothes, saving your conscience?
Socially conscious fashion. A conundrum in itself. For an industry that is based mostly around aesthetics and has been historically nonchalant about animals — much less the healthcare of employees — the growing attention to sustainable design and fair trade is curious. We hear about it occasionally — Natalie Portman’s line of shoes for Te Casan composed of all man-made materials, Bono and his wife’s fashion brand ROGAN — but for the most part, sustainable fashion has not hit the pavement runway.
ON CLASSIC CINEMA The Godfather of suspense
What makes a movie great? What is it exactly that elevates a film from its usual status as a means of entertainment of entertainment to that of a cultural hallmark deserving of modern audience’s attention? Frankly, who gives a damn?
CONCERT AND ALBUM REVIEW Jazz artist plays for the big band
Meet OJH, the Orquestra de Jazz de Matosinhos, and the latest sonic shift for renowned guitarist and Berklee alum Kurt Rosenwinkel. The last time I wrote about Rosenwinkel I was writing about his 2009 classics album <i>Reflections </i>— itself a somewhat unusual shift for an artist who’s more (in my mind at least) associated with the typical small ensemble jazz setup. Here he’s playing his own stuff, but arranged for big band by band leader Pedro Guedes and pianist Carlos Azevedo.
CONCERT REVIEW Primordial Night
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum’s new conductor-less resident orchestra, A Far Cry, presented a thoughtful synthesis of works spanning five hundred years ofWestern music in their program entitled Primordial Darkness during the museum’s Sunday afternoon concert series on September 19th.
FEATURE School House brings ethical fashion to MIT
During the first week of school, we had a chance to speak with Rachel Weeks, the founder and president of School House — a collegiate apparel line that not only produces garments with designs beyond the usual school-name-plastered-over-front-of-sweatshirt formula, but also has a special commitment to promoting ethical fashion. Believe it or not, the School House line designed especially for MIT students has already been in the Coop for several weeks! Read on to find out the inside story behind the latest addition to our campus bookstore.<i></i>
FILM REVIEW Pretty but lacking in substance and suspense
<i>The American</i> is Dutch director Anton Corbijn’s movie adaptation of the 1990 thriller <i>A Very Private Gentleman</i> by British novelist Martin Booth. George Clooney stars as the main character Jack, an assassin hiding in the Italian countryside after someone attempts to kill him.
ALBUM REVIEW Only built 4 lovers of lyrical hip hop
In 2009, XXL Magazine named San Pedro, CA rapper Johnson Barnes (a.k.a. Blu) in their Top 10 Freshmen of the Class of ’09. He was in good company — also featured in the dynamic decathlon were Kid Cudi, Wale, Asher Roth and B.o.B. Incidentally, the latter 4 are artists who can claim to have reached at least a basal level of superstardom, while Blu has remained relatively underground. Still, indieness aside, with <i>Below the Heavens</i>, Blu and Exile have managed to produce a debut album that has been lauded again and again by critics as a consummate underground classic.
FILM REVIEW This one is for the gamers
<i>Scott Pilgrim vs. The World</i> is one of those movies that you’ll either hate or love. People who are into manga and video games will have a lot of fun with this movie. However, those who have no connection to such worlds will likely find the movie to be over the top and nonsensical. That said, as far as gaming-related movies go, this blows <i>The Wizard</i> out of the water.
FILM REVIEW Action stars of the ages, unite!
One of the most highly anticipated movies of the summer, <i>The Expendables</i> is a collaboration and celebration of 80s and 90s action stars who have united in one movie with a sole purpose: make as much money as possible.
Music<br />2.0
<b>I</b><b>’ve been a digital groupie of many a band over the years. </b>Back in the late 90s I tape traded Phish, Dave Matthews, and Grateful Dead shows. I don’t mention it to most people now because Birkenstocks are out and it was awfully OCD, but it was my main hobby in high school. I’d find other fans on bulletin boards and we’d exchange addresses, burn a bunch of CDs and two weeks later, I could put on my headphones and hear something no record store carried. These listening sessions — think staying up late on a school night and sneaking a beer from the garage fridge — were some of my fondest memories growing up. Most of the time the songs were the same, but that wasn’t the point. I grew to love every nuance. I became a collector. In the same way that a band evolves from practicing the same material and playing together, so did my experience as a fan. This is the show where they did the six-minute vacuum cleaner solo. This is the show where Phish covered the White Album on Halloween.
IN MEMORIAM Anthony Rolfe Johnson
As best as these things can happen, he was the Cincinnatus of our musical world. Born November 5, 1940, in Tackley of Oxfordshire, England, Anthony Rolfe Johnson came relatively late to music, spending the majority of his twenties as a farmer, beginning his formal training at nearly thirty years of age at the Guildhall School of Music in London. Initially unable to even read music, Mr. Johnson eventually learned, continuing on to study with Benjamin Britten’s partner, Peter Pears, and making his operatic debut in 1973.
THEATER REVIEW The art of being an artist
<i>“You asked me recently why I maintain that I am afraid of you. As usual, I was unable to think of any answer to your question, partly for the very reason that I am afraid of you, and partly because an explanation of the grounds for this fear would mean going into far more details than I could even approximately keep in mind while talking.” </i>
FILM REVIEW Eat, pray, love, whatever
<i>Eat Pray Love</i> is a movie adaptation of the bestselling memoir by Elizabeth Gilbert of the same title. It’s a story of overcoming a life crisis and finding personal balance again.
THEATER REVIEW Meet Hitler
I walk up two flights of stairs. The production is in a language learning center on the second floor. The decoration is sparse, the lighting fluorescent, industrial. There’s a small reception room with coffee and some chairs. The receptionist leads me around the corner to a small office room with fifteen chairs, facing inward at a single chair, and a bit table with a picture of Klara Hitler, Adolf’s mother. The windows are covered, one with a dark drape, another with a great red Nazi flag, with a manhole-sized Swastika in the middle. There are twelve of us. We are somewhat cramped. We wait.