CONCERT REVIEW Jamal: Master of Musical Space
It’s hard to put a finger on Ahmad Jamal’s music. It speaks slowly, suggestively, and delicately. He’s seen his fair share of music, and his style fits into the spectrum between breezy carelessness and angsty desperation. Perhaps its greatest quality is its use of space. Few other artists out there can tap out of melody with as much natural, composed structure as Jamal can without it sounding inevitable and rigid. Jamal’s playing is unfettered but rational, well-balanced, and smooth. Above all, it feels good.
EXHIBIT REVIEW ‘Acting Out’ Is Raw and Humanizing
Video has become a trendy form of art. For one, seemingly ridiculous YouTube productions can silently generate millions of views, transforming the meaning of “expression” and “reality” along the way. And now, five artists from around the world confront this hot new medium by using it as an apparatus to study human interactions and cultural inclinations. The product of their combined efforts is <i>Acting Out</i>, a collection of social experiments captured on video and filtered through an artistic lens. It’s now playing on the fourth floor of Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA).
CD REVIEW From Harpsichord to Piano
Of the three sets of keyboard pieces J.S. Bach published between 1715 and 1730, the <i>Partitas</i> are, by far, the weirdest.
BOOK REVIEW Our Favorite Harvard Code Breaker Is Back
The famously controversial author of <i>The Da </i><i>Vinci Code</i> has succeeded in crafting a fascinating and suspenseful adventure brimming with new secrets, new twists and turns, and a refreshingly interesting — if not far-fetched — concept. Released on Sept. 15, this newest installment, <i>The Lost Symbol</i>, takes the reader on a harrowing thrill ride to uncover secrets in ancient mysticism and Masonic tradition. Despite some small imperfections, it delivers with a true Dan Brown “can’t-put-the-book-down” style mystery.
MOVIE REVIEW Brazilian Film an Ode to the Lonely
“Wherever you are, look to the sky and your star will guide you where you need to go… whatever happens or comes your way, you have your star to thank, more than you know.”
TELEVESION REVIEW For the High-Schooler Inside
Snobby cheerleaders? Check. Corny mantras? Check.
MOVIE REVIEW ‘Taking Woodstock’ Is a Lesson in Film Technique, American History
Ang Lee (<i>Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon</i>; <i>Hulk</i>; <i>Brokeback Mountain</i>) has once again proven his insight and versatility as a director. <i>Taking Woodstock</i> is a delightful comedy set in the Catskills in upstate New York, 1969. It tells the story of Elliot Tiber (Demetri Martin), a Greenwich Village designer who comes home to help out with his parents’ old, run-down motel in White Lake, NY.
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.