ric

A great musical, oddly (like Lear) restrained.  Alfred Molina stars as the long-suffering Tevye; Molina has been in starring and secondary roles in movies for the past twenty years, including a bad sit-com; it's great to see him in such a big role. So why does he play it so

can't talk now....pretty good, restrained production. Christopher Plummer's Lear was fine, but the whole thing seemed ill-fitting. Jonathon Miller's direction left a bit to be desired -- he doesn't care for the whole "primal" angle to Lear; the costumes were Elizabethan! Not my cup of tea.

Tosca, New York Metropolitan Opera Another (twenty-year old) Zeffirelli/Puccini production at the Met. Apparently, the cognescenti scoff at the luxurious productions -- but at these prices, the more the merrier.  If you're going to see classic Italian opera, why not stuff the stage with spectacle? As if the melodrama

Big Fish Tim Burton's followup to his over-wrought and unfun Planet of the Apesis a delightful romantic fantasy complete with a Wonderful-Life finale. That said, the film's episodic nature and desperate sincerity doesn't leave much of an aftertaste to enjoy. While the whole may be less than the sum of

Madama Butterfly, Metropolitan Opera Another glorious production from the Met. Veronica Villarroel's Cio-Cio, the young woman as delicate as a butterfly, sang rapturously of her love for the American naval officer Pinkerton. In return, the Met audience gave her a rapturous ovation, complete with thrown bouquets and cherry-blosson confetti. Pinkerton

Somethings Gotta Give Apparently, this is a 'high-concept' film, Hollywood making a movie about romance between post-teenagers. Who cares as long as we get to see Diane Keaton again. The plot is Sleepless-In-Seattle meets The-Man-Who-Came-To-Dinner and though it takes a tad too long to tie up loose ends, the script