arts

A Rumor Has It is a failure of a movie. The premise is that the classic The Graduate is actually based on our heroine's (Jennifer Anniston's) family. Hijinks and lack of hilarity ensue as she goes back home for her sister's wedding and confronts this myth, personified via her grandmother

What more can one say except that The Chronicles of Narnia (etc) is a children's movie? I've never read the books, and only somewhat recall the old BBC versions, so it's a bit of a surprise to see so much energy expended on so slight a show. But as they

I've been to a couple tapings of TV shows this week: Sunday, I attended "The Actor's Studio" interview of Ralph Fiennes. The whole show took about three hours to tape, a bit of an ordeal as Fiennes is not particularly extroverted (or funny). And it doesn't help that he's still

Some have pointed out that the Johnny Cash bio-pic Walk The Line ought to be named after a different hit song, "Ring of Fire". Apparently, "Walk The Line" was dedicated to Cash's first wife, while "Ring of Fire" concerned his turmoil with pain-killers and his affair with June Carter --

It's bio-pic season. Capote eschews the standard birth-to-death story arc, instead concentrating on the critical years when Truman Capote worked on his non-fiction masterpiece, "In Cold Blood". The difficult task of humanizing our hero is handled wonderfully by Philip Seymour Hall -- one of those impersonations which seems to transcend

Spamalot is great fun, though a badly fractured second act is almost a letdown. The inimitable Python film "...and the Holy Grail" has been transformed into broad slapstick on Broadway with extended music, etc by Eric Idle, and stuffed with visual humor by director Mike Nichols. The good news, for

A belated review of Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross. Saw this about two months ago; great cast that was able to put across the difficult Mamet dialogue with strong characterizations. Like other works by the author, the text is repetitive and requires a forced, staccato delivery -- if done well, this

The March of the Penguins is a great nature documentary.  The film shows, dramatically and with yet another 'voice-of-god' narration by Morgan Freeman, how Emporer Penguins manage to sustain themselves whilst caring for their new family through the blasts of an Antartic Winter. Two notes: The documentary doesn't really explain

Antony Sher's one-man Primo is a marvel to behold but not aptly titled. The text is from Primo Levi's narrative of his stay at the Auschwitz concentration camp and is, of course, harrowing and amazing. Sher is perfectly natural on stage, huddling against the set's grey walls, highlighted by changing

I attended the charity premiere (benefitting The Children's Health Fund) for Star Wars - Revenge of the Sith last night. Wow. Not too many stars in the audience, but a lot of fun. A more detailed analysis of the film, the trilogy, and the entire series will follow. For now,