Archive | April 2013
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“Passion” scores 7 Drama Desk nominations!!!
The Tony Awards nominations will be announced today, and Broadway always gets a financial boost in the process. But another vastly important New York theatre honor announced its contenders yesterday, and this celebrates a broader spectrum which includes not only Broadway—but off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway as well. And one of the big collectors of nominations for […]
The Central Park Five
Al Sharpton was right. I realize a lot of white people(probably the majority)are going to hate hearing those words, but it’s true. I’ve heard Reverend Al being called divisive, opportunist, and even racist(in what I call a convenient label for many)over the decades, but I never hear anyone acknowledge when the man is dead-on about something. […]
The Impossible
I certainly have a heart, but I have a brain too. And whereas(usually)they tend to peacefully co-exist—there are times when they do battle with one another. This is one of those times. I considered recusing myself from reviewing “The Impossible” because I have long been keenly perceptive regarding the subject of racial sensitivity. Hey, I’m […]
David Cronenberg’s “Maps to the Stars” gets the green light!!!
It’s not easy being a Cronenberg lover, so it must be far from simple being David Cronenberg himself. The now septuagenarian filmmaker(he turned 70 last month)has been struggling to cast and finance his latest project for months—what else is new. It must be wonderful to be Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese—or even Michael Bay—and get your […]
Flashback: on 1958’s The Cry Baby Killer
One year ago today I posted a tribute to Jack Nicholson in honor of my favorite actor on the occasion of his 75th birthday. That feature chronicled his acting career during the point where he reached superstardom, and covered six of his most iconic film roles—5 of which he was nominated for the Academy Award(finally winning […]
Passion off-Broadway
Loving Sondheim isn’t always easy, and “Passion” is certainly amongst his more difficult works. But it’s far from his only demanding show. Try explaining to someone, who’s used to leaving musicals giddy and tapping their toes, that they should embrace the melancholy and darkness of productions of Sondheim’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Sunday in the Park with […]
Evil Dead
It’s a bloody good time. You may be squirming in your seat, but isn’t that what it’s all about? Director Fede Alvarez, with no feature films to his credit, gets the job done right. He was apparently personally selected by the film’s producer(Sam Raimi), who just happens to be the director of the original trilogy. […]
Hitchcock
Our second late-2012 go-round with the Master of Suspense, the first being HBO’s “The Girl”—which was reviewed on this blog in January. If anything, watching them in tandem(chronologically, you would have to do this one first), the two productions succeed in covering a back-to-back-to-back triptych of great films from Hitch’s late career(some would say his final superb works, […]
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and my favorite film of the 1990’s
I’m not sure how I missed it, but the esteemed screenwriter and novelist Ruth Prawer Jhabvala shuffled off this mortal coil last week at the age of 85. She apparently passed away at her home in New York City on April the 3rd. Now, being that critic Roger Ebert had left us the day after […]
Reviewed by Mark Leonard 