Ann Lemons Pollack
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The Immigrant
We can talk all we want about higher forms of behavior, of ethics and altruism and good things like that. But when it comes to survival, all that stuff is forgotten, and we revert to basic savagery, to the worst parts of ourselves. It’s all about “me,” and it isn’t pretty, and even a sugary
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Blank City
When times are bleakest, someone usually makes art. It may be rude and crude, or optimistic, or pessimistic, as tentative as a baby chick cracking through an egg, as ham-fisted and foot-stomping as a baby gorilla. But with 8- and 16-millimeter cameras available, some people decided to make movies. With drugs as cheap as dirt,
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X-Men: First Class
Ludicrous. Absolutely ludicrous, if an expanded comment is needed to describe “X-Men: First Class,” another absurdity disguised as an action movie,opening today. From Auschwitz during World War II to the Cuban Missle Crisis of 1962 and on to a series of establishing shots of various secret service headquarters, we follow the variety of actors and
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Circo
Sometimes it's a real circus train, 100-plus cars with good food and air-conditioning, trainers and costume designers. Sometimes it's a handful of limping trucks and a house trailer, with beans three meals a day and hand-me-down costumes that have seen better days — much better days. But the pull of the circus on those who
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The Montfort Point Marine
Even experienced playwrights hit clunkers now and then. Samm-Art Williams' turn has come up at the Black Rep, where his "Montfort Point Marine" had its world premiere over the weekend and will run through June 26. A busy playwright, Williams has written successful works like "Home," and "The Dance on Widows' Row," for previous Black
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Veritas
Looking for Veritas is a bit of a treasure hunt, finding it brings the reward. Tucked into a hill on the east side of Clarkson Road, south of I-64, it shares parking with a number of businesses, including Dierbergs. David and Stephanie Stitt have been successful enough to expand into space next door, and to
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The Daughter of the Regiment
A couiple of young singers made dazzling debuts last night at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, with soprano Ashley Emerson and tenor Rene Barbera receiving roaring ovations after glorious performances in "The Daughter of the Regiment." Gaetano Donizetti's light-hearted opera, which dates to 1840, will have six more performances through June 26 Speaking of
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The Taming of the Shrew
William Shakepeare put his fingers on the manners and morals, the follies and foibles, of his 17th-century audience, and those fingers remain in place today. Whether it's a lust for power, or a lust for gold, or a lust for sex, Shakespeare wrote about it, and the plots are still valid. And he took on
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Mass Appeal
He's just coasting along, keeping his parishioners happy on his advice and sermons, keeping himself happy on their contributions of sparkling Burgundy. And, one sunny Sunday morning, a young seminarian questions Father Tim Farley and turns his life around. "Mass Appeal," Bill C. Davis' fine play, is 31 years old, but the production that opened
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Into Eternity
This is them most frightening movie I've ever seen. No blood, no weapons, no little green men, no predictions, no explosions. Thankfully, neither I nor the vast majority of those who see "Into Eternity" as part of the Webster Film Series this weekend, will be around, but still. . . . In northern Finland, about