Theater/Film Reviews
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Miss Representation
No wonder women are angry. . . . They are barred from testifying before Congress on legislation vital to their interests, they still are seen as sex symbols and generally as second-class citizens, as pointed out strongly in "Miss Representation," a documentary that runs tonight as part of the Webster University Film Series. Jennifer Siebel
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Tim and Eric’s Billion-Dollar Movie
There are lots of bad movies out there. Every day, in every way, people make ever-dumber, ever-more absurd, ever-less entertaining movies. The latest ridiculous example, "Tim and Eric's Billion-Dollar Movie" opens here today, as among the worst movies I've ever been privileged to see. Tim Heidecker and Erkic Wareheim wrote, directed and starred in this
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The Conquest
Having watched Republican candidates through this never-ending primary campaign was the perfect preparation for looking at "The Conquest," a tale of Nicolas Sarkozy and his lengthy, vicious campaign to become president of France. All politicians are nuts! Watching Sarkozy destroy his rivals, ridicule his predecessors and supposed colleagues, leap from bed to bed and totally
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General Orders No. 9
"One last trip down the rabbit hole before it's paved over," is probably a description of his new film by Robert Persons, its author, producer, director and director of photography. It has a strange name, "General Orders No. 9," but it's not a military film. It's a documentary, a look at part of Georgia, and
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A Midsummer Night’s Dream
There's a huge, happy Mardi Gras party going on at the Grandel Theatre, and it won't stop on Wednesday. The Black Rep's highly enjoyable production of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," which opened over the weekend, will run until March 4, giving lots of people the chance to enjoy it. One of the great joys
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The Maids
Jean Genet’s often-satiric, sometimes-salacious fantasy-play, “The Maids,” opened last night at the Kranzberg Black Box Theatre. The Upstream Theatre production is interesting and involving, like everything Upstream does, but the play itself, which runs through March 4, falls short of being completely satisfying. Whether because of Martin Crimp’s 13-year-old translation, or the direction by Wieslaw
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Love Letters
“Love Letters,” the two-person play by A. R. Gurney that opened last night as — perhaps — the final production of the Avalon Theater Company, is about love and letters, only tangentially about Love Letters. With Larry Mabrey and his real-life wife, Erin Kelley, as the cast, it runs through the weekend at the Crestwood
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A Separation
Iranian writer-director Asghar Farhadi is a nominee for an Academy Award, for Best Original Screenplay. His simple but heart-rending movie, “A Separation,” is a candidate for the Best Foreign Language film Oscar. Winning both would be a victory for the longest long shot in Oscar history, but neither would be undeserved. The film, which opens
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Young Goethe in Love
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German author and philosopher, was a young man like many other young men of the late 18th century, when he lived, or of the early 21st, when we do. So “Young Goethe in Love,” which opens today, is a charming coming-of-age movie about a charming, intelligent person who didn’t quite fit
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West Side Story
With glorious, exciting music by Leonard Bernstein, dashing lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and rollicking, memorable choreography and direction by Jerome Robbins, "West Side Story" brought something new and different to American musical theater when it opened on Broadway in 1957. The production that opened at the Fox Theatre last night remains big and brawling (it