Theater/Film Reviews
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Midnight in Paris
The magic has returned! With the music of Cole Porter and the beauty of the city providing all the necessary aural and visual backdrop, Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” is a glorious, mystical, bright-hearted movie that reflects his best days. While it might not be as fine as some of his early works, it’s far
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Becky’s New Car
“Becky’s New Car” takes a while to go from 0 to 60, but it’s an enjoyable trip all the same. Steven Dietz’ play made its St. Louis debut last night as the opener of the Insight Theatre Company’s season at the Heagney Theater on the Nerinx Hall High School campus and it was fun for
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The Tree of Life
“The Tree of Life,” Terrence Malick’s new movie, only his fifth in 38 years, won a lot of awards at the recent Cannes Film Festival. This makes sense because the French not only love Jerry Lewis, but they also spend a lot of cinema time navel-gazing. Malick is doing some of that, too, and though
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A Chorus Line
One. Singular. Sensation. Still. “A Chorus Line,” which opened Stages St. Louis’ 25th anniversary season last night at the Robert G. Reim theater, remains unique in American musical theater history. The combination finale-curtain call may be the most dazzling sequence ever, and no play, ever, captured the passion, pain and triumph of show business any
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Circus Flora
Family always has been regarded as a key to the success of a circus, whether it’s in family groups that buy tickets and fill seats, or in the long circus-performer tradition that sees skills handed down from one generation to the next, and families working together under the big top. Circus Flora, our own delightful,
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Pelleas and Melisande
Given the reaction of many audience members — and a few critics, too — it looks as if the run of "Pelleas and Melisande" at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis will be more roller-coaster than limousine ride. It opened last night at the Loretto-Hilton Center, and I was grabbed and completely under the spell
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Just Desserts
It’s like going through Neil LaBute’s waste basket, reading bits and pieces of material. Some of them are on their way to the recycle bin. Others need tightening, re-writing. a small fix. Some of them are excellent. Others fall short. But LaBute is a fine enough writer –very skillful with the needle — that “Just
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bare
Want to write a play? Check with Bill Shakespeare. He’s probably written something that will provide a template, or at least a few good ideas. That’s what Damon Intrabartolo and John Hartmere Jr., did, and the result is “bare,” almost a rock opera but with a challenging text and often-sensitive lyrics that New Line Theatre
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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,