Theater/Film Reviews
-
Somewhere
On the long and winding road to "Somewhere," writer-director Sofia Coppola took a wrong turn and was irretrievably lost. That's lost as stumbling-through-the-woods lost, or in-the-midst-of-rush-hour-traffic lost, or as what-in-the-world-am-I-going-to-do-about-this lost. And she ended up nowhere. She began with a minimal premise. Johnny Marco (Stephen Dorff), a 30-ish male movie actor, more handsome than many,
-
The Giver
In its continuing quest to open the world to the children who will inherit it, Metro Theater Company has explored racism, fear and most of the Seven Deadly Sins, all produced on a level where understanding is both simple and difficult. Simple because events and philosophies are explained on a basic level; difficult because so-called
-
Cooking With Elisa
True to its name, Upstream Theater takes us against the current again in "Cocinando Con Elisa," or "Cooking With Elisa," which opened over the weekend at the Kranzberg Theatre in Grand Center. An Argentine political parable, in its first English-language performance and its American premiere, the two-person drama is set in a glorious country kitchen
-
The Fall of Heaven
Walter Mosley is a consummate story-teller, a wordsmith without peer. His "Easy Rawlins" novels, his short stories and magazine pieces, are delightful tales of magicians and miscreants, tellers of the tallest of stories. He celebrates men who use their abilities to rail against situations and people who would impinge on their freedom. Men like Tempest
-
Spamalot
It's so dumb, but it's so funny! "Spamalot," which opened a highly humorous weekend run at the Fox Theatre last night, is filled with bad puns and word plays, jokes that do not deserve the peals of laughter they get, silly lyrics that create wonderful nonsense. And yet, this was the fourth or fifth time
-
Pericles
Besides being a terrific evening of theatre, the Black Rep’s production of “Pericles” offers a new and different thrill–the chance to walk out of a performance whistling the costumes. Sarita Paula Fellows and her assistants, Kathryn Albro and Alison Stewart, light up the stage with imaginative and colorful garb for all 14 cast members, sometimes
-
Casino Jack
It's just a damn shame. A damn shame that George Hickenlooper died last October, just before the opening of "Casino Jack," the movie that would have lifted him into the upper ranks of American directors and provided the opportunity for him to climb higher. But ironically, the St. Louis-born-and-reared Hickenlooper was afflicted with the same
-
Made in Dagenham
Rita O'Grady and Norma Rae have many things common, even if language is not one of them–Rita's from the English Midlands, Norma from the American South. But they both are infected with the union bug and the desire for equality for women in the workplace. Sally Field won an Oscar for "Norma Rae," and while
-
The King’s Speech
"Great" is a descriptive too often used by promoters and salesmen (or women). Unless you're talking about Stan Musial or "Casablanca," you're dealing in hyperbole–almost all the time. Sometimes, however, there's a happy exception, something that deserves the accolade. "The King's Speech," opening today, is worthy of the adjective. It's a great movie, with absolutely
-
All Good Things
Unsolved crimes make for great movies. Writers and directors can take large liberties with truth to make a better story. The viewer doesn't know how much is fact and how much is fiction, but as long as there's an exciting and entertaining tale, with good acting, it doesn't make much difference. So it is with