Theater/Film Reviews
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House
"House," known as "Hausu" in Japanese, is the least horror-strewn Japanese horror film I've ever seen. Nobuhiko Obayashi's 1977 film, now being released here and there around the country, was Obayashi's first effort, and like many first-time directors, he gives us everything he knows. There are many attractive, imaginative sequences, some that are very strange,
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OSS 117: Lost in Rio
As a spoof of the James Bond genre of movies, "OSS 117: Lost in Rio," a French version by writer-director Michel Haznavicius, is often quite funny, nearly as often extremely imaginative. It loses points for a surprising amount of insulting so-called humor about Jews, but Jean Dujardin is effective as Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath.
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An Apology for the Course and Outcome of Certain Events Delivered by Doctor John Faustus on This, His Final Evening
Joe Hanrahan has a special place in the St. Louis theater world. As the founder, artistic director and half the company of the Midnight Company, he performs the roles he wants where and when he wants to do them. Thankfully, while Hanrahan often works in mysterious ways, he always offers something interesting and thought-provoking. Sometimes
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A Little Night Music
The St. Louis Symphony rarely has sounded better, turning "A Little Night Music" into a large and luscious musical performance, and a June night never was more perfect for anything that came to mind. There were some superb vocal moments from the stage, and the super-titles made the wonderful and clever, but convoluted lyrics of
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The Me Nobody Knows
"Hair," on stage has had almost as many adapters, stylists and camp-followers as hair on head. "The Me Nobody Knows" was one of them, coming to New York a couple of years later. Based on some poems and essays written by New York school children, enhanced by music from composer Gary William Friedman and lyrics
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Circus Flora
The circus is a family affair, and Circus Flora, our town's exciting circus, showed it off brilliantly both inside and outside the ring as it opened a June-long run last night at its tent next door to Powell Hall in Grand Center. The show, "Ingenioso," takes some of the Don Quixote tales and wraps them
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October Country
This is as sad a film as I have seen in many years, and the fact that it is a documentary about a scarred, dysfunctional, angry and apathetic family makes "October Country" that much sadder. Directed and filmed by Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher, it covers a year–from Halloween to Halloween–with Mosher's own family. They
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Laughter on the 23rd Floor
Even when Neil Simon is not at his best, he writes better comedy than most playwrights, and a splendid cast delivers the laughs with delightfully on-the-mark timing. The result is a broad and very funny production by the New Jewish Theatre of his "Laughter on the 23rd Floor," a softly focused remembrance of his youthful
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Mother and Child
There are moments when "Mother and Child" has the aroma of soap, but most of the time, Rodrigo Garcia's movie is a gripping tale that views how habits–for good or ill–move from one generation to the next. A talented cast gives the film more strength, with excellent work from a witchy Naomi Watts as an
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Dancing Across Borders
Anne Bass is a wealthy woman. Immensely wealthy, mainly because of a huge divorce settlement from Texas oil billionaire Sid Bass, she has given generously to many arts organization, primarily those involving dance. On a trip to Angkor Wat in 2000, she was convinced to attend a dance recital by the Wat Bo School in