While watching 1973’s The Last Detail in preparation for Richard Linklater’s impending sequel Last Flag Flying, I realized that no one really makes FILMS like Hal Ashby anymore, which is surprising given our current age of relentless derivativeness (at best, “homage”). It’s undeniably a testament to the distinctness of Ashby’s work on multiple fronts:
Continue reading “THE LAST DETAIL (1973), and a Hal Ashby Requiem”
A mere week after writing this dissertation about the current differences between albums and mixtapes, along comes Chris Brown’s Heartbreak on a Full Moon to further defy these binary categories.
Continue reading “HEARTBREAK ON A FULL MOON, A Chris Brown Playlist”
What’s the difference between a mixtape and an album?
Continue reading “Ty Dolla $ign’s BEACH HOUSE 3, and an Album vs. Mixtape Debate”
The Elevator Repair Service’s take on Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure theatrically literalizes textual fidelity.
Continue reading “MEASURE FOR MEASURE (Elevator Repair Service)”
In The Play Company’s site-specific production of Amir Nizar Zuabi’s’ Oh My Sweet Land, the thematically-resonant specifics of the site(s) contribute more to the play’s intended effect than the actual text.
Roundabout Underground’s production of Jiréh Breon Holder’s Too Heavy for Your Pocket is perfectly fine, but its across-the-board traditionalism runs contrary to the type of work ideally presented at the Roundabout Theatre Company’s black box space, especially in relation to what normally occupies this venerable institution’s other venues.
Continue reading “TOO HEAVY FOR YOUR POCKET (Roundabout Theatre Company)”
Susan Lacy’s Spielberg, a documentary about the title director currently available on HBO, is a glorified DVD special feature.
What was the last sports movie that completely failed to capture the cinematic dynamism of the sport?
Continue reading “BATTLE OF THE SEXES (Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris)”
P!nk’s new album Beautiful Trauma mostly features generic pop that largely lacks the exclamation-point iconoclasm of her personality.
If In the Blood – the other half of Suzan-Lori Parks’ Scarlet Letter-reduxes The Red Letter Plays, currently receiving sterling revivals courtesy of the Signature Theatre – targets modern-day judgements rooted in lingering puritanical influences on American society, Fucking A delves into contemporary taboos that conform to the United States’ long puritanical lineage.
Continue reading “THE RED LETTER PLAYS: FUCKING A (Signature Theatre)”
Write All Nite 