Before the Show It’s been quite a few years since I’ve really, truly cared about the Oscars, but before that I was their biggest fan. They never gave the awards to the right people, and most of the presenters were lackluster, and the hosts seemed to have an incredibly thankless job, but god did I […]
Recent Posts
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra is a sensational ensemble as a whole. Though its population (and, notably, its audience) is ageing, the vibrancy of music director Peter Oundjian’s baton keeps them at a performance level on par with their technical achievements. In the early February concert series featuring Beethovan’s Emperor Concerto and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10, […]
A new company has journeyed to Boston to make its new home with a daring production of the provocative play Some Explicit Polaroids written by British playwright Mark Ravenhill. The Brown Box Theatre Project features local Boston actors with a mix of Boston and New York City designers and, with this show, makes a stark […]
I’ve often praised the Netflix/Hulu stumble upon. It’s one of the greatest parts about streaming video, the ability to happen upon strange, offbeat, foreign or forgotten gems when browsing through one’s Netflix queue/hulu home page. So here’s the latest installment of my two part series, Better Know a British Sitcom. Spy, the shortly-named Sky-1 tv […]
Futureproof is a messy, utterly debauched ride into a 90’s drug-ridden hell. And we’re not talking Baz-Luhrmann-Moulin–Rouge-opulent debauchery. This is grunge flavored—everything is dirty, scummy, gray, wearing ripped black tee shirts and dirty flannel, and sort of feels like a cop-less episode of SVU. In a word: gritty. It’s fast paced, witty, and conversational—the narrator […]
Neil Bartram and Brian Hill are the award-winning composers of multiple musical theatre hits including Broadway’s The Story of My Life (nominated for 4 Drama Desk Awards). Acclaimed directors and actors who’ve worked on international hits like The Lion King , The Sound of Music, Sunset Boulevard and The Little Mermaid (Brian Hill) and received prestigious grants such as the Jonathan Larson Foundation Award […]
Last week the CBC premiered a new web series by previewing it on good ole fashioned television. The pilot of Ben’s City sets up a wacky world full of conventional characters who live at a wonderfully refreshing pace. The dialogue is lightning fast , a style that is more than uncommon in animation and notably […]
Wanderlust, the new David Wain (Stella, Wet Hot American Summer) comedy starring Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston, is a deeply funny movie, with laughs that run the gamut from the shocked “Oh Shit!” style laughter to the character-based chuckle. Unfortunately, despite its producer pedigree in the form of one Mr. Judd Apatow, it’s also a […]