As a rule, I try not to pay much attention to the snap polling conducted at the end of advance screenings. But the audience’s tepid response to this week’s preview of First Man was too telling to ignore. The universal round of applause did not greet the final credits, and most of the praise offered at egress was muted and lukewarm. “It was too long” seemed to be the … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Dec. 16-18
Music: George Frideric Handel premiered his oratorio Messiah in April of 1742 in Dublin, where it was put on for a hospital benefit. It was an Easter piece, but over the years it’s become an indelible part of Christmas in the English-speaking world. There are several places this weekend to get your Messiah fix, with performances tonight at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in … [Read more...]
‘La La Land’: A love letter to the movies, with a painful P.S.
In R.E.M.’s visionary music video for “Everybody Hurts,” a familiar traffic jam becomes an unfamiliar act of protest. Connected by their shared pain, commuters of all creeds and colors begin an exodus from their cars: first one, then a few, then everyone, until they just disappear. I can’t think of a more appropriate post-11/8 song. The opening of Damien Chazelle’s La La … [Read more...]