The Arabian Nights, by Anton Pieck. By Greg Stepanich The current season of the Lynn Philharmonia, which ended April 17 with a concert at the Wold Performing Arts Center, has been largely triumphant. Continuing on its path of notable improvement under the direction of conductor Guillermo Figueroa, the students of the Lynn Conservatory have displayed impressive chops and … [Read more...]
Young Nigerian artist explores dualities in Norton show
5 Umezebi St., New Haven, Enugu (2012) by Njideka Akunyili Crosby. By April W. Klimley It isn’t often that an artist comes along who says something new in an original way. But that’s just what Nigerian-born artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby has done. Her colorful mixed-media artwork makes big statements about the dualities of life, while intriguing the eye with their abstract … [Read more...]
‘Everest’ brings tragedy home with frightening power
How do you make Mount Everest laugh? Make a plan, of course. Plenty of intrepid climbers have made plans to summit the world’s highest mountain, and most live to tell about it. There have been more than 5,000 successful ascents as of 2013, but about 240 people have died on the mountain. Many of their corpses are still frozen on some godforsaken peak, ominous additions to the … [Read more...]
‘Best of Enemies’ chronicles a turning point in the media
The year was 1968, a turning point for American politics as well as for the way the three television networks covered politics and the political party conventions. ABC News, invariably third in the ratings, took the bold move of not broadcasting gavel-to-gavel coverage, in favor of a 90-minute summary of the Republican and Democratic confabs, plus a half-hour nightly analysis … [Read more...]
Sharp political edge drives subversive ‘RoboCop’ remake
If you’re looking for reasons to hate on director Jose Padilha’s RoboCop remake, I’m sure you can find them. It has its requisite number of head-shaking action-movie contrivances, where the bad guy can easily exterminate the good guy if he wouldn’t stop blabbering, and just as he’s finally about to pull the trigger, a second good guy materializes out of the ether to plant a … [Read more...]