Music: One of the most interesting aspects of the current cultural Zeitgeist is its emphasis, particularly among the young, on marrying entertainment to social change. Thus cometh the first-ever Tortuga Festival hosted by the marine conservation group Rock the Ocean on Fort Lauderdale Beach this Saturday and Sunday. To focus attention on the plight of the world’s seas, … [Read more...]
‘John Carter’ grinds good premise into shameless mediocrity
The very idea of a Confederate cavalryman transported, in the blink of an eye, to Mars is an idea so juicy it sounds impossible to muck up. The potential is there for both epic, Tolkeinian sweep and confrontational social commentary. Just imagine what a director like Samuel Fuller would do with this material, with his bigoted Civil War straggler finding an all-new batch of … [Read more...]
Artist Neuenschwander’s work draws power from the viewer
There’s one element to Rivane Neuenschwander’s artwork, now at the Miami Art Museum until Oct. 16, that probably won’t travel back with it to her native Brazil, yet it is an integral part of the exhibit: You. Yes, you bring more to Neuenschwander’s mid-career survey, A Day Like Any Other, than you could possibly imagine. In fact, without you, more than half of this exhibit … [Read more...]
Two good novelists go seriously astray with latest efforts
If Harold Kushner had been a literary critic instead of a rabbi, he might have asked, “Why do bad books happen to good writers?” And if Leo Tolstoy had also been a critic, he might have answered, “All good books are alike, while every bad book goes bad in its own way.” These bloody thoughts are occasioned by Henning Mankel and Jim Crace, novelists of proven quality who have … [Read more...]
‘Good Without God’ a well-written case for ethical non-belief
Books by atheist authors have flooded the market in recent years, and some, such as Christopher Hitchens’ God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, exhibit a stridently anti-religious tone. Now comes a more nuanced and balanced book written by Greg M. Epstein, the humanist chaplain at Harvard University. Good Without God critiques religious belief in a respectful … [Read more...]
Erbe show offers reminders – good and bad – of bygone America
Anyone who has ever tried to paint knows that it isn’t easy to realistically portray the world around us. Realism, as a style, necessitates a rare combination of inherent artistic talent, learned draftsmanship, and a distinctive patient observance of the banal. So it’s sort of energizing to marvel at an artist whose work exhibits this visually stunning combination. And it … [Read more...]