Thursday, June 20 2013
Bonnaroo 2013: Day 3 - Here’s a Festival You Can Set Your Watch By
With many of the top-line acts playing between midnight and 5am, and the sun turning everyone’s tents into Dutch ovens by 8am, Bonnaroo is the most sleep-deprived city on earth. Which is why you see casualties everywhere...
It’s a Different Kind of Road Trip in Ingmar Bergman’s Classic, ‘Wild Strawberries’
Over the course of his trip, our protagonist will have a series of experiences that show him aspects of his past life and bring him to a realization of how he needs to change.
Chance the Rapper: Acid Rap
On his second mixtape Chicago's Chance the Rapper takes us on a psychedelic journey that's as ambitious as it is appealing.
Man Or Astro-Man?: Defcon 5…4…3…2…1
In their 13 years away from the studio, Man Or Astro-Man? have grown disconcertingly punchy.
Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, Revisited: ‘Little Women: An Annotated Edition’
I was a child who lived largely in books. I fell into this latest edition of Little Women with the same old joy, balancing Shealy’s ungainly volume in my lap, oblivious to the hockey playoffs blaring in the background.
Bennett & Brubeck: The White House Sessions, Live 1962
These performances are an often fascinating listen, twisting songs we've heard plenty of times before into something fresh through youthful zeal and, probably, nervous energy.
Goo Goo Dolls: Magnetic
Goo Goo Dolls’ tenth studio album Magnetic is solid, but suffers from being formulaically predictable.
Simple Minds: Celebrate - The Greatest Hits +
There isn't a bad song on this entire, three-disc, 50-song collection, but questions arise about the necessity of this release, simply because this is neither the first boxset nor the first hits compilation for the prolific band.
Wild Nothing: Empty Estate EP
Wild Nothing's latest EP finds the indie-pop band trying their hand at a new, bigger sound with mixed results.
Wednesday, June 19 2013
Human Rights Watch Film Festival New York 2013: ‘Born This Way’ + ‘Camera/Woman’
The devastating weights of patriarchy and tradition hang over the resourceful subjects of the documentaries, Camera/Woman and Born This Way.
It’s Like Two Crazy China Dolls Are Brought to Life in ‘Violet & Daisy’
Violet & Daisy might be a parable, but the lessons to be learned are both trite and impenetrable, something about family or friendship or maybe the importance of bringing extra ammo to a hit.
Don’t Stay in School: “Wolverine & the X-Men #31”
In Wolverine & the X-Men #31 the Jean Grey Institute for Higher Learning comes up against its evil counterpart, a school for budding supervillains, raising such ethical issues as education-for-profit and inspiring schoolkids to being greater…
‘Lore’ Is a Coming of Age Story That Dives Into the Sinister
Cate Shortland's fantastic sophomore film asks the question: Were there any good Germans during WWII?
The Quirks, the Accomplishments, and the What Were We Thinking Moments of ‘The Totally Sweet ‘90s’
From the things we want to remember to the things we wish we could forget, The Totally Sweet '90s is a fun-filled jaunt down memory lane.
Where Charm Overcomes Cruelty in the West: ‘3:10 to Yuma’
What makes this western “psychological” are the sparring types of man -- young and virile versus old and protective, playful against serious, handsome facing ugly. Should a man be sexy? More to the point, should he be pretty?
Jason Isbell: Southeastern
Working through the darkness to see the light, Jason Isbell reflects and bares his soul on the mesmerizing Southeastern.
Wife Swaps and Pawn Shops: ‘The Triumph of Reality TV’
There’s no shortage of good research to be conducted on modern television, nor can it truly be said that what Leigh Edwards has accomplished isn’t good research.
Hanson: Anthem
After such a promising set with 2010's Shout It Out, the brothers Hanson present a disappointing, rock-leaning record that has few bright spots.
Dirty Beaches: Drifters / Love Is the Devil
Journeys like those on Drifters/Love Is the Devil are never easy ones on the artist or the listener, but, then again, the whole point of Dirty Beaches' music is to explore paths that are harder to travel.
