Art
Ulysses
Elevator Repair Services Theater Company in association with The Public Theater put forth a unique play about the James Joyce book, "Ulysses". Set as a staged reading (DOTS), the actors move about the baron stage with ease. Directed by John Collins with co-direction by Scott Shepard, the story and the comedic "business" for the most part are really good. Not that "Ulysses" doesn't have some problems, the play for the most part is enjoyable. At 2:30 minutes, the direction is tested with the length of this play.
By Robert M Massimi. ( Broadway Bob).2 months ago in Critique
"Challengers" Movie Review
Challengers is a triumphantly sexy cinematic rollercoaster ride, too incredulously fun not to watch. Tashi Duncan is played by Zendaya, the exceptionally emotive young movie star. Matched against her are two gorgeously nerdy-looking young players, Mike Faist as Art Donaldson and Josh O’Conner as Patrick Zweig. All three have the blessing of great chemistry whenever they spar across screen. Alongside their star qualities are bouncing timelines, demonstrating a lifetime of flagrantly competitive choices that create a trail of wasted potential and misguided lust. Director Luca Guadagnino really knows how to make a graceful yet scandalous picture. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross's EDM score intensifies the thrill of tennis and prideful characters up to an eleven. After watching Challengers multiple times, I am forced to argue that all sporting events should henceforth take place at a fist-pumping rave. When first hearing about this movie, I thought the entire plot had been offered up within the two-minute trailer. Two friends like a tennis star. Tennis star has a career-ending injury. Tennis star picks blonde boy, and brunette boy is angry. Audience members think they have digested the full ingredients of the film before getting their soles sticky from the theatre floor. Yet, this new-age masterpiece is anything but a simple meal.
By Spider Black3 months ago in Critique
The Tainted Cup
The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett I made this entire series to write this review. The 2024 Hugo Winner is a Holmes and Watson style whodunnit taking place in a fantasy world that blends Area X from the Southern Reach Trilogy and The Lost World–more on the setting later.
By Matthew J. Fromm3 months ago in Critique
The Lost City of Z
The Lost City of Z by David Grann Growing up I thought I wanted to be an archaeologist. Now that I’m a ripe 32, I realize what I really wanted to be was an adventurer–someone who dug deep into the dark and emerged with treasures unseen for millennia.
By Matthew J. Fromm3 months ago in Critique
Words of Radiance
Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson And so we come to the yearly ovation for Mr. Sanderson. The man is a genius, his lecture series is one of the most important resources ever developed for writers, and I’m yet to pick up a Sando that’s scored below a 70. I have critiques that we’ll come to, but suffice to say I am a big supporter of Sanderson.
By Matthew J. Fromm3 months ago in Critique
The Blade Itself
The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie Every once in a while, I pick up a book that reminds me fundamentally why I enjoy reading—a book that turns my brain off and sweeps me away to some far flung world that I can sit at any quiet moment and. . . disappear into.
By Matthew J. Fromm3 months ago in Critique
The Fall of Arthur
The Fall of Arthur by J.R.R. Tolkien/Chris Tolkien Naturally I’d start this series with my hardest evaluation of the year. I snagged this copy from Shakespeare & Co in Paris to appropriately cap off a trip that included seeing the Bayeux Tapestry (a lecture series for a different time, but it’s so important to the fantasy genre).
By Matthew J. Fromm3 months ago in Critique
Autotune Tears
Digital Tears and Ghosts in the Studio The script has become a seasonal awards-show classic: an established artist, face solemn and trophy in hand, uses their acceptance speech to denounce the latest technological heresy. Today, the monster is artificial intelligence (AI)—a soulless threat, a soul-less automaton poised to usurp human creativity and devalue artists’ livelihoods. Yet this moral panic is not new; it is merely the latest chapter in the music industry’s long, repetitive history of resisting progress—a predictable cycle of fear, rejection, and, inevitably, assimilation.
By Francisco Navarro4 months ago in Critique
