Loved The King’s Speech. Not too many films run the gamut from soliciting belly laughs to cheers and tears. But I was informed by my daughter that applause at movies was one of her pet peeves. I hope she took my enthusiastic clapping as more mischievous than mean. I liked her explanation of “pet peeves” […]
La Traviata, champagne with new bubbles
January 1, 2011 by
There was some booing last night, when director Willy Decker came on stage…but not a lot. Good thing, because this is the most exciting Traviata in years. I could write two reviews of last night’s New Year’s Eve premiere of La Traviata. My opera partner Charlie and I were there with six opera novices, who […]
Why I listened to Stanley Fish in 1971…or the best movie review ever
December 28, 2010 by
Don’t miss Stanley Fish on True Grit in today’s NYT. In 1971, I talked my way into a graduate seminar that Stanley Fish was teaching at the Linguistic Institute, a summer program that hit Buffalo that year. This was a very different kind of traveling circus, one where Noam Chomsky and other luminaries were the […]
Better than the last LOST: San Francisco in 1906…but maybe not better than 24.
May 22, 2010 by
I share the common opinion that LOST lost it after the first year, though I have remained sort of loyal for all these years. But not with the devotion I have to 24. Those writers knew something about character and how we attach to it. Jack Bauer has unfolded bit by bit over the years, […]
February 19, 2009 by
The Wire, The Wire, The Wire
Strawberry and Chocolate
Rachel Getting Married
Little Dorrit
Pierre Bonnard at the Met
Madame Butterfly (cried for the third time)
Il Trovatore (worse opera plot ever, but great new production at the Met)
Oscars (go SlumDog)
24
