Bios put spotlight on director Lumet, actor McKellenBy: Agencies on January 24, 2020New biographies of director Sidney Lumet and actor Ian McKellen shed welcome if uneven light on their stellar careers in theater, film and television while exploring events that shaped their desire to entertain and challenge audiences. While not achieving the public recognition of a Hitchcock, Spielberg or Scorsese, Lumet (1924-2011) directed many memorable films, chief […]
‘Star Trek: Picard’By: Agencies on January 24, 2020“Star Trek: Picard,” the latest entry in an ever-regenerating franchise, eventually gets going. That it does so more tentatively than boldly may, at first, be a test of individual viewers’ loyalty to the “Trek” universe and to its most famous captain. “Picard’s” great asset is its title character — as played by Sir Patrick Stewart, […]
Cloud cooking land: Indian housewives become gig economy chefsBy: Agencies on January 24, 2020Rashmi Sahijwala never expected to start working at the age of 59, let alone join India’s gig economy — now she is part of an army of housewives turning their homes into “cloud kitchens” to feed time-starved millennials. Asia’s third-largest economy is battling a slowdown so sharp it is creating a drag on global growth, […]
‘Magic’ gloves let acclaimed Brazilian pianist play againBy: Agencies on January 24, 2020A few days before Christmas, renowned pianist João Carlos Martins summoned his friends to a Sao Paulo bar so he could show off the best gift he’d received in years: a new pair of bionic gloves that are letting the 79-year-old play with both hands for the first time in more than two decades. Considered […]
ALA.NI aces on an astounding a capella adventureBy: Agencies on January 24, 2020Paris-based, London-born ALA.NI’s second album, “ACCA,” astounds with its artistry, an adventurous, almost-all a capella recording whose intricate arrangements and instantly-familiar melodies prove irresistible. The self-produced “ACCA” expands on the promise ALA.NI showed on “You & I,” her 2017 debut – a timeless album featuring her crystalline singing and songs set during the four seasons […]
Eminem tries a little harder, with mixed results, on ‘Music to Be Murdered by’ on January 24, 2020Rapper and songwriter Eminem has been one of music’s hugest stars for more than two decades, yet over the years he’s increasingly taken on the tendencies of the cult artist – the deepening sense of embattled insularity, the hapless angst, the lack of interest in the genre he once transformed. On his 11th album, all […]
‘La Boheme’ — a memorable performance at the ROHBy: Fahad Faruqui on January 24, 2020Richard Jones‘ La Boheme grips your attention well before a single note is sung at the Royal Opera House (ROH); even before the lights turn off and the conductor appears before the audience, snow starts falling from the Latin quarters of Paris where this Giacomo Puccini’s classic is set-it feels marvellous! Even though the story […]
‘1917’ — Plato was right when he said, ‘Only the dead have seen the end of war’By: Saqlain Soomro on January 24, 2020Director and producer Sam Mendes‘s ‘1917’ war film is based on two young British soldiers, Tom Blake and Will Schofiled, during World War I who are given a mission by General Erinmore to deliver a warning to Colonel Mackenzie of an ambush during skirmish, soon after German retreat to the Hindenburg Line during Operation Alberich […]
‘Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens’ — a star in search of herself on January 24, 2020In the summer of 2018, Awkwafina exploded onto movie screens with scene-hijacking turns in Ocean’s Eight and Crazy Rich Asians. She seemed the kind of force of nature, akin to Robin Williams or Melissa McCarthy, who was so full of comic life, she could not only generate laughs out of thin air, but often shone […]
Winfrey chooses the novel ‘American Dirt’ for her book clubBy: Agencies on January 22, 2020Jeanine Cummins’ “American Dirt,” one of the year’s most anticipated and debated novels, is Oprah Winfrey’s new pick for her book club. “American Dirt,” published Tuesday, tells of a bookstore owner in Acapulco, Mexico, who loses much of her family to a murderous drug cartel and flees north on a terrifying journey with her 8-year-old […]