MUSIC
Gomez, ‘Liquid Skin’ (Virgin) Listening to Gomez is like taking in a dubbed movie: from the mouths of five pasty Brits comes blues like Howlin’ Wolf, Southern rock like the Allman Brothers. A staggering, back-to-basics trompe l’oreille. D.M.G. (4 stars)
Stone Temple Pilots, ‘No. 4’ (Atlantic) God bless the English language for all those synonyms for “boring”: tedious, humdrum, dull… there’s one for every song on this derivative, energy-sapping mess. D.M.G. (1 star)
Luna, ‘The Days of Our Nights’ (Jericho) Geniuses make the complicated seem simple. Example: croaky-throated front man Dean Wareham’s guitar melodies. Diamond-pure, absolutely celestial. D.M.G. (4 stars)
Bush, ‘The Science of Things’ (Trauma) More recycled grunge and inscrutable lyrics, this time with a dash of electronica. As guilty a pleasure as front man Gavin Rossdale’s pretty, vacant face. N.C. (3 stars)
BOOKS
Firebird (HarperCollins), by Mark Doty. The poet’s beautifully written, hallucinatorily evocative memoir of growing up gay in baby-boom America. D.G. (4 stars)
Hard Time (Delacorte), by Sara Paretsky. In a crowded field of female detectives, V. I. Warshawski rules. Here she’s framed by fat cats who hope a dose of prison brutality will shut her up. As if. L.S.(4 stars)
Lo’s Diary (Foxrock), by Pia Pera. The controversial “Lolita” rewrite. This could have been an OK coming-of-age tale; instead, Pera took on the champ. Bad move. D.G. (1 star)
Secrets of the Flesh (Knopf), by Judith Thurman. Just nominated for a National Book Award, this bio of the great French writer Colette is intelligent and comprehensive–but also, unfortunately, a little fussy and overbaked. R.S.(3 stars)
title: “Critical Moment” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-12” author: “Kenneth Densmore”
ARCHITECTURE COSI(Columbus, Ohio) For his design for a science center, acclaimed architect Arata Isozaki came up with an amazing form: a 960-foot-long canoe-shaped structure and an innovative way to wrap it–with slices of curving precast concrete. C.M. (4 stars)
MOVIES Rosetta This Cannes winner is a raw, ferocious portrait of a poor Belgian girl whose obsession with holding a job reaches near-murderous intensity. Powerful and pitch-perfect. D.A. (4 stars)
The Bachelor Commitment-shy Chris O’Donnell inherits $100 million if he marries cute little Renee Zellweger in this Buster Keaton remake. How hard is that, you ask? Well, it’s pretty tough to sit through. A.D. (2 stars)
MUSIC Rage Against the Machine, ‘The Battle of Los Angeles’(Epic) A would-be guitar/rap tour de force, sabotaged by polemical hoo-ha. Rage is stuck playing cheerleader for Team Revolution. D.M.G. (2 stars)
Foo Fighters, ‘There Is Nothing Left to Lose’ (RCA) Not so: Dave Grohl gains strength as a singer and songwriter with a mix of radio-friendly alt-rock and pretty power ballads. Not Nirvana, but heavenly. A.D. (4 stars)
Counting Crows, ‘This Desert Life’ (Geffen) The only surprise is singer Adam Duritz’s title for track eight: “I Wish I Was A Girl.” Didn’t see that one coming. But the mopey Americana vibe is tapped out. D.M.G. (2 stars)
Bob Dylan, ‘Street-Legal’ (Columbia) The dense, passionate 1978 album, remixed so you get the words and hear–yes–a master singer’s every nuance. D.G. (5 stars)
Merle Haggard, ‘For the Record’ (TBA, 2 CDs) Remakes of 43 old hits. Like Sinatra, Haggard uses an aging voice to advantage–and has a band to die for. D.G. (4 stars)
title: “Critical Moment” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-23” author: “Randall Ross”
Shelby Lynne, ‘I Am Shelby Lynne’ (Island) Lynne blows off a half-baked country career with a soulful, bluesy, rapturous declaration of independence. D.M.G. (4 stars)
Clinton, ‘Disco & the Halfway to Discontent’ (Luaka Bop) Cornershop spinoff veers Beckishly from parody to hommage. Dumb music for smart people. D.M.G. (3 stars)
Billy Lee Riley, ‘Shade Tree Blues’ (Icehouse) The ’50s rockabilly legend has become a reverently idiomatic bluesman, in the lean, lonesome style of Slim Harpo. D.G. (4 stars)
BOOKS Colin Thubron, ‘In Siberia’(HarperCollins) A cinematically evocative, often heartbreaking account of one of the world’s wildest, loveliest places–and one of its worst vacation destinations. D.G. (4 stars)
‘Letters From the Editor: The New Yorker’s Harold Ross’ (Modern Library) The New Yorker’s ornery founder wrote as well as he edited and to recipients as varied as E. B. White and Harpo Marx. M.J. (4 stars)
MOVIES Eye of the Beholder An unforgettably bad thriller about an intelligence agent (Ewan McGregor) and a coldblooded man-killer (Ashley Judd), both of whom are half nuts and crying on the inside. J.G. (1 star)
TV & VIDEO Two of Us(VH1, Feb. 1) It’s 1976, and Paul McCartney (Aidan Quinn) pays a surprise visit to John Lennon (Jared Harris). It never really happened, but it’s hard to imagine it being more fun than this. M.P. (3 stars)
Mary and Rhoda (ABC, Feb. 7) After 23 years, Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore) and Rhoda Morgenstern (Valerie Harper) reunite. Too bad they didn’t bring any of their zippy sitcom writers. M.P. (2 stars)
ART Cecily Brown(Gagosian Gallery, N.Y.; to Feb. 19) She’s young, sexy, British and the art world’s new new thing. Her paintings are big, brushy and bold. But they’re also strangely empty and lightweight. P.P. (2 stars)
title: “Critical Moment” ShowToc: true date: “2023-01-22” author: “Julia Sartwell”
Perfect Murder, Perfect Town (CBS; Feb. 27 and March 1) The biggest crime in this four-hour mini-series about the JonBenet Ramsey murder is that it’s so boring. M.P. 2 stars
BOOKS
Peter Matthiessen, ‘Tigers in the Snow’ (North Point) A noble nature writer on efforts to preserve a noble species. No, not entirely depressing, but you’ll be reaching for your checkbook. Fast. D.G. 4 stars
MOVIES
Mifune. From Denmark, a scruffy treat: a bizarre comedy about a newlywed forced to confront the past he’s hidden from his bride. Fresh and twisted fun. D.A. 3 stars
Pitch Black. Secondhand and thrill-less sci-fi horror flick: bargain-basement “Alien” on a bleak “Mad Max” planet. The writing sucks; the actors look lost. D.A. 1 star
Judy Berlin. Edie Falco and the late Madeline Kahn are among the suburban dreamers in this odd, lyrical, black and white reverie of New York’s Babylon, Long Island. An intriguing debut from indie Eric Mendelsohn. D.A. 2 stars
THEATER
Saturday Night (Second Stage Theatre) After 45 years, Stephen Sondheim’s first musical makes its New York debut. It’s an adorable show about young Brooklynites in 1929 seeking love and lucre. J.K. 3 stars
MUSIC
Oasis, ‘Standing on the Shoulder of Giants’ (Epic) Liam Gallagher sounds scratchy; brother Noel’s tunes have never been so flat. At least try to hide the hangover, boys. D.M.G. 2 stars
Audra McDonald, ‘How Glory Goes’ (Nonesuch) Easy to admire, hard to define: on new Broadway songs and classics, she belts like Streisand, hushes like Jessye Norman. V.C. 4 stars
John Pizzarelli, ‘Kisses in the Rain’. (TelArc) The jazz-inflected guitarist-singer introduces originals and reinterprets standards. Sure, he’s got rhythm. But he’s got wit, as well. V.C. 3 stars
Sergent Garcia, ‘Un Poquito Quema’o’ (Higher Octave World) Cuban jazz meets dance-hall reggae. Irresistibly hot, and even Anglophones will have fun. D.G. 4 stars
title: “Critical Moment” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-23” author: “Jenny Polly”
The Cup Soccer mania hits the young novices in a Buddhist monastery, who scheme to watch the World Cup on TV. This Bhutanese movie, cast with real monks, is a low-key charmer. (3 stars)D.A.
Boiler Room Giovanni Ribisi is perfect as the new recruit at a sleazy stock firm in first-time director Ben Younger’s indie update of “Wall Street.” The film’s derivative, but its yield is good. (3 stars)A.D.
TV & VIDEO
Flowers for Algernon (CBS; Feb. 20) With help from a heartless surgeon (Ron Rifkin), a retarded man (Matthew Modine) becomes a genius. The results are predicably tragic and wonderfully weepy. (3 stars)M.P.
MUSIC
Yo La Tengo, ‘And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out’ (Matador) The Hoboken, N.J., art band’s 10th CD, filled with reflective songs about love and marriage, is like the resting moments just before sleep: lulling and surreal. Best time to listen to it, too. (4 stars)D.M.G.
Sparklehorse, ‘Distorted Ghost’ (Odeon) These low-fi alt-rockers’ six-song EP recycles two oldies–one twice. Neither fans nor newbies will mind. Like a more twisted R.E.M., with less heaviosity. (3 stars)D.G.
Virginia Rodriguez, ‘N??s’ (Hannibal) A Brazilian singer with celestial alto voice. Bland? New-Agey? Skip to 5: the quiet, riveting “Jelto Faciero” will change your mind. (3 stars)D.G.
Tracy Chapman, ‘Telling Stories’ (Elektra) More songs of love and devotion in three tempos: mellow, mellower, mellowest. (3 stars)J.G.
Marian Anderson, ‘Schubert & Schumann Lieder’ (BMG) The contralto diva near her peak (1945–51): musicality, passion, zero hamminess. She moved to Germany to study this music; even German critics knew she’d nailed it. (5 stars)D.G.
ART
Against Design (Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia; through April 16) Funny furniture, hip housing ideas by 10 international artists with prickly attitudes toward industrial design. (4 stars)P.P.
title: “Critical Moment” ShowToc: true date: “2023-01-17” author: “Nicholas Marks”
Doug Sahm, ‘The Return of Wayne Douglas’ (Tornado) The Texas blues-rock-country icon’s posthumous CD: straight country, with a version of “They’ll Never Take Her Love From Me” almost up there with Hank Sr.’s. (4 Stars) D.G.
Morcheeba, ‘Fragments of Freedom’ (Sire) The British trio’s third CD of featherlight hip-hop meanders between sexy and dull, but be patient: Sky Edwards’s velvet vocals are worth the slow patches. (3 Stars) D.M.G.
Powerpuff Girls, ‘Heroes and Villains’ (Rhino) Inspired by the lisping cartoon superheroes, Devo, Shonen Knife and Bis offer up extra-cute and catchy tunes, but can they save the world from the rest of vapid kid pop? (3 Stars) L.A.
Bahamadia, ‘BB Queen’ (Atomic Pop) The Philly MC took four years to hone the creamy R&B-funk and stealth vocals of her second album. Worth the wait. (3 Stars) L.A.
MOVIES Time Regained Catherine Deneuve, Emmanuelle Béart and John Malkovich as the kinky Baron de Charlus head a glamorous cast in Raoul Ruiz’s sumptuous, dense and dazzling tour through the mind of Marcel Proust (Marcello Mazzarella) and portions of “Remembrance of Things Past.” You needn’t have read the novel, but it helps. (4 Stars) D.A.
Butterfly A lovely Spanish movie-merely touching at first, then surprisingly gripping-about an asthmatic young boy living in a tiny town on the eve of the Civil War. (3 Stars) J.G.
BOOKS Jere Longman, ‘The Girls of Summer’ (HarperCollins) More than a nostalgic reprise of last summer, when America fell for Mia, Brandi, Briana and the Women’s World Cup, this book captures the sense and the sensibility of the American triumph. (3 Stars) M.S.
Aleksandar Hemon, ‘The Question of Bruno’ (Doubleday) Entertaining stories about Saravejo? Weirdly droll and heartbreaking, this debut volume deftly anatomizes a world gone wrong. (4 Stars) M.J.
Elizabeth Hardwick, ‘Herman Melville’ (Viking) The Penguin Lives series won’t top this in a hurry. Harwick’s craggy prose isn’t Melvillean, but it’s got something of his visionary cussedness and his knack of talking right to you. (4 Stars) D.G.
title: “Critical Moment” ShowToc: true date: “2023-01-05” author: “Stephen Martin”
MUSIC
Whitney Houston, ‘The Greatest Hits’ (Arista, 2 CDs) After all the tabloid stories, here’s what counts: that voice. No one of her generation sings with more character and conviction. A.S. 4 Stars
Phish, ‘Farmhouse’ (Elektra) The consummate tour/jam band grounds meandering grooves with actual song structures and (gasp!) a sense of direction. L.A. 3 Stars
Pearl Jam, ‘Binaural’ (Epic) Their sixth CD reeks of rock expertise, but there’s nothing here to fall in love with. D.M.G. 2 Stars
North Mississippi Allstars, ‘Shake Hands With Shorty’ (Tone-Cool) Hard-core blues scholarship (Fred McDowell note for note), hard-core rock attitude. D.G. 4 Stars
Steve Reich, ‘New York Counterpoint/Eight Lines/Four Organs’ (Nonesuch) Exhilaratingly maddening minimalist classics, meticulously re-recorded by New York’s Bang on a Can Ensemble. D.G. 4 Stars
BOOKS
Matthew Kneale, ‘English Passengers’ (Doubleday) A wryly comic, beautifully told seafaring yarn about a 19th-century preacher’s crackpot voyage to discover the Garden of Eden in, of all places, Tasmania? Yo. Ho ho. M.J. 3 Stars
MOVIES
Center Stage “Fame” meets “The Turning Point” meets “The Red Shoes.” When American Ballet Theatre star Ethan Stiefel dances, you almost forgive the cliches. D.A. 2 Stars
Time Code The form of Mike Figgis’s one-take, split-screen, digital video movie is fresher than the content, a familiar satire of Hollywood. Still, it’s fascinating off-the-cuff cinema. D.A. 3 Stars
TV & VIDEO
Dirty Pictures (Showtime, May 27) James Woods stars as the Cincinnati museum director charged in the 1990 Robert Mapplethorpe obscenity trial. Is it art? The photos are. The preachy movie isn’t. M.P. 2 Stars
title: “Critical Moment” ShowToc: true date: “2023-01-24” author: “Roger Poole”
Galaxy Quest Actors in a sci-fi TV show are pressed into duty by aliens who think they’re the real deal. This droll comic sleeper works for both kids and adults. Funny as hell. (4 stars)D.A
A Map of the World Sigourney Weaver is a powerhouse as an abrasive teacher falsely accused of molesting a child. A grim, potent adaptation of the novel. (3 stars)D.A.
Next Friday Ice Cube is the not-so-fresh prince, bringing his posse to the ‘burbs in this dismal sequel to “Friday.” (one star)A.D.
The Missing World(Knopf),J.G.
On the Rez(Farrar Straus & Giroux), by Ian Frazier. This freewheeling tour of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation by the author of “Great Plains” never dodges grim realities. Maybe that’s why the joy that erupts at the end of this tale feels so legitimate.(4 stars) M.J.
Dirty Blonde(New York Theatre Workshop)J.KSheryl Crow, “Live From Central Park”(A&M)J.G.
Caravana Cubana, “Late Night Sessions”(Rhino) A joyous Buena Vistoid reunion: with singer Perico Hernandez, pianist Chucho Valdez and Pio Leiva, still singing with raw power at the age of 83. (4 stars)D.G.
Last week the powers at Warner Bros. felt their own dose of Harry Potter wizardry when, executives say, Steven Spielberg finally said yes, he will produce and direct the movie of J. K. Rowling’s hugely successful “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” (55 weeks on the best-seller list–so far). But there’s a hitch: the Muggles (i.e., nonmagical humans in Potterspeak) at Warners need Spielberg’s promise that “Harry” will be his next movie, to capitalize on the popularity of the novel and its two sequels. Meanwhile, Rowling’s fans can still look forward to the fourth installment of her projected seven-volume saga, expected in July. Obviously the world is going to be wild about Harry for a long time to come.
title: “Critical Moment” ShowToc: true date: “2023-01-30” author: “Kelly Pioske”
Love and Basketball This movie about the rising sport of women’s basketball, a first feature by writer-director Gina Prince-Bythewood, is a soap opera driven by cliche situations. Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps are appealing as romantic hoopsters, but the movie clunks off the rim. Two Stars
The Virgin Suicides Sofia Coppola’s directorial debut is based on the novel about five sisters whose lives (and deaths) transfix the neighborhood. The movie drags a bit and doesn’t entirely jell, but there are fine performances from Kirsten Dunst, Josh Hartnett and James Woods, as well as many lovely, knowing images of adolescence and the ’70s. Three Stars
The Corner (HBO, April 16-May 21) Six one-hour fixes of family life in a drug-ridden Baltimore neighborhood. Based on an acclaimed nonfiction book, director Charles S. Dutton’s potent mix of brutal honesty cut with astounding acting will leave you altered. Four Stars
Martha Sherrill, ‘The Buddha From Brooklyn’ (Random House) Washington Post reporter Sherrill testifies to the charisma of Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo, nee Alyce Zeoli, but we see an apparent fraud: channeling, abusing credulous devotees, living high off their money. That Sherrill herself, despite doubts, takes vows with Jetsunma’s Tibetan Buddhist sect seems preposterous. D.G. One Star
Nick Tosches, ‘The Devil and Sonny Liston’ (Little, Brown) Alleges that big, bad Sonny threw both fights with Muhammad Ali and was murdered by the mob for his trouble. Tersely told, occasionally pretentious (“chthonic”), and short on hard evidence. P.P. Three Stars
Benjamin Lebert, ‘Crazy’ (Knopf) A lightly philosophical debut about a partially paralyzed German kid who breaks out of boarding school with buddies. The author’s 18. “Crazy,” which was a best seller in his homeland, isn’t a masterpiece, but it’s got a sweet, Salingeresque charm. J.G. Three Stars
Lou Reed, ‘Ecstasy’ (Reprise) Rubes will mistake personae (the childish adulterer in “Mad”) for Reed himself; we’ll all go to our graves wondering if his pompous awkwardness is deliberate and brave or just godawful. But who’s better at rock-guitar grime? D.G. Three Stars
title: “Critical Moment” ShowToc: true date: “2023-01-25” author: “Justin Branham”
Guilt-ridden Ben Affleck falls for widow Gwyneth Paltrow. Nice chemistry, but slim pickin’s from the maker of “The Opposite of Sex.” D.A. ***
Despite the valiant efforts of Jim Carrey, Ron Howard’s extravaganza is more frantic than funny, more cluttered than charming. D.A. **
With stunning images, Lynne Ramsay’s first film transforms the bleak tale of a harsh childhood in the Glasgow slums into visionary cinema. D.A. **** BOOKS
(Atlantic Monthly Press) These novellas aren’t quite the equals of the peerless trio in “Legends of the Fall,” but they prove again that Harrison is our greatest nonwriterly writer. M.J. ****
(Knopf) Ninety-four dramatic, beguiling pages about a miner’s son in Australia who learns to believe in his “fruit loop” sister’s imaginary friends long after we already have. Count ’em: S.M.
(Walker) How a Florentine goldsmith engineered the then world’s largest dome in 1418 is one of architecture’s great tales.M.J. ***
(American Airlines Theatre, New York) A revival of Harold Pinter’s chilly scenes from a marital triangle, with Liev Schreiber, Juliette Binoche and the excellent John Slattery. C.M. ***
(Circle in the Square, New York) This new take on the gender-bending cult movie of 1975 doesn’t shock,but Tom Hewitt as the high-stepping transsexual Frank-N-Furter leads an energetic cast in a night of mindless fun. C.M. ***
(Jive) So what if they’re more a man group than a boy band? They can still sing, dance and pout better than any given BSB knockoff. L.A. ***
(Nettwerk) Brit rock’s new darlings avoid the excesses of their predecessors. Streaming guitars and reedy vocals sound like Oasis without the ego. D.G. ****
title: “Critical Moment” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-21” author: “Ben Salmons”
MUSIC ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’ Soundtrack (Mercury) Without bluegrass master Ralph Stanley’s “O Death,” this would be an OK mix of historic tracks and today’s usual suspects (Emmylou, Alison Krauss) in good voice. As it is, a must-get. D.G. 4 Stars
John Frusciante, ‘To Record Only Water for Ten Days’ (Warner Bros.) A solo CD from the Chili Peppers’ wondrous guitarist makes it clear why the band lets Anthony Kiedis handle the singing. D.M.G. 2 Stars
Olu Dara, ‘Neighborhoods’ (Atlantic) Swampy blues, African jazz and thumping funk: who knew avant-garde trumpeters had this much fun? L.A. 3 Stars
TV & VIDEO Kate Brasher (CBS, Feb. 24) Mary Stuart Masterson stars in a new series about a single mom who helps poor people with their legal troubles. Skip the show; rent “Erin Brockovich” instead. M.P. 2 Stars
Boycott (HBO, Feb. 24) The birth of the Montgomery bus boycott and, more important, the birth of a leader named Martin Luther King Jr. Jeffrey Wright plays him with notable understatement. M.P. 3 Stars
BOOKS Gary Giddins, ‘Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams’ (Little, Brown) Part one of a dense two-part bio oversells the crooner who ruled pop culture. “Ocarinas and… clarinet provided a catchy freshness to oldies… and western songs,” we’re told of one record date. We can just imagine. D.G. 3 Stars
Amy Tan, ‘The Bonesetter’s Daughter’ (Putnam) Ruth comes to terms with her mother, LuLing–her storminess, her secret past, her encroaching Alzheimer’s–when she hires someone to translate LuLing’s life story. Slow at times, but ultimately touching. J.G. 3 Stars
Muriel Spark, ‘Aiding and Abetting’ (Doubleday) Dame Muriel’s 21st novel is a sly, intriguing–if not entirely nourishing–book about a psychiatrist treating two different men who claim to be the real-life British fugitive Lord Lucan. J.G. 3 Stars
title: “Critical Moment” ShowToc: true date: “2023-01-30” author: “Mary Cline”
Saving Silverman A pair of doofuses hate their best bud’s vicious new girlfriend, so they kidnap her. Stay home instead and call it “Saving Nine Bucks.” D.G. 1 Star
Nico and Dani Two Spanish boys, one gay, one straight, on summer holiday anchor this fresh, sensitive, seriocomic take on adolescent sexual awakening. D.A. 4 Stars
TV & VIDEO The Princess and the Marine (NBC, Feb. 18) Ripped from the headlines! A Bahraini woman falls for a U.S. Marine. Cheesy and delicious. M.P. 3 Stars
The Ballad of Lucy Whipple (CBS, Feb. 18) Glenn Close is plain and tall again as the frontier mother of an intrepid daughter (Jena Malone). M.P. 3 Stars
BOOKS Alan Furst, ‘Kingdom of Shadows’ (Random House) “You are really very good,” says the hero’s squeeze in this Pernod-smooth late ’30s Eurothriller. One big plot instead of four little ones, however, and he’d have been excellent. P.P.4 Stars
Manil Suri, ‘The Death of Vishnu’ (Norton) A dying man on the stairs of a Bombay apartment house upends the lives of the residents and kick-starts this bitterly funny debut novel. M.J.3 Stars
William Gay, ‘Provinces of Night’ (Doubleday) The plot of this Tennesee family saga is a mess–one son simply vanishes mid-story–but Gay’s gift with language makes you forgive him anything. M.J. 3 Stars
MUSIC Compay Segundo, ‘La Flores de la Vida’ (Nonesuch) The Buena Vista Social Club elder offers cigar-seasoned vocals atop old-style Cuban jazz. More saucy than sentimental. L.A. 3 Stars
Japancakes, ‘The Sleepy Strange’ (Kindercore) This obscure Georgia outfit offers shivery slide guitar over sublime, off-kilter melodies. Indie mood music, no pesky lyrics required. L.A. 4 Stars
Various Artists, ‘Rarewerks’ (Astralwerks) Remixes and unreleased tracks by Fatboy Slim, Air, Basement Jaxx and the Chemical Brothers. DJ culture at its best. L.A. HHH
title: “Critical Moment” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-22” author: “Peggy Mccarthy”
Maxwell, ‘Now’ (Columbia) The dapper neosoulman sounds as good as he looks, yet clunky lyrics and shallow songs make even Maxwell feel bland. 2 Stars L.A.
Etta James, ‘Blue Gardenia’ (Private Music) It’s been a long hard road for James, and her intense vocals reflect the ride. Tempered by cool jazz, it’s a smooth cocktail. 3 Stars L.A.
k. d. lang, ‘Live by Request’ (Warner Bros.) Lang sings her hits in a lush, velvety voice atop pedal steel guitar and accordion. A crooner for our times. 3 Stars L.A.
Jimmy Eat World, ‘Bleed American’ (DreamWorks) Goopy ballads aside, the Arizona punk-pop quartet’s turbocharged fourth CD shatters eardrums. 3 Stars D.G.
MOVIES
The Curse of the Jade Scorpion Woody Allen is a gumshoe in 1940 investigating jewel robberies he committed himself, under hypnosis. Helen Hunt is the boss he hates–and loves. A pleasantly irrelevant retro comedy. 3 Stars D.A.
The Deep End A mom (Tilda Swinton, in a raw, riveting performance) must protect her gay son (Jonathan Tucker) from a murder investigation, deal with blackmailers–and pick the kids up from school. 4 Stars J.G.
BOOKS
Claire Keegan, ‘Antarctica’ (Atlantic Monthly) In her debut collection, Keegan transcends well-worn themes of adultery and familial discord, fashioning resonant stories with fairy-tale simplicity. 3 Stars B.W.
Bobbie Ann Mason, ‘Zigzagging Down a Wild Trail’ (Random House) Short stories about–what else?–poor American souls. A spunkier Raymond Carver, Mason does add something new to these tired muses: a little happiness. 3 Stars S.M.
title: “Critical Moment” ShowToc: true date: “2023-01-03” author: “Lisa Ortiz”
Hedwig and the Angry Inch Writer-director-actor John Cameron Mitchell triumphs as an East German, not-quite-transsexual rock diva in this funny, plaintive, one-of-a-kind musical. D.A. ***
Osmosis Jones A live-action/animation hybrid about a slob (Bill Murray) whose innards face a bad virus. Inspired setup: the cops are white blood cells, the brain’s city hall. But where’s the funny bone? D.G. **
BOOKS Elizabeth McCracken, ‘Niagara Falls All Over Again’ (Dial) The comedy team of Carter & Sharp navigates every form of American entertainment from vaudeville to television in a bittersweet novel with a breakneck pace and near-perfect timing. M.J. ****
Allen Kurzweil, ‘The Grand Complication’ (Hyperion) A cutesy, undercooked, over-eager follow-up to Kurzweil’s best seller, “A Case of Curiosities.” A young librarian helps an old-timer solve the mystery of a priceless watch. J.G.***
THEATER Topdog/Underdog(Public Theater, New York, through Sept. 2) Don Cheadle and Jeffrey Wright dig deep into this thin tale of sibling rivalry in the New York underworld by Suzan-Lori Parks. N.C. ***
MUSIC Usher, ‘8701’ (Arista) Smooth and creamy vocals prove too slick at points, but the R&B crooner’s sappy ballads are offset by catchy hip-hop songs and crisp production. Silk sheets meet strong beats. L.A. ***
Gillian Welch, ‘Time (The Revelator)’ (Acony) The alternative-country singer’s spare acoustic songs are carried by melancholy harmonies and sweet, rural appeal. The lyrics are soulful, while the plucky banjo adds a backwoods feel. Welch hits the mark again. L.A.****
Stanton Macdonald-Wright (L.A. County Museum of Art, to Oct. 28) One of the very first abstract painters (pre-WWI), who brought his own big theory (“Synchromism”) back to L.A. from Paris and morphed it into a magic realism. His stuff still looks nifty. P.P.****
CALENDAR BOY It’s Not Just the Snow That’s Making You Shiver It is surely true, as curator John Szarkowski says in his introduction to the stunning “Ansel Adams at 100” (Little, Brown), that “Adams’s pictures have revised our sense of what we mean when we say landscape.” But is that a good thing? Yes and no. While the chilly perfectionism of his method produced gleaming masterpieces, it also damn near embalmed his subjects. There’s no room for the world’s mess in these all-too-often-lifeless images. M.J.
title: “Critical Moment” ShowToc: true date: “2023-01-17” author: “Jennifer Frenz”
15 Minutes Celebrity-cop Robert De Niro hunts down media-mad killers in this lurid thriller. The satire is heavy-handed and familiar, the plot farfetched–but it’s not dull. D.A. 2 Stars
THEATER Ten Unknowns (Mitzi Newhouse Theater, New York) An American painter in Mexico grapples with impending fame and diminished inspiration. Starring Donald Sutherland and Julianna Margulies. M.P. 3 Stars
ART Vermeer and the Delft School (Metropolitan Museum, N.Y.; through May 27) Half the Vermeers (15) of the 1995 blockbuster show, but you also see the artist’s contemporaries. Johannes wins again. P.P. 4 Stars
TV & VIDEO The Job (ABC, March 14) No one-liners. Not much crime-solving. Denis Leary’s dark comedy breaks every sitcom and cop-show rule–it’s wonderful. M.P. 4 Stars
BOOKS Robert M. Sapolsky, ‘A Primate’s Memoir’ (Scribner) The names the author gives the baboons he studies (Naomi, Leah) suggest he sees them as kin. A tale of adventure, science–and corruption. S.B. 4 Stars
Stacy Horn, ‘Waiting for My Cats to Die’ (St. Martin’s) On being 42, single, TV-addicted. Trivial? Self-indulgent? No: a fellow human, wittily facing mortality. D.G. 3 Stars
MUSIC Mirwais, ‘Production’ (Sony) This techno genius/producer of Madonna’s “Music” does the impossible–makes ’80s French disco sound futuristic, daring and good. L.A. 3 Stars
Eric Clapton, ‘Reptile’ (Reprise) Tired tunes, phony-baloney singing with studied growls, a little sublime Albert King-style guitar. Damn little. D.G. 1 Star
Mahotella Queens, ‘Sebai Bai’ (Indigo) The veteran South African vocal trio mixes bright, guitar-driven Afro pop with a bit of reggae. But the a cappella songs show they really need no help. D.G. 4 Stars
title: “Critical Moment” ShowToc: true date: “2023-01-12” author: “Carole Luna”
The Widow of St. Pierre A proud French officer (Daniel Auteuil) and his idealistic wife (Juliette Binoche) take in a prisoner condemned to death in Patrice Leconte’s gripping, romantic 19th-century epic about–what else?–love and death. D.A. ****
Last Resort A Russian refugee and her 10-year-old son are denied entry into England. Herded off to a surreally bleak seaside town, they struggle to survive. A haunting, vivid study of displacement. D.A. ****
BOOKS
E. M. Halliday, ‘Understanding Thomas Jefferson’ (HarperCollins) Brilliantly delving into the books Jefferson read, the paintings he liked and the women he loved, Halliday has written a fascinating volume on our most human Founding Father. J.M. ****
John Banville, ‘Eclipse’ (Knopf) A famous actor cracks up, then moves into his childhood home to contend with ghosts. Touching, but meandering and effete. J.G. ***
TV & VIDEO
The Fighting Fitzgeralds (NBC, March 6) Yet another unfunny, cliched sitcom about an Irish-American family, this one headed by Brian Dennehy. Erin go blechh.M.P. **
MUSIC
Mahler, ‘Symphony No. 8’ (Decca) Riccardo Chailly leads The Netherlands’ Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra–along with two choirs and eight soloists, including the happening tenor Ben Heppner–in this wall-of-sound symphony. Lifts the spirit, expands consciousness, clears sinuses. D.G. ****
David Krakauer, ‘A New Hot One’ (Label Bleu) The master classical clarinetist yips and wails through jazz-and-rock inflected klezmer pieces, with electric guitar, accordion–and Lower East Side soul. D.G. ***
Luna, ‘Luna Live’ (Arena Rock) Most love affairs with the NYC indie-rock quartet begin at its concerts. This CD shows why: it’s so vivid and genuine you can smell the clove smoke wafting in the air. D.M.G. ****
Shirley Horn, ‘You’re My Thrill’ (Verve) The eloquent sixtysomething singer-pianist and her trio reunite with Johnny Mandel’s orchestra in a swinging, soothing jazz-pop album. It’s a thrill. M.M. ***
