Late into the final act of A Star Is Born, a character observes, “There’s only 12 notes, and the octave repeats. All an artist can do is offer the world how he sees those 12 notes.” That’s exactly what Bradley Cooper does in his directorial debut—the third remake of the 1937 film following the arcs…
There is a scene in Sorry to Bother You — the much hyped debut film from multihyphenate screenwriter-director Boots Riley — wherein our protagonist Cassius Green (Lakeith Stanfield) is obliged to perform for wealthy, coked out partygoers. At first, expectations deflate around Cash’s lame attempt at freestyling until he begins half-rapping, half-shouting the n-word over…
All conscious Broadway lovers can agree that the 2015-2016 season belonged to a scrappy little show called Hamilton. At the 2016 Tony Awards, musicals with the unfortunate luck of debuting the same year as the genre-smashing juggernaut had to either put their best Cynthia Erivo forward or sit back empty-handed and watch history happen. Waitress,…
Foxtrot begins with a faint. Men in uniform have come to the home of affluent Tel Aviv couple Michael and Dafna (Lior Ashkenazi and and Sarah Adler, respectively), their arrival a tacit announcement of tragedy: Michael and Dafna’s son has fallen in the line of duty. Backdropped by art that looks like grief itself—a framed…
Charlie Visconage is taking it easy. The 31-year-old Washington artist responsible for Cool Guy Alert!, a Hill Center exhibit on display from Jan. 4 to Feb. 24, recently donated a kidney to his father and is currently in the midst of a gradual recovery. Per doctor’s orders, Visconage has been avoiding lifting heavy objects by…
In this episode of Taste Test, Danielle Hewitt and Amy Guay try out items from Epicurean and Company, the infamous late-night snack spot. They are joined by special guests Jake Sanford and Matthan Sutton, who are longtime fans of the podcast.
For much of the first act of Something Rotten!—the Tony-nominated musical comedy about two Renaissance-era brothers who can’t seem to escape William Shakespeare’s long shadow—our playwright protagonist Nick Bottom (Rob McClure) is down on his luck. Facing the bankruptcy of the troupe he manages with his poet brother Nigel (Josh Grisetti) and unable to provide…
After a long hiatus, Taste Test has returned! Danielle Hewitt, Amy Guay and Michael Bergin meet to try one of America’s most popular candies: Skittles. Through mastication and discussion, the three critique some of the brand’s new flavors, and compare them with the classic five.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest—a ravishing, strange film starring Daniel Day-Lewis as a fictional 20th century British couturier—is also, notably, Day-Lewis’ last. In 2017, the acting giant released a statement announcing his retirement, guaranteeing Phantom Thread all the publicity and pressure that accompanies the swan song of one of the most celebrated performers of a generation….
17-year-old Daje “Boonie” Shelton is a “bad kid.” Marked as such early on—a burden that, to hear her tell it, primed others to expect less of her in a depressingly predictable cycle—Daje is expelled from her public high school and ordered to attend Innovative Concept Academy, a court-supervised school that offers “delinquent teens” a chance…