February 8, 2012 New documentary reveals the other side of anonymous sperm donation
I sat with other audience members on folding chairs in a small Soho gallery theatre for the debut of Anonymous Father's Day, watching Stephanie Blessing's face onscreen as she learned her dad was not her biological father.
January 30, 2012 New silent film is both a box office and artistic success.
In an age of ceiling-to-floor IMAX 3D blockbusters, it takes serious guts to front $15 million for a silent black-and-white melodrama. Yet the producers of The Artist have financed both a box office and an artistic success.
January 16, 2012 Michelle Williams brilliantly captures the various facets of Monroe's complicated personality.
My Week with Marilyn tells about the friendship of an Oxford-educated, 23-year-old production assistant with Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams) during filming of The Prince and the Showgirl in the United Kingdom in 1956. Some strong language and posterior nudity give the film an R rating, but it's worth noting because a strong performance by Williams is winning her awards.
January 13, 2012 Surveillance industry is learning to infiltrate tech devices, and making billions
Are world governments watching us while we're online? Listening to our phone calls? The whistleblower website WikiLeaks released 287 documents on Dec. 1 that described services offered by scores of private "intelligence contractors" to infiltrate computers and conduct mass surveillance. "Intelligence agencies, military forces and police authorities are able to silently ... and secretly intercept calls and take over computers without the help or knowledge of the telecommunication providers," WikiLeaks stated on its website.
January 11, 2012 Trisha Brown's 'It's a Draw' makes space for reflection.
Trisha Brown's new collection It's a Draw is on exhibit at the Sikkema Jenkins & Co. art gallery.
December 26, 2011 Did Crowe and Jonsi achieve harmony?
We Bought a Zoo centers on Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon), a recently-widowed father of two and a journalist by trade. The death of his wife leaves him searching for a new life while still providing for his two children Dylan (Colin Ford) and Rosie (Maggie Jones).
December 22, 2011 Will Jonsi's folksy, Icelandic sound help bring Crowe's We Bought a Zoo to life?
Film director Cameron Crowe and musician Jonsi spoke at the Barnes and Noble near Union Square on Dec. 13 about Jonsi's score for Crowe's upcoming film, We Bought a Zoo.
December 15, 2011 Meryl Streep brilliantly portrays Margaret Thatcher
As The Iron Lady opens, an elderly woman shuffles into the local market. Pushed aside by a self-important businessman and an oblivious youth, she expresses confused surprise at the price of milk. No one recognizes that she is the former co-leader of the free world and bane of dictators, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
December 8, 2011 Literary houses and haunts in New York City
New York has long been the hub for literary movements like the Harlem Renaissance and the New York Intellectual. It has also been the home for some of the world's best writers like Norman Mailer, Jonathan Safran Foer, and Jhumpa Lahiri. Here is a tour of legendary writers and their literary havens.
December 5, 2011 With Hugo, Martin Scorsese beautifully illustrates our need to put our talents to good use
Despite the fact that Martin Scorsese's first film for all ages, Hugo, was based on the Caldecott-winning children's novel, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, it wouldn't be fair to call it a family movie. A fanciful invention loosely tied to the real life of a fanciful inventor, it is instead a charming meditation on film, art, and the value of work that will likely prove too quiet for most youngsters. But for a certain kind of reflective child and likeminded adults, Hugo is a 3D gift-wrapped dream.
November 14, 2011 Thrifting thrives in New York City
Despite a struggling economy and a city known for top brands, New York City thrift shops are still bustling with customers looking for a trendy bargain.
November 7, 2011
While many New Yorkers are familiar with the Beat, Slam, and Spoken Word generations, many don't realize that poetry is still a vibrant part of New York City culture. Whether you are a silent spectator, a serious slammer, or have just been itching to read a poem you scrawled while riding the 4 train late last Monday, there is a reading for you. Here's a weekly menu review of local spots to find both published poets and first-timers.
November 4, 2011 Despite Viacom lawsuit, YouTube still small-band favorite
For Deva Mahal, the lead singer of Fredericks Brown, YouTube is the platform she needs to bring her small blues/soul/jazz/rock-and-roll fusion band to fame. "It is important to us that we can demonstrate that sound to our fans without losing that feeling of reality. Video works for us," Mahal said as the band adds new videos to her YouTube channel. Mahal hopes the videos will attract a loyal following to their music.
October 28, 2011 Footloose does an admirable job of representing a perennial American debate
It would be easy to dismiss Footloose as a glitzy reboot made solely to capitalize on the recent musicals craze among teens. And in many ways it is that.
October 25, 2011 Scripted sitcoms are suddenly hot again
Who can say what caused it. Maybe it was Charlie Sheen and the scandal related to his departure from Two and a Half Men. Maybe, with Jersey Shore, audiences finally tired of reality programming. Maybe it was simply that the networks stopped focusing on niche humor and started focusing on being broadly funny.
October 17, 2011 The Old Magic shows a once fast-living rocker at his mellow and wise best
"I'm 61 years old now," sings Nick Lowe on the second cut of his latest album, The Old Magic (Yep Roc). "Lord, I never thought I'd see 30." Since recording that line, he's turned 62, but as "61" isn't a rhyme, he can easily bring the song up to date should he ever perform it live.
October 12, 2011 Courageous shows that the Kendrick brothers are ready for the challenges of a Hollywood production
Though Dolphin Tale earned the highest receipts, the big box office story the weekend of Oct. 1 was the movie that came in fourth. With a miniscule budget (by Hollywood standards) of only $1 million, a Christian-themed story of five men struggling to live up to the high calling of fatherhood earned $9 million in its opening weekend. This feat is especially impressive given that it screened on less than half the number of theaters as its mainstream competitors. Looking solely at per-theater averages, Courageous was far and away the weekend's winner.
September 24, 2011
In her directional debut, Vera Farmiga explores a woman's search for true faith. Farmiga stars as Corinne Miller, who answers Jesus' "knock at her heart" as a girl and then spends her life waiting for Him to make Himself at home. She marries, births three children, and supports her local church while wrestling with a painful disconnect between real life and religious rhetoric.
April 25, 2011 Sufjan Stevens keeps fans and critics guessing
What to make of Sufjan Stevens?
September 11, 2010 Costume maker Tara Hawks finds a way to connect New York's fashion world to African women in need
The general mayhem surrounding the final hours before a runway show is not for the faint of heart. If you're one of those who think the fashion world is full of patsies, you're just wrong. Makeup and hair styling for models begin about five hours before lights go up for the show. They have to be dressed two hours before, and fed somewhere in between. There is the invitation list to manage-who's in, who's out, who's paid, who's comp'ed? There are the designers and sponsors to take care of-where will they sit? And there's the bar to manage, the kitchen to staff, the flowers to pick up, and the parking in midtown Manhattan to think about. Then a tech arrives to say she needs $20 to buy light bulbs.
