A Raisin in the Sun Heats Up The Kirk Douglas Theatre

It always puzzles me when fellow critics take notes during a performance. I’ll notice them scribbling away on their note pads or in the margins of the press kit – sometimes sedately, sometimes madly – and wonder how they can possibly foster an osmotic relationship with the performance. Imagine my bafflement, then, on learning that the performance of A Raisin in the Sun I attended also happened to be an evening of experimentation by the Centre Theatre Group. 



What do tweets and a seminal American play have to with each other? Find out in my review of A Raisin in the Sun, currently on stage at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, at The Front Page Online. Click here.

A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry. Directed by Phylicia Rashad. Performances by Kenya Alexander, Keith Arthur Bolden, Brandon David Brown, Kevin T. Carroll, Jason Dirden, Deidrie Henry,     Amad Jackson, Scott Mosenson, Kem Saunders, Kim Staunton, and Ellis E. Williams. On stage at the Kirk Douglas Theatre until February 19, 2012. For tickets and information, visit the Theatre's website.

Stop ACTA

ACTA is the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, which has less to do with counterfeiting than protecting intellectual property rights. Negotiated in secret, mostly by unelected officials, represents a threat to freedom of information, net neutrality, and the internet as we know it. And countries like the US, Canada, and others have already ratified it. Watch a video here:

ACTA comes to a vote in the European Parliament. According to La Quadrature, this is the last opportunity to keep ACTA from coming into force.


Learn more at La Quadrature's ACTA page. 

W.E. Won't Rock You: THE FRONT PAGE ONLINE

Film Review - W.E.


It’s not a good sign when you suspect filmmakers are lying to you. W.E.’s credits list Abbie Cornish in the role of a maritally distraught New Yorker obsessed with the scandalous love affair between the Once and Never More King of England, Edward VIII, and American Wallis Simpson. But throughout the film I wondered what Charlize Theron was doing slumming around in the glassy lead role when surely there was a better film elsewhere for her to inhabit.


Read the full review at The Front Page Online

Through a Glass, Bloodily - A Review of Alice: Madness Returns

"Gone was the innocuous blonde-haired girl with a summery blue-and-white dress and a penchant for attracting the whimsical. In her place, a dark gothic beauty with a blue, white, and bloodied dress, and a steely resolve to fight her way through Wonderland and, eventually, peace of mind."

A lengthy review of a very impressive game, at The Front Page Online:

Part 1

Part 2

quick review: Toy Story 3

I was a late admission to the Toy Story appreciation club, and even then I never rose above a loose associate membership. The first outing, with all the heft that comes from establishing a foothold in the history of animated films, was sweet and amusing, and followed by an enjoyable, light-hearted adventure sequel. Yet neither achieved for me, either artistically or emotionally, the depths of Finding Nemo and Wall*E. 


This time around, the toys confront the fact that their owner, Andy, has outgrown them on his way to college. Faced with a dusty retirement in the attic or a horrible fate at a local daycare, the emotions of nostalgia, family, and the free spirit of imagination are eloquently. The drama is terrific, though often intense as it involves horrifying scenarios of imprisonment and potential death as much as it does bittersweet goodbyes and, yes, hope. It holds its own with grace and a strong heart, but ironically takes on a more resonant tone with foreknowledge of the characters and their relationships from the previous two movies. Of three films nominated for a Best Animated Feature Oscar in 2010, I still lean towards How to Train Your Dragon or L’Illusioniste as the better films both in terms of animation and narrative effect, but the distinction is fine and, ultimately, rather pointless. See them all, and enjoy.