Free for All: Joe Papp, The Public, and the Greatest Theater Story Ever Told
Gratuitous Violins (Free subscription) | 11/23/2009
Yesterday I picked up a copy of Free for All , by Kenneth Turan, an oral history of Joseph Papp and New York's Public Theater . I've just started thumbing through it but so far, it looks pretty interesting. I first heard Papp's name when I was a teenager. I remember watching a play from the New York Shakespeare Festival on TV and being enthralled by it. I'm fairly certain it was this production of...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 11/23/2009
Do you agree with the Twihards that New Moon is the film of the year? Or is this supernatural romance strangely bloodless? Poor old Chris Weitz. Once considered a promising filmmaker, round about the time he successfully transformed Nick Hornby's pleasant and enjoyable novel About a Boy into an equally pleasant and enjoyable movie starring Hugh Grant and that kid from Skins, he now finds himself working...
Vulture (Free subscription) | 11/19/2009
When Summit Entertainment surpisingly canned Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke from New Moon in favor of Chris Weitz , who just so happens to be a penis-having dude, many predicted that the franchise would take a disappointing turn. Aside from the fact that the second entry in the four-part Twilight franchise features very little of Edward Cullen, that sparkle-chested hunk of lustful vampire meat,...
L.A. Times - Latin America Blog (Free subscription) | 11/19/2009
Kenneth Turan reviews "2012," the latest disaster movie portraying the end of the world. The movie is directed by Roland Emmerich, who seems to be stuck on the same theme, after movies like "The Day After Tomorrow" and "Independence Day." "2012" is based on a premise apparently laid out in an ancient carved monument found in the Mayan region, which covers the...
Hollywood Elsewhere (Free subscription) | 11/19/2009
Much of what's wrong with New Moon seems tracable to director Chris Weitz. In the view of L.A. Times critic Kenneth Turan, Weitz is a "polished" and "smooth professional who makes the vampire trains of Melissa Rosenberg's capable script run on time, but he almost seems too rational a director for this kind of project. This lack of animating madness combined with the novel's demands give...
New York Times (Free subscription) | 11/13/2009
Kenneth Turan offers up a raucous oral history of a New York theater titan.
MediaBistro.com (Free subscription) | 10/26/2009
Critics Jonathan Gold , Kenneth Turan , David Ulin , and Evelyn McDonnell will be getting together this evening for a little panel discussion. The event, called "Critics Talk Shop: Writing Books, Music, Food, Film, and Why it Matters," will be held at the University of Southern California and moderated by Dinah Lenney of the Master of Professional Writing Program. The discussion will be...
/Film (Free subscription) | 10/26/2009
City Secrets guides have been called "the best literary gift to travelers since the Baedeker and Henry James" by the Financial Times, providing charming travelers’ companions to the world’s most fascinating cities. What made them different than the usual travel guides is that City Secrets offers reflections and discoveries from the authors, artists, and historians who know each...
Acheron LV-426 (Free subscription) | 10/17/2009
"Set largely on the U.S.-Mexico border, Sleep Dealer depicts a world in which borders are closed but high-tech factories allow migrant workers to plug their bodies into the network to provide virtual labor to the North. The drama that unfolds in this dystopian setting delves deep into issues of immigration, labor, water rights, and the nature of sustainable development. "Rivera's film drew...
Spanish Teaching (Free subscription) | 10/16/2009
New York Times 'Where the Wild Things Are'Los Angeles TimesBy Kenneth Turan FILM CRITIC >>> In the new film version of Sendak's classic, more — admired director Spike Jonze, smart co-screenwriter Dave Eggers, top-flight actors including Chris Cooper, James Gandolfini and Forest Whitaker, …Some of His Best Friends Are BeastsNew York Times'Wild Things' eyes $25 million [...]
[CinemaRatty] Lattest Articles (Free subscription) | 10/09/2009
The Damned United is clocking in at a whopping 83 on Metacritic, with three scores of 100 from AO Scott, Kenneth Turan and Andrew OHerir. It looks like good news for Michael Sheen, and for Peter...
Gold Derby (Free subscription) | 10/04/2009
Joel and Ethan Coen's "A Serious Man" is getting ace reviews, scoring 74 at Metacritic and 86 at RottenTomatoes. Says Kenneth Turan of the L.A. Times, "Writer-directors Joel and Ethan have seized the opportunity afforded by the Oscar-winning success of 'No Country for Old Men' to make their most personal, most intensely Jewish film, a pitch-perfect comedy of despair that, against some...
Spanish Teaching (Free subscription) | 10/02/2009
New York Times 'A Serious Man'Los Angeles TimesJoel and Ethan Coen make their most personal, most intensely Jewish film, which turns out to be one of their most universal as well. By KENNETH TURAN Film Critic "If not now, when?" the Jewish sage Hillel famously asked, and with "A Serious Man" the …Calls to God: Always [...]
Top Stories from Newser (Free subscription) | 09/25/2009
Coco Before Chanel gets mostly positive reviews for its portrayal of the legendary designer in the days before her rise to fame. “The most obvious credit goes to the strong, sure performance of Audrey Tautou,” writes Kenneth Turan in the Los Angeles Times. “Tautou not only resembles Chanel, she inhabits...
Spanish Teaching (Free subscription) | 09/23/2009
New York Daily News 'Capitalism: A Love Story'Los Angeles TimesMichael Moore tackles a big subject with a scattershot approach. But some of the individual parts prove classic. Michael Moore in his latest documentary "Capitalism: A Love Story." (Overture Films) By KENNETH TURAN Film Critic Say what you like about …• Michael Moore: Capitalism Is 'Enemy of [...]
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