All Arts & Culture
Spangly 'Coco' has moments as powerful as anything in the Pixar canonThe animation, under the direction of Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina, doesn鈥檛 quite expand into the full-blown magical realist lyricism that seems to have been intended.
In these dark times, Hallmark Channel's golden glow beckonsFor those weary of crises and violence in the news and on television, more people are turning to the Hallmark Channel's predictably happy endings.
Lives of a black and a white family intertwine post-WWII in 鈥楳udbound鈥�The film, which is directed and co-written by Dee Rees, is admirable in its ambitions, but less so in its execution.
Top Picks: 'Gregory Porter: Nat 鈥楰ing鈥� Cole & Me,' 'Survival in the Skies,' and moreThe podcast 'Ben Franklin's World' has explored topics relating to the 18th century, from British soldiers who fought in the Revolution to the Nat Turner revolt,聽CBS is honoring the legacy of 'The Carol Burnett Show,' and more top picks.
Docs in Progress gives documentaries a boostThe organization, based in Silver Spring, Md., offers screenings and courses on the nuts and bolts of filming, editing, and production. 'I think that documentaries do have a potential to really have a huge impact,' says聽executive director聽Erica Ginsberg.
Frances McDormand is too spartan and sealed off in 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri'The most interesting character in the movie is Sheriff Bill Willoughby, and that鈥檚 largely because actor Woody Harrelson is so moving in the part.
Top Picks: 'Maximum Volume,' by Kenneth Womack, the Timepage app, and moreActress Sally Hawkins stars as artist Maud Lewis in the biopic 'Maudie,' Fathom Events is bringing 'Casablanca' to theaters across the United States, and more top picks.
You鈥檙e invited to musicians鈥� recording sessionsWith projects by three high-profile artists, music fans have been able to look into the creative process as new projects were being created.
'Lady Bird' is frisky and oddball, which is sometimes annoying and more often ingratiatingThe adolescent coming-of-age pangs experienced by Lady Bird (Saoirse Ronan), to which we can all relate in some measure, are timeless and the movie is best when it undercuts its own seriousness
Rigorously conventional 鈥楲ast Flag Flying鈥� has few surprisesThere is a pleasingness to the predictability of the film, which stars Bryan Cranston, Steve Carell, and Laurence Fishburne as Vietnam veterans.
Top Picks: Music group Tank & the Bangas, the Smartify app, and moreIn addition to labeling stars and planets, the聽Night Sky聽app also offers a tour of the sky, director Bill Morrison鈥檚 documentary 'Dawson City: Frozen Time' uses silent movies and newsreels discovered in the Canadian city in 1978 to depict the history of the area, and more top picks.
With festivals and tastings, opera companies seek ways to retain audience interestPhiladelphia鈥檚 Opera 2017 festival took a 'Netflix-binge' approach in efforts to attract new audiences: More than 25 opera performances were offered across the city over a span of 12 days.
'Suburbicon' is an uneasy mixture of noir and socially conscious filmThe movie compares poorly to the recent movie 鈥楪et Out.鈥�
Todd Haynes's direction in 'Wonderstruck' keeps plot at emotional removeThe film follows聽a 12-year-old boy (Oakes Fegley) and a 12-year-old girl (Millicent Simmonds) whose stories are told contrapuntally 50 years apart, his in the vibrantly colored New York City of 1977, hers in the black-and-white New York of 1927.
Top Picks: The Shelters' debut album, the Netflix documentary 'Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold,' and more top picksGet a refresher on the time when Constantinople was the flagship city of the Roman Empire with the podcast聽The History of Byzantium, desserts become true works of art on the Instagram account of Karin Pfeiff Boschek, and more top picks.
Documentary brings Goodall鈥檚 story to vivid life in 鈥楯ane鈥�We are so used to seeing reenactments in documentaries of this sort that to see footage of real chimpanzees is both unnerving and exhilarating.
'The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)' is wide-ranging, self-indulgentThe new movie is聽writer-director Noah Baumbach鈥檚 latest foray into nattery family dysfunction.
Top Picks: Kamasi Washington's 'Harmony of Difference,' the movie 'Afterimage,' and moreIf you鈥檙e a hiker who likes to figure out every detail of your adventure before you leave the house, check out the聽Footpath app, check out recently departed musician Tom Petty and his band performing one of their most well-known hits, and more top picks.
In 鈥楨x Libris,鈥� the story of libraries is really about infinitely complex peopleDirector Frederick Wiseman is consistently first-rate, and this latest documentary is no exception.
Top Picks: Cat Stevens' 'The Laughing Apple,' 'The Simple Faith of Franklin Delano Roosevelt,' and more top picksA Broadway musical comes to TV with PBS鈥檚 broadcast of 'She Loves Me,' the聽Pocket Casts app gives you a聽new way to keep track of all the podcasts you love, and more top picks.
