Top Picks: Lorde's new album, CNN Films' orcas documentary, and more
Love at midlife
Before Midnight, the third part of director Richard Linklater鈥檚 trilogy (鈥淏efore Sunrise,鈥� 鈥淏efore Sunset鈥�), now available on DVD and Blu-ray, catches up with Jesse and Celine after the birth of their twin daughters. The couple鈥檚 back-and-forth dialogue rings true to life, and this installment is the most poignant of the three. We鈥檙e still hoping for a fourth.
London鈥檚 West End
Visit London鈥檚 legendary West End without even crossing the pond when beams Stephen Sondheim and George Furth鈥檚 Merrily We Roll Along to 460 US cinemas Oct. 23. Beyond the fabulous close-ups of performers belting out songs such as 鈥淕ood Thing Going鈥� and 鈥淣ot a Day Goes By,鈥� viewers are treated to backstage interviews with the cast, crew, and special guests. Maria Friedman鈥檚 award-winning production plays live at 7 p.m. local time.
Kiwi talent
A super-precocious young lady from Auckland, New Zealand, took the music world by storm in 2013. Singing and rapping as , her worldwide smash 鈥淩oyals鈥� bubbled up from down under to the pinnacle of the charts. Now she has an album 鈥� Pure Heroine 鈥� that, while not quite rising to the level of her hit song, confirms, undeniably, that a new star has arrived, fully formed and radiant. Clever, worldly lyrics are the key to Lorde鈥檚 appeal with three of the album鈥檚 10 cuts crashing the Billboard 100.
Orcas in captivity
Blackfish is the native American name for killer whales (orcas) 鈥� and the title of a compelling documentary from CNN Films about these creatures, which were featured in the 鈥淔ree Willy鈥� movies and are also popular attractions at water parks. The film indicts the way the whales are handled in captivity and probes the circumstances around the accidents and deaths of some trainers. Trainers and marine biologists interviewed say the killings were the result of animal abuse. (Sea World has publicly challenged the film鈥檚 assertions.) It airs Oct. 24.
Then and now
Lorraine Hansberry鈥檚 鈥淎 Raisin in the Sun鈥� (1959) is at the heart of A Raisin in the Sun Revisited: The Raisin Cycle at Center Stage. The 60-minute documentary follows the Baltimore Center Theater鈥檚 presentation of two plays, 鈥淐lybourne Park鈥� and 鈥淏eneatha鈥檚 Place,鈥� both contemporary responses to 鈥淎 Raisin in the Sun,鈥� as they come to life in front of an audience and tackle the past and present of race relations. It airs on PBS Arts Festival Oct. 25.
The legacy of slavery
Renowned African-American historian Henry Louis Gates returns to with an ambitious six-part examination of the origins and evolution of slavery over the course of 500 years. In African-Americans: Many Rivers to Cross, the scholar travels the country to present an overview of how slavery began in Africa, migrated to the US, and finally transformed the nation through the crucible of the Civil War. The series comes right up to the present, with the election of the first black American president. It begins Oct. 22 (check local listings).
