Choreographers are writers, said Bob Fosse

Dance · Ideas & Opinion · Theater

A sensory feast as ‘Queen’ 1981 rock concert gets IMAX revisit

Film · Music
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A fleeting window into rock’s pantheon opens from January 18th to 21st, as IMAX presents Queen Rock Montreal, a visceral document of the band’s incandescent live energy and artistry. Queen’s deep respect and unwavering generosity toward their audience shines through every frame and every note of this documentary film that captures two nights of performances ...

‘Perfect Days’: Wenders’ cinematic diary of dappled light & shadow

Film · Reviews
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Soon after the pandemic, acclaimed German filmmaker Wim Wenders was invited to witness Tokyo’s award-winning urban renewal project, The Tokyo Toilet, in which renowned designers reimagined the typical urban public restroom. Wenders, who is also a celebrated documentarian (Buena Vista Social Club, Pina, and the new Anselm), was expected to craft short films about each ...

Mad for Mads in Denmark’s ‘The Promised Land’

Film
On the face of it, perhaps a not-very-scintillating tale. A bunch of guys fighting over a piece of land.Mads Mikkelsen plays Ludvig Kahlen — a real historic figure — a beat-up, 18th century army captain who seeks to fulfill the King’s hoped-for habitation of an inclement swathe of dreary Danish terrain. With the love of ...

Jazz/pop superstars Herb Alpert, Lani Hall to open Soraya jazz festival 1

Music
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ed. note: This story by jazz writer, Kirk Silsbee, was commissioned by The Soraya in advance of “A Golden Anniversary,” in the upcoming Jazz at Naz Festival January 27. It is published with permission. Few trumpet voices in history generate the kind of instant recognition as that of Herb Alpert. His short, pungent phrasing and ...

Django-jazz at The Kabbaz(z) redux~! 2

Music
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The French guitar wizard and Django Reinhardt specialist, Stephane Wrembel (center), whose infectious playing and stage Gemütlichkeit leave audiences wanting more, is heading West. His upcoming California tour culminates in three nights at Theatre Raymond Kabbaz, where Wrembel brings the second edition of his signature “Django a Go Go” festival. The learning-and-jamming event, which he instituted ...

Big music by Sánchez/Alexa for big ‘Existencia’ choreography at The Soraya

Dance · Music
Ed. note: This story by Debra Levine was commissioned the Younes & Soraya Nazarian Center for the Arts. The spasms of explosive percussion that jump off the screen of Birdman, the Oscar-winning Best Picture of 2014, are the work of a brilliant and innovative musician: the Mexican-born drummer Antonio Sánchez. In the decade since that ...

John Waters, son of P.T. Barnum

Film · Theater
He was irrepressible. In 1959, filmmaker John Waters posted announcements on telephone poles of his Baltimore neighborhood. From the start, he was both a creator and a P.T. Barnum impresario. Culled from the costumes, props, handwritten scripts, correspondence, scrapbooks, photographs, film clips, and more, included in “John Waters, Pope of Trash,” the major exhibition dedicated ...

Mini-movie review: Michael Mann’s ‘Ferrari’

Film · Reviews
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If all you want for Christmas is excellent acting and heart-pounding race-car chases in a complex drama-filled love triangle, then master action movie-maker Michael Mann’s Ferrari (presented by NEON) is waiting in a cinema near you. The excellent Adam Driver heads the cast, channeling Enzo Ferrari’s smoldering intensity while working overtime to master the proper ...

Enjoying life at 98: Dick Van Dyke

Film
I cannot say more, or in a truer fashion, about the jaunty 98-year-old than did the man who took these photos of Dick Van Dyke, and then wrote about him in Los Angeles Magazine. Chris Nichols, a friend of artsmeme (F.O.A.M.) took these candid shots in conjunction with Moments in Time, an exhibit photographic portraiture ...