Arts Review
John Ford’s The Broken Heart: Impressive production of a rarely performed 17th-century classic
By Robert Fowler, February 22, 2012
The Broken Heart, by English playwright John Ford (1586-c. 1639), is currently playing Off Broadway at the Duke Theater on 42nd street in New York City, as part of Theater for a New Audience’s current season.
Alexander Payne’s digestible The Descendants; Steven Soderbergh at an impasse with Haywire
By Joanne Laurier, February 21, 2012
The Descendants, set in Hawaii and starring George Clooney, deals with the ancestral connections of a family confronting a painful tragedy. Haywire is a political spy thriller that gives a pass to the intelligence community.
British Agent (1934): Early Hollywood looks at the Bolsheviks
By Tony Williams, February 18, 2012
In Michael Curtiz’s 1934 British Agent, based on the memoirs of a British spy, the first days of the Russian Revolutionary government are treated with some degree of honesty. Leon Trotsky is one of the Bolsheviks portrayed.
An interview with Chad Freidrichs, director of The Pruitt-Igoe Myth
By Fred Mazelis, February 17, 2012
The director of The Pruitt-Igoe Myth, a documentary about public housing in the US, speaks to the WSWS.
Albert Nobbs: A model of repression
By David Walsh, February 15, 2012
The title character (played with gusto by Glenn Close) is a woman who has passed as a man for decades, working as a waiter in a Dublin hotel in the 1890s.
The death of Whitney Houston
By Hiram Lee, February 13, 2012
American popular singer Whitney Houston has died in Los Angeles at the age of 48.
Polanski’s Carnage: Not a dispute about fundamentals
By Joanne Laurier, February 10, 2012
In New York City, cordiality turns to anger and chaos when two sets of parents meet to discuss an altercation between their 11-year-old sons.
American actor Ben Gazzara (1930-2012)
By David Walsh, February 9, 2012
Ben Gazzara had a long career in film, theater and television, which began in the mid-1950s. He worked with numerous interesting directors, although he seems to have found the greatest artistic satisfaction working with John Cassavetes.
A Dangerous Method: The Freud-Jung controversy, among other matters
By David Walsh, February 8, 2012
The new film by David Cronenberg treats the relationship between Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, as well as their association with Sabina Spielrein, a young Russian woman, later one of the first female psychiatrists.
Surviving Progress: A dim view of humanity
By Lee Parsons, February 3, 2012
The documentary film Surviving Progress has attracted a good deal of media attention and accolades from both the official “left” and the right, if for rather different reasons.
The Pruitt-Igoe Myth: A serious look at public housing and the fate of US cities
By Fred Mazelis, February 1, 2012
A new documentary film examines the history of a St. Louis housing project.
Composer Gustav Mahler: A centennial appreciation
By Dorian Griscom, January 31, 2012
Gustav Mahler is among the most widely listened to of classical composers. Last year, which marked the 100th anniversary of his death, witnessed concerts, new recordings, lectures and exhibitions celebrating his life and music.
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