Josmar16

LATEST ARTICLES ( 436 )

• ‘Only God Can Make a Tree’ – The Message of ‘Ex Machina’ (Part One)

  

  Alex Garland's Ex Machina (2014), with Alicia Vikander as Ava We're Gonna Be Starting Something The opening minutes of writer-director Alex Garland's... Read more

  Posted on 02 November 2024 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• Short Takes and Retakes (Round Five): Take A Look Around – The Perfect Antidote...

  

  The Met Opera's production of "Adriana Lecouvreur" with Netrebko and Rashvelishvili Picking up from where we had left off, today's post reflects my continued... Read more

  Posted on 20 October 2024 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• “The Milagro Beanfield War” (1988) – When Things Get Tough, You Make Them...

  

  Old Man Amarante "speaking" to Coyote Angel (at right) in The Milagro Beanfield War (1988) In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, which takes place each... Read more

  Posted on 28 September 2024 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• ‘Crime Meridian: A Murder Mystery Story’ – Chapter Two

  

  Lady Justice atop the Central Criminal Court House, at the Old Bailey in London S ir Edward handed Evelyn an envelope - unsealed, in fact. She took the object... Read more

  Posted on 21 September 2024 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• Bronx Boy (Chapter Fourteen): It’s on With the Show!

  

  Photo of NYC Blackout circa 1960s - The City That Never Sleeps H ow did Congressman and Reverend Adam Clayton Powell Jr. become so influential beyond his home... Read more

  Posted on 15 September 2024 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• Short Takes and Retakes (Round Four): As the Met Opera Bows Out, Others Fly In

  

  Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen as Leonora in Verdi's "La Forza del Destino" (Photo: Met Opera) Being away from blog writing for a while takes its toll,... Read more

  Posted on 18 August 2024 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• Short Takes and Retakes (Round Three): Everything Under the Sun

  

  Midtown Manhattan during a typically busy day We're back! It's been hotter than hot (or Hell) lately, as if anyone needs to be reminded of the brutally... Read more

  Posted on 11 July 2024 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• Bronx Boy – A Novel (Part Thirteen): Help, Help, Police!

  

  43rd Precinct on Fteley Avenue, Bronx, New York In those balmy South Bronx days, the Soundview Avenue area stretched from Bruckner Boulevard and the Bruckner... Read more

  Posted on 08 July 2024 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• Bronx Boy — A Novel (Part Twelve): ‘Midnight’

  

  Demonstrators at the July 1964 Harlem Riots in Upper Manhattan (Photo: Wikipedia) "¡Coño, carajo! Come mierda!" Papi shouted at the wall. Sonny labele... Read more

  Posted on 09 June 2024 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• ‘Crime Meridian: A Murder Mystery Story’ — Chapter One

  

  The Old Bailey Court Building in London "M y life?" Evelyn repeated. Addressing the words to herself at first, she inclined her head directly towards her... Read more

  Posted on 26 May 2024 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• Short Takes and Retakes (Round Two): More of the Same

  

  Oppenheimer and Barbie - or, more poetically, Barbieheimer "Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning" The opera world over in Europe but especially in the U.S. o... Read more

  Posted on 20 April 2024 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• They Lived for Their Art — The First Ladies of Opera: Callas, Tebaldi, and...

  

  Renata Tebaldi and her so-called "dimples of steel" (Photo: Decca Records) Verdi, Puccini...Oh, and Verismo, Too With Callas' rise, the bel canto revival... Read more

  Posted on 15 March 2024 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• ‘I Will Face My Fear’ — The Mind-Killing Little Deaths of ‘Dune’ (Part Eleven):...

  

  Sci-Fi Channel's 'Dune' miniseries 2000: Gurney, Lady Jessica, Paul, Chani, Stilgar Past and Future Leaders As Paul reunites with his forces and prepares for th... Read more

  Posted on 03 March 2024 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• Bronx Boy — A Novel (Part Eleven): Benny and the “Bullet” (Conclusion)

  

  Bottom feeder par excellence: German shepherd dog barking The real trouble, as Sonny saw it, wasn't so much Benny Junior or his father Benny Senior, the surly... Read more

  Posted on 24 February 2024 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• Bronx Boy — A Novel (Part Ten): Benny and the “Bullet”

  

  1245 Stratford Avenue, the South Bronx Superintendents in the South Bronx had one tough job. In addition to overseeing the grounds, doing the maintenance and... Read more

  Posted on 27 January 2024 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• Stream of Consciousness: Leonard Bernstein, an American Master “Revealed” in...

  

  Young Lenny Bernstein (Bradley Cooper) at his Carnegie Hall debut, in 'Maestro' (2023) Conducting One's Life in Public What's this I'm watching? Lenny snorting... Read more

  Posted on 07 January 2024 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• They Lived for Their Art — The First Ladies of Opera: Callas, Tebaldi, and...

  

  The late soprano Maria Callas as Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata A good while back, I published a blog entry devoted to "Three Titanic Tenors: Mario Del... Read more

  Posted on 09 December 2023 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• Bronx Boy — A Novel (Part Nine): Midtown

  

  Midtown Manhattan - View of the Murray Hill Section Manhattan. Forty-Second Street. The Big Manzana. The Big Red Apple. Sonny never thought it would be... Read more

  Posted on 02 December 2023 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• ‘It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times’: A Met Opera Wrap-Up (Of...

  

  The Inimitable Bob Dylan in the 1960s Look Back in Anguish There's an old Bob Dylan song that, to my mind, captures the essence of what opera, and specifically... Read more

  Posted on 24 November 2023 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA

• ‘I Will Face My Fear’ — The Mind-Killing Little Deaths of ‘Dune’ (Part Ten):...

  

  The Water of Life sequence with Paul (center), Chani (left) and Mother Jessica (right) The Challenge to Leadership In a brief scene, Feyd appears with his uncle... Read more

  Posted on 19 November 2023 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, THEATRE & OPERA