Film (2013)
Directed by David O. Russell
With Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Jennifer Lawrence
A pretty good comedic thriller based on the Abscam scandal of the 1970s in which several members of Congress were caught taking bribes.
Pacific Overtures
Musical (1976)
Music and lyrics by
Stephen Sondheim
Stage Direction by Jim Petosa
Music Direction by Matthew Stern
Boston University College of
Fine Arts
School of Theatre
Boston Center for the Arts
12/13 – 12/19/2013
An imaginatively staged version of the rarely performed Sondheim musical about the opening of Japan to the West in the mid-nineteenth century.
Falstaff
Opera (1893)
by Giuseppi Verdi
Conductor: James Levine
Metropolitan Opera, New York
Live in HD
A nice, rousing production of Verdi’s last opera, featuring the great Falstaffian, Ambrogio Maestri, in the title role, and the great, long-time music director of the Met, James Levine, in a majestic operatic reappearance after a long medical leave.
Another Day, Another Time: Celebrating the Music of Inside Llewyn Davis
Film (2013)
Directed by Christopher Wilcha
With The Avett Brothers, Joan Baez, Punch Brothers, Rhiannon Giddens, Oscar Isaac, The Milk Carton Kids, Colin Meloy, Marcus Mumford, David Rawlings, Patti Smith, Willie Watson, Gillian Welch, Jack White
The fabulous concert documentary accompaniment to Inside Llewyn Davis, the Coen brothers’ forthcoming tribute to folkies in the early 1960s.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Film (2013)
Directed by Peter Jackson
Screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens,
Peter Jackson, Guillermo del Toro
based on the novel The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Part II of the film mega-version of the short introductory Middle Earth novel – long, with non-stop battling of orcs, elves, dwarves and dragons, and much better than Part I.