critics and their criticism
It’s the legendary Jeanne Eagels in the spotlight, which is exactly the right term. From our first glimpse of her fabulous face, she seems almost lit from within.
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I’ve heard admirers for years describe this as their favorite Bette Davis performance, and it’s easy to see why; she brings her entire range to the role, and you can’t take your eyes off her.
I still remember, and some of it quite vividly, what it was like to experience Achim Freyer‘s intense and groundbreaking Ring production all these years later.
By Patrick Mack
The production style exposed Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus for what it’s always been: a piece of lowbrow camp masquerading as highbrow art.
We can delight in films that make use of motif to give opera-lovers an extra little jiggle.
By John Yohalem
Wagner must intrude at some point because he invented film music.
By John Yohalem
My first exposure to Lucia di Lammermoor came under the auspices of The Three Stooges.
By John Yohalem
Some consider Katharine Hepburn a tomboy — I don’t share that view, but the particular iconoclastic style she was already cultivating in her early days certainly suits Jo March.
“That girl’s a character!”
“I think she’s got something!”
One of the greatest pleasures of our continuing Katharine Hepburn series for me has been rediscovering how marvelous she can be.
The characteristics that made Katharine Hepburn‘s performance in A Delicate Balance work so well do her a disservice here.
Terror and breakdown is hinted at strongly, almost blatantly, but the characters never seem to move an inch past the comfort zone.
Tom Hiddleston manages to balance the many layers of Coriolanus, from his military strength and hot temper, to his strangely overpowering sense of personal dignity, which is ultimately his tragic flaw.
Nearly 70 years after its debut, A Streetcar Named Desire remains the greatest stage-to-screen adaptation of all time.
