Waits: Guthrie’s Heir? Waits: Guthrie’s Heir?
Tom Waits is an imaginary hobo. He cruises the oddball corners of American pop culture, collecting the deft and moving and loopy short takes he sees and imagines there.
May 6, 1999 / Books & the Arts / Gene Santoro
Global Indigestion Global Indigestion
I coined the term "global brunch" several years ago after seeing a film of the Stravinsky-Cocteau Oedipus Rex as staged by Julie Taymor.
Apr 29, 1999 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans
The Way of All Flesh The Way of All Flesh
Hark! The squeal of the two-headed amphibian. Mating season must have begun.
Apr 21, 1999 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans
Accountant of Death Accountant of Death
After we admit that all historical circumstances are specific and all sufferings absolute--that Serbian "police" are not Nazis and ethnic Albanians not Jews (and NATO forces can...
Apr 15, 1999 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans
The End of Humanism The End of Humanism
Like a guest at a potlatch, laughing to see his host's worldly goods go up in flames, I roared at The Matrix--roared and at the same time was humbled, knowing Warner Bros.
Apr 8, 1999 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans
Better Ed Than Dead Better Ed Than Dead
Like the telephone before it, television has been an instrument for overcoming American loneliness.
Apr 1, 1999 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans
The Jazz Singer The Jazz Singer
Most Americans don't like instrumental music.
Apr 1, 1999 / Books & the Arts / Gene Santoro
The Forgotten Oscar The Forgotten Oscar
In the run-up to Sunday's Oscar ceremony the focus was on Elia Kazan and whether the Motion Picture Academy was doing the right thing by honoring him with a Lifetime Achievement ...
Mar 18, 1999 / Books & the Arts / Victor Navasky
Postcards From the Left Postcards From the Left
As the limos and their glitterati cargo pull up to the Oscars ceremony this year, they may have to share a bit of screen time with a band of angry picketers.
Mar 18, 1999 / Books & the Arts / Marc Cooper
Shud He Have Been a Contendah? Shud He Have Been a Contendah?
The inevitable controversy--presenting name-naming film director Elia Kazan with a Lifetime Achievement Award--has unfolded like an accident waiting to happen, aggravating the A...
Mar 18, 1999 / Books & the Arts / Cliff Rothman