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'Before You Know It': Wherein the Critic Bemoans ...By Michael S. Goldberger, iBerkshires Film Critic
12:32PM / Thursday, September 12, 2019 | |
 Wherein the Critic Bemoans the Vanishing of Local Moviehouses, Extolls the Virtues of Independent Films, Makes the World Safe for Democracy and Sings an Homage to the Family — Leo Tolstoy, "Anna Karenina." This quote came to mind as I watched director-writer Hannah Pearl Utt's "Before You Know It," a charmingly engaging dramedy with a screwball slant that teaches a life lesson or two while touching our hearts and tickling our funny bones. Besides, I always wanted to use that axiom. The story is brainy, sophisticated and bereft of gratuitous violence. So don't expect to find it at the highway multiplex. It's about two sisters who discover a 0 Comments
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'Luce': EnlighteningBy Michael S. Goldberger, iBerkshires Film Critic
02:28PM / Thursday, September 05, 2019 | |
 "It's complicated." Thus spake Luce Edgar, heretofore the brilliant and handsome apple of every teacher's eye at his high school in Arlington, Va., when the senior's stellar reputation suddenly comes into question. Guilty or not of the swirling accusations, rumors and innuendoes, Kelvin Harrison Jr.'s superbly sculpted BMOC speaks volumes about the perception of stature. The predicament in which he finds himself is but one of numerous subplots that writhe, conjoin and impressively coalesce into a highly dramatic meditation on the very essence of truth itself. Director Julius Onah, who co-wrote the screenplay with J.C. Lee, puts the tension level to 0 Comments
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'The Peanut Butter Falcon': Wrestling With BigotryBy Michael S. Goldberger, iBerkshires Film Critic
04:23PM / Thursday, August 29, 2019 | |
 It is big-hearted, pleasantly pie-in-the-sky save for some routine tumult in the climax, and provides a good service in dramatizing the realities of living with the genetic disorder known as Down syndrome. But my problem as I viewed "The Peanut Butter Falcon" is that I was more fascinated by the lead actor, Zack Gottsagen, than by the story. You see, Gottsagen does indeed have Down syndrome. And his starring role in this Twain-like adventure yarn about a man institutionalized because of his Down syndrome who takes it on the lam to claim his destiny as a professional wrestler, is no small watershed, either for cinema or for others possessing that third copy of 0 Comments
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Squeeze, Benatar, Reba, Berkshire Ramblers Spark Labor Day Weekend FinalesBy Grace Lichtenstein, Guest Column
11:42AM / Wednesday, August 28, 2019 | |
 For the Labor Day weekend, Tanglewood welcomes pop and country stars, the Guthrie Center offers local folkies, Mass MoCA throws a dance party and the Egremont Barn jumps with hip-hop. Tanglewood Now that the Boston Symphony Orchestra has finished its summer season, Tanglewood revs up for stars from the rock and country worlds in its Popular Artists Series.
Squeeze, the British rockers who first began recording in the 1970s, is at the Shed on Thursday night, Aug. 29, at 7 p.m. The lineup of band members may have changed over the years, but the current crew surely will do such hits as "Tempted" and "Hourglass."
Two enduring women rock stars take the Shed stage
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Williams College Museum of Art to Reopen on Sept. 6| 11:24AM / Tuesday, August 27, 2019 | |
 WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Williams College Museum of Art will reopen for the fall in Lawrence Hall on Friday, Sept. 6, with a lineup featuring the critically exclaimed exhibit "Axis Mundo: Queer Networks in Chicano L.A."
A celebration to mark the reopening of Lawrence Hall and the opening of "Axis Mundo" will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 6. A season celebration to mark the entire fall lineup of exhibitions will be held Thursday, Oct. 3, from 5 to 8 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public.
"I couldn't be more thrilled to reopen the museum this September with a dynamic suite of exhibitions and collaborations with faculty, many of
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'Blinded by the Light': Guidance From Asbury ParkBy Michael S. Goldberger, iBerkshires Film Critic
04:31PM / Thursday, August 22, 2019 | |
 When, what and where was your coming-of-age episode, the epiphany that heralded your entrance into adulthood? You better know, just in case someone decides to film a biographical sketch detailing how you came to be you. I venture to guess that for many folks, at least in the Western World, it had to do with learning, y'know, the truth about Santa. Shh! I won't say what, just in case some readers haven't gotten the memo. And for many others, the game-changer was perhaps the controversy regarding Santa's boss. Thusly, I was prompted to scour my beleaguered memory bank for my particular turning point as I watched director Gurinder Chadha's "Blinded by the 0 Comments
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Gladys Knight, Roomful of Teeth, Gershwin Highlight Busy WeekBy Grace Lichtenstein, Guest Column
08:14PM / Wednesday, August 21, 2019 | |
 These may be the dog days of August, but pop and new music — and musical theater — abound throughout the Berkshires. Beginning with John Williams' music and Gladys Knight in separate concerts at Tanglewood, it's a full schedule as summer winds down. Tanglewood Regular concert-goers have a second chance (after "Star Wars”" last week) to enjoy the music of film score legend John Williams. The Shed hosts the Boston Pops at 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24. "John Williams' Film Night" is a treasured evening at Tanglewood every year. The conductor is David Newman, with Williams introducing the evening. No films, just Williams' wonderful Hollywood
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Tanglewood, Tannery Pond Offer Concluding ConcertsBy Stephen Dankner, Guest Column
10:34AM / Tuesday, August 20, 2019 | |
 Tanglewood concludes its 2019 classical programming this week, culminating with two "heavy hitters": John Williams' Film Night, performed by the Boston Pops on Saturday, Aug. 24, and, of course, the traditional final concert featuring Beethoven's glorious and triumphant Ninth Symphony ("Choral"), performed on Sunday, Aug. 25, at 2:30 p.m. in the Shed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, with stellar vocal soloists and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus – all under the direction of Maestro Giancarlo Guerrero.
For all that, the upcoming program at Concerts at Tannery Pond promises to be memorable: The phenomenal Miró String Quartet offers a program of
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Review: 'Fall Springs' is a Musical With a MessageBy Nancy Salz, Guest Column
11:49AM / Monday, August 19, 2019 | |
 Can a musical comedy convey a serious message?
"South Pacific" addresses race relations and WWII while also making us smile with "There's Nothing Like A Dame" and "Honey Bun."
Combining two approaches is the difficult goal of the promising new musical "Fall Springs," which is having its world premiere at the Barrington Stage. And they manage to pull it off. Not perfectly, but well enough to provide a very entertaining evening in the theater.
"Fall Springs" is best described as a serious farce – with the themes of fracking, science versus disbelief, and age versus youth. Confused? Perhaps this description of the
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'The Art of Racing in the Rain': Tearjerker & Tail-WaggerBy Michael S. Goldberger, iBerkshires Film Critic
09:19PM / Thursday, August 15, 2019 | |
 'Despite a plot-slowing traffic jam midway and the accumulation of saddening clouds in the later laps that almost turns matters into a dirge, director Simon Curtis's "The Art of Racing in the Rain" featured enough enthusiasm and albeit over-the-top sweetness to win me over. Hey, it's about auto racing and dogs. All that was needed to fully complete my world would be a healthy portion about food. Preferably unhealthy food. But alas, as this PG-rated tale about ambition, love and devotion unabashedly instructs, you can't have everything. Meet Enzo — his namesake being Enzo Ferrari, of course — the golden retriever pup who wins 1 Comment
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