The Music Lovers - RIP Ken Russell

The day before the sad news of British filmmaker Ken Russell's death, I posted this review of his thrillingly over-the-top Tchaikovsky biopic The Music Lovers over at Cinema Sentries. Like much of Russell's work, this film hasn't got the respect it deserves and was dumped onto MGM's Limited Edition burn-on-demand line. One hopes he receives more recognition in the wake of his death.

Rushmore — the Criterion Collection Blu-ray

One of Criterion's early releases — and the Wes Anderson film that opened the Anderson-Criterion floodgates — finally gets the bump to Blu-ray, and the results are glorious. My review of the disc is up at Cinema Sentries.

Sylvia at Seattle Repertory Theatre

Alban Dennis and Linda K. Morris in Sylvia. Photo courtesy of Seattle Repertory Theatre.

The prospect of a woman playing a lab-poodle mix who interacts in plain English with her owners sounds a little hokey, but A.R. Gurney's humorous and philosophical Sylvia, now on stage at Seattle Repertory Theatre through Dec. 11, delighted both the dog-lover and theater-goer in me. My review is up at Blogcritics.

Blitzen Trapper and Dawes at the Neptune Theatre

Blitzen Trapper at the Neptune Theatre in Seattle, 11/11/11.
Photo by Dusty Somers.

I finally made it to the newly repurposed Neptune Theatre for Friday's co-headlining Blitzen Trapper and Dawes show, where opener The Belle Brigade surpassed one of the main acts. Which one? Head on over to Blogcritics to check out my review of the show and see photos of all three acts after the jump.

Annie Get Your Gun at Village Theatre

Photo by Jay Koh. Courtesy of Village Theatre.

After an underwhelming season opener in new musical Take Me America (review here), Village Theatre returned with a bona fide classic, Irving Berlin's enduring Annie Get Your Gun. Performing the 1999 revival version of the show, Village's staging is immensely charming. I review the show at Blogcritics.

Expressionistic Horror and Romantic Futility from Criterion

I take a look at two of Criterion's October releases over at Cinema Sentries: Kaneto Shindo's spooky, feudal-era horror Kuroneko and Michelangelo Antonioni's unsung late-period film Identification of a Woman.