Reviews
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‘Ohio State Murders’ Broadway Review: Audra McDonald Offers a Study in Controlled Rage
Playwright Adrienne Kennedy makes a powerful, very belated Broadway debut
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By Robert Hofler -
‘Empire of Light’ Review: Sam Mendes’ Love Letter to Cinema Lacks Focus
This reverie on movie palaces often forgets the part about actually loving film, among many other script issues
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‘Let the Little Light Shine’ Film Review: Black Chicago Students Fight for Their School and Their Futures
A powerful palliative to racist narratives of the city, this doc spotlights brilliant and committed students and teachers fighting for what’s right
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‘Emancipation’ Review: Will Smith Slavery Saga Challenges Audiences With Grueling Cruelty
The script focuses on the physical and spiritual brutality endured by Smith’s real-life character without addressing the man’s actual humanity
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‘To the End’ Review: Eco-Documentary Finds Inspiration in Young Activists
Rachel Lears’ follow-up to “Knock Down the House” is less focused, if no less passionate
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‘All the Beauty and the Bloodshed’ Review: Stirring Doc Intertwines the DNA of Nan Goldin’s Art and Activism
Laura Poitras’ Golden Lion–winner tracks the artist’s life and her commitment to taking on the Sackler family’s presence in the museum world
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‘Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio’ Review: Bold, Dark and Funny Reimagining Dances to Its Own Tune
Brave children (and brave adults) will embrace this gorgeous and sinister stop-motion version that’s far more del Toro than Disney
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‘Loudmouth’ Review: Rev. Al Sharpton Doc Wavers Between Inspirational and Meek
The controversial activist speaks for himself as this documentary’s only interviewee, leaving much under-discussed and uncriticized
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‘Something From Tiffany’s’ Review: The Sparkle Is Missing From This Holiday Rom-Com
Even the charm of Zoey Deutch and Kendrick Sampson can’t elevate this run-of-the-mill, but beautifully mounted, Christmas love story
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‘Retrograde’ Review: Visceral Doc Puts Viewers Squarely Inside the U.S. Withdrawal From Afghanistan
The director of “Cartel Land” and “The First Wave” offers no easy answers about the end of the war, just the haunting faces of those involved
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‘The Far Country’ Off Broadway Review: Lloyd Suh’s Play Explores the Horrors of the Other Ellis Island
Chinese immigrants faced prisonlike conditions and intense interrogations at San Francisco Bay’s Angel Island
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By Robert Hofler -
‘Your Own Personal Exegesis’ Off Broadway Review: This Passion Play Is Really Passionate
Organized religion takes a hit in Julia May Jonas’ sly, new comedy
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By Robert Hofler -
‘Becky Nurse of Salem’ Off Broadway Review: ‘The Crucible’ Collides With ‘Hocus Pocus’
Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe take the blame in Sarah Ruhl’s new play
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By Robert Hofler -
‘George & Tammy’ Review: Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain Shine (and Sing) in Showtime Series
A pair of stellar performances makes this six-part biopic limited series worth watching
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‘A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical’ Review: A Bio-Musical That Tries So Hard, So Hard, So Hard
Will Swenson drops his voice to sub-gravel and dons a Cher tour’s worth of sequins to play the pop-rock legend