Seymour: An Introduction, the new documentary from actor/director Ethan Hawke, focuses on pianist Seymour Bernstein, but it’s really an in-depth look at the search for greatness. Without taking attention away from Bernstein, who’s given a treatment bordering on hagiographic—and deservedly so—the film becomes a guide to those seeking answers to[Read More…]
Articles by Max Joseph
Pop Rhetoric: Oscar backlash misses the mark
The 2015 Oscar nominations were announced recently, and with them came the inevitable hand-wringing that always accompanies news regarding the awards. Many critics cried racism, and the news was generally treated by denizens of the internet as symptomatic of the gross racial inequalities that continue to plague North America and[Read More…]
TV Reviews
Downton Abbey Downton Abbey has gained a solid and loyal following throughout its four seasons, mainly consisting of—from my experience—an older female demographic. However, I myself have kept up with the show, and have discovered some male friends who shyly profess their love for the British soap opera. This bashfulness[Read More…]
Wrapping Up the Holidays
The McGill Tribune arts team presents an overview of the movies and music you may have missed over the break.
Pop Rhetoric: Got Blues?
“I am the worst thing since Elvis Presley/ To do black music so selfishly/ And use it to get myself wealthy” — Eminem
The man who knew too much
If it’s the story at the heart of Citizenfour that gives the documentary its breathtaking urgency, it’s the film’s multilayered nature that makes a powerful statement on the modern relationship between a government and its citizens. Both a stunningly intimate character study and a larger, more global overview of governmental[Read More…]
Pop Rhetoric: The death of dialogue
The Death of Klinghoffer, composer John Adams’s opera about the Palestinian Liberation Front’s 1985 hijacking of passenger ship MS Achille Lauro and subsequent murder of handicap passenger Leon Klinghoffer, began its run at New York’s Metropolitan Opera Monday night.
Godard says goodbye to cohesion
Whereas other filmmakers have used 3D as a way to immerse us in their worlds, legendary director Jean-Luc Godard utilizes it to emphasize disconnect in his latest film, Goodbye to Language. While you can’t help but feel close to the dogs, flowers, and nude bodies that pop out at you,[Read More…]
Billy howls into obscurity
There’s not much subtlety in Fabien Cloutier’s Governor General’s Award-nominated play Billy (The Days of Howling)—currently making its English language debut at Theatre La Chapelle—nor does that seem to be the playwright’s goal. Rather, Cloutier aims to explore the themes of delusion, judgement, and class relations, all of which he[Read More…]
Album Review: Flying Lotus – You’re Dead!
You’re Dead!, the latest album from musician-producer Flying Lotus, is one that stubbornly refuses to adhere to the limitations of genre. Whether it’s the walking bass at the end of “Tesla,” the distorted guitar riffs that open “Cold Dead,” or the 8-bit sounds on “Dead Man’s Tetris,” Flying Lotus is[Read More…]
Reality bites: Spike Lee’s latest finds the writer-director in new territory
Spike Lee’s work has always been deeply concerned with issues of race and class. It’s most apparent in the acclaimed director’s iconic films like Do the Right Thing (1989) or Malcolm X (1992), which showcase the topics as their central themes, but he even manages to sneak them into ostensibly[Read More…]
Spike Lee speaks at press conference after receiving inaugural MIBFF Pioneer Award
Legendary director Spike Lee was at Boulevard National Wednesday afternoon as part of the 10th annual Montreal International Black Film Festival (MIBFF) to answer questions, promote his new film, and discuss the festival’s Pioneer Award—of which he’ll be the inaugural recipient. The award, as described in a MIBFF press release,[Read More…]
“Can You Feel that B-A-S-S Bass?”
“Is it possible for me to fairly review the Outkast reunion?” This thought had been lingering in the back of my mind ever since I knew that I’d be covering the first night of Osheaga, when the famed, deeply strange Atlanta hip-hop duo would be bringing their 40-stop reunion tour[Read More…]
“Galaxy” quest
Early on in Guardians of the Galaxy, the latest Marvel Comics film, we hear the Blue Swede cover of “Hooked on a Feeling.” While it’s not necessarily a reference to Quentin Tarantino’s classic debut of Reservoir Dogs,which featured the tune, it’s certainly a strong possibility, given the age of Guardians director and[Read More…]
These American lives
The opening credit sequence of Richard Linklater’s latest film, Boyhood, is shot from the perspective of the main character Mason Jr. (Ellar Coltrane, 6 years old at the time) as he looks up into a blue sky. It’s a moment of calm before the stormier events and emotions that lie[Read More…]