Results tagged “review”

If you see enough theater on a regular basis, you eventually develop an intuitive sense which tells you, usually within the first first couple of seconds, whether you're going to be grabbed by the lapels or hogtied for a long, hard slog. Sadly, the latter is much more common than the former, which is why I understand most people's reluctance to take a chance on theater. But a ticket to Clybourne Park, the acerbic new comedy by Bruce Norris, is an eminently shrewd investment, like buying a brownstone in prime Park Slope in 1959, when the play's first act takes place. more ›

NY Times theater critic Ben Brantley flew to London with his claws out to see the premiere of the sequel to Phantom of the Opera, and his bitchy pan doesn't disappoint. Set in Coney Island and titled Love Never Dies, the production is such a pretentious, boring mess that Andrew Lloyd Webber "might as well have a 'kick me' sign pasted to his backside... This poor sap of a show feels as eager to be walloped as a clown in a carnival dunking booth." But be AWARE; this isn't just London's problem: The spectacle is slated to open on Broadway in November, at which point we can look forward to more satisfying critical derision—with any luck the reviews will be as entertaining as the scathing Young Frankenstein pans of 2007! more ›

This week Sam Sifton at the Times upgrades Strip House, the swank Greenwich Village steak house, to two stars. (The paper last reviewed it in 2000.) "William Grimes, in a review for Times that year, wrote that Strip House 'wasn’t so much a steakhouse as a catalog of hip references to the idea of a steakhouse.' He awarded the restaurant one star. Now it deserves two," Sifton declares. "Age has given David Rockwell’s design for the room a kind of gravitas, and with it the restaurant has gained some of the clubby appeal you used to be able to find at places like Gino, on Lexington Avenue, which has a similar layout, or in the bar room at 21. (As at 21, there is great fun to be had in snooping about the place. In addition to portraits of Viennese strippers, torch singers and ancient celebrities on the walls, there is a signed portrait of Thurgood Marshall near the bar.)... And the food is generally marvelous, the steak often superb." more ›

This week Sam Sifton at the Times bestows zero stars on Choptank, the new Chesapeake Bay-themed restaurant in the Village. In Times parlance, zero stars (out a potential four) means "satisfactory," but Sifton is not satisfied, and he really unloads on what he perceives to be the restaurant's affected preppy posturing: "The restaurant evokes the Chesapeake region in the way that dorm rooms at Johns Hopkins do: Duck Head khakis in the dresser and lacrosse sticks leaning against the des..." Peel-and-eat shrimp is served "as neatly stacked as socks from the Gap, a full dozen meaty, slightly overdone fatties wedged into a heavy serving tray. The effect is jarring, as if Mrs. Astor had served you a New York hot dog on silver plate, then nodded ever so pointedly toward your knife and fork." But "seriously, dude: awesome fries." more ›

Click on the film stills for more info and reviews on this week's new releases and repertory screenings, which include Cop Out, The Crazies, A Prophet, Formosa Betrayed, Prodigal Sons, Toe to Toe, The Yellow Handkerchief, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Five Easy Pieces, and Point Break. more ›

If it were possible to assemble a substantial evening of theater out of clever one-liners, gifted actors and crackling chemistry, Douglas Carter Beane's new comedy Mrs. & Mrs. Fitch would be a smashing success. Starring the equally adept John Lithgow and Jennifer Ehle, the story (which is the weak link here) concerns two married Manhattan gossip columnists who, feeling the heat from those infernal "blooooooggggs," resort to unorthodox methods to maintain their fading relevance. Desperate for a hot item after a night of fruitless party-hopping, they decide to simply conjure one up out of thin air, fictionalizing a chance encounter with a hunky young actor bound for stardom. A few tweets and reblogs later, and suddenly, presto, everyone wants a piece of this kid, even though he doesn't exist. more ›

Under a new plan, some cops accused of wrongdoing won't face internal NYPD reviews, but prosecution from outside attorneys who specialize in police misconduct. According to the Daily News, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said the Civilian Complaint Review Board now has authority to charge and prosecute officers in some cases when civilians file complaints. The Times reports that the board currently investigates cases and refers them to police for prosecution, though the NYPD only prosecutes some cases. The New York Civil Liberties Union says the new policy isn't "real reform" and could be "an empty gesture" because civilian lawyers will only be able to "prosecute a small number of cases handpicked by the NYPD." more ›

Click on the stills for more details and reviews on this week's new releases and repertory screenings, which include Shutter Island, The Ghost Writer, The Good Guy, Happy Tears, Celine: Through the Eyes of the World, Phyllis and Harold, Oscar Nominated Short Film Series, Cannibal Holocaust, Starship Troopers, and The Red Shoes more ›

This week Sam Sifton at the Times upgraded untrendy Italian restaurant Novitá from one star to two, calling it "a perfect neighborhood trattoria." The neighborhood is Gramercy, the city New York, and "in any other metropolis in North America, it would be well known among that city’s best places to eat. In many cities, it would sit atop the heap. But in New York, a lot of people have never heard of the place. (How cool is that?) This is testament to the strength of our restaurant scene, to the sheer abundance of good restaurants here. And Novitá is a very good restaurant." The Times Dining section also highlights Ghanaian restaurant Papaye in the Bronx as a great "$25 and under" option, noting that it "may challenge your expectations as well as your dexterity, but it can be deeply satisfying." more ›

Of all the performing arts, theater has a tendency to be the most unbearable. You can easily walk out of most concerts, and with dance there's usually at least a certain technical proficiency to be admired. But particularly in small Off Broadway theaters—where, ironically, the potential for magnificence is greatest—it's almost impossible to escape without causing a major disruption. When theater stinks, which is often, you've usually got no choice but to suffer through it without anesthetic, as time slows to a crawl and your captors torment you with boredom. more ›

This week Sam Sifton revisited Aretsky's Patroon, which he deems the meeting place of the "modern American Mad Men." This is eating for the powerful, with "steaks the size of weights at the gym" served under photographs of old New York. Aretsky's remains a standby in midtown, with the food still holding its own after nearly 15 years. "Grilled smoked prawns, with roasted tomato vinaigrette and a pillow of mâche ($19), are as close to a good cigar as you’re going to find in a foodstuff," and the perfectly carved Porterhouse is "a sign that the old boy has a little life in him yet." more ›

David Greenspan is one of the most entertaining actors working in New York theater. We've previously enjoyed his sly, intelligent performances in The Beebo Brinker Chronicles and The Dinner Party, and he's currently back on stage in a revival of his solo show The Myopia. Like his award-winning turn in The Argument, which was a surprisingly engaging staging of Aristotle's 2,200-yearold lecture, The Myopia is nothing but Greenspan. The only set pieces are a bottle of water and a chair, in which Greenspan is confined for the entire two hour production. more ›

Click on the film stills for details and reviews of this week's new releases and repertory screenings, which include: Edge of Darkness, When in Rome, Saint John of Las Vegas, 44 Inch Chest, North Face, Off and Running, Evil Dead, Seven Samurai, and The Shining. more ›

Like Jay Cheshes and Steve Cuozzo before him, NY Times critic Sam Sifton has panned haughty uptown restaurant Le Caprice, which is the first U.S. outpost of the equally exclusive Le Caprice in London. "Those taking advantage of online booking systems will discover that the restaurant generally allows customers tables only before 6 p.m. or after 10 p.m," writes Sifton in his first zero star review. "Telephone calls, meanwhile, can lead to holding patterns that rival those of the cable company. A walk-in diner may be told, despite the sparse crowd in attendance, that there is an hour’s wait for a table, and that seats at the bar are 'for reservations only.'" Which is too bad, because it's a pretty mod bar. more ›

I'll admit it: I've taken my sweet time Googling for the perfect picture of Scarlett Johansson to accompany Gothamist stories on the starlet, and while I was curious find out whether she could hold her own in her Broadway debut, I figured it would at least be an opportunity to gawk for a couple of hours. But the real surprise in the current revival of A View From the Bridge isn't that Johansson's acting chops are legit, but that Liev Schreiber's performance is so riveting that you forget to ogle her. more ›

Click on the film stills for details and reviews of this week's new releases and repertory screenings, which include To Save a Life, Extraordinary Measures, The Tooth Fairy, Legion, The Girl on the Train, Creation, A Room and a Half, The Paranoids, The Room (supposedly the "worst movie ever"), Jurassic Park, Leonard Cohen: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970, and Ed Ed Wood's Bride of the Monster.
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Pork "is at the heart of the menu" in the Gramercy Park Hotel's new Maialino, says Sam Sifton, in a two-star review. Danny Meyer's new trattoria "looks like a Pottery Barn. But the bar is custom work: elegant and spare. It’s as pleasant a place for a breakfast coffee or lunch salad as for an evening glass of Frascati." Maialino serves classics from spaghetti alla carbonara to stracciatella, but the showpieces are the pork-inspired dishes. "Loin, belly, ribs and shoulder, these become the restaurant’s centerpiece meal, maialino al forno, which appears only to be listed as a special to avoid having a $72 entree on a menu that otherwise tops out at $32....pork at its best." more ›

Click on the film stills for details and reviews on this week's new releases and repertory screenings, which include The Book of Eli, The Spy Next Door, Fish Tank, Carmel, Our Daily Bread, Hausu,Labyrinth, and Showgirls. more ›

"It’s Hogwarts for hipsters," writes the Times's Sam Sifton in his favorable review of The Breslin, a gastropub in the Ace Hotel that's operated by April Bloomfield and Ken Friedman, both of The Spotted Pig fame. Over multiple visits (including room service—nice work if you can get it!) Sifton is charmed by all the fatty comfort food like smoked pork belly "that’s been roasted to tender goo, for instance, over a drift of buttery mashed potatoes, with cabbage and bacon on the side"; and "the pig’s foot...a non-negotiable one-time order for those who eat feet." But then there are the delayed after-effects: "The Breslin is the sort of restaurant you end up thinking about a lot, not always pleasantly, staring up at the ceiling at 3 in the morning in cold sweat and mild panic... Excess can become wretched, and fast. It’s cool to hook up with the Breslin, especially if you’re lucky enough to sit in one of the semiprivate nooks near the open kitchen. But we should see other people. It would be death to be a regular there." more ›

Click on the images for reviews of three productions in this year's indispensable Under the Radar festival, which gathers genre-bending performers from around the world for a twelve day envelope-pushing extravaganza. It ends next Sunday, January 17th. more ›

Click on the film stills for details and reviews on this week's new releases and repertory screenings, which include Youth in Revolt, Daybreakers, Leap Year, Wonderful World, Bitch Slap, A Year Ago In Winter, Crazy on the Outside, em>Garbage Dreams, Waiting for Armageddon, Sweetgrass, Flooding With Love for the Kid, Stray Dog, and The Thing. more ›

The new proprietors of Casa Lever, the Milanese reboot of the defunct Lever House in midtown, have made the restaurant "warmer," and "Lever House’s spaceship vibe has been highlighted with wood trim, chandeliers, little red tables up front, soft carpets beneath the feet," says Sam Sifton at the Times in a two star review. "Is an appetizer of seared scallops with white asparagus and black truffle a good use of $18? That’s a question to wrestle, and there’s no correct answer. It’s the culinary equivalent of wondering whether Ferragamo shoes are worth the scratch. If they are to you, they are. The scallops are certainly well cooked." The Times also reports that Dos Toros Taqueria by Union Square "brings to mind the sort of fresh, quick and cheap eating found at Mexican joints in the San Francisco Bay Area." more ›

Click on the film stills for more details and reviews on this weekend's new releases and repertory screenings, which include Case 39, The White Ribbon, The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond, Old Partner, The Chaser, The Muppet Movie, and Taxi Driver. more ›

This week Sam Sifton at the Times files a positive review of Purple Yam, a Filipino restaurant in Ditmas Park that formerly operated under a different name (Cendrillon) in Soho with the same chef/owner (Romy Dorotan). Sifton deems it "a perfect neighborhood restaurant. True to its aesthetic, the menu is resistant to easy division into appetizers and main courses. There are kimchis and chutneys to order. There are vegetables and side dishes. There is pig—almost every part of it. And there are Cendrillon classics, ranging from a sublime chicken adobo to a faintly ridiculous wild-boar pizza." more ›

Click on the photos for Gothamist's top ten favorite theatrical productions of 2009. Last year, of course, we couldn't stop talking about Passing Strange, but this year's highly subjective list is notably devoid of musicals. (Unfortunately, we haven't seen Fela!) Two of these ten were unforgettable, site-specific odysseys—one on a bus through the Bronx, the other on a boat that went nowhere. Just two happened on Broadway—one with A-list stars, the other with brilliant yet relatively unknown downtown actors. (Both narrowly edged out the excellent revival of Waiting for Godot starring John Goodman, Nathan Lane and Bill Irwin.) more ›

Click on the film stills for more details and reviews on this weekend's new releases and repertory screenings, which include Sherlock Holmes; The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus; It's Complicated; Police, Adjective; Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel; Christmas in July; Christmas on Mars; Back to the Future; Spaceballs; Blazing Saddles; and The Hurt Locker. more ›

This week Sam Sifton at the Times swoons over the 47-year-old French restaurant La Grenouille, which was last reviewed by the paper in 1993, and received three stars. Sifton upholds the rating status quo, while declaring it "the last great French restaurant in New York... The revelations start early. A waiter brings an amuse-bouche, perhaps more perfunctorily than is currently normal in most New York restaurants... 'This is a split pea soup,' he says. The offering is roughly four spoonfuls’ worth. Each is a cloud of magnificent flavor — salt that raises the vegetal from its depths, cream that makes it buoyant. It lingers on the tongue. The tiny dish expands the mind." more ›

On a deliberately cheap stage (footlights made from soup cans, lavish curtains painted on canvas), two actors are currently performing what is probably the most unique twist on Romeo and Juliet in history. The script is not Shakespeare's; it's derived from hours of recorded telephone conversations of people recounting what they remember about the play, which most haven't revisited since high school. In the telling, new characters are created (like Euristhepiss, Romeo's flamboyent friend), the poetry is mangled (Where DOTH my Romeo? Juliet is the sky, and I am the sun!"), and gaps in recollection are filled with inspired invention. Digress, memory! more ›

This week Sam Sifton at the Times files a twofer on impresario Jeffrey Chodorow's restaurants Tanuki Tavern and Ed's Chowder House. This is exciting because Chodorow famously bought full page ads in the Times after Sifton's predecessor, Frank Bruni, slammed his ventures Kobe Club and Wild Salmon. But instead of publishing separate reviews (and raking in twice the ad revenue), Sifton's consolidated, one star critique issues merits and demerits to both restaurants. At Tanuki Tavern, a plate of corn and white miso tempura cakes are "like something out of a fantasy high school cafeteria: sweet, crunchy and addictive." But Ed's Chowder House serves skate that tastes like ammonia and "a rubbery dish of 'moist grilled lobster' with 'spaghetti vegetables & lemon butter sauce' that might as well have been shipped direct from a grim summer wedding in a beachside catering mill." Daaaaamn! You gonna take that, Chodorow? more ›

Click on the film stills for more details on reviews on this week's new releases and repertory screenings, which also include Invictus; The Lovely Bones; A Single Man; Slammin' Salmon; My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?;Yesterday was a Lie; Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year; Black Christmas; You Can't Take It With You; and Don't Look Back. more ›