Arts - The Dartmouth

Arts

Review: 'The Laundromat' a disjointed, lackluster chronicle

By Shera Bhala | November 5, 2019

Wealth can create vicious cycles. The more money a person earns, the more scared they become of losing it, and, as such, they resort to extreme measures to protect their money. The scandal of the Panama Papers — the leaked documents exposing the offshore businesses of many wealthy individuals, of which some were shell companies used for the illegal purposes of fraud and tax evasion — details such extreme measures, making for an unbelievable chronicle that is the premise for “The Laundromat.”

Arts

Review: HBO’s ‘Watchmen’ an engaging, original series

By James Cronin | November 1, 2019

“Watchmen” seems like HBO’s first attempt at a replacement TV show for “Game of Thrones.” Even before the disappointing finale of “Game of Thrones” which aired this May, it seems HBO has been clamoring to produce a new hit show to keep their subscribers. My verdict on whether or not “Watchmen” has the ability to do just that is — being only two episodes into the season — hard to say, but it’s at least off to a good start.

Arts

Student Spotlight: Nicholas Gutierrez '20 shines as a playwright

By Elizabeth Garrison | October 31, 2019

Nicholas Gutierrez ’20 is involved in anything and everything creative at Dartmouth. Gutierrez, a native of Miami, FL, is a playwright, actor, film projectionist, opera singer and leader. As a film and theater modified with anthropology and geography double major with a minor in linguistics, his passion for pursing diverse interests goes beyond his extensive extracurricular involvements. In his work as a playwright, Gutierrez has staged two of his plays with the theater department. He is also acting in the theater department’s fall mainstage production of “The Living” and is a singer with the Dartmouth Opera Lab.

Arts

Symposium at the Hood showcases the dynamic museum field

By Macy Toppan | October 29, 2019

Last weekend, the Hood Museum hosted its third and final reopening event, a symposium featuring panels and guest speakers composed of Dartmouth alumni. With curators from large, internationally renowned institutions and small, academic-focused museums, as well as directors of memorial museums and nonprofit foundations, the museum hosted alumni from near and far in a celebration of and conversation about the world of museum work.

Arts

Sally Pinkas and Evan Hirsch join forces for a lively piano concert

By Veronica Winham | October 29, 2019

This evening, dynamic piano duo Sally Pinkas and Evan Hirsch will perform a set of fun and lively dance music in the Spaulding Auditorium. Pinkas is a music professor and pianist-in-residence at Dartmouth, and Hirsch, her husband, teaches piano and chamber music at Brandeis University.

Arts

Review: 'Jesus Is King' lacks Kanye's usual brilliance

By Jack Hargrove | October 29, 2019

For fans of Kanye West, there is nothing in the world more stressful than when he announces a new album. Kanye’s album rollouts are never anything less than a full-blown spectacle, often containing controversial statements, ill-conceived actions, pushed-back release dates and even major changes made to both the album’s title and content. After scandals like the “Imma let you finish” fiasco with Taylor Swift leading up to 2010’s “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” the numerous name changes to 2016’s “The Life of Pablo” and Kanye’s public embrace of Donald Trump before 2018’s “Ye,” veteran Kanye fans thought that nothing else he could do would surprise them.

Arts

Review: Season 5 of ‘Peaky Blinders’ a study of ambition, ethics

By Emma Guo | October 25, 2019

Set after World War I, “Peaky Blinders,” the fifth season of which came out this month, is centered around the Shelbys, a Romani family who have made their name as gangsters in the streets of Birmingham, England. At the head of the family is Thomas (Tommy) Shelby, played by Cillian Murphy, a ruthless and overly logical patriarch who, at the end of season four, becomes a newly minted member of Parliament to fulfill his longtime goal of becoming a legitimate business owner and politician who speaks for the people. While the show maintains its focus on the Shelbys’ endeavors to cultivate power and protect their own, the fifth season adds depth to the show in its discussion of mental health and morality.

Arts

Q&A with AAAS, theater professor and activist Shamell Bell

By Mia Russo | October 24, 2019

Shamell Bell, an original member of the Black Lives Matter movement, brings forth her experience as a community organizer and advocate for black activism as a lecturer in the African and African American studies and theater departments. She is currently teaching THEA 1, “Introduction to Theater” and THEA 21, “Race, Gender and Performance.”

Arts

Carla Bley and the Coast Jazz Orchestra offer a fresh take on jazz

By Kendall Milender | October 22, 2019

A wise man once said, “Come for the music, stay for the message.” For those who attended musician Carla Bley’s performance with the Coast Jazz Orchestra, formerly known as the Barbary Coast Jazz Ensemble, last Saturday night in Spaulding Auditorium, this parable rings true.

Arts

Q&A with studio art professor and architect Zenovia Toloudi

By Shera Bhala | October 22, 2019

Studio art professor Zenovia Toloudi’s “Technoutopias” series is currently on display in the Jaffe-Friede and Strauss Galleries, located in the Hopkins Center. An architect and artist, Toloudi explores the interactions, or lack thereof, between humans and public spaces in her current exhibit. Her work uses various materials and techniques to show this relationship and the impact of architecture on social interactions and the civil self. Toloudi said she hopes that spectators will appreciate the importance of architecture and its ability to alter interactions. Collaborative architectural structures, as seen through “Technoutopias,” encourage communication and meaningful conversations. In an interview with The Dartmouth, Toloudi discusses “Technoutopias,” her process of creation and her ultimate artistic vision.

Arts

Student Spotlight: Adam Riegler ’20 a director with an acting past

By Veronica Winham | October 18, 2019

Before coming to the woods of New Hampshire for college, Adam Riegler ’20 found his love for theater on some of the biggest stages in New York. From acting on Broadway to directing at Dartmouth, Riegler’s upcoming show “Red Speedo,” which will premiere on a Dartmouth stage on Nov. 15, will draw on his lifetime of experience with theater.

Arts

Review: 'The Politician' has promise, does not deliver

By Nicole Aboodi | October 18, 2019

Everyone can enjoy watching a teenager who’s struggling with an identity crisis on TV. What’s not so fun to watch is a show that itself is struggling with an identity crisis. “The Politician” is striving for the former, but has ended up with the latter. The result is a show having an identity crisis about a gaggle of teens who are similarly confused.

Arts

First women on campus featured in film on coeducation

By Lauren Segal and Mia Nelson | October 17, 2019

It is not a well-known fact that Dartmouth hosted a small cohort of women exchange students starting in 1968 before its official inception as a coeducational institution in the fall of 1972. In recent years, Dartmouth has nearly equal numbers of women and men, a norm that is in part due to these trailblazers who made the first incursions onto Dartmouth’s all-male campus and shaped Dartmouth into the school it is today.

Arts

Review: Post Malone’s ‘Hollywood’s Bleeding’ features melancholic tunes

By Shera Bhala | October 17, 2019

Fall is the season of change. Musically, Post Malone has changed from a hardcore rap/pop mogul to a gentle sad boy with his new album “Hollywood’s Bleeding,” released earlier this fall. His third album reflects complex emotions of melancholia and regret, differing profoundly from the aggressive, angry lyrics of his past two albums.

Arts

Review: 'Norman F—ing Rockwell' balances style and substance

By Jack Hargrove | October 15, 2019

“Norman F—ing Rockwell!” is easily Lana Del Rey’s best work to date. Upon its reveal, the cover art of “NFR!” created a considerable amount of controversy within Lana Del Rey’s fanbase. While her previous covers all use similar bold fonts for the title of the album and feature cinematic images of Del Rey alone with a car and wearing white, conservative outfits, “NFR!” goes in a different direction.

Arts

Review: Netflix’s ‘Big Mouth’ shares what growing up means today

By Lex Kang | October 15, 2019

I’ve followed Netflix’s animated series “Big Mouth” since it debuted in 2017. I’ve loved every minute of it since, including its third season, which was released on Oct. 4. But I know that it rubs some people the wrong way, and I can see why it does. The sexual jokes are blatant and graphic — which can feel especially inappropriate considering that the characters are middle schoolers — and visually, the show is a tad more grotesque than your typical animation.

Arts

Review: ‘Cherry’ by Nico Walker an honest story of addiction

By Lucy Turnipseed | October 10, 2019

It’s strange to say, but I did not notice the narrator had no name the entire time I was reading Nico Walker’s novel “Cherry.” It was only when I sat down to write this review that I realized the person whose deepest thoughts I had been reading was unnamed to me, however fictional or autobiographical he may be. “Cherry” quickly became a nationwide sensation, debuting on the New York Times best seller list immediately after its release in 2018. Currently serving a prison sentence for bank robbery, Walker wrote his novel behind bars and is on track to be released in 2020.

Arts

Review: 'Joker' fails to live up to its artistic aspirations

By Sebastian Wurzrainer | October 8, 2019

“Joker” is not the most boring film I’ve seen all year. Nor is it the most poorly made. Nevertheless, “Joker” is probably the worst film I’ve seen in 2019, or at least the one I despised the most. Indeed, the fact that it is neither boring nor poorly made ultimately ends up highlighting the stark divide between the film’s artistic ambitions and the shallow execution of the story it thinks it’s trying to tell.

Arts

UChicago professor speaks at Hood on intersection of art and race

By Macy Toppan and Kendall Milender | October 8, 2019

What is contemporary art? For some, it’s Pollocks and Picassos and Poliakoffs. For others, it is the senseless combination of shape and color. For University of Chicago art history professor Darby English, it’s a conversation. Last Thursday, students, faculty and members of the Hanover community gathered to hear English speak in the Hood Museum of Art’s Gilman Auditorium for the annual Dr. Allen Root Contemporary Art Distinguished Lectureship, a forum established in 2004 that focuses on celebrating and educating the community about modern art through a variety of lenses.

Arts

Review: ‘Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood’ an affectionate satire

By Shera Bhala | October 4, 2019

Welcome to 1969 Hollywood. Retro buildings, vintage cars and neon signs line Hollywood Boulevard. Men dress in bell bottoms, patterned shirts and turtlenecks with blazers. Women wear miniskirts and vinyl, knee-high boots. Flower children don bohemian outfits of the counterculture movement. The Quentin Tarantino-directed movie “Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood” pictures these vintage scenes through rose-colored glasses.