Reviews
The Joy Formidable: Wolf’s Law “This Ladder is Ours” Review
January 31, 2013 | Eric Shapiro“This Ladder is Ours” Review Originally Published on indie shuffle
Alternative rock seems to be making a comeback. With releases like Cloud Nothings’ Wasted Days and the Menzingers’ On The Impossible Past (both released to much acclaim in 2012), a genre that discredited itself with endless sub-par Nirvana and Pearl Jam ripoffs is sailing onto the indie rock radar with the winds of 1990s nostalgia at its back. Read More
Flatiron Hot! Review: “Stoned and Starving” off Parquet Courts Light up Gold
January 17, 2013 | Eric ShapiroOriginally published on indie shuffle
Brooklynites by way of Texas (hence their self-proclaimed label of “Americana Punk”), Parquet Courts fit right in among their noise rock neighbors. Nowhere is this more apparent than on the track “Stoned & Starving.” The subject matter is exactly what it sounds like, but somehow the music is exhilarating where it should be mundane.
Justified Season 4 Premiere: Recap/Review
January 16, 2013 | Eric ShapiroSeason 4 of FX’s Justified starts out just as long-time viewers of the series should expect it to: with a bang (in both senses of the term) and a whole lot of style. At this point in the TV show’s lifespan, the writers and the actors have nailed every character down to the most minor vocal cadences. It’s a credit to the amazing talent behind Justified that its season premiere can hook us while offering no more than a few tantalizing hints about the overall narrative direction. Elmore Leonard couldn’t ask for a better adaptation of his novels.
“Zero Dark Thirty” Review: Torture Controversy in bin-Laden Raid Movie Absurd
January 15, 2013 | Eric ShapiroDirector Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal have caught a lot of flack for their portrayal of torture in Oscar-nominated film Zero Dark Thirty, detailing the operation that resulted in the death of 9/11 mastermind Osama bin-Laden. Ultimately, the controversy says a lot more about the state of Hollywood than it does about the film.
Bigelow handles the loaded issue of torture in a manner in line with her cinematic vision, as witnessed in prior films such as 2008’s The Hurt Locker. That being said, her latest movie harbors, if anything, an anti-torture message, although it requires a bit of discernment on the part of her audience to notice. Fortunately, the Flatiron Hot! News critic is on hand with 800 words of discernment.
Best Tracks of 2012: Bob Mould’s “Star Machine”
January 14, 2013 | Eric ShapiroAfter reading Husker Du frontman Bob Mould’s tell-all tome, See a Little Light: the Trail of Rage and Melody, I got the impression of a man who had, at long last, cast aside the baggage of his early life and reached a basic level of contentment. The title of his latest album, Silver Age, does indeed seem to indicate that the notoriously angst-ridden songwriter has entered a new phase of his life and career. However, anyone looking for a mellower Mould to emerge on his new LP is in for a surprise.
Review: Illuminating Traumas of Slavery, August Wilson’s “Piano Lesson” Strikes Core of American Identity
January 9, 2013 | Eric ShapiroAugust Wilson is often referred to as one of the greatest African American playwrights of the 20th century. He also happens to be one of the greatest playwrights, period. Last night, the Flatiron Hot! News critic saw the latest revival of the Pulitzer Prize-winning “The Piano Lesson” (premiered in 1987 at the Yale Repertory Theater) at the Signature Theatre. The play is not only a poignant snapshot of the African American experience in the 1930s, but an overall sublime work of art relevant to Americans of all races.
Flatiron Hot! Review: Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained
January 4, 2013 | Eric ShapiroThere’s something to be said for an artist who is out to please only himself. But when the product of the ensuing creative narcissism is so arcane as to be unfathomable to those who do not share the artist’s fetishes, then it is deprived of a certain universal quality present in the greatest of art. It has long been said that Quentin Tarantino has abandoned making movies in the traditional sense and has instead taken up the postmodern indulgence of making movies about movies.
To an extent, this has been the case since Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs. Tarantino’s most critically acclaimed and greatest cinematic achievements possessed more than a few elements of pastiche. But beneath all the allusions and arcane stylistic flourishes, one could still discern a beating heart. With Death Proof, which Tarantino correctly deemed his creative low point, the director completely abandoned any pretense of traditional cinematic ambitions with breakneck style over substance.