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Archive for the ‘reseña’ Category

stupendous: 24, Season Four

Posted in reseña on April 12, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Just when it seemed that 24 couldn’t get any better, it did. A lot better.

Season Four introduces the usual agonizing plot twists but adds several exceptional new players: ‘Edgar’, Chloe’s geeky (and ample) sidekick, Secretary of Defense Joseph Heller, his daughter Audrey, and the steely, purposeful terrorist Marwan.

Jack Bauer continues as the show’s pivot: preternaturally principled in defense of his country, tactically beyond the pale, always on the edge of love but never quite achieving it.

The show is riveting, compelling, addictive. Superlatives need not apply, we’ve already got most of the available ones on salary and hard at work.

Good grief, this is excellent television, a periodic DVD treat that’s right up there with fried scrapple, my mother’s macaroni and cheese, and just one or two other really good things.

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cattle call: Fogo de Chao, Indianapolis

Posted in my hometown, reseña on March 29, 2009| 4 Comments »

The most memorable dining experience of my life took place in Londrina, Brazil, among a party of twenty friends at one of that South American country’s famed churrascarías. The longing for a repeat performance has lingered in a modest, back-stage sort of way ever since.

With First Son home from his Seattle university, it seemed just the moment. Our party of four first sought out the somewhat budget-priced Brazilian Grill on the Circle City’s north side. FInding only indications that the Grill had gone out of business, I did what any self-respecting, red-meat-craving male with a car full of passengers would have done in my place: turned the Passat’s nose in the direction of downtown’s Fogo de Chao and pushed the pedal. (more…)

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a serious machine for the seriously caffeinated: Cuisinart DCC-2200 Brew Central 14-Cup Coffeemaker

Posted in paterfamilias, reseña, tagged , , on March 24, 2009| 1 Comment »

In our home, a morning without coffee is not anything like a day without sunshine. It’s more like a dark and terrifying nightmare that never ends with a soundtrack of Eagles tunes sung by the young Madonna (‘You can check out anytime you want but you can never, ever leave’).

Much, then, was my joy when the Good Wife determined that the semi-human gasping sounds that accompanied every morning’s brew time on my old coffee maker now justified the purchase of a replacement. Having done her homework, she tracked down a Cuisinart DCC-220 Brew Central 14-Cup Coffeemaker for a song at the local Macy’s. (more…)

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the tradition grows under foot: Haydn (Cello Concertos Nos. 1 and 2, Boccherini, Cello Concerto); Ludovit Kanta, Capella Istropolitana, Peter Breiner (Naxos)

Posted in reseña, tagged , , , , , , , on March 20, 2009| 3 Comments »

The Austrian Joseph Haydn (1731-1798) and the Italian Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805) eased central and southern Europe through its transition from the Baroque to the Classical periods with considerable aplomb. Fortunately, both of these neatly overlapping composers leveraged the potential of the cello in order to do so.

Ludovit Kanta (cellist), the Capella Istropolitana, Peter Breiner (conductor), and a Naxos executive team that must have had its Wheaties here give us an enormously enjoyable version of Haydn’s concertos no. 1 and 2 and Boccherini’s Cello Concerto in B Flat. More controversially, they provided to their contracted artists—alternatively, the latter may have simply taken it—license to let the tradition grow under foot. (more…)

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undocumented: The Bourne Identity (Widescreen Extended Edition)

Posted in reseña, tagged , , , , on January 23, 2009| Leave a Comment »

The chemistry between Franka Potente’s ‘Marie’ and Matt Damon’s ‘Jason Bourne’ sizzles on top the European scenery where it’s left to rest in this film adaptation of Robert Ludlum’s novel. The result is a splendid kickoff to a strong trilogy treating a CIA black op gone bad and, to boot, amnesiac.

My son got me into these flicks. Now there’s no getting out.

A great night’s entertainment here. And the fun has barely begun.

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the autumns of the patriarch: The Godfather DVD Collection (The Godfather/ The Godfather – Part II/ The Godfather – Part III)

Posted in reseña, tagged , , , on January 21, 2009| Leave a Comment »

This breathtaking classic of American film-making frames Francis Ford Coppola as one of the all-time great cinematic craftsmen.

Having inexplicablyl missed out on this piece of Americana at the time of its popularity, this reviewer bought the three-film set in time to finish it just after his fiftieth birthday. It was worth the wait.

This epic saga of a mob family that cannot escape the burden of honor no matter how hard it tries (or, at times, fails to try) does not glorify gangsters or their ways. To the contrary, we grow to pity Michael Corleone for the centuries-old Sicilian trap into which he has unwittingly fallen. (more…)

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legendary indeed: Jazz Legends (Sunday Times Music Collection)

Posted in reseña, tagged , , , , , , , , on January 18, 2009| Leave a Comment »

The compilers of the mid-1980’s Sunday Times Music Collection had the good sense to corral representative works of jazz legends Erroll Garner, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, and Sonny Rollins on to this short-length CD.

All eight tracks shine, but the preternaturally talented Gillespie and the cool-plodding Monk take honors.

It is amazing to consider the down-and-out venues where music of this caliber was being made in this way at a time in American history when most of the artists recorded here were barred from the posh joints for reasons of color. Two days from the date of this short review, we inaugurate a Black president …

Cool.

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por no saber decir ‘te necesito’: Joaquín Sabina, Nos Sobran Los Motivos

Posted in reseña, tagged , , , on January 18, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Joaquín Sabina, his band, and his audience shine on this 2001 double-CD live performance. The first disk is labeled acústico, the second eléctrico. Both display Sabina’s captivating stage presence and his knack for telling the story of regular people caught up by irregular forces like that of love itself. This balladesque touch puts one in mind of Juan Luís Guerra, a very different musician but a close cousin when it comes to musical narrative touched with glimmers of Latin America’s signature realismo fantástico.

‘Yo me bajo en Atocha’ is a stunningly beautiful tribute to the enigma that is Madrid. ‘Princesa’ is as bitter and biting as ‘Atocha’ is fluid with exquisite nostalgia. (more…)

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Sting meets Dowland halfway: Sting, Songs from the Labyrinth

Posted in reseña, tagged , , on January 4, 2009| Leave a Comment »

If I did not hold Sting’s 2006 Deutsche Grammophon recording of the 16-17th centuries’ John Dowland’s lute-accompanied music in my hands, I would not believe that the British rock star had truly attempted to pull this one off.

But I do, and he has.

And not to bad effect, either. Unlike may Sting critics who seem to think the man should stay in his rut, I admire his constant rebellion against the artistic expectations to which we admirers of his art may want to hold him. I like his audacious impertinence.

I just didn’t expect this. (more…)

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and on the third day there was … um … guys singing *really* well: Straight No Chaser: Holiday Spirits

Posted in reseña, tagged , , on January 3, 2009| Leave a Comment »

One of the great 2008 musical stories is the resurrection tale involving a bunch of college dudes of yore (well, actually, not that many years ago) who reunited their Indiana University combo long enough to grab the attention of a record executive who offered them a multi-album deal that, fortunately, began with this Christmas sendoff.

Simply put, Straight No Chaser is sensational a cappella music which the boys clearly have fun making. (more…)

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