Reviewing the Drama: Broadway, Off-Broadway, Ballet, Movies, and TV Reviews

Spidey is back, dear readers. Though it’s only been about five years since the last Tobey Maguire-led Spider-Man movie, Marvel comics has opted for a reboot. We now have the aptly named Marc Webb behind the camera and the impressive ( and recent Tony-nominee ) Andrew Garfield in the suit.  The plot of this movie hews pretty closely to previous iterations: We meet the nerdy (and in this case, kind of angsty-emo) Peter Parker (Garfield), an outcast in school. He visits Oscorp and is bitten by a radioactive spider, imbuing him with his spidey senses. He’s in love with a pretty girl, in this case it’s Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). One of his mentors (here it’s his absent father’s former colleague, Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans)) becomes a little overzealous with scientific experimentation. When Dr. Connors experiments on himself, it goes horribly wrong and Peter’s mentor becomes Spider-Man’s nemesis.  I can’t report that this is particularly revelatory, although we do get a l...

American Idiot It’s official: People love Billie Joe Armstrong. His presence in American Idiot last week helped push the box office past the million dollar mark , nearly doubling the show’s gross from the previous week. (He gave a special encore performance when he took his final bow.) It was a boon to the show which is now continuing on with its regularly scheduled cast. Dear readers, please continue to see works like this – works with beautiful artistic expression and cultural relevance – regardless of whether or not there is a “star” on the boards. While I had a phenomenal time watching Billie Joe perform, I am continually impressed, invigorated and inspired by the incredible performances of the “no-name” cast here and in other shows. If a star gets you to see a Broadway show, let the magic of the theatre bring you back time and time again. The Social Network It’s official: People love The Social Network . I did . My parents did. And Peter Travers did . Watch here as he explains ...