Genetically altered rock
Larval’s cryptic instrumental meddling maps the unknown on John Zorn’s label.
Reggae rebel
Despite the fall of apartheid, South Africa’s Lucky Dube has plenty of injustice to rail against.
Two facets of the jazz diamond, Part 1
Hank Crawford makes you feel it.
Two facets of the jazz diamond, Part 2
Roscoe Mitchell finds the universe in a grain of sound.
G.I. Jane
In 1980, Hollywood depicted a woman in military training as a comedy, but by 1997 that same subject is no laughing matter. A great deal has changed between the humorous basic training of Private Benjamin and the grueling, torturous Navy SEAL training detailed in G.I. Jane. Women in the military (onscreen and off) are demanding…
Giovanni’s Ristorante Inc.
After a rebuilding, results are stunning and the food needs no improvement. Handmade pastas, the best veal Marsala around, as well as chicken and seafood dishes. The mostly Italian wine list is the perfect accompaniment, and the service is friendly and correct at the same time.
Mario’s Restaurant
It’s been 50 years since Mario Lelli opened this inviting Italian spot where generations of theatergoers have enjoyed multicourse meals. This is exactly the kind of place people think of when they think Italian restaurant. All the favorites from veal Tosca and spaghetti Bolognese to shrimp scampi and chicken cacciatore are served by a competent…
Queen of Sheba
Amenities are few in this bare-bones storefront, but the prices are a steal. Order a combo platter so you can try all the dishes, served on a huge platter and scooped up with spongy injera bread and fingers. Spicy cabbage, red lentils, yellow peas, beef, lamb stew, spinach–the colors and the juices mingle beautifully.
Career Girls
British director-writer Mike Leigh is in danger of becoming the maestro of actorly tics. Although his method of cobbling his scenarios out of improvisational sessions with his players has yielded a series of sharply observed comedy-dramas — the most fully realized one being 1991’s Life Is Sweet — it also encourages his actors to rely…
A world bugging out
Mimic is a picture that makes us ask the big questions — at least two. Question No. 1: Why did Guillermo Del Toro (who previously made Cronos) bother making this film? Does the world really need another genre-hopping pastiche? A kind of don’t-look-in-the-basement-alien-thing-meets-the-body-snatchers-swarm sort of story, as told by Gregor Samsa? (Remember Gregor, the guy…
Irma Vep
French writer-director Olivier Assayas’ second feature Irma Vep is both a film-lover’s film — a movie about moviemaking punctuated by some sidelong pensées concerning the state of French cinema — and a kinetic entertainment, fast-paced and glossed with hand-held immediacy. Aging director René Vidal (Jean-Pierre Léaud) has decided to do a remake of a famous…
