Category Archives: Cinema, video & DVDs

Being There revisited, with a little help from Mahler

Posted on January 16, 2022 by barczablog

I could use any old film I watched on television for the point I’m about to make. Last night Erika and I watched Being There (1979). Hal Ashby’s film is based on a best-selling novel from 1970 by Jerzy Kosiński … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Music and musicology, Popular music & culture, Psychology and perception | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Missing church

Posted on January 1, 2022 by barczablog

The last thing I posted had the word “missing” in the title. A few days ago I wrote a rambly thing as I thought about a canceled show and one of its canceled performers, pushed off the stage by contagious … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, domestic & wild, Books & Literature, Cinema, video & DVDs, My mother, Personal ruminations & essays, Spirituality & Religion, Sports | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

A gift from Mel Brooks

Posted on December 21, 2021 by barczablog

It’s been a brutal week of artistic companies facing eviction, shows postponed or cancelled on both side of the Atlantic, an upward spiral of statistics inspiring the panicky pursuit of boosters, masks and safety. It’s not what you expect in … Continue reading →

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Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun

Posted on December 12, 2021 by barczablog

This is more appreciation than review. If you’ve never seen a Wes Anderson film this will read differently than to those familiar with his style. The title, subject and structure of Wes Anderson’s film The French Dispatch of the Liberty, … Continue reading →

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Confronting mortality: AtG /COC Mozart Requiem

Posted on December 4, 2021 by barczablog

The pandemic is simultaneously new in its requirements and yet old in once again reminding us of our ultimate destiny. Modern science may blind us to history’s lessons. The images on the tray in this picture come from Täby kyrka, … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews, Spirituality & Religion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Tafelmusik Christmas

Posted on November 26, 2021 by barczablog

Do you remember how, at the end of It’s a Wonderful Life (that great film encouraging us to be grateful, to appreciate what we have): George Bailey celebrates and appreciates a return to normalcy after the end of his nightmare? … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Music and musicology, Personal ruminations & essays, Reviews, Spirituality & Religion | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Be Not Too Bold: COC Schicchi

Posted on November 1, 2021 by barczablog

The headline is the inevitable result of a weekend watching and comparing two different virtual offerings from two opera companies, one much bolder than the other. Yesterday’s Opera Atelier headline aims to praise what’s praiseworthy, so I used the word … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Opera, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Bold Angel from Opera Atelier

Posted on October 31, 2021 by barczablog

Opera Atelier’s new film of Angel –fully-staged and filmed at St. Lawrence Hall—will be streaming until Friday, November 12. Angel is a bold experiment. I’m not sure how to describe the work, an interesting mixture of styles and idioms that … Continue reading →

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ARC Ensemble –Dmitri Klebanov Chamber Works

Posted on October 26, 2021 by barczablog

Exile doesn’t just occur when you’re distant from your homeland. What about artists ignored or silenced inside their country? I never thought of it that way before reading Simon Wynberg’s excellent essay in the liner notes to ARC Ensemble’s new … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Dance, theatre & musicals, Music and musicology, Politics, Reviews, University life | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Nicole Lizée Undisrupted: A Guide to The Orchestra

Posted on September 30, 2021 by barczablog

Is “undisrupted” a word? We have disturbed and undisturbed, disputable and indisputable. As far as I can tell the best way to understand undisrupted is in its use as the title of a series on CBC Gem:“In this ground-breaking video … Continue reading →

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