new work.

A few new posts in NYU Local, the alternative NYU news outlet. First, I did a play review of David Mamet’s Speed-the-Plow, which has a Broadway revival running at the Barrymore right now. Then, I did a movie review of Zack & Miri Make a Porno, Kevin Smith’s funny yet flawed homage to Judd Apatow. More recently, they published my review of a recent Gutter Twins show and another of a Lifehouse concert on the Intrepid.

In upcoming posts, I hope to cover concerts by the psychedelic Middle Eastern-influenced post rock band Grails as well as a double headliner by sludge heavyweights Baroness and Minsk. The latter should be an interesting show because its two bands come at sludge from pretty disparate backgrounds — Baroness has Georgian Southern rock origins, while Minsk is more rooted in grim, atmospheric, Neurosis-style post metal with tribal-drums.

In other news, I finally saw W. yesterday. I think it worked on the same level as a good political cartoon, with its telling caricatures of people and events. I had heard that it was more sympathetic to Dubya than most people would think, and I agree, but I think most liberals share Oliver Stone’s view that #43 is not so much an evil supervillain as a misguided, underqualified, easily manipulated soul unfit for presidency. Stone succeeds in conveying that, with the help of Josh Brolin, whose squinty-eyed demeanor is almost as good as Will Ferrel’s Bush impersonation.

-Derrick