48th
Philadelphia
25th
New Hope Arts
Desmond McRory Silverman Gallery
After
How
PUBLISHER
Trina
ADVERTISING
Raina
PRODUCTION
Joanne Smythe
Mariana Giorgino
WRITERS
A.D. Amorosi
Ricardo Barros
Robert
Geoff
Fredricka Maister
David
Keith
Reproduction
MUCH IS MADE OF inspiration in art, and it’s often portrayed as a brilliant burst of ideas and motivation accompanied by a chorus of angelic voices. That’s not how it works with me. I’m inspired when something captures my interest, and I take the time to figure out why I am responding to it as I am. We all have experienced that tap on the shoulder. I examine what about it switched off the autopilot and made me engage, and then I describe what I find.
When I paint from life, it’s a case of paying attention, not so much to the identity of the subject as to what I feel and see during my encounter. I observe and respond to it in real time. Doing that in paint is a developed skill.
Studio paintings are a different process. I’m still responding to something, but it’s not in front of me. It’s a memory, a feeling, a revelation, or something imagined that I’m trying to describe.
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Robert Beck is a painter, writer, lecturer and ex-radio host. His paintings have been featured in more than seventy juried and thirty solo gallery shows, and three solo museum exhibitions. His column has appeared monthly in ICON Magazine since 2005. www.robertbeck.net
STORY &
BY ROBERT BECK
48th Annual Phila. Museum of Art Craft Show Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia 1101 Arch St., Philadelphia, PA Pmacraftshow.org
Nov. 15, 11–7; Nov. 16, 10–6; Nov. 17, 10–5 Preview Gala, November 14
Experience the best in contemporary craft and design by 195 artists from the U.S., plus 24 artists from Italy. Clay, glass, metal, fiber, wood, jewelry, and art to wear, are available for purchase. A fashion event will be held on Nov. 16 at 1:00, featuring wearables and accessories by exhibiting artists.
25th Annual Works in Wood New Hope Arts, 2 Stockton Ave., New Hope215-862-9606 newhopearts.org
Fri., Sat., Sun., noon–5 October 19–December, 2024
This national juried show celebrates the rich cultural heritage of Bucks County woodworking while showcasing contemporary artists from across the U.S. Featuring functional and non-functional works, the exhibit includes furniture, turnings, sculptures, vessels, and more—all using wood as the primary medium. Works in Wood highlights the finest talent today, blending traditional craftsmanship with innovative design.
Desmond McRory Silverman Gallery, 4920 Rte. 202, Buckingham silvermangallery.com 215-794-4300
October 19 – November 17
Opening & meet the artist: 10/19, 5-8; 10/19, 1-4 Wed.-Sat. 11-6, Sun. 11-4, and by appt.
Desmond’s last two years have been focused on preparing the 14 limited edition bronzes, new paintings and collage work. His 2024 exhibition also marks his 10th Anniversary with the Silverman Gallery. Desmond explains, "Bronze casting using the lost wax technique is an ancient method of making sculptures. Partly artistic, partly industrial, the lost wax method yields sculptures with great emotive power. Pairing abstract paintings with representational sculptures seemed an enhancing contrast.
The Self That Was Always There
It’s hard to be authentic
Even harder when one tries Every face that one might wear Hides another in disguise I think the trick might be to change Direction, as one dares Often just to rearrange The things of which one cares Until one finds in such exchange Mirrored into which one stares A pair of eyes no longer strange The self that was always there
The ceramic featured here was made by Querubim Lapa (1925-2016), one of Portugal’s most acclaimed artists, who excelled as a painter, sculptor, and ceramist over the course of his long career. His artistic contributions extended through numerous collaborations with architects, producing dozens of works for public and private buildings in Portugal, principally Lisbon. He also was a highly respected teacher at the Antonio Arrojo School of Decorative Arts, where he introduced widely-followed innovative teaching methods and techniques. The ceramic featured here, which inspired my poem, The Self That Was Always There, has intrigued me for years. Dazzled as I was by the artistry, I only saw the curious blue figure on the left, missing entirely the pale figure on the right, until my partner Sharon pointed it out (she calls the composition “soul kiss”). Instantly, I discovered and identified with the face-to-face composite self that was always there. n
How is an artwork truly one’s own? Especially for early-stage artists, our heroes often prescribe a path forward. We do our best to emulate their example of perfection. We learn and practice their techniques. If we’re fortunate, our work begins to look like theirs. We experience joy in our success, gratitude for the clear path, and sometimes, as it happened to me, a protectiveness of the process.
These are the things I’ve been thinking about as I walk Tilly, the friendliest four-legged creature on our planet. She’s always excited to see me, easy to make happy, relishes play, and sometimes returns a thrown ball. What’s not to love? My wife and I are dog-sitting. We thoroughly enjoy caring for her, yet she is not ours. She has her own home. Tilly is a borrowed dog.
It’s not too farfetched that we might fall in love with Tilly and want to keep her. Of course we can’t, but I easily imagine a universe in which we can. She’d be a family member, and we’d protect her.
And so it is with emulated artwork. We may learn a lot from another artist, enjoy seeing as they see and doing as they do, and be proud to complete a similar work. But that art is not ours. It is a borrowed dog.
The photographer Edward Weston was, and continues to be, my hero. In emulating his work early on, I had a clear protocol for what and how to photograph. His vision was my gospel; I was its protector. By that I mean I had little interest in photographing his subjects differently, and I avoided photographing things he hadn’t already photographed. Doing so would have been heresy, but that didn’t really come up. I was distracted by the flattering attention I received for carrying his torch. It took me years to realize the recognition I received came at the expense of personal growth. I was protecting a borrowed dog.
Then I got lucky. A curator found merit in my figure studies and landscapes and offered me a show. But there was a catch. The photographs had to be portraits. I accepted the challenge, and the new work helped change my life.
Dog sitting is a valuable service that benefits both the owner and the sitter. I encourage all artists to dog sit in their work—but to do so knowingly. Soak up the love, return the critter, and then find your own puppy to nurture. n
Ricardo Barros’ works are in the permanent collections of eleven museums, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He is the author of Facing Sculpture: A Portfolio of Portraits, Sculpture and Related Ideas
GEOFF GEHMAN
Five fun facts about Rod Stewart, who at 79 still wears it well. (1) His concerts include the Faces’ “Ooh La La,” Chaka Khan’s “I’m Every Woman” and “Night Train,” a cut from Swing Fever, his 2023 album of
standards. (2) “Night Train” was recorded by James Brown, who called Stewart the best white soul vocalist. (3) An operation for thyroid cancer led him to sing anew and to crusade to cure childhood diseases. (4) Three Rivers City is the name of his massive scale model of 1940s New York and Pennsylvania railroads. (5) He doesn’t perform “You Wear It Well” live, a crying shame because it’s much better than “Maggie May,” partly because it contains the kick-ass line “Madame Onassis got nothing on you.” (Oct. 23, Wind Creek Event Center, 77 Wind Creek Blvd., Bethlehem; 610-297-7414; windcreekeventcenter.com)
Duran Duran was one of the few ’80s MTV darlings I could stand. Beyond the bad hair and worse costumes were songs — “Rio,” “Hungry Like the Wolf” — with eminently hummable melodies, danceable hooks and sophisticated showmanship. The band’s new CD, Danse Macabre, is a smart collection of covers (“Paint It Black”) and originals (“Black Moonlight,” which features exguitarist Andy Taylor, a survivor of Stage 4 prostate cancer). In
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A.D. AMOROSI
I hate pumpkin latte. I hate pumpkin everything but pie. Wet, constantly slippery falling leaves trip me up. The continued blather about the election is freaking me out. And truthfully, the only great, original and sensational must-be Halloween party on October 31 is Henri David’s Halloween celebration now at the Kimmel Center.
So, how’s your October? Here’s a list of the best of the rest. You can look at The Met Philadelphia and its dynamic schedule for October — stand-up comedian Dane Cook on the 12th, the French electronic duo Air on the 17th and mystery gay alt-country superstar Orville Peck on the 18th — but honestly. Nothing beats Larry David in Conversation on October 22. The mastermind behind Seinfeld and the improvisational, just-ended Curb Your Enthusiasm
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FREDRICKA MAISTER
DDESPITE HAVING PUBLISHED ALMOST 100 essays running the gamut from the mundane to the traumatic and life-changing, I suffer from imposter syndrome. Plagued with insecurity and self-doubt, I don’t consider myself “a real writer” because I consider my creative process out of sync with most writers and at odds with conventional writing wisdom.
It’s not that I don’t acknowledge my hard-won acceptances; I just feel like a fraud for having achieved them by ignoring the writing precepts I’d been taught, such as “If you want to be a writer, write every day,” “Write your first draft in longhand,” or “Permit yourself to write badly.”
Mea culpa! on all counts. I don’t write daily. Weeks can pass without writing a word while I wait for that seed of an exciting idea to rock my consciousness. I don’t write in longhand but rely exclusively on the computer. Because I am a perfectionist and control freak, I am incapable of letting the words and ideas just flow without stopping to rewrite.
Riddled with guilt for my contrarian writing approach, I agonize over whether I should accept my quirky writing habits or change them to become “a real writer?” I suspect there can be no resolution to my selfdoubts unless I share them with other writers and learn about their writing practice.
Who better to consult than my writing group to gain perspective on such matters? So, instead of presenting an essay for critique, I posed questions about the writing process, a topic that, oddly, never comes up in our meetings.
Do you write every day?
I was shocked to learn that writing daily is an aspirational goal. Despite the best intentions, sitting down to write doesn’t always translate into productivity. Just ask Terri, who has transposed her short story collection
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THE SECOND-FLOOR LINEN closet held more than just towels and boxes of soap. There were keepsakes from vacations and long weekends, boxes full of photographs, receipts from our first few years of dating, and folders stuffed with poetry we’d written for each other in college.
After our daughter was born, my wife insisted on getting rid of the clutter, but when we attempted this arduous task, I protested each item’s removal. “You’re a hoarder,” she said, looking helplessly at the overflowing closet. She laughed about it, though, and when she closed the closet door, everything remained right where it was, her campaign lost, but that didn’t weaken the smile we shared as we headed back downstairs.
The last thing I want to do is get out of bed, but there’s nothing in the fridge, and a man’s gotta eat, so I drive to the grocery store and wander the aisles, starved but without appetite, as songs from decades ago play overhead, their singers and songwriters long since expired, and
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into a novel. “I sit at my computer just about every day,” she says, “but I sometimes get distracted and play solitaire or google old boyfriends to see if they are still alive.” Cynthia, a memoir writer, strives to write every day after breakfast. However, she admits, “That doesn’t mean I do it. If I have an appointment or phone call, it goes out the window.” Karen, a travel memoirist, consistently posts her daily “100 Words” on Facebook. In addition, she carves out four hours once a week, preferably in the morning when she’s at her writing best, to work on other projects, rewriting and editing in the days that follow. Asked if she feels she writes enough, Karen responds, “I write as much as I can. I’m busy.”
Jack, who is writing a book about yoga master, B.K.S. Iyengar, writes when he commits to writing a new chapter. He then devotes a few hours every day the week before our group’s deadline to present work. Liz, a memoirist, only writes when she has a deadline. And there is Coree, a prolific storyteller, who likes to write around people and gets a lot of writing done on, of all places, the New York City subway. “I get my $2.75 worth,” she says.
To assuage my shame over not physically writing every day, I tell myself that at least my mind is often in writing mode, developing ideas, creating beginnings, endings and narrative arcs, and resolving word choices. When I finally do face that blank screen, I have a mental blueprint on how to proceed.
approach. “I love to start in longhand. Writing the lead is the hardest part, so I write a paragraph or two, then transfer to the computer. Coree goes even further, writing her first draft, and sometimes her second one, in longhand before revising on the computer.
Do you write your first draft in a stream-of-consciousness way or do you stop to revise?
Except for Jack and me, the members of our group characterize themselves as stream-of-consciousness writers who tune into their writing muse and allow the words to flow. They don’t stop to correct spelling and punctuation or obsess over perfect wording. They give themselves permission to write badly and plow full-steam ahead anyway. The next day, they edit.
Does being a mind writer count?
Do you write in longhand or on the computer?
I’ve read that J. K. Rowling, Stephen King, and Joyce Carol Oates first write their books in longhand. A writing instructor once directed our class to create our first drafts by putting pen to paper rather than typing directly on the computer. I tried her way, but kept ending up with illegible fragments of sentences, so I’ve stuck with technology. As Elizabeth, a writer of poetry and prose, says, “I’m always on the computer. Somehow it frees me up to write and I write even more.”
Phyllis, who writes fiction and non-fiction, subscribes to a hybrid
Sorry, but just bouncing with the flow to create a draft, which I know is “crap,” is not in my wheelhouse. I write like Jack, who says, “I start picking apart and editing almost immediately after I start.”
Despite my nit-picky approach, I do eventually reach “the end,” satisfied with the outcome and grateful for my painstaking effort.
My takeaway
What struck me most from my interview with my writing group is that everyone has their own unique writing process. No one obeys all the “golden rules” of writing, but, unlike me, they persist with confidence and faith in their craft and in themselves as writers. “It’s fun to find out how others approach writing, but no matter what,” says Coree, “I stick to my own way, no matter how crazy!”
So, maybe I should just stop fretting about how I write, stay the course, accept my own process, and claim my identity as a “real writer” who has managed to create a respectable writing portfolio, no mean feat in this tough, competitive publishing world. n
The Deliverance (Dir. Lee Daniels). Starring: Andra Day, Glenn Close, Mo’Nique. The incomparable Lee Daniels puts his uniquely trashy spin on the exorcism flick. Hilariously inspired by a true story, The Deliverance follows steely bi-racial lush Ebony (Andra Day) whose mothering skills are, to put it mildly, not up to snuff. Ebony learned her bad lessons well from her own catty, cancer-stricken mom Alberta, played by a truly shameless Glenn Close in a jaw-dropping succession of fright wigs and ripped stretchy-pants. All this generational bad parenting creates the perfect conditions for the Lord of the Flies to take possession of Ebony’s youngest son and let hellishly loose. An early scene in which the family bonds while watching Valley of the Dolls hints at the register Daniels is after. And he damn near makes it work because of Day’s extremely grounded and affecting per-
formance, which keeps the surrounding craziness in the right kind of check. At heart this is a mother-love melodrama with a peppering of horror and a soupçon of spirituality — quite the strange and always entertaining brew. In another world, her Closeness hissing “I can smell your nappy pussy!” at Ebony would be the Oscar nomination clip to end them all. [R] HHH1/2
A Different Man (Dir. Aaron Schimberg). Starring: Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve, Adam Pearson. Writer-director Aaron Schimberg follows up his excellent dark comedy Chained for Life with a no-less-exceptional follow-up. The canvas is much more expansive: Chained took place almost entirely on a film set; this one spans several locations and decades as it tells the tale of Edward (Sebastian Stan), a facially disfigured man who turns “beautiful” thanks to an experimental surgery and, in the process, loses himself. His object of affection is his nextdoor-neighbor playwright Ingrid (Renate Reinsve), who tries to cap-
Keith Uhlich is a NY-based writer published at Slant Magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, Time Out New York, and ICON. He is a member of the New York Film Critics Circle. His personal website is (All (Parentheses)), accessible at keithuhlich.substack.com. CONTINUED ON PAGE 27
8-1/2 (1963, Federico Fellini, Italy/France)
Pity poor Guido Anselmi (Marcello Mastroianni), the harried film director at the center of Federico Fellini’s meta-masterpiece. His storied career is on a precipice: “What should my next movie be?” is the question that haunts him in dreams and in life, the boundary separating the two realms so indistinct as to be non-existent. Figures from all stages of his being wind their way through his alternately bawdy and bothered mind: Mothers and whores, starlets and saints, carnivorous reporters and a long-suffering spouse (Anouk Aimee, channeling Fellini’s own partner Giulietta Masina) barely keeping it together. A massive spaceport set that seems to extend into infinity (though without a promised rocketship at its center) further suggests the tumult of Guido’s subconscious and the way it is being made manifest. Perhaps the only solution is to give into the chaos, to wrangle it, as in the propulsive climax, into a cathartic dance. Many have tried to emulate Fellini’s work here (Bob Fosse came closest with his magnificently bitter musical All That Jazz). But this unashamedly autobiographical confessional still manages, all these years later, to stand fully apart and on its own. (Streaming on Criterion.)
For a Few Dollars More (1965, Sergio Leone, Italy/Spain/West Germany)
The middle film in Sergio Leone’s epic spaghetti Western trilogy sees the Man with No Name (Clint Eastwood) and fellow bounty hunter Mortimer (Lee Van Cleef) reluctantly team up to capture and/or kill bank robber “El Indio” (Gian Maria Volonté). Plot is, of course, a mere pretext for this great Italian filmmaker who is more concerned with stretching time and space to their tensile breaking points, and sometimes beyond. This elastic sense of motion finds an onscreen surrogate in the pocket watch that changes hands between the characters. The musical chime it plays stokes tragic memories for some and, in the incredible climactic sequence, marks the lengthy seconds before guns are drawn in a duel to the death. (The notes are, of course, courtesy frequent Leone collaborator Ennio Morricone, outdoing himself as per usual.) Eastwood continues to hone the stoical persona that comes to full fruition in the next “Dollars” film The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, while Van Cleef gets the chance to play a rare good-guy role and mine
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concert “Girls on Film” is a killer paired with “Psycho Killer.” (Oct. 21, PPL Center, 701 Hamilton St., Allentown; 484-273-4490; pplcenter.com)
The sixth edition of Touchstone Theatre’s Festival Unbound extends a celebration of Bethlehem’s cultural mosaic to river, sky and alternative abilities. We’re talking a guided canoe trip around Sand Island, star
gazing in a rose garden and a salute to reckless abandon performed by dancers with disabilities. (Oct. 2-6, South and North Bethlehem; 610867-1689; touchstone.org)
An unplanned pregnancy interrupts a fighter pilot’s rocketing career, guiding her to marry a rancher and operate a far-ranging military drone in Las Vegas. Welcome to Grounded, a new Metropolitan Opera scored by Jeanine Tesori, who won Tony awards for score and musical for Kimberly Akimbo. Based on librettist George Brent’s same-named play, the production will be projected on a big screen as part of the Met’s Live in HD series. (Oct. 26, Miller Symphony Hall, 23 N. 6th St., Allentown; 610-432-7961; millersymphonyhall.org)
Count Dracula uses a traveling circus of jugglers, acrobats, contortionists and clowns to mesmerize 19th-century Bohemians into becoming his eternal evil acolytes. Welcome to The Vampire Circus, dreamed up by a Cirque du Soleil veteran and a suitable seductive spook two weeks before All Hallows Eve. (Oct.16, State Theatre, 453 Northampton St., Easton; 800-999-7828; statetheatre.org)
Victor Quijada, the founding choreographer of the Rubberband dance company, returns to performing in Second Chances, shaped by his seesawing life as a first-generation Mexican Los Angeleno. The new piece by the 2024 Guggenheim Fellow shares a program with Trenzado, accompanied by rancheras and corridos, and Commissions Suite, a restaging of works created for troupes in Chicago and Scotland. (Oct. 26, Williams Center for the Arts, Lafayette College, 317 Hamilton St., Easton; 610-330-5009; williamscenter/lafayette.edu)
This month The Sound of Music changes Civic Theatre of Allentown from the House of Sondheim to the House of Rodgers and Hammerstein. Expect first-rate renditions of such first-rate tunes as “My Favorite Things,” “Edelweiss” and “Climb Every Mountain.” (Oct. 11-13, 16, 18-20, 24-27, 519 N. 19th St.; 610-433-8903; civictheatre.com)
Stick Fly, Lydia R. Diamond’s pretzeling dramedy, revolves around two very different girlfriends of African American brothers who duke it out with themselves, a powerful patriarch and a housekeeper’s daughter
during a weekend on Martha’s Vineyard. Heated debates about race and rank make skeletons cavort from closets. (Oct. 11-13, 18-21, 25-27, Pennsylvania Playhouse, 390 Illick’s Mill Rd., Bethlehem; 610-8656665; paplayhouse.org)
Rarely staged in these parts, Carlo Goldoni’s The Servant of Two Masters is the hilarious revolving-door tale of an 18th-century employee who secretly adds an employer to feed his hunger and other creature comforts. (Oct. 11-13, 16-20, DeSales University, 2755 Station Ave., Center Valley; 610-282-3192; desales.edu)
The Boston crème doughnut is a 10-minute meal — at least for a slow, savoring consumer like me. It has a dome of chocolate, a cave of filling, and an airiness that complements its weightiness. It’s one of many hearty, zesty treats at Donerds Donuts in Bethlehem, an ex-laundromat with a firehouse-yellow façade and a window of nerdy cartoon coffee scientists. Other hits include crème brulee, tiramisu, maple/bacon and imitation hamburger. The coffees — hot drip and cold micro-brew — are similarly robust and well balanced. Donerds is the brainchild of Andrew Underwood and Annabel Figueroa, who also run a Jim Thorpe branch. They became a romantic and business couple in her native Santiago, Chile, where their first donut-and-coffee shop was a 1981 VW bus. The shop is now driven by Figueroa’s father, a twist on the usual parent-child automotive exchange. (3 E. 4th St.; 484-655-2885; donerdsdonuts.com) n
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listening to that is so much worse than bearing the silence back home, so I grab a bottle of Jack Daniels and pre-prepared food and leave, carrying two bags full of things I probably won’t eat back into the parking lot, where the howling wind whips against my face as I head toward the car, and I think about finally throwing away the Christmas tree when I get home, but I realize it’ll just sit on the curb and rot, and I don’t know why I’m so anxious to get back home anyway, or why I don’t just drop the grocery bags now, close my eyes, and walk into oncoming traffic, or why I plan to drop the groceries first, why my mind
insists on inserting this detail into the plan, and I wonder if there’s even enough room in my trunk for the groceries, and maybe I should just drop the bags anyway, remove the Jack Daniels, the real reason I came, and walk home with my coat open, a middle finger to this unrelenting winter, and drain the bottle on the way there. The path from store to car was set long ago, though, and I’m a slave to routine, no matter what happened last December, no matter if there is only one person to walk this path now instead of three, and sure enough, when I open the trunk, I see there isn’t enough room for my bags amongst
the boxes of things from the classroom where I used to teach English and the cleaning supplies left over from working during the pandemic and a picture Maggie painted for me and…and… Throw it away.
Maggie’s stroller.
Or just leave it here with the bags.
And then:
But be sure to grab the Jack Daniels.
Maybe I’ll just empty the bottle right here and now and then drive my car into the side of the store, make it look like my wife’s car after the semi plowed into it, but a high-pitched scream steals me away from this thought before it becomes a reality.
Threeå cars over, a little girl is sobbing in her father’s arms as he tries unlatching her umbrella stroller, but he can’t see that his struggles are futile, that the stroller is broken. We actually had one die the same way last summer before we replaced it with this one, and if I still believed in God or fate or any of that nonsense, I’d see this as a sign, as something other than an opportunity to finally rid my life of at least one piece of clutter:
Give the stroller to this man, who naively thinks this is the lowest his day can get. It doesn’t need to rot in a junkyard. Just give it to him and be rid of it.
“Um. Excuse me?” Silence, save for the baby, and her cries rip something from the deepest confines of my mind, something raw and jagged that tears my throat on its way out. “My own little girl…um, she won’t need this anymore, and you’d be doing me a favor if you just took it.” It was my voice breaking when I said “girl,” one word betraying the lie I’m hoping to sell, that my daughter has actually outgrown this stroller, but it’s enough to bring light to those eyes slumbering in the black bags of early parenthood.
My mother was a hoarder, every object a chapter in our story together, and she loved to tell us those yarns again and again as we sifted through the memories she kept stored in the hallway closet. My father was also a hoarder, but in a different way: he held on to his feelings, filed them away, and then shut the door, never to show them the light of day. I inherited my own breed of hoarding from both of them, objects standing in for what I couldn’t say aloud. Yet when that father’s hand leaves his daughter’s arm and grips my shoulder, the door finally opens, and everything I’ve stored in that closet upstairs the last three months comes tumbling out.
“Hey. Hey,” he whispers, my father’s voice with my mother’s tone, and it’s enough. “I’m here. I’m here. Tell me what happened.”
The world blurs, the wind howls, and I sob into this stranger’s jacket, and somehow, I’m still clutching the grocery bags. n
ture his story in an increasingly hall-of-mirrors theatrical production. And his main antagonist is Oswald (Adam Pearson, the neurofibromatosis-afflicted star of both Chained and Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin) who despite his handicap proves to have all the confidence and charm that Edward never did. Schimberg dives headfirst into the knot-
tiness of the story — Stan being an able-bodied performer playing a disabled character is, for one, a feature and not a bug — and emerges with a potent parable about the constraints of a fanciful, and ultimately fascistic, normalcy. [R] HHHH
The Substance (Dir. Coralie Fargeat). Starring: Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid. Aging exercise guru Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) is on the downslope of her career, her glory days effectively buried by the youth-obsessed audience catered to by lecherous studio boss Harvey (Dennis Quaid). (Harvey? Hmm, who could that be refer-
encing?) Happenstance and a journey down a ratty California back alley lead her to a clandestinely manufactured elixir known as The
Substance, which creates — in David Cronenberg-esque fashion — a younger, prettier version of Elisabeth who goes by the mono-moniker Sue (Margaret Qualley). Eternal stardom is now assured. The twist is the women must keep switching bodies every seven days… or else… Graphic, female-centric ultraviolence is the order of the day. And writer-director Coralie Fargeat certainly goes for broke with the karo syrup and the body-wrecking prosthetics, even quoting and doing her darndest to upstage De Palma’s grue-soaked Carrie in the go-for-broke finale. Moore, Quaid, and Qualley are all game, and the film is never less than entertaining. Though by the gory, grimy end it feels like we’ve watched The Picture of Dorian Gray as filtered through the imbecilic, uber-shallow perspective of a Ryan Murphy television production. Cinema this ain’t. [R] HHH
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (Dir. Tim Burton). Starring: Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Jenna Ortega. The ghost with the most returns to wreak havoc in Tim Burton’s overstuffed legacy sequel. Since he was cast into the afterlife at the close of the 1988 original, trickster demon Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) has been pining for Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder), now a reality show host and single mother to estranged daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega). A family tragedy brings the Deetz clan back to the gothic home in which the first film was set and all hell (slowly) breaks loose. Burton and his screenwriters juggle multiple plots, several of which (like the thread involving Monica Belluci as Mr. Juice’s jeal-
ous, Bride of Frankenstein-like ex) feel like they could easily be discarded. What keeps the movie humming, such as it is, are the often lovingly handcrafted sets and otherworldly creatures the characters encounter in the beyond (favorite: the shrunken-headed game hunter Bob, who has become Beetlejuice’s personal assistant and punching bag). Keaton seems to be having fun, but the strain is still evident in his movements and delivery — sadly, he’s not half the wraith he used to be. [PG-13] HH n
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it for emotional depths that clash quite pleasingly with Mortimer’s innate machismo. And as the often drug-addled villain, Volonté finds the tragic depths in his character’s psychopathy, so that even when you’re
rooting for his demise, you can’t help but be moved by how much of a lost and haunted soul he is. (Streaming on Amazon Prime.)
Forty Shades of Blue (2005, Ira Sachs, United States)
The great independent filmmaker Ira Sachs won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance for his second feature, a deeply affecting character study about Laura (Dina Korzun), the trophy girlfriend to Memphis music mogul Alan (Rip Torn). When Alan’s ne’er-do-well son Michael (Darren E. Burrows) comes to visit both he and Laura begin an affair that rocks the foundations of her cloistered world. As in many of
Sachs’s films, the drama is set at a simmer that soon comes to a boil, though the characters’ Southern surroundings maintain an eerie serenity that counterpoints the dramatic highs and lows. Korzun is spectacular as Laura, so fully inhabiting her role that she actually
seems to be living the gilded-cage existence unfolding before us. Torn makes for a superb sparring partner, his bluster masking immense insecurities that fissure as the film goes on. It all builds to a sublime finale that, though it concludes on an ambiguous note, still manages to play as a transcendently liberating moment out of time. (Streaming on MUBI.)
Scanners (1981, David Cronenberg, Canada)
It’s all about the exploding skull: Early in David Cronenberg’s nervejangling sci-fi thriller, a man named Darryl Revok (Michael Ironside) uses telepathic powers to blow up the noggin of one of his fellow “scanners.” These psychokinetically gifted individuals, of which there are a few hundred, are objects of fascination to a private military company overseen by Dr. Paul Ruth (Patrick McGoohan) as well as to a psychotic underground sect of which Revok is a part. Caught between these two extremities is Cameron Vale (Stephen Lack), a vagrant whose scanning powers are so raw that they’ll either drive him mad or come to be tamed (such as they can be). This is Cronenberg at his purest,
delving deep into a world of conspiracies and competing power strugglers, conjuring skin-crawling sights that embed themselves in your subconscious. For the viewer, it all may trigger a mind-blowing of its own, though at least you’ll still have your head at the end of it. (Streaming on Max.) n
CITY / CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12
makes the most delightful cringe-able moments sponge worthy.
The 2024 election cycle blows and we need a good and great laugh at the face of it all. That’s why longtime Philadelphia theater maker and company boss Jennifer Childs has my continued vote. Firstly, as she and her 1812 Productions troupe do on an annual basis, there is Childs’ self-described “SNL meets The Daily Show meets Carol Burnette” newsy revue This is The Week That Is. Complete with weirdly wonky political sketches and straight-faced Weekend Update-like desk reporting, This is The Week That Is always acts as the humorous yearly wrap-up that Philadelphia needs and wants. The switch up this year when 1812’s newsy revue hits Plays and Players Theatre is that it is running a month earlier than its holiday-themed, year-end package. Just in time for the presidential election, This is The Week That Is takes place from October 3–November 3, 2024. That means that voters attending Plays & Players on November 3 stand a fighting chance of knowing the results of the election if they attend the last night’s program. Doubtful, though.
Childs is also the woman behind the Arden Theatre’s hot-button-humoresque POTUS Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive. Written by playwright Selina Fillinger and directed by Childs (at a theater, NOT her own)
POTUS is a West Wind-like look at a President’s mess of a PR nightmare that becomes a global crisis, requiring the minds of seven brilliant Washington women to fish the U.S. out of imminent disaster.
Exotica. Latinx. Big band. French chanson. Spike Jonez. If you ever wish to roll all of that into one kitsch-not-kitsch musical ensemble, bandleader, founder and pianist Thomas Lauderdale’s Pink Martini featuring vocalist China Forbes is for you. Now, on their 30th anniversary tour, Pink Martini plays the big room at the Kimmel Center, the Marian Anderson Hall, on November 2.
Nothing will ever truly touch the original Broadway cast of Hamilton with its composer-book writer Lin Manuel Miranda in the titular role, along with Leslie Odom Jr. and Jonathan Groff re-enacting the cockiest of America’s twilight last gleaming. If ever there was a modern classic with an emphasis on “modern,” Miranda’s constitutional diverse epic is it. But even in its road show iterations such as the Academy of Music’s October 29 - Nov 23 run, the hip hop lyricism of Hamilton will always be a testament to what great musical theater is, and can be. n
BUILDING WILLOW / CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5
It was a sunny morning on the Upper West Side in New York as groups were taking position for the Japan Day parade, and there were drumming squads, martial arts clubs, and flower dancers up and down the cross streets. I saw people in traditional dress everywhere.
The kimonos captured me with their delicate designs and unusual (to this painter) harmonies. The parade blazed with color that ranged from subtle to dramatic. There was a woman on the sidewalk with a version of this design — a wonderful abstraction involving butterflies. The vivid red contrasted the softer pale green in both chroma and value while existing comfortably with the yellow and allowing for the notes of purple and pink. It was a sophisticated visual orchestration. I wanted to work with that.
Objects are always observed in an environment, and sometimes you get to see them in a different location, with different lighting, or with things going on around them. That’s part of how you see them. They have a different appearance in each. Things look as they do because of what is near and around them; without any of that, they are regarded in a contextual vacuum. To not locate the subject of a painting or give it a descriptive background is a missed opportunity to create definition. My kimono needed a person inside it and a place to exist.
I was at a local farm buying vegetables when I glanced between two barns where the view led down a slope to some willows along the creek. There was a coloration, a softness, and a hint of vertical perspective reminiscent of Hokusai prints that made me think it would make a complimentary setting for a Japanese woman wearing the kimono.
That gave me a starting point. I didn’t have a model, but since the figure didn’t have to be a specific person, I could create one to suit the painting. Those three elements — the kimono, the woman, and the environment — had to come together as one. The overall illumination needed to make sense in intensity, direction, and temperature throughout all of it. The setting is outside, so the light and shading conform to those rules. That informed the colors I chose for my palette. I used the harmony from the kimono. It’s like a key in music. You can’t play all the notes; do that and you get noise. The beauty is in how the notes you choose, or colors, work together. Fewer is better, but they don’t have to be simple, basic hues. Complex color harmonies can create a mood that enhances the narrative.
Then there was the question of composition. I wanted it to be asymmetrical, like the design on the kimono. I put the woman off-center to the right, with a large tree to the left and a smaller one to the far right. You zig-zag your way back into the painting. The shadows on the ground stretch across the bottom to keep you from falling out.
A face is always a challenge. By nature, it draws the viewers’ attention and claims the prominent ground. It’s all the same paint, but that symbolic arrangement of brushstrokes dominates the conversation. The artist can’t let it disassociate from the rest of the painting; it must be a unified image. I painted the woman using colors from the kimono. She bears a neutral expression, but not really. It’s that almost-smile that Mona Lisa has. You will know what she thinks in a moment. Maybe.
I noticed that nearly everybody at the parade had a phone in their hand, even those in traditional dress. My original drawing had the figure holding one. I removed it when I thought it might be a distraction, but then I felt something was missing. I put it back because it was one of the things that I noticed and engaged that moment when inspiration tapped me on the shoulder, and I like what it brings to the conversation. n
Unaffiliated voters are growing more spiteful toward both Democrats and Republicans. Male atheists can be differentiated from Christians on the basis of facial cues. Hispanic men view beards of all lengths more favorably than do Iranian men. Scholars unveiled a machine-learning model that can detect Persian hate speech. Dutchwomen in same-sex relationships were more likely to be suspected of crimes than those dating men, whereas Dutchmen in same-sex relationships were less likely to be suspects than those dating women. Men attracted to men who perceive more discrimination in their lives are likelier to experience postcoital dysphoria, and Saudi doctors cured a man of his postejaculatory flu-like symptoms. Human subjects whose mouths were attached to gustatory apparatuses that suctioned out oral cavity fluids and delivered aqueous solutions of Korean hot sauce and Hershey’s hotchocolate powder exhibited the activation of overlapping as well as distinct brain regions in response to pleasure and pain. The diet of Japanese youth is growing more confectionary, and Americans are poisoning themselves more severely. Macaques with lesions on the mediodorsal thalamus display quasi-paranoid behavior. Individuals incarcerated in Texas are 5,000 percent likelier to commit suicide in prebooking than in prison.
A survey of 7 million parliamentary speeches across eight countries and several decades found that politicians use less complex language as it gets hotter, and a bedrock core collected off the California coast suggests that doubling atmospheric CO2 may increase temperatures by 7.2 to 13.9 degrees Celsius. An estimated 135 million premature deaths between 1980 and 2020 can be attributed to fine-particulate pollution. An interdisciplinary team of scientists introduced the metric of the “lake-smoke day” to measure the prevalence of wildfire smoke over lakes, and it was found that California wildfires make weather hotter and drier, leading to more wildfires. Engineers designed a new textile that acts as a heat shield against the infrared radiation of urban heat islands as well as against direct sunlight. Florida scientists were optimistic about the possibility of breeding sweatier Brangus cattle, and Indian scientists investigated the resistance to African swine fever among indigenous Doom pigs. Researchers reported success in developing a human-derived black widow antivenom to replace existent equinederived antibodies. A sixty-two-year-old Florida man in a new romantic relationship presented with increased opioid cravings after taking horny goat weed to boost his libido. Cocaine trafficking was found to threaten the golden-cheeked warbler, and marmalade hoverflies continue to migrate through the Pass of Bujaruelo. 7
Zoologists reported that they were unable to monitor the eye movements of sleeping draughtsboard sharks. The gray whales of the Pacific Coast Feeding Group have been getting shorter over the past quarter century. A study of 3.3 million years of stone tool production suggested that cumulative culture emerged among humans 600,000 years ago. The signature of Earth’s early rain was found inside zircon crystals from the ÍHadean Eon. Cassini’s Permanent Spot likely vanished from Jupiter between the mid-eighteenth and mid-nineteenth centuries, and the Great Red Spot arose at least 190 years ago. Manned missions to Mars would cause irreversible kidney damage.
% change since 2011 in the time 15–24-year-olds spend doing homework: +35
% change since 2002 in the portion of U.S. high school seniors taking the ACT who received perfect scores : +1,700
% change since 2022 in the portion of middle school students who use tobacco products: +47
In the portion of high school students who use nicotine vapes : −29
% of U.S. marijuana users who say they use the drug at least once per day : 35
Portion of adults who say that alcohol use is more harmful than regular marijuana use : 2/3
Number of U.S. weather disasters in the 1980s whose inflation-adjusted damages exceeded $1 billion : 33
Min. number of such disasters that have occurred since January 2023 : 47
% of U.S. adults who say that the country is the best in the world at scientific research : 16
Who say that American democracy sets a good example for other countries : 19
% of Israeli Jews who say that Gazans should have the right to self-governance: 8
Who say that Israel’s use of military force in Gaza has gone too far : 4
Who say that it has not gone far enough : 42
Portion of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank who say that Hamas’s decision to attack Israel on October 7 was “correct” : 2/3
Chance that a U.S. adult is estranged from a family member : 1 in 5
Portion of U.S. adults over 40 who say their best friend is one of their parents : 1/2
Portion of U.S. adults who have gotten married since 2021 who say they “almost called off their wedding” : 1/5
% of Catholic priests ordained in the ‘70s who say that masturbation is always a sin: 18
% of those ordained since 2010 who say so : 75
Portion of approved candidates for ordination this year who were once Boy Scouts: 3/10
Est. portion of U.S. women aged 15–49 who in 2021 had attempted an abortion without medical supervision : 1/20
Est. portion who have done so now : 1/14
% of unsupervised abortions that involve consuming alcohol or another substance : 19
That involve a hit to the stomach : 22
Min. number of tampon brands sold in the U.S. that contain lead or arsenic : 14
% increase since 2018 in the portion of U.S. women who have a prescription for oral birth control: 40
% decrease since 2020 in the population of children under 5 in New York City : 18
Portion of U.S. counties in which the population of children under 5 has decreased in that time : 2/3
Estimated number of U.S. counties without any foreign-born residents : 15
% by which male immigrants are less likely to be jailed than American-born men : 60
By which immigrants are more likely than American-born citizens to start businesses : 80
% of U.S. adults who said they were worried about keeping money in banks after Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2008 : 45
Who say they are worried about doing so now : 48
% by which U.S. adults are more likely to rank the 2020s as the worst economic era in the past century than the 1930s : 39
Factor by which the increase in the average price of a meal at McDonald’s since 2014 has outpaced inflation : 3
Portion of adults who are confident that they can identify scams before falling for them: 1/5
% of U.S. adults who don’t know what a 401(k) is : 43
Who have an idea they think could one day make them rich : 33
Who “have a feeling in their bones” that they will one day win the lottery : 19
SOURCES : 1, Bureau of Labor Statistics (Washington); 2, ACT (Iowa City); 3,4 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta); 5,6 YouGov (NYC); 7,8 National Centers for Environmental Information (Asheville, N.C.) 9, YouGov; 10-13, Pew Research Center (Washington); 14,15 Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (Ramallah); 16, Karl Pillemer, Weill Cornell Medicine (NYC); 17,18 Talker Research (Brooklyn, N.Y.); 19,20 Brad Vermurlen, University of St. Thomas (Houston); 21 Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (Washington); 22-25 Lauren Ralph, University of California, San Francisco; 26 Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health (NYC); 27 Trilliant Health (Brentwood, Tenn.); 28,29 Economic Innovation Group (Washington); 30 Harper’s research; 31 Ran Abramitzky, Stanford University (Stanford, Calif.); 32 Benjamin F. Jones, Northwestern Kellogg School of Management (Evanston, Ill.); 33,34 Gallup (Washington); 35 YouGov; 36 FinanceBuzz (Delray Beach, Fla.); 37-40 Talker Research
The answer to this week’s metapuzzle is a famous band. BY EVAN BIRNHOLZ
ACROSS
1 Like a cappella music
5 Removed, as ice from a windshield
12 Stick around
16 Ability that Dr. Peter Venkman supposedly tested using negative reinforcement, in “Ghostbusters”
19 Gothic lab assistant
20 Occurrence in the film “Twister”
21 “That’s right”
22 P, to Pythagoras
23 Pigment used in Frederic Leighton’s painting “Flaming June”
25 Plane space
27 Vegetable ___
28 ___-straight alliance
29 Caitlin Clark’s org.
30 Quite difficult to find
31 1945 satirical novella that features the revolutionary anthem “Beasts of England”
36 Miniature military vehicles
38 Maintains
39 Any vocal solo in “Aida”
40 NAACP Image Award winner DuVernay
41 Six-legged tunnelers
42 Sevillian’s “sayonara”
45 ___ mater
47 Hamburgers, e.g.
50 Baby ducks, e.g.?
52 Term in linear algebra for the series of entries in a square matrix extending from the top-left corner to the bottom-right corner
57 That woman’s
58 Powder that Michael Jordan clapped in front of Johnny “Red” Kerr during his pregame ritual
59 “Please elaborate”
60 Holy relic site, often
63 Cheeky talk
64 Refusal in Siberia
66 Warm and cozy
67 “The Deliverance” director Daniels
68 “Yeah, sure, you’ve really got me quaking in my boots here!”
72 Kimono sash
73 ___ for the poor
75 Unadulterated
76 Xerox machine stack
77 Targets, as in archery
79 Adds secretly
81 “Peter Pan” dog
82 “Peter Pan” pirate
83 Particles that have gained high levels of
kinetic energy
86 Bursting with joy
90 Get one’s money after gambling
91 “So you conspired against me, too?!”
93 Concealed stockpile
94 Bit of change in a fountain
96 Australian 119 Across
97 Castaway’s rescue vessel
99 Split seed, at times
100 Knifehand strike, familiarly
103 In a state between waking and dreaming
106 Sea that’s been the subject of restoration projects
107 Word after French or open
108 Powdered accessory of 18th-century fashion
109 Apiary insect
110 Legend wielding an ax?
112 Egyptian Islamic scholar who became the grand imam of al-Azhar in 2010
118 “We’re ___ in this together”
119 Nesting creature
120 Closed ecosystem of a 1996 Pauly Shore film
121 Raise, as a child
122 Many a tie-dyed shirt
123 Disorganized situation
124 “Veep” nomination, say
125 Group that developed a useful phonetic code
1 [As written]
2 “Yeesh, that’s awful”
3 Neither/___
4 Gent getting married
5 Blanche’s sister in “A Streetcar Named Desire”
6 Pigeon’s call
7 2022 S. S. Rajamouli epic featuring the song “Naatu Naatu”
8 Predictiveness, to vice presidents
9 Rival of TWA until 1991
10 Creatively provocative 11 Female deer
12 It’s what you’d expect
13 Ute Mountain Ute ___ (Weenuche band of the Ute Nation)
14 Of hearing
15 “That’s right”
16 Off-target
17 Avoids, as one’s duty
18 See stars?
24 Farrow of “The Watcher”
26 Crosspieces beneath some windows
29 Like some wool blankets
31 Literary whale hunter
32 Nothing
33 “You sure?” 34 Unravels, as a rope 35 Needs a sick day
Wizard’s expertise 37 Having a sharp taste 43 “Hey, look who’s here!” 44 Notetaker in court
46 Collect in bulk
48 Person not spending any time anywhere?
49 Athletic clubs just below the majors
51 Cookies-and-cream desserts
53 One who didn’t win
54 Actions to avoid
55 Island home of the Bon Bini Festival
56 Genuine, for short
58 Like house cats
60 Cut sharply, as prices
61 “Welcome!”
62 Mail, as a payment
University football player’s body?
Guess based on one’s gut
“That makes ___”
Cereal with a Red Berries variety
Carnivore’s desire
80 Personal point of view
81 Still in bed
82 Boot blemish
84 Climbing supports
85 Unconfirmed story
86 Endnotes abbr.
87 Moving day adhesive
88 “Ah, gotcha”
89 Bloke
92 “Hamlet” or “Othello”
94 1987 Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee King
95 Prophecy provider
98 Delayed for now
100 24-___ gold
101 “Dolemite Is My Name” star Murphy
102 Beer-brewing merger partner of Molson
103 Athlete’s on-camera shout-out to a parent
104 “Ready, ___, go!”
105 Get the facts, say
108 On a ___ (for fun)
111 Tech company that designed SecureBlue encryption hardware
112 Honest ___ (Lincoln’s nickname)
113 Put on, as a suit
114 Genre in which some musicians may express remorse, and a word aptly found inside “remorse”
115 15 Down, in Congressional votes
116 Enjoy supper
117 “My man!”
