Celebrating Community
Usually people thinking about Ancient Egypt (3150-50 BC) imagine wide deserts in Africa with giant pyramids and sphinxes, gods and mummies near the Nile, but there’s a big piece of Egypt in the city from where I write monthly for the Star-Revue, namely Turin, which is in the northwest portion of Italy. Here, 2000 miles away from Egypt, there’s a […]
Review of The Street by Ann Petry Review by Michael Quinn Even successful books, continuously in print for generations, eventually fade into the background. New editions, repackaged with fresh cover art and introductions by contemporary authors, give us reason to see them with fresh eyes. Such is the case with The Street, Ann Petry’s critically-acclaimed 1946 novel (with an insightful […]
The Origins of Lovecraft Country Lovecraft Country is one of HBO’s newest series based on author Matt Ruff’s 2016 best-selling novel, Lovecraft Country. Both the series and novel reference the work of another famous author, HP Lovecraft (Howard Phillips Lovecraft) whose earlier works made use of themes that dehumanized people of color. However, the HBO series created by Horror […]
Tired of Netflix and chill? Miss going to the movies? Maybe you just need a change of scenery? Well, good news. After more than 50 years, the New York Film Festival is finally coming to the boroughs. But you’ll need to gas up your wheels, book your Zipcar, or lock down a rental to attend. The 58th NYFF runs September […]
My last in person museum experience was at the MoMa in February. As the months have passed and the pandemic still rages on, I have been eager to engage with new art in an immersive way. UNTITLED’s (a contemporary art fair organizer) inaugural VR art fair, UNTITLED Art Online (running from July 29th through August 9th), looked like a promising […]
In Donald Trump’s America, there’s no wall between reality and screenland. When he lazily entered the 2016 presidential race on a golden Trump Tower escalator, it resembled a dress rehearsal for an SNL parody of The Apprentice. Scenes of Black Lives Matter protestors gassed by riot police and refugee children at the southern border packed into chain-link cages could have […]
Review of The Paperback Guy: Words from the Sidewalk by Kurt Brokaw For over thirty years of Sundays, Kurt Brokaw has hauled a table to Broadway (somewhere between Lincoln Center and specialty food store Zabar’s) to set up shop on the sidewalk. He’s there to sell his collection of pulp fiction magazines and vintage paperbacks from the ‘40s and ‘50s. […]
Nearly 60 years ago, Associated Press reporter Malcolm Browne was sent to Saigon to report on the conflict between the Communist North and American-backed South. He was soon joined in the AP bureau by Peter Arnett and photojournalist Horst Faas, and they found themselves competing with upstart UPI reporter Neil Sheehan and brash New York Times journalist David Halberstam on […]
Review of Trixie and Katya’s Guide to Modern Womanhood by Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamolodchikova by Michael Quinn In the tradition of great comedy duos that include Bill and Ted, Beevis and Butt-Head and Abbott and Costello, Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamolodchikova bring playfulness, nuttiness, and irreverent, off-the-wall humor to the lifestyle and self-help space with Trixie and Katya’s Guide […]
The New York City art scene has been finding ways to thrive in the middle of this pandemic. Kentler International Drawing Space, which has been on Van Brunt Street in Red Hook since 1990, has figured out ways to continue to dialogue with the public. Their latest show, In Reflection: Selections from the Kentler Flatfiles went live on their website […]