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In Film…
One of the best films of the year, says Noah Gittell, is directed by a 68-year-old first-time filmmaker and is about her dog. As Gittell says in his review, Laurie Anderson‘s Heart of a Dog “is a singular and occasionally stunning work of personal art.” So get yourself to Landmark’s Bethesda Row to catch it this weekend.
Also opening at Landmark’s Bethesda Row is Stig Björkman‘s documentary about ’40s Hollywood starlet Ingrid Bergman. But Ingrid Bergman In Her Own Words isn’t just a sweeping profile of the actor’s life and work—it’s focused on her affair with director Roberto Rossellini and how the media vilified her for it. As Tricia Olszewski writes, in Björkman’s film, “Bergman comes across as strong, free-spirited, restless, and true to herself, from the time she first left Sweden for Hollywood until her death in 1982.”
In Theater…
Last year, Theatre J’s Ari Roth unceremoniously parted ways with the influential theater company, only to bounce back—less than a year later—with a new company, Mosaic Theater. But Mosaic’s debut production, Unexplored Interior, may not be the best start for Roth’s post-Theatre J career. As Rebecca Ritzel asks in her review, “why the hell is there a Mark Twain impersonator stumbling around onstage during a play about the Rwandan genocide?” This is just the beginning of the problems that plague this tone-deaf play by Jay O. Sanders.
In Art…
The National Museum of Women in the Arts’ latest exhibition, “Pathmakers: Women in Art, Craft, and Design, Midcentury and Today,” aims to trace the history of women craft makers from the ’50s to the present. It does, but as Elena Goukassian points out, the strength of the exhibit comes from its older pieces, in which “many of the artists featured in the historical section knew each other and were part of a larger, intentional community of women artists who mentored and supported one another.”
In Music…
On City Paper‘s cover this week is local pop-punk trio The Max Levine Ensemble, who is not only celebrating 15 years as a band, but its first new album in eight years. As Leor Galil writes, Backlash, Baby‘s “pop-punk glee is as much a necessity as its frazzled energy and engine-revving guitars.” The band will play record release show Sunday at Black Cat with Sundials and Maneuvers, so be sure to check that out.
Avant-pop trio Swings‘ new album, Sugarwater, may be hard to approach, but that doesn’t make it any less mesmerizing. In Dean Essner‘s review of the local band’s sophomore album, “Sugarwater may have inherited its sonic DNA from ’90s slowcore bands like Slint and Bedhead, but the album’s mood is damn near impossible to sum up, making it a strange and exciting piece of music to listen to.” Swings play a record release show on Dec. 4 at the Songbyrd Music House and Record Cafe.