Stories related to: reviews

When wine lovers say they taste notes of cherries or hints of tobacco, “usually all I can detect is a whole lot of jackass,” Joel Stein writes in the LA Times . Wine dialogue has devolved into a meaningless string of obscure scents, Stein says. It’s boring—too boring even to make fun of—and it says virtually nothing about the wine. More »

Redbelt can’t quite score a knockout with critics. While many find much to admire in David Mamet’s fight movie, most also concede it’s a flawed affair, and some outright disliked it. In the New York Times , Manohla Dargis described it as “a satisfying, unexpectedly involving B-movie,” that sadly “never marshals its estimable parts, its exciting fight sequences and juicy side characters into a transcendent whole.” More »

Cry-Baby, the latest broadway musical based on a John Waters movie, is tasteless—and not in the good way, writes Ben Brantley in the New York Times . It’s not offensive, it just has no flavor. Its 1950s bad-boy-meets-good-girl premise is tired, and James Snyder can’t match Johnny Depp’s portrayal of the Elvis-esque title character. “The performers all seem like good kids impersonating bad kids for kicks.” More »

Cosmetic surgery is out of control, TV critic Mary McNamara contends in the Los Angeles Times , and it's time to break the taboo of talking about it in mainstream criticism. TV reviews shouldn’t descend into blogospheric dissections of cosmetic work, but obvious surgery not connected to an actor’s role “can affect not only their performance but the whole tone of the show.” More »

Pick a number, any number: Maxim 's 2.5-star rating—out of 5—for the Black Crowes' latest album was little more than a guess, the magazine admitted yesterday. No advanced copies were released, the San Francisco Chronicle reports, but that didn't stop Maxim's critic from decreeing in the March issue that Warpaint "hasn't left Chris Robinson and the gang much room for growth." More »

Entering its last season, HBO's urban drama The Wire "succeeds strikingly at getting what's wrong just right," Tom Shales writes in the Washington Post . “Written and acted to the highest standards of the best TV drama,” the show has dealt with drugs, job loss, and school troubles, and now explores the trials of a major newspaper. More »

You want to find a new place to stay/eat/visit, but how can you trust the online reviews when they could be faked by the owner? Travel + Leisure has a few suggestions for filtering out the self-interested imposters: Ad copy clichés like "affordable elegant serenity." Vague praise instead of specific anecdotes. Industry jargon like "accommodations" and "amenities."    More »