8.1.10
FILM REVIEW: The Kids Are All Right
Review by Seth Rogovoy of Berkshire Living Magazine
7.15.10
FILM REVIEW: I Am Love
Review by Seth Rogovoy of Berkshire Living Magazine
6.22.10
FILM REVIEW: Please Give
Review by Seth Rogovoy of Berkshire Living Magazine
6.11.10
He's Your Handyman
Call Peter Vernon for just about anything you need done around the house or garden
6.3.10
Prime Minister Netanyahu's Statment Regarding the Gaza Blockade Action
4.21.10
FILM REVIEW: Hannah Takes the Stairs (2007)
Review by Seth Rogovoy of Berkshire Living Magazine
4.17.10
CONCERT REVIEW: Jakob Dylan at the Egg, Albany, N.Y.
Review by Seth Rogovoy of Berkshire Living Magazine
4.16.10
BOOK REVIEW: The Ask by Sam Lipsyte
Review by Seth Rogovoy of Berkshire Living Magazine
4.16.10
MUSIC REVIEW: Shawn Colvin at the Mahaiwe
Review by Seth Rogovoy of Berkshire Living Magazine
12.29.08
Israel's Gaza Defense
WALL ST JOURNAL: The more damage to Hamas, the better the chances for peace.
3.8.10
Berkshire Living Finalist for Six National Awards
One of only nine magazines in the nation to win six or more nominations
2.18.10
Community Radio Station Gets Full-Power License
WBCR to become regional powerhouse in three years
2.15.10
[Eagle Watch] Whoops! They did it again.
Berkshire Eagle headline contradicts story
2.11.10
FILM REVIEW: Crazy Heart
by Seth Rogovoy of Berkshire Living Magazine
1.20.10
The Filibuster Fiasco
The majority party must wield the reins of power delivered unto it by the people
1.20.10
The Filibuster Fiasco
The majority party must wield the reins of power delivered unto it by the people
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FILM REVIEW: Hannah Takes the Stairs (2007)
4.21.10
Greta Gerwig in "Hannah Takes the Stairs"
Hannah Takes the Stairs (2007)
Dir. by Joe swanberg
Starring Greta Gerwig
Regarding Greta Gerwig, who writes, acts, and even plays trumpet in this film: No female actor has ever reminded me so much of Marlon Brando in her reliance on naturalism -- which is, as we know, the greatest artifice of all, and the most difficult to pull off.
I don't want to give anything away, but Gerwig even seemingly acknowledges her debt to Brando here, inventing a bit of business at one point in the film that comes right out of The Godfather, when she playfully puts something in her mouth that could be Brando's cotton balls and/or the sliced orange peel in the garden death scene.
And the same can be said of the writing in this film -- it's almost 'non-writing' which, in order to pull off (as I think they do -- but that is the question that will obviously split viewers and critics), is as incredibly difficult to do successfully as the acting.
This is an incredibly modest film -- insular, with only a few roles, and less 'plot' rather than 'scenes' that do, in fact, reveal character and change over time.
If it weren't for the compelling performances, the heartbreakingly realistic emotional struggles of the characters, and the wit and ingenuity of the dialogue and the setups, it wouldn't work. But it has them all, and mostly, it has Greta Gerwig, who has an uncanny sense of how the camera sees her, and seemingly totally un-self-consciously uses that to her -- and our -- advantage.
Seth Rogovoy is Berkshire Living's award-winning editor-in-chief and cultural critic.
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