Arts

Arts

'Imitation Game' cracks code of good filmmaking

By Abigail Feldman | December 1

Only about six months after the first computer supposedly passed the Turing test -- Alan Turing’s test for determining whether a machine can be said to "think" -- “The Imitation Game” (2014) is here to shed light on the unsung champion of World War II and the man who laid much of the groundwork for modern computer science. Despite a heavy-handed and somewhat confusing script, adapted from Andrew Hodges' biography, “Alan Turing: The Enigma” (1983), the film is an enjoyably informative and beautifully acted portrait of Turing’s complex contribution to WWII.

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Arts

MFA exhibition, 'Pure Souls,' offers enlightenment about one of world's oldest religions

By Elza Lambergs | December 1

From Aug. 9 to Nov. 30, Gallery 178 in the Asian Painting Gallery at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA) was home to a selection of India’s most sacred paintings and manuscripts. The exhibition, "Pure Souls: The Jain Path to Perfection," brought together these works of art to represent ...

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Arts

'State of Affairs' a strange new political drama

By Drew Robertson | November 30

Katherine Heigl, the actress formerly known as Izzie Stevens, has made her return to television. NBC’s newest drama, “State of Affairs,” which premiered on Nov. 17, stars Heigl as the series’ main character, Charleston (Charlie) Tucker.Charlie and her coworkers at the Central Intelligence Agency ...

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Arts

The story behind 'Rosewater': Maziar Bahari speaks on citizen journalism, solitary confinement

By Kumar Ramanathan | November 30

Sitting in a hotel room in downtown Boston, Maziar Bahari looked incredibly relaxed for someone who had spent the past several days answering questions about the six months he endured in an Iranian maximum security prison as a political prisoner. An Iranian-Canadian journalist, Bahari was arrested in ...

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Arts

'She Loves Me' transports audience into world of the parfumerie

By Grace Hoyt | November 25

This weekend, Torn Ticket II gave three performances of “She Loves Me,” directed by senior Allison Benko, with music by Jerry Bock and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. The musical, which premiered on Broadway in 1963, is an adaptation of the play, "Parfumerie"(1937) by Miklos Laszlo, which formed ...

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Arts

'Trip to Bountiful' explores complicated family dynamics, the complexity of memory

By Josh Podolsky | November 25

Some plays are entertaining; others are exceptional. ArtsEmerson's production of Horton Foote’s "The Trip to Bountiful"(1954) is most definitely in the latter group -- it's an exceptional play in many regards. Now, just before Thanksgiving, "The Trip to Bountiful" is particularly ...

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Music

Parkay Quarts channels digital discontent in newest album 'Content Nausea'

By Anjali Nair | November 25

It’s nearly impossible to find a band today that rejects the lure of social media as adamantly as the Brooklyn quartetParquet Courts. While the vast majority of popular artists (and even those who operate under the radar, for that matter) succumb to the supposedly indisputable claim that digital ...

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Music

RL Grime's 'VOID' straddles genres and takes them for a ride

By Timothy Charouk | November 23

Henry Steinway began releasing smash club hits under the name Clockwork, producing remixes of songs by the big dogs of the EDM scene like Avicii. He found some success under the Clockwork moniker, but his connection to the work he produced sometimes seemed tenuous. He now seeks to establish himself ...

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Columns

Back-alley bookstores

By Helen Schmidt | November 23

My favorite place to spend time is a bookstore. Some true book snobs will tell you Barnes & Noble is not an acceptable book buying experience, but for me, just being surrounded by books is wonderful. Libraries have the same effect, but only in bookstores do I see significant damage to my wallet ...

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Arts

Activist duo DarkMatter use humor to promote social awareness

By Priyanka Dharampuriya | November 23

Tufts Asian American Alliance (AAA) and South Asian Political Action Committee (SAPAC) co-hosted the spoken word duo DarkMatter for a performance in Sophia Gordon on Nov. 15. titled #ItGetsBitter. The show explores issues at the intersection of LGBT rights and South Asian diasporic experiences.The duo ...

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Arts

'Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1' explores emotional side of rebellion

By Grace Segers | November 23

The film adaptations of “The Hunger Games” series have followed in the footsteps of the franchises of “Harry Potter” and “Twilight” by splitting the series' final book-to-movie adaptation into two separate films. “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1” premiered on Nov. 21, and ...

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Arts

One Direction plateaus on fourth studio album 'FOUR'

By Veronica Little | November 20

The fourth studio album from the overnight boy-band wonder One Direction, “FOUR,” will undoubtedly be met with laughter in “sophisticated” musical circles. Released on Nov. 17, the band's most recent attempt will just as certainly be met with adulation and excitement among its slew of adolescent ...

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Arts

Taylor Swift versus Spotify: is streaming the future?

By Charlotte Gilliland | November 20

You probably heard -- perhaps while trying to stream “1989,” Taylor Swift’s new album, released on Oct. 27  -- that Swift herself removed all her music from Spotify earlier this month. And you were probably pretty bummed that you actually had to (God forbid!) buy the album just to avoid becoming ...

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Arts

Filmmaking scene at Tufts sees major expansion with new film major

By Timothy Charouk | November 20

Tufts is an environment that could foster a culture of artistic production and collaboration when it comes to making films. However, that hasn't been the case -- up until now. In a response to increased student interest, the Experimental College will begin to offer a film major starting next ...

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Arts

Junior Dorian Pistilli pursues music and computer science

By Veronica Little | November 20

Junior Dorian Pistilli is quite the interlocutor. With a quick wit coupled with a surprisingly sweet demeanor, Pistilli proves himself enigmatic -- and not just in conversation. As a computer science major and music minor, Pistilli is straddling two profoundly different worlds with skill. Though music ...

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Arts

Idina Menzel raises eyebrows with holiday-themed music video

By Drew Robertson | November 20

Announced by the old-fashioned ding of a gleaming brass elevator, the holiday season is here -- or, at least, a music video preview of it. On Monday, Idina Menzel -- of “Glee” (2009 - present) and “Frozen” (2013) fame -- uploaded her rendition of “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” to her YouTube ...

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Arts

What’s up this weekend

By Nika Korchok | November 20

Looking to make your weekend artsy? Check out these events!Dinner and a Movie presents "Maleficent" (2014): Come to the Women’s Center to discuss gender roles and tropes in film and literature in a modern context. Discussion will be led by Shannon Weber, sociology and women’s, gender and ...

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Arts

Top ten things you didn't know about hurdling

By Veronica Little | November 19

We at the Tufts Daily Arts department are always shocked to find out that people read our content! Last week, our Top Ten included a delicate slight against hurdling as a sport. A few Tufts hurdlers had many things to say about this. Turns out that hurdling is a real thing -- who knew?! So, in order ...

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Arts

'The Children's Hour' is sorrowful, but well-executed

By Priyanka Dharampuriya | November 19

"The Children’s Hour," a 1934 stage play written by Lillian Hellman, opened at the Balch Arena Theater at Tufts this weekend. The show is set largely at a fictional boarding school run by two young women and close friends, Karen Wright (Grace Whittom) and Martha Dobie (Kristin Reeves), who ...

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Arts

Highs and lows: Woody Harrelson returns to SNL

By Drew Robertson | November 19

Woody Harrelson appeared on Saturday Night Live (SNL) on Nov. 15 as a guest host, reminding audiences that this weekend marks, “almost to the day,” the 25th anniversary of his first time hosting the show in 1989, a significant moment in his career to be sure. According to Rolling Stone, Harrelson’s ...

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