http://www.valleyadvocate.com/section.cfm?uid=62 Copyright 2013 The Valley Advocate TheOtherRoom.com CFML RSS Generator Tue, 21 May 2013 12:00:00 AM MST en-us Tue, 21 May 2013 12:00:00 AM MST http://www.valleyadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=16800 Few names span the history of modern art like that of Renoir. Beginning with 19th-century painter Pierre-Auguste, the Renoir bloodline has come to touch a dizzying array of artistic fields. While the man who gave us “Luncheon of the Boating Party” would have been a legend on his own, he... By Jack Brown http://www.valleyadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=16800 Tue, 14 May 2013 12:00:00 AM MST http://www.valleyadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=16769 A h, springtime in New England. The time when a young man’s fancy turns to fly swatting. The time when flowers bloom and sinuses erupt. The time when a certain earthy aroma begins to waft over our towns, reminding us all that life in Western Mass. is still—despite the handful of colleges... By Jack Brown http://www.valleyadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=16769 Tue, 07 May 2013 12:00:00 AM MST http://www.valleyadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=16736 I t may seem self-serving to say it, but a good critic is a special thing. For some people, the critic is the most familiar name in their local paper, a trusted neighbor (if they share similar tastes) who always happens to have an inside line on something of note: a rich new novel, a restaurant that’s... By Jack Brown http://www.valleyadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=16736 Fri, 03 May 2013 1:45:37 PM MST http://www.valleyadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=16725   I suppose people still go to the movies, don’t they? There must be a market for the mindless matinee, given how many Hollywood turns out every year, and one assumes they do make money—although much of it these days may come not from the initial box office but from the licensing... By Jack Brown http://www.valleyadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=16725 Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:00:00 AM MST http://www.valleyadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=16655 I n the year and a half since Easthampton’s Popcorn Noir opened its doors, the underdog theater—which operates on an innovative subscription model that lets it screen films without charging an admission fee—has emerged as a success story in a time when the industry has seen more... By Jack Brown http://www.valleyadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=16655 Tue, 16 Apr 2013 11:39:54 AM MST http://www.valleyadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=16624   It’s hard for us to remember sometimes that even our most acclaimed directors have had their share of flops, failures and misfires. Often they come as a result of returning to a rich well once too often: Coppola made the mistake with The Godfather Part III, and Steven Spielberg’s... By Jack Brown http://www.valleyadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=16624 Mon, 08 Apr 2013 12:00:00 AM MST http://www.valleyadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=16576 R yan Gosling has recently become something of a new-age Steve McQueen to a certain segment of film lovers. The thirtysomething actor broke through to mainstream viewers in the weepy Nicholas Sparks’ melodrama The Notebook , but it’s his later work—in more emotionally unflinching... By Jack Brown http://www.valleyadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=16576 Tue, 02 Apr 2013 1:36:54 PM MST http://www.valleyadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=16553   In any art, there are classics. Pieces—be they paintings or poems, sculptures or songs—that so encapsulate some moment in our collective sense of human history that they transcend the petty details of style and genre. Michelangelo’s “Moses” and Grandma Moses... By Jack Brown http://www.valleyadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=16553 Mon, 25 Mar 2013 12:00:00 AM MST http://www.valleyadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=16501 A s a younger man, I dreamed of being an artist. Not in the classical sense, perhaps—I never imagined myself chiseling away at great blocks of Carrara marble, or one-upping Leonardo’s famous smile. Instead, I was drawn mostly to the Sunday funnies and comic books, where Popeye’s... By Jack Brown http://www.valleyadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=16501 Mon, 18 Mar 2013 12:00:00 AM MST http://www.valleyadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=16460 Hayao Miyazaki’s critically acclaimed animated film Princess Mononoke screens this week in Amherst. The story of a fated young warrior (Ashitaka) struggling to protect his village from forces of evil, the film follows his encounters with a mysterious princess, a clan of wolves, and experiences... By Olivia Wrobel http://www.valleyadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=16460