# Now THAT is a cold review



## JohnG (Feb 7, 2011)

_"The sheer ineptitude of this show, inspired by the Spider-Man comic books, loses its shock value early. After 15 or 20 minutes, the central question you keep asking yourself is likely to change from 'How can $65 million look so cheap?' to 'How long before I’m out of here?'"
...

"Daniel Ezralow’s choreography is pure vintage MTV."

...

"...there are lots of flat, cardboardish sets, which could easily be recycled for high school productions of 'Grease' and 'How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,'”

...

"The songs by Bono and the Edge are rarely allowed to take full, attention-capturing form. Mostly they blur into a sustained electronic twang of varying volume, increasing and decreasing in intensity, like a persistent headache. A loud ballad of existential angst has been written for Peter, who rasps dejectedly, 'I’d be myself if I knew who I’d become.' That might well be the official theme song of 'Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.'”_

Full review from the NYT at: http://theater.nytimes.com/2011/02/08/t ... ew.html?hp


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## midphase (Feb 7, 2011)

With great power comes great responsibility, and I would guess that Julie Taymor is not very responsible with her powers.


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## rgames (Feb 7, 2011)

Yeah, pretty cold.

My favorites appear in Gramophone. That magazine treats the scathing review like its own literary artform; they're pretty fun to read!

One of my all-time favorites was after the release of one of Philip Glass' symphonies:

_"For those of us who are evangelical about Glass's trail-blazing early work, encounters with his new pieces are becoming increasingly painful experiences.
...
Glass's early works created a white canvas which he filled with wonderfully novel shapes; but now he has regressed to orchestral archetypes that sound like equivalents of still lifes and fruit bowls.
...
Strings chug their motor rhythms, woodwinds decorate lavishly and a packhorse timpani player gives the heads up on tonic and dominant."_

I love that line about timpani giving heads up on the tonic and dominant...

rgames


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## Nick Batzdorf (Feb 8, 2011)

I don't like musical theater, but Lion King - in NY, not the touring version in LA that wasn't as good - was so amazing you didn't even notice how annoying the music was. And I loved "Across the Universe."

Julie Taymor is brilliant.


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## madbulk (Feb 8, 2011)

Spiderman has been taking it on the chin since they moved into the building. Every week it seemed somebody had fallen to their near death or something.
The most cursed (perhaps deservingly) show I can remember.


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## snowleopard (Feb 8, 2011)

Anyone read much Robert Cristgau? That guy is right out of Ratatouille. Swore he pretty much hated everything every recorded with exception to a handful of classic albums.


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## RiffWraith (Feb 8, 2011)

robh @ Wed Feb 09 said:


> midphase @ Tue Feb 08 said:
> 
> 
> > The Tempest also got ripped to shreds..and I have to say that I wasn't crazy about the Los Angeles Opera's production of Grendel either.
> ...



None of them were scored by Hans Zimmer. ~o)


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## midphase (Feb 8, 2011)

"None of them were scored by Hans Zimmer."

Well...he's not married to her!


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## NYC Composer (Feb 9, 2011)

Nick Batzdorf @ Tue Feb 08 said:


> I don't like musical theater, but Lion King - in NY, not the touring version in LA that wasn't as good - was so amazing you didn't even notice how annoying the music was. And I loved "Across the Universe."
> 
> Julie Taymor is brilliant.



+1.

She lived in my building for a few years with her then bf Elliot Goldenthal. She was a somewhat mercurial neighbor, but always nice to my kid. We still have puppets she made for him. 

At the time, she had won a Mac Arthur fellowship grant for her more edgy, downtown work. I really do think she's a genius....if this thing can be pulled together, she probably will do so.


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## chrisr (Feb 9, 2011)

Nick Batzdorf @ Tue Feb 08 said:


> And I loved "Across the Universe."
> 
> Julie Taymor is brilliant.



Well OT... but whilst that film looked really beautiful the soundtrack was absolutely slaughtered by the most ham-fisted over use of autotune/vocal correction I've ever ever heard. Can't help but feel that the director should shoulder the responsibility for that. It was an absolute failure in terms of the vocal performances/mix in my opinion, and I don't have particularly strong opinions on many things in life.


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## choc0thrax (Mar 22, 2011)

http://www.deadline.com/2011/03/another ... pider-man/

Figured I'd bump this now that someone else has once again been injured. _-)


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