France

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Review: The Conquest

Xavier Durringer's dramatized recreation of the rise of France's Nicolas Sarkozy to the presidency is generally fair-minded and ambiguous.
Xavier Durringer's recreation of the rise of Sarkozy
By GERALD PEARY | December 16, 2011

Review: The Women on the 6th Floor

Philippe Le Guay's '60s-set Parisian upstairs/downstairs, a kind of European version of The Help , has all the ingredients necessary for US consumption: political correctness, platitudes, saucy comedy; and a romance between a middle-aged bourgeois reac
A kind of European version of The Help
By PETER KEOUGH | October 14, 2011

Review: Thames Street Kitchen

There's a new restaurant in Newport that may very well give the expression "tsk-tsk" new, enthusiastic meaning.
Getting more than the food right
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | September 23, 2011

Review: The Names of Love

Child abuse, genocide — those French have a way with romantic comedies.
Softcore sex and politics
By PETER KEOUGH | August 19, 2011

Review: Petite Jacqueline

On a crowded night at Petite Jacqueline it is hard to hear your companion over the din.
French treasures
By BRIAN DUFF | July 09, 2011

Review: L'Artisan Café & Bakery

Enough already. I got tired of a good foodie friend of mine badgering me about this bakery and gourmet food place he was in love with and wanted me to review.
More like a bistro than a bakery
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | May 27, 2011

Review: The Dancing Pig

The laid-back tone of the place is established by its name and accompanying cartoon logo of a smiling pig in a top hat. Inside, tasseled valances against burgundy walls suggest a bustling gray-haired granny in the kitchen.
A great place for pigging out
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | May 06, 2011

Review: East Ender

Those French know how to cook. But here in America, French cuisine too often comes with a demi-glace of pedantry and a side of self-congratulation.
France meets New England
By BRIAN DUFF | April 15, 2011

Review: Potiche

The eclectic François Ozon often combines the offbeat and the generic to the benefit of both.
Screwball comedy meets political boilerplate
By PETER KEOUGH | April 08, 2011

Review: Le Central

Their slogan is "Where the East Bay meets the Left Bank," and Le Central, in the middle of Bristol, usually does a fine job fulfilling the claim with more than good french fries. Gone are the days when the town had to settle for a Café La France on the
Cherchez la lunch
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | February 18, 2011

Unmitigated Gaul

The French pride themselves on their revolutionary spirit, no less in film than in politics.
Rogues and rebels in the Boston French Film Festival
By PETER KEOUGH | July 02, 2010

Kings of Queens

When it comes to legendary hip-hop duos, Southerners salute UGK and OutKast, whereas nostalgic heads anoint EPMD, and eclectic contrarians endorse Organized Konfusion.
Why Mobb Deep are still the fittest
By CHRIS FARAONE | June 25, 2010

Save the pool

Noble architecture makes Boston a living work of art. Visitors flock to view Bulfinch's State House, Richardson's Trinity Church, and McKim's Copley Square Library, to name just the obvious.
Plans to alter the magnificent reflecting pool at the Christian Science Center should not be allowed
By EDITORIAL | June 25, 2010

As the World Cup kicks off, Guinness and panic at Ri Ra

World Cup fever has not, exactly, gripped Providence.
Goooooooool!
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | June 18, 2010

Stark reality

Steven Stark is known to Phoenix readers for his "Presidential Tote Board" odds-making feature, but it turns out that he and his son, Harrison, are also soccer aficionados, having become fans of London side Fulham FC during stays in the British capit
Your indispensable World Cup update
By JEFFREY GANTZ | June 11, 2010

Review: Micmacs

If he were judged solely by the first five minutes of his films, Jean-Pierre Jeunet would rank among the world’s top filmmakers. Unfortunately, the remaining 100 minutes or so place him among the most overrated.
Witty prologue spirals downward into clumsy plot
By PETER KEOUGH | June 04, 2010

Minimalism and mementos

After 5 Traverse gallery closed in February, crackerjack curator Maya Allison, who was co-director there, lined up a handful of small independent projects and seemed like she might be on her way to starting her own operation before she landed a gig as cu
Jamey Morrill's sculptures and 'souvenirs' at Craftland
By GREG COOK | June 04, 2010

Messi situations

Can’t you just imagine the high-level meetings taking place daily in the British Petroleum war room these days, full of top execs and engineers, neither of whom speak the others’ language, or have even close to the same concerns?
A giant tampon for BP; plus, the World Cup, and a big bash in Pawtuxet
By PHILLIPE AND JORGE | June 04, 2010

The garden of Vittorio De Sica

Vittorio De Sica, the subject of a major retrospective at the Harvard Film Archive, "Vittorio De Sica — Neo-Realism, Melodrama, Fantasy," was a movie star in Italy before he became a filmmaker.
Mostly high points at the Harvard Film Archive
By STEVE VINEBERG | June 04, 2010

Balls of fire

For one month every four years, the United States — try as it might — can’t impose its vacuous culture on the rest of the planet. The World Cup arrives and the Americans are, at best, an afterthought.
Porn stars, witch doctors, elephant farts, and the worst soccer team on the planet take center stage at this summer’s World Cup
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG AND LANCE GOULD | May 28, 2010

Sweaty Palmes

Apichatpong Weerasethakul must have done something right in one or more of his previous incarnations.
The Cannes 2010 jury picks some winners, but some head-scratchers, too
By LISA NESSELSON | May 28, 2010

Leaves of Life from Arborea, and other Portland music news

BUCK AND SHANTI CURRAN , the husband-and-wife team behind ethereal folk band ARBOREA , have been touring nearly non-stop and curating compilations right from their home base in Lewiston.
Sibilance
By PORTLAND PHOENIX MUSIC STAFF | May 21, 2010

Review: The Girl on the Train

Here in this country, we’re familiar with the practice of pinning a crime on a member or members of another race.
The truth gets sidetracked in Téchiné’s Train
By PETER KEOUGH | April 30, 2010

All you need is love

Outpourings of love have been flooding the Boston musical scene.
Marylou Speaker Churchill memorial, Emmanuel Music’s Haydn/Schoenberg, and more
By LLOYD SCHWARTZ | April 23, 2010

The Big Hurt: Say anything

It’s almost impossible to read a single page of YouTube comments without being confronted by society’s ugliest afflictions: ignorance, pointless fights, horrifying racism, and unfair criticism of Justin Bieber’s haircut.
The week in YouTube comments
By DAVID THORPE | April 09, 2010

Fine wine, fine cause

Drinking for a good cause is starting to catch on in Portland.
Distributors partner to raise money, educate Portlanders on wines of the world
By LEISCHEN STELTER | April 02, 2010

Making it sing

If you come to Dee Dee Bridgewater’s new Billie Holiday tribute disc — or to her two Holiday shows at the Paramount Theatre this weekend — expecting a reverent impersonation, you could be in for a shock. Bridgewater has transformed the music and persona
Dee Dee does Billie, plus John Stein & Ron Gill
By JON GARELICK | March 26, 2010

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