Writing — Juan A. Ramirez

Interview with director Michael Greif as he prepares Man in the Ring, the story of Emile Griffith, for the Huntington Theatre Company.

TheatreJuan A. RamirezNovember 1, 2018theatre, interview, michael greif, man in the ring, boston, digboston, huntington theatre

Review: “Fun Home” reaches deep into family history

Beautifully mounted by SpeakEasy Stage Company, this “Fun Home” takes its own crack at the Bechdel family doors.

Theatre, ReviewJuan A. RamirezOctober 26, 2018fun home, boston, huntington news, speakeasy, review

Review: "Sherlock’s Last Case" falls flat as farce

Both the theatrical farce and literature’s favorite detective are in peril in “Sherlock’s Last Case,” which opened at the Huntington Avenue Theatre Wednesday night.

Review: “The Niceties” plays nice with campus race relations

For the disconnected or uninitiated, the play will serve as a clean entryway into post-Ferguson meditations on America’s inability to properly confront its intolerance. For just about anyone else, it will prove a softened, if well-intentioned, depiction of a conversation best held outside of office hours.

Theatre, ReviewJuan A. RamirezSeptember 19, 2018huntington news, huntington theatre, the niceties, review, theatre, boston, eleanor burgess

Quality (Screen) Time in "Eighth Grade"

With Eighth Grade, Bo Burnham has taken a sledgehammer to the outdated myth that high school is the worst part of growing up.

Film, In-DepthJuan A. RamirezSeptember 18, 2018brattle, eighth grade, elsie fisher, bo burnham, film notes

Childhood in Black and White: Marjane Satrapi's "Persepolis"

Seeing things in black and white often means denying room for any nuance and detail. And yet, in Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, black and white is ultimately a reflection and refraction of its protagonist.

Film, In-DepthJuan A. RamirezAugust 29, 2018persepolis, film, brattle, film notes, marjane satrapi

Scene Analysis: Choreographing the Camera in "West Side Story"

This 1961 Best Picture winner ingeniously builds upon the choreographed camera of Old Hollywood extravaganzas and the neo-Shakespearean tragedy at its core to create a New York at once gritty and dangerous as well as magical and fluid.

Scene Analysis: A "Bumpy Night" in "All About Eve"

And bumpy, it is. What should have been a celebratory night for Margo spirals into self-destructive paranoia, with each move of hers downplayed or eclipsed by her guests.

Film, In-DepthJuan A. RamirezAugust 6, 2018film notes, film, brattle, all about eve, joseph l. mankiewicz, bette davis

Worlds Un/Like Our Own: "Annihilation" and "mother!"

Separate in genre and subject matter but equal in ambition and tone, neither film is explicitly about contemporary life — in fact, they seem to stand completely outside of time.

Review: “Fall”

Bernard Weinraub’s new play, “Fall,” which had its world premiere in a Huntington Theatre Company production last night, would have made a great storybook. Approaching it from a journalistic standpoint, Weinraub presents it as a largely fictionalized but painfully literal dramatization of a man’s failure to act.

Theatre, ReviewJuan A. RamirezMay 31, 2018review, fall, huntington theatre, bernard weinraub

Feminine Mystique: Vitalizing Sexuality in "Belle de jour"

By casting Catherine Deneuve, an actress whose doll-like beauty is matched only by her ability to act as both a blank slate and an impenetrable enigma, Buñuel was able to engage the audience on the multiple levels needed to attempt to understand a woman like Séverine.

Scene Analysis: A "Very Predictable" Dinner in "Phantom Thread"

This carefully constructed film mirrors its characters by placing a liberal amount of actorly improvisation and dramatic chaos in a painstakingly crafted masterpiece that’s equal parts swooning fairy tale, haunting ghost story and absurdly funny romantic comedy.

Home About

Contact