ARTS

Kaleidoscope


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Published: Nov 3, 2009

Self-portraits

There aren't enough black male nudes in the art world. Even today. Yet in 1970, Philly-born Barkley Hendricks thumbed his nose at this white-bred precedent, stripped down to his ski hat and aviators, and painted a charming, honest self-portrait. He did another, somewhat sarcastically titled Brilliantly Endowed, in 1977. They're both life-size, beautiful and sitting in the back corner of the "Birth of the Cool" exhibit, a retrospective of Barkley's career, at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

—Holly Otterbein

Book

You can't read Tracy Morgan: I Am the New Black (Spiegel & Grau, Oct. 20) without imagining him stabbing Conan O'Brien or selling meat machines. You just can't. The book goes from sweet ("I've got a girlfriend who is good to me") to typical Tray ("and there is no shortage of women I'd like to get pregnant") in the span of a sentence, and touches on topics from ghetto life to the greatness of Richard Pryor. Through it all, he's got no regrets. "Would I do it all again? Stupid question!"

—Carolyn Huckabay

TV Show

HBO's Bored to Death is a strange show. It's not paced like any other half-hour HBO comedy, but it's not a drama, either. Jonathan Ames (Jason Schwartzman) is a blocked writer who moonlights as a private dick, with cartoonist BFF Ray (an understated Zach Galifianakis) and herpes-infected, weed-smoking boss George (an amazing Ted Danson) in tow. Schwartzman hasn't felt more comfortable in a role since he saved Latin. The season's only eight episodes long, so you can catch up before Sunday's season finale.

—Molly Eichel

Movie

Robert Zemeckis haters say the director, who releases A Christmas Carol this week (see Movie Shorts on p. 36), values special effects over all else. But I'm always amazed by the way he uses them. Re-watch 1988's Who Framed Roger Rabbit? , in which the great Bob Hoskins interacts with cartoons as if they're tangible beings; it still looks awesome in the era of CGI. (Plus, it's considerably dirtier than I remember it.) Not impressed? As Roger asks, "Is there nothing that can permeate that impervious puss?"

—Molly Eichel