Letter: Sweeney for North Adams City Council

I feel a sense of obligation and duty to bring a unique voice to the City Council chambers. I represent a younger demographic, which my work throughout North Adams and the surrounding towns has led me to connect and work with closely.

'Before You Know It': Wherein the Critic Bemoans ...

Utt's anatomy of a family builds slowly, carefully and lovingly, its emotionally absorbing contemplations sure to win you over "Before You Know It."

'Luce': Enlightening

Director Julius Onah, who co-wrote the screenplay with J.C. Lee, puts the tension level to the metal, intriguingly casting aspersions like so many crumbs upon the water, and in the process testing our ability to separate cogent facts from those that have been artfully manipulated.

Letter: Letter to the Mount Greylock School Committee

I'm writing to you in support of the work of your Phase 2 Subcommittee and its recommendation to install a turf field at Mount Greylock's campus.

Pollinators Abound in Search for Sweet Nectar

In exchange for cross-pollination, the moth imbibes fructose and glucose, natural sugars, to prolong its life and in time promote its own DNA. Thirsty wasps will bee-line to bump a butterfly off the oasis, as if to claim "Save some nectar or pollen for us!"

'The Peanut Butter Falcon': Wrestling With Bigotry

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then this feature-length film speaks educational volumes about the disorder that is ostensibly its cause-célèbre.

'Blinded by the Light': Guidance From Asbury Park

Yep, it's all packed in there: a feel-good saga of a likable young man fashioning his own great expectations, a swell score populated with The Boss' hits, and a humanistic message there for your illumination, provided you don't allow yourself to be "Blinded by the Light."

'The Art of Racing in the Rain': Tearjerker & Tail-Wagger

This isn't a great motion picture by any stretch of the imagination. It's a 2 & 1/2. Yet man does not live by "Citizen Kane" (1941) alone. The films we really, really like often say more about us than the subject matter into which they delve.

'The Farewell': And a Fond One at That

Personally affecting, "The Farewell" is a little movie with a big heart. And, because it's PG and suggested for the whole family, this is a perfect opportunity to make sure that spoiled little grandchild in your clan doesn't become the only freshman at Princeton who hasn't seen a subtitled movie.

'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood': The Golden Age, Tarnished

The provocative and quirkily philosophical work is thoroughly entertaining proof that he is one of America's most accomplished, living directors.

Letter: Democratic Candidates That Are Right & Wrong on Filibuster

'The Lion King': Reigns On

Although most of the world is by now familiar with the saga, the combination of resplendent landscapes and superb voicing of the magnificently imaged players breathes a reinvigorating spirit into the franchise.

'Yesterday': All Over Again

Like the cavemen in "Quest for Fire" (1981) who are committed to literally keeping the flame of life burning, Jack sees himself as the emissary from a time lost — the sole repository of the poetic genius that was The Beatles.

'The Dead Don't Die': Having Fun With the Oxymoron

The brazenly oddball mechanisms he employs to build the scenario and make his points draw us into the nuttiness of his premise with the magnetic appeal of that naughtily mischievous kid who lived on your block.

Letter: Supermarket Package License Would Affect Small Business

I support a new business opening in Adams and believe that it would generate much-needed business and revenue for the town. What I do not support is the request from the Adam's supermarket chain to carry beer and wine.

Letter: Melissa Mazzeo for Mayor

She is an educated, intelligent woman, who researches issues before speaking about them.

'Late Night': Funny Business

The essence of the late-night talk show is much more than what is visible to the drowsy eye. It is about the magic that can exist within the art of conversation. And in "Late Night," Emma Thompson as TV host Katherine Newbury, a practitioner in that black art, illustriously takes us behind the smoke and mirrors of keeping folks up past their bedtime.

'The Spy Behind Home Plate': Glove, Mask, Cloak-and-Dagger

But what drives you crazy as you partake of Kempner's scholarly and entertaining treasure trough of the superbly assembled puzzle that was Newark, N.J.'s, Moe Berg, is, how about all the stuff we probably don't know about him?

Warbler Waves Migrating Through Berkshires

Despite the cool spring weather, waves of warblers and songbirds are reaching their familiar feeding grounds, in the deciduous woodlands and sylvan edges, like the banks of the Hoosic River in North Adams.

'Rocketman': Godzilla vs. Elton John

Thus, because of its celebrated songbook and heartrending meditation on the search for love, I emphatically endorse "Rocketman" before setting my moviegoing trajectory for "Godzilla II: King of the Monsters," and wonder if I'll construe 'tis also amour that motivates the beast.

Letter: FDR, Churchill, or Candidate C?

'Aladdin': Wishful Thinking

Rated PG and boasting a bevy of positive beliefs, with special emphasis on the leadership roles it passionately affirms are rightfully waiting for the fairer sex to assume, it's just the sort of film I'd want to take my daughter, Erin, to when she was little.

Letter: Why We Should Not Name Holidays After Real People

It is a foresight few were willing to make, and frankly was too controversial for publication not so much for its criticism of Washington, but for the criticism of Dr. King. Perhaps this is too self-congratulatory, but it amazes me how my once seemingly controversial statements, over the course of time, come back as indubitable truth.

'John Wick: Chapter 3 Parabellum': How Can I Kill Thee? Let me Count the Ways

Adding insult to the societal injury movies like the John Wick franchise commit, this is big business. It has grossed $53 million as of this writing, and it'll play all summer before going on to the really big money that movies make in the post-theater convenience of our dens.

Letter: 2019 Zoning Articles Are a Step Forward for Williamstown's Future

The present bylaw amendments are modest, commonsense proposals that represent the smallest impactful change voters seem likely to embrace at this time.