Top Picks: 'Suffragette' on DVD and Blu-ray, Andy Shauf's album 'The Party,' and more
Sarah Jarosz's album 'Undercurrent' reveals new maturity, 'Julian Fellowes Presents Doctor Thorne' is an interesting historical show for the summer, and more top picks.
French art comes to your browser
Unable to make it to Paris? Paris Musées, a group of museums including the National Museum of Modern Art in Paris and the Carnavalet Museum, recently made many works available for viewing online. Browse as you like or take a “tour,” which groups together pieces from different museums based on various themes. Check it out at http://parismuseescollections.paris.fr.
Carey Mulligan shines
Actress Carey Mulligan is a fiercely intelligent woman in the film Suffragette, now available on DVD and Blu-ray. She plays a laundry factory worker whose eyes are opened not to the rampant injustice of women’s lives (she already knew that) but to the possibility of rallying for her rights. The film shows that the battle over women voting was considerably more violent than we may be aware of.
New drama from Julian Fellowes
“Downton Abbey” creator Julian Fellowes has written another period drama for TV and it just might be your historical show for the summer. Julian Fellowes Presents Doctor Thorne tells the story of Mary Thorne, an impoverished young woman who is raised by her uncle. It’s streaming on Amazon Prime.
Watching the party
The pride of Regina, Saskatchewan, one-man-band Andy Shauf is a charmer. The Party is his engaging new album, and it is aptly named. Like the shy boy sitting in the dark corner at a party, Shauf takes it all in – the girl he silently pines for dancing with another boy, the awkward social fumbling, the callow conversation, the vain, the inane. Comparisons to Elliott Smith and Harry Nilsson are fair, but late-period Brian Wilson also comes to mind. The guy’s got game.
New maturity for Sarah Jarosz
When Sarah Jarosz enrolled in the New England Conservatory, the Texan teenager had already released her debut bluegrass album. Three years since the mandolin virtuoso graduated with honors, her fourth record, Undercurrent, reveals new maturity. It boasts rich contrasts, with a song about heartbreak, “House of Mercy,” giving way to the summery love song “Green Lights,” in which Jarosz’s voice floats, feather-like, over breezy acoustic sounds. “Undercurrent” proves that Jarosz could teach a master class at her alma mater.