In a classic case of life imitating fiction, Mel Brooks' out-of-control updating of his iconic film comedy "Young Frankenstein" embraces whole new generations of theatergoers with nonstop energy and unrestrained effort.

The fates of five couples collide in a road accident in Zhang Yang's "Driverless," which borrows Paul Haggis' concept of making the car a catalyst for intertwined stories in "Crash."

Whatever debate there might be about President Obama's handling of myriad inherited problems and a few new ones, there's no question he has spectacularly revived the number and quality of musical performances in the White House.

It would be a lot easier to know what to make of NBC's "Breakthrough With Tony Robbins" if it were possible to separate the actual breakthrough from Robbins' upbeat motivational patter.

Think about watching "American Idol" without being able to hear the performances. That's something similar to what it's like to watch Fox's "MasterChef."

A guillotine towers over the stage at the end of "Danton's Death" as several French revolutionaries are executed. It's a terrific illusion but just a shame no blade was applied to the play's many repetitive grandstanding speeches that precede the event.

It was a night of protest rock 'n' roll in a pure form: angry, relevant lyrics over simple guitar-bass-drum tracks. And it was outstanding.

The account of the efforts of a white farmer in Zimbabwe to defy the forced redistribution of his property by the regime of the country's despotic president Robert Mugabe has more urgency than most Hollywood thrillers.