Underrated / Overrated

UNDERRATED

“The Woman in Black”: Though spring isn’t the best time for cinematic scares, it’s worth tracking down this recent chiller starring the former Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliffe. Set in a damp, perpetually bleak corner of Northern England in the Gothic-friendly early 1900s, this atmospheric haunted house story delivers plenty of creepy jolts and subtle, over-the-shoulder scares but somehow never succumbs to becoming gory or silly (no small feat in this genre of late).

Theo Bleckmann’s “Hello Earth!”: An inventive vocalist often filed under “jazz” simply for want of a suitable genre to contain his otherworldly sound, Bleckmann’s latest album is a gentle yet consistently rewarding take on the Kate Bush songbook. Backed by seasoned jazz players such as Grammy-nominated drummer-composer John Hollenbeck, Bleckmann’s lilting, acrobatic voice takes Bush’s already singular vision somewhere unexpected and every bit as heartfelt.

OVERRATED

The modern-day Lorax: It’s hard to complain about one of Dr. Seuss’ most enduring creations becoming a box-office star, but there’s something unsavory about the formerly soft-spoken character getting words put in his mouth. Though it’s inevitable that Hollywood’s 3-D update would become something much louder, seeing Seuss’ conservationist creation also shill for cars and cellphones feels like someone should’ve thought to “speak for the Lorax.”

HBO Go: On the surface it’s a forward-thinking move for the network to allow subscribers to watch past seasons of its original shows online, but ultimately HBO is missing the bigger picture by not allowing customers to subscribe to only a streamable option. Though it’s easy to imagine current cable and satellite users enjoying the app’s portable ease, imagine the money HBO would make if they made it available to everybody. After all, it’s not TV, right?

— Chris Barton