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"Gone Baby Gone" Goes Local

Best piece of writing in today's Globe is Ty Burr's review of Ben Affleck's "Gone Baby Gone," which goes deep into how well the movie captures Boston. Better than "Mystic River" or "The Departed," even if those are better movies, Burr says. He invokes George V. Higgins; "Friends of Eddie Coyle" is, at least until now, still my favorite Boston movie, even if the accents aren't right.

But the best sentence in Burr's review is this: "When the great Boston movie is finally made, it will deal with class and race and the past, and no one here will want to see it."

Exactly.

Painting Her Stuff...For 365 Days

On the front of today's Globe Living/Arts section, you'll find a brilliantly written feature about Lexington painter Gail Martin, who spent 2006 painting 365 little pictures of her stuff. She's a Buddhist, and I think in a way this was one big meditation exercise. The work is on exhibit at the Bromfield Gallery in the South End, from whose web site I took this picture.

"West Wing" Not Just A TV Show to MFA

The Museum of Fine Arts announced today that Edward Saywell, 36, has been appointed Director of the West Wing, a new position, to oversee the vibrant contemporary art scene that is supposed to inhabit that space when the museum's giant overhaul is completed circa 2010. Saywell, whose promotion is effective today, joined the MFA in September 2006 as an assistant curator of prints and drawings, after nine years at the Harvard University Art Museums, where he was deeply involved in contemporary exhibitions.

The press release has a lot more to say about the West Wing than it does about Saywell. It's hard to argue with the idea of making the West Wing "one of the most ambitious venues for special commissions and contemporary installations in the United States... one of the most inviting public spaces in Boston, an exciting and welcoming place where audiences of all ages can engage with our growing contemporary collection and vibrant programming," as Saywell calls for. Although we can also wonder why the MFA lagged behind those ambitions for so long. Let's hope the West Wing initiative will employ some of the creative thinking that's behind the MFA concert series; the announcement does call for "a vibrant space where contemporary art, film, and music, as well as programming of all kinds, converge within the context of an encyclopedic museum, resulting in a new dialogue for the Boston art scene," in the words of MFA chief Malcolm Rogers.

Of course, if Saywell succeeds in enacting this vision, what will be in store for the brand spankin' new ICA on the waterfront, not to mention MassMoCA? "A rising tide lifts all boats?" Or more competition for hot exhibits, donor dollars and audiences' limited attention? There will be much to watch here, beginning with whether the MFA backs up its ambitions with budget and action.

Opening Night at Symphony Hall

In last night's all-Ravel opening program at Symphony Hall, the full awesomeness of James Levine's command of the orchestra only really showed during the closing piece, the Second Suite from Daphnis et Chloe. It was especially noticeable in the final few minutes, with waves of mini-crescendoes in which he demonstrated his vivid control of the band, drawing out colors and momentum with his baton and free hand, then dousing them with precision. This was great fun to watch, never mind hear. In the quieter portions of this piece as well as the brief opener, "Alborada," the winds shone with fluid and lovely yet clear lines, passages that remind how much Gershwin was influenced by Ravel.

The long mid-section of the short evening was not as wonderful. Soloist Susan Graham seemed precise but not exactly on fire with the material in Sheherazade, and the audience, which usually goes gaga when Levine brings in one of his opera stars, seemed to notice. And I can't say I'm especially fond of the Piano Concerto in G, or maybe it's just the soft, flowery style of guest soloist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, who also made the unfortunate decision to try to bring back lapels.

If you want to read someone with a more finely tuned ear and more appropriate vocabulary, Jeremy Eichler gets it all right in the Globe. Additional performances tonight and tomorrow with a slightly different program; see bso.org.

BSO file photo by Michael Lutch

Neil Young: We've waited for him, winterlong

Editor's Note: Readers under the age of 40 who are not either guitar geeks or Guitar Hero geeks can just skip to the next item. Amid the ballyhooed returns of Bruce Springsteen and John Fogerty, Neil Young just keeps on going. He's coming to the Orpheum Dec. 2 and 3 - that's a Sunday and Monday - for shows behind his new "Chrome Dreams II" album. "Chrome Dreams I" was an album he made that never came out in the 1970s, although the songs all came out eventually on other albums, notably "American Stars and Bars." "Chrome Dreams II" features mostly new songs, a couple written and recorded years ago, and features Young with Ben Keith, Rick Rosas and Ralph Molina, who will also be his band for the tour. Wife Pegi Young, who put her own album out recently, will also be on hand, and the shows will feature both acoustic and electric sets.

Apparently Young, always anti-corporate, has been paying attention to what music-biz rebel Prince has been doing lately. Tic prices are high for Neil - $68.50-$158.50, but each pair of tickets comes with a bonus copy of the CD. They go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. The boilerplate about the CD follows, but first, check this out.

Fans purchasing tickets to Neil Young will receive a copy of Neil’s new album /Chrome Dreams II/. CD’s will be shipped before the show so fans will be able to hear /Chrome Dreams II/ before Neil performs selections live! Ticket purchases of 3 tickets or less per transaction will receive 1 copy of the CD. Persons purchasing 4 tickets per transaction will receive 2 copies of the CD. There is a 4 ticket per person limit. Concert tickets must be purchased at least 6 business days prior to the concert date to ensure pre-show delivery. Offer applies to Internet and phone orders only. Persons ordering via a ticket agency phone-room must provide an email address. Check out www.neilyoung.com  for specific show and ordering information.

Please, no smashing pumpkins

Friday and Saturday MIT rolls out one of the odder annual rites of autumn: The Great Glass Pumpkin Patch. More than 1,000 glass pumpkins of all shapes, sizes and artistic inspirations will be on display on the oval in front of Kresge Auditorium at 48 Mass. Ave. in Cambridge on Friday for a reception from 5-8 p.m.; they;ll be on sale, for from $20-$200 on Saturday from 10-3. The glass gourds were created by students and instructors in MIT's Glass Lab, a glass-blowing program that I have to say adds a festive touch to the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. This has been an annual event since 2001. More info here or at (617) 253-5309.