The Incomer

Last night my nephew and I went to the Broadway to see The Incomer and we both loved this weird, funny, and heartwarming movie.  Siblings Isla (Gayle Rankin) and Sandy (Grant O'Rourke) have spent their eintire lives in isolation on a remote Scottish island influenced by folktales about the mysterious finman (John Hannah) who demanded that their father sacrifice himself to the sea.  They defend their island fiercely against incomers from the mainland with odd rituals and, if need be, primitive weapons made of stone and bone.  Eventually, the Northeastern Scottish Council sends Daniel (Domhnall Gleeson), a meek and socially awkward land recovery agent, to the island to evict them.  They easily capture and restrain him but first Sandy and then Isla take a liking to him and soon they are sharing their folktales with each other (Daniel tells a folktale from the mainland about a hero named Frodo).  Hilarity ensues as Daniel tries to convince them to leave the island while Sandy and Isla try to get him to stay.  They ultimately discover that belonging comes from more than just a place.  My nephew and I are huge fans of quirky British humor and we were laughing out loud most of the time (as was the large crowd watching it with us).  I especially loved a sequence in which Isla and Sandy initiate Daniel with a "Way of the Gull" ritual (which is a long-standing tradition and not something they made up that morning).  Daniel is as lonely and as weird as the siblings and another amusing scene involves him using his phone, which the siblings have never seen before, to prove that he is a wizard.  In addition to the humor, this is also quite poignant because they find an unexpected kinship with each other and their interactions help them overcome their fears.  This is especially true when Isla realizes that the finman isn't real and that her upbringing and world view may have been skewed by her father's delusions.  The three actors give committed physical performances that are a lot of fun to watch and I loved their impersonations of birds (their bird costumes are fabulous).  Finally, the locations are spectacular (it was filmed in the Scottish Highlands) and the cinematography is beautiful, particularly a sequence on the edge of a cliff.  Some might find this tedious but if you have an offbeat sense of humor you will probably enjoy it as much as my nephew and I did.

Sense and Sensibility

I bought a ticket to last night's Screen Unseen very much hoping that it would be Sense and Sensibility and I was thrilled when it was revealed to be the title!  I really enjoyed this adaptation once I stopped comparing it to the 1995 movie.  The death of their father leaves the Dashwood sisters, Elinor (Daisy Edgar-Jones), Marianne (Esmé Creed-Miles), and Margaret (Bodhi Rae Breathnach), in reduced circumstances so Mrs. Dashwood (Caitriona Balfe) accepts the offer of a cottage in Devonshire from Mrs. Jennings (Fiona Shaw), a distant relation, in order to escape the reluctant charity offered by John Dashwood (Tom Brooke) and his odious wife Fanny (Stacy Martin).  Eventually, the sensible and reserved Elinor falls in love with the equally taciturn Edward Ferrars (George MacKay) while the impetuous and passionate Marianne is swept up in a romance with the obvious cad John Willoughby (Frank Dillane).  They both experience heartbreak in London but, when Elinor and Marianne help each other balance reason and emotion, they ultimately find happiness.  Elinor finally reveals her feelings to Edward when he is free from his engagement to Lucy Steele (Ceara Coveney) and Marianne finds real love, rather than infatuation, with Colonel Brandon (Herbert Nordrum).  I love that this version focuses more on the relationship between the two sisters than their relationships with their suitors but, having said that, I also think that it is incredibly romantic.  Both Edward and Brandon must earn the love of the sisters, Edward in an added scene in which he honors his obligation to Lucy when Elinor asks him to and Brandon in a restored scene (it was omitted from the 1995 movie) in which he confronts Willoughby for Marianne's honor, and both declare their love to the sisters in swoonworthy scenes.  The cinematography is absolutely gorgeous, with an emphasis on the natural environment (I especially loved the rugged moors, windswept beaches, and rain drenched trees) as well as interiors lit by the warm glow of candles, and the production design feels very organic.  The main cast is wonderful and I especially enjoyed Edgar-Jones, because her performance emphasizes how hard it is for Elinor to keep her emotions bottled inside, and Shaw, because she is an absolute hoot (she provides much of the comic relief in this more restrained version).  The supporting cast also have moments to shine, particularly Chloe Pirrie, as Lady Middleton (she is omitted from the 1995 movie), when she comments on the weather and Turlough Convery, as Sir John Middleton, when he provides game for the Dashwoods.  There are some anachronistic details that distract (I didn't mind the hairstyles as much as I minded the modern dancing) and I did start to feel the runtime but this is a worthy interpretation of the Jane Austen classic and I highly recommend it.

Note:  I love both the 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and the 2005 version for different reasons.  I now feel the same way about the 1995 adaptation of Sense and Sensibility and this new version.

Jekyll and Hyde at the Empress Theatre

The musical Jekyll and Hyde is one of the first shows I saw on Broadway (the OBC with Linda Eder as Lucy) so it will always be a favorite of mine. I was, therefore, absolutely thrilled when the Empress Theatre very graciously provided me with a ticket to their production last night. I loved everything about it! Dr. Henry Jekyll (Danny Keetch) is a passionate man of science who wants to cure his father, who is suffering from madness, with a chemical formula he developed to separate good from evil. When his request to test his formula is denied by the hypocritical Board of Governors at St. Jude's hospital, he takes matters into his own hands. His alter-ego Mr. Edward Hyde, a terrifying madman, is created when Jekyll experiments on himself and all of his inner demons are unleashed. The two women who love him, his fiancee Emma Carew (Angela Warnock) and a prostitute named Lucy Harris (Joy Babcock Austin), and his friend John Utterson (Tyler Rasmussen) are unaware of his secret as Jekyll tries to control the monster within. However, he is unsuccessful and Hyde eventually kills all of the members of the Board of Governors and becomes a danger to the rest of the citizens of London, to Lucy and Emma, and to himself. Warnock and Austin are outstanding and I especially loved their touching renditions of "Once Upon a Dream" and "Someone Like You," respectively. Their performance of "In His Eyes" is one of the many highlights of the show because their voices blend together so beautifully and they both also have tremendous chemistry with Keetch, particularly a romantic version of "Take Me As I Am" featuring Warnock and an incredibly passionate performance of "Dangerous Game" featuring Austin. Speaking of Keetch, I loved his voice (it is very well suited to the pop-rock score) and he absolutely blew me away with his powerful performance of "This is the Moment," my favorite song in the show, but then he took it to another level in "Alive!" I was also impressed by the distinct changes in his physicality and his voice for the two characters (his first transition to Hyde is spectacular) and the entire audience was riveted when he transitioned back and forth between Jekyll and Hyde in "Confrontation" (it gave me goosebumps). The ensemble is one of the strongest I've seen at this theatre and, while the singing and dancing throughout the entire show is phenomenal, they do an exceptional job embodying the class divide found in Victorian London. This is especially true in the song "Facade" as the aristocracy and the members of the dance hall underworld circle each other.  I enjoyed the patterns created in the choreography for the engagement party (I liked seeing Stride, played by Coulter Thomsen, chase Emma through the rows of dancing couples) and the boisterous cabaret number "Bring on the Men" is another highlight. The staging for "Murder, Murder!" is incredibly dynamic (this number sometimes drags for me) because the pacing, energy, use of newspapers as props, and use of the different areas of the stage make it very engaging. The stage and surrounding areas of the theatre mimic the cobblestone streets of nineteenth century London and the set, which is minimal but very effective, features a small six-sided platform for Jekyll's laboratory, St. Jude's Hospital, the Red Rat, and other locations with the addition of a few pieces. The color red in the lighting design is very dramatic and is used to great effect during "Confrontation" to denote the two different characters. Finally, the period costumes are gorgeous and may be my favorite at this theatre. I had a really fun night watching a show I love performed brilliantly by one of my favorite community theatres and I cannot recommend it enough! There are performances every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday through October 17 with a newly added performance on Monday, October 5. Go here for tickets.

Digger

I have to admit that, while I felt compelled to see Digger, I wasn't really looking forward to it because I was put off by the desaturated color grading and the bombastic performances featured in the trailer.  I decided to see it last night with my nephew and I can definitely see why it has polarized critics and audiences but I think it is a masterpiece!  Digger Rockwell (Tom Cruise) is a wealthy, arrogant, and eccentric Texas oil tycoon whose company, Rockwell United, ignored reports of methane beneath an oil rig in Greenland and is now responsible for an explosion that dislodged an immense ice shelf  moving towards Europe.  Digger's head of environmental safety, Dr. Nirav Ganesh (Riz Ahmed), predicts thousands of deaths, millions of displaced people, and trillions of dollars worth of damage but he seems to be more concerned with the imminent death of his cat and, after consulting with U.S. President Compson (John Goodman), he decides to create an information firewall rather than take action.  When the inevitable happens, Digger deflects blame in a speech to the European Parliament by saying that consumers demand the oil he provides (in a monologue that will surely get Cruise a Best Actor nomination).  However, another even larger ice shelf breaks free and heads to Alaska and this requires a dramatic military response that leads to the downfall of both Digger and the president.  The first act has a strange artificiality with over the top satire and stylized cinematography, performances, and production design but a wild twist in the second act completely reframes everything that has come before and another twist at the end completely reframes everything once again.  People will either love or hate this choice but I loved it because, without giving away any spoilers, it emphasizes the power of art (satire in particular) as catharsis.  There are a lot of other themes to unpack, such as corporate greed, political corruption, manipulation of the media, environmental collapse, and societal hypocrisy, but Iñárritu seems to be saying that, since nothing will stop the consequences of these actions because they are already happening, we might as well laugh at the destruction.  Everything that put me off in the trailer ended up working for me after seeing the context and I found it to be really funny at times (but I was often the only one in the theater laughing) as well as incredibly thought-provoking (I'm still thinking about it).  Cruise gives his best performance since Magnolia (the dude can act when he's not jumping on and out of airplanes) and Ahmed is equally brilliant.  I also really enjoyed a monologue by Jesse Plemons (as a character I won't spoil) because I think it sums up the thesis of the movie briliantly.  This will definitely not be for everyone but I really dug it (pun intended).

Verity

I went through a Colleen Hoover phase a few years ago (it was a strange time) and, out of all the books I read, Verity was my favorite (relatively speaking) so I was excited to see the movie adaptation at an early access screening last night with my nephew.  Despite several flaws, I enjoyed it for what it is and I had a lot of fun watching it with a large crowd.  Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway) is a best-selling author known for writing a series of novels from the villain's perspective.  After she has a car accident which leaves her in a catatonic state, her husband Jeremy Crawford (Josh Hartnett) hires struggling author Lowen Ashleigh (Dakota Johnson) to ghostwrite the remaining books in the series.  Lowen moves into their secluded house on a lake in Vermont in order to read through Verity's outlines and notes and finds a manuscript that appears to be her autobiography.  As she reads Verity's disturbing account, she begins a relationship with Jeremy and suspects that Verity might be faking her condition.  This reminded me a lot of The Housemaid because, like that adaptation, it is an atmospheric psychological thriller with a sleek and stylish production design (I loved the house because it has a very Gothic vibe) and lots of twists and turns.  Also, like that adaptation, it features two strong performances (Hathaway and Hartnett) that highlight the blandness of the third one (Johnson).  This is especially true whenever Johnson reads the manuscript aloud (which, unfortunately, is a large part of the runtime) because her delivery is monotone and her expression is very disengaged (there is even a line in which Lowen says that it's hard to tell if she is having fun because she has "resting bored face" and it got the biggest laugh of the night).  I do think Johnson is a good actress when she has good material to elevate her performance but this is based on a book you can buy at the airport (iykyk).  Still, this is a pretty faithful adaptation (except for a bizarre change to the ending that makes absolutely no sense) so fans of the book are sure to love it.

Note:  The scenes where Verity appears on Hot Ones and Call Her Daddy are hilarious.