Colony

The second movie in my double feature at the Broadway last night was Colony and I found it very entertaining and compelling.  A disgruntled biologist named Seo Young-cheol (Koo Kyo-hwan) deliberately releases a virus engineered by him at a biotechnology conference being held in a high-rise building in Seoul, South Korea, and informs the police that he has ingested the only antidote.  Those infected by the virus immediately mutate into violent and aggressive zombies and soon all but a small group of survivors, led by a controversial biotechnology professor named Kwon Se-jeong (Gianna Jun), are affected so the government seals the building under a military quarantine.  As the trapped survivors attempt to elude the zombies, they are horrified to discover that the virus has given them a collective hive mind and that they all share any sensory input received by one.  This allows them to evolve and adapt to any strategy the survivors use to escape.  They are forced to search the building for Seo Young-cheol because he is their only hope for an antidote but he is also their biggest threat because he controls the zombies.  This is incredibly suspenseful because the survivors must travel from floor to floor to escape from zombies who are always one step ahead of them.  The character design for the zombies, including the prostheses and makeup, as well as the way they contort their bodies make them terrifying.  The action sequences are epic and I loved the synchronized movements used by the zombies as they receive new input, particularly the scene in which they are overwhelmed by faulty information and devolve to their primitive state.  Finally, I found the message about the dangers of groupthink to be very thought-provoking and I loved that Kwon Se-jeong and another biotechnologist named Gong Seol-hee (Shin Hyun-been), two women who are outliers in their field and think for themselves, are the ones who stop the zombies.  This is a fresh take on the zombie genre and I highly recommend it.

The Sun Never Sets

Since the mainstream releases were a bust this weekend I decided on an indie double feature at the Broadway last night.  I started with The Sun Never Sets mostly because I loved the beautiful Alaskan scenery featured in the trailer but I ended up enjoying it.  Wendy (Dakota Fanning) is a thirty-something woman who is in a long-term relationship with Jack (Jake Johnson), an older man with two children from a previous marriage.  He is very set in his ways and does not share her passion for the great outdoors but, more importantly, he has no desire to get married again or have more children.  She has adapted to fit into his life because she loves him but, when her best friend Lindsay (Debby Ryan) announces that she is pregnant, Jack worries that she might regret her decision not to have children in the future.  He suggests that they take a break for six months so she can explore her options and decide if she really wants to be with him on his terms.  She objects but he finally coerces convinces her and she goes on several amusing blind dates.  While on one of these dates, she runs into Chuck (Cory Michael Smith), an ex-boyfriend who has recently returned to Anchorage, and she resumes a relationship with him.  This makes Jack extremely jealous and he suddenly wants her back on any terms but now she is unsure.  Jack then begins dating Sara (Karley Sciortino), a woman his age with whom he is very compatible.  Chuck begins exhibiting the behavior that made Wendy break up with him in the first place and, when she learns about Sara, she is jealous and wants Jack back.  Confusion (and many screaming matches) ensues.  What I especially liked is that the characters are complicated, flawed, and messy because I think they really reflect the uncertainty that many young adults feel when their lives don't look like everyone else's (I definitely went through this when I was in my early thirties).  I found it very interesting that the free-spirited and immature Chuck is obviously meant to be the villain but Jack, who is more settled and responsible, is also problematic because he is so controlling and manipulative (one scene, in particular, in which he is trying to get her to come home with him is extremely disturbing in my opinion).  This is why I loved the final resolution because it is so empowering. Fanning gives an incredibly nuanced performance, one of her very best, because Wendy is often frustrating but you still like her enough to root for her to succeed.  I wanted to see more of the Alaskan wilderness and the bickering between the characters does go on a bit longer than it needs to but I liked this and recommend it to fans of romantic dramas.

Onslaught

There were three new releases in theaters over the long Labor Day weekend, including By Any Means, Fall 2: Deadpoint, and Onslaught, but because I am not a big fan of Mark Walhberg and because I don't particularly like heights, my nephew and I defaulted to Onslaught last night.  Let's just say that it wasn't a good weekend for new movies.  Celeste (Adria Arjona) is a former Army sniper suffering from PTSD who now manages a trailer park in a remote desert in New Mexico.  At a nearby top secret government facility, the maniacal Nazi scientist Dr. Hans Krammer (Dan Stevens) is leading an experimental program to develop a group of super soldiers who do not have a conscience, who do not feel pain, and who will not stop until the mission is complete.  During a training exercise, the latest subjects, known as the Crybaby (Tyler Hall), the Cockroach (Dave Campbell), and the Butcher (Alex Pereira), escape from the compound and terrorize the civilian population.  They end up at the trailer park and kill the majority of the residents until Celeste, her young daughter (Blake Kennedy), a grizzled Vietnam veteran (Reginald VelJohnson), and a police officer (Eric Wareheim) make a stand against them.  Meanwhile, a government operative named Cyrus (Drew Starkey) is called in to contain the situation but is revealed to be working with Dr. Krammer's widow Hanna (Rebecca Hall) to preserve the research.  This is an obvious pastiche of much better slasher movies from the 1980s, especially those of John Carpenter, and I was really disappointed by the action sequences because, while some of them are suitably fun and gory (particularly the one at a convenience store), the super soldiers spend more time posing in silhouette than attacking and the final confrontation is very anticlimactic.  There are some weird tonal shifts (Stevens and Starkey are both little freaks in some shocking scenes that are completely superfluous) as well as commentary about the military that is introduced and then goes nowhere.  Arjona does a good job with what she is given but her character is thinly drawn and the belabored connection between Celeste and the Butcher does not have much impact. This is definitely one you can miss (maybe we should have seen By Any Means instead).

Note:  My nephew and I were the only ones in the theater (that should have been our first clue) and I lost count of how many times we looked at each other with a WTF expression on our faces.

A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Empress Theatre

Last night I ventured out to the Empress, one of my favorite community theatres, for A Midsummer Night's Dream. I love this play (I taught it for many years) and I thoroughly enjoyed this wonderful production. The young lovers Hermia (Kami McDonough), Lysander (Tanner Larsen), Helena (Jezory Munoz), and Demetrius (Braxton Moore), escape into the forest to avoid a harsh Athenian law and a group of rustic craftsman, including Quince (Emma Porter), Bottom (Biz Sharp), Flute (Colby Nash), Snug (Adrian Young), Snout (Stacy Mayren), and Starveling (Liz Nash), also enter the forest to rehearse a play for the wedding of Theseus (James Hutchings) and Hippolyta (Stacee Hunsaker). They cross paths with Oberon (Torin Scoffield) and Titania (Stacey Hutchings), the king and queen of the fairies, who are fighting and mayhem ensues when Oberon has his mischievous servant, Puck (Koda Smith), use a magic potion to manipulate them. I think this is one of Shakespeare's most accessible plays (which is why I taught it for so many years) and the choice to change the setting to 1930s Appalachia works very well, especially the costumes, the use of original music (I loved hearing the banjo and the washboard), and the choreography (the opening sequence immediately establishes the time and place and each of the characters). The set is beautiful and features an enchanted forest filled with vines, colorful flowers, toadstools, and logs along with a painted backdrop of mountains and dramatic lighting (the effect when Puck uses the potion is magical). I think the staging is very effective, particularly the use of multiple levels accessed by ladders and the quick entrances and exits through a large curtain, because the transitions are smooth and the pacing kept me completely engaged (there is always something happening on stage).  Finally, I really loved this cast. I pretty much have the entire play memorized and the line deliveries by everyone are incredibly natural (I will quote my other favorite Shakespeare play and say that the actors speak their speeches "trippingly on the tongue"). McDonough, Larsen, Munoz, and Moore, especially, have brilliant comedic timing in their scenes together. My favorite is the one in which Lysander and Demetrius nearly come to blows and Hermia and Helena trade insults because their physical performances are hilarious (I particularly loved it when Munoz imitates Moore). I could say the same about the actors portraying the craftsmen and I don't know what made me laugh more: Sharp's over the top death scene in Pyramus and Thisbe, Young's tears whenever Snug must act the role of the Lion, Porter's exasperation when Bottom takes over the rehearsal and when Flute mispronounces Ninus, or Nash's facial expressions when he appears as Thisbe (Nash probably wins because I laughed so hard I think I disrupted the action!). I have to give a huge thank you to the Empress for graciously providing me with a ticket because I truly had so much fun watching this show! I highly recommend that everyone, especially all of my former students who studied this play with me, get a ticket (go here) to one of the three remaining performances next weekend.

Note: I loved teaching Hamlet to my seniors and A Midsummer Night's Dream to my sophomores so it is really special that I got to see both of them on back-to-back weekends!

Coyote vs. Acme

The second movie in my double feature last night was Coyote vs. Acme and, as someone who grew up watching Looney Tunes cartoons every Saturday morning while eating cereal, I absolutely loved it!  After many years of using defective Acme products to catch the Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote hires a third rate personal injury lawyer named Kevin Avery (Will Avery) after he sees his face on a giant billboard.  He wants to sue the company for damages but Kevin wants to settle so he doesn't have to face Acme's legal counsel Buddy Crane (John Cena) at trial.  Coyote refuses the settlement so Kevin, with the help of his idealistic intern Paige (Lana Condor), tries to subpoena Road Runner as a witness, follows up on a tip from Bugs Bunny, an anonymous whistleblower, and meets with Daffy Duck, a former Acme employee.  They eventually uncover a sinister plot, known as Project Sisyphus, in which Acme knowingly used cartoons to test products for human use.  They call Acme's Head of HR, the Tasmanian Devil, to testify about Project Sisyphus and chaos ensues so Judge Troppogrosso (Luis Guzman) dismisses the case.  However, a congressional hearing is convened by Senator Elmer Fudd but Acme CEO Foghorn Leghorn argues that cartoon testing is necessary for progress and that the pain felt by cartoons doesn't matter so the committee decides not to pursue federal charges.  Road Runner eventually arrives to save the day and testifies that Coyote is his friend and that he has suffered.  This is a blend of live action and animation (Eric Bauza voices most of the cartoon characters) that is very clever and very funny (I laughed out loud multiple times).  This is also a scathing indictment of corporate greed, unfair monopolies, judicial and political corruption, and exploitation of marginalized consumers (I didn't expect it to go this hard) but I really loved the powerful portrayal of perseverance in the face of adversity (I was unprepared for so much emotion).  Finally, this is incredibly nostalgic with lots of fun Easter eggs (I loved the green Batman suit).  This is one of the most delightful movies I've seen this year and, if you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend that you check it out on the big screen!