Sundance Film Festival 2023

I am so happy that I got to attend the Sundance Film Festival in person this year!  I really missed the excitement of seeing a film on the big screen with a large and enthusiastic crowd as well as all of the wonderful conversations with people who love independent film as much as I do!  I was able to see eighteen films (at the Grand Theatre and the Rose Wagner Center for the Performing Arts) which is my record for in-person screenings!  My first film was Sometimes I Think About Dying.  Fran (Daisy Ridley) is a lonely young woman in a mundane job who struggles to make connections with people because she thinks that her life isn't interesting enough.  To compensate for her boring existence she has elaborate daydreams about dying.  She eventually finds a reason to engage with life when she meets a new co-worker (Dave Merheje) but can she overcome her anxiety to have a relationship with him?  I loved Ridley's restrained, yet highly nuanced, performance and I laughed out loud at Fran's awkwardness because it is such a realistic portrayal of an introvert.  My second film was the psychological thriller Run Rabbit Run.  Sarah (Sarah Snook) is disconcerted when her daughter Mia (Lily LaTorre) turns seven and seems to become possessed by Sarah's sister who mysteriously disappeared when she was seven.  Mia's behavior brings up a repressed childhood trauma for Sarah and, eventually, the audience is left to wonder if she needs protection from Mia or if Mia needs protection from her.  There is such a sense of foreboding (the sound design is brilliant) but the filmmakers can't seem to commit to it because just when the tension is at its peak it is dialed back and I found that incredibly frustrating.  My third film was The Pod Generation where a couple (Emilia Clarke and Chiwetel Ejiofor) living in the near future decide to have a baby using an artificial womb.  I loved the world-building (especially the A.I. psychologist) and the message about becoming too reliant on technology but it does go on a bit.  My fourth film was Other People's Children.  A 40-year-old teacher named Rachel (Virginie Efira) fears that she is running out of time to have a child but things become complicated when she grows attached to her partner's four year old daughter.  I really loved Rachel's character arc (especially since I am a teacher and an aunt who doesn't have children) as well as Elfira's luminous performance.  My fifth film was Magazine Dreams, which was one of my most anticipated because I really like Jonathan Majors.  After surviving a childhood filled with violence, Killian Maddox (Majors) channels all of his obsessive energy into bodybuilding and his highest aspiration is to be on the cover of a magazine so he will be remembered.  However, anger management issues, setbacks in his personal and professional life, and disillusionment after meeting his bodybuilding hero cause Maddox to contemplate another way of achieving fame.  This has some really heavy themes that won't be for everyone but Majors delivers a brilliant performance. My sixth film was Birth/Rebirth which is a horror film based on Frankenstein involving a pathologist (Maren Ireland) and a labor and delivery nurse (Judy Reyes) who conspire to bring a child back to life.  Both Ireland and Reyes give captivating performances that explore the lengths to which one will go for science and the other for the love of a child.  It is plenty gory but I also enjoyed the dark humor.  My seventh film was Theater Camp and this screening was the most fun I had at the whole festival!  This is a feel-good mockumentary about saving a theater camp after the owner has a seizure and her clueless son takes over.  It stars Ben Platt, Molly Gordon, and Noah Galvin who give hilarious performances.  The audience in my screening laughed out loud through the whole thing!  My eighth film was The Deepest Breath which was my first documentary of the festival.  This is about the extreme sport of freediving which follows Alessia Zecchini and Stephen Keenan in their quest for her to complete a notoriously dangerous dive.  I found it interesting, engaging, and emotional with stunning underwater photography.  My ninth film was the noir thriller Eileen.  A repressed young woman named Eileen (Thomasin McKenzie) becomes infatuated with the new psychologist, Rebecca Saint John (Anne Hathaway), at the prison where she works.  They begin a relationship but the balance of power shifts in one of the wildest third act twists I've seen!  It is stylish and atmospheric with fantastic performances from McKenzie and Hathaway.  My tenth film was Infinity Pool which was the film I was most excited to see when the festival program was announced and the late night crowd was absolutely wild!  While on vacation at an exclusive resort located in a developing country, a wealthy couple (Alexander Skarsgard and Cleopatra Coleman) discovers that the consequences of their actions can go away for the right price but this discovery leads the husband on a path to hedonism, violence, and, eventually, madness (with the help of an unhinged Mia Goth).  It is shocking and disturbing (I've heard that the theatrical release has been cut) but I really dug it!  My eleventh film was You Hurt My Feelings which is a light and breezy comedy about the little white lies we tell people to spare their feelings.  It is pretty insubstantial but I did laugh out loud many times and the cast is great, particularly Julia Louis-Dreyfus.  My twelfth film was My Animal which blends the coming of age genre with horror.  Heather (Bobbi Salvor Menuez) is an outsider in her small town but her secret is harder to hide when she becomes infatuated with Jonny (Amandla Stenberg).  The werewolf mythology is just a metaphor for Heather's sexual awakening but I wanted a bit more bite in the third act after all of the build-up.  My thirteenth film was It's Only Life After All, a documentary about the Indigo Girls that details how Amy Ray and Emily Saliers became one of the most influential folk-rock duos despite the backlash about their gender, sexuality, and political activism.  I am a casual fan but I loved this intimate, and often humorous, portrait (I had to laugh when Ray gets embarrassed by the angst in “Blood and Fire” because I love that song).  My fourteenth film was Shortcomings which was another one of my most anticipated.  Ben (Justin H. Min) is an aspiring filmmaker who is forced to recognize his insufferable behavior when he loses his job and his girlfriend Mika (Ally Maki) and best friend Alice (Sherry Cole) move to New York.  Despite a few *ahem* shortcomings, I enjoyed the commentary on race and identity as well as the humor.  My fifteenth film was Past Lives and I really loved it because it struck a chord with me.  Childhood friends Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) are separated when her family emigrates from South Korea to Canada.  Twelve years later they reconnect on Facebook but lose touch again and move on with their lives.  After another twelve years, Hae Sung visits her in New York and they speculate about what their lives would be like if she had stayed in South Korea or if they had kept in touch.  This film is about idealized memories of people and places and I could really relate to this theme as someone who left a childhood friend behind after emigrating to the U.S.  This is my favorite film of the festival and will probably be one of my favorites this year!  My sixteenth film was the hip romantic comedy Rye Lane.  Dom (David Jonsson) and Yas (Vivian Oparah) meet and spontaneously spend the day walking through various London neighborhoods while commiserating about their recent break-ups and helping each other get revenge on their exes.  There are lots of fun and surrealistic flashback sequences and some great cameos.  My seventeenth film was Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie and I really enjoyed this documentary about Fox's rise to fame and diagnosis with Parkinson's Disease.  Archival footage and reenactments are edited together very effectively and I loved the needle drops.  My eighteenth and final film was Flora and Son and I definitely picked a good one to end with!  This is another feel-good movie about the power of music from John Carney (the director of Once and Sing Street) with a great performance from Eve Hewson as a single mom trying to find a connection to her delinquent son (Oren Kinlan).  I loved the chemistry between Hewson and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (who plays her guitar teacher) and the original songs are fun and catchy.  There you have it!  I declare the festival a success because I had so much fun watching some great films and meeting some wonderful people!

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Pride and Prejudice at HCTO

I am a huge fan of Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice is one of my very favorite novels so I was really excited to see a production of it at HCTO yesterday!  I loved everything about it!  First, I cannot say enough about the brilliant adaptation by Melissa Leilani Larson.  As someone who has read the novel countless times and even studied it in college (I took a class focused on the novels of Jane Austen and it was my favorite one in college), I think it is perfect.  Obviously not everything can be included in an adaptation (except for maybe the A&E version starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle) but I think this one captures the essence of the novel in a way that feels very fresh and new without sacrificing any of my favorite lines of dialogue.  There is even a hilarious spoof of the well-known opening sentence about a single man in possession a fortune being in want of a wife that made the audience laugh out loud!  I even enjoyed a very subtle difference from the source material (which almost never happens with me because I am a purist) in which Mary displays an infatuation for Mr. Collins because it seems like an organic extension of the character as written in the text.  Next, the performances are wonderful!  One of the things I love about the novel is that the characters are so well delineated and every member of the cast is perfect for their role, especially Madeleine McBeth because she is intelligent and quick-witted as Elizabeth, Sasha Fazulyanov because she is reserved and gentle as Jane, Bronson Dameron because he is arrogant and aloof as Mr. Darcy, and Parley Lambert because he is pleasant and a bit awkward as Mr. Bingley.  However, Bradley Mackay steals every scene he is in as Mr. Collins!  His reaction to Mr. Wickham when he is out with the Bennett sisters is hilarious and his proposal to Elizabeth had me (and the audience) in hysterics!  Finally, I loved the staging (especially both dances at the Netherfield ball because the choreography emphasizes every character's personality so well), the minimal set in which chairs are moved into various configurations by the actors, and the beautiful Regency costumes.  I enjoyed this so much and I wish that I had time to see it again!  It runs through February 11 and tickets may be purchased here.

Carmina Burana

Last night's Utah Symphony concert was truly spectacular and I recommend that you stop reading right now and get a ticket for tonight's performance of the same program as soon as possible because there weren't many empty seats at Abravanel Hall!  The orchestra began with Feuertrunken (Fire-Drunk) by Joshua Cerdenia and I really loved this piece.  It was inspired by Dante and depicts the journey through a wall of fire to get from purgatory to paradise.  It is intense, energetic, and exciting and I particularly enjoyed the themes played by the brass, the percussion (especially the timpani and the bass drum), and the harp.  Next came The Firebird suite by Igor Stravinsky and, as a fan of Russian composers, I loved this as well.  This ballet is based on a series of Russian folktales and features a Firebird that is captured and then released by Prince Ivan and then later recalled to break the evil spell holding thirteen princesses prisoner by King Kastchel.  I especially loved the melody played by the solo oboe, horn, and viola during the Firebird's Dance of Supplication where she pleads with Prince Ivan to let her go and I loved the theme played by the violins and woodwinds during the Dance of the Princesses.  After the intermission, the orchestra performed Carmina Burana by Carl Orff with the Utah Symphony Chorus, the University of Utah Choirs, the Choristers of the Madeleine Choir School, and soloists Christopher Clayton, Jack Swanson (who recently sang the role of Tonio in The Daughter of the Regiment), and Ashley Fabian.  The music is unbelievably dramatic and I had goosebumps through most of it.  The text, which is based on a collection of medieval poetry, describes a wheel of fortune as it turns and features themes of luck and fate during several sections.  My favorite is the well-known "O Fortuna," which frames the piece at the beginning and end, because it is so bombastic and powerful.  The first section is about the rebirth found in Spring and I enjoyed the playful theme played by the solo flute depicting the whirling of dancing couples.  The second section is about feasting, drinking, and debauchery and the interactions between Clayton and Swanson (who impersonates a swan being roasted over a fire) had the audience laughing out loud!  The third section represents romantic love with incredibly tender solos by Clayton and Fabian (along with some encouragement from the children's choir).  This piece is epic and, trust me, you definitely do not want to miss this brilliant performance!  Go here for tickets.

See How They Run at HCT

HCT likes to begin the new season with a comedy and this year they picked a great one! I love the play See How They Run because I played Miss Skillon in high school and I had a blast watching HCT's version last night! This hilarious British farce takes place in the vicarage of a village called Merton-Cum-Middlewick during World War II. Lance Corporal Clive Winton (Clayton Barney) comes to visit his old friend Penelope (Morgan Fenner) who is now married to the Rev. Lionel Toop (Ben Parkes). Ida (Elise Pearce), her love-struck cockney maid, is flustered by his arrival but Miss Skillon (Lori Rees), a meddling spinster who has come to the vicarage to complain to Rev. Toop, is convinced that Penelope is having an affair with him and imbibes too much cooking sherry. Penelope persuades Clive to wear Rev. Toop's second best suit and clerical collar so they can dodge army regulations and see the play they once performed together. When Penelope's sedate uncle the Bishop of Lax (Zac Zumbrunnen), a mild-mannered visiting clergyman named Rev. Arthur Humphrey (Sanford Porter), and an escaped German POW (Jason Hackney) all end up at the vicarage, you get mayhem, mistaken identity, and everyone chasing each other in clerical garb! The action is incredibly fast-paced with a lot of physical comedy and there were hoots of laughter at all of the preposterous goings-on, especially when Clive, Toop, the Bishop, and the German prisoner jump over the prostrate Miss Skillon as they chase each other through the drawing room (this was one of my favorite scenes in my high school production even though I always worried that they wouldn't jump in time). It is even funnier when they continue jumping even when she isn't there anymore! Another hilarious scene involves several characters, including Miss Skillon, hiding in the cupboard (in my production the Rev. Toop and I would always try to come up with funny poses to get the others to break character when they opened the door). The entire cast is outstanding but my favorites were Parkes, because he becomes more and more hysterical, Zumbrunnen, because he becomes more and more outraged, and Porter, because he becomes more and more flustered (all of their facial expressions are so much fun to watch) in response to the chaos. Of course I absolutely loved Rees as Skillon (she is such a fun character) because she gives an absolutely brilliant physical performance, especially when she is intoxicated and trying to stand up or walk! The set features an explosion of floral prints on the wall, on the furniture, and on the many throw pillow featured in the drawing room of the vicarage. I also really liked the timbered rafters, the glass doors leading out to the garden, and the aforementioned cupboard. The costumes are very flamboyant, especially the Bishop's purple and scarlet vestments and robe and Miss Skillon's mismatched plaid ensemble. This show is more fun than should be allowed on a Tuesday and I loved it! I highly suggest that you get a ticket (go here) before all of the shows sell out. It runs on the Sorenson Legacy Jewel Box Stage through April 22.

She Loves Me at CPT

I love the musical She Loves Me because it is just so charming! I've seen it countless times (including the Broadway revival starring Zachary Levi, Laura Benanti, and Jane Krakowski as well as at HCT and West Valley Arts) but I was still really looking forward to CPT's production. I took a little break from Sundance to see it last night with my sisters and my niece and we all really enjoyed it. The action takes place at Maraczek's Perfumery in Budapest during the 1930s and follows a group of eccentric clerks, including Georg Nowack (Ben Lowell), Ilona Ritter (Jordyn Tracy), Steven Kodaly (Ryan Bruckman), Ladoslav Sipos (Chad Wilkinson), and Arpad Laszlo (Drew Dunshee). When Mr. Maraczek (Darin Stite) hires Amalia Balash (Claire Glaittli) as a new clerk, Georg takes an immediate dislike to her and soon they are both bickering constantly.  However, both Georg and Amalia have unknown correspondents but neither one knows that they are writing to each other! Most of the songs are like every day conversations between co-workers (the clerks even break out into song whenever a customer leaves the shop) and I especially love "Tonight at Eight" and "Will He Like Me" because they each give the male and female perspective about going on a first date. There are a couple of big song and dance numbers, including "A Romantic Atmosphere" and "Twelve Days To Christmas," and the choreography in both is a lot of fun and well executed by the ensemble. Glaittli has an incredibly beautiful voice and she really shines in the song "Vanilla Ice Cream" while Lowell is energetic and endearing in "She Loves Me." The two of them have great comedic timing and wonderful chemistry which really elevates the enemies to lovers trope. I was also really impressed with Tracy because, even though the character is supposed to be a bit fast and loose with her affections, her performance is more playful than overtly sexy. The period costumes and wigs are beautiful and really convey the time and place but my favorite aspect of this production is the amazing set! I was just as impressed with the outside of Maraczek's Perfumery as I was with the inside because of the attention to detail. The shop actually looks like it could be found on a street in Europe with stone masonry, stained glass windows, wooden benches, and pots of flowers. When the shop opens up there are window displays that light up, moving display cases filled with colored bottles of perfume and monogrammed gift boxes, chandeliers, and gold leaf wallpaper. The Cafe Imperial is a simple but effective set piece that rises from the floor and also features lots of fun details such as more gold leaf wallpaper, sconces, and candles flickering on the tables. Everything about this show is delightful and I highly recommend it for a romantic night out. It runs on the Barlow Main Stage through February 18 (go here for tickets).

Note:  There were a lot of empty seats last night and I think the reason might be that not many people (other than theatre nerds like me) are familiar with this show.  Both of my sisters and my niece had never heard of it before. Hopefully people will give it a chance because it really is lovely.

What Lies in the Woods

My January Book of the Month selection was What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall (the other options were Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor, Lunar Love by Lauren Kung Jessen, Queen of Thieves by Beezy Marsh, Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo, The Reunion by Kayla Olson, and Independence by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni). I already pre-ordered Hell Bent, the long-awaited sequel to Ninth House, months ago so I decided to go with the thriller and I'm glad that I did because I couldn't put it down! Twenty-two years ago in a small town in the Pacific Northwest, three eleven-year-old girls with vivid imaginations spend the summer in the woods role-playing their favorite stories from mythology in secret. Later that summer Naomi is brutally attacked by a serial killer and barely survives but, when he is caught, she and her friends Olivia and Cassidy provide the evidence that convicts Allan Michael Stahl. In the present, Naomi learns that Stahl has died in prison and, rather than providing a sense of relief, this bring up long repressed memories of the attack. She travels back to her hometown to reconnect with her friends and Olivia is distraught over the fact that the three of them have not been entirely honest and may have sent an innocent man to prison. Olivia wants to tell the truth but, when she disappears, it turns out that all three women have been keeping even more secrets about that day in the woods. This novel is incredibly suspenseful and the tension never lets up until the dramatic conclusion back in the woods. Even though I guessed one of the big reveals pretty early on, I was completely blindsided on several occasions with all of the twists and turns. I really enjoyed the structure because the narrative uses flashbacks to provide incremental details about the central mystery and this is very effective because I had to keep reading well into the night to find out what happened. I also really liked Naomi as the main protagonist and I think her character is very well-developed, particularly in regards to how the trauma she suffered as a child has informed the person she has become and the decisions, which are not always rational, she makes. My only complaint is that some of the secondary characters are not as well-developed and I sometimes lost track of them but that didn't detract from my enjoyment. Ultimately, this is a riveting psychological thriller and I recommend it to fans of the genre.

Note:  This is the first foray into adult fiction by this author but, as a fan of YA fiction, I might try to find some of her earlier works because I like her style.

Utah Opera's The Daughter of the Regiment

I had never seen The Daughter of the Regiment by Gaetano Donizetti before so I was really excited for Utah Opera's production last night.  I usually prefer the tragedies but I loved this delightful performance!  The Twenty-First Regiment of the French army is stationed in the Tyrolean region during the Napoleonic Wars.  Sergeant Sulpice (Matt Burns) is concerned because Marie (Madison Leonard), a canteen girl who has been raised by the regiment since they found her abandoned as a baby, has fallen in love with a Tyrolean named Tonio (Jack Swanson).  Since she has pledged to marry a member of the regiment, Tonio enlists but it is all for naught when Marie discovers that she is the long lost niece of the Marquise of Berkenfield (Elise Quagliata) who insists that she accompany her to learn to be a proper lady.  Tonio, distraught at losing Marie, puts himself in harm's way and is promoted for bravery.  He formally asks the Marquise for Marie's hand in marriage but complications ensue when he learns that she has been betrothed to a Duke.  Leonard is outstanding in the role because not only is her voice beautiful but she has really great comedic timing and wonderful chemistry with Swanson.  I loved the duet between Marie and Tonio, "Depuis l'instant où, dans mes bras," because it is both tender and really playful.  I also loved the hilarious scene where the Marquise has Marie practice being a lady by singing an aria but she breaks out into the regimental song instead (after singing very badly).  I was also really impressed with Swanson's brilliant vocal performance in "Ah! Mes amis," where he tells the regiment that he loves Marie, because he gave me goosebumps every time he hit those high notes!  There is a lot of comedy in this opera, especially a recurring bit whenever Sulpice tells the story of finding Marie (it is even funnier when Marie does it).  I also enjoyed Kevin Nakatni's performances as Hortensius, the Marquise's butler, because his facial expressions are hilarious and Anne Cullimore Decker steals every scene she is in as the venerable Duchess of Krackenthorp because she is so disapproving!  The costumes, which were all made by the Utah Opera costume department, are fabulous!  I loved the attention to detail on the uniforms worn by the regiment and on the gowns worn by Marie, the Marquise, and the Duchess.  The staging is very clever because Act I features a backdrop of forests and mountains and then when the action shifts to the Marquise's chateau in Act II there are windows placed in front of the same backdrop to show the view.  I had so much fun watching this production, often laughing out loud, and I think everyone, even those not familiar with opera, would enjoy it.  There are two more productions with lots of tickets available (go here).

Plane

After the heavy content from all of the independent films I have been watching lately, I was more than ready for the action thriller Plane yesterday.  It is the type of movie that my Dad would have absolutely loved and I enjoyed it in his memory.  Captain Brodie Torrance (Gerard Butler) is the pilot on Trailblazer Airlines Flight 119 from Singapore to Japan with 14 passengers, including a prisoner named Louis Gaspare (Mike Colter) who is being extradited to stand trial for murder.  Torrance is worried about the weather but is told not to deviate from the flight plan to conserve fuel.  As predicted, they encounter a dangerous storm and the plane is struck by lightning which damages the electrical system and forces an emergency landing.  Unfortunately, they land on a remote island in the Philippines ruled by a group of ruthless separatists who take most of the passengers and crew hostage.  When Torrance learns of Gaspare's military background, he unshackles him and they, along with a group of mercenaries hired by the airline to rescue them, fight the separatists, rescue the hostages, and somehow get the plane back in the air.  There is very little character development (the crew members, passengers, and separatists are indistinguishable) and you must suspend your disbelief on occasion (why is Gaspare on this particular flight when he is being extradited to the US?) but it is still a lot of fun.  Butler can always be relied upon in these kind of roles and the action sequences are intense and thrilling, especially some hand-to-hand combat involving the creative use of a sledgehammer and a suspenseful shoot-out in the final act.  This is actually better than what you might expect from a January release and I recommend seeing it with your Dad with a big tub of popcorn.

Broker

My interest was really piqued by Broker when Song Kang-ho won Best Actor for his performance at the Cannes Film Festival this year so I went to see it at the Broadway last night (I have now seen every new release currently playing at the Broadway which is a challenge I often set for myself but rarely achieve).  I was incredibly moved by this heartwarming portrait of an unexpected family.  Moon So-young (Lee Ji-eun) leaves her son Woo-sung (Park Ji-yong) at a baby box located in a church where Dong-soo (Gang Dong-won) works part-time and Ha Sang-hyeon (Song Kang-ho) volunteers.  The two of them have a scheme where they periodically steal the babies left behind and sell them on the black market.  They take Woo-sung but, when So-young returns to the church to claim him, they convince her to join their scheme by offering her a portion of the money.  They travel to an orphanage to find prospective parents and then begin an odyssey across the country only to discover that one of the orphans, Hae-jin (Im Seung-soo), has stowed away in their van because he wants to be adopted too.  However, two detectives, Soo-jin (Bae Doona) and Lee (Lee Joo-young), are pursuing them but not everything is as it seems.  Every character, including the police officer, is broken and has something to hide but they all come to understand and care about each other even as they make difficult decisions about what is best for Woo-sung.  Human trafficking is clearly wrong (I don't think it is romanticized in any way) but the narrative does explore the ways in which each character's choices, or lack thereof, have brought them to this point and I really empathized with them due, in no small part, to the marvelous performances from the entire cast.  There were two scenes, in particular, that brought me to tears including when So-young tells her son and then everyone else that she is happy they were born and when So-young and Dong-soo ride on a ferris wheel and think about what it would be like to raise Woo-sung themselves.  I loved the repeated use of rain as a symbol of new beginnings and the atmospheric score is very affecting.  This is a lovely film that is definitely worth seeking out.

Skinamarink

The trailer for Skinamarink really freaked me out so of course I had to see it at the Broadway last night (the theater was packed for a late screening on a Sunday).  Two children, six-year-old Kaylee (Dali Rose Tetreault) and four-year-old Kevin (Lucas Paul), wake up disoriented in the middle of the night in their dark suburban house to discover that their parents seem to be missing.  They decide to go downstairs, build a fort out of blankets, eat some cereal, and watch cartoons (as one does) but strange and terrifying things begin happening in the house.  This experimental film will definitely not be for everyone because it is more concerned with evoking a feeling rather than telling a linear story.  I also think that you have to be able to commit fully to the vibe in order for it to work for you but, as someone who truly believed that there were monsters in my closet and under my bed when I was a child, this really worked for me.  It is terrifying, not for what you see, but for what you think you see.  The camera angles are low as if the images are from the perspective of a child and, even though it was shot digitally, it looks as if it was shot using grainy analog film which really makes it appear that there are things lurking in the darkness.  The lack of a score, along with the audio from the cartoons, really adds to the unease.  Seeing this with a large crowd really enhanced the experience for me because there was a lot of nervous laughter (the tension is palpable) and even a few screams (I screamed out loud for the first time since seeing  Hereditary at Sundance).  There were also lots of interesting conversations in the lobby when it was over!  I recommend this to anyone who ever let their imagination get the better of them in the middle of the night!

Holy Spider

I became interested in Holy Spider when Zar Amir Ebrahimi won Best Actress for her performance at the Cannes Film Festival this year.  I decided to see it at the Broadway (my second home this week) last night and it is disturbing but very compelling.  A journalist named Arezoo Rahimi (Ebrahimi) travels to the holy city of Mashhad in Iran to investigate a serial killer known as the Spider.  Saeed Hanaei (Mehdi Bajestani), a middle-aged veteran of the Iran-Iraq War who laments the fact that he did not become a martyr for Allah, travels through the city on a motorcycle, lures prostitutes to his apartment when his wife and children are away, strangles them with their own headscarves, and disposes of their bodies in the same location.  He believes that what he is doing is a crusade to rid the streets of sin and, as Rahimi investigates, she suspects that the chief detective on the case (Sina Parvaneh) and an important local cleric (Nima Akbarpour) believe the same thing because there have been no new leads in the case in the past six months.  She decides to intervene and poses as a prostitute in order to catch him herself (in scenes filled with so much tension that I was holding my breath) but then must contend with the public who view him as a hero.  I was very struck by the difficulties that Rahimi faces as a woman trying to investigate a crime.  She is almost refused a room in a hotel because she is a single woman, she is berated for showing too much hair (there are many parallels with the situation in Iran today), she must be accompanied by a male journalist (Arash Ashtiani) everywhere she goes, and she is physically attacked by the police chief (the juxtaposition between the threat posed by a serial killer and by men in power is very thought-provoking).  I was also struck by how normal Hanaei is in his interactions with his wife and family and by how easy it is for him (and, later, his son) to get swept up in a religious mania.  Even though the audience knows who the murderer is very early on (it is based on true events) it is still incredibly suspenseful because of what happens after Hanaei is arrested and there are a few twists and turns that had me on the edge of my seat.  Ebrahimi is brilliant in the role because you can see the fury on her face even as she pulls her hijab tighter.  This scathing condemnation of misogyny and religious extremism is difficult to watch (the violence is very graphic and the final scene left me shaking) but I recommend it.

Women Talking

I have been anticipating the wide release of Women Talking for months and I was so happy to finally have a chance to see it at the Broadway last night!  It is incredibly powerful with performances that should be generating a lot more awards buzz.  Many women in an isolated Mennonite community have been drugged and raped but, despite waking up bruised and bleeding, they are not believed until there are eyewitnesses.  All of the men go to town to post bail for those accused and the women are admonished to forgive them or else face being exiled from the community and excommunicated from their faith.  While the men are gone the women take a vote about whether they will do nothing, stay and fight, or leave the colony but there is no clear winner.  A group of women, including Ona (Rooney Mara), Salome (Claire Foy), Mariche (Jessie Buckley), Mejal (Michelle McLeod), Agata (Judith Ivey), Greta (Sheila McCarthy), and an older member of the congregation known as "Scarface" (Frances McDormand) who disagrees with the process, are elected to come to a decision and they meet in the hayloft of a barn to debate the merits of each option.  A sympathetic schoolteacher named August (Ben Whishaw) is asked to join them to record the minutes because the women are illiterate.  The themes are incredibly compelling, especially the notion of forgiveness.  There is a phenomenal scene during which Greta realizes that her teachings may have encouraged the violence against her daughters and granddaughters because forgiveness can sometimes be misconstrued as permission.  The performances are outstanding because my attention never wavered from the dialogue-heavy narrative.  Foy and Buckley have the showier roles, portraying fiery women who eventually have their opinions challenged, but Mara gives a beautiful performance as a woman trying to reconcile their decision with their faith.  I have heard many complaints about the color grading but, in my opinion, the gray tones reflect the despair the women have been living with and serve to keep the time and place ambiguous.  Finally, I loved the score by Hildur Gudnadottir because it is tense during the flashbacks that hint at the violence but haunting during scenes showing the children the women are fighting to protect at play.  I was very moved by this sensitive depiction of a heavy subject and I highly recommend it.

Ain't Too Proud at the Eccles

Last night I had the chance to see Ain't Too Proud at the Eccles Theatre and it was so good!  It is a jukebox musical about The Temptations and it reminded me a lot of Jersey Boys (a musical I love).  It obviously features all of the wonderful music by the group (and others) but I also really enjoyed the story because I didn't know a lot about The Temptations.  After Otis Williams (Michael Andreaus) has a brush with the law, he decides to form a music group so he can rise above the streets of Detroit and never lose his freedom again.  He recruits Al Bryant (Devin Price), Melvin Franklin (Harrell Holmes, Jr.), Eddie Kendricks (Jalen Harris), and Paul Williams (E. Clayton Cornelious).  Bryant is soon replaced by David Ruffin (Elijah Ahmad Lewis) and they are signed by Berry Gordy (Jeremy Kelsey) to Motown Records where they begin working with Smokey Robinson (Omar Madden) as a songwriter and producer.  The show features the creation of their biggest hits, their rivalry with The Supremes (Amber Mariah Talley, Shayla Brielle G, and Traci Elaine Lee) at Motown, and how personal conflicts and tragedies as well as racial tensions in the United States threaten to tear them apart.  The entire cast is unbelievably talented because the singing and dancing in this show is absolutely brilliant!  I especially loved Lewis because, just like David Ruffin does in The Temptations, he often steals the spotlight and dazzles with his vocal performance!  Andreaus is also outstanding because he narrates the show from beginning to end and provides many of the emotional beats.  I really enjoyed the staging of the songs, especially when they would seamlessly transition from city to city while performing a song on tour through choreography and the changing of the marquee above them.  I also enjoyed the recreation of their performance of "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" on American Bandstand because the cameras become part of the choreography.  My favorite numbers were "My Girl" and "Get Ready" (I may or may not have been singing along) but I also liked how many of the songs mirror what is happening in the story such as "If You Don't Know Me By Now" when Josephine (Quiana Onrae'l Holmes) leaves Otis, "I Wish It Would Rain" when Martin Luther King is assassinated, "Ball of Confusion (That's What The World is Today)" when the group wants to record more politically charged music, "Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are)" when Ruffin and Kendricks insist on joining the group for a reunion tour, "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone" when personal tragedies befall the group members, and "What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted" when Otis Williams is the last original member left.  I didn't really know what to expect from this show but I enjoyed everything about the production and I highly recommend getting a ticket for one of the remaining performances (go here) at the Eccles.

EO

When my nephew and I were at the Broadway for Babylon, we saw the trailer for EO and he was fascinated by it.  He asked me if I would take him to see it so we went last night and, while he thought it was incredibly thought-provoking (we discussed it the whole drive home), I found it to be one of the most heartbreaking films I've ever seen.  EO, a small gray donkey with expressive brown eyes, is a circus performer in Poland and is lovingly cared for by his handler Kasandra (Sandra Drzymalska).  When an animal rights organization protests outside the circus, EO and the other animals are removed and thus begins an odyssey throughout Europe where EO experiences both kindness and cruelty from the people he encounters.  One of the most amusing sequences turns into one of the hardest to watch when EO inadvertently becomes the mascot of a soccer team when he distracts an opposing player kicking a penalty shot but is then viciously beaten by fans of the losing team.  There are so many ideas presented but the ones that resonated the most with me are the ways in which humans have disrupted the natural environment with technology so animals no longer have a habitat (birds are killed by wind turbines and foxes are shot in the forest by hunters using laser sights) and the ways in which humans exploit animals (using them as beasts of burden or for sport) and view them as disposable (herding them off to slaughter).  The imagery is incredibly striking, particularly the use of red which evokes very strong emotions, and the editing and sound design are disorienting but effective at portraying EO's place in the world.  I found this to be both incredibly beautiful and profoundly upsetting (the ending made me cry) but I recommend it.

Note:  I asked my nephew what drew him to this movie and he told me that he prefers creative storytelling.  I have turned him into a cinephile and I couldn't be prouder!

Corsage

I became fascinated with Empress Elisabeth when I visited the Sisi Museum in the Hofburg Palace on a trip to Austria so I have been looking forward to Corsage for months.  I finally had the chance to see it last night at the Broadway and I absolutely loved it!  I loved everything about it!  The narrative follows a year in the life of Empress Elisabeth (Vicky Krieps) beginning with her 40th birthday.  She is wild and restless but is constrained by her husband Emperor Franz Joseph (Florian Teichtmeister), who refuses to give her a voice in politics, her children Rudolf (Aaron Friesz) and Valerie (Rosa Hajjaj), who implore her to behave in a more dignified manner, her duties, which she finds tedious, and her image, which is becoming harder and harder to maintain.  She is also literally constrained by corsets (the title Corsage is in reference to the German word for corset) as her ladies-in-waiting pull the laces tighter and tighter.  She attempts to rebel by fleeing the palace every chance she gets, spending hours riding and fencing (which are considered unseemly for a woman), flirting with her riding instructor (Colin Morgan) and her cousin King Ludwig II (Manuel Rubey), finding ways to avoid her duties (there is a hilarious scene where she fakes a swoon), and, finally, cutting her hair because it takes hours to braid every day.  She finds a kind of freedom in the final scene, which is fictionalized (as is much of the narrative) but incredibly powerful.  Krieps is absolutely brilliant in the role because her performance never becomes a caricature and she embodies so many emotions even when she is completely still.  I loved the use of anachronistic details, such as contemporary music (I especially enjoyed the cover of "Help Me Make It Through The Night"), because they suggest that Elisabeth is ahead of her time and I loved the opulent interiors inside buildings that look to be crumbling and abandoned because Elisabeth is trapped in a society that is soon coming to an end.  This is very atmospheric and episodic so it might not be for everyone but I was mesmerized and I highly recommend it!

Note:  I also recommend The Empress on Netflix which has just been renewed for a second season.

The Marvelous Wonderettes at the Terrace Plaza Playhouse

My first live theatre production of 2023 was The Marvelous Wonderettes at the Terrace Plaza Playhouse last night. It is a really fun jukebox musical featuring songs from the 1950s and 60s and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The Springfield High School Class of 1958 is having their senior prom but the leader of the boys glee club originally scheduled to perform was suspended for smoking so the songleaders, known as the Marvelous Wonderettes, are asked to provide the entertainment at the last minute. In between the musical numbers, Betty Jean (Emily Richards), Cindy Lou (Jessica Andrus), Missy (Jenni Cooper), and Suzy (Katie Swainston) engage in witty banter about the rivalries within the group and their boy troubles as well as vie with each other to become prom queen (the audience gets to vote using a ballot distributed before the show). After the intermission, the Class of 1958 has their ten year reunion at Springfield High School and the Marvelous Wonderettes are, once again, asked to perform. They each have a chance to catch their classmates (the audience) up on what has been happening in their lives during the past ten years. The best part of this show is the amazing music (I grew up listening to all of these songs) and my favorites were "Mr. Sandman," "Lollipop," "All I Have To Do Is Dream," "Dream Lover," "Stupid Cupid," "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me," "You Don't Own Me," "It's In His Kiss," "I Only Want to Be With You," "It's My Party," "Son of a Preacher Man," "Leader of the Pack," "Rescue Me," and "Respect."  Richards, Andrus, Cooper, and Swainston have great four-part harmony and sound fantastic but they also do a good job with the choreography and the physical comedy. My favorite was Cooper (I voted for Missy to be prom queen) because her facial expressions are hilarious, especially when she confesses her crush on one of their teachers (Mr. Lee is played by someone picked out of the audience each night and our Mr. Lee got really into the choreography). The costumes are a lot of fun (each character has her own color) with elaborate tea length prom dresses made of tulle in the first act and sheath dresses and go-go boots in the second. The stage has been transformed into a high school gym decorated for the prom, complete with crepe paper streamers, posters advertising the candidates for prom queen (the posters correspond with each character's color), tables full of punch and cookies, and a bandstand with shimmering door curtains and standing microphones. The Terrace Plaza Playhouse is sometimes hit or miss with me but I feel like they really shine with smaller productions and this one is outstanding.  It is a delightful way to spend an evening and I highly recommend it (go here for tickets).

M3GAN

Last night I took my nephew to see M3GAN.  We were both really looking forward to this and we had a ball with it!  After her sister and brother-in-law are killed in a car crash, Gemma (Allison Williams), a roboticist with a major toy company, becomes the guardian of her niece Cady (Violet McGraw).  She is ill-equipped to care for her niece, who is suffering from the loss of her parents, so she resumes working on a lifelike doll with artificial intelligence capable of learning and adapting (Model 3 Generative Android or M3GAN) with the hope that it will become a companion for Cady as well as help her cope with parenting duties.  When M3GAN (acted by Amie Donald and voiced by Jenna Davis) bonds with Cady in a demonstration, Gemma's boss (Ronny Chieng) believes it will be incredibly profitable for the company but Gemma becomes concerned when M3GAN takes her directive to protect Cady too far.  This is not particularly scary or gruesome and the premise is one we have seen many times before but it almost doesn't matter because M3GAN is such an amusingly diabolical character.  We saw this with a really large crowd and there were many times when everyone laughed out loud (the biggest laugh came when M3GAN sings "Titanium" as a lullaby to Cady).  In addition to the camp, there are also some incredibly poignant scenes about the nature of grief (Williams and McGraw are outstanding in several of these moments) and it is definitely a cautionary tale about our over-reliance on technology, especially when technology is used by parents as a substitute for spending time with children.  This will probably not feature on any top-ten list for the year but it is wildly entertaining and both Sean and I had so much fun watching it!

Note:  The marketing for this movie has been brilliant with life-size M3GAN dolls showing up everywhere performing that viral dance sequence!

Elgar's Enigma Variations

Last night I went to my first Utah Symphony concert of 2023 and it was certainly a good one!  The concert began with a contemporary number called Near Midnight by Helen Grime and, according to the composer, it is a moody and atmospheric piece about the reflection and introspection that occurs when when one day moves into the next.  I really liked the chimes used throughout to represent the tolling of the hour.  The orchestra continued with Scottish Fantasy by Max Bruch with Concertmaster Madeline Adkins as soloist.  This piece was inspired by several different Scottish folk songs and, as someone with Scottish heritage, I loved it!  I was especially moved by the first movement, which is based on the song "Auld Robb Morris," because it is quite mournful and features a duet between the solo violin and the harp (performed brilliantly by Louise Vickerman who is Scottish).  I also liked the second movement, which is based on the song "Dusty Miller," because it is very lively and I could picture people dancing.  I am always impressed by Adkins (I met her very briefly at a Utah Symphony after party and she was really cool) and it was fun to watch her because her performance was so passionate (I also enjoyed watching Vickerman).  After the intermission, the orchestra concluded with the Enigma Variations by Edward Elgar which is such an amazing piece.  It came about, as the story goes, when Elgar sat at the piano after a long day and began to play a theme that he made up on the spot.  His wife really liked it and asked him to play it again.  He then began playing it again and again as different sketches representing some of their friends and he had her guess who each one was.  It was really fun to listen for the central theme in each variation and, like most people, my favorite one is "Nimrod," which is based on Elgar's friend August Jaeger, because it is incredibly somber and evocative, but very beautiful (it was played at Princess Diana's funeral), and the timpani rolls get me every time!  I love hearing Christmas music but it felt really good to be back at Abravanel Hall for a Masterworks concert!  I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here) for the same program tonight!

A Man Called Otto

I really enjoyed the Swedish film A Man Called Ove so I have been looking forward to the remake, A Man Called Otto, starring Tom Hanks ever since I heard about it.  I had the chance to see it last night and, much like the original, I found it to be very touching.  Otto Anderson (Hanks) is a curmudgeonly old man who, as the former chairman of the neighborhood association, takes great pains to see that the rules are followed to the letter which sometimes puts him at odds with his neighbors.  He is also despondent over the death of his wife Sonya six months earlier (the younger version of Otto shown in flashbacks is played by Hanks' son Truman) and wants to join her but his half-hearted attempts at suicide always go awry.  A stray cat, a young pregnant woman (Mariana Trevino) who moves in across the street with her family, a transgender teenager (Mack Baydan) who takes refuge with him after he is kicked out by his father, and the former friend (Peter Lawson Jones) who staged a coup to remove him as head of the association all help him find the joy in living once again.  This is incredibly predictable and a bit manipulative (and probably didn't need to be made since it follows the original beat for beat) but I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it because it is just so heart-warming.  I think Hanks is incredibly appealing (even when he is grouchy) and he does a great job with Otto's transformation.  I also really enjoyed Trevino's charismatic performance and I loved it whenever Marisol goes toe-to-toe with Otto because she has great chemistry with Hanks.  There are some really dark themes but there is also quite a bit of humor and my audience laughed out loud many times.  This is an old-fashioned crowd-pleaser that almost everyone is sure to enjoy and I highly recommend it!

Note:  My favorite scene in A Man Called Ove is when Ove and his friend Rune have a falling out over Volvos vs. Saabs.  I'm glad that this was kept and that Otto and Reuben clash over Fords vs. Chevrolets (I laughed out loud during this moment).

The Pale Blue Eye

My first movie of 2023 was The Pale Blue Eye which I saw at the Broadway last night.  This moody and atmospheric murder mystery was actually the perfect movie to see on a gloomy and snowy winter evening.  World-weary detective Augustus Landor (Christian Bale) is summoned to West Point, the U.S. Military Academy, in secret to solve the grisly murder of a cadet before bad publicity can shut the fledgling institution down in 1830.  He is approached by another cadet named Edgar Allan Poe (Harry Melling), who has some ideas about the case, and the two eventually work together.   They begin to suspect that the occult is involved until Poe discovers the truth in a shocking twist.  Bale is as compelling as always and the rest of the cast, which includes Gillian Anderson, Lucy Boynton, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Toby Jones, Simon McBurney, Timothy Spall, and Robert Duvall, is outstanding but Melling gives an absolutely brilliant performance as the young (and somewhat fictionalized) Poe. The bleak setting, the middle of winter in the Hudson valley, and the ominous tone really emphasize the brutality of the crime and I loved the cinematography, especially the overhead shots of snow-covered trees during the search for another missing cadet, the period costumes, and the haunting score.  I also enjoyed the Gothic horror elements (I literally jumped out of my seat when a character walks down a foggy path in the middle of the night with just a lantern for illumination) but I think the story falls apart in the third act when this genre is abandoned in favor of a more mundane ending.  Despite my disappointment with the resolution, I definitely think it is worth a watch when it starts streaming on Netflix this weekend.