Together

I was actually in line for a screening of Together at Sundance but I was really tired and decided to skip it so I could be well rested for the four films I had scheduled the next day (festival fatigue is real).  I knew that it would eventually come to the Broadway and my nephew and I were able to see it there at a matinee yesterday.  It is pretty wild!  Tim (Dave Franco), an aspiring musician, and Millie (Alison Brie), a teacher, are a longtime couple whose relationship now lacks intimacy and connection.  They decide to leave the city and move upstate when Millie is offered a job teaching at a small rural school but, instead of a new start, their relationship further deteriorates when Millie proposes and Tim is unable to commit and when Tim starts to feel like a prisoner without a driver's license.  However, after an usual incident in the forest near their house, they become inexplicably drawn to each other and, over time, they start to become physically fused together (in scenes that escalate in intensity).  As they attempt to figure out what is happening, they must ultimately decide if they really do belong together.  Franco and Brie are a real-life couple so their depiction of two people who have been in a codependent relationship for a long time feels very authentic, especially their petty bickering over things of little consequence.  I was also very impressed by their physical performances, particularly in a scene where they contort their bodies while holding on to various objects in order to keep apart as they are literally pulled together like magnets.  The body horror is not as gory as I was expecting but it is very disturbing and unsettling (it features one of the most uncomfortable sex scenes I have ever seen) and there were moments when I had to look away from the screen.  The practical effects are amazing as is the ominous sound design (the less you know the better) but I do feel like the final sequence is a bit rushed because I wanted to know more about what was actually happening and why.  It is really weird but I liked it and would recommend it to fans of body horror.

Note:  The use of "2 Become 1" by the Spice Girls during a key scene made me laugh out loud!

Sorry, Baby

I really liked quite a few movies at the Sundance Film Festival this year but if I had to pick just one as my favorite it would be Sorry, Baby.  I was happy for the chance to see it again at the Broadway with my nephew last night and I loved it even more upon a second viewing.  Agnes (Eva Victor) lives in an isolated farmhouse with her best friend Lydie (Naomi Ackie) while the two of them attend graduate school at a small New England university.  She and Lydie belong to a cohort, including Natasha (Kelly McCormack), Devin (Cody Reiss), and Logan (Jordan Mendoza), led by literature professor Preston Decker (Louis Cancelmi) and, much to the disappointment of Natasha, she is the obvious favorite.  She enjoys the praise she receives from Decker so, even though it is ill-advised, she meets with him at his house to discuss her thesis after he is forced to stay home with his sick child and he sexually assaults her.  She tries to move on from what she calls the Bad Thing by beginning a casual relationship with her neighbor Gavin (Lucas Hedges) but she can't commit and periodically suffers from panic attacks.  It is only when Lydie, who now lives in New York and is married and pregnant, comes to visit four years later that Agnes, who still lives in the same farmhouse, is teaching at the same university, still has the same rivalry with Natasha, and even has the same office that Decker used, realizes that she is stuck and must finally process what has happened to her.  This is a meditative, but often very funny, character study about surviving a traumatic experience and I found the non-linear timeline to be incredibly compelling (even more so the second time around) because the audience sees the effect before the cause.  This is a stunning debut for Victor (who wrote, directed, and starred) and I was particularly impressed by a powerful scene which features a long tracking shot following Agnes walking to Decker's house, then a shot of the house showing the passage of time, followed by another tracking shot of Agnes leaving the house and walking back to her car.  The direction and performance is absolutely brilliant because you can see that something devastating has happened by just the change in body language alone.  I was also very moved by an intense monologue in which Agnes apologizes to Lydie's baby for being born into a world where bad things happen because it is such a turning point for Agnes (I haven't stopped thinking about it since Sundance).  Finally, I really loved that Lydie simply shows Agnes that she is stuck instead of getting her unstuck because it is so empowering.  I am sure that this will be among my favorite movies of 2025 and I highly recommend it.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps

My nephew and I finally had a chance to see The Fantastic Four: First Steps last night and I really enjoyed it.  On Earth 828, Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), his wife Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), his brother-in-law Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn), and his best friend Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) travel to space in 1960 and experience a cosmic anomaly that gives them superhuman abilities.  They become Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and The Thing, respectively, and use their powers to protect Earth.  Four years later, Reed and Sue announce that they are expecting a much longed for child when the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner), a herald for a world-eating cosmic being known as Galactus (Ralph Ineson), appears to announce that Earth has been targeted for destruction.  The Fantastic Four return to space to negotiate with Galactus and learn that he is willing to spare Earth if they give him the child Reed and Sue are expecting because he believes that the child will have immense abilities.  Reed and Sue consider it to be a price too high to pay but face backlash for choosing their child over the fate of Earth.  Will the Fantastic Four find another way to stop Galactus?  I liked that narrative foregoes the origin story and jumps right into the action and, as someone who does not know much about the Fantastic Four as characters (I haven't seen any of the previous movies), I found it very easy to understand each of their arcs and motivations without it.  I also liked that the story is a simple one about the importance of family and that it is very self-contained.  I absolutely loved the 1960s retro-futuristic aesthetic in the production design, especially with the technology and the spaceship, the costumes, and the score by Michael Giacchino.  The action sequences are great and I particularly liked all of the cool visuals in the space battle and the climactic battle.  Finally, the performances are both fun (a scene involving a car seat in the Fantasticar made me laugh out loud) and poignant with opportunities for every character to have a moment of reckoning.  My favorite was that of Kirby as a fierce mother willing to do whatever is necessary in order to protect her child and I loved her chemistry with Pascal.  I was also strangely moved by Moss-Bachrach's motion capture performance (he has some wonderful scenes with Natasha Lyonne who plays a teacher in his old neighborhood).  Admittedly, the bar is a bit low with recent MCU projects but, between this and Thunderbolts*, my interest has been reignited and I am actually looking forward to Avengers: Doomsday (there is a mid-credits scene teasing the appearance of Victor von Doom/ Doctor Doom).

Custer State Park

Marilyn and I had never been to Custer State Park so we decided to spend our last afternoon in South Dakota there.  There is a lot to do within the 71,000-acre preserve, such as hiking, camping, hunting, boating, swimming, and birdwatching (there is even a playhouse with performances during the summer) but we decided to take two of the many scenic drives.  We started with the Wildlife Loop but it was a bust because we did not see any of the 1,400 buffalo who roam freely throughout the park (we didn't see any wildlife at all).  However, our next scenic drive on the Needles Highway was absolutely spectacular with needle-like rock formations made of granite that rise up through the pine and spruce trees.

This tunnel is called the Needle's Eye (it was nerve-wracking to drive through because it is very narrow).

The entrance fee is $25 per car and we spent about five hours in the park but could have stayed all day.  It is a beautiful place and I definitely recommend visiting (go here for more information).

Crazy Horse

My family would usually visit the Crazy Horse Memorial every time we went to Mount Rushmore (they are very close to each other) and it was always interesting to see the progress from year to year.  Marilyn and I decided to visit again on this trip and we both noticed that a lot of work has been completed on Crazy Horse's arm and pointing finger since the last time we were there.  It is quite impressive.

In addition to the monument, there is a Visitor's Center which includes the Indian Museum of North America (there are some beautiful artifacts and I especially loved a beaded dress) and the Native American Cultural Center (there are often live performances).  Marilyn and I decided to see the film describing the Oglala Lakota war leader Crazy Horse, the commission by Chief Standing Bear to the Polish sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski to create a memorial to him, and the laborious process of blasting and carving the rock.  It was so interesting to learn about the contributions of his wife Ruth and about how involved his children and grandchildren continue to be today.  Admission varies from $10-$35 depending on how many people are in your car and there is a separate $5 fee to take an optional bus ride to the base of the mountain.  I highly recommend visiting the Crazy Horse Memorial (go here for more information).

This is a model of what the monument will eventually look like.

Wall Drug

As we were driving through South Dakota on one of our trips back to Canada, we kept seeing hundreds of billboards for Wall Drug.  There seemed to be more and more of them the closer we got to the town of Wall.  My dad was so intrigued by these signs he decided that we just had to stop there.  It began in 1931 as a simple drug store operated by Ted and Dorothy Hustead.  They struggled to keep it going during the Great Depression so Dorothy had the idea to advertise free ice water to anyone who visited (you can still get free ice water!) and it eventually grew to become a sprawling collection of cowboy-themed stores, several restaurants, an art gallery with over 300 paintings, a backyard area with attractions for kids (including an animatronic T-rex and a giant statue of a jackalope), as well as the original drug store.  There is even a chapel inside!  It is a major tourist attraction and it draws over two million visitors every year but, honestly, I found it a bit underwhelming as an adult (I loved it as a kid and I remember buying a big sack of polished rocks!).  Marilyn and I still enjoyed it for the nostalgia (my dad loved it and had a bumper sticker that said "Where the heck is Wall Drug?" on his car for years).  Go here for more information.

I remember getting my picture taken on this jackalope (a portmanteau of jack rabbit and antelope) when I was a kid but I can't find it now.  Fun fact:  I thought jackalopes were real for an embarrassingly long time!

Mount Rushmore

I wanted to go on a road trip this summer but nothing was really piquing my interest until my sister Marilyn mentioned Mount Rushmore.  Even though I have been there several times, on family vacations when I was a teenager and a few times on my own, I got really excited about seeing it again (it is very awe-inspiring) and we started planning a trip.

The plaza leading up to the monument has flags from all of the states and there is a large viewing terrace, an amphitheatre, and a Visitor's Center at the base.  You can walk along the Presidential Trail for different views of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln and visit the Sculptor's Studio to learn more about Gutzon Borglund and how the monument was created.  There is also a cafe where you can get the world famous ice cream (I'm not sure why it is famous but it is really good).  Admission is free but there is a $10.00 fee for parking (there are two large parking structures) and it is valid for one year.

Even though I've been several times, I still find Mount Rushmore to be incredibly impressive and I recommend seeing it at least once in your life (go here for more information).

There is a turn-out where you can see George Washington's profile.  It is Marilyn's favorite view of the monument.

Devils Tower

After my family moved to the United States, we would go back to Canada on vacation every summer.  It took three days to drive from Utah to Ontario so my dad would always find places for us to stop and explore along the way.  One of my favorite places was Devils Tower in Wyoming (I was so excited to see it because I am a big fan of the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind).  My sister Marilyn and I were on our way to Mount Rushmore on a road trip when we spontaneously decided to revisit some of our favorite stops from those summer vacations, starting with Devils Tower.  It added about two hours to the ten hour drive to Mount Rushmore but it was worth it because it is so cool!

It is a large butte (867 feet from base to summit) formed from igneous rock with hundreds of parallel cracks (which makes it very popular to climb).  It is sacred to the Kiowa and Lakota Native American peoples because, according to legend, it rose from the ground to save a group of girls from a large bear that was chasing them.  The bear's claws left the cracks in the rock when it tried to climb up to the girls but the tower grew so high that the girls eventually became stars in the sky.  It costs $25.00 to enter the park (which you pay on your way out) and there is a loop you can drive which takes you all around the tower and leads to a Visitor's Center, a path you can take to the base as well as some longer hikes, and several routes of varying degrees of difficulty for climbing the tower (you must register for a permit, which is free, and then check back in when you finish).  Go here for more information.

I loved seeing it again but, sadly, no alien space ships landed there during my visit!

Eddington

My nephew and I are fans of Ari Aster so we were both excited to see Eddington at the Broadway last night.  I can certainly understand why this has divided critics but I found it to be incredibly thought-provoking.  In the small town of Eddington, New Mexico at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the sheriff Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix) clashes with the mayor Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal) over the latter's implementation of a lockdown and enforcement of a mask mandate.  Cross views Garcia's policies as a violation of personal choice (as an asthmatic he finds it difficult to breathe while wearing a mask) and eventually decides to run against him in his bid for re-election.  Soon, Garcia's son Eric (Matt Gomez Hidalka) becomes involved in a series of Black Lives Matter protests which creates havoc for the sheriff's department and Cross makes an allegation about the possible misconduct of Garcia towards his wife Louise (Emma Stone).  This contributes to the escalation of tensions between the sheriff and the mayor leading Cross to take matters into his own hands with unexpected consequences for all involved (the final scenes are quite satirical and had the audience laughing out loud, albeit uncomfortably).  There is a lot of social commentary to unpack beyond the obvious, including perceived government control, performative social justice, the spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories, and the rise of dubious internet celebrities (I wish Austin Butler's character had been explored more fully), and I sometimes found the narrative to be very bloated and messy (Aster could use an editor).  However, he very effectively portrays the anxiety, confusion, mistrust, and division felt during this period through the changing relationship between Cross and Garcia.  I was particularly struck by the juxtaposition between an early scene in which they confront each other on the street but maintain civility and a later scene in which they challenge each other at a fundraiser and come to blows. I also enjoyed the use of the neo-Western genre to tell the story, particularly the climax which literally features a gunfight in the town square!  Phoenix is absolutely brilliant in this role because he is increasingly ridiculous as he unravels before our eyes.  Pascal is also very good but some of the other big name actors do not have much to do (particularly Stone and Austin).  Aster does not offer much in the way of explanations or solutions but I honestly have not been able to stop thinking about this movie.  I recommend it with the caveat that it will definitely not appeal to everyone.

Catch Me If You Can at CPT

I was really looking forward to Catch Me If You Can at CPT with my sisters last night because it is such a fun show. They had never seen it before and I think they enjoyed this production as much as I did! The show begins when Frank Abagnale, Jr. (Drew Dunshee) is arrested by FBI agent Carl Hanratty (Jeremy Botelho) at the Miami Airport. Then Frank breaks the fourth wall and begins telling the audience his story as if he were the emcee of a 1960s television variety show (complete with go-go dancers) in the big production number "Live in Living Color." When his parents, Frank Abagnale, Sr. (David Johnson) and Paula Abagnale (Mary Ann West), get divorced, sixteen year old Frank decides to run away to New York and he starts forging checks in order to get by (almost two million dollar's worth by the time he is caught). This gets the attention of the FBI, especially Hanratty who is relentless in his pursuit. Frank eventually impersonates a Pan Am pilot, a doctor, and a lawyer (even passing the bar exam) and he is always one step ahead of Hanratty until he falls in love with Brenda Strong (Emily Richman). Dunshee is incredibly charming and charismatic as the fast-talking confidence man, especially in the songs "Jet Set" and "Doctor's Orders," but he also brings a vulnerability to his portrayal of a teenager who is just looking for a home. Botelho is hilarious as the straight-laced FBI agent who has no life away from the job and his number, "Don't Break the Rules," was the biggest crowd-pleaser of the show! The interactions between them are both amusing, particularly the scene where Frank manages to elude Hanratty in a motel room, and poignant, most notably when Frank calls Hanratty on Christmas Eve and they both realize that they don't have anyone to talk to but each other. I also loved Richman's portrayal of Brenda because, in my opinion, the actress who plays her really needs to be able to sing the blues in the song "Fly, Fly Away" and she more than delivers! The choreography is very entertaining and I was beyond impressed with the female ensemble (they are all great dancers but they also have some quick costume changes in between numbers). The set looks like a colorful soundstage from a 1960s television show (such as Laugh-In or Hullabaloo) with various locations created by simple props moved on and off stage by the ensemble. The use of projections is also very creative (I loved the postcards from all of the places Frank visits). The period costumes are fantastic and, as previously mentioned, the sheer number for the female ensemble is quite impressive (my favorites are the Pan Am uniforms). I had a great time watching this high-energy show and, if you are in need of a fun night out, I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here). It runs on the Mountain America Main Stage through August 19.

Note:  This was my 50th theatre production of the year!  So far, my favorites are Macbeth at the Utah Shakespeare Festival, Twelve Angry Men at HCT, Life of Pi with Broadway at the Eccles, Little Women at HCT, and An American in Paris at the Ruth.  An honorable mention goes to Hadestown: Teen Edition at CPT (I was so impressed by the young actors in this production).