A Talent for Murder

The second movie in the double feature with my nephew yesterday was A Talent for Murder and we both loved it.  A young and inexperienced editor named Edward Ridgeway (Alden Ehrenreich) travels from New York to Switzerland to convince the reclusive and misanthropic novelist Patricia Highsmith (Helen Mirren) to write a sixth novel featuring the character Tom Ripley when another editor goes missing after attempting to do the same.  Ridgeway's job is contingent upon getting Highsmith to sign a new contract, so after she derisively refuses to revisit Ripley, he offers to collaborate with her because he is such a fan of the character.  They eventually begin writing together and create a narrative in which Tom Ripley pursues Clementine Balfour (Olivia Cooke), a young heiress who Rideway met on the train to Switzerland.  In the story Ripley contrives to marry Clementine and then murders her aunt Peggy (Juliet Stevenson) so she will inherit her fortune while Ridgeway slowly adopts the persona of Ripley in his interactions with the real Clementine and her aunt.  This is a sleek and stylish psychological thriller with glamorous European locations in which art imitates life and then life begins to imitate art.  Ehrenreich portrays both Ridgeway and Ripley so the lines are often blurred between what is real and what Highsmith is imagining and it is very fun to watch.  I also found the idea that everyone has a dormant capacity to commit murder to be very intriguing.  Mirren is having a blast as the diabolical author and Ehrenreich more than holds his own as they go toe to toe in a dangerous game.  I definitely recommend this entertaining riff on Highsmith and her most well-known character, especially to fans of both.

Klara and the Sun

I went to a fun double feature with my nephew yesterday starting with Klara and the Sun.  This has been savaged by the critics but I actually liked it.  In a dystopian future, Klara (Jenna Ortega) is an outdated AF (Artificial Friend) on the verge of being sent back to the factory to be melted for parts by the Store Manager (Natasha Lyonne).  She is placed in the store front window in a last-ditch effort to find a buyer and her quirky personality endears her to Josie (Mia Tharia) who convinces her uptight mother Chrissie (Amy Adams) to buy her.  Josie has been genetically engineered, or "lifted," to enhance her intelligence and abilities but this procedure has made her terminally ill and her grief-stricken mother is desperate to create a synthetic copy of Josie using Klara's processor.  The solar powered Klara reveres the sun as a deity and prays to it daily to help her fulfill her purpose as a companion to Josie.  She ultimately decides that Josie is irreplaceable and sacrifices herself so the sun will heal her.  There are a lot of themes to unpack (I have not read the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro upon which this is based) but I was really struck by the fact that it takes an artificial intelligence to reveal the true nature of humanity.  Even though she is not human, Klara exhibits an unusual amount of empathy, rejects the machinery that pollutes the air in favor of the life-giving sun, dismisses Josie's "lifted" friends as superficial in favor of her childhood friend Rick (Aran Murphy), and discovers what it means to truly love someone.  I've seen a lot of criticism about the tone (director Taika Waititi infuses his signature whimsy into a narrative about grief) but I think it really works because Klara acts as a ray of sunshine (pun intended) in the grim reality inhabited by Josie and her mother and I think the pixelated visuals whenever Klara recalibrates to her surrounding are effective in showing her perspective as she attempts to understand the world and the humans around her.  Finally, Ortega gives a wonderful performance and I really enjoyed her physicality, especially when she imitates Josie and Chrissie.  I recommend that you ignore the critics and give this a chance.

The Woman in Black at Parker Theatre 2026

Seeing The Woman in Black at Parker Theatre has become a really fun Halloween tradition and I was thrilled to be in the audience last night! It is so scary! Arthur Kipps (Michael Hohl) is still traumatized by an encounter many years ago with an apparition while settling the estate of Alice Drablow at Eel Marsh House on an isolated island that is only accessible by a causeway at low tide. He believes that he can stop the nightmares that plague him by recounting his experience publicly on stage so he hires an Actor (Ben Lowell) to help him. The Actor convinces him to act out the story instead of reading it from a manuscript so they begin rehearsing in a Victorian theatre using minimal props, realistic sound cues, and atmospheric lighting design. The Actor portrays a younger version of Kipps while he portrays all of the other characters and narrates the play. The action on stage depicts Kipps attending Drablow's funeral, traveling to her house in an old-fashioned pony and trap, working alone in the eerie house, and witnessing unsettling events while a strange figure dressed in black seems to follow him. They periodically stop the rehearsal to discuss their performances and, during one such break, Kipp promises a surprise. The Actor interprets this to mean that Kipp hired the actress who suddenly appeared on stage with them. The action concludes when young Kipps discovers the identity of the mysterious figure and when the Actor makes a startling realization about the actress portraying her. What makes this show so unsettling is the imaginative stagecraft used to tell the story, especially the brilliant use of light and shadow and the disconcerting sound design. I was particularly struck by the smoke effects used when Kipps is trapped in fog on the causeway, the light from a single torch when he gets lost in the pitch black darkness of the marsh, the shadows that appear on a scrim when he stumbles upon an overgrown cemetery, and the creaking of a rocking chair when he discovers a room that seems to be haunted. Light and shadow is also used very effectively whenever the woman in black appears because I was never really sure if she was there or not (I have now seen this production three times and I knew what was coming but I still jumped about a mile out of my seat when the woman in black appeared in the aisle next to me and so did a few other people). Finally, the acting is exceptional. Lowell really commits to the physicality of the role (he is often the only one on stage and he must react to things that are imaginary) and his terror is palpable. Hohl fully inhabits each of the characters he portrays with just the addition of an article of clothing or prop and it is impressive to watch. The Parker is the perfect venue for this play because it actually feels like it could be haunted and I loved everything about this production. If you are looking for something scary to do for Halloween I highly recommend getting a ticket for this spooky show (go here). It is a limited engagement through November 7.

Note: I happened to be sitting by Joanne Parker, the owner of the theatre, and she noticed my intense reaction to the appearance of the woman in black. We had a really fun conversation about this production, the theatre, and their past literary adaptations.

Wildwood

I was so excited to see Wildwood at a matinee yesterday and I was definitely not the only one because the theater was packed (even the front row).  I loved it and I highly encourage everyone to support this beautiful and heartfelt movie by seeing it on the big screen!  Prue McKeel (Peyton Elizabeth Lee) is a headstrong teenager living in Portland, Oregon with her free-spirited parents (Jake Johnson and Maya Erskine).  She mocks their fanciful tales of magic and defies their edict to keep her baby brother Mac (Arthur Knight) safe by taking him outside to play.  When Mac is abducted by a murder of crows, she and her nerdy classmate Curtis (Jacob Tremblay) are forced to pursue him into the Impassable Wilderness from her father's stories.  Once inside, they discover an enchanted forest and are soon pursued by an army of coyotes, led by Maxim (Tom Waits), who serve the exiled Dowager Governess Alexandra (Carey Mulligan). She was once a benevolent leader but her mind was poisoned by grief over the death of her son and she has now turned to dark magic to bring him back.  Alexandra needs Mac for her evil plan to work so Prue and Curtis enlist the help of a rat named Septima (Awkwafina) and a coyote discharged from the army named Dimitri (Charlie Day) to unite all of the different factions in the forest, including the North Wood farmers led by Iphigenia (Tantoo Cardinal), the Avian Principality led by Owl Rex (Richard E. Grant) and the General (Angela Bassett), and the Wildwood Bandits let by Brendan (Mahershala Ali) and Niamh (Amandla Stenberg), in order to stop her, save Mac, and overthrow the corrupt South Wood government led by Alexandra's nephew Lars Svik (Marc Evan Jackson) and his power hungry underling Roger Swindon (Jemaine Clement).  I really loved the themes of self-discovery (especially Curtis's character arc), finding belonging in a shared community, coming to terms with loss, overthrowing those who abuse power, and protecting the natural world.  The narrative may seem incredibly dense with a lot characters and affiliations to keep track of but each of them have an emotional moment of truth and I found it very compelling.  The entire voice cast is outstanding but the standouts for me were Mulligan, because she somehow makes a villain into an incredibly sympathetic character, and Lee, because her portrayal of a teenager trying to find her place in the world is very realistic.  The stop-motion animation is absolutely gorgeous and there were many scenes that took my breath away with all of the intricate details in the character design and the world-building (I especially loved all of the individual leaves).  I was also blown away by the dazzling action sequences, particularly a chase through the mansion, an epic battle involving medieval warfare (it is PG-13 for a reason), and a scene in which the ivy takes over the forest (this is truly spectacular).  I think this movie is a masterpiece and I highly recommend it!

Wait Until Dark at West Valley Arts

I think the play Wait Until Dark is the perfect show to stage in the round so I was very much looking forward to seeing it at the West Valley Performing Arts Center last night. Even though I have seen both the play and the movie starring Audrey Hepburn several times, I was still on the edge of my seat during this tension-filled production! Sam Hendrix (Armando Serrano Huerto) is given a strange doll by a woman on a train who is later murdered. He is unaware that it is filled with heroin and that Harry Roat (Joe Spear), a ruthless and psychotic criminal, will do anything to get it back so he brings it home to the Greenwich Village apartment he shares with his blind wife Susan (Collette Astle). Roat arranges for Sam to go out of town and stages an elaborate con in which his accomplices impersonate Mike Talman (Doug Kaufman), an old friend of Sam's, and Sgt. Carlino (Tyson Baker), a police officer, in order to to convince Susan to give them the doll. Susan eventually figures out that the three con men are not who they seem and, with the help of Gloria (Ruby Rose Kohler), her precocious young neighbor, she contrives to put out all of the lights and turns her blindness into an advantage during an epic showdown in the dark. I sometimes find the first act to be a bit tedious with a lot of convoluted exposition setting up the con but this production uses a flashback in the second act that is incredibly clever. At first I found it a bit confusing (especially the opening scene because the audience is dropped right in the middle of the action without knowing a lot of context) but, once I figured it out, I really liked this choice because it builds a lot more suspense. I also really liked the sound design for this particular production because the audience hears what is happening from Susan's perspective (this is especially true with footsteps, doors opening and closing, blinds opening and closing, and sounds outside on the street). The lighting design is also brilliant because it enhances the tension throughout the entire show, not just during the final sequence in the dark (which is riveting), by constantly manipulating what the audience can see and I have to admit that I practically jumped out of my seat during an especially fraught scene. The set design for the Hendrix apartment is very effective and the actors do a great job foreshadowing the areas that will become significant during the final sequence. Finally, Astle is very convincing as a blind woman (I was especially impressed when she crashed into pieces of furniture that had moved from their original spot) and Spear is incredibly menacing but my favorite performance was from Kohler because she is such a brat but you can see the vulnerability beneath her obnoxious behavior (this is a hard balance to strike, especially for such a young actor). I love it when I am surprised by a show I've seen several times before and I highly recommend this production (but act quickly because there are only two more performances). Go here for tickets.