Pitch Perfect 3

I loved Pitch Perfect and I liked Pitch Perfect 2.  I had so much fun watching both of them with my niece so I decided we should finish the trilogy together and see Pitch Perfect 3 despite the fact that the trailer looked terrible and the reviews were abysmal.  I love hanging out with my niece so it wasn't a wasted afternoon but, you guys, this movie is aca-awful!  The former Barden Bellas have not adjusted well to life in the real world and want another chance to sing together.  They get an opportunity to perform as part of a USO tour of Europe with other bands (not a cappella groups, by the way) who are each competing to be the opening act for DJ Khaled (playing himself).   What will happen to the group when DJ Khaled only wants to sign Becca (Anna Kendrick) without the other girls?  Do we even care?  All of the other girls (except for Fat Amy - more on her later) have been relegated to cameo roles so it hardly matters how they feel about this. Everything that was fun about the first movie feels so contrived in this one.  We have the inevitable riff-off with the other bands on tour, we have a few love interests (a soldier assigned to protect the girls played by Matt Lanter and DJ Khaled's producer played by Guy Burnet) which seem to go nowhere, and we even have John (John Michael Higgins) and Gail (Elizabeth Banks) following them around making a documentary about the Bellas.  Add to this an inexplicable plot involving a reunion between Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson) and her absentee father (John Lithgow) who kidnaps the Bellas to gain control of her heretofore unknown million dollar trust fund.  Fat Amy becomes an action hero saving the girls from an exploding yacht.  No!  Just no!  Lithgow is absolutely horrible in this role and, as far as I am concerned, Australia should lodge a formal complaint over his accent.  DJ Khaled isn't much better.  In fact, at one point Tashena leaned over and said, "You can tell he isn't an actor!"  All of this might be forgivable if the songs are fun but most of them use instruments which kind of defeats the whole point of the movie.  Ugh!  You know the movie is bad when your niece tells you that she had fun any way!  Give this a miss!

Hilary Hahn plays Dvorak's Violin Concerto

Now that the holidays are over (I will resume my winter break movie commentaries tomorrow) I went back to my usual Friday night ritual!  I found myself at Abravanel Hall for a thrilling Utah Symphony concert featuring the music of Haydn and Dvorak.  Despite what it said in the program, the orchestra began with the exciting and energetic Slavonic Dance No. 8 with an equally energetic Thierry Fischer on the podium!  After this piece, Fischer addressed the audience telling us that a new year should be filled with contrasts and surprises and so the orchestra would alternate between the movements of Haydn's Symphony No. 8 and Dvorak's Slavonic Dances (six of them).  This made for a very lively evening as I eagerly anticipated what I would hear next because I kind of lost track of which was which and just enjoyed the music without overthinking it.  The two pieces worked surprisingly well together and I loved Fischer's enthusiasm!  My favorite was the second movement of the Haydn because it is romantic and contemplative with just a hint of melancholy and the orchestra played it with a lot of expression.  After the intermission the orchestra returned to play Dvorak's Violin Concerto with Hilary Hahn, a frequent guest of the Utah Symphony, as the soloist.  It is easy to see why Abravanel Hall was packed almost to capacity because Hahn is such a dynamic and brilliant performer.  I loved watching her fingers fly across her violin and I definitely enjoyed her performance.  So did the rest of the crowd who jumped to their feat in a thunderous ovation!  She was brought back to the stage numerous times and even favored us with a beautiful encore.  It was a spectacular evening and I recommend getting a ticket for tonight's performance of the same program (go here).

Note:  I almost always get a ticket to the first Utah Symphony concert of the year because it is usually so hard to go back to school after the holidays and I need something to look forward to in order to make it through!    However, I had a great week with my students so this concert was the cherry on top!

All the Money in the World

After watching Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle with the kiddos I saw All the Money in the World later that evening.  This is another movie that pleasantly surprised me because, honestly, I didn't have a lot of interest in seeing it until the controversy with Kevin Spacey resulted in re-shoots with Christopher Plummer in the role Spacey was to have played.  This piqued my curiosity!  I would actually like to see the film with Spacey's interpretation of the role because I think Plummer is absolutely brilliant!  In fact, it is his performance, along with that of Michelle Williams, that elevates a pretty standard narrative about a kidnapping into a tense and compelling movie.  Based on true events, J. Paul Getty III (Charlie Plummer) is kidnapped from Rome in 1973 and the kidnappers demand $17 million in ransom.  His mother Gail (Williams) does not have the money (after eschewing a large divorce settlement in return for sole custody of her children) but his grandfather J. Paul Getty (Plummer) is the richest man in the world and that amount is basically pocket change.  Gail pleads with Getty to pay the ransom but he refuses, sending his henchman, former CIA agent Fletcher Chase (Mark Wahlberg), in to negotiate instead.  There are some interesting twists and turns along the way leading to a resolution that is a bit far-fetched but thrilling, nonetheless.  I loved the 1970s verisimilitude and all of the wide shots in opulent locations.  Michelle Williams is excellent and I especially enjoyed her transformation from a young woman awed by the Getty wealth into a mother who won't back down from a bully who is more powerful than she is.  Getty is an incredibly unsympathetic character and Plummer plays him with such menace.  There is a particular scene where Getty, after refusing to pay his grandson's ransom, spends twice that amount on a painting of a Madonna and child.  It is a chilling portrait of greed that gave me goosebumps.  I highly recommend this movie!

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

Last Wednesday I took Sean and Tashena to see Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and, to be honest, it was a pleasant surprise because I really enjoyed it.  Spencer (Alex Wolff), a bit of a nerd, gets detention for writing a research paper for a football player known as "Fridge" (Ser'Darius Blain), who also gets detention, Bethany (Madison Iseman), the selfie queen, gets detention for using her phone during a quiz, and Martha (Morgan Turner), a shy bookworm, gets detention for refusing to participate in PE.  While serving detention, they find an old video game called Jumanji and decide to play.  Spencer chooses Dr. Smolder Bravestone (Dwayne Johnson), a daring archaeologist, as his avatar while "Fridge" chooses Franklin Finbar (Kevin Hart), a short zoologist, Bethany chooses Professor Sheldon "Shelly" Osborn (Jack Black), an overweight cartographer, and Martha chooses Ruby Roundhouse (Karen Gillan), a martial arts expert.  They are transported into the game and must return a precious stone stolen by Van Pelt (Bobby Cannavale), a big game hunter, to a giant statue of a jaguar.  It is an absolute hoot.  The action sequences are great but I found the story, which has a few twists, to be compelling.  What makes this movie so much fun is that the characters have the physical attributes of their avatars but they keep their own personalities.  This creates a lot of comedic moments, especially as the nerdy Sheldon adjusts to having muscles, the self-absorbed Bethany gets used to being a man (who has to pee), the jock Fridge realizes that he is intelligent, and Martha learns how to flirt (I laughed and laughed at that sequence).  Sean and Tashena loved it and laughed through the whole thing!  I laughed quite a bit, too, so this is a movie to take the kids to that you will also enjoy.  I highly recommend this for a really good time at the movies!

The Greatest Showman

I actually saw The Greatest Showman twice over winter break.  I took my Mom and my nephew (who absolutely loves Zendaya) the day after Christmas and then, because my Mom asked to see it again, I went with her and my sister Marilyn a few days later.  I love this movie so much and, apparently, so do a lot of people.  During the first screening, the theater was totally full (we had to sit on the first row) and after the second screening, at 10:00 am mind you, the entire theater applauded at the end!  It is a big movie musical with actors who can actually sing and dance!  It tells a romanticized version of how P.T. Barnum (Hugh Jackman) came to create the Greatest Show on Earth beginning with his impoverished childhood as the son of a tailor.  He meets Charity (Michelle Williams), the daughter of a wealthy client, and promises her he will give her the same life she gives up for him.  After losing his mundane job, he takes a gamble and recruits a group of misfits and unusual performers to create his circus.  After some financial success, he desires respectability and hires Philip Carlyle (Zac Efron), a playwright with a trust fund, to help with publicity.  Philip falls in love with a trapeze artist (Zendaya) to the chagrin of his wealthy parents.  Barnum eventually meets opera singer Jenny Lind (Rebecca Ferguson) and decides to promote her on tour which causes him to neglect both the circus and his family.  After losing everything, both Philip and Barnum must learn what is really important.  Many critics have complained that this movie sanitizes the truth about P.T. Barnum's reputed cruelty to his performers but that didn't really matter to me because I enjoy feel good stories where everyone breaks out into song.  The songs are fantastic and I especially love "A Million Dreams" and "Come Alive."  The choreography is spectacular, particularly the aerial sequence in "Rewrite the Stars."  Jackman, Efron, and Zendaya are well-known performers but I was quite impressed by Michelle Williams and I loved her song, "Tightrope."  As I mentioned, the message of this movie is so positive, especially about people who are different, and the number "This Is Me" by the bearded lady (Keala Settle) is an anthem for misfits everywhere!  I cannot recommend this movie enough!