Relay

The second movie in my double feature at the Broadway with my nephew last night was Relay.  This is an old-fashioned thriller with a clever premise that kept me invested until the final twist and I really liked it.  Ash (Riz Ahmed) is a clandestine fixer who specializes in brokering deals between whistleblowers and corrupt corporations.  He is also a recovering alcoholic with complicated reasons for doing what he does. In order to maintain his anonymity, he communicates with his clients through a relay service used by the deaf and hard of hearing to make and receive phone calls because they have strict rules regarding confidentiality and do not keep records.  He goes to extreme lengths to keep himself and his clients safe by establishing elaborate rules and procedures and insists that they be followed explicitly.  He is contacted by Sarah Grant (Lily James), a woman in possession of documents implicating Cybo Semantis Research Institutes in a cover-up of the toxic side effects found in their genetically engineered wheat, because the company has been intimidating and harassing her ahead of a lucrative merger.  He helps her elude a team led by a man in the company's employ named Dawson (Sam Worthington) and arranges for a document handoff with the CEO but, when the plan goes awry, he breaks his own rule and contacts her directly to protect her.  The first half of this movie involves a slow and steady build-up involving surveillance, counter-surveillance, hidden cameras, disguises, and other elements of spycraft but it is strangely compelling because Ahmed gives such a gripping performance.  The action ramps up in the second half, including a suspenseful dead drop in the middle of Times Square and a tense chase sequence during a symphony performance, with lots of twists and turns to keep the audience guessing (I did predict a big twist early on but I was still surprised by the motivation for it).  I thoroughly enjoyed this and I recommend seeking it out as it is another movie that seems to be flying under the radar.

Honey Don't

Even though I was not a fan of Drive-Away Dolls (to put it mildly), I decided to see Honey Don't, the second in Ethan Coen's proposed lesbian trilogy, with my nephew as the first in a double feature at the Broadway last night.  Unfortunately, I was not a fan of this movie, either, and I will definitely not be seeing the third one.  Honey O'Donahue (Margaret Qualley) is a tough-as-nails private detective in Bakersfield, California who visits the scene of a fatal car crash after she discovers that the victim had scheduled an appointment with her for later that day.  She begins investigating and discovers that her death may not have been an accident.  Honey is a compelling character because she is a throwback to the famous private detectives in classic noir thrillers and Qualley does a good job embodying her world-weary, cynical, and stoic attitude but there is not much for her to do because the central mystery is so underdeveloped.  There are lots of fun and eccentric characters, including Drew Devlin (Chris Evans), a sleazy reverend who uses his church as a front for trafficking drugs, Chére (Lera Abrova), a fixer in town to keep Drew in line for his mysterious bosses, Marty Metakawich (Charlie Day), a police detective who propositions Honey every time he sees her despite the fact that she likes girls, MG Falcone (Aubrey Plaza), a troubled police officer involved with Honey, Heidi O'Donahue (Kristen Connolly), Honey's sister who struggles to keep her many children under control including her rebellious daughter Corinne (Talia Ryder), Honey and Heidi's estranged father (Kale Browne) who wants to reconnect with them, and Shuggie (Josh Pafcheck), Drew's incompetent henchman, but most of these characters are involved in random subplots that go nowhere.  The resolution is very abrupt and unexpected and the killer's motivation makes absolutely no sense.  Finally, there are many continuity errors and, even though this is a very minor point, they really bugged me.  Honestly, the only point of this movie seems to be to show as much gratuitous sex as possible.  I was really hopeful that I would like this because the opening credits are some of the best I've seen but it is a jumbled mess and I recommend that you don't watch it.

Note:  I think Ethan Coen should stop collaborating with his wife and start collaborating with his brother again.

Aaron Tveit at the SCERA Shell Outdoor Theatre

I am a huge fan of musical theatre so I could not have been more excited for last night's concert at the SCERA Shell Outdoor Theatre with Broadway star Aaron Tveit! It was a beautiful night (the temperature was perfect) filled with beautiful music and I loved every minute! Tveit was backed by the Utah Valley Symphony under the baton of Cheung Chau and he told the crowd that he specifically picked the songs in his setlist in order to take advantage of singing with an orchestra. It was an eclectic program as a result but I really enjoyed it! He began with a beautiful version of "Fly Me to the Moon" which I loved because I went through a Frank Sinatra phase when I was in my twenties (it was a strange time).  He continued with "Younger Than Springtime" from South Pacific and then returned to music made famous by the Rat Pack with performances of "What Kind of Fool Am I?" and "The World We Knew" (this was a highlight for me because it is one of my favorite songs by Sinatra and I still remember every word!). Next came "You Can't Tame Me" and "Doorway to Where" from Schmigadoon (I am so sad that we didn't get a third season of this show). Another highlight came next when he performed "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" from Les Miserables. He played Enjolras in the movie adaptation but he told the crowd that he auditioned for Marius and so he wanted to sing one of his songs for us. This always brings a tear to my eye and his arrangement was amazing! He originated the role of Christian in Moulin Rouge on Broadway so he ended his first set with "El Tango de Roxanne" and this made all of the theatre girlies in the audience lose their minds! Just kidding. I lost my mind. I am theatre girlies. Tveit took a short break while the orchestra played "Polovtsian Dances" from the opera Prince Igor by Alexander Borodin. The audience got a bit restless during this number but I really enjoyed it (you know I love the Russian composers). He returned to the stage for a medley from West Side Story, featuring "Maria," "Something's Coming," and "Tonight," and joked that he had never played Tony in a professional production but he did play him in eleventh grade! Next came the Sammy Davis, Jr. version of  "As Long As She Needs Me" from Oliver (he really likes the Rat Pack). He continued with "Johanna" from Sweeney Todd. He played the role of Sweeney on Broadway but I am glad he sang Anthony's song from the show because his version was beautiful!  He told the crowd  that he was inspired to sing his next song, "What Was I Made For?" from the movie Barbie, when he saw Billie Eilish perform it with a full orchestra at the Oscars and this brought another tear to my eye! He ended this set with an incredible version of "Being Alive" from Company which gave me goosebumps! For the encore, he sang "Your Song" from Moulin Rouge which brought the crowd (one of the biggest I've seen at the SCERA Shell) to their feet! Not only does Tveit have an incredible voice, he is also very charming and I enjoyed all of the anecdotes interspersed between the songs. I have been looking forward to this concert all summer (I bought a ticket they day they went on sale) and it was thrilling to hear him perform live after being a fan for so long!

Note: I love SCERA because, among other things, they brought both of my theatre crushes, Aaron Tveit and Jeremy Jordan, to town for amazing concerts!  The couple next to me argued over which concert was better and they wanted me to be the tie breaker but I couldn't possibly choose!

The Lord of the Rings Marathon

Yesterday I went to another movie marathon at the Megaplex and this time it featured the extended versions of the three The Lord of the Rings movies.  I love these movies so much (I saw all three of them in the theater on the first day they were released) and I had a lot of fun spending the entire day seeing them on the big screen again!  In The Fellowship of the Ring, a young hobbit named Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) is accompanied by eight companions, including the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen), the hobbits Samwise "Sam" Gamgee (Sean Astin), Peregrin "Pippin" Took (Billy Boyd), and Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck (Dominic Monaghan), the elf Legolas (Orlando Bloom), the dwarf Gimli (John Rhys-Davies), the warrior Boromir (Sean Bean), and the ranger Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), on a journey to destroy the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom after the Dark Lord Sauron (Sala Baker) threatens to use it to conquer Middle-earth.  They are betrayed by the wizard Saruman (Christopher Lee) when he creates an army of orcs that attack them and break the fellowship. In The Two Towers, the remaining members of the fellowship split into three groups and continue to fight against Sauron.  Frodo and Sam form an uneasy alliance with Gollum (Andy Serkis), a former ring-bearer whose mind has been poisoned by the One Ring and wants to get it back, after he promises to take them to Mount Doom.  Merry and Pippin escape from the orcs and then convince the ents to join the fight against Saruman at Isengard.  Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli rally the kingdom of Rohan, including King Théoden (Bernard Hill), his nephew Éomer (Karl Urban), and his niece Éowyn (Miranda Otto), in a battle against the orcs at Helm's Deep.  In The Return of the King, Pippin mischievously looks in the defeated Saruman's palantir and sees that Sauron plans to attack the kingdom of Gondor next.  While Frodo, Sam, and Gollum reach Mordor and begin their final perilous journey to Mount Doom, the others travel to Minas Tirith in Gondor to rally the steward Denethor (John Noble) and his son Faramir (David Wenham) in the epic Battle of the Pelennor Fields.  Aragorn, the true heir to the kingdom of Gondor, leads a final charge at the Black Gate in Mordor to distract Sauron so Frodo can destroy the One Ring.  I really love Aragorn and Frodo as characters because they both go on a hero's journey as they ultimately recognize and embrace their destinies.  I also love Sam because he is the embodiment of friendship.  I love all of the locations (I actually went on a tour of many of the locations when I was in New Zealand), the sets, especially the harbor in Rivendell and the courtyard in Minas Tirith, the creature design, my favorites are the ents, and all of the battle sequences, particularly the siege warfare in the Battle of Helm's Deep and the attack on Minas Tirith.  The large crowd wasn't as spirited as I thought they would be but I cheered when Gandalf is rescued from Isengard by an eagle, when Galdalf suddenly appears on Shadowfax at Helm's Deep, when the beacons are lit to call for help from Rohan, when Galdalf strikes Denethor (the crowd cheered with me when this happened), when Elrond (Hugo Weaving) gives Aragorn the reforged sword that belonged to Isildur, and when Éowyn kills the Witch-king.  I had tears in my eyes when Boromir sacrifices himself to save Merry and Pippin, when Sam carries Frodo up Mount Doom, and when Aragorn is crowned King of Gondor and I laughed out loud when Gimli and Legolas have a drinking contest.  I had such a great time!  These are some of my favorite movies so this is definitely my favorite marathon so far even though no one in my family wanted to go with me!

Note:  Megaplex has announced marathons for The Hunger Games in January and for Harry Potter (again) in August next year.

East of Wall

My second movie set in the state of South Dakota last night was East of Wall.  I was excited to see this because it got a lot of buzz at Sundance this year (it won an Audience Award at the festival) and I mostly enjoyed it.  Tabatha Zimiga plays a fictionalized version of herself in a semi-autobiographical story about how she comes to terms with her grief by training horses on a ranch in South Dakota (this docudrama format reminded me a lot of The Rider).  After the suicide of her husband John, Tabatha struggles to keep the 3,000-acre ranch he left to their three-year-old son Stetson.  She lives there with Stetson, her mother Tracey (Jennifer Ehle), her older son Skylar, her daughter Porshia, her new partner Clay, and a group of wayward teens who have found a home with her.  She has an affinity for communicating with horses and is just able to keep her head above water by rehabilitating rescue horses and selling them on TikTok and in sale barns but she has less success communicating with her daughter Porshia who blames her for John's death.  She encounters Roy Waters (Scoot McNairy), a wealthy rancher from Texas, at a sale barn after he buys one of her horses for an exorbitant price.  He also offers to buy the ranch but, while this will solve her financial difficulties, she eventually realizes that the horses, her daughter, and the other teens in her charge need her.  The story is really thin (this may have been better as a documentary) and it takes a long time to get going with a resolution that doesn't necessarily feel earned.  I also struggled to keep track of all the many different characters, the majority of whom are people who actually live on the ranch with Zimiga and play themselves, because they mostly appear in random slice-of-life sequences without a lot of exposition.  However, I did enjoy getting an immersive and authentic glimpse into what life is like in the American West, especially for women, and I really admire Zimiga's fierce determination in rehabilitating horses and providing refuge for her found family (she gives an incredibly powerful performance).  I also really enjoyed the beautiful cinematography showcasing the rugged landscape of the Badlands as well as the horses in motion (I especially loved the rodeo sequences) although the use of actual footage from TikTok is jarring in comparison.  I personally found this to be compelling enough to recommend but it might not be for everyone.