Utah Opera's Pagliacci & Gianni Schicchi

The full breadth of human emotion was on display at Capitol Theatre last night as Utah Opera presented the double bill of Leoncavallo's Pagliacci and Puccini's Gianni Schicchi.  The evening began with the tragedy Pagliacci which tells the story of a traveling comedy troupe who arrive at a small town to give a performance, much to the delight of the crowd.  The troupe consists of Canio (Scott Piper) who plays Pagliaccio, his wife Nedda (Marina Costa-Jackson) who plays Colombina, Tonio (Wayne Tigges) who plays Taddeo, and Beppe (Aaron Blake) who plays Arlecchino.  Canio is worried that Nedda might be having an affair but is persuaded to drink at the pub with the townspeople, leaving Nedda alone.  Tonio finds her and professes his love to her but she rebukes him mercilessly.  Nedda is actually having an affair with Silvio (Michael Adams) and, when Tonio sees them together, he tells Canio in order to punish her for her harsh treatment of him.  Canio is devastated but, singing one of the most famous arias, says that he will drown his sorrows with laughter when he plays Pagliacco on stage.  The performance echoes real life as Colombina flirts with Arlecchino while Taddeo stands guard but, when Pagliacco comes home to find the lovers, the action becomes real and he declares that he is no longer Pagliacco.  He dramatically kills both Nedda and Silvio, who is in the audience, and tells the crowd that the performance is over.  Piper gives an incredibly affecting performance, especially when he sings "Vesti la giubba" while getting into his clown costume.  I have to admit that I had a tear in my eye as he stood forlornly in the middle of the stage.  After the tears came the laughter with a rousing performance of Gianni Schicchi.  The scheming extended family of Buoso Donati attend his deathbed, hoping that his will has left them all wealthy.  All of them speak about what they want but Rinuccio (Aaron Blake) hopes that he will have enough money to marry Lauretta (Marina Costa-Jackson), the daughter of a lawyer named Gianni Schicchi (Wayne Tigges), whom the family think unsuitable.  They have heard a rumor that Buoso has left his money to a monastery and, after tearing his room apart looking for the will, are in despair when the rumor is confirmed.   Rinuccio summons Lauretta and her father and, while the family forbids them to marry, they ask Gianni Schicchi to examine the will to find a loophole.  He tells them that they should summon a notary and he will impersonate Buoso and dictate a new will but he warns them of the strict punishment for falsifying documents.  When the notary arrives, Gianni Schicchi gives Buoso's fortune to himself while the family can do nothing.  Rinuccio and Lauretta are now allowed to marry!  This opera has so much physical comedy that I was laughing out loud (so was the entire audience) but it also contains another very famous aria, "O mio babbino caro," which gave me goosebumps.  In my opinion, it was a perfect night of opera: tears, laughter, and some of the most beautiful music in the repertoire.  I highly recommend seeing a performance of Pagliacci and Gianni Schicchi, which runs at Capitol Theatre until March 18 (tickets may be purchased here).

A Wrinkle in Time

Last night I saw a Thursday preview of A Wrinkle in Time and, despite the fact that it is visually gorgeous with an important message about simply being yourself, I have to admit that I really did not like it.  Dr. Alex Murry (Chris Pine) has discovered a way to travel great distances through the universe using a tesseract, or a wrinkle in the fabric of time and space, and then he disappears for four years.  His daughter Meg (Storm Reid) is not handling his absence well but her younger brother Charles Wallace (Deric McCabe) introduces her to three strange beings named Mrs. Whatsit (Reese Witherspoon), Mrs. Who (Mindy Kaling), and Mrs. Which (Oprah Winfrey) who take the two of them along with Calvin (Levi Miller), a school friend, on a journey through the universe to find him.  Meg ultimately must battle the evil in the universe with love to free both her father and her brother.  I first read A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle when I was eleven years old and I absolutely loved it.  The problem with bringing a beloved work of fantasy to the screen is that it represents the filmmaker's vision and that may differ significantly from a reader's vision.  This is not necessarily the fault of the filmmakers but the images on the screen, while absolutely beautiful, did not in any way resemble what I saw in my mind when I read this book all of those years ago and I really couldn't get past that.  I always pictured the Mrs. Ws as being eccentric old ladies who were more like grandmotherly figures to Meg rather than outlandish beings with garish hair and makeup and gaudy costumes.  Sadly, that is not the only problem I had with this adaptation.  I thought all of the acting was terrible.  Witherspoon and Kaling ham it up at every turn with knowing looks at the camera and Winfrey gives one speech after another about self-empowerment and it gets rather tedious.  I didn't especially like what Zach Galifianakis, as the Happy Medium, and Michael Pena, as the Red Eyed Man, did with their roles and don't even get me started on the overly precocious McCabe.  Although she and Pine have an affecting moment together near the end of the movie, Reid didn't make me care about Meg as a character because she is so passive and just reacts to what other people do.  By the end of the movie I had lost whatever interest I had in the characters (I almost left the theater before the movie was over).  There are so many plot holes that it becomes a confusing mess and the audience is told, rather than shown, what is happening.  The CGI is laughably horrible and it is very obvious that the young actors are reacting to green screens.  It seems as if the only direction they were given was to flail their arms wildly as they run!  It really does pain me to say that I didn't like this movie because representation is so important but sometimes a movie with the best of intentions is still a bad movie.

Every Day

As a high school English teacher I read a lot of YA fiction because I am always on the lookout for good books to recommend to my students who are very reluctant readers.  To be honest, most of it is rubbish but I actually really loved Every Day by David Levithan because I thought it was incredibly clever and thought-provoking.  When I learned that a movie adaptation was in the works, I really hoped that it would be good.  I had the chance to see it yesterday and I liked it. A is a mysterious spirit who wakes up in a different body every day.  It is always someone the same age, although it can be someone of a different gender, race, and sexual orientation, who lives in the same geographical location.  A tries to integrate into the person's life and do as little damage as possible but everything changes when A inhabits Justin (Justice Smith).  While in Justin's body, A meets Justin's girlfriend Rhiannon (Angourie Rice) and feels an immediate connection to her.  Rhiannon also feels a connection to Justin that had never been there before as they spend a magical day at the beach together.  When A wakes up in another body (a girl named Amy) the next day, she seeks Rhiannon out and eventually tries to explain.  A continues seeking Rhiannon out even though there are consequences for those he inhabits (the story of Nathan believing he is possessed by the devil is less developed in the movie than the book).  As Rhiannon falls in love with A, she eventually realizes the difficulties with such a relationship.  In order to appreciate this movie you have to be willing to accept the concept (and ignore a few inconsistencies, such as how they are able to communicate using cell phones that belong to other people).  The reason why A inhabits different bodies every day is never explained but, in my opinion, that it not what this movie is all about.  Rather, it is about loving someone for who they are rather than their appearance and loving someone enough to let them go.  Rice gives an endearing performance and it is really easy to root for her.  I also liked how each of the different actors playing A give the character similar mannerisms.  This is definitely a movie that will appeal to the demographic for which it was meant (my screening was full of teenage girls) but I enjoyed it and recommend it for its sweet romance and powerful message.

Red Sparrow

I am a huge fan of espionage so I was really intrigued by Red Sparrow and went to see it yesterday.  Dominika Egorova (Jennifer Lawrence) is a ballerina with the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow when she suffers a career ending injury at the hands of a fellow dancer.  Worried that she will no longer be able to support her ailing mother (Joely Richardson) she is coerced by her uncle (Matthias Schoenaerts), an agent in Russian intelligence, to become a Sparrow, an agent trained to seduce her target to gain information.  After grueling training under the tutelage of the Matron (Charlotte Rampling) at State School 4, or “Sparrow School,” she is sent to Budapest to meet up with Nate Nash (Joel Edgerton), a CIA agent, to learn the identity of the double agent he is running in Moscow.  I judge all spy movies on whether or not they can keep me guessing and this is an intense and suspenseful thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat trying to unravel who was double-crossing whom.  There is not a lot of action, like you would normally see in a typical spy thriller, but the character-driven intrigue is what creates the tension.  I think Jennifer Lawrence gives a good performance and I wasn't at all bothered by her much-maligned accent.  There are some pretty graphic sex and torture scenes but, in my opinion, they are appropriate within the context of the story and not at all gratuitous.  One particularly disturbing scene where an attempted rape is recreated at the Sparrow school is used to help Dominika learn to detach herself from her body.  It is exploitative but that is the entire point of the movie.  She has been forced into this situation by men with power over her and that is what makes the final resolution so incredibly satisfying!  These scenes might bother some some sensitive viewers but I actually thought they were a lot tamer than what I was led led to believe.  I liked this movie quite a bit and I would recommend it to fans of the genre.

Note: I thought the nudity and sex in Atomic Blonde was much more gratuitous.

The Sound of Music at the Eccles

Last night I had the opportunity to see the Broadway touring production of The Sound of Music now currently playing at the Eccles Theater.  This story about a high spirited nun who is sent to be the governess to Captain Von Trapp's seven children has long been one of my very favorite musicals but I am more familiar with the 1965 movie starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer than I am with the stage version.  The production that I saw last night is based on the original book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse which is quite different from the movie and I found it to be a bit jarring.  I was happily anticipating all of my favorite scenes and songs and I have to admit that I was a little bit disappointed when I was surprised by something else.  Some of the songs from the movie are omitted, such as "Confidence" which is such a fun number.  Some songs that are not in the movie are included, such as "How Can Love Survive?" and "No Way to Stop It" which are both sung by Baroness Schraeder (Melissa McKamie) and Max Detweiler (Jake Mills).  I didn't particularly care for either song because I don't really care about either of these characters.  I wanted more time with Maria (Sarah Brackett) and the Captain (Mike McLean) because their romance seems very rushed in this version.  Quite a few of the songs are performed in a different scene than they are in the movie.  For example, "My Favorite Things" is sung between Maria and the Mother Abbess (Lauren Kidwell), "Do-Re-Mi" is sung when Maria first meets the children, "The Lonely Goatherd" is sung when the children are scared of the thunderstorm, and "Eidelweiss" is not sung until the music festival near the end of the show.  After a while I decided to stop comparing it to the movie and simply enjoy the performances, which are fantastic!  Brackett, who is the understudy, is delightful as Maria.  All of the Von Trapp children are adorable, especially Sophia Massa as little Gretl, and they have beautiful voices which harmonize very well.  Kidwell just about blows the roof off the Eccles Theater with her rendition of "Climb Ev'ry Mountain," definitely a highlight of the show.  I would absolutely recommend this show because it is such a classic that everyone in the family will enjoy but if the movie is your touchstone, like it is for me, just be prepared for some differences.  It runs at the Eccles Theater until March 4.

Note:  Broadway at the Eccles announced the shows coming to SLC next season and I could not be more excited!  The lineup includes Waitress, Come From Away, Finding Neverland, Aladdin, School of Rock, and RENT!  The season add-ons are Wicked and The Book of Mormon.  My sister Kristine has never see Wicked before so my Mom, Marilyn, and I are going to take her for a fun girls night!  Broadway at the Eccles also teased us with the announcement that Dear Evan Hansen will be coming the following year!  Squeal!  Go here for more information.

i at PTC

Last night I went to the world premiere of an incredibly thought-provoking play by Jeff Talbott called i.  I didn't know anything about it because there were no director's notes provided in the program and the setting was listed as a city sometime soon.  Now that I have seen it I think it is much better to go in blind and let the events (and the plot twist) surprise you.  It begins with a clearly distraught young woman named Sarah Cooper (Kathleen McElfresh) as she is interviewed by a doctor before undergoing a mysterious medical procedure.  The next time we see her she seems to be a completely different woman who has relocated to another city.  Then she meets Jake Bellamy (Todd Gearhart) and her new life begins to unravel.  This play is a profound meditation on identity and my mind was swirling with so many ideas as I left the theater!  What role do our memories play in who we are?  Is it better to feel nothing at all rather than feel sad?  Just because something is possible does that mean it should be done?   This play requires quite a bit of engagement as it is comprised mostly of intimate conversations between the two main characters (several people sitting near me were clearly restless) but I really enjoyed it.  The minimal set, composed of moving plexiglass panels, and the lighting cues are very effective at conveying the isolation felt by the main characters.  Both McElfresh and Gearhart give highly nuanced performances that I found to be incredibly affecting and I was very impressed by the sheer number of characters portrayed by Nefeesa Monroe.  I applaud Pioneer Theatre for its willingness to produce new works like this and I highly recommend this production.  It runs through March 3 and tickets may be purchased here.

Annihilation

I battled the flu last week so I had to wait a few days before I could see Annihilation, a film I have been anticipating for months.  I finally had a chance to see it last night and, while it is definitely not for everyone, I thought it was absolutely brilliant.  The film begins with the interrogation of Lena (Natalie Portman), a biologist, who is seemingly the only member of a top secret expedition to have survived.  Then there is a flashback to a meteor falling to the Earth and hitting a lighthouse.  Next we see Lena's husband Kane (Oscar Isaac) return after having been missing for over a year.  He is seemingly the only member of a top secret military expedition to have survived but he soon falls ill.  Both he and Lena are taken to a military base near the lighthouse which is now surrounded by a strange and ever expanding shimmer.  Every expedition into the shimmer has been unsuccessful and Kane is the only person to have survived.  Lena volunteers for the next expedition, made up of scientists rather than military personnel (Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, and Tuva Novotny), because she wants to know what made her husband volunteer for what amounts to a suicide mission.  The narrative alternates between Lena's interrogation and the mission into the shimmer where the scientists discover that plants and animals have mutated and that their own DNA might possibly be mutating as well.  Unable to trust their own bodies and minds, the team disintegrates until Lena confronts what is in the lighthouse.  In my opinion this film is a metaphor for man's self-destructive nature but I feel that everyone who sees it will have a different, yet completely valid, interpretation.  The nonlinear storytelling reveals just enough information to keep the audience on edge and constantly guessing and I have to admit that I was thoroughly frightened at times.  The visuals alternate between vivid and swirling colors with amazing plants and animals and dark shadows filled with monsters so you never know what to expect.  There are scenes of terror that will make you jump as they battle some mutated animals but I found the quiet scenes where the scientists begin to distrust one another to be even more menacing.  The score is brilliant with strange and unrecognizable sounds emanating from the shimmer which are incredibly unsettling and the music during the final climax contributes to such a feeling of dread that I count that scene as one of the scariest I've ever seen.  Again, this movie may not be for everyone.  There is certainly enough ambiguity to drive a person mad but that is what allowed me to have some epic conversations with complete strangers after my screening and that, in my opinion, is what makes a good science fiction thriller.  Go see it!

The Philadelphia Story

While I have seen a production of the play upon which the film is based, I had never seen The Philadelphia Story until it was screened yesterday as part of the TCM Big Screen Classics series.  I'm not sure why I had never seen it before because Cary Grant is one of my very favorite actors and who doesn't love Jimmy Stewart and Katharine Hepburn?  I absolutely loved this lively drawing room comedy!  Socialite Tracy Lord (Hepburn) is about to marry George Kitterage (John Howard), a respectable if boring self-made man.  On the eve of her wedding her ne'er-do-well ex-husband Dexter Haven (Grant) shows up with a reporter, Macauley "Mike" Connor (Stewart), and photographer, Liz Imbrie (Ruth Hussey), to disrupt the proceedings.  Tracy eventually finds herself torn between Dexter, Mike, and George but first she must figure out who she is before she can figure out who she should marry!  Grant, Hepburn, and Stewart are so well-suited for their roles and give wonderful and engaging performances but, in my opinion, Virginia Weidler steals the show as Tracy's teenage sister Dinah, especially during the scene when she is showing off for Mike and Liz.  The beautiful interiors and elegant costumes are perfect for a fun bit of escapism.  The script is incredibly intelligent, sophisticated, and witty, filled with one-liners delivered at lightening speed.  I'm not a huge fan of romantic comedies but there were many times when I laughed out loud, as did many people in my screening.  In my opinion this film is just about perfect and I am so glad that I was able to see it on the big screen!

High Noon in Concert

I can't tell you how much I have been enjoying Utah Symphony's Films in Concert Series.  To see a film on the big screen while the Utah Symphony plays the score live is an incredible sensory experience.  Last night I got to see High Noon while the orchestra played Dimitri Tiomkin's Academy Award winning score.  I recently saw this film on the big screen and the only part of the score I really remembered is the ballad "Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin'" which is repeated several times.  However, the music is very powerful, as is the film itself!  Convicted killer Frank Miller (Ian MacDonald) is on the noon train to Hadleyville with a score to settle with Will Kane (Gary Cooper), the Marshal responsible for convicting him.  The problem is that Kane has recently married Amy Fowler (Grace Kelly), a Quaker who abhors violence, and is on his way out of town when he hears the news of Frank's arrival.  He decides to return, against Amy's wishes, and tries to recruit deputies to stand with him to no avail.  He must face Miller and three members of his gang alone at high noon.  As I mentioned, the music is incredibly powerful, particularly the themes played when Kane fights his former Deputy Harvey Pell (Lloyd Bridges) who is bitter at not being promoted to Marshal in a barn, when Amy kills a member of the gang (the audience cheered and applauded at this moment), and during the final confrontation between Kane and Miller.  I also really liked the chimes as the hands on the clock reach noon (the action happens in real time). These concerts have become my favorite thing to do because they combine two of my favorite things: film and the Utah Symphony! High Noon is such an iconic film so I thoroughly enjoyed this concert!

Note:  I am so glad that the Utah Symphony is continuing this series!  I have tickets to see Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl this summer and the films for next season were recently announced:  Ghostbusters, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Casablanca, Star Wars: A New Hope, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.  I am so excited for all of them!  Go here for more information.

Ballet West's Cinderella

Last night I had the opportunity to see Ballet West's beautiful production of Cinderella and I absolutely loved it! Featuring sumptuous costumes and sets and a marvelous score by Sergei Prokofiev, this ballet tells the well-known story of Cinderella (albeit with a few differences from the Disney version) with choreography by Sir Frederick Ashton. The stepsisters are portrayed, rather hilariously, by men (Adrian Fry and Christopher Sellers) and the scenes of them getting ready for the ball had me laughing out loud! I also really enjoyed the scene where Cinderella (Beckanne Sisk) dances with a broom as a partner. The Fairy Godmother (Katlyn Addison, one of my favorite dancers) has four fairies representing the different seasons give Cinderella gifts before transforming her into a princess complete with a gilded carriage made from a pumpkin. The ball scenes are delightful with more antics from the stepsisters and I was so impressed by the athleticism of the Jester (Joshua Whitehead). I have to admit that Cinderella's entrance to the ball was absolutely magical and gave me goosebumps. The Grand Pas de Deux between Cinderella and the Prince (Chase O'Connell) is incredibly romantic and very moving with intricate choreography that is dazzling to watch. I thought the giant clock looming over the stage was very effective and the scene of Cinderella leaving the ball is quite dramatic. The final scene is lovely with glitter falling as Cinderella and the Prince dance off stage. The whole production is thoroughly entertaining and I think it is the prefect ballet for children because, while it is definitely a classical ballet, there are so many comedic elements, especially involving the stepsisters, and the story is a familiar one. Cinderella runs at Capitol Theatre through February 25 and tickets may be purchased here.

Black Panther

Last night, after a very challenging week, I had the chance to see a Thursday preview of the latest entry in the MCU franchise, Black Panther, and it was so much fun!  There was not an empty seat in the giant IMAX theater and the crowd was boisterous, to say the least!  More importantly, this movie is absolutely awesome!  After the death of his father, T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman) returns to Wakanda, an advanced African nation due to plentiful supplies of an alien metal called vibranium, to become king.  He also gains superhuman abilities by ingesting an herb filled with the vibranium.  Soon after, there is a challenger to the throne who wants to use vibranium-enhanced weapons to fight oppression around the world.  In my opinion, Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) is the best Marvel villain to date because, while he is absolutely ruthless, he is not entirely unsympathetic.  After an epic battle with Black Panther there is a moment of incredible pathos between the two characters that is so refreshing to see in a superhero movie.  While it is most definitely an origin story, I found it to be very compelling with complex character development not just for T'Challa but for all of the characters.  I especially liked Shuri (Letitia Wright), T'Challa's younger sister who is almost like Q in the James Bond movies because she creates all of the amazing gadgets for him to use.  The world building in this movie is spectacular!  Wakanda is a futuristic country and the visual effects are absolutely dazzling!  The action sequences are a lot of fun and I particularly loved the car chase through the streets of Busan because one of the cars is driven by remote control and a battle involving armored rhinos!  Boseman is so charismatic in the lead role but everyone in the all-star cast (Lupita Nyong'o, Daniel Kaluuya, Angela Bassett, and Forest Whitaker) is outstanding. Andy Serkis gives an over the top performance as a South African arms dealer trying to sell weapons enhanced with vibranium and Martin Freeman has a fun role as a CIA agent.  I loved this movie and I highly recommend it!  In fact, it might just be my favorite superhero movie yet because it is as thought-provoking as it is fun to watch!  Marvel has certainly set the bar very high for the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War!

The Hunchback of Notre Dame at HCT

I have been anticipating HCT's production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame since the 2018 season was announced and I finally had the opportunity to see it last night! It is amazing and you should probably stop reading right now and go here for tickets because they are going fast (with good reason). I loved just about everything in this show! Victor Hugo's classic tale about outcasts who find sanctuary in a Gothic cathedral is full of so much pathos!  Quasimodo (James Bounous) has been hidden by his master Frollo (Josh Richardson) in the bell tower of Notre Dame Cathedral all of his life because he is deformed until he decides to walk the streets of Paris during the Feast of Fools.  When the crowd turns on him, he is rescued by the gypsy Esmeralda (Rebecca Burroughs).  She also catches the eye of the captain of the cathedral guard Phoebus de Martin (Preston Yates) who falls in love with her and she bewitches Frollo who becomes obsessed with possessing her. When Esmeralda rejects Frollo, he orders Phoebus to arrest her but when he refuses they both become fugitives who are aided by Quasimodo until the final confrontation in the bell tower. The music by Menken and Schwartz is so amazing!  I liked every single song but my favorites were "God Help the Outcasts," "Top of the World," "Heaven's Light," "Someday," and "Made of Stone." All of the lead actors have beautiful voices but I think my favorite characters were the gargoyles (Jacob Theo Squire, Brock Dalgleish, and Kaitlyn Dahl) who act as a sort of Greek Chorus. The set for this show is absolutely incredible! I loved the many different levels of the bell tower and it was so cool to see Quasimodo ring the bells! I also really loved the stained glass windows shown on the LED screens throughout the theater.  This, along with frequent Latin chants, adds so much to the Gothic feel of the story. This show is much darker than the usual Disney musical so some might not like it as much as I did but I think the theme of being an outcast is an important one and I think the redemption at the end of the show is incredibly powerful. I highly recommend this show (I may need to see it again!).

The Death Cure

Yesterday I went to see Maze Runner: The Death Cure, the final installment of movies based on the popular YA novels by James Dashner.  Thomas (Dylan O'Brien), Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), Frypan (Dexter Darden), and Brenda (Rosa Salazar) must infiltrate W.C.K.D.'s headquarters in the heavily fortified "Last City" to save Minho (Ki Hong Lee) and the rest of the immune subjects from the torture they are undergoing to develop a cure for the Flare.  Thomas must reconcile his feelings for Teresa (Kaya Scodelario) and her betrayal as he faces Janson (Aidan Gillen) one final time.  Honestly, I found this movie to be unbelievably repetitive because it was basically a two hour rescue mission with nothing new added to the narrative.  I think they could have added 20 minutes to The Scorch Trials and that would have been a satisfying conclusion to the story.  I didn't even find the action sequences to be all that compelling because we just see characters running through city streets and corridors with debris falling all around them and soldiers, with spectacularly bad aim, shooting at them.  There are also way too many convenient rescues with minor characters showing up from out of nowhere at just the right moment.  The two best sequences happen very early on when the Gladers hijack a train transporting immune children to W.C.K.D. headquarters and when the three main characters fight off a group of "Cranks" infected with the Flare in a tunnel and then it becomes really boring.  The bottom line is that this movie is only for those of you who, like me, are compulsive enough to want to finish out the trilogy.

Get Out

I have now seen all of the nominees for the Academy Award for Best Picture (click the title for my commentaries on Phantom Thread, The Post, Darkest Hour, Call Me By Your Name, Lady Bird, The Shape of Water, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and Dunkirk).  For some reason I missed seeing Get Out when it was initially released but, luckily, Megaplex Theatres are screening all of the Best Picture nominees and I had a chance to see it last night.  Get Out is one of the best psychological thrillers that I have seen in quite some time and, if you haven't had a chance to see it, don't miss it while it is in theaters now!  Rose (Allison Williams) invites her black boyfriend Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) to spend the weekend at her wealthy parents' secluded estate on a lake.  Her father Dean (Bradley Whitford), mother Missy (Catherine Keener), and brother Jeremy (Caleb Landry Jones) all make awkward attempts to put him at ease.  He soon notices that the black cook and caretaker (Betty Gabriel and Marcus Henderson, respectively) are acting very strangely which puts him on guard.  Missy, a psychotherapist, offers to hypnotize him to help him stop smoking but the hypnosis is unsettling to him.  When the family holds a party, all of the guests, most of whom are elderly or impaired in some way, admire him for his physique or abilities.  Feeling a sense of dread, he asks Rose to leave but he eventually learns the real reason he has been brought to the estate.  This movie is deeply unsettling, but in the best way possible!  The tension builds and builds to a final resolution that I was not expecting (I don't know how I was able to avoid the spoilers).  The script is absolutely brilliant, very effectively combining elements of social commentary with horror which makes for an edge-of-your-seat survival thriller!  Kaluuya gives an excellent performance, especially in a scene where he remembers his mother's death.  This movie is funny, scary, and thought-provoking and I highly recommend it!

Note:  This year I really liked, and gave positive reviews to, all of the nominees.  But if the Academy were to ask for my opinion I would give the Oscar to Call Me By Your Name for its beautiful portrayal of first love!

Mozart & Haydn

It was mostly Mozart (with a little Haydn thrown in for good measure) last night at Abravanel Hall and, since Mozart is my very favorite composer, I have been looking forward to this concert all week!  Under the baton of guest conductor Patrick Dupre Quigley, the orchestra began with the Overture to Cosi fan tutte which is such a fun opera.  Listening to this brought back happy memories of attending this opera with my cousin.  Next, soloist Ronald Brautigam joined the orchestra for Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 9.  With his mane of curly white hair, Brautigam was so much fun to watch in a brilliant performance.  I especially loved the second movement because it seemed a bit more somber and introspective in tone but I also loved the third movement because is was so lighthearted and playful, especially the call and response between the piano and orchestra.  After the intermission the orchestra played what is probably Mozart's most recognized piece (you can probably hear the opening theme in your head tight now), Eine kleine Nachtmusik.  It is one of my favorite pieces by Mozart and it was absolutely delightful to hear it performed live.  It is so light, airy, and beautiful and listening to it after a long and tiring day made me so happy!  The concert concluded with Haydn's Symphony No. 99.  This piece was also very lighthearted and it really complimented the selections by Mozart very well.  The concert was simply delightful and I highly recommend getting a ticket to tonight's performance featuring the same program (go here).  All of the pieces performed are very accessible so this would be a great choice for those who have never been to a symphony concert before (check out this post for a guide to listening to classical music).

Hostiles

I've been anticipating the movie Hostiles since I saw the first trailer but, since it opened in SLC during Sundance, I had to wait until last night to see it!  Christian Bale plays Joseph Blocker, a hardened Captain in the U.S. Cavalry stationed at Ft. Berringer in New Mexico in 1892.  He is nearing retirement so he is given a final assignment to escort a dying Cheyenne chief named Yellow Hawk (Wes Studi) and his family, who have been held prisoner at the fort, back to their tribal lands in Montana.  Blocker bitterly refuses because Yellow Hawk is responsible for the deaths of many of his fellow officers but, when threatened with court martial and the loss of his pension, he grudgingly concedes but takes every opportunity to humiliate the chief as they begin the journey.  Soon they encounter Rosalee Quaid (Rosamund Pike), a woman living on the frontier whose entire family has been massacred by Comanche warriors (this sequence reminded me a great deal of The Searchers) and they convince her to join them.  Their journey is perilous (everything happens to them reminding me of The Revenant) and the only means of survival is through cooperation which eventually leads to acceptance and understanding.  A subplot involving a Cavalry officer (Ben Foster) being escorted to trial for murder is introduced midway through the film which serves to emphasize the atrocities committed by Blocker against Native American tribes and Bale does an outstanding job of portraying his inner torment.  The narrative is incredibly predictable but having a deeply flawed character ultimately find redemption is a theme that always works for me.  The cinematography is absolutely stunning with wide shots of beautiful scenery and, as I mentioned, Christian Bale gives an incredible performance as does Rosamund Pike.  I do have two criticisms:  the pacing is extremely slow and meditative and I would have liked to have had more character development for the Cheyenne in order to see their point of view.  However, I would definitely recommend this film.

Phantom Thread

The Academy Awards for Best Picture were announced last week and I've seen all but two of them (click on the title to read my commentaries for The Post, Darkest Hour, Call Me By Your Name, Lady Bird, The Shape of Water, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and Dunkirk).  Since I always like to see all of the nominees before the big ceremony I decided to cross the remaining two off my list this week.  I started with Phantom Thread (which opened in SLC during Sundance) last night.  In the glamorous fashion world of post-war London, the House of Woodcock is run by Reynolds (Daniel Day-Lewis), a difficult, self-indulgent, meticulous, and fastidious designer, and his sister Cyril (Lesley Manville).  Women come and go in the self-proclaimed confirmed bachelor's life and he has Cyril dismiss them whenever they interfere with his genius.  Then he meets Alma (Vicky Krieps), a free-spirited waitress who becomes his muse and, eventually, his lover.  She immediately upsets his well-ordered world and it seems that she, too, will be dismissed but Alma gives as good as she gets in a twist that I honestly did not see coming.  It is a film that, I suspect, will not appeal to everyone because it is more character driven than plot driven but I was absolutely enthralled by the constant volleying back and forth between the three characters for dominance.  There is a scene where Reynolds takes Alma's measurements which, in my mind, is absolutely brilliant because it reveals each of the character's motivations without a word.  Reynolds is consumed by his need to reinvent Alma, Cyril is coolly assessing her rival for Reynolds' attention, and Alma is hopeful that she will become more than just a model.  I love Daniel Day-Lewis and he gives a mesmerizing performance (rumored to be his last).  In one scene he is so incredibly debonair and charming that it is easy to see how a woman could be completely undone by just a smile but in the next he is a petulant child complaining about too much noise at breakfast and his steely gaze over the top of his glasses could reduce a woman to tears.  He is simply riveting in every scene and I am sure that I will have to own a copy just to watch him work his magic over and over again.  Krieps and Manville are also excellent, particularly in a scene where the two women have a battle of wills over a doctor's visit.  The film is gorgeous to look at and I loved the swelling piano and strings of the score.  Again, this film is not for everyone but it is right up my alley and I loved it!

Sundance Film Festival 2018

Another successful Sundance Film Festival has concluded and I thoroughly enjoyed my experience this year.  I was able to see fifteen films, including everything that I really wanted to see, and I liked them all, some more than others.  My first film was You Were Never Really Here which stars Joaquin Phoenix as tormented hit man, suffering from PTSD as the result of an abusive childhood and his experiences as a soldier in Iraq, whose weapon of choice is a hammer.  He is hired to rescue a young girl but, when the rescue goes awry, he discovers that he was set up and vows vengeance on everyone involved.  It is a brutal but strangely beautiful film about a deeply flawed character finding redemption which is a favorite theme of mine.  Next I saw Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot, another film starring Joaquin Phoenix.  This is the true story about cartoonist John Callahan after he becomes paralyzed in an alcohol-related car accident.  He uses his cartoons, which feature very dark humor, as a way of coping with his paralysis and as a means of achieving sobriety.  Phoenix gives a riveting performance, as does Jonah Hill as his sponsor, and I liked the inclusion of Callahan's actual cartoons.  My next film was Blindspotting which I picked because it stars Daveed Diggs (the original Lafayette/Jefferson in Hamilton).  Diggs and Rafael Casal play Collin and Miles, two childhood best friends who now have a tense relationship.  Collin has recently been released from prison and is about to complete his probation.  We eventually learn that both of them committed the crime but, because Collin is black, he was the only one held responsible.  There are a lot of themes explored in this film but I found it to be an incredibly powerful commentary about racism that resonated with me deeply.  Diggs was at the Q&A after the film which just about blew my mind!  Next up was Lizzie, one of my most anticipated films of the festival.  It is a psychological thriller exploring the reasons behind the killing of Lizzie Borden's family.  Both Chloe Sevigny and Kristen Stewart give outstanding performances and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since I saw it.  Another highly anticipated film was Colette, which tells the true story of one of the most celebrated writers from the Belle Epoque.  Keira Knightley stars in this lush bio-pic about a woman whose husband takes credit for her work until she eventually asserts her independence.  I love a good period piece but this also taps into the current zeitgeist of female empowerment.  Next, I was able to attend a free midnight screening of the documentary Believer about Dan Reynolds, the Imagine Dragons frontman, and his attempts to reconcile his LDS faith with the church's policy towards its LGTBQ members.  This documentary is extremely well done and finds just the right balance between highlighting a significant problem within the church (suicide is currently the number one cause of death for young people in Utah) while still being respectful.  I love Imagine Dragons and I really respect Dan Reynolds for the position he has taken.  Last Monday my only film was Wildlife, the directorial debut of Paul Dano (who was at the Q&A after the film).  In the late 1950s, a family with a history of moving from place to place has recently settled in a rural town in Montana.  The teenage son must deal with the disintegration of his parents' marriage when his father leaves his mother on her own to fight wild fires.  It is a simple but tragic story, anchored by an incredible performance by Carey Mulligan as a woman trapped by her circumstances.  Tuesday night I saw Hereditary, a horror film about the devastating effect a mysterious woman's death has on her family.  This film has an almost unbearable feeling of tension leading up to the final resolution.  I like to be genuinely scared, rather than shocked, by horror films and this one legitimately scared me (and the rest of the audience as well because there was much nervous laughter and even screaming).  On Wednesday I was able to take my students to a screening of Ophelia.  In my opinion, Ophelia is the most thinly drawn character and her fate is the most unsatisfactory in Shakespeare's version so I found her backstory to be incredibly compelling and her final resolution to be empowering in this retelling.  The film is beautiful and Daisy Ridley is fantastic in the title role.  My only complaint is that the final duel deviated from Lisa Klein's novel (upon which the film is based), turning what could have been a powerful moment into a silly slow-motion melodrama.  On Saturday I had three films!  The first was An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn which is a comedy of the absurd.  I don't even know how to describe this farce except to say that the over-the-top performances by Aubrey Plaza, Emile Hirsch, and Jemaine Clement made me laugh out loud.  The next film was The Miseducation of Cameron Post, starring Chloe Grace Moretz in a truly affecting performance as a young woman who is sent by her Evangelical family to a gay conversion camp after she is found having sex with a girl.  It is a poignant look at a group of teens learning to accept themselves.  The last film of the day was Puzzle which, surprisingly, ended up being a favorite from the festival.  Kelly Macdonald plays a wife and mother living an uneventful life in the suburbs who discovers a passion for jigsaw puzzles which leads to her awakening.  Who knew that a character driven film about completing puzzles could be so compelling?  As director Marc Turtletaub stated in the Q&A, it is a coming-of-age story about a 40 year old woman and I really liked it.  Yesterday I also had three films, beginning with Hearts Beat Loud.  I loved this film so much!  It is a tender story about a father-daughter relationship starring Nick Offerman and Kiersey Clemons and it is just lovely!  During the summer before she leaves for college, a young woman begins writing songs with her father and, when one of them becomes popular on Spotify, he tries to compel her to stay in order get a record deal until he realizes that he needs to let her go.  I absolutely loved the scene where Frank hears their song being played in a coffee shop!  The next film was The Happy Prince, starring Rupert Everett as Oscar Wilde during the last years of his life after being imprisoned for gross indecency.  Everett gives an amazing performance but I sometimes found the timeline to be a bit muddled as it is framed by Wilde's recollections on his deathbed interspersed with nonlinear flashbacks.  As a teacher of British literature, I really loved the use of Wilde's writings as voice-over narration throughout the film.  My final film of the festival was The Catcher Was a Spy which was a highly coveted ticket.  Paul Rudd plays Moe Berg, a major league baseball player who joins the OSS during World War II and is tasked with determining whether Germany is building an atomic bomb.  I thought the ending was a bit anticlimactic but I enjoyed it as a fan of espionage films.  It was a wonderful ten days and, as always, my favorite part was talking to the people I met in line.  My favorite conversation was with two really cool guys about the brilliance of A Ghost Story which screened at Sundance last year!  I can hardly wait for next year!

Utah Opera's Moby-Dick

Utah Opera’s premiere of Heggie and Scheer’s Moby-Dick had three strikes against it.  First, Herman Melville’s novel, upon which the opera is based, is definitely not my favorite.  As an English teacher it pains me to admit that I have never actually made it all of the way through.  I find the endless minutiae about the whaling industry to be mind numbingly dull.  Second, I am not usually a fan of modern operas sung in English.  I much prefer the classics sung in German and Italian.  Third, the run of this opera coincided with the Sundance Film Festival and I didn’t think I would be able to fit it in.  However, the more I learned about the production the more intrigued I became and I decided to get a ticket.  Last night I interrupted my Sundance screenings to see it and I am so glad that I did because it is brilliant!  Surprisingly, I found the condensed version of the novel performed on the Capitol Theatre stage to be anything but dull.  I was completely captivated by the story of an obsession for vengeance.  When the Pequod sets sail from Nantucket, the crew is excited about the riches they will earn, Greenhorn (Joshua Dennis), a newcomer to whaling, is eager for the adventure of seeing the world, Queegueg (Musa Ngqungwana) longs to see his island in the South Pacific again, and Starbuck (David Adam Moore) laments the dangers of whaling and fears that he will never see his wife and son again.  Soon Captain Ahab (Roger Honeywell) tells them that the real mission is to find the white whale that took his leg and offers a gold doubloon to the sailor who spots Moby Dick first.  When the crew is about to harpoon a whale, Ahab orders them to stop because it isn’t his whale.  Three months later the crew is bored and prone to fighting so Starbuck demands that Ahab let them hunt.  After spearing a whale, Starbuck pleads with Ahab to return to Nantucket to repair the leaking oil barrels and to seek medical attention for the cabin boy Pip (Jasmine Habersham) who was thrown overboard.  Ahab refuses and Starbuck contemplates killing him before his obsession dooms them all.  Ahab descends further into madness and, when the whale is finally spotted, deems it his destiny to kill it himself in an epic battle which kills everyone on board except Greenhorn who utters these immortal words when he is rescued: "Call me Ishmael."  The music is beautiful and haunting and I especially loved it when the chorus chants "Death to Moby Dick."  All of the principals sing their roles brilliantly and I was struck by the pathos in every performance, particularly by Moore!  The men's chorus not only sings but does an outstanding job with the choreography to convey the movement on a ship, whether it is raising the sails, harpooning a whale, rendering the blubber into oil, or riding out a storm.  The sets and costumes were constructed by Utah Opera and they are fantastic.  Finally, the build up to the battle between the whale and Ahab is intense and I was not disappointed with the special effects (which I will not spoil for those still planning to see it) in this scene.  I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I loved this opera and I highly recommend getting a ticket to the final performance on Sunday.