The Producers

Last night I went to a screening of The Producers (which is celebrating its 50th Anniversary) as part of the TCM Big Screen Classics series.  I have seen the stage musical many times but not the movie so I was excited to see it on the big screen.  Zero Mostel plays Max Bialystock, a once great theatrical producer down on his luck, and Gene Wilder plays Leo Bloom, his neurotic accountant.  When Bloom mentions that Bialystock would make more money with a flop, they become partners and come up with the perfect plan: find the worst play ever written, Springtime for Hitler written by ex-Nazi Franz Liebkind (Kenneth Mars), hire the worst director on Broadway, the flamboyant Roger De Bris (Christopher Hewitt), and hire the worst actor, a hippie named Lorenzo Saint DuBois (Dick Shawn).  Of course the show becomes the toast of Broadway so Bialystock and Bloom produce Prisoners of Love while serving their sentence at the state penitentiary.  This was so much fun because there is nothing better than an overwrought Gene Wilder!  He is particularly funny in this movie and the scene with his blue blankie had everyone in the theater laughing out loud!  Mars is also hilarious, especially when he watches Springtime for Hitler performed, and Andreas Voutsinas is an absolute hoot as Roger’s assistant Carmen Ghia.  While I really enjoyed seeing this on the big screen, I think I prefer the stage musical.  I can appreciate how groundbreaking this was for 1968 but, to me, the musical is much more irreverent!

Upgrade

Last night I went to see Upgrade, a movie that I wouldn't normally see but one I enjoyed a lot more than I thought I would.  In a dystopian future where houses, cars, and even soldiers are automated, Grey Trace (Logan Marshall-Green) and his wife Asha (Melanie Vallejo) are attacked by cyborgs.  Asha is killed and Grey is paralyzed in the attack but a reclusive CEO of a tech company (Harrison Gilbertson) offers to implant a computer chip in Grey's spine to give him back the use of his limbs.  This computer chip, called STEM, is sentient and has the ability to talk to Grey and take over his body when the need arises (this provides many comedic moments).  Grey uses his enhanced abilities to track down his wife's killers and unravels a conspiracy with a wild twist at the end.  The characterization is completely over the top and the acting is laughably bad but I really enjoyed this movie.  The premise is really interesting and, if you think about it, it gives a subtle message about the role of technology in our lives and how we become slaves to it rather than vice versa.  But, honestly, don't think about it too much!  What makes this movie so much fun is the action.  There are some great fight sequences and a fantastic car chase.  This movie has a kind of Blade Runner and Terminator vibe to it that I really dug.  My fifteen year old self would have loved sneaking into the basement to watch this movie on HBO at 2:00 am (I watched Blade Runner and Terminator countless times on HBO at 2:00 am) and I think it will eventually became a cult classic just like those movies!

Beast

A friend of mine recommended Beast to me so, of course, I had to see it yesterday.  It is a fascinating and intense psychological thriller that I will be thinking about for a long time to come.  Moll (Jessie Buckley) is a young woman with a troubled past and a domineering mother (Geraldine James).  She begins a relationship with Pascal (Johnny Flynn), a young man deemed unsuitable by her family and a suspect in a series of unsolved murders, which causes a scandal in the close-knit community of Jersey.  During the course of their relationship she begins to wonder if he is guilty and the action takes a really interesting turn.  Both Buckley and Flynn give absolutely riveting performances and you cannot take your eyes off of them when they are onscreen together.  You really cannot tell which one is the hunter and which is the prey.  James gives a chilling performance which is somewhat baffling until some information about Moll comes to light.  What makes this film so suspenseful is that information about the characters is revealed very slowly so you are always kept guessing about both Moll and Pascal's motivations and I had all kinds of wild theories running through my mind.  The visuals in this film also contribute to the menace with a dark and foreboding forest juxtaposed with waves crashing against the shore.  I found the tension to be almost unbearable and I would highly recommend it to fans of psychological thrillers.

Colorado Rockies Road Trip

My dear friend Tony took me to my first Colorado Rockies game (he also took me to my first Denver Broncos game and I took him to his first Colorado Avalanche game) and since then I always try to catch a game whenever I am in Denver during the season but it has been a while.  I've been missing Tony lately (he died of colon cancer several years ago) so I decided that it would be fun to go on a road trip to see a few games this summer.  Over the weekend I saw two games in the homestand against the Los Angeles Dodgers and, even though the Rockies lost both games, they were really exciting.  The first game on Friday night was a lot of fun because there were so many runs (the final score was 11-8) and I got to see my favorite player, Nolan Arenado, get a home run!  The game on Saturday was also fun, until the seventh inning when the Dodgers got eight runs (the final score was 12-4)!  I really love the atmosphere at Coors Field and it was a lot of fun to be in Denver for the weekend!

Note:  Sometimes thinking about Tony makes me sad but being in Denver brought back so many happy memories of all the Broncos, Rockies, and Avalanche games and concerts we went to.  I am lucky to have had such a great friend in my life!

Adrift

I went to see Adrift during a Thursday preview and I thought it was a pretty good, if typical, survival story.  Tami Oldham (Shailene Woodley) is a free spirit who is working odd jobs in order to travel the world.  While working at a marina in Tahiti she meets and falls in love with Richard Sharp (Sam Claflin), a yacht owner sailing around the world.  He asks her to join him but first the two of them take a job sailing a luxury yacht from Tahiti to San Diego and on the way they run into Hurricane Raymond.  The movie begins when Tami wakes up in the wreckage of the yacht after the storm and can't find Richard.  When she sees him floating, severely injured, on a dinghy in the distance, she makes repairs to the yacht as best she can and sails towards him to rescue him.  The action moves back and forth between their romance on Tahiti and their intense struggle to survive with a plot twist that I didn't see coming but should have.  The cinematography is stunning and the wide shots of the tiny yacht in the middle of the ocean are incredibly effective in conveying their isolation and the camera work is very immersive, so much so that there were many times when I found myself holding my head up to keep above the water.  The storm sequences are absolutely thrilling.  Shailene Woodley is hit or miss with me but she gives a fantastic and believable physical performance here as a woman determined to survive and Claflin is always nice to look at.  I think the flashbacks in the narrative take away the tension and the sense of peril at times but I liked this movie and would recommend it.

Summer Reading: Everyone Brave is Forgiven

The first selection on my summer reading list was Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave and I was eagerly anticipating this novel (hence the reason I began with it).  Unfortunately, it fell a little flat for me (as did Little Bee, another novel by Cleave). Mary North is an eighteen year old London socialite who signs up for a job at the War Office on the day that war is declared in 1939. She wishes to be useful but she is also motivated by a need to rebel against her wealthy family. When she is assigned to be a teacher of students left behind in the evacuation, she meets and falls in love with Tom Shaw, a school administrator. She also meets Alistair Heath, Tom's roommate, and her feelings for him complicate her relationship with Tom, especially when Alistair is stationed on Malta during a brutal blockade. A romance set in war-torn London seems like it would be right up my alley but, honestly, I had a hard time engaging with the story. I would pick it up for a few minutes and then set it down again and it was a struggle just to finish it. The story felt very episodic rather than a cohesive narrative. It was mostly vignettes about Mary in London and Alistair in Malta with lots of secondary characters and secondary plots that seemed to go nowhere. The romance seemed like an afterthought rather than the focus and the reunion between Mary and Alistair (which is why I kept reading, to be honest) was disappointingly anticlimactic. While Cleave's prose is incredibly beautiful and descriptive, the dialogue between the characters is unrealistic.  They engage in witty banter rather than heartfelt communication and that made the characters rather one-dimensional and kept them at a distance. I suppose Cleave's motivation for this device was to show the British stiff upper lip in the face of adversity but it backfired with me because I didn't really care about what happened to the characters. In the end, this novel didn't really appeal to me and I wouldn't recommend it.

Note:  Have you read Everyone Brave is Forgiven?  What did you think?  I seem to be in the minority on this one.

Solo

It was really hard for me to wait so long to see Solo: A Star Wars Story (particularly since so many of my friends were seeing it before me) but my Dad made me promise him that I wouldn't see it without him!  I'm glad that I kept my promise because he took my family to see it on Memorial Day and we had such a good time together!  We all loved it because it is such a fun and entertaining movie, perfect for the holiday weekend!  The galaxy is ruled by competing crime syndicates and a young Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) teams up with Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson) to procure a valuable resource, coaxium, for Crimson Dawn, a syndicate run by the ruthless Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany).  Along the way he meets the wookie Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo), wins the Millennium Falcon in a card game from Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover), and makes the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs!  The story gave me everything I was looking for and I think it does a good job explaining how Han Solo got to be the rakish smuggler we meet in the original trilogy.  Ehrenreich is more than up for the challenge of playing such an iconic character but Glover steals the show as Lando Calrissian.  I laughed and laughed at the scene where he records the "Calrissian Chronicles."  The action sequences and special effects are really what make this movie so much fun, particularly a spectacular high speed train robbery and the infamous Kessel Run!  I still think that Rogue One has more depth and pathos but this addition to the Star Wars Anthology is well worth a visit to the theater!  Go see it!

1945

Yesterday I spent a rainy afternoon at the Broadway seeing a compelling foreign film called 1945.  In a rural village in Hungary just after World War II, two Orthodox Jews get off a train and arrange for two large trunks to be taken into the town by wagon.  News immediately spreads throughout the village and everyone reacts with alarm, wondering who they are and what they want.  We slowly learn that many of the villagers were complicit in denouncing a prominent Jewish family before the war and that many profited, unethically, from their arrest.  Intermingled with these frantic scenes of chaos are long shots of the two men slowly following the wagon into town which is a bit menacing as the villagers await their arrival.  As guilt plagues the villagers, with catastrophic results for many of them, we learn the innocuous reason for their visit.  It reminded me a lot of High Noon because the town is anticipating, not gunslingers, but two strangers walking into the town while nervously peering out from behind lace curtains as events unfold in real time.  This is, ultimately, a profound portrayal of guilt and how you cannot escape from the consequences of your actions forever and I am sure that I will be thinking about it for some time to come.  The cinematography effectively uses high contrast black and white to create unbearably beautiful images and the jarring score does much to add to the tension.  It is in Hungarian, and some Russian, with English subtitles and many of the characters look and dress alike (particularly the women) so I had a difficult time following the action at first but I found the images on the screen to be riveting.  I would definitely recommend this film.

Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2

Last night my friend Angela and I went to the final Utah Symphony performance of the 2017-2018 season and it was such an amazing concert!  In my opinion a performance featuring Rachmaninoff was a great way to end what has been a fantastic season!  The orchestra began with a piece commissioned by the Utah Symphony called Reflections by Tristan Murail.  It is very modern but, as explained by Thierry Fischer, it is a contemplative piece where the instruments mimic the tides and the wind and their ability to withstand adversity.  I found it to be very soothing.  Next Concertmaster Madeleine Adkins was the featured soloist in a performance of Korngold's Concerto for Violin and Orchestra.  I had never heard this piece before and I thought it was beautiful.  I especially loved the third movement because it was very lively and the violin sounded a lot like a fiddle.  Adkins gave a spectacular performance (I really like her and I like the fact that the Concertmaster is a woman) and she received a thunderous standing ovation.  After the intermission the orchestra played Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2.  Rachmaninoff is one of my favorite composers so I enjoyed this immensely.  I think that the fanfare played by the horns in the second movement is so quintessentially Russian and I think that the main theme played in the third movement is especially romantic.  It was such a lovely concert and it was a great way to celebrate the end of the school year!

Note:  I am really looking forward to seeing the Utah Symphony perform in some outdoor venues this summer, particularly a performance with Sutton Foster at Deer Valley!

The Rider

Last night I saw The Rider, a film I have been anticipating for weeks, and it is so good!  Brady Blackburn (Brady Jandreau) has suffered a catastrophic brain injury from being trampled after riding a bucking bronco at a rodeo.  Riding broncos is the only thing he knows how to do and it is his sole source of identity.  When he is told that he can never ride again he struggles to find himself again.  It is a beautiful and powerful exploration of what it means to let go of a dream.  What makes this film so remarkable is that it is based on actual events in the life of rodeo star Brady Jandreau, who plays a fictionalized version of himself, and stars his father Tim, his sister Lilly, several of his friends, and a former bull rider named Lane Scott who was paralyzed in a similar accident.  This device lends a certain authenticity to the film.  Footage from Jandreau's accident is used in the film and scenes where he actually trains wild horses are absolutely spellbinding.  Because he lived through these events, his pain and frustration are palpable and I found Brady to be an incredibly sympathetic character.  When he breaks down after visiting Lane in the rehabilitation center, knowing that this could be his fate if he continues, it is one of the most powerful moments I've seen on film.  The scene where he rides his horse for the first time after the accident is also beautiful and the look on his face does much to establish his motivation for wanting to continue in the face of insurmountable obstacles.  It is a remarkable performance.  The film takes place in the South Dakota badlands and the cinematography is stunning.  The beautiful, yet harsh, environment is the perfect backdrop for a character-driven film that is ultimately hopeful but tinged with melancholy.  I loved The Rider (it is now one of my very favorites of 2018) and I highly recommend it!

Summer Reading 2018

There is nothing that I enjoy more than spending an afternoon reading and, now that the school year has officially concluded, I have some uninterrupted time to do just that!  Once again I am sharing my summer reading list and inviting you to read along with me.  This year my list includes popular historical fiction, my very favorite genre, including Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave, We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter, Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline, The Alice Network by Kate Quinn, Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate, To Capture What We Cannot Keep by Beatrice Colin, The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck, Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan, The Chilbury Ladies' Choir by Jennifer Ryan, and Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly.  I am so excited to get started!  Once again I will review each selection here every Friday and I hope you will join me and tell me what you think in the comments.  Yay for summer reading!

Mamma Mia at PTC

I have seen the Broadway touring production of Mamma Mia several times and I've even seen it in London's West End twice (once on a theater trip with PTC and once with my Mom who danced in the aisle) so I was really curious to see what a regional theater like PTC would do with it.  I am happy to report that I loved their version and I think some of the choreography, especially in "Lay All Your Love On Me" (more about that in a minute) and "Voulez-Vous," even surpassed the Broadway version.  This musical features some of Abba's best known songs, such as "Dancing Queen," "Money, Money, Money," "S.O.S.," "Knowing Me, Knowing You," and, of course, "Mamma Mia."  Sophie Sheridan (Kathryn Brunner) wants her father to walk her down the aisle at her wedding but she doesn't know who he is.  When she reads her mother's diary, she discovers three possibilities:  Sam Carmichael (Brian Sutherland), Bill Austin (Dan Sharkey), and Harry Bright (Paul Castree).  Without telling her mother Donna (Coleen Sexton), she invites all three of them to the wedding and chaos ensues!  The cast is incredible in this show, especially Sexton!  During the fourth performance she broke her foot but decided to continue the run, wearing a boot and occasionally using crutches.  When I heard about this, I worried that this might take me out of the illusion of the show.  But the production team did such a great job of adjusting the costumes, choreography, and lighting (in just 24 hours) that, after her initial entrance on stage, I really didn't notice at all.  Sexton is definitely a trooper (a super trouper?) for continuing to perform with such a severe injury!  As great as the main cast is, I think the male ensemble steal the show with their scuba gear in "Lay All Your Love On Me" and their acrobatics in "Does Your Mother Know?"  This show is so much fun and I absolutely recommend that you take a chance (too much?) on PTC and see one of the remaining performances (go here for tickets).

Note:  I have really enjoyed the 2017-2018 season at PTC!  Highlights have been The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and Bright Star.

RBG

Yesterday I saw RBG, an inspiring documentary about a truly remarkable woman.  I happen to agree with her on a number of issues but no matter where you fall on the political spectrum you have to admire Ruth Bader Ginsburg for her tireless dedication to the notion that everyone deserves equal protection under the law.  This documentary portrays her as a trailblazer but it also humanizes her.  We learn that she was asked by the dean of Harvard Law School why she was sitting in a seat that could have been occupied by a male and that, upon graduation, no law firm in New York City would hire her despite the fact that she made Law Review.  This fueled her desire for equal rights for women but she was too shy and retiring to march with other protesters so she joined the ACLU and quietly and methodically argued cases for equality before the Supreme Court.  Of course there is an interview with Bill Clinton on her appointment to the Supreme Court and footage of her confirmation hearings.  Of course there are interviews with friends and colleagues about her incredible work ethic.  However, I loved learning about her relationship with her husband Marty and how he respected and supported her throughout her career.  I loved learning about her friendship with fellow Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia despite having vastly differing opinions.  It is hilarious when she watches Kate McKinnon's impersonation of her on Saturday Night Live and laughs out loud, when she mentions that she enjoys the comparison with the rapper Notorious B.I.G. because they are both from Brooklyn, and when she shows us all of her signature jabots (including the rhinestone encrusted one she wears when delivering a dissenting opinion).  She is a rock star and I really enjoyed this entertaining portrait of her life.

Note:  I leaned that I have two things in common with her:  a love of opera and the inability to cook!

The Eagles at the Vivint Arena

When I heard the sad news that Glenn Frey had died, I was really glad that my family had the chance to see the Eagles the last time they played in SLC because I thought that they would never tour again.  Then I heard that the surviving members of the Eagles were going to tour with Vince Gill and Glenn's son Deacon and I knew that I had to get a ticket!  I love the Eagles so much because their music has been such a big part of my life.  The Eagles' album Greatest Hits (1971-1975) was my Dad's favorite road trip music and we would sing every song at the top of our lungs!  This concert was amazing!  They began, as they often do, with "Seven Bridges Road" which gave me goosebumps with the beautiful harmonies.  Then, in an emotional moment, Don Henley talked about Glenn Frey and introduced Deacon (he sounded so much like his Dad) who sang "Take It Easy."  I was so impressed with Deacon!  It had to be emotional for him to sing these songs and a bit overwhelming to be on stage with so many veterans but he definitely held his own.  He also sang vocals on "Peaceful Easy Feeling" and "Already Gone."  Vince Gill was also a great addition to the lineup and he gave me goosebumps with his rendition of "Take it to the Limit."  I also loved his vocals on "Lyin' Eyes," "Tequila Sunrise," "Heartache Tonight," and "New Kid in Town."  They let Joe Walsh off his chain and he provided much entertainment for the evening with "In the City," "Life's Been Good," and "Funk #49."  Even if his vocals aren't what they used to be, he can definitely play the guitar!  Timothy B. Schmidt was seated the entire evening due to surgery on his foot but he performed one of my favorites, "I Can't Tell You Why," as well as "Love Will Keep Us Alive" from the Hell Freezes Over album.  I have always really loved Don Henley and I was thrilled when he performed a fabulous version of "The Best of My Love," which is a favorite of mine.  I also really enjoyed a very sultry version of "Witchy Woman."  They got the Vivint Arena rocking with "Those Shoes,” “Victim of Love,” and  "Life in the Fast Lane."  The Eagles played for over two hours and I was really sad to see this concert come to an end because I enjoyed reliving my youth so much!  Despite being one of the youngest in my section I sang the words to every single song!  For the encore, they performed "Hotel California," with an incredible trumpet solo introduction, "Rocky Mountain Way," and "Desperado" complete with strings!  An awesome night!

Disobedience

Last night I went to see the film Disobedience and it was an incredibly poignant experience for me.  I live in a very conservative community and I have several LGBTQ friends who have been disowned by their religious families so I was very eager to see how this film treated the subject.  Ronit Krushka (Rachel Weisz) is a New York photographer who is devastated by the news that her father, a distinguished Rabbi in an Orthodox Jewish congregation in London, has died.  She returns to her childhood home and, without a lot of exposition, it is clear that the community regards her with a mixture of curiosity and scorn.  She reconnects with Dovid (Alessandro Nivolo), a protege of her father's who is poised to take his place, and Esti (Rachel McAdams), another childhood friend.  She is stunned to learn that the two of them are married.  Through a series of interactions between the two women that are fraught with tension (it is a very slow burn) we learn that they once had a sexual relationship and were condemned by the community.  Ronit is rebellious and left but the repressed Esti submitted to the will of the Rabbi and dutifully married Dovid in order to "cure" herself.  Neither woman is happy in her choice and they eventually resume their relationship, bringing consequences for Esti.  The final resolution left me a bit conflicted because, while they seem to find a way to reconcile their sexuality with their faith, it is rather vague and I don't know if their choices will bring them happiness. I know that many of my LGBTQ friends still believe even after they have escaped the repression and it torments them (Utah has one of the highest suicide rates in the country).  Both Weisz and McAdams are incredible, giving highly nuanced performances, and their love scenes are passionate and romantic (aside from one bewildering element).  Nivolo is also good as a deeply religious man caught between his duty and his love for his wife.  It is more than just a film about forbidden love and I would recommend it for its powerful exploration of the freedom to disobey.

Utah Opera's Die Fledermaus

Utah Opera ended their 40th Anniversary Season, rather appropriately, with the pop of a champagne cork in a delightful production of Johann Strauss Jr.'s Die Fledermaus.  I was able to see this opera last night and it was the perfect way to end a stressful week.  Prince Orlofsky (Abigail Levis) is throwing a ball and Falke (Troy Cook) is using it as an opportunity to play a practical joke on his friend Eisenstein (Daniel Belcher) as revenge for abandoning him in the middle of town wearing a bat costume.  He contrives to get Eisenstein to go to the ball as Marquis Renard instead of reporting to jail for insulting an official.  He also arranges for his wife Rosalinde (Sara Gartland) to attend as a masked Hungarian countess, as well as his maid Adele (Abigail Rethwisch) and the warden of the prison (Christopher Clayton) who are also using assumed names.  Hilarity ensues as everyone attempts to conceal their identities while having fun at the ball (with a little champagne).  Meanwhile, Rosalinde's former lover Alfred (Robert Breault) has reported to jail in Eisenstein's place to keep from compromising her.  When Eisenstein arrives at the jail in the morning and discovers him there, he confronts Rosalinde over her behavior bust she reveals that she is the Hungarian countess that he flirted with at the ball!  The story is so much fun to watch (it sounds convoluted but it is actually very easy to follow) and I found myself laughing out loud on multiple occasions.   The music is incredible and all of the songs are sung in English in this production.  My favorites were "Adele's Laughing Song" and the "Champagne Song."  The entire cast is wonderful but my favorite was definitely Levis as Orlofsky, whose antics are completely over the top.  The choreography, and the addition of four professional dancers to the cast, greatly enhances the party atmosphere and I loved the opulent costumes and sets.  I had so much fun watching this opera, almost as if I had also had a glass of champagne!  I highly recommend getting a ticket to the one remaining performance (go here)!

Deadpool Double Feature

Last night I went to a double feature of Deadpool and Deadpool 2 and it was so much fun!  I thought the first movie was absolutely hilarious (and I really enjoyed seeing it again) so I have been anticipating the sequel for quite a while.  Everything that I loved about the first movie was bigger and better in this one!  A drug lord that Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) was unable to kill follows him home to attack him and ends up killing Vanessa (Morena Baccarin).  To help him through his grief, Colossus (Stefan Kapicic) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) once again try to recruit him as a member of the X-Men.  As a trainee,  Deadpool accompanies them when they are called to respond to a standoff at an orphanage for mutants.  They encounter Firefist (Julian Dennison) and learn that Cable (Josh Brolin), a mutant soldier from the future, wants to kill him in order to stop him from killing his family in the future.  Deapool decides to assemble his own team, calling them the X-Force, to stop Cable because he feels that Firefist is worth saving.  In addition to the snarky humor, the self-awareness, the breaking of the fourth wall, the cheesy pop songs (the montage to "9 to 5" by Dolly Parton just about killed me), and the epic action sequences, I really loved the character arc for Deadpool in this installment.  He comes to the realization that killing is not necessarily the way to solve every problem.  There was real heart and a bit of humanity in the character which was quite unexpected.  Just like with the first movie I laughed out loud during the opening credits (a spoof of the Bond opening credits) and that was certainly not the last time I did so.  There are so many hilarious references and I'm sure I didn't catch them all!  I really liked Cable as a villain because he has a sympathetic backstory and I really liked Zazie Beetz as Domino, a member of the X-Force.  This movie is just a little bit naughty but it is so entertaining!  If you liked the first movie, you will absolutely love this one!

Note:  There are some hilarious mid-credits scenes (one made me laugh out loud) so definitely stay for those!

Sunset Boulevard

Last night I took my Mom to see Sunset Boulevard as part of the TCM Big Screen Classics series and we both loved it.  I had seen the Andrew Lloyd Webber stage musical but I had never seen the Billy Wilder classic film before and I was really excited for the opportunity to see it for the first time on the big screen!  Joe Gillis (William Holden) is a down and out Hollywood screenwriter who turns into a driveway on Sunset Boulevard to avoid having his car repossessed.  The driveway belongs to Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) a former actress of silent movies who has been forgotten but lives in a fantasy world where she is still a star.  She is aided and abetted in this fantasy by her butler Max (Erich von Stroheim) who is in reality her first director Max von Mayerling and her first husband.  Gillis cunningly arranges a job writing a screenplay for Desmond and moves into her mansion.  Soon Gillis realizes that Desmond is in love with him and he tries to leave but, when she threatens suicide, he returns to her to become a kept man.  When Desmond's illusions of making a Hollywood comeback are dashed and she realizes that Gillis is in love with someone else, she comes undone in one of the most famous scenes in film.  Sunset Boulevard is a classic example of film noir with atmospheric lighting, black and white cinematography, and a pessimistic portrayal of the underbelly of Hollywood.  I also think it is a great example of a dark comedy.  Both my Mom and I found ourselves laughing but immediately stifled that laughter because it seemed inappropriate given the drama.  Swanson gives the performance of her career and, while she is imperious and hysterical, she is somehow incredibly sympathetic as a woman trapped in the past.  Holden is very charismatic (and quite good looking) as a man who despises what he has become but can't bring himself to leave.  The production design is incredible.  Desmond's house is suitably ghoulish and ostentatious (I particularly loved all of the photos of her in her glory days) and her costumes are fantastic (the feathers!).  I am glad that I finally had the chance to see such a classic movie and it was so much fun with my Mom!

A Day in Las Vegas

I love Las Vegas...in small doses.  It is a really fun place with lots to see and do but it can also provide sensory overload.  I can only handle it for about a day so I usually plan short excursions to Sin City.  The reason for my most recent excursion was the U2 concert last Friday night but I got there early in the afternoon with some time to play.  My base of operations was the MGM Grand and from there I ventured out to the famous Strip.  I am a people-watcher and the people here put on quite the show but I soon become very weary of all of the hustlers on the street trying to get you to come to various shows (be careful about accepting any flyers from people, trust me on this!).

The Las Vegas Golden Knights have made it to the semifinal round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in their very first year in existence and the whole city is incredibly excited which was really fun to see.  There were banners and billboards everywhere but my favorite show of support was the jersey on the Statue of Liberty at the New York, New York Hotel.  By the way, now that my Colorado Avalanche are out of the playoffs I have temporarily transferred my affections to the Knights!

Of course, no visit to Las Vegas (or any other major city, for that matter) would be complete without a visit to the Hard Rock Cafe.  I started the tradition of collecting pins at the first HRC I visited (in London) and now I have hundreds of them.  I didn't get another one from this one because I have so many but I had lunch.  My waiter looked like Daveed Diggs and he flirted with me outrageously!  I continued wandering around for a while and then went back to the hotel for a quick nap.

The concert was in the brand-new T-Mobile Arena and it was pretty amazing (so was the concert).  I especially loved all of the Stanley Cup Playoff banners all over the arena.  I had a lot of fun on this quick trip (I will be back in one month to see Hamilton again) and it was just what I needed to make it through the final weeks of school!

U2 in Las Vegas

Yesterday I took a much needed day off from school to drive to Las Vegas to see U2's Experience + Innocence Tour.  I have been looking forward to this concert for a really long time and it was absolutely amazing.  The stage was configured the same way it was for the Innocence + Experience Tour with a rectangular stage at one end of the arena, a circular stage at the other, and a runway connecting them.  Above the runway were giant screens with a catwalk between them.  I really love U2's new album Songs of Experience and I was glad that they began the concert with two songs from this album, "Love Is All We Have Left" and "Blackout," which were performed in between the screens with some really great effects.  Then Bono went to the circular stage to perform my very favorite song from the album, "Lights of Home," and I think he gave a great vocal performance.  This was definitely one of the highlights for me.  Bono returned to the rectangular stage for "Beautiful Day" and then the band played some of their early hits, including "I Will Follow" and "Gloria," which I've never heard live before (another highlight).  They continued with "Red Flag Day," another new song, which I think sounds a lot like their early hits.  Then Bono gave a heartfelt rendition of "Iris (Hold Me Close)" with home movies of his mother projected on the screens and, like he did for the Innocence + Experience Tour, he sang "Cedarwood Road" with an image of the actual street on the screens while he walked in between them.  It looked like he was walking up and down the street where he grew up and, once again, I really loved the effect.  They played an acoustic and edgy version of "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "Raised By Wolves" while highlighting the troubles in Ireland on the screen.  They ended their first set with "Until the End of the World."  In between sets there was an animated superhero video depicting the history of U2 while "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" played and I thought it was hilarious.  The second set began on the circular stage with Bono wearing a top hat and white face paint (this is a stage persona called MacPhisto that hearkens back to the Zoo TV concerts).  They played "Elevation," "Vertigo," "Desire," and "Acrobat."  Next they performed an acoustic version of "You're The Best Thing About Me" which sounded very different from the album version (I heard them play it last September in Phoenix) but I really liked it.  They got a bit political with "Staring at the Sun" and a performance of "Pride (In the Name of Love)" that was quite emotional.  They returned to the rectangular stage for "Get Out of Your Own Way" and "American Soul," both from the new album.  They ended with "City of Blinding Lights" with, appropriately, images of Las Vegas on the screen.  For the encore, they performed "One" which just about made me cry because the entire audience sang along!  Another highlight was an incredible vocal performance by Bono of "Love Is Bigger Than Anything In Its Way," another favorite from the new album, and "13 (There Is a Light)."  Sigh!  I thought there were some sound issues in T-Mobile Arena but it didn't really detract from the experience.  I love seeing U2 live (this was my seventh U2 concert) and I love watching Bono strut around the stage.  I think he is one of the most charismatic performers that I've ever seen and he certainly put on a show last night!  It was just amazing!

Tully

Yesterday I finally had the chance to see Tully, the new comedy from Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman.  Marlo (Charlize Theron) is a stressed out mom about to have her third child when she meets a friend from her days as a free-spirited young adult and begins ruminating on what she has given up to move to the suburbs.  Her husband (Ron Livingston) is well-meaning but he has a stressful job which frequently takes him out of town and is generally clueless about the toll motherhood has taken on Marlo.   Her wealthy brother (Mark Duplass) offers to gift her with a night nanny when the baby comes but she doesn't like the thought of a stranger taking care of her newborn.  After the baby is born she is almost incapacitated by fatigue and, after a particularly trying day with her son, who seems to be on the autism spectrum, she relents and calls Tully (Mackenzie Davis).  Tully's presence has an immediate effect on Marlo, who gets a good night's sleep for the first time in years and begins to re-engage with the world.  Tully reminds Marlo of the free-spirit she used to be while Tully tries to remind Marlo that her most important dream has come true.  There is a huge twist at the end which some viewers may have difficulty with but for me it worked very well.  It's hard to talk about why I loved it so much without giving too much away, but I think it shows that just because a woman's role may change she should never lose who she really is.  I loved that this film highlights the fact that you need to take care of yourself in order to take care of other people.  Charlize Theron is fantastic in this multi-layered role and she isn't afraid to show the real (read: unglamorous) side of motherhood.  You can really feel her quiet desperation.  She and Mackenzie Davis have great chemistry and the scenes of them giving each other advice are incredibly poignant.  I enjoyed this movie a great deal and I highly recommend it.

Note:  My very favorite moment is when a school counselor tells Marlo to stop apologizing for her autistic son after he reacts to a loud noise because he has done nothing wrong.  So powerful! 

Spring in the City

Friday night I was downtown and I had an hour to kill in between dinner and the symphony.  I happened upon this lovely little garden area in between the Joseph Smith Building and Temple Square.  There were lots of little flower beds and places to sit and I absolutely loved it.  The spring flowers were so beautiful and they smelled amazing!  I wanted to sit there for hours!  I always say that fall is my favorite time of year but the spring is pretty spectacular, too!