Christmas is Coming!

I always like to put up my Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving.  I don't like to do it before because I like to keep Thanksgiving somewhat separate from Christmas but I like to have my tree up as long as possible.  As soon as Thanksgiving is over it is go time.  I love Christmas time so much (it is the only holiday that this minimalist decorates for).

I enjoy decorating my Christmas tree because all of my ornaments have a special meaning.  Some of them were given to me, some of them are souvenirs from my trips around the world, and some of them commemorate something from a specific year.

This is my ornament for this year.  I thought it was appropriate after seeing Hamilton five times in 2018!

I have a lot of really fun activities in December that I am looking forward to but, honestly, one of my favorite things to do is stay home and watch Christmas movies with just the illumination from the tree.

I love this time of year!

Thanksgiving 2018

Yesterday my family was able to celebrate Thanksgiving and it was a lovely day.  We spent it much like other Thanksgiving holidays with a wonderful dinner, naps, and then pie while playing an epic game of Shanghai rummy (in which I got laughing so hard that I literally couldn't breathe!).  What I am most thankful for at this time of year is that I have such an amazing family that I get to spend so much time with.  However, they are not very cooperative when it comes to taking pictures so here are a few that I was able to get!

I hope you were able to have a lovely Thanksgiving, as well!

The Grinch

Sean and I have a long-standing tradition of seeing a movie the day before Thanksgiving.  I tried to convince him to see Bohemian Rhapsody but he chose The Grinch instead.  It tells the well-known story by Dr. Seuss of how the Grinch (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch) tries to steal Christmas from Whoville by impersonating Santa Claus but with a few new updates.  Seeing everyone in Whoville so happy at Christmastime reminds him of when he was sad and lonely growing up in an orphanage and that makes him hate the day.  Meanwhile, Cindy Lou Who (voiced by Cameron Seely) contrives an elaborate plan to catch Santa Claus because she wants him to help her frazzled single mother (voiced by Rashida Jones).  The two of them inevitably meet on Christmas Eve and Cindy Lou's request helps the Grinch learn the true meaning of Christmas.  I thought it was so sweet (Sean didn't think the Grinch was mean enough).  There are quite a few really fun sequences to add to the original story such as an elaborate routine of getting ready for the day which involves a latte with a frowning face, searching for a reindeer to pull his sleigh, and a run-through of Cindy Lou's plan to trap Santa with all of her friends.  I especially liked all of the gadgets used by the Grinch to move from house to house and steal all of the Christmas presents.  The animation is very colorful and vibrant, the score by Danny Elfman is a lot of fun, and the version of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" performed by a very persistent group of carolers (Pentatonix) is fabulous!  It was a really nice movie to start the holiday season!

Widows

Yesterday was kind of a dark and dreary day so I decided to spend it in a movie theater by seeing Widows.  Viola Davis, in an incredible performance, plays Veronica Rawlins.  Her world suddenly falls apart when her husband Harry (Liam Neeson) is killed, along with his associates, in a robbery gone wrong.  Harry stole $2 million from Jamal Manning (Brian Tyree Henry), who is running for alderman of his ward, but the money was burned in the explosion that killed him and now Manning wants Veronica to repay him.  She finds Harry's plans for his next job and recruits the widows of his former associates, Alice (Elizabeth Debicki) and Linda (Michelle Rodriguez), to help her carry out the heist in order to repay Manning.  They are in over their heads but they are desperate and that is what makes their story so compelling (it is so much better than Ocean's 8, to which it will inevitably be compared, because the stakes are higher).  The supporting cast is outstanding, including Colin Farrell as the politician trying to hold on the alderman seat that has been in his family for years, Robert Duvall as his corrupt father, Daniel Kaluuya as Manning's brother and henchman, and Cynthia Erivo, as a single mother recruited to be the getaway driver.  The action is intense and suspenseful with a wild plot twist that made me gasp out loud and a resolution that made me cheer.  It is a heist movie that is so much more than a heist movie and I found it to be highly entertaining.

Note:  I literally did spend the whole day in the theater because I saw Bohemian Rhapsody again, not once but twice.  Clearly I have lost my mind.

Bach's Brandenburg Concertos 1 & 2

It has been a really long week and my favorite way to decompress when I am feeling stressed is by attending a Utah Symphony concert.  The program last night was simultaneously soothing and stirring!  The orchestra began with Johann Sebastian Bach's Brandenburg Concertos No. 1 & 2 which are masterpieces of the Baroque era.  Concerto No. 2 featured soloists Mercedes Smith, Flute, James Hall, Oboe, Claude Halter, Violin, and Travis Peterson, Trumpet, who were all amazing but I was especially impressed with Peterson's performance.  I really enjoyed these pieces and I found myself imagining a stately ball scene in a Jane Austen novel and it was just lovely.  In between the two concertos, the orchestra played a contemporary piece called Derive 1 by Pierre Boulez which has an incredibly modern sound created with traditional instruments.  The juxtaposition between this piece and the concertos was really interesting and Maestro Thierry Fischer requested that the audience hold their applause until the end of the final piece to maintain the mood.  After the intermission the orchestra played Symphony No. 3 by Aaron Copland.  I have heard this piece performed live several times and I find it to be very evocative of the American west.  I love the themes played by the woodwinds and, of course, the instantly recognizable fanfare played by the brass, punctuated dramatically by the timpani, is brilliant.  I loved everything about this concert and I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here) to tonight's performance.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

To be honest, I wasn't a big fan of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.  I didn't hate it but I definitely didn't love it as much as my friends did.  I thought it was one big set up for all of the future movies to come and I hoped that the subsequent movies in the Wizarding World would be better.  My hopes were in vain.  I had a chance to see a Thursday preview of the latest installment, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, last night and I thought it was a convoluted mess.  Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) escapes while being transported from the U.S. to England and wants all the pureblooded wizards from around the world to rise up and take over all of the non-magical people.  He is particularly interested in Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller), who, with the help of a shape shifter named Nagini (Claudia Kim), is trying to find out his true identity (which, presumably, Grindewald knows).  A young Dumbledore (Jude Law) enlists the help of Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) to track Grindelwald down because he is prevented from fighting him himself.  Newt's brother Theseus (Callum Turner), who is an official with the Ministry of Magic, his former childhood girlfriend Leta Lestrange (Zoe Kravitz), and his current girlfriend Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston) are also looking for Grindelwald.  Then Tina's sister Queenie (Alison Sudal) comes looking for her and she brings Jacob (Dan Fogler) along because she's enchanted him into marrying her.  After a bizarre plot twist involving Leta's brother Yusef Kama (William Nadylam), which is all a bit of tedious misdirection, there is an epic confrontation with Grindelwald.  The story is incredibly confusing with a bewildering number of characters who bounce incomprehensibly between New York, London, and Paris and yet nothing of substance actually happens.  There were many times when I couldn't figure out what was going on.  I kept thinking that it would all come together in the end but it doesn’t because this movie, once again, involves a lot of exposition setting up the next movie, particularly a major revelation at the end which comes out of nowhere (people in my screening actually booed at this).  I didn’t especially like Depp’s portrayal of Grindelwald because he is so bland and I found Newt to be more annoying than endearing this time around.  The best part of this movie is Newt's interactions with his fantastic beasts, particularly a sea horse made of kelp, but other than that I found it to be incredibly disappointing.  I think I might be done with the Wizarding World.

Overlord

I was very intrigued by the idea of a movie involving World War II intrigue and elements of horror so I decided to see Overlord last night.  I liked it so much more than I thought I would!  On the eve of the D-Day invasion in France a squadron of paratroopers is sent to destroy a German radio tower attached to a church in a tiny village.  When their plane is shot down, only five members of the squadron survive:  Ford (Wyatt Russell), Boyce (Jovan Adepo), Tibbet (John Magaro), Chase (Iain De Caestecker), and Dawson (Jacob Anderson).  Ford insists that they carry on with the mission to destroy the radio tower despite the odds and they encounter a villager named Chloe (Mathilde Ollivier) who hides them.  While scouting the area around the church, Boyce discovers that the Nazis have been using a serum to experiment on the villagers in the hope that they can create a super soldier to win the war.  He eventually rescues a paratrooper who was captured (Dominic Applewhite).  They decide that not only do they need to blow up the radio tower but they also need to destroy the Nazi's lab which leads to an epic showdown.  There are some elements of the story that do become rather silly, especially involving a German officer who injects himself with the serum, but I found it to be incredibly suspenseful and entertaining.  The action sequences are intense, particularly the opening scene in which the plane is shot down, and the scenes where Boyce explores the lab in the church are really creepy and atmospheric (thanks to great sound design) even if they do contain many horror tropes.  My favorite scene involves Chloe taking out a particularly persistent monster (I may or may not have cheered out loud).  Most of the characters are very thinly drawn and stereotypical (the war-weary veteran, the innocent newcomer, the wise-cracking prankster, the self-sufficient survivor) but I did find them to be sympathetic and I was rooting for them to succeed.  This movie is pretty gory and violent (lots of war and zombie imagery) but it is a lot of fun.  I am actually very surprised by how much I enjoyed Overlord and I would recommend it to fans of action/horror movies.

Die Hard

The next selection in the TCM Big Screen Classics series is Die Hard which is celebrating its 30th Anniversary.  I distinctly remember seeing this in the theater when it was first released (which makes me feel old) and I absolutely loved it!  I got to see it again yesterday and it is just as fun as I remember.  John McClane (Bruce Willis), a New York City police officer, has come to Los Angeles on Christmas Eve to reconcile with his wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia) who has taken a high power job with the Nakatomi corporation.  He arrives at the Nakatomi high rise building during a Christmas party which is interrupted by a group of terrorists, led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman), who seize control of the building and take everyone but John hostage.  The terrorists are heavily armed and attempt to open the vault to steal $640 million in bearer bonds.  The police and the FBI are in over their heads, so John, with the help of a lone LAPD officer (Reginald VelJohnson), attacks the terrorists one by one until an epic confrontation with Gruber.  Even thirty years later, this movie is still suspenseful and exciting with great action sequences, especially when McClane jumps off the roof ahead of an explosion.  Bruce Willis became the ultimate action hero after this movie and its easy to see why with his wisecracking bravado touched with a little vulnerability.  This movie was my first introduction to Alan Rickman and I loved him as the suave and sophisticated, yet ruthless, villain Gruber (many believe Gruber to be one of the best movie villains ever).  This movie has often been imitated but, after seeing it again on the big screen, I realize how vastly superior it is to many that came after, especially this one!

Note:  Do you consider Die Hard to be a Christmas movie?

The Girl in the Spider's Web

I am a huge fan of the Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson (I've read all three books multiple times) so I was very intrigued by a new novel involving the antisocial hacker Lisbeth Salander called The Girl in the Spider's Web by David Lagercrantz.  I didn't initially like it because I was constantly comparing it to the first three books which probably wasn't very fair of me.  I decided that if I saw the movie adaptation I would try to judge it on its own merits rather than compare it to David Fincher's moody and atmospheric adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.  My Dad and I decided to see it yesterday and we both thought it was a pretty good thriller.  Lisbeth Salander (Claire Foy) has become a sort of avenging angel for battered women when she is asked by a former NSA agent named Frans Balder (Stephen Merchant) to steal a computer program that he designed, which can access nuclear codes around the world, because he's having second thoughts about its use.  Stealing the program is a simple job for Salander but it attracts the attention of the NSA, who send Edwin Needham (Lakeith Stanfield) to Stockholm to retrieve it, and it also attracts the attention of a Russian gang known as the Spiders, who bomb Salander's apartment to steal it from her.  She enlists the help of Mikael Blomkvist (Sverrir Gudnason) to discover who is behind this gang and ultimately must confront her own past to get the program back.  This is not the dark and psychologically complex murder mystery that the original is but, in my opinion, it is not meant to be.  It is meant to be an action thriller and on that level it succeeds.  The car chases, explosions, and fight scenes are fantastic and Foy delivers a kick-ass performance.  The screenplay deviates quite a bit from the source material, especially in regards to Lisbeth’s backstory, but I think it improves upon an meandering and overly technical story.  It is quite entertaining and I really enjoyed it.  This movie might not be what you are expecting if you are a fan of the original trilogy, but if you can appreciate it for what it is, I highly recommend it

Hunter Killer

My Dad and I are huge fans of espionage novels and movies so we have been anticipating Hunter Killer for quite a while.  We finally got to see it yesterday and we both loved it!  When the submarine USS Tampa Bay goes missing in the Arctic Ocean, Rear Admiral John Fisk (Common) sends the USS Arkansas, commanded by the unorthodox Captain Joe Glass (Gerard Butler), to investigate.  The NSA also sends a Navy SEAL team to the Polyarny naval base in Russia for a covert mission to investigate the build up of their northern fleet.  The USS Arkansas finds the USS Tampa Bay and discovers that it was sunk by a Russian torpedo under highly suspicious circumstances.  Meanwhile, the Navy SEALs discover that the Russian Defense Minister (Mikhail Gorevoy) has taken the Russian President (Alexander Diachenko) hostage in a coup d'etat and is trying to provoke a war with the US.  The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Charles Donnegan (Gary Oldman), wants to ready the fleet for war but Fisk suggests that the SEALs go in and rescue the Russian President and that the USS Arkansas go through the Murmansk Fjord, and area that is heavily mined, to rendezvous with them in the hope of stopping a war.  What follows is tense, suspenseful, and action-packed!  This movie feels like a throw-back to the Cold War thrillers that I watched in my teens and, apparently, I've really missed having Russia as an enemy!  The story is compelling, with some great plot twists and edge-of-your-seat action sequences, especially when the USS Arkansas evades a torpedo.  Hunter Killer is exciting and wildly entertaining and I recommend it to fans of the genre (or people like me who miss Cold War intrigue).

Bernstein's Candide

I ended a really fun week of culture and the arts last night with a semi-staged version of Leonard Bernstein's opera Candide performed in collaboration with the Utah Symphony and Utah Opera.  I sometimes teach the satirical novella by Voltaire, upon which this opera is based, to my seniors so I have been looking forward to this since the 2018-2019 season was announced.  It was absolutely delightful and I laughed out loud more times than I can count!  Candide (Jonathan Johnson) is an illegitimate young man living in Westphalia with his uncle, the Baron Thunder-ten-Tronck and his son, Maximilian (Mark Diamond), daughter, Cunegonde (Amy Owens), and an accommodating serving girl named Paquette (Alecks Romano).  The four young people are taught by an eminent philosopher, Dr. Pangloss (Hugh Russell), that life equals happiness.  When Candide falls in love with Cunegonde, the Baron disapproves and banishes him.  Candide then wanders around the world, including Bulgaria where he is pressed into service in the army, Lisbon where he faces the Spanish Inquisition, Paris where he inadvertently kills two men, Spain where he flees arrest, Uruguay where he inadvertently kills Maximilian, El Dorado where he discovers golden sheep, Suriname where he buys a leaky boat, and Venice where is is reunited with everyone.  While he is having his adventures, he wonders why all of these bad things keep happening to him when life is happiness.  He finally realizes that life is just life and settles down with Cunegonde to grow his garden.  The music in this opera is beautiful and I especially enjoyed "The Best of All Possible Worlds," "It Must Be So," "Glitter and Be Gay," "My Love," "Universal Good," and "Make Our Garden Grow."  Both Johnson and Owens are spectacular and I also really enjoyed the Utah Opera Chorus who provide much of the comedy.  This performance is absolutely hilarious and my favorite bit of business is when Candide borrows Maestro Thierry Fischer's baton to use in a sword fight!  The costumes are fabulous and the staging is incredibly innovative for such a small space.  I thoroughly enjoyed myself and I highly recommend getting a ticket to tonight's performance (go here).

Note:  I really enjoy watching the principal timpanist (translation: I have a small crush on him).  At this performance an adorable older lady sitting in front of me turned and asked me if she was obstructing my view by leaning forward slightly.  When I said no, she went on to say that her favorite member of the orchestra plays the timpani and since he was in the corner of the stage she couldn't see him without leaning forward.  I laughed and said that I liked him, too!  She mentioned, while blushing, that she had met him and that he was just so charming.  I told her that we could swoon together!

Come From Away at the Eccles

When the Broadway at the Eccles 2018-2019 season was announced, Come From Away was the show I was most excited to see and I have been eagerly anticipating it ever since.  I got to see it last night and I basically cried through the whole thing, except when I was laughing hysterically.  After the attacks of 9/11, U.S. airspace is restricted and 38 international flights have to be diverted to the airport in the tiny town of Gander, Newfoundland, Canada.  The nearly 7,000 stranded passengers almost double the population of Gander but the townspeople willingly do everything they can to provide them with food, clothing, shelter, and comfort.  The story is told through the perspectives of the townspeople and several stranded passengers with an outstanding ensemble cast of twelve who seamlessly play multiple roles.  The narrative is incredibly moving and explores how the people of Gander learn of the attacks, the confusion of the passengers on the planes who have no idea what is going on, the determination of of the townspeople to do whatever is necessary to help, the desperation of the passengers to learn the fate of loved ones (especially the mother who cannot locate her son who is a firefighter in NYC), the growing paranoia over a Muslim passenger, and the acknowledgement that things will never be the same.  There are quite a few moments of levity, such as when a woman sneaks on board a plane to take care of the animals left behind (including a pregnant monkey) and when several passengers take part in a ceremony to become honorary Newfoundlanders (it involves a fair amount of alcohol and a codfish).  One romance begins and another one falls apart under the strain but everyone is forever changed by the experience.  I loved all of the songs but my very favorites are "Prayer" because it beautifully incorporates elements from multiple religions and "Something's Missing" because it brilliantly captures that hollow feeling I remember in the days after the attack.  This musical evokes so many emotions, about 9/11, about the power of community, about the indomitable human spirit, but the strongest for me was a nostalgia for Canada, the land of my birth.  Every cultural reference brought tears to my eyes, especially the Tim Hortons sign ("Everything starts and ends at Tim Hortons!").  This is a show that will restore your faith in humanity and entertain you at the same time.  Don't miss it!

Ballet West's Jewels

I usually prefer more traditional full-length ballets but I was very intrigued by the premise of Ballet West's current production, Jewels, which includes three pieces choreographed by George Balanchine each featuring a gemstone that embodies a particular theme.  I decided to get a ticket and I thoroughly enjoyed myself last night.  The first piece is Emeralds and features the music of Gabriel Faure.  It is meant to evoke the elegance, romance, and intrigue of 18th century France.  The main choreography features a central couple, Christopher Ruud and Arolyn Williams, gliding through intricate patterns performed by a female ensemble and it is stunning.  Ruud is one of my favorite dancers in the company and I was thrilled that he was in a featured role last night.  He is an amazing dancer and the pas de deux with Williams is so graceful.  The second piece is Rubies and features the music of Igor Stravinsky.  It is meant to evoke the Jazz Age in America in the 1920s and the choreography is whimsical and playful.  There is a featured couple, Christopher Sellars and Katherine Lawrence, a female soloist, Olivia Gusti, along with a male and female ensemble who all use their bodies to create unique and innovate shapes.  The speed and intensity keeps increasing until the dramatic conclusion.  The final piece, Diamonds, is probably my favorite because it features the music of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky and evokes the grandeur of imperial Russia.  The choreography is very traditional and classical and features an incredibly romantic pas de deux between Rex Tilton and Emily Adams (he kisses her hand at the end of it!).  There is also a section which features a male ensemble performing athletic leaps and spins and it is spectacular! The ballet continues with a staggering number of couples dancing on stage and it brought to mind what I imagine a stately ball at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg would be like.  I loved it!  The green, red, and white costumes sparkle with emeralds, rubies, and diamonds and the minimal set features a chandelier which is reconfigured for each ballet with the appropriate colored lights.  It is a beautiful production and I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here) for one of the four remaining performances.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at PTC

I have never seen the musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street before (or the movie version, either) but, since I am a huge fan of Stephen Sondheim, I have been looking forward to Pioneer Theatre's production for a long time!  I finally had the chance to see it last night and it is incredible!  It is one of the darkest musicals I've ever seen so, of course, I loved it!  Sweeney Todd (Kevin Earley) is a Victorian-era barber who has just returned to London after 15 years of exile in Australia.  When he learns the fate of his wife and daughter, he immediately wants to get revenge on Judge Turpin (Joe Dellger), the man who ruined his life.  He goes back to his former rooms above the pie shop run by Mrs. Lovett (Anne Tolpegin) to discover that she has kept all of his barbering tools.  He decides to set up shop and lure the judge in for a shave so he can slit his throat.  However, the judge eludes him and he vows vengeance on the whole human race.  He begins to kill all of his customers and Mrs. Lovett uses the bodies in her meat pies!  Eventually, his quest for revenge turns to madness.  As with all Stephen Sondheim musicals, the music is absolutely brilliant and the songs have an almost operatic quality. Both Earley and Tolpegin have fantastic voices and really bring these despicable characters to life in a way that is both comedic and tragic.  I especially enjoyed Tolpegin's renditions of "The Worst Pies in London" and "By The Sea" and I laughed out loud when the two of them sang "A Little Priest."  I also really liked "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" and all of its many reprises sung by the ensemble because the various Londoners reminded me a bit of a Greek chorus.  The set is amazing with two rusted cogwheels in the center of the stage to represent the industrialization of London.  I also loved the barber chair which sent Sweeney's victims to the bakehouse in the basement.  The use of fog and lighting added much to the spooky atmosphere and the special effects, especially all of the blood as Sweeney slit his victim's throats, were great.  The show is gruesome but it is so much fun and I highly recommend it (go here for tickets).

Note:  If you have a rush pass plan to get there early.  The line was one of the longest I've seen for a PTC show!

Can You Ever Forgive Me?

The second film in my indie double feature was Can You Ever Forgive Me?  Melissa McCarthy plays Lee Israel, a curmudgeonly author who prefers the company of her cat to people.  She has just lost her job and her agent (Jane Curtain) won't return her calls so, in desperation, she sells a personal letter from Katharine Hepburn to a dealer for a substantial amount of money.  While she is doing research for a book at the New York Public Library she finds a signed letter from Fanny Brice.  She takes the letter back to the same dealer but is offered a low price because the content isn't very noteworthy.  When she discovers that her typewriter has the same font as the letter, she embellishes it and takes it to another dealer who pays a much larger sum.  She then begins forging letters from other authors, most notably Noel Coward and Dorothy Parker, which becomes very lucrative.  She is extremely adept at mimicking the tone and idiosyncrasies of the various authors and regards her forgeries as her best work.  When one of her letters raises suspicion and dealers stop buying from her, she enlists the help of an old friend named Jack (Richard E. Grant) to sell the letters but he ultimately betrays her when confronted by the FBI.  This is a darkly comedic film in which a deeply flawed character eventually finds a sort of redemption (one of my favorite themes).  Melissa McCarthy gives a brilliant performance (earning some early Oscar buzz), turning Lee into an incredibly sympathetic character despite her behavior.  I liked the juxtaposition between Lee and Jack because Lee is misanthropic and difficult while Jack is full of charisma and charm.  They have some fantastic dialogue as two lonely people who only have each other banter back and forth.  I actually found the character of Lee to be refreshing in that she is unapologetic and I really enjoyed this film.  It might not be for everyone but I highly recommend it!

Beautiful Boy

Yesterday was a dark and rainy day so I thought the best thing to do would be to see another indie double feature.  I began with Beautiful Boy because many of my students have read and enjoyed Nic Sheff's autobiography Tweak, upon which the film is based (along with his father David's autobiography Beautiful Boy).  Nic Sheff (Timothee Chalamet) is a young man with a promising future as a writer and artist when he begins experimenting with drugs.  He ultimately becomes addicted to methamphetamine and begins a never ending cycle of rehabilitation and relapse.  His father David (Steve Carell) believes that the two of them have had a strong relationship and wonders what he has done to cause Nic's addiction in a series of sometimes confusing but ultimately heartbreaking flashbacks.  In his desperation he tries to do anything he can to understand what Nic is going through and to help him overcome the addiction.  There is an incredibly poignant moment in the film when David sees the turmoil that this has caused his second wife (Maura Tierney) and their two children and he realizes that he can't do anything to help Nic because he has to help himself.  It is a film with a very powerful message but it is not easy to watch because it gives an incredibly gritty and authentic portrayal of how an addiction impacts everyone around the person addicted.  Chalamet is outstanding, particularly in a scene at a diner where Nic lashes out at his father, because he masterfully conveys the dramatic change in personality that meth addicts undergo (I am more and more impressed with Chalamet with every role).  Carell, in another dramatic turn, also gives a haunting performance as a father who would do anything for his son.  As I mentioned, this is not any easy film to watch but I recommend it.

Bohemian Rhapsody

Last night I finally had the chance to see Bohemian Rhapsody and I absolutely loved it!  The movie begins when Farrokh Bulsara (Rami Malek), a college student of Indian descent who works as a baggage handler at Heathrow Airport, goes to see Smile, a band he has been following.  After the show he introduces himself to guitarist Brian May (Gwilym Lee) and drummer Roger Taylor (Ben Hardy) who tell him that their lead singer has just quit.  Farrokh joins the band, changes their name to Queen, changes his name to Freddie Mercury, and has the band record a demo.  The movie then chronicles Queen's rapid rise to fame, the creation of their epic song "Bohemian Rhapsody," tensions within the band, and their triumphant reunion performance at Live Aid.  The movie also explores his difficult relationship with his very traditional family who disapprove of him, his complicated relationship with Mary Austin (Lucy Boynton) who he considers to be the love of his life, his troubled relationship with his personal manager Paul Prenter (Allen Leech), his questioning of his sexuality, his loneliness, his promiscuity, his AIDS diagnosis, and, finally, his loving relationship with Jim Hutton (Aaron McCusker).  The story of redemption is very powerful and emotional but I was completely blown away by the staging of Queen's performances, especially the 21-minute Live Aid performance (which I remember distinctly).  It seems as if Rami Malek is actually channeling Freddie Mercury in these performances, from the distinctive strut across the stage to the twirling of the microphone stand to the dramatic poses.  Malek gives an absolutely incredible performance, which is already receiving some Oscar buzz, and I had goosebumps whenever he was on stage.  I love the music of Queen and it was fascinating for me to see how they experimented to get their distinctive sound, especially on "Bohemian Rhapsody."  One of my favorite moments in the movie is when an EMI executive, played by Mike Myers, refuses to release the song saying that teenage boys will never bang their heads to it in their cars.  This made me laugh out loud considering a certain scene in the movie Wayne's World where a character, played by Mike Myers, bangs his head to it in his car!  I've heard criticism that this movie doesn't accurately portray his sexuality but I think it is very clear.  It is just not portrayed in an overly salacious way.  I've also heard criticism that there are historical inaccuracies but I don’t think this detracts from the narrative at all.  This is not meant to be a documentary but, rather, a movie that entertains and captures the spirit of Freddie Mercury.  I think it succeeds in doing both and I highly recommend it!  I want to see it again!

Ghostbusters in Concert

This week I have been really sick, which in and of itself is not very pleasant, but the bad thing is that I had a lot of plans which all had to be cancelled.  I was especially bummed about missing the Josh Groban concert!  Luckily, I felt much better yesterday and, since I made it through a day of school, I was able to go to the movie Ghostbusters with the score played live by the Utah Symphony.  It was so much fun!  I love the Utah Symphony Films in Concert series and this movie was especially appropriate for Halloween.  I remember loving this movie when I saw it on the big screen during its first run and, while some of the special effects are a little bit dated, it is still comedy gold.  Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Harold Ramis play Peter Venkman, Raymond Stantz, and Egon Spengler, respectively.  They are paranormal psychologists who have recently been fired from Columbia University and, as a result, decide to form the Ghostbusters, a firm which hunts, captures, and disposes of ghosts.  A cellist named Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver) hires them and they discover that her apartment building is a gateway for a supernatural being known as Grozer.  Both Dana and her nerdy neighbor Louis (Rick Moranis) are possessed by Grozer's Gatekeeper and Keymaster and, when an officious EPA officer (William Atherton) shuts down the Ghostbusters and releases all of the ghosts back into the city, Grozer appears.  It takes the form of whatever they choose and Ray inadvertently chooses the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man (the crowd cheered when he appeared on screen) and an epic battle ensues.  The score, composed by Elmer Bernstein, is absolutely dazzling and the symphony performed it brilliantly.  I think hearing the music performed live adds so much to the experience of watching the movie and I highly recommend getting a ticket to tonight's screening (go here for tickets and enter the promo code STAYPUFT for a $5 discount on each ticket).

Note:  As an added bonus, the guest conductor was Peter Bernstein, the son of the composer who also contributed to the score.

Pumpkin Carving 2018

Last night we had our annual pumpkin carving party.  Sean picked out pumpkins for everyone at the pumpkin patch last week and he was so excited to carve them!  He called me several times over the weekend to confirm that we were going to do it!  It was a lot of fun!

Tashena's Wolf

Sean's Bat

While we were carving the pumpkins my sister cooked the seeds and they were so good!  Now I've almost crossed everything off my fall bucket list!

Eighteen

Yesterday my family celebrated Tashena's 18th birthday.  We had dinner from Cafe Rio (it was delicious) and the traditional ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins.

After cake she opened her presents.  At the beginning of October she emailed all of us a list of three things that she wanted for her birthday and she got all three of them!

She got some new Nike basketball shoes (in her school colors) from her Mom and Dad.

I got her some Nike basketball socks (in her school colors).  These are very specific socks so I ordered them early this year (one year I had to drive all over the valley looking for them!).

My parents and Marilyn went in together to get her some AirPods and now we all want them!  Tashena always has every new technology before any of us do!

She got a bonus gift from Sean:  a gift card from Fiiz.  He was so excited to give it to her!  I can't believe that she is 18!