Beethoven, Mozart, & More at the Gallivan Plaza

I think it is a well established fact that I absolutely love attending performances outside in the summer.  There is just something about listening to music under the stars that I love and, when the Utah Symphony is involved, it is even better.  When that concert is free, it is an evening that is not to be missed!  Last night the Utah Symphony began a series of free community concerts (go here for more information) with a performance of classical favorites at the Gallivan Plaza downtown.  I loved every minute of this concert!  I brought a blanket and a picnic and, after a while, there was a lovely breeze so it was the perfect summer evening.  The orchestra played selections from Rossini, Faure, Handel, Tchaikovsky, and Gershwin which were wonderful.  After the intermission they played  the first movement of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony (those first four instantly recognizable notes got the crowd going) and Mozart's Symphony No. 35, which was brilliant (I love Mozart).  There was a little girl in the audience near where I was sitting who dramatically conducted the entire concert (Associate Conductor Rei Hotada may have some competition) and it was awesome!  It was a lovely evening!

Note:  There are lots of free concerts scheduled at the Gallivan Plaza throughout the summer.  Go here for more information.

Back to NYC!

With Esther in Times Square.

I had only been home from NYC for a few days when my friend Esther sent me a text.  She wanted to do a quick theatre trip to NYC and did I want to go with her?  She works for JetBlue and I could use one of her buddy passes so the flights would cost very little.  I thought about it for 30 seconds and said yes!  I am always up for an adventure and I am a firm believer that you should take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way.  Even though this was a quick trip, it was so much fun.  We took the red-eye in to JFK, wandered around Times Square with our bags trying to find a hotel and finally found one for an exorbitant price, visited Esther's friend and had our picture taken in a gigantic photo booth in the lobby of his building, saw She Loves Me and met Zachary Levi and Jane Krakowski, stayed up talking until 2:00 in the morning, saw Waitress and loved it, had burgers and cheesecake at both Junior's (twice) and Roxy's, missed our flight home because half the streets were closed (thanks President Obama), got on another flight and landed in Los Angeles at 3:00 in the morning, and took an uber from LA to Long Beach for a flight to SLC that was delayed for two hours for mechanical problems!  It was quite the adventure but the shows were so amazing that I would definitely do it all over again!

Maggie's Plan

Another favorite from the Sundance Film Festival that I wanted to see again is Maggie's Plan.  It is a typical offbeat Greta Gerwig comedy (I was talking about this film with someone I met in line at another screening at Sundance and he called it very "Gerwig-y") and it is hilarious.  Maggie (Gerwig) is in her mid-thirties and wants to have a baby on her own because she is tired of waiting for the right relationship to happen so she comes up with an elaborate plan.  She picks a friend from college (a hilarious Travis Fimmel) as a sperm donor and even plans the exact date to inseminate herself.  Then she meets John (Ethan Hawke), an angst-ridden anthropology professor who is trying to write a novel and is trapped in a combative marriage to Georgette (Julianne Moore), another eccentric anthropologist, and he disrupts her plan.  Three years later, after marrying John and having a baby, she realizes that she doesn't love him any more and comes up with yet another elaborate plan to reunite him with Georgette.  Of course, things go awry, with a funny twist at the end, and Maggie learns that you can't plan love.  Gerwig has brilliant comedic timing but she also plays Maggie with a sensitivity that makes us truly care about and empathize with her.  Hawke is getting typecast as a clueless and absentee father lately (see here and here) but he is just so great at it and his portrayal of John is highly amusing, especially when he tries to find a place to spend the night.  Moore is absolutely hilarious as Georgette with her Danish accent, tight bun, and ethnic clothing.  I laughed out loud just about every time she was on the screen.  Add Maya Rudolph and Bill Hader as Maggie's best friends and you have a comedy filled with zany characters that is perfect for a night out with friends.

Weiner

I tend to favor narrative films over documentaries but this year at the Sundance Film Festival I saw quite a few documentaries.  Without question, the best one was Weiner.  It was so compelling that I decided to see it again Thursday night and I found it to be just as entertaining, and disturbing, as I did upon the first viewing.  In 2013 disgraced former Congressman Anthony Weiner made a bid for the Democratic nomination in the New York mayoral race.  He allowed filmmakers Josh Kriegman, a former staffer, and Elyse Steinberg unprecedented access to his campaign which, in the beginning, was incredibly successful.  He was leading in the polls and drawing huge crowds to his events when another sexting scandal, similar to the one which forced his resignation from Congress, erupted.  The cameras kept rolling as the campaign imploded and it became clear to everyone, except Weiner himself, that the nomination was lost.  It is fascinating to watch the spin where every move is carefully choregraphed, especially when Weiner practices different inflections for the line, "...and for that I am profoundly sorry" and, when asked for a comment by his communications officer, he struggles to remember what he said in another interview.  There are also some disturbing elements (where you simply can't look away), particularly with regard to Weiner's wife Huma Abedin, one of Hillary Clinton's top aides.  When the scandal first breaks there is a scene where Huma is visibly shaken and then Weiner asks the cameras to leave the room.  In the next scene she is standing at his side and speaking out in support of his campaign at a press conference.  It made me wonder what went on behind those closed doors.  In another scene, he is bullying her into accompanying him on election day and in the next scene he and his staff members are coming up with reasons why she is not with him.  One of the most interesting scenes is when Weiner watches a replay of his shouting match with political pundit Lawrence O'Donnell over and over while laughing hysterically and Huma leaves the room in tears.  It is a fascinating anatomy of a political scandal involving a a charismatic but deeply flawed individual and, I hate to admit it, but I certainly enjoyed watching it play out on the big screen.

Note:  Weiner won the 2016 Documentary Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.  Good stuff.

Summer Reading: The Ocean at the End of the Lane

When I published my summer reading list I had several people recommend The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman so I was very eager to read it, despite the fact that fantasy is not a genre that I usually enjoy (although I did as a teenager). An unnamed narrator returns to his childhood home for a funeral and begins to remember long-suppressed events which happened forty years ago when he was a seven-year-old boy. As he walks to the farmhouse at the end of the land, he remembers himself as a lonely (no one comes to his birthday party) and fearful boy with distracted parents and a bratty younger sister who finds solace in the adventure stories he reads. He befriends his neighbor, a mysterious eleven-year-old girl named Lettie Hempstock, along with her mother and grandmother, and they inadvertently open a wormhole (literally) for a malevolent presence to enter his house. Lettie helps him summon a strength he didn't know he possessed to fight against this evil. As the narrator leaves Lettie's farmhouse, he once again forgets these horrific events and returns to his ordinary life. I have to admit that I really struggled while reading this because the events seemed so fantastical and, frankly, a little strange (Oh, what happened to the girl who loved A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L'Engle?). Now that I've finished it, however, I can't stop thinking about it. Once I rediscovered that girl who loved A Wrinkle In Time, I came to appreciate this novel as a metaphor for childhood and the magical worlds that children inhabit before they embrace the cold reality of adulthood. Imagery and symbolism abound (Gaiman's writing is truly beautiful) and the more I think about the elements in the story, the more I understand them, especially the ocean, the wormhole, and the giant flapping canvas monsters. I highly recommend this novel to help you remember what it was like to be a child. Just make sure you check underneath your bed before you start reading!

Sing Street

For some reason the film Sing Street was never on my radar during Sundance this year but several of my friends have recently recommended it to me so I went to see it last night.  I absolutely loved it (and I can't believe that I didn't try to get a ticket at Sundance).  It is 1985 in Dublin and Conor Lalor (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) has troubles at home because his parents are fighting and troubles at his new school because of a bully and a ruthless headmaster.  When he meets Raphina (Lucy Boynton), an aspiring model, he tries to impress her by asking her to be in a music video for his (non-existent) band.  When she accepts, he gathers together a group of misfits, forms a band, begins writing songs for her, and gets a gig playing at his school, thus changing his life forever.  It is definitely your basic feel-good movie about overcoming the odds but it is just so much fun!  The boys in the band are so endearing and I absolutely loved all of their video shoots, especially their costumes.  Conor takes inspiration for his personal style from John Taylor of Duran Duran, then Robert Smith of The Cure (my favorite look), and finally Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet and it is hilarious when he shows up at school all decked out after watching a particular music video (remember when MTV actually showed music videos?).  I laughed out loud when the members of band walked up to school in a line in slow-motion (a la Reservoir Dogs).  In fact, I laughed out loud many times.  I loved all of the 80s music and I also really loved the original music played by the band, especially "To Find You" and "Drive It Like You Stole It."  I loved this film (I may need to see it again) and I highly recommend it, especially to my Gen-Xers out there!

Note:  When I was in high school it seemed like everyone my parents' age was really nostalgic for music from the 60s.  I wondered, then, if my generation would be nostalgic for 80s music.  The answer, at least for me, is yes! 

Walking the Brooklyn Bridge

On my last day in New York City I took the subway to Brooklyn to walk across the iconic Brooklyn Bridge.  It was absolutely freezing but it was amazing!

Later that day I boarded a plane to come home and I was a little bit sad to be leaving (little did I know that I would be back again in a few weeks).  I had such a wonderful time in New York City and I loved all of the shows I was able to see (Wicked, Hamilton, Finding Neverland, The Lion King, Les Miserables, and The Phantom of the Opera).  It was an amazing trip and I am so glad that I was able to go!

The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway

The Phantom of the Opera was the first musical I saw on Broadway during my first trip to New York City (many years ago) so seeing it on this trip felt like coming full circle.  I have always really loved this show (especially when the chandelier crashes into the stage) so I was looking forward it and this production certainly didn't disappoint.  Christine Daae was performed by the alternate, Rachel Zatcoff, and she was amazing.  I really loved her renditions of "Think of Me" and "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again."  I absolutely loved the Phantom (Jeremy Stolle) and he gave me goosebumps during "The Music of the Night."  I always think that Christine should stay with the Phantom because Raoul will never make her feel the way the Phantom does but she always picks Raoul.  I, rather unusually, really liked Raoul (Jeremy Hays) in this production and I thought he had great chemistry with Zatcoff, especially in "All I Ask of You" (I usually feel sorry for the Phantom in that scene).  The entire cast was fantastic and I especially loved "Masquerade" which is always my favorite scene in the show because the choreography is so elaborate.  The Phantom of the Opera was my last show in New York City and I couldn't have picked a better one to end on.  Andrew Lloyd Webber's music is timeless!

Les Miserables on Broadway

No matter what my current obsession might be, Les Miserables will always be my sentimental favorite.  It is the first musical I fell in love with and, even though I have seen it more than twenty times (a conservative estimate), I still get goosebumps every time I hear those opening notes.  I hadn't planned on seeing it while I was in New York but I kept walking past the Imperial Theatre (which is, ironically, next to the Richard Rodgers Theatre) and I noticed that it will be closing in September.  I might not have another chance to see it on Broadway so I spontaneously bought a ticket for the matinee.  I am so glad I did because I loved every minute of this amazing production.  The staging was completely new (at least to me) without the turntable and I quite liked it (the only element I missed was when the barricade revolves on the turntable after the battle revealing Enjolras holding the flag upside down).  Many of the backdrops were Victor Hugo's original illustrations for the novel and they were incredibly effective.  The entire cast was amazing and they hit all of the highlights for me: Fantine (Alison Luff) in "I Dreamed a Dream," Javert (Hayden Tee) in "Stars," Valjean (John Owen-Jones) in "Bring Him Home," and Marius (Chris McCarrell) in "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables."  Of course my favorite moment was when Eponine (Brennyn Lark) sang "On My Own."  Lark gave one of the best performances of that song I have ever seen and I definitely had tears in my eyes (how I judge every production that I see).  Words cannot express how much I love this show and I am so happy that I got to see it one more time on Broadway!

Note:  I was sitting near a group of young girls who had never seen Les Miserables before and one of them screamed out loud when Gavroche was shot in "Little People."  It is such an emotional scene!

NYSM2

Yesterday I took my nephew Sean, who is an aspiring magician, to see Now You See Me 2.  I absolutely loved the first movie and I think this one is just as good!  The Four Horsemen, Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson), Jack Wilder (Dave Franco), and newcomer Lula May (Lizzy Caplan), resurface one year later when Walter Mabry (Daniel Radcliffe), a tech prodigy, threatens to expose them if they don't pull off one more thrilling heist for him. As you would expect there are many plot twists and many of the unanswered questions left from the first installment involving Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo), Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman), Arthur Tressler (Michael Caine) and the mysterious Eye are explained.  There are also many elaborate scenes involving magic and I especially enjoyed the sleight of hand as the Four Horsemen attempt to steal a computer chip from a high level security tech firm. Even with all of the plot twists and magic (for some of which you really need to suspend your disbelief), I really loved the hilarious interactions between the characters, especially in the scenes where Merritt and his evil twin brother Chase (also played by Woody Harrelson) try to hypnotize each other.  It is a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it.  If you are a fan of the first movie, I recommend this installment.

Note: I like Jesse Eisenberg is some roles better than others.  This is a great role for him (although I prefer his longer hair in the first movie).

Newsies

Before Hamilton, the show on the top of my must-see list was Newsies!  I had the opportunity to see it in Los Angeles last year over spring break and it was even better than I imagined!  When I got home from that trip, Broadway in Utah announced the 2015-2016 season and I learned that I would be able to see this incredible show again!  I liked it even better the second time!  Based on the Disney movie of the same name, Newsies tells the story of how Jack Kelly (Joey Barreiro), along with his fellow "newsies" and a determined young reporter (Morgan Keene), stood up to Joseph Pulitzer (Steve Blanchard) by going on strike when he raised the cost of the papers.  It is a high-energy show with absolutely dazzling choreography consisting of athletic leaps, jumps, and spins.  I loved it when all of the newsies (all amazing performers) danced in unison in the big production numbers "The World Will Know," "Seize the Day," "King of New York," and "Once and for All." I especially loved the song "The World Will Know" because it is so powerful and the cast sang it with such emotion.  I also really loved the set for this show.  There were three large towers which could be moved into different configurations representing apartment buildings and printing presses and they were covered with scrims which had newspapers and other backgrounds projected on them.  I loved it when the newsies danced on all three levels of the towers.  There were a lot of young people in the audience who responded with thunderous applause and cheering to every single number.  At intermission a large group sitting near me squealed with delight about how awesome it was.  It made me smile because I love seeing young people so passionate about the theatre.  Even though I was really tired after my long ordeal getting home from New York (more about that later), I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of the amazing show and I highly recommend that you see it if you have the chance.  This run ends on Sunday but it is making a return to SLC in August.  Go here for tickets and information.

Summer Reading: Wolf Hall

I absolutely love historical fiction (the thicker the better!) so I was definitely looking forward to settling into Hilary Mantel's novel about the reign of King Henry VIII during the turbulent Reformation period. I have enjoyed other novels about this historical period (The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory is my favorite) and I thought telling the story from the perspective of Thomas Cromwell, who rose from relative obscurity to become Henry VIII's most trusted advisor, was an interesting device. Alas, I have to admit that I struggled with Wolf Hall almost to the point of giving up several times. Honestly, did the judges for the Man Booker Prize read the same book that I did?  I actually have a theory that none of the judges understood what was going on and didn't want to admit it to each other so they declared it a masterpiece. I certainly did not view it as such! First, there is a bewildering number of characters and none of them have a distinct voice so it is extremely difficult to distinguish who is who.  This is further compounded by the fact that many characters have the same name (Mary Boleyn, Mary Shelton, Princess Mary) and by Mantel's frustrating use of the pronoun "he."  There were many times when I had to go back and reread passages just to figure out who was speaking. To me this is unnecessary obfuscation that could have been avoided by having Cromwell be a first-person narrator. Second, I had a difficult time following the chronology of the book because there are many flashbacks to Cromwell's boyhood with almost no transition. Again, I had to reread many passages.  Finally, nothing happens in this book!  It is all dialogue, dialogue, and more dialogue (which is not always a bad thing...if you know who is speaking). For a historical period full of sex, violence, and political intrigue I found Mantel's version to be absolutely boring. There is no drama, emotion, or suspense.  There is not even a climax at the end of the book because it just simply ends.  I think I continued to read because I was waiting for something, anything, to happen to tie together all of the disparate elements of this novel (I was thinking it would be the execution of Anne Boleyn or even Cromwell's own execution since he is not a first-person narrator) but it simply ends with Cromwell deciding to visit the Seymours at Wolf Hall. This novel was disappointing, to say the least, and I recommend that you read almost any other novel about the Tudors rather than this one.

Madame Tussauds

The actors who have portrayed 007 at Madame Tussaud's (Daniel Craig was at the front entrance).

Another really "touristy" thing I did while in New York is visit Madame Tussauds.  I just couldn't resist (and it was part of the New York pass).  I've been to the London one several times as well as the one in Las Vegas.  I had a lot of fun wandering around the exhibits in the morning before seeing a matinee.  Here are some of my favorites.

Anderson Cooper (I may or may not have a small crush on him).

Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan during happier times.

Pope Francis (I wonder how they got him to model for this?)

JFK and Jackie Kennedy

Mahatma Gandhi

Pope John Paul II

Mikhail Gorbachev

Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones

Director Steven Spielberg

Judy Garland as Dorothy

John Wayne

Charlie Chaplin

Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula

Boris Karloff as Frankenstein's monster 

The King of Pop (I stood in a long line to get this picture for Marilyn because she loves him).

Bob Marley and ???

Jimi Hendrix

Whitney Houston

Taylor Swift

Rihanna

Muhammad Ali

The Lion King on Broadway

The first time I saw the musical The Lion King, I was on a theatre trip to London so I thought it only fitting to see it again while on a theatre trip to New York!  That first time I was completely overcome by the animals marching down the aisles, especially the elephants, during the opening song "Circle of Life."  I was sitting next to an adorable little old lady who leaned into me and said, "I saw a tear in your eye!"  This time I was sitting near a group of young girls who were seeing it for the first time and and their reaction to the animals made me fall in love with this show all over again!  It is absolutely amazing how the actors transform themselves into the animals with puppets and prosthetics.  After a while you don't even see the actors any more!  The musical tells the well-known story of how the lion cub Simba learns how to be a king with music by Elton John and Tim Rice as well as traditional African music.  I had forgotten how much I loved the traditional music.  I had goosebumps when Mufasa (L. Steven Taylor) performed "They Live in You" and Nala (Chantel Riley) blew the roof off the Minskoff Theatre during "Shadowlands" (my favorite song in the show).  I really enjoyed Rafiki (played by the understudy, Thulisile Thusi) and her rendition of "He Lives in You" was another highlight.  As ever, I was so impressed with how the stampede in the gorge is staged.  It actually seems as if the antelope are running across the stage!  Of course, the scenes with Timon (Fred Berman) and Pumbaa (Ben Jeffrey) were a lot of fun, especially "Hakuna Matata."  My only complaint with this production is that I couldn't hear Scar (Gareth Saxe), Shenzi (Bonita Hamilton), Banzi (James Brown-Orleans) or Ed (Jaysin McCollum) very well so my mind wandered a bit during "Chow Down" and "Be Prepared."  Live theatre, and this show in particular, sometimes has the power to give you a child's sense of wonder for a few hours and I heard both children and adults squealing with delight during many musical numbers, especially the aforementioned animals in "Circle of Life" and the flying birds in "One By One."  I highly recommend seeing this show if you have the opportunity.  It was a lovely evening!

Note:  If you have the chance to see this show on Broadway, I highly suggest going next door to Junior's for cheesecake afterwards.  Some people in my group said that Roxy's had the best cheesecake in New York and one argued strongly in favor of the Carnegie Deli but Junior's definitely has my vote!

Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island

One of the "touristy" things I wanted to do while in New York City was to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  I chose a wet and muggy day for this excursion but the weather did not detract from the grandeur of this amazing monument known as "Liberty Enlightening the World."  It is certainly easy to see why immigrants coming to America viewed it as a beacon of hope.  It is quite stunning!

Since it was raining I didn't stay very long on Liberty Island but I did get the audio guide and listened to it while I walked around the boardwalk.  I learned a lot of interesting tidbits, such as it took 21 years to build and it is 151 feet and 1 inch tall.

After about an hour on Liberty Island, I took the ferry to Ellis Island and the historian in me was completely overwhelmed!

It is amazing to me to think that over 12 million people came through Ellis Island looking for a better life in America. I started my visit with the documentary Island of Hope, Island of Tears, which was very interesting, and then I wandered through the exhibits.  Many of the exhibits that I remembered from my last visit (many years ago) had been damaged by Hurricane Sandy but I was still quite awed by the Registry Room.

I found Ellis Island to be fascinating and I highly recommend a visit.

Love & Friendship

I am a huge fan of Jane Austen and when I first heard of the movie Love & Friendship, based on Austen's novella Lady Susan, it went near the top of my must see list at the Sundance Film Festival this year!  I thought it was absolutely hilarious so I was thrilled to be able to see it again in wide release.  The recently widowed, and penniless, Lady Susan (Kate Beckinsale) is forced to stay with her brother-in-law and his family after a scandalous affair with the husband of her friend and hostess.  She immediately sets her sights on her sister-in-law's brother, the handsome Reginald DeCourcy (Xavier Samuel), to the dismay of his family.  She also contrives a match for her daughter Frederica (Morfydd Clark) with the dimwitted Sir James Martin (Tom Bennett).  Despite all of her scheming and manipulations, Lady Susan's plans go awry much to the delight of everyone in the audience!  I loved James Fleet and Jemma Redgrave as Sir and Lady DeCourcy and there is a delightful scene where they attempt to read a letter from their daughter (the original novella is epistolary).  I also really enjoyed Chloe Sevigny as Alicia Johnson, Lady Susan's closest confidante, and Stephen Fry as Mr. Johnson, Alicia's disapproving husband ("He's too old to be governable but too young to die.")  However, it is Tom Bennett who steals the show as Sir James.  I laughed out loud at just about every scene he is in, particularly when he enthusiastically dances, when he discusses the Twelve Commandments, and when he eats peas at the dinner table.  So funny! I loved just about every aspect of this film, the stately country homes, the opulent costumes, and the charming score by Mark Suozzo, but perhaps my favorite device was introducing the dramatis personae with fish-eye close-ups with and amusing character descriptions (Lady Susan's companion is described as someone who packs and unpacks things and Sir James is described as a bit of a "rattle").  If you like a good comedy of manners, then do yourself a favor and see this delightful film as soon as possible.

Big River at HCT

Last night (on my birthday!) I had the chance to see Big River at Hale Centre Theatre.  Based on the classic novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, this wonderful musical tells the story of Huck Finn and his friendship with Jim, a runaway slave, as they travel down the Mississippi River. I loved it!  I have seen this show before (at Hale Theatre) but I forgot just how beautiful the music is!  I especially loved the songs "Muddy Waters," "River in the Rain," and "Worlds Apart" sung by Huck (Matthew Clark Richards) and Jim (Conlon Bonner).  Their voices harmonized so well together and their duets are definitely a highlight of the show.  I also really enjoyed Huck's rendition of "Waitin' For The Light To Shine" and Jim basically made me cry with "Free at Last."  Both Richards and and Bonner give incredible performances but I was especially touched by Bonner's heart-felt portrayal of Jim. This production has a large supporting cast, many of whom are new to HCT.  My favorites include John Lee Roring as The Duke because he has the best facial expressions and his rendition of "The Royal Nonesuch" is absolutely hilarious, Stephen Kerr as Pap Finn because his raucous rendition of "Guv'ment" had the entire audience laughing out loud, and Rachelle Elbert as Mary Jane Wilkes because her  performance in "You Oughta Be Here With Me" gave me goosebumps!  In addition to the beautiful songs and the great performances, I would recommend getting a ticket to this production because of the impressive set.  The stage literally becomes a river, complete with a 9,000 gallon tank of water, on which Huck and Jim float their raft and, at times, there is even real rain and fog.  It is incredible! It was a great way to spend my birthday and, once again, I highly recommend this show.  Tickets can be purchased here, but get them quickly because many shows are sold out!

Me Before You

I loved the movie Me Before You!  Sometimes when I really love a book I'm a little hesitant to see the movie because, let's face it, the book is always better!  While this adaptation of Jojo Moyes' best-selling novel is very faithful to the source material (except for one element which I thought was a turning point in the plot of the book but its absence didn't detract from the movie), it is the performances of Emilia Clarke as Lou and Sam Claflin as Will that made me love it so much.  Clarke is endearing as the free-spirited, optimistic, and eccentric Lou and she is able to convey so many different emotions with just a facial expression, particularly in the scenes when Will is showing so much disapproval of her, when she is overcome by the music at the Mozart concert (my favorite scene in the book), when she learns to scuba dive, and when she tells Will that she loves him.  You know exactly how she is feeling all the time which is how I imagined her in the book. In some respects, Claflin gives an even more affecting performance because he has only his facial expressions to convey his emotions since he is portraying a quadriplegic (he is so still).  I laughed and laughed at his antics when he is introduced to Lou and I laughed again at his interaction with Patrick (Matthew Lewis, from the Harry Potter movies) at Lou's birthday party.  I cried so hard when he tells Lou his plans at the end of their vacation in Mauritius (and so did everyone around me).  My favorite scene in the movie is when they "dance" at Alicia's wedding.  The camera follows them as they turn on the dance floor and everyone around them fades away.  It is such an absolutely beautiful shot (although I couldn't help but love it because Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud" is playing in the background).  I'm not usually one for weepy romances (I've never seen a Nicholas Sparks movie!) but I loved this movie because it emphasizes the fact that it is your duty to live life as fully as possible.  I highly recommend it, but bring a box of kleenex!

Summer Reading: Me Before You

I picked Me Before You by Jojo Moyes to read first because I wanted to finish it before the movie came out (I am seeing it tonight!). It is a quick and easy read that requires a box of kleenex but it doesn't feel at all emotionally manipulative and it is so much more than just a romance novel. I absolutely loved it!  Louisa Clark is living an ordinary and conventional life at home with her parents with a dead-end job and a steady boyfriend with whom she has very little in common. Will Traynor was a globe-trotting corporate big-shot until an accident left him paralyzed from the neck down. When Lou is let go from her job she is inexplicably hired to be Will's caregiver for a period of six months despite the fact that she has no qualifications. An instant animosity develops between the two of them until she inadvertently learns that Will is planning an assisted suicide at the end of those six months and that she has been hired to lift his spirits and give him a reason to live. She immediately begins planning outings for him, some more successful than others. Their relationship slowly develops into something more and her attempt to save his life changes her own life forever. I found both of these characters to be engaging and entirely believable and I loved the message of living life to the fullest. I also really enjoyed all of the comedic elements in the novel, especially when Will attends Lou's birthday party. My favorite part of the novel is when Will takes Lou to a symphony concert (which she is hesitant to do because it is something she has never done before) and she is completely swept away by the music. This novel made me angry, it made me laugh, and it made me cry (I finished reading it on the porch of our cabin at Bear Lake and the fact that I was crying made Marilyn mad because she didn't want any spoilers). I highly recommend it and I highly recommend stepping outside your comfort zone to live life to the fullest!

Note:  I hope the movie is good!

X-Men: Apocalypse

Last night I was on aunt detail and Sean wanted to see X-Men: Apocalypse (I didn't coerce him, I promise).  The story is set a decade after the events of X-Men: Days of Future Past  (which means that the pop culture of the 80s is now on display including big hair and an action sequence to "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" by the Eurythmics) and this time the action revolves around the proliferation of nuclear weapons (like the Bay of Pigs invasion in X-Men: First Class and the Paris Peace talks in X-Men: Days of Future Past).  Professor Xavier (James McAvoy) is now running a school for mutants, Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender) is trying, unsuccessfully, to live a normal life with his wife and daughter, and Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) is a one-woman vigilante rescuing mutants who are oppressed.  CIA Agent Moira McTaggart (Rose Byrne) is investigating the awakening of an ancient Egyptian mutant (a terrific Oscar Isaac) who believes that the world has become corrupt without his presence.  This mutant, known as Apocalypse, recruits Storm (Alexandra Shipp), Psylocke (Olivia Munn), Angel (Ben Hardy), and Magneto, after a devastating incident with his family, as his Four Horsemen in order to destroy humanity and begin again with mutants.  Apocalypse kidnaps Xavier (because he wants his ability to connect with all mutants) so the younger generation of mutants, including Cyclops (Tye Sheridan), Jean Grey (Sophie Turner), and Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee), with the help of Mystique, Beast (Nicholas Hoult), and Quicksilver (Evan Peters), must confront Apocalypse in an epic battle.  Granted, the story is convoluted and there are a lot of characters to follow, but I actually really enjoyed this movie.  The action sequences are a lot of fun, especially when Quicksilver rescues the students from an explosion at the school, and I think the filmmakers do a good job of highlighting all of the characters and their motivations.  To be fair, I did watch this movie with an 11-year-old boy who thought all of the action sequences were amazing and kept up a running commentary in my ear about about who was who so I might not be the best person to consult about its merits!  However, I think that fans of the franchise will enjoy this installment (with or without an 11-year-old boy).