Victoria & Abdul

Sunday afternoon I decided to see Victoria & Abdul.  I was initially very lukewarm about this film because, frankly, I felt that this story had already been told much better in Mrs. Brown (which also stars Judi Dench).  While it does have a similar plot to the previous film, I found Victoria & Abdul to be absolutely charming.  Queen Victoria (Judi Dench) is old and barely able to get out of bed for an endless round of ceremonial duties which hold little interest for her.  Abdul (Ali Fazal) is randomly selected to present Victoria with a ceremonial coin from India as part of the Golden Jubilee.  Victoria takes a liking to Abdul and spends most of her time with him, much to the dismay of the Prince of Wales (Eddie Izzard), the Prime Minister (Michael Gambon) and her household staff.  I'm sure that there were a lot of liberties taken with the historical accuracy of this film and there has been a lot of criticism about the portrayal of Britain's colonization of India, but I enjoyed it as a story about an unlikely friendship.  Dame Judi Dench is brilliant in this role, as ever, and there is an incredibly affecting scene where she laments the fact that everyone she loves has died while she goes on and on.  Ali Fazal is very endearing as Abdul and it is easy to see why Victoria would be so enamored of him.  The other characters are pretty one-dimensional but the two strong central performances make up for that.  The film is gorgeously shot, especially the scenes in Scotland, and the costumes and interiors are  everything that you could want from a British period-piece.  In short, it is a lovely little film that I enjoyed much more than I thought I would!

Utah Opera's La Boheme

In honor of its 40th Anniversary, Utah Opera began the 2017-2018 season with the same opera chosen for the inaugural season, Puccini's La Boheme.  It is one of my favorite operas so it was a treat to be able to see it for the second time this year!  It was a marvelous production of a magnificent opera and I loved every minute of it.  The libretto is about a group of artists living in a garret apartment in Paris in the nineteenth century.  Marcellus (Michael Adams), a painter, is in love with Musetta (Utah native Celena Shafer) but their relationship ends because Musetta is a flirt and Marcellus is jealous.  Rudolpho (Scott Quinn), a poet, is in love with Mimi (Jennifer Black) but their relationship ends because Mimi is dying of consumption and Rudolpho feels guilty that he can't take care of her.  Marcellus and Musetta have a volatile relationship that is really fun to watch, especially in the amusing aria "Quando m'en vo" or "Musetta's Waltz" which is staged very well in this production.  But Rudolpho and Mimi are ill-fated lovers who are heartbreaking to watch and their beautiful duet at the end of Act I, "O soave fanciulla," brought spontaneous tears to my eyes!  Quinn and Black have beautiful voices and great chemistry with each other.  I always enjoy Shafer, a perennial favorite with Utah audiences, and she gives a great performance.  Adams, who has been diagnosed with bronchitis, began Act I but couldn't continue so John Nelson sang from the side of the stage as Adams continued to act the role.  At first it seemed strange but, after a while, I didn't notice any more and Nelson has a great voice.  I also enjoyed Ao Li and Samuel Schultz as the other bohemians.  The costumes and the set are fantastic (San Francisco Opera had larger and more elaborate sets in their production but Utah Opera's set worked well for the size of the stage at Capitol Theatre).  I loved this production and I highly recommend getting a ticket!  It runs at Capitol Theatre through Oct. 15 and tickets may be purchased here.

Note:  I was sitting on an aisle and a very distinguished older gentleman stopped near me saying that he was dizzy.  I smiled at him and suggested that the cause of his dizziness was the loud pattern in the carpet whereupon he answered, "No.  I'm just old."  I laughed so he stayed and flirted with me outrageously until the curtain rose!  During the intermission he came back to talk to me which was fun because he was charm personified!  Opera lovers are great!

Sean the Brave

I missed Sean's game last week so I was really looking forward to watching him play yesterday.  The Braves played the Woods Cross Wildcats which is a team with really big boys.  In fact, I questioned whether one of the boys was twelve and of course he was on Sean most of the game.  Sean did not back down at all and played like a beast the whole game.  I was so proud of him.  The Braves are struggling this season and many of the boys want to quit but they played their hearts out today.

This is my favorite picture of the game!

Sean with his Dad!

Battle of the Sexes

While Battle of the Sexes is a crowd-pleasing biopic about about the iconic tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs in 1973, it is also a powerful statement about equality between the sexes and the right to be who you are and love who you want.  That is what had me cheering!  I was a child in the 1970s so I never had to experience the chauvinism and condescension that so many women faced back then (there are a few scenes in this movie that were incredulous to me, especially when Bill Pullman's character spoke, because I can't imagine men actually speaking to women that way).  For that I am profoundly grateful to pioneers like Billie Jean King who advocated for women's rights.  King (Emma Stone), wanting to bring attention to the disparity between male and female tennis players, agrees to an exhibition match against a former champion player, Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell).  In addition, each of them are fighting other battles off the court.  King is conducting a passionate affair with her hairdresser (Andrea Riseborough) which she feels the need to hide and Riggs is a man past his prime fighting for relevance with a controlling wife (Elisabeth Shue).  Really, this film is not about a tennis match but rather the journey that each athlete takes to get there.  The script is much more emotional than I was expecting and I think King's sexuality is handled with intelligence and sensitivity (although a few people walked out of my screening after a sex scene).  Stone gives another wonderful performance, almost disappearing into the role.  Carell is perfect as the goofy and frenetic Riggs and I found him to be a sympathetic character rather than the villain portrayed in the trailers.  I also, rather surprisingly, really enjoyed Sarah Silverman's brassy portrayal of a tennis promoter but I thought Alan Cummings was a bit wasted as a designer of tennis dresses (did he really have to accompany the women on tour to dress them?) and only exists to give a moving speech at the end of the movie about LGBTQ rights.  Finally, I enjoyed the 1970s verisimilitude in this movie and I laughed out loud when I heard "Crimson and Clover" playing in a bar scene!  I recommend this movie, not just as a feel-good sports story, but for its powerful message. 

Blade Runner Double Feature

I have been looking forward to the release of Blade Runner 2049 for months so when I found out that a local theater was going to screen the original along with the sequel I bought a ticket immediately!  Double features are so much fun because I feel like you bond with your fellow audience members!  I love the original Blade Runner so much!  I remember watching it over and over again late at night on HBO when I was 15 or 16 so it was a thrill to be able to watch it again on the big screen!  In Los Angeles in the year 2019 a police officer, or blade runner, named Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) is tasked with hunting down four replicants, or synthetic beings engineered to be used as slaves in the off-world colonies, who have returned to Earth to extend their lives.  He also falls in love with Rachael (Sean Young), a replicant who has been implanted with false memories to make it harder to detect her.  In my opinion it is a brilliant commentary on the nature of humanity that definitely stands the test of time and its influence can be seen today in so many movies.  By the time it was over I was so excited for Blade Runner 2049 that I could hardly contain myself!  Let me just say right now that it is brilliant and it might even be better than the original because it explores the themes of what it means to be human on a deeper level.  Thirty years later the newest replicants have been integrated into society.  Ryan Gosling plays one who works as a blade runner hunting down older replicants who have gone rogue.  He discovers a secret which leads him to hunt down Deckard (Harrison Ford, reprising his role) to learn the truth.  There are many twists and turns as the truth is slowly revealed (although I still have a major question!) and there were a couple of times when I figured something out an instant before it was revealed!  Like the original, it is visually stunning and you literally cannot take your eyes off the screen.  Denis Villaneuve continues Ridley Scott's world-building to its logical progression with dark and gritty scenes of claustrophobia on the streets of L.A. and orange-infused shots of a decimated Las Vegas.  Gosling is outstanding in the role because he is somehow able to show absolutely no emotion until a key scene which left me absolutely gutted.  It was also so much fun to see Ford play yet another iconic character once again.  I think my favorite aspect of the of the film is the score because it mimics the original in that it creates almost unbearable tension which doesn't let up until the final scenes.  I really loved Blade Runner 2049 and, unbelievably, it lived up to all of my expectations!  I highly recommend that you see it on the biggest screen possible.