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!