The Seagull

Even though I studied British literature in college, Russian literature is my passion.  I love the play The Seagull by Anton Chekhov so I have been anticipating this new movie adaptation for quite a while.  I was able to see it yesterday and I loved it!  A group of artists and aristocrats are seething with unrequited love, jealousy, and resentment while staying at a country estate for the summer in turn-of-the-century Russia!  Of course I loved it!  Irina Arkadina (Annette Bening), an aging actress, has come to stay at the estate of her ailing brother Sorin (Brian Dennehy) with her lover Boris Trigorin (Corey Stoll), a celebrated author.  Her son Konstantin (Billy Howle), who lives on the estate, is a young and idealistic playwright who scoffs at his mother's fame because it is not "art" and yet he is jealous of Trigorin's success.  He is also jealous because Nina (Saoirse Ronan), the neighbor girl with whom he is in love, has become infatuated with Trigorin.  There is also a strong ensemble cast including Elisabeth Moss, Jon Tenney, Mare Winningham, and Glen Fleshler who play members of the household who all have their own intrigues.  Chekhov's play is all about subtext so there is not a lot of action and the themes are incredibly bleak so not everyone is going to like this movie.  However, the performances are what makes this movie worth seeing (for people not enamored of Russian literature).  Of course, Bening and Ronan are brilliant but I was really surprised by Stoll's interpretation of Trigorin.  I have always thought of him as a rather feckless character but Stoll imbues him with a vulnerability that was unexpected.  Moss, also, is hilarious as Masha, a woman pining away for someone who will never love her.  It is sometimes hard to translate a play to the screen but I really liked how the filmmakers made use of the locations, particularly the lake.  The production design and costumes are incredibly sumptuous so this film is gorgeous to look at.  Chekhov isn't for everyone but I loved this film.

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

I have very vivid memories of spending afternoons at my Grandma Johnson's house when I was a little kid.  She had a large console television in the family room in the basement and I loved sitting right in front of it.  I would watch episodes of Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood and then I would watch the exact same episodes again dubbed in French on the French channel (I lived in Canada) because I loved them so much!  I especially loved Mr. Rogers because I felt like he was talking directly to me and he explained things in a way that I could understand.  I loved it when he would walk through his door with some sort of object because that meant that he would show us how that object worked!  I also really loved the Land of Make-Believe!  As soon as you heard the trolley you knew that you would be transported to a kingdom filled with wonderful characters who always had a lesson to teach you.  My favorite character was Lady Elaine Fairchilde because, while most people thought she was the villain, I thought she was just feisty and always stood up for herself!  Because I love Mr. Rogers so much, I had to see Won't You Be My Neighbor?, the documentary about his life, as soon as I possibly could.  Like the man himself, it is just wonderful!  It traces his early days in television, his ordination as a minister in the Presbyterian church, his advocacy for children, the creation of his groundbreaking show, and his lasting legacy.  There are archival interviews with Fred Rogers himself as well as contemporary interviews with his wife, two sons, the program director of WQED, cast and crew from Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, and close friends.  The overwhelming theme from these interviews is that Fred did not have a television persona.  He was exactly what you saw on the screen: a genuinely good person who truly cared about the welfare of children.  There is a moment when he says that everyone deserves love without having to do anything to earn it that moved me to tears!  I am so impressed by the fact that he wrote every script, composed all of the music, and voiced most of the puppets in the Land of Make-Believe!  He truly was a remarkable man and I think everyone should see this lovely tribute to his life!  Oh how I wish he were still here to bring a little kindness to a world sorely in need of it!

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

For me, and many people will disagree with me, the Jurassic Park franchise has always been about the dinosaurs.  I absolutely love the sense of wonder on the faces of the characters when they see the dinosaurs for the first time in Jurassic Park.  I even really liked Jurassic World, which has its fair share of issues, because the action sequences involving the dinosaurs are really intense and exciting. Last Thursday I went to a preview of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom thinking that, if nothing else, I would enjoy the dinosaurs.  I was a little bit disappointed.  Isla Nublar is now threatened by a volcano and debates arise about whether the dinosaurs who remain there should be protected as an endangered species.  Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), who now heads a dinosaur rights activist group is hired by Eli Mills (Rafe Spall), the head of the Lockwood Corporation, to rescue the dinosaurs and take them to a new island sanctuary and she recruits Owen Grady (Chris Pratt).  It turns out that Mills just wants the dinosaurs for nefarious purposes and is using Claire to access the island tracking system and Owen for his skill with the velociraptors.  The dinosaurs are brought to the Lockwood estate for auction to the highest bidder and that goes about as well as you would expect.  I really enjoyed the sequences on the island as they try to round up the dinosaurs (except for one which actually made me tear up a little bit).  These were really thrilling, especially on an IMAX screen!  But as soon as they leave the island, I found the narrative to be tedious because it turns into an atmospheric conspiracy thriller.  For much of this, the dinosaurs are sedated and in cages as Claire and Owen try to figure out what is going on.  And there are a lot of things going on!  I think that some of the subplots are entirely superfluous, especially one involving Lockwood's granddaughter, and some of the characters are unnecessary, particularly Geraldine Chaplin's character.  There is a spectacular battle with one of the dinosaurs at the end of the film but I wanted more dinosaurs (I also wanted more of Dr. Malcolm!)!  I'm sure that many people will enjoy this movie but I found it to be disappointing.

Note:  For me, the best movie in the franchise is the original Jurassic Park.  It will be screened in concert with the Utah Symphony playing the iconic score at USANA Amphitheatre on September 8 (go here for tickets).  I already have my tickets and I am so excited!

A Great Season

Last night I took my Mom to Sean's final rugby games of the season.  The Bison played really well and got several tries in each game but they ended up losing both games.  It has been a rough season for the Bison but they have worked really hard and never gave up!  Most of the team had never played rugby before and most of them were sixth graders playing boys who were much older.  It was so much fun to watch (even though I usually have no idea what is going on).  Great job Bison!

Now bring on the football season!

Summer Reading: The Alice Network

The next selection on my summer reading list was The Alice Network by Kate Quinn. It is 1915 and Evelyn Gardiner longs to do more for the war effort than just file in an office in London. Eventually she is recruited as a spy and sent to France to work in a restaurant run by Rene Bourdelon, a collaborator who caters to German officers. She passes information through a real-life espionage ring of women known as the Alice Network to help the Allies. In 1947, in the aftermath of another war, American heiress Charlie St. Clair is in London searching for her cousin Rose who disappeared in occupied France. She follows a lead which brings her to Eve, now a drunk and disillusioned woman haunted by a betrayal. Their stories converge when Charlie learns that Rose worked for the Resistance in another restaurant owned by Rene. Eve travels through France once again to help Charlie find Rose but also to face her greatest enemy, Rene Bourdelon. The perspective alternates between that of Eve and of Charlie and one of these perspectives worked more for me than the other. Eve's story is absolutely fascinating and she is a strong and courageous character who faces truly harrowing conditions that kept me reading well into the night. Lili (based on real-life spy Louise de Bettignies), the leader of the spy ring, and Violette, another spy, are also intriguing characters. Charlie's story is not as compelling and I found her to be a weak and whiny character without the stakes that Eve has throughout the story. I found myself skimming through the pages of Charlie's narrative to get back to Eve and her journey of redemption. Had this novel been just about Eve and the other brave spies who put their lives in danger during the first world war, I would have enjoyed it so much more. However, I would recommend this novel (just skim through Charlie's story).

Note:  Have you read The Alice Network?  What did you think?