The Darkest Minds

I saw The Darkest Minds, an action thriller based on the first book in the best-selling series by Alexandra Bracken, with my sister and nephew at the drive-in last Saturday.  In a dystopian future the majority of the children have been killed by a mysterious illness.  The few remaining children have mutated and now have special powers.  The government, fearing their powers, has rounded them up and put them in internment camps where they are color-coded and segregated according to their powers:  green for enhanced intelligence, yellow for manipulating electricity, blue for manipulating matter, orange for mind control, and red for fire breathing.  Those who are orange are deemed too dangerous and are immediately terminated.  Ruby (Amandla Stenberg), who is classified as orange, passes for green for several years.  When her true powers are discovered, a sympathetic doctor (Mandy Moore), helps her escape from the camp but Ruby isn't sure she can trust her.  She eventually teams up with other escaped children, Liam (Harris Dickinson), Charles or "Chubs" (Skylan Brooks), and Suzume of "Zu" (Miya Cech), and they go on a journey to find a place where they can live in safety.  I like Y/A dystopian literature because my students like it and I am a fan of anything that gets them reading.  I also generally like the movie adaptations of these books but this one is mediocre at best in my opinion.  I think it has a lot of plot holes and it is a bit derivative and boring.  However, my thirteen-year-old nephew, a member of the target demographic for this movie, absolutely loved it!  He really liked how the characters face challenges and overcome the odds to survive in a hostile world.  I think this theme is why so many teens like dystopian novels and movies.  While I didn't especially like this movie, I definitely recommend it for teens who, I suspect, will love it as much as my nephew!

The Pirates of Penzance at CPT

Last night I had the chance to see the Gilbert & Sullivan comic operetta The Pirates of Penzance at the CenterPoint Theatre and it was so much fun. Frederic (Alan Smith) has reached his 21st birthday and wishes to leave the group of pirates to whom he has been mistakenly apprenticed. After leaving the pirates Frederic meets a Major-General (Jason Wadsworth) and his daughters, takes a fancy to his youngest daughter Mabel (Sarah Jane Watts), and enlists the Sergeant of Police (Matthew Stokes) and his constables to exterminate the pirates. Chaos ensues! I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of this production, beginning with the lead actors. Smith is incredibly engaging as Frederic and, not only does he have a fantastic voice, but he has great comedic timing. I especially enjoyed his interactions with his nurse Ruth (Charline Grigg) when he tries to find out if she is beautiful when compared with other women. Watts has an amazing voice as Mabel, especially in "Poor wand'ring one," and I loved all of her funny facial expressions. Wadsworth is hilarious in "I am the very model of a modern Major-General" and I liked the funny interludes where he forgets what he is talking about. Monte Garcia, as the Pirate King, also has a very strong voice and great comedic timing, especially when he finds out that the Major-General is an orphan. The pirates, daughters, and constables are excellent and each of them have distinct personalities which make them fun to watch. The costumes are superb!  I loved the steampunk elements in the pirates' costumes, the colorfully quirky dresses worn by the daughters, the elaborate medals worn by the Major-General (even with his nightshirt), and the knee socks worn by the constables.  The set design, which reminded me of a vaudeville stage, is very effective. I particularly liked the two set pieces on either side of the stage which represented action at sea and characters running to and from the Major-General's castle.  Hurrah for this entertaining production which runs until September 1 (go here for tickets and information).

Note:  If you see this show, pay very close attention to the supertitles!

Double Feature at the Drive-In

Sean and I have a summer tradition of going to the drive-in movie.  This year we had Marilyn come with us and we borrowed my Dad's truck on Saturday night.  We piled sleeping bags, blankets, and pillows in the back and we got pizza, drinks, treats, and a big bag of popcorn.  It was so much fun!  We let Sean choose the movies and he picked Mission: Impossible - Fallout and The Darkest Minds.  I really enjoyed seeing Mission: Impossible again and my favorite part was watching Sean because it was his first time seeing it.  When Erica Sloane (Angela Bassett) first appeared on the screen he yelled out, "It's the Mom from Black Panther!"  When Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) came on screen he was even more excited and yelled, "Look!  It's the opera singer from The Greatest Showman!"  By the time the second feature started Marilyn and I were really tired and we tried to convince Sean go home but he really wanted to see The Darkest Minds!  We took one for the team and stayed but I think Marilyn fell asleep at one point!  Sean loved this movie (my review is coming soon) and kept up a running commentary through the whole thing explaining what was going on.  I think I enjoyed people watching just as much as I did watching the movies.  There were some really, shall we say, interesting people around us!

Note:  Sean loved The Darkest Minds so much that he asked me if I could get him the books.  This pretty much made my English teacher heart explode so we went to Barnes & Noble yesterday.  Sean was disappointed that the second book wasn't there so I told him I would order it from Amazon as soon as he finished reading the first one.  As I dropped him off, he told me that I should probably order it soon because he was a fast reader!

The Big Lebowski

Yesterday I had the chance to see The Big Lebowski, the next selection in the TCM Big Screen Classics series, and, in the parlance of our times, it is hilarious!  The Stranger (Sam Elliott) introduces us to The Dude (Jeff Bridges), an unemployed slacker who likes smoking weed, drinking White Russians, and bowling.  He inadvertently becomes involved in a kidnapping gone wrong because he is mistaken for someone else.  Like most films by the Coen brothers, it is populated by characters with exaggerated personalities, quirks, and mannerisms such as the millionaire philanthropist Jeffrey Lebowski (David Hiddleston), his trophy wife Bunny (Tara Reid), his overwrought assistant Brandt (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and his daughter Maude (Julianne Moore), an experimental artist.  We also have the Dude's bowling partners Walter (John Goodman), a Vietnam veteran with anger management issues, Donny (Steve Buscemi) a mild mannered ex-surfer who can't get a word in edgewise, and Jesus Quintana (John Turturro) another over-the-top bowler in the Dude's league.  Add in Jackie Treehorn (Ben Gazarra), a director of pornographic films, and a gang of German nihilists (Peter Stormare, Torsten Voges, and Flea), who may or may not be the kidnappers, and you have a film with such an outrageous plot that you can't help but laugh out loud (as everyone did in my screening).  My favorite moments are when Jesus Quintana, wearing a tight purple jumpsuit, dances after bowling a strike, when Walter pulls a gun in the bowling alley, and when the Dude gets thrown out of a taxi after saying he doesn't like the Eagles.  The absurdist comedies of the Coen brothers are hit or miss with me, but this (along with Fargo and Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?) is one of the good ones and should be seen on the big screen (go here for more information).  Am I wrong?

Eighth Grade

Thursday morning I went to see Eighth Grade and, as a former eighth grade teacher, I laughed out loud many times and cringed in my seat at the poignant and realistic portrayal of middle school life.  This movie introduces us to Kayla Day (Elsie Fisher), an awkward teenager trying to navigate her last week of eighth grade.  She creates YouTube videos giving advice about being true to yourself, putting yourself out there, and being brave.  These videos are, ostensibly, for an audience (that doesn't really exist) but they end up inspiring her as she attends a party for one of the most popular girls in school, tries to catch the eye of her crush, and becomes friends with a group of older students.  I absolutely loved this movie because I loved the character of Kayla (as well as Elsie Fisher's portrayal of her).  She is a typical teenager with flaws but she ultimately makes so many good decisions.  She realizes that she doesn't need to be friends with the popular girls (her confrontation with them at graduation made me want to cheer out loud) and she chooses someone who accepts her for who she is.  She realizes that she doesn't need to give in to peer pressure or compromise herself in an incredibly powerful scene where she stands her ground against the sexual advances of an older boy.  She realizes that her negative experiences in middle school do not need to define her because she is a good person and things will get better.  Kayla is a fantastic role model for young girls and the only thing that gives me pause in recommending this for all teens and parents is that it is incredibly realistic with language and sexual situations.  However, this movie could be the catalyst for some great discussions and I definitely suggest checking it out.