The Farewell

I wasn't able to see The Farewell during the Sundance Film Festival so I have been looking forward to its wide release.  I had to wait a few days because I have been so busy lately but I finally saw it last night and I had quite a reaction to this beautiful and poignant movie.  When Billi (Awkwafina), a young Chinese-born writer struggling to find her way in New York City, receives the news that her grandmother Nai Nai (Zhao Shuzhen) is dying of cancer and only has a few months to live, she is bewildered when the rest of her extended family decide not to tell her.  Instead, a wedding is planned for Billi's cousin Hao Hao (Chen Han) and his Japanese girlfriend Aiko (Aoi Mizuhara) in China as an excuse for the entire family to get together to say their goodbyes to Nai Nai.  Billi is incredibly conflicted about this but ultimately has a meaningful visit with her grandmother who encourages her to keep following her dreams.  This movie is so funny because it is such an authentic portrayal of family relationships and I found myself laughing out loud many times at the wry comedic situations.  In my opinion, this movie is also a touching exploration of identity. Billi is constantly told that her objections to the lie they are telling her grandmother are because she is too Westernized but she idealizes the China she remembers from her childhood when she gets angry with her father for talking about the advantages of living in America.  There were several scenes that brought tears to my eyes because they mirrored my own personal experience of moving away from family to another country.  As her family drives around Changchun, Billi recognizes her grandmother's old neighborhood and asks them to take her back because she has happy memories there.  The last time I was in Canada I asked my Dad to drive me to my grandmother's old house for the exact same reason.  In another scene, an emotional Billi lashes out at her mother (Diana Lin) for moving her away from China and her family.  She is especially angry that she was not able to go to her grandfather's funeral because, the next time she visited China, he was gone and it was hard for her to reconcile it.  I felt the same way when I visited Canada after my grandfather died.  There is a beautiful scene near the end of the movie where Billi and her family are leaving to go back to the U.S.  The camera shows Nai Nai in the middle of the street crying as she watches their taxi drive away.  This absolutely gutted me because I have a distinct memory of looking out of the window from the car at my grandmother standing in her driveway and crying as my family drove away.  That is the last time I saw her.  I was openly sobbing for the rest of the movie and I had to sit through all of the credits before I could compose myself enough to leave the theater.  Awkwafina (who is so funny in Ocean's 8 and Crazy Rich Asians) gives a wonderful performance that is very subtle but incredibly powerful.  It is one of the best performances I have seen all year!  My reaction to this movie is definitely based on my own personal frame of reference but I think the themes are universal enough for everyone to enjoy it.  I loved it and I highly recommend it!

Summer Reading: Then She Was Gone

The final selection on my summer reading list (where has the summer gone?) was Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell. Fifteen year old Ellie Mack is a vibrant girl who enjoys spending time with her boyfriend Theo while earnestly studying for her exams with a math tutor named Noelle Donnelly. She is optimistic and excited for her future but one day she goes missing and is never heard from again. Her mother Laurel is completely devastated and doesn’t believe the police when they conclude that she must have run away.  She spends a decade obsessively trying to find her which destroys her marriage and her relationship with her remaining children. When Ellie's remains are eventually discovered, Laurel tries to put the past behind her and move on with her life. She meets a handsome and charismatic man named Floyd Dunn at a cafe and begins a relationship with him. However, she is soon haunted by a series of coincidences that lead her to suspect that Floyd might be connected to Ellie's disappearance. This novel is incredibly suspenseful because the narrative alternates between Laurel's perspective in the present and Ellie's in the past. Even though Ellie's death is revealed early on, I kept reading well into the night because I had to know what happened to bring it about. You know what happens to Ellie but you don't know why and the answers make for a pretty dark psychological thriller. The characters are very well developed and I found them all to be quite sympathetic. Laurel, especially, is incredibly poignant in her despair over not knowing what happened to her child. Even the characters who are deeply flawed are portrayed with a certain humanity and it is fascinating to see how these damaged people impact those around them. There are some very disturbing elements that I found difficult to read but that didn't detract from my enjoyment of this novel. I highly recommend it as a suspenseful character study that will keep you guessing until the end.

Note:  Have you read Then She Was Gone or any of the other selections on my summer reading list?  What did you think?

Les Miserables in Boise

Before I became obsessed with the musical Hamilton, Les Miserables enjoyed a 30 year run as my favorite musical of all time!  It is still a sentimental favorite and I couldn't help myself when I had the chance to see it on Broadway several years ago and I couldn't help myself when I saw that the Broadway touring production would be in Boise (a four hour drive from SLC) this summer!  When I mentioned to my Dad that I would be out of town this week and why, he asked me why I was driving so far to see a show that I have seen so many times.  I know it is a crazy thing to do but I am so inspired by the epic story of Jean Valjean's redemption and I absolutely love the music!  As I always do, I got goosebumps when I heard those dramatic first notes last night!  As I sat in the Morrison Center for the Performing Arts, eagerly anticipating every single number and trying desperately not to sing along out loud, I was filled with so much nostalgia for the girl whose biggest dream was to see this show and I felt the magic all over again!  This particular cast is a strong one and, as I anticipated all of my favorite moments, they did not disappoint!  Fantine (Mary Kate Moore) was heartbreaking in "I Dreamed a Dream," Javert (Felipe Barbosa Bombonato) was incredibly powerful in "Stars" (this got the biggest reaction from the crowd all night), Enjolras (Matt Shingledecker) was stirring in "The People's Song," and Valjean (Nick Cartell) brought me to tears in "Bring Him Home."  I wasn't sure if I liked Monte J. Howell's characterization of Marius because he was a little goofy in his interactions with Cosette (Jillian Butler) early on but his rendition of "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" was amazing!  My favorite moment in the show is when Eponine sings "On My Own."  I sit, impatiently, through the intermission anticipating this song because it is what made me a fan of this musical!  Paige Smallwood gave one of the most emotional performances of it that I've ever heard and I was quite overcome!  This production featured the new staging without the turntable.  I honestly really like it because the sets are much more elaborate and scenes are more true to the events in the novel by Victor Hugo, especially in the Prologue and "At the End of the Day."  I also think that "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" is much more dramatic when the students take away the candles.  The only scene where I miss the turntable is when the barricade turns after the battle to reveal Enjolras upside down holding the red flag.  Him laying in a dogcart with Gavroche isn't as impactful in my opinion.  I really loved seeing this show again and I am so glad that I did it!  It runs at the Morrison Center for the Performing Arts as part of Broadway in Boise until August 4 (go here for tickets).

Note:  Broadway in Boise will be performing Bandstand next April and Hamilton the following season so I will be back!

Off to College

Today Tashena is leaving for college!  I don't know how this happened!  When did she get old enough to go to college?  She will be attending Big Bend Community College in Washington to play on the volleyball team.  We will really miss her but we are all excited for this opportunity for her.  Marilyn and I are already planning care packages!  Last night my family went out to dinner to celebrate and Marilyn gave her this awesome quilt that she made out of all of Tashena's sports shirts from high school and junior high.  Isn't it amazing?  Good luck at college Tashena!

Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood

Last night I finally had a chance to see Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood and it is absolutely brilliant!  It is a beautiful and almost meditative ode to a Hollywood that no longer exists and I loved it (I will definitely need to see it again).  In 1969, Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) is an aging movie star, known mostly for his role in a 1950s TV show called Bounty Law, who has been reduced to making guest appearances on other TV shows and, eventually, to starring in spaghetti Westerns (and in a hilarious midcredits scene, he is further reduced to making commercials).  His stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) has been reduced to driving Dalton around and doing odd jobs at his house in the Hollywood Hills.  Meanwhile, Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie), who lives next door to Dalton on Cielo Drive with her husband Roman Polanski (Rafal Zarwierucha), is an up-and-coming actress enjoying the attention she is receiving from her starring role in The Wrecking Crew.  Eventually, their worlds will collide with members of the Manson Family (several of whom are portrayed by some up-and-coming actors such as Margaret Qualley, Austin Butler, Mikey Madison, Maya Hawke, and Sydney Sweeney) on the fateful night of August 8, 1969.  I loved so many things in this movie.  I loved the juxtaposition between the angst-filled Dalton having an emotional breakdown after forgetting his lines and Tate when she displays unbridled joy as she secretly watches herself on screen.  I loved the scene between the disillusioned Dalton and the earnest young Method actress (excuse me, actor) which prompts him to model his character on an "evil version of Hamlet" and deliver an outstanding performance.  I loved the party scene at the Playboy Mansion with fun cameos of current actors playing former Hollywood stars (my favorite is Damian Lewis as Steve McQueen).  I loved all of the long and sustained shots of characters driving around Hollywood with famous landmarks as they used to appear and period commercials blaring through the radios.  I loved the soundtrack, particularly a sultry cover of "California Dreamin'" by Jose Feliciano.  I loved the performances of both DiCaprio and Pitt who seem like they could have been genuine movie stars in the heyday of Hollywood’s golden era.  Finally, I loved the ending which will probably be very divisive but, to me, it represents the desire to go back to a simpler time before the innocence of the 1960s was irrevocably destroyed (I can't get the haunting final overhead shot out of my mind).  I loved this movie and I highly recommend it with the proviso that it is a Quentin Tarantino movie with the requisite violence and profanity.