Knives Out

Along with Little Women, Knives Out is my most anticipated movie this holiday season.  I couldn't wait to see it so I did so at my earliest opportunity which was last night.  It is an absolute hoot and I laughed out loud from beginning to end.  Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer), a successful mystery writer, assembles his dysfunctional family together for his 85th birthday and is found dead the next morning.  His death is ruled as a suicide but a world-renowned detective, Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), is anonymously hired to investigate and he immediately suspects foul play.  He, along with a local detective (Lakeith Stanfield) and a state trooper (Noah Segan), begins interviewing the family members and staff in a hilarious crosscutting scene where they all turn on each other.  We meet his daughter Linda Drysdale (Jamie Lee Curtis), her ne'er-do-well husband Richard (Don Johnson), and their playboy son Ransom (Chris Evans); his son Walter "Walt" Thrombey (Michael Shannon), his wife Donna (Riki Lindhome), and their internet troll son Jacob (Jaeden Martell); his lifestyle guru daughter-in-law Joni (Toni Collette) and her social justice warrior daughter Meg (Katherine Langford); his elderly mother Wanetta (K Callan); his housekeeper Fran (Edi Patterson); and his nurse and confidant Marta Cabrera (Ana de Armas).  They discover that everyone has a motive to kill Harlan and that everyone has an alibi but, after more twists and turns than you can keep track of, Blanc finally discovers whodunit!  It is basically a hilarious spoof of the mystery movies of the 1970s but the script is incredibly clever (with just a bit of social commentary thrown in for good measure).  It is quite suspenseful, with shocking clues that change the entire narrative, and it kept me guessing until the very end!  The ensemble cast is fantastic and everyone looks like they are having so much fun playing these over-the-top characters!  I especially loved Collette's portrayal of the flaky Joni and Evans's against type portrayal of the naughty boy Ransom.  This movie is so entertaining and I highly recommend it for a fun night out!

Note:  There is a quote from the musical Hamilton and I was the only one in the packed theater who got it because I was the only one who laughed (rather loudly!).

My Favorite Team vs. My Hometown Team

I have been watching hockey with my Dad for as long as I can remember and we always try to go to at least one Colorado Avalanche game in Denver in the fall and one in the spring.  For our annual fall trip we decided to see the Avalanche play the Toronto Maple Leafs.  Even though both of us are from Ontario, we never cheer for the Leafs (we even cheered for the Avalanche against the Leafs when we were in Toronto a few years ago).  We got up really early yesterday morning and drove to Denver in time to relax before the game.  I always like to get to the Pepsi Center early so I can watch the practice skate, see the starting lineup, and hear the national anthem.  Because the Avs played a Canadian team, we got to hear "O Canada" and both my Dad and I sang really loud!  The Avalanche started really well with a goal from Nathan MacKinnon in the first 31 seconds of the game!  They kept on the attack for the first five minutes of the game and the Leafs couldn't do anything.  Then all of a sudden Toronto scored four goals during the rest of the first period (including one by former Avalanche player Tyson Barrie).  It kind of deflated the crowd a little bit.  During the second period the Avalanche changed goalies from Grubauer to Francouz and he was able to stop the offense.  The Avalanche got a goal by Andre Burakovsky in the second period and another one by Valeri Nichushkin in the third period to get within one.  The Avalanche pulled their goalie during the last few minutes and they really tried to put the puck in the net (it was very exciting) but the Leafs ended up getting an empty net goal to win the game 5-3.  So in the battle between my favorite team and my hometown team, my hometown team won!  Even though the Avalanche lost this game it was still so much fun!  I love everything about hockey, especially watching games with my Dad!

Note:  My favorite player, Mikko Rantanen, didn't play tonight because he is still recovering from an injury (he is close to returning because he has been attending practice skates) but I finally got to see the young phenom, Cale Makar, play in person and he is amazing (he scored in his first game in the NHL which happened to be during the Stanley Cup playoffs).

The Rite of Spring

I always look forward to attending a Utah Symphony concert but I was particularly happy to be at Abravanel Hall last night after a long and difficult week.  I really needed something to take away my stress and last night's performance did not disappoint!  A small chamber group performed Symphony No. 10 by Joseph Haydn while standing (it looks so cool when the musicians play standing up).  This piece is light and effervescent and I especially enjoyed the finale because it really gets going.  Next the full orchestra was joined by pianist Till Fellner for Piano Concerto No. 20 by Mozart, my favorite composer.  I became enchanted with Mozart after watching the movie Amadeus when I was in high school and listening to him was my first introduction to classical music.  I especially love this piece (it is rumored to be one of Mozart's favorites as well) and I added this concert to my season package just so that I could hear it.  The second movement is absolutely beautiful (it is featured during the end credits of Amadeus) with a melody played by the solo piano that is so tender and romantic.  In addition to the beautiful melodies that Mozart is known for, I think this piece is also a bit moody and tempestuous, especially in the restless third movement.  I loved Fellner's performance because, in my mind, his tempo was absolutely perfect (many soloists have a tendency to rush the second movement).  After the intermission, the orchestra performed The Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky and it was epic!  It is rumored that a riot broke out during its premiere and I certainly understand why!  The music depicts a pagan ritual involving the sacrifice of a virgin who dances herself to death and, oh my goodness, it is so frenzied!  I loved it, especially the dramatic themes played by the strings in unison, the fanfares played by the brass, and the wild timpani (I enjoy watching Eric Hopkins play and during this piece it seemed like he was in constant motion).  This will probably end up being one of my favorite concerts of the season so I definitely recommend getting a ticket (go here) to tonight's performance of the same program.  You'll think me later!

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Last night I had the opportunity to see a Thursday preview of A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood and, as a big fan of Mr. Rogers, I knew I would enjoy it but I absolutely loved it!  Since I basically sobbed through the documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor?, I was prepared with tissues for this movie and I definitely needed them!  Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys) is a journalist for Esquire magazine known for hard-hitting exposés designed to discredit his subjects.  He reluctantly takes an assignment to interview Fred Rogers (Tom Hanks) and his wife Andrea (Susan Kalechi Watson) warns him not to write anything negative about Mr. Rogers because it will ruin her childhood.  Whenever Vogel attempts a question, Rogers turns it back on him and gets him to reveal his concerns about being a new father and his inability to forgive his own father Jerry (Chris Cooper), who has recently made a reappearance in his life, for walking out on him and his dying mother.  Through his friendship, Rogers is able to get Vogel to change his perspective on life and become a more involved parent as well as reconcile with his father.  The story sounds very emotionally manipulative but it doesn't come across that way at all.  What I always loved about Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood is that he could always explain difficult and scary things in a way that a child could understand and he provided a way for children to express and deal with their feelings and that is exactly what he does for Vogel.  In fact, this movie uses the framing device of having Rogers tell Vogel's story as an episode of his show which is absolutely brilliant.  I love that all of the transitions between scenes involved the trolley moving through models of the locations.  Hanks gives an incredibly heartwarming performance as the beloved television star and, after a while, I forgot that I was watching Tom Hanks.  It is not so much an imitation as it is an embodiment of Fred Rogers.  Rhys also gives a powerful performance as a broken man in need of a little kindness.  I had one of the most profound viewing experiences of my life (which required all of my tissues) during an especially poignant scene.  Rogers asks Vogel to take a moment of silence to think about all of the people who loved him into being and you could literally hear a pin drop in my screening as everyone in the audience, including me, did as he asked.  When a tear falls from Vogel's eye I think everyone in the audience was crying, too!  I really loved this wonderful movie and I highly recommend it to everyone, but especially to those who grew up watching Mr. Rogers.

The Good Liar

Despite feeling a bit under the weather, I decided to see the movie The Good Liar last night because I was afraid it would be leaving theaters soon to make room for all of the big Thanksgiving releases and I just couldn't pass up an opportunity to see Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen spar with each other on the big screen.  Roy Courtnay (McKellen) is a career con-artist who sets up elaborate (and fraudulent) investment schemes with his partner Vincent (Jim Carter) to scam people out of their money.  He begins chatting with Betty McLeish (Mirren), a wealthy and recently widowed woman, through an online dating service and the two eventually meet for dinner where they both confess to a few white lies on their dating profiles  They form an instant attachment and soon he introduces her to Vincent, who suggests that she open a joint off-shore investment account with Roy (which Roy will then use to steal all of her money).  Betty naively agrees but her nephew Steven (Russell Tovey) is suspicious and investigates Roy's past.  He discovers that Roy has been lying about much more than his investment scam.  However, Roy soon finds out that Betty has been lying about her past, too.  Who is scamming whom?  This movie is definitely a slow-burn and I predicted the big plot twist well before it happened (although not the details which are, quite frankly, a bit convoluted and seem like they belong in a different movie).  What makes this movie so enjoyable are the performances of Mirren and McKellen.  The two of them are, as you might imagine, absolutely riveting and they have such great chemistry as they match wits against each other.  They are just so much fun to watch and I particularly enjoyed McKellen, who plays Roy with a glint in his eye.  This is a very average movie but it is elevated by its two stars and I recommend it for them.