A Christmas Story at the Eccles

I love the movie A Christmas Story so much!  I actually remember seeing it in the theater when it was first released and since then I have probably seen it at least 812 times.  My sister and I like to watch it continuously on Christmas Eve in our separate houses and quote all of the lines to each other over social media ("It...it was...soap poisoning").  Because I love the movie so much, I was a little bit wary when I heard that the musical version was coming to the Eccles Theatre.  I am not a fan of turning popular movies into musicals but, even though the songs are incredibly contrived, I found the show last night to be really delightful.  Ralphie (Ian Shaw) desperately wants an official Red Ryder, carbine action, 200-shot, range model air rifle, with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time for Christmas but his Mother (Briana Gantsweg), the Old Man (Christopher Swan), his teacher Miss Shields (Lauren Kent), and even Santa Claus (Daniel Mark Smith) himself tell him that he'll shoot his eye out!  All of the fun scenes from the movie are brought to life on the stage including when Randy (John Mahanna) eats like a piggy, when Schwartz (Seth Black Diamond) triple dog dares Flick (Jay Hendrix) to stick his tongue to the flag pole, when the Old Man wins a major award, when Ralphie says the F-dash-dash-dash word while helping his father change a tire, when Ralphie gets into a fight with Scut Farkus (Ty Huffman), when Ralphie gets a certain bunny costume from Aunt Clara, and when the Bumpus Hounds (played by Hoss and Stella) eat the turkey forcing the Parkers to eat Christmas dinner at the Chop Suey Palace!  While I didn't find the songs to be particularly memorable, I did really enjoy the staging and the young cast is extremely talented.  I especially enjoyed the choreography for "Ralphie to the Rescue!" and the fabulous tap dancing in "You'll Shoot Your Eye Out."  Shaw gives an earnest and heartfelt performance as Ralphie and Mahanna (the understudy) is absolutely hilarious as Randy but, in my opinion, the actors who steal the show are Hoss and Stella when they chase the Old Man around and when they break in to eat the turkey (they got the loudest applause).  This is not the best musical I have ever seen but I certainly had a lot of fun watching it and got a big dose of Christmas cheer!  It runs at the Eccles Theatre through Dec. 8 (go here for tickets).

Festival of Trees 2019

Last night I was a hostess at the Festival of Trees for the eleventh year in a row.  Various individuals and organizations decorate and then donate trees, usually to commemorate someone who has been ill or died.  These trees are put up for auction and then displayed for the public to view for the duration of the festival.  All of the proceeds go directly to Primary Children's Hospital so it is a really good cause.  In addition to the trees, there are centerpieces, wreaths, and gingerbread houses on display as well as lots of treats for purchase so it is a fun night out as well as a good cause.  After my shift is over, I like to walk around and look at all of the trees.  Here are some of my favorites.

The festival will continue at the Mountain America Expo Center through Saturday.  Go here for information and tickets.

21 Bridges

I was planning to see the movie 21 Bridges over the Thanksgiving break but I ran out of time!  I decided to see it last night and what I thought would be an entertaining police procedural was actually an intense psychological thriller that I really enjoyed.  In a drug deal gone wrong, Ray Jackson (Taylor Kitsch) and Michael Trujillo (Stephan James) kill eight police officers from the 85th Precinct.  Captain  McKenna (J.K. Simmons) of the 85th specifically requests that Detective Andre Davis (Chadwick Boseman) be in charge of the manhunt for the cop killers.  Davis is haunted by the death of his father, a police officer killed in the line of duty, and has a reputation for shooting first and asking questions later, especially when cop killers are involved.  He decides to lock down the island of Manhattan and an epic pursuit ensues with the clock ticking.  He is assigned to work with Frankie Burns (Sienna Miller), a narcotics agent whom he doesn't trust, and he is dogged at every turn by FBI agents Butchco (Obi Abili) and Dugan (Andy Truschinski).  As the manhunt escalates, Davis becomes suspicious and must ultimately protect one of the killers to uncover a vast conspiracy.  The narrative is incredibly predictable (I guessed the details of the conspiracy very early on) with some boilerplate dialogue but what makes this movie compelling is Boseman's performance as a troubled cop who ultimately finds redemption,  His character arc is fascinating to watch as he goes from a man out for blood to the only voice of reason in an increasingly emotional conflict.  Boseman imbues Davis with an intelligence that I really appreciated.  James also gives a great performance as a man involved in circumstances beyond his control who wrestles with the consequences of his actions rather than just being a stereotypical villain.  I really enjoyed the action sequences, particularly the opening shoot-out, a car chase through the meatpacking district, a foot chase culminating in a subway car, and an epic stand-off.  These scenes are gritty and feature fast-cutting to add to the intensity.  This movie reminded me of the kind of crime-dramas that we used to see back in the day and it was much better than I thought it would be.  I recommend it to fans of the genre.

When Harry Met Sally

I didn't see When Harry Met Sally when it was first released in theaters because I am not a big fan of romantic comedies.  I have since seen it several times because I had a friend who absolutely loved it and was appalled that I hadn't seen it before.  She forced invited me to watch it with her and, of course, I thought it was absolutely charming.  I was really excited that it was included in the TCM Big Screen Classics series this year and I've been looking forward to seeing it in the theater for months.  Sally Albright (Meg Ryan) and Harry Burns (Billy Crystal) drive cross-country from college to New York City together and immediately dislike each other.  Over the next twelve years they have several chance encounters and they eventually become friends, become attracted to each other, break up, and then fall in love.  There are so many things that I love about this movie!  I love Carrie Fisher as Sally's best friend Marie and Bruno Kirby as Harry's best friend Jess.  I love it when they end up together after Sally sets Marie up with Harry and Harry sets Jess up with Sally.  I love it when they toast Harry and Sally at their wedding, saying that they got together because they didn't find either of them attractive!  I love it when Harry and Jess do the wave several times at the Giants game when they are talking about Harry's divorce.  I love the scene with Sally at the restaurant (you know the one I mean) and a customer (played by director Rob Reiner's mother) says, "I'll have what she's having!"  I love it when Harry and Sally discuss Casablanca on the phone while watching it separately in bed.  I love that every time Harry is shown reading a book, he turns to the last page.  I love when Harry and Sally sing a karaoke version of "Surrey With the Fringe on Top."  I love when Harry tells Sally that she looks good in skirts and then she is wearing one in the next scene.  I love all of the interviews with the older couples about when they first met.  I love all of the music by Harry Connick, Jr., especially his version of "It Had to Be You."  Watching this movie was just delightful and I was really impressed with how timeless it is.  I highly recommend seeing this on the big screen (go here for information and tickets).

Fifteen

Sean turns fifteen tomorrow but we had our family celebration of his birthday yesterday!  The birthday boy chose to stay at home for dinner and he picked burgers and french fries which tasted delicious!  Afterwards we had the traditional ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins.  We all laughed because he had the exact same cake last year!

He was pretty spoiled for his birthday!

Tashena gave him a gift card to Amazon (she flew back to school in Washington after his party and I already miss her).  Sean was so thrilled he almost gave her a hug...almost!

Marilyn gave him a video game and a book series.

Grandma and Grandpa gave him Motion Controllers for his PlayStation.  I don't know what they do (it has something to do with what he wants for Christmas) but Sean was absolutely thrilled to get them!

I got him this video game.  He was very specific when told me that he wanted Assassin's Creed Odyssey (the Gold Edition) and he told me that there was only one left on Amazon so I had to get it quickly!  When I told him that I would get it, he got mad because he wanted to be surprised!  He cracks me up!

His Mom and Dad got him a sofa for his room (he has the coolest teen hangout room ever) but they also got him his own Megatub that he doesn't have to share with anyone else at a movie!  Sean won't let anyone eat popcorn from the shared Megatub until the movie starts so this is really just a gift for all of us!  I can't believe that he is fifteen!  I sure do love him and I hope he had a great birthday!