Thor: Love and Thunder

Yesterday afternoon I had the chance to see Thor: Love and Thunder and it is definitely very entertaining.  Gorr (Christian Bale) becomes disillusioned after losing his daughter so he begins wielding the Necrosword to take revenge against the gods for allowing it to happen and becomes known as the God Butcher.  Meanwhile, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is fighting along with the Guardians of the Galaxy and Korg (Taika Waititi) when he learns that New Asgard is Gorr's next target.  He returns with Stormbreaker to help King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) fight Gorr and his shadow creatures but is disconcerted to see his former girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) wielding a reconstructed Mjolnir after coming to New Asgard for reasons.  Thor, Valkyrie, Jane, and Korg are able to defeat Gorr but he escapes with all of New Asgard's children.  They appeal to Zeus (Russell Crowe) for help from the other gods but they must eventually travel to the Shadow Realm themselves to rescue the children and stop Gorr before he can reach Eternity to ask for the destruction of all of the gods at once.  This is very silly in tone (maybe a bit too silly in some places) but it has several powerful messages about choosing to love despite the possibility of loss and pain as well as the responsibility those in power have towards the people they are meant to serve.  I really enjoyed the beginning sequences recapping Thor's early history, his relationship with Jane, and his time with the Guardians of the Galaxy but the scenes with Zeus and the rest of the gods started to lose me.  Luckily, the third act is fantastic with great action and a resolution filled with more pathos than I was expecting.  Gorr is one of the best villains I've seen in the MCU (along with Killmonger from Black Panther) because, even though he is terrifying, Bale imbues him with a bit of humanity and I actually sympathized with him to some extent.  Hemsworth has great comedic timing but he also has quite a few moments that are quite touching and Portman does an outstanding job with her character's arc.  The visuals are dazzling and I loved the use of Guns N' Roses throughout, especially the guitar solo from "November Rain" during a climactic battle.  Despite the stumble in the second act, I had a lot of fun with this and, if you liked Thor: Ragnarok, I suspect you will like it, too!

Note:  The actors in the play all reprise their roles!  My favorite is still Loki but the addition of Hela made me laugh out loud!

The Forgiven

The trailer for The Forgiven looked really interesting to me and, since I am a fan of Ralph Fiennes, I decided to see it last night.  David Henninger (Fiennes) and his wife Jo (Jessica Chastain) are traveling from London to attend a house party at a lavish villa in Morocco owned by an old school friend named Richard Galloway (Matt Smith) and his lover Dally Margolis (Caleb Landry Jones).  David is cynical and Jo is bored (which is established in the first shot before they speak a word of dialogue) and they can barely conceal their contempt for each other as they travel through the desert.  While arguing over which direction to go they hit and kill a Muslim boy who steps into the road to sell them a souvenir.  They cover up the details and, once they reach the villa, Richard bribes the police to rule it an accident so as not to ruin the weekend.  David seems unconcerned because he believes that the boy is just a nobody from nowhere but Jo is genuinely upset.  The next morning Abdellah (Ismael Kanater), the boy's father, arrives at the villa and demands that David accompany him to his remote village to attend the burial of his son.  David initially refuses but Richard convinces him to go because he does not want trouble with the locals.  The narrative then alternates between David's journey to redemption and Jo's descent into debauchery with Richard's guests, including a British aristocrat (Alex Jennings), a French journalist (Marie-Josee Croze), an Australian model (Abbey Lee), and an American financier (Christopher Abbott), at the house party.  This is a fascinating commentary on classism and racism because all of the guests, who are truly despicable people, view the Muslim servants at the villa as lowly and primitive as they stoically serve them and clean up all of their messes.  I felt uncomfortable watching certain scenes but I couldn't look away.  I found the juxtaposition between David and Jo to be incredibly compelling because I despised David and sympathized with Jo during the first act but my opinion about them slowly reversed.  I especially loved a powerful moment between David and his interpreter Anouar (Said Taghmaoui) and another one with a servant named Hamid (Mourad Zaoui) near the end.  Chastain is fantastic (a certain scene where she says that the accident should remain in the past gave me chills) but Fiennes gives a brilliant performance because you can literally see his transformation happening in his eyes.  This is a slow burn that is more character driven than plot driven but I found it to be very thought-provoking (although I'm still not sure how I feel about the ending).

Mr. Malcolm's List

Last night I went with my sisters and my niece to see Mr. Malcolm's List and we had a great time watching it together!  Lady Julia Thistlewaite (Zawe Ashton) sets her sights on the wealthy Jeremy Malcolm (Sope Dirisu) but he rejects her publicly.  Feeling hurt and humiliated, she sends her cousin Lord Cassidy (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) to investigate and he discovers that Mr. Malcolm has a list of requirements for a bride and that she has been found wanting.  She devises a plan for revenge which involves having her old school friend Selina Dalton (Freida Pinto) portray all of the qualities he is looking for and, when he falls in love with her, ruthlessly reject him with her own list.  Complications arise!  This is a very lighthearted Regency romance that had me (and my sisters) laughing from beginning to end.  However, having said that, I really enjoyed the journey that Julia takes because, even though she is vindictive in her desire to make Mr. Malcolm suffer, she realizes that she has been just as dismissive of her own suitors, especially where a certain Captain Henry Ossory (Theo James) is concerned.  Ashton is fantastic in the role and her reactions to the goings-on provide much of the comedy but also a few tender moments. Pinto and Dirisu have tremendous chemistry, particularly during a dance at a masquerade ball (dancing is often the turning point in Regency romances), and, even though you know how their story will end after their very first scene together, it is so entertaining watching them realize it.  As much as I loved the main cast, Divian Ladwa steals the show as a footman in the Thistlewaite household because his facial expressions are hilarious. Finally, I really enjoyed the colorblind casting (as I did in The Personal History of David Copperfield) and I hope this trend continues. The gorgeous Regency-era costumes, lavish interiors (my favorite is the opera house), bucolic outdoor settings, sweeping score, and witty banter all provide a bit of escapist fun.  The four of us loved it and I recommend it as a delightful way to spend an evening with a group of friends.

Official Competition

The trailer for Official Competition made me laugh out loud and that was enough to convince me to see it last night at the Broadway.  Humberto Suarez (Jose Luis Gomez) is a wealthy businessman contemplating his legacy after turning  80.  He briefly considers building a bridge so that it can be named after him but then decides to finance a prestigious art house film.  He acquires the rights to a Pulitzer Prize winning novel at great expense, which he admits he has not read, and hires a brilliant but eccentric auteur named Lola Cuevas (Penelope Cruz) to adapt and direct it.  She chooses Ivan Torres (Oscar Martinez), a pretentious legend of the stage known for his extreme method acting, and Felix Rivero (Antonio Banderas), a vain but insecure action movie star, to play two estranged brothers and requires them to join her for several weeks of rehearsal where she subjects them to several increasingly bizarre and seemingly irrelevant exercises to help them discover their characters' motivation.  Both Ivan and Felix let their egos interfere with their performance as they compete with each other over whose acting technique is most effective and chaos ensues. This is a biting satire about the creative processes involved in making a film and it is absolutely hilarious because it totally rings true.  Lola reminded me of many of my favorite directors, especially when she spends seven hours picking out fabric for a sofa to be used in the movie (Wes Anderson), when she reacts with hostility to a question posed at a film festival press conference (Ridley Scott), and when she has the actors read a line of dialogue over and over until she is satisfied for no discernible reason (Noah Baumbach).  It also calls to mind the ridiculous lengths to which some actors will go in preparing for a role (Daniel Day-Lewis) and the outrageous demands big stars make on set via their personal assistants (Tom Cruise).  Cruz, Bandaras, and Martinez give pitch-perfect performances and watching the three of them spar with each other is so much fun.  I can't remember when I have laughed so much during a movie and, if it weren't for a few pacing issues and a somewhat underwhelming ending, this would definitely be one of my year-end favorites!  I recommend it to all fans of independent film.

Silent Sky at HCT

Last night I went to see HCT's beautiful production of Silent Sky and I loved this incredibly moving play so much! It tells the true story of Henrietta Leavitt (Becca Ingram) who begins working at Harvard University in 1900 as a human computer in the astronomy department along with a "harem" of women, including Annie Cannon (Tamari Dunbar) and Williamina Fleming (Samantha Beyer). She is very eager to use the university's refracting telescope to find answers to all of her questions about the universe but she is not allowed to because she is a woman. She may only use the images on photographic plates taken from the telescope to map the stars and she must keep her analysis to herself. Despite these obstacles she is able to make an important discovery that allows future astronomers to calculate the distance between galaxies but her dedication to her work puts her at odds with her sister Margaret (Madeline McBeth) over family obligations and with her supervisor Peter Shaw (Dallin Bradshaw) over their romantic relationship. One of the things I really loved about this play is the juxtaposition between the two sisters because Margaret believes in home, family, and religion while Henrietta believes in hard work, exploration, and science but they both find the light they seek. The story is simple but incredibly compelling and that is due in large part to the lovely performance by Ingram. She portrays many different emotions very convincingly such as exasperation at her lack of opportunity in the department, singleminded determination to succeed, giddiness at the possibility of love, and wonder at the infinite nature of the universe. Her final monologue about her legacy is delivered so powerfully I had a tear in my eye. The rest of the cast is equally strong and I particularly enjoyed Beyer's sassy Scottish brogue and Bradshaw's awkwardness as he tries to get Henrietta's attention. As usual, the set for this production is amazing. The stage features a map of the constellations upon which sits a large wooden box (it reminded me of a large old-fashioned card catalog) with cupboards and drawers that open to reveal desks, chairs, and other items found in an academic office. The box rotates several times for Margaret's home in Wisconsin or Henrietta's apartment in Cambridge during different scenes. Many characters stand on top of the box, accessed by drawers which are converted into stairs, when communicating with Henrietta through letters. Above the box is the outline of a large lens of a telescope and during a poignant moment in the show it is lowered to display projections from space and this gave me goosebumps. There are also projections of stars throughout the theater and I found myself looking up with wonder multiple times! I honestly had no idea what to expect when I walked into the theater last night but I ended up loving this beautiful play and I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here).  It runs on the Sorenson Legacy Jewel Box Stage through August 27.

Note:  Don't miss out on seeing the delightful production of Singin' in the Rain on the Young Living Main Stage through August 13 (go here for tickets).