The Boogeyman

Movie adaptations of Stephen King's works are really hit or miss with me.  In my opinion, The Shining is the best and The Dark Tower is one of the worst.  Last night I went to see The Boogeyman, the latest adaptation based one of King's short stories, and I think it falls somewhere in the middle of these two extremes because I certainly didn't hate it but I don't think it will have a lasting impression.  Sadie (Sophie Thatcher) and her younger sister Sawyer (Vivien Lyra Blair) are almost debilitated by the recent death of their mother and they are not getting much support from their father Will (Chris Messina) because he is burying his own pain in his work as a therapist.  Will is approached by an unstable man named Lester Billings (David Dastmalchian) who claims that his children were killed by a monster that is now stalking him.  When Lester hangs himself in a closet in their home, this mysterious monster begins terrorizing the family.  Sadie eventually reaches out to Lester's wife Rita (Marin Ireland) and learns that this creature lives in the dark and feeds off feelings of grief and sadness.  This movie is incredibly atmospheric with a menacing sound and light design that makes the buildup to the terror extremely effective even if it does strain credulity (why don't they just turn on the lights?).  One scene in particular, when Sawyer rolls a glowing orb down a dark hall to see if the monster is lurking at the end of it, is so scary that I almost had to cover my eyes.  However, the final confrontation with the monster is very anticlimactic after all of the terrifying shots of dark closets and the message about getting over the trauma of losing a loved one is a bit heavy handed.  All of the performances are outstanding, although the characters are not developed fully, and I was especially impressed by Blair, who is very convincing as a child suffering from night terrors, and Dastmalchian, who is equally affecting and creepy in a brief role.  This is a serviceable horror movie that I enjoyed but it is not very memorable and I recommend waiting until it is streaming.

Puffs at West Valley Arts

I am a huge fan of the Harry Potter franchise (I have read all of the books and seen all of the movies countless times and I even flew to San Francisco just to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) so I was absolutely thrilled to be able to see Puffs, or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic at West Valley Arts last night! It is a really fun and clever parody of the popular series and I loved it! A Narrator (Brandwynn Michelle) introduces the audience to a brave orphan wizard with a lightning bolt scar named Harry Potter (Sofia Parades-Kenrick) but then tells us that this story is about another orphan named Wayne Hopkins (Grayson Kamel) who is also sent to the school of female magic and male magic after learning that he is a wizard. The story begins with a ceremony that sorts everyone into one of the four houses: Braves, Smarts, Snakes, and Puffs. The sorting hat places Wayne in Puffs and he is soon introduced to the prefect, Cedric Diggory (Adam Packard), and the other outcasts and misfits in this house, including Oliver Rivers (Tanner Larson), Megan Jones (Bryn Campbell), Susie Bones (Natalie Ruthven), J. Finch Fletchley (Oran Marc Di Baritault), Sally Perks (Ally Choe), Ernie Mac (Lucas Stewart), and others. Over the next seven years, Wayne struggles to learn magic and tries to protect everyone from the Dark Lord, Mr. Voldy (Adam Packard). However, he is constantly overshadowed by Harry who steals all of the attention, including the moment when the Puffs are finally allowed to shine during the three wizard tournament. Eventually he starts to feel useless but the Headmaster tells him that everyone is a hero to someone and that friendship is the most important magic! What makes this show so much fun (and so clever) is that all of the well-known characters from the books are alluded to with enough recognizable traits to know exactly who they are without naming them (my favorite is a certain potions teacher) and all of the memorable events still happen but they are shown from the perspective of secondary characters who are not involved in the action. Fans will have a blast spotting all of the references! The action is non-stop (it is almost frenetic), with most of the actors playing multiple roles (I laughed out loud when a different actor played the Headmaster in the second act), and the "magic" happens using ingenious costumes, props, and choreography rather than special effects. The ensemble cast does a great job executing all of the physical comedy with Packard as the standout for me, especially as the bumbling Mr. Voldy. The set, which consists of the great hall and the Puffs' common room on the main stage and a variety of classrooms and corridors in the castle located in areas above the wings, is incredibly simple but effective and I especially loved all of the candles floating in the rafters. I enjoyed this so much and I highly recommend it (go here for tickets), especially for fans of the series!

She Started It

My June Book of the Month selection was She Started It by Sian Gilbert (the other options were The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer, Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Torzs, Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See, and Banyan Moon by Thao Thai). I defaulted to the thriller yet again and this twisty page-turner kept me up all night! Former school friends Annabel, Esther, Tanya, and Chloe are surprised when they receive invitations to an all-expenses-paid bachelorette weekend from Poppy Greer. The four of them often bullied Poppy at school but it was so long ago and she must have forgiven them for their little pranks by now. Besides, who could resist the opportunity to stay at a luxury resort on a private island in the Bahamas? They are discomfited to discover that they are Poppy's only guests but soon settle in for three days of sun, sand, and cocktails. However, it soon becomes clear that Poppy has arranged this weekend to exact revenge but, when one of the four is murdered, Poppy is not the only one with a motive. The narrative alternates between the POVs of Annabel, Esther, Tanya, and Chloe in the present and Poppy's diary entries about past events when they were at school. The four main characters are unlikable and unreliable narrators with lots of secrets that are revealed little by little and the diary entries cleverly inform what is happening on the island and why (although the diary entries read as if they are a creative writing project rather than the words of a young girl). The suspense builds and builds as the island is transformed from a tropical paradise into a literal prison with no way to communicate with the outside world and no way to leave. The plot is quite ingenious (I especially enjoyed how Poppy uses technology to get even with her tormentors) and there are so many twists and turns (it is really fun when the women begin turning on one another) that I actually suspected everyone at one point! I did figure out one of the biggest twists before the big reveal but it didn't detract from my enjoyment because the story is so engaging that I raced through to find out if I was right and I giggled out loud when something happened to confirm my suspicions. This is a quick and easy read that combines Mean Girls with The Lord of the Flies and I recommend it for fans of thrillers.

The Cure at the Vivint Arena

Last night I was at the Vivint Arena once again to celebrate my birthday with The Cure. I have seen them twice before but it has been a while so I was really excited for the show.  It had a completely different vibe than the Duran Duran concert did the night before but it was equally amazing.  The Cure played for almost three hours, with a main set, an encore, and a second longer encore, featuring a career-spanning mix of their biggest hits, deeper tracks, and even a few new songs (including "Alone," which opened the show, "I Can Never Say Goodbye," about the death of Smith's brother, and "And Nothing Is Forever").  My favorites were "Pictures of You," "Lovesong," "Plainsong," "Disintegration," "Lullaby," "Let's Go to Bed," "Friday I'm in Love," "Close to Me," "In Between Days," "Just Like Heaven," and "Boys Don't Cry."  All of these crowd favorites, except for "Pictures of You" and "Lovesong," were performed during the encores so the audience got more and more frenzied just as the concert concluded!  Another noteworthy moment came during "Burn" in the main set because drummer Jason Cooper gave an unbelievable performance that was featured on the screen behind him.  Robert Smith was in his usual black (although he did have a bit of red on his shirt) with wild hair, red lipstick, and eyeliner but, compared to other times that I've seen The Cure, he was positively ebullient!  He interacted with the crowd quite a bit, often walking over to the corners of the stage to make eye contact with people in the upper bowl, and he was even dancing at one point (the last time I saw The Cure at USANA he didn't move away from the microphone and didn't talk to the crowd at all).  He also sounded great with the same expressive voice that he is known for. The stage was very stripped down with just a riser for the drum kit and rows of amplifiers and guitar racks.  However, it was bathed in a wall of lights that looked really cool changing from one color to another and there was a large screen which alternated between a live feed of the band and curated images (my favorite was a large spider web during "Lullaby").  Like most of the capacity crowd, I was wearing the requisite eyeliner and Doc Martens and I had an absolute blast.  It was a great way to spend my birthday!

Duran Duran at the Vivint Arena

I have loved Duran Duran since I was a sophomore in high school but I had never seen them live before last night's concert at the Vivint Arena!  I was so excited I could hardly contain myself!  Even though they didn't play "Union of the Snake" (boo!) I loved every minute and I know I will be on a high for a long time because the show was amazing!  They began with "Night Boat" and played quite a few other songs from their debut album Duran Duran, including "Careless Memories," "Friends of Mine," "Is There Something I Should Know," "Planet Earth," and then "Girls on Film" to end their main set.  They also played "Give It All Up" and "Anniversary" from their latest album Future Past and, even though I wasn't very familiar with these songs, I really liked them.  The rest of the concert consisted of an eclectic mix of their hits, such as "Come Undone," "Lonely in Your Nightmare," "A View to a Kill," "The Wild Boys," "Notorious," "The Reflex" (which was the only song they played from my favorite album Seven and the Ragged Tiger), and "White Lines (Don't Do It)."  My favorite songs in the main set were "Hungry Like the Wolf," because it made me feel so nostalgic, and "Ordinary World," because Simon Le Bon gave such a lovely and heartfelt vocal performance after dedicating it to the people of Ukraine. As I mentioned, I was a little bit disappointed when they didn't play "Union of the Snake" because it is my favorite song by the band but I forgave them because they played "Save a Prayer" during the encore. I also really love this song and it was so cool to hear the crowd singing along and see all of the lights from phones!  They ended the show with a rousing rendition of "Rio" and this was another fun and nostalgic moment!  Simon Le Bon looked really good (sigh!) but, more importantly, he (and the band) sounded great!  I couldn't believe that I was actually so close to him (I splurged on a lower bowl ticket) and every time he interacted with the crowd I would scream like the fifteen year old girl who once had the biggest crush on him!  Compared to other shows I've seen lately they had a very traditional stage but there were giant screens behind them with lots of dynamic visuals.  My favorite was a montage of all of the magazine covers they appeared on during their heyday (I think I had all of them on my bedroom walls back in the day).  I am so glad that I finally had the chance to see one of my favorite bands after all of this time!  It was definitely worth the wait!