Napoleon

Yesterday I went to the Broadway for a double feature (I was basically there all day) and I started with Napoleon which I really enjoyed.  This is a portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte (Joaquin Phoenix) chronicling his dramatic rise from an artillery officer during the waning days of the French Revolution to become the Emperor of France, his volatile relationship with an aristocratic widow named Josephine de Beauharnais (Vanessa Kirby), and his spectacular victories and stunning defeats in military campaigns across Europe.  The large-scale battle sequences are absolutely incredible and I was particularly impressed by the Siege of Toulon when Napoleon captures a fort in order to break the blockade of the city because it is so immersive, the Battle of Austerlitz when he bombards the Austrians and Russians as they retreat across a frozen lake because it is so visceral, and the Battle of Waterloo when his troops are decimated by the Duke of Wellington because the aerial shots of the British infantry squares (I've always been obsessed with this military tactic) are so dramatic.  These set pieces are are thrilling (Ridley Scott knows how to stage a spectacle) and they definitely compensate for the long runtime and pacing issues.  Phoenix is magnetic in the role and, while many have criticized his characterization of Napoleon and a brooding and petulant despot (in some surprisingly hilarious scenes), I think it really works because he is more noted for being a brilliant military tactician than a good ruler.  Kirby is outstanding, although I would have liked more of her character, and I also enjoyed seeing Rupert Everett as the sneering Duke of Wellington and Paul Rhys as the scheming Talleyrand.  I am a huge fan of historical dramas so I obviously loved the period costumes, numerous locations, lavish production design, and atmospheric score.  There are flaws but I would recommend this to fans of epic period pieces.

Gentri Christmas at the Eccles 2023

Last night I went to my first Christmas concert of the season and I definitely picked a good one!  The Gentlemen Trio, or Gentri as they are more commonly known, was established when Casey Elliott, Bradley Quinn Lever, and Brad Robins were cast in a production of Les Miserables at HCT (they recently reprised their roles of Jean Valjean, Enjolras, and Marius, respectively, in another HCT production) and then continued singing together after the run was over.  My sister Marilyn is a huge fan so we went to their Christmas concert last year and we loved it so much we decided to make it a tradition!  This year's show at the Eccles Theater was amazing!  They began with "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" and the arrangement included snippets from "Carol of the Bells" and I really liked it.  They continued with "Little Drummer Boy," "Gesu Bambino," and an incredible arrangement of "Still Still Still" with snippets from the score of the movie The Mission (I love this song because I sang it in choir in college).  They were joined by vocalist Yaphet Bustos for "Angels We Have Heard on High" and by the Rise Up Children's Choir for "Do You Hear What I Hear?" and "What Child Is This?" (which featured the Christmas story acted by several members of the choir in costume).  The first set ended with a bluesy mashup of "Go Tell It On The Mountain" and "Joy To The World" with Brad Wheeler on harmonica.  After the intermission, they performed "We Three Kings" with another guest vocalist, Ellie Barry, and then "I Saw Three Ships."  Next they had their music director Stephen Nelson arrange a piece on the spot from a movie score and a Christmas song suggested by the audience (they did this last year as well).  Our audience picked the score from The Lord of the Rings trilogy and "Mistletoe" by Justin Bieber and, believe it or not, the result was really good!  Next they performed an original song called "Somewhere In Your Silent Night" which is very moving.  A mashup of "Coventry Carol" and "Poor Wayfaring Stranger" with dramatic themes played by a cello was definitely my favorite of the night but a close second was their arrangement of "O Holy Night," which is my favorite Christmas song, featuring the Rise Up Children's Choir.  The concert concluded with a powerful rendition of "O Come All Ye Faithful" with Bustos, Barry, and the children.  Both Marilyn and I loved this show and it was the perfect way to begin this holiday season.  There are a few tickets available for both of the shows today (go here) and I highly recommend getting one!

Note:  I always hope that I will hear "O Holy Night" performed live at least once during the holiday season and I am so happy that I got to hear it last night!

'Tis the Season

I actually put my Christmas tree up last week because I like to enjoy it for as long as possible (one year I put it up on Halloween).  One of my favorite things to do during the season is watch Christmas movies with just the tree illuminating the living room.  I am also looking forward to lots of holiday traditions, performances (including several Christmas concerts and four productions of A Christmas Carol), and time with my family (my niece and her fiance will be here for some epic games of Shanghai rummy).

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Thanksgiving 2023

I spent Thanksgiving with my family (Sean came home from college but we were missing Tashena and her fiance Tucker who live in Washington) and it was a wonderful day.  We had a somewhat non-traditional dinner because we had ham instead of turkey but we did have all of the other side dishes including potatoes, yams, stuffing, asparagus, pomegranate salad (a family favorite), a relish tray, and rolls.  Everything was delicious!  In the evening we had pie and lots of other treats (my sisters are very good bakers) and then we played Shanghai rummy (an absolutely crazy card game that really gets going).  I am so grateful for my family and that I am able to spend so much time with them.  I hope that you had a happy Thanksgiving with the people you love!

Wish

I have had the tradition of taking my nephew to the new Disney/ Pixar movie over the Thanksgiving break ever since he was a little boy (we have seen The Good Dinosaur, Moana, Coco, Frozen II, Encanto, and Strange World together) but he did not want to see Wish with me last night so I went by myself.  Maybe I should have listened to him.  King Magnifico (Chris Pine) is a powerful sorcerer who has the power to grant wishes.  He and his wife Queen Amaya (Angelique Cabral) establish the kingdom of Rosas and, to keep the inhabitants safe, he has them give him their wishes which he keeps safe until he grants one every month in an elaborate ceremony. A young girl named Asha (Ariana DeBose) hopes that King Magnifico will grant her grandfather Sabino's (Victor Garber) wish in honor of his 100th birthday but she learns that he is very selective about the wishes he grants in order to control the population for their own good.  Dismayed about the fact that her grandfather's wish is deemed too dangerous to grant, she wishes on a Star, instead, and it comes to help her which threatens the power of King Magnifico and he turns to forbidden magic to stop it.  It is only when Asha realizes that the power of stardust is within her and all of the inhabitants of Rosas that they are able to rescue their wishes.  The animation, which is a combination of computer generated and hand drawn, is absolutely beautiful.  DeBose has an amazing voice and I really enjoyed her vocal performance and some of the songs, especially "Knowing What I Know Now."  Pine is a fun and interesting villain who starts out with good intentions but lets absolute power corrupt him absolutely and his song "This is the Thanks I Get?" was a highlight for me.  Having said that, I found the story to be very disappointing.  There is a lot that happens simply to evoke nostalgia rather than advance the plot, including when Star grants the wish of all of the woodland animals to speak (the only wish it actually grants) and the inclusion of unnecessary side characters based on the seven dwarfs.  It seems like an origin story for many other better Disney movies and it is not very compelling or memorable.  I didn't necessarily hate it but I wish it had been better.