Ferrari

When I heard that Adam Driver was starring in a biopic about Enzo Ferrari I decided to read the book upon which the movie is based, Enzo Ferrari: The Man and the Machine by Brock Yates, and I was fascinated by this enigmatic and larger than life auto maker.  Needless to say, Ferrari was one of my most anticipated movies this year and I finally had the chance to see it last night at the Broadway.  It is an incredibly powerful character study and I was absolutely blown away by Driver's performance.  During the summer of 1957, Enzo Ferrari (Driver) is at a crossroads in his life.  His business is on the brink of bankruptcy because he is more interested in racing his cars than in selling them.  He needs his wife Laura (Penelope Cruz) to give him power of attorney over her shares in the company so he can deal with investors but his relationship with her has been damaged by the recent death of their son Dino and with her discovery that he has another son with his mistress Lina Lardi (Shailene Woodley).  His relationship with Lina is also deteriorating because she pressuring him to legitimize their son Piero (Giuseppe Festinese).  Juxtaposed with these distractions in his professional and personal life is his fierce determination to win the Mille Miglia, a grueling road race across Italy, at any cost, including the lives of his drivers Alfonso de Portago (Gabriel Leone), Peter Collins (Jack O'Connell), and Piero Taruffi (Patrick Dempsey).  This will definitely not be for everyone because, even though there are some thrilling racing sequences (that are enhanced by brilliant sound design and cinematography that puts the audience in the driver's seat) and one of the most brutal car crashes I've ever seen, this is a slow and meditative exploration of how Ferrari responds to these professional and personal challenges as well as to the people in his life.  Driver, in one of his best performances, is understated but incredibly compelling because, despite an outwardly calm demeanor, you can see see Enzo's inner turmoil behind his eyes and in his microexpressions.  Cruz, in an equally powerful performance, is a perfect foil to Driver because she is as explosive as he is restrained in expressing Laura's grief and rage.  Their scenes together are amazing because they are so dramatic.  I also really enjoyed the editing of certain scenes because they show Enzo's compartmentalization of his life, particularly scenes while he is at mass and at the opera.  I really loved this because it is so character driven and the character portrayed is so complex (but I think that is the reason why the critical response has been so divisive).

Christmas 2023

Christmas was really lovely this year!  I was so happy that both Sean and Tashena were home and that we could spend the day together!  We woke up early to open presents with the traditional breakfast of cinnamon rolls and orange juice.  I got some new Doc Martens boots, some of my favorite perfume (which made me very happy because I was almost out of it), and physical copies of Barbie and Oppenheimer.  We all took naps in the afternoon and then had a wonderful dinner consisting of honey baked ham, cheesy potatoes, yams, stuffing, asparagus, pomegranate salad, vegetables and dip, and rolls.  After dinner we took a poinsettia to my parents' grave and then played Shanghai Rummy while eating dessert and treats.  We worried that Tashena's fiance Tucker would get overwhelmed with how crazy we get when we play cards but he ended up winning!

I hope that you had a wonderful holiday with the people you love! 

Gingerbread Houses 2023

Last night we had our traditional gingerbread house party!  Tucker joined us for the first time and he fit in really well with the craziness!

This year we got kits for a gingerbread village and the little houses were so cute.  We were all able to make several of them and Trent even joined it!

We had so much fun!

Our gingerbread village!

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

Yesterday afternoon I took Tashena and her fiance Tucker to see Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (I took both Sean and Tashena to see the first movie on Christmas Eve but Sean, the actual DCEU fan, didn't want to see this one).  It isn't great but it definitely isn't as bad as I was expecting.  Arthur Curry/ Aquaman (Jason Momoa) has become a husband and a father and is finding the bureaucracy of being the King of Atlantis tedious.  Meanwhile, David Kane/ Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), with the help of marine biologist Stephen Shin (Randall Park), finds a powerful black trident created by Kordax (Pilou Asbaek), the ruler of the now lost kingdom of Necrus who was imprisoned by his brother King Atlan for trying to usurp the throne.  Black Manta wants to use the power of the trident to release Kordax in order to destroy Aquaman, his family, his kingdom, and the entire planet in revenge for the death of his father so Aquaman frees his half-brother Orm (Patrick Wilson) from prison in order to enlist his help.  The story is incredibly convoluted with way too much silly exposition and, even though there some really fun action sequences involving a bunch of cool new gadgets in some cool new settings (I loved the pirate's lair made out of sunken ships), the CGI is really messy and the world-building is a bit derivative (I noticed lots of allusions to Star Wars and other movies).  However, I really enjoyed Momoa's performance because he is very charismatic and funny (with some one-liners that made me laugh out loud) and he fully commits to the spectacle.  I also loved his chemistry with Wilson and their hilarious interactions with each other as they work together to save the world, and work towards a poignant reconciliation, are the best part of the movie.  Amber Heard (Mera), Temuera Morrison (Tom Curry), Nicole Kidman (Atlanna), and Dolph Lundgren (Nereus) don't really have a lot to do but Abdul-Mateen is a compelling villain because he is such a sinister presence.  The three of us had fun watching this but it is not nearly as entertaining as the first one and the stakes are a lot lower knowing that this is the end of the DCEU (which is why Sean did not want to see it).

Frozen in Concert

I have been hyping the Utah Symphony's films in concert series to anyone who would listen to me for the past few years.  I was finally able to take Kristine and Trent to see Love Actually last Tuesday and I have definitely converted them.  Last night I hoped to do the same with Marilyn at Frozen and I think I was successful because we both had a lot of fun.  The animated classic, based on "The Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Andersen, was shown on the big screen while the orchestra played the songs by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez and the score by Christophe Beck.  Princess Elsa (Eva Bella) accidentally freezes her sister Princess Anna (Livvy Stubenrauch) with her mysterious powers when they build a snowman together.  The King (Maurice LaMarche) and Queen (Jennifer Lee) tell her that she must hide herself away from Anna and the rest of Arendelle but, when they are lost at sea, she must open the doors of the castle once again for her coronation.  Elsa (Idina Menzel) loses control of herself, with devastating consequences, when Anna (Kristen Bell) requests permission to marry Hans of the Southern Isles (Santino Fontana) and she flees Arendelle.  Anna follows her, hoping to save Arendelle from the endless winter, and is aided by an ice harvester named Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), his reindeer Sven, and Olaf (Josh Gad), the snowman built by Elsa and Anna as girls.  Elsa fears that she is a monster but it is her ability to love that saves Anna and Arendelle.  I loved hearing the orchestra play the music for all of the iconic songs, especially "For the First Time in Forever," "Love Is an Open Door," and "Let It Go" but I was really impressed by the score.  I particularly enjoyed the percussion mimicking the sounds of the ice cracking during the opening, the tuba as the visiting dignitaries are introduced to Elsa, the dramatic strings as the snow monster attacks Kristoff and Anna, and the harp as Elsa's hug thaws Anna.  The audience participation was a lot of fun because there were cheers and applause when each character appeared on screen for the first time and lots of very energetic boos every time Hans appeared (the crowd was very committed to booing Hans).  I loved both of the films in concert this week and I hope my sisters will want to go with me again!  The next films are Casablanca and How to Train Your Dragon (go here for tickets).