Blink Twice

The second movie in my double feature at the Broadway last night was Blink Twice and I thoroughly enjoyed it because it is really wild but also very thought-provoking.  Cocktail waitress Frida (Naomi Ackie) and her best friend Jess (Alia Shawkat) bluff their way into an event where they meet Slater King (Channing Tatum), a notorious billionaire who has been forced to apologize publicly and to relinquish control of his tech company because of his inappropriate behavior.  He invites them to his private island along with his hangers-on Vic (Christian Slater), Cody (Simon Rex), Tom (Haley Joel Osment), and Lucas (Levon Hawke), their guests Sarah (Adria Arjona), Camille (Liz Caribel), and Heather (Trew Mullen), his personal assistant Stacy (Geena Davis), and his therapist Rich (Kyle McLachlan).  Once they arrive on the island their phones are confiscated but they stay in lavish accommodations, receive expensive gifts, and are treated to gourmet meals, champagne, and a never ending supply of drugs.  They spend their days, which all start to run together, in a haze of drunken debauchery until Jess starts to feel like something is very wrong.  Frida dismisses her concerns because she enjoys living like the 1% do but, when Jess disappears and the other guests do not remember her ever being there, she realizes that something sinister is going on.  This is a stylish and atmospheric thriller with a menacing performance from Tatum and a brutal, but strangely satisfying, third act.  However, what I enjoyed most was the social commentary about the imbalance of power between classes and genders, especially when it is leveraged to avoid taking responsibility for bad behavior.  There are also some intriguing discussions about repressing trauma, pitting women against each other instead of the patriarchy, and staying silent after witnessing wrongdoing.  This is entertaining (I laughed out loud during a twist at the end) and also a bit unsettling so I definitely look forward to future projects by Zoe Kravitz.

Note:  This could be very triggering for victims of sexual abuse.

Good One

Last night I decided on another double feature at the Broadway and I started with Good One because I missed it at Sundance this year.  I absolutely loved this character-driven coming of age story.  Seventeen-year-old Sam (Lily Collias) has weekend plans to backpack through the Catskills with her father Chris (James Le Gros), who is divorced from her mother and has a younger wife and new baby at home, his best friend Matt (Danny McCarthy), who is currently going through a messy divorce, and Matt's teenage son Dylan.  When Dylan backs out of the trip at the last minute because he is angry about the divorce, Sam is left on her own with two men who are extremely dissatisfied with their lives.  At first they are benignly dismissive of her (I was particularly struck by how annoyed they are whenever they have to wait for her to take a bathroom break to change a tampon) and assume that she will complete all of the menial tasks around the campsite while they get drunk and swap stories to one up each other.  Then, in one moment fraught with tension, everything changes and Sam realizes that she is not safe with them.  Almost all of the action takes place in the wide expanse of the great outdoors but it still feels incredibly claustrophobic because of how the three characters interact with each other and how the shots of these interactions are framed.  Collias gives a highly nuanced performance because so much of what is happening is left unsaid but you can intuit exactly what Sam is thinking by the subtle change in her body language and expression as she becomes aware of her father's flaws, especially in a scene where she rests on a boulder by herself because you can see her steeling herself for what is to come.  This is definitely a slow burn but I found it to be extremely compelling and powerful.

Harry Potter Marathon

I am a huge fan of the Harry Potter franchise so I was really excited to see a marathon of all eight movies with my sister Kristine over the weekend.  I had never done a marathon like this before and, even though I was really tired at the end (it was 22 hours including short breaks), I had so much fun!  Most people were in costume (I represented House Ravenclaw) and there were some really fun backdrops for photos.  The ticket included a free large popcorn and soda with unlimited refills and you could purchase a meal package with breakfast, lunch, and dinner catered by local restaurants but we opted not to get it because we thought it was expensive for what it was (the Megaplex at Jordan Commons has lots of food options and the service was great despite the big crowds during the meal breaks).  As I watched each of the movies I was especially struck by the enchanting world-building in Sorcerer's Stone, the theme of fearing those who are different in Chamber of Secrets, the developing relationship between Harry and Sirius Black in Prisoner of Azkaban, the changing dynamic between Harry, Ron, and Hermione and their friends as they enter adolescence in Goblet of Fire, the darker tone as Harry's mind is invaded by Voldemort (it is interesting to see Harry mimic Voldemort's mannerisms) in Order of the Phoenix, the higher stakes for every character in Half-Blood Prince, the importance of friendship and teamwork in Deathly Hallows Part One, and the weight of responsibility that Harry feels as he faces Voldemort (I always get a tears in my eyes when Harry asks his parents, Remus, and Sirius to be with him) in Deathly Hallows Part Two.  I also enjoyed seeing the changes in Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson as they grow up on screen (it is much more evident watching the movies one after the other).  I love every movie in the series but if I had to pick a favorite it would be Goblet of Fire (which is really ironic because I dozed off for a few minutes and missed the sequence in the maze).  The audience wasn't as boisterous as I was expecting but there were definitely cheers and applause at the end of the final movie (maybe it was just relief that we had all survived).  I had a great time and I would definitely do a movie marathon again!

Note:  I'm happy that I got to experience this with Kristine because she is the one who introduced the books to me.

The Drowsy Chaperone at the Grand Theatre

I love The Drowsy Chaperone and I don't think I will ever get tired of seeing it because not only is it a hilarious parody of the genre with every musical theatre trope you can think of but it is also a poignant ode to the power that musical theatre has to transport you away from from the real wold and all of your problems to a place where happy endings are possible for a few hours.  I had the chance to see it again at the Grand Theatre last night and I thoroughly enjoyed it!  Because Man in Chair (Jason Campbell) is feeling a little bit blue he decides to listen to the LP of the cast recording for his favorite musical The Drowsy Chaperone.  As he listens the musical comes to life in his apartment with frequent pauses for his commentary on the show which becomes more and more personal.  Mrs. Tottendale (Dawn Veree) and her Underling (Jeffrey Black) are hosting the wedding of oil tycoon Robert Martin (Clayton Barney) to a Broadway star named Janet Van De Graaff (Morgan Fenner) who is giving up her glamorous career for love.  Robert is leaving the wedding details to George (Luke Logan), his best friend and best man, while Janet's Chaperone (Lauren Slagowski), who gets drowsy when she drinks champagne, is charged with keeping the couple apart to avoid bad luck.  Broadway producer Feldzieg (Doug Caldwell) is unhappy about losing his biggest star and sets out to stop the wedding by hiring a Latin lover named Aldolpho (Dru) to seduce the bride.  An investor in the Feldzieg Follies is also worried about losing its biggest star and hires two gangsters (Steve Shoemaker and Kaltin Kirby), who are posing as pastry chefs, to stop the wedding bit a ditzy chorus girl named Kitty (Natalie Wren) is hoping to take Janet's place.  The happy ending is in doubt until Trix the Aviatrix (Kacee Neff) is enlisted to marry four couples on her plane while flying to Rio.  This production features the original Broadway version which does not have an intermission (it also omits "Message From A Nightingale" which usually happens at the beginning of Act 2) and I think it is delightful.  The choreography in the big song and dance numbers "Fancy Dress," "Show Off," "Toledo Surprise," and "I Do, I Do in the Sky" is really fun but I especially enjoyed the tapping (I always love to see tapping) in "Cold Feets," the roller skating in "Accident Waiting to Happen," and the Busby Berkeley-like sequence in "Bride's Lament."  I am always intrigued to see how the furniture and other items in the apartment are incorporated into the choreography and the use of a Murphy bed in "As We Stumble Along" is hilarious.  The entire cast is very strong but the stand outs for me are Dru, because not only is his performance completely over the top but he also has a beautiful voice (he might be my favorite Aldolpho), and Campbell, because it is so fun to watch him mimic the choreography while sitting in the chair.  I had a smile on my face from beginning to end and I highly recommend it (go here for tickets).  There are performances Thursday - Saturday until September 14.

Arsenic and Old Lace at HCTO

Last night I went to see Arsenic and Old Lace at HCTO and I could not stop laughing at this classic madcap comedy!  Two elderly spinsters, Abby and Martha Brewster (Jayne Luke and Melany Wilkins, respectively), are known in their Brooklyn neighborhood for their numerous acts of charity.  However, their charity includes poisoning lonely old men who come to their home looking for lodging with their homemade elderberry wine.  Their nephew Teddy (Josh Needles), who believes that he is Teddy Roosevelt, helps them by burying the men in the holes he digs for the Panama Canal in the cellar.  Chaos ensues when their other nephew Mortimer (Jon Liddiard) discovers one of their victims in the window seat and when their estranged nephew Jonathan (Matt Kohler) suddenly appears wanting to dispose of one his own victims in the same window seat.  It takes an unwilling accomplice (Jonathan McBride), a bumbling policeman who really wants to be a playwright (BJ Oldroyd), and a curious fiance (Brianna Meikle) to end the mayhem!  What I loved most about this production is the over the top performances, particularly Liddiard because he is hilariously overwrought and Kohler because he is such a melodramatic villain (his facial expressions killed me), and all of the physical comedy, especially every time Teddy charges up the stairs while fighting the Battle of San Juan Hill, when Mortimer gets tangled up in the phone cord, when both Teddy and Dr. Einstein struggle getting the bodies out of the window seat (I sat near the window seat so I had a great view of the shenanigans), and when Officer O'Hara describes the plot of his play in detail.  The set features the kind of fussy drawing room that you would expect two elderly spinsters to inhabit and I loved the all of the details (my favorites of which were the Victorian portrait on the wall near where I was sitting and the red velvet sofa).  The elaborate costumes worn by the Brewster sisters are very amusing because they are in sharp contrast to those worn by the other characters and I laughed out loud when they appeared in black bombazine gowns and veils to conduct the funeral service for their victim.  This is one of the most performed plays for a reason and this particular production is very well done.  I loved it and I highly recommend getting a ticket for a fun night out (go here).  It runs through September 21.