White Bird

After multiple delays White Bird is now finally in theaters and I was excited to see it last night.  It is an incredibly moving story about the power of kindness that, unfortunately, is very relevant today.  Julian Albans (Bryce Gheisar) is at a new school after being expelled for bullying a boy with a facial disfigurement.  When he witnesses the bullying of another student he does nothing to intervene because, as he tells his visiting grandmother Sara (Helen Mirren), he just wants to keep his head down so he can fit in.  This attitude worries Sara so she decides to tell him about her experiences as a Jewish girl in Nazi-occupied France during World War II in order to emphasize the need to take action against injustice.  This framing device (a reference to Wonder) connects to flashbacks of a young Sara (Ariella Glaser) and her classmate Julien Beaumier (Orlando Schwerdt) as he helps her escape from a Nazi roundup of Jewish children and hides her in his family's barn with the knowledge of his parents (Gillian Anderson and Jo Stone-Fewings) despite great personal risk.  I really love that Julien consciously makes the decision to be kind even though Sara and her friends ostracized him for having a crippled leg and that his kindness is an act of bravery with increasingly dangerous stakes because that is a very powerful message.  I also love how the relationship between Julien and Sara is developed because I really cared about their characters and was totally invested in their fate (I cried several times).  Helen Mirren and Gillian Anderson can always be relied upon to give outstanding performances but I was especially impressed by the two young leads.  The cinematography is beautiful, especially the scenes where Julien and Sara use their imagination to figuratively escape from the barn, and the score, particularly a song the characters sing throughout, is haunting.  I think everyone needs to see this movie to be inspired to be a light in a world of increasing darkness.

Utah Hockey Club vs. Colorado Avalanche

I still cannot believe that Utah now has an NHL team!  I was beyond excited to see a preseason game between the Utah Hockey Club and my favorite team yesterday.  I usually have to drive eight hours to see the Colorado Avalanche in action but yesterday it only took about 20 minutes to get to the Maverick Center (it will be even closer when Utah plays in the Delta Center).  I went to the game with my sister Kristine, who has already become a rabid Utah fan, and it was so much fun even though we were cheering for different teams!  There were not a lot of goals scored but the game was still really exciting because of the goaltending by Connor Ingram, especially during the three Utah penalties in the third period because Colorado really put the pressure on.  Utah eventually got the 2-1 win but, even though I was sad to see the Avalanche lose (the preseason has been a disaster for them), I have to admit that I enjoyed seeing the home team for the first time (I never really followed them when they were the Arizona Coyotes).  Besides Ingram, I was really impressed by Dylan Guenther, who got a goal and an assist, and Nick Schmaltz, who got the go-ahead goal.  I will always be a Colorado Avalanche fan but I think I am going to have a lot of fun cheering for Utah this season!

Something Rotten at the Empress Theatre

I am a big fan of Something Rotten (it is full of references to William Shakespeare and musical theatre which means that it was pretty much written for me) so I was really excited to see it at the Empress Theatre last night. This now ranks as one of my favorite productions at this theater because I absolutely loved it! Nick and Nigel Bottom (Sonny Payne and Jonas Stone, respectively) are playwrights in London during the Renaissance but they are not having much success. Their patron, Lord Clapham (Stratford Healey), is withdrawing his financial support, Shylock (Raiden Yocom) is demanding the payment of a loan, Nick's wife Bea (Taylore Cahoon) is pregnant, and Nigel has fallen in love with Portia (Eliza White), the daughter of a Puritan (Taylor Brooks) who wants to shut down the theaters for debauchery, but, even worse, they are constantly overshadowed by the immensely popular William Shakespeare (Bradley Barker). They desperately need a big hit so Nick consults Nostradamus (Caden Terry) to see what will be popular in the future. Nostradamus suggests writing something with singing and dancing in my favorite number, "A Musical." Things go slightly awry when Nick asks Nostradamus to look into the future again to see what Shakespeare's most popular play will be and, instead of Hamlet, he sees omelette (so close!). Nick tries to produce Omelette: The Musical while Shakespeare tries to steal his play back. It is so much fun to try and spot all of the references to Shakespeare's plays (my favorites are Richard III in the song "Will Power" and a quote from The Merchant of Venice during the courtroom scene) and to musical theatre (my favorites are RENT and Les Miserables in "A Musical" and The Lion King in "Make an Omelette"). I laughed out loud every time I noticed something new (I was the only one laughing hysterically at a reference to Falstaff). This is one of the strongest casts I've seen at this theater with so many standout performances. I particularly loved Terry as Nostradamus because his physicality as he predicts the future is completely over the top, Barker as Shakespeare because he is such a rock star as a he struts around the stage for his adoring fans (his facial expressions killed me), and Brooks as Brother Jeremiah because his delivery of the innuendo-filled dialogue is hilarious! I also really liked Cahoon's voice and her rendition of "Right Hand Man" was a highlight for me. Another aspect of this production that is outstanding is the high-energy choreography, especially in "Welcome to the Renaissance," "A Musical" (which mimics the choreography from some well-known shows), "Bottom's Gonna Be on Top," and "Make an Omelette." I was really impressed by the dancing from the ensemble because they do an amazing job (I, of course, loved all of the tapping because it is always so fun to watch). The minimal set is very effective and the elaborate Renaissance costumes are fantastic! I cannot recommend this show enough because it is definitely a fun night out (go here for tickets). It runs Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays through October 19.

My Old Ass

I enjoyed My Old Ass at Sundance this year so I was excited to see it again with my nephew (a big fan of Aubrey Plaza) at the Broadway last night.  He didn't like it as much as I thought he would but I loved this poignant (and often hilarious) coming of age story even more the second time.  Elliott Labrant (Maisy Stella) is restless and eager to leave her family's cranberry farm in rural Ontario for the excitement of attending university in the big city of Toronto.  She celebrates her eighteenth birthday by ingesting mushrooms while camping with her best friends Ro (Kerrice Brooks) and Ruthie (Maddie Ziegler) and, during a hallucination, she meets the 39-year-old version of herself (Plaza).  Older Elliott advises her to wear her retainer and moisturize, to treat her mom (Maria Dizzia), dad (Al Goulem), and brothers Max (Seth Isaac Johnson) and Spencer (Carter Trozzolo) better, and to avoid someone named Chad at all costs.  Elliott follows her advice and realizes that she has been taking her family for granted and that she should appreciate the time she has left with them before leaving but complications arise when she meets Chad (Percy Hynes White) and starts to fall in love with him.  Older Elliott contrives to visit her again to warn her that loving Chad will lead to heartbreak but her younger self teaches her a valuable lesson about being open to possibility.  I really loved the story because it is beguiling to think about what you might say to your younger self if given the chance.  Plaza is as humorous as ever with her usual deadpan delivery but she has a moment of vulnerability that is really affecting.  Stella is incredibly charismatic and she portrays all of the emotions her character experiences in a very natural and believable way (some scenes are heartwarming while others, including a hallucinogenic performance of "One Less Lonely Girl" by Justin Beiber, are laugh out loud funny).  She also matches Plaza's energy perfectly in their scenes together.  Finally, I loved seeing all of the beautiful scenery around Lake Joseph in Ontario (I am originally from Ontario) where the movie is set and was filmed.  This was an audience favorite at Sundance and one of the best coming of age movies I've seen in recent memory.  I highly recommend it!

Lee

Last night I went to see Lee at the Broadway because I will see any movie about World War II starring Kate Winslet!  It begins in 1977 with an unidentified young man (Josh O'Connor) interviewing the model turned photojournalist Elizabeth "Lee" Miller (Winslet) about about her experiences during the war.  At first she is somewhat recalcitrant but eventually describes, through flashbacks, meeting her future husband Roland Penrose (Alexander Skarsgard) while staying with her friend Solange D'Ayen (Marion Cotillard) in the south of France, moving with him to London, taking a job as a photographer working for Audrey Withers (Andrea Riseborough) at British Vogue, documenting the Blitz at the beginning of the war, fighting to be allowed to go to the front, and collaborating with fellow photographer David Scherman (Andy Samberg) to take photos of the Battle of St. Malo, the liberation of Paris, and the opening of the Dachau and Buchenwald concentration camps.  She is traumatized by the horrors she sees at the camps but is even more frustrated by the fact that British Vogue refuses to publish her photos of what happened there and this eventually impacts her future relationships (which is shown when the identity of the man interviewing her is revealed).  Winslet is a brilliant actress and I read that she worked for nine years to get this movie made so it is definitely a passion project for her but I didn't like it as much as I thought I would because I didn't really connect to the character.  Miller is more concerned with telling the stories of her subjects than her own and Winslet portrays her with a stoicism (until an incredibly heartbreaking confession in the third act) that is probably accurate for the character but alienating for the audience.  My favorite performance is from, of all people, Samberg because his reaction to the camps as a Jew is very emotional.  I also really enjoyed seeing all of Miller's famous photos recreated throughout the movie and then shown next to the originals during the credits.  I was so excited to see this but, even though I didn't hate it, I ended up feeling a bit disappointed by how hollow it is.