A Complete Unknown

Last night I returned to the Broadway to see A Complete Unknown and I loved it so much.  A young Bob Dylan (Timothee Chalamet) hitchhikes to New York City in 1961 in order to meet his hero Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy) in the hospital.  While there he also meets Pete Seeger (Edward Norton) and impresses him with an original song.  Seeger takes him in and introduces him to the folk community in New York and, as Dylan begins performing, he meets artist and social activist Sylvie Russo (Elle Fanning) and begins a relationship with her, musician Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro) and begins performing and collaborating with her, and manager Albert Grossman (Dan Fogler) and begins recording his first album with him.  At first Dylan is so eager to be a musician he consents to record covers of well-known folk songs but he soon pushes to record his own compositions.  He becomes extremely popular and this brings a lot of attention to folk music.  However, he eventually grows weary of performing the same songs the crowd wants to hear over and over again and of being boxed in by the record company so he forms a band with musicians he admires and experiments with his sound.  This causes consternation with the planning committee for the Newport Folk Festival, where he is scheduled to headline in 1965, so Seeger entreats him to stay true to his roots for the sake of the folk community but Johnny Cash (Boyd Holbrook) convinces him to stay true to himself.  I have seen Bob Dylan perform live twice and he does not care what anyone thinks because he performs the songs he wants to perform (which are often not the songs the crowd wants to hear) in the way he wants to perform them (which is often very different from the recorded versions) and he refuses to interact with the crowd.  I actually admire the fact that he is unapologetically himself so I really loved that this movie explores his journey to artistic freedom and I especially enjoyed the scenes where he refuses to play "Blowin' in the Wind" on stage with Baez and when the crowd turns on him when he plays "Like a Rolling Stone" for the first time at the Newport Folk Festival (the crowd occasionally booed him both times I saw him live).  Chalamet is absolutely brilliant in the role because he perfectly captures Dylan's restlessness as he becomes trapped by expectations and, even more impressive, he performs every song live himself (singing and playing the guitar and harmonica) and sounds remarkably similar to Dylan.  I found him riveting and I particularly loved his versions of "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall," "The Times They Are a-Changin'," and "It Ain't Me, Babe" with Barbaro (who also performs all of her own songs as Baez, as does Norton as Seeger, and Holbrook as Cash).  I was blown away by this movie and I am sure it will be one of my favorites this year!

Nosferatu

I am a huge fan of Robert Eggers (I absolutely love The Witch, The Lighthouse, and The Northman) so I have been eagerly anticipating Nosferatu ever since I heard about it!  I finally had a chance to see it at the Broadway with my nephew last night and, as predicted, I think it is a masterpiece!  Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) is a lonely and melancholy young girl who yearns for someone to love her when her thoughts are invaded by an evil creature.  Several years later she is now married to Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult), a solicitor in Wisborg, Germany.  He is sent by his employer Herr Knock (Simon McBurney) to visit the eccentric Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgard) in his remote castle in the Carpathian Mountains in order to finalize the purchase of an estate in Wisborg while she remains with their friends Anna and Friedrich Harding (Emma Corrin and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, respectively).  Count Orlok is revealed to be the creature from Ellen's dreams and, when he sees a locket that she gave to Hutter, he plans to claim her once again.  Hutter escapes but Orlok follows him so he must enlist the help of Abin Eberhart Van Franz (Willem Dafoe), a disgraced professor with an interest in the occult who recognizes the mythology of a demonic force known as Nosferatu, in order to save Ellen.  This is a remake of the 1922 silent film of the same name and is loosely based on Dracula by Bram Stoker.  I sometimes taught this novel so I really enjoyed finding both the similarities and the differences between the two narratives (the biggest difference is the use of the mythology surrounding vampires).  This version is incredibly atmospheric with tension that escalates very slowly so it is unsettling rather than scary (which disappointed some people in our audience).  The visuals are amazing (Eggers is known for his aesthetic and I love it), particularly the way that shots are framed and the use of light and shadow, and the sound design is so menacing (especially Orlok's voice).  I also loved the score because it really adds to the sense of dread.  The design for Count Orlok is very effective because it is unnerving more for what you don't see than for what you do (I was surprised by how little screen time Skarsgard actually has).  The tone is very bleak and some may be put off by that (particularly the ending) but I think it really works and matches the material very well.  Finally, I enjoyed all of the performances but I was especially impressed by Depp.  I was nervous when she was announced as a replacement for Anya Taylor-Joy but her physicality is brilliant and her portrayal of mental illness, particularly as she loses control, feels very authentic.  I had very high expectations and they were definitely met because, while it won't be for everyone, I found it spellbinding!

Christmas 2024

Yesterday was a lovely day!  I celebrated Christmas with my family at my sister Kristine's house and everything was planned by my nephew.  We exchanged stockings (I had Sean and Trent had me) and then we opened presents while it snowed outside (it was quite magical).  I got a quilt, sheets, and pillows for my new bed, an air fryer (which I am really excited to start using), some new shoes, and the movie Dune Part Two (which I am really excited to watch).  We were all very spoiled this year!  After opening presents we continued the tradition started by my mom of having cinnamon rolls and orange juice (this year Kristine made the cinnamon rolls and they were delicious).  In the afternoon we had a wonderful dinner of chicken cordon bleu, twice baked potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, fruit salad, and rolls.  In the evening we ate lots of treats and played Shanghai rummy, which always gets crazy (I won), then had pie.  It was such a great Christmas and I hope all of you also had a nice day with family and friends.

Nathan Pacheco Christmas Concert 2024

I tagged along with my sister Marilyn and her friend Kelli to Nathan Pachecho's Christmas concert at Abravanel Hall last year and I loved it so much I got a ticket for this year's concert and tagged along again (although this year I was one of the cool kids and was invited to dinner at Little America before the show). The concert was last night and, once again, Pacheco put on an amazing show. He began with "God Bless Us Everyone" from the movie Scrooge and "Hark! The Herald Angel Sings" and then told the crowd that it would be an eclectic evening with both Christmas songs and other songs he likes to perform. Then he proceeded to sing "Nessun Dorma" from Puccini's opera Turandot, "Questa O Quello" from Verdi's opera Rigoletto, and "Time to Say Goodbye" just because he can (he is a classically trained tenor with an incredible voice). He called the next section the musical theatre portion of the concert and sang "Bring Him Home" from Les Miserables (this gave me goosebumps) and "Who We Become" from his own musical Beloved. Next came emotional renditions of "Come As You Are" and "Forever" from his album Higher. He returned to Christmas songs with a beautiful performance of "Mary, Did You Know?' and then continued with "Angels We Have Heard on High," "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" (this was a dramatic arrangement featuring the cello and I loved it), "White Christmas," and "Silent Night." He sang a powerful version of "I Believe in Christ" which brought everyone at Abravanel Hall to their feet. I first learned about Nathan Pacheco when he was a guest vocalist at one of Kurt Bestor's Christmas concerts and he sang one of the best versions of "O Holy Night" that I have ever heard. I was really hoping that he would sing it last night and I was thrilled when he ended the concert with it. I have been so lucky to hear this performed live four times this season (this was my final Christmas concert this year) and I think I saved the best for last because I had goosebumps through the whole thing. For the encore, he performed "The Prayer" which is one of his best known songs. I thoroughly enjoyed this concert because every song he sang was beautiful and he was so charming with the crowd! I hope that I will be able to see him again next year.

Note:  During dinner we talked about the song we each hoped that he would sing.  I, of course, wanted to hear "O Holy Night," Marilyn wanted to hear "Nessun Dorma," Kelli wanted to hear "I Believe in Christ," and Teri (Kelli's daughter-in-law) wanted to hear "The Prayer."  All four of us got to hear our favorites so the night was a complete success!

Gingerbread Houses 2024

Last night we had our annual gingerbread house party and we had a lot of fun!  We always buy kits and this year we got ones that were pre-built (although we had to fix a bit of damage) which saved us a lot of time.  We also always buy more candy to supplement what comes with each kit.

Our gingerbread village

Sean's house

My house

Marilyn's house

Kristine's house

We have had a lot of fun doing lots of Christmas activities with Sean this season!