Nuremberg

Last night my nephew and I were able to attend an early screening of Nuremberg which included a livestreamed Q&A with Russell Crowe and the director James Vanderbilt.  It is very compelling and, unfortunately, very timely.  After the surrender of Hermann Goring (Crowe), the Allies disagree over how to bring him and the other captured Nazi leaders to justice.  The Soviets propose a show trial with a predetermined outcome while the British advocate for summary executions.  U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson (Michael Shannon) wants to punish them but he also wants to show the world irrefutable evidence of what the Nazis did so he proposes a public military tribunal conducted by the Americans, British, French, and Soviets in Nuremberg, the site of many Nazi rallies.  Dr. Douglas Kelley (Rami Malek), a military psychiatrist, is brought to the prison to determine if the defendants are competent to stand trial and he engages in a thrilling battle of wits with Goring.  However, as Kelley spends more and more time with Goring, his opinion of him becomes increasingly sympathetic, especially after he delivers letters to Goring's wife Emmy (Lotte Verbeek) and daughter Edda (Fleur Bremmer), until the true nature of what occurred in the concentration camps is revealed during the trial.  This prompts him to disclose privileged information to Jackson to help him incriminate Goring on the stand.  This movie is riveting and my attention never wavered during the entire two and a half hour runtime.  There are several moments that I found to be incredibly powerful, including a scene when a translator played by Leo Woodall tries to convince Kelley to help Jackson by saying that the atrocities committed by the Nazis happened because people stood by and did nothing and a scene when Kelley is promoting his book about the trials and says that what happened in Nazi Germany will happen again because people abandon their humanity in the pursuit of power, and I think this is definitely a movie that everyone should see right now.  The supporting cast is outstanding, particularly Woodall (as Sgt. Howie Triest) who gives the aforementioned emotional monologue about being an advocate for the Jews who died, John Slattery (as Col. Burton Andrus) who provides a bit of levity as the no-nonsense commandant of the prison, and Richard E. Grant (as the British prosecutor Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe) who has a stand-up-and-cheer moment during the trial.  Malek, Crowe, and Shannon give brilliant performances (I think it is the best of Malek's career) and their interactions are explosive, especially when Jackson reminds Kelley of the importance of what they are doing in the ruins of the Nazi parade grounds, when Kelley confronts Goring about the concentration camps, and when Jackson interrogates Goring on the stand.  Crowe mentioned in the Q&A that they were able to film the trial scene in one day because he and Shannon are from Krypton (an amusing reference to their characters from Man of Steel).  I loved the verisimilitude in the production design (most notably the accuracy in the recreation of the courtroom), because it allows for the seamless integration of real footage (the film showing the actual liberation of the camps is incredibly harrowing to watch), and in the costumes (Goring is known for wearing light blue uniforms of his own design).  This is a thrilling and entertaining movie but it is also an important one and I highly recommend it.

Maroon 5 at the Delta Center

I randomly heard the song "Harder to Breathe" on the radio in my car late at night more than twenty years ago and I loved it but I didn't hear the name or the artist.  As hard as it is to believe in 2025, I had a really hard time finding out this information because none of my friends or students had heard it (kids today will never know the pain of listening to the radio for hours just to hear a particular song).  When I eventually figured it out, I bought Maroon 5's debut album Songs About Jane and listened to it incessantly (the CD survived the massive purge I did before moving into my current house).  I was so obsessed with the song and album that I went to see a band I didn't especially like (Matchbox Twenty) just because Maroon 5 was opening for them.  I've been a huge fan ever since and have seen them headline several times (go here and here).  I was absolutely thrilled when they announced a tour in support of their latest album, Love Is Like, and I had so much fun at the concert last night.  Midway through the show Adam Levine thanked the audience for supporting them for so long and mentioned that the concert with Matchbox Twenty was the first time they performed in SLC.  Almost all of the people sitting around me had been there!  They sang "California" from the new album but they mostly played the hits which made the crowd very happy!  They began the show with "Harder to Breathe," which made me very happy, and also played "She Will Be Loved," "Sunday Morning," and "This Love" from Songs About Jane.  Other highlights included "Lucky Strike," "Animals," "One More Night," "Misery," "Won't Go Home Without You," "Maps," "Love Somebody," "Don't Wanna Know," and "Girls Like You."  These songs brought back so many memories and I remembered the words to every one even though I hadn't heard them for a long time!  They performed a very heartfelt rendition of "Memories," which they dedicated to their agent Jordan Feldstein who died in 2017, and included photos submitted by the audience of people they wished to remember on their giant screen.  They concluded their main set with a rousing rendition of "Moves Like Jagger" and then performed "Payphone" and "Sugar" for the encore.  Levine, who spent most of the night strutting down the long runway into the crowd, sounded great (he can still hit those high notes) and he was incredibly energetic and engaging!  It is always great to see a band who evokes a specific time in your life (I felt like that girl singing "Harder to Breathe" in her car at the top of her lungs once again) and I loved every minute!

Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 1

Last night I went to my first Utah Symphony concert of the 2025-2026 season because the program featured one of my favorite composers (Rachmaninoff) and one of my favorite guest conductors (David Robertson).  I had a wonderful time and I even saw the cute little ladies I used to sit by when I subscribed to the Masterworks series (they told me they missed me).  The orchestra began with Memoriale by Pierre Boulez with a small chamber group consisting of three violins, two violas, a cello, two horns, and a solo flute.  This piece originally began as a tribute to Igor Stravinsky but evolved into one for Lawrence Beauregard, the principal flutist of a chamber group founded by Boulez who died at age 28.  I really liked all of the "special effects" performed by Utah Symphony principal flutist Mercedes Smith and the way the rest of the instruments interacted with the flute.  Next came Anemology (Saxophone Concerto) by Steven Mackey, which was written for last night's soloist Timothy McAllister.  Mackey was there to introduce the piece and he explained that the saxophone is the wind (anemology is the study of air movement) and the rest of the orchestra is the landscape that is animated by its movement.  It is rare to have a saxophone in a classical piece and I really enjoyed the integration of a rock and blues sound.  I especially loved the second movement, which mimicked the sound of wind through trees, because it featured lots of fun percussion instruments such as wind chimes and rain sticks.  McAllister was fun to watch because he was incredibly animated.  After the intermission, the orchestra performed Symphony No. 1 by Sergei Rachmaninoff.  I love Rachmaninoff because I think his music is so dramatic and I was really excited to hear this particular piece because I had never heard it live before (this was its first ever performance by the Utah Symphony).  The theme played by the brass at the end of the first movement is absolutely thrilling, the melody played by the clarinets in the third movement is beautiful, and the theme played by the strings is powerfully emphasized by the brass and percussion (I loved the gong) in the fourth movement.  It was an amazing performance!  Robertson is so personable and engaging on the podium and he made me laugh when he told the crowd that the orchestra was still going to perform the last movement when they applauded after the third one.  This was a great concert and I recommend getting a ticket for tonight's performance of the same program (go here).

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere

Yesterday I went back to the Broadway (I pretty much live there) for a matinee of Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere and I loved it!  Bruce Springsteen (Jeremy Allen White) is exhausted after a grueling world tour and, despite feeling pressure from his record company to capitalize on the success of "Hungry Heart," he decides to return to his hometown in New Jersey to relax and get away from his growing fame.  Instead, he is assaulted by memories of his childhood, especially his troubled relationship with his father Douglas (Stephen Graham), and begins an ill-fated relationship with the sister (Odessa Young) of a high school friend which leads to an existential crisis.  He writes songs that are darker in tone as a way to cope and eventually enlists his guitar tech Mike Batlan (Paul Walter Hauser) to help him make a stripped down demo tape using a four-track recorder in his bedroom.  He also writes and records "Born in the U.S.A," "Glory Days," and "I'm on Fire," which his producer Jon Landau (Jeremy Strong) wants to release, but he insists on releasing the rough version of his earlier songs which eventually becomes the album Nebraska.  Landau ultimately fights the record company for what Springsteen wants, even going to extraordinary lengths to find equipment that preserves the sound on the demo tape, because he sees that it is a form of catharsis for him.  After facing his demons, Springsteen is able to record the album Born in the U.S.A. which makes him a global superstar.  I love that this focuses on a seminal period in Springsteen's life rather than using a traditional biopic structure and I found the story to be incredibly emotional and compelling.  White delivers a brilliant performance because, while he doesn't look exactly like Springsteen (which distracted me at first), he captures both his physicality, especially on stage, and his singing voice.  However, it is his portrayal of Springsteen's pain that impressed me most, particularly a scene when he finally allows himself to cry (it is a very powerful turning point).  Finally, I loved hearing all of the songs on Nebraska because I wasn't familiar with them and it was fascinating to see the creative process behind writing, recording, and mastering them.  I really enjoyed this and highly recommend it.

Shelby Oaks

My nephew joined me once again for Shelby Oaks, the final movie in my epic triple feature yesterday.  Writer/director Chris Stuckmann is a popular YouTube movie critic (I often watch his channel) who made this movie by fundraising on Kickstarter so I was really intrigued and excited to see it.  Unfortunately, I found it to be a jumbled and derivative mess despite an interesting premise and a strong beginning.  Riley Brennan (Sarah Durn) hosted the popular YouTube series "Paranormal Paranoids" with her friends David (Eric Francis Melaragni), Peter (Anthony Baldasare), and Laura (Caisey Cole) before the four of them disappeared while investigating the ghost town Shelby Oaks twelve years earlier.  Three of them were eventually found dead but Mia Brennan (Camille Sullivan) still believes that her sister Riley is alive.  She is interviewed about her search for her sister for a true crime documentary which also includes footage from one of the group's cameras showing a terrified Riley right before she disappeared.  After Mia discovers a second camera which shows footage of an abandoned prison in Shelby Oaks, she conducts research about a prisoner named Wilson Miles (Charlie Talbert) which leads her to his dilapidated cabin and answers about what happened to Riley.  I really liked the mockumentary structure because it presents the backstory about the disappearance in a way that I found compelling.  I also liked the use of found footage because it is very atmospheric and unsettling.  However, when the narrative shifts to Mia's investigation in Shelby Oaks, it loses focus and momentum and I became less engaged.  This is obviously an homage to Stuckmann's favorite horror movies but, with so many references to movies such as The Blair Witch Project, Rosemary's Baby, The Omen, and Hereditary (to name a few), the story lacks cohesion and feels incomplete (I actually fell asleep for about five minutes and it felt like I missed an hour's worth of plot development).  Finally, so much of what happens strains credulity with Mia making bad decision after bad decision just to advance the plot (including an incomprehensible one that leads to an incredibly unsatisfying ending).  I really wanted to like this after rooting for Stuckmann to get it made for so long but I cannot recommend it.