Dead of Winter

My nephew spontaneously joined me to see the action thriller Dead of Winter last night and we both really liked it (I liked it even more than I thought I would).  Barb Lindquist (Emma Thompson) is a recently widowed woman who runs a bait and tackle shop in northern Minnesota.  She embarks on a solo ice fishing trip to Lake Hilda, where she had her first date with her husband Karl, but gets lost in a blizzard and must ask for directions from a man (Marc Menchaca) at an isolated and dilapidated cabin.  She suspects that something is amiss at the cabin but continues on to the lake and reminisces about past fishing trips with her husband (Thompson's daughter Gaia Wise plays a young Barb and Cuan Hosty-Blaney plays a young Karl in flashbacks).  Her reverie is interrupted when she sees the man from the cabin restraining a young girl (Laurel Marsden) at gunpoint.  She follows them back to the cabin and, when she learns that the man and his wife (Judy Greer) plan to kill the girl (for reasons), she realizes that she is her only hope for rescue.  It was interesting to see Thompson in a role unlike anything she has done before (and initially a bit jarring to hear her speak with a Minnesota accent even though she pulls it off) and I was very impressed with her physical performance, especially during the final confrontation with Greer (also playing against type) on the frozen lake, as well as with the emotional depth she imbues the character without a lot of dialogue.  The action sequences are very compelling because Barb, as an older woman, is forced to use her ingenuity and both the stark winter landscape and the atmospheric score add to the tension.  I am a fan of movies featuring an ordinary person in extraordinary circumstances and this is a really good one.  It is a bit under the radar (we only found one theater showing it in our area) but it is worth seeking out.

Eleanor the Great

Last night my nephew and I returned to the Broadway (I have been there a lot this week) to see Eleanor the Great, Scarlett Johansson's directorial debut, and we both enjoyed it.  Eleanor Morgenstein (June Squibb) moves from Florida back to New York to live with her daughter Lisa (Jessica Hecht) after her longtime best friend Bessie (Rita Zohar) dies unexpectedly.  Her busy and distracted daughter signs her up for a class at the JCC but she accidentally ends up in a Holocaust survivor's support group.  When it is her turn to share with the group, she wants to explain the mistake but, because she feels so welcomed by the members, she tells Bessie's survival story as her own and this gets the attention of Nina (Erin Kellyman), a young journalism student grappling with the recent death of her mother who wants to profile Eleanor for an assignment.  They begin an unlikely friendship which helps Eleanor with her loneliness and Nina with her grief but it is tested when Eleanor's story takes on a life of its own and spirals out of control.  I think Eleanor's actions might be problematic for some, especially since it involves a very sensitive subject, and the resolution is a bit too convenient without much examination but Squibb is undeniably charismatic and delivers such a charming performance (one of her very best) that it compensates for many of the movie's flaws.  I also really enjoyed Kellyman's sensitive performance because it is a very authentic portrayal of grief (a scene where she smells the sweater that belonged to her mother is very moving and brought a tear to my eye) and a monologue by Zohar in the third act is incredibly powerful (I really liked that Bessie is the one talking about her experiences in flashbacks whenever Eleanor tells the story).  Much of this is very conventional, including the cinematography, editing, production design, and score, but I was charmed by the performances and think it is worth seeing for them.

Note:  My nephew was the youngest person in the theater and I was the second youngest!

Peter and the Starcatcher at the Empress Theatre

I think Peter and the Starcatcher is the perfect production for a small community theatre like the Empress because the show uses imagination to tell the backstory of Peter Pan so the set is usually very minimal and the actors pantomime much of the action and use ordinary objects as props like children do while playing make-believe. I saw the Empress Theatre's version last night and I absolutely love what they did with it because it is, well, very imaginative! Lord Aster (Brad A. Goodman), a "starcatcher," travels with a trunk of "starstuff" on a fast ship called The Wasp in order to destroy it before the pirate Back Stache (Alexander Richardson) and his first mate Smee (Gwen Jonsson) can steal it. His daughter Molly (Camille Bassett), an apprentice "starcatcher," is placed on a slower ship, The Neverland, with another trunk as a decoy and meets three orphan boys, including an unnamed boy (Koda Smith), while on board. When Molly discovers that the trunks have been switched, she convinces the orphans to help her complete her father's task. However, Black Stache also discovers the switch and attacks The Neverland which leads to a confrontation on an island, populated by hostile natives and enchanted by the "starstuff," during which Black Stache is transformed into the villain Captain Hook and the boy is transformed into the hero Peter Pan. I was impressed with some really clever staging and choreography, especially when cast members locate their costumes on stage and become their characters in front of the audience, when Black Stache attacks The Neverland with the Jolly Roger flag and uses it in a duel with the Union Jack, and when the crocodile appears from the balcony (with two red lights as eyes and strings of white bunting as teeth). I also loved all of the ingenious props (the model ships in bottles representing The Wasp and The Neverland and the hairbrush used as a microphone are so fun) and costumes (I laughed out loud at the iridescent fans used as mermaid tails and the woven placements worn by the natives). Everyone in the cast, many of whom play multiple roles, brings a childlike sense of wonder to their characters, especially Smith because he is incredibly vulnerable as Peter, Jonsson because she is so hilariously befuddled as Smee, and Zack Anderson because he (this role is always played by a man to great comedic effect) is very silly as Molly's nanny Mrs. Bumbrake. My favorite character in this show is Black Stache and Richardson definitely did not disappoint with his petulant facial expressions and over the top physicality, particularly in the scene when he loses his hand. I love this show (I think it is because, like Peter Pan, I never grew up) and I love this production because, more than any other version I've seen, it really does feel like a group of people who are using their imaginations to tell a story! I definitely recommend getting a ticket (go here) during its run through October 11.

One Battle After Another

I have been trying to keep my expectations in check lately because I have been disappointed by many of my most anticipated movies this year but it was really hard not to be excited for an early screening of One Battle After Another at the Broadway last night.  Luckily the hype for this is real because both my nephew and I loved it!  "Ghetto" Pat Calhoun (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor) are militants in a far-left revolutionary group known as French 75.  When the group rescues migrants from a detention center in California, Perfidia humiliates the commanding officer, Colonel Steven Lockjaw (Sean Penn), and he becomes fixated on her.  Pat and Perfidia begin a relationship and eventually have a daughter they name Charlene.  However, when a mission goes wrong, Lockjaw captures Perfidia which forces Pat and his daughter to go on the run and assume the names Bob and Willa Ferguson.  Lockjaw locates them living in a sanctuary city in Texas sixteen years later and, under the guise of a drug enforcement raid, he dispatches soldiers to capture Willa (Chase Infiniti) for reasons.  Deandra (Regina Hall), a French 75 member, arrives to warn them and Bob turns to Willa's karate sensei, Sergio St. Carlos (Benicio del Toro) for help rescuing her from Lockjaw.  This is an incredible spectacle with lots of twists and turns that kept me completely engaged and fantastic action set pieces that kept me on the edge of my seat, especially a suspenseful chase sequence involving three cars on an undulating road in the desert (the way this is filmed is absolutely brilliant because you never really know where the cars are in relation to each other and I was holding my breath the whole time).  This also had me and the rest of the audience laughing out loud, particularly the interactions between DiCaprio and del Toro and a running bit where Bob cannot remember any of the passwords used by French 75.  As funny as this is, the relationship between Bob and his daughter is really touching and the message about fighting for social justice is powerful.  DiCaprio is always great and Penn really leans into his character's villainy in one of his best performances but I was especially impressed with Infiniti because she delivers on both the emotion and the physicality (I really liked her character's arc).  This is one of Paul Thomas Anderson's most entertaining movies and it is one of my favorites this year.  I highly recommend it!

A Big Bold Beautiful Journey

I was on the fence about A Big Bold Beautiful Journey because the trailer didn't really do it for me but I ultimately decided to see it at the Broadway last night because I really like the director Kogonada (I think After Yang is brilliant) as well as actors Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie.  I should have trusted my instincts because I found this very disappointing.  David (Farrell) and Sarah (Robbie), both unhappy and alone, are compelled to rent the same 1994 Saturn SL from a quirky agency in order to attend an out of town wedding.  They meet and immediately decide that they are all wrong for each other but, when Sarah's car won't start, David offers to drive her home.  However, the GPS device (voiced by Jodie Turner-Smith) directs them to stop at various locations where they find doors that are really portals to various moments from their past, both real and imagined, which provide them with epiphanies intended to help them realize that they belong together.  I have to admit that this kind of movie is not really my thing but I think that even fans of the genre will find this as lifeless and boring as I did.  The premise of going back in time to learn from past mistakes is really intriguing but I could never figure out what the characters were meant to learn from these interludes because there are so many conflicting ideas and the filmmakers clearly think they are more profound than they actually are.  Farrell and Robbie are good actors but their performances in this are so bland (Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Kevin Kline are more interesting in their brief time on screen as employees of the car rental agency) and they have absolutely no chemistry (at no time did I think the characters belonged together).  The dialogue is incredibly contrived, even for a high concept film, and I started losing interest after yet another endless conversation about how wrong Sarah is for David.  Some of the visuals are gorgeous and I liked all of the Laufey needle drops but this was definitely a slog to get through and I recommend giving it a miss.