2020: Year In Review

 What a year it has been!  I had so many plans for 2020 (I was looking forward to seeing Hamilton in three different cities, a road trip to Denver to see the Colorado Avalanche, and an amazing trip to Iceland) but I could never have imagined that a global pandemic would change everything in March.  All of my plans were either canceled or postponed, I was quarantined for two weeks, I finished the school year by teaching online, I retired without any of the usual celebrations, and I had to adapt to the new normal of wearing a mask and social distancing.  This year had been difficult and I am definitely glad to see the end of it but, looking back, there have been lots of great memories, too.  I know that this year has been much more difficult for so many people who have faced financial hardship, illness, and the loss of loved ones so I am especially grateful for all of the small moments of joy that I have been able to experience despite Covid-19.

I received season tickets to the Smith Center in Las Vegas last year for Christmas.  I was able to take a road trip to see one of the shows, Escape to Margaritaville, in January before all of the theaters were closed.  It was a lot of fun.

I had a fantastic time at the Sundance Film Festival in January seeing 16 films in 10 days at five different venues with some of the coolest people from around the world.

The biggest event of 2020 was my retirement in May after teaching for 30 years in the Granite School District (at Kearns Jr. High and Hunter High Schools).  What an amazing career!

Even though I couldn't travel internationally (or even to other states for most of the spring and summer) I decided to visit some of the places that I have always wanted to see in Utah.  Here I am at the Spiral Jetty art installation near the Great Salt Lake in May.

At Antelope Island State Park in the middle of the Great Salt Lake in June.

At the Golden Spike National Historic Site (where the Transcontinental Railroad was completed) in June.

My annual camping trip to Hanna in June.  Nature was such a solace this year!

Sean and I decided to take some educational field trips on Fridays (we have some planned for 2021, too).  One of the first places we visited was Red Butte Garden in July.

The Sunflower Festival at Cross E Ranch in July.

A family camping trip in Hanna in July.

At the Bonneville Salt Flats (a place I have always wanted to visit) in July.

A fun and relaxing week at my favorite KOA in Fillmore (including day trips to Capitol Reef National Park, Zion National Park, and Bryce Canyon National Park) in August.

A trip to Hogle Zoo with Sean in October.

A visit to This Is The Place Heritage Park with Sean in October.

A visit to the Tracy Aviary with Sean in October.

Thanksgiving with my family in November.

I have no idea what 2021 has in store but I am hopeful and, whatever happens, I will keep trying to find joy in the little things.  Wishing everyone a happy and healthy new year!

Favorite Movies of 2020

In a normal year I usually see well over 100 new releases.  Clearly this year was anything but normal but I was still somehow able to see 75 movies (including about 20 that I saw on various streaming platforms while movie theaters were closed).  When I compile my list of favorites for the year I don't really take into account the critical response or the box office receipts; I only think about the movies that I really enjoyed for one reason or another so the list is usually an eclectic one.  In that regard, this year is not much different than any other year!  So, without further ado, here are the movies I loved in 2020 (click the title to read my original review).

10.  Promising Young Woman

This movie blew my mind when I first saw it at Sundance this year and I enjoyed it just as much when I saw it again a few days ago.  I love dark comedies and this one is brilliant because it is a subversion of the traditional revenge story with an ending that I was not expecting.  It features laser sharp direction from Emerald Fennell, an outstanding performance from Carey Mulligan, an incongruous cotton candy visual style that belies the rage simmering beneath the surface, and a clever soundtrack that does much to enhance the mood.  It is a lot of fun to watch (surprisingly) but it is also a provocative indictment of rape culture that I haven't been able to stop thinking about for almost a year.

9.  The Way Back

I love the theme of redemption and an underdog sports story gets me every time so it is easy to see why I enjoyed this movie.  Ben Affleck gives one of the best performances of his career in a role that is pretty unsympathetic.  The story of a tormented alcoholic who is asked to coach his former high school basketball team and discovers that the only way to help them is to help himself is incredibly affecting.  The basketball sequences are thrilling because director Gavin O'Connor puts the audience right in the middle of the action and the score really adds to the intensity.  This is the kind of movie that makes you want to stand up and cheer and I loved it.

8.  The Gentlemen

This movie is an absolute blast to watch because it is a return to director Guy Ritchie doing what Guy Ritchie does best!  He has created a group of eccentric characters, assembled an all-star cast who look like they are having the time of their lives (especially Hugh Grant who is hilarious in an against-type role), devised a plot with enough twists and turns to keep the audience guessing until the final scene, and incorporated fast cuts and styled action sequences that are thrilling to watch!  It is a bit of escapist fun and I laughed out loud through the whole thing!

7.  The Invisible Man

This is a brilliant psychological thriller made all the more menacing because it is entirely believable.  The monster from the H.G. Wells classic novel has been updated to a villain (a domestic abuser who takes gaslighting to a whole new level) that contemporary audiences can readily relate to.  The tension builds and builds, more for what you can't see than for what you can, until there is a twist that I didn't see coming and a resolution that made me want to cheer.  Elisabeth Moss gives a riveting performances and I was fully invested in her plight as a woman whom no one believes.  I like to be scared by horror films rather than shocked and this is genuinely scary.

6.  The Prom

As a fan of musical theatre, I had so much fun watching this feel-good story that is also a colorful and sparkly love letter to Broadway.  I loved every song, especially "We Look to You," "Love Thy Neighbor," and "Unruly Heart."  I loved every performance, but I found newcomer Jo Ellen Pellman as a teenager who just wants to go to the prom with her girlfriend to be absolutely luminous and Ariana DeBose as a girl who feels compelled to hide who she really is to be incredibly powerful.  I loved all of the choreography, particularly the Fosse-inspired "Zazz" and the exuberant "It's Time to Dance."  I loved the message that everyone should be accepted for who they are and who they love.  I loved everything about this movie and I have already watched it again numerous times now that it is streaming on Netflix.

5.  News of the World

This is an old-fashioned Western that is incredibly beautiful to look at with an equally beautiful message about different people (and a nation) coming together to heal during the tumultuous days after the Civil War.  Tom Hanks gives an affecting performance as a former Confederate Captain, tormented by all he has seen and done in the war, who takes it upon himself to take a young girl on a treacherous journey to her family.  They bond over a series of misadventures and help each other confront the demons of the past.  Damaged characters finding redemption is a favorite theme of mine and I found this contemplative story to be incredibly touching.

4.  Tenet

This movie was the first big blockbuster to hit theaters after the lockdown so I may have enjoyed it more than is actually warranted but enjoy it I did.  In fact, I was pretty much blown away by this action thriller!  An unnamed protagonist must stop a Russian oligarch, who has access to technology invented in the future which allows people to travel backwards through time, from triggering a catastrophic event.  I had only the vaguest notion of what was going on but that didn't matter because the action sequences are incredible and they kept me riveted, especially a battle where some of the soldiers are moving forward in time and some are moving backward.  It was so much fun to see this on the big screen (and so much fun to try and unravel the complicated plot).

3.  Emma

Anya Taylor-Joy is perfect as a matchmaker who meets her match in this delightful new adaptation of the Jane Austen classic.  I loved her chemistry with Johnny Flynn as Mr. Knightley, especially when they dance at a ball and touch hands for just the briefest moment (it is unbearably romantic).  She is surrounded by an eccentric group of characters in the village of Highbury who are brought to life by an outstanding ensemble cast, including the scene-stealing Miranda Hart as the chatty old maid Miss Bates, the dashing Josh O'Connor as the lovelorn Mr. Elton, and the brilliant Bill Nighy as the hypochondriac Mr. Woodhouse (I laughed out loud every time he moved a screen because he felt a draft).  The production design is sumptuous with beautiful interiors, bucolic exteriors, and period-perfect costumes.  Literary adaptations are my jam.  Speaking of which...

2.  The Personal History of David Copperfield

I also really enjoyed this hilarious adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic starring Dev Patel as the title character.  David Copperfield describes his many adventures with friends and enemies who come and go and teach him the important life lessons that turn him into a celebrated author.  It is an incredibly whimsical and satirical version of the novel that had me laughing out loud throughout, especially when Mr. Micawber goes to great lengths to avoid his creditors, when Aunt Betsey tries to rid her lawn of an infestation of donkeys, and when Mr. Dick becomes preoccupied with the thoughts of Charles I.  The entire cast is wonderful, the bold and colorful costumes are so much fun, and the production design, which blurs the line between imagination and reality, is incredibly original and theatrical.  This was one of the first new movies that I saw on the big screen after the lockdown and I loved it.

1.  Nine Days

This beautiful and thought-provoking exploration of what it means to be human is my favorite movie from the Sundance Film Festival this year and my favorite movie of 2020!  On another plane of existence (an isolated house in the desert), a man who was once alive (Winston Duke, in a phenomenal performance) interviews a group of souls given temporary existence over a period of nine days in order to choose one of them for the privilege of being born.  He tests them to see if they can handle the pain and sorrow of living but he is ultimately reminded by one of the souls (Zazie Beetz) that there is also happiness and joy to be found in life.  The final resolution is so poignant that I had tears streaming down my face and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since I saw it almost a year ago.  This movie is scheduled to have a wide release next summer and I highly recommend it!

Honorable Mentions:  The Assistant, The Devil All The Time, Ammonite, Mank, and Soul.

Promising Young Woman

I saw Promising Young Woman at Sundance this year (that seems like such a long time ago) and it was definitely one of my favorites from the festival so I was really excited to see it again last night now that it is in wide release!  Thirty year old Cassie Thomas (Carey Mulligan) is still living at home with her parents and working at a dead-end job in a coffee shop.  She is clearly troubled and spends her weekends dressing provocatively, going to bars, pretending to be drunk, and assaulting the men who try to take advantage of her.  It is eventually revealed that her life was derailed by a traumatic incident when she was in medical school and that it caused her to drop out.  It seems that her life has been in limbo ever since but everything changes when she has a chance encounter with Ryan Cooper (Bo Burnham), a former classmate.  She begins a relationship with him and starts to take an interest in life again but, when she learns of his involvement in the incident, she becomes intent on exacting revenge.  You think you know where the action is going and then there is a major twist and, while you are still processing what just happened, there is another one (which made the crowd in my screening at Sundance cheer out loud).  It is absolutely brilliant!  I love a good dark comedy and this is a quirky and subversive take on the traditional revenge story.  Carey Mulligan gives one of the best performances of her career as a woman who is broken but also angry.  She is scary when she lashes out against men who seem nice but are not and she shows vulnerability when she finds one who actually is.  All of writer/director Emerald Fennell's choices are so specific and stylized, from the decor in Cassie's house, which seems to belong in another era, to the clothes and hairstyles Cassie wears, which are more appropriate for a teenager, and they serve to emphasize the fact that time has stopped for Cassie and that she can't put the incident behind her.  The needle drops are also incredibly clever, especially "Boys" by Charli XCX, "He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss)" by Carmen DeLeon, an instrumental version of "Toxic" by Britney Spears, and "Angel Of The Morning" by Juice Newton (in the aforementioned pivotal scene which prompted applause and cheering).  There are some jarring tonal shifts but the whole movie is so audacious that it is best to just go along for the ride.  I loved it and I recommend it to fans of dark comedies.

News of the World

I was never much of a fan of Westerns until I saw a remake of The Magnificent Seven a few years ago and discovered a newfound affinity for the genre.  This is why I was really excited to see News of the World yesterday and, since it is an old fashioned Western where a damaged protagonist finds redemption, I absolutely loved it!  After the Civil War, former Confederate Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Tom Hanks) travels from town to town reading the news to people who don't have the time to read it themselves.  He tempers the sometimes difficult news about Reconstruction with kindness and compassion but he is clearly tormented by all that he has seen and done in the war.  While traveling through Texas, he comes across a young girl (Helena Zengel) who was taken and raised by the Kiowa people after her family was massacred.  He learns that her name is Johanna Leonberger and that a Black scout for the Bureau of Indian Affairs was taking her to relatives in the town of Castroville but he was lynched on the way and she is on her own.  Despite the fact that the route is a treacherous one, Kidd decides to take her to Castroville himself.  They have a series of misadventures on the trail where they come to rely on each other for survival and eventually help each other confront the demons of the past.  This movie is incredibly beautiful to look at with an equally beautiful message about different people (and a nation) coming together to heal.  Director Paul Greengrass, known primarily for explosive action and frenetic hand-held camera work, is a bit more restrained here but there are still some thrilling and suspenseful action sequences such as a shoot-out in a canyon, a riot instigated by one of Kidd's readings, a runaway horse, and a terrifying windstorm.  Greengrass also imbues many scenes with a poignancy that is subdued but no less effective, particularly when Johanna visits the site of her family's massacre and when Kidd returns to his home and memories in San Antonio.  Hanks, who excels at playing these noble everyman roles (I've heard him referred to as the Jimmy Stewart of our time), gives a highly nuanced performance that is quite affecting and newcomer Zengel holds her own with the veteran actor.  The swelling score by James Newton Howard is incredibly atmospheric and the authentic production design places the audience right in the middle of the chaos of Reconstruction.  This contemplative character study is one of my favorites this year and I highly recommend it!

Wonder Woman 1984

Other than Tenet there haven't been any big-budget Hollywood blockbusters in movie theaters this year so I have been anticipating the release of Wonder Woman 1984 for a long time!  I saw it last night in an IMAX theater with Dolby ATMOS sound and, while it didn't quite live up to the original, I loved the spectacle (I think it should be seen on the big screen with a giant tub of popcorn, if at all possible) and the message.  It is 1984 and Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) curates antiquities at the Smithsonian and anonymously rounds up criminals as Wonder Woman but she is sad and lonely because she has been mourning the loss of her lover Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) for over sixty years.  She is befriended by Barbara Minerva (Kristen Wiig), a gemologist at the Smithsonian who is warm and compassionate but also awkward, mousy, and forgettable.  The Smithsonian acquires an ancient artifact that is purported to grant the wish of anyone who touches it and both Diana and Barbara wish for their deepest desires, not really believing that they will come true.  Barbara idolizes Diana and her wish is to be just like her which leads to more confidence and, rather unexpectedly, an increase in strength.  Max Lord (Pedro Pascal), a sleazy oil tycoon, visits the Smithsonian looking for the artifact which he believes he can use to save his failing business.  He seduces Barbara so that she will give it to him and ultimately wishes for world domination.  The artifact grants wishes but also takes what the recipient holds dear in return; however, even though Diana's strength is depleted and Barbara loses her humanity, they are unwilling to renounce their wishes.  As Lord's wish causes instability in the Middle East and brings the world to the brink of nuclear war, Diana must decide what is most important.  For me, this movie lacks the emotional resonance of Wonder Woman and is a bit convoluted but there is still a lot to enjoy.  Some of the best scenes from the original are when Diana is a fish-out-of-water who marvels at everything she sees in the modern world of 1918.  These are mimicked when Steve is amazed by the technology of 1984, especially supersonic planes and escalators, and there is even a fun scene with Steve trying on clothes. The loud and colorful action set pieces are thrilling, particularly a car chase in the Egyptian desert and a stand-off in a corridor of the White House, and there is a truly awe-inspiring sequence that gave me goosebumps.  More of the Wonder Woman mythology is introduced, including the invisible jet and the Golden Eagle armor, and these scenes are also clever and exciting.  Gadot gives another charismatic performance and I loved Diana's character arc because, even though she is less naive than she once was, she is still eventually motivated by the goodness within mankind in a pivotal scene.  Both Wiig and Pascal look like they are having a lot of fun portraying these over-the-top villains, especially Pascal as a megalomaniac con-man who perfectly embodies the excess of the era.  The story is a powerful indictment of greed and instant gratification and I really liked the message that it is better to live with the truth than an illusion.  I loved seeing this with a large socially distanced crowd (and the aforementioned popcorn) and I would definitely recommend it!

Note:  There is mid-credits scene with a really fun cameo but no end-credits scene.

Soul

After opening presents yesterday I watched the new Pixar movie Soul which is now streaming on Disney+.  It is an incredibly clever exploration of the true meaning of life that is funny, touching, and profound.  I really loved it!  Joe Gardner (Jamie Foxx) is a jazz pianist who has aspirations of being a professional musician but is stuck in a job as a middle school band teacher.  He gets the opportunity of a lifetime when he auditions for jazz legend Dorothea Williams (Angela Bassett) and is offered a position in her band.  On his way home to prepare for the gig he has an accident and his soul leaves his body.  Angry that he has died right before his big break, he runs away from the Great Beyond, which is the afterlife, and ends up in the Great Before, where souls get their personalities before coming to Earth.  Joe eventually poses as an instructor and is assigned to mentor 22 (Tina Fey), a soul who has been in the Great Before for many years because she doesn't see the point of living.  Joe decides to help 22 find her spark and is helped by Moonwind Stardancer (Graham Norton), an enlightened soul who sends them both to Earth, and is pursued by Terry (Rachel House), an accountant who is obsessed with finding the missing soul in her count.  As Joe helps 22 find her passion through a series of adventures with his mother Libba (Phylicia Rashad), his neighbor Paul (Daveed Diggs), his barber Dez (Donnell Rawlings), and his student Connie (Cathy Cavadini), he also learns the importance of living life to the fullest.  I loved the message that the journey itself is just as important as the destination and that you shouldn't get so caught up in achieving a big goal that you miss out on the little things that give life meaning.  I loved the character design, especially the shape-shifting line drawings (they reminded me of Cubist paintings) used for the mentor souls because they are the physical manifestations of a theoretical construct and the almost amorphous shapes of the new souls because they have not yet developed any characteristics.  Finally, I loved all of the humorous pop culture references (as with most Disney and Pixar animated movies I think this is actually much funnier for adults than for children), particularly the commentary on 22's former mentors Mother Teresa, Copernicus, Mohammad Ali, Marie Antoinette, Abraham Lincoln, and Carl Jung.  I also laughed out loud over a reference to Tetris!  This movie is even better than I thought it would be (there is an amusing twist about midway through that I wasn't expecting) and I highly recommend it.

Note:  I am not a huge fan of jazz music but I enjoyed the songs composed by Jon Batiste, especially the music performed by Joe when he is in the "zone."  I also loved the ethereal score, composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, used in the Great Beyond and the Great Before.

Christmas 2020

I was given very strict instructions by Sean to be at my parents' house by 8:00 yesterday morning to start opening presents and I made with a few minutes to spare!  He was a bit excited!  We always take turns opening presents one at a time, starting with the youngest (Sean) to the oldest (my Mom), so it takes a couple of hours but it is so much fun.  It is also tradition to have cinnamon rolls and orange juice while we open.

Sean got a bunch of new games and, after we opened presents, we didn't see him again for the rest of the day because he was downloading and playing them.  Tashena's big present was an Apple watch and now I think I need one!  I got a new rolling duffel bag, a puffer jacket that folds into a small bag, a Hydro Flask, some winter boots, and some more DVDs for my Alfred Hitchcock collection.  If I am actually able to go to Iceland next year I am all set!  My Dad gave everyone $50 which is a tradition we have had since my sisters and I were really young (Sean already bought another game online).  In the afternoon we had a wonderful Christmas dinner with turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, pomegranate salad, rolls, and vegetables with dip.  We took a break and then had another game of Shanghai rummy.  I didn't come in last place this time but it still wasn't pretty!  It was a really nice Christmas!

Monster Hunter

I thought my nephew, an avid gamer, would want to see Monster Hunter with me since it is based on a popular video game but, apparently, he thinks the game is really stupid so he declined my offer.  He gave me a very detailed explanation of why he doesn't like it but, frankly, I didn't understand most of what he told me and I thought the movie sounded interesting so I saw it last night.  I should have listened to him.  A group of U.S. Army Rangers led by Captain Artemis (Milla Jovovich) go in search of a missing unit in the desert.  A sand and lightening storm transports them to another world where they find what is left of the missing unit and then what killed them.  After an intense battle with a giant monster, Artemis is the only member of her unit to survive.  Soon she encounters a mysterious Hunter (Tony Jaa) and, after they realize that they are allies rather then enemies, they join together to fight one of the biggest monsters.  Up to this point, I was willing to suspend my disbelief and just go with what was happening even though there was very little exposition, character development, or plot because I liked the goofy camaraderie between the Ranger and the Hunter (who do not speak the same language) and I liked the fact that it takes both her advanced weapons and his more primitive ones to defeat the monster.  I also liked the design of the monsters and the action sequences are a lot of fun even if the editing is a bit choppy.  However, in the third act everything goes off the rails when the two of them meet the Admiral (Ron Perlman) and his band of pirates (and a cat that acts like a human!) who were also transported to this alternate world in the prologue.  He provides a bit of an explanation and then they all embark on a mission to get Artemis back home which necessitates fighting another terrifying monster.  The tone is so wacky in this act that it seems like an entirely different movie (I rolled my eyes when the cat made an appearance because it seems so out of place).  The final action sequence (with the coolest monster in the movie) ends so abruptly that it is obvious the filmmakers are trying to set up a possible sequel but let's hope it doesn't come to that!  I can definitely enjoy an escapist action movie as much as the next person but this is just so bad (people in my screening were laughing out loud by the end of it).  I will never doubt my nephew again!

Gingerbread Houses 2020

On the Sunday before Christmas Marilyn and I have a tradition of making gingerbread houses with Sean and Tashena so that is what we did last night.  This is so much fun because we always have a few mishaps and we usually eat more candy than we put on our houses!

My house sort of turned into a Peppermint Palace.

Tashena meticulously piped all of the snowflakes on her house and I think it turned out so beautiful.

Sean just does his own thing and I love it!

I love the snow on Marilyn's house.

Our Gingerbread Village!

I love how they all turned out this year!

We Need a Lot of Christmas Concert at CPT

For the second weekend in a row I found myself at CenterPoint Theatre for a Christmas-themed program! Last night, twelve incredibly talented performers, including Sterling Allen, Darin J. Beardall, Daylen Bills, Paul Dixon, Emily Erdman, Annie Ferrin, Kyra Furman, Mailee Halpin, Michael Hernandez, Isaac Larsen, Kacee Neff, and Jana Plowman, presented an evening of Christmas songs from Broadway and the silver screen. As someone who absolutely loves hearing Christmas music performed live, I thoroughly enjoyed this concert! The program included "Spirit of the Season" from The Polar Express, "We Need A Little Christmas" from Mame, "It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas" from Miracle on 34th Street, "12 Days to Christmas" from She Loves Me, "Somewhere In My Memory" from Home Alone, "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch" from How The Grinch Stole Christmas, "Snow" from White Christmas, "Silver Bells" from The Lemon Drop Kid, "Christmas Is My Favorite Time Of Year" from Catch Me If You Can, "The Christmas Song" from Jingle All The Way, "One More Sleep 'Til Christmas" and "It Feels Like Christmas" from The Muppet Christmas Carol, "A Christmas Song" from Elf, "New Deal For Christmas" from Annie, "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" from Meet Me In St. Louis, "Happy Holidays" and "Holiday Inn" from Holiday Inn, and "White Christmas" from White Christmas. The stage was decorated like a winter wonderland with pine trees and giant snow flakes, the costumes had a very retro feel with lots of plaid and cardigan sweaters, and every number was creatively staged to mimic its counterpart from the stage and screen with the addition of a few props and a bit of choreography. My favorite numbers were "12 Days to Christmas," which added three tables filled with perfume to represent Maraczek's Parfumerie and manic choreography featuring customers trying to do their last-minute Christmas shopping (I absolutely love this show), "One More Sleep 'Til Christmas" and "It Feels Like Christmas," because they featured puppets (the children sitting in front of me lost their minds when they started singing), and "White Christmas," because it concluded the concert with snow falling on the stage and an audience sing-along just like in the movie (one of my favorites). The entire show had the feel of a performing arts Christmas program at a local high school in a small town where everyone in the community attends and I really loved that. It provided a bit of nostalgic Christmas cheer at a time when we could all really use it! Unfortunately, last night was the final performance of this show.

Tarzan at HCT

HCT's 2013 production of Tarzan, with Derek Smith in the title role, was the first time I saw the popular Disney musical. I absolutely loved it so I was really excited to see their latest production, especially on the new stage, yesterday afternoon. I was also thrilled to learn that Smith was reprising his role as Tarzan! This musical tells the well-known story by Edgar Rice Burroughs about a human boy who is adopted by a group of apes after his parents are killed in the African jungle. Kerchak (Preston Taylor), the leader of a tribe of gorillas, is not happy when his wife Kala (Beatriz Melo) adopts the boy Tarzan (Toby Worland) because he thinks he doesn't belong. Tarzan struggles to keep up with the rest of the tribe until he is befriended by Terk (Caleb Hafen) who shows him how to be a gorilla.  When Tarzan teaches Terk how to make a spear for picking fruit, Kerchak is frightened that Tarzan will hurt the other gorillas and exiles him. Tarzan is distraught and wonders where he really belongs so Kala decides to stay with him. Years go by and Tarzan (Smith) is welcomed back into the tribe after he kills a leopard that has been terrorizing them for years. However, when Professor Porter (Mark Pulham) and his daughter Jane (Sophia Guerrero) bring an expedition to the jungle, Kerchak worries that Tarzan's interactions with the humans, especially Jane, will bring harm to the tribe. When Clayton (Josh Durfey), a member of the expedition, threatens the gorillas Tarzan must decide whether he belongs with Jane and the humans or with his adopted family. This show is a dazzling spectacle and I loved everything about it! Smith is an incredibly charismatic and athletic Tarzan (at one point he is swinging on a vine that he is holding on to with just one arm) but he can also really sing! My favorite song in the show is "Strangers Like Me" and Smith's rendition of it in the 2013 production is what made me a fan of this musical. I basically sat through the whole first half anticipating this number and it definitely did not disappoint. It gave me goosebumps! Smith also just about blows the roof off the theater with his version of "Everything That I Am." Guerrero is charmingly dorky as Jane, especially when she first meets Tarzan and is trying to hide the fact that she finds him attractive. I really enjoyed her performance of the songs "Waiting For This Moment" and "For The First Time" because she is so full of wonder (for the flora and fauna and then for Tarzan, respectively). I think my favorite performance in the show is Hafen as Terk. He is so full of goofy enthusiasm that he brought a smile to my face (under my mask) every time he was on stage. I loved his rendition of "Who Better Than Me" because he has such great facial expressions. He also got the audience cheering out loud during "Trashin' The Camp." Other standouts in the cast include Melo as Kala, because her version of "You'll Be In My Heart" is very affecting, and Worland as the young Tarzan, because he is adorable and gives such a heartfelt performance of "I Need to Know." The aerialists in this show are amazing and I almost missed the adult Tarzan's dramatic entrance in "Son of Man" because I was paying so much attention to the flying gorillas! I did miss a key moment between Tarzan and Jane because I was fascinated by the aerialists in the flowers during "Waiting For This Moment." I loved the costumes, the set pieces that come down from the ceiling and up from the pit, and the dramatic fluorescent lighting. This is such a great production and I am so grateful that HCT added some afternoon performances so that I could see it! There are a few tickets available for shows later in the run (go here) and I highly recommend getting one!

Fiddler on the Roof

Even though I recently saw the movie version of Fiddler on the Roof on one of my streaming platforms (I can't remember which one), I couldn't miss out on an opportunity to see it on the big screen last night because I love it so much!  Tevye (Topol) is a poor Jewish milkman living in the small village of Anatevka in Imperial Russia with his wife Golde (Norma Crane) and five daughters.  He clings to his traditions to help him deal with the hardships of life but his daughters Tzeitel (Rosalind Harris), Hodel (Michele Marsh), and Chava (Neva Small) challenge those traditions by choosing to marry Motel (Leonard Frey), Perchik (Paul Michael Glaser), and Fyedka (Raymond Lovelock), respectively, without a matchmaker.  Watching this movie makes me so happy and I eagerly anticipate all of my favorite songs, especially "Tradition," "Matchmaker, Matchmaker," "If I Were a Rich Man," "Sabbath Prayer," "Sunrise, Sunset," "Far From the Home I Love," and "Anatevka."  I tried really hard, unsuccessfully, not to sing along!  The choreography is fantastic and I really love the Russian dance in "To Life," the bottle dance during the wedding, and the ballet sequence in "Chavaleh" but my very favorite production number is "Tevye's Dream" because I once played Fruma-Sarah and it is always fun to see her!  I'm pretty sure that I sang every word with Ruth Madoc!  I always really enjoy Topol's portrayal of Tevye because he imbues the role with quite a bit of humor, especially with his conversations with God and his interactions with Golde (the scene where he wants to see Motel's sewing machine kills me every time), but he also shows vulnerability when he rejects Chava.  I also really like Frey because he is so adorably dorky as Motel, particularly in the song "Miracle of Miracles."  I have seen this movie dozens of times but last night I was struck by the fact that all of Tevye's clothes are threadbare, even the coat he wears at the wedding.  I have never noticed that before (probably because I've never seen it on such a big screen).  I also noticed that the shot composition in "Tradition" is mirrored in "Anatevka" which I think is really effective.  I don't think I will ever get tired of seeing this movie (or the stage musical, for that matter) and I highly recommend seeing it as part of the TCM Big Screen Classics series (go here for information and tickets).

Note:  I have really enjoyed the TCM Big Screen Classics series this year (I went to as many of them as I could).  The selections for next year have been announced and are as follows:  The Maltese Falcon, Boyz n the Hood, The Ten Commandments, La Bamba, Fried Green Tomatoes, The Birdcage, The African Queen, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Citizen Kane, The Silence of the Lambs, West Side Story, and On Golden Pond.  I think I am most looking forward to The Maltese Falcon and The Ten Commandments.  Are you looking forward to any of these movies?

A Christmas Carol at CPT

Last night I attended another performance of A Christmas Carol and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  CenterPoint Theatre is presenting the musical version of the classic Christmas story with a cast of fifteen actors performing all of the roles, beautiful period costumes, a minimal set, and clever projections. The redemption of the miser Ebenezer Scrooge (Nick Cash) begins when he is visited by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley (Lee Wright) who tells him that he will also be visited by the Ghosts of Christmas Past (Kristina Boler), Present (Alexander "Xander" Richey), and Future (Julia Loveland-Bradford). These ghosts show Scrooge the true meaning of Christmas with the help of his clerk Bob Cratchit (John Lee Roring), Cratchit's son Tiny Tim (McGuire Bingham), his former employer Mr. Fezziwig (Craig Hovorka), and his nephew Fred (Derek Marsden).  I really enjoyed all of the songs in this show but my favorites are "You Mean More to Be" by Cratchit and Tiny Tim, "Link By Link" by Marley's Ghost, "The Lights of Long Ago" by the Ghost of Christmas Past (Boler has a beautiful voice), and "A Place Called Home" by Scrooge. The choreography for the songs "Mr. Fezziwig's Annual Christmas Ball," "Christmas Together," "Dancing on Your Grave," and "God Bless Us Everyone" is very innovative because these numbers involve the entire cast but the actors are still able to maintain some distance from each other. In addition to the beautiful Victorian costumes (my favorites were those worn by all of the ghosts, especially the Ghost of Christmas Future), all of the actors wear clear protective shields but after a few minutes I didn't even notice them any more. The set consists of a series of black platforms at various levels (much like those used for this show) with projections to represent Scrooge's rooms, the Cratchit house, Fred's house, Fezziwig's warehouse, and the streets of London.  Even though the set is very minimal I thought it was effective.  All of the actors give heartfelt performances but I particularly enjoyed Cash as Scrooge because his transformation is authentic and Bingham as Tiny Tim because he is so adorable. If you are looking for a dose of Christmas cheer this show will definitely give you some and I recommend it for the whole family. It runs on the Barlow Main Stage on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays through December 19. Tickets are $18 on the main floor and $15 for the balcony (go here).

Note:  I have been so impressed with all of the measures that CPT has taken to keep all of their actors and their patrons safe while still providing entertainment for the community.

The Midnight Sky

Last night I had the chance to see The Midnight Sky, a movie that I have been anticipating for weeks, and I found it to be incredibly thought-provoking and surprisingly poignant.  In 2049 an unnamed cataclysmic event is in the process of destroying the Earth.  An observatory in the Arctic is evacuated as people try to return home to their loved ones.  Augustine Lofthouse (George Clooney), an astrophysicist who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, elects to stay behind because, as we learn from several flashbacks to a failed relationship, he has no one in his life.  As he monitors the satellites, he discovers that the Aether, a deep-space craft that has been on a two-year mission to explore one of Jupiter's habitable moons, is on its way back to Earth.  He also discovers that a mysterious child named Iris (Caoillinn Springall) has inadvertently been left behind at the observatory.  He tries to contact the Aether to warn them of Earth's impending doom but the antenna at the observatory is not strong enough to reach them.  He makes the decision to go further north to a weather station with a stronger antenna and embarks on an increasingly perilous journey with Iris.  Meanwhile, the crew of the Aether, Sully (Felicity Jones), Tom (David Oyelowo), Maya (Tiffany Boone), Sanchez (Demian Bichir), and Mitchell (Kyle Chandler), must make dangerous repairs to restore communication with Lofthouse.  When they learn the truth about the Earth's fate, the crew must make difficult decisions about their futures.  This movie is a meditative portrait of a man who has spent his life avoiding personal responsibilities only to become solely responsible for a young girl and the crew of a spacecraft.  His character arc is very compelling and the twist at the end is incredibly powerful.  While there are some spectacular action sequences, such as a space walk in the middle of flying debris and a terrifying blizzard, the pace is very slow and deliberate so it might not appeal to fans of more traditional sci-fi thrillers.  Clooney gives a riveting performance, one of his best, and the supporting cast is uniformly excellent.  The visuals are spectacular and the score by Alexandre Desplat, one of my favorite film composers, is absolutely brilliant.  Even though the narrative is sometimes a bit derivative (there are lots of comparisons to Gravity, The Martian, Ad Astra, and The Revenant), I was still thinking about the themes of isolation, survival, and hope long after I left the theater.  I definitely recommend seeing this on the biggest screen possible but it will stream on Netflix beginning December 23.

Wild Mountain Thyme

When I saw the trailer for Wild Mountain Thyme I thought it sounded really familiar.  It turns out that it is an adaptation of the play Outside Mullingar by John Patrick Shanley.  I absolutely loved this play when it was performed at PTC a few years ago so I decided to see the movie last night (even though it was the second romantic drama this week).  Tony Reilly (Christopher Walken) and Aoife Muldoon (Dearbhla Molloy), who live on adjoining farms in Ireland, are both getting old and are contemplating their mortality.  Tony, especially, is concerned about leaving his farm to his son Anthony (Jamie Dornan) because he shows no sign of getting married and won't have any children to leave it to when he dies.  Tony briefly considers selling it to his nephew Adam (Jon Hamm), who visits from America, but Tony eventually realizes that he just wants it for an investment.  Tony then decides that the best solution would be for Anthony to marry Aoife's daughter Rosemary (Emily Blunt) because she has been in love with him since childhood.  However, Rosemary is too caught up in her romantic notions of love to approach him and Anthony is seemingly oblivious to her feelings.  Will they ever get together or will Adam's interest in Rosemary ruin Anthony's chances?  I did not enjoy this as much as I hoped I would.  Much has been made about the laughable Irish accents but that didn't bother me as much as the portrayal of the two main characters did.  In the play, Rosemary and Anthony are funny and eccentric people who are clearly meant to be together but just haven't realized it yet.  In the movie, they are angry in their interactions with each other (without the witty back and forth banter that I loved so much in the play) and they come across as totally unlikable.  I can't decide if this is because of how the characters are written (the playwright also wrote the script) in the movie or if it is just how Dornan and Blunt chose to portray them.  When they finally do get together, it is so sudden that it doesn't seem at all believable (it doesn't help that Dornan and Blunt have zero chemistry).  One minute they are screaming at each other and the next they are kissing in the rain.  Anthony's reason for keeping his distance from Rosemary, which is sweet and charming in the play, is just bizarre in the movie because the characterization isn't there to support it. The addition of Adam, a character who is only alluded to in the play, as a love interest who comes between Anthony and Rosemary lessens the impact of their romance because it takes the interference of someone else for Anthony to finally realize that he loves Rosemary.  Unfortunately, something that I really loved on the stage falls horribly flat on the screen so I would recommend giving Wild Mountain Thyme a miss.

All My Life

I'm not really one for weepy romantic dramas (although I really enjoyed this one) but All My Life is a true story about a couple from my home province of Ontario so I decided to see it last night.  It is actually pretty good and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.  Jennifer Carter (Jessica Rothe) is a graduate student in psychology and Solomon Chau (Harry Shum, Jr.) works at a job in marketing that he hates when they meet, fall in love, and impulsively decide to move in together.  Jenn convinces Sol to quit his job and follow his dream of becoming a chef because the time to take action is now or never.  They get engaged and begin planning a modest wedding when Sol is diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his liver.  They are optimistic about his treatment but their friends decide to create a GoFundMe page and plan various local fundraisers to give them the wedding of their dreams.  When his cancer becomes more aggressive, Sol tries to break off their engagement to save Jenn from heartache but she reminds him once again that the time to live is now or never.  This movie is quite innocuous with nothing very earth-shattering or ground-breaking to say but, as I mentioned, I did enjoy it.  Jenn and Sol are incredibly appealing characters and the sequences where they fall in love are really fun as are the fundraising and wedding planning montages.  They are decent people who handle the adversity in their lives with love and laughter and their story is a sweet one about living every day to the fullest.  Both Rothe and Shum give affecting performances (I may or may not have had a tear in my eye during the wedding) and they have a lot of chemistry with each other.  I usually find movies like this to be emotionally manipulative but, while it is tragic, the narrative focuses more on how the couple deals with Sol's illness rather than the illness itself and I really appreciated that.  I liked this movie so fans of the genre are sure to love it!

Note:  Sol proposes to Jenn by having a flash mob sing "Don't Look Back In Anger" by Oasis and their first dance at the wedding is to "Lovesong" by The Cure.  If that doesn't convince you to see this movie, I don't know what will!

Sean's Sixteenth Birthday!

Yesterday my family celebrated my nephew Sean's sixteenth birthday (his actual birthday was last Thursday).  Sean picked hamburgers and fries for dinner and then we had a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake.

I got Sean a game for his X-box (he specifically requested it and even sent me a link for it on Amazon) but it is not going to be released until Thursday (I have strict instructions to bring it to him the second it is delivered to my house because he doesn't want to hear any spoilers from anyone online).  I wanted him to have something to open so I got him an X-box gift card.  He was not expecting it so he was pretty excited!

Sean really loves The Flash (he is actually wearing a shirt with The Flash on it which we thought was hilarious) so Marilyn made him a quilt featuring his favorite character!  It turned out so cute and he was really excited to get it!

Marilyn bought a Flash pattern for her embroidery machine so my parents had her embroider it on some towels, a beanie, and a hoodie!

I suspect that he will want the Flash symbol embroidered on everything he owns!  I can't believe that he is 16!