Limbo

I am a huge fan of dark comedies and comedies of the absurd so I absolutely loved Limbo, which I saw last night.  Omar (Amir El-Masry) has recently fled war-torn Syria and is seeking asylum in England.  While he waits for his status to be resolved, he is detained on a desolate island in the outer Hebrides in Scotland with a group of refugees, including Farhad (Vikash Bhai), Wasef (Ola Orebiyi), and Abedi (Kwabena Ansah).  Omar spends his days trekking to a pay phone (the only cell phone service on the island is located at the top of a mountain) to talk to his parents who have relocated to Turkey and to inquire after his brother Nabil who remained in Syria as a freedom fighter, Farhad "adopts" a chicken and names him after his idol Freddie Mercury, while the brothers argue about whether Wasef will be able to play for Chelsea F.C. and about whether Rachel and Ross were on a break (they find a DVD box set of Friends at the donation centre).  The refugees also spend time in cultural awareness classes, run by Helga (Sidse Babette Knudsen) and Boris (Kenneth Collard), to help them fit in but the locals still think they are terrorists.  These episodes and others provide much comic relief (I laughed out loud multiple times) but the main narrative is incredibly poignant.  Omar carries his grandfather's oud, a traditional stringed instrument, with him everywhere he goes but he never plays it because it represents his identity, which has become blurred.  He must make peace with his decision to leave Syria and with his brother (Kais Nashef), who he thinks disapproves of his decision, before he can play and move on with his life.  I was incredibly invested in the character of Omar and his fate because El-Masry gives a performance that is both sensitive and powerful.  His expressionless, yet somehow mournful, gaze communicates everything he is feeling so effectively, even more than the dialogue.  The juxtaposition of this with a video on his phone, which he watches multiple times, of him playing the oud at a concert and joyfully acknowledging his family (one of the best uses of an aspect ratio change I've ever seen) is absolutely brilliant.  The highly composed wide shots of the barren landscape serve to emphasize the isolation the refugees feel as does the production design which features an almost empty apartment where the refugees live and a barely stocked grocery store where Omar tries, unsuccessfully, to find the ingredients for a recipe his mother gives him.  I honestly loved everything about this movie because it is both humorous and affecting while quietly portraying the harsh realities that refugees face.  I couldn't recommend this more!

Note:  I read a review comparing this to a Yorgos Lanthimos movie in tone and a Wes Anderson movie in execution.  Since I am a fan of both of these directors, it is no surprise that I loved it!

Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street

I have lots of memories of watching Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood when I was a little kid.  After finishing each episode I would immediately watch it again dubbed in French on the French channel (I grew up in Canada) because I loved both shows so much.  Since I enjoyed Won't You Be My Neighbor?, I was really excited to see Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street yesterday.  Like the former, this documentary about the making of the iconic children's show brought back so many childhood memories and I absolutely loved it!  In the late 1960s most of the programming for children was made to sell products to the white middle class parents of the children who watched it and it was also an era when many children were spending most of the day in front of the television while their parents worked (one study showed that even very young children could recite all of the words to a jingle for a beer commercial).  Because many low-income minority children were educationally behind when they started school, a television executive named Joan Cooney had the idea that a television show could use the same principles of advertising to teach letters and numbers to these children to compensate for the deficit.  Writer and director Jon Stone was recruited to develop a show and he had the idea to use an authentic neighborhood street to appeal to the target audience of inner-city children.  Puppeteer Jim Henson was recruited to help the show capture and retain the attention of the children with his puppets.  Composer Joe Raposo was recruited to write catchy songs to reinforce educational concepts (I remembered every word to every song featured in this documentary even though it has been almost forty years since I heard them).  This extraordinary collaboration resulted in one of the most groundbreaking shows in television history which has had a profound impact on generations of children.  Archival footage and contemporary interviews with many involved with the show, including the actors who played the beloved characters Gordon, Susan, Bob, Luis, and Maria, provide a fascinating look behind the scenes and I was especially interested to learn about how intentional each episode was with very specific cognitive and affective goals.  Big Bird is one of my favorite puppets (I was deeply offended as a child when no one would believe Big Bird about the existence of Mr. Snuffleupagus) and I love that his character was developed in order to learn along with the children.  The most poignant learning opportunity was when the characters tell Big Bird that Mr. Hooper has died in order to teach the audience about death.  I had a few tears in my eyes but I also laughed and laughed at the puppet blooper reel.  This was a delightful journey back to the street where I spent much of my childhood and I highly recommend it!

Four Good Days

It seems like a lot of the movies that screened at the Sundance Film Festival last year are finally getting a wide release after being postponed due to Covid.  I remember being really intrigued by Four Good Days at the time (even though I ultimately picked other films) so I decided to see it last night.  Molly (Mila Kunis), a heroin addict for the past ten years, randomly shows up on the doorstep of her mother, Deb (Glenn Close), who refuses to let her in.  Deb has spent years trying to help her get clean, including fourteen stints in rehab, but Molly has always relapsed and this has wreaked havoc on her entire family, including her step-father Chris (Stepehen Root), her father Dale (Sam Hennings), her sister Ashley (Carla Gallo), her ex-husband Sean (Joshua Leonard), and her children Colton (Nicholas Oteri) and Chloe (Audrey Lynn).  Deb ultimately relents and drives her to a clinic where she detoxes for three days.  A doctor at the clinic offers Molly the chance for a monthly shot of Naltrexone, which eliminates the craving for opioids, but she needs to be drug free for one week in order to be eligible for it.  Since she needs to stay clean for four more days, Deb allows her to move back home.  These four days are fraught with tension as the two of them give vent to the simmering recriminations in their relationship.  This is a fairly typical addiction movie such as we have seen many times before (Ben is Back and Beautiful Boy are much better explorations of how parents cope with children who are addicts) and it has the usual story arc but the material is elevated by the performances of both Close and Kunis.  Close is incredibly poignant as a mother who loves her daughter but is torn between desperately wanting to help and knowing that her help won't make a difference in her daughter's recovery.  Kunis is almost unrecognizable in a gritty and authentic performance that is one of her best, especially in a scene where Molly speaks to a high school health class about the realities of addiction.  This was not quite as good as I was expecting it to be but it is still worth checking it out when it becomes available as a VOD on May 21.

Thierry Fischer Conducts Bach, Wynton Marsalis, Carter & Wagner

Everyone in attendance at Abravanel Hall last night was treated to a very eclectic Utah Symphony concert and I, being one of the lucky few in the audience, absolutely loved it!  The orchestra began with a really fun piece by Johann Sebastian Bach called Concerto for Two Violins with Madeline Adkins and Claude Halter as soloists.  I especially loved the first and third movements because of the lively themes played by the soloists who seemed to respond to each other, almost as if they were dueling!  Abravanel Hall was then turned into an intimate jazz club for the next two numbers by Elliott Carter and Wynton Marsalis, respectively.  Two small ensemble groups were formed on either side of the stage with dramatic lighting as each performed.  One group played Double Trio by Carter, which was incredibly dynamic with lots of different percussion instruments and themes played by trumpet and trombone, and the other played selections from A Fiddler's Tale by Marsalis, which featured several different styles of jazz.  I am not a huge fan of jazz but I really enjoyed these pieces and I must admit that I was tapping my toes during the final selection, The Blues on Top, from A Fiddler's Tale because the musicians were definitely playing the blues and it seemed like they were having so much fun improvising (Thierry Fischer even left the podium for the last few moments to let them jam).  The concert concluded with the beautiful Siegfried Idyll by Richard Wagner.  This was written as a birthday present for Wagner's second wife Cosima, with whom he had a passionate affair before marrying her, after the birth of their son Siegfried.  I thought it was incredibly romantic and I particularly loved all of the themes played by the woodwinds.  Each of the these pieces were so different but I loved them all and I highly recommend getting a ticket to this program which will be repeated tonight and tomorrow night (go here for tickets).

Mortal Kombat

I didn't know anything about the game, the characters, or the mythology but my nephew really wanted to see Mortal Kombat, the new movie adaptation of the popular gaming franchise, so we went to see it last night.  I had only the vaguest notion of what was going on but Sean, who loves the game, giggled through the whole thing so it was a lot of fun for me to watch it with him.  In 17th century Japan, a ninja named Bi-Han (Joe Taslim) kills his rival Hanzo Hasashi (Hiroyuki Sanada) and his wife and son.  He thinks that he has destroyed Hanzo's entire bloodline but his baby daughter is rescued by Lord Raiden (Tadanobu Asano), the god of thunder.  In the present, the Outworld, under the control of the sorcerer Shang Tsung (Chin Han), has defeated the Earthrealm, under the control of Lord Raiden, in nine out of ten deathmatch tournaments known as Mortal Kombat.  If they can win one more time the Outworld will conquer the Earthrealm but Shang Tsung discovers a prophecy that says the blood of Hanzo Hasashi will defeat them.  Lord Raiden assembles a group at his temple, including existing champions Liu Kang (Ludi Lin) and Kung Lao (Max Huang), Special Forces soldiers Jackson "Jax" Briggs (Mehcad Brooks) and Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee), an Australian mercenary named Kano (Josh Lawson), and a down-and-out former MMA champion named Cole Young (Lewis Tan), to find their arcana, or special power, and train for the tournament. Shang Tsung assembles Bi-Han, Mileena (Sisi Stringer), Nitara (Mel Jarnson), Kabal (Daniel Nelson), Reiko (Nathan Jones), and Goro (Angus Sampson) to fight them and an insane amount of graphic violence ensues.  When Bi-Han, now known as Sub-Zero, attacks Cole's wife Allison (Laura Brent) and daughter Emily (Matilda Kimber), Cole learns that he is a descendant of Hanzo.  He challenges Sub-Zero which reawakens Hanzo, now known as Scorpion, and this ultimately leads to an epic battle between Sub-Zero and Scorpion.  The story is very convoluted but it hardly matters because the action is so exciting.  Everyone in my screening cheered when each character was introduced and again during each battle, of which there are many.  As I mentioned, Sean absolutely loved this movie and I suspect fans of the game will love it as well (I didn't hate it but it probably won't feature in my top ten list at the end of the year).  I recommend it to gamers with the caveat that there is a tremendous amount of very graphic violence and a lot of profanity.

Note:  The movie ends when Lord Raiden asks his champions to locate more possible champions to train for the next battle so there is the possibility of a sequel.  Sean cheered out loud when Johnny Cage was mentioned!

Madeline Adkins Plays The Lark Ascending

I always love it when I have a Utah Symphony concert to look forward to at the end of the week and last night's concert was definitely worth the wait!  The orchestra, once again under the baton of Music Director Thierry Fischer, began with Symphony No. 30 "Alleluia" by Joseph Haydn.  In my opinion (take it for what it’s worth because I really don't know much about classical music) this piece is incredibly melodic with themes that are light, airy, and celebratory.  I especially loved the theme played by the flute in the second movement because it is so happy and cheerful.  Next came The Lark Ascending by Ralph Vaughan Williams with Concertmaster Madeline Adkins as soloist.  This is one of the most beautiful pieces I've ever heard and I found it to be incredibly moving.  It is based on a poem of the same name by George Meredith and the solo violin represents a lark taking flight while the rest of the orchestra represents the verdant English countryside below it.  It was composed just before World War I and it is now viewed as a nostalgic ode to an idyllic bygone era before the world lost its innocence.  Like the first piece, is also incredibly melodic and I had such beautiful images of sun dappled fields in my mind as I listened.  Adkins played it brilliantly and I think the entire audience was collectively holding its breath as she played the final transcendent notes before erupting into thunderous applause (the loudest I’ve heard from a socially distanced crowd).  The concert concluded with Arnold Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony No. 1.  This piece was in stark contrast to the two that preceded it because it is much more modern and, in my opinion, sometimes quite jarring.  It features ten woodwinds and five strings, with every musician functioning as a soloist, and the usual five sections within a more traditional symphony are condensed into one movement.  The pacing is relentless, almost frantic, but there is a more somber and mournful section towards the end of the piece that really appealed to me.  This concert was the perfect end to the week and I highly recommend getting a ticket to tonight's concert which features the same program (go here).

Note:  I really like Madeline Adkins.  I met her once at a Utah Symphony after party at BTG, a wine bar downtown, and she was very charming (please take a moment to be impressed that I sometimes attend Utah Symphony after parties).

Daddy Long Legs at HCT

I vaguely remember watching the movie Daddy Long Legs, starring Fred Astaire and Leslie Caron, on my black and white TV late at night when I was in high school. However, I was totally unfamiliar with the stage musical so I didn't really know what to expect when I attended HCT's production of this show last night. I ended up absolutely loving it! At the turn of the century, Jerusha Abbott (Kelly Coombs) is the oldest orphan at the John Grier Home but a young and wealthy Trustee named Jervis Pendleton (David Paul Smith), impressed by one of her essays about living at an orphanage, decides to send her to college so she can become a writer. He will pay her tuition and all of her living expenses on the condition that he remain anonymous and that she writes him a letter once a month to inform him of her progress. Not knowing his name she decides to call him Daddy Long Legs, referring to the tall shadow she saw leaving the orphanage, in her letters which prove to be enchanting to Jervis. Against his better judgment he meets her without revealing that he is her benefactor and then falls in love with her. Jerusha also falls in love with him but, when she pours her heart out about him to Daddy Long Legs in her letters, it creates much confusion as he struggles to decide whether to reveal himself to her. I love Jerusha as a character because she grows and develops so much as a person throughout the course of the show and I really appreciate the fact that she pays her benefactor back before beginning a relationship with him because she proves herself to be his equal. She has such a thirst for knowledge (I love that she has a new favorite subject to denote each year in school) and for new experiences (I love her sense of wonder while on a cultural weekend in Manhattan) so it was easy for me to relate to and sympathize with her. Coombs is absolutely delightful in the role and Smith is incredibly earnest as Jervis. They both have amazing voices and palpable chemistry with each other. I particularly enjoyed the scenes while Jervis is jealous when Jerusha mentions Jimmy McBride in her letters. It is really impressive that the two of them carry this show entirely by themselves with demanding songs, rapid-fire dialogue, high energy blocking, and multiple costume changes which happen right on stage. I was also very impressed by the live band on stage consisting of Kelly DeHaan on piano, Josh Ogden on cello, and Bryan Matthew Hague on guitar. The music is quite stirring, especially the guitar, and I really liked the songs "Like Other Girls," "Things I Didn't Know," "What Does She Mean By Love?" and "The Secret of Happiness." The set is ingenious with two levels and a pulley system between them to allow the characters to be separate while in the same scene and the inclusion of props stored in strategically placed suitcases and trunks quickly transforms the space multiple times without a pause. The actors utilize the space very effectively (I was sitting on the extreme right side of the theatre and there were only a few times when I couldn't see the action which is sometimes more of an issue). My only complaint, which is a minor one, is that I grew impatient in the second act for the characters to just get together already (I don't think this is a spoiler because, to me, it is a foregone conclusion) because the action gets bogged down a bit and many of the songs are reprises. Nevertheless, I loved this show much more than I was expecting to and I highly recommend it (go here for tickets). It runs on the Jewel Box Stage through June 12.

Note:  I also highly recommend Les Miserables which is currently playing on the Young Living Stage. Many performances are sold out but some matinees have recently been added later in the run (go here for tickets).

The Music Man at CPT

Last night it was so much fun to see a full production of The Music Man at Centerpoint Legacy Theatre (the first for CPT since the pandemic). I really love all of the old classic musicals, especially The Music Man, because they remind me so much of my Grandma Anderson. Every single familiar song made me want to sing along, especially "Ya Got Trouble," "Seventy-Six Trombones," "The Wells Fargo Wagon," and "Gary, Indiana," but I somehow controlled myself! This show tells the well-known story of a traveling salesman who comes to swindle the residents of River City into buying band instruments and uniforms but falls in love with a librarian instead and this production is very well done! I really enjoyed the entire cast! Russell Maxfield is incredibly charismatic and charming as Harold Hill and Mailee Halpin has a beautiful voice as the uptight yet vulnerable Marion, particularly in the songs "Goodnight My Someone," "My White Knight," and "'Till There Was You." Chad Wilkinson is the embodiment of befuddled pomposity as Mayor Shinn ("Not one poop out of you, madame.") and Angela Brown is hilarious with her version of a Grecian Urn as Eulalie MacKecknie Shinn (as a sometime character actress, Eulalie is my dream role). Tyler Bender as Zaneeta, Mayor Shinn's oldest girl, and Brevin Gardner as Tommy Djilas, a boy with reform school written all over him, are amazing dancers who lead a terrific ensemble in the big production numbers (more on them later).  Micah Thornton is adorable as Winthrop, especially when he lisps, while Bridget Maxwell is an absolute hoot as Amaryllis and I laughed out loud during her cross-hand piano piece (I love this young actress because she stole the show as Gloria in HCT's production of Wait Until Dark and again as Lavender in HCT's production of Matilda). The feuding school board members, Nathan Asay, Eric Corrington, Paul Dixon, and Jeffrey Duncan, harmonize beautifully in "Goodnight Ladies," "Sincere," and "Lida Rose" and they are definitely a highlight of the show. The sets are also very well done and I especially liked the two-level library, the interior and exterior of the Paroo house, the fountain in the park, and the footbridge. The energetic choreography is a lot of fun and it is executed very well by the talented cast, particularly in "Seventy-Six Trombones," "Marion the Librarian," and "Shipoopi." I had a smile on my face throughout the entire show because it is just so delightful and I highly recommend it for a bit of nostalgic fun (go here for tickets).

French Exit

Is there anything better than going to a movie in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday?  I submit that there is not so I went to see French Exit yesterday and, while this comedy of the absurd is a bit depressing, I found it to be strangely entertaining.  Frances Price (Michelle Pfeiffer), an aging Manhattan socialite, learns that all of the money she inherited from her late husband is gone which brings about an existential crisis for her and her son Malcolm (Lucas Hedges) who is finding it difficult to commit to his girlfriend Susan (Imogen Poots).  She decides to sell everything and move to a friend's empty apartment in Paris with Malcolm and a cat that may or may not be the reincarnation of her late husband (Tracy Letts).  As she and Malcolm try to find redemption, they accumulate an eccentric group of people around them including a lonely American expat (Valerie Mahaffey), a clairvoyant that they meet on the crossing to France (Danielle Macdonald), the private investigator they hire to find her (Isaach de Bankole), Susan and her new boyfriend (Daniel di Tomasso), and, eventually, the owner of the apartment who comes to check up on them (Susan Coyne).  This might be a bit too quirky for some people but I found it to be hilarious.  In fact, I laughed out loud multiple times but I was the only one in my screening who did.  The plot is a bit thin and the supporting cast doesn't have much to work with (although Mahaffey steals every scene she is in) but it doesn't matter because the movie belongs to Pfeiffer and she gives a brilliant performance.  She is icy and imperious as she delivers the sharp and witty dialogue but there is also just enough vulnerability under the surface to make an unsympathetic character into a compelling one.  Hedges gives an understated performance that sometimes pales next to Pfeiffer's but the two of them have great chemistry as a mother and son searching for a real connection.  This is the type of movie that I would usually see at my favorite art house theater (which I hope opens soon) and it really appealed to me because it features my particular brand of humor but, as previously mentioned, it might not be for everyone.

Voyagers

I thought the trailer for Voyagers looked really intriguing so I went to see it last night.  In the near future the Earth has become uninhabitable because of climate change and disease and, while a planet capable of sustaining life has been found, the journey there will take 86 years.  Scientists decide to create a bio-engineered group of children who will grow up on board the spaceship as it travels to the new planet and serve as the crew for the mission while producing children and grandchildren to eventually colonize it.  They are raised by a scientist named Richard (Colin Farrell) in complete isolation so they won't miss anyone or anything on Earth and their emotions and impulses are controlled by a chemical put in a drink administered daily known as the blue.  An inquisitive crew member named Christopher (Tye Sheridan) discovers that they are being controlled by the blue and he convinces Zac (Fionn Whitehead), and then the whole crew, to stop taking it with him.  At first this causes an exciting awakening of their senses but soon they start to give in to their darker instincts.  When an accident leaves a leadership void, Christopher and Zac fight for control and for the affections of Sela (Lily-Rose Depp) which compromises the mission.  This movie has an interesting premise but, unfortunately, the execution of it is rather bland.  Most of the characters are so thinly drawn that I couldn't recognize any of their names when they appeared in the end credits and, aside from Whitehead (who is becoming quite good at portraying psychopaths), the performances are incredibly stilted.  The message about the breakdown of order and its consequences (which is stolen from reminiscent of Lord of the Flies) is very heavy-handed and obvious while the scenes of teenagers running amok are surprisingly tame (the poster is more titillating than the movie).  Many of the deeper psychological questions, such as nature vs. nurture, freewill, and sacrificing oneself for a greater cause, are briefly introduced and then quickly abandoned.  I did enjoy the sleek and stylish design of the spaceship (with endless corridors for the characters to run through) but not enough to recommend this lackluster movie to anyone other than fans of the young actors.

The Hunting Wives

My Book of the Month selection for April was The Hunting Wives by May Cobb (the other options were What Comes After by Joanne Tompkins, Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala, Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge, and People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry) and this murder mystery involving bored housewives behaving badly is wildly entertaining! Sophie O'Neill has left behind a dysfunctional childhood and a high profile job as a magazine editor in Chicago to live a quiet life in the small town of Mapleton, Texas with her husband Graham and young son Jack. She fills her days with running the trails near her home, gardening, and writing a lifestyle blog but she quickly finds herself bored with the slower pace. She connects with an old high school friend who introduces her to a popular group of wealthy society women. She obsessively stalks them on social media and longs to join them in their exploits so she is thrilled when she is invited to one of their weekly skeet shooting parties. They call themselves the Hunting Wives and Sophie soon learns that these evenings also involve copious amounts of alcohol and excursions to nightclubs to hunt for a different sort of prey. Sophie eventually becomes enamored with Margot, the leader of the group, and engages in some questionable behavior which threatens her relationship with Graham. When a young woman is found murdered where the group practices their skeet shooting, Sophie begins to suspect that the group is involved somehow. This is a quick and easy read full of scandal and gossip that I enjoyed much more than I thought I would. The first person narration follows Sophie as she makes one bad decision after another, some of which will make you want to scream with frustration when you are not howling with laughter. Almost all of the characters are incredibly unsympathetic but they were compelling enough to keep me reading at every opportunity because I had to know what happens to them and I found the twist at the end to be very original and satisfying (I figured it out right before it was revealed). This is not usually the kind of book that I would pick if left to my own devices (it is quite salacious and over the top) but it is a lot of fun. I recommend it to anyone looking for a bit of escapism.

Domingo Hindoyan Conducts Roberto Sierra, Bartok & Mozart 41

Last night I found myself at Abravanel Hall once again for another wonderful Utah Symphony concert.  The orchestra was under the baton of guest conductor Domingo Hindoyan (making his Utah Symphony debut) and the evening began with Sinfonietta for String Orchestra by Roberto Sierra.  This contemporary piece recently had its world premiere with the Detroit Symphony conducted by Hindoyan and I really liked it because it is very percussive and filled with passion.  I especially enjoyed it when the bassists struck their instruments with their bows.  Next the orchestra played Divertimento for Strings by Bela Bartok.  The first and third movements of this piece are lighthearted and energetic with themes played by a small group of soloists and repeated by the rest of the orchestra.  The second movement, on the other hard, is very slow and quite dark so, of course, I loved it!  The concert concluded with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Symphony No. 41 or "Jupiter."  I really love Mozart and this piece (his final symphony which is widely regarded as one of the best in the classical repertoire) is one of my favorites!  I especially love the final movement because it is so exhilarating but the orchestra performed the entire piece beautifully with a lot of emotion and energy!  I wish that there had been more people in the audience (socially distanced seating is still in place as required by city and county guidelines) but, even though we were small in number, we certainly did try to show our appreciation for such an amazing performance with a standing ovation.  I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here) for either the Friday or Saturday concert featuring this same program.

Note:  I have been trying to decide which concerts I want to include in my Design-a-Series subscription but I couldn't narrow it down!  I finally decided to subscribe to the entire Masterworks Series (for the first time) and I am beyond excited!  Go here for more information about the incredible 2021-2022 season!

Les Miserables at HCT

I don't think I will ever get tired of hearing the dramatic opening notes of the musical Les Miserables. They moved me to tears the first time I heard them performed live at the Palace Theatre in London on a study abroad trip in 1990 and they did once again as I heard them performed at Hale Theatre last night! I love the moving story of Jean Valjean's redemption, which is based on Victor Hugo's masterpiece, and I love the beautiful music by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg so I have seen Les Miserables at least 30 times (a conservative estimate) and I have to say that HCT's current version is a great production. The cast features Casey Elliott, Bradley Quinn Lever, and Brad Robins, whose meeting while performing in HCT's 2014 production of Les Miserables prompted them to form the popular trio Gentri, and I was really excited to see them reprise their roles as Jean Valjean, Enjolras, and Marius, respectively. Their performances were definitely a highlight of the show for me, particularly Elliott's version of "Bring Him Home," Lever's version of "Red and Black," and Robins's version of "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables."  I also really enjoyed Cecily Ellis Bills as Fantine, Clotile Bonner Farkas as Madame Thenardier, and Rebecca Burroughs-Kremin as Eponine (I judge every production by how Eponine sings "On My Own" and her version gave me goosebumps). However, my very favorite performance of the night was Adam Dietlein as Inspector Javert. He is absolutely brilliant in the role because he holds himself, in both his mannerisms and his facial expressions, so rigidly and this characterization is perfect for the unyielding Javert. His rendition of "Stars" is incredibly powerful and it elicited the most applause and cheering last night after "Bring Him Home" (they had to stop the show because the applause went on for so long after this number). The costumes and sets are similar to those in the original Broadway production but also feature just enough flourishes to keep the show fresh (I loved all of Cosette's dresses and Madame Thenardier's gown for "Beggars at the Feast"). I do wish that the barricade could have been on the turntable because the reveal of Enjolras hanging upside down while holding the red flag as it slowly rotates in the original production is one of the most dramatic moments of the show (I miss this moment in the new staging on Broadway as well) but I like that HCT's barricade allows the entire audience to see "A Little Fall of Rain" and "Drink With Me."  I think "Javert's Suicide" is staged particularly well because it really seems as if he is jumping from a bridge to his death and I also quite enjoyed the staging of "Master of the House" because even the young Eponine (Olivia Dietlein) steals from the guests. I love this show so much (it will always be a sentimental favorite) and seeing it at HCT last night made me very happy. I highly recommend getting a ticket but be aware that several secondary ticketing sites have been inflating prices significantly (go directly here for the best prices). It runs on the Young Living Stage through June 19.

Note:  I think I might need to see it again for the MWF cast because it features Kyle Olsen as Jean Valjean and he blew me away as Sydney Carton in A Tale of Two Cities.

Godzilla vs. Kong

I have been uncharacteristically excited for Godzilla vs. Kong (I like action movies as much as the next person but, for some reason, I have have been obsessively anticipating this for months) and I had the chance to see it last night with my nephew Sean.  We both had an absolute blast watching it on an IMAX screen with Dolby Atmos sound!  Sean knows a lot more about the mythology of these creatures (my knowledge is limited to what was portrayed in Kong: Skull Island and Godzilla: King of the Monsters) so I think he enjoyed it even more than I did!  After Godzilla inexplicably attacks the Apex Cybernetics Headquarters, CEO Walter Simmons (Demian Bichir) requests the help of Nathan Lind (Alexander Skarsgard), a Hollow Earth (the homeworld of the Titans) specialist, to lead a dangerous expedition there to locate a power source to use against Godzilla.  Lind believes that Kong can lead them to the power source so he enlists the help of Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall), a scientist who has studied Kong for years, and Jia (Kaylee Hottle), an Iwi native from Skull Island who has formed a bond with him, to get Kong to Hollow Earth.  Meanwhile, Madison Russell (Millie Bobby Brown) believes that Godzilla's attack was provoked and, when her father, Monarch scientist Mark Russell (Kyle Chandler), doesn't believe her, she joins with her friend Josh (Julian Dennison) and Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry), a Titan conspiracy theory podcaster, to infiltrate Apex Headquarters.  They discover a threat even more dangerous than the Titans.  The story is incredibly convoluted and the human characters pale in comparison to the monsters (although I did enjoy the fact that both Kong and Godzilla have someone young trying to vindicate them to the world) but that hardly matters because the battles between the two Titans are exhilarating.  The images on the screen are absolutely epic, especially when Kong and Godzilla team up to defeat another monster, and both Sean and I loved the use of neon as the monsters fight in the streets of Hong Kong!  The creature design for the monsters is absolutely brilliant, particularly Godzilla's dorsal plates and Kong's fur, but I also found the monsters (one in particular) to be incredibly sympathetic.  The ending is satisfying (to me but not to Sean) while still leaving an opening for more movies in the MonsterVerse.  I had so much fun watching this with Sean (at one point we turned to each other with huge grins on our faces) and I highly recommend it to fans of action movies!

The Ten Commandments

When TCM announced the lineup for this year's Big Screen Classics series, The Ten Commandments was the movie I was most excited to see (I bought tickets to it and The Maltese Falcon as soon as they were available).  I have so many memories of watching this on TV with my sisters when I was young because it seems like it was broadcast every year around Easter and Passover.  Since it is so long, we were always given permission to stay up past our bedtimes to watch it to the end which was a rare treat.  Sometimes we made it to see the Ten Commandments written on the stone tablets and sometimes we didn't!  Seeing this spectacle on the big screen last night was an amazing experience and I had so much fun anticipating every epic moment!  Moses (Charlton Heston), the son of Hebrew slaves, is an adopted Prince of Egypt vying with Rameses (Yul Brynner) for the throne of Seti I (Cedric Hardwicke) and the attention of Nefretiri (Anne Baxter).  When his true identity is revealed, Moses is banished to the desert but eventually returns to Egypt to lead his enslaved people to freedom and to receive the Ten Commandments from God.  I loved all of the elaborate sets, reported to be the biggest and most expensive up to that point, as well as the period costumes and I was surprised by how stirring I found all of the big action sequences to be, especially the scale of the scene in which the Hebrews leave Egypt (14,00 extras and 15,00 animals were used) and the grandeur of all of the Egyptian chariots giving chase across the desert.  Some of the special effects, such as the turning of a staff into a snake, have not aged particularly well but the parting of the Red Sea is still pretty impressive, even by today's standards, and the writing of the commandments on the stone tablets is quite dramatic.  Heston is incredibly handsome and charismatic in the role of Moses and I found his struggle to accept his destiny to be very moving while Brynner's campy performance as Rameses is a lot of fun to watch.  The overture and an intermission (it is almost four hours long) are included in the theatrical version and, for some reason, I really enjoyed that!  It was certainly exciting to see this movie as it was meant to be seen and I definitely recommend checking out the rest of TCM's lineup (go here).

Cherry

I finally had the chance to see Cherry last night and, as a huge Tom Holland fan, I was really looking forward to it.  Unfortunately, it is an absolute mess.  It is based on the semi-autobiographical novel of the same name by Nico Walker which details his alienation from society and ultimate redemption.  The narrative is told by Cherry (Holland), a stand-in for Walker, through a series of chapters and an epilogue (each with a red saturated title card) which roughly correspond to his time as a college student who works menial jobs and then meets and eventually marries Emily (Ciara Bravo), his time in basic training after a temporary breakup with Emily prompts him to enlist in the army, his time in Iraq where he has several horrifying experiences as a medic, his time back home immediately after his deployment where he suffers from PTSD and becomes addicted to OxyContin, his time as a bank robber as he attempts to fund his and Emily's heroin addiction, and his time in prison where he detoxes and recovers.  The story is incredibly compelling with a riveting performance from Holland but, stylistically, the movie is all over the place without any sort of cohesion to hold the narrative together (each chapter could have belonged to a different movie).  Cherry's expletive-laden stream-of-consciousness narration, which sometimes breaks the fourth wall, comes and goes without any rhyme or reason.  There are many jarring tonal shifts created by some truly bizarre music choices, such as using Puccini as Cherry is arrested and "Disco Inferno" as he comes home from Iraq, and some ineffective attempts at humor, such as using "Shitty Bank" instead of "Citibank."  The camera work is very inconsistent because the Russo Brothers use just about every technique taught in film school to prove that they are serious directors.  Everything is overdone and used for effect rather than to serve the narrative.  Even the color palette shifts from scene to scene with a gritty sepia tone one moment and then garish primary color filters in the next.  Finally, I'm not sure that this movie even has a point.  Is it supposed to be a criticism of an economic system that gives young people so few choices?  Is it an indictment of war and the way in which returning veterans are treated?  Is it a call to action over the opioid epidemic in this country?  Or is it an attack on society as a whole?  My main takeaway is that prison seems to be the only option for some people to get the treatment and vocational training they need to become successful and even this part of the story, the emotional payout for sticking it out with Cherry, is told in a matter of minutes with a montage of prison life and a cloying score.  It is a very unsatisfying resolution.  I really like Tom Holland (I think he has the potential to be great but he definitely needs to pick better material) and I wanted to like this movie but it is such a mess that I can't recommend it.

Six Minutes to Midnight

Last night I saw Six Minutes to Midnight and, even though I am a huge fan of movies featuring World War II intrigue, I found this particular movie to be quite underwhelming.  England is on the brink of war with Germany but Miss Rocholl (Judi Dench) continues as headmistress of the Augusta-Victoria College for Girls, a finishing school for the wealthy daughters of Germany's most influential and powerful families including the Nazi High Command, located in the village of Bexhill-on-Sea.  She sees the school as a way to strengthen the cultural bond between England and Germany but one of the teachers, Ilse Keller (Carla Juri), has more ominous intentions and has attracted the attention of the British secret service.  An agent named Thomas Miller (Eddie Izzard) masquerades as a teacher, replacing another agent who has disappeared, in order to uncover her secrets but he is thwarted by a Hitchcockian plot twist that is more ridiculous than compelling.  The story of the school, which actually existed on the coast of England before the war, is absolutely fascinating (I wanted to know more about the girls and their motivations) but the fictionalized espionage narrative is very thin and doesn't always make sense.  There are far more questions than answers.  Dench gives an affecting performance as a woman devoted to her students but I wish that her character had been explored more fully.  Izzard seems incredibly miscast as a spy (the many scenes of Miller running from his pursuers are not only awkward but highly improbable).  The same could be said of Juri because her portrayal of a German spy is also very bland, consisting primarily of shouting commands in a monotone voice.  James D'Arcy is almost a caricature of a sinister double agent but Jim Broadbent is as genial as ever in a small but pivotal role.  The cinematography features stunning shots of the coastal location and the production design is moody and atmospheric in its depiction of the period but, unfortunately, this movie is more style than substance.  It is a mediocre entry in the spy genre and I would recommend waiting for its inevitable appearance on a streaming platform.

Nobody

Last night I went to see the movie Nobody and, because there was a large and rowdy crowd (by Covid-19 standards), it was an absolute blast!  Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk) is a mild-mannered accountant for his father-in-law's manufacturing business and lives in the suburbs with his wife (Connie Nielsen), son (Gage Munroe), and daughter (Paisley Cadorath).  Life has become monotonous but one night he and his family are the victims of an armed home invasion during which his passive behavior allows the burglars to get away subjecting him to the derision of his son, neighbor, brother-in-law, father-in-law, and the police.  This awakens a long dormant rage in Hutch so, when a group of thugs begins harassing him and the other passengers on a bus, he beats them savagely.  One of his victims is the younger brother of a Russian mob enforcer (Aleksei Serebryakov) who vows revenge.  When a group of Russian gangsters comes after him, it becomes apparent that Hutch is not who he appears to be.  This is an adrenaline rush from beginning to end with some of the best fight choreography I've seen, particularly a sequence where Hutch fights off a group of gangsters in his house using ordinary objects and an extended sequence in his booby-trapped factory.  People in my audience were clapping and cheering throughout!  Odenkirk reportedly trained for two years in order to perform all of his own stunts and he gives a kick-ass performance that is also highly amusing (I laughed out loud several times at his witty one-liners).  Christopher Lloyd steals every scene he is in as Hutch's father, who is also not who he appears to be.  The needle drops in this movie are fantastic!  I especially liked "I've Gotta Be Me," "My Way," "You'll Never Walk Alone," and "Let The Good Times Roll" because the contexts in which they are used are hilarious.  This is the most fun I've had watching a movie in a long time and I highly recommend it to fans of the genre.  See it with the biggest (socially distanced) crowd you can!

Marc Albrecht Conducts Mahler & R. Strauss

I was so happy to be back at Abravanel Hall for a Utah Symphony concert last night!  Before Covid-19, I spent most Friday nights at Abravanel Hall listening to the Utah Symphony and I really missed that during lockdown.  After finally being able to attend several concerts last fall, it was a bit of a blow when all Salt Lake County performing arts venues were closed again last December.  But now it looks like there might be a light at the end of the tunnel because these venues are open once again and several concerts were announced to finish out the Utah Symphony 2020-2021 season (I bought tickets to all of them).  Last night's concert, featuring guest conductor Marc Albrecht, was absolutely wonderful!  I was already feeling emotional just listening to the orchestra warm up so their performance of the Adagietto from Symphony No. 5 by Gustav Mahler just about did me in!  This piece is incredibly beautiful and otherworldly but it also quite mournful (it was performed at the funeral of Bobby Kennedy in 1968) so, of course, I loved it.  I especially enjoyed the theme played by the harp.  The concert concluded with the Suite from Der Burger als Edelmann (Le bourgeois gentilhomme) by Richard Strauss which is so charming.  I read the satirical play about a social climber by Moliere (in French!) when I was in high school so it was a lot of fun for me to imagine what was happening as I listened to the music.  I particularly liked "The Fencing Master" because it is very lively and energetic (with a great trumpet solo) as our protagonist tries to learn fencing from a master who takes advantage of his ignorance and "The Dinner" which is quite stately and dramatic with exaggerated pomp as our protagonist tries to impress his aristocratic guests (I loved the timpani).  I loved all of the music featured last night but I think what I enjoyed the most was the experience of being in an audience at a live performance because that, more than anything else, is a sign that things might be returning to some semblance of normalcy.  I am so ready for that!  I believe there are a limited number of tickets available (go here) for tonight's concert featuring the same program and I highly recommend getting one of them, especially if you have missed live performances as much as I have!

Note:  The 2021-2022 season was announced this week and I am so excited!  I have already subscribed to the Films in Concert Series (featuring The Return of the Jedi, Back to the Future, Home Alone, and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) and I'm trying to decide on the concerts I want to include in my Design-A-Series subscription (Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and Piano Concerto No. 2 are already on the list).  Go here for more information.

Zack Snyder's Justice League

It has been a really long time since I saw the theatrical release of Justice League and, while I don't remember everything about it, I do remember that I enjoyed it a lot more than other die-hard DCEU fans.  I liked the character arcs of both Batman and Wonder Woman as they grapple with their leadership roles within the group dynamic and I liked the fact that it takes all of the heroes, who mostly think of themselves as loners and misfits, working together to defeat the villain.  I wasn't one of the fans who clamored for the so-called "Snyder Cut" of this movie but, now that I have watched it, I am so glad that it exists because it is far superior to the theatrical release!  The core structure of the story remains the same.  Bruce Wayne/ Batman (Ben Affleck) joins with Diana Prince/ Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) in recruiting other metahumans, Arthur Curry/ Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Barry Allen/ The Flash (Ezra Miller), and Victor Stone/ Cyborg (Ray Fisher), to fight against the threat of Steppenwolf (Ciaran Hinds), a god who is trying to unite three Mother Boxes to enslave the world.  When one attempt to stop Steppenwolf fails, they decide to use one of the Mother Boxes to resurrect Clark Kent/ Superman (Henry Cavill) which forces an epic showdown.  Snyder's version improves the story by providing some much needed mythology and worldbuilding with the introduction of the character Darkseid (Ray Porter) and a more detailed explanation of how the Mother Boxes came to be on Earth in the possession of Humans, Amazons, and Atlanteans (in some thrilling battle sequences).  Steppenwolf's motivation for unifying the Mother Boxes is explored more fully within the context of his relationship to Darkseid.  The inclusion of Cyborg's backstory is also a huge improvement to the narrative because his character arc, particularly his journey to self-acceptance, serves as a metaphor for the entire Justice League and I loved his role in defeating the Unity.  I have always really appreciated the darker and grittier tone of the DCEU and the portrayal of Superman in Snyder's version is more in keeping with his character arc from Man of Steel and Batman v Superman (I especially liked the black suit).  The Flash, who is a little bit less goofy and is given a more prominent (and timeline changing) role in the final battle, also has a more authentic portrayal.  I liked the look and feel of the final battle in Snyder's version much more without the color saturation, stylized action sequences, and silly banter of the original and I liked the outcome much more (this ending teases a sequel with Darkseid and an epilogue further teases a "Knightmare" scenario with Deathstroke, Mera, the Flash, Cyborg, Batman, and the Joker as well as the introduction of the Martian Manhunter which may or may not happen).  This is the version of Justice League I didn't know I needed!  I loved it and I'm glad the fans were successful in lobbying for its release!

The Courier

I saw The Courier at the Sundance Film Festival last year (although when I saw it the name was Ironbark in reference to the code name used by the Soviet agent) and I really enjoyed this taut and suspenseful spy thriller so I decided to see it again last night.  Tensions are escalating between the United States and the Soviet Union over the build up of nuclear weapons.  Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze), a high-ranking science officer in the Soviet government, believes that Khrushchev is erratic and looking for any excuse to go to war with the U.S. so he goes to great lengths to contact the West about providing secret intelligence.  Because Penkovsky is so prominent, Emily Donovan (Rachel Brosnahan) of the CIA and Dickie Franks (Angus Wright) of MI-6 don't want to compromise him by using known agents.  They recruit Greville Wynne (Benedict Cumberbatch), an unassuming middle-aged businessman with accounts in Eastern Europe, to make contact with him.  After meeting with Wynne, Penkovsky is impressed with his grace under pressure and insists that the CIA continue to use him as a courier even though he is an amateur.  Wynne is initially reluctant because it will be dangerous and, more importantly, his behavior will make his wife Sheila (Jessie Buckley) suspicious because of a previous infidelity but, after a crash course in spy craft, he eventually smuggles in thousands of pieces of intel and develops a close friendship with Penkovsky.  The stakes are raised significantly when Khrushchev places missiles in Cuba and when Penkovsky comes under suspicion.  I really love spy movies and this is a good one because it focuses on the humanity of both characters and their desire to make the world a better place by their actions.  It is moody and atmospheric with lots of Cold War intrigue that had me on the edge of my seat (even upon a second viewing).  Cumberbatch gives a riveting performance (one of his best) that is sometimes amusing, especially when he attempts to get in shape, and sometimes quite affecting, especially in a late scene with Ninidze.  The fact that this is based on a true story makes it even more compelling and I highly recommend it, especially to fans of the genre.

Sound of Metal

Because I watched Sound of Metal last night, I have now seen all of the Academy Award nominees for Best Picture (click on the titles for my commentaries on The Father, Judas and the Black Messiah, Mank, Minari, Nomadland, Promising Young Woman, and The Trial of the Chicago 7).  I'm not sure why I waited so long to see Sound of Metal but I found it to be incredibly moving.  Ruben (Riz Ahmed) is a drummer for a heavy metal duo with his girlfriend Lou (Olivia Cooke).  One night during a performance, he realizes that he is having trouble hearing and this is soon confirmed by a specialist who tells him that it is likely to get worse if he doesn't limit his exposure to loud noise.  Ruben is in denial about the diagnosis, thinking that expensive cochlear implants will fix the problem, and continues to play until it becomes impossible.  Lou is worried that this setback will cause Ruben to relapse so she seeks out a program for recovering addicts who are deaf run by a man named Joe (Paul Raci) who lost his hearing in Vietnam.  Lou realizes that Ruben won't commit to the program as long as she is in his life so she decides to leave him.  Joe is able to help him but Ruben continues to struggle because he sees his deafness as something he needs to fix rather than something he needs to adapt to and eventually sells everything he owns, including his drums, to get the implants.  While the implants allow Ruben to hear they also cause a strange distortion which might derail his plans to resume the life he once had.  What really resonated with me about this powerful character study is Ruben's attempt to downplay the seriousness of his situation and his refusal to accept a reality that conflicts with the identity he has created for himself because I think that is a very human reaction to adversity. Ahmed gives a captivating performance that is also understated and restrained.  There is nothing showy about it but you know everything that Ruben is feeling simply by the look in his eyes.  The closeup on his face when he realizes that he can never go back to the life he once had with Lou is absolutely devastating.  Raci is also incredibly affecting as someone who tries to help Ruben envision another life for himself.  The innovative sound design is brilliant because the harsh feedback and muffled sounds really allow the audience to experience everything that Ruben is hearing (I especially enjoyed how the sound of vibration is portrayed because that is such a turning point for Ruben) and the use of silence is also very powerful, particularly in the final scene.  I usually get really distracted when I watch movies at home (it is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video) but this held my attention from beginning to end and I highly recommend it!

Note:  Now that I have seen all of the nominees, my pick for Best Picture is Minari!  Have you seen any of the nominees?  Do you have a favorite to win?

The Trial of the Chicago 7

The Academy Award nominations were announced yesterday and, like last year, there are only two that I haven’t seen yet (you can read my commentaries for The Father, Judas and the Black Messiah, Mank, Minari, Nomadland, and Promising Young Woman by clicking on the titles).  Luckily both movies that I haven't seen are available on streaming platforms that I subscribe to.  Since I always like to see all of the nominees before the big ceremony, I watched The Trial of the Chicago 7, which is streaming on Netflix, last night (look for my review of Sound of Metal, streaming on Amazon Prime Video, tomorrow).  I didn't see this movie when it had a limited release in theaters last year because I am not a big Aaron Sorkin fan.  I know this is an unpopular opinion but I find his movies to be way too dialogue-heavy and that is actually my biggest complaint about this particular movie despite having an all-star cast, including a few stellar performances, and a compelling story that is incredibly relevant for today.  The year 1968 (the year I was born) is a time of violence and tremendous social unrest and the movie begins with several groups planning to protest the Vietnam War at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.  The leaders of these groups, including Tom Hayden (Eddie Redmayne) and Rennie Davis (Alex Sharp) of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Abbie Hoffman (Sacha Baron Cohen) and Jerry Rubin (Jeremy Strong) of the Youth International Party (Yippies), David Dellinger (John Carroll Lynch) of the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam (MOBE), and Bobby Seale (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) of the Black Panther Party, as well as Lee Weiner (Noah Robbins) and John Froines (Daniel Flaherty), are arrested for trespassing and destruction of property after a riot breaks out during their demonstration.  Five months later, the new Attorney General, John N. Mitchell (John Doman), wants to make an example of the so-called Chicago Seven and directs the federal prosecutor, Richard Schultz (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), to charge them with the federal crime of inciting a riot across state lines.  The counsel for the defense, William Kunstler (Mark Rylance) of the ACLU, argues that it was the police who started the riot, even calling the former AG Ramsey Clark (Michael Keaton) to testify about the lack of evidence, but Judge Julius Hoffman (Frank Langella) shows an obvious prejudice for the prosecution, including jury tampering, dismissing eyewitness testimony, and mistreating Seale.  After spending most of the more than two hour runtime on the trial, the movie ends with a dramatic moment before the verdict is even read and then provides information about it, the sentencing, and the subsequent appeal almost as an afterthought in a series of titles during the epilogue.  It was very anticlimactic.  I can see why this movie has generated so much buzz because it definitely taps into the zeitgeist of our time by depicting an assault on free speech and I concede that it does have a powerful message.  I was also impressed by the performances, particularly Redmayne who displays a volatility I don't think I've seen from him before, Baron Cohen who steals every scene he is in, and Rylance who vividly portrays Kunstler's escalating rage at the injustice shown by the court.  However, I just couldn't get past the dialogue because it sounds so manufactured with monologue after monologue about idealism.  The characters may be saying the perfect words at the perfect time but it is not very organic, especially during a time period as emotionally charged as the 1960s, and I never really felt any kind of connection to them as people.  Does anyone really talk like a character in an Aaron Sorkin movie?  This is one of those movies that most people will probably end up liking more than I do!

The Lost Apothecary

My Book of the Month selection for March was The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner (the other options were The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton, What's Mine and Yours by Naima Coster, Too Good to be True by Carola Lovering, and In a Book Club Far Away by Tif Marcelo). This novel combines elements of historical fiction, mystery, and fantasy and I absolutely loved it. In the present day, Caroline Parcewell is in London by herself, on what should have been a ten year anniversary trip, after finding out that her husband has been unfaithful. Feeling lonely and at loose ends, she spontaneously joins a tour group of mudlarkers on the banks of the Thames River in search of relics from the past brought in by the tide. She finds an old vial with a marking of a bear on it and this reawakens a long dormant passion for historical research as she unravels the mystery of its origin. In 1791, Nella Clavinger is the proprietor of an apothecary who, motivated by her own tragedy, secretly dispenses poison to desperate women who have been wronged or betrayed by the men in their lives. She meets the twelve-year-old Eliza Fanning when the latter requests a poison on behalf her mistress for her to use on her husband. Their interactions inadvertently expose Nella's activities and put both of their lives in danger. The narrative alternates between the two timelines as Caroline uncovers events in the present as they happen to Nella in the past and I found this device to be very compelling. I was surprised by the fact that I enjoyed Caroline's story just as much as Nella's (even though I particularly loved all of the period details that transported me to 18th century London) because I am such a fan of historical fiction. Their experiences mirror each other in that they are both victims of duplicitous men and they struggle to take action according to the social norms and attitudes of the time but I loved that Caroline is inspired by the process of investigating Nella's life and that it informs the resolution to her situation. I was fascinated by the concoction of the poisons (the epilogue with recipes for the more innocuous potions is a lot of fun and I would actually like to try some) and I was very intrigued by the introduction of magic into the narrative.  I read this novel in just two sittings because I was so invested in both of the main characters and I highly recommend it, especially to fans of historical fiction or fantasy!

The Father

I had a suspicion that The Father would generate a lot of buzz at the Sundance Film Festival last year because it stars Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman who are both absolutely brilliant.  I was correct because tickets proved to be impossible to get!  I finally had a chance to see it now that it is in wide release and the hype is real.  Anthony (Hopkins) is in the late stages of dementia but he adamantly refuses to leave his flat and refuses to have a nurse care for him.  His daughter Anne (Colman) has been struggling to cope on her own but things become critical when her partner Paul (Rufus Sewell) wants them to move to Paris.  The narrative is told from Anthony's perspective so the audience is able to experience all of his confusion first-hand.  Just like Anthony, the audience is never entirely sure what is real as his perception of his environment and the people who come and go becomes jumbled.  The production design is incredibly clever because the differences between Anthony's flat and Anne's are very subtle and there were moments when I actually wondered where Anthony was (I am really looking forward to watching this again so I can pay more attention to the details).  The introduction of Olivia Williams and Mark Gatiss into the narrative also keeps things off-kilter and at one point I really did wonder which Olivia was actually playing Anne (this is a brilliant bit of casting because both actresses have similar features and it is completely plausible that someone suffering from dementia might mistake the two of them).  The script is really compelling because there are a few elements that keep recurring in various forms and in various timelines, such as Anthony's missing watch, the chicken that Anne is baking, and the conversation about Anne's move to Paris, which show the extent of his ongoing deterioration.  Hopkins gives a tour-de-force performance (one of the best in his long and storied career) in which he is simultaneously imperious, cruel, charming, and heartbreaking (sometimes in the same scene!).  Colman is also outstanding as a daughter who loves her father but is crumbling under the weight of the responsibility for caring for him.  There is one scene, in particular, where Anne is trying to paint an optimistic picture for a potential new caregiver (Imogen Poots) but her concern is betrayed by the welling of tears in her eyes.  It is so powerful!  This movie is devastating in its portrayal of dementia and I sometimes found it difficult to watch but I highly recommend it.

My Salinger Year

I read The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger when I was a junior in high school and it pretty much rocked my world (I really relate to themes of alienation in books and movies) so I was incredibly intrigued by the premise of My Salinger Year and went to see it last night.  It was not what I was expecting and I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would.  Joanna (Margaret Qualley) is an aspiring writer who decides to leave a graduate program at Berkeley to move to New York and live her dream.  She takes a temporary job as an assistant to a curmudgeonly literary agent (Sigourney Weaver) who represents the reclusive writer.  One of her duties is to respond to all of the fan mail written to Salinger with a standard form letter but she is moved by some of the letters and begins writing personal responses to them with varying degrees of success.  She also interacts with the author himself on the phone and, despite the fact that she is becoming more and more successful at the agency, he inspires her to leave to pursue her dream.  This outcome is a foregone conclusion and, even though the narrative takes its time to reach it, there is not a lot of dramatic tension.  The process by which Joanna finds her voice is very subtle and there are quite a few lesser subplots, such as a toxic relationship with another aspiring writer (Douglas Booth), a visit from a former boyfriend from Berkeley (Hamza Haq), and a best friend (Seana Kerslake) who gives up on her dream of being a writer to get married, that go nowhere and take away from the main conceit.  I also found the characterization of Salinger to be incredibly far-fetched because he is portrayed as a grandfatherly figure willing to give advice to a young writer rather than the idiosyncratic and enigmatic person he was.  I did, however, enjoy the production design because the literary world of New York in the 1990s is exactly how I pictured it with mahogany wood paneling, dusty bookshelves, portraits of authors hanging on the walls, and anachronistic equipment (I loved all of the typewriters).  Finally, both Qualley and Weaver give charismatic performances (even if their interactions are not as humorous as those of Andy and Miranda Priestley in The Devil Wears Prada) and I liked how the fans who write to Salinger are portrayed.  This movie, based on the memoir of the same name by Joanna Rakoff, is fine but I wish it had delved further into how she was inspired by Salinger.  It is really just a chronicle of a year in Joanna's life, which happens to include a few interactions with the author intermingled with other random events, that culminates in a decision to become a writer.  I was hoping for more.

Raya and the Last Dragon

Last night I saw Raya and the Last Dragon and I absolutely loved it!  In the mythical land of Kumandra there are evil spirits known as the Druun turning people into stone.  The dragons of Kumandra use all of their magic to create a gem before they are turned to stone and one dragon named Sisu (Awkwafina) is chosen to use it to defeat the Druun and revive everyone.  Many years later, the tribes of Kumandra are divided into lands known as Fang, Heart, Tail, Spine, and Talon over their jealousy to possess the gem which resides in Heart.  Raya (Kelly Marie Tran), a guardian of the gem, is betrayed when she befriends Namaari (Gemma Chan) of Fang who tries to steal it.  The resulting fight splits the gem into pieces, which are taken by each tribe, and reawakens the Druun who turn her father, Chief Benja (Daniel Dae Kim), to stone.  Six years later, Raya and her sidekick Tuk Tuk (Alan Tudyk) find Sisu and learn that all of the pieces of the gem might give Sisu the power to defeat the Druun once again.  Raya goes on a quest to retrieve the pieces and encounters Boun (Izaac Wang) from Tail, Noi (Thalia Tran) from Talon, Tong (Benedict Wong) from Spine, and her nemesis Namaari from Fang.  They must learn to trust each other to defeat the Druun and unite as Kumandra once again.  The animation is absolutely dazzling and I loved the distinct world-building for Fang, Heart, Tail, Spine, and Talon, especially the bustling street markets of Talon and the terraced rice paddies of Fang.  The character design of the dragons is so beautiful.  When I first saw the trailer I thought Sisu looked too cartoonish but, when all of the dragons take flight together, it is absolutely magical.  The theme of unity is brilliant and one that is needed right now because of all of the division in the world.  The stakes are surprisingly high for a Disney animated movie and there were actually three different times when I had tears in my eyes (I did laugh out loud many times, too).  Raya is an incredibly dynamic character because her motivation at the beginning of her journey is merely to revive her father but she ultimately applies his wisdom of trusting an enemy to bring about his dream of a unified Kumandra.  I love flawed characters who find redemption so Raya just might be my favorite Disney princess of all time!  Tran does such a good job in portraying Raya's strength and vulnerability and Awkwafina provides some welcome comic relief as the always optimistic Sisu.  I loved this movie so much and, whether you decide to see it in the theater (my screening was packed) or on Disney+, I highly recommend it!

Note:  I actually really liked the character of Rose in The Last Jedi and I was horrified by all of the abuse directed at Tran by fans who didn't.  I am so happy to see her receive some well-earned praise for this role!

Chaos Walking

As a huge fan of both Daisy Ridley and Tom Holland as well as the Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness (I think it is a brilliant examination of colonization, the treatment of indigenous peoples, resource allocation, the abuse of power, loss of innocence, and the futility of war), I have been looking forward to the movie adaptation of the first book, The Knife of Never Letting Go, for what seems like forever.  I was so excited to see a Thursday preview last night but I ended up being very disappointed.  I know that a movie adaptation cannot possibly include everything from the source material because of time constraints but it seems like the big ideas of the novel are excluded in favor of very generic action sequences.  Viola Eade (Ridley) is a member of a scouting expedition for a larger group of settlers from Earth on their way to a planet called the New World.  Her ship crashes on this planet and she is the only survivor.  She encounters Todd Hewitt (Holland) in a settlement of earlier colonizers called Prentisstown, where all of the women have mysteriously disappeared and the men have their thoughts on display in a phenomenon called the Noise. The Mayor, David Prentiss (Mads Mikkelsen), and Aaron (David Oyelowo), a mysterious preacher, view Viola and the new settlers on their way as a threat.  Todd wants to help her so his adoptive fathers Ben (Demian Bichir) and Cillian (Kurt Sutter) tell him about other settlements on New World and they go on the run so Viola can contact the mother ship.  However, Todd's Noise makes it difficult for them to hide leading to an epic confrontation and revelations about what happened to all of the women in Prentisstown.  Todd is very one-dimensional without any of the coming of age and loss of innocence character arcs from the book and his only motivation seems to be getting a kiss from Viola but Holland is appealing enough in the role.  Viola is a bit more interesting with a few throwaway lines about the indigenous species (there is a random scene involving the Spackle that makes absolutely no sense) and the abuse of power but she is mostly reactionary.  Ridley is also very appealing and she does what she can with the role but watching someone run from Point A to Point B gets boring after a while.  The Mayor's motivation is a bit unclear (although he has some great costumes) and there isn't any development of how he is able to rule over everyone or of his connection to Todd beyond a few throwaway lines.  The other characters don't have much to do and I was really disappointed with how Davy Jr. (Nick Jonas) and Hildy (Cynthia Erivo), in particular, are underutilized.  The action sequences are surprisingly bland but I did really like the visual representation of the Noise.  Finally, I really hated the conclusion (the biggest deviation from the book) because it is very rushed and certain events make the adaptation of the next two books impossible (which might be a good thing).  Fans of Holland and Ridley will probably really enjoy this but fans of the books will be disappointed.  Ugh!