The Seed of the Sacred Fig

The second movie in my double feature at the Broadway last night was The Seed of the Sacred Fig and it is an incredibly compelling and powerful indictment of the authoritarian regime in Iran.  Iman (Missagh Zareh) is promoted as an investigating judge in the Revolutionary Court of Tehran but, because he must regularly sign death warrants, the position is dangerous because people often attempt to seek retribution.  He is advised to keep his job secret from his family, which includes his wife Najmeh (Soheila Golestani) and teenage daughters Rezvan (Mahsa Rostami) and Sana (Setareh Maleki), and he is issued a gun for protection.  However, Najmeh insists that he tell his daughters about his job but they are becoming critical of the regime after the death of a young woman in police custody sparks widespread protests.  Rezvan eventually confronts her father when her friend Sadaf (Niousha Akhshi) is beaten and arrested at a protest.  Iman is under tremendous pressure at work because he is now expected to sign hundreds of death warrants due to the protests so, when his gun mysteriously disappears, he blames his daughters and subjects them to an intense interrogation.  When his personal information appears on social media, Iman's paranoia intensifies and he takes his family to hide at his childhood home which leads to an epic confrontation.  This has a really long runtime but I was absolutely riveted as the domestic drama mirrors the one that is playing out on the streets of Tehran.  The tension escalates very slowly as the two girls come to realize that the information on the news is not supported by what they are seeing on social media (actual footage from the protests that erupted in Tehran in 2022 is used and it is horrifying to watch) and that their father is complicit in what is happening.  Then the tension becomes almost unbearable in the third act with a truly frightening interrogation scene and an extended chase sequence that had me holding my breath.  The performances are understated but very effective (and incredibly brave) and I was especially impressed by Golestani because you can feel how torn Najmeh is between supporting her husband and protecting her daughters.  I was blown away by this movie, and the lengths to which director Mohammad Rasoulof went in order to bring it to the screen, and I highly recommend it.

I'm Still Here

When the Academy Award nominations were announced a few weeks ago, the only Best Picture nominee that I hadn't seen yet was I'm Still Here (click on the titles for my commentaries on Anora, The Brutalist, A Complete Unknown, Conclave, Dune: Part Two, Emilia Perez, Nickel Boys, The Substance, and Wicked) so I decided to see it as part of a double feature at the Broadway last night.  It is incredibly moving with a powerful performance from Fernanda Torres.  In 1970, Rubens Paiva (Selton Mello), a former congressman ousted by a military dictatorship in Brazil, is living in Rio de Janeiro near the beach with his wife Eunice (Torres) and his five children, Marcelo (Guilherme Silveira), Vera (Valentina Herszage), Eliana (Luiza Kosovski), Nalu (Barbara Luz), and Maria (Cora Mora), while working as an architect.  His happy and boisterous house is always filled with family and friends but, unbeknownst to Eunice, Rubens is active in the underground resistance to the regime.  Rubens is eventually arrested in a military raid and is "disappeared" but, when Eunice inquires about his whereabouts, she and her daughter Eliana are brought in for questioning and she is tortured for several days before being released.  Without a definitive answer about the fate of her husband, Eunice (who cannot even access her bank account without her husband's signature) must hold her family together while searching for answers which do not come for decades.  This is a straightforward story about resilience in the face of unimaginable terror but what makes it so devastating is the slow and measured introduction to this loving family and their idyllic life together before everything changes with a knock on the door.  You feel the weight of what has happened to them because you know how happy they were before their husband and father was taken from them.  There are so many scenes of quiet heroism as Eunice makes difficult decisions but I found it absolutely heartbreaking when she tells the children that they have to move away from their house in Rio.  Torres gives an incredibly nuanced performance in which you see every emotion Eunice is feeling on her face (the scene in the ice cream shop as she observes happy families all around her just about did me in) and she is definitely deserving of the Best Actress nomination.  I would highly recommend seeking this out.

Note:  Now that I have seen all of the Best Picture nominees, I want Dune: Part Two to win but, with the exception of Emilia Perez, I wouldn't mind if any of them did.

Timpanogos Community Theater's The Secret Garden

Last night I saw Timpanogos Community Theater's production of The Secret Garden and I was blown away by the incredible cast! Mary Lennox (Mia Moore) is orphaned by a cholera outbreak in India and is sent to live with her uncle Archibald Craven (William Gardner) at Misselthwaite Manor in Yorkshire. He has been grieving the death of his wife Lily (Sydney Dameron), who died in childbirth, for the past ten years and has closed off his heart, his house, and Lily's garden. Mary receives a cold welcome from the housekeeper Mrs. Medlock (Kristyan Williams) and an indifferent one from her uncle so she is lonely and unhappy. However, she is encouraged by a maid named Martha (River Robinson) and her brother Dickon (Adam Moore) to play outside and she soon discovers Lily's garden. She also discovers her cousin Colin (Josh Moore) who has been kept an invalid by Archibald's brother Neville (Dustin Parmley). As Mary brings the garden back to life, she also brings Colin and Archibald back to life. The songs in this show all have beautiful melodies and the performances from this talented cast gave me goosebumps. Dameron's versions of "Come to My Garden" and "How Could I Ever Know" are incredibly poignant and you can literally hear the pain in Gardner's voice as he sings "A Girl in the Valley," "Lily's Eyes," and "Race You to the Top of the Morning." Robinson's portrayal of the sassy maid Martha made me laugh out loud and her performance of "Hold On" (one of my favorite songs in the show) just about blew the roof off the theater and also garnered the loudest applause of the evening. I loved Moore's voice and physicality (I also really enjoyed him as Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance and Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame) in "Winter's on the Wing" but I especially loved his interactions with his sister Mia in "Wick" (another favorite song from the show) and with her and his cousin Josh in "Come Spirit, Come Charm." I was also really impressed by the staging of this production. The main set features a large house made of stone with two levels and several arches and those arches rotate to become hedges that form a maze leading to the door that opens to the secret garden. These set pieces are moved by the ensemble as Mary and the rest of the children walk through the maze. It is very clever! There are also large moving panels of fabric hanging from the rafters to give the house the impression that it is shrouded and I loved the effect that is created as the ghosts wander around and through them. The whole show is incredibly enchanting and you can't help but leave with a smile on your face! It runs at the Valentine Theater in American Fork through February 22 with performances on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays (go here for tickets).

Note:  I have been impressed by the caliber of talent I have seen at every show from TCT!

Persuasion at Parker Theatre

As a huge fan of Jane Austen, I was so excited to see an adaptation of Persuasion at Parker Theatre last night. It is very well done and I really enjoyed it. Anne Elliot (Madeline Thatcher) is persuaded by her aristocratic family and friends to reject the proposal of Captain Frederick Wentworth (Daniel Frederickson) because of his lack of wealth and position. Eight years later, their fortunes have reversed because her father Sir Walter Elliot (David Weekes) has mismanaged his estate and Captain Wentworth has prospered from the war. They meet unexpectedly when Captain Wentworth's brother-in-law and sister, Admiral and Mrs. Croft (Michael Hohl and Cecily Bills, respectively), let Anne's ancestral home, Kellynch Hall. Anne still loves him but she fears that he hasn't forgiven her for breaking his heart when he pursues Louisa and Henrietta Musgrove (Emily States and Isabelle Purdie, respectively). Captain Wentworth eventually realizes that he still loves Anne but will she be persuaded by her father and Lady Russell (Melanie Muranaka) to marry her cousin William Elliot (John Hayes Nielsen)? This adaptation is extremely faithful to the novel which makes it quite long with lots of scene changes and, even though they are handled very quickly, the pacing sometimes gets bogged down. Other than that, I loved everything else about this production. Thatcher and Frederickson are very appealing as the two leads (they reminded me of Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds from the 1995 movie adaptation with their physical appearances even if Thatcher is a bit bolder) but I laughed out loud whenever Mckelle Shaw pretends to cough as the hypochondriac Mary Musgrove, whenever Weekes looks at a handheld mirror as the vain Sir Walter, whenever Nicole Holbrook eats a chocolate bonbon as the spoiled Elizabeth Elliot, and whenever Wyatt Bills and Liam Brown run around in circles as the rambunctious Musgrove boys. The set is really beautiful and I loved the projections used for Kellynch Hall, Uppercross Manor, the seaside at Lyme, and the Assembly Room in Bath as well as all of the elegant period furniture. The staging is really clever, especially when Admiral and Mrs. Cross retrieve Anne in their carriage and when Louisa jumps off the sea wall. The costumes are also beautiful and, as much as I love dresses with empire waists and embellished fabrics, I was very impressed by the naval uniforms and hats.  Seeing this production is a lovely way to spend an evening and I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here).  It runs at Parker Theatre on Fridays and Saturdays (evenings and matinees) through March 8.

Love Me

I really enjoyed Love Me at last year's Sundance Film Festival so I decided to see it again as part of my double feature last night.  I think it is really clever with an important message about living authentically.  After all life has become extinct on Earth, a smart buoy makes contact with a passing satellite that was launched during the last days of civilization to greet any lifeforms that might come to Earth in the future.  Worried that the satellite's programming will only allow it to communicate with a lifeform, the buoy accesses the internet to learn about life on Earth so it can imitate one.  The buoy creates the profile Me for itself and the profile I Am for the satellite and they begin interacting with each other (and begging each other for likes).  They eventually create avatars and a digital environment based on a social media influencer named Deja (Kristen Stewart) and her husband Liam (Steven Yeun) and they obsessively reenact one of their most popular videos in order to get the emotions just right.  However, I Am starts to feel like their relationship is fake.  Ultimately, Me and I Am must break away from these personas and see each other as their original selves in order to connect.  This features live action, motion capture performances, and animation and I think it is incredibly imaginative (I especially love the design of the buoy and the satellite because they are so expressive) even if it does lose steam before reaching an inevitable conclusion.  What makes this so compelling is the message that what is portrayed on social media is not real and that it is always better to be yourself rather than an imitation of someone online.  It is also fascinating (or horrifying) to think that humanity might be judged in the future by what is posted on YouTube.  Finally, Stewart and Yuen give really appealing performances (I especially loved Yuen's motion capture performance and Stewart's live action one) that ground some of the more existential themes.  This was one of my favorites at Sundance last year and I recommend it but it might be too quirky for some.

Companion

Last night I saw Companion as part of a double feature and I had so much fun with it!  Iris (Sophie Thatcher), a highly sophisticated companion robot programmed to provide unquestioning love and devotion, travels with her boyfriend/owner Josh (Jack Quaid) to an isolated lake house owned by Sergey (Rupert Friend) to spend the weekend with Jack's friends Kat (Megan Suri), Eli (Harvey Guillen), and Patrick (Lukas Gage).  However, the weekend takes a turn for the worse when Iris's programming malfunctions and she kills Sergey in an act of self-defense after he tries to rape her.  That is really all you should know before going to see this because half the fun is trying to figure out where the plot is going and there are some wild twists (even if some of them are a bit convenient).  I will say that this is a pretty powerful indictment of whiny male entitlement but Quaid, who is somehow always able to play pathetic losers so effectively, and Thatcher, who is pitch-perfect in her portrayal of many different emotions as Iris slowly gains autonomy (pay close attention to her eyes), make this dynamic very compelling.  I loved the dark humor, the great needle drops, and the cool retro vibe (especially with Iris's costumes).  I heard a lot of hype for this before I went to see it (I had to wait until after Sundance) and I was definitely not disappointed!  Go see it if you are a fan of horror!

September 5

My nephew and I finally had the opportunity to see September 5 last night and we both found it to be very compelling.  ABC Sports is covering the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich when members of the crew, including Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard), the president of ABC Sports, Marvin Bader (Ben Chaplin), the head of operations, Geoffrey Mason (John Magaro), a producer, and Marianne Gebhardt (Leonie Benesch), a local translator, hear gunshots.  They soon learn that it is a terrorist attack by Black September in which Israeli athletes are taken hostage in order to extort the release of Palestinian prisoners.  Mason quickly decides to switch from coverage of volleyball and boxing to live coverage of the hostage situation as it unfolds in real time.  They face logistical problems with getting cameras and Peter Jennings (Benjamin Walker), then a reporter, on the scene but, because nothing like this had ever been done before, they also grapple with the morality of what they are doing because they may be impacting the fate of real people whose lives are in jeopardy in order to get a story.  Even though the outcome of this attack is widely known, it is still incredibly tense and suspenseful because of the frenetic pace created by hand-held camerawork and chaotic sound design that puts the audience right in the middle of the action.  The performances are also riveting and I was particularly impressed with Magaro because you feel the gravity of his decisions from just his facial expressions.  The production design is outstanding and the archival footage featuring Jim McKay's actual coverage blends seamlessly with scenes using the replicas of the studio and the control room.  I was really fascinated by the lack of modern technology as they create the broadcasts, especially when they take pictures of pictures in order to enlarge them and take pictures of letters on a board to create captions.  The focus is definitely on the implications for the media rather than the political and historical context of the attack itself and this might bother people but I found it very interesting and would recommend it.

Presence

Since Sundance is now over, I decided to see Presence, a film I enjoyed at last year's festival, now that it is in wide release.  I liked it more upon a second viewing because I was able to notice a lot more details.  A dysfunctional family, including a cold and uptight executive named Rebecca (Lucy Liu), her docile husband Chris (Chris Sullivan), her cocky son Tyler (Eddy Maday), and her depressed and neglected daughter Chloe (Callina Liang), moves into a large suburban home hoping to have a fresh start after the recent death of Chloe's best friend Nadia from a overdose.  As tensions between the family members intensify, Chloe begins to feel a presence within the house.  Other family members reject the idea of a ghost but it soon begins to make contact in a way that is protective of Chloe, especially when Tyler and his new friend Ryan (West Mulholland) act aggressively towards her.  The entire movie is from the POV of the ghost, achieved by having director Steven Soderbergh operate a handheld camera to follow and eavesdrop on the characters in long unbroken takes.  I was particularly struck by how the subtle movements of the camera seem to convey how the ghost is feeling about what it is seeing (I noticed that some of the early shots, especially those before the family inhabits the house, foreshadow what eventually happens as well as the identity of the ghost).  This is more of an atmospheric psychological thriller about a family in turmoil than a horror movie (the trailer is a little bit misleading) but it is extremely compelling with a thought-provoking twist at the end (which definitely made more sense to me after watching it a second time).  This is a clever spin on the traditional ghost story and I would definitely recommend it.

Noises Off at CPT

I had so much fun at CPT's hilarious production of Noises Off last night. I don't think I stopped laughing during the whole show! Lloyd Dallas (Brandon Garside), a temperamental and sarcastic director, is staging a play called Nothing's On starring Dotty Otley (Carol Madsen), an aging television star, as Mrs. Clackett, Gary Lejeune (Michael Reis), a scatterbrained actor who can't finish a sentence, as Roger Tramplemain, Brooke Ashton (Amelia Joan Bowles), a young and inexperienced actress having an affair with Lloyd, as Vicki, Frederick Fellows (Josh Curtis), an insecure and accident prone actor, as Philip Brent and the Sheikh, Belinda Blair (Samantha Wursten), a reliable actress who knows all of the gossip about the cast, as Flavia Brent, and Selsdon Mowbray (Doug Caldwell), an accomplished actor who has a drinking problem and a tendency to miss his cues, as the Burglar. Poppy Norton-Taylor (Jenni Cooper) is the put-upon assistant stage manager who is also involved with Lloyd and Tim Algood (Radley Haws) is the overworked and sleep deprived stage manager tasked with fixing every problem. Act I of this play-within-a-play involves a disastrous dress rehearsal before opening night with missing props, a malfunctioning set, an actor questioning his character's motivation, a spontaneous nosebleed, and a lost contact lens.  Act II takes place backstage while the show is on tour. The relationship between Dotty and Gary has deteriorated and the two of them do everything they can to sabotage each other's performance while Lloyd is trying, unsuccessfully, to keep both Brooke and Poppy happy by having Tim make several ill-fated attempts to buy them flowers. Act III takes place at the end of the run and features a complete breakdown with the actors ad-libbing the entire scene while Brooke performs her lines and blocking as normal. The entire cast has brilliant comedic timing because the pace is incredibly frenetic (if you blink at all you will miss something funny). The physical performances are outstanding and I don't know which is funnier: when Frederick hops up the stairs because his trousers are down around his ankles or when Gary trips down them so spectacularly! I love that the bows incorporate all of the hijinks from the show, especially when Bowles looks for a contact lens on the floor, when Reis gingerly walks down the stairs, and when Caldwell misses his cue to come through the window. The elaborate two-story set is almost a character itself, particularly when it fails so dramatically, and the sheer number of doors (which are slammed continually) is impressive. I enjoyed everything about this show and I highly recommend it for a fun night out. It runs on the Barlow Main Stage through February 25 (go here for tickets).

Sundance Film Festival 2025

The 2025 Sundance Film Festival concluded last night and I had the best time!  I got the Salt Lake City Pass again and I was able to see 28 films (which is the most I've ever seen at the festival).  I enjoyed most of what I saw but I especially loved reconnecting with friends who come to the festival every year as well as making a few new ones.  My first film was Jimpa.  Hannah (Olivia Colman) travels with her nonbinary teenage daughter Frances (Aud Mason-Hyde) to visit her gay father Jim (John Lithgow) in Amsterdam.  When Frances wants to stay in Amsterdam with Jim to escape the provincial attitude towards queer people back home, Hannah must reconcile her feelings about being abandoned by Jim for the same reason during her teenage years.  This is an emotional portrait of a family with lovely performances from Colman and Lithgow.  My second film was the documentary One to One: John & Yoko.  This covers the 18 months that John and Yoko lived in a Greenwich Village apartment.  Excerpts from their One to One benefit concert are interspersed with archival footage from that time period to provide context for the songs. The music sounds amazing (it was mastered by Sean Lennon) and this actually made me feel more sympathetic towards Ono (although I still say that she can't sing).  My third film was the documentary Folktales.  This focuses on three students, Hege, Bjorn Torne, and Romain, at the Pasvik Folk High School located above the Arctic Circle in Norway.  The students learn wilderness survival skills and are paired with a dog for sledding while studying Norse mythology.  I really loved this because it was heartwarming to see the transformation in the students and the dogs are adorable (lots of oohing and aahing from the audience). My fourth film was the documentary It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley.  I am a huge fan of Buckley (I love his voice) and I enjoyed this because it includes lots of never-before-seen archival footage, voicemail messages left to the people closest to him, and his journal entries.  My fifth film was Bubble & Squeak.  Declan (Himesh Patel) and Delores (Sarah Goldberg) are on their honeymoon when they are detained and then relentlessly pursued by a border agent named Shazbor (Matt Berry) for smuggling cabbages into the unnamed Slavic country.  I was expecting this to be a lot funnier for such a bizarre premise (the funniest scene involved a hilarious cameo from James Franco).  My sixth film was the documentary Come See Me in the Good Light.  This profiles poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley and their love story as they navigate the former's terminal cancer diagnosis.  It is incredibly moving and whenever I wasn't crying I was laughing out loud.  It features a beautiful song called "Salt Then Sour Then Sweet" performed by Sara Bareilles with lyrics by Gibson and music by Bareilles and Brandi Carlile.  My seventh film was All That's Left of You and it is one of my favorites from the festival.  It depicts three generations of a Palestinian family displaced from their home in Jaffa by the creation of Israel.  It culminates with the difficult decision to donate the organs of a teen after he is shot by an Israeli soldier only to discover that his heart went to an Israeli child.  It is incredibly moving with a powerful message that all life is precious.  My eighth film was Atropia and, because it was one of my most anticipated films of the festival, I was a bit disappointed because it is just okay.  Fayruz (Alia Shawkat) is an Iraqi actress unable to find work in Hollywood so she takes an acting job in a fake town used by the military to simulate conditions during war before troops are deployed.  It is funny (a cameo from Channing Tatum as an actor doing research for a war movie made me laugh out loud) but the themes that are initially developed go nowhere. My ninth film was the documentary Free Leonard Peltier.  This profiles the indigenous activist who has been in prison for nearly 50 years after being convicted of killing two FBI agents during a shootout on the Pine Ridge Reservation as well as the attempts by a new generation of activists to get his sentence commuted.  This was very eye-opening for me because it makes a pretty persuasive argument that he was falsely convicted so the FBI could save face.  My tenth film was the documentary Selena y Los Dinos.  I already knew a lot about Selena Quintanilla but this provides insights from her family, her husband, and other members of her band so I found it very compelling.  My eleventh film was The Ballad of Wallis Island.  After winning the lottery, Charles (Tim Key) arranges for musician Fred McGwyer (Tom Basden), of his favorite folk duo McGwyer Mortimer, to come to the remote island where he lives to perform a concert just for him.  However, unbeknownst to Fred, Charles has also invited Nell Mortimer (Carey Mulligan) and this brings up tensions stemming from their personal and professional break-up.  I am a huge fan of British humor and this delightful comedy had me laughing out loud from start to finish.  My twelfth film was Ricky.  After being incarcerated at age 15, Ricky (Stephan James), now age 30, is out on parole but he has difficulty adjusting to life on the outside and in meeting the demands of his tough-as-nails parole officer Joanne (Sheryl Lee Ralph).  James gives a highly sympathetic performance (one scene in particular had me in tears) and I loved the message that everyone deserves a second chance.  My thirteenth film was Oh, Hi!  Iris (Molly Gordon) and Isaac (Logan Lerman) go away for a romantic weekend in the country and, while Iris hopes that this is the beginning of a committed relationship, Isaac just wants to have a good time.  Iris eventually goes to great lengths to convince him that he loves her.  This is really funny with a hilariously unhinged performance from Gordon and, even though it starts to run out of steam, it has something interesting to say about the travails of dating.  My fourteenth film was The Thing with Feathers.  After the sudden death of his wife, a father (Benedict Cumberbatch) struggles to care for his two sons (Richard and Henry Boxall) so the Crow (voiced by David Thewlis), a character from his graphic novel, comes to life as the manifestation of his grief in order to help him.  I wanted to like this more than I did but, despite a committed performance from Cumberbatch, it doesn't really work as a horror film because it is not scary and it doesn't work as psychological character study because there isn't much of an arc for the father.  My fifteenth film was the documentary Life After.  Director Reid Davenport, who suffers from cerebral palsy, uses a right to die case brought by a disabled woman named Elizabeth Bouvia in the 1980s to begin a powerful discussion about why some disabled people might feel that medically assisted suicide is their only option.  I have very strong opinions about assisted suicide and this thought-provoking documentary challenged many of them.  My sixteenth film was Peter Hujar's Day.  This recreates an actual conversation recorded in 1974 by Linda Rosenkrantz (Rebecca Hall) in which she interviews photographer Peter Hujar (Ben Whishaw) about one day in his life. I loved the performances and the 1970s production design but, in my opinion, this is not compelling enough to warrant a full-length film and I was often bored.  My seventeenth film was Magic Farm and this was the worst film I saw at the festival (it is one of the worst films I’ve ever seen). A film crew for a series about unusual global trends mistakenly arrives in a rural town in Argentina (the mistake stems from the fact that most Latin American countries have a town called San Cristobal).  They wreak havoc on the locals while trying to manufacture a trend that they can film.  It has an intriguing premise (which is why I picked it) but I didn't find it even remotely funny and none of the sub-plots go anywhere.  My eighth film was Touch Me.  Joey (Olivia Taylor Dudley) and Craig (Jordan Gavaris) are co-dependent friends suffering from trauma and mental illness who bring out the worst in each other.  They meet up with a track-suit wearing alien named Brian (Lou Taylor Pucci) and eventually fight over him because his touch silences the voices inside their heads. This is absolutely wild (the sex scenes feature tentacles) but it has a lot to say about the nature of addiction and I really dug it.  My nineteenth film was Plainclothes.  Lucas (Tom Blyth) is an undercover police officer involved in sting operations in bathrooms conducted to apprehend gay men for indecent exposure in the 1990s.  He is struggling with his sexuality and this is further complicated when he is attracted to one of his marks, a pastor named Andrew (Russell Tovey).  They begin a secret relationship which puts Lucas in jeopardy as a police officer but Andrew ultimately ends it because he also cannot risk being found out.  This gives Lucas the courage come out to his family because he refuses to hide any longer.  I was impressed by Blyth's quietly powerful performance and I also loved the theme of identity.  My twentieth film was Lurker.  After a random encounter with the pop star Oliver (Archie Madekwe), Matthew (Theodore Pallerin) ingratiates himself to him and is soon part of his entourage.  However, when Oliver's attention turns to the next sycophant, Matthew is willing to do anything to keep his proximity to the musician.  This is definitely about obsession but I was really struck by the idea that fame can be alienating.  Madekwe and Pallerin do a great job portraying the power struggle between the two characters and I loved the ending.  My twenty-first film was Kiss of the Spider Woman which was my most anticipated film of the festival and I absolutely loved it.  This is an adaptation of the 1992 musical and is set in an Argentinian prison during a military dictatorship.  A hardened leftist revolutionary named Valentin Arregui (Diego Luna) shares a cell with Luis Molina (Tonatiuh), a gay window dresser, and they escape from the harsh realities of prison when Molina recounts his favorite musical starring Ingrid Luna (Jennifer Lopez).  Art imitates life when the themes of the musical begin to mirror what is happening to Valentin and Molina.  Lopez is absolutely brilliant but I was especially impressed with Tonatiuh (his rendition of "She's a Woman" is beautiful).  I loved the juxtaposition between the dark and drab prison and the technicolor dream world of Molina's fantasies which evoke the Golden Age of Hollywood.  My twenty-second film was Sorry, Baby and this is another favorite.  It is a meditative, and often humorous, portrait of how a young graduate student named Agnes (Eva Victor) tries to move on after a sexual assault by her professor.  I loved how her relationships, with her best friend (Naomi Ackie), a jealous colleague (Kelly McCormack), and a neighbor (Lucas Hedges), show her that she is stuck rather than help her become unstuck.  Victor (who also wrote and directed) gives a performance that is absolutely stunning (one that I won't soon forget).  My twenty-third film was Twinless.  After losing his twin brother Rocky, Roman (Dylan O'Brien) meets Dennis (James Sweeney) at a twin bereavement support group and they become unlikely friends.  This takes a wild turn, that I was not expecting but absolutely loved, and it is one of the few comedies at Sundance that is funny and has something to say (about the grieving process).  My twenty-fourth film was Opus which had a lot of buzz but proved to be disappointing.  Ariel (Ayo Edebiri) is a relatively inexperienced journalist who is invited by the legendary pop star Alfred Moretti (John Malkovich) to his isolated compound to listen to his first album in thirty years.  She soon finds herself among a cult of sycophants who do Moretti's bidding but she is even more horrified to discover that she has become one of them herself.  This had so much potential to say something of substance about the dangers of celebrity worship but it is derivative and shallow.  Watching Malkovich sing and dance while wearing one elaborate costume after the other makes this bearable but only just.  My twenty-fifth film was Rebuilding.  After he loses everything when a devastating fire destroys his ranch, Dusty (Josh O'Connor) finds himself after reconnecting with his young daughter Callie Rose (Lily LaTorre) and discovering a community with others who also lost everything.  I loved O'Connor’s sensitive, yet powerful, performance and the cinematography is beautiful.  My twenty-sixth film was the documentary Middletown.  In 1991 a group of students in Middletown, New York are inspired by their English teacher Fred Isseks to investigate toxic waste in the local landfill and expose wrongdoing within corporations and local government.  Thirty years later the students involved revisit their experience.  As a former English teacher I really loved hearing about how one teacher was able to give real world learning experiences to his students but I am now even more anxious about the possibility that regulatory agencies that guard against things like toxic waste might be eliminated by this current administration.  My twenty-seventh film was Last Days.  John Chau (Sky Yang) is idealistic and yearns for adventure so he rejects the life his father (Tony Leung) has planned for him to become a missionary.  He eventually becomes obsessed with converting an isolated tribe on North Sentinel Island while a police officer (Radhika Apte) in India tries to stop him.  This is a lot more compelling and suspenseful than I was expecting but the message is muddled because I am still not sure if John was really devout or just lost.  My twenty-eighth and final film was Didn't Die.  Two years into a zombie apocalypse, Vinita Malhotra (Kiran Deol) travels the country recording her podcast for everyone who didn't die but things don't go according to plan when she decides to return to her hometown to record the 100th episode.  I liked the black and white cinematography (an homage to Night of the Living Dead) but there are jarring tonal shifts and, like many of the films this year, none of the ideas really come to fruition.  Whew!  I am absolutely exhausted but I had so much fun and am already looking forward to seeing some of these films again when they get a wide release.

All We Imagine as Light

The second movie in my double feature at the Broadway yesterday was All We Imagine as Light.  I have been eager to see it ever since it won the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes this year and it did not disappoint because I loved it.  Prabha (Kani Kusruti) and Anu (Divya Prabha) are nurses who live together in Mumbai.  Prabha is very reserved and conscientious so, even though she is lonely because her husband abandoned her to work in Germany immediately after their arranged marriage and has not contacted her for over a year, she refuses the advances of a doctor (Azees Nedumangad) at the hospital.  Anu is more uninhibited and is having a secret affair with a Muslim named Shiaz (Hridhu Haroon) even though she worries that her parents and Prabha will disapprove.  Parvaty (Chhaya Kadam) is a cook at the hospital who is being forced out of her apartment by greedy property developers who want to demolish it to build a skyscraper.  When she decides to move back to her village on the coast, Prabha and Anu travel with her to help her get settled and both of them find release.  As much as I loved the theme of female empowerment, I was very intrigued by the examination of loneliness and how people often feel alone while living in a large city full of people.  This is portrayed with gorgeous shots of Mumbai at night with voice over narration from anonymous inhabitants about life in the city along with many shots featuring the women traveling alone in a crowd on public transportation.  The shift from the darkness of the city to the dazzling light of the village is striking (the cinematography in both locations is beautiful) and the scenes of revelation for both of the women are incredibly compelling (I was blown away by the magical realism in one and moved by the sensuality in the other).  The performances are subtle and the pacing is slow but it is still very powerful and I cannot recommend it enough!

Hard Truths

Yesterday I took a break from Sundance for a double feature at the Broadway.  I have been looking forward to both movies for a long time and I didn't want to take a chance on them leaving before I could see them (and I wasn't particularly excited about any of the films screening at Sundance yesterday).  I began with Hard Truths and I found this poignant character study to be very thought-provoking.  Pansy Deacon (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) suffers from extreme anxiety and she is annoyed by just about everything.  She gives vent to her to all of her frustrations with everyone she interacts with but mostly her husband Curtley (David Webber) and her twenty-two-year-old son Moses (Tuwaine Barrett) who are both so cowed by her they no longer react to her rants.  Her younger sister Chantelle (Michele Austin), a single mother with a loving relationship with her daughters Kayla (Ani Nelson) and Aleisha (Sophia Brown), repeatedly invites her and her family to spend Mother's Day with them.  However, the visit is fraught with tension and, in a heated exchange, Pansy tells them she knows they all hate her.  She is moved to tears when Moses gives her flowers for Mother's Day but, despite the fact that her family loves her, they don't know how to help her be happy.  There were several audible groans at the abrupt ending but, despite the fact that I also wanted some catharsis, I think it is an incredibly accurate look at the reality of mental illness and what it does to the person suffering and to the people who love them.  I was intrigued by the juxtaposition between Pansy and Chantelle (and their houses) because it shows that children in the same family are impacted by trauma, in this case an absent father and an overly critical mother, differently.  Jean-Baptiste gives an incredible performance because, even though Pansy is so antagonistic, she is also highly sympathetic and her points are often valid (Why do baby clothes have pockets?) which creates many moments of unexpected humor.  I was also struck by Webber's nuanced performance because my opinion of Curtley frequently changed.  I was angry with him when he refuses to comfort Pansy as she cries but I also felt so much pity for him when Pansy refuses to help him after an injury.  Is Pansy so unhappy because Curtley doesn't respond to her or is Curtley so closed off because Pansy has pushed him away?  I know I will be thinking about this movie for a long time and I highly recommend it.

The Book of Mormon at the Eccles

Watching The Book of Mormon in Sal Tlay Ka Siti is so much fun because audiences here get all of the jokes!  I saw the Broadway touring production again last night at the Eccles Theatre and I don't think I stopped laughing the whole time!  After spending some time at the Missionary Training Center learning how to preach the gospel around the world ("Hello"), Elder Price (Sam McLellan) and Elder Cunningham (Diego Enrico) are called to serve in a remote village in Uganda.  Elder Price is very disappointed in the location because he had hoped to go to Orlando, the most wonderful and magical place on Earth.  He is also disappointed in his companion because Elder Cunningham has a tendency to lie to compensate for his low self-esteem.  However, he soon realizes that he will be a great missionary no matter the circumstances ("You and Me But Mostly Me").  When they meet their fellow missionaries in Africa, they get some advice about dealing with any unusual feelings they might be having ("Turn it Off") and they soon realize that Africa is nothing like The Lion King because the villagers are more concerned with poverty, famine, AIDS, and a violent warlord than with their message ("An American Prophet").  Elder Price gets discouraged and decides to go home but, when the chief's daughter Nabulungi (Keke Nesbitt) shows some interest because she wants to leave Africa and go to paradise ("Sal Tlay Ka Siti"), Elder Cunningham must teach her on his own ("Man Up").  He has never actually read The Book of Mormon because it is boring so he begins embellishing it with references to The Matrix, Star Wars, Star Trek, and The Lord of the Rings ("Making Things Up Again") and eventually baptizes Nabulungi ("Baptize Me") and then the rest of the village.  Meanwhile, Elder Price decides to return after having a dream about being in Hell with Jeffrey Dahmer, Genghis Khan, Hitler, and people who drink Starbucks coffee ("Spooky Mormon Hell Dream").  Even though they get in trouble for their false teachings, they see that they have made the lives of the villagers better so they decide to stay and even send missionaries out to teach The Book of Arnold ("Hello Reprise").  In my opinion, this is an absolutely hilarious satire that exaggerates what is already humorous about the religion but people could definitely find it offensive because it is outrageous and often very inappropriate (there is a lot of profanity).  However, my audience seemed to feel as I do because it was one of the most enthusiastic I've seen and the laughter was sometimes louder than the actors, especially during "Sal Tlay Ka Siti."  In addition to the humor, the sets and costumes are visually stunning, the musical numbers are very catchy, and the choreography is incredible, especially in "Turn it Off" (I always enjoy tap dancing) and "I Am Africa."  The performances of the three leads are fantastic but Craig Franke steals the show as Elder McKinley, a missionary trying to pretend that he is not gay.  I had a blast watching this but I suggest doing a little research before buying tickets (which may be purchased here) to make sure it is something you would enjoy.  It runs at the Eccles Theatre through January 26.

Wolf Man

I really enjoyed Leigh Whannell's fresh take on a classic monster in The Invisible Man so I was eager to see his interpretation of another one in Wolf Man.  I saw it last night and, even though it is not as good as the previous movie, I thought it was pretty solid (I jumped a foot out of my seat during one particular scene).  When a hiker goes missing in the remote mountains of Oregon it is believed that he was attacked and infected by an animal so Grady Lovell (Sam Jaeger) goes to extreme measures to keep his young son Blake (Zac Chandler) safe from a mysterious humanoid figure he sees in the forest.  Thirty years later, Grady is declared legally dead after also disappearing in the forest so Blake (Christopher Abbott), who now lives in San Francisco with his wife Charlotte (Julia Garner) and daughter Ginger (Matilda Firth), returns to Oregon with his family to clear out his house.  While driving through the forest, a creature forces them off the road and scratches Blake's arm but the three of them are able to make it to Grady's isolated house and barricade themselves inside.  Charlotte and Ginger are terrified of the monster outside but they soon realize that Blake might be a bigger threat.  There is a heavy-handed message about becoming so afraid that the ones you love will be hurt that you actually become what hurts them (it is reiterated so many times) but I like how it plays out in the resolution.  The light and sound design is very atmospheric, especially the distortion that occurs when the POV shifts back and forth between Blake and Charlotte as he transforms, and the creature design is incredibly unsettling even if it doesn't resemble a traditional werewolf or incorporate any of the mythology.  There are some effective jump scares and Whannell does a good job building tension (a scene involving the creature's breath is absolutely spine-tingling) but the big twist in the narrative is pretty much telegraphed from the opening sequence and is somewhat underwhelming.  Finally, Abbott and Garner give great performances individually but they lack chemistry together.  There are definitely issues but I enjoyed seeing a different approach to a well-known character and I would recommend this.

Little Women at HCT

Last night I went to see the musical Little Women at HCT and I loved it so much! The March sisters, Jo (Scout Smith), Meg (Kat Hawley Cook), Beth (Julia Bradford), and Amy (Olivia Shelton), come of age in Concord, Massachusetts during and after the Civil War. We first meet Jo when she is in New York City pursuing her dream of becoming a writer.  When Professor Bhaer (Landon Horton), another resident at her boardinghouse, tells her that she should write about what she knows rather than the sensational pieces she has been submitting to magazines, there are flashbacks to the trials and triumphs of her adolescence with her sisters and mother "Marmee" (Claire Kenny), her neighbor Theodore "Laurie" Lawrence (Weston Wright), his grandfather Mr. Lawrence (Mark Knowles), and her Aunt March (Jen Kroff). My favorite character from the novel by Louisa May Alcott has always been Jo because she is so fiery and independent and Smith perfectly embodies these qualities, especially in the scene where she rejects Laurie's proposal and in the scene where Aunt March tells she won't be going to Europe with her. She has a beautiful voice and she is incredibly powerful in "Astonishing" and "The Fire Within Me" and her emotional version of "Some Things Are Meant to Be" with Bradford had me in tears. However, I think my favorite moment came during "The Weekly Volcano Press" when she reads one of her sensational stories to Professor Bhaer as it is acted out by all of the other characters because she mouths the dialogue and pantomimes the action in a hilariously over the top performance. There are a lot of other memorable moments from the rest of the cast as well, including a heartfelt performance of "Here Alone" from Kenny, a moment of vulnerability from Knowles during "Off to Massachusetts," and a delightful version of "Take a Chance On Me" from Wright who is as irrepressible as a puppy (the girls sitting near me were very taken with him and eagerly read his bio aloud during intermission). The set, which rotates on a turntable to reveal the parlor in the March home on one side and the attic and various locations on the other side, is lovely and the staircases connecting the two areas are used in very innovative ways, particularly in the choreography for "Five Forever." I also really loved the projections of Jo's writing and Amy's paintings (watch the pages located on the proscenium arch very carefully before the show). Finally, the costumes are absolutely exquisite with beautifully embellished fabrics. My favorite is the dress Jo wears to Sallie Moffat's ball because it features gorgeous appliqued flowers (and a scorch mark in the back). I thoroughly enjoyed this beautiful production and I am sure that fans of the classic novel will love it as much as I did. It runs on the Sorenson Legacy Jewel Box Stage through May 3 and tickets may be purchased here but, as always, act quickly because many shows are sold out.

Utah Opera's Hansel and Gretel

Last night I went to see Utah Opera's production of Hansel and Gretel because it is an opera that I had never seen before.  Everything about this production is extremely well done but it just wasn't for me.  Hansel (Sarah Coit) and Gretel (Maureen McKay) are left alone in their cottage in the woods to make brooms and darn socks, respectively, but Hansel complains that he is hungry and there is nothing to eat so Gretel distracts him by getting him to dance with her.  Mother (Aubrey Adams-McMillan) comes home and is angry that they have not completed their work and, when she attempts to spank them, she breaks the jug containing the cream she was going to use to make rice pudding for their dinner.  She sends them out into the woods to gather strawberries as punishment and then despairs that she cannot feed her children.  Father (Gabriel Preisser) returns with a feast because he was able to sell his brooms to the wealthy who are cleaning for an upcoming festival.  They celebrate but Father becomes worried when he hears that the children are in the woods and tells Mother about the evil witch who turns children into gingerbread and then eats them.  After Hansel and Gretel encounter woodland creatures, they begin picking strawberries but, when they eat all of them, they realize that they can't go home without picking more but it gets dark and they get lost.  The Sandman (Sarah Scofield) visits them to help them go to sleep and, after saying a prayer, fourteen angels gather to protect them through the night.  In the morning a Dew Fairy (Stephanie Chee) wakes them up and they soon find a large house made of gingerbread.  Hansel is so hungry he begins nibbling on it and is caught by a witch (Freddie Ballentine).  She tries to lure them into her oven but they trick her and push her inside, instead.  They also rescue all of the gingerbread children who were trapped by the witch and bring them back to life before being reunited with their Mother and Father.  Coit and McKay have amazing voices, especially in the incredibly beautiful "Evening Benediction" before Hansel and Gretel go to sleep in the woods (it gave me goosebumps), and I really enjoyed their physical performances during the folk dances in Act 1 and when the witch controls their movements in Act 3.  Ballentine steals the show with his over the top comedic performance (but I would really love to see him in a dramatic role because I loved his voice) and the children (the dancers from Children's Ballet Theatre who portray the woodland animals and the angels and the Choristers of The Madeleine Choir School who portray the gingerbread children) are wonderful.  The sets and costumes are magical and the special effects are a lot of fun, particularly the broom that chases the witch across the stage.  The score by Engelbert Humperdinck, which incorporates folk music into its themes, is lovely.  However, with the exception of "Evening Benediction," I didn't find any of the songs particularly memorable and the story feels like a simple fairy tale that has been extended and embellished to make a full-length opera and it really drags in some places (I kept waiting for the witch to appear).  To be fair, I definitely prefer tragic operas to comedic ones so others may appreciate this more than I did.  It runs through January 26 and tickets may be purchased here.

Twilight Marathon

When I noticed that an inordinate number of my students were reading the same book with a distinctive black cover, I was really curious because getting them to read for pleasure was a hard sell and I wanted to know what had them all so enthralled.  I asked one of my classes and then immediately went to my computer to order a copy of Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.  They all told me to order New Moon at the same time because I would definitely want to read it as soon as I was finished with Twilight but I decided to see if I liked it before ordering the next one.  The book came on a Friday and I ended up staying up all night to finish it (then drove to Barnes & Noble and waited an hour in the parking lot for it to open so I could get New Moon and pre-order Eclipse).  Since I enjoyed the books, I was really excited for each of the movies to come out and I saw all five of them at midnight screenings.  I have to admit that I love them and binge watching them is a guilty pleasure so, of course, I had to go to a Twilight marathon at the Megaplex with my sister Kristine yesterday.  We had so much fun at the Harry Potter marathon last summer so we were really excited for this one because it was considerably shorter (only 12 hours instead of 22).  The set-up at the theater was very similar to the Harry Potter marathon and, once again, I was really impressed with how organized everything was because checking in and ordering concessions was quick and easy despite the large crowd (six theaters were in use at the Legacy Crossing location). Our audience was very animated with lots of cheering whenever Jacob appears without a shirt (which is most of the time) and whenever Edward appears in the sun.  There was also a lot of laughing when the Quileutes turn into wolves and when we first see baby Renesmee (the CGI is admittedly pretty bad).  What I noticed most when watching these movies on the big screen again was how much I love the music, especially "Supermassive Black Hole" by Muse, "Decode" by Paramore, and "Flightless Bird, American Mouth" by Iron & Wine in Twilight, "Possibility" by Lykke Li and "Meet Me on the Equinox" by Death Cab for Cutie in New Moon, "Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever)" by Muse in Eclipse, "From Now On" by The Features, "I Didn't Mean It" by The Belle Brigade, "It Will Rain" by Bruno Mars, and "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri in Breaking Dawn Part One, and "The Forgotten" by Green Day in Breaking Dawn Part Two (I remembered the words to all of these songs even though I hadn't heard them in a long time).  I think I love these movies so much because they are a form of escapism and spending my Saturday escaping from the world was really fun (and much needed).  Kristine and I can't wait for the next marathon at the Megaplex (we are hoping for The Hunger Games).

Nickel Boys

I was very moved by Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Nickel Boys so I was eager to see the movie adaptation Nickel Boys by director RaMell Ross.  I was hoping that it would get a wider release after the fall film festivals and, luckily, it is now playing at the Broadway.  I had the chance to see it last night and the more I think about it the more I love it.  Elwood Curtis (Ethan Herisse) is an idealistic Black teenager living in Tallahassee, Florida with his grandmother Hattie (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) during the era of segregation.  He is inspired by Martin Luther King, Jr. to participate in the Civil Rights Movement and by his history teacher Mr. Hill (Jimmie Fails) to enroll in college courses.  He is picked up by a man driving a stolen car while hitchhiking to campus and, when the man is pulled over by police, he is unjustly arrested as his accomplice.  Because he is a minor, he is sent to the reform school Nickel Academy where he befriends a cynical student named Turner (Brandon Wilson).  Elwood soon discovers that the academy is both cruel and corrupt after he is brutally whipped for defending a student who is being bullied and when he and other students are hired out as slave labor.  They come to suspect that a student has been executed and buried on the property but, when  Elwood wants to expose the academy to a visiting government inspector so that conditions will improve, Turner advises him to keep his head down.  He does not listen and is severely punished.  Many years later, Turner is inspired by Elwood to come forward after mass graves are discovered at the academy.  This features a non-linear structure and the narrative is told through the first person POVs of Elwood and Turner (the audience only sees what they see) with lots of archival footage of the Black experience during this time period interspersed in between.  It took me a little while to adjust to this but eventually something clicked and I realized that I was actually experiencing everything that the two characters do.  It was both visceral and powerful.  The images on the screen are hauntingly beautiful and the performances by Herisse and Wilson are incredibly compelling even if some of the scenes are difficult to watch.  I don't think I have ever seen anything like this before and I highly recommend it but I will say that those who have not read the book might not understand everything that is happening.

The Brutalist

Last night I went to an early screening of The Brutalist at the Broadway with my nephew (I sure do love going to movies with him) and I think it is an epic masterpiece.  Laszlo Toth (Adrien Brody) is a Hungarian Jew who emigrates to the United States after surviving the Holocaust while separated from his wife Erzsebet (Felicity Jones) and niece Zsofia (Raffey Cassidy).  He lands in New York Harbor but soon travels to Philadelphia where he is taken in by his cousin Atilla (Alessandro Nivola), who has become very assimilated and has an American (and Catholic) wife named Audrey (Emma Laird) who does not want him staying with them.  Atilla eventually gives in to Audrey's wishes (and a false claim that Lazslo made advances to her) and asks him to leave.  He becomes a heroin addict while working a construction job and living in a shelter run by the Catholic church but soon meets a wealthy, but mercurial, industrialist named Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce) who knows of his reputation as an innovative architect before the war.  He proposes that Laszlo design a large project as a memorial to his mother and offers to help facilitate the immigration of his wife and niece as an incentive.  Laszlo is reunited with his family and moves to Van Buren's vast estate as work on the elaborate community center begins.  The project is fraught with complications including the last minute addition of a chapel, Van Buren's insistence on having another architect supervise the work, the derision of Van Buren's arrogant son Harry (Joe Alwyn), and the derailment of a train carrying materials which is blamed on Laszlo.  However, it is a violent encounter with Van Buren that ultimately dooms the project.  Many years later, at a retrospective of Laszlo's work in Venice, it is revealed that the community center was eventually completed and now stands as a monument to him rather than Van Buren.  I was absolutely riveted (despite a runtime of over three hours) by this bold exploration of the immigrant experience and I loved how Laszlo's first distorted view of the Statue of Liberty, which is often called a symbol of the American dream, foreshadows what is to come.  Brody is utterly captivating with an emotional performance that, in my opinion, is the best of 2024, especially in an incredibly intense scene where Lazslo tells Van Buren that his buildings will be his legacy, but I was also impressed with Pearce because he is the perfect embodiment of Van Buren's privilege juxtaposed with Laszlo's suffering.  I could not look away whenever the two of them appear on screen together.  The production design is immersive, particularly Laszlo's innovative buildings, and the cinematography is dazzling (it was filmed in VistaVision).  I even loved the titles because they mimic Brutalist architecture.  Finally, I was blown away by the score by Daniel Blumberg, especially the continuous music in the ten minute opening sequence, because the repetition of a four note motif (by the brass and the piano among other instruments) is so evocative.  I cannot recommend this enough!

Note:  Watching this felt like an event because the theater was packed and the structure of the movie (which includes an overture and an intermission) is a throwback to the way movies used to be presented.

Dial M for Murder at PTC

I love the movie Dial M for Murder (I'm a big fan of Alfred Hitchcock) so I was really excited to see a new adaptation by Jeffrey Hatcher at PTC last night. This version is still set in the 1950s but there is an update that intensifies the motivations of the characters and I found the whole production to be incredibly compelling. Tony Wendice (Dan Domingues) blackmails his old college friend Lesgate (Aaron Cammack) into killing his wife Margot (Awesta Zarif) for her money after he discovers that she is having an affair with a crime writer named Maxine Hadley (Lucy Lavely). However, all of his elaborate plans go awry when Margot kills Lesgate instead and he must improvise to make Margot culpable for the murder. Will Margot, Maxine, and Inspector Hubbard (Peter Howard) be able to expose Tony as the mastermind before it is too late? This is an incredibly intense psychological thriller because it is not so much about "whodunnit" but about how the plot will be unraveled. Every aspect of the production adds to the tension and I especially loved the set, which features a well appointed living room surrounded by discolored mirrors that distort the contents within and a murky scrim through which you can see the all-important staircase on the other side of the door, and the dramatic lighting, which uses light and shadow to great effect (especially in the scene where Tony is compelling Lesgate to do his bidding because Tony's shadow looms over Lesgate and it is so ominous). I was also impressed with the sound design because hearing Maxine's interview on the radio during the attack sequence creates a sense of unease that is palpable. The pacing is absolutely brilliant because, despite the heavy reliance on dialogue, my attention never wavered as more and more secrets are slowly revealed (the audience gasped out loud during a particularly heated scene). The cast is uniformly exceptional and it is difficult to single anyone out but I had a lot of fun watching Dominigues subtly manipulate everyone around him with a smirk on his face (he is such a cad) and Howard bumble around with an overwrought delivery (he is the source of much comic relief) until he reveals himself to be Tony's equal in manipulation. Finally, I think having Margot's lover be a woman (the biggest change from the original play by Frederick Knott) really ups the stakes for her and provides a more persuasive motive for the lengths she goes to hide the affair. I thoroughly enjoyed this and, if you are a fan of suspense, I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here). It runs at PTC through January 25.

The Last Showgirl

Last night my nephew and I went to see The Last Showgirl at the Broadway.  I was really eager to see this because of everything I had heard about Pamela Anderson's performance and it is definitely the highlight of the movie.  Shelly Gardner (Anderson) has been a dancer in a Las Vegas revue called Le Razzle Dazzle for over thirty years.  Her much younger castmates Mary-Anne (Brenda Song) and Jodie (Kiernan Shipka) see the show as just a way to earn money but she thinks of it as a glamorous career in an iconic show where she feels beautiful and seen.  However, when she learns that show will be closing permanently very soon, she must come to terms with the effect her career has had on the relationship with her estranged daughter Hannah (Billie Lourd) and with the fact that she has only been deluding herself that she is a star after a disappointing audition for another director (Jason Schwartzman).  I really loved the exploration of what it means to follow a dream even when that dream requires sacrifices or is derided by others and I found the ending to be almost triumphant even though Shelly's future remains uncertain.  I also liked the examination of how society treats women when they age (this would be a great double feature with The Substance), especially in the scenes involving Shelly's friend and former castmate Annette (Jamie Lee Curtis).  Anderson gives the performance of her career and, as a woman who was herself sexualized in most of her acting roles and then discarded, she brings an authenticity to the role that is incredibly poignant.  I particularly loved her vulnerability in the audition scene.  I was also really impressed by Dave Bautista as Eddie, the producer of the revue, but I found Curtis to be too over the top.  Unfortunately, the script is quite weak with ambiguous relationships that I wish had been explored more fully and much of the already short runtime is taken up with artistic shots of Shelly standing in front of various locations (I get that this is supposed to represent the real Las Vegas that tourists don't see but the repetition becomes tedious).  Much like with Maria, I really loved the central performance but didn't necessarily love the movie.

Ragtime at The Ruth

I really love the musical Ragtime so I was thrilled to be able to see it last night in the Scott & Karen Smith Grand Theater at The Ruth.  It is an amazing production (and the theater isn't too shabby, either).  This show tells the story of America at the turn of the 20th Century from the perspectives of three different groups of people.  Mother (Amy Shreeve Keeler) is the matriarch of an upper-class family living in the suburb of New Rochelle when Father (Christopher Higbee) leaves on a voyage to the North Pole and she is forced to make decisions for the first time in her life.  Tateh (Taylor Morris) is an Eastern European Jew who brings his daughter to America hoping for a better life.  Coalhouse Walker, Jr. (Yahosh Bonner) is a Harlem piano player looking for justice after the death of his fiance Sarah (Brittany Andam).  Their stories converge along with those of the most notable figures of the day, including the illusionist Harry Houdini (Clayton Barney), a showgirl named Evelyn Nesbit (Morgan Fenner) who gets caught up in the Crime of the Century, the Black leader Booker T. Washington (Chad Brown), the financier J.P. Morgan (Bradley Moss), the inventor of the Model-T Henry Ford (Trevor B. Dean), and the anarchist Emma Goldman (Marcie Jacobsen), with ragtime music as a metaphor for the dramatic changes taking place in American life before World War I.  The entire cast is outstanding but I especially enjoyed Bonner and Andam because they sing "Sarah Brown Eyes," my favorite song in the show, so beautifully (the two of them also just about blow the roof off the brand new theater with their powerful rendition of "Wheels of a Dream") and I found Bonner's performance of "Make Them Hear You" and Andam's performance of "Your Daddy's Son" to be incredibly stirring.  I was also really impressed with Keeler because she sings "Back to Before," another one of my favorites from the show, with so much emotion.  Speaking of emotion, the ensemble brought tears to my eyes during "Till We Reach That Day" because it is so affecting.  The dynamic staging and choreography really add to the storytelling, especially in "Ragtime" as the various groups circle around each other, in "Journey On" as Father and Tateh arrive and depart from New York Harbor as Mother waves to both of them, in "A Shtetl Iz America" as the immigrants arrive at Ellis Island with metal fences that are moved and configured as barriers and then as a gate, and the synchronized movements that mimic an assembly line by the factory workers in "Henry Ford."  I also really loved the energy in "Gettin' Ready Rag" and "Atlantic City."  This new theater features a thrust stage which retains the intimacy of the old theater but allows for more elaborate sets and I liked the use of bricks, glass, and iron girders to represent the industrialization of the age.  Finally, I have always loved HCTO's costumes and this show is no exception.  I especially loved the white Edwardian dresses worn by the women of New Rochelle and Evelyn Nesbit's showgirl costume.  Every aspect of this production is extremely well done and I highly recommend it (you definitely do not want to miss out on being a part of The Ruth's inaugural show).  It runs through February 22 and tickets may be purchased here.

Note:  I thoroughly enjoyed seeing shows at the quirky HCTO theater but I have to admit the the new theater is much more comfortable (lots of leg room).

Titanic The Musical at the Terrace Plaza Playhouse

I loved HCT's production of Titanic The Musical so much I saw it twice! I was, therefore, really intrigued by the concert edition of this show now being performed at the Terrace Plaza Playhouse. I saw it last night and, while it doesn't have the same technical wizardry as HCT's version, it is beautiful and very moving. This musical tells the story of the doomed maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic from the perspectives of the different groups on board. The White Star Line is represented by the designer Thomas Andrews, the owner J. Bruce Ismay, and the captain E.J. Smith who marvel at the ship in the song "The Largest Moving Object." The crew is represented by a stoker named Fred Barrett, the lookout Frederick Fleet, and the telegraph operator Harold Bride who are in awe of it in the song "Ship of Dreams." The third class passengers are represented by Kate McGowan, Kate Murphey, Kate Mullins, and Jim Farrell who are excited to be going to America for a better life in the song "Lady's Maid." The second class passengers, especially Alice Beane, are excited to mingle with the wealthy passengers aboard the ship in the song "Doing the Latest Rag." The first class passengers are represented by John Jacob Astor and his wife Madeline and Isidor Straus and his wife Ida who congratulate themselves on their success in the song "What a Remarkable Age This Is!" Ismay wants the ship to go faster to reach New York Harbor a day sooner for the publicity but that is extremely dangerous and Titanic eventually strikes an iceberg in "No Moon." When it becomes clear that the ship will sink without enough lifeboats for all of the passengers, Andrews, Ismay, and Smith accuse each other in "Blame." Only women and children are allowed on the lifeboats so the men must say goodbye to their loved ones in "We'll Meet Tomorrow." Andrews laments the errors in his design as the ship goes down in "Mr. Andrews' Vision" while the survivors on the Carpathia express hope that they will be reunited with their loved ones in "Godspeed Titanic." This is a stripped down version with a live orchestra on stage and an ensemble cast of twenty, many of whom play several parts, with minimal props (I loved the life preservers and the blankets with Carpathia stenciled on them) and costumes (the fur stoles worn by the first class passengers were my favorites) and a large screen showing actual photos of various locations on the Titanic. Cast members are located on risers behind the orchestra and move to center stage or on platforms on either side to perform the songs (although there is choreography for "Doing the Latest Rag") and I think this is very effective because the emphasis is on the music rather than an elaborate set. The sinking of the ship is not quite as dramatic but it is still powerfully conveyed through sound and lighting design. The cast is wonderful and the standouts for me were Blaine Hickman as Andrews because he is so emotional in "Blame," Cydney Hall as Bride because her physicality and facial expressions are hilarious in "The Night Was Alive," Ben Teeples as Fleet because his voice is so beautiful in "No Moon," April Beardall as Alice because she made me laugh out loud trying to elude the first class steward in "Doing the Latest Rag," and Mary Nakayu as Ida because she is heartbreaking in "Still." I was very impressed with this production and I highly recommend it (there were a lot of empty seats last night and this definitely deserves a big crowd). It runs on Mondays, Fridays, and Saturdays through February 8 (go here for tickets).

Note:  There is a wonderful display in the lobby with pictures and information about the real people on the Titanic. Make sure to check it out.

The Music of John Williams

Last night I was so excited to hear the music of prolific film composer John Williams performed by the Utah Symphony!  The program was curated by Creative Partner David Robertson and he was full of fun anecdotes about each piece (I think he is really charming and I always like to be in attendance whenever he is the guest conductor).  The orchestra began with the Overture to The Cowboys, which is one of the earliest scores composed by Williams, and I have to admit that I have never seen this movie or heard the score before last night but I really liked it because it is very stirring.  The concert continued with "The Flight to Neverland" from Hook, the Flying Theme from E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, and then "Hedwig's Theme" and "Harry's Wondrous World" from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (which always puts a smile on my face).  After the intermission, the orchestra played "Superman March" from Superman: The Movie, the Main Theme from Jurassic Park (this is one of my favorites because every time I hear it I can visualize Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler seeing the dinosaurs for this first time and this scene is absolutely magical thanks, in large part, to the music composed by Williams), the Main Theme from Schindler's List with the violin solos performed by Concertmaster Madeline Adkins (this was heartbreakingly beautiful and the audience leapt to their feet in a standing ovation for Adkins at its conclusion), and the Main Theme from JFK (I loved the snare drum and the fanfare from a solo trumpet).  The concert concluded with the piece I had been waiting for all evening, the instantly recognizable Main Title from Star Wars: A New Hope, and it gave me goosebumps (as it always does).  The encore included "Imperial March" from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (another favorite) and "The Raiders March" from Raiders of the Lost Ark.  I really enjoyed this concert and I highly recommend getting a ticket for tonight's performance of the same program (go here), especially if you are a fan of movies, but act quickly because last night's concert was sold out.

The Fire Inside

My first movie of 2025 was The Fire Inside at the Broadway last night and I definitely picked a good one to begin the year with!  I am a sucker for real-life inspirational sports movies but this subverts the usual formula to focus on what happens after all of the glory.  Eight year old Claressa Shields (Jazmin Headley) runs every day to a boxing gym in Flint, Michigan to escape her dysfunctional home life but the volunteer coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry) doesn't want to train a girl.  He eventually relents when he sees her fierce determination and, five years later, "T-Rex" (Ryan Destiny) is the best boxer in the gym with a chance to go to the 2012 Olympics in London.  Motivated by the opportunity to help her family, she overcomes incredible odds and wins the first women's boxing medal for the USA.  However, the real fight begins after the Olympics when she is unable to find representation or lucrative endorsement deals because the public is not interested in women's sports, especially boxing, and when USA Boxing offers a training stipend that is significantly less than the one for the men even though she was the only boxer to win a gold medal.  This true story is incredibly inspirational but it is also heartbreaking because winning was not enough and, as much as I loved all of the stand up and cheer moments (including the requisite training montage), I was really moved by some of the more poignant ones such as when Claressa silently weeps when she sees all of the other gold medal winners on the Wheaties boxes and when she tries to pawn her gold medal.  Both Destiny and Henry give highly affecting performances and I loved the way their relationship is portrayed because they need each other and inspire each other but they also butt heads in scenes that crackle with energy.  I also really loved the way in which the boxing sequences are filmed because they are dynamic and exciting.  I feel like this movie has been overshadowed by some of the bigger Christmas releases but it is a crowd-pleaser about the power of perseverance and fighting twice as hard for what you want that is definitely worth checking out.  I loved it!