American Assassin

Last night I went to a Thursday preview of American Assassin, based on the novel of the same name by Vince Flynn, and, as a huge fan of the spy genre, I thought it was very standard.  Mitch Rapp (Dylan O'Brien) is the victim of a terrorist attack which claims the life of his fiancee.  Consumed by thoughts of revenge, he tries to infiltrate a terrorist cell in Libya which attracts the attention of the CIA Deputy Director (Sanaa Lathan) who then proceeds to recruit him as a black ops agent.  He is sent to train with veteran agent Stan Hurley (Michael Keaton) and the two of them are sent on a covert mission to various locations around the world with a mysterious Turkish agent (Shiva Negar) to retrieve some plutonium stolen by a rogue mercenary (Taylor Kitsch).  The story has a few interesting twists along the way but it is fairly predictable and more than a little far-fetched.  There are some great action sequences including a fantastic virtual reality training simulation, a car chase through the streets of Rome, a fistfight on a speeding boat, and an epic explosion at sea.  The low lighting and hand-held camera work give it a certain grittiness but I never really felt an edge-of-my-seat tension.  The characters are pretty one-dimensional but O'Brien does a good job as the brooding loner turned operative (I suspect that he will appeal to a certain demographic) and Keaton is an absolute hoot to watch in an over-the-top performance, especially in a scene where he is tortured by a former protege.  This movie is entertaining and fans of the genre will probably like it but it is ultimately forgettable.  There is nothing that we haven't seen a million times before done much better in movies like the Bourne series.

An Evening with Renee Fleming

Last night I had the incredible opportunity to hear Renee Fleming, one of the most acclaimed opera stars in the world, perform with the Utah Symphony and the Utah Opera Chorus at a benefit concert in celebration of the Utah Opera's 40th Anniversary and to raise money for Utah Opera's education programs.  Wonderful doesn't even begin to describe this concert.  I saw Renee Fleming perform a Christmas concert with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir several years ago so I knew I was in for a lovely evening when I bought my ticket!  The orchestra began with the Overture to La Forza Del Destino by Verdi and then Thierry Fischer introduced Renee Fleming to thunderous applause.  She sang Four Last Songs by Strauss and, even though I was unfamiliar with this piece, I loved her performance, especially "At Sunset" which was mournful, atmospheric, and gave me goosebumps.  Then the Utah Opera Chorus sang a rousing rendition of "Vedi le fosche" from Verdi's Il Travatore.  I wouldn't consider myself an expert in opera but I definitely recognized this piece and it was spectacular!  Fleming returned to the stage to perform the mad scene from Mefistofele by Boito, "O mio babbino caro" from Gianni Schicchi (another instantly recognizable piece), and Mattinata by Leoncavallo.  As much as I loved the opera pieces, I think my favorite songs of the evening were "Somewhere" and "I Feel Pretty" from West Side Story by Bernstein.  The former was achingly beautiful and the latter was spirited and playful.  Then Fleming told the audience that she really wanted to find a contemporary piece that would work with her voice and, interestingly enough, she found the song "Virus" by Bjork!   Her rendition was awesome!  The final piece brought the crowd to their feet: "Libiamo" from La Traviata, one of my favorite operas, performed with Utah Opera Resident Artist Christopher Oglesby!  I was so sad when this concert came to an end but I am thrilled that I got to be a part of such an enchanting evening, made all the better by knowing that all of the proceeds are going to such a great cause!

Note:  Seriously, listen to Bjork's version of "Virus" and imagine what that sounded like with Renee Fleming and a full orchestra!  Mind blown!

The Wrath of Khan

In honor of its 35th Anniversary (all of these anniversaries of films that I saw in the theater as a kid are making me feel old), I had the opportunity to see Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan on the big screen last night and I absolutely loved it.  In my opinion it is the best of the original Star Trek movies.  When the starship Reliant surveys a barren planet for its suitability in the Genesis Project, the crew finds Khan (Ricardo Montalban), an old enemy who had been marooned there many years ago.  Seeking revenge against Admiral Kirk (William Shatner), Khan commandeers the Reliant to attack the Enterprise and tries to take Genesis for use as a weapon.  This forces an epic confrontation in which Spock (Leonard Nimoy) sacrifices his life to save the Enterprise (William Shatner, in the interview that preceded the movie, wondered if there was anyone who didn't know how the movie ends and if he was giving spoilers when he talked about Spock's death).  What I loved most about this movie, aside from the great story which continues a plot from the original series and Montalban as a fabulous villain, is the relationship between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy.  There are several great scenes between the three of them which really develop their characters on a deeper level.  Spock's death scene is one of the greatest scenes, ever.  I did find the special effects to be a bit dated but that hardly mattered because the story is so great.  It was so much fun watching this on the big screen with a fun and rowdy crowd, many of whom were in very elaborate costumes.  When Kirk shouted, "Khaaaaaaaaaan," the whole audience cheered!  If you are a fan of Star Trek, this is a must see on the big screen.  There is one more opportunity to see it on Wednesday (go here for more information) and I highly recommend it!

It

I have read Stephen King's best-selling novel It multiple times but the last time I read it was quite a while ago.  As I watched the new movie adaptation, I knew enough about the story and the characters to be completely invested very quickly but I couldn't remember enough to make comparisons between the script and the novel.  That was just the right mix for me because I thought the movie was fantastic (unlike the other Stephen King adaptation this summer).  There is something evil lurking in the sewers of Derry and it reappears, most often in the guise of Pennywise the Dancing Clown (Bill Skarsgard), to haunt the town's inhabitants every 27 years.  After Georgie Denbrough (Jackson Robert Scott) goes missing, his brother Bill (Jaeden Martell) and his friends Ben (Jeremy Ray Taylor), Beverly (Sophia Lillis), Richie (Finn Wolfhard), Stan (Wyatt Oleff), Mike (Chosen Jacobs), and Eddie (Jack Dylan Grazer) try to figure out what is causing so many of Derry's children to disappear.  Bill and the rest of the "Loser's Club" are all misfits in one way or another and Pennywise appears to each of them as what they fear the most.  They must band together in an epic confrontation with Pennywise in order to save Beverly.  The narrative ends with all seven of the kids making a blood pact to come back and face Pennywise again if it comes back, setting the stage for the next movie.  What I liked most about this movie is that it is an emotionally satisfying coming-of-age story about a group of kids who have to face their greatest fears.  By the end of the movie I cared deeply about each one of them and that is due, in large part, to the nuanced performances of the young actors, especially Lillis whose story arc is the most disturbing.  All seven of them are wonderful and I loved their interactions with each other because they seemed so natural and real with quite a few really funny moments to balance out the terror.  I've heard some criticism that it isn't scary enough but don't listen to it.  In my opinion, it is plenty scary (so please don't take your young children to see it). I jumped about a mile in a particularly tense scene.  Skarsgard plays Pennywise in a way that is completely different from Tim Curry's portrayal in the 1990 miniseries but it is no less frightening.  I definitely recommend this movie!

Note:  Now I am very eager for the sequel and, I have to admit, I already started casting the adult roles in my head before the movie even ended!  Amy Adams as Beverly?  Yes! 

Raiders of the Lost Ark in Concert

Last night I had so much fun watching the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark on the big screen at Abravanel Hall as the Utah Symphony performed the score by John Williams live!  I love this movie concert series that the Utah Symphony has started (go here and here) so much because listening to the music played live makes the movie so much more entertaining.  I may or may not have cheered out loud when we heard the iconic fanfare for the first time as Indiana Jones runs through the jungle.  It has been a really long time since I've seen this movie about an adventurous archaeologist and his quest to locate the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis do.  I was my nephew's age when this first came out and it is really the first big epic adventure that I remember watching in the theater.  It felt just as exciting to me last night as it did then.  I'm starting to respect Steven Spielberg more and more because, just like with Close Encounters of the Third Kind, I think the special effects in this movie hold up incredibly well.  There are so many scenes that I loved such as when Indiana shoots a man who dramatically brandishes a sword at him, when he fights one of the Nazis near the propeller of a plane, when he crawls underneath a moving truck, when he is trapped in a tomb full of snakes (this gave me nightmares when I was a kid), and when the Ark burns the faces off of the Nazis.  I also thought it was really clever to use a red line across a map to indicate a long journey and I liked the use of shadows (that fedora is instantly recognizable).  It is such a great movie and the orchestra played the music magnificently under the baton of guest conductor Constantine Kitsopoulos.  It was a really fun way to begin the weekend.  The next movie in this series is The Nightmare Before Christmas in October and tickets may be purchased here.