Go Avs Go!

I was already going to spend part of my spring break in Denver so I spontaneously decided to drive out a day early to see the Colorado Avalanche play the Chicago Blackhawks.  I knew it would be a great game because the Avalanche are definitely in the mix for a Stanley Cup playoff position but I had no idea that it would be one of the best games ever!  I enjoy doing many things by myself but I had never been to a hockey game by myself before.  I used to go to games with my friend Tony and now I usually go with my Dad or my cousins and I wondered how fun it would be with no one to talk to.  I had nothing to fear!  I sat next to two of the rowdiest Avalanche fans in the world and they talked to me the whole night!  In fact, the obnoxious Blackhawks fan sitting behind us thought we were together which was somewhat problematic when they almost got into a fight!  It was so much fun!  With every goal, and there were five of them, we would celebrate by high-fiving and, as the game wore on, hugging each other!  The Avalanche scored a goal on all three power plays, one in each period, and then added two more for good measure in the third period to get the shut-out!  The Pepsi Center was out of control!  I am so glad I decided to go to this game!

Note:  I really missed my Dad!  Not only has he has been my hockey buddy my whole life but he springs for better seats!!

Ready Player One

Last night I had the opportunity to see a Wednesday preview of Ready Player One.  I just finished reading the book by Ernest Cline because so many of the boys in my sophomore English classes were reading it.  Reading is a hard sell to sophomore boys so I wanted to check it out to understand the appeal.  As a child of the 80s, I absolutely loved it and I, along with my students, have been eagerly anticipating the movie adaptation directed by Steven Spielberg.  If you are a fan of the book there are quite a few changes in the movie, which bothered me initially, but ultimately made for a better narrative.  In the year 2045 much of the population tries to escape from the dreariness of their daily lives by entering a virtual reality simulation known as the OASIS created by an eccentric gamer named James Halliday (Mark Rylance).  When Halliday dies, he reveals a contest to locate three keys leading to an Easter egg granting the winner sole control of both the OASIS and his vast fortune.  A rival software company called Innovative Online Industries (IOI), controlled by Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn), compels indentured servants to search for the keys because it wants to use the OASIS in order to generate revenue through advertising.  Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan), a Gunter (egg hunter) who uses the avatar Parzival, eventually teams up with Samantha/Art3mis (Olivia Cooke) and Helen/Aech (Lena Waithe) to find the egg using clues from Halliday's personal life, such as a fondness for 80s pop culture and his relationships with Ogden (Simon Pegg) and Kira Morrow (Perdita Weeks).  Most of the differences from the book involve the tasks needed to be completed in order find the keys but these scenes are absolutely exhilarating, especially an epic street race and a sequence from The Shining.  The movie is visually stunning, as if you are actually in the middle of a video game.  I loved all of the pop culture references, especially the ones that are very subtle.  When I saw the poster for the Rush album 2112 hanging on the wall in Halliday's teenage bedroom, I may or may not have squealed out loud.  Even though the nostalgia made watching this movie a lot of fun, the message about the dangers of disengaging with reality really resonated with me.  Online you can be anyone or anything that you want but it is always better to be appreciated for who you really are.  I really liked the fact that Art3mis the avatar is incredibly sexy but Wade ultimately wants to be with the mousy Samantha.  I loved this movie and I highly recommend it!

Note:  The only difference from the book that bothered me was that many of the references to music were not used, especially in the club scene.  I really wanted to hear "Union of the Snake."

The Death of Stalin

One of the things I love best about the Sundance Film Festival is the opportunity to talk to people who are just as passionate about film as I am.  I always ask the people I meet what their favorite film of the festival has been and one of the coolest guys I met immediately mentioned The Death of Stalin, telling me that it was one of the funniest things he had ever seen.  I did wonder how Stalin's Great Purge in the Soviet Union could be viewed as a comedy but he made me promise that I would check it out.  As I was unable to get a ticket at Sundance I have been eagerly anticipating its wide release ever since.  I saw it last night and it is an absolutely hilarious political satire that had me, along with everyone else in my screening, laughing out loud!  After Stalin (Adrian McLoughlin) dies from a cerebral hemorrhage, the Members of the Central Committee plot and scheme for control.  The ineffective Gregory Malenkov (Jeffrey Tambor) assumes control of the Committee but both Nikita Khrushchev (Steve Buscemi) and Lavrentiy Beria (Simon Russell Beale) manipulate him as they fight each other for control.  The fear of Stalin is satirized as the Moscow Symphony is forced to recreate a performance because Stalin wants a recording (they bring in peasants off the street to recreate the acoustics and the applause because Stalin will know the difference), when the officers outside Stalin's door hear him collapse but are too afraid to enter for fear of provoking his anger, and when the Committee cannot find a doctor to attend to Stalin because all of the good ones have been shot.  Some of the funniest scenes are when the Committee Members try to ingratiate themselves to Stalin's daughter Svetlana (Andrea Riseborough) and his unstable son Vasily (Rupert Friend, in a hilarious performance).  There is a montage as they prepare for Stalin's elaborate funeral ("Ruched or non-ruched drapery?") that had me laughing so hard I couldn't breathe.  Jason Isaacs is completely over-the-top as Field Marshall Georgy Zhukov as he conspires with Khrushchev to stage a coup against Beria.  I had another laughing fit as his medals clanged together in slow-motion.  The ultimate resolution of this farce is quite shocking but, even so, I was laughing again when I saw Leonid Brezhnev looking over Khrushchev's shoulders.  In my opinion, director Armando Iannucci strikes the just the right balance in satirizing what were some darkest days in the history of the Soviet Union by making fun of the stereotype rather than the event itself.  As a fan of dark comedies I highly recommend this film!

Audra McDonald with the Utah Symphony

Last night was a celebration of musical theatre at Abravanel Hall with the incomparable Audra McDonald and the Utah Symphony.  It was an amazing concert which gave me goosebumps as she belted out showstoppers and brought tears to my eyes as she reminded us that love is the reason for everything.  Let's just say that I won't forget this night any time soon.  I had the privilege of seeing McDonald perform with the Utah Symphony in 2002 as part of the Cultural Olympiad held in conjunction with the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.  It was my first introduction to her and I was so impressed by her beautiful and powerful voice!  I knew that I definitely wanted to see her perform live again and I am so glad that I got a ticket!  Her program featured a variety of selections from musical theatre that spanned decades from Rogers and Hammerstein to Gershwin to many new composers.  My favorites included a sultry rendition of "Moonshine Lullaby" from Annie Get Your Gun, "Summertime" from Porgy and Bess, "Simple Little Things" from 110 in the Shade, "Pure Imagination" from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, "Ice Cream" from She Loves Me, "I'll Be Here" from Ordinary Days, and "I Could Have Danced All Night" from My Fair Lady.  She was so personable and charming, telling stories and interacting with the audience all evening.  She mentioned how much she loves Utah because her husband's family lives here and she spoke quite often about her children.  It felt very intimate, like she was performing in a small club rather than in Abravanel Hall.  I was sad to see the concert come to an end because it was so wonderful but McDonald gave the audience a treat by singing an incredibly passionate rendition of "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" from The Sound of Music to finish her set.  After a thunderous standing ovation, she came back to the stage to sing a lovely version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" from The Wizard of Oz.  Sometimes I am amazed at all of the opportunities we have to see Broadway stars perform right here in Salt Lake City!  I highly recommend getting a ticket to see one of the best from Broadway perform the same program tonight (go here) if there are any to be had because Abravanel Hall was packed last night!

The Party

Last night I was in the mood for a dark comedy so, of course, I took myself to the Broadway to see The Party.  Janet (Kristin Scott Thomas) is an idealistic politician who has just been promoted to Minister of Health.  She and her husband Bill (Timothy Spall) throw a party for their friends to celebrate.  The first to arrive is April (Patricia Clarkson) and her boyfriend Gottfried (Bruno Ganz) followed by Martha (Cherry Jones) and her partner Jinny (Emily Mortimer).  The last to arrive is Tom (Cillian Murphy) who informs them that his wife Marianne will not be able to join them until later.  As they toast Janet's promotion, all of the characters have their own announcements:  Bill has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, April and Gottfried are separating, and Martha and Jinny are expecting triplets.  By the way, Tom, who is clearly agitated and carrying a gun, takes every opportunity to snort cocaine in the bathroom and Janet keeps receiving texts from a lover who is clearly not Bill.  What begins as a celebration among friends rapidly descends into a tense drama filled with long dormant recriminations and culminates in another bombshell announcement.  I laughed through the entire film, as did everyone at my screening.  I don't know what it is about deeply flawed characters behaving badly but I find watching their over-the-top antics to be very cathartic.  All of the actors are fantastic, especially Clarkson (her cynical character has the best lines), and you could say that they give a master class in verbal sparring.  All of the action takes place in a London townhouse in real time so it has the feel of a one-act play (the run-time is only 71 minutes) in which all of the characters come undone right before your eyes and the black and white cinematography highlights the claustrophobia.  I really enjoyed this film but I have to say that I have been in a black mood lately so it might not be for everyone!