The Children Act

Yesterday I went to see The Children Act which is based on a novel of the same name by Ian McEwan.  I have not read the novel but as McEwan is one of my favorite writers I knew that this fim would be thought-provoking.  It opens with Fiona Maye (Emma Thompson), a judge in the High Court of Justice in England and Wales, ruling on a case involving conjoined twins.  The hospital is petitioning the court to separate the twins without the consent of the parents.  If they are not separated, both of them will most likely die but, if they are, one of the twins will definitely die.  Even though the case is an emotional one, she states that she must follow the letter of the law without prejudice or passion and rules in favor of the hospital.  Her husband Jack (Stanley Tucci) accuses her of becoming just as dispassionate in their marriage and contemplates having an affair.  She is clearly distraught at this news and, when she hears her next case involving a seventeen-year-old boy (Fionn Whitehead) with leukemia who is refusing treatment on religious grounds, she becomes emotionally involved.  Her decision impacts her life just as much as it impacts the boy's and Thompson gives an incredibly powerful performance.  There is an amazing scene where Fiona is playing a piano recital and all of the emotion that she has been trying to suppress is suddenly revealed on her face.  Whitehead also gives a sensitive portrayal of a young man caught between his parents' beliefs and the law.  It is a compelling character study but I felt that the resolution was a bit rushed and it fell a little flat.  I found it to be rather unfulfilling after all of the emotional investment.  However, I would recommend this film for Thompson's performance and for the provacative discussion of morality and law.

 Note:  This film reminds me a bit of The Wife in that a strong central performance overcomes any shortcomings it may have!

Venom

Last night I thought I was going to see a fun new entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  Not so much because Venom is merely "in association with" Marvel and, frankly, it is a disaster.  Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) is an investigative reporter assigned to interview Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed), the CEO of a bioengineering company called the Life Foundation, but this interview goes badly and Brock is fired.  He also loses his fiancee Anne (Michelle Williams) because he uses confidential information from her email to confront Drake (her law firm represents Drake).  It turns out that Drake, fearing the inevitable destruction of the Earth, has sent a rocket into space to look for other inhabitable worlds and has found symbiotic lifeforms.  When the rocket crash lands in Malaysia, one of the symbiotes escapes and the rest are brought to the Life Foundation where Drake tries, unsuccessfully, to achieve symbiosis with various test subjects.  Dr. Dora Skirth (Jenny Slate), a scientist working with Drake who has second thoughts about the ethics of testing subjects against their will, contacts the down-and-out Brock to offer him evidence of what has been going on.  With her help, Brock breaks into the Life Foundation and accidentally achieves symbiosis with one of the lifeforms named Venom.  Drake attempts to get Venom, now working in tandem with Brock, back until the other symbiote, named Riot, travels from Malaysia and achieves symbiosis with him.  This leads to an epic confrontation between Brock/Venom and Drake/Riot.  The script is a convoluted mess, jumping from scene to scene without much cohesion, and it is filled with dialogue that is meant to be witty banter between Brock and Venom but, for some reason, it just didn't work for me.  Maybe it is the tone because many of these quips and one-liners happen during scenes of intense mayhem and destruction (I think Upgrade does a better job in achieving a tonal balance because it doesn’t take itself seriously).  I also found the character of Brock to be very inconsistent because, initially, he is a hard-hitting and intelligent journalist so the slapstick between him and Venom comes out of nowhere.  I really like both Tom Hardy and Michelle Williams but, in my opinion, they give unusually bad performances.  Hardy is so weirdly frenetic that watching him was exhausting and Williams is clearly just phoning it in.  There are some really cool action sequences, especially a motorcycle chase through the streets of San Francisco and a fight between Venom and an entire SWAT team in the lobby of a building, but that is not enough to keep this from being a big disappointment.  I recommend giving it a miss.

Note:  I had thought of skipping this movie and seeing A Star Is Born again.  Clearly I made the wrong choice.

A Star Is Born

It seems like I've been anticipating A Star Is Born for such a long time and I finally had the opportunity to see a Thursday preview last night.  Wow!  Bradley Cooper plays Jackson Maine, an alcoholic and drug-addicted rock star who clearly has many inner demons.  Strung out after a gig, he has his driver find a bar where he can continue getting wasted but, instead, he finds Ally (Lady Gaga), a young singer/songwriter who is so insecure about her looks that she pretends to perform in drag.  He is captivated by her and, after she sings him one of her original songs, he pulls her on stage to perform it with him.  She eventually joins him on tour and gets noticed by a record producer who offers her a contract.  Conflict arises as Ally becomes successful and Jack's addictions become more severe.  I saw the Barbra Streisand/Kris Kristofferson version so long ago that, while I knew the basic premise of the story, I didn't remember many of the details so I was completely blown away by my emotional response to the tragic love story.  Bradley Cooper is hit or miss with me but his performance is incredible and so affecting, especially in a scene where Jackson breaks down and apologizes to Ally.  I've always respected Lady Gaga as a gifted musician despite her rather outlandish stage persona and she, as expected, gives a tour de force performance while on stage but she is also very believable in the role of a singer who doubts herself.  The chemistry between Cooper and Gaga is palpable and I really cared about their relationship.  I also really enjoyed seeing Anthony Ramos as Ally's friend Ramon.  Cooper wrote many of the songs with Lukas Nelson, the lead singer of Promise of the Real (the band appears in the movie as Jackson's band), and he sings and plays the guitar live on screen as well which really impressed me!  I was also impressed by Cooper's direction (it is his directorial debut) because he gives such an intimate portrait of two flawed characters.  I loved this movie!  It is definitely one of my favorite movies of the year and I highly recommend it!

Note:  I have seen Promise of the Real in concert and I really like their sound so I loved the music (I downloaded the album before the credits finished).

Ragtime at CPT

Last night my Mom and I went to see my niece Tashena perform in the ensemble in Ragtime at CenterPoint Legacy Theatre. Of course I thought she was amazing! I really like this musical and seeing Tashena perform made it even more memorable. Ragtime tells the story of America at the turn of the 20th Century. Mother (Annie Ferrin) is the matriarch of an upper-class family living in the suburb of New Rochelle. Everything changes when Father (Dan Frederickson) leaves on a voyage to the North Pole forcing her to make decisions for the first time in her life. Tateh (Shelby Ferrin) is an Eastern European Jew who brings his daughter to America for a better life. Coalhouse Walker, Jr. (Timothy Drisdom) is a Harlem piano player looking for justice after the death of his fiance Sarah (Olivia Lusk).  Their stories converge along with those of the most notable figures of the day: the illusionist Harry Houdini (Nick Morris), a showgirl named Evelyn Nesbitt (Janessa Zech) who gets caught up in the Crime of the Century, the African-American leader Booker T. Washington (Everett Spencer), the financier J.P. Morgan (Rob Severinson), the inventor of the Model-T Henry Ford (Brett Sloan), and the anarchist Emma Goldman (Katelyn Johnson). Through it all ragtime music is used as a metaphor for the changes taking place in American life before World War I and it is a compelling story filled with wonderful songs. My favorite songs in this show have always been "Sarah Brown Eyes" and "Back to Before" and they were performed beautifully last night but "Till We Reach That Day" was especially beautiful and very affecting. I also really loved "Gettin' Ready Rag" because the choreography is spectacular and my niece can really dance!  It was so much fun for my Mom and I to watch her in that number! This is a big and complicated show so I really appreciated the understated sets, which mimicked industrial iron girders, as they could be configured and reconfigured very quickly. I was especially struck by the iron gate which held the immigrants back as they entered America from Ellis Island in "A Shtetl in Amereke" because it is very dramatic.  The entire cast is outstanding but Drisdom as Coalhouse and Ferrin as Mother are particularly strong. I highly recommend this show (and not just because my niece is in it) which runs until Oct. 27.  You can purchase tickets here (if you want to see my niece, she is in the T H S cast).

Fall Camping Trip

Since I had Friday off as compensation for parent teacher conferences earlier in the week, I decided to take a trip down south to my very favorite KOA.  This little camping trip was very much needed and it was so relaxing!

I always love coming to the Fillmore KOA because it is far enough from home so I feel like I've gone somewhere and close enough to get there in less than two hours.  The facility is outstanding and the people who run it are some of the nicest people you will ever meet!

I stayed in this cabin Friday and Saturday nights.  It was in a very secluded area and I really enjoyed the solitude.

I spent most of my time sitting on the porch of the cabin reading.  Having time to read without distractions is pretty much my idea of heaven!  I loved listening to the breeze blow through the trees!  In the evening I settled into my cabin and watched movies!

On Saturday night I built a fire and sat next to it until it got really dark.  It was so relaxing!

This little camping trip was exactly what I needed!

Note:  This trip was the first item to be crossed off my fall bucket list!