Dark Waters

There are so many movies that I want to see right now (luckily winter break is coming soon) but I was able to cross one of them off my list by seeing Dark Waters last night.  This movie, based on a true story, is extremely unsettling.  Robert Bilott (Mark Ruffalo) has just been made partner in a prestigious law firm known for defending powerful corporations, including DuPont, when a farmer from a small town in West Virginia named Wilbur Tennant (Bill Camp) comes to his office wanting to file a lawsuit against DuPont.  Since his grandmother recommended him to Tennant, Bilott decides to visit his farm and investigate.  Tennant claims that all of his cows have died mysteriously because they drank from a river that is being polluted by DuPont.  After conducting exhaustive research he discovers that DuPont knowingly dumped PFOA, a man-made chemical used in Teflon that can't be processed by the body, into the water supply and he convinces Tom Terp (Tim Robbins), the managing partner of his firm, to file a claim against DuPont.  Thus begins a 20 year legal battle in which DuPont and its CEO Phil Donnelly (Victor Garber) use their considerable resources against the lone crusader Bilott who, despite damage to his reputation, his marriage, and even his health, refuses to give up until justice is served.  It is a scathing indictment against corporate greed and it will probably make you angry and then make you nervous.  The story kept me riveted as Bilott uncovers the truth piece by piece, although there are some pacing issues, and I was particularly invested in the scenes involving the people involved in the class-action suit.  Ruffalo gives an incredibly passionate performance and Robbins has a moment that made me want to stand up and cheer.  The rest of the cast is also solid, although Anne Hathaway, as Bilott's wife Sarah, isn't asked to do much beyond lamenting the fact that her husband is never around.  This is an incredibly powerful story about what happens when corporations go unchecked that should probably be seen by everyone and I highly recommend it (and I recommend that you get rid of all of your Teflon pans).

Meet Me In St. Louis

Yesterday I saw Meet Me in St. Louis, the final movie in the TCM Big Screen Classics series for this year (see below for next year's selections).  Believe it or not, I had never seen this movie (on the big screen or otherwise) so I was really excited for this opportunity.  This movie is a series of vignettes about the Smith family, including Alonzo Smith (Leon Ames), his wife Anna (Mary Astor), their children Lon, Jr. (Henry H. Daniels), Rose (Lucille Bremer), Esther (Judy Garland), Agnes (Joan Carroll), and Tootie (Margaret O'Brien), Grandpa (Harry Davenport), and their maid Katie (Marjorie Main), in the year leading up to the World's Fair of 1904 in St. Louis, Missouri.  In the summer, Rose and Esther are plotting romances with Warren Sheffield (Robert Sully) and John Truitt (Tom Drake), respectively.  In the fall, Agnes and Tootie are involved in a Halloween prank gone wrong.  In the winter, the family learns that Alonzo has been transferred to New York City.  They celebrate their final Christmas in St. Louis at an elegant ball on Christmas Eve and, afterwards, Esther must soothe a distraught Tootie.  In the spring, the family makes a visit to the World's Fair and they marvel at the fact that St. Louis is their home.  This movie is absolutely charming and features some well known songs such as "The Boy Next Door," "The Trolley Song," and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."  Garland gives a marvelous performance as Esther but, in my opinion, Margaret O' Brien absolutely steals the show as the irrepressible Tootie.  I loved her sassy performance in the song "Under the Bamboo Tree," her Halloween prank on a grouchy neighbor, and her poignant response to the song "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."  I really enjoyed all of the period costumes and the fantastic Smith family home, especially all of the gas lamps.  I loved this appealing and nostalgic look at a time gone by and I would highly recommend checking it out on the big screen (go here for information and tickets).

Note:  I have really enjoyed all of the movies in the series this year (I was able to see all of them except for The Wizard of Oz because it was screened during the Sundance Film Festival).  The selections for next year were recently announced and include An American in Paris, Love Story, The Color Purple, King Kong, A League of Their Own, Airplane!, Annie, The Blues Brothers, Ghost, Babe, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Psycho, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and Fiddler on the Roof.  Are you excited to see any of these movies on the big screen?  I am looking forward to Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which is one of my favorite movies!

Holiday Inn at CPT

Last night I went to see Christian Johnston, one of my former students, in a lead role in the musical Holiday Inn at CPT. I was very impressed with his performance and I thoroughly enjoyed the show!  Jim Hardy (Rich Adams), Lila Dixon (Allison Hogge), and Ted Hanover (Johnston) are a song and dance trio who play the occasional engagement in New York City.  Jim is in love with Lila and, when he proposes one night, she accepts him.  However, when she finds out that he has purchased a large farm in Connecticut and intends to leave show business, she decides to break the engagement and continue the act with Ted as a duo.  When Jim moves to the farm, he discovers that it is incredibly run down and that he owes the back taxes but he soon meets the former owner, Linda (Lindsea Garside), and Louise (Brittany Bullen), a fix-it-lady, and they begin renovating.  When Jim learns that Linda was once a performer in New York, he decides to turn the large farmhouse into a hotel and performance venue that is only open on holidays.  He writes a show for Linda and his former back-up dancers to perform on New Year's Eve.  When Lila decides to leave the act, a drunken Ted comes to visit Jim and stumbles into the number with Linda. When Ted sobers up, he is determined to find out who he danced with to make her his new partner but Jim has fallen in love with Linda and doesn't want to lose her to show business so he contrives to keep them apart. Chaos ensues! This is an old-fashioned musical filled with wonderful songs by Irving Berlin and fabulous tap dancing! I really loved the big song and dance numbers performed at the inn to commemorate the various holidays including "Happy Holidays," "Let's Start the New Year Right," "Cheek to Cheek," "Easter Parade," "Let's Say It With Firecrackers," and "Song of Freedom."  Johnston, Garside, and the male and female ensemble are terrific dancers and the holiday themed costumes and decorations are a lot of fun!  I also really enjoyed the popular songs "Blue Skies" and "White Christmas."  This is the kind of musical that will definitely put a smile on your face and give you a good dose of holiday cheer.  It runs at CPT through December 21 (go here for tickets).

A Broadway Christmas with Ashley Brown

Last night I braved the downtown traffic to see an absolutely delightful Christmas concert with the Utah Symphony, the choristers of the Madeleine School Choir, and Broadway star Ashley Brown.  I really love hearing Christmas music performed live so I have been looking forward to this concert for a long time and it definitely filled me with Christmas cheer (after the hassle of getting to Abravanel Hall).  The orchestra was under the baton of guest conductor and amusing master of ceremonies, Michael Krajewski, and they began with a festive version of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and then "Christmas Day," a lovely arrangement of several traditional carols by Gustav Holst.  The choristers of the Madeleine School Choir sang "All Is Well" by Michael W. Smith and their voices were beautiful!  Ashley Brown, who originated the role of Mary Poppins on Broadway, joined the orchestra for "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" and "Winter Wonderland."  The choristers then performed a medley of Hanukkah songs, including "The Dreidel Song" which I sang when I was in choir!  Brown returned to the stage for a dramatic rendition of "I Wonder as I Wander."  To close the first half of the concert she performed my very favorite Christmas song!  It isn't officially Christmas until I hear "O Holy Night" performed live and Brown basically blew the roof off Abravanel Hall with her version!  I loved it!  After the intermission, the orchestra played a rock and roll version of "The Skater's Waltz" which was a lot of fun.  Brown sang an interesting arrangement of "Jingle Bells" and then Krajewski dramatically demonstrated the proper technique for playing the whip and joined the orchestra for "Sleigh Ride."  The audience gave him a standing ovation with repeated calls for an encore!  It was hilarious!  Next, Brown and the choristers performed a medley featuring "Ding Dong Merrily On High," "Silent Night," "Angels We Have Heard On High," and "Joy to the World."  She concluded the concert with what she called a medley of Christmas songs that people love to hate because they are played on the radio so often.  This included "All I Want For Christmas Is You," "Happy X-mas (War Is Over)," and "Feliz Navidad."  I loved this concert and I recommend getting a ticket for tonight's performance of the same program (go here) but give yourself plenty of time to drive in the crazy holiday traffic!

A Christmas Story at the Eccles

I love the movie A Christmas Story so much!  I actually remember seeing it in the theater when it was first released and since then I have probably seen it at least 812 times.  My sister and I like to watch it continuously on Christmas Eve in our separate houses and quote all of the lines to each other over social media ("It...it was...soap poisoning").  Because I love the movie so much, I was a little bit wary when I heard that the musical version was coming to the Eccles Theatre.  I am not a fan of turning popular movies into musicals but, even though the songs are incredibly contrived, I found the show last night to be really delightful.  Ralphie (Ian Shaw) desperately wants an official Red Ryder, carbine action, 200-shot, range model air rifle, with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time for Christmas but his Mother (Briana Gantsweg), the Old Man (Christopher Swan), his teacher Miss Shields (Lauren Kent), and even Santa Claus (Daniel Mark Smith) himself tell him that he'll shoot his eye out!  All of the fun scenes from the movie are brought to life on the stage including when Randy (John Mahanna) eats like a piggy, when Schwartz (Seth Black Diamond) triple dog dares Flick (Jay Hendrix) to stick his tongue to the flag pole, when the Old Man wins a major award, when Ralphie says the F-dash-dash-dash word while helping his father change a tire, when Ralphie gets into a fight with Scut Farkus (Ty Huffman), when Ralphie gets a certain bunny costume from Aunt Clara, and when the Bumpus Hounds (played by Hoss and Stella) eat the turkey forcing the Parkers to eat Christmas dinner at the Chop Suey Palace!  While I didn't find the songs to be particularly memorable, I did really enjoy the staging and the young cast is extremely talented.  I especially enjoyed the choreography for "Ralphie to the Rescue!" and the fabulous tap dancing in "You'll Shoot Your Eye Out."  Shaw gives an earnest and heartfelt performance as Ralphie and Mahanna (the understudy) is absolutely hilarious as Randy but, in my opinion, the actors who steal the show are Hoss and Stella when they chase the Old Man around and when they break in to eat the turkey (they got the loudest applause).  This is not the best musical I have ever seen but I certainly had a lot of fun watching it and got a big dose of Christmas cheer!  It runs at the Eccles Theatre through Dec. 8 (go here for tickets).