Close Encounters of the Third Kind

For the second night in a row I got to watch one of my very favorite movies on the big screen again!  I have been fascinated with Close Encounters of the Third Kind since I saw it when it was first released in 1977 as a nine year old.  I have seen it many times since (even on the big screen) but last night was the first time that I got to see the Director's Cut and I loved it!  Claude Lacombe (Francois Truffaut), a French scientist, investigates an increase in UFO activity around the world and discovers a way to communicate with these UFOs by broadcasting a distinctive five-tone musical phrase into outer space.  In response, he receives a set of geographic coordinates that lead to Devil's Tower in Wyoming.  Lacombe and the U.S. military evacuate the area by using a false story about a toxic spill.  Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) and several other people, including Jillian Guiler (Melinda Dillon) and her son Barry (Cary Guffey), also have an encounter with these UFOs and both he and Jillian become increasingly obsessed with the shape of Devil's Tower without knowing what or where it is (you will never look at mashed potatoes in the same way again).  They both make the connection when they see the reports of the toxic spill on television and travel to Devil's Tower for another awe-inspiring encounter with the UFO.  What I love most about this movie is that everyone reacts to the UFOs with wonder and amazement rather that fear and I feel that same sense of wonder every time I watch the mother ship descend into the arena!  It is absolutely magical!  I think the special effects hold up really well, especially in the design of the aliens.  I remember when this was first released the design of the aliens was a really big secret and I was so excited to see what they would look like!  My favorite character in this movie is Lacombe because he also has a feeling of wonder about the UFOs and I love Truffaut's portrayal of him (when I first saw this my Dad had to tell me that he was a famous French New Wave director and I became a little bit obsessed with him).  The more I see this movie the more struck I am by the lengths to which the government goes in order to suppress information about what is happening and, especially right now, I find that scenario entirely plausible.  This movie is both thought-provoking and spellbinding and I highly recommend seeing it on the big screen.  You have one more opportunity to see it as part of the TCM Big Screen Classics series on Oct. 1 (go here for more details).

Note:  I also own Close Encounters of the Third Kind on Blu-ray so I can watch it whenever I want but I just can't resist seeing it on the big screen!

The Empire Strikes Back

I really love The Empire Strikes Back (it is tied with The Last Jedi as my favorite movie in the Star Wars franchise) so, even though I recently saw it on the big screen, I couldn't miss seeing it again now that it is back in theaters for its 40th Anniversary.  I had so much fun last night with a small but appreciative crowd!  After destroying the Death Star, the rebel alliance is on the run from the Galactic Empire.  Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) flees the rebel base to train with the Jedi Master Yoda (Frank Oz) on Dagobah while the Millennium Falcon, with Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) and C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) on board, is damaged while evading the Imperial fleet.  Han turns to an old friend named Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee WIlliams) on the planet Bespin for help but Lando betrays the rebels to Darth Vader (James Earl Jones) who uses them as bait to lure Luke to him.  Han is frozen in carbonite and turned over to the bounty hunter Boba Fett (Jeremy Bulloch) but Lando helps Leia and Chewbacca escape while Luke faces Darth Vader in an epic duel.  I love so many things about this movie!  My favorite theme from all of the soundtracks in the Star Wars franchise is "The Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme)" and I get goosebumps every time I hear it because I was absolutely terrified of Darth Vader when I saw this movie for the first time.  The action sequences are a lot of fun, especially when Luke takes down an AT-AT walker on the planet Hoth, when Han takes the Millennium Falcon into an asteroid field, and when Yoda raises Luke's X-wing out of a swamp using the Force.  In my opinion, this movie is the most thought-provoking of the original trilogy (I think The Last Jedi is the most thought-provoking of the sequel trilogy) because the stakes are higher for the main characters.  Luke must confront his destiny while Han and Leia must confront their growing feelings for each other and both of these arcs are very powerful and emotionally resonant.  Finally, I sit through the whole movie waiting for my favorite quotes!  I love it when Darth Vader says, "What is thy bidding, my master?" when the Emperor summons him, I laugh when Yoda tells Luke, "Do or do not, there is no try," when Luke attempts to lift his X-wing, and I sigh when Han tells Leia, "I know," after she says she loves him.  This movie is absolutely brilliant and I am still awe-struck every time I watch it.  I highly recommend seeing it while it is theaters again, especially if you are a Star Wars fan!

Note:  I own a Blu-ray copy of every Star Wars movie and I also subscribe to Disney+ so I can watch them any time I want!  However, there is just something about seeing them on the big screen!

Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3

I didn't think that I would be able to attend a Utah Symphony concert this weekend but, when I realized that I would be back in town sooner than I expected, I immediately bought a ticket for last night.  The USUO organization has taken extraordinary measures so audiences can return to Abravanel Hall safely for live music and those measures were in place again last night.  Even though the audience was much smaller than usual, we tried to show our appreciation for a wonderful performance!  The orchestra, which once again consisted of just the strings (along with a harpsichord), began with with Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 by Johann Sebastian Bach.  It is one of Bach's most popular concertos and it was lovely, as usual.  Then the strings performed Transfigured Night by Arnold Schoenberg.  This is a moody and atmospheric piece about two lovers who walk through a moonlit forest.  The beginning is quite dark and mournful as the woman confesses that she is pregnant with another man's child but it becomes joyful as the man forgives her and they are transformed by love.  I had never heard this before and I really enjoyed it.  Just like last week, there were a few more surprises after the program concluded.  The stage emptied and a group of musicians from the woodwind section entered to perform Afro-Cuban Concerto for Woodwind Quintet by Valerie Coleman.  I really liked the rhythm of this piece and I liked that each instrument (bassoon, clarinet, flute, horn, and oboe) was given a moment to shine.  Next, the percussion section took the stage to perform Omnes Trio by Andrea Venet.  This piece was seriously cool and I absolutely loved it!  It was as much fun watching the three musicians playing the various drums, cymbals, and gongs (it was almost as if it was choreographed) as it was listening to them!  The percussion section was joined by the brass to conclude the evening with the world premiere of a piece commissioned by the Utah Symphony called Changes/Transitions by Quinn Mason.  It is a celebration of the progress made for racial equality, the acknowledgement that more work is needed, and the hope that people will continue to bring about necessary change.  This was accompanied by images from peaceful BLM protests around the world and it was very powerful (I was very heartened by the fact that this piece received the loudest applause of the evening).   I loved being back at Abravanel Hall for live music again!

The Devil All the Time

I was kind of on the fence about seeing The Devil All the Time.  I haven't read the book upon which it is based and the trailer didn't really appeal to me but my friend gave it such a good review that I decided to see it last night (I know that it is now streaming on Netflix but I prefer seeing movies on the big screen).  It is a Southern Gothic tale set in the small towns of Knockemstiff, Ohio  and Coal Creek, West Virginia in the 1950s and 1960s.  Willard Russell (Bill Skarsgard), traumatized by an event during World War II, resorts to a blood sacrifice to try and save his dying wife Charlotte (Haley Bennett).  Roy Laferty (Harry Melling) is a fire-and-brimstone preacher who kills his wife Helen (Mia Wasikowska) while in the grip of a religious mania.  Years later their pious daughter Lenora (Eliza Scanlen) falls under the spell of an unscrupulous preacher (Robert Pattinson).  Carl Henderson (Jason Clarke) and his wife Sandy (Riley Keough) lure unsuspecting hitchhikers into the woods to take photos of them as they die.  Sheriff Leo Bodecker (Sebastian Stan) is a corrupt politician on the take from members of a prostitution ring.  All of these characters have a profound impact on Arvin Russell (Tom Holland) as he searches for both revenge and redemption.  Like all of the best Southern Gothic stories, it is very dark and very violent but it is a brilliant commentary on the dangers of religious fanaticism and the abuse of power.  The narrative is nonlinear and it almost seems like a series of vignettes at times but all of the stories eventually converge in several dramatic scenes and I was completely riveted because I had to know what connected all of these characters.  Even though some of the events portrayed are quite grisly, the images on the screen are surprisingly beautiful and serve to emphasize that evil is lurking just below the surface of even the most innocuous of places.  The all-star ensemble cast is fantastic but Pattinson and Holland are especially noteworthy.  Pattinson practically steals the show in a flamboyant performance that is fun to watch even if his actions are reprehensible and Holland delivers his best performance to date as a young man who refuses to let evil go unpunished.  My only complaint would be the extensive voice-over narration, provided by the author Donald Ray Pollock, because it sometimes keeps the characters at a distance.  This will definitely not be for everyone (several people left the theater in my screening) but I think it is extremely powerful and I highly recommend it.

Note:  It is in select theaters for a limited engagement as well as streaming on Netflix.

Infidel

I never saw a trailer for Infidel but when I read that it was based on a true story about a kidnapping in the Middle East I was really intrigued and decided to see it last night.  Doug Rawlins (Jim Caviezel) is a popular Christian blogger who is invited to speak at an interfaith conference in Cairo.  While being interviewed on television, he openly proselytizes which angers many Muslims, including a group from Hezbollah who kidnap him and imprison him in Lebanon.  After Doug secretly contacts his wife Liz (Claudia Karvan), who works for the U.S. State Department, she publicizes his case so he is moved to Iran where is tried on false charges of espionage and sentenced to death.  When the State Department refuses to get involved, Liz travels to Iran on her own in a desperate attempt to rescue her husband.  While there are some really great action sequences, this movie is unnecessarily convoluted because it doesn't know what kind of movie it wants to be.  The filmmakers take great pains to establish Rawlins as a man of faith who is kidnapped for his beliefs but this is, ultimately, a red herring for the real reason for his kidnapping (a subplot briefly introduced and abandoned in the first act and then awkwardly brought back in the third) which turns the movie into a political thriller.  Characters and situations are introduced very haphazardly (the editing is an absolute mess) and it sometimes takes a few minutes to get the gist of what is happening and, more importantly, why it is happening.  Liz is first helped by a small sect of Christians practicing in secret in Tehran but then they disappear from the narrative and the rescue becomes a dramatic operation by a group of underground spies who suddenly appear without explanation.  I can appreciate characters who follow their convictions no matter the cost but Doug is inexplicably bland and passive so I was never really invested in him or his fate.  His Muslim captor Ramzi (Hal Ozsan), on the other hard, is incredibly intriguing and, even though his actions are reprehensible, his motivation is compelling.  His wife Liz (who, it is revealed in several flashback scenes, has lost her faith) is also much more sympathetic, in my opinion, because she will do anything to save her husband.  I'm not even sure what the filmmakers are trying to say about Christianity because the message is so muddled but this would have definitely been a much better movie if they had picked a focus. (For the record, I think they should have stayed with the religious persecution narrative).  Finally, this movie also has many technical issues including the aforementioned editing, bad sound design, problematic cinematography (so many mind-boggling Dutch angles), and clunky dialogue.  Give this a miss!

Note:  After watching this movie I wanted to know more about Doug Rawlins.  It turns out that he isn't real at all but a composite of several people who have been held prisoner in Iran.