The Holdovers

Yesterday I was able to see an early screening of The Holdovers at the Broadway and I absolutely loved it!  It is definitely one of my favorites this year!  An unpopular and curmudgeonly teacher at a prestigious New England prep school named Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) is forced to remain at school over the Christmas break to supervise the students who are not able to go home, or the "holdovers," as punishment for failing the son of a prominent donor.  Several students and staff remain behind but, eventually, they all find somewhere to go except a depressed and acerbic 15-year-old named Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa) and the head cook, Mary Lamb (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), who is mourning the recent death of her son in Vietnam.  At first the three of them, who are each struggling with their own inner demons, clash with each other but, after a series of misadventures, they form an unlikely bond.  Angus helps Paul make peace with his past and Paul helps Angus see a future for himself while the two of them help Mary get through her first Christmas without her son.  I've heard many critics say that this is the type of movie they don't make any more and I definitely echo that opinion.  It is set in the early 1970s and it looks like it could have been made then with a grainy film aesthetic and amazing production design (I loved the retro studio logo at the beginning) but, more than that, it is a character-driven drama about flawed people that used to be much more prevalent in that decade.  I loved all three of the main characters, especially Mary because she took the job serving ungrateful and entitled students so that her son could get a good education only for him to end up going to Vietnam but then she sees beyond the privilege when she gets to know one of the students.  I wish that her character had been explored more fully but I really appreciate the care with which the mentor-student relationship is portrayed (particularly a scene where Paul explains why it is important to study history).  It is very heartwarming and affecting but there are lots of little moments that are quite funny (I laughed out loud multiple times).  Giamatti is brilliant as always and Randolph steals every scene she is in but I was very impressed with newcomer Sessa because he has a very striking screen presence and more than holds his own with the two more experienced actors.  This is a movie that I can see myself watching over and over again and I highly recommend it.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 in Concert

Yesterday I saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 on the big screen at Abravanel Hall as the Utah Symphony played the score by Alexandre Desplat, one of my favorite movie composers, live.  This was so much fun for me because I have seen all of the previous movies in the franchise in this format and I have loved experiencing them all in such an immersive way!  As with all of the other concerts, many members of the audience came in costume (I was representing House Ravensclaw) and cheered out loud when all of the characters made their first appearance on screen.  There was thunderous applause when Professor McGonagall protects Harry from Snape and then fights a duel with him (my favorite scene in the movie) and when Neville kills Nagini.  In this final installment Harry must face Voldemort in the Battle of Hogwarts and it has the darkest tone with the highest stakes in the franchise and the score reflects this with lots of powerful themes featuring the brass and timpani.  I especially love "Dragon Flight" as Harry, Ron, and Hermione escape from Gringotts on the back of the dragon guarding the vaults, "Panic Inside Hogwarts" when McGonagall fights the epic duel with Snape, "Statues" when the professors cast spells of protection over Hogwarts, "Broomsticks and Fire" as Harry, Ron, and Hermione escape from the Room of Requirement, "Courtyard Apocalypse" when Voldemort and his minions attack Hogwarts, and "Showdown" when Harry finally confronts Voldemort.  There are also some really beautiful and haunting themes played by the strings, such as "Severus and Lily" when Harry looks into the pensieve and learns from Snape's memories that he has been protecting him all these years and "The Resurrection Stone" when Harry asks James, Lily, Sirius, and Remus to be with him when he surrenders to Voldemort (this scene made me cry the first time I saw it because it is such an emotional moment).  I also really loved that a variation of "Hedwig's Theme," originally composed by John Williams, is used multiple times because it is so iconic and reminds us of everything Harry, Ron, and Hermione have been through during their years at Hogwarts!  I have loved every performance in Utah Symphony's Films in Concert series but the Harry Potter concerts have been my favorite because I love these movies so much!  If you have not attended one I highly recommend it (go here for the remaining concerts in the series).

Anatomy of a Fall

My nephew has made a lot of new friends in college but, apparently, he has missed going to movies with me (which I think is really sweet) so I arranged for us to see Anatomy of a Fall at the Broadway last night.  This was one of my most anticipated movies from the fall festivals (it won the Palme d'Or at Cannes) and both Sean and I found it to be incredibly thought-provoking.  When Samuel Maleski (Samuel Theis) falls to his death from the attic window of his isolated chalet in the mountains of France, an autopsy is unable to determine is it was an accident or murder.  His German wife Sandra Voyter (Sandra Hüller) becomes the prime suspect because she was the only one home at the time.  She is eventually put on trial when an audio recording of an argument between her and her husband surfaces.  Her lawyer (Swann Arlaud) introduces evidence suggesting a suicide, even though she is very uncomfortable with this defense, but the aggressive public prosecutor (Antoine Reinartz) builds a case, based on a subjective interpretation of the audio recording, showing that the marriage was troubled and that their fights often escalated to violence.  Their young son Daniel (Milo Machado-Graner), who is visually impaired and was out for a walk when his father fell to his death, struggles to make sense of the evidence he hears in court but he must ultimately decide who to believe before he testifies.  This is an incredibly tense courtroom drama made even more so by including a language barrier (Sandra is German and, therefore, not fluent in French so she often lapses into English when testifying) because this creates even more opportunities to misconstrue her meaning.  It is a cautionary tale about the ways in which private moments between two people can appear very differently to others when they become public and I was absolutely riveted!  In fact, Sean and I both came to different conclusions about Sandra's culpability (in my opinion her guilt or innocence almost doesn't matter) and I am still thinking about it!  Hüller gives a brilliant and highly nuanced performance (the Oscar buzz surrounding her is entirely warranted) but Machado-Graner is absolutely amazing because the camera is often on him during the courtroom scenes and his reactions inform the audience how to feel about the various revelations.  Finally, this movie features one of the best uses of a song (an instrumental version of "P.I.M.P" by 50 Cent no less) that I have ever seen because it has multiple meanings and becomes more and more important as the narrative progresses.  Believe the hype about this one!

Nyad

I went to see Nyad at the Broadway last night and I really liked it (I am a sucker for inspirational sports movies).  On her 60th birthday, former long distance open water swimmer Diana Nyad (Annette Bening) feels that she is standing on the sidelines of life as a sports commentator and decides that she wants to revisit the dream of swimming from Havana, Cuba to Key West, Florida that she abandoned after one ill-fated attempt at age 28.  She enlists her best friend Bonnie Stoll (Jodie Foster) to be her coach, assembles a team, including a navigator named John Bartlett (Rhys Ifans), and begins training for a swim that is so dangerous many believe it cannot be done.  She faces challenges from Gulf Stream currents, storms, hypothermia, dehydration, sharks, and jellyfish as well as her own inner demons (shown as flashbacks to the father who pushed her to succeed and to the coach who abused her) and push back from her team for taking them for granted but, after four failed attempts, she perseveres and makes it to Key West on September 2, 2013 after swimming 110 miles in 53 hours.  This is the first narrative feature from award-winning documentarians Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin (I really loved Meru) and I think this compelling true story about triumphing in the face of overwhelming odds in an extreme sport is a perfect fit for them.  Even though I knew the outcome I was on the edge of my seat from the suspense created by their use of immersive cinematography showing all of the dangers in the water and the integration of actual footage from the swim and the news coverage of it is very well done.  I really loved the message that it is never too late to pursue a dream and the portrayal of a strong female friendship is very refreshing to see.  I also enjoyed the tremendous (and vanity-free) performance from Bening as the sometimes unsympathetic Nyad and the incredibly moving one from Foster as her biggest supporter.  The score by Alexandre Desplat is outstanding but I particularly enjoyed all of the music that Nyad uses to keep a rhythm to her strokes, especially "The Sound of Silence" by Simon & Garfunkel and "Heart of Gold" by Neil Young.  This is a stand up and cheer movie about an incredible feat of epic determination and I highly recommend it.

Jazz vs. Kings

My friend Angela renewed her Utah Jazz ticket package and, just like last season, she very graciously allowed me to select several games to attend with her.  The first game I picked, against the Toronto Raptors (for reasons), is not until January but, when Angela let me know that the ticket for the game last night was available, I jumped at the chance to go!  The arena is once again known as the Delta Center (which is really funny to me because I still called it the Delta Center for years after the name changed) so there was a big celebration out on the plaza before the game and it was so much fun to be there.  The atmosphere inside was just as electric because it was the first game of the season and we have several new players with a lot of promise on the roster.  The Jazz played the Sacramento Kings and they let them take an early lead in the first few minutes of the first quarter.  Despite 24 points from Jordan Clarkson, 19 from Lauri Markkanen, 15 from John Collins and some exciting back-to-back layups from Talen Horton-Tucker and Walker Kessler, the Kings never relinquished that early lead for the rest of the game and even led by as many as 23 points in the fourth quarter.  It was a bit frustrating because the Jazz couldn't seem to stop Sacramento's offense, especially their three-point shots, while their own offense struggled to find a rhythm (I think they are still learning how to play together as a team).  By the fourth quarter, the Kings were basically having their way with the Jazz and they ended up winning 130-114.  Despite the loss I was really excited by what I saw from our rookie Keyonte George (I like him a lot).  He ended up playing 19 minutes and finished with eight points (including an exciting dunk that got the crowd cheering), two rebounds, and two assists.  I am looking forward to watching his progress this season!  It was also a lot of fun to spend time with Angela and I'm so glad I got to go to the game with her even with the final outcome.

Note:  The Jazz won every game I attended for the past two seasons.  It looks like my streak is now over.