Perfect Days

Last night I went to the Broadway to see Perfect Days and I absolutely loved it because it reminded me of Paterson (my favorite comfort movie).  Hirayama (Koji Yakusho) is a middle-aged man who lives alone in a modest apartment in a suburb of Tokyo and cleans a group of public bathrooms with architectural significance in Tokyo for a living.  Even though he is a manual laborer, he goes above and beyond what is expected of him and takes pride in a job well done (he even provides some of his own specialized tools).  He adheres to a very regimented routine from the moment he wakes up until the moment he goes to sleep (which we see repeatedly portrayed) but he greets every morning with a smile and takes delight in small pleasures such as caring for his greenhouse of plants, selecting the music for the day from his collection of cassette tapes, photographing the patterns he sees made by the trees in the park, and reading from his collection of books (which he adds to every week) before bed.  He seems to be very isolated but he enjoys the random interactions he has with the people he sees during the day (my favorite involves a game of tic-tac-toe).  He appears happy and content but a surprise visit from his niece Niko (Arisa Nakano) hints at a deep sadness and suggests that his serenity is a choice that he makes every day.  This is a slow-moving character driven narrative without a lot of action but I found the message that there is beauty in the mundane to be incredibly moving (much like in Paterson) and, even though it is often very repetitive, it is strangely compelling (watching a man scrub a toilet shouldn't be this riveting but it is).  Yakusho gives a deeply empathetic performance (he won Best Actor at this year's Cannes Film Festival) and conveys everything that Hirayama is feeling with almost no dialogue.  The final scene where his expression vacillates between happiness and despair while listening to "Feeling Good" by Nina Simone on the drive to work is beautiful and cathartic.  Finally, I loved the music because selecting what he will listen to during the day conveys so much about Hirayama's state of mind.  I especially loved "The House of the Rising Sun" by The Animals, "Brown Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison, and, obviously, "Perfect Day" by Lou Reed.  This is a lovely and gentle movie that will stay with you long after you've seen it and I highly recommend it.

Dune: Part Two

As a huge fan of both the book by Frank Herbert and the first movie, Dune: Part Two was my most anticipated movie of 2024.  I was able to see it in IMAX at a fan first premiere last night and, after all of the positive reviews from critics, I had unrealistically high expectations but they were more than exceeded! It is a masterpiece!  Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) and his mother the Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) join forces with a Fremen tribe led by Stilgar (Javier Bardem) in order to exact revenge for the destruction of House Atreides.  With the help of the Fremen warrior Chani (Zendaya) and the Fedaykin, Paul leads several successful raids against the Harkonnen to disrupt the spice harvest overseen by Rabban (Dave Bautista).  However, it is only when Paul follows his destiny and consolidates both his political power and his religious power that he is able to free Arrakis from the control of the Baron (Stellan Skarsgard) and the Emperor (Christopher Walken) with an epic confrontation with the Baron's nephew, Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler).  Everything from the first movie is expanded upon in the narrative with a deeper exploration of all of the characters.  I was most impressed by Chani's arc because she is Paul's moral compass who warns against the dangers of absolute power and religious fanaticism and Zendaya's emotional performance is the heart and soul of the movie.  A scene between her and Florence Pugh, as Princess Irulan, when Chani realizes that Paul must marry her gave me chills!  Chalamet, too, is incredibly impressive because he portrays Paul's confusion over the true nature of his destiny with nuance but then fully embraces his descent into the darkness with a chilling performance in the final act that left me reeling (I hope Villeneuve is able to adapt Dune Messiah as the conclusion to a possible trilogy because I want to see how Chalamet portrays this version of the character), especially during a highly charged meeting with the Fremen leaders in the south and an unnerving encounter with the Reverend Mother Mohiam (Charlotte Rampling).  All of the other performances are also stellar but Butler, as the psychopathic Feyd-Rautha, is another standout because he is truly terrifying but so charismatic!  The visuals in this are even more stunning than the first movie and I loved the desaturated black and white used to designate the Harkonnen, particularly the gladiator battle, juxtaposed with sun scorched views of Arrakis.  All of the action sequences are epic but when Paul rides the sandworm for the first time I was absolutely blown away because the score by Hans Zimmer during this scene is so immersive that I felt like I was riding the worm myself.   All of the music is very atmospheric but I got goosebumps during the scene where Paul first appears to the fundamentalists in the south because it is so ominous.  The giant IMAX theater was almost full (only the front row and a few scattered single seats were empty) and it was absolutely thrilling to experience it with a such a large crowd because the excitement was palpable.  It may be the greatest experience I have ever had watching a movie and I will be on a high for days!  I loved it so much and I highly recommend seeing it on the biggest possible screen!

Note:  There are a few changes from the book, particularly with how Alia Atreides is portrayed, but I think they make this adaptation better.

A Tale of Two Cities at West Valley Arts

I really love the musical A Tale of Two Cities (it is my favorite novel by Charles Dickens). I saw both HCT's productions, in 2011 and 2021 (multiple times), and I count them as some of the best I've seen there. When I learned that the same production team (John Sweeney, Anne Puzey, and Marilyn Montgomery) responsible for the 2011 production was back (on the same stage) for the first show at West Valley Arts this season, I immediately bought a ticket for last night's performance. It was amazing! Lucie Manette (Brittany Andam), a young woman in London who believes that she is an orphan, learns that her father, Dr. Alexander Manette (Jared Haddock), is alive after having been wrongly imprisoned in the Bastille by the Marquise St. Evremonde (John Philpott). She travels to Paris to bring him home to London and meets Charles Darnay (Landon Horton), the nephew of Evremonde who has renounced his ties to the aristocracy, on the journey and they fall in love. Darnay is wrongfully accused of treason upon arrival in London but the dissolute lawyer Sydney Carton (Preston Yates) clears his name. Carton is also secretly in love with Lucie but, when she marries Darnay, he remains a friend of the family and becomes attached to her daughter Lucie (Jane Bonner). In Paris, Evremonde is responsible for the death of a child when his carriage recklessly runs him over in front of the Defarge's wine shop. Madame Defarge (Adrien Swenson), who has a grudge against Evremonde, encourages the boy's father, Gaspard (Ricky Dowse), to murder him which ultimately leads to revolution. Darnay feels responsible for Evremonde's household and secretly returns Paris where he is immediately arrested as an aristocrat, denounced by Madame Defarge who wants to wipe out all descendants of Evremonde, and sentenced to the guillotine. This prompts Carton to make the ultimate sacrifice to save Darnay and show his love for Lucie and her daughter. The music in this show is incredibly beautiful and stirring and I especially love "The Way It Ought to Be" by the men and women of Paris, "You'll Never Be Alone" by Dr. Manette and Lucie, "If Dreams Came True" and its reprise by Sydney and Charles, and "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" by Madame Defarge. The entire cast is outstanding but I was blown away by Yates' portrayal of Carton. His versions of "If Dreams Came True" in the second act and "I Can't Recall" as he slowly walks up the steps to the guillotine in the final scene moved me to tears. I also really loved Swenson, who has portrayed Madame Defarge in all three productions I've seen, because she sings "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" and "The Tale" with so much passion! Linda Jean Stephenson, as Miss Pross, Daniel Radford, as John Barsad, and Mason Gates, as Jerry Cruncher, provide a lot of comic relief with their hilarious performances (the novels of Dickens are very dense and filled with a lot of side characters so I appreciate how they are incorporated into the main story in this adaptation). The set, featuring several multi-level wooden platforms which are reconfigured into many different locations seamlessly by the ensemble, is simple but incredibly dramatic. My favorite set piece is the staircase leading to the guillotine, which slowly comes down from the rafters, because it is incredibly powerful! I also loved the bold lighting design, particularly the use of red hand prints projected on the floor during the scenes inciting revolution and the single spotlight on the stairs to the guillotine. I was very moved by this production and would highly recommend it but, unfortunately, the run ended last night. West Valley Arts will also be producing Shakespeare in Love, The Lightning Thief, Legally Blonde, and Jekyll & Hyde this season (go here for information and tickets).

Note:  Jill Santoriello, who wrote the book, music, and lyrics for this show, was in the audience last night. She sat a few rows ahead of me and I noticed that she was mouthing the words to the songs!

Drive-Away Dolls

I have been looking forward to Drive-Away Dolls ever since I saw the first trailer (I thought it looked fun and quirky) so I went to see a matinee at the Broadway yesterday.  Unfortunately, I was really disappointed because I was expecting something much better from one of the Coen brothers.  Jamie (Margaret Qualley) and Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan) are lesbians and unlikely best friends living in Philadelphia in 1999.  The free-spirited Jamie has just been dumped by her girlfriend Sukie (Beanie Feldstein) so she invites herself along when the uptight Marian plans a trip to Tallahassee to visit her aunt.  Jamie suggests getting a car from a driveaway service (where someone is paid to drive a rental car one way to a specific destination) but they are inadvertently given the wrong car, one with a mysterious case inside that is also headed to Tallahassee for a criminal organization headed by the Chief (Colman Domingo).  When the Chief discovers the mistake, he sends his bickering associates, Arliss (Joey Slotnick) and Flint (C.J. Wilson), after the girls to retrieve the case but they have taken various detours to lesbian bars to help Marian loosen up.  Chaos ensues.  Qualley and Viswanathan, especially, do what they can with the material but I didn't like either of their characters (I enjoyed Feldstein, Domingo, and a cameo from Matt Damon so much more) and their actions quickly become tedious because they are so meaningless.  The humor, in my opinion, is very juvenile rather than quirky and I did not laugh even once (no one in my audience did, either).  The editing is an absolute mess with transitions that look like they were created with iMovie and there are also several really strange, and jarring, psychedelic sequences with Miley Cyrus that have absolutely no context until the very end.  The best thing I can say about this movie is that it is only 84 minutes long (I don't think I could have listened to Qualley's obnoxious accent for much longer).  I highly recommend giving this a miss.

The Boys in the Boat

I was really interested in seeing The Boys in the Boat when it was first released on Christmas Day but then I got busy and eventually forgot about it.  I noticed that it was still at my local multiplex when I was there on Tuesday and decided to see it last night.  It is a very serviceable underdog sports movie based on a true story but, as I am a huge fan of that genre, I absolutely loved it (and even had a tear in my eye at the end).  Joe Rantz (Callum Turner) was abandoned by his family at the age of 14 during the Great Depression and is now fending for himself while attending the University of Washington.  He is behind on his tuition payments and is unable to find work so he, along with hundreds of other students, attempts to win a spot on the men's eight crew because the team offers financial support and a place to live.  Despite having never rowed before, Coach Al Ulbrickson (Joel Edgerton), who is under tremendous pressure from the school and the booster club to win, is impressed by his hard work and determination and gives him a spot on the J.V. boat.  Overcoming tremendous odds, the team has a successful season and the J.V. boat is given the opportunity to compete at the Poughkeepsie Regatta (an Olympic qualifying race) over the senior boat.  They face even more obstacles (so many obstacles!) when they reach the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and I was literally holding my breath when the final race has a photo finish!  This story is told in a very conventional way (there is even the requisite training montage) but it is still incredibly compelling and I was riveted for the entire runtime.  Turner is very appealing (he looks good as a blonde) and sympathetic in the lead role, especially in a scene where is is reunited with the father who abandoned him.  I have never been interested in rowing before but it certainly looks beautiful portrayed on screen, particularly the overhead shots of the oars slapping against the water in unison.  I loved the 1930s period detail in the costumes and production design as well as the stirring score by Alexandre Desplat (one of my favorite movie composers).  This doesn't do anything new but it doesn't have to because it is so entertaining and inspiring.  I enjoyed it a lot and I recommend it now that it is available on VOD.