Monday, December 24, 2007

More catching up to do.

So, even though I'd been hoping beyond hope that I'd get into the Royal Court Theatre's Young Writers Programme, I was rejected, which was quite a downer. I'm really quite proud of the play I submitted, Empire State, and assumed that most of the work submitted for consideration would be more cursorily written, I suppose, than I should have. Still, I know the piece has its weaknesses, and part of the rejection letter was a notification that I'd be receiving a critique in the coming months, so I'm excited about that. From reading parts of The Royal Court Theatre Inside Out, an in-depth account of the theatre's history from the founding of its resident troupe, the English Stage Company, through last season, I've most enjoyed reading the readers' comments on various scripts submitted to the Royal Court over the years. Oftentimes the most successful plays received the most negative comments off the bat. It's all so arbitrary.

Still, I'm not letting the rejection get me down. I'm a newbie, and I'm sure there are many, many more years of rejection ahead of me. Instead, I've come up with a new idea for a play, one that's more ambitious in its scope, including more characters and more significant themes. The challenge of the piece will be the research that it will require, so I think I'll use this winter break to familiarize myself with the material and begin sketching things out.

Sunday, December 23, 2007

It's been a while

So, it's been a while since I posted here with my lovely insights into popular culture, theatre, film, etc., but I have reason to begin again. I've just spent a very lovely semester in London and am returning soon for a second. Though I won't go into detail on the shows I've seen in London (except for brief notes), I'll list them below just as an update for those who miss my bragging about how much I've seen:

1. Take Flight at Menier Chocolate Factory - A noble attempt at musicalizing the stories of the Wright Brothers and Amelia Earhart that didn't quite get off the ground. Noted London theatre actress was in the audience, however, and she agreed.

2. All About My Mother at the Old Vic - A serviceable-to-good adaptation of Pedro Almodovar's movie of the same name, Todo sobre mi madre. And Diana Rigg stole the show with her closing monologue, lifted by playwright Samuel Adamson from Lorca's Blood Wedding.

3. In Celebration at the Duke of York's Theatre in the West End - Let's just say Orlando Bloom on stage is underwhelming. Though the play, by David Storey, was excellent.

4. Chatroom/Citizenship at the Cottesloe Theatre at the National Theatre - A very youth-oriented double bill of plays by Enda Walsh and Mark Ravenhill respectively that succeeded in not pandering to its younger audience and managed to tackle current issues.

5. Venus as a Boy at the Soho Theatre - A very intimate production of a one-man play about a gypsy transvestite prostitute. 

6. Mary Poppins at the Prince Edward Theatre in the West End - Same as on Broadway, only Queen Victoria makes an appearance. Talk about a show with annoying child actors.

7. Parade at the Donmar Warehouse - Jason Robert Brown's large-scale Broadway debut was definitely in top form at the Donmar, in a far more intimate production that highlighted the relationship between Lucille and Leo Frank, the central characters in this musical retelling of the story of the Leo Frank Case in Atlanta.

8. A Disappearing Number at the Barbican Theatre - Complicite, the experimental theatre company headed by actor and director Simon McBurney, managed to create an engaging theatrical experience that spanned continents and stemmed from a love of math.

9. The Emperor Jones at the Olivier Theatre at the National Theatre - An impressive performance from Paterson Joseph in the title role made this dated play into a must-see production.

10. The Sexual Neuroses of Our Parents at the Gate Theatre - This is one of the most memorable of the productions I saw this semester, mostly for its deft use of extremely limited space and for its tackling of some difficult issues, including mental retardation and abortion.

11. Dealer's Choice at Menier Chocolate Factory - Patrick Marber (Closer) is one of my favorite playwrights, and this sharp play about the dynamics within a family and within a poker game, was right on the money. Particularly notable was Samuel Barnett, of The History Boys fame, who provided ample eye candy.

12. Rhinoceros at the Royal Court Theatre - A very funny revival of Ionesco's classic absurdist play.

13. Rough Crossings at the Lyric Hammersmith - An awful, awful play about the abolition of the slave trade in England. A topic so rich deserves a much less cliche, poorly acted, and poorly directed production than this one, full of triteness and obviousness. Its use of music was its best feature.

14. The Ugly One at the Royal Court Theatre - A play about plastic surgery featuring a bare bones set and a very good cast. During the performance I saw, a woman in the audience passed out, causing the play to be halted and resumed.

15. Awake and Sing! at the Almeida Theatre - Stockard Channing excellently portrayed the matriarch in this Clifford Odets play. It's not the best play and the Brooklyn accents weren't the best either, but the Almeida Theatre provided the right space for this warm family drama.

16. Rafta, Rafta... at the Lyttleton Theatre at the National Theatre - This one played like an Indian-themed episode of a sitcom. Very funny, but without enough substance to sustain my interest fully.

17. Macbeth at the Gielgud Theatre in the West End - A totally rethought version of this all too familiar Shakespeare play. Directed by Rupert Goold, who also helmed the awful play Rough Crossings, Patrick Stewart and his lady Macbeth, Goold's wife Kate Fleetwood, were amazing. The action was given a Soviet resetting and featured interesting audio-visual touches.

18. Water at the Lyric Hammersmith - Created by the group Filter, this play, which played up the baring of theatrical processes, fell flat without a cohesive story. This one confirmed for me how silly plays can turn out as a product of group authorship. 

19. All About My Mother at the Old Vic (repeat visit)

20. Joe Guy at the Soho Theatre - A smart play by Roy Williams that tackles black issues similar to those tackled by August Wilson, doing so in a way that expands past the limitations of a "race play."

21. Desperately Seeking Susan at the Novello Theatre in the West End - Oh God. Blondie music in a show. You can imagine how bad this one was. I left at intermission. Thankfully the ticket was free. The only fun thing was that the store Love Saves the Day in the East Village was featured prominently, and I lived across the street from that store last year.

22. Andromaque at the Theatre des Bouffes du Nord in Paris - One of the best theatrical experiences of my life. Directed by Declan Donnelan and performed by his Cheek by Jowl theatre company, the fact that the play, by Racine, was performed in French barely hindered my understanding of the emotional complexities of the drama. The actors nailed it, the designers nailed it.

23. La Catatrice Chauve/La Lecon at the Theatre de la Huchette in Paris - This has played in Paris for 50+ years, and it shows its age. It's a double bill of Ionesco plays, The Bald Soprano and The Lesson. The acting was hammy, but still it was interesting to see.

24. The Arsonists at the Royal Court Theatre - A revival of a play by Max Frisch that tackles issues surrounding World War II in an allegorical way. 

25. King Lear by the RSC at the New London Theatre - Ian McKellen starred in this production of King Lear directed by Trevor Nunn. The nude scene was overhyped, the production was excellent, but the play doesn't really do much for me. It lacks focus and feature on too many characters.

26. War Horse at the Olivier Theatre at the National Theatre - Life-size horse puppets were the highlight of this production, the holiday show at the National Theatre (following productions like Coram Boy and His Dark Materials in previous years). The show managed, against all odds, to make us feel for animal characters in a way we rarely feel about humans.

27. Cloud Nine at the Almeida Theatre - A classic Caryl Churchill play directed by Thea Sharrock, who directed the recent London revival of Equus, which is transferring in the fall to Broadway. A very funny, witty production that nailed the spirit of the play.

28. Women of Troy at the Lyttelton Theatre at the National Theatre - Katie Mitchell is a weird director. A warehouse setting for Euripides? It was a fun idea, but the reworking of the text was slight and there wasn't enough to tide me over even for 80-90 minutes. It was interesting to watch but needed additional thought behind it.

29. Glengarry Glen Ross at the Apollo Theatre in the West End - Jonathan Pryce was great in this revival of David Mamet's play about real estate men. 

30. Billy Elliot at the Victoria Palace Theatre in the West End - I liked this one a lot less than I expected. The scenographic elements all came together quite well, but the lyrics could have been stronger, and the show overall could have been more focused.

31. The Brothers Size at the Young Vic Theatre - A play by young American playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney, a spring 2007 graduate of Yale Drama, that draws on Yoruba myth. A slight play but an impressive debut.

32. A Christmas Carol at the Young Vic Theatre - A South African-flavored retelling of the classic tale featuring singing and gumboot dancing that were more impressive than the acting of the piece.

33. Dick Whittington and His Cat at the Hackney Empire - I needed to see a pantomime (or simply "panto") before leaving London for winter break, and this was a great choice, I think. Panto is a tradition pretty specific to England. Features include a "pantomime dame" in drag, a leading male character played by a young woman, a horse, and popular songs with reworked lyrics. 

34. The Seagull by the RSC at the New London Theatre - This production played in repertoire with Ian McKellen's Lear directed by Trevor Nunn and also features the same cast and director. Anton Chekhov's play is rich in character development and was more satisfying for me as an audience member overall.

35. Othello at the Donmar Warehouse - I waited five hours in the rain from 5:30 AM to 10:30 AM in order to get a day ticket for this production, which starred Ewan McGregor as Iago and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Othello. Both were outstanding. It was one of those productions with big stars that's actually well done, thanks to direction by Donmar artistic director Michael Grandage.

36. The Masque of the Red Death by Punchdrunk at Battersea Arts Centre - Rather than being a play, this one is more of a theatrical experience. Audience members don masks upon arrival and wander a totally redesigned arts center that looks more like a castle, featuring rooms that look like they fit in the Poe stories upon which the piece is based on. You can choose to follow whichever actors you please. An orgy scene, incest, secret doors, and an extremely impressive masked ball added to the devilishness.

Trip to New York

Since I've returned home, I've also been to New York for a few days to visit Christina and my ex-roommate (and one of my favorite people) Austin. It was a lovely few days. We went to the Union Square holiday market and to CB I Hate Perfume and Beacon's Closet in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. We also went to see Juno, which is a great movie (more to come later).

August: Osage County

On Saturday, I went to see August: Osage County, a play by up-and-comer Tracy Letts (Bug off-Broadway) at the Imperial Theatre on Broadway. It's a production that's transferred from the Steppenwolf in Chicago, and it's very good. The reviewers, who have ben a bit overenthusiastic, have hailed it one of the best new plays in recent memory, but I would hesitate to go that far. 

The troupe of actors from Steppenwolf who executed the piece were obviously very skilled, and the whole thing came together in the places in the script where the comedy was most finely honed. The play is about a family in the Midwest who gather at the family home after the patriarch of the family has gone missing. It's interesting yet typical material, and the play, which runs three hours and twenty minutes could have used some slight trimming. 

The play is being touted as one of the plays to beat for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama this year. Overall I think I'd still favor Christopher Shinn's Dying City, another of the major contenders, over this for the Pulitzer, simply because I think Dying City, while certainly less grandiose, provided a more satisfying, compact dramatic experience. If you can say it in 90 minutes, why draw it out to 200+?

Juno

I'd heard good things about this movie, and my heightened expectations were fulfilled. It had a nice indie/twee soundtrack and standout performances. Ellen Page as Juno was snarky and hilarious, and the comic timing of the actors matched the excellent writing. Also notable were Alison Janney as Juno's stepmother Bren and Michael Cera as Juno's beau Paulie Bleeker. Definitely worth seeing!

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street



Being a huge Sweeney Todd fan, I went into the Tim Burton-directed film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's masterpiece with very high expectations, all of which were met.

When Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter were cast through nepotism, I cringed and expected the worst, but Depp is a more than qualified singer and Bonham Carter provides us with a crafty Mrs. Lovett, though she certainly is of "limited wind," in keeping with Sondheim's description of the character in his lyrics to "The Worst Pies in London."

Burton's dark, campy direction and the extreme violence of the film only added to the overall effect. Everything in the film is a bit too much: a bit too much smoke from the chimneys, a bit too many rats on the streets. Hopefully those who go to see the film will be prepared for the fact that the film is most definitely a musical and one that's heavy on music at that. It's most certainly a bleak masterpiece. 

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Trapped in the Closet

I've caught on very late, but there's a video masterpiece out there in the music universe, part of a groundbreaking new form called "hip-hopera." R. Kelly calls it...Trapped in the Closet.

Have 40 extra minutes on your hands? Watch parts one through twelve. Savor the adventures of Sylvester, Gwendolyn, Rufus, Cathy, Chuck, James, Big Man, Bridget Twan, and Rosie.

Fasten your seatbelts; it's going to be a bumpy night.

Rufus releases his stars

So I haven't been keeping up with the blogging as much as I sometimes have. Friday, however, I finally did something interesting again. I went to see Rufus Wainwright in concert at the Mann Center with openers A Fine Frenzy and Neko Case.

It was my second time seeing Rufus in concert, but I was particularly excited this time because the opening acts were more talented (I saw OK Go last time, ugh) and the Mann Center is a really cool to see concerts.

A Fine Frenzy, the stage name of singer-songwriter Alison Sudol and her band, are a good Coldplay-type band with some nice contemplative songs and a few more rousing ones.

Neko Case, whom I knew only slightly from hearing a concert of hers on NPR, was really amazing. She sings alternative country music that's actually thoughtful instead of just stupid, like a lot of country music (with a few exceptions - Lucinda Williams, Dolly Parton).

Rufus performing "Gay Messiah" in Judy Garland drag.

But the main act, Rufus, was absolutely amazing. He began around 9:20ish and played all the way through 11:55 with a short break for a costume change (haha). The most amazing thing about Rufus is his stamina! The last time I saw Rufus, in September 2005, he was recovering still from a cold, but this time he was in absolutely spectacular voice, belting out songs with little effort.

He played all of his most recent album, Release the Stars, and a lot of other songs from prior albums, as well as an Irish folk song and 3 Judy Garland songs. 

Most exciting was his encore, for which he came out in a bathrobe, only to reveal toward the end that he was wearing Judy Garland drag, a blazer on top and sexy black stockings below, with an effective Judy hat. He sang "Get Happy" from the movie Summer Stock, a staple in Ms. Garland's catalog, surrounded by his band members performing a choreographed dance. It was amazing. And then, in full Judy Garland drag, he finished off the night with "Gay Messiah." 

Fabulousness.

Friday, August 03, 2007

Joni Vivre

Let it be known that Joni Mitchell is one of the musical loves of my life. Though her early career, marked by exquisite folk albums like Ladies of the Canyon, Blue, Court and Spark, is impressive enough, she experienced continued artistic success with mid-career albums like Hejira and For the Roses, and continued to record even through an artistically rocky patch during the 1980s and 90s, when she experimented heavily with synthesizers (blech).

Though Joni certainly has her musical faults now and then, it would be hard for any level-headed individual to ever call her boring. She doesn't box herself into any genre, experimenting with folk, jazz, rock, and whatever suits her fancy. After "retiring" with 2002's Travelogue, an orchestral reworking of various songs from throughout her career, it was announced this week that she's signed a 2-record deal with Hear Music, the Starbucks music label. Her new album, Shine, will be released September 25!

Lately I've been swooning over the samples for Travelogue, and I finally broke down and forced myself to pay the $19.99 to download the extensive double album on iTunes. Many of the songs are extended reworkings of older songs she feels haven't received the attention they deserve or she believes could be enhanced with more extensive orchestrations. And, while overall I prefer her youthful voice better, with its vibrancy and more extensive range, there's something special about hearing her sing some of her older songs with her raspier, smokier older voice (much like the experience of hearing Elton John sing his greatest hits now that he's older - also thrilling oftentimes).

The point of this post is - if you don't know Joni Mitchell, buy some of her albums. Start out with Blue or Court and Spark, and then work your way through her canon.

The painting above is a self portrait Joni did for the cover of Travelogue.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Ricky Patterson and the Deathly Silence



Now that I've finished the final book in the Harry Potter series, almost exactly one week after getting the book in the mail at 3 PM on Saturday afternoon, the deathly silence of my room is unnerving.

How a book can manage to be as bafflingly confusing, terribly satisfying, and wonderfully gut-wrenching all in one is beyond me. I still need to suss out the explanations for a few things in the final chapters of the book, but overall it was a much darker read that delivered the exciting climax to the series that readers were expecting -- with a few twists and turns. 

After I finished the book's epilogue, I thought back to reading the first few books in middle school and the innocence of young Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and I can't help but believe that J.K. Rowling is a most deft master of the story arc.

A theme that pops up several times in Deathly Hallows is the importance of children's stories and fairy tales. To anyone who dismisses Harry Potter as mere child's play, I would say that, to quote Meg Ryan's character in You've Got Mail (one of my all-time favorite guilty pleasure movies), "When you read a book as a child it becomes part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your life does." 

Agreed, Meg. Agreed.

The quality of our children's books reflects upon the quality of generations to come. If Harry Potter is our generation's obsession, maybe we have less to fear from our generation and generations to come than we may fear.

You can't stop the Blonsky!


Nikki Blonsky is oozing with talent in Hairspray.

Today, while I was waiting for my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to arrive on my doorstep from Amazon.com, I went to see Hairspray. Having seen the Broadway show based on the John Waters movie, both of which have inspired this new film version, I was expecting it to be light and fun and probably totally forgettable. And the casting of John Travolta as Edna Turnblad, the role originated by Divine in the original John Waters movie and Harvey Fierstein in the Broadway show (a role for which he won the 2003 Tony Award) made me terrified. 

My fears were totally baseless. Though certainly there would have been better actors to play Edna Turnblad (Fierstein, in fact, should have reprised his role!), Travolta did a rather appealing job. Despite the fact that audiences will almost definitely fawn over the fact that they're watching noted star John Travolta in a fat suit playing a woman and despite obvious vocal limitations, he really does do a good job disappearing into the role. I believed him as a middle aged woman - no small feat. 

Though Travolta, Queen Latifah, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, and Allison Janney in featured adult parts and Elijah Kelley, Zac Efron, Amanda Bynes, and newcomer Taylor Parks in featured young adult parts are all pleasing and adequately talented, there is, however, one shining star hovering over the rest of the cast - newcomer Nikki Blonsky. Shapely, with a powerhouse voice and killer moves to boot, it's astounding that this is her feature film debut. She's worth the price of admission.

The movie is fancifully directed (with realism and nonrealism spectacularly blended), colorfully designed, magnificently choreographed, family friendly while retaining a positive message crusading on behalf of those who are different from the status quo, and very funny. What more is there to say? Go see it!

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Everything's Coming Up Roses

So this weekend was my excursion to New York City. After more than two months of no theatre, it was really nice to have a break from Pennsylvania and to get to see three excellent shows: Gypsy with Patti LuPone, eurydice at 2nd Stage Theatre, and The Drowsy Chaperone.


Patti LuPone in Gypsy.

Everything I expected and more, the production of Gypsy at City Center starring Patti LuPone, Boyd Gaines, and Laura Benanti was outstanding. Patti as Mama Rose, perhaps the most famous female role in Broadway history -- played previously by Ethel Merman, Angela Lansbury, Tyne Daly, and Bernadette Peters -- brought her indomitable presence and take-no-prisoners voice to the role, and it really, really worked. Benanti was also particularly notable for the marvelous transformation she makes from young, awkward Louise to stripper star Gypsy Rose Lee. 

This production was directed by Arthur Laurents, who wrote the book for the show, which originally opened on Broadway in 1959. At 90 years of age, it's amazing that he's still directing for the stage, and his insight must have added a great deal to this production, which seems pitch perfect throughout. Even the somewhat trying kiddie numbers in the show seemed funnier than when I saw the show in 2003 with Bernadette Peters. It's a must-see for those who love musical theatre and want to see one of the greatest shows and greatest performers in its history.

Clips of the show are on view here.

Maria Dizzia and Charles Shaw Ronbinson as Eurydice and her father in eurydice.

Having seen The Clean House at Lincoln Center Theater this past fall, I knew of the tremendous talented that is young playwright Sarah Ruhl. Soon after seeing that whimsically affecting play, I read her collection, The Clean House and Other Plays, published by TCG, but I found the play eurydice rather flat on the page. Still, I looked forward to seeing Ruhl's next New York production -- of that play -- at 2nd Stage Theatre, a nice place to see plays by American playwrights. 

And eurydice, which I saw on Saturday night, was definitely much more impressive onstage than it was to read. With stunning costumes, scenery, and music, all of the elements came together to produce a really dazzling and thought-provoking evening at the theatre. The performance were excellent all around, and what's great about Ruhl is that she obviously has the visual side of a play in her mind while she's writing. 

There's a moment in the play where Eurydice's father writes her a letter from the Underworld, and as he finishes, he places it on the back wall of the theatre, where what formerly looked like tiles are illuminated and revealed as a litany of letters. So many lovely stage pictures. Ruhl's stage directions are written with a poetic flair, and as directed here by Les Waters, they take on extraordinary life. It's a must-see for those who love imaginative new work.

On Sunday, I revisited The Drowsy Chaperone, which held up very well with age. I think I may even have enjoyed it more this time around. Maybe it was because I was in one of the first-row rush seats.

Shopping in Brooklyn (at CB I Hate Perfume and Beacon's Closet), wonderful Thai food at Pam Real Thai, a trip to Marc by Marc Jacobs, and some very nice weather rounded out a lovely weekend.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Mark (Ronson) my words!

So, there's this DJ/producer/musician named Mark Ronson, and his new album, Version, is pretty damn sexy. The album is made up of various covers, including one improbably delicious cover of "Toxic" by Britney Spears by Ol' Dirty Bastard and Tiggers. Don't let the mention of Britney scare you off though; even that square song takes on new life. Ronson adds really fresh beats to everything, making formerly slow songs pulse with new life. It's sort of like hip hop meets Motown, with a big brassy feel to many of the moments on the album. Lily Allen and Amy Winehouse make fun appearances. Also particularly notable is "Stop Me," a cover of a song by The Smiths. But the whole album is listenable from start to finish. It's great music to walk to. Check it out!

...and he's handsome. And Jewish. Two cool points.

Sunday, July 08, 2007

Toni Collette and the Finish



Not only is Toni Collette (The Sixth Sense, About a Boy, Little Miss Sunshine, The Hours, Evening, In Her Shoes) a wonderful actress, she's also the lead singer and songwriter for the Australia-based band Toni Collette and the Finish. Check out the video for their latest single, "Look Up," which is very pretty. Reminds me a little bit of the Chicken Little story.

Friday, July 06, 2007

Open Mic a Success

So, the open mic at MilkBoy went quite well. I had a blast listening to the diversity of voices in attendance, and I thought my poems went over pretty well. I expected to be anxious about the whole thing, but rather than being terribly nervous, I was instead quite invigorated. I'll definitely be going to the next Mad Poets Society event held at MilkBoy, which will be on Thursday, August 2 at 7PM, so mark your calendars.

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Mad Poets Society Open Mic

Just a heads up that I'll be making my open mic poetry debut this Friday night at MilkBoy Acoustic Cafe at 824 W. Lancaster Avenue in Bryn Mawr, PA. The event, hosted by the Mad Poets Society, starts at 7 PM, and I have no idea when I'll be reading, but hopefully people will come check it out. Don't be alarmed if you check out the MilkBoy website and don't see the open mic listed; that calendar is wrong. It's part of the First Friday Main Line arts event that celebrates local arts and music throughout the Main Line, so hopefully there will be some rather talented poets there. 

Sunday, July 01, 2007

"Evening" should have been put to sleep.

Settling into my plush stadium-configured seat to see Evening, the star-studded new film adaptation of Susan Minot's novel of the same name, it was clear who the target audience was: old ladies and weepy-eyed girls. And me, the lone gay boy in awe of the distinguished actresses on parade.

The film has a cast that's to die for: Claire Danes, Toni Collette, Vanessa Redgrave, Patrick Wilson, Hugh Dancy, Natasha Richardson, Mamie Gummer, Eileen Atkins, Meryl Streep, and Glenn Close. Wow. I saw three of these people (Redgrave, Streep, and Dancy) on New York stages this year, and each impressed me far more in a theatrical environment. Together, they try their best, but there are but a few glimmers of truth present in this rather disjointed film.

This overcalculated weeper did little for me overall. Almost every member of the cast was in some way or another able to transcend their limitations to make some sort of an impression onscreen; I don't blame them for the overall debacle. I never really felt hopelessly bored, because the actresses were trying their absolute hardest to make what they could of this project. I just felt slightly embarrassed for the hardworking cast.

The movie is about Redgrave (and as her younger self, Danes), who's dying, and her reminiscences over her regrets on the day of her friend Streep's (as her younger self, Gummer's) wedding. Redgrave's daughters, Collette and Richardson, also figure prominently in a present-day storyline that's far weaker than the flashback portions, which involve Danes's involvement with Hugh Dancy and Patrick Wilson, the drunk and the handsome doctor respectively. Sound sort of drippy? Well, it is. 

I fault several people with the failure of this movie to hit its mark. Though I've never read the novel of the same name, Minot (who adapted her own book) and her collaborator Michael Cunningham (who wrote The Hours, which was adapted into such a fine film) seem to show little sense of the pacing that their flashback-heavy story should display. The flashbacks seem to come at awkward moments, and the proceedings return to the present day in a haphazard fashion. It's clear that David Hare, who adapted Cunningham's The Hours (which featured another star-studded cast: Streep, Collette, and Danes from Evening, as well as Nicole Kidman and Julianne Moore) to such fine effect, would have been a far better choice as screenwriter for Evening. Hare was able to thread together three relatively divergent storylines and keep an audience totally compelled throughout. It's no small feat, as Cunningham and Minot have hopefully learned.

In spite of insurmountable pacing problems, there are bits and pieces of dialogue that come across well, particularly between Streep and Redgrave. But the director, Lajos Koltai, a relative newcomer to the director's chair, does everything he can to mess things up. It seems as if all of the actresses have been instructed to ham it up a bit, and the moodiness of the film makes the whole thing seem like a big overstuffed cream puff with extra powdered sugar on top just to ensure that you leave in tears (which I didn't, though several girls in my row seemed thus effected). The silly Lifetime movie-style music didn't help add much-needed ingenuity to the story at hand.

I tried my absolute hardest to enjoy this movie. I wanted very much to think that the reviewers were probably missing something when they blasted this film so, but I hate to admit that they were mostly right. Though I was delighted to see Streep and her daughter Mamie Gummer playing the older and younger versions of the character Lila, and I also enjoyed seeing Vanessa Redgrave and her daughter Natasha Richardson as mother and daughter, the all-star cast couldn't weave a magnificent tapestry out of the disparate threads they were given. It's a royal shame.

Rent The Hours instead.

"Sicko" coughs up some straight talk.

Yesterday night, I saw Sicko, the latest film by Michael Moore, which takes aim at the U.S. healthcare industry. I'm very glad I did, because it raises a wide variety of important issues that we as enlightened documentary filmgoing Americans should take note of as those responsible for changing things in our fine (but flawed) country.

While fearmongers and conservative pundits will inevitably be spouting off about issues like gay marriage and abortion as the 2008 election nears, trying to use these hot-button issues to ensure that the poor conservative masses vote the conservative big business guy into the Oval Office to run amok as he pleases, Michael Moore is sending out a clarion clear reminder in his latest documentary Sicko that our nation's priorities may be out of whack.

Sure, gay marriage is important to me, just as much as abortion is a very important issue to others, but these issues seem like bourgeois quibbles next to the elephant in the U.S.'s collective room: healthcare. Can anyone enjoy relative comfort in a nation that doesn't take good care of its citizens? When the sad fact is that Canada, Great Britain, France, and -- most surprisingly -- Cuba have socialized healthcare systems that work far better than our own privatized HMO-based ones, it's clear that something is wrong. Shouldn't the case be, Michael Moore asks, that as a country grows more and more economically successful it treats its poorest better and better than other less successful nations? Seems logical enough to me.

What I liked most about Sicko is that, in comparison with the other two Michael Moore movies I've seen, Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11, this seemed like the most bipartisan of them all. While Moore took shots at Richard Nixon for his approval of this privatized healthcare system, he also turned his criticisms toward liberal poster girl Hillary Clinton herself, who, though an early supporter of healthcare reform under Bill Clinton, soon took a much more mum approach, eventually receiving plenty of cash from the healthcare industry itself to keep quiet. It remains to be seen whether she'll live up to her early promise in the area of healthcare reform (she still makes a rousing speech on the subject), but Moore does a good job shaking up his audience's trust in individuals to spearhead the issue of healthcare.

Moore takes sidetrips to show us a handful of medical horror stories and also makes a lively (and far lighter) segue to make a point about the Guantanamo Bay prisoners and their medical treatment. For sure, Moore's movie, while sobering, also offers a dose of lighter moments to keep its viewers from reaching a point of utter dispair (there's hope yet, he reminds us). 

The trouble with U.S. healthcare, Moore eventually concludes, is that in many other nations, the government lives in fear of its people, constantly worried that its public will stage an uprising and overturn the powers that be. In the U.S., it's we the people who fear the government, a big bureaucratic jumble that we no longer feel able to stand up against in times of chaos and mass suffering. Have we as Americans become too comfortable, I wonder, to put our feet back down on the pavement and stand up for what we believe? I'm not even sure what I'm willing to get angry about anymore, and I care about a variety of important social issues.

I've believed as such about gay issues for a quite a while now, and Michael Moore has raised some pertinent issues in Sicko that lead me to believe that there need to be a plethora of revolutions in our country before we're up to snuff with other industrialized Western nations.

It's a movie that reminds us that human rights should be fundamental to all people. Now excuse me while I ravage my bastion of freedom fries. What?! Quite staring and check out Michael Moore's Sicko

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Tales of the City!

I decided out of the blue to read Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City series a few weeks ago. I was looking for something funny and a little bit lighter to read, and these six books seemed to fit the bill perfectly.

Little did I know I'd become totally engrossed in the characters' lives. I lapped these books up so quickly I experienced withdrawal symptoms when I had to take a break from reading them for some reason or another.

Originally serialized in the San Francisco Chronicle, the series spans 10 years in the 1970s and 1980s in San Francisco, spanning the time from when casual sex and drug use was acceptable to the mid-1980s, when AIDS was beginning to change the San Francisco landscape drastically for gay and straight residents alike.

The series follows a cast of lovable San Franciscans living at the apartments at 28 Barbary Lane in the Russian Hill neighborhood: Mary Ann, whose arrival in San Francisco sets the plot in motion; Brian, an oversexed neighbor; Mona Ramsey, a whimsical bisexual tenant; Michael, Mona's gay roommate who befriends Mary Ann and Brian; and their lovable pot-smoking landlady, who has a juicy secret of her own, Mrs. Anna Madrigal. 

From this brief glimpse into the series, it would probably seem that these books are absolutely lurid and unforgivably hedonistic. Well, despite their provocative subject manner, the characters all come off as being extraordinarily heartfelt while remaining cautious of not stepping over the line into camp. Rather than following the path of "gay literature" and focusing disproportionately on the gay characters, this series is truly a patchwork of plotlines that give all of the characters a fair amount of room to grow. 

While the first three books are a portrait of carefree life in San Francisco, the final three take a decidedly darker turn. Despite the shift in tone, however, the series is worth sticking with. Though readers may be surprised by the note Maupin chooses to end Sure of You with, the series remains absolutely compelling up to the bitter end. Babycakes, the fourth in the series, is credited as being the first work of fiction to acknowledge the AIDS crisis, and it's a particularly moving book at that.

Tales of the City comes with my full recommendation. The entire series is a pageturner, and, while the writing isn't quite up there with the likes of Hemingway and Dickens, Maupin has some degree of literary aspiration for his earnest (and very funny) tales.


(t0p) Tales of the City, More Tales of the City, Further Tales of the City, (bottom) Babycakes, Significant Others, Sure of You.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Lauren Bacall me crazy...



"You know how to whistle; don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow."
-  To Have and Have Not

Equally good in Key Largo tonight at Bryn Mawr Film Insitute.

Monday, June 25, 2007

I Heart Threadless

Today, I got my weekly email from Threadless.com letting me know which T-shirts they'd be releasing for purchase. I've been on Threadless's email list for quite some time now, because I'm a big fan of the concept behind their T-shirts. Everyday designers submit designs for users to vote on, and the winning submissions are printed in limited quantities for purchase. Each week about six or so T-shirts are released, and once they're sold out of a certain design, there's no way to order the shirt unless enough people vote to reprint the shirt. It's T-shirt fashion at its most democratic.

Often the designs are ironic or clever. Most of them are wordless, though others are exclusively "type tees." Plus, if you send in a picture of yourself wearing one of their T-shirts, they'll give you $1.50 credit toward your next purchase. Neat, eh?

Anyway, one of today's designs caught my eye in particular, an image of a teapot releasing steam, as well as an image of a stately gentleman ("Earl Grey") sipping a cup of tea. The image is in monochromatic hues on a grey T-shirt, and it's called "Earl Grey." How nifty!

Earl Grey

Anyway, this is the fifth shirt I've bought from Threadless. My Threadless collection so far is as follows (click on each for a slightly larger view):

        

Part of what makes shopping at Threadless so horribly addictive is the fact that, if you don't act quickly, the shirt you want may soon be gone! Anyway, I recommend checking out their site. There's at least on T-shirt on there for everyone, I think.

Corinne Bailey Rae!

Last year, I bought Corinne Bailey Rae's debut self-titled album because I liked a song on it called "Put Your Records On." Rae's voice, to me, exudes the wisdom of an "old soul." She's got a unique British soul/R&B style that should appeal to listeners young and old, as it sounds at once fresh and nostalgic. I suggest music fans check out her CD. Favorite songs of mine are "I'd Like To," "Till It Happens To You," and "Trouble Sleeping," though the whole album is great.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

NeoOffice to the rescue

Having recently invested in a MacBook as a replacement to my curmudgeonly old HP Pavillion laptop, I was experiencing a euphoria over the Mac interface's ease of use. I'm pretty impressed overall with the Mac OS X operating system and with the Safari web browser, as well as many of the keystroke-saving shortcuts that I probably could have figured out on a PC but come especially easily to the Mac.

Despite all of these positive things, however, there was one thing I was missing most about the PC universe - Microsoft Office. If there's one computer program I'm used to, it's Microsoft Word, and it's the one program that I thought I would need the most, especially considering my student status and the countless number of essays and homework assignments I churn out on a  daily basis during the school year.

Anyway, there is a substitute, and it's called NeoOffice. Available for free download (though a small donation is suggested), it's just as easy to use as office and includes substitutes for all of the familiar applications in Microsoft Office. So, as a heads up, if you're a new Mac user or even if you just want to save on buying Microsoft Office in general, check out this handy dandy program.

Saturday, June 23, 2007

"Paris, Je T'Aime," "To Have and Have Not," "A Mighty Heart"

Since I last posted about Waitress and Away From Her, I've seen three more intriguing movies at Bryn Mawr Film Institute, my favorite local place to see films. Though it's regrettable that I don't visit Philadelphia more often (or New York for that matter), Bryn Mawr is a reminder that culture does exist outside of large cities.

First is Paris Je T'Aime, a series of 18 French-language short films, each set in a different arrondissement (subdivided section) of Paris. It's hard to imagine 18 short films working together as a cohesive unit, and this movie isn't really able to disprove that kind of logic. There's no really coherent theme tying the shorts together, besides for the concepts of love and Paris that seem entirely too general.
 
No matter, many of the shorts are effective, witty, or at least visually appealing. Especially charming is the final piece (click to watch the entire section on YouTube), directed by Alexander Payne (Sideways), that tells of a middle-aged American woman's lonely trip to Paris and the bond she forms with the city, one she describes as a love affair in and of itself. The featured actress in that portion is Margo Martindale, an actress who seems to be in an abundance of compelling movies, always in lackluster roles. In this short, you've got to love her bumbag. Many of the pieces are memorable, and it's definitely a film - or, rather, a collection of 18 - that's worth checking out, as much for their artistry as for the quirky, if inconsistent, content.

The second installment of the Hollywood Summer Nights series at BMFI was To Have and Have Not starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Though I was familiar with Bogart's work in Casablanca, I hadn't ever seen Lauren Bacall before, so this film was especially revelatory for that reason. She's got a smoky, brusque quality that's absolutely stunning - the rare case of someone having true star quality. The movie, directed by Howard Hawks, featured a typical formulaic ganster/chase plot, and it was the performances that really stood out. I'm looking forward to seeing Key Largo, also starring Bogart, this coming week.

Last but certainly not least was A Mighty Heart. Having read the Vogue profile of Angelina Jolie last fall, I got a sense that she was not your typical movie star. She prefers to keep to herself, has an overwhelming sense of self and self-responsibility, and, in a way that's in keeping with the outstanding values of this film, a mighty heart that's willing to take in various children from around the world.

I'm not too familiar with Jolie's work overall, but I was suspecting from previews of A Mighty Heart that it would be a good film. I wasn't, however, expecting a movie with quite the impact that this one had. The movie follows the hunt for Daniel Pearl (Dan Futterman), a Wall Street Journal reporter kidnapped in Afghanistan after leaving one night for a particularly smarmy interview. His wife, Mariane Pearl (Angelina Jolie), and a team of officials, gather in a house rented by Pearl's colleague, stake out their territory in what becomes a non-stop, full-force search for any information they can find. It's a riveting movie that follows the twists and turns of the incoming clues as they come and latches onto particularly affecting bits of dialogue between those searching for Pearl and between Daniel and his wife in flashback.

It's one of those movies, like United 93 before it, where you know the harrowing ending but are ultimately unable to turn away from the proceedings. What really made this film stand out was its absolute unwillingness to sensationalize the events portrayed. Jolie's performance is a fine example of a woman inhabiting a role that's absolutely the heart and center of the movie but who is so humbled by the the part she's playing that one never gets the sense that she's manipulating the audience. It's a tour de force for Jolie. 

Though I was very much captivated by the film as a whole, I wished I could have known more about the two characters (Danny Pearl and Mariane Pearl) at its center. I wasn't quite sure why Pearl's heart was so particularly "mighty." In fact, Mariane herself seems to emphasize, particularly through the humility she shows in television interview segments, that Pearl (and herself, and all others for that matters) are part of a global community and that, in many ways, no one man is particularly mightier than any other. Despite that small gripe however, nonetheless, it's a must-see movie.

Jeans Aplenty

With a week left before my birthday, I went jeans shopping with the girls - Christina and Leah - today. It was tons of fun (+ free gelato) and surprisingly easy to find jeans that fit properly.

I'm a skinny, skinny boy for sure. Most normal stores don't carry jeans that really fit well. I'm of the mind that jeans ought to actually fit rather than drape over your body in some saggy, miscalculated way, so I need to go for skinny jeans. Yet, oftentimes, skinny jeans are just too skinny. 

Luckily, I found two pair that were just right:
 
  
From left to right, Levi's 511 rail jeans, BDG skinny blue jeans.

Friday, June 22, 2007

Patti's Turn

I used to hate  Patti LuPone. The very thought of her vocal histrionics made me cringe. In the past, she's had a "unique" way of following musical phrasings that hasn't done much to excite me personally. Her performance as Eva on the original Broadway cast recording of Evita, of course, is Patti at her best, but her career has had its highs and lows.The major thing that turned me away from the Cult of Patti was seeing her on the Sweeney Todd in Concert DVD opposite George Hearn. Squawking like the seagulls her character, Mrs. Lovett, sings about in "By the Sea," this was a performance that irked me to the core.

So how, you ask, does one covert back to Patti-fanaticism? For me, it was a three-step program.

1. I watched her giving a stunning, only mildly overacted performance as Fosca opposite Michael Cerveris's Giorgio and Audra McDonald's Clara in Passion on Live at Lincoln Center, in which she emphasized the aching humanity of her character so incredibly passionately.

2. I listened to tracks from her recent album, The Lady with the Torch, which features a more toned-down sound from La Lupone.

3. I saw her twice on Broadway as Mrs. Lovett in the John Doyle-directed production of Sweeney Todd that was on Broadway the season before this last one. Totally expecting to see a repeat performance of what she'd done on the televised version, she totally reinvented herself and gave one of the fiercest performances by a leading lady in a Broadway show I've yet to witness.

Next up for La LuPone?

Mama Rose in Gypsy at City Center, with Boyd Gaines (revelatory this season in Journey's End) as Herbie and Laura Benanti as Louise. Sounds just about perfect to me. 

Just got my tickets to see it with Emma July 13th. Could I be more excited?

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Awaiting "Across the Universe"

After having witnessed some of the filming of Broadway and opera director Julie Taymor's upcoming movie Across the Universe last school year, I had no idea what to expect of the movie. I figured it was some low-budget thing for TV and that it wouldn't amount to much. However, the trailer for the movie, which will be released in theatres this fall, and poster have now been released, and it looks like it's shaping up to be something rather special. I love the poster design with the heart/strawberry thing going on. I even like the rendition of "Hey Jude" in the trailer, though I'm not sure how having characters named after Beatles songs is going to strike me when I see the actual movie. Anyway, it looks intriguing and rather inventive, especially considering it's essentially a filmed jukebox musical.

Check out the trailer here.

A snapshot I took of the filming of the Vietnam protest scene by Washington Square Arch, digitally altered in Adobe Photoshop.

Saturday, June 09, 2007

"Falling Man" and Summer Reading

I recently finished reading a novel called Falling Man by Don DeLillo, a popular writer who I'd never before encountered. I'd read some really interesting reviews of the book on Slate and The New York Times Sunday Book Review Online and read the first chapter on The New York Times. I decided to try it out on a whim since I had a coupon for Borders, and I was most certainly not disappointed.

It's a story about September 11th that follows the dual perspectives of a survivor of the attacks who worked in one of the towers, Keith (his story begins on September 11th and proceeds from there), and of one of the terrorists (his story leads up to the September 11th attacks). It would have been easy for an author of less inherent skill to oversentimentalize the attacks. In the collective minds of Americans, September 11th has become a sort of rallying cry for freedom-mongering and rah-rah sentiments, and it's an extraordinary achievement that DeLillo manages to strip the day back to what it was as it was happening - an extraordinarily confusing day full of an indescribable amount of grief and human suffering that has left the world indelibly different and at the same time indescribably the same as before.

Interesting subplots, including one in particular involving the novel's title character, a performance artist who specializes in dangling in formal dress from bridges, scaffolds, and other scary-looking places, and another involving Keith's wife Lianne and the group she runs for Alzheimer's patients involving the chronicling of their thoughts on a variety of democratically decided-upon topics, make this novel something richer and more fulfilling than just another "smoke and ash" chronicle of the events of September 11, 2001.

DeLillo's writing style, which, at times, reminded me of Joan Didion's, is appropriately sparse. Without sounding cold, DeLillo uses particularly cutting language to strip down his prose to the most emotionally intense state possible. It's a short book, coming in at 246 pages, but it packs a wallop that will leave you thinking about the book once its over. Falling Man comes highly recommended. Now I want to check out more of DeLillo's books, perhaps Underworld or White Noise.

Other books I want to read this summer include:

Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh
Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
and On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan.

Hopefully I'll be reporting on more of my summer reading shortly! Right now I'm reading Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

"Away From Her," "Waitress" at BMFI

First, let me say that I love Bryn Mawr Film Institute. My family has a membership, so we get discounted tickets, and they're just about the only place in Delaware County that gets the kinds of movies I like to see - indie movies and, though to a lesser extent, foreign films. Now and then I like to see a blockbuster, but I mostly like to see more thoughtful movies that may have slipped through the ordinary studio process because they're a little too complex to be homogenized.

This week I saw two very different movies, each worth seeing - Waitress and Away from Her.

Waitress, which easily could've fallen into cliches about diners and listless young women, was charming and well-acted. Keri Russell carried the movie, aided by razor sharp quips by late writer and director Adrienne Shelly, who also took a supporting role in the film. Sequences featuring the baking of creatively-named pies were particularly notable, as was a late career performance by Andy Griffith as the ornery owner of the pie diner in the film.

Away from Her, which was excrutiating to watch, is a wonderfully made movie about a woman who develops Alzheimer's and the way her husband copes with her illness as she takes up residence in a nursing home. The lovely Julie Christie and Gordon Pinsent are wonderful in the movie, and the young writer and director Sarah Polley makes sure that the movie doesn't strike one false note. It's astounding that such a young writer could capture so wonderfully the complexities of older adulthood. It was also refreshing to see a movie that dealt head-on with the sex lives of older people, something that gets neglected or joked about in most other films. Everything about Away from Her made it a must-see. I'm a believer in seeing movies even though they may unnerve you (Children of Men and An Inconvenient Truth are recent examples), and this is one you definitely want to suck it up and see.

I also just got done reading a wonderful book, The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi, a comic tale of a young man who's half white and half Indian living in London. It struck me as similar to the humorous writing style of Zadie Smith, and it kept me riveted throughout. I definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a lighter (yet still stimulating) read - for someone else who refuses to stoop to Danielle Steele or James Patterson for their light reading.