Hanna

Just saw the movie Hanna with Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett and Eric Bana.

Somewhat disappointing. Your basic suspenseful chase movie with an artistic bent. The cinematography was beautiful, but the plot was rather lacking. Could have been much stronger.

I wanted more back-story and character development and less run-run-run.

The exceptional Cate Blanchett was amazing, as always. I would watch her brush her teeth (and she does, in fact, brush her teeth in this movie). Her speaking voice was a little strange. I couldn't tell if it was a character choice or the dialect she affected, but I thought it was rather distracting. But not enough to ruin her performance for me, which is a study in acting even in this thin piece.

And the ending was ... just an ending. Nothing revelatory. No character growth. Just a stop point.

Sigh.

Guess I had too high of expectations from the previews on this one.

Ciao

Why does the theme of loss and the process of grieving seem to resonate so much with me lately? I have no idea ...

But if you've read some of my past blogs, you know that Next to Normal — the Broadway-musical-masquerading-as-a-somewhat-controversial-electroshock-therapy-show that's really a poignant look at one family's grief and how they deal with it -- is one of my all-time favorite musicals!

And then recently I watched the film, Ciao.

You probably haven't heard of it. It's an independent movie revolving around the death of a gay man and the two strangers closest to him.

I was expecting a love story, but instead found a rather moving portrait of death and the awkwardly strange roller coaster ride of emotions those left-behind experience.

I recommend it:

Simple. Slow. Touching.

And ultimately... meaningful.

RE: Mel Gibson

I loved you and your movies, Mel, but I don't know if you can ever recover from this latest public debacle.

R.I.P.

Narnia

I super-duper love CS Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia. I always have. Read them over and over and over throughout my life-time.

I thought both movie adaptions (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian) were extremely well executed, faithful to the books and entertaining.

However, I was under the impression that the second movie had underperformed and that neither movies became the behemoth phenomenon the studio was expecting hoping. Thus, no more Narnia movies.

So it was with great excitement that I have just discovered the third movie adaptation: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. It looks just as good as the previous movies!

Release date is December 10, 2010. Can't wait!

NOTE TO THE STUDIO HEADS: Please film the final movie now so the Pevensie kids don't grow up before you get there.

(For those of you who haven't read the series ... the intervening books don't include the same children.)

Whew!

So much time passes so quickly ... Christmas ... New Year's ...

Before you know it, we're already into the second month of 2010!!!

I've been hard at work rehearsing for a new contract with Royal Caribbean: the Serenade of the Seas. We still have another month to go before we join the ship, but that day will come sooner than later, I'm sure.

But last weekend, I finally decided to see what all the hoop and holler was about Avatar.

What the heck?? Did James Cameron actually strike gold twice??

Indeed, he did.

I have to say, I give the movie an enthusiastic 2 thumbs up! I was not expecting to like it as much as I did. A wonderful blend of science fiction, CGI, and emotional impact. Excellent movie.

Definitely go see it if you haven't. And make sure to see it in 3-D.

In other news ... anyone think Spiderman the Musical will ever open??? I'm dying to find out.

Is Twilight the New Harry Potter???

I’ve finally jumped on the Twilight bandwagon. I know, I know, it’s a little “after the fact”. So sue me.

I love Harry Potter, and I just couldn’t bring myself to betray that series by reading the Twilight series. Until now.

One of my fellow cast members bought the Twilight DVD, and I’d heard that people who’ve read the book didn’t like the movie. I don’t really know why that matters, but I decided to give in, watch the movie, and then read the books to finally see for myself what all the fuss was about.

And I finally finished reading the fourth book, Breaking Dawn. I love the world that Stephanie Meyer has created, and I love the characters, specifically the Cullen family.

However ... I’m amazed that these books became the phenomenon they are. Mostly because I don’t like Bella, the book’s protagonist. It’s not that she isn’t smart or determined. No. She just whines a lot. And complains a lot. Like how she doesn’t want to go to prom. Or graduation. Or receive any gifts. It’s just soooooo unfair, she says. A LOT!

Why would anyone want to be with her? She just isn’t an attractive character to me. And yet, everyone in the series seems to be drawn to her. Odd paradox.

Of course, in the fourth book, she isn’t nearly as annoying. She's actually likable. Instead it’s Jacob Black who annoyed the heck out of me. I guess there always has to be one irritating character in Meyer’s books.

The other thing I can’t wrap my head around is the cold vampires. Every time I read a passage about how Bella kisses the cold, marble lips of Edward, I’m left ... well, cold. Why anyone would positively yearn to curl up into the hard, frigid arms of a chilly, rigid vampire is beyond me. Just doesn’t sound all that pleasant.

But ... even still, the fourth book wrapped up the series well. It was a satisfying conclusion which is oh-so-important to me. Meyer's climaxes are odd, though, in that they’re never really climaxes. Just resolutions to the conflict. Strange.

Oh, well. You know I’ll be buying a movie ticket when New Moon arrives in theaters.

And speaking of ... have you seen the trailer? It's awesome! Enjoy!

I Wanna Live Forever

Have you seen the trailer for the new Fame movie? I wasn’t interested at all before. Now I am.

Great trailer for what looks like a great movie. Although, now I have high expectations. Hope the movie is as good as the trailer promises.

Moline Media Minute

Hi everyone. It’s time for the Moline Media Minute. Here’s a sampling of things I’ve watched and read lately:

Out of the Silent Planet by CS Lewis

Kind of a disappointment. I love the Chronicles of Narnia, and this book is the first in Lewis’s adult-oriented Space Trilogy. Unfortunately, I had to slog through it. Though, to be fair, I’m not much of a classics kind of guy; I don’t usually enjoy the style.


Dr. Ransom is kidnapped by a mad scientist and his assistant and taken to another planet (which turns out to be Mars) with the intention of being sacrificed to gain favor with the foreign inhabitants. Once there, Ransom escapes his captors and integrates with the different species and societies he meets. Eventually he comes face-to-face with the ruler of the planet who mets out justice to all three humans as he sees fit.


Critics raved about Lewis’s entire trilogy back in the 70s when it was written, but I found his first one rather tedious at times.

I loved the ideas behind the book and the overall philosophy, theology, and mysticism of Lewis’s Mars compared to Earth (“The Silent Planet”). He had great characters, too. But the dense descriptions and slow pace made it difficult for the book to hold my attention.


The Wicker Man

This was Nicholas Cage’s suspense thriller about a secluded island and its strange, Amish-type community. When Cage’s ex-fiance contacts him about her missing daughter (whom she fears is about to be harmed by the island’s community), Cage races to the rescue.


I was excited to see this movie. I’m not a big Nicolas Cage fan, but I’m all about the weird mystery-thriller genre. Unfortunately, the ending was a big let down, and as you know ... it’s all about the ending for me.

I was completely engrossed in the movie, but the finale, meant to be shocking and horrendous when it finally answers your questions, ultimately disappoints when the plot sucks all life and hope from its characters.

What a waste. What a downer. No wonder it bombed at the box office.


The Road to Cana by Anne Rice

Wow. She did it again. Anne Rice sure knows how to take a gamble and make a masterpiece.

Beginning with some bare bones information from the Gospels, Rice creates a story about Jesus’ life before He began His ministry, adeptly weaving history, family, geography, politics, spirituality, and humanity into an engaging and powerful novel.


And she takes risks.

This time around, Rice begins her story with two young boys - accused of homosexual activity - being stoned to death by the citizens of Nazareth (Jesus’ hometown) and ends the book with Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan, His exorcism of Mary Magdalene (here Mary of Magdala), and His forty days of temptation in the desert (handled ingeniously, I thought).

If you’re a fan of Chaim Potok’s novels of Jewish life (and even if you're not), you’ll enjoy Rice’s take on Biblical Jewish society. I’m definitely looking forward to Anne Rice’s next book.

Company

My friend, Brian, was so kind to have kept the Broadway Revival Presentation of Stephen Sondheim's Company (shown on PBS last year) on his DVR for months and months for me until we were finally able to get together and watch it. He personally didn’t care for the production, and I wasn’t sure what to expect but ... overall, I liked it.

I definitely think watching the show on television doesn’t carry the same weight or impact of watching the live performance (obviously, but sometimes it does work, like MTV’s showing of Legally Blonde). This version of Company was so modern and minimalistic, I think it needs the atmosphere and energy of actually being present with the actors.


However, I still thought it was a powerful production. Having all the actors play their own instruments actually worked for once. I never saw the Sweeney Todd revival, but I can’t imagine how that would be successful and not distract from the musical. But here, the actors interact and socialize through the music, and their instruments practically become characters in their own right.

I didn’t care much for the melancholy undercurrents, though. Sondheim describes Company as being difficult for audiences to grasp due to its ambivalence: relationships are impossible, yet we can’t live without them.

However, there’s an overall negativity to the show that he doesn’t appear to recognize. The musical’s theme is a paradox, but the lack of hope and positivity affects that audience’s ability to connect with the material.

Still, I still enjoyed this critically-acclaimed revival and was glad to finally see it. Sondheim is a musical theater genius, and this show was no exception.

Movie Thoughts:

I haven’t done any movie reviews in a while so ... let’s see if I can catch up:

A Home at the End of the World

I’ve heard about this movie for a long time and was looking forward to finally seeing it, but, I must say, I was disappointed. I kept waiting for something more.

From the writer of The Hours comes a functionally dysfunctional threesome between two childhood friends and the girl they meet along the way. It wasn’t necessarily bad - all three leads were excellent - but when the end arrived with a decidedly sad turn of events, I just thought ... “is that all?”

The Strangers

Don’t even bother. The trailers were excellent, but this movie is a completely unbelievable piece of garbage. I can’t believe Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman agreed to make it.

Were you scared?
Yes.

Did you jump in your seat?
Yes.

Did it have any other redeeming qualities?
No.

Strangers is pointless, depressing, and stupid. If you’re in the mood for a good scare, rent Vacancy instead, a far superior horror film in every aspect.

Juno

When I finally saw this movie, I thought my expectations might sabotage my viewing pleasure. Boy was I wrong. Extremely witty, unconventional, and thoroughly surprising, Juno was a delight to watch. The Oscar for original screenplay was well-deserved.

In the mood for a quirky comedy filled with snappy dialogue and believable characters? Juno is your movie.

The Amityville Horror (2005 remake)

Pretty straight-forward horror movie based on “true” events that I actually enjoyed. Fluffy and lacking substance but still enjoyable when you’re in the mood. Settle in with a bowl of popcorn, a dark room, and loved one to snuggle up with, and you’re all set.

Reminded me a lot of The Shining and definitely better than Strangers (see above), but I’d still opt for Vacancy.

Dan in Real Life

Another disappointment. Okay, I wanted to like this movie. I really did.

Steve Carell was excellent, Juliette Binoche absolutely perfect, and the three daughters were believable and precocious, but the whole movie was so melancholy. Where was the joy? Where was the hope?

Carell plays a columnist whose wife died four years ago and is struggling to find love again. Sounds like a good beginning. But his large extended family comes across as so insensitive, uncaring, and oblivious that when the end finally comes I was only mildly happy. Just too much sadness. Carell was like Charlie Brown only more depressing.

If you want a heart-warming story about large families, I recommend watching The Family Stone instead. It succeeds where Dan fails.

Batman: The Dark Knight

Finally, I saw the blockbuster that everyone’s talking about.

The first thing I have to say is how well-crafted this movie was. The plot moves faster than Batman’s Batmobile so the 2.5 hours zoomed along unnoticed. Christopher Nolan does a masterful job of balancing the action with the drama and keeping the tension tight between the good characters and the bad characters. There weren’t any twists per se, but I can’t say I ever knew where the story was headed. And that’s the kind of movie I like.

Heath Ledger makes an incredible Joker, and with his untimely death, it’ll be interesting to see if he wins an Oscar for his role. I didn’t think anyone could surpass Jack Nicholson’s Joker, but Ledger sure did. He’s every bit as good as people said he was.


The whole cast, actually, is wonderful including Christian Bale ... except for his raspy Batman voice. What’s up with that?!! Was anyone else distracted by his utterly ridiculous vocal put-on? It made it difficult to understand him when he was the Caped Crusader. I don’t remember that voice from his first Batman movie, but maybe it wasn’t as pronounced. Oh, well.

Surprisingly, The Dark Knight lived up to the hype. And now I’m actually looking forward to the next Batman movie.

For Real?

I guess it’s officially time for another real blog from me.

Facebook ... I finally joined several months back, and I STILL don’t get it. I mean, there are a few things to like:

• The streamlined appearance.
• The ease in which I can customize my page.
• The fact that the site always seems to know who my friends are by “suggesting” I add them. Creepy. And cool.

But then there’s things I don’t like slash get:

• What the heck’s new?! I feel like I have to click everywhere just to figure out what I haven’t seen yet. MySpace is much easier. I log on, they tell me I have new comments, messages, whatever. Not so with Facebook. I have to figure it all out on my own. Time-consuming.
• All the friggin’ applications. I mean, some of them are cool. Namely, the Visual Bookshelf or Stage Door applications. But do I really have to install Every. Single. One of them? If I get one more “You’ve been invited to some mob war" thingee I think I’ll stick a fork in my eye!
• There’s no actual blogging. Weird.
• And you can’t see anyone’s profile unless you’re friends with them. What, no snooping?! Isn’t that the whole reason I’m online?!! :) But seriously, sometimes I don't know who's asking me to friend them because their default picture just shows a baby. Uhm, that doesn't tell me who you are.
  

But I shouldn't complain. Facebook has allowed me to become friends with my other friends who aren’t on MySpace so I can then spend more time at home finding out about even more people through my computer instead of actually talking to them. Finally. A way to isolate the human population even more! Awesome!

In other news ... movies ...

My uber-cool dude Patrick and I had a marathon last week. We saw Iron Man, Indiana Jones 4, Prince Caspian, and The Happening.

Prince Caspian was definitely my fav. I’m sad it didn’t do as well as expected in the theaters. Not only was it true to the original novel, but all the changes they made were exceptional enhancements that actually upheld the integrity of the book. I think the entire Chronicles of Narnia canon is beautiful, and I hope they film all seven books (especially The Magician's Nephew). But, then again, I'm a sucker for YA fiction.

Next was Iron Man - an extremely pleasant surprise - followed by Indiana Jones and The Happening.

I love M. Night My-Name-Is-Hard-To-Pronounce, but he really needs to start directing someone else’s movies. I mean ... what was the point of The Happening? It just ended. No change, no growth, no nothing. Just a not-so-subtle warning to humanity. Whoop-dee-do.

Kudos to Betty Buckley, though. Her role slash cameo was the highlight of the movie for me.

Then there’s Indiana Jones. All I can say is ... uhm ... what? Aliens? Dumb.

It could have been cool, but none of it made sense. And enough of the CGI, George Lucas! Did Indy really need those “cute” groundhogs? Enough already!

But Harrison Ford still has it! There's The Mummy and the National Treasure franchises, but no one holds a candle to Mr. Ford. He's the quintessential professor slash archeologist who can handle a whip. I'll go see an Indiana Jones 5 IF they cut out the crapy. And I'd be happy to have Cate Blanchett! In fact, put Betty Buckley and Cate in a movie together and let the sparks fly!

And that, my friends, is today’s blog. For real.

Movie Updates

Two days of Dream Along With Mickey and my feet are starting to burn. I can’t tell if it’s the heat or just the friction between the thin soles of my jazz shoes and the stage. I guess it’s time to build up those dancer calluses!

So, I’ve seen a few movies the past couple of weeks that I haven’t shared. First it was ...

The Orphanage :-) :-) :-) 1/2
I was so excited to see this movie because not only had it gotten great reviews, but I thought it was directed by the brilliant Guillermo del Toro of Pan’s Labyrinth (which BTW, I highly highly recommend!). However, I discovered after the movie finished, The Orphanage is only produced by Guillermo del Toro and not directed. Bummer.

Whatever. It had his style. Unfortunately, the movie fell flat for me. On the positive side, the journey was constantly surprising, the ending had a tragic twist, and several plot points were subject to discussion. However, I think it was a victim of inflated expectations.

Sweeney Todd :-) :-) 1/2
Saw this with my good friend, Brian Sumby, and this is what I’m going to say ... too much CGI. I know it’s Tim Burton’s trademark, but it was too distracting. The opening credits were cartoonish, the gushing blood was laughable, and Helena Bonham Carter just didn’t have enough of a voice for Mrs. Lovett. Her character was spot on, but I couldn’t get past her singing voice. I liked everyone else though including Johnny Depp (although the Antony was an interesting choice). I thought this adaptation was better than Rent or Phantom, but not as good as Dreamgirls. It was just ... okay.

Into the Wild :-) :-) :-) :-) 1/2
Saw this the other night with my sister, Kelly. Excellent movie. Sean Penn, whether you agree with his politics or not, is truly an artist. The cinematography alone is absolutely sumptuous. And the lead actor, Emile Hirsch ... stunning. He single-handedly carries this movie with his mostly silent outdoor activities.

Based on a true story that was made into a book, Into the Wild was developed though journal entries, interviews, supposition, and conjecture to piece together the last year or so of a young man who abandons his family and ultimately travels to Alaska in order to live off the land. (how's THAT for a sentence of explanation?!)

For the majority of the movie, all I could think of was how selfish and possibly mentally disturbed he was. However, the end of the movie made it for me. Excellent and heart wrenching. The final fifteen minutes are so frustrating, I can’t imagine what his family must have thought or felt once all the pieces of the puzzle had been gathered.

Into the Wild also contained my new life theme:

True happiness is shared.

I love that.

True happiness is shared.

Perhaps one man’s death, will awaken another man’s soul ...

Scary movies

I love scary movies. And the scariest movie ever? The Descent.

There’s gory-scary, cheesy-scary, stupid-scary, fun-scary, but rarely is a movie scary-scary. Well, The Descent is that movie. It’s dark and claustrophobic and realistic. So good.

I saw it once in the movie theater, and I watched it again tonight with Patrick, Christy Wurzbach, and her roommate. Yikes!

My only complaint is that the director tagged on his original ending for the DVD edition. It’s about twenty-five extra seconds, but it does make a difference. And I don’t think there’s quite the same punch.

But whatever. Check out The Descent if you haven’t. Creepy.

The Painted Clayton

Saw two new movies recently: The Painted Veil and Michael Clayton.

First up, Michael Clayton:

Expertly made, written, acted, etc. However, I completely understand why it didn’t do boffo business. It really wasn’t that special to me. Think Erin Brokovich or The Pelican Brief. Add in some good and bad lawyers, subtract any "thriller" aspect, and you’ve got Michael Clayton.

Second, there was no real payoff, because the protagonist wasn’t truly vindicated. I mean, it’s believable, but believable isn’t usually that fun / stimulating / rewarding in a movie, especially one with lawyers.


And lastly, the victims were never humanized. If we’re going to fight for the greater good and triumph over corporate greed and corruption, then the audience needs to experience the devastation the innocent victims are going through. And apart from a brief videotaped interrogation scene in the background, we never do.

Unfortunately, the creators of Michael Clayton spent too much time creating the movie, and not enough time thinking about their audience.

Then there’s The Painted Veil. Excellent movie. Simple, but powerful. Again, didn’t do great business. And again, I understand why it might not connect with audiences. Maybe a little too simple, a little too languid.


But, I thought it was a wonderful movie. The movie’s two underrated stars: Naomi Watts and Edward Norton also produced the film which I thought was intriguing. The story begins in 1920s London and takes us to breathtakingly beautiful China during a cholera epidemic.

Unlike most of the love stories we read and see today, this one astonishingly feels real. And unlike lawyer “thrillers”, love stories ARE more rewarding when they feel real. Everyone wants to experience love: to be loved and to fall in love. And when two people on screen truly experience it, we feel that much closer to having it ourselves because of our active participation.

The Painted Veil succeeds, not by piling on the saccharine to create an artificial feel-good movie, but by trudging through the rubbish of life and forging a deeply authentic physical and emotional connection. Watch as two strangers marry, almost divorce, and then, ultimately, fall deeply and madly in love with each other. Nothing exceptionally original, but sometimes the mundane is the most beautiful. And moving.