I understand I have completely neglected this blog. I never intended to be one of those people who create a blog just to follow a trend and ignore it once I got it out of my system. But who was I kidding? I am one of those people. Needless to say I felt guilty when countless people asked me, "How's your blog?" Umm, as in the blog where the last thing I critiqued was The Curious Case of Benjamin Button?
You know what, maybe its because I haven't seen anything worth critiquing in quite some time. Yeah, I'll blame it on that.
Anyways, this past week I saw the musical Billy Elliot on Broadway. Holy cow. This show was so powerful and amazing that I felt compelled to get back into the blogging groove and tell anyone willing to read this to GO SEE IT. I have seen many, many musicals in my 22 years of life so I would have to say I'm a hard client to please. I was brought up knowing the lyrics to such classics as My Fair Lady, Oliver, Annie, Guys and Dolls, Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables and The Sound of Music.
Recently the musicals I have seen on Broadway failed to live up to glorified expectations. I don't care what anyone else tells you but Rent, Wicked, The Lion King and Legally Blonde the Musical all SUCK. What separates the classics from these mindless shows is that they had depth and emotion. A musical should have the power to get to people and inspire people while at the same time make them wanna get out of their seats and dance and/or sing. This is exactly what Billy Elliot did for me and probably everyone else in the audience as witnessed by one act in which most people were trying to conceal their tears and another act where people were shimmying in their seats.
I don't want to give away too much of Billy Elliot's alluring plot, but the basic synopsis is that its about a little boy, Billy, growing up in Northern England during the Miner's Strike of the early 80's. His family is part of a lower class, blue-collar community where most of the workers are coal miners and engaged in the strike, including Billy's father and older brother. Billy's mother is deceased. Tensions run high as the family makes too little to make ends meet. Making matters worse, Billy is far more interested in dancing lessons than the boxing lessons his gruff father desires him to take. And to top it off Billy's a heck of a dancer. He is gooooood. Billy's homophobic father does whatever he can, including going to physically harmful extremes, to ensure that Billy doesn't do anything to make himself look like a ninny. But dance is the only solace Billy has in his lonely, downtrodden world.
I don't know if this blog did the show justice so I'll leave you with this:
Recently the tony nominations were announced and Billy Elliot is up for a WHOPPING 15 NOMINATIONS. Including best musical. Reviewers say that it is the unequivocal front runner. 'NUFF SAID.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
I waited about five months to see this movie. I watched the trailer (the older, better one) a gazillion times.
So basically I hyped myself up way too much for this movie.
That doesn't mean it was necessarily bad. It just wasn't great. The movie is about 3 hours long, and in my humble opinion, a movie should only be that long if it needs to be that long. And this film certainly doesn't; its based on a short story for peat's sake.
On the other hand, the ensemble is stellar. Brad Pitt gives one the best performances of his career playing the eponymous Benjamin Button, a man that ages backwards. Cate Blanchett, who can do no wrong, plays Button's love interest. I have to say though that my favorite performance was from neither of these bigwigs. Taraji P. Hensen plays the African American woman working at a nursing home who saves the abandoned Button soon after his birth, and consequently becomes his Mama. She plays this role with such sass and charisma that the scenes where she's absent seem dry.
Overall, the film definitely had some gaping holes. What's with the whole scene in the beginning that showed how and where the clock, that goes backwards just like Button's life, was built? It may be obvious to assume that the clock was instituted the day Button was born, and that it stopped working the day Button died. But no, there was no reference to that. The film did point out, however, that Button was born the day WWII ended...connection??? Oh that's right- none.
See that's a big issue for me. By a film's end, it should be wrapped up nicely and everything should fall into place. When there are unanswered questions I can't help but to be pissed, as if we should just enjoy the film as it is and appreciate that we get to stare at Brad Pitt's pretty face.
Note to directors: please don't assume the theater is filled with dummies. Thanks.
3 HOUR MOVIE? IF YOU'VE GOT NOTHING ELSE TO SEE.
BETTER YET, WATCH THE TRAILER (AGAIN, THE OLDER ONE).
So basically I hyped myself up way too much for this movie.
That doesn't mean it was necessarily bad. It just wasn't great. The movie is about 3 hours long, and in my humble opinion, a movie should only be that long if it needs to be that long. And this film certainly doesn't; its based on a short story for peat's sake.
On the other hand, the ensemble is stellar. Brad Pitt gives one the best performances of his career playing the eponymous Benjamin Button, a man that ages backwards. Cate Blanchett, who can do no wrong, plays Button's love interest. I have to say though that my favorite performance was from neither of these bigwigs. Taraji P. Hensen plays the African American woman working at a nursing home who saves the abandoned Button soon after his birth, and consequently becomes his Mama. She plays this role with such sass and charisma that the scenes where she's absent seem dry.
Overall, the film definitely had some gaping holes. What's with the whole scene in the beginning that showed how and where the clock, that goes backwards just like Button's life, was built? It may be obvious to assume that the clock was instituted the day Button was born, and that it stopped working the day Button died. But no, there was no reference to that. The film did point out, however, that Button was born the day WWII ended...connection??? Oh that's right- none.
See that's a big issue for me. By a film's end, it should be wrapped up nicely and everything should fall into place. When there are unanswered questions I can't help but to be pissed, as if we should just enjoy the film as it is and appreciate that we get to stare at Brad Pitt's pretty face.
Note to directors: please don't assume the theater is filled with dummies. Thanks.
3 HOUR MOVIE? IF YOU'VE GOT NOTHING ELSE TO SEE.
BETTER YET, WATCH THE TRAILER (AGAIN, THE OLDER ONE).
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
The Reader
This will be quick....
DO NOT SEE THIS. Unless you want to hate Kate Winslet.
Why would such a marvelous actress pick such such an atrocious role? Seriously beats me.
She plays a Nazi who's also a pedophile. Now that's a double whammy. And I believe the director wants you to actually sympathize with her. How sick. Additionally her punishment, if that's what you want to call it, for the crimes she committed during the holocaust was truly the straw that broke the camel's back.
She recently won the golden globe for best supporting actress in this film...why??? Because she's able to pretend having sex with a 15- year-old boy? Most scenes in the movie gave me the willies. I believe in the overall experience of a movie, and making me feel queasy isn't the type of thing I look forward to or would want to impose on anyone else.
DO NOT SEE THIS. Unless you want to hate Kate Winslet.
Why would such a marvelous actress pick such such an atrocious role? Seriously beats me.
She plays a Nazi who's also a pedophile. Now that's a double whammy. And I believe the director wants you to actually sympathize with her. How sick. Additionally her punishment, if that's what you want to call it, for the crimes she committed during the holocaust was truly the straw that broke the camel's back.
She recently won the golden globe for best supporting actress in this film...why??? Because she's able to pretend having sex with a 15- year-old boy? Most scenes in the movie gave me the willies. I believe in the overall experience of a movie, and making me feel queasy isn't the type of thing I look forward to or would want to impose on anyone else.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Frost/Nixon
GREAT MOVIE
This movie was beautifully crafted by director Ron Howard. It includes excellent performances, particularly by Frank Langella who plays president Richard Nixon. The story centers around the controversy that occurred under Nixon's administration, or the "Watergate Scandal." To clarify for those who slept through American history in high school (including myself) Nixon, a republican, gave the OK to wiretap democratic headquarters in order to attain confidential information during his term. Consequently his accomplices were caught, and Nixon was the first president in US history to resign from office. That's huge.
What makes this movie so compelling is that it makes a non-fiction political drama interesting. I find, and I may not be alone on this one, that most political movies are wordy, can make one feel slightly uneducated, and let's be honest.... they're boring.What separates Frost/Nixon from the rest is that Howard makes the story uncannily attainable. Living in the 2000's (or whatever they like to call call it these days) I didn't think a film about a scandal that occurred in the early 70's would strike my fancy. But it did. Rather than focusing on Watergate itself, the film focuses on the years following Nixon's resignation. When Nixon resigned, he was pardoned and never actually confessed to the crime he committed. Many interviewers hoped for a confession, but what they got from Nixon was mere rhetoric. Nixon was tough because he was an intellectual and a word-master. One of these interviewers, David Frost, played by a mediocre Michael Sheen, put his heart and soul into attaining an interview. And I'll just leave it at that...
The suspense was real, I felt the agony and anxiety of the actors, and longed to know the how the film ended (and let's just stay I left satisfied, which is usually a make-it-or-break-it for me in terms of my overall assessment). The numerous close-ups on the actors spoke volumes about their fears and hopes. Langella makes you simultaneously hate and sympathize with Nixon. And from what I hear, that's certainly a remarkable feat.
SEE IT> LEARN SOMETHING> BE SATISFIED
This movie was beautifully crafted by director Ron Howard. It includes excellent performances, particularly by Frank Langella who plays president Richard Nixon. The story centers around the controversy that occurred under Nixon's administration, or the "Watergate Scandal." To clarify for those who slept through American history in high school (including myself) Nixon, a republican, gave the OK to wiretap democratic headquarters in order to attain confidential information during his term. Consequently his accomplices were caught, and Nixon was the first president in US history to resign from office. That's huge.
What makes this movie so compelling is that it makes a non-fiction political drama interesting. I find, and I may not be alone on this one, that most political movies are wordy, can make one feel slightly uneducated, and let's be honest.... they're boring.What separates Frost/Nixon from the rest is that Howard makes the story uncannily attainable. Living in the 2000's (or whatever they like to call call it these days) I didn't think a film about a scandal that occurred in the early 70's would strike my fancy. But it did. Rather than focusing on Watergate itself, the film focuses on the years following Nixon's resignation. When Nixon resigned, he was pardoned and never actually confessed to the crime he committed. Many interviewers hoped for a confession, but what they got from Nixon was mere rhetoric. Nixon was tough because he was an intellectual and a word-master. One of these interviewers, David Frost, played by a mediocre Michael Sheen, put his heart and soul into attaining an interview. And I'll just leave it at that...
The suspense was real, I felt the agony and anxiety of the actors, and longed to know the how the film ended (and let's just stay I left satisfied, which is usually a make-it-or-break-it for me in terms of my overall assessment). The numerous close-ups on the actors spoke volumes about their fears and hopes. Langella makes you simultaneously hate and sympathize with Nixon. And from what I hear, that's certainly a remarkable feat.
SEE IT> LEARN SOMETHING> BE SATISFIED
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