Lookie What I Made

Fly Like The Wind

My friend Monkey Junior flying in The Theatre for "Witches Of Eastwick":

Is it really me?

Words To Describe

Monday morning was the Theatre’s “Meet & Greet”/First Rehearsal (together) for our next production- a world premiere of a musical by Kathie Lee Gifford called “Saving Aimee,” about evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson.

Since it was in the morning, I snuck out of work for a bit to see some old faces and meet some new ones. After all that, we were allowed to watch the read/sing through of the piece as it stood that day. I was only able to stay for the opening number, but oh what a number it is…

If I were to calculate how much I spent to see this:

An hour of the McJob: $23.50
Gas: $.95
Mileage: 10 ($2.50)
Having
Carolee Carmello belt out 10 feet in front of me: Priceless

What A Day...

Yesterday, my friend Lisa, from Happy Funtime Friend Servce, and I woke up early to get to the Best Picture Showcase at AMC Tyson's Corner and, for $30, it was one of hte best bargains I've had in a while. I mean, 5 movies, large drink and popcorn (with free refills all day) and in and out priviledges and what more can you ask for?

Granted, we both had already seen The Departed, and I had alrady caught "Miss SUnshine," but the other three films neither of us caught yet. So, in order of viewing:

Babel: Neither of us liked it that much. I felt that, with forty-five minutes of further editing (howabout that pointless Japanese girl story?), it would've been a good movie. I just felt that Innaritu was really trying so hard to make a big statement that just muddied the plot. Granted the Japanese girl story, taken on its own terms would've made a very powerful short film. There was one performance that I felt should have been recognised but wasn't and that was Brad Pitt's- truly heartbreaking, intense work.

The Queen: blew me away. I had expected an amazing performance from Helen Mirren (it's fresking Helen Mirren, folks!), so that wasn't a surprise, but I wasn't expecting was such a moving piece about the Monarchy and their grief over Princess Diana's unexpected death and overcoming centuries of traidition to grieve with the rest of the world and recognise the other accomplishments that Diana had made in her lifetime. IMO, this should be the movie to win the Best Picture, although I really think it's The Departed's year.

Speaking of The Departed, we skipped out on that one and decided to take a walk throught the mall and have a nice leisurely dinner (granted, we had 2 hours and 45 minutes to kill before the next movie).


Letters From Iwo Jima: I was truly looking forward to being moved by this film, even though my track record with Clint Eastwood's directorial efforts have been spotty, and came away predictably disappointed from what could have been a powerful experience. Ken Watanabe did fine work as a high-ranking officer on the beach at Iwo Jima but Eastwood's passive style of directing just didn't make this movie live. In fact, I fell asleep a couple of times.

After that, we both decided that we'd had enough (and I didn't care to see Miss Sunshine again) and booked it out of there. Lisa to see a band at a local bar and me, to play with the chins. Overall, we had a fantastic day with the other film freaks that had settled into their seats for almost twelve hours (even though we weren't that dedicated).

What are you doing this weekend?

I wanted to let you all know that the new Signature Theatre Building in Shirlington will be having an Open House this weekend.

There will be all sorts of things for kids (Mask-making, face-painting, etc.) and lots of free performances (a few are ticketed- namely Into The Woods on Sunday, The Euan Morton and the Emily Skinner concerts) but all else is free to the public. I’ll also be there all weekend and if I look a little frazzled, come say "hello" and try to calm me down...

Here's what the Theatre has to say about it:

EXPERIENCE THE NEW SIGNATURE THEATRE!

Open House Weekend January 13 & 14, 2007

Enjoy performances, family activities, master classes, and theater tours all weekend long. All events are free and open to the community. Tickets are not required unless otherwise noted. Free ticket distribution for select events begins the day of the event at 11:30am from Signature's new box office.

Visit www.signature-theatre.org for more information and a complete schedule of events.

Torchwood

I haven't watched the new Doctor Who, but based on this clip from new spin-off Torchwood, I need to start...

This is touching, sexy, beautiful, romantic, sad brokeback action. Excellent.

Tony Awards + Dreamgirls = Awesome

This clip is proof enough that Ms. Holliday gave a powerhouse performance as Effie White.

That is, until the movie opens up and the world will see a performance that is just as enthralling in Jennifer Hudson's performance of Effie.

"Caligula" Remake Trailer (NSFW)

This is simply fascinating. This trailer premiered at a couple of film festivals for a fictional remake of Penthouse Films & Gore Vidal's scandelriffic "Caligula." It's a shame that this is just a fantasy thing because it looks like it might be pretty camptastic (even more than the original). Naturally, there's much sexual innuendo, so kids, turn away from this post.



More about the origins of this trailer here.

Creeptastic

Dreamgirls Advance Review

A drumbeat begins, a bass line joins in and flashbulbs pop and blaze amid the twirling camera-work and frantic editing. With these images, sharing the frenzied opening with the film version of “Chicago”, Bill Condon’s film of “Dreamgirls” gets off to a kinetic start with the musical performance of the fictional Stepp Sisters at a theatre in Detroit. Amongst all of the chaos we’re introduced to Curtis Taylor (Jamie Foxx), Deena Jones (Beyonce Knowles) and the rest of the principal cast in minutes. The rest of this film maintains the fluid nature of Michael Bennett’s original staging, and Condon has adapted the piece to retain the major points of the story (as well as most of the musical numbers) but he also opens up this world and places it within the context of the major historical events that take place around the rise of the (fictional) girl group, The Dreams.

It’s no secret that I’ve loved this musical since the first time I saw it in 1997. It’s got a fairly brilliant score that blends the Motown sound with personal character songs and major diva moments. While the show was more of a sung-through piece, Mr. Condon sets the bulk of the musical numbers in their realistic settings (stage, recording studio, bar) and replaces all the recitative with actual dialogue that befits each character and suits the plot, unlike the film of “Rent,” which just had people speaking lyrics. Then he subtly takes a scene, once we’re involved with these people, and raises the emotional stakes so high that the only thing they can do next is sing instead of speak. It’s not as awkward as it sounds and there is no need for a framing device (like “Chicago”) to place these songs in context. This movie is a true movie musical that harkens back to the days of other dramatic musicals as “Oliver,” “West Side Story” and “Sweet Charity.” There are shades of “Cabaret” where a song will comment on the action and make it a sort of emotional shorthand and that’s welcome, too.


Eddie Murphy has a star- (re)making turn as soul man James “Thunder” Early, both making him human and outrageous simultaneously. This is one dramatic performance to keep your eyes on come Oscar time.


“American Idol” contestant, Jennifer Hudson lives and breathes as Effie White. She conveys Effie’s sense of entitlement brilliantly and, when she breaks down with the signature song “And I Am Telling You,” she takes command and you can’t tear your eyes off her. At the screening I attended, there was a tremendous amount of applause at the end of that number- in a movie theatre, no less!


As the other two Dreams members, Beyonce Knowles and Anika Noni Rose fill the roles respectably, making each person’s growth over the decades quite persuasively.

The one actor who, while still good, wasn’t up to par was (surprisingly) Jamie Foxx’s “sleazy” Curtis Taylor, Jr. It may have been a directorial choice but it seemed like his portrayal wasn’t as fully formed or commanding as the other characters.

With that in mind, this is still an excellent film. Because of its sprawling nature, at times it reminded me of “Boogie Nights” because it takes the rise of the recording stars and places them in the undertow of history and stirs them up. There are minor departures from the stage version, and are actually welcome. There are also some nice homages to the stage production- if you’re aware of the history of the show and its marketing I’m sure you’ll know what I mean.


In all, after the screening, I just wanted to turn around and watch it again.
Grade: A⁺

A night of movie trailers and bad commetary

Monday night, the Happy Fun Time Friend Service & I went to the DC Film Society's semi-annual Movie Preview Party over at E St. Cinemas in DC and we enjoyed two hours worth of trailers- some good, some bad, and some just plain wrong.

And this was high-lighted with banter from the DC Movie Guys: two overgrown adolescents who think they may be Don & Mike of radio fame and are most definitely lacking much of the wit and banter and, especially, humour of those two radio hosts. Over the past events I've attended, there has always been a sense of semi-untolerance for their outbursts, but this time there were plenty of vocal people telling them they suck and to keep their comments to themselves during the trailers themselves. Hopefully, the next trailer night won't be hosted by them.

Movies I'm looking forward to

The Fountain: The latest film from Darren Aronofsky, who is (IMO) one of the most visionary directors of the past decade. This trippy time-traveling triptych features Rachel Weisz and Hugh Jackman as lovers in three distinct time periods (present day, 16th century conquistadors, and 26th century whatevers), and each story involves the search for eternal youth (said fountain of the movie title, perhaps?). Sounds trippy and the visuals appear to rival the cinematographic artistry of Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette (IMO, the most beautifully photographed movie of the past two decades).

Spiderman 3: Uh-oh, Venom's coming (squishing?) out! While I didn't think too highly of the first movie, the sequel was an great comic-book movie that delved into the aspects of identity and heroism that kinda gets me off, and this trailer makes it seem like there's still some more depths to be plunged in the Spiderman story.

Notes on a Scandal: Four words: Judi Dench & Cate Blanchett.

Pan's Labyrinth: I always look forward to a new film by Guillermo Del Toro. They each have a sense of whimsy, while still being serious and adult. This one throws in what looks like a fantastical spooky-ish story and it makes me wonder why he hasn't been asked to direct any Harry Potter films.


Dreamgirls: The only movie that I'm willing to drive up to New York in four weeks to catch an advance reserved-seat Road show edition (no trailers, overture, intermission, program, etc.) engagement at the esteemed Zeigfeld Theatre. Or I might even be abel to see it earlier than that...Nuff said.

Movies that I now want to see, thanks to the trailer

Charlotte's Web: When I was younger, I enjoyed the animated film and like the story, but had no real inclination to go see this. Until I saw this trailer. It may be it's similarities to (one of my favorites) "Babe" or just my affinity for talking animal movies (don't ask), but this looks to be a nice adaptation and with such a stellar voice cast- Kathy Bates, Steve Buscemi (as Templeton the rat!), Robert Redford and Oprah Winfrey- it looks like it can't lose. Except for my one concern: Julia ROberts doesn't exactly sound like a warm spider-mamma should.

The History Boys: The play was panned and praised and won a whole lot of Tony Awards, but I never saw it since I knew that a filmed adaptation was already in the can and awaiting release. Not sure if I'm going to like it but it looks great and has a kick-ass soundtrack.

Evan Almighty: The first film ("Bruce Almighty") was enjoyable and I really had no inkling of wanting to see a sequel to it, but when you add genius Steve Carrell to the mix it becomes must-see. The trailer takes the Noah story and turns it on its ear with Carrell assigned to build an ark in the 21st century.

Movies that everyone should avoid at all costs

Unaccompanied Minors: One of two dreck-filled holiday movies this year. It's basically "Home Alone" x5 in an airport.

Deck The Halls: The other slice of holiday dreck. Matthew Broderick and Danny DeVito are wasted in this mash-up of "Christmas with the Kranks" and "Christmas Vacation." And, yes, that is Kristin Chenowith as DeVito's wife.

Surf's Up: The second animated penguin movie to come out in a twelve month period ("Happy Feet" opens friday), but, come on, surfing penguins?!? I know it's not a documentary, but it just screams uninspired. To me, anyways.

Presenting the Dreams...

Finally, the full trailer for "Dreamgirls." Here are a few sceencaps:





Coming out this Christmas. Again, it looks incredible in HD...