Movies, Movies, Movies

Finally, some movies worth seeing have been released! The CB's are busy getting ready for the Academy Awards season . . .

Doubt--Surprisingly, this is our favorite of the movies we've seen the last couple of weeks. We had seen the play with Cherry Jones, who won a Tony Award for her role, but we both agree that the movie was a much more powerful experience. The four main actors are equally at the top of their game and turn in amazing performances. Meryl Streep plays Sister Aloysius, principal of the parish school circa 1960's, who faces off against Philip Seymour Hoffman's Father Flynn. Sister Aloysius is an ambitious nun resentful not just of Father Flynn's "modern" ideas, but of his rank and the general sexism within the church. Her suspicions about Father Flynn and his relationship with one of the young male students provide the backbone of the plot. The tension between these two is palpable and is not diminished in any way by the presence of a young, naive nun who is drawn into their conflict (played by the excellent Amy Adams). Viola Davis takes a small role and makes it unforgettable--she captures beautifully the quiet strength and steely determination of a mother trying to do the best by her son in the face of racism, sexism, and an abusive husband. Definitely a must see.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button--The CB's disagree a bit on this one. Ann thought it dragged in parts, and that the emphasis on the physical aspects of Benjamin's reverse aging left her wanting more insight into his emotional and psychological condition throughout. She also felt that the chemistry between Benjamin (Brad Pitt) and Daisy (Cate Blanchett) wasn't very strong, and that Pitt underplayed the role. While I agree that the relationship between Benjamin and Daisy didn't always seem as powerful as it should have been, I thought the slow pace of the film appropriately mirrored the leisurely tempo of Southern story-telling. I also found Pitt's performance to be subtle and heart-breaking. He made me fell Benjamin’s sadness as he becomes more familiar with death and the reality of each person’s mortality, as he deals with the pain of trying to keep his condition a secret, and as he regrets missed opportunities. Pitt also captures the thrill and excitement of living, his pure joy at being in love and the eagerness with which he sets out to see the world. We both agreed that the performance by Taraji Henson, who plays Benjamin's adoptive mother, is the stand-out role of the movie. We also agree that it was a touching, bittersweet movie that tells an intriguing story using outstanding special effects.

Australia--Predictable, light entertainment . . . the plot is one that you've seen many times (haughty, tightly-wound woman + sexy, rough-around-the-edges man + adventure that binds them together = true love) and uses every cliche in the book. It's also way too long. What did stand out was the choice to narrate the story through the eyes of the young half-caste boy, Nullah, who becomes a surrogate son to the childless Lady Ashley and the free-spirited Drover. Nullah lives in fear of being taken by the government from his real mother to be "re-educated" (i.e., turned white) in a mission school. This meshing of social outrage and romantic adventure does make the movie more interesting. Also, the film is pretty to look at, and the scenes of the outback are certainly beautiful (although there are only so many expansive shots of scenery you can take in two and a half hours). The best scenery in the movie (we have to admit) is Hugh Jackman . . .

Slumdog Millionaire--More to come on this, as I saw it in Burlington with my daughter and her girlfriend, and Ann has yet to see it . . .

A Hit and a Miss

A Hit--We took the boyz (Casey and Ben) to see Forbidden Broadway Goes to Rehab on a chilly Saturday afternoon in the city. We saw this spoof of Broadway musicals last year and found it a hilarious send up of all the shows we had seen. This year's production is just as funny and clever--we had a great time laughing at all the numbers. When one of the two talented women in the cast did Liza Minelli, we just about died. She was perfectly awful, as only Liza can be. We also especially loved the Gypsy number with another spot-on imitation of Patti Lupone (as we always say, there's nothing subtle about Patti). This will be the last Forbidden Broadway show after 15 years of productions which is very sad . . .

A Miss--My sister, Lisa, and her husband were in town and the four of us went to see Pal Joey at the Roundabout on Saturday night after all of us had a yummy dinner at Pigalli's. We had really been looking forward to seeing the revival of this classic musical with such a beautiful score. I couldn't wait to see Christian Hoff again in the lead role--I couldn't keep my eyes off him when I saw Jersey Boys.

The first disappointment upon sitting down was the dreaded paper falling out of the Playbill announcing that the understudy would be filling in for Christian Hoff. (We learned later that we saw the first full performance that Matthew Risch, the understudy, had done--the Saturday afternoon matinee was actually cancelled so he could do a run-through.) Our disappointment increased as the production got underway. Although the understudy was good, he was no Christian Hoff; although Stockard Channing looked great and did pretty well in the role of the aging "cougar" falling for a younger man, she can't sing (she actually committed the sin of talking her way through the wonderful "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered"); Martha Plimpton gave it the old college try in her first musical role, but she was miscast. To top it all off, the set was uninspiring and relied too heavily on a circular staircase--the comings and goings were just annoying after awhile--and the choreography was rather lackluster.

Matthew Risch has permanently replaced Christian Hoff, who injured his foot in rehearsal. The CBs don't predict that this show will be even close to a hit and we wouldn't recommend it. Lisa and Chuck agree . . . By the way, they also saw All My Sons and Billy Elliot and loved both!

Black Watch in NYC

On our last trip to NYC, we saw the excellent play, Black Watch at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn. The production was brought to New York last year from Scotland's National Theatre, and it has returned for a second run. The show is based on interviews with former soldiers who served in Iraq as part of the legendary Black Watch regement. Viewed through the eyes of a select group of soldiers, the play explores the male comradery and bravado implicit in being part of such a regiment, what it means to be part of the war on terror, and what it means to make the journey home again.

It's hard to describe the uniqueness of this soldier's-eye-view of the Iraq war. Using this large warehouse space, the action moves seamlessly between interview scenes in a pub and real-time scenes in Iraq employing an incredibly creative mix of multimedia effects, choreographed movement, regimental folk songs, military processions, and live bagpipe music. The young men who play the soldiers are exceptional in their physicality and also in portraying the soldiers' emotional vulnerability underneath all their swearing and bragging.

This production is a really compelling theater piece, and we recommend it highly. It is both a testament to all the brave young men who have been at war, and a condemnation of the questionable politics that sends them to war. I only wish that Bush would be forced to sit through several performances . . .