MOVIES- Worth a Rent or Don't Even

1. ASHBY - Y/A (Young Adult genre)

A charming movie about a likable hit man befriended by his next doory neighbors; the new kid on the block.  Mickey Rourke guns the role of the perfect mass murderer with a conscience.  Teen heartthrob, Matt Wolf (The Fault in Our Stars) & Emma Stone are the 2 outsiders in their high school who connect with each other.
RENT IT-

2. BURNT

Even a foodie would hate this chef's melodramatic meltdown.  Bradley Cooper & Sienna Miller couldn't save this crispy disaster.  In fact, I think they couldn't wait to get out of the kitchen.
DON'T EVEN

3. THE DRESSMAKER (An Australian Indy Film)

This Indy film from down under stars Judy Davis, Kate Winslett & hunk Liam Hemsworth.  Well worth your time to see this quirky, stirring & heartbreaking creation.  Banished as a young girl from her small hometown & blamed for the murder of a classmate, Kate Winslett returns as a sophisticated, couture dressmaker to make some major adjustments.
RENT IT!

4. MAD MAX

I watched this apocalyptic abomination starring Charlize Theron for 15 minutes which was 14 minutes too long.  The Academy has gone rogue considering this road warrior film anything other than recycled trash.  In terms of makeup, kudos for making one of the world's most beautiful woman almost unrecognizable but as for costumes & set designs the filmmakers were out of their minds.
DON'T EVEN

The Icelandic Film RAMS by Dir Grimur Hakonarson

This handsomely made Icelandic (with English subtitles) is set in the mountainous countryside.  The bucolic beauty appears majestic & serene.  The skies portrend a tempest brewing & it isn't long before we clearly defined boundaries are drawn.  There are 2 contiguous farms belonging to brothers who fell out of harmony 40 years ago at the center of the story.  The 2 elderly brothers rely solely on intermediaries to communicate.  The most endearing liaison is a border collie who carries messages back & forth.  This Icelandic "Northern Exposure" quirkyness quickly turns somber.  The dreaded infectious disease, scripe, has afflicted one of the brothers' sheep.  The only way to eradicate an ongoing epidemic is by destroying all herds in the area, their habitats & hay being used to feed the animals.  Scripe was as feared and loathed as the Plague, perhaps even more so because exterminating the herds was akin to destroying the way of life for the farmers. The warring brothers are consummate bachelors and their familial love is bestowed upon their flock.  The absurdity of the situation takes a very dark turn.  The harsh winters & draconian legislation lead to dire consequences.  There is no sitting on the fence regarding this film.  RAMS grabs you with the benign Nordic landscape and drags you into a hazardous undertow.  Do not be sheepish about this independent, Icelandic film.  RAMS is a must see film.  

Julliard Drama Production of STILL by Jen Silverman

STILL is play that could be considered to be about the remorse of a mother giving birth to a child who is stillborn.  This would be grossly inadequate and yet it is the emotional core of the play which examines quilt, remorse, regret, self-loathing & the power of grief.  The play is derived from the tragic  stillbirth of prof. Lisa Heineman's son.  She was 46 at the time & chose a homebirth with the aid of certified midwife present.  The writing of this layered and poignant play captures the individual & immeasurable process of grieving that ripples forth out of a traumatic loss.  This 1 act, 4 character play was immensely provocative & disturbing.  Morgan is the bereft & unconsolable woman mourning the death of her baby at birth.  Morgan seeks solace in forming a bond with her dead child and in self-flagulation.  There is also the mid-wife who tortures herself with guilt, a young dominatrix happy to met out beatings & is considering aborting her fetus and a male character played in his skivvies as the dead infant embodied as a naive, young man searching for his mother and the meanings to life.  Gwendolyn Ellis plays Morgan with credible angst and intelligence.  Her outstanding performance carried the heavy burden of anchoring the play with sorrow and compassion.  Ellis reminded me of a young Laura Linney and is an exceptionally talented actress.  STILL is playing at Julliard through the weekend and it is worth venturing out in the sub zero temperatures.  The play is sure to thaw the heart with empathy.

NYPHIL Rehearse MAHLER's Symph #6-Semyon Bychkov Conducting

We were told at the onset of the rehearsal of Mahler's Symph #6 that the piece would be rehearsed only in certain parts.  We were invited to "come back to hear it in it's entirety."  The official program noted "This concert will be performed without intermission."   The rehearsal was fragmented & consisted of frequent stops by Condcutor Bychkov (b. Russia 1952.)   The conductor gave copious comments to vaying sections of the orchestra.  Bychkov won the Rachmaninoff Condcuting Competition at 20 but was barred from its prize of conducting the Leningrad Philharmonic due to anti-semetic sentiments and he left his country shortly thereafter.  He returned to Russia in 1989 & became the Philharmonic's guest conductor.  In 2015, Bychkov was named Conductor of the Year by the Int'l Opera Awards. The respites in today's rehearsal was marked by major shifs in sheet music.  I used the uncertain fits & starts to put my own interpretive spin on the various sections. The onset was the Allegro played with powerful orchestration resounding of militiary battles.  After a short lull, the orchestra played a fragment that felt heavy & mercurial as though a storm were brewing.   Mahler's composition utilized 3 harps, several snare drums & tubas.  A lot of emphasis was on the wind section; relying in large part on oboes and bass clarinets.   The andante movement was performed with a somber, mournful feeling.  Again, the orchestration relied heavily on the woodwinds v. the string section.  The overall tonal quality was a deep, low sound.  Mahler's 6th Symphony is a composition of genius and strength.  Nevertheless, it drains my enthiusiasm & dampens my mood.  I will not be returning to hear Mahler's composition performed with all 4 movements.

MET's Matthias Buchinger's Works from Ricky Jay's Collection "Wordplay"

Matthias Buchinger (b. Germany 1674-1739) was an artist, musician, magician & entertainer to both Royalty and commoners.  What makes Buchinger uncommon was his stature, a mere 29" and was born without hands or feet.  An amazing feat to have mastered the intricate technique of micrography and slight of hand (card tricks.)  The drawings, prints & artifacts are mostly from the collection of Ricky Jay, a master of the slight of hand and entertainer extraordinaire.  It would make sense that Jay would be fascinated with the accomplishments of Buchinger as he knows 1st hand the dexterious demands of prestidigitation and then how incredibly incredulous to consider these skills without the benefit of digits. Nonetheless, I felt a perverse voyeruistic astonishment that overpowered the mystifying collection.  Magnifying glasses are available (bring Purell) to examine the miniscule prints.  Buchinger's own family tree, which represents his 4 wives from 3 different countries & 14 children was impressive as were the ancient bibles from the 11th C.  I would not recommend making a trip to the MET for this show but would endorse catching a performance of Ricky whenever out in LA.

MET's Vigee LeBrun: Woman Artist in Revolutionary France-Knew When to Flee

Elizabeth Vigee Le Brun is touted at the MET "Woman Artist in Revolutionary France."  I contend she documented portraits of Marie Antoinette, Louis XVI, their family & French aristocracy just prior to the French Revolution making these paintings particularly meaningful.  Le Brun, an autodidactic artist is famous for having hung the heads of Marie Antoinette and the Imperial family in lovely paintings just prior to their having lost their heads (literally) to the guillotines during the French Revolution (1789-1799.)  Her paintings are lovely examples of Rococo style - transitioning into Neo-Classicism.  Her brilliance as a painter pales in comparison to her savvy for knowing when to transition out of France.  I viewed these pretty pictures with a heavy shade of macabre knowing many painted in their glory & finery will soon be executed.  (How could you not?)  Le Brun's skill with the paintbrush brought her into close proximity with the imperial family and help sustain her after fleeing Paris just at the precipice of the French Revolution.  Le Brun met with success amongst the elite aristocracy in Venice & St. Petersburg where she honed her skills.   Take note of the years dating her works; many up til 1790 in France.  Her technical skills capturing light & texture are reflected in the elaborate fabrics, jewels & plumes adorning her subjects.  Note the family portrait of Marie Antoinette with her 3 children (and the empty crib) commissioned by the King(1785) making Le Brun the 1st woman to have been bestowed the honor.  Also note LeBrun's self-portrait in which she is painting a portrait of the queen (1788) and the lovely & clever portrait LeBrun made of her beloved daughter looking into a mirror.  I wondered if the portraits painted of the Viennese aristocracy were laden with deep red paint reflected on the bloody insurrection in France.  The exhibit is interesting for its historic significance and the irony of the beauty that precedes the bloodbath of Revolutionary France.

Bryan Stevenson and Brent Staples In Conversation "Justice and Race"

Last night at the Nat'l Historic Soc atty Bryan Stevenson & author of "Just Mercy" was in conversation with Brent Staples, editorial writer for the NYTimes & author of "Parallel Time" on the issues of justice & race in our nation.  Early acknowledgement was made of the Supreme Ct ruling on Miller v AL which recently ruled that life sentences for juveniles is unconstitutional and must be enforced retroactively in all states.  Stevenson agreed that this ruling while of vast importance was frustrating because it has been too long in being handed down.  Inmates imprisoned as juveniles are now required to be brought before parole boards but these cases must be monitored to ensure humane resentencing.  Both eloquent speakers & distinguished writers, Stevenson & Staples were fascinating with their opinions, histories and goals.  Hooray that Stevenson wants to drastically address & reduce our nation's mass incarceration.  I also applaud & agree with Stevenson's adamant stance against the death penalty & life without parole.  Staples did an outstanding job as moderator, allowing Stevenson to orate his views and his experiences.  However, despite pontificating for redemption & hope, I felt Stevenson considers our country blind to the atrocities slavery inflicted in our country and was accusatory of being a nation of white supremacy.  Needless to say, I do agree that we should memorialize respectfully the torturous Jim Crow years which allowed for legal lynchings and forced a mass migration north of blacks fleeing from the south.   True, Trevon Martin & Michael Brown are travesties that must be addressed, I hope that social justice & racial equality, which Stevenson claims we're not entitled to be "celebratory," should be acknowledge as moving forward in the right direction.

Shanley's Play PRODIGAL SON No Doubt Deserves a Pulitzer

John Patrick Shanley (b Amer 1950)  is a prolific and highly acclaimed playwright.  His plays & screenwriting have earned him a Tony, an Oscar and a Pulitzer (DOUBT.)  His new play, PRODIGAL SON is perhaps his most autobiographical.  A program note from the author claims "It is a true story for the most part."  The story is told by 15 yr old Jim Quinn.  Our young hero from the Bronx has been given a scholarship to a prep school in NH. Quinn struggles to find himself, his voice & his place in the world.  In doing so, Quinn battles wits with the headmaster much to his chagrin.  The  play starts with Quinn looking back at his old school.  He turns and asks the audience if we remember what it felt like at 15.  He recalls it felt like Hell.  Quinn is not your quintessential teen by any means.  He's precocious, beguiling, a prolific reader and a bit of a kleptomaniac.  Quinn comes under the tutelage of the English teacher, Alan Hoffman (a wink to Abbie Hoffman?) played by Robert Sean Leonard.  Leonard played a similar student role back in "Dead Poets Society."  The torment and travails of young Quinn are written with brazen fortitude and poetic solitude.  To say Shanley is a master at his craft is an understatement.  Literary references abound as do topics of war, good & evil and atheism.  Shanley often references Lord Byron in his plays.   DOUBT leans towards Byron's words: "Sorrow is knowledge.'   In PRODIGAL SON, Shanley's takes a more hopeful tone "Love will find a way through paths where wolves fear to prey." (Byron)

BLACK MASS Starring Johnny Depp as Notorious Thug Whitey Bulger

F---k you, F--k that, F-----g C--k Sucker - one more expletive and I swore I would exit.  I lied. I hung around for more bloody gore in BLACK MASS directed by Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart.)  BLACK MASS tells of the morass gangster activity of the infamous Jimmy "Whitey" Bulger (an unrecognizable & convincingly creepy Johnny Depp.)  The movie is told in flashbacks by "rats" a.k.a. informants, who were accomplices to the reign of Whitey's nefarious dealings, brutal beatings & blatant murders.  The movie spans the 1970-1980-s in Boston.  It would seem South Boston boys who grew up together formed a bond of bother hood; not necessarily for good.  This dark, depraved film pulled me back in and made me feel complicit.  Bulger managed to elude prosecution for drug dealing, racketeering & murder for nearly 2 decades.  Obviously, Whitey colluded with someone on the other side of the law.  While Whitey went to the dark side, his brother became a state senator and his fellow classmate, John Connolly became an FBI agent.  Connolly (Joel Edgerton, "The Gift") morphed into a self grandiose agent whose narcissistic needs were fed by info from Whitey that led to Mafioso indictments.  This is what makes the film deliciously deranged, the doppelganger duplicity by agent Connolly who cons himself into justifying covering for Whitey's activities.  If you were a fan of the Sopranos or Breaking Bad (shame on you if you weren't) you will find the real life story of mosbter Whitey and agent Connolly fascinating.  You may want to look the other way with all the violence but it's a F------g guilty pleasure.

JOY starring Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro

Dir David O Russell has garnered numerous Oscar & Golden Globe nominations for his films, SILVER LINING PLAYBOOK & AMER HUSTLE.  Russell has aligned a bench of A list stars ready to go to bat for him:  Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro and Bradley Cooper.  JOY stars Jennifer Lawrence as the real life rag to riches entrepeneur Joy Mangano and received an Oscar nom & Golden Globe for her performance.   Lawrence is batting 1,000 for all 3 Russell films; earning a Golden Globe for each of her starring roles.  Perhaps Lawrence is owed an Oscar nom for playing Joy  because without her indomitable drive in the role the movie would have been cast off in the junk pile or the island of broken toys.  The movie was narrated by Joy's grandmother in a confusing flashback & futuristic vantage including speaking from beyond the grave.  De Niro and Cooper are in the mix but in such minor & over acted roles as her father & her business associate.  The movie is relentless and joyless.  The inspiring message may have been intended to show that tenacity, truth and hard work are the essential ingredients to success but as Joy says "the world destroys opportunity."  With a true American dream storyline and an all star cast, Russell missed a golden opportunity.  I felt hustled by the expectation for amusement.  JOY was draining and the whole production felt rusty.    

NYC BALLET Premiers Justin Beck's "The MOST INCREDIBLE THING" An Indiscernible Masquerade

Razzle dazzle em and keep the eyes averted from the slight of hand, dreadful choreography.  Justin Peck is the Resident Choreographer of NYC Ballet as well as soloist for the company.  The program included a  lengthy synopsis of the ballet which was fanciful and imbedded in children's folklore.     There were literally round the clock dance segments that varied from The Gambler (who entered via a slide) Adam & Even (in nude body stockings with vines) & the omnipresent Cuckoo Bird in a bedazzling costume who flapped her wings but never got off the ground.  The production began slowly with a hazy curtain revealing an anatomical, futuristic robot combining 2 dancers that formed a creepy configuration of a 3 legged, 2 headed monstrosity.  After the cloudy curtain lifted, the busy backdrop revealed a central figuration of 12 bodies configurating the 12 hours on a clock.  There was a gap where the Cuckoo Bird made her entrances & exits.  Altogether the costumes were a Mad Hatter Tea party mesh of Alice in Wonderland, The Magic Flute, Wizard of Oz and even Star Wars.  Nothing gelled. The uninspired dancing asked you not to look closely at the choreography because you'd only discover the Wizard of Odd.

THE DANISH GIRL Deigns from Developing into a Definitive Film

Dir Tom Hooper (b. Britain 1972) won the Oscar for best picture with The KING'S SPEECH ('10.)  THE DANISH GIRL is based on the life of Einar Wegener, (Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne,) the first male to undergo sexual reassignment surgery in the late 1920's.  The movie stars Swedish actress Alicia Vikander (Ex-Machina) as his loving, supportive and mournful wife, Gerda.  The film suffers from too much angst that muddles the portrait of a an individual grappling with being born into the wrong body.    Of course, there is immense cause for torment for both Einar & Gerda.  Nevertheless, the film is like a beautiful painting  that is lackluster & one dimensional.  It's hard to criticize a film that chooses to illuminate the abhorrence & perverse treatment individuals faced when seeking help.  The love story between the couple is admirable but blurred behind ubiquitous tears.   Thankfully, transgender procedures are performed safely and there is acceptance and compassion for transgender human beings. The film's intent was commendable, the art direction stunning but the emotional impact of the film fell flat.