I had the privilege of attending the Night Before Our Stars-a one night promotional event on June 5. The event included an early showing of the film (at 5:30pm instead of midnight), a poster, a bracelet, and a live q&a after the film. It was really cool but also strange seeing the movie with so many other people who also loved the book because I found reading the book and watching the vlogbrothers videos such a individual activity. Seeing the magnitude of this film was overwhelming. I didn't realize so many people knew we (as in nerdfightaria and hank and john and the book) existed.
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*written Feb 12, 2013 ***SPOILERS*** "If anything I think I’m too smart and too sensitive too like, not crazy." Episode 5 in season 2 of Girls is beautifully poignant and perfect. It could be a stand alone 30 minute short film exploring what everyone desires: happiness. Hannah Horvath (Lena Dunham) sleeps with a married doctor and gets a glimpse into what she could have. "I'm bored, so bored" Liz and Dick is a 2012 Lifetime film that spans 30 years of Elizabeth Taylor's life from divorcing her fourth husband Eddie Fisher to meeting, marrying, divorcing, and remarrying Richard Burton. Lindsay Lohan plays Elizabeth Taylor and Grant Bowler portrays Richard Burton. As someone who didn't know much about Elizabeth Taylor, I found the film very hard to follow. I knew she had several marriages and was an important actress in film history but the film did not give enough background information. The film begins in the middle of shootingCleopatra. There were no title cards or introductions, you were just dropped into the middle of the action. I thought I had accidentally skipped the first 20 minutes of the film, but I had not. No one is introduced. Because of the media surrounding the film, I knew that Lindsay Lohan is portraying Elizabeth Taylor and Grant Bowler is portraying Richard Burton but the film never explains who Richard is. He is an actor on a film set but the audience does not know what happened right before that to cause Richard to have an affair with Elizabeth. There is no chemistry between these two actors, making the stakes of Elizabeth leaving her husband and Richard leaving his wife feel unimportant. I did not feel anything towards the characters or their situation. For instance, their accountant keeps telling the couple that they are having financial issues but we as the audience never see the ramifications of the financial issues. They keep spending money and taking fancy vacations with no repercussions. Lindsay as Elizabeth never ages. Her wigs change but her face stays the same. I didn't believe her playing Elizabeth at 29 nor did I believe her in her 60s. Because she never ages, I had trouble following the timeline of events as the film spans 30 years. In between each major event is Elizabeth and Richard sitting in director's chairs in a black box commenting on what has transpired on screen. You'd think that these comments would help fill in plot holes and give background information but it is more of a rehashing of what we just saw. For instance, Elizabeth tries to kill herself to get Richard's attention. Cut to the black box and she says that she was upset that Richard wouldn't leave his wife for her. As the audience, we already understood that. Happy people don't try to commit suicide. I’m sure many of you have heard about the controversy surrounding George Lucas’ new film Red Tails. The film tells the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first all African-American fighter pilot team during WWII. They established African-Americans in the military both competent and a necessity to winning the war. It took George Lucas 23 years to get this film made, finally giving up on making it through the studio system and funding it himself with a $58 million budget. After the film was completed, he spent an additional $35 million for marketing and distribution because the studios still refused to back the film. We live in a diverse world and have a black president, yet Hollywood refuses to acknowledge the changes in the world. Like the views of the military during WWII, Hollywood does not believe that there is market for films with a majority black cast, and in turn ,no way of making money. If there is no market than why is every Tyler Perry film financially successful and liked by audiences? Or must the African-American be dressed in drag to make a profit? In response to Hollywood’s ignorance of this film, an Occupy Red Tails movement was started online, encouraging moviegoers of all races to support this film and send a message to Hollywood: WE WANT TO SEE DIVERSITY ONSCREEN. Prominent celebrities spoke out in support of the film. Tyler Perry thanked George Lucas “for having the courage to do this [because] movies starring an all African-American cast are on the verge of becoming extinct.” I saw the film Friday at the Grove and was impressed by the turnout. The theater was half full at 1pm with an array of ages and races. Spoiler Alert: The audience applauded during the Red Tails first mission when they killed 10 fighter planes and a German base. At the end of the film, when the Tuskegee Airmen were shown decorated with honors, the audience actually stood up and cheered. If we really are as narrow-minded as Hollywood thinks, than why are audiences having such a strong reaction to the film? I usually don’t watch action movies but I did enjoy the film. It was refreshing to see an educated black cast. Most of the Tuskegee Airmen came from educated, middle class families and graduated college, many with the intention of becoming doctors and lawyers after the war. The film provided a nice history lesson from an often unheard of point of view. And for you action movie fans, there are plenty of aerial battles and things blowing up. So far, we have proven Hollywood wrong by opening number two at the box office this weekend behind Underworld. To date the film has grossed $19.1 million with an A- on CineScore. *Article originally posted here Check Out the Trailer: The Drowsy Chaperone begins in blackout with a man in a chair saying “I hate theater.” A chuckle escapes from the audience as they are sucked into this crazy musical world. The man (Thomas Krottinger) is a fan of The Drowsy Chaperone the musical and acts as commentator and audience member throughout the show, breaking the fourth wall. As he begins to play the songs from the musical on the record play, the audience sees what the man in the chair is imagining as he listens. Drowsy is set in the 1920s during the time of prohibition. Janet Van De Graaf (Carrie St. Louis), successful and famous showgirl, is ending her career to marry Robert (Patrick Moynihan), the love of her life. Per tradition, the bride is not allowed to see her fiancé on their wedding day, so it is the job of the drowsy chaperone is (Olivia Lane) to keep Janet away from Robert until the wedding. As her name suggests, the chaperone is drunk and constantly drinking throughout the day. The owner of the theater (Steven Miller) where Janet performed is threatened by gangsters (who are dressed as pastry chefs) to stop the wedding or else the theater’s funding will stop. Crazy antics ensue with dazzling musical numbers (choreographed by Matthew McFarland) where a threat from the pastry chefs turns into a fun musical number with jazz hands. The theater owner asks Adolpho (Cole Cuomo), the Latin lover, to seduce Janet and stop the wedding. Adolpho mistakenly seduces the drowsy chaperone in a hilariously, clumsy pasodoble. I won’t completely spoil the ending but the show ends with a group musical number, along with many other things happening during the song. The entire cast gave amazing performances. Thomas Krottinger stole the show as the man in the chair. He is onstage the entire show, and never misses a beat from commenting on the scenes to just actively staying engaged and reacting to what is occurring onstage. Cole Cuomo receives the memorable line once again with “Adolpho,” just as funny as his “I understand” from last spring’s musical On the Town. Haley Willis plays the ditzy, yet hilarious and endearing Kitty. Ben Rudolph (George, the best man) and Patrick Moynihan (Robert, the groom) perform an amazing tap number akin to Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor in Singin’ in the Rain. The whole production is directed by DJ Blickenstaff. The set is one of the most elaborate I have seen in the Massman Theatre. It is a full set with 4 different entryways and plenty of unexpected gags from a multi-purpose refrigerator to a plane suddenly appearing. There is wood floor for the entire set that helps enhance the spectacular tap number. The lighting really enhanced the show with varied looks for each musical number (lighting design by Madighan Stehly). It is especially impressive when considering the limited number of dimmers and lighting instruments in the space. There was even a follow spot, which is typical of a musical, but not one is such a small space. The follow spot operator (Alex Underwood) did a great job changing focus mid song without it being distracting. Drowsy is a perfect show for musical lovers and cynics. The show continually comments on itself and acknowledges the saccharine quality of some of the songs and some of the unrealistic plot devices. At points the man in the chair is saying what the cynic is thinking, making it even more enjoyable. I wasn’t able to mention everyone by name in the article, but the entire creative team put in a tremendous amount of work and presented a very entertaining show. *Article originally posted here |
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