Taking advantage of my day off on July 4 to get around to updating...
LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES. I think I put off seeing this as long as possible because the buzz was so bad. And it wasn't as bad as I was exblopecting. I'd never seen any of the movies (wikipedia says there are 8 of them) - though the dvd of the Glen Close/John Malkovich version beckons from my shelf to be watched soon - so at least the story was new to me. I liked the first act quite a bit. From the moment he walks on stage, Ben Daniels is really mesmerizing. He's incredibally charming, and really very funny. Which of course is exactly what his character should be. His co-star, Laura Linney, on the other hand, falls a bit flat. She seemed to be a bit fo a sheep in wolf's clothing... in that she went through the motions of being icy and nasty, but I just never really believed her - I just don't think she's cut out for that type of role. The supporting cast - especially Kristine Nielsen and Sian Phillips as the older women (I think they're both aunts?) are defiitely a hoot, and I think part of the dreariness of the second act can be attributed to them being largely absent until the last scene. Why I think I was overall underwhelmed by the production was that the big confrontation scene between Daniels and Linney's characters - where they finally call each other out - just had no bite at all. The two really had no chemistry, and so there was none of that extending of sharp claws into each other that was really necessary for the play's climax to work. I will say that I liked the overall design of the production (set, costume, lighting, sound) very much. I don't want to say that Linney brought the entire production down - Daniels wasn't nearly as good in the second act either - and maybe it's just the script - but there was definitely some crucial ingredient missing.
SHANGHAI MOON - I went out to Sag Harbor to see the final weekend of Charles Busch's "Shanghai Moon," last weekend. Typical Charles Busch hilarity... at least in the second act. For some reason I couldn't keep my eyes open in the first, particularly embarrassing since I was in the first row center. But my parents who were next to me slept through more of it than I did, so maybe they took the focus away from me. It wasn't that the first act wasn't good... it was amusing enough - though maybe if it had had the bigger laughs that came in the second act, I would have been better equipped to fight it. Whatever. Charles Busch was a hoot as usual, as was Julie Halston (also, as usual).
SOME AMERICANS ABROAD. I've never been a fan of Richard Nelson's plays. The not-for-profits (especially Playwrights Horizons) seem to love his plays, though I've never been quite sure why because they're almost always awful. And for some reason he always directs them himself. Maybe if he let someone else direct once in a while, the director could get something decent together. Anyway, Second Stage is producing what I figured would be my chance to understand why people like Nelson's work - a classic(?) play of his from I think 1990, not directed by the playwright. So, one would assume, if someone felt the play was worth reviving, it must not be terrible. One would, however, have assumed wrong. This is typical boring Richard Nelson fare - in fact it may be even more boring than the other plays of his I've disliked. The first act is particularly terrible - the opening scene has a bunch of professors sitting around a restaurant table (nightmarish flashback to "Top Girls" when I first saw the scene - at least in this the actors don't all talk at the same time) and ramble on about this and that. None of it very interesting. The problem with the first act is that it's pretty much devoid of conflict. The only thing close is whether a professor will hold onto his job for another year, but there's really never any doubt to his fate, and he's not interesting enough for us to care about anyway. I was so bored, I almost left at intermission. But I didn't. And the second act was slightly better - at least it had a tad of suspense. Not enough to sustain the entire act, mind you, but it helped make it slightly more tolerable. Tom Cavanaguh (best known, I guess for playing "Ed") has what I suppose is the lead role, though he's really quite bland - he reminded me a bit of Bob Sagat in another Second Stage stinker called "Privilege" (I think). Apparently the opening night for the show was just postponed by around two weeks to give the actors more rehearsal time. So maybe it will improve things. I certainly have no interest in suffering through a second dull sitting.
BASH'D. I had seen this at the Fringe Festival last summer, mostly because everyone seemed to love it, and I remember being pretty underwhelmed. But since it's back in a commercial run this time (with a slightly fancier set, and slightly fancier costumes) at the Zipper Factory, I was willing to give it another try. And I still don't get all of the hype. Even at only 65 minutes (well, really 60 since it starts five minutes late), it felt a bit too long to me. The story is a lame cliche ridden tale of two gay men who meet, fall in love, and end up with a none to pleasant fate. If this had been performed as a straight play (no pun intended), it would have been snored off the stage (by the sleeping audience). What keeps the story sounding fresh is that it's all done in rap. Honestly, gay rap opera is not really something that particularly appeals to me - though in actuality it's not as bad as you'd imagine. For a while I was sort of enjoying myself. But the combination of a story performed in what seemed a bit like warp speed - not really leaving enough time for satisfactory character development - with that incessant rapping was just too much for me to take.
That's it (I think) for my playgoing, thanks to the extremely slim pickings. I did see three movies too however, to fill in the gaps.
WALL*E. Is this the most over-hyped movie of the summer? I usually love Pixar movies, and I appreciate them taking a chance with this, but gosh it's just so slow. When the movie opened with Michael Crawford singing "Out there, there's a world outside of Yonkers..." I think I almost fell out of my seat in joy (though strangely I was the only one in the theatre who seemed to be laughing). As you've probably read already, WALL*E is a robot whose only source of entertainment is a video of "Hello, Dolly!" And so he plays "Put On Your Sunday Clothes" and "It Only Takes A Moment" over and over again. And whenever the film features those Jerry Herman songs, I was very happy. It's the rest of the movie that's a bit problematic. The first half or so of the movie has almost no dialogue. Which was fine, I guess. I guess it's fun enough to watch a cute robot wander around a wasteland (though the annoying kids behind me did not shut up during this long sequence, asking their parents questions). Eventually the title robot finds humanity, and the movie sort of turns into a kiddie version of Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth." Which is fine. I have nothing again a movie that's going to try to sell kids toys and video games yelling at people for polluting the environment, and just sitting on their butts all day playing with toys and video games. But there really just didn't seem to be enough story to warrant a full length movie here. If it had been one of those five minutes shorts they show before the regular features, or even a half hour special, it probably would have been great. But as a full length feature, it was really pushing it. It did make me want to run out and buy a dvd of "Hello Dolly," though.
Far more endearing in the adorable, cartoonish hero category, is KABLUEY. I randomly went to see "Kabluey" today because I thought the ad looked sort of cute, and there was a good review in the Times today. And I'm definitely glad I did, because it is really just the sort of funny and heartwarming movie that I was looking for. It's written, directed by, and stars Scott Prendergast, and also stars Lisa Kudrow (who I'd honestly never heard of - but everyone seemed very excited about her involvement - according to imdb she was one of the main characters on "Friends," which I've never seen an episode of, so I'm assuming that's where her popularity stems from). Anyway, the movie is about this sweet loser of a guy who moves in with his sister and her two obnoxious kids, because her husband is away in Iraq, and she needs to work and can't afford a babysitter. Eventually, this guy ends up getting a job that has him dressing up as this adorable blue company mascot, and handing out fliers for office space on a fairly deserted country road. It's strange, but just about every time they show Kabluey (that's the name of the mascot) do any little thing, the audience cracks up. Brilliant character design there. My only minor criticism with the movie was that the ending seemed just a tad unsatisfying. I mean, all the plotlines get wrapped up, but there was something off there. Right now this is only playing at one little movie theatre in New York, which means it's release is probably going to be fairly limited. But this is one to look out for, even if it's only accessible in it's eventual dvd release. Oh, and director/screenwriter/star Prendergrast did a surprise talkback after the movie to our paltry audience (paltry apparently because we were the few who were more interested in going to the movies than going to watch the July 4 fireworks), and he seemed just as nice in person as he does on screen. Just another reason to enjoy and support his movie.
And finally, last Tuesday at the last minute I was invited to see an advanced screening of the movie of MAMMA MIA! I have to say I really loved the movie, but in a very guilty pleasure sort of way. It very faithful to the stage show - meaning that none of it really makes any sense, but it's a lot fun anyway. And of course, in the movie you have the brilliant Meryl Streep (is it redundant to but "brilliant" before Meryl Streep, because isn't she always?) singing, and dancing, and having a grand time. The film is really very well cast, with all of the actors game for acting totally ridiculous on screen, and the only one who isn't really successful is Pierce Brosnan who try as he might, really just can't sing, meaning that when he has to sing his big serious song, as soon as he opens his mouth, the audience just cracks up. The film pretty much follows the highs and the lows that I felt in the stage musical - namely that it's most just a hoot, though the second act (when things turn serious) still drags, though it does of course recover in time for the ridiculous mega-mix ending (which, yes, the movie does randomly include at the end). Director Phyllida Lloyd seems to use every cinematic cliche in the book, from montages, to Meryl Streep jumping in slow motion on the bed, to a random scene at the end when water spurts out of the ground and everyone starts dancing around getting wet. But I mean, no one expects high art from a goofy ABBA jukebox musical. If you enjoyed the stage show, you definitely will not be disappointed. And if you hated the stage show, well... this probably isn't the movie for you. This is one of those movies where you just need to heed the collection box outside the theatre that says "Deposit brain here before entering." Personally, I can't wait to see it again.
Tomorrow I'm going to see the most anticipating theatrical even of the year... the first preview of [title of show] on Broadway. Very very very excited. It should be cramazing.
