Sunday, December 9, 2012
In The Wings by Harriette Smith December 2012 edition
I’m back! My name is Smith, I’m not Schwarzenegger, who is again promising to be back. Illness has kept me away from blogging, but I’m okay now. This will be my last “In The Wings” for 2012, but with Academy Awards time coming up I just had to tell you of all the new and great films you will be seeing this season.
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“LINCOLN” is Hollywood’s first feature film on the great president in 70-plus years. Daniel Day-Lewis does a truly incredible portrayal of “Honest Abe,” with a huge cast of 140 including Sally Field as First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln, David Strathairn, Tommy Lee Jones and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Filmmaker Steven Spielberg has had a fascination with Lincoln since childhood. Together with playwright/director Tony Kushner they spent seven years developing the story into film, focusing on the last several months of Lincoln’s life at the end of the Civil War in 1865 when he was trying to abolish slavery. Nominations and awards should be plentiful for this film.
MORE historic films are: “HYDE PARK on the HUDSON.” In 1939 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt hosted the King of England (King George VI) and Queen Elizabeth at his Hyde Park estate on the Royals’ first trip to the U.S. Bill Murray stars as Roosevelt, who was growing closer to his neighbor and cousin, Daisy Suckley (Laura Linney), who became his mistress.
In Tolstoy’s “ANNA KARENINA,” a married socialite (Keira Knightly) falls in love with someone beneath her station. Jude Law and Aaron Johnson costar. Director Joe Wright’s unusual staging concept gives the story a different spin.
“HITCHCOCK”:Anthony Hopkins in the starring role during the making of his famous movie, “Psycho.” Helen Mirren stars as his wife and partner, Alma.
“LES MISERABLES”: From the beautiful stage it becomes a beautiful movie starring the incomparable Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean, Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfriend and Anne Hathaway. Pay special attention to two young Brits, Eddie Redmayne as Marius and the luminous Samantha Barks as Eponine. Her rain-drenched ballad “On My Own” is a show-stopper in a movie filled with them. The unlikely pairing of Helena Bonham Carter and Sasha Baron Cohen as the humorously evil Thenardiers add to the mix. Should come up with many nominations and awards.
ANOTHER fantastic film is “LIFE OF PI” starring soon-to-be superstar, young Indian actor Suraj Sharma in Ang Lee’s movie about a young man learning to survive while marooned on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger.
Want more? “THE HOBBIT: An Unexpected Journey” stars Ian McKellen. It’s the adventure fantasy prequel to “Lord of the Rings.”
Tom Cruise is “JACK REACHER” in this shoot-em-up suspense mystery drama, based on Lee Child’s series of thrillers.
IN “ARGO,” Ben Affleck directs and stars in this wonderful political film based on true events. Alan Arkin and John Goodman co-star.
SOME FINE FILMS FOR ADULTS ARE: “QUARTET,” marking Dustin Hoffman’s directorial debut. The story of three elderly former opera singers living in a retirement home for musicians. Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay, Albert Finney and Billy Connolly star. “AMOUR” has Jean-Louis Trintignant, who is 80, caring for his ailing 80-year-old wife (Emmanuelle Riva). Musician Isabelle Huppert plays their daughter. And for lighter fare, “THE GUILT TRIP” stars Barbra Streisand and Seth Rogen. She plays his over-bearing mother who accompanies him on a 3,000-mile road trip of a lifetime. And,”JUST 45 Minutes FROM BROADWAY” is Henry Jaglom’s family film adapted from his stage hit.
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FINE FOREIGN FILMS ARE: “RUST & BONE” starring Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard as an orca trainer who is attacked by a killer whale at Marineland and has both legs amputated. Falls in love with Mathias Schoenarts and a dark yet beautiful love story ensues. “NO” from Chile starring Gael Garcia Bernal. In 1988 during the political trauma between political dictator Pinochet and modernist Allende. “KON TIKI” is the Norwegian entry and is beautifully done, based on a true story of Thor Heyerdahl, Norwegian adventurer who, along with a crew of friends going through horrendous experiences, spent 101 days on the Kon Tiki raft to get to Polynesia from Peru. China brings us “WHITE DEER PLAIN,’’ an epic tale near the end of Imperial China, of dramatic political upheaval. Lots of violence leading up to the heels of WW II. “THE THIRD HALF” is a trilogy, a WW II story involving Macedonia’s beleaguered soccer team’s German-Jewish coach. Based on a true story, a touching love story between a rich Jewish woman in love with a football player eluding the bitter destiny of her people. “Sneakers” from Bulgaria has six young people escaping from their bleak and dreary city to a serene pristine beach, giving them hope. “The Bad Intentions” is from Peru. Afghanistan brings us “The Patience Stone,” where, under the Taliban regime, an intelligent woman captures the reality of life with great courage.
Had enough films for a while? Now, on to Legitimate Theatre.
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ON STAGE
“INTIMATE APPAREL” at the Pasadena Playhouse is a beautiful story by Lynn Nottage and sensitively directed by the Playhouse’s artistic director Sheldon Epps. Our heroine, Esther, an African-American 35-year-old seamstress living in a fashionable New York rooming house in 1905, is making enticing sexy corsets hoping to earn enough money to open a beauty salon for women of color. She is played with touching seriousness by Vanessa Williams (not the TV soap star), who never got her love and marriage hopes fulfilled. All the performers were outstanding, as was the set.
Shakespeare’s “HAMLET” at the Broad Theatre in Santa Monica was an extraordinary production in contemporary dress and design, coming to us directly from London’s Globe Theatre. Young Hamlet, played by handsome Michael Benz, was outstanding. Accompanying him was a cast of better than excellent performers. I, and many more people, wish the Globe would perform for a longer spell at the Broad Theatre in L.A.
Joyous Christmas music and songs are now playing all over Los Angeles at venues too numerous to mention.
“NORA,” at the Pacific Resident Theatre in Venice, is Ingmar Bergman’s adaptation of the Ibsen’s classic Norwegian play, “A Doll’s House.” Remarkably done, staging, sets and performances in such a small space. All characters sit on stage right and left throughout the play until their turn to perform. It’s Christmas Eve in 1878. Having been ruled her entire life by either her father or her husband, Nora comes to question the foundation of everything she has believed in once her marriage is put to the test. You can still see it until Jan. 27.
THE FOUNTAIN THEATER always does exciting works. “IN THE RED AND BROWN WATER” by Tarell Alvin McCraney is outstanding, about the fate of a young woman in a Southern housing project. Ends December 16.
DOWNTOWN at Center Theater Group, Cole Porter’s classic, “ANYTHING GOES” continues at the Ahmanson, starring the wonderful Rachel York and “Jersey Boys” Erich Berggren, while Jon Robin Baitz's "Other Desert Cities" opens at the Mark Taper Forum. The Los Angeles Opera Company has Puccini’s glorious “MADAMA BUTTERFLY,” starring Patricia Racette and Marcus Haddock.
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HAVE YOU READ ENOUGH? I’VE CERTAINLY WRITTEN ENOUGH.
Since this is now December, I would like to wish all of my friends a very Happy Holiday Season and a healthy, peaceful and wonderful 2013!
Monday, February 20, 2012
In The Wings by Harriette Smith - February 20, 2012
IN THE WINGS by HARRIETTE SMITH – February 20, 2012
WELL, HELLO FROM 2012! Valentine’s Day has come and gone, and now that the Oscars are coming up, we’ll take a quick look back at some of LAST YEAR’S TOP FILMS. What a year 2011 was. Not very eventful except that we’ve gotten a year older. Not too many good movies to talk about and the same for outstanding theater. Perhaps I’ve gotten too jaded over the past year. Let’s hope 2012 will be much more exciting. We’ll see, but now we’ve had the Academy Award nominations and “big event” of the year is almost here. Who do you think will run off with the Oscars this year? Place your bets here.
My picks of the better films were: “My Week With Marilyn.” Michelle Williams, who looks nothing like Marilyn Monroe did, is an extraordinary actress and she “became” Miss Monroe throughout the film and did not waver one second. An interesting and unusual movie was the silent “The Artist.” Shows that a silent film can still hold up without voice. Outstanding actresses Glenn Close and Janet McTeer portraying women masquerading as men in “Albert Nobbs” (Close also co-wrote the script). Speaking of women living as men, we don’t often write about books, but have to give a shout out to Karen Kondazian’s wonderful new novel, “The Whip,” about a real woman, Charlotte “Charley” Parkhurst, who was a renowned Wells Fargo stagecoach driver in Northern California in the 1800s. Author-actress Kondazian is famous here in Los Angeles for her many portrayals of Tennessee Williams heroines and a riveting Maria Callas in “Master Class.”
More terrific females in film in 2011: Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher, “The Iron Lady,” the Prime Minister of England, aging over several decades. “The Help,” the Civil Rights-era film about African American domestic help and how they were treated, has caused quite a stir with an extraordinary number of outstanding performances: the Oscar-nominated Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer and Jessica Chastain, plus Cicely Tyson, Allison Janney, Bryce Dallas Howard, Ahna O’Reilly, Emma Stone and Sissy Spacek in one of her best roles in years. Glad that the Screen Actors Guild gave this group a Best Ensemble Cast award.
Spielberg’s “War Horse” is a moving World War I story, Angelina Jolie’s wonderful Bosnian War film which she produced and directed is “In The Land of Blood and Honey.” Matt Damon did not really buy a zoo. Leonardo di Caprio did an extraordinary job of portraying J. Edgar Hoover in “J. Edgar,” ably supported by the extremely tall and handsome Armie Hammer (who played the Winklevoss twins in last year’s “Social Network” and Judi Dench as his mother. (We wish her well in her recently announced battle to save her eyesight. She was also wonderful in “My Week with Marilyn.”)
There are some interesting new foreign films out now. “In Darkness” is sad but beautifully done by the well-known director Agnieszka Holland, filmed in Poland using the various languages of the characters. It is about Jewish refugees in World War II hidden in the sewers of Lvov to avoid capture by Nazis, kept alive for more than a year by a Polish non-Jewish sewer worker for money. What happens when the Jews’ money runs out?
Other foreign films seen included Iran’s “A Separation” and “Footnote” from Israel. Of these three, “A Separation” is favored by Oscar predictors, although we lean toward “In Darkness.”
COMING UP: On a lighter note -- as the new films starting arriving for 2012, we were absolutely delighted by the new Katherine Heigl film “One For the Money.” She brings mystery novelist Janet Evanovich’s “Stephanie Plum” to life – and, for the ladies, there are not one but two leading men in Stephanie’s life, and they’re both stunning: Jason O’Mara as “Joe Moretti” and Daniel Sunjata (memorable from “The Devil Wears Prada”) as a helpful law enforcement officer, “Ranger.”
AS FOR THE LIVE STAGE: The beautiful Broad Stage in Santa Monica (part of Santa Monica College but not located on the main campus) presented a very exciting and certainly different “Our Town,” Thornton Wilder’s classic starring Academy Award winner Helen Hunt, who plays the stage manager admirably. The Broad’s entire main stage was reconfigured to make the audience part of the production. An evening at the Broad is always a special event.
The Pasadena Playhouse had “Art” by famed author Yasmina Reza (“God of Carnage”). Less than ninety minutes long, this light, originally French comedy directed ably by David Lee featured three fine actors: Bradley Whitford and Roger Bart, who were thrown into crisis when visiting their friend Serge (Michael O’Keefe), who purchased a stark modernist painting for an extraordinary sum that challenges his wisdom, their value systems and their friendship. I had seen this many years ago starring Alan Alda and this is as good a production. It’s fun and worthwhile to see any production at the lovely Pasadena Playhouse.
We always enjoy productions at the Ruskin Group Theatre. Their current show, Martin McDonagh’s “The Lonesome West,” running through March 4, is no exception. Review follows.
Review of “The Lonesome West” (seen Friday, February 3, 2012)
It’s been said that even a bad Martin McDonagh play is better than a good one from a lot of other playwrights. This man can write dialogue! And the able cast at the Ruskin Group Theatre, on the grounds of the Santa Monica Airport, can deliver it. Standout in the four-person cast is Jason Paul Field as Coleman, a sleezy brother in a small Irish town. With his wild hair and belligerent stance, he’d be right at home in the mountains of Appalachia – right down to his smelly socks. Because of a messy family dynamic (is there any other kind?), he shares a small house with his neater brother, Valene (well played by alternate Jonathon Bray). During most of the several scenes, these two bicker and battle with such zeal and ferocity – over seemingly insignificant things like bags of crisps and Valene’s beloved collection of religious figurines, that it’s a wonder one of them hasn’t used the rifle mounted over the fireplace to blow the other to smithereens. Conor Walshe’s sad-eyed priest goes to drastic measures to try to get the brothers to reconcile, and their attempts at civility, marked by a scene of exaggerated politeness, is a delight. Rachel Noll rounds out the cast as Girleen, the schoolgirl with a crush on Father Welsh. (The night we attended, the cast was mixing up “Welsh” and “Walsh” with some funny ad-libbing.)
Scene changes are punctuated by toe-tapping recorded music – Irish, to be sure, by The Young Dubliners, but also reminiscent of Appalachian.
Dan Speaker & Jan Bryant did the excellent fight choreography – made more difficult by the big difference in size of the two actors. Look Speaker & Bryant up: they’ve done fights for Russell Crowe and other A-list film names.
Anyone who has seen and loved the film “In Bruges” will surely enjoy this play, especially for its robust dialog and memorable performances. The only thing it’s missing is Colin Farrell!
Runs Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 2 pm through March 4. www.ruskingrouptheatre.com
(review by Flo Selfman)
Join us next time for more notes on film and theatre. Until then – see you at the movies and don’t forget to support your local live theatre!
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WELL, HELLO FROM 2012! Valentine’s Day has come and gone, and now that the Oscars are coming up, we’ll take a quick look back at some of LAST YEAR’S TOP FILMS. What a year 2011 was. Not very eventful except that we’ve gotten a year older. Not too many good movies to talk about and the same for outstanding theater. Perhaps I’ve gotten too jaded over the past year. Let’s hope 2012 will be much more exciting. We’ll see, but now we’ve had the Academy Award nominations and “big event” of the year is almost here. Who do you think will run off with the Oscars this year? Place your bets here.
My picks of the better films were: “My Week With Marilyn.” Michelle Williams, who looks nothing like Marilyn Monroe did, is an extraordinary actress and she “became” Miss Monroe throughout the film and did not waver one second. An interesting and unusual movie was the silent “The Artist.” Shows that a silent film can still hold up without voice. Outstanding actresses Glenn Close and Janet McTeer portraying women masquerading as men in “Albert Nobbs” (Close also co-wrote the script). Speaking of women living as men, we don’t often write about books, but have to give a shout out to Karen Kondazian’s wonderful new novel, “The Whip,” about a real woman, Charlotte “Charley” Parkhurst, who was a renowned Wells Fargo stagecoach driver in Northern California in the 1800s. Author-actress Kondazian is famous here in Los Angeles for her many portrayals of Tennessee Williams heroines and a riveting Maria Callas in “Master Class.”
More terrific females in film in 2011: Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher, “The Iron Lady,” the Prime Minister of England, aging over several decades. “The Help,” the Civil Rights-era film about African American domestic help and how they were treated, has caused quite a stir with an extraordinary number of outstanding performances: the Oscar-nominated Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer and Jessica Chastain, plus Cicely Tyson, Allison Janney, Bryce Dallas Howard, Ahna O’Reilly, Emma Stone and Sissy Spacek in one of her best roles in years. Glad that the Screen Actors Guild gave this group a Best Ensemble Cast award.
Spielberg’s “War Horse” is a moving World War I story, Angelina Jolie’s wonderful Bosnian War film which she produced and directed is “In The Land of Blood and Honey.” Matt Damon did not really buy a zoo. Leonardo di Caprio did an extraordinary job of portraying J. Edgar Hoover in “J. Edgar,” ably supported by the extremely tall and handsome Armie Hammer (who played the Winklevoss twins in last year’s “Social Network” and Judi Dench as his mother. (We wish her well in her recently announced battle to save her eyesight. She was also wonderful in “My Week with Marilyn.”)
There are some interesting new foreign films out now. “In Darkness” is sad but beautifully done by the well-known director Agnieszka Holland, filmed in Poland using the various languages of the characters. It is about Jewish refugees in World War II hidden in the sewers of Lvov to avoid capture by Nazis, kept alive for more than a year by a Polish non-Jewish sewer worker for money. What happens when the Jews’ money runs out?
Other foreign films seen included Iran’s “A Separation” and “Footnote” from Israel. Of these three, “A Separation” is favored by Oscar predictors, although we lean toward “In Darkness.”
COMING UP: On a lighter note -- as the new films starting arriving for 2012, we were absolutely delighted by the new Katherine Heigl film “One For the Money.” She brings mystery novelist Janet Evanovich’s “Stephanie Plum” to life – and, for the ladies, there are not one but two leading men in Stephanie’s life, and they’re both stunning: Jason O’Mara as “Joe Moretti” and Daniel Sunjata (memorable from “The Devil Wears Prada”) as a helpful law enforcement officer, “Ranger.”
AS FOR THE LIVE STAGE: The beautiful Broad Stage in Santa Monica (part of Santa Monica College but not located on the main campus) presented a very exciting and certainly different “Our Town,” Thornton Wilder’s classic starring Academy Award winner Helen Hunt, who plays the stage manager admirably. The Broad’s entire main stage was reconfigured to make the audience part of the production. An evening at the Broad is always a special event.
The Pasadena Playhouse had “Art” by famed author Yasmina Reza (“God of Carnage”). Less than ninety minutes long, this light, originally French comedy directed ably by David Lee featured three fine actors: Bradley Whitford and Roger Bart, who were thrown into crisis when visiting their friend Serge (Michael O’Keefe), who purchased a stark modernist painting for an extraordinary sum that challenges his wisdom, their value systems and their friendship. I had seen this many years ago starring Alan Alda and this is as good a production. It’s fun and worthwhile to see any production at the lovely Pasadena Playhouse.
We always enjoy productions at the Ruskin Group Theatre. Their current show, Martin McDonagh’s “The Lonesome West,” running through March 4, is no exception. Review follows.
Review of “The Lonesome West” (seen Friday, February 3, 2012)
It’s been said that even a bad Martin McDonagh play is better than a good one from a lot of other playwrights. This man can write dialogue! And the able cast at the Ruskin Group Theatre, on the grounds of the Santa Monica Airport, can deliver it. Standout in the four-person cast is Jason Paul Field as Coleman, a sleezy brother in a small Irish town. With his wild hair and belligerent stance, he’d be right at home in the mountains of Appalachia – right down to his smelly socks. Because of a messy family dynamic (is there any other kind?), he shares a small house with his neater brother, Valene (well played by alternate Jonathon Bray). During most of the several scenes, these two bicker and battle with such zeal and ferocity – over seemingly insignificant things like bags of crisps and Valene’s beloved collection of religious figurines, that it’s a wonder one of them hasn’t used the rifle mounted over the fireplace to blow the other to smithereens. Conor Walshe’s sad-eyed priest goes to drastic measures to try to get the brothers to reconcile, and their attempts at civility, marked by a scene of exaggerated politeness, is a delight. Rachel Noll rounds out the cast as Girleen, the schoolgirl with a crush on Father Welsh. (The night we attended, the cast was mixing up “Welsh” and “Walsh” with some funny ad-libbing.)
Scene changes are punctuated by toe-tapping recorded music – Irish, to be sure, by The Young Dubliners, but also reminiscent of Appalachian.
Dan Speaker & Jan Bryant did the excellent fight choreography – made more difficult by the big difference in size of the two actors. Look Speaker & Bryant up: they’ve done fights for Russell Crowe and other A-list film names.
Anyone who has seen and loved the film “In Bruges” will surely enjoy this play, especially for its robust dialog and memorable performances. The only thing it’s missing is Colin Farrell!
Runs Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 2 pm through March 4. www.ruskingrouptheatre.com
(review by Flo Selfman)
Join us next time for more notes on film and theatre. Until then – see you at the movies and don’t forget to support your local live theatre!
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