It is with trepidation that I venture in writing a review of my first ever contemporary dance show, Awakening, a three-piece programme produced by National Dance Company Wales. All the three dance pieces have a distinctive style, show a desire to engage with ideas, and are executed skilfully. Watching the show was an interesting experience that left me intrigued, puzzled, and annoyed. I was intrigued by the attempt at using movement to convey visual effects, puzzled by the overall concern for concept, too often fuzzy, to the detriment of emotion, and annoyed at the diminished role of music, especially in the first two pieces, which but conveys a dystopian atmosphere, instead of being integral part of the performance.
The first piece, Tundra, begins with a captivating image of a dancer in a cone-shaped costume in a red light and an otherworldly voice. The stage is plunged into the dark and the figure disappears. As the stage is lit again by a white light, a group of dancers in white and blue cone-shaped costumes appear. They move together as a group and glide beautifully across the floor. This is perhaps the most striking part of Tundra, albeit relatively short by comparison with the main part of the piece, which consists of dancers in a colourful costume moving together as one. Their legs and arms touch to form one continuous shape and move on the stage like a snake. The choreographer, Marcos Morau, found inspiration in Russian folk music and dance, yet the cone-dress seemed much closer to the Korean traditional dress, while the main ‘snake-like’ performance reminded me of the Chinese dragon dance. The performance is smooth and elegant but the parts are disjointed and the music fails to convey any emotion.
Tundra is followed by Afterimage by choreographer Fernando Melo. The piece plays cleverly with mirrors and light to create the illusion of figures appearing and fading away like ghosts. The illusion effects are inspired by the technique of Henry Dircks and John Henry Pepper, which used light and glass to create ghostly appearances. In Afterimage, the dancers dissolve, often into one another, through multiple reflections. The piece is an exploration of different perspectives that never meet. It is well crafted, interesting, and performed gracefully; yet it feels too concerned with a visual effect conveyed through movement rather than dance. Like Tundra, it is too conceptual to convey emotion, and not aided by the dystopian music.
After the second interval, two women came and sat next to me. They could not make anything out of the first two pieces, ‘too symbolical,’ one said; yet they were enthusiastic about the third piece, the Revellers’ Mass. It is easy to see why. The Revellers’ Mass has a narrative, elaborate costumes, prominent music, and a tinge of humour. The piece begins with a male voice speaking Georgian and a priest lighting candles on a long flat surface. The sacred is alternated with the profane. The flat surface becomes a table and the sacred atmosphere turns into a wild party. At one point, the dancers at the table are reminiscent of the Last Supper, yet the reference serves little purpose and is a far cry from the biting irony of the Last Supper in Louis Bunuel’s Viridiana.Choreographer Caroline Finn is perhaps overambitious in seeking to capture ‘ritual and etiquette, and ceremony, as well as primal human behaviour.’ The conflation of ritual, etiquette, and ceremony is irksome and the contrast with partying as ‘primal human behaviour’ highly problematic. Revellers’ Mass is nevertheless entertaining and ends humorously with drunken revellers being dragged across the floor to the notes of Edith Piaf’s Je ne regrette rien.
As a novice, Awakening has been an interesting and thought-provoking experience. I acknowledge my preference for emotional engagement when it comes to all art forms; yet the three dance pieces have opened a door to a way of experiencing art that has left me curious notwithstanding the frustration. The show has perhaps succeeded in raising questions, the most important of which might be ‘does art need emotion to be art?’
Closing my review for Avengers: Age of Ultron I wrote: “Superhero movies have never been better, this movie now shows that they’ve also never been bigger.” That was back in 2015 which seems so long ago and I, nor do I think anyone (except perhaps Kevin Feige) could have predicted the mass scale that would make that movie seem humble by comparison. Through everything that it accomplishes and also fails to do one thing is irrefutable, Avengers: Endgame is one of the biggest endeavors as well as the hugest movie ever executed.
To properly set the stage I must now spoil the events of Infinity War.
You have been warned (though why would you be seeing this movie if you
aren’t up to date or have at least seen Infinity War?). The events of
the last movie had the big bad villain Thanos (Josh Brolin) go on a
quest throughout the galaxy to acquire six Infinity Stones, when he had
gathered all of them within his gauntlet he could fulfill his ambitions
of erasing half the population of the universe with a snap of his
fingers. He gathered them all, and he did wipe out half the universe,
reducing them to dust in the wind. Now here we are, our heroes utterly
defeated and the villain completed his goal. This was essentially the
Empire Strikes Back of the story, almost a cliche to say but it holds
true. The last movie was were the bad guys were unrelenting and for the
battle, they won. But the war is not over and so we are here, where the
forces of good regather themselves, the bad guys have established
themselves as a threat, our heroes have a tough fight to regain victory.
As
I did last time I feel I have to go through the list of all the
characters we have. Others will appear later in the movie so for now,
let’s just deal with the ones we get within the first thirty minutes.
Iron-Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris
Hemsworth), Bruce Banner/The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow (Scarlett
Johansson), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Rocket
(Bradley Cooper), Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), War Machine (Don Cheadle) and the
latest member Captain Marvel
(Brie Larson). There are other that come into the movie later and some
that make a brief appearance but for the main plot of the movie, this is
who we have.
For the rest of the plot going forward I
will forego a detailed description, a lot of this movies appeal on the
initial watch is the shock of what is revealed and how the characters go
forth. But after the first act out heroes are in disarray and they
eventually come up with a plan, the path this takes them down allows
them to proceed with their goals while also reflect on what has come
before as well as invites the audience to do so. This struck me more as
pandering slightly, it came off more as overtly winking at the audience
rather than letting the plot unfold in any kind of natural way.
Surprisingly, the weakest element of the movie is its comedy. MARVEL has done such a good job with their comedic elements in other movies before, from Guardians of the Galaxy, to Ant-Man and others where they are either comedically focused or insert comedy within the dialogue and narrative we’ve gotten some great laughs out of these movies. Even in ones as serious and dark as Civil War and Infinity War they were still able to skillfully insert a pun to pepper the mood with some banter and levity. But here, after these heroes have been dealt such a devastating blow, and for the start, it plays it very bleak comes as too much of a contrast.
What I was worried
about going into this movie was the annulment of stakes. The whole
universe was dealt a devastating blow previous and now they obviously
seek to undo it, which makes sense because they are heroes, but
narratively it means that there is no stakes and everythings hunky dory
again. Such a thing would render all emotional we felt previously to
mean nothing. Well, again not spoiling anything, this movie still comes
with its stakes and gravity to its situation. There are still things on
the line and the heroes know that and are willing to make that decision
(that’s what makes them heroes).
As if Infinity War was impossible enough to appreciate without having seen the previous movies this one is especially so. There are so many characters and references being thrown at you that you will not be able to care without having seen their story leading up to this. You’ll be taken out of it and more be asking “Who’s that?” “What are they talking about?” “Ow I recognise them, never saw the movie though.”This is more like tuning into the series finale of a long-running television show rather than seeing a complete story begin and end on its own merits, but I guess that’s just where we are now, this is the state of things in this franchise inclined world we are currently living in. To be fair nearly all the characters on screen have had development in other movies so it’s not as if the work has been put in. It’s not like Ready Player One where they just show you a bunch of pop culture figures, smash them together and expect you to feel something for them.
These
movies have grown at an unprecedented scale in terms of having a
completely realized cinematic universe. The number of characters that
they have realized from their comic book source material and their
ability to overlap and make appearances in other movies creating a truly
realized environment should not happen. It should have crumbled before
it ever really got started. Yet here we are, nearing thirty movies and
over ten years and the number of characters has continued to expand and
the audience is not getting tired.
Writing this
screenplay is not a mammoth task, it is more like a freight shipping
mammoths. Taking on the duty is, once again, Christopher Markus and
Stephen McFeely. This pair has written all the Captain America movies
and Infinity War previously. They make tight screenplays that have
characters convey much about them with only a few lines of dialog. They
are also versatile enough to write for multiple tones, be they serious,
comedic, suspenseful and even tender.
The idea that
such a feat as this to even conceive, let alone pull off is a challenge,
to say the least, and being that it was made in the first place is a
triumph, that does not get done by lazy people. But the fact that it
stands so tall and so proud and though not without it’s shaky parts does
indeed serve as a testament to this writing and directing team.
Even
then, a movie doesn’t just get made with just it’s directors and
screenwriters, the crew and post-production team are essential in
getting the movie filmed and then creating the special effects rendered.
But I want to highlight the role of the Line Producer, a Line Producer
is responsible for calculating the budget of a feature and overseeing
the day to day progress of filming. According to IMDB, this movies was
Nicholas Simon, high praise because the organization and determination
required to get all these actors schedule to line up and makes sure
everything goes on track is a true feat.
While with
some of the other movies that I would name as my favorite, I would
acknowledge their flaws but with so much going on and the level of
confidence and skill in executing it bringing up the flaws would just be
pedantic. This movie, not so much. It has definite, obvious flaws and I
was aware of them while the movie was playing and they stare back at me
when I reflect on it. In comparison of this movie as a whole Infinity
War is the more focused and defined out of the two of them. This one is
more self-indulgent and could use some trimming, mostly with some of
their jokes. Infinity War opened with Thanos, followed him through it
and ended with him, it opened with one character and we delve into their
viewpoint and follow their struggles to attain their goals. This movie
starts out with a group of people and it’s essentially a story to avenge
(convenient being the name of their team), then there’s a padding of
some surreal humor, now the movies turned into a heist, and entering the
final act is a battle. This is much more mangled experience.
Though
it must be said that when the final thirty to forty minutes play out it
was some of the most pulse-pounding, audience-pleasing, and moving
moments I have had for the ten years I’ve been a loyal audience. I am
the one who has put in the time and effort and being paid off, I know
that means a lot of other people will be unable to enjoy it on the same
level but at this point it should be clear that you have to be a fan to
go to a movie with dozens of characters on the poster.
Could
any movie reach the scale of this movie again? True much of it is
computer generated imagery but that certainly requires a lot of work
too. Will there ever come a time when there is another cinematic
universe that takes over ten years to reach this crescendo? To be
popular enough to keep going for ten years? To amass a cast and audience
big enough for a story that goes to this many locations, and has such
variations of imagery? I don’t know, but I do know this movie works. It
went for everything, stumbled a bit but certainly stuck the landing.
As
was said, part of the story is the end. This movie is an end to many
things, but not these movies, and one of the most important parts of
life is taking the next step. The MARVEL world will certainly never be
the same again and the movie world now has a new standard for budget and
mass cast of characters.R
“Man from the big city that is a big shot ends up in a small town where he meets salt of the earth people and doesn’t really get them, he discovered potential to sign the local musical band, but they are not interested because they don’t do it for the money just for fun and love of the music, while he signs them he learns that there is more to life than being a big shot and comes round to their simple but purer ways. City people are shallow and terrible while the real people that are of true substance are in the countryside and have roots and history. This is the movie if you are interested in being surprised then turn around now and seek something else.”
Hmm, thats really it, but I guess I should elaborate more.
Fisherman’s Friends is one of those movies that does not get by on it’s
screenplay or technical feats, but through the acting and personality
of the characters. On these two things it does succeed but I feel there
are some major detracting factors that need to be talked about.
Some London friends get together for one of their bachelor weekends, the main character Danny (Daniel Mays) is one of them. They go to Cornwall for a fun time, while there they spot a performance of the local band comprised of local fisherman and life guards. They sing a Sea Shanty, a type of work song that are very old and tell stories, not like todays music or what they play in the big city thats all electronic and not about anything.
The way that the people in the city are framed is like modern dressing, up to the minute talking business people that are obsessed with whatever is fashionable and are shallow, etc. etc. People that live and are successful in a city have to work very hard, it may not be the same kind of manual work in the country but it is work, true some come from privileged backgrounds so they have it easier but they are the minority and success is still not guaranteed.
The overall message of this movie seems to be that having roots in one place and legacy builds character, to that I say why not travel? Traveling gives you a sense of how big the world is and expand your mentality to other peoples way of life. Not this movie though, it seems to think that you are born in one place and you set up there for life and you and your descendants must do the same, keep that up for six generations and you’ll become a solid person. Granted it does break out of some of these ideals but it holds pretty true to it for most of the run time.
Almost every line in this is
predictable. Literally, within the first thirty minutes, I was able to
predict what was basically going to be said and sometimes word for word
what came out of the characters mouths.
But even with
all this said as the third act rolled around I must say that I found
that the people had started to grow on me. They do have their charm and
personality and along the way, they do get in a few jokes that are
winners while even a few tender emotional moments that do indeed strike
deep.
There are just about no surprises in this movie but some handsome cinematography, a few winning moments of humour and of course very good music and you have something that is worth a watch. I just wish they would have tried doing something new with the plot or at least thrown in some unconventional dialogue instead of the most conventional.R
Remakes and reboots are a bit of a tricky subject for reviews. Reviews themselves should be relative not absolute but you still need to take into account better or worse movies within the genre or subject matter. We have a new Hellboy movie that is not a continuation or has any involvement from what Guillermo Del Toro started back in 2004 when it must also be noted there were far fewer Superhero movies. A movie that carries the same name as the original has to stay true to the spirit and tone of what it is adapting or remaking while still distinguishing itself. It’s a delicate act, but some have done it right.
What helps Hellboy be distinct is Hellboy
himself. He has an obvious, distinct visual to him but also his
mentality, he is essentially a blue-collar Superhero. He wants to do the
job in as short a period as possible, then kicks back and watch the
latest sports game and enjoy a beer. When he goes in and investigates
and it turns out there’s a monster his thoughts are “Ah hell, this is
gonna take a bunch more hours.” One of the strongest elements of this
movie was the casting of David Harbour, he comes with a deep voice, dry
humor and a nonchalant attitude that fits for the character and this
world.
Anyway, the movie kicks off with an opening
voice monologue spoken by the character Trevour Bruttenholm (Ian
McShane). About the old days in King Arthurs time when an evil witch
Vivian Nimue (Mia Jovovich) was about to unleash demons upon the land
but was betrayed by her own witches and King Arthur impales her and cut
her into pieces, but she does not die, so each of her body parts is sent
far away to be hidden. While this is playing out it is in black and
white except for anything that is red and a few swear words are thrown
in. It sets up the movie as a whole well, some sort of cool stuff, a
bunch of violence and a few swear words in the mix in an attempt to be
cool.
Apart from Harbour, McShane and a few others
in the background, these are bad actors. Well, not so much as they are
bad but these are bad performances. I’ve seen some of these actors in
other things and know they’re capable, but they do not do their best
work here. Their line delivery is flat and unenthusiastic. Perhaps this
is a case of the director not spending enough time with them, or they
were uninvested in the material I don’t know and at this point, it
doesn’t matter, we have two actors doing a good job and the rest just
don’t care.
Speaking of line delivery something went
wrong with recording during filming or during ADR because we can hear
all the actors reading their lines crystal clear. You would think that
this would be good but there’s no leveling going on. If a character is
in a close-up or far away it’s still like they are right next to us and
rings of artificiality. Maybe if they had some supernatural,
all-powerful specter on screen speaking then there would be a reason for
this but for every character, it is one of those finer details of
post-production that goes a long way if you do a good job on, which they
haven’t.
Special effects do not make a movie but
they are needed so you believe something is really there. These are
terrible special effects. Whatever digital company did these effects are
not up to scratch, they are poorly rendered and obviously artificial
that this whole movie could be mistaken for coming out in the early
two-thousands. There are a few effects where they linger on them for a
long time so you can get a good long look at it as if they were proud of
it, but it reeks of fake. Even then some of this could be forgiven if
you cared about the people/demons that were within the scene, but we
don’t, it’s the worst kind of narrative, where you aren’t invested,
nothing clever is happening and so it’s just stuff happening on-screen.
Editing
is one of the most essential elements of movie making. It is what
defines it from theater or literature. It is the art of taking the raw
footage and carving it into something defined and with shape. Timing the
cuts right and sometimes not cutting so you can let the actor’s
expressions really sink in and to mood resonate. This is neither of
those. What has come with the fast format of digital is the ability to
cut willy-nilly and go crazy without thought or reason. The editing
within this movie is a mess, they cut and cut not because one thing
leads to another but because they want to keep the audience paying
attention and think that by editing it within a blender is the way to do
that. this isn’t cutting the footage, it’s hacking at it so now you
just have a mess.
If you are going to compare this movie to Del Toro’s movie then Del Toro is the winner. If you let this movie stand on its own then it still isn’t very good. It is still unique amongst the now much more crowded competition of Superhero movies but even then they are of a much higher quality.
Tamara Harvey – hot off her Olivier award for Home I’m Darling’ could have played safe – and ran a nice little Ayckbourn – instead she plucked a little known Tennessee Williams play that was in the main considered a flop, set in a convenience store in the Deep South of America – no doubt she could have had her West End and Broadway, Tony Award winning designer Jonathan Fensom create a replica 1950’s American store, instead it appears she asked him to design as little as they could get away with… this could look like an ‘A’ level workshop production – a set from what’s lying around – on the surface minimal direction and caricatured characters – and in principle that is what this is – but I mean that as an incredible compliment.
Some of the best work I have seen has been from peers in workshops. The actors are able to use the words, their skill and their craft and although the characters are caricatures these actors did not act them in this way. By being basic, the set took no focus away from the actors – yet gave them enough to do on stage, the master piece of the design was the hues of the lighting by Tim Mascall and the use of smoke – which was only noticeable by it’s absence . Finally the lack of direction – I find two reasons for noting the lack of direction one because the actors look awkward or lost on set and direction is missing – or direction is lacking because it is perfect and you feel as though you have just watched characters as the author intended. There was no apparent direction present in this play, it was perfection.
It took me a good 10 minutes to acclimatise to the tone of the play – the accents (although spot on) took some adjusting too – and a lot of information was thrust upon you from the start – this is not a play you can attend – to just half watch and unwind at the end of a long day – it is not light relief – although peppered with humours moments – in the main it is an intense reflection into the complex nature of humanity….. or lack of….
We hear about the owners of the store (Lady and Jabe) through the brilliant gossipy narrative of Belulah Binnings, the main form of the light relief comes from Catrin Aaron (previous TC production – Little Voice) – before we even meet the couple the past 15 years of their unhappy marriage is laid bare in 10 minutes and secrets that have been hidden are revealed to the audience hinting this play will not end well. This is a clever use of narrative instantly we take sides, and as an audience we are willing Lady to know the truth.
The first part is in the main tone setting – and it sizzles with the introduction of snake skin wearing, guitar playing Val – the beautiful Seth Numrich – who honestly if he had walked off set and asked me to run away with – I would have! He wooed every woman, possibly every man in the theatre – especially when he played his guitar and sang. His character I was unsure of except until the very end – he claimed to be on a journey to reform from his past – which kept coming to taunt him in the form of the flesh baring makeup wearing Carol Cutere ( Jemima Rooper)– who created as much hysteria in a room as the local black man, as we learn during this production. The play had a large cast who all had an important role to play – no role was small – and all expertly executed. However the main hook of the play was the heat between Lady (Hattie Morahan) and Val (Numrich) they share a lot of stage time, long looks, desire and the occasion interruption from the phone or from above – leave every word dripping with sexual tension or hidden connotation to an unhappy past (on both parts) There is a delightful scene near the end of the second half when both are truly happy and the audience is lost in that moment with them which enables the audience to be as shocked by what happens next as the Lady and Val.
Do not come to watch this play if you are after a giggle with the girls and want to see the Full Monty – watch this play because you love theatre, because you want to know what clever set design is, because you want to know how a good actor can be a great actor. Come and watch this play if you like tension and drama – if you are a theatre student of any description you need to see this play before it heads to the West End.
I have struggled with why the play wasn’t a hit when first produced – but my knowledge of Williams is not strong enough to judge – however if I had to comment I think Carol (Roopers) Character could be the answer – addressing racism in 1950’s America was risky but a white women defending black men in 1950’s America was perhaps too big a pill to swallow . Thankfully Sami Ibrahim and Carys Lewis (TC’s residents in writing) have brought a forgotten gem back to life and the Williams play will finally get the credit it deserves.
A brutal insight to self righteous 1950’s slavery, intensely acted, perfectly directed and dripping with sexual tension.
Orpheus Descending plays at Theatr Clwyd, Mold from 15 April – 27 April 2019. It then plays at Menier Chocolate Factory, London from 9 May – 6 July.
Before watching ‘The Bodyguard’, at Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff I was very excited. The songs are many of my favourites and so I knew it would be an enjoyable performance, but this show did not disappoint. At first, I thought it would be similar to Motown in which the songs are great and popular, and people would sing along to, but the narrative is somewhat less important, but I could not have been more wrong. In fact, I would consider ‘The Bodyguard’ as one of the best all-round productions that I have seen. Having some of my ‘guilty pleasure’ songs included in this production was the icing on the cake. The last time I saw Alexander Burke in a production was in ‘Sister Act,’ which I felt she didn’t suit but this powerful ballad-based character was a lot more suited to Alexander and her singing style.
The production’s opening was a striking shadow-projected scene, which had loud sound effects, which caused audible gasps from the audience. This was a fantastic way to grab audience attention in the first few minutes of the show. It was easy to spot that this scene would be book-ending the whole production and a similar scene would take place at the end of the show. This is the first time, in my experience, that this type of structure is used which made me keep the image in my head to see how the plot would lead to it again in the end. This meant the entire time I was thinking about this opening scene, which was not a distraction in any sense but would be considered an effective opening scene. The opening number however was flawless. The production values of staging, light and pyros was superb and the dancing was incredible. I don’t know if it was intentional, but I instantly drew comparisons of the character ‘Rachel Marron’ both are super successful artists, costumes show similarities to one another and the ‘performance’ of their songs (especially this one) were of the highest quality. However, I believe that this performance topped the Beyoncé performances I have seen live and this number could have easily been a show in itself. It would not have been out of place as a concert/performance in somewhere like the 02 Arena. The one small drawback to this number was, Alexander Burke, who played Rachel Marron, is an incredible singer and actor but her dancing is the weakest of the three (all of which are obviously of a high level but her dancing is not quite as good as the other two) which could be noticed through the big dance numbers such as this one and also during the opening number there was a short scene of dialogue which took place. Due to everything that was happening on the stage (lights, dancers, music etc.) I missed a lot of this dialogue which was clearly not what the directors would have wanted. The bold opening scene and awe-inspiring opening number contrasted each other perfectly and ‘set the scene’ for the rest of the production. This show alternates between these amazing, popular songs and tense dramatic scenes, which the opening sequences set up for the rest of the show beautifully.
Many of the supporting characters in this production were very relatable and believable which is important for productions like this. The young boy who plays Fetcher was an incredible dancer, which was shown in one of the dance rehearsals scenes towards the beginning of the musical. He was amazing and I would say upstaged some of the other dancers. They used the young boy to perform lifts and flips which obviously would have been easier due to the size of the actor. Although, during this scene the character crawled through a table which I believe did not quite fit the rest of the choreography, but this is a minor detail. This character would have primarily involved to provide an ‘awww’ factor as he is the young son of Rachel who gets caught up in the events of the stalker. This did build the sympathy toward Rachel and ‘hatred’ toward the stalker. The stalker (played by Phil Atkinson) was a key character although he is barely on the stage, even when he wasn’t on stage his presence could still be felt. When he was on stage when he is silent and is in almost darkness, which was an extremely effective way to build tension, and it is only in act two that he speaks. The whole presentation (including casting) of this character was perfect and this character-built fear from the audience. Although it was a bit strange that this character spent a lot the time without a top on.
One of the most enjoyable scenes in the whole show was a
karaoke scene not because of dramatic staging, of phenomenal singing or
whatever it was just a fun scene. It opened with three girls drunkenly singing ‘Where
Do Broken Hearts Go’ it was really funny and I felt like I have seen the same
scene in real life. A group of girls singing a popular song like that in
karaoke while ‘butchering’ the song, but the difference was in this show these
actresses were doing it intentionally. This seemed to be a common theme in this
production. Later in this scene, Frank Farmer, the bodyguard (played by Benoit Marechal)
goes onto karaoke to take on Whitney Houston’s ‘I Will Always Love You’ which I
have personally been tempted to do but never have had the guts to due to the
power of the song. However, Frank combated this by ‘talking’ the song, which
had the whole audience rolling in laughter. Which was really nice to see the
softer side of frank. This scene was ended by the iconic song ‘I Have Nothing’
which was beautifully sung by Alexander. Which was obviously sang to and about
Frank as we found out they have an attraction between the two of them.
The final scene of this act was in a club. It revolved
around Frank and Tony Scibeli, the security guard (played by Craig Berry)
protecting Rachel from any potential threats in the club. In this scene the spotlight
illuminates the stalker. This meant my eyes were following the stalker’s track
around the stage, which only added to the tension and drama. IThis scene looked
more like it took place in a nightclub due to the flashing lights and music
rather than a normal club but apart from this the scene was well staged and
executed.
The beginning of Act Two had a big dance number to the song
‘I’m Every Woman’, which is a song I know very well. The dancers in this scene
were excellent and the acrobatics were a spectacle to watch. However, at
certain points in the number there were movements that were supposed to be done
at the same time and were actually out of time with one another. But I really
enjoyed this opening, as its ‘over-the-top ness’ was a perfect way to regain
the excitement after the intermission. There was a few people in the audience
singing along with the music which I personally find great as it shows they are
enjoying the song etc., but I know some people are against this, so this is
worth noting.
In one scene the staging changed from a luxurious mansion to
a log cabin. I really liked the concept of the staging as a log cabin suggest
warmth and safety, which was exactly what it was supposed to do within the
story. The contrasts between these two setting also helped shift the focus from
Rachel and her fame/money etc. to family. This is added to be a heart-warming
rendition of ‘Jesus Loves Me’ between Nicky Marron, Rachel and Fletcher.
Fletcher however did struggle with this song as it is a complex rhythm and
strange vocals but as he was a child this was somewhat ignored. The lights and
effects were continued to be used to make the Stalker actually terrifying as he
appears from nowhere at points and disappears quickly after.
Probably the biggest and best number in the entire
production is the classic ‘I Will Always Love You.’ This song was kept right
until the end to act as an emotional tribute to everything that happened
throughout the narrative. As the earlier ‘rendition’ by Frank in karaoke, was
comical this final number was show stopping. The staging, costume and lights
worked perfectly to add to the emotional nature of the song and Alexander’s
vocals were outstanding. She did change some of the vocal trills from the original,
which were fantastic. During this song there was a montage projected onto the
stage of the Rachel and Frank and their story so far. I found this to be
somewhat distracting from the song and could have done without it, but the
montage was not a cheesy and unnecessary it was heartfelt and emotional. After all this
happened the entire cast sung ‘I Wanna Dance with Somebody.’ This involved
solos from different members of the cast, including the Stalker (which was a
nice inclusion in my opinion), dance sequences and ‘party’ lighting. This was
when the audience were encouraged to sing and dance. The two songs (I Will Always
Love You and I Wanna Dance with Somebody) obviously contrasted each other and
helped cement the pairing of drama and fun.
This production was well thought out and planned. Everything from music, lighting, costumes to props used all worked perfectly together, which was really nice to watch. The production aspects of the show were fantastic and one of the best I have seen. Alexander Burke’s portrayal of the iconic role is on par with Whitney’s (which is high praise) and this a show not to miss.
Laika likes to be grand, go ambitious and portray the unconventional. They latch onto stories about characters that don’t quite fit in and meet other such outsides and plots that take them to unique places. They also are not content with doing what they know they can do, each time they want to be challenged with their craft and artistry in some way. So here is their next feature, Missing Link, a story about an odd pairing if ever there was one and all the other trails and characters they meet along to way for them to reach their goal.
From the
opening, we get a firm understanding of who the main character is and
what kind of adventure we are in for. We open on a footprint of a large
creature, then it wipes to a skinny boot print then the camera glides
above the water of a lake to a little boat, it rises up to a fancy tea
set being poured and then up to the man having it, he complains that
it’s gotten a bit cold. His assistant apologizes but sets things up for
capturing evidence of the Loch Ness Monster. The creature does appear,
with the encouragement of bagpipes, and proceeds to eat the assistant
and dive down, but through some bold adventuring by the gentleman, he
saves his assistant, however, the camera which would have captured proof
of the monster gets smashed.
This gentleman is Sir
Lionel Frost (Hugh Jackman), an explorer of the strange, unique and
often dangerous. Which leads to his latest assistant quitting. While
browsing through his pile of mail he finds one crudely written letter
saying that if they follow their directions then he will find proof of
the legendary Sasquatch.
He goes to the Gentlemen
Explorers Club that is filled with stuffy, pompous, thickly mustached,
or bearded or sideburned old men in black and white suits that gather
around a fireplace and a reminisce about how they shot an animal or
killed some foreign people. They have no interest in granting Frist
membership because he is unconventional and he always failed to bring
back proof of his oddities. So a wager is made, if he can bring back
proof this time then he will be granted membership,
Within
this scene, you can see Laikas talent for not just animation but
comedy. This scene serves as pure exposition, needed to spell out his
motivation and what will be the goals going forward. These scenes are
usually the dullest and slowest parts of any movie unless they are done
right. While these men are standing around talking they really on unique
character movement, visuals and fun inserts of comedy that keep us
looking and listening. This is something essential yet you’d be
surprised at how many movies have these scenes and put nothing unique or
even fun in it to keep you interested.
When he arrives
at the specified location and does indeed find the Sasquatch (Zach
Galifianakis), however, he is most surprised to find out that he is able
to speak, English! Rather well and also that he was the one who wrote
him the letter. The Sasquatch is all alone in the forest, which is being
diminished by trees being cut down, and believes that he has relatives
in the snowy mountains, the yetis! Frost agrees to help him reach his
relatives if he gives him proof of his existence so he can join the
Gentelmens Explorers Club. However the sasquatch needs a name, Frost
suggests Mr. Link which is also humorous because it’s like missing link, the sasquatch doesn’t get it.
Mr.
Link has very little experience with people or interactions of any
kind. He takes things at face value and is very literal so he needs
tuirns of frazes explained to him and if asked to do something he
literally does it. Take one scene when he is passes a rope and a
grappling hook and asked to “Throw this over the wall” he does, all of
it in one go. This is the main type of jokes we get from him and you
eventually get wise to it and they become the weakenst part of the
movie.
While traveling they realize they’ll need a map
of the Himalayas, luckily Frost knows where to find one. Adelina
Fortnight (Zoe Saldana) has it, her and Frost were a couple years ago
but he was more interested in his adventures and so she married his best
friend. As you would expect his just showing up after not being in
contact after years and only doing so to get a map that her late husband
died for does not go over well. But they desperately need it so they
come back in the night to steal it, she isn’t happy of course but she
also realizes she hasn’t been living her life, so this duo becomes a
trio.
It seems like they went for sheer impressive spectacle with Kubo of the Two Strings and here they want to try out some more subtle things. Not to say that this movie is devoiud of a grand ambition or has scope,
far from it, but they want to get smaller details down. Take one scene
that takes place on a boat, theres a conversation between Frost and
Adelina, it’s goining through some harsh waves so it rocks, while the
conversation unfolds the room itsef is swaying ever so gracefully, so
the characters have to adjust their footing to balance and furniture
slides around, sometimes very slowly others abrubtly. Other times when
they have a camera that moves along with the character and shifts angles
when they change direction. All of this must be discussed, planned,
built, painted and then finally animated, one frame at a time. Or other
times when Mr. Link is standing with the wind hitting him and every
chunk of his fur blows in the wind.
Laika operates as Disney did in the old days. Art challenges the technology, technology informs the art. They constantly embrace and seek out the odd and fascinating. Like Mr. Link himself there is nothing else like this movie, flaws yes, but why be safe if you can be bold and beautiful.
What world am I living in? If you wound the clock back to 2012 and say that there’s a new DC cinematic universe coming and Batman and Superman will be the disasters but Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and now Shazam! will be the winners of the bunch, I’d have looked at you like you were bonkers. Yet here we are, a movie about a beloved character from the comics that I’d thought would never get his own movie and if he did it would be forced through that dark or complex filter that DC movies seem to put most of their characters through. I am so happy this is not the case and we’ve got what we got.
Side
note, this character was referred to as “Captain Marvel” for a long
time, but due to legal reasons, it has been changed to Shazam which adds
a whole lot of complications to it. I guess obviously if this movie was
out and Captain Marvel that would lead to a very confused audience, both in the movie theaters and in the comic stores.
The
setting is not of the dark gritty crime-ridden streets of Batman, the
high tech science fiction of Superman, the mythological scale of Wonder
Woman but a realm of magic, as in true fantasy magic, wizards, words,
robes, and staffs. This gives the character and now the movie it’s own
unique tone and personality to distinguish itself amongst its
competition.
Our tale begins on a dark snowy night
where a little boy is in the back of a car and his father is driving and
elder brother is in the front. The elder brother and father clearly
get along and care very little for him. But suddenly the little boy is
transported to a deep cave with statues and an old man with a long
beard, covered in long robes and holding a staff. This old man is a
wizard (Djimon Housou)
that offers this little boy great power, but the statues (that
represent the seven deadly sins) tempt the boy to take an evil eye, this
was a test and he has failed so he is cast out. Back to his old,
loveless relatives.
We are then taken to years later
and a little boy is at a carnival with his mother, trying to win him a
toy tiger. She can’t win the tiger but does get him a compass. While
walking through the crowd the two get separated, the boy is taken in by
the police and his mother never comes for him, he is alone. Skipping
again to years later, now present day and the boy has grown up a few
years into an early teenager and his name is Bill Batson (Ashner Angel),
he’s been in and out of foster homes for years always looking for his
mother. Now he is in Philadelphia and put into another home. This one of
the Vazquez, who have adopted many foster children. One of which is
Freddy (Zack Dylan Grazer) who requires a crutch to walk but certainly
never lets that get his spirits down.
Now in the
present, the little boy in the car has grown up to become Dr. Thaddeus
Sivana (Mark Strong). he has been searching for years for a way to get
back into that mysterious realm of the wizard, fortunately for him he
has now found it and takes the dark power for himself, unleashing the
seven deadly sins from captivity and upon the world. So now we have our
villain!
So, in his desperation, Billy Batson is taken to the cave and offered the power f the wizard known as Shazam! The powers are mean
to be bestowed on a person with a pure heart but Billy is simply a good
enough person. So when he speaks the wizards name a bolt of lightning
hits him and he is transformed into a full grown man in his very own
super suit, light up logo, cape and everything.
It
is the casting of Zachary Levi as Shazam that is the cornerstone for
the movie’s success. He is so unashamedly a big kid, from his energy to
his broad expressions you believe that there is a child working this
adult body.
This movie takes place in the winter and
within the gray streets of a city, but it is the characters clothing
that makes them pop. Each character has their main color, Billy is red,
Freddy is blue, another is purple, another is green and the villain
wears black. This is a color move and a stylized superhero one so
naturally, people are color-coordinated.
So now
that he has been granted the body of an adult and has superpowers what
to do now? Test them out! In a montage set to Queens Don’t Stop Me Now
where Billy along with Freddy test out his new body and see what its
capable of. This sequence is for the audience to learn what powers
Shazam has too as well as a simple serving of fun. These are children
that have been handed these amazing abilities, of course, this is how
they’d go about it.
This movie knows what it wants
to be. It knows that it wants to tell a superhero story from the
perspective of a child that isn’t taking this all too seriously so
neither are the filmmakers. It knows to insert it’s tongue firmly in its
cheek. However, this is probably the movie the be the most emotionally
heavy, some filmmakers believe that dark equals emotional, it does not,
something does not have to be dark it just needs to mean something of
great importance to the characters and for you to be able to connect to
it. If it’s all dark then it’s just unpleasant, but with the right
amount of balancing between colorful and heavy emotional moments, then
you have a truly whole experience.
As a fan of
Superman and Batman, I am saddened by them getting poor treatment
movies, but they have already had their good treatments and left their
cinematic mark. It is time for new characters to get their time in the
sun and for people to learn about their unique mythos and characters. I
wholeheartedly embrace the renaissance of the underdog superheroes
getting the treatment they deserve. This movie is fun, dark, emotional
and well crafted, like an Ablin movie at their peak. R
Grief is a powerful emotion. It can cause the most crippling loneliness and make us seek out all possible alternatives to fill the gap that is left when a loved one is gone. But what would it take to bring something back and if they do come back, will they ever be the same? This is the main theme running through Pet Sematary, one of Stephen Kings most acclaimed and celebrated works.
Like
nearly all horror movies this opens with a family, in a car, moving to a
new home. There is the father Louis (Jason Clarke), his wife Rachel
(Amy Seimetz), daughter Ellie (Jete Laurence), son Gage (Hugo and Lucas
Lavourie) and cat Church, these are the Creeds. They are moving away
from the city to Maine where life is less busy and simpler. They arrive
at their new home and take it in along with the forest behind it, that
is cut short when a speeding truck rushes pasts them.
One day while walking through the forest they hear a bang of some kind, then they see children walking inline, one has a little drum, they all have masks of animals on and one is pushing a wheelbarrow with a dead dog in it. They follow the children and see that a few trees have a spiral carved into them and they come to a place called “Pet Sematary” where the local children bury their departed pets. This is when we also meet Jud (John Lithgow). An old man that lives in the house next to them, he’s lived around here all his life and knows about some of the ancient traditions and lore of the land. He quickly becomes a friend to the family.
One day Jud needs to have a private word
with Louis, Church has been killed in a road accident. They decided to
keep it from Ellie deciding to tell her that he ran away. They go to
bury him amongst the other pets but Jud says he knows a better place to
bury him. So they climb a wall of trees behind the cemetery, walks
through a swamp and climb up to a hilltop where he tells Louis to bury
Church and mark it with stones. The next day Louis and Rachel tell Ellie
about Church but she says he hasn’t run away, he came back yesterday,
he’s in her closet right now, which indeed he is.
We
learn that, for whatever reason, when you bury something in that hilltop
they come back. There are ancient folklores about a creature called the
Windego and other stories and theories but it doesn’t matter, the cat
has returned, but not the same, more violent. And so begins the whole
macabre affair and the ultimate sentence of the movie “Sometimes dead,
is better.”
This is a world of old, dark trees, where
mist rolls in and things can emerge and disappear within it, where much
is primitive so crosses and signs are held together with knots. it
invokes an ancient, ritualistic atmosphere to the whole movie. But keeps
it’s shaping simple so they are easily recognizable and can become
symbols for the movie.
King wouldn’t be so celebrated
if his work didn’t have some kind of merit. He has produced his share of
goofy or even not very good products but he is still undeniably a man
of talent. He works best when he creates characters with deep emotional
problems and a situation that highlights human insecurities and layers
it with something supernatural. This is such a material.
As an adaptation, I cannot speak for because at the time of writing this I have yet to read the book. However, I don’t believe this is a detriment to my ability to review the movie. A product should be able to stand on its own, a novelisation of a play should be perfectly enjoyable as it is and not have to depend on its source material. This is a complete story as it is, there may be more details in the book and it may, in fact, be the more well crafted and better version of this tale or maybe the movie improves upon it, I don’t know but either way, it doesn’t matter.
Ironically I recently reviewed Us and wrote
about how horror at its best is not like a hatchet but like a scalpel.
Well, I would say that there are moments of shock within this movie and
they did indeed make me jump with fright. This isn’t the worst thing but
it won’t age the movie well, shocks work once and maybe two more times
after initial watching but after that, you know what’s coming and can
prepare yourself for them. What lingers with you in horror movie, or
really just movies in general, is the buildup and the unseen and the
feeling of dread and anticipation before anything happens. This has
those and they rely upon what the characters have said, the sound and
the unseen before something comes out of the dark and goes bang.
This is a horror movie with a chilling concept at its center, some creepy visuals and terrifying moments, other times when it just goes all out and yells at you with something gross on-screen. King fans will either like it or nitpick the way the material was handled. But from the acting to the production, to the sound and even the ideas that fester within you afterward, I say this is a solid piece of work.
Two sisters, one is already the Queen of England, the other, younger to be the Queen of Scotland. They could have both ruled peacefully throughout but pride and the manipulation and other greedy men forced conflict and led to the death of one. Mary Queen of Scots tells the story of Queen Mary (Saoirse Ronan), her arrival in Scotland and most of the events that lead to her execution, that wasn’t a spoiler, by the way, its the scene that opens the movie.
Mary’s boat
pulls in on the isle of Scotland and her and her followers set up in a
castle. Greeting her is the Erl of Moray (James McArdle) her half
brother, also there is John Knox (David Tennant) the protestant cleric,
he is against Mary taking up the throne because she is Catholic and
after he makes this very clear and shows her little to no respect she
dismisses him from her court.
As portraits and
historical accounts tell us Mary was a great beauty and Elizabeth had
harsher features. This is how they play it in the movie but we can
clearly see that Margot Robbie is a very attractive woman in her own
right. Even after she suffers an illness
and has to be caked in heavy gaudy makeup we can still see through that
and know she is beautiful. This is a case of the movie saying one thing
while we can clearly see that this isn’t the case. To Robbie’s credit,
this is a role where she challenges herself and does something
different. Throughout her career, she has not been content with simply
relying on being one thing. She made her name as a sex bomb in The Wolf of Wall Street, became the bouncing mad Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad, a manic colorful killer in Terminal and a very rough around the edges figure skater in I, Tonya.
She is usually the best thing in whatever movie she’s in even if the
movie is less than stellar. Her she plays the iconic queen that was by
all accounts fastidious and kept composure at all costs, along with her
flawless English accent this is another notch on her impressive and
diverse filmography.
All the actors are very good here.
These are accomplished actors that have to go through multiple moods
within the movie, except for Tennant who is a grumpy bearded man
throughout. They adjust themselves depending on who they are talking to.
Whether they are talking to an equal, someone below them, someone
they’re attracted to or someone who’s trust they are trying to gain and
after they’ve gained it speak to them differently.
For
the historical accuracy of the movie I cannot attest to, it is one of
the many periods I have a blank space on. I know a little but not in any
way to call foul on. However I do not believe that matters so much,
history is history and a movie needs to tell its story, for as much
historical accuracy as we can get seek out of book or documentary. I
have no issue with a movie taking the overall tale that really happened
and tweaking it for narrative purposes, only when they insult the spirit
of the real people or make something so different that they might as
well have just made something original, to begin with. There is a scene
near the end which I know is completely fictitious but it’s fine because
it serves as a correct narrative climax.
In the end,
things are said and we end on the black card with white text that reads
to us what happened afterward. These characters and this world never
really seems to come alive, striking cinematography and intricate
costumes and hair, but it’s all show. The elements for a good movie are
here, it just needs a breath of life within it.
Creating opportunities for a diverse range of people to experience and respond to sport, arts, culture and live events. / Lleisiau amrywiol o Gymru yn ymateb i'r celfyddydau a digwyddiadau byw
(3.5 / 5)
(4 / 5)
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(4.5 / 5)
