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weekendwarriorblog · 4 years

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The Weekend Warrior - BLOODSHOT, THE HUNT, I STILL BELIEVE and more!

Since this is gonna be a pretty busy weekend with four … oops, make that three wide releases, I’m just gonna get right into it, and discuss last weekend’s movies down below. Cool?

Of the three new releases, it’s likely that all three of them will make somewhere between $10 and 20 million, although I could see a couple of them ending up on the lower side of that number. All of them have some intriguing pluses and minuses.

Up until last weekend, the STXfilms family action-comedy MY SPY, starring former WWE wrestler (and soon-to-be WWE Hall of Fame inductee) David Bautista, was being dumped on this weekend after being delayed numerous times. This past Saturday it was moved again… to April 17, so one less movie to write about this week… yay!

First up is the very first movie based on a Valiant Comics character as BLOODSHOT (Sony) comes to theaters with none other than Vin Diesel playing soldier Roy Garrison, who has been brought back to life using power-enhancing nanotech that turns him into an assassin for the RST Corporation, led by Guy Pearce.

Directed by David Wilson, co-founder of Blur Studios with Deadpooldirector Tim Miller, the movie also stars Eiza Gonzalez (Baby Driver), Sam Heughan from Outlander, and Toby Kebbell from lots of stuff, including the “Planet of the Apes” movies (he performance-captured the villainous Koba), and yes, Kebbell was also Victor Doom in the most recent Fantastic Four movie.

This is one of the weekend’s more interesting offerings, firstly because it’s the second comic book movie of the year (if you don’t include Sonic the Hedgehog), but because as I said above, this is the first movie based on a Valiant Comics property. Valiant was founded by former Marvel Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter in 1989, beginning by reviving and updating a number of popular Gold Key characters like Magnus, Robot Fighterand Solar, Man of the Atom. Bloodshot was created in 1992 by Valiant co-founder Bob Layton along with Kevin Van Hook and artist Don Perlin, and the character became quite popular while going through several incarnations. It wasn’t until 2005 when a group of entrepeneurs, including Dinesh Shamdasani, bought the rights to the Valiant properties where things started moving forward with a relaunch of Valiant Comics in 2012 as well as development on a number of movies including BloodshotGetting Vin Diesel on board helped move the project forward as Diesel had revived popularity due to returning to the Fast and Furious franchise.

Obviously, the success of Bloodshot relies entirely on Diesel and his popularity, although his movies outside the “Fast and Furious” ones haven’t exactly made big waves. Sure, he’s had a few other franchises like the Riddick character originated in 2000’s Pitch Black with director David Twohy, but the 2013 Riddick only made $42 million, just a little more than the first movie. There’s also the Xander Cage character Diesel created for 2002’s xXx, just a year after the original The Fast and the Furious.

Diesel’s return to that character in 2017 with xXx: The Return of Xander Cage did just slightly better than Riddick four years earlier. The point is that Diesel just hasn’t been able to sell other characters which brings us to 2015’s The Last Witch Hunter, an attempt by Diesel to introduce a new character to his fans, and that opened with just $10.8 million.

Granted, I’m not sure that there are that many Bloodshot and Valiant fans compared to the comics from Warners and DC, and even with Neal Moritz’s production company (which just had a hit with that aforementioned Sonic movie) behind Bloodshot, I’m not sure it will get fans excited, especially with its more cerebral take on superheroics.

I’d like to be more excited about the movie, but opening this weekend against The Hunt (see below) and Blumhouse’s The Invisible Man still doing decent business, I just don’t see this opening north of $15 million. Hopefully I’m wrong, as I would truly like to see more Valiant movies.

My Review of Bloodshot

The movie that might offer the biggest competition for Bloodshot and possibly could sideline it and maybe even beat it this weekend is THE HUNT, the latest film from Blumhouse’s deal with Universal. The movie was originally supposed to be released last September but was delayed due to the controversial content. On the surface, The Hunt, directed by Craig Zobel (Compliance) is about a group of rich people that are hunting a group of “deplorables,” an interesting premise written by Damon Lindelof and Nick Cuse (son of Lost co-creator Carlton Cuse), who have found success together with HBO’s The Leftovers and Watchmen.

The movie stars Betty Gilpin from Netflix’s "Glow,” Ike Barinholtz from various comedies and even Glen Howerton from “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” It also stars Emma Roberts, who has done a lot of genre stuff, and two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank, who hasn’t. It’s definitely an interesting cast but like many horror movies, this one is more about its premise and whether it interests moviegoers.

The problem I see in The Hunt is that it’s so political in terms of being a battle between liberals and conservatives that might just be too on point with what people get from watching CNN or other 24-hours news cycles, so why would they want to see this brought into their entertainment? Barinholtz should definitely know this as his politically-tinged directorial debut The Oath, which only made $401,000 a few years back despite an attempt by distributor Roadside Attractions to open it wider than the 300 theaters it got.

The Hunt may have the advantage of opening on Friday the 13thwhere many moviegoers like going to see horror movies, but why would they go see this over Blumhouse’s other offering, The Invisible Man, which has been much better received?

We’ll see how the reviews go – you can read mine below--but the fact this was delayed and then put into this weekend less than a month back didn’t give Universal much time to market it, and the best they’ve been able to do is try to build on the controversy. In any other instance, I could see this making $15 million or more, but because of the circumstances that surround this movie’s tougher sell, it will probably make somewhere between $10 and 12 million.

Mini-Review: To say that it’s difficult to talk about The Hunt without potentially spoiling everything that makes it such a surprising and clever premise would be a huge understatement. What writers Damon Lindelof and Nick Cuse have done along with director Craig Zobel (Compliance) is an amazing twist on Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game” pulled writhing and screaming into the country’s current political climate. That last bit might decide who loves and who absolutely loathes this movie, but there’s no question that everyone will have an opinion, either good or bad, with few able to be outright indifferent about the movie.

The basic premise, if you hadn’t heard or seen any marketing, is that a group of very wealthy people have kidnapped a group of people with plans to hunt them down. Before we get to the hunted, we see texts between a few of the hunters talking about “the hunt,” “the manor” and their upcoming (seemingly annual) plans. We then meet few of them in person on a private jet to “the manor” before we meet the “contestants,” a group of a dozen individuals seemingly from disparate backgrounds, many of whom are quickly picked off in exceedingly gory ways.

The key player on the side of the hunted is Betty (“Glow”) Gilpin’s Crystal, a Southern woman seemingly with a military background who seems to be up to the task of fighting back more than some of the others in the group.

That’s all I’m gonna say about the general plot and premise because where The Hunt excels is in the number of twists it throws at the viewer. That’s actually something I realized that I liked about Blumhouse’s Fantasy Island on a recent rewatch in that it seems like a simple enough premise but there are enough twists and surprises that it keeps you guessing, and that’s the same with The Hunt.

The thing about The Hunt is that I don’t see it so much as horror but as violent political satire because the fact that the hunters and hunted come from opposite sides of the political aisle and there is no clear “side,” so to speak. In that sense, it reminds me a bit of Ike Barinholtz’s own directorial debut The Oathwhere it’s snarky and sardonic humor though in this case with more action and violence. The hunters are extremely left-leaning liberals always trying to be conscientious to social justice and equality… but also wantonly killing people, so no heroes there. And the hunted aren’t politically correct and are labelled as “deplorables” although even the most liberal viewer might find themselves rooting for them.

What’s interesting is that this premise is shared somewhat by the recent Brazilian drama Bacurau, but I generally like how The Hunt handles things, more because I somewhat thought I knew what to expect going in with the latter and only partially was correct.

While Gilpin is fantastic throughout, it’s when she finally confronts Hilary Swank in the film’s big climax where you realize that the filmmakers were building up to something quite amazing. Unfortunately, few of the other actors get enough screen time to please any of their fans.

There’s no question that The Hunt won’t be for everyone, and I wish I could discuss it at further length in terms of which parts might click with viewers and which might lose them completely. Either way, it’s worth a look just by how daring it is for a studio film in these times when everyone is on edge, ready to be outraged about anything and everything.

Rating: 7/10

The third offering this weekend, which stands a good chance at doing even better than the other two movies above is the faith-based drama I STILL BELIEVE (Lionsgate), which stars the popular K.J. Apa from the CW show Riverdaleand Britt Robertson, who is just a great up and coming actor who actually starred opposite George Clooney in another Lindelof-penned movie, Disney’s Tomorrowland. Robertson also starred in the attempted young adult sci-fi romance The Space Between Us a few years back before shifting to television, including Netflix’s Girlboss.

The movie is based on the real-life story of country singer Jeremy Camp (played by Apa), who built his career around Christian music and the faith he relied upon after his young wife (played by Robertson) was diagnosed with cancer. Camp won five gospel awards and received a number of music nominations but his title song “I Still Believe” from his 2004 debut album was popular enough that it got the attention of the filmmaking Erwin Brothers, Andrew and Jon, who had a bit hit with I Can Only Imagine, which grossed an astounding $83 million after a $17.1 million opening in March 2018. Their earlier film Woodlawn didn’t do as well, making just $14.3 million total, but clearly, Lionsgate are full behind the filmmakers behind their 2018 faith-based hit and hoping I Still Believe can bring in the same sized audience.

Not really being in tune with the Christian audiences, it’s hard for me to judge how the marketing is being received, as I personally haven’t seen a single commercial, but I have to imagine the popularity of Camp and Apa as the lead on Riverdale should be enough for the movie to bring in $13 to 15 million or maybe even more for a strong second place. The movie will screen for regional critics outside New York and L.A. since those blue state cities are clearly filled with agnostic heathens who won’t give the movie a chance, but I’m not sure reviews will make much difference either way.

Onward shouldn’t have a problem holding onto a lead in the top 10 with over $20 million despite the weaker than expected opening, and Ben Affleck’s The Way Back should hold on decently but still end up pushed out of the top 5 by new movies. We’ll have to see how either of them fare in the long run especially with next week’s A Quiet Place Part 2. There’s also the matter of the panic around the country about the corona virus, so we’ll see if that’s still in effect. Otherwise, I Still Believehas the strongest chances at besting both Bloodshotand The Hunt, which will likely be cannibalizing each other’s business.

This week’s Top 10 should look something like this…

1. Onward (Disney-Pixar) - $24.5 million -38%

2. I Still Believe (Lionsgate) - $13 million N/A (down $1 million)*

3. Bloodshot (Sony) - $12.5 million N/A (down $1.5 million)*

4. The Hunt (Universal) - $10.5 million N/A (down .5 million)*

5. The Invisible Man (Universal) - $8.5 million -44%

6. The Way Back (Warner Bros.) - $5.2 million -37%

7. Sonic the Hedgehog (Paramount) - $4.3 million -44%

8. The Call of the Wild (20th Century) - $4 million -41%

9. Emma. (Focus Features) - $2.9 million -40%

10. Bad Boys for Life (Sony) - $2 million -35%

*UPDATE: We’re clearly in new and strange times with the few week’s movies being postponed, delayed and maybe some eventually cancelled, but we saw that this weekend as many of the new movies lost theater counts from the estimates earlier in the week with Bloodshot not even getting 3,000 theaters. And expect it to get worse when theaters start shutting down which may even happen this weekend

LIMITED RELEASES

Due to a last minute scheduling change, this week’s “FEATURED FILM” is now going to Eliza Hittman’s fantastic drama NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS (Focus Features), a smaller indie that might have a difficult to remember title, but it’s a title you’ll never mess up after seeing it in context in the film. It stars young newcomers Sidney Flanigan and Talia Ryder, as Autumn and her cousin Skylar, who travel from Pennsylvania into New York City when the former gets an unwanted pregnancy and has to get an abortion away from her judgmental community. This really was a riveting film with a very simple premise that’s driven by the performances of the two young actors. It reminded me of two other indies, Lodge Kerrigan’s 2004 film Keane, starring Damian Lewis and Abigail Breslin, which also takes place at the Port Authority where much of NRSA takes place, and Julia Loktev’s Day Night Day Night, which similarly follows the journey of a teen girl who is sent into Times Square as a suicide bomber. Like I said, it begins as a very simple tale but watching the two young girls having to deal with being in New York with no money really makes it quite a heartbreaking journey to watch. HIttman finds a way to tell this story sans pathos and the drama always comes from a real place.

Sally Potter returns with her new movie THE ROADS NOT TAKEN (Bleecker Street), a character drama starring Javier Bardem and Elle Fanning as father and daughter, Fanning playing Molly, a young woman who needs to check in on her father Leo, who is suffering from some form of Alzheimer’s or dementia – it’s never made clear what is going on with him – but it leaves him speechless with limited mobility and therefore a difficult person to manage for Molly. As we watch her trying to bring him to routine dentist and eye doctor visits, the film flashes back to Leo’s past with his early love Dolores, played by Salma Hayek, and later in life. I have to be honest that I’m not 100% sure I understood what was going on since as with much of Potter’s work, its very arty, relying less on narrative or storytelling than mood and tone, but I did love Bardem and Fanning’s performance, and there’s a small appearance by Laura Linney as Molly’s mother that’s also great. So yeah, apparently, this is the year that I not only begin to appreciate Kelly Reichardt (with her current film First Cow) but also Sally Potter. I was particularly impressed with the film’s score and only realized with this film that Potter always does the music for her films.

Inside the Rain (Act 13/Killer Films) is a really interesting feature directorial debut from Aaron Fisher, in which he plays college film student Benjamin Glass, who suffers from ADHD, OCD and borderline personality disorders and is also bipolar, referring to himself as “recklessly extravagant.” When his illnesses lead to a possible drug overdose, the dean of the college decides to give Ben the boot, but he decides to use his filmmaking skills to make a film to fight the dean’s decision. Along the way, he meets a sex worker (Ellen Toland) who he convinces to be in his movie although he starts developing a crush on her. What’s interesting about Fisher’s film is that a lot of it is based on personal stories since he himself suffers from personality disorder and is bipolar, but he decided to use his talents to inform others on what it’s like to dealing with these issues, getting the likes of Rosie Perez and Eric Roberts to be a part of the cast. I’m not sure this movie will be for everyone, but I think it’s quite a brave effort by Fisher which I hope people will check out. It opens at New York’s Village East on Friday and in L.A. on March 20 and other citieson March 27. (For the sake of transparency, I helped with some of the publicity work on this film.)

Opening in select theaters this Friday and then streaming on Hulu next Friday is Jason Orley’s Big Time Adolescence (NEON), starring Pete Davidson from “Saturday Night Live” and Griffin Gluck, the latter playing 16-year-old Mo, a mostly innocent guy who is trying to navigate high school with the guidance of his best friend and college drop-out Zeke (Davidson). When Zeke starts teaching Mo untraditional life lessons about dating, partying and drug dealing, causing Mo’s father (Jon Cryer) to realize he needs to step in. The movie premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Famke Janssen star in Danis Tanovic’s thriller The Postcard Killings (RLJE Films), based on James Patterson and Liza Marklund’s best-selling novel with Morgan playing New York Detective Jacob Kanon, whose daughter and son-in-law are killed in London. As Jacob starts learning about a series of journalist murders in Europe, each one preceded by a postcard, he goes after the killer to get justice for his daughter. As with most RLJE films, it will get a limited theatrical release and be On Demand and digital.

Australian actor Rachel Griffiths makes her directorial debut with Ride Like a Girl (Saban Films/Paramount), based on the true story of the first female horse jockey to win the 2015 Melbourne Cup, Michelle Payne, as played by the wonderful Teresa Palmer. Sam Neill plays Michelle’s father Paddy who supports her when she decides to leave school as a teenager to become a jockey, overcoming tragedy and a nearly fatal fall along the way. The movie will open in select theaters (including New York’s Village East) as well as On Demand and Digital this Friday.

Cindy Meehl’s The Dog Doc (a somewhat self-explanatory title there?) will open at New York’s Quad Cinema this Friday and at the Laemmle Royalin L.A. next Friday, March 20. It takes a look at veterinarian Dr. Marty Goldstein whose practice at the Smith Ridge Veterinary Center where he treats animals using holistic care.

Meanwhile Adam Bolt’s doc Human Nature (Greenwich), opening in New York and L.A., deals with the breakthrough and controversial medical process known as CRISPR which looks at how DNA can be changed from before birth to avoid diseases and even be used to “design our children.” The film talks to the scientists behind CRISPR and how it will change our relationship with nature and evolution. (Note: The Village East Cinema has a lot of amazing guests talking about the movie and its implications over the next week, including the one and only Dan Rather!)

Last up is Philip Harder’s Tuscaloosa (Cinedigm), based on the Southern novel by W. Glasgow Phillips, which takes place in Alabama, 1972 with Devon Bostick playing Billy, a young man who falls for a patient at his father’s mental asylum (played by Natalia Dyer from “Stranger Things”). At the same time, Billy’s best friend becomes involved in the civil rights movement against Tuscaloosa’s power elite. Having premiered at the Nashville Film Festival last Fall, this hits select theaters, VOD and Digital HD this Friday.

REPERTORY

Besides the usual repertory theater offerings in New York and L.A. (listed below), select AMC theaters will be screening the horror classic The Exorcist on Friday night as part of the “She Is Risen” lead-up to A24’s upcoming horror film Saint Maud. This will continue over the next few Fridays until an advance preview of Saint Maud on Wednesday, April 1.

METROGRAPH (NYC):

Let’s see what’s going on at my favorite local NY theater. Well, first of all, the Metrograph will be screening Satoshi Kon’s fantastic 2003 film Tokyo Godfathers over the weekend and probably into next week. (Saturday afternoon will be the only English-dubbed screening of the movie with an intro by voice actor Shakina Nayfack!) This Friday night will be a screening of Michael Mann’s 1992 movie Last of the Mohicans, starring the great Daniel Day-Lewis, as part of its “Academy at Metrograph” series.This weekend’s “Late Nites at Metrograph“ is John Waters’ Cry Baby (1990), starring Johnny Depp, while “Metrograph Matinees” will present James Neilson’ sci-fi satire Moon Pilot (1962).

ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE BROOKLYN (NYC)

Tonight’s “Weird Wednesday” is the 1985 action film Swords of Heaven (already sold out, sorry!) Next Monday is the latest in the Alamo’s “Remakes and Hot Takes” series with Eddie Murphy’s 1996 film The Nutty Professor. A day later, my pal Ted Geoghegan is showing another esoteric offering for “Terror Tuesday,” with 1990’s Death Spa, and the Alamo is also doing a “The Departed St. Patrick’s Day Dinner” also as part of the “Remakes and Hot Takes” series but this one with a special St. Patrick’s Day menu. Next week’s “Weird Wednesday” is the 1985 aerobics movie Perfect, starring John Travolta and Jamie Lee Curtis.

Over in L.A., the Alamo Drafthouse Downtown L.A.will screen Bobcat Goldthwait’s 2011 movie God Bless America as the “Weird Wednesday” tonight with Joe Lynch and Adam Green filming an episode of their “The Movie Crypt” podcast after the screening. (Sadly, it’s already sold out.) Thursday’s screening of Michael Mann’s 2006 Miami Vice movie is also sold out, unfortunately. Saturday’s “Champagne Cinema” is the comedy classic Bridesmaids. Sunday’s “Remakes and Hot Takes” is the 1996 The Birdcage (two shows sold out!) and then later that night, John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982) gets two screenings, one which is sold out. Monday evening is a “Billy Madison Quote-along” which should be fun, while L.A. does its own “The Departed St. Patrick’s Day Dinner” Tuesday and its “Terror Tuesday” is 1962’s Carnival of Soulswith the wonderful Alicia Malone from Turner Classic Movies. Next week’s “Weird Wednesday” is two screenings of 1994’s Tammy and the T-Rexwith Paul Scheer at the 9pm screening.

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

Weds’ “Afternoon Classic” matinee is Clint Eastwood’s The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), while the Weds/Thurs cross-dressing double feature is La Cage Aux Folles (1978) and Blake Edwards’ Victor/Victoria (1982). This Friday’s “Freaky Friday” is appropriatelyJason X (2001)with screenwriter Todd Farmer in person. Friday and Saturday night, there’s an awesome double feature of Edgar Wright’s Hot Fuzz(2007) with Benny Chan’s 1996 Hong Kong film Big Bullet. Saturday night’s midnight is the Malcolm McDowell debut, O, Lucky Man! (1973) while the Kiddee Matinee continues the Harry Potter run with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. Saturday and Sunday also sees this month’s “Cartoon Club” offerings. The Sunday/Monday double feature is two movies starring Barbara Stanwyk, The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947) and The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1932). Monday’s matinee is New Jack City, starring Wesley Snipes. The Tuesday night Grindhouse double feature is the action movies Zebra Force (1976) and Bare Knuckles (1977).

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

“Noir City: Hollywood” continues through the week with The Long Haul(1957) and Black Gravel (1961) on Wednesday, The Naked City (1948) and Hardly a Criminal (1949)on Thursday, and then the double feature of Gun Crazy (1950) and Pale Flower (1964) on Friday. The “End of History: The Cinema of Lav Diaz” continues Sat. with 2014’s From What Is Before, and “Noir City: Hollywood” has an all-day five film marathon all in 35mm with 1947’s Out of the Past, The Guiltyand High Tide, and The Prowlerand Try and Get Mefrom 1951. Sunday’s matinee double feature as part of “Noir City: Hollywood” is Portrait of Jennie (1948) and Girl with Hyacinths (1950) and then that night is The Spiritualist (1948) and In the Palm of Your Hand (1949). In other words, if you’re a fan of film noir and you live in L.A. and you’re not spending at least a few hours at the Egyptian this week, then I’m not sure what to tell ya.

AERO (LA):

Greg Proops Film Club presents Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 film High and Lowon Weds. night, and then Thursday’s matinee (free to members!) is Truffaut’s The 400 Blows. The “Woman Film Editors: An Assembly” series begins on Thursday with Paul Thomas nderson’s Punch Drunk Love (2002) and Barry Jenkins’ Oscar Best Picture Schmoonlight(2016). The series continues Friday with a double feature of George Lucas’ American Graffiti (1973) and Francis Ford Coppola’s The Outsiders (1983), while the Saturday double feature is Soderbergh’s Out of Sight and Tarantino’s Jackie Brown with Michael Keaton playing the same character in both of them! Sunday is a special DCP screening of Cecil B. Demille’s nearly four-hour The Ten Commandments (1956)!

FILM FORUM (NYC):

The series “The Women Behind Hitchcock” continues with Hitchcock’s 1950 film Stage Fright and the Joan Harrison-written 1944 film Dark Waters on Wednesday, as well as Young and Innocent and The Passing of the Third Floor Back, plus a lot more through the weekend. Honestly, the best thing to do is click on the title link above for the full schedule. This weekend’s “Film Forum Jr.” is the Marx Brothers film Go West from 1940.

MOMA (NYC):

This week’s Modern Matinees: CicelyTysonscreenings are 1981’s Bustin’ Looseon Weds, Tyler Perry’s 2006 movie Madea’s Family Reunionon Thursday and 1974’s The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittmanon Friday. In Character: Daniel Craig

Continues this week with Matthew Vaughn’s 2004 Layer Cake on Weds, Sam Mendes’ The Road to Perdition (2002) and Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) on Thursday, Roger Michell’s Enduring Love (2004) on Saturday, as well as the 2012 Bond film Skyfall (also directed by Mendes) and then Spielberg’s Munich on Sunday.

FILM AT LINCOLN CENTER (NYC):

This week begins the series “Mapping Bacurau” with movies that influenced the filmmakers of the Brazilian film Bacurau. The films include Paul Morrissey’s 1974 film Blood for Dracula, Carlos Diegues 1980 film Bye Bye Brazil, Sergio Corbucci’s 1970 film Compañeros, Sergio Leone’s Duck, You Sucker! (1972) and more that will extend over the next two weeks.

NITEHAWK CINEMA (NYC):

At Williamsburgthe Friday midnight movie is Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter from 1984 and then the Saturday matinee is the 1982 sci-fi classic Tron. Also Saturday afternoon, the “Uncaged” series continues with 1992’s Honeymoon in Vegas. For St. Patrick’s Day on Tuesday, Prospect Park will be playing the 1993 horror film Leprechaun.

IFC CENTER (NYC)

In preparation for the release of Hirokazu Kore-Eda’s French film The Truthnext week, IFC Center is doing a one-week retrospective called “Family Portraits: The Films of Hirokazu Kore-Eda” beginning with After Life andMaborosion Thursday, Shopliftersand Like Father, Like Sonon Friday and more through the weekend, including a sneak preview of The Truthon Saturday night. Weekend Classics: Luis Buñuelis taking another week off, but Waverly Midnights: Hindsight is 2020s will screen 2000’s Mission to Mars and Late Night Favorites: Winter 2020also takes the weekend off.

ANTHOLOGY FILM ARCHIVES (NYC)

At the East Village’s primary rep theater, the current “1995: The Year the Internet Broke” continues through Thursday with single screenings of Kathryn Bigelow’s Strange Days (Weds), and Johnny Mnemonic andGhost in the Shell(the original Anime) on Thursday. Neil Jordan’s Breakfast on Plutoalso screens again on Thursday.

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

“See It Big! Outer Space” continues on Saturday with a screening of Andrzej Żuławski’s 1988 movie On the Silver Globe followed by a Masterclass with cinematographer Andrzej Jaroszewicz.

QUAD CINEMA (NYC):

Cane River continues through Thursday, although at this writing, there doesn’t seem to be any repertory stuff this weekend.

BAM CINEMATEK (NYC):

Charlie Chaplin’s 1936 film Modern Times will screen on Sunday afternoon as part of BAM’s “BAMkids Movie Matinees.”

ROXY CINEMA (NYC)

A few more recent Nicolas Cage movies will play this week, last year’s Mandy on Wednesday and the more recent Color Out of Space on Thursday.

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART (LA):

The Friday midnight movie is the 1990 horror sequel Child’s Play 2.

STREAMING AND CABLE

There is new stuff on Netflix this week but nothing I really know much about: the first season of Norwegian anthology series “Bloodride,” the third season of something called “Elite,” although I’m kind of interested in Liz Garbus’ Lost Girls, starring Amy Ryan. You know what? Other than getting the trailer in January, I have heard absolutely nothing about this movie, so I guess if Netflix doesn’t want their movies covered, that’s just fine by me.

Premiering on Disney+ this Friday is Star Girl, the new romantic drama directed by Julia Hart (last year’s Fast Color), starring Grace VanderWaal as Stargirl Caraway, a colorful new girl at school that captures the interest of Graham Verchere’s Leo Borlock. That’s about all I know about it.

Next week, it’s John Krasinski’s horror sequel A Quiet Place: Part 2!

By the way, if you read this week’s column and have read this far down, feel free to drop me some thoughts at Edward dot Douglas at Gmail dot Com or send me a note on Twitter. I love hearing from readers!

#TheHunt Bloodshot Movies Reviews IStillBelieve NeverRarelySometimesAlways

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sylvieons · 7 years

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Fandom meme tagged by @nyx4 and @cleoselene xoxo which took me 90 years to finish but it’s HARD OKAY thinking is hard

A: Your current OTP. Jace/Alec from Shadowhunters. Apparently this makes me problematic but I don't care

B: A pairing you initially didn’t consider but someone changed your mind. This is hard because if I started watching a show because of someone they typically told me their ship ahead of time and then I was looking for it. So I guess the closest I can come up with is that I lowkey ship Sephiroth/Genesis from Final Fantasy because of @nyx4 but I've never played the game

C: A pairing you wish you shipped, but just can't. Arthur/Merlin from Merlin. Everyone always went so over the top with Merthur, and I shipped it for a few seconds but I never really liked Arthur so it was hard to care.

D: What was the first thing you ever contributed to a fandom? An X-Files fanfic uploaded to Gossamer titled, embarrassingly enough, "My Immortal" to which I attached my real name. I was 14 or 15 and therefore very stupid. (I have since had this and another removed from the site, thankfully). I also handed this fic into my English teacher to read. Even more embarrassing. The plot? Mulder loved Scully but he wanted to make sure that she loved him so he tried to make her jealous and when she did act jealous he was like "lol jk" and then I went into a lot of detail on a kiss they shared (THAT MY ENGLISH TEACHER READ) and then they got engaged and then they both got shot outside of Mulder's apartment for WHATEVER REASON and died. Hence "My Immortal", because they'll be together in death.

E: Have you added anything stupid/cracky/hilarious to your fandom, if so, what? Yes, and I shall find the post I made on Livejournal so I can bring you direct to the source. It was for Legend of the Seeker, and I got the idea to Photoshop a fake Facebook post based on an episode (I forgot where I got the idea, if I saw it in another fandom or what). Anyway the result was this:

https://imgur.com/Zo5Bi6x

It spun of control and spawned an actual Facebook RP which is where I met the two people who tagged me in this and AIN'T LIFE REALLY CRAZY SOMETIMES???

F: What’s the longest you’ve ever been in a fandom? What fandom was it? The X-Files. I got into it when I was around 11 or 12 and was a pretty active member until I was 17 or 18. Which doesn't seem very long, but to be heavily into it, I feel it was. And then I came back around to it when the revival was announced, so it's been an on and off relationship.

G: What was your first fandom? The X-Files, probably, in terms of content-creating. Maybe if I'm counting things like "I pretended I was Xena a lot and I would call my friend on the phone and we’d talk about Xena" then maybe Xena: Warrior Princess

H: Do you prefer real-life TV shows or animated TV shows? Real-life, hands down. I hate animation.

I: Has tumblr caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why? Lol what -hasn't- Tumblr caused me to hate? Tho...you know what...I've never said it on this hellsite for fear of reprisal, but I'm going to do it. Tumblr turned me off Sansa Stark back in season 2 or so. There was so many posts where people were so aggressive about unfollowing and hating people who didn't like Sansa and it got so irritating I started to dislike Sansa by association. So congrats, Tumblr, you played yourself. Also, this site turned me off The Musketeers around season 3. So much Aramis hate, kind of soured me since I watched the show for Santiago Cabrera. And then that association soured me on Santiago, so. Thanks.

J: Name a fandom you didn’t care/think about until you saw it all over tumblr. I'm going to say Teen Wolf. It was all over the place when it was first airing and people either loved it or thought it was ridiculous so I started watching it finally and it was ridiculously great. But then they killed off Allison and ruined my life :)))))

K: How do you feel about the other people in your current fandom(s). I don't really know what my current fandoms are - I'm kind of really into Shadowhuters rn but not in a "making things" sort of way. Anyway, I have heard some very terrible things about this fandom so I am wary.

L: Your favorite fanartist/author gives you one request, what do you ask for? I don't read fanfic and I'm not into fanart so.

M: A person who got you into a fandom and what fandom they pulled you in to. @nyx4 again. Got me into watching Sons of Anarchy. I had tried previously and got about 10 minutes in and couldn't stand it but she said it got better so I powered through and then I was into it.

As for non-TV and movie stuff, @tsukinosusagis got me into a shitton of music and like he said a few days ago “Remember when Lights created our friendship??? ICONIC”

N: Your favorite fandom (for the people; not the thing you fangirl over). Legend of the Seeker on its Livejournal days, back in 2009 and 2010 were my favorite. Nothing on tumblr.hell is a good fandom. All of it should burn.

O: Choose a song at random, what ship does it remind you of? Lmao I'm really bad at this. I suffer trying to pick songs for ships so idk

P: Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas). SHADOWHUNTERS PIRATE AU. Also, it's not an AU, but I have a very elaborate setup in my head for an episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia where the gang is convinced the bar is haunted and the name of the ep is "Paddy's Pub: The Most Haunted Bar in Philadelphia"

Q: A ship you’ve abandoned and why. Cersei/Jaime because Jaime is a rapist. Also made me stop watching GOT because I was really mostly watching for Cersei and Jaime but I didn’t wanna see Jaime anymore so

R: A pairing you ship that you don’t think anyone else ships. Morgana/Lancelot from Merlin. I'm sure there's a lot in the actual Arthuriana stuff that people ship, but I'm just talking about the show. I was only able to find maybe 1 gifset and 2 fics about these two. Granted, I only shipped them because SANTIAGO CABRERA AND KATIE MCGRATH so maybe nobody else cared.

S: What's a headcanon you have? I don't really have any of these.

T: What are your favorite male/male ships or female/female ships? Jace/Alec (Shadowhuters), Aramis/Porthos (The Musketeers), Red/Snow (Once Upon a Time), Rizzoli/Isles (Rizzoli & Isles), Eliot/Quentin (The Magicians), Penny/Quentin (The Magicians), Xena/Gabrielle (Xena), Mac/Dennis (It's Alway Sunny), Willow/Tara (BTVS)

U: What are your favorite male/female ships? Mulder/Scully (The X-Files), Cesare/Lucrezia (The Borgias), Richard/Nicci (Legend of the Seeker), Richard/Cara (Legend of the Seeker), Gemma/Tig (Sons of Anarchy), Mitchell/Annie (Being Human), Spike/Dru (BTVS), Jim/Pam (The Office), Jane/Michael (Jane the Virgin)

V: Do you have any 3-way ships? If so, what? Yeah, Darken Rahl/Cara/Dahlia from Legend of the Seeker. And it has to be a threeway, because any two of these characters together I don't ship but the 3 together? YES YES YES

W: 5 favorite characters from 5 different fandoms. Bo Dennis (Lost Girl) Ilithyia (Spartacus) Dana Scully (The X-Files) Quentin Coldwater (The Magicians) Gemma Teller (Sons of Anarchy)

X: 3 OTPs from 3 different fandoms. Why would ya ask me this question when you asked for my favorite ships above, bro?

But I guess

Mulder/Scully (The X-Files) Richard/Nicci (Legend of the Seeker) Jim/Pam (The Office)

Y: A fandom you’re in but have no ships from. Most of them - like even if I do have a ship, it's pretty lowkey? A lot of the above are lowkey. But I'll say Black Sails.

Z: What's a ship that you want to ship publicly, but everyone on tumblr hates it so you keep your mouth shut about it? Lol Jalec I guess? Like I'm saying it right now, but I'm not gonna go out there and go big with it because lots of annoying people out there.

#about meme

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boystownbirdie · 7 years

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LMRTV4U: Round 2

Welcome to the second edition of Let Me Recommend TV 4 U? This post was created especially for those lost souls who don’t know what to watch next. Also, this post contains NO SPOILERS. So proceed willy-nilly!

Best show you can easily catch up on: The Path

It has recently come to my attention that this show is NOT being watched by everyone. Here’s the deal: Aaron Paul (of Breaking Bad fame, duh) stars as a happily married man who finds out the religion he was a part of is actually kind of a cult a la scientology. Michelle Monaghan is his wife whose family has deep roots in “the movement” and Hugh Dancy is an up-and-coming leader in the faith. It sounds hokey on paper but give it a chance. Maybe it’s my obsession with the Jean Valjean vs. Javert thing all over again but I love when a story doesn’t have a clear villain and when the sincere motives of opposing sides is so clear. Aaron Paul is totally justified in questioning his faith but his wife is also right to believe the “movement” is doing actual good. I love a grey area and this show is full of ‘em

Where can I binge? Hulu- It’s a Hulu original and the first season (only 10 eps long) is available now! Season 2 is coming out as we speak with 1 ep being released per week.

Where to start? Start with season 1, episode 1 or you’ll miss

Skip it if: You’re cult-ed out after Going Clear and the Master and the recent revelation that Tom Cruise is probably responsible for a Trump presidency. http://theslot.jezebel.com/the-scientologists-voted-for-trump-1791558434

#1 reason to watch: The acting is amazing and Aaron and Michelle’s teen son “Hawk” is a Heath-Ledger-look-a-like with all the angst and sexual tension of Heath himself back in the 10-things-I-hate-about-you days

Best comedy that will also have you bawlin’:One Mississippi

Tig Notaro stars in this semi-autobiographical series based on the time period in which the real Tig Notaro suddenly lost her mother, went through a breakup, was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy, and then had a terrible, ongoing case of c.diff. Sounds hilarious, right? The real gem here is the slowly evolving relationship between Tig and her stepfather which is at times painfully awkward and painfully sweet. And it’s impossible not to imagine the cautiously flirtatious scenes between Tig and her now-wife Stephanie Allynne as re-enactments of their early courtship. (ps: the gif below is NOT from O.M. but still shows Tig and Stephanie together)

Where can I binge? If you have Amazon Prime it’s on Prime instant video

Where to start? It’s a short series- only 6 eps at 20-something minutes apiece- start with ep 1

Skip it if: You’re not a Tig Notaro fan/ you just don’t like that whole deadpan-thing

#1 reason to watch: If you are a Tig fan, it’s amazing to get a deeper glimpse into this time period that seems to be the worst possible combination of circumstances. It’s a sweet reminder to know that life can get really, really, really shitty and while nothing can replace your loss, you can still find true love, have adorable twins, and do some of your best work as a performer.

Best British import: Fleabag

Similar to One Mississippi, it’s on Amazon Prime, it’s a short 6-episode series, it’s a “comedy” which will leave you in tears (maybe now is the time to tell you that it doesn’t take much to make me cry so take all of this with a grain of salty tears), and it’s about a woman dealing with several recent losses and breakup. Fleabag is a BBC import based off of an award-winning play by star Phoebe Waller-Bridge whose titular character is irreverent, crass, over-indulgent and unexpectedly poignant all at once. It’s kind of like Shameless (but in this case Fleabag is more of a Frank than a Fiona) meets Girls. There’s also a bit of mystery wrapped up in there, too.

Where can I binge? Amazon Prime instant video

Where to start? Again, only 6 short eps so start with ep 1

Skip it if: You’re easily grossed out by a woman talking frankly about her bodily functions and sexual exploits. Also if you are in the mood for a comedy that WON’T make you cry.

#1 reason to watch: It’s way different than anything else out there and it’s an easy show to power-through in a few hours.

Best new sitcom (no, really!): The Mick

I had my reservations, but I was pleasantly surprised! The Mick stars Kaitlin Olson (who you probably know as Dee from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) in her first major solo-endeavor. Dee has never been my favorite Sunny character, but this role is perfect for her brand of humor and gives her room to grow away from male-centric Sunny. The plot is a classic fish-out-of-water premise where Olson plays Mickey, an estranged aunt who suddenly finds herself as the guardian of her wealthy, East-coast-elite nephews and niece. Mickey is a hard-drinking, fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants grifter while the Pemberton kids are coddled, country-clubbers. It sounds like sitcom 101 but trust me, it’s with a twist.

Where can I binge? Hulu- new eps are coming out since it’s currently airing on Fox

Where to start? Since only a few eps are out, start with the pilot. But you can jump in anywhere

Skip it if: You’re over the traditional sitcom format or you’re easily offended by a bloody nose

#1 reason to watch: The 3 child (well one is an older teen) actors are all pretty stellar which really makes the show. Plus Olson is perfect in the role and is able to play a more layered character than Sunny has ever allowed.

Best show I really shouldn’t have to be justifying because just watch it: RuPaul’s Drag Race

So if you’ve read my other LMWTV4U posts or you’ve ever met me, this will be the least surprising thing ever. BUT SERIOUSLY this show is so good and if this kind of thing is important to you, it’s a recent Emmy winner for best reality-TV-show host (RuPaul). But to call it a reality TV show is kind of a stretch because the actual best thing about RPDR is how manufactured and self-aware it is. There is, of course, heaps of drama, but everything is served with a wink. RuPaul comes sweeping in to provide a critical eye and guidance in each episode and always leaves the queens with her classic advice “good luck and don’t fuck it up.” Every episode ends with a “Lipsync FOR YOUR LIFE” which results in one queen “sashay-ing away” while the other gets to “shante you stay.” Somehow, among all of the ridiculousness, the show makes room for genuine emotion. The “villains” are eventually encouraged to explore their own insecurities and under-performing artists are given second chances and a helping hand from their competitors. It’s really not like anything else on television and the best part is, season 9 is coming this spring so you still have time to get caught up on past seasons before the new one arrives!

Where can I binge? The show airs on Logotv, which you almost certainly do not have in your cable bundle, but seasons 5-7 are on Amazon Prime and last I checked seasons 6-8 were on Hulu (along with All Stars 2). Also most of the seasons are usually available to stream on logotv’s website.

Where to start? It might be hard to find but I’d really recommend starting with season 3 or 4. You can start anywhere but if you start in later seasons you’ll find out who won previous seasons which can be a bummer. Also, by season 6 and 7 there are already way too many inside jokes and catchphrases from previous seasons to keep up with. Don’t start with season 1 (it’s a completely different show) or All Stars (for obvious reasons).

Skip it if: You hate camp and kitsch and all things drag.

#1 reason to watch: Every single episode ends with RuPaul saying “If you can’t love yourself, how the hell you gonna love somebody else? Can I get an amen?” followed by an onstage dance party

Best season 2 that you might have given up on but deserves a second chance: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Maybe you didn’t like Kimmy Schmidt season 1. Maybe you loved it but thought season 2 was too weird and gave up. Or maybe you loved both seasons and, in that case, why are you reading this still? But let me make my case for season 2. Yes it’s way more out-there than season 1, but it contains one of the best instances of my favorite guilty-pleasure of the TV trope world: the musical episode. It’s pretty subtle, but in episode 5, “Kimmy Gives Up,” Titus scores the entire episode with songs from various “forgotten” musicals (aka parodies of Broadway classics from husband-of-Tina-Fey and music producer Jeff Richmond.) My personal favorite is “Just Go On” from “Gangly Orphan Jeff, the ill-fated musical that premiered a week after Annie.” It hilariously mocks “The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow” while also allowing for Titus to face his fears, Kimmy to begin to mourn her lost love, and for both Lillian and Jacqueline to revel in their parenting abilities (for their kids both literal and of the tenant-sort). Season 2 is less about a woman who missed the last 15 years clumsily learning to live in the modern world of a cartoonish NYC and more about a woman who’s been through trauma coming to terms with her past and trying to find her purpose. Season 2 is more lived-in and where season 1 allowed Titus to point out all of the “things people don’t say anymore,” season 2 finds both Kimmy and Titus bumbling through modernity together, like when Titus eagerly explains the internet as a “series of tubes.” Like my fave show of all time and fellow Tina-Fey-creation, 30 Rock, Kimmy Schmidt strikes a delicate balance between a satire of our society, foolish and off-the-wall characters, and characters facing real-world emotions with tenderness.

Where can I binge? Netflix!

Where to start? I mean it’s a short series so start with season 1, ep 1. But if you need a good intro, start with “Kimmy Gives Up!”

Skip it if: You can’t handle all of the ridiculousness.

#1 reason to watch: Titus, especially in his audition that is NOT for gum, “Your teeth are bones that live outside. They hang from your lips like bats. Oh, outside bones, outside bones. Never forget that teeth are outside bones. They're bones that you wash and when you're a kid they fall from your head. And to make things less weird we say they got stolen by a demon that your parents know. Trident!”

#RuPaul's Drag Race #unbreakable kimmy schmidt #the path #one mississippi #fleabag #the mick #LMWTV4U #tina fey #titus andromedon #kimmy schmidt #rupaul #tig notaro

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ismael37olson · 6 years

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No, No, Nanette!

There's a lot more going on in No, No, Nanette! than most people realize. This first of the genuine classics of musical comedy appeared on Broadway in 1925, with a book by Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel (based on Mandel’s play His Lady Friends), music by Vincent Youmans (then only twenty-six), and lyrics by Irving Caesar (then only twenty-nine) and Harbach. Youmans was hired as the composer only because his mother made a sizeable investment in the show and demanded producer Harry Frazee hire her son, but he proved himself an outstanding composer. Youmans enjoyed the kind of harmonic sophistication and experimentation that only George Gershwin equaled at the time, along with a genuine gift for melody. Built on an old-fashioned, three-act, one-set-per-act structure, the story focused on three couples Jimmy and Sue Smith, Billy and Lucille Early, and the young lovers Tom and Nanette. Because Sue is so tight with the millions Jimmy has made selling Bibles, Jimmy “adopts” three pretty young women and finances their various enterprises. Jimmy, his lawyer Billy, and his niece Nanette all go to Atlantic City to meet the three girls who are now threatening to blackmail Jimmy. Lucille catches Billy with the girls, Tom and the rebellious, looking-to-raise-some-hell Nanette fight, everyone gets confused, and it looks like no one will get a happy ending. But sure enough, everything gets explained and after some hits songs like “Tea for Two” and “I Want to Be Happy,” all is forgiven. (In fact, the majority of Nanette’s score become pop hits.)

This was the music of the jazz age, not of Europe, not of ten years before, but of that very moment in America, music audiences could sing or dance to after the show. This story was about American now. The Act I finale was the kind of extended musical scene that would become commonplace later in the century in shows like Carousel, Into the Woods, and others, but here it was in 1925. Every moment and every song supported the plot and relationships and unlike many shows that had come before it, Nanette had something to say. The show was about money and American greed. Nearly every character in the show had some interesting and/or fucked-up relationship to money. Jimmy was a near-millionaire who loved giving people money just to make them happy, and the three gold-diggers girls were there just to con him into giving them generous handouts. Jimmy’s wife Sue was thrifty and hated the idea of spending money foolishly. Sue’s best friend Lucille was a compulsive shopper, buying things just for the sake of buying them, and to keep her husband on a leash by making him work like crazy to pay her bills. Nanette feels imprisoned because she has no money of her own and thus, no independence. The maid Pauline even had a song early in the show to set up this theme, “Pay Day Pauline” (cut from the revival). Money, Nanette was telling us, is a weapon, a source of power, a prison, and a sure road to victimization. Most interestingly, Jimmy has made his fortune as a Bible publisher, a subtle reminder of the Bible’s admonition that the love of money is the root of all evil. America in 1925 and its rampant consumerism was right there on stage to be laughed at, sure, but also to be slyly and accurately commented upon. But interestingly, this hit show didn’t start on Broadway. It first opened in Detroit in April 1924, then went on to Chicago in May 1924 for a six month run, where it underwent repeated emergency surgery. (Only after its run in Detroit did its songwriting team write the show’s two biggest hits, “Tea for Two” and “I Want to Be Happy.”) Each time the show was changed, the critics were invited back, and each time they liked it a bit more. Still, by the end of the Chicago run, producer H. H. Frazee had lost about $75,000. A second Nanette company was sent to Philadelphia and the eastern seaboard. Another company was sent west. The rights to a London production were sold while it toured and so it opened in London in March 1925, a full six months before its Broadway debut. In fact, it ran longer in London than on Broadway – 665 performances in London, and only 321 performances on Broadway. In April 1926, the show opened in France, with much more spectacle and much more dance. Then the London production toured to Berlin (1926), Vienna (1927), and Budapest (1928). Also in 1927, a few of the same folks put together a completely unrelated sequel called Yes, Yes, Yvette, which ran forty performances (apparently forty more than it deserved). Obviously something in Nanette's subtle but scathing satire connected with audiences, not just in New York, but across the country and around the world.

Nanette was assaulted... oops, I mean revived in 1971, the script ransacked, songs cut, the score fiddled with and clumsily over-orchestrated, the whole thing overproduced and gaudy, but it still ran 861 performances, eclipsing the original production. Sadly, the very funny opening number “Flappers Are We” was cut, along with both songs sung by the wise-cracking maid, Pauline, and much of the satire about Americans’ obsession with money. Nanette had been neutered and it became harmlessly cute nostalgia rather than hilariously sly social commentary. They took what had been an intelligent, well-crafted musical comedy and dumbed it down into what people in the 1970s only thought musicals of the 1920s were like, in the process losing all that was special about the original. The revival's producer Cyma Rubin (nicknamed "the Black Witch" by the Nanette company) had hired the retired Busby Berkeley to both direct and choreograph the show (figuring she could save a salary that way) but he just wasn’t up to it. So he became a "consultant" and Burt Shevelove took over as director. Before long, Shevelove was also writing an entirely new script. Everyone had agreed that the original script just would not do, but Charlie Gaynor, who had been first hired to write the new script, loved the original too much. He barely changed it, infuriating Rubin. So Shevelove now found himself writing a new script at night while he rehearsed the cast during the day, sometimes canceling rehearsals because there literally was no script to rehearse. He began by paring down the original script to its essentials – but that wasn’t as easy as it sounds. And there were more problems. Donald Saddler was called in to choreograph this tap dancing show, but he couldn’t tap dance. Raoul Pene du Bois was designing costumes but didn’t have a script yet. Buster Davis was creating new orchestrations but wasn’t sure which songs would be in the new script. Shevelove explained his intentions to the cast this way: “The world today is not a pretty place. It is filled with terrible news every day of Vietnam, campus riots, pollution, crime, inflation. The audiences that will come to see our show will have heard enough – much too much – about all those things. We must take their minds off these problems and make them concerned only with this: Will Nanette, this innocent little child get her wish and spend a weekend in Atlantic City? Nothing else, nothing else at all, is important. This warm, sunny, lovely little show must be our valentine to the audience.”

But he didn't understand the show he was rewriting. The original Nanette had dealt with more; Nanette and Tom had only been a frame upon which to hang some very insightful satire and social commentary. And Shevelove had also bought into the terrible myth that audiences want escape. They don't. They want connection. That's very different. Also, Nanette was not "this innocent little child," but a young woman who wanted some independence for herself, at a time when many women were craving that -- both in 1925 and in 1971! The revival finally opened, after a very bumpy ride, in January 1971. (Don Dunn’s tell-all book The Making of No, No, Nanette, now out of print, told the whole sordid tale.) Critic Martin Gottfried wrote in Women’s Wear Daily, “Somewhere along the way, Burt Shevelove decided to make this show ‘nice’ and instead of the potentially brilliant, he settled for the vacantly agreeable.” John Simon called the show “mendacious and stupid beyond the rights of any show, however escapist, to be in this day and age.” Musical theatre had changed; ironically, the real Nanette probably would have been better received in 1971. As other shoddily revised revivals – soon to be called "revisals" – like Irene and Good News, followed in Nanette’s percussive footsteps, the critics revolted. With mutilated scripts and composite scores taken from multiple sources, these revivals barely resembled the originals. Brendan Gill of The New Yorker called this new genre, “show-biz body snatching” and “a sort of brightly painted mummy case in which bits and pieces of other once celebrated cadavers have been made to mingle with a portion of the authentic remains.”

It's the same problem we have in the New York commercial theatre today, producers and directors who don't understand the material they're working on, especially when that material is something genuinely fresh and unique. Just look at the terribly misguided original Broadway productions of High Fidelity, Cry-Baby, and Heathers, just to name a few recent examples. Most directors of plays try to make sure they understand the play before they start directing it. Directors of musicals, especially many working in New York, don't always do that. They try to make it what they want it to be, instead of discovering what it is. And now in this new Golden Age for our art form, so many new shows are unlike any others, with their own very unique set of rules. If a director doesn't bother to figure out what those rules are, they'll do damage to the show. Just as Shevelove and friends did to No, No, Nanette. Not all comedy works the same, and not all musicals work the same. And sometimes, the shows that seem lightweight on the surface have a great deal going on underneath. Just look at Hair, Grease, and Rocky Horror, all three shows usually dismissed as shallow, kitschy, messy, unstructured, and/or empty-headed. But all three are smart, carefully constructed, insightful commentaries on incredibly pivotal moments in our cultural history. People seem to assume that if a show is fun, it can't also be substantial, but New Line disproves that over and over, with Jerry Springer the Opera, American Idiot, Bat Boy, Cry-Baby, Heathers, and so many other shows -- most recently and perhaps most notably, Anything Goes. And we're about to disprove it again in March, when we open La Cage aux Folles. Long Live the Musical! Scott from The Bad Boy of Musical Theatre http://newlinetheatre.blogspot.com/2018/10/no-no-nanette.html

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janiklandre-blog · 7 years

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Saturday, April 15, 2017

10 a.m. sun, still cool, clouds later - greatest worry clouds gathering over North Korea - things getting worse and worse. On abc television news - only the auto show - one of them driving a $320.000 Porsche - the most wonderful car in the world - and more and more SUVs - sports utility vehicles based on trucks - now that gas prices are low they are so in, so in, so in - old people prefer them because they are high, easy to get into and more and more comfortable - America dreaming.

Thank you once again Ken for teaching me how to use a computer - no one to talk to. New York overrun by tourists, paying $150 a night for a room in a slum in Brooklyn - a run down house - I know of Iraquis who really have made hay out of air b and b in such a rundown house - the woman owner got a wonderful German husband out of it and now lives with her two sons in Berlin - in the house in Brooklyn her mother, sisters, brothers - she is, what my mother would have called: tuechtig - that I found related to virtuous. No takers for my free room in the East Village. That's life.

Saturday morning and a computer to talk to. Yesterday I went fairly late in the day to Central park - got there a little after four, to avoid the worst of the crowds in the area where I have been going for years. A hawk so I do hear is sitting on eggs - high up on the building over the park - by now a 22 year oldevent. For years and years Rick Davis on the hawk bench surrounded by a community - Ken! - that is how I met him - yesterday not one familiar face. At some point somebody with a telescope is likely to pass by - around 6 when Palemale - google with dot com - brings dinner to his partner and also relieves her. Two movies have been made, a book written - Redtails in Love, Marie Winn - many articles and countless photographs taken - the hawk outliving so many watchers!

Then I sat on a bench where I first met Jan Letang - close to my age - from a town on the Danube Slovakia on one side, Hungarian on the other. One parent Slovak, from an earlier German migration - he had a grist mill - his mother Hungarian. He told me long, long stories, always brought me chocolate that I called my coffin nails. A master of early computers in Brno, Czech republic - his wife eager to come to America - 1968? - by the time I met him he was a beloved doorman - and loved his work. A brilliant photographer. A few years ago he lost all power in this hands - no cure to be found - at Christmas a few years ago he took his life. May he rest in peace.

It was an interesting group of people - always there - rain, snow, shine - of course there was also the boathouse to repair to where I often stayed late with Ken.

Yesterday sitting alone on a bench I was going in my mind through friends I am in touch with these days - texting! - actually two women who came later with whom I was busy texting. Both getting close to 60 - a lot younger than I am - one a German, we also met on the hawk bench - tall, dark haired, statuesque - full of spunk and energy - tales, tales and more tales - now the most enthusiastic tour guide - in German and Dutch. S.W. the other M.D. - both avid facebook enthusiasts - may just come across my blog - M. born in New York, parents newcomers - of great promise, children - these days a bit weighed down by problems - some she and I share. Also originally from the hawk bench - both came after five, by then I had moved into the sun to tables on a terrasse overlooking the pond, getting the late day sun, it is a concession that like so much in New York is going through constant changes. When my kids were kids - and when I took them to Central Park and fell in love with Central Park (we lived near the park) - this was NEDICKS - a chain then selling cheap hot dogs and an orange drink. My kids at first clamored for it - but I had from their birth established a firm policy: Mother does not buy. Yes, their mother was weird and unAmerican - still is - not so easy to deal with. Since it went through endless changes - for a while the best brownies I could not resist (I did, do buy for myself - but they were already grown by then) - don't even know the latest name they use - coffee $2.50 - liquor - pricey stuff - never buy any of that -comfortable rocking metal chairs - mostly sit on them and buy nothing, like yesterday. They are overrun by tourists with plenty of many, many Germans. S.W. the tourist guide has in a sunny corner her "office" - she likes a bar stool like chair and a high table - I sit in a low rocking chair. She and M.D. had a lively exchange about medical malpractice - filling more and more pages in books, magazines, talk on TV and I am sure facebook and all the best talk on computers I never learned to listen to - also limiting my computer time. The plaints never end and thnings are getting worse and worse.

Then I still earlier sitting alone on the bench was thinking about my other friends these days - once upon a time friends formed a circle - now they are all over the place, totally different from each other - yes, I loved giving parties bringing people together - now there is this one friend who drops in in the evening for an hour, at best two - last night for less than an hour. Last week the fast and vigil kept her busy - by now she is in Philadelphia with her mother and may be back by Monday night - no interest in any of my other friends who do not share her religious inclination. Religion - everything in my New York life seems to come and go - the nature of New York life? The life of an immigrant who was not "tuechtig" enough to acquire the house I too have dreamed of all my life. In 1982 Paco and I bought the house in Brooklyn - then for $32.000 now worth millions, yes, changes - where I had all kinds of dreams, not shared by him. Even after four years it already went for several times the price we had bought it for - that had been his dream - to be invested in a house in East Hampton he still co-owned with his divorced wife, not allowing me to buy her out - she very much needed some money. His dream: Money to build a studio in East Hampton, buy a good car - and at long last attract the heiress he dremed off since the day he jumped ship in Philadelphia - his visa was for Mexico - not a penny in his pocket, not speaking a word of English - days before Christmas in 1945 - he was 22 years old. He did attract several heiresses - alas each time their parents whisked them away - one just before he met his wife to be, a bright, generous, beautiful woman born into poverty - singing in night clubs, working for Abba Eban at the U.N. - 1953? - she legalized him, gave him two children - they bought two houses together - went to Oregon 1965? - she stayed there - another marriage later, she left him, I met him - late 1972, he was about to turn 50 - in 1988 he moved for good to East Hampton - he met several heiresses, they loved walking by the ocean with him (I had also) - never invited him to their house. We remained friends, in 1998 he died.

My cell phone rang - Naomi, the daughter of Stephen W. - she lives mostly in Vermont these days - has been a sweet friend to me - in New York for the wake for David Peel - a singer who died - we will meet at 3 p.m. at the Odessa cafe on Avenue A facing Tompkins Square Park - I am no longer alone! New York!

The next topic I want to broach - well I guess I just established why never came to stay in a house - wrong partner! - but the next topic is politics. How people see me - some occasionally do say something - how I see myself. Houses were my interest - in 1967 I briefly co-owned with Robert G. a house on a lake on Connecticut, also worth millions now - without a moments consideration I wrote it over to him when he divorced me. Not "tuechtig" - liked the Irqui woman. Dumb? He never appreciated it - let me briefly use it after his second wife also had written it over to him - 1969? - from 1969 until he met his third and last wife I helped him set up his business - his every other word: when it gets of the ground you'll never worry about money again - it got off the ground but his third wife was "tuechtig" - he appreciated that - she recently sold the house they owned in East Hampton for $5 Million, the gated community house in Florida wiorth a lot more - and then an apartment on East 72nd street - her daughters owning beauriful houses - smart????

Close to noon, wishing myself happy Easter and also to any andall who may read this - Marianne

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