Change Your Image
fcouckey
Reviews
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1982)
AM I THE ONLY ONE??!!
Some aspects of this production are good, such as the performances of Angela Lansbury, George Hearn, Cris Groenendaal, and Sal Mistretta. But am I the only one who is distracted by the horrible performance by Betsy Joslyn as Johanna? She is terrible! She slauters the songs with her screechy voice and overacts in a role she clearly doesn't understand. I also think the chorus isn't up to snuff. They drag the tempo and make the worst facial expressions. Overall, I think this production is okay, but Sweeney Todd can be so much more if done correctly. This production doesn't come near the level this material demands. The concert version with George Hearn and Patti LuPone is much better.
Great Performances: Les Misérables in Concert (1995)
Go see it live
"Les Misérables" is a true phenomenon of the theatre. The show boasts an huge number of followers who love the show. For them, I'm sure this concert version is just fine. For me though, the magic of the show comes through in only a staged production. Don't get me wrong, I think the music is great, but it's the spectacle of the show that keeps the audience coming back. Seeing actors simply standing in front of microphones singing the show pales in comparison to seeing them turning on revolving stages, climbing up barricades and jumping off bridges.
That said, I must remind myself that this was a concert version of the show. After all, actors just standing and singing is what a concert version entails. However, the music simply doesn't speak for itself. The magic is missing from this version. "Les Misérables" needs a set, staging, props and fog. For any fan of the show, this concert is a great way to relive the live, staged version they most likely saw. If, however, you have never seen the show, I want to press that this is not the best it gets. Go see it live, in a theatre, in full production.
In regards to the cast, to call it a dream is, I think, a little too much. There in-fact only one performer in this version who I would put on my "Les Misérables" dream cast list. Jenny Galloway as Madame Thenardier is hysterical in the comic relief role and steals every scene she's in. But more importantly, she is one of the few who puts their own, original, distinctive flavor into their character. Some of the other cast members turn in performances that other actors could have done just as well. I also admired Philip Quast as Javert. As for the lead role, (I know many will hate me for saying this,) but to me, Colm Wilkinson is not an ideal Jean Valjean. He somehow manages to put the strangest (incorrect) vowels into every word he sings. Sorry folks, but to me, correct pronunciation is a key.
Dead Poets Society (1989)
DON'T FALL FOR THIS MOVIE!
Many people think this is a great movie, but it isn't. This movie was incredibly cliche and sappy. The ending is so dumb I wanted to throw up. Watch and you will see what I mean. This movie gets an important idea wrong. If this teacher was a great one, the students would love the poetry they were reading rather than the teacher himself. I don't think the kids learned the greatness of the words they were reciting in the movie. Here are some other things that bothered me:
1. The students weren't good actors with the exception of Ethan Hawke 2. The scenes where Dead Poet's Society meetings take place are horribly written. 3. The screenplay takes every easy way out instead of finding a more clever and satisfying solution. 4. It is full of cliches like the disapproving parent walking in through the back door during their child's big performance. 5. The love story is stupid, pointless, and distracting. Although I liked one or two scenes, the movie dose not impress me. If you don't agree, watch the movie carefully, and you'll realize it only tugs at your heart strings because the movie was created to do only that and not to create intelligent afterthought. This movie is one simple, retarded, and under intelligent audiences.
A Mighty Wind (2003)
A Christopher Guest comedy that goes for something deeper.
SPOILERS LIE AHEAD
A Mighty Wind is a film that I loved, and it disappoints me that there were so many critics and filmgoers who were disappointed with it. It seems that quite a few people think that comedies, especially the ones of the mockumentary sort (as this one is), can't go farther then simple mocking. It puzzles me that so many were in agreement that a film about a bittersweet reunion can't be good comedy. I think some moviegoers need quit worrying about smuggling that bag of Milk Duds into the theater and remember to bring an open mind. There may be funnier, more farcical situations (which have been the basis of many, many lesser films), but a bittersweet reunion can inspire comedic moments as well as be the basis for a great film, which A Mighty Wind is.
Christopher Guest, who has championed the film making style that is mockumentary with his role in the classic This Is Spinal Tap, and by directing the hilarious Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show, directs as well as co-writes the story with Eugene Levy (the actual lines are all improvised by the actors).
The film plays as a documentary about the organization of a memorial concert featuring folk groups from the 60's who were managed by the late Irving Steinbloom. The groups featured in the concert are the cheesy "neuftet" The New Main Street Singers, the classic folk trio The Folksmen, and the former sweethearts of the folk music world Mitch and Mickey.
The best performance in the film is that of Catherine O'Hara as Mickey Crabbe. She boldly doesn't go for all the laughs, and creates a complete, full, interesting character. Note the interview scenes where she reminisces about her past as one half of the folk "phenomenon" that was Mitch and Mickey. When she talks about their relationship you can see and hear that this is a woman who loved Mitch and Mickey, but not Mitch. Levy is also superb as Mitch Cohen, clearly still in love with Mickey but also clearly insane. He creates an almost over the top comedic performance that makes great use of his infamous eyebrows. He is in a constant state of uncomfortable quirkiness, except when he is singing with Mickey, and he remembers what their relationship used to be, and how it felt to be loved. Note the scene where the two practice one of their hits, "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow," and don't know what to do when its time for them to lovingly kiss each other, which was their claim to fame when they were making TV appearances back in the 60's. Without saying a word, they agree that it would be inappropriate and continue to the end of the song. O'Hara's reaction to that moment is perfect. Then note the scene when they perform the song at the concert and, each for different reasons, they decide to do the kiss. When I first saw that moment and the characters' reaction to it, I got goosebumps. I realized that for the first time in any of Guest's mockumentaries, I actually cared for the characters, and I loved it. It's great that instead of going down that road taken by so many other films, where the former lovers find that they have loved each-other all along and have sex to affirm this to the audience, A Mighty Wind gives something far more interesting.
Although the Mitch & Mickey relationship is the heart of the film, it should not be forgotten that this an ensemble movie. There are terrific comedic performances all around, including those of Harry Shearer, Michael McKean, and Guest as the members of The Folksmen, John Michael Higgins and Jane Lynch as the color worshiping Terry and Laurie Bohner, Jennifer Coolidge as the can't-quite-place-her-accent Amber Cole, Fred Willard as the outrageously sad Mike LaFontaine and Ed Begley Jr. the yiddish talking Swede Lars Olfen.
It may not have gotten as many laughs as This Is Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman, or Best in Show, but A Mighty Wind bravely goes where those films didn't. It achieves touching, real emotion. It is one of the best films of 2003.