Category Archives: Review

These aren’t so much reviews as contemplations on the subject matter. What I loved, what pissed me off, what intrigued me, what I disliked, what made me think, what made me beg Google for answers.

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What a gorgeous film. If Renaissance painters were making movies instead of painting pictures, this is how they would look. The blood spurts were so animated and very fun to watch…and there was a lot of them. This “sword and sandal” epic redeems Warner Brothers for Troy, but it doesn’t redeem Wolfgang Peterson…he’s gonna have to work the rest of his life to redeem himself for that crap. Find my review of Troy to better understand. Frank Miller is a god. I just love his work: as an artist, as a film producer. Hey! It’s Faramir as the one-eyed guy! Cool! It’s just nice to notice David Wenham and others who got a jumpstart in their careers from Lord of the Rings. The good congressman (there’s only two that really matter and I’m talking about the one played by Stephen McHattie) looks incredibly like Abraham Lincoln. And it’s not just … Continue reading →

Ghostrider

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This movie was very fun. Not being a Marvel kid, I’m not intimately familiar with the mythology/background that ties into the character, but this was a good movie with a good mythology. The story was fun and interesting if a little obvious. And of course the most interesting thing was seeing Marvel’s “Spirit of Vengeance” as compared with DC’s “Spirit of Vengeance”, The Spectre. One’s of God, one’s of the Devil (played nicely by Peter Fonda by the way). I love the special effects….the first time we see Nicholas Cage transform, I thought the character looked a little emaciated, but I either got used to it or the new jacket fixed the problem…I’m not sure. All I know is it looked friggin’ awesome. And when we see the original Ghostrider on his horse? I was so excited. I said to myself: this is why I created an Undead in World … Continue reading →

The Full Monty

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I have loved this musical ever since David Sidoni (of Newsies and OCHSA fame) played “Big Ass Rock” for a warm-up at Orange County Song and Dance Summer Camp many years ago. And I’ve been waiting to see it ever since I chose not to go to the national tour at OCPAC back in 2003 (long story about surgery and not sure I would be able to sit down in a chair for that long a time). It’s been gone for 4 years! I’m so grateful to Music Theatre West for producing it! The show is absolutely genius. I just love David Yazbek’s music and lyrics. And the story is very thoughtful as well. It deals with men not able to be men in their lives (being unemployed makes it kind of hard to bring the bread home) and finding courage to do something that not many people do…strip. It … Continue reading →

The Roar of the Greasepaint, The Smell of the Crowd

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This show is fascinating. It’s a thinking man’s comedy….unfortunately there aren’t enough thinking men left in the world to make up a decent audience…the theatre was half empty last night which is why the show is done only every 35 years. It was a product of the 1960’s which just makes it all the more interesting. It’s got nothing to do with Vietnam (for once) but it does have to do withequality and class warfare. Sir, depicting the upper class, was absolutely hilarious in all his evil ways. Cocky, depicting the lower class, was sweet, emotional and very funny. It’s very interesting to watch him go through the thought processes that deliver him from the traditional game of life where lower class tries to get ahead by playing by the rules and upper class changes the rules. And the seven deadly sins! Gluttony, Sloth, Pride, Wrath, Greed, Envy, Lust. They’re … Continue reading →

Flashback 2007

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I’ve been duped! Huckstered! Flim flamed! Deceived! They told me there was a dress rehearsal on the dvd, but there’s just a dress rehearsal video with audio commentary! I assured myself that I didn’t need to film the entire performance! Damn my eyes! Well I’ll know better next year. That’s right Disney…you just try and stop me next year. Anyways. The show was lots of fun! I was rooting for the red team, and although it’s some form of nepotism I really enjoyed the Red Team’s show best. It was the most cogent with the clearest story line and very impressive utilization of talents. The only reason Green Team won was because they’re all from the Entertainment department…oh and their show looked really sharp and crisp (although I have been told they went so far as to lift entire choreography from … something). Before I knew they were all Entertainment, … Continue reading →

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

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Ok….I just finished the book and was just a little confused. It was a good book and all but there was some preconception rattling around inside my head that wasn’t fulfilled. So I just sat down and watched the movie trailer again. What the hell? Where was all that stuff in the book? What kind of artistic license did Disney and Walden take? Was the book not good enough by itself to make a movie they had to extend it into this Chronicles of Narnia thing too? Please note: I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I am just a little concerned. Unless of course, they hired the author, Katherine Paterson, to extend what’s going on. ….(reads online material, not reviews)…. Well they’ve got David Paterson working on the script, so it can’t be that far asunder from mom’s vision…. See it’s just the fact that they’re selling this as … Continue reading →

Wonderettes Addendum and Magic Smoke Detectors

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In my review, I failed to mention something that I just didn’t conceptualize properly. The show IS a jukebox musical, where old songs with lyrics are used to tell the story, unlike a traditional musical where songs are tailored to the story. This also means that the story and characters were tailored to the old songs: hence the characters sing “It’s My Party (And I’ll Cry If I Want To)” and it’s my birthday party and there’s Judy wearing Johnny’s ring. So yeah….fun stuff. The smoke detector in our house malfunctioned the other day, so dad took it down to inspect it. The manufacturing date? September 11th, 2001. Nice.

“Music and Lyrics” Addendum and The Marvelous Wonderettes

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On her MySpace music blog, Hayley Bennett (played music star Cora) explains to her fans that the character she played in the movie was just a character. I almost want to message her and go: no we don’t assume that you have no morals because you play a strange character in a movie, we’re just generally untrustworthy of anyone in the movie/recording industry. But whatever. The soundtrack to the movie is really awesome. Unfortunately, I’ve got the song Buddha’s Delight nailed into my head. You know all those times I’ve hummed It’s A Small World and got it drilled into your head? That how I remember this song…drilled into my head. It’s excruciatingly annoying. One of the commercials before the movie was for Windows Vista and made me laugh hard. I mean it’s actually a really good commercial: a bunch of people doing normal things when suddenly they see something … Continue reading →

A Very Successful Valentine’s Day and “Music and Lyrics”

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First I set up a “Disney Enchanted Call” for 8 in the morning. I had her favorite Disney character, Ariel, call her and wish her a very happy Valentine’s Day. Then I showed up in the afternoon (I hate having class on special days…) with flowers and gifts. Then we headed to Downtown Disney for a movie, dinner and Build-A-Bear (thanks for the great idea mom!)! She picked out the limited edition Luck-O-The-Irish teddy and gave him St. Patrick’s Day boxers and a special Valentine’s Day beating heart (appropriately named Patrick Valentine). Then we went and saw Music and Lyrics, the new romantic comedy with Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore. Great film with lots of really fun modern music and really fun 80’s music. A short note: there were about 8 trailers playing before the movie. A lot of them look like a lot of fun, but … 8 …. … Continue reading →

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

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The movie is fantastic, and the musical is a great adaptation with great music by David Yazbek. I loved Yazbek after listening to The Full Monty (musical not movie), but I didn’t know that he also wrote the Carmen San Diego theme! I had two issues with the adaptation: the subtle changes to Lawrence Jamison and Janet…I mean Christina…Colgate. Lawrence came off as more of a sexual playboy (could have just been Tom Hewitt) while Michael Caine was a stylish thief who didn’t care that much about sex…in fact the whole musical seemed more amped up sexually…Norbert Leo Butz humping everything in sight…hilarious, but…I guess this makes me a prude, but I’m old fashioned that way. My issue with Colgate was her klutziness…I just think it tips her character’s hand quicker than the movie so I blanche a little. Other than that this is a great adaptation. Freddy: Wear this, … Continue reading →