Tag: movies

Q is for queen playing: Helen Mirren

The Audience was not the first time Helen Mirren has played QEII

Helen-Mirren-The-Audience-on-Broadway-largeOur local cinema of choice, The Spectrum, did something different for them; they showed a series of recorded plays from National Theatre Live!, the “groundbreaking project to broadcast the best of British theatre live from the London stage to cinemas across the UK and around the world.”

It IS essentially a filmed play, but because of the camerawork, and perhaps the unseen audience, it felt more like being AT a play than merely watching one on screen. “National Theatre Live launched in June 2009 with a broadcast of the… production of Phèdre with Helen Mirren.”

My first NTL experience was seeing Helen Mirren playing Queen Elizabeth II in The Audience, a role for which she would eventually gain her first Tony award for the Broadway adaptation. Indeed, The Wife and I saw this production shortly after the Tony win, in early July 2015.

Why else did this theater magic work? The “butler” in the play announced certain information, like a fire marshal might before the play. There were costume changes just off-stage. There was an intermission, during which we learned about the various costumes.

Perhaps my favorite part was at the end, listening to Helen Mirren being interviewed by director Stephen Daldry, recorded during her run of the American production in 2015. We learn that while the play is mostly the same when it comes to her meeting with most of the Prime Ministers, the writers kept putting in current references when the current PM, David Cameron, has his audience with the Queen. She also shared a tale about a time when Bill and Hillary Clinton were present, and she, teasingly, really directed a snarky line about the US Presidency right at the 42nd occupant.

Of course, The Audience was not the first time Helen Mirren has played QEII. She won an Oscar for playing the title role in the 2006 movie, The Queen. She has also played the title character in the TV miniseries Elizabeth I (2005); The Queen (voice) in The Prince of Egypt (1998); The Snow Queen (voice) in The Snow Queen (1995); and Queen Charlotte in The Madness of King George (1994). Coincidentally, she was born at Queen Charlotte’s Hospital in West London in 1945.

abc 17 (1)
ABC Wednesday – Round 17

Movie Review: He Named Me Malala

i-am-malalaIn 2014, Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi were awarded as Nobel Peace Prize laureates for “their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education” At the age of 17, Malala became the youngest person to ever win a Nobel Prize.

Malala is therefore an appropriate choice for a documentary movie. The Daughter has been reading her autobiography, I Am Malala, upon which the film was based. The family plus The Daughter’s friend N went to the Spectrum in Albany to see He Named Me Malala.

It is a very nonlinear film, with some of the history, including the source of the protagonist’s first name, depicted in a very engaging animation style. We find that Malala is human, struggling with her studies in England, picking on her little brother, fascinated with Roger Federer’s hair. Yet she’s such an impressive person, feeling no antipathy for the Taliban man who shot, and nearly killed her.

The “he” in the title is Malala’s father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, who was a bit of a rabble-rouser in favor of education for girls himself. He describes his relationship with his daughter as them being two parts of the same persona.

The movie was produced and directed by Davis Guggenheim, who put out An Inconvenient Truth(2006) and Waiting for ‘Superman’ (2010). The Malala movie was less well-received, by both audiences and critics, perhaps because, I’ve read, the family tried to keep some privacy for a very public figure. And, since she’s still known to be alive, and a Nobel winner, there was not as much suspense as to the outcome.

I’d agree with the criticism that the film is more educational than engrossing. But it’s mighty educational, though I wish it were more so. This is an especially useful film for those less familiar with her story and is worthy on that level.

Roger answers Chris’ questions while on drugs

They managed to even make it into the freezer section of the fridge, where, hopefully, they died horrific deaths.

thx-comes-home-616wThis is the first blog post attempted since I had my hernia operation. Everything else I’ve posted recently had been written before, partially in anticipation of feeling unfocused now. Well, at the time of this composition, I was home, and still on Hydrocodone. But I couldn’t just watch TV all day. I had to write something. Whether any of it is coherent…

Chris:

Haha! Internet is finally working at my new house.

Congratulations.

– if you could have anything, what would it be? (We just did this as an icebreaker at my foster parent class. I’m curious if you’ll give the same answer I did)

I want to be around long enough for The Daughter to talk about some of the things I wrote about in this blog. And especially things I haven’t written about in this blog, because they’re too personal. (Yes, there are such topics.)

I think I’ve gotten to that point that there aren’t that many THINGS that I want. Oh sure, in some idealized world, I’d still like a place to watch movies, a dark room with cushy seats.

Or is this the question I’m supposed to say “world peace,” which, of course, is true?

– what endearing trait of your wife did you notice in the first year that you still love about her?

Hmm. I think I most was impressed that she owned her own home as a single woman. She was confident and strong and intelligent, and almost certainly more rational than I. Still is.

– do you consider yourself at all handy?

No, not at all; if there are four possible ways to fit something into a space, I’ll come to the right solution no earlier than effort #3, so it’s exhausting. This is why owning a home, in some ways, is such a drag. We were talking about the recent renovation of our bathroom. When you get an estimate for work, it’ll usually end up costing 15% to 25% more. This is why our kitchen, which has needed updating since we moved here, looks pretty much the same.

Well, new flooring, new refrigerator, and dishwasher, but the layout and the cabinet space – it’s still has that same 1970s look.

– what did you consider the best thing about being a new homeowner?

Well, I’ve been here for 15 years. Often, in my renter days, I had to move because of the whims of various homeowners, who wanted to renovate, move in themselves, and/or sell the place.

– if someone made you eat an insect, which insect would you pick to eat?

Fruit flies. They’re small. In fact, I probably already have. We had this rare infestation this summer in the kitchen, and some managed to even make it into the freezer section of the fridge, and the ice cube tray, where, I’m hoping, they died horrific deaths.

My first instinct, though, was a grasshopper, probably a response to watching the TV show Kung Fu, a few decades ago.

– what character have you most identified with that you’ve encountered in the last year? It can be in a book, TV, or a movie

I assume you mean a fictional person when you say “character.” I suppose Scott Lang in the Ant-Man movie, who had the social conscientiousness to do the right thing, more than once.

What was your favorite episode?

The fantasy of every child — to have unlimited power against grown-ups — is made horrifyingly real.

clete robertsThe evil Tom the Mayor, who I used to like before I realized he was evil, asked:

What was your Favorite episode of MASH? Or Twilight Zone? Or Saturday Night Live? And what was your number one, favorite Movie of all Time? No lists pick one!

Evil, I tell you. But I’ll play along.

MASH: It has to be from the first eight seasons because the last three were retreads.

The Interview (season four, episode 24):

“Larry Gelbart left MAS*H at the end of the fourth season, having helped the show transition from smart-ass tomfoolery to something more frequently somber and daring. Gelbart went out on a series high: “The Interview,” in which real-life reporter Clete Roberts asks scripted questions about life in the Korean War and the cast (mostly) ad-libs responses, in character. Shot in black-and-white, with long takes for the more serious monologues and quick cuts for the jokes, “The Interview” is both unusual and exceptional.”

It was the first of the really oddball episodes used on the show.

Here it is on Vimeo
***
Twilight Zone: one of the two series I own on DVD

Oh, Amy the Sharp Little Pencil, interjected:

Yes, Twilight Zone! Is it the Helen Foley episode, because you went to Binghamton?

No, it’s not Nightmare as a Child from season 1. It’s It’s a Good Life (season four, episode 8):

“The fantasy of every child — to have unlimited power against grown-ups — is made horrifyingly real in 1961’s “It’s a Good Life.” Bill Mumy plays six-year-old Anthony Freemont, a boy with incredible psychic powers who holds everyone around him hostage. It’s sort of like Game of Thrones if little King Joffrey could simply think you out of existence for displeasing him. The adults tiptoe around the kid, but it never really matters, because he’s six, and six-year-olds aren’t particularly rational in the first place. That ever-present sense of menace exuded from the adorable face of Mumy is what makes things work.”

I think I related to this strongly because I was only eight years old at the time. When I watched Billy Mumy in Lost in Space four years later, I still found him a tad scary.

That episode is available on Hulu
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Saturday Night Live: I watched it nearly religiously for 24 years, much more sporadically subsequently.

William Shatner (season 12, episode eight)

“The late ’80s represent a peak of professionalism; with solid pros like Phil Hartman, Jan Hooks, Dana Carvey, and Jon Lovitz in place and more or less sober, things were running as smoothly as they could be without the show becoming less-than-half live, the way it sometimes seemed to be under Dick Ebersol. These conditions must have been highly amenable to the guest performers, and Shatner used his hosting gig to launch a second (or third, fourth, somewhere in there) phase of his career by publicly announcing that he was in on the joke. He was greatly assisted by the Star Trek convention sketch (‘Get a life!’) contributed by a writer who established himself as one of the most distinctive behind-the-scenes comic sensibilities connected to the show since Michael O’Donoghue: Robert Smigel, whose “TV Funhouse” cartoons were often all that the show had to hang its hat on in the ’90s.”

I seldom thought of SNL as whole shows. Like most people, I do remember specific sketches. “Get a life” was perfect for a guy who worked in a comic book store, and attended conventions; in fact, I would leave FantaCo within a year of this episode. Coincidence?
***
Movie

One can have the “separating the artist from his personal life” discussion ad naseum.

For me, it’s Annie Hall, for reasons explained HERE.
***
Amy also asked:

My question. Hmmmm… OK, which Republican candidate do you think will drop out next? Not the strongest question, but you know me, hee hee hee.

See, I have NO idea why Jim Gilmore or George Pataki even gotten in. I’d have to think Jindal or Santorum go. Walker leaving gives Kasich more reason to stay to get that “centralist” governor vote that won’t support another Bush, though maybe there isn’t an audience, given his sagging poll numbers in New Hampshire.

Lindsey Graham I think wants to stick around until the South Carolina primary. Christie thinks too highly of himself to quit. Paul is enough of an anti-surveillance guy to think he distinguishes himself. Cruz and Huckabee are ideologues who want to stick around if/when Trump folds. And Rubio can fly under the radar as everyone’s second or third pick, and, arguably, most electable.

 

September rambling #2, hernia operation edition: Consent 101

SamuraiFrog completes his Weird Al epic.

Thesaurus
Am I having fun this morning? Hernia operation. I may be “out of pocket” for a few days.

Why did the Speaker of the House quit? The Plot Against Planned Parenthood and John Boehner.

From the American Conservative, no less: The Quiet Grand Strategy of Barack Obama. “Are the president’s diplomatic initiatives winning a new American Century?”

Study: White people react to evidence of white privilege by claiming greater personal hardships.

There Is No Excuse for How Universities Treat Adjuncts.

Re: the Muslim teen who created a clock and got arrested, it’s now clear they didn’t think he had a bomb. And talk about foolishness in school settings: 11-year-old gifted student suspended 1 year for having a pot leaf that wasn’t a pot leaf.

From Wondermark: Fauxtopia.

A TIDE commercial.

And now for the sex portion of our post: Consent 101 and How Often the Average Couple Has Sex.

Too Much in Love to Say Good Night.

End Daylight Saving Time.

Harvard linguist points out the 58 most commonly misused words and phrases.

Now I Know: Switzerland Making Headway Against Rabies and The Mystery of the Appalachian Bend and Everyday Superheroes at the Elder Care Facility and How Smoking Gave PEZ a Boost and How to Pay Yourself $2.1 Million in Taxes.

From Donna: “Thinking of writing a bedtime book for grownups along the lines of GOODNIGHT MOON. It will be titled SHUTUP BRAIN.”

R.I.P., Nancy J. Ellegate, who sat about 40 meters from my desk at work, and who I talked with about myriad topics several times a week.

A bridge comes down in Binghamton, my hometown.

Ron Marz on reviewing comics.

There Will Officially Be NO MORE X-Men in Marvel Comics.

A nice little primer on aspect ratio in movies.

Muppets. As of this writing, I haven’t yet watched the first episode of the new show yet. TV’s Newest Reality Stars (e.g., Kermit Gets Set Up) and has the new show taken an-unfortunately-dark-turn and Joey Mazzarino has left Sesame Street.

I Made Alex Trebek Say ‘Turd Ferguson’.

The longest-running shows on Broadway.

career-distortions

R.I.P., Ben Cauley of the Mar-Keys.

Like what you like, ABBA division.

Joe Jackson’s Ode To Joy.

SamuraiFrog completes his Weird Al epic: 10-6, and 5-1. Could my response to his response to a post of mine be far behind?

Chuck Miller says goodbye to his 78s.

MASHUPS: Blondie Vs. The Doors – Rapture Riders and Stevie Wonder vs The Clash – Uptight/Rock The Casbah.

The history of the memorable and covinous Dick Van Dyke Show comic books published by Gold Key in the sixties.

GOOGLE ALERT:
What was the first comic book you remember reading? and Tips for Surviving and Thriving at The Albany Comic Con and a roundtable discussion on the topic of comics blogging and Do comics matter? (And I don’t mean Chris Rock, I mean Sgt. Rock.)

Re: the second cartoon:
Reza Farazmand says: “Feel free to repost these comics on your blog/website/forehead, as long as it’s for non-commercial purposes. Just attribute the comic to poorlydrawnlines.com and include a link back. Thaaanks.”

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