In The Area Of Critical Commentary.....

Some brief comments on four recent offerings.

So, this is a case of where I did judge a book by its cover.  I saw this at a newsstand in JFK Airport when I was there earleir this month.   The cover copy offers up classical setting: a book fair with six mystery writers isolated on a train in th Australian Outback.  Somebody dies under mysterious circumstances.  Who better to solve it than these "expert" authors?  It had all the trappings of a classic Golden Age detective story right out of Agatha Christie's playbook.   Alas, it didn't deliver, and I ended up slogging through it only to see how the author ended it.  I remember a literature teacher I had in high school say something along the lines of "reading a novel just to see how it ends is just about the worst possible reason the read a book."  This was perfect example.

One and One-half Stars from The Grandstander.

 

A movie about the Mob, starring Robert De Niro, and directed by A-List, Oscar winning director Barry Levinson.  What's not to like, right?

"The Alto Knights" tells the story of 1950's and -60's era New York City gang bosses Frank Costello and Vito Genovese, and the big gimmick in this one is that De Niro plays both Costello and Genovese in a duel role.

The movie was entertaining, but if you are reasonably knowledgeable about the Mob of that era, it didn't tell you anything new. As for De Niro, he's played Mob wise guys so many times that he can do the roles in his sleep, and that is pretty much what he did with this one, but, hey, he's always good even when he phones one in.

Two and One-half Stars from The Grandstander.

I hope that you all were able to catch CNN's live telecast of the Broadway performance of George Clooney's "Good Night and Good Luck" this past Saturday night.   Clooney adapted this play from his 2005 movie of the same title and took it to Broadway for limited run this year.  It tells the story of CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow and his reporting on Senator Joseph McCarthy and the "red scare" era of the 1950's.  It is an era in American history that was frightening and has always been fascinating to me. This play is also, sadly and frighteningly relevant today in 2025, as another demagogue who traffics in fear and hate presides over our government in Washington.

I do not know if CNN will stream this telecast so it can be seen again.  If they do, please check it out.  If the telecast does not become available, then please check out thew 2005 movie of the same name.

Four Stars from The Grandstander.

Finally, we took in a production of "Beautiful, The Carole King Musical", this past Sunday in Zelionople.  This was a professional production, albeit, one the was scaled back a bit from touring productions that have played in Pittsburgh over the years, and from the Broadway production that I was fortunate to see in 2017.  It's a great show with great music, and it's one that you should always see if you ever get the chance to do so.

Three Stars from The Grandstander.

In The Area of Critical Commentary - Beautiful, E.T., The Big Sick

Random Critical Commentary.....

I didn't want to let too much time pass before talking just a bit more on "Beautiful, The Carole King Musical" that we saw last week on our one day visit to New York City.

The play has been running on Broadway for over four years and has also begun touring nationally.  It tells the story of singer-songwriter Carole King, her life and romance with husband and collaborator Gerry Goffin, and, to a lesser degree, fellow songwriters Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil.  The music that they wrote was the music of a generation that has spanned from the late 1950's and into the 1970's.  If you are my age, there is a good chance that you owned King's seminal album "Tapestry" in your youth, and you no doubt still have it stashed away on one of your digital play lists.

The show was fun, lively, wonderfully performed and acted by the entire cast.  This is a show that will undoubtedly be performed on the High School Musical circuit in the years ahead, even though today's high school  students probably have no idea who Carole King is.  It has everything that would make it perfect for high schools - great songs, lots of dancing opportunities, and a large cast.

A week before we saw the show, actress Chilina Kennedy returned to the title role.  This is Ms Kennedy's second run as King in the show on Broadway, and while she did not originate the role, she has played the part longer than any other actress on B'way, and she has toured with the show as well.  She bore an uncanny resemblance to the young Carole King, and she was simply terrific in the part. Her Playbill bio lists a lengthy summary of her acting credits.  Like many actor and performers from the New York theatrical scene, she is no doubt unknown throughout most of the country, but she is amazingly talented, as was the entire cast of "Beautiful".  

Shortly after we returned home, I purchased the Original Cast Recording of "Beautiful", so I can return to this wonderful show again and again, and I hope that I will have the opportunity to see it on stage again someday.

Chilina Kennedy

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Last week we took in Steven Spielberg's 1982 classic, "E.T., The Extra-Terrestrial" as a part of the TCM Big Screen Classic series.  The movie was as delightful now as it was 35 years ago, and I was glad to have the chance to watch it once again.  While it was an amazing technical achievement when released, you could see how it might be different and perhaps a bit jazzier if made today, given the advances in CGI and other movie making technology. I hope, however, that no one ever attempts to remake this one.  It is just about perfect as it is.  Similarly, I am glad that Spielberg never chose to make a sequel to it.  It was a huge money-making hit, so there were no doubt offers for him to do so.

My buddy, Dan Bonk, asked me if anyone in that movie went on to become a big star.  The obvious answer to that question was Drew Barrymore.  She was six years old when she played little sister, Gertie, and could not have been cuter.  She has gone on to star in, produce,  and even direct feature films in the thirty-five years since "E.T."

The real child star of "E.T.", though was eleven year old Henry Thomas, who played Elliott, the boy who found and befriended E.T.  Thomas never became a big star, but he has steadily worked in movies and television ever since.  IMDB show 62 acting credits for him.  Perhaps the most well known films in which he has appeared were "Legends of the Fall" (1994) and "Gangs of New York" (2002).  In 1990, he played a young Norman Bates in a TV movie called "Psycho IV: The Beginning", and in 1982, the year before "E.T." was released,  he and Joe Greene played the title roles  in "The Steeler and The Pittsburgh Kid", a TV movie based on Greene's famous Coca-Cola commercial.

Barrymore and Thomas (with Spielberg)

Then and Now

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Last night we once again watched "The Big Sick", this time on DVD.  When we saw this movie this past summer, I said at the time that it was the best movie that we had seen thus far in 2017, and seeing it again last night only reinforced that opinion.  If you have not seen it, please do so soon.  It is a terrific movie.

It is also worth seeing for the truly wonderful performance of Holly Hunter, who plays the mother of Emily.  Hunter's performance is one of the best acting performances that I have seen all year, and she surely deserves an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in this one.

A Weekend Trip - Pat II - A New York State of Mind

I often refer to my pal, Bill Montrose, as The Official Broadway Correspondent to The Grandstander.  His annual Tony Award predictions, which are dead on accurate more often than not, are a regular feature of this blog.  Last year, Bill urged that Marilyn and I come out to visit Joanne and him, select a Broadway show that we would like to see, and then follow his normal routine: drive to Weehawken, NJ, ferry across he Hudson, take a bus into the Times Square/Broadway area, see a show, have dinner, and head home.

So it was that several months ago, we selected the show we wanted to see....

....and the date, last weekend, finally rolled around.

The day unfolded exactly as Bill described that it would.  We took the ferry across the Hudson on a foggy Sunday morning, which put me in that Billy Joel New York state of mind.

We had a terrific brunch at a place called Blue Fin...

We then walked a bit to soak up the atmosphere, which included taking some typical touristy photos....

 Rockefeller Center

 Self-explanatory

 Yep, that ball is still there from last New Year's Eve!

I gave my regards to Broadway.  Funny, but the statue doesn't look  thing like Jimmy Cagney.

As I mentioned, the show we saw was "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical" at the Stephen Sondheim Theater.

We took the now obligatory selfie 'neath the marquis.

And really, really enjoyed those eighth row seats that Bill scored for us.

I will write more about the show in another post, but I will say here that it was just fabulous.  A wonderful, wonderful show, with great performances and music.

This was my first visit to the heart of New York City since 1983, when I spent a week there for my employer at the time.  Perhaps it is a function of age, but I was completely overwhelmed by it.  So many people, so much traffic....and on a Sunday afternoon! It was exciting, it was energetic, it was nerve-wracking, and it was overwhelming.  I was glad that we were with people who knew their way around.  I would have been paralyzed if I was there on my own.  We were in the City for about a total of ten hours, and it was just a wonderful, or should I say, a "Beautiful" experience.

We topped off the evening with dinner here...

....where we were joined  by Bill and Joanne's son, Michael, and his wife, Jamie, who live in Brooklyn.  It was so nice to meet them.  And the restaurant even managed to note Marilyn's birthday:

What an experience!  Many, many thanks to our hosts for leading the way.