On the Town With Aubrey Reuben
Where All the Stars Shine Brightly!
August 2, 2014
07-13-14 (L-R)
Bill Heck. Danny Burstein. Linda Edmond "Cabaret" at the 16th Annual
Broadway Barks in Shubert Alley/Booth Theatre. 222 West 45th St.
Saturday afternoon. 07-12-14
Off-Broadway, Between
Riverside
and
Crazy,
by Stephen
Adly
Guirgis,
is a
grim,
depressing
play
about a
retired
black
policeman,
in a
dispute
with New
York
City,
who is
about to
be
evicted
from his
apartment
on
Riverside
Drive.
Living
with him
is his
son,
released
from
jail,
and his
son's
girlfriend,
a former
prostitute,
and a
guest,
another
young
man,
released
from
jail.
The four
talk in
a vulgar
manner,
which is
unpleasant
for an
audience
to
listen
to for
two
hours.
There
are
three
other
characters,
one of
which is
a
Brazilian
church
lady,
who
comes to
get
money
from the
policeman
for a
phony
orphanage.
She is
an
ex-prostitute,
who
seduces
him,
causing
him to
suffer a
heart
attack.
This
description
of some
of the
scenes
of this
unbelievable
play
should
cause
audiences
to be
aware of
what
they
might
see and
hear if
they
attend.
Strictly
Dishonorable,
by Preston
Sturges,
is
an
amusing
comedy
by a
playwright,
who
became
famous
in
Hollywood
for
his
screwball
comedies.
The
play
is a
delight,
about
a
young
lady
(Keilly
McQuail)
who
for
the
first
time
visits
a
speakeasy
in
1929
in
New
York
City,
gets
drunk
and
leaves
her
obnoxious
fiance
for
another
customer,
an
Italian
opera
singer
(Michael
Labbadia).
They
spend
a
chaste
night
together
in
his
apartment,
and
the
following
morning,
they
find
that
they
were
meant
for
each
other.
It
is a
thoroughly
entertaining
show,
directed
by Laura
Braza for
a
wonderfully
talented
Attic
Theater
Company.
The
opening
night
party
took
place
at
South's,
273
Church
St,
where
I
was
able
to
congratulate
the
excellent
cast
and
director.
Sex
With
Strangers,
by Laura
Eason,
is a
play
about
an
older
teacher
(Anna
Gunn)
on
vacation
to
write
a
novel
at a
bed
and
breakfast
in
rural
Michigan.
A
younger,
feckless
writer
(Billy
Magnussen),
who
had
scored
a
success
with
his
book
with
the
play's
title,
arrives
to
stay
in
the
same
place.
As
they
are
alone,
he
seduces
her.
The
second
act,
takes
place
in
her
apartment
in
Chicago,
where
she
learns
that
her
new
lover
is
untrustworthy.
It
is a
slight
play,
well
acted,
under David
Schwimmer's
direction.
Mala
Hierba,
by Tanya
Saracho,
is a
poorly
written
play,
with
a
cast
of
four
actresses,
about
an
unhappy
Mexican-American
woman
married
to a
wealthy
man,
a
spoilt
stepdaughter,
a
know-it-all
servant,
and
a
lesbian,
the
former
girlfriend
of
the
wife.
What
takes
place
in
this
dull
ninety
minute
play
is
uninteresting
and
unbelievable.
Film
Society
at
Lincoln
Center
is
presenting
press
screenings
for James
Brown:
The
Hardest
Working
Man
in
Show
Business
August
29-September
1. Little
Caesar,
by Larry
Cohen,
USA,
1973,
is
blaxploitation
film
about
a
young
black
boy,
who
when
released
from
jail
years
later,
becomes
a
gang
leader
(Fred
Williamson)
in
his
territory
in
Harlem.
The
film
is
filled
with
violence,
crooked
politicians,
sleazy
lawyers,
mobsters
and
blood
galore.
It's
typical
of
its
genre;
however,
the
soundtrack
features
music
and
singing
by James
Brown.
Ski
Party,
by Alan
Rafkin,
USA,
1965,
is a
typical
teenage
film
featuring Frankie
Avalon and Dwayne
Hickman.
There
is a
charming
innocence
to
this
kind
of
film,
where
the
the
sexiest
scenes
are
when
the
teenage
girls
dance
in
bikinis.
The
plot
is
silly,
but
the
musical
selections
are
fun.
One
is a
scene
where James
Brown performs
one
of
his
popular
songs.
Soul
Power,
by Jeffrey
Levy-Hinte,
USA,
2008,
is a
documentary,
about
a
three
day
music
festival,
that
took
place
in
Kinshasa,
Zaire,
a
month
before
the Ali/Foreman boxing
match.
Various
American
artists
appeared,
includingJames
Brown,
who
is
the
major
focus
of
the
film.
The
musical
selections
are
the
highlight
of
this
poorly
made
documentary.
MoMA
is
also
presenting Lady
in
the
Dark:
Crime
Films
from
Columbia
Pictures,
1932-1957
from
July
11-August
4. Murder
by
Contract,
by Irvine
Lerner,
USA,
1958,
stars Vince
Edwards,
who
to
earn
more
money,
becomes
a
hit
man
killing
various
men
on
assignment.
When
told
to
kill
a
woman,
he
is
reluctant.
When
forced
to
do
it,
tragedy
occurs.
It
is a
cool
film.
.
.
|
So Dark the Night, by Joseph
H. Lewis, USA, 1946, stars Steven
Geray as
a famous detective on a holiday
rest in the French countryside.
He falls in love with an
innkeeper's daughter, who has a
jealous fiance. When both are
found murdered, he investigates
the crimes. The criminal is a
surprise for the police and the
audience. It is a very well made
film.
My Name is Julia Ross, by Joseph
H. Lewis, USA, 1945, stars Nina
Foch as
an unemployed woman in London,
who takes a position as
secretary to a wealthy lady. She
is drugged, and hidden away in a
mansion in Cornwall. When she
regains consciousness, she is
informed that she is the wife of
the wealthy lady's murderous
son. It is a psychological
thriller, well acted and holds
one's attention to the end.
Walk a
Crooked Mile, by Gordon
Douglas, USA, 1948, features Louis
Hayward as
a Scotland Yard detective and Dennis
O'Keefe as
an FBI agent trying to find a communist spy
in a nuclear physics laboratory in
California. It plays like a documentary,
emphasizing the friendship between England
and the United States, American patriotism
and the communist menace to freedom loving
nations. The plot holds one's attention.
Drive a
Crooked Road, by Richard
Quine, USA, 1954, stars Mickey
Rooney as
a mechanic and race car driver, who becomes
involved with two bank robbers. It is a
typical crime story, with a lonely young
Rooney seduced by a girlfriend of one of the
criminals to help in the robbery. It leads
to the usual tragic ending, but Rooney gives
a fine performance.
Dead
Reckoning, by John
Cromwell, USA, 1947, features two of my
favorite actors, Humphrey
Bogart and Lizabeth
Scott, but the film has such a
complicated plot, that the viewer does not
have the slightest idea what is happening or
why. The dialogue, however, is sharp and
witty, and the two stars are a pleasure to
watch.
The Sniper,
by Edward
Dmytryk, USA, 1962, is like a
documentary about a psychologically
disturbed man (Arthur
Franz), who has a hatred of women, and
begins to kill them with a long distance
rifle. The acting is first rate, and Franz
gives a believable performance as the
killer.
Man in the
Dark, by Lew
Landers, USA,1953, was the first 3-D
film at Columbia Pictures. For that reason,
it is of historical interest. The story of a
gangster losing his memory after a brain
operation, and being pursued by other
mobsters and insurance investigators for the
money he stole and hid, is routine. But
viewers have a thrill having a scalpel, a
lit cigar, and a spider being thrust in
their face.
Gilda,
by Charles
Vidor, USA, 1946, is probably the best
film of this series. Rita
Hayworth stars
and she never looked lovelier. She marries a
wealthy Casino owner, and finds that the
only love of her life (Glenn
Ford) is now working for him. Tension
builds up throughout this terrific film to
the rousing climax. Hayworth and Ford are a
dynamic pair, and a pleasure to watch.
MoMA is
presenting An
Auteurist History of Film to August 29. Annie
Hall, by Woody
Allen, USA, 1977, is one of the
filmmaker's finest films, and it won two
Oscars for him and one for his star Diane
Keaton. The film is a devastating look
at how relationships deteriorate over time. Woody
Allen plays
a neurotic Jewish
comedian, obsessed with psychoanalysis,
divorced from two wives, who falls in love
with Keaton,
an insecure Christian woman from a small
town. It is a very funny film, but also a
very serious, sad look at how two people who
love each other will still leave each other
and go their separate ways.
Film Forum is
presenting Web
Junkie, by Shosh
Shlam and Hilla
Medalia, USA/Israel, 2014, August
6-19. It is a remarkable documentary
about Chinese teenagers and their internet
addiction. The Chinese have created
rehabilitation camps to cure these children
of their behavior. It focuses on one camp
for boys, and it is sad and depressing to
watch what these children are subjected to
in order to be cured. The camps are
virtually prisons, and even include solitary
confinement. The relationship between the
children and their frustrated families is
soured by the new technology. It is a
devastating film.
Mr. X: A
Vision of Leos Carax, by Tessa
Louise-Salome, France,
2014 is a documentary about the French
filmmaker, who has made just five films
since 1984. Extravagantly praised by many
critics, he has also been derided by others.
Having seen his first and his last films, I
tend to agree with the latter. The
documentary shows many clips and talking
heads by critics and actresses praising him.
He himself is reclusive, but definitely
appears to be a little strange. See the film
and judge for yourself.
07-27-14 Cast members Michael Labbadia and Keilly McQuail at the opening
night party of "Strictly Dishonorable" at South's. 273 Church St. Sunday
night 07-26-14
|