Off-Broadway, Life
is for Living: Conversations with Noel Coward,
created and compiled by Simon
Green, speaking
and singing, and David Shrubsole,
at the piano, at 59E59 Theatre, is some
reminiscences of the famous English playwright,
director, actor and much more, plus many of his
songs. The most humorous was Place
Settings and
one of his most famous was London
Pride. For Noel Coward lovers,
the 70-minute show will satisfy.
The Bolshoi Ballet in Cinema presented The
Nutcracker, music by Pyotr
Ilich Tchaikovsky, choreography by Yuri Grigorovich,
starring Anna Nikulina as
Marie and Denis
Rudkin as
The Nutcracker-The Prince. It is a delightful
production, and the two leads were brilliant. In the
final pas de deux, the audience applauded repeatedly
and made them return to the stage. The ensemble is,
as always, magnificent. It is such a pleasure to
listen to the glorious music and admire this
marvelous company.
Film Society Lincoln Center presented
press screenings of the 26th
New York Jewish Film Festival: January 11-24. Moon
in the 12th House, by Dorit
Hakim, Israel, 2016, is
a film about two sisters. The older one goes to Tel
Aviv and works in a discoteque. The owner, her
lover, is a drug addict and dealer. When the club is
raided, she flees and returns to her family home in
a small town. Meanwhile, her younger sister is a
high school student. looking after her father, a
widower, who has suffered a severe stroke and is
hospitalized. Basically, it is a film about the
tension between two sisters, who cannot relate to
each other. It is overlong, slow moving, and there
are many repetitious scenes of the younger sister
swimming, feeding her father, and eating standing up
in the kitchen looking out the window. There is no
humor whatsoever in the film, but the acting is
excellent. My Travels
with Oliver, by Laurel
Chiten, U.S.
2017. is a short film that precedes the opening
night film above about Oliver
Sachs, a
famous English neurologist and writer, who is
revealed to be eccentric, but pleasant. The director
and Oliver take a trip together. Mr Bernstein,
by Francine Zuckerman,
Canada, 2015, also is also a short film based on a
true story aboutLeonard
Bernstein conducting
an orchestra in a displaced persons camp after World
War II and the effect of the music on one of the
audience. Years later, Bernstein appears in New
Zealand to conduct a concert, and the daughter of
the displaced person interrupts the rehearsal to
tell her father's story to the conductor. It is a
touching story.
Peshmerga,
by Bernard-Henri Levy,
France, 2016, has the director traveling with
Kurdish soldiers as they fight ISIS on the Syrian
border. It is a sad commentary on the violence and
the horror of war in the Middle East. Many scenes
are brutally graphic, but it is true and realistic.
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Shalom Rabin, by Amos
Gitai, Israel,
2017, is a look at the former Prime Minister of
Israel, who worked for peace between his country
and Palestinians, and was, tragically,
assassinated. It takes an inside look at his
visit to Washington, meeting with President
Clinton and
other officials plus to other
countries. Unfortunately, the ending is quite
bizarre with strange images and footage of Nazis
burning books
Hummus! The Movie, by Oren
Rosenfeld, Israel,
2016, is an amusing film, which will delight
everyone. It wanders around Israel to various
towns, beautifully photographed, to focus on
restaurants that make hummus, and the owners,
who are dedicated to produce the finest hummus,
and win every honor, including the Guinness Book
of Records for the largest hummus in the
world. There are also side trips to Beirut,
London and Berlin. All the restauranteurs are
comical characters, and quite endearing. After
seeing this film, you will want to visit every
restaurant and sample their hummus.
The Mid-Manhattan Library, 455
Fifth Avenue presented Written on the Wind,
by Douglas
Sirk, USA, 1956, a typical
Hollywood melodrama, about a wealthy family with
two spoilt children played by Robert
Stack and Dorothy
Malone, who won an Oscar for her performance
as an oversexed young lady. Rock
Hudson and Lauren
Bacall were
the leads in this overheated drama, which is
quite entertaining.
The Columbus Library, 741 Tenth
Ave, presented Meet
Me in St. Louis, by Vincent
Minnelli, USA, 1944, about a three
generation family living in the city of the
title in 1904, at the time of its World Fair. Judy
Garland and Margaret
O'Brien as
her younger sister star in this sweet,
sentimental musical with glorious songs, such as The
Trolley Song. At this time, American
soldiers were fighting in World War II in Europe
and the Pacific and this film reminded them of
the American Way of Life, which they were
defending. It is a wonderful film, which is
refreshing for the lack of vulgarity in
many modern American films today.
I went to a photo op for the 35th
Anniversary of Dreamgirls at
the Michael bennett Studios, 890 Broadway. It
was a pleasure to see and photograph cast
members like Vondie
Curtis-Hall, Lillias White and Allison
Williams among
many others. I had to leave early before many
arrived as
I had another event below to cover,.
I especially wanted to photograph my old pal Sheryl
Lee Ralph. Can it really be 35 years ago
that I saw the original cast starring Sheryl? I
must have been two-years-old at the time!
I had to go to Bobby Van's
Steakhouse, 135 West 50th St for a VIP
reception for New York Giant Damon
"Snacks" Harrison and
his charity I
Told The
Storm Foundation, The
First Annual United States Marine Toys For Tots
Holiday Toy Drive.Damon
was interviewed for television by Andy Adler on
WPIX. Between
pizzas, sliders and french fries, plus wine, I
enjoyed chatting with old friends like Richard
Corkery, retired
celebrity photographer of the Daily News. We
recalled the Good Old Days when we snapped
famous celebrities in New York. It
was a lovely event. |