On the Town With Aubrey Reuben
Where All the Stars Shine Brightly!
March 22, 2014
03-18-14 (L-R) Playwright Lanie Robertson. cast member Audra
McDonald. director Lonny Price at a photo op. for "Lady Day at
Emerson's Bar & Grill" at Pearl Studios. 500 Eighth Ave. Monday
morning 03-17-14
On
Broadway, Aladdin,
music by Alan
Menken, lyrics by Howard
Ashman and Tim
Rice, book and additional lyrics
by Chad
Beguelin, is another addition to
the mediocre musicals (except for The
Lion King) on Broadway by
Disney. The extremely loud music
will have a deleterious effects on
one's hearing. The fairy tale story
of Aladdin
and the Magic Lamp is
acceptable as family entertainment
for five-year-olds. The music is
pleasant, the lyrics banal and the
choreography is occasionally
interesting. Casey
Nicholaw is
responsible for the direction and
choreography. However, two stars
shine through this overlong
production. In the second act, the
two lovers take a ride on a magic
carpet. It is beautifully performed,
and worth the price of admission.
The other star is a star. The genie,
performed by James
Monroe Iglehart, enlivens every
scene in which he appears. A massive
presence with enormous energy, he is
a pleasure to have on stage.
Les
Ballets de Monte Carlo presented LAC
(After Swan Lake), choreography
by Jean-Christophe
Maillot, March 14-16 at City
Center. It is a modern
interpretation of the classic
ballet, with most of the music of
Tchaikovsky on
tape. The story is completely
changed. and is quite confusing. The
scenery is minimal and the costumes
are garish. The dancers are
attractive and quite good. This
version is an interesting addition
to, perhaps, the greatest ballet
ever produced.
I attended a photo op for Lady
Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill, by Lanie
Robertson, starring Audra
McDonald, directed by Lonny
Price. It will open on April 13
at Circle in the Square. I can
hardly wait.
Joanna Christie and Paul
Alexander Nolan of Once received
a portrait for The
Broadway Wall of Fame at
Tony's di Napoli. Valerie
Smaldone was
the Emcee and Bruce
Dimpflmaier provide
the delicious food and drink. It
was a festive occasion.
Film Society of Lincoln Center is
presenting press screenings for Art
of the Real April 11-26. La
Ultima Pelicula, by Raya
Martin and Mark
Peranson,
Mexico/Canada/Denmark/Philippines,
2013, is disjointed, incoherent mess
of a movie. An egotistical,
irritating filmmaker (Alex
Ross Perry) goes to Chichen Itza
in the Yucatan Peninsula to film the
Mayan prediction of the last day on
Earth. Unfortunately, he never stops
talking, and repeating himself, and
rubbing his face. Nothing he says
has any interest for any intelligent
filmgoer. The Mayan ruins and a
scene with a lovely actress swimming
in a cenote are a small pleasure.
Change of Life, by Paulo
Rocha, Portugal, 1966, tells the
story of a soldier returning from
Angola to his home in a fishing
village in Portugal. The back and
white film captures the way of life
of these hard working people, and
the increasing lack of opportunity
for the younger generation. It is a
wonderful, realistic, honest picture
of basically decent people
overwhelmed by their circumstances.
You will feel compassion for every
character in this remarkable film.
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Actress, by Robert
Green, USA, 2014, seems to be a
phony, unbelievable documentary,
about a one time television actress, Brandy
Burre, who
became a suburban housewife, when
she had two children by a dull
partner, whom she cheated on. When
he left her, she realized she had to
find a job to support herself and
the two children. She never stops
whining and crying. If it is a true
story, I feel extremely sorry for
the two little children.
Lukas the Strange, by John
Torres, Philippines, 2013, is
about making a film in a tiny
village. The photography is
terrible, the scenes are disjointed,
the villagers are unattractive, and
the entire project seems pointless.
Red Hollywood, by Thom
Andersen and Noel
Burch, USA, 1996, focuses on four
directors, who made films which were
considered propaganda for communist
causes during the 30s and 40s in
Hollywood. They are interviewed as
talking heads, but the best part of the
film is the actual film clips from the
various films they made. It appears that
rather than trying to overthrow the
government, they were just seeking
social justice for all Americans. It is
a fascinating look at a shameful period,
in which filmmakers were blacklisted by
the House Un-American Activities
Committee, and its pernicious influence
on what was to be shown on Hollywood
screens. Censorship is always evil.
Film Society at Lincoln Center is
presenting Permanent
Vacation: The Films of Jim Jarmusch
April 2-10. Dead
Man, USA/Germany/Japan, 1995, is
considered the director's masterpiece.
An accountant (Johnny
Depp) travels West to a small town
for a job, and finds it has already been
given to someone else. He travels
further West with an Indian (Gary
Farmer), who teaches him the ways of
the indigenous people of the America. As
the accountant's name is William
Blake, there are lots of references
to the mystical English poet. The film
features boring conversation, a
stultifying soundtrack by Neil
Young, and every scene has the two
killing everyone they meet on their
trip. Both finally die, and the film
mercifully ends
MoMA is presenting Vienna
Unveiled: A City in Cinema through April 20. Bad
Timing: A Sensual Obsession, by Nicolas
Roeg, Great Britain, 1980, received an X
rating from the British censors, when it was
first presented. 34 years later, it is not
quite so shocking. It is an intelligent
film, about a psycho-sexual relationship
between a jealous psychiatrist (a
surprisingly good Art
Garfunkle) and an unstable lady (Theresa
Russell). It is told in flashbacks, as
she is rushed to the hospital after an
attempted suicide. The many sex scenes are
quite daring for its time, and the final
one, especially, where Garfunkle ravishes a
comatose Russell. The film leaves a deep
impression.
We
Are The Best!, by Lukas
Moodysson, Sweden, is the best film about teenagers that I have seen in
years. It takes place in Stockholm in 1982. Two rebellious teenagers decide
to form a punk band, and manage to persuade a shy guitar playing student to
join them. It is the most honest portrayal of teenagers, who cannot fit in
to their school society. Every word of dialogue sounds truthful, and the
three young ladies, Mira
Barkhammar, Mira Grosin and Liv
LeMoyne, give remarkable performances. It is a pleasure to watch their
adventures. They are never boring, just plain exhilarating. I enjoyed every
minute of this wonderful film.
Nymphomaniac Volume II,
by Lars von Trier,
continues from Volume I, which I did not see. An unconscious, battered woman
(Charlotte Gainsbourg) in an
alley is rescued by a middle-aged bachelor (Stellan
Skarsgard). He brings her to his apartment, and she tells him her sexual
history as a nymphomaniac in flashbacks. We witness, among many scenes, her
sexual encounter with two black men, her sessions with a professional
sadist, who punches her in the face, and for whom she submits to horrendous
whippings, until her buttocks are bleeding, a lesbian relationship with a
young girl she mentors, and the violent attack in the alley, where her
former lover punches her in the face and beats her into unconsciousness,
while the young girl urinates on her prostrate body. For sadomasochistic
voyeurs, this may seem an interesting film. For normal people, it will be
insufferable.
03-19-14 (L-R) Bruce Dimpflmaier. cast
members Joanna Christie. Paul Alexander Nolan. Valerie Smaldone at the
unveiling of a portrait for the Broadway Wall of Fame of "Once" at Tony's di
Napoli. 147 West 43rd St. Tuesday night. 03-18-14
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