On the Town With Aubrey Reuben
Where All the Stars Shine Brightly!
February 1, 2014
01-28-14 Diane Lane and honoree Cherry Jones at the Post Ceremony
Theater Hall of Fame 2013 Dinner at the New York Friars Club. 57
East 55th St. Monday night 01-27-14
Off-Broadway, Intimacy,
by Thomas
Bradshaw, is a very graphic, almost pornographic
play about three families living next to each other
in suburbia. Their sexual desires are revealed, as a
young son wants to make a pornographic film, using
the members of the three families. There is much
nudity and simulated sex acts in this very
provocative play. The opening night party took place
at Rosebud NYV at OUT Hotel with guests like cast
member Ella
Dershowitz's father Alan
Dershowitz, the famous lawyer, and mother Carolyn
Cohen, Halley Feiffer, Amy Irving and Morgan
Spector.
Dragons, book,
music and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, was presented
in Musicals
in Mufti by
the York Theatre Company. It is a pleasant fantasy
musical, a fairy tale about a town ruled by a
dragon, which is destroyed by a knight named
Lancelot. It featured a thirteen member cast, who
were congratulated after the opening night
performance with a reception in the music room at
the theater.
The Theater Hall of
Fame dinner took place at the New York Friars Club
after the ceremony at the Gershwin Theatre. Among
the 2013 honorees attending the dinner were Ellen
Burstyn, David Hays, Cherry Jones, Lynne Meadow,
George C. Wolfe and Jerry
Zaks. Joel
Grey was
the Master of Ceremonies. Among the guests were Pia Lindstrom,
Diane Lane, Betty Buckley, Lois Smith, Lee Roy Reams and Dana
Ivey.It was a festive occasion.
The 2nd Annual Luce
Awards Ceremony and reception took place at Skadden,
Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom Law Firm at 4 Times
Square. I met James
Luce of
the James Jay Dudley Luce Foundation, which honors
young leaders working to Better Humanity in various
countries, and the Sri Lanken Ambassador to the
United Nations H. E. Dr.
Politha Kohona, a charming gentleman, who is a
cricket fan like me, and had just returned from
Australia, where he saw two matches between
Australia and England. It was a lovely event.
A wonderful exhibition Robert
Farber: Farberesque: From Pensive to Provocative was
presented by Cavalier Gallery, 3 West 57th St. The
opening night sales were to benefit the National
Meningitis Association. A large crowd attended the
opening night reception to admire his splendid
artwork.
Film Society at Lincoln Center is presenting Film
Comments Selects February 17-27. Our
Sunhi, by Hong
Sang-soo, South Korea, 2013, is a charming tale
of a young female student, who wants to go to
graduate school in the United States to pursue a
filmmaking career. Returning to her college for a
recommendation letter, she reawakens the love of
three former colleagues. Their pursuit of her is a
subtle reminder that what a woman desires is not
necessarily what men want. It is a delightful,
clever, low key, enjoyable film.
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Fat
Shaker, by Mohammad
Shirvani, Iran,
2013, is an annoying, incoherent film, about a repulsive, obese
father, who makes his deaf-mute son, virtually, a slave to his
demands, who he constantly abuses and beats, and even locks him
in the trunk of car. It is a brutal film, with disgusting scenes
from beginning to end.
Cherchez Hortense, by Pascal
Bonitzer, France, 2012, is about a professor (Jean-Pierre
Bacri), who is asked to do favor to help an illegal
immigrant., while his family life is in shambles. Kristin
Scott Thomas plays
his wife, a stage director, who eventually separates from him.
It is an intelligent film, a glimpse at an upper class Parisian
family, with universal problems. The acting is first rate.
Felony, by Matthew
Saville, Australia, 2013, is a psychological study of a
detective, under the influence of alcohol, who is in an accident
with a nine-year old boy on a bicycle. As the investigation
continues, we watch his mental deterioration, affecting his
family life. It is a serious honest look at a tragedy, which is
very prevalent in New York today. The acting is exceptional,
especially by Tom
Wilkinson as the
detective's supervisor, who tries to help him.
Me
and You, by Bernardo
Bertolucci, Italy, 2012, is about a 14-year -old boy (a
remarkable Jacopo
Olmo Antinori), who does not like to socialize with anyone,
and who hides in the basement storage room of his family's
apartment building for a week, when supposedly he is on a school
skiing trip. His drug-addict half-sister (an excellent Tea
Falco), whom he hardly knows, shows up in the room, and a
unlikely relationship evolves between them. It is a
psychological study of two lost souls, whicch is extremely well
acted.
I saw
another Oscar Nominated best picture American
Hustle, by David O.
Russell., USA, 2013, which received nine
other well deserved nominations. Based on the actual Abscam
scandal, that entrapped corrupt politicians, Christian
Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper and Jennifer
Lawrence, playing
the fictitious characters in the film, were superb. It was a
very entertaining film. I also saw Labor
Day, by Jason
Reitman, USA, 2014, about a depressed divorcee (Kate
Winslet), held hostage in her home, with her 13-year-old
son, by an escaped prisoner. They fall in love over the Labor
Day weekend. It is an overlong, slow-moving, humorless,
unbelievable film.
01-29-14 (L-R) Father Alan Dershowitz.
cast member Ella Dershowitz. mother Carolyn Cohen at the opening night party
for "Intimacy" at Rosebud NYC in the Out Hotel. 510 West 42nd St. Monday
night 01-28-14
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