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**I saw the 3D UP! last weekend. What a surprisingly lovely movie! I loved Carl and his grumpy-ness. I loved Dug and his obsession with squirrels (one thought... does the South American Jungle have squirrels? How does the Dog Militia know what one is, and that they are awesome to chase?) I love the Wilderness Scout (Russell? Randall? Reynolds?). And Kevin is also a wonderful character. Well done Pixar!
This movie has a love hate relationship with gravity. It is only useful when it is USEFUL if you understand what I am saying. And yes, we all cried at various points. The sniffles in the nearly full theatre were pretty epic.
**Saw the PBS Great Performances "Chess in Concert" on Thursday night. Awesome! Tim Rice did preface the show by saying he thinks they've finally worked out a throughline story that works the best. It has good points, bad points, and parts that were fucking AWESOME. Yes, Josh Grobin cannot act. We know this. However, he does have a gorgeous voice, and was perfect as Anatoly, since he didn't have to do much more than put genuine feeling into the music, he did quite well. Adam Pascal as Freddie was also incredibly well cast - his brash, bold, "Fuck you" attitude as the Ugly American was pitch perfect. Idina Menzel as Florence did well. I wish she had enunciated a little more, because we lost some of her words in the duets, trios and quartets. The man who played the Arbiter was suitably creepy and MIB-like. But one of the stand out performances was for the woman playing Svetlana - she was amazing, even though we don't even meet her until Act Two. "Someone Else's Story," "I Know Him So Well," and "Anthem" were my favorites, followed up with "Nobody's Side," "Pity the Child," and "The Arbiter."
Really really well done, even the bits that don't *quite* work, plot-wise. I loved the whole duality that the minimal set and costuming punched up. Black and white. I also liked the ballet bits of the chess matches. I will be watching it again, for sure.
**Tonight Gwen and I went to see Cadence at TCAN - a Toronto-based a cappella quartet. So much fun! The guy who was the bass/percussion for most of the performance was amazing. The new tenor to the group also quite musical - as a number of their arrangements were done by him. They sort of mimic the tones of instruments - horns, strings, percussion. And they seem to specialize in jazzy music from all musical eras of the twentieth century. And they are incredibly funny. I think I loved the "noir" bits the best. One note guys - "On the Street Where You Live" is NOT a jazz standard. I mean it may be a jazz favorite, I don't know, but it is originally from My Fair Lady and is a MUSICAL THEATRE standard. Lerner and Loewe. 1956. Ring a bell? So there.
I do love their Web site tag line... "Instruments are for Surgeons." LOL! It doesn't sound like they need instruments - they take care of all of that vocally. Awesome - I recommend seeing them if you ever get the chance.
This movie has a love hate relationship with gravity. It is only useful when it is USEFUL if you understand what I am saying. And yes, we all cried at various points. The sniffles in the nearly full theatre were pretty epic.
**Saw the PBS Great Performances "Chess in Concert" on Thursday night. Awesome! Tim Rice did preface the show by saying he thinks they've finally worked out a throughline story that works the best. It has good points, bad points, and parts that were fucking AWESOME. Yes, Josh Grobin cannot act. We know this. However, he does have a gorgeous voice, and was perfect as Anatoly, since he didn't have to do much more than put genuine feeling into the music, he did quite well. Adam Pascal as Freddie was also incredibly well cast - his brash, bold, "Fuck you" attitude as the Ugly American was pitch perfect. Idina Menzel as Florence did well. I wish she had enunciated a little more, because we lost some of her words in the duets, trios and quartets. The man who played the Arbiter was suitably creepy and MIB-like. But one of the stand out performances was for the woman playing Svetlana - she was amazing, even though we don't even meet her until Act Two. "Someone Else's Story," "I Know Him So Well," and "Anthem" were my favorites, followed up with "Nobody's Side," "Pity the Child," and "The Arbiter."
Really really well done, even the bits that don't *quite* work, plot-wise. I loved the whole duality that the minimal set and costuming punched up. Black and white. I also liked the ballet bits of the chess matches. I will be watching it again, for sure.
**Tonight Gwen and I went to see Cadence at TCAN - a Toronto-based a cappella quartet. So much fun! The guy who was the bass/percussion for most of the performance was amazing. The new tenor to the group also quite musical - as a number of their arrangements were done by him. They sort of mimic the tones of instruments - horns, strings, percussion. And they seem to specialize in jazzy music from all musical eras of the twentieth century. And they are incredibly funny. I think I loved the "noir" bits the best. One note guys - "On the Street Where You Live" is NOT a jazz standard. I mean it may be a jazz favorite, I don't know, but it is originally from My Fair Lady and is a MUSICAL THEATRE standard. Lerner and Loewe. 1956. Ring a bell? So there.
I do love their Web site tag line... "Instruments are for Surgeons." LOL! It doesn't sound like they need instruments - they take care of all of that vocally. Awesome - I recommend seeing them if you ever get the chance.
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