REP 2010-11 Season Round-Up

And here is a very lengthy post that will be seemingly relevant to only a very few...

Perhaps rather selfishly (seeing as how my "reviews" of the University of Delaware's Resident Ensemble Players productions are some of my heaviest hit, most-searched-for blog posts), I figured that I'd post a wrap-up of the REP's pretty great 2010-11 season.  While it wasn't without a letdown or two (I still don't understand Harold Pinter's The Homecoming even a little bit), overall this is a fantastic theater troupe that I can't help but "promote" as much as this little blog with its whopping dozens of hits per day will allow.

Apparently, according to an article I read about the troupe, the University of Delaware sits outside the boundaries of the Philadelphia-based Barrymore Awards for theater.  So, instead, I'll hand out my own "awards" which should be seen as a hearty thank you to both the onstage and backstage members of the REP and the students of the Professional Theater Training Program (PTTP) for a wonderful season.

It also should be noted that this blog in general is simply a way of keeping track of the goings-on of the entertainment aspects in my life...so this post is really more of a journal entry than anything else, but if it gives anyone associated with the REP a slight chuckle, so be it.  Don't look at it so much as a competition, but an absolute respectful take of one theatergoer's favorite moments of a wonderful and engaging ten-play season.  I don't know how the upcoming season works, but if it means the departure of all or any of the REP members, rest assured they will be thoroughly missed by myself and my fellow season ticket holders.

Total Number of Nominations

(# of Nominations include "Honorable Mentions")

(Click on titles for a link to original review)

A Midsummer Night's Dream -- 8

Private Lives -- 8

The Glass Menagerie -- 7

The Good Doctor -- 6
Way to Heaven -- 6
O Beautiful -- 4

The Importance of Being Earnest -- 3

Our Town -- 2

Links to other 2010-11 REP productions

All the King's Men

The Homecoming

Best Costume Design

Bronze Medal -- Martha Hally - O Beautiful

Silver Medal -- Martha Hally - A Midsummer Night's Dream 

Gold Medal -- Laura Crow - The Good Doctor

A really close call seeing as how Ms. Hally's work for A Midsummer Night's Dream was rather exquisite in its imaginative uniqueness and her designs for O Beautiful allowed her to display both modern and historic threads, but Laura Crow's sumptuous costumes for the rather large ensemble of The Good Doctor added elegance and transported the audience right into the era of the play.

Best Scenic Design
Honorable Mention: Takeshi Kata - O Beautiful

Bronze Medal -- Stefanie Hansen - Private Lives

Silver Medal -- Junghyun Georgia Lee - The Glass Menagerie

Gold Medal -- Takeshi Kata -- A Midsummer Night's Dream

Without a doubt, coupled with the outstanding costumes presented by the REP, this company doesn't skimp when it comes to the visuals the audience sees onstage.  Presented in the smaller Studio Theater, Private Lives presented two very different sets filled with great details.  Junghyun Georgia Lee's set for The Glass Menagerie was stunning in its simplicity.  But Takeshi Kata's rotating moon and freaky forest of A Midsummer Night's Dream were so one-of-a-kind that it had to take the top prize.  When that moon spun around...pretty darn cool.

Best Ensemble

Honorable Mentions:  Way to Heaven

Bronze Medal:  The Glass Menagerie 

(Michael Gotch, Erik Mathew, Carine Montbertrand, Kathleen Pirkl Tague)

Silver Medal:  The Good Doctor  

(Drew Brhel, Deena Burke, Ben Charles, Caroline Crocker, Donte Fitzgerald, Andrew Goldwasser, Erik Mathew, Carine Montbertrand, Kathleen Pirkl Tague, Steve Tague)

Gold Medal:  Private Lives 

(Deena Burke, Michael Gotch, Carine Montbertrand, Andy Nagraj, Meaghan Sullivan)

The cast of Private Lives portrayed comedy at its very finest with each one having their moment to shine.    While that's surely a credit to the playwright, in lesser hands, the comedy would have fallen flat.  The quintet of actors provided a thoroughly enjoyable night at the theater.

Best Direction

Honorable Mention:  Matthew Earnest - Way to Heaven

Bronze Medal:  Warner Shook - Private Lives

Silver Medal:  Sanford Robbins - A Midsummer Night's Dream 

Gold Medal:  John Langs - The Glass Menagerie

Although Sandy Robbins certainly elevated the REP to another level with his production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, I still vividly remember the exquisite final moments of The Glass Menagerie with much fondness.  The Inception-like demolishment of the set was breathtaking and for that vision alone, John Langs takes this award.

Best Supporting Actress

Honorable Mentions:

Elizabeth Heflin (REP) as "Lady Bracknell" - The Importance of Being Earnest

Jasmine Bracey (PTTP) as "Hippolyta/Titania" - A Midsummer Night's Dream

Bronze Medal:  Carine Montbertrand (REP) as Various Characters - The Good Doctor

Silver Medal:  Carine Montbertrand (REP) as "Miss Prism" - The Importance of Being Earnest

Gold Medal:  Meaghan Sullivan (PTTP) as "Sibyl Chase" - Private Lives

I don't know what it says that nearly all of my top five supporting actress performances are comedic...I guess I just like funny ladies (now if only I could find one for myself...).  Ms. Heflin was scene-stealing in Earnest.  Ms. Bracey was a strong, powerful, and commanding magical fairy in Midsummer.  Carine Montbertrand was the comedic genius that is Carine Montbertrand.  She always excels on the REP stage, but her hilarious turn in The Good Doctor and her take on Miss Prism in Earnest had me wishing she was on the stage for the entirety of each of those plays.

But the "winner" is PTTP member Meaghan Sullivan in Private Lives whose take on Sibyl Chase felt like a loving homage to comedic actresses of the 1930s and 40s.  I'm a sucker for a good comedic crier and Ms. Sullivan is one heckuva comedic crier.

Best Supporting Actor
Honorable Mentions:
Mic Matarrese (REP) as "Reverend Chasuble" - The Importance of Being Earnest
Drew Brehl (Guest Actor) as Various Characters - The Good Doctor
Bronze Medal: Matthew Simpson (PTTP) as "Red Cross Representative" - Way to Heaven
Silver Medal: Eric Mathew (PTTP) as Various Characters - The Good Doctor
Gold Medal: Ben Charles (PTTP) as "Philostrate/Puck" - A Midsummer Night's Dream

It's rather nice that the medals here get doled out to three PTTP members.  Kudos to Matthew Simpson for the difficult role he had in Way to Heaven.  Tackling a nearly thirty-minute monologue, having to do so at the very beginning of the play, and making the audience feel riveted was an unenviable task, but he surely succeeded.  Eric Mathew was rather genius as the smooth-talking lothario in The Good Doctor, taking a short scene and making it incredibly memorable.

Just eking out a win is Ben Charles as Puck (and also the smaller role of Philostrate) in A Midsummer Night's Dream.  Showcasing his acrobatic talent (or, at the very least, his bravery in performing some high-flying aerial moves), Mr. Charles was completely engaging and brought quite a bit of humor to Shakespeare's words.

Best Actress

Honorable Mentions:

Sara J. Griffin (PTTP) as "Emily" - Our Town

Sara J. Griffin (PTTP) as "Alice Fletcher" - O Beautiful

Bronze Medal: Kathleen Pirkl Tague (REP) as "Amanda Wingfield" - The Glass Menagerie

Silver Medal: Carine Montbertrand (REP) as "Amanda Prynne" - Private Lives

Gold Medal: Elizabeth Heflin (REP) as "Linda Ryan" - O Beautiful

If I'm being completely honest, I felt that this season of the REP left the ladies a tiny bit by the wayside.  The plays felt a tad more male-centric this year in terms of "leading" roles.  Still, there were five great performances that either moved me, made me laugh, or managed to do both.

Kudos to PTTP member Sara J. Griffin for her lovely and charming take on teenage Emily in Our Town and a somewhat more emotionally confused teen in the premiere presentation of O Beautiful.  Ms. Tague, who excelled in last year's Death of a Salesman, was a different kind of mom in The Glass Menagerie, but just as powerful.  And although Ms. Montbertrand has certainly proven she can be the dramatic heavy of a piece, she was a comedienne of the finest caliber in Private Lives.

However, the top "prize" goes to Elizabeth Heflin in Theresa Rebeck's O Beautiful.  SPOILER ALERT:  There's something gut-wrenching about watching a parent go through the loss of a child.  I recently had a relative who lost her child and Ms. Heflin hit the emotions on the nose and made me feel the same "uncomfortableness" that I felt in real life.  However, even before the tragedy hits, Heflin's portrayal of Linda seemed genuine and true to life.

Best Actor

Honorable Mentions:

Michael Gotch (REP) as "Elyot Chase" - Private Lives

Michael Gotch (REP) as "Tom Wingfield - The Glass Menagerie

Bronze Medal:  Ben Charles (PTTP) as "George" - Our Town

Silver Medal:  Mic Matarrese (REP) as "Commandant" - Way to Heaven

Gold Medal:  Stephen Pelinski (REP) as "Bottom"- A Midsummer Night's Dream

Michael Gotch is always great to watch and his roles in Private Lives and The Glass Menagerie showed two different sides of his acting spectrum.  Ben Charles makes a second appearance in these "awards" with his role of George in Our Town.  The innocence that he brought to the role was what won me over.  Mic Matarrese was rather frightening as the eerily charismatic Nazi Commandant in Way to Heaven.  It was very nice to see Mr. Matarrese be able to showcase his talent with a meaty role to sink his teeth into.

Stephen Pelinski, however, took the role of Bottom in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and showed me a completely different take on the character than I ever could have expected.  He made Shakespeare's words come alive and seem surprisingly relevant, creating comedy where I thought there would be none.  Based off my previous exposure to the play, I was absolutely dreading his character's big role in the Pyramus and Thisbe finale, so I never could have guessed that Mr. Pelinski would have created some gut-busting laugh-out-loud moments.

Favorite Moment/Scene

Honorable Mentions: "The Showdown of the Ex-Lovers -- Pillow Scene" in Private Lives; 

Red Cross Representative Monologue in Way to Heaven

Bronze Medal: "Pyramus and Thisbe" in A Midsummer Night's Dream

Silver Medal: "Surgery" in The Good Doctor

Gold Medal: Final Moment of The Glass Menagerie

Both the Bronze and Silver medalists are here because of their gut-busting belly laughs.  But the final moment of The Glass Menagerie when the set began to tear apart...I'm still feeling wowed by it.  It floored me and was my absolute favorite moment of a REP production this season.  It's an image that has stuck with me even several months later and I think ultimately that's what you really want to happen when you go see live theater. 

Best Overall Production

Honorable Mention:  Private Lives

Bronze Medal:  Way to Heaven

Silver Medal:  The Glass Menagerie

Gold Medal:  A Midsummer Night's Dream

Overall, it was a great season for the REP.  Our Town and The Good Doctor could have easily been swapped out with any of the four plays listed above, but this is way the chips fell for me.  It was actually a really tough decision determining whether Private Lives or Way to Heaven took the Bronze seeing as how both plays were really great and couldn't be more different from one another.  In the end (and quite possibly because Way to Heaven is fresher in my mind), playwright Juan Mayorga's gripping take on the Holocaust, the rather ingenious slow unfolding of the events that took place at the Theresienstadt concentration camp, and the simple haunting set just barely took the prize over the great comedy on display in Private Lives.

I've said it before, but thanks to John Langs' direction, The Glass Menagerie was a special treat.  Langs elevated the words thanks to the way he decided to stage Tennessee Williams' work.

However, A Midsummer Night's Dream was simply too fanciful to deny it the top spot.  To make Shakespeare relevant, entertaining, and completely engaging is a credit to director Sanford Robbins and the entire cast of the production.  To not be bored for a minute shocked me immensely.  With the costumes, set design, and wonderful acting, I can't help but think that this production would rival anything you'd see up in New York City.

Total Number of "Gold Medal Wins"

A Midsummer Night's Dream - 4

The Glass Menagerie - 2

Private Lives - 2

The Good Doctor - 1
O Beautiful - 1

Once again, thanks to the REP for a great season.  Those in the area should definitely check out the troupe in seasons to come.

Theater Review - O Beautiful

O Beautiful

written by Theresa Rebeck

Directed by Sanford Robbins

Where:  Thompson Theater at the Roselle Center for the Arts

(University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware)

(It should be noted that this "review" contains some moderate spoilers...although most of the things I discuss were discussed in a New York Times article that can be read here.  It should also be noted that I ramble like crazy in my thoughts below...)

First things first -- It is an incredibly fitting end to the University of Delaware's Resident Ensemble Players and Professional Theater Training Program three-year cycle and ten play season to perform a play that features seventeen of the talented actors of both groups.  To see them up on stage all together was a true treat and it's what makes this repertory company incredibly special and a true gem in Delaware.  

But, oh, how I wish this cast was in a better play.  We all bring our personal views, morals, and philosophies to all of our experiences in everyday life and the same thing applies to theater.  One can hope that with theater (similar to interactions with people in our normal life) our minds may be opened to something new or a different way of thinking.  The currently running REP/PTTP production of Way to Heaven did that for me to a certain extent.  Playwright Theresa Rebeck's world premiere of O Beautiful, despite its attempts, didn't succeed in that department.  

I'll lay it on the line here because this is my blog, so why not.  I'm a conservative.  I'm not one of these gun-toting NRA folks and I tend to believe that our founding fathers (many of whom make appearances in this very play) had a completely different mindset when they gave us the "right to bear arms" -- Hot Topic #1 in the play.  Rebeck apparently agrees with me, or at least voices this idea in the play which places a big emphasis (perhaps rightly so) on looking back at history with an eye on the ever-changing culture of today.  We must remember that it was George Washington and Thomas Jefferson (and, of course, many others) who wouldn't allow women to vote and kept slaves -- two concepts that obviously seem ridiculous to us now.  In that sense, what Rebeck is trying to voice in the play is an interesting idea.

However, in order to get to get her point across, I can't help but think that she only portrays the extreme side of conservatism in society today.  She pokes fun at Glenn Beck (who I really can't stand and is certainly ripe for comedy) via the character of Simon West (portrayed on stage by REP member Mic Matarrese).  Beck is the EXTREME of the conservative party.  He and the tea partyers are easy targets in this modern era and Rebeck takes aim.  The scenes with Simon West just didn't fit in with the rest of the play for me and seemed rather superfluous at times.  It felt like many of the things being discussed in the West scenes were already being detailed in other scenes in the play (particularly with PTTP member Donte Fitzgerald's "rebel" teacher character Mr. Janaleris) and the addition of West simply seemed like a blatant attempt at slamming the right (even if I think Glenn Beck is deserving of a trouncing).

The "extreme" aspect also comes into play when the story shifts to its other hot topic of abortion.  When teen Alice (PTTP Sara J. Griffin) finds out she is pregnant, she feels that she can't tell her conservative, religious parents because they simply won't understand.  In and of itself, that's a fine storyline, but towards the play's conclusion when secrets that have been kept are revealed, Alice's father turns incredibly nasty towards his daughter, along with the rest of the conservative, gun-toting Selbyville, Delaware, townsfolk.  I'm not debating that this couldn't and/or doesn't happen in real life.  I'm sure there are religious parents that disown their children for having abortions.  But to portray the play's conservatives as mean-spirited just didn't sit well with me.  For a play that hopes that its message is one of political civility, it's ultimately hypocritical with a lack of compassion being shown to the conservative way of thinking.

[Let's be honest here.  If this so-called edgy play wanted to be really ballsy, it would have taken the pro-life stance.  Can you imagine that?  Pro-life at a college?  Say what you will about "art" trying to push the envelope, but in the grand scheme of things, a huge chunk of current "art" (music, movies, whatever) pushes a liberal element, while ridiculing the conservative side of things.  As a reviewer, I'm not saying whether I agree or disagree with that stance, but for a play that a New York Times article calls "controversial," it's really only saying what liberal colleges have been pushing on their students for years.  Rant Over...]

All these thoughts aside, I didn't hate the play.  I appreciated the delicate balance that Ms. Rebeck creates between comedy and drama, with most of the former aspect coming from a "cooler than school" Jesus Christ (REP member Michael Gotch) and the latter aspect coming from a storyline dealing with the bullying of high schooler Lennie (PTTP member Ben Charles) and his relationship with mother Linda (PTTP member Elizabeth Heflin).  Admittedly, it was always nice to have some comedic relief whenever things got too heavy...and they got heavy quite a bit.  But it was those heavy moments that lacked a strong emotional impact that I really want and desire as a theatergoer.  Don't get me wrong, the finale of Act I, although completely obvious in its foreshadowing, was still a powerful moment.  But oftentimes, the serious aspects of the play reeked a bit of melodrama, obviousness, and were precariously close to becoming ABC Afterschool Special-y.  There were moments where I couldn't help but think that the playwright just threw a whole bunch of hot button political topics into a blender, hit pulse, and then poured the mixture onto the page willy nilly.

But enough of the negative.  Let's instead discuss the positive.  Great scenic design from Takeshi Kata and costumes from Martha Hally (who also designed the brilliant set and fanciful costumes, respectively, from A Midsummer Night's Dream earlier in the season).  Director Sanford Robbins stages the play in an exciting and rather refreshing manner.  Once again, one thing the REP does and the REP does rather brilliantly is use its stages to their fullest potential and O Beautiful is no exception.

And the actors -- the folks that my fellow theatergoers have come to love watching grow and tackle new roles over the past three years -- are wonderful.  First off, kudos to Elizabeth Heflin who is given a wonderful chance to shine in the role of Linda.  Funny at times and then emotionally gut-wrenching, she's forced to run the gamut here and it was great to see her given such a power-packed role to tackle.  Hats off also to Sara Griffin (who already gave a winning performance this season as Emily Webb in Our Town) who succeeds once again with the tricky character of Alice, having to walk a delicate balance between being strong-willed and utterly frightened at the same time.  

Of course, it's nice that Griffin is able to interact with Michael Gotch's humorous and heartwarming turn as Jesus Christ.  I can't imagine that Jesus would be an easy role to undertake, but Gotch's interpretation just "feels right" -- I realize that might sound like faint praise, but it's actually meant to be very positive.  I kind of feel like Gotch's hip and trendy Jesus (and therein Rebeck's take on the religious figure) is who Jesus would be were he here today.

Ultimately, it's kind of cool that the University of Delaware -- my alma mater -- is premiering a play from a playwright who has had her work shown on Broadway, and it's certainly excellent that the play was written with the stellar REP and PTTP members (and their creative teams) in mind.  One would hope that this will happen again in years to come.  It's also nice to see something set in "the present" which we don't often get to see in theater.  However, if I had my druthers, I'd snatch up tickets to the currently-running productions of wonderfully funny The Good Doctor and dramatically powerful Way to Heaven instead.

Movie Review - The Next Three Days

The Next Three Days (2010)

Starring Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks, and Liam Neeson

Directed by Paul Haggis

A wife and mother is accused and convicted of murder.  A husband and father believes in his wife's innocence.  When judicial appeals fail, he takes matters into his own hands and plots an escape plan for his jailed wife.  

The blandness of those three sentences above sums up my feelings towards the dull The Next Three Days, a movie that has a plot that should have elicited some modicum of excitement, but instead never achieves any bit of tension.  Instead, director and co-screenwriter Paul Haggis presents a rather heavy-handed drama featuring a one-note performance from Russell Crowe as the beleaguered husband.  Crowe, however, comes off much better than Elizabeth Banks, typically known for her comedic roles, who is featured here in an unexpected dramatic turn.  Banks is never once believable as a convicted felon and she isn't very convincing as a mother either.

Considering that the film skips over the entire trial of Banks' character, one would think that the film would move rather quickly, but instead it's hampered with some silly subplots (including a silly unnecessary cameo by Liam Neeson as a convict who escaped multiple times from jail) and the story itself just fails miserably.  Unfortunately, there's really nothing to recommend here and it's certainly not worth even a rental.

The RyMickey Rating:  D

Theater Review - Way to Heaven

Way to Heaven (Himmelweg)

written by Juan Mayorga (translated by David Johnston)

Directed by Matthew Earnest

Where: Hartshorn Theater in Hartshorn Hall

(University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware)

In their final play to premiere this season, the University of Delaware's Resident Ensemble Players (REP) and Professional Theater Training Program (PTTP) present Way to Heaven, a rather gripping Rashomon-esque depiction of a particular concentration camp in 1944 Theresienstadt, emphasizing that the "way things appear" is really only a matter of perspective.  Delving even deeper, writer Juan Mayorga seems to want us to recognize that many times life itself is simply a theatrical production with our friends and neighbors putting on a show to either impress others or create a more pleasing façade.

The stark scenic design by director Matthew Earnest (who also appears to have directed the currently running production of this very play Off-Broadway in NYC) immediately gives off an air of uneasiness as soon as one walks into Hartshorn Hall.  [It just dawned on me that the multitude of dead leaves strewn about are perhaps representative of the millions of Jews who died during the Holocaust...and this realization has kind of shaken me up a bit.]  And that uncomfortable feeling doesn't end during the play's first scene, a nearly thirty minute monologue by a Red Cross Representative who visited Theresienstadt and ended up writing a report that said things appeared adequate.  Presented with images of singing children and bickering young couples, Theresienstadt seemed to be devoid of all one would associate with a typical Holocaust concentration camp.  As the play continues through its remaining four scenes, the true nature of the camp is revealed as we see the story play out through the eyes of Jewish actors chosen to depict those aforementioned children and young couples, the Nazi Commandant, and Gershom Gottfried, a Jewish man chosen to "direct" the "scenes" played out for the Red Cross Representative.  

In a play with very little else to hold our attention visually other than the actors themselves (and that's not meant to be a criticism at all), it falls on the company's shoulders to maintain the audience's interest and they don't disappoint.  Right out of the gate, soon-to-be graduating PTTP member Matthew Simpson takes a lengthy monologue and makes it fly by, completely taking command of the stage and really setting the tone for the whole evening.  The play's final scene finds Simpson's fellow PTTP member Andy Nagraj as Gershom Gottfried providing possibly the most emotional moment in Mayorga's work.  The heartbreaking moment comes on the heels of two scenes featuring the only REP member of the cast Mic Matarrese as the smarmy Nazi Commandant, a rather conceited, yet eerily charismatic man who thinks rather fondly of himself and his mission to "fool" the American Red Cross Representative.  This is perhaps the best work I've seen from Matarrese who oftentimes gets placed in the secondary roles within the company, but here gets a real chance to shine.  Granted, the play itself runs a tad long in scene four, but to Matarrese's credit, he is able to maintain the audience's attention.

With the large amount of press going to the REP's worldwide premiere of O Beautiful (the production of which I have not yet seen), Way to Heaven seems to be the under-represented and less loved stepchild of the repertory company's final set of shows to round out their 2010-11 season (the "Jan" to O Beautiful's "Marcia," if one likes their references in Brady Bunch terminology).  It appears that seats are still available for the final four Way to Heaven shows and I'd strongly recommend seeking it out.

Movie Review - Rabbit Hole

Rabbit Hole (2010)

Starring Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckhart, Dianne Weist, Miles Teller, Tammy Blanchard, and Sandra Oh

Directed by John Cameron Mitchell

On the "want to see" list for months now, I was worried that the build-up to Rabbit Hole would lead to disappointment.  Fortunately, that wasn't the case.  Although I expected the film to be a bit more emotionally draining and difficult to watch, this tale of a couple who loses their four year-old son in a tragic accident is quite powerful and bolstered by some great performances all around.

Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart are Becca and Howie who, as the film opens, are still reeling from the death of their young child eight months before.  While there may have been attempts to move on, nothing has really helped their grief and their relationship is suffering at this point.  Howie finds some modicum of solace in group therapy with other parents who have lost their kids, but Becca finds the process unbearable.  Instead, she follows around the eighteen year-old teenager who accidentally hit their son with his car, but even she is unsure what relief that will provide her.  Regardless, neither of the two are emotionally healthy.

The performances of Kidman and Eckhart carry this film and without their strength, Rabbit Hole would not have been as solid as it is.  Suprisingly (to me at least), Kidman's Becca is the more subdued of the two characters.  Not without her emotional moments, Becca is a character who has internalized her pain and grief, only releasing it when pushed to the limit by others.  Instead, it's Aaron Eckhart's Howie who is the more vocal of the couple.  Played rather perfectly, Eckhart's Howie is the character that really hit me.  I don't know if it's just because we're not used to males wearing their emotions on their sleeves, but Eckhart's performance is still marinating in my mind several hours after I watched the film.  I'm quite surprised Mr. Eckhart didn't gain any awards traction this past year with this role.

Admittedly, probably because I was so looking forward to this one, I felt a tiny bit let down.  I was expecting the film, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name (and adapted for the screen by its playwright David Lindsay-Abaire), to be a bit more "loud," but instead was treated to a much more subdued emotional display.  It's a case of wrongly placed expectations.  That being said, I really want to see this story played out on a stage.  Credit goes to screenwriter/playwright Lindsay-Abaire who expanded his five-person stage play into a well-rounded film that never once felt boxed in (of course, credit must also go to director John Cameron Mitchell for making this feel like a movie rather than a filmed play).

Overall, this is a solid film with some great performances (that you'll very likely see pop up in my 2010 RyMickey Awards...whenever I get around to finishing them).

The RyMickey Rating:  B

The 2010 RyMickey Awards - Best Cinematography

Once again (and this is somewhat of a broken record for me when it comes to these awards), 2010 just couldn't compare to 2009 for me in the Cinematography category.  There was some beautiful work in 2009 -- Bright Star and Antichrist were simply stunning -- and nothing this year really blew me away.  Still, there was some good work from 2010 and those stand-outs are listed below.

Best Cinematography 2010

Runners-up

#8 -- Robert Richardson - Shutter Island

#7 -- Wally Pfister - Inception

#6 -- Roger Deakins -- True Grit

And the Top Five Are...

#5 -- Danny Cohen - The King's Speech

Even in a simple three-shot, there's always something interesting to look at onscreen.  Credit in part must go to director Tom Hooper, but I remember thinking that nearly every shot of The King's Speech looked really cool thanks to lighting, set design, and the placement of the actors on the screen.

#4 -- Pawel Edelman - The Ghost Writer

Perhaps the richest looking of all the selections, The Ghost Writer contains some beautiful shots like the one above.  The last shot of the film (which may or may not pop up in the Best Scenes of the year category) is another stunning set piece.

#3 -- Matthew Libatique - Black Swan

As time has passed, my feelings for this film have lessened even more than the lukewarm response I initially gave it.  That said, the film looked great.  Personally, I loved the grainy look that was achieved and I found the lighting in nearly every scene (those that featured the characters onstage and off) was particularly spot-on.

#2 -- Benoît Debie - Enter the Void

Apparently, slot #2 of the Cinematography Award goes to the weirdest film I see in a given year.  Last year, this spot went to Antichrist, and this year, the strange Enter the Void takes the runner-up spot.  Dark, edgy, and grittily urban, this movie falters in its script, but succeeds in everything it attempts visually.

#1 -- Martin Ruhe - The American

Like #2 above, The American is not going to be everyone's cup of tea.  It's slow-moving and oddly paced, but Martin Ruhe manages to take the most simplistic of shots and make them look great, helping to keep the eye visually stimulated while the story takes its time to unfold.

Movie Review - Love and Other Drugs

Love and Other Drugs (2010)

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, Oliver Platt, Hank Azaria, and Josh Gad

Directed by Edward Zwick

When womanizing drug rep Jamie Randall (Jake Gyllenhaal) travels to Ohio for his new job with Pfizer, he meets Maggie (Anne Hathaway), a no-nonsense gal whose dry humor and unabashed affinity for sex seem to be a perfect fit for him.  Things aren't ideal, though, as Maggie has been diagnosed with early onset Parkinson's Disease which any movie-watcher will know will turn this rather nice adult romantic comedy into quite a downer by the film's end.  And that's the problem with Love and Other Drugs, a film that works surprisingly well for its first hour and then never quite finds its footing during its final half when it unsuccessfully attempts to pull at my emotional heartstrings.

I'm not afraid to admit that Jake Gyllenhaal's Jamie is charming here.  It's not surprising to see why Anne Hathaway's Maggie who was adamant about not being in a "relationship" quickly falls for him.  Hathaway also exudes a wry sense of humor and isn't the least bit hesitant to show off her body (which certainly won't garner complaints from me).  The two of them have a good chemistry here during the film's first more humorous half.  Their two light-hearted personalities mesh quite well together.  However, neither Gyllenhaal nor Hathaway pulled me in enough to really give a damn when the film veered towards the dramatic during the final 45 minutes. 

It certainly doesn't help that the two actors are forced to change seemingly with the snap of the director and screenwriter's fingers from lighthearted romance to melodramatic disease-of-the-week Lifetime movie.  What should have ultimately been touching and moving doesn't work because it feels like we're watching two separate movies (and that's more the fault of director Ed Zwick and the trio of screenwriters including Zwick himself).  It also doesn't help that the latter half is peppered with unnecessary and poorly written jabs at the state of the American health care system.  These asides just come off as silly and desperate.

Still, I genuinely liked Love and Other Drugs for about an hour.  I found myself laughing at Gyllenhaal, Hathaway, and side players like Oliver Platt as Jamie's co-worker and Josh Gad as Jamie's brother (a character plopped into the film only to provide laughs...something I usually hate, but really kind of liked here).  I just wish the second half could have resonated with me instead of falling flat.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

The 2010 RyMickey Awards - Best Special Effects

I'll be the first to admit that special effects-driven movies don't excite me.  I don't mind watching the occasional comic book flick, but with very few exceptions, I don't fall head over heels for movies that throw a bunch of action set pieces to a wall hoping that something sticks. Still, there were a couple movies this year that used special effects to their storytelling advantage and they're awarded with the coveted RyMickey Award.

2010 Best Special Effects

#5 -- The Social Network

Here for only one reason and that's the seamless look of a single Armie Hammer as both members of the Winklevoss clan.

#4 -- Enter the Void

Let's be honest.  We become the "aura" of a dead man who travels inside of a woman's abdomen to witness the ejaculation of sperm from within.  I'm pretty sure we've never seen that before on film.  Granted, that's not the only odd special effect in this flick, but despite the quirkiness, these special effects work incredibly well.

#3 -- Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

A comic book come to life.  Sometimes simple, sometimes not, but always clever.

#2 -- TRON: Legacy

This is one of those movies like I mentioned above where the special effects overpower the movie itself. That being said, I certainly appreciated the sophisticated effects.

#1 -- Inception

The above picture kind of screams out "'Nuff said" to me in terms of why this wins the category.  Yes, the film itself may have faded upon a second viewing.  However, I'm still very appreciative of how, unlike #2 above, the special effects play a vital role in the actual storytelling of the movie itself.

Movie Review - Hereafter

Hereafter (2010)

Starring Matt Damon, Cécile De France, Frankie and George McLaren, Jay Mohr, and Bryce Dallas Howard
Directed by Clint Eastwood

At this point in time, I've seen about seven or eight Clint Eastwood-directed films.  And with the exception of maybe one, every single one of them is a complete bore.  Sure, Eastwood may be competent at composing a scene or evoking a mood, but I rarely am excited by his project choices and I'm certainly not impressed with his ability to keep a film moving at a steady clip.  Hereafter is no exception, unfortunately.  

Part of me wanted to see this movie because it's rare nowadays to get a mainstream Hollywood film that even touches upon issues of spirituality.  This flick is unabashedly about that -- this sense of "where do we go after we die."  That, in and of itself, is "ballsy" nowadays.  The script by Peter Morgan and the rather plodding direction by Eastwood just don't do the film any favors.  Broken up into three distinct segments that eventually come together rather anticlimactically in the film's final ten minutes, the film doesn't allow for any real sense of emotional connection with the characters, all of whom have gone through something traumatic which begs for us to really want to give a damn about these people.  Eastwood and Morgan, however, never allow the audience to really relate to the people onscreen.

Matt Damon is perfectly fine as a psychic who speaks to the dead.  Having given up on his craft, he finds himself being pulled back into that world by his caring, but overbearing and slightly money-hungry brother (a decent Jay Mohr).  Another storyline deals with Marie (Cécile De France), a French journalist vacationing in Thailand who gets swept away in a tsunami and has a near-death experience that connects her with the hereafter.  She becomes fascinated by the notion of afterlife and begins to investigate the concept.  Story #3 focuses on twin brothers Marcus and Jason (Frankie and George McLaren) who are living with their drug-abusing, alcoholic mother.  When Jason runs to a drug store to get medicine for his junkie mother, he gets hit by a truck and dies.  Marcus is rather devastated and tries to do all that he can to reconnect with his brother in a spiritual way.

Unfortunately, two of the three storylines just don't carry the emotional weight that they should and that's in part due to some lukewarm acting and just plain silly dialog (which, admittedly, could be because of some stupid subtitled translations from French to English).  Cécile De France seemed very distant to me and I never once felt bad for her character; I have to think that is in part due to her lack of connection with the character and storyline itself.  Also unfortunate is the fact that young Frankie and George McLaren, while adequate, just didn't deliver as well as they could have in what should have been the huge emotional arc of the movie -- I mean, a kid dies...that should've been freakin' tremendously sad and it wasn't.  Matt Damon's arc was probably the best and had a nice turn from Bryce Dallas Howard as a potential girlfriend.  However, considering his story only takes up a third of the movie, it simply isn't enough to carry the flick.

The RyMickey Rating:  D+

Movie Review - Conviction

Conviction (2010)

Starring Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell, Minnie Driver, Melissa Leo, Peter Gallagher, and Juliette Lewis

Directed by Tony Goldwyn

There's nothing wrong necessarily with being a by-the-books drama.  Sure, it may not win you accolades, but sometimes a movie doesn't call for tricks or surprises.  Conviction, a true life drama about a man wrongly accused of murder and the sister who vowed to free him, doesn't have any tricks up its sleeve.  Unfortunately, it also doesn't have any emotional drive up its sleeve either and that ultimately knocks what is a perfectly acceptable film down a couple of notches.

In 1980 Massachusetts, a young woman is murdered and Kenny Waters (Sam Rockwell) is taken in for questioning related to the crime.  While nothing happens for two years, in 1982, Kenny is arrested and convicted of the murder.  Knowing in her heart that her brother is innocent, Betty Anne Waters (Hilary Swank) decides to head to law school to get a degree to help her brother appeal the ruling.  Things aren't easy for her and she finds herself having to jump over many legal hurdles, but, let's be honest here, there really wouldn't be a movie if things didn't turn out for the best.

And it's that inevitability that is part of the reason there isn't a huge emotional arc in play here.  To me, director Tony Goldwyn is to blame because he fails to let the strong brother-sister bond between Betty Anne and Kenny emotionally grab the viewer.  Yes, he tries, but there was nothing there to pull me in.  Instead, I was watching a perfectly adequate drama that felt a little more distant than it should.

That criticism said, all of the actors here are quite good.  Hilary Swank is perfectly suited for the working class, slightly rough-around-the-edges Betty Anne, and Sam Rockwell plays Kenny surprisingly tenderly  with enough hints of anger to make him a possible suspect.  Minnie Driver as Betty Anne's friend, Melissa Leo as the female cop attempting to make a name for herself with Waters' case, and Juliette Lewis as a witness for the prosecution all make the most of their roles as well.

Conviction is certainly a decent drama and one that was worth watching.  It's just that it could have been better had the director somehow created a more emotionally charged relationship between all parties involved.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review - Hot Tub Time Machine

Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)

Starring John Cusack, Clark Duke, Craig Robinson, Rob Corddry, Crispin Glover, and Chevy Chase

Directed by Steve Pink

Not once did I laugh while watching Hot Tub Time Machine.  Not once did I even let out a mild smirk.  Raunchy comedies that derive their humor from drugs and alcohol are always a tough sell for me and this one is no exception.  The only thing saving this from dipping as low as the awful The Other Guys is that all the actors here at least attempt to go for the comedy.  John Cusack, Clark Duke, Craig Robinson, and Rob Corddry as the quartet of guys who travel back to the eighties thanks to some crazy time warping hot tub tried their hardest to get me to laugh.  Unfortunately, I didn't.

And that's all I've got to say about this one.

The RyMickey Rating:  D

There have been some updates to the RyMickey Awards in the following categories:

2010 Breakthrough

2010 Best Younger Actor/Actress

Movie Review - Nowhere Boy

Nowhere Boy (2010)

Starring Aaron Johnson, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Anne-Marie Duff

Directed by Sam Taylor-Wood

There's a reason I've held off on announcing the 2010 RyMickey Awards and it's because I want to give myself time to see these little movies like Nowhere Boy that I might not have had an opportunity to see last year.  [This film, for example, played for one week at the local cineplex and then vanished.]  What a nice pleasant surprise this biographical take of Beatles star John Lennon's late teen years is.

Aaron Johnson, perhaps best known up until this point as starring in the title role in 2010's Kick Ass, takes on the iconic John Lennon in this flick.  Of course, he's playing John Lennon as a seventeen year-old which was quite a ways before he and his mates made it big as perhaps the most popular music group of all time.  Here we find John living with his rather stern aunt Mimi (Kristin Scott Thomas) who, while only wanting what's best for her nephew, ends up stifling him creating a rather rambunctious youth.  John always wondered what happened to his mother and one day he discovers that she lives within walking distance from his house.  Finding the courage to face the mother who abandoned him as a youngster, John meets the rather free-spirited Julia (Anne-Marie Duff) for the first time in over a decade and soon begins to form a bond with her, much to the chagrin of her sister Mimi.

Anyone who has read this blog knows that the "biopic" is one of my least favorite genres, but Nowhere Boy succeeds where others have failed in that it focuses solely on five years of John Lennon's life.  We never even hear a Beatles song here.  Instead, this is a look at part of what shaped Lennon into the man he would become.  This brief glimpse into a short portion of his life is intriguing and shows fans something they may not have known about the singing superstar.

It also helps immensely that the film is carried by three really stellar performances.  Aaron Johnson is pretty great as Lennon, showcasing both emotional vulnerability and the necessary rock star swagger needed to be an aspiring teen idol.  Kristin Scott Thomas takes what could have been a stereotypical curmudgeonly role and turns it into something rather endearing.  Despite her icy demeanor, it's obvious that she cares for young John and wants to nurture him the best she can.

But perhaps the best role belongs to Anne-Marie Duff, an actress who is new to me, but delivers one heckuva performance as John's long lost mom, Julia.  She knows that John is in good hands with Mimi and she knows she herself wasn't quite fit to raise John a decade ago.  Having two daughters now and seemingly having settled down, John's re-emergence in her life seems to cause her to revert back to the crazier days of her youth which is obviously a detriment to her current family situation.  There's a twinkle in Julia's eyes whenever she's around John, but behind the happiness that Duff presents is a sorrow for having to be the "adult" that she is forced to be today.  This struggle is pivotal to the flick and Duff excels in every scene.

The RyMickey Rating:  A-

Movie Review - Dick Tracy

Dick Tracy (1990)

Starring Warren Beatty, Charlie Korsmo, Glenne Headley, Al Pacino, and Madonna 

with cameo appearances by Dustin Hoffman, Kathy Bates, Paul Sorvino, James Caan, and Dick van Dyke

Directed by Warren Beatty

Seems like I'm on a streak of childhood memories here, so why not continue with Warren Beatty's 1990 rendition of Dick Tracy.  Utilizing some rather unique comic book flavored art direction, bright and bold costumes, and killer make-up, Beatty has created a retro-looking 1930s comic book on the big screen.  It's unfortunate that the story lags a little bit, lacking the punch and drive one would have liked to really propel this comic gangster storyline.

Things aren't faring so well in Dick Tracy's big city.  Tracy (Warren Beatty) is the town's best police detective, but he's run into some trouble with the city's big crime bosses led by the eccentric Big Boy Caprice (Al Pacino).  When Caprice takes over the Club Ritz, turning into his crime headquarters, Tracy knows there's something awry, but can't quite catch the crooks in the act.  When Tracy tries to convince the club's singer, Breathless Mahoney (Madonna), to squeal on her boss, he gets more than he bargained for with the sultry chanteuse creating a rift between him and his longtime girlfriend Tess (Glenne Headley).

Everything in Dick Tracy is over the top and it's certainly meant to be that way.  Because Beatty pushes everything to the limit, the film's overall "fake" aesthetic works.  Whether it be the outrageous Academy Award-winning make-up or the obviously fake painted backdrops, the visuals here are oftentimes stunning (the film also won an Oscar for Art Direction).  Bold usage of bright colors and nifty camera angles fill the screen with great images.

Unfortunately, the film gets bogged down a bit too much by a slightly convoluted storyline involving the mobster scene and it ends up running about twenty minutes too long.  The flick moves along at a brisk pace for about 45 minutes at which point I can't help but think it began to flounder about feeling the need to simply pad the running time.  A bit better job at editing would have made this movie a true classic.

As it stands now, it's a perfectly adequate comic book movie with some very good performances.  Beatty is slightly wooden as Dick Tracy, but I think that's the point.  Tracy is the upright and straight shooter amidst the world of the crazy mobsters, which includes a zany performance from Al Pacino and a great cameo from Dustin Hoffman as a mumbling goon.  Madonna also fares quite well here and has the opportunity to belt out some sexy songs written by Stephen Sondheim (one of which rounded out this film's trio of Academy Award wins).

Overall, Dick Tracy is worth a watch if you've never seen it before.  And it's a film I wouldn't mind watching again a couple of years in the future.  It's one of those that while I might not seek out, I'd certainly watch it if it popped up on tv.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

The 2010 RyMickey Awards - Breakthrough Award

***Edited 4/14/11***
For the following actors and actresses, 2010 may or may not have been the first year they came onto the film scene, however, it was their year where they really came into their own on the cinematic landscape.

Runners-up

#7 -- Mila Kunis - Black Swan, The Book of Eli
#6 -- Ashley Bell - The Last Exorcism

And the Top Five...

#5 - Armie Hammer - The Social Network

I didn't really appreciate his role as the stuck-up snooty Winlevoss twins until a second viewing, but it'll be interesting to see what else Mr. Hammer has to give in the acting department.  

#4 - Gemma Arterton - The Disappearance of Alice Creed

Maybe it's best that I didn't see Ms. Arterton in Clash of the Titans and Prince of Persia or else she may not have made the list.  However, in The Disappearance of Alice Creed, she's proves to be both vulnerable and strong in a very difficult role that many actresses would not have been brave enough to take on.

#3 - Aaron Johnson - Nowhere Boy, Kick-Ass, The Greatest

I actually liked Aaron Johnson in all of the movies listed above, but wouldn't have said that he belonged in this category until I saw his performance as a young John Lennon in Nowhere Boy.  Throughout all three of those films above, he showed a wide range of emotions and has me looking forward to what he does next.

#2 - Hailee Steinfeld - True Grit

A nice star-making turn in True Grit will hopefully carry the young Ms. Steinfeld to much success.  She's already got some major films coming out in the upcoming years and she earned a much deserved Oscar nomination (and, in my opinion, was robbed of the award).

#1 - Andrew Garfield - The Social Network, Never Let Me Go

Mr. Garfield was the best thing in both The Social Network and the disappointing Never Let Me Go, providing both movies with their respective "best moments."  While it's slightly upsetting that his next major project is the new Spiderman series, here's hoping that he continues to throw in some "indie" movies in the midst of his Hollywood blockbusters.