Sunday, November 9, 2014

Interstellar

Yesterday I went to see the movie Interstellar in IMAX.   To be honest with you, I am still trying to wrap my brain around it!  In a dystopian future, the earth has lost the ability to sustain itself and the final crop is about to be destroyed by a blight.  Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) is a former NASA pilot and engineer who has had to become a farmer due to food shortages but is not content with this role.  He ends up at a top secret NASA installation which has discovered a worm hole to another galaxy.  Ten astronauts were sent through the worm hole several years ago to determine if ten planets in this galaxy are able to sustain life.  Three of these astronauts have sent back favorable reports.  NASA believes that the only way to save the human race is to colonize one of these planets.  None of their pilots have actually been to space so they recruit Cooper to lead the expedition.  However, NASA's chief physicist (Michael Caine) has not yet solved the problem of evacuating the human race from the Earth's gravitational pull.  Cooper decides to go on the mission even though he is leaving his son (Timothee Chalamet) and daughter (Mackenzie Foy), justifying it because he is saving them.  Once in space, Cooper and his team (Anne Hathaway, Wes Bentley, and David Gyasi) encounter one obstacle after another: one planet is too close to a black hole, time on one planet passes much slower than it does on the space station, an astronaut on one of the planets (Matt Damon) has gone crazy from the isolation, gravity is still an issue back on Earth, and, due to a series of accidents, there is not enough fuel to return to earth.  In addition, NASA believes that there are sentient beings in another dimension guiding the people of Earth to a solution in space (which is how Cooper found the NASA compound in the first place). Does the plot sound convoluted?  It is and, in true Christopher Nolan fashion, there is a huge plot twist at the end!  Frankly, I didn't know what was going on half the time!  It almost didn't matter.  Even with all of the confusion, my attention never wavered during the almost three hour run-time.  The film is beautiful and the special effects are out of this world (pun intended).  Traveling through the worm hole is one of the coolest things I have ever seen and an emergency docking with the space station had me sitting on the edge of my seat holding my breath!  It is quite a spectacle.  Also, the personal drama between Cooper and his daughter (Jessica Chastain, as an adult) is incredibly compelling and McConaughey's performance is brilliant.  Nevertheless, even hours after seeing this movie,  I still don't know what to think about it.  I suppose the fact that I am still thinking about it is reason enough for me to recommend it!

Note:  A major complaint is that the sound sometimes overpowered the dialogue.  But, since I know nothing about astrophysics, I probably wouldn't have understood the dialogue anyway!

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra (and a Giveaway!)

Last night I attended a Utah Symphony concert featuring the work of three amazing composers: Bartok, Mozart, and Strauss.  I have always loved the music of Mozart (I try to see any performance which features him) but I believe that I will be adding Bartok and Strauss to my growing list of favorites!  The orchestra began with Hungarian Sketches by Bartok.  I really enjoyed these pieces, especially the first two because they prominently featured the clarinet (I played the clarinet in school).  During the final piece I kept imagining girls with flowers in their hair dancing around a maypole in a town square of cobblestone.  Next came Mozart's Rondo for Piano and Orchestra in A Major with guest soloist Marc-Andre Hamelin.  It was just lovely!  As with much of Mozart's music, I found it to be very lively and playful.  The next piece was my favorite of the evening: Burleske for Piano and Orchestra in D Minor by Richard Strauss, once again featuring the amazing Hamelin.  I was not at all familiar with this piece but it absolutely took my breath away!  At times it was incredibly dramatic with Hamelin's fingers moving deftly up and down the keyboard at a furious pace to the accompaniment of timpani and an occasional fanfare by the trumpet section!  At other times it was beautiful and romantic, particularly the theme played by the strings near the end.  After the intermission (which I spent at a VIP Reception) the orchestra played Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra.  In the first movement the cellos played an emotional theme that was almost mournful but by the end of the piece the mood was triumphant.  I absolutely loved it!   It was, once again, a evening of beautiful music at Abravanel Hall!

Would you like to experience an evening of beautiful music at Abravanel Hall yourself?  The Utah Symphony has graciously given me two pair of tickets to give to my readers.  The tickets are for next weekend (Friday Nov. 14 or Saturday Nov. 15) at Abravanel Hall in SLC at 8:00 pm and the concerts will feature Mahler's Symphony No. 2.  The Utah Symphony is performing the Mahler Symphony Cycle this year and next to honor the legacy of Maurice Abravanel and to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the orchestra next year.  I think it will be an amazing concert.  If you would like a pair of tickets, follow Phaedra's Adventures via Google Friend Connect (located in the sidebar) and enter the Rafflecopter below.  I will notify the winners by email on Wednesday Nov. 12 and tickets will be held in Will Call at Abravanel Hall.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Good luck!

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

One Man, Two Guvnors at PTC

When PTC announced the 2014-2015 season, I didn't know anything about the play One Man, Two Guvnors but I knew I definitely wanted to see it because David Ivers, one of my favorite actors and directors at the Utah Shakespeare Festival, was directing it!  In my opinion, Ivers is absolutely brilliant with physical comedy (I loved his version of Twelfth Night at last summer's festival) so I knew this show would be a lot of fun!  Fun is an understatement!  I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this production last night and I can't remember when I've laughed so hard!  Essentially, the story is about two couples who are prevented from getting married.  Pauline (Katie Fabel) and Alan (Christopher Sears) can't get married because her father has arranged a marriage of convenience with a gay man named Roscoe (for profit).  Rachel (Lucy Lavely) and Stanley (William Connell) can't get married because Stanley accidentally killed Rachel's "identical" twin brother (you guessed it: Roscoe) and they are on the run.  Rachel decides to impersonate her brother Roscoe and go to Brighton to get back the money he paid to Pauline's father so she and Stanley can emigrate to Australia (where they will, apparently, have to listen to opera for the rest of their lives).  She hires Francis (Christopher DuVall) to be her (his?) man-about-town but won't pay him until the end of the week and he is hungry.  Stanley follows Rachel (Roscoe?) to Brighton and also tries to hire Francis to be his man-about-town.  Francis agrees, but only if he pays him up front (because he's hungry).  Francis spends much of his time trying to prevent each "guvnor" from finding about the other (and trying to procure food).  In other words, it is a complete farce filled with characters hiding, running around, slamming doors, and falling down stairs.  Throw in a bit of audience participation and an amazing skiffle band playing between scenes and you have one of the funniest shows around.  All of the actors have perfect comedic timing but I absolutely loved Sears as the melodramatic over-the-top amateur actor Alan.  I laughed hysterically at everything he said and did!  The set looked like pop art and I loved the mod costumes and beehive hairdos from the 1960s.   If you are not easily offended by crude humor and suggestive language, this show is not to be missed!  Go here for more information and tickets.  It runs through November 15.

Monday, November 3, 2014

The Book of Life

Saturday night Marilyn and I spontaneously decided to take Sean and Tashena to a late movie.  They chose The Book of Life which I thought was appropriate for the Day of the Dead!  I am glad they picked this movie because I wan't planning on seeing it and I absolutely loved it!  On the Day of the Dead we meet La Muerte, who rules the Land of the Remembered, and Xibalba, who rules the Land of the Forgotten.  Xibalba is unhappy in the Land of the Forgotten and proposes a wager: if La Meurte wins Xibalba will stop meddling in the lives of mortals and if Xibalba wins they will change lands.  They see two boys, Manolo and Juaquin, competing for the attention of a girl named Maria.  La Meurte bets that Manolo will marry Maria and Xibalba bets that Juaquin will.  Years later, Manolo has been trained by his father to follow the family tradition of becoming a bull fighter but he just wants to play his guitar.  Juaquin has become a military hero like his famous father, but only because of the Medal of Eternal Life given to him by Xibalba.  Who will the feisty Maria choose?  I thought it was hilarious!  Like many animated films for children, there were lots of pop cultural references which kept the adults in the theater laughing.  When Manolo sang "Creep" by Radiohead, Marilyn and I couldn't stop laughing!  Sean looked over at us wondering what was so funny!  I loved the wise-cracking Grandma Sanchez and the trio of singing nuns who functioned as a Greek chorus.  So clever!  All of the characters look like the wooden puppets that are traditionally used in Day of the Dead celebrations.  The animation is visually stunning:  dynamic, vibrant, and colorful.  I couldn't take my eyes off the screen!  The message of this movie is that as long as you remember the loved ones who have passed on, they will always be with you.  We had quite the conversation about this with Sean on the drive home!  Definitely go see this movie!

Note:  I always have so much fun when I am totally spontaneous!  I need to be spontaneous more often!

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Happy Birthday Tashena!

My family is extremely close.  There are only eight of us and we all live near each other (I live the farthest away).  My niece and nephew are a very special part of our family and we love them so much!  When either one of them has a birthday, it is cause for celebration!  Tashena's 14th birthday was actually last Tuesday but we celebrated it yesterday.
Tashena chose spaghetti for her birthday dinner and then we had this amazing ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins (a birthday tradition).
Then she opened her presents.  Every time I asked her what she wanted for her birthday, she would always tell me socks.  She even showed me the specific socks she wanted:  Nike Elite Crew socks!  They are pretty expensive and I couldn't find them anywhere!  One night I went to five different stores!  I could find other Nike socks but not the specific ones she wanted.  I was quite frustrated but I decided to try a few stores after school on Friday and I found some at Famous Footwear!  Even better, they were on clearance and they had a buy one get one half price sale on all socks.  I bought every single pair they had.  The expression on her face when she opened the box made the entire hassle worth it!  Do you remember wanting some super trendy thing when you were a teenager?
My Mom and Dad got her some movies.  She made a list for us and we had a hard time finding these as well!  You would think that all of the stores would have lots of copies of a popular movie like Divergent.  Nope!  We were actually able to find all three that she wanted Friday night!
Her parents gave her a purple (her favorite color) iPod nano and Marilyn gave her an iTunes gift card.  She was absolutely thrilled and began downloading music immediately!
Sean used his own money to buy her some nail polish.  We all thought that was adorable.  After presents, her one request was that we play a game called shanghai rummy.  This is a crazy card game that takes several hours to play and it is kill or be killed!  We love it and play it on every holiday!  My brother in law won.  It was a really fun day but I can't believe that Tashena is 14!
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...