Hilary Hahn plays Dvorak's Violin Concerto

Now that the holidays are over (I will resume my winter break movie commentaries tomorrow) I went back to my usual Friday night ritual!  I found myself at Abravanel Hall for a thrilling Utah Symphony concert featuring the music of Haydn and Dvorak.  Despite what it said in the program, the orchestra began with the exciting and energetic Slavonic Dance No. 8 with an equally energetic Thierry Fischer on the podium!  After this piece, Fischer addressed the audience telling us that a new year should be filled with contrasts and surprises and so the orchestra would alternate between the movements of Haydn's Symphony No. 8 and Dvorak's Slavonic Dances (six of them).  This made for a very lively evening as I eagerly anticipated what I would hear next because I kind of lost track of which was which and just enjoyed the music without overthinking it.  The two pieces worked surprisingly well together and I loved Fischer's enthusiasm!  My favorite was the second movement of the Haydn because it is romantic and contemplative with just a hint of melancholy and the orchestra played it with a lot of expression.  After the intermission the orchestra returned to play Dvorak's Violin Concerto with Hilary Hahn, a frequent guest of the Utah Symphony, as the soloist.  It is easy to see why Abravanel Hall was packed almost to capacity because Hahn is such a dynamic and brilliant performer.  I loved watching her fingers fly across her violin and I definitely enjoyed her performance.  So did the rest of the crowd who jumped to their feat in a thunderous ovation!  She was brought back to the stage numerous times and even favored us with a beautiful encore.  It was a spectacular evening and I recommend getting a ticket for tonight's performance of the same program (go here).

Note:  I almost always get a ticket to the first Utah Symphony concert of the year because it is usually so hard to go back to school after the holidays and I need something to look forward to in order to make it through!    However, I had a great week with my students so this concert was the cherry on top!

All the Money in the World

After watching Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle with the kiddos I saw All the Money in the World later that evening.  This is another movie that pleasantly surprised me because, honestly, I didn't have a lot of interest in seeing it until the controversy with Kevin Spacey resulted in re-shoots with Christopher Plummer in the role Spacey was to have played.  This piqued my curiosity!  I would actually like to see the film with Spacey's interpretation of the role because I think Plummer is absolutely brilliant!  In fact, it is his performance, along with that of Michelle Williams, that elevates a pretty standard narrative about a kidnapping into a tense and compelling movie.  Based on true events, J. Paul Getty III (Charlie Plummer) is kidnapped from Rome in 1973 and the kidnappers demand $17 million in ransom.  His mother Gail (Williams) does not have the money (after eschewing a large divorce settlement in return for sole custody of her children) but his grandfather J. Paul Getty (Plummer) is the richest man in the world and that amount is basically pocket change.  Gail pleads with Getty to pay the ransom but he refuses, sending his henchman, former CIA agent Fletcher Chase (Mark Wahlberg), in to negotiate instead.  There are some interesting twists and turns along the way leading to a resolution that is a bit far-fetched but thrilling, nonetheless.  I loved the 1970s verisimilitude and all of the wide shots in opulent locations.  Michelle Williams is excellent and I especially enjoyed her transformation from a young woman awed by the Getty wealth into a mother who won't back down from a bully who is more powerful than she is.  Getty is an incredibly unsympathetic character and Plummer plays him with such menace.  There is a particular scene where Getty, after refusing to pay his grandson's ransom, spends twice that amount on a painting of a Madonna and child.  It is a chilling portrait of greed that gave me goosebumps.  I highly recommend this movie!

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

Last Wednesday I took Sean and Tashena to see Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and, to be honest, it was a pleasant surprise because I really enjoyed it.  Spencer (Alex Wolff), a bit of a nerd, gets detention for writing a research paper for a football player known as "Fridge" (Ser'Darius Blain), who also gets detention, Bethany (Madison Iseman), the selfie queen, gets detention for using her phone during a quiz, and Martha (Morgan Turner), a shy bookworm, gets detention for refusing to participate in PE.  While serving detention, they find an old video game called Jumanji and decide to play.  Spencer chooses Dr. Smolder Bravestone (Dwayne Johnson), a daring archaeologist, as his avatar while "Fridge" chooses Franklin Finbar (Kevin Hart), a short zoologist, Bethany chooses Professor Sheldon "Shelly" Osborn (Jack Black), an overweight cartographer, and Martha chooses Ruby Roundhouse (Karen Gillan), a martial arts expert.  They are transported into the game and must return a precious stone stolen by Van Pelt (Bobby Cannavale), a big game hunter, to a giant statue of a jaguar.  It is an absolute hoot.  The action sequences are great but I found the story, which has a few twists, to be compelling.  What makes this movie so much fun is that the characters have the physical attributes of their avatars but they keep their own personalities.  This creates a lot of comedic moments, especially as the nerdy Sheldon adjusts to having muscles, the self-absorbed Bethany gets used to being a man (who has to pee), the jock Fridge realizes that he is intelligent, and Martha learns how to flirt (I laughed and laughed at that sequence).  Sean and Tashena loved it and laughed through the whole thing!  I laughed quite a bit, too, so this is a movie to take the kids to that you will also enjoy.  I highly recommend this for a really good time at the movies!

The Greatest Showman

I actually saw The Greatest Showman twice over winter break.  I took my Mom and my nephew (who absolutely loves Zendaya) the day after Christmas and then, because my Mom asked to see it again, I went with her and my sister Marilyn a few days later.  I love this movie so much and, apparently, so do a lot of people.  During the first screening, the theater was totally full (we had to sit on the first row) and after the second screening, at 10:00 am mind you, the entire theater applauded at the end!  It is a big movie musical with actors who can actually sing and dance!  It tells a romanticized version of how P.T. Barnum (Hugh Jackman) came to create the Greatest Show on Earth beginning with his impoverished childhood as the son of a tailor.  He meets Charity (Michelle Williams), the daughter of a wealthy client, and promises her he will give her the same life she gives up for him.  After losing his mundane job, he takes a gamble and recruits a group of misfits and unusual performers to create his circus.  After some financial success, he desires respectability and hires Philip Carlyle (Zac Efron), a playwright with a trust fund, to help with publicity.  Philip falls in love with a trapeze artist (Zendaya) to the chagrin of his wealthy parents.  Barnum eventually meets opera singer Jenny Lind (Rebecca Ferguson) and decides to promote her on tour which causes him to neglect both the circus and his family.  After losing everything, both Philip and Barnum must learn what is really important.  Many critics have complained that this movie sanitizes the truth about P.T. Barnum's reputed cruelty to his performers but that didn't really matter to me because I enjoy feel good stories where everyone breaks out into song.  The songs are fantastic and I especially love "A Million Dreams" and "Come Alive."  The choreography is spectacular, particularly the aerial sequence in "Rewrite the Stars."  Jackman, Efron, and Zendaya are well-known performers but I was quite impressed by Michelle Williams and I loved her song, "Tightrope."  As I mentioned, the message of this movie is so positive, especially about people who are different, and the number "This Is Me" by the bearded lady (Keala Settle) is an anthem for misfits everywhere!  I cannot recommend this movie enough!

Darkest Hour

Winter break is now over and I am back at school but, like last year, I happily spent much of it in a darkened theater.  In the next few weeks I will review all of the movies that I saw and I will start with Darkest Hour.  As Western Europe is collapsing under the onslaught of German tanks, the narrative begins with Winston Churchill's (Gary Oldman) appointment as Prime Minister of Great Britain and follows his first pivotal months in office as he faces opposition in his own party from politicians who want a negotiated peace with Germany and a King who does not support him culminating in the miraculous evacuation of Dunkirk.  I really liked the stirring speeches given to Parliament (the "We shall fight them on the beaches" speech is absolutely electrifying) and the public on the radio juxtaposed with moments of private doubt with his fiery wife Clementine (Kristin Scott Thomas) and his long-suffering secretary Elizabeth Layton (Lily James).  It is also interesting to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of how the decisions that impacted the world were made in underground bunkers and I absolutely loved the scenes where Churchill talks to the ordinary citizens in the underground.  Even though this film involves a lot of back room discussions, it was surprisingly tense and my attention never wavered.  Oldman gives an absolutely brilliant performance in the title role which is worthy of all of the accolades he has won and will, undoubtedly, win.  Many might find the pace to be slow and it does require some intellectual engagement but I highly recommend this film to history aficionados everywhere.

Note:  I find it interesting that the evacuation of Dunkirk was the subject of three films this year (this as well as Dunkirk and Their Finest).