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December '22 Digital Week II

Details: Parent Category: Film and the Arts; Category: Reviews; Published on Wednesday, 14 December 2022 22:46; Written by Kevin Filipski

In-Theater/Streaming Releases of the Week

Broker

(Neon)

Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s films chronicles the lives of outsiders, those people on the margins who create their own family dynamic, however tenuous. His latest hard-edged drama, and his first shot in South Korea, follows a pair who steal babies from drop boxes, sell them for adoption and eliminate the security camera footage of the thefts; they are soon join by a young woman who wants to meet the family that has adopted the baby she reluctantly left behind, while a couple of detectives are on thir tail.

Kore-eda is honest and sympathetic to all of his flawed but humane characters, and if Broker falls short of his best films—Like Father Like Son, Shoplifters, After Life—it nevertheless is propelled by his precise observational insights.

Blanquita

(Outsider Pictures)

Fernando Guzzoni’s downbeat but powerful drama introduces Blanca, an 18-year-old single mother who accuses a noted politician of rape and imprisonment; this accusation soon provokes people on both sides—those who are supposed to be her advocates as well as those pushing back against her accusation—to question her story.

Guzzoni navigates this prickly subject matter with a keen eye, never tipping the balance into exploitation, and the film’s searing indictment of a society that doesn’t (or won’t) protect its children is made more immediate by Laura López’s fearless portrayal of Blanca.

The Treasure of His Youth

(Little Bear Films)

The career of the legendary Italian photographer Paulo Di Paolo is recounted by director Bruce Weber in this beguiling documentary that showcases many of his classic images alongside often charming tales of how he started in the business—he’s 94 when Weber starts shooting.

Most touchingly, Di Paolo discusses his close relationships with some of his most famous subjects, like actress Anna Magnani along with director Pier Paolo Pasolini, the latter of whom was viciously murdered in 1975 in Rome. Di Paolo’s eyes still well with tears upon discussing Pasolini.

4K Releases of the Week

Elf

(Warner Bros)

Will Farrell was never more in his element as Buddy, who was raised by the elves in Santa’s workshop until he discovers that his real father is a rich executive in Manhattan in Jon Favreau’s cute 2003 holiday perennial.

Although it goes on a little long, Farrell has moments of supremely silly strangeness, while he’s matched scene for scene by Zooey Deschanel as Jovie, the Gimbel’s employee who falls for his innocence; she’s never been better than she is here. The film looks quite good in UHD; extras include Favreau’s and Farrell’s commentaries, deleted/alternate scenes, a 90-minute on-set doc hosted by Farrell, and other featurettes.

Smile

(Universal)

Laura Hasn’t Slept, a creepy 2020 short by writer-director Parker Finn was expanded into this crude feature about a psychiatrist haunted by a malevolent entity that is causing its victims to commit suicide. The concision of the original short gives way to a flabbiness that wallows in jump scares—how many wine glasses does the heroine have to keep dropping on the floor?—and contrived situations than even The White Lotus would consider too much.

Still, there’s a lively performance by Sosie Bacon (daughter of Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick) in the lead, which makes the repetition more palatable. Extras include Laura Hasn’t Slept with Finn intro, Finn commentary, deleted scenes, and a making-of and making the score featurettes.

Blu-ray Releases of the Week

Michael Haneke—Trilogy

(Criterion Collection)

Austrian enfant terrible Michael Haneke has made a career out of cleverly devised cinematic provocations, and it his first three films—The Seventh Continent (1989), Benny’s Video (1992) and 71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance (1994)—are the most original and memorable of the formal experiments and unsettling narratives he has spent more than three decades creating.

The horrors of isolation have never been so savagely dramatized, and the films’ powerful moments outweigh the more obvious ones. The hi-def transfers in this set are immaculate; extras comprise 2005 interviews with Haneke about each film; interviews with Benny’s Video actor Arno Frisch and film historian William Howarth; Benny’s Video deleted scenes; and a 2013 documentary Michael H., Profession: Director.

The Ambush

(Well Go USA)

Director Pierre Morel has already shown, in Taken and The Gunman, a talent for ratcheting up tension, which he does in this potent recreation of a real-life firefight during the Yemen War between United Arab Emirates soldiers and the rebels who have pinned them down in a valley.

Although the claustrophobic life-and-death situations might become repetitive in lesser hands, Morel is able to keep things moving, which accentuates the drama’s ferocity. There’s a superior hi-def transfer.

Attack of the 50-Foot Woman

(Warner Archive)

Nowhere near the top of the list of ’50s sci-fi thrillers, this 1958 B movie about a woman who grows to enormous proportions after an encounter with a giant alien has a cheesy charm that’s undermined by its cheap-looking effects and less than impressive performances.

Director Nathan Hertz has a minimal amount of talent, but there’s a campy “so bad it’s good” feel that makes it all watchable—like a 66-minute car crash of sorts. The Blu-ray transfer looks terrific; lone extra is a commentary by actress Yvette Vickers and film historian Tom Weaver.

The Ballad of the Sad Café

(Cohen Film Collection)

Edward Albee’s play of a Carson McCullers novella about a domineering woman running the lone café in a small Southern town was turned into a stagey, not entirely convincing film by novice director Simon Callow in 1983, starring Vanessa Redgrave in a physically imposing but emotionally distant lead performance.

While Keith Carradine, Austin Pendleton and Rod Steiger give colorful portrayals as the various men in her life, director Callow never finds the proper handle on material that needs a more subtle guiding hand. The hi-def transfer is very good; lone extra is a commentary by critic Peter Tonguette.

Medusa

(Music Box Films)

In Anita Rocha da Silveira’s toughminded satire, Mari and a group of likeminded evangelical young women prowl the streets physically abusing those they deem to be too sinful, even while remaining blissfully (or willfully) unaware that they are helping to promote a fascistic, misogynist regime.

The problem is that, after setting up this unsettling glimpse of an hypocritical society—with parallels to what is really happening in her native Brazil and elsewhere—da Silveira concentrates on eye-popping colors and stylish visuals, which becomes grating after two hours. But, in lead actress Mari Oliveria, the director has a remarkably vital collaborator. The film looks stunning on Blu; extras include a director Q&A, video essay, deleted scenes and interviews.

Ticket to Paradise

(Universal)

Pairing George Clooney and Julia Roberts in a rom-com would have seemed a no-brainer 20 years ago; putting them together now—as the divorced parents of a daughter who surprises them by announcing that she’s getting married to a local guy she met while vacationing in the tropics—seems kind of desperate, as through most of Ol Parker’s movie they basically insult each other while trying to sabotage the wedding.

There are a few laughs along the way, as the pair does have chemistry together, but movie has the feel of an extended gag reel (there is one actually shown over the credits). There’s a nice-looking Blu-ray transfer; extras are on-set featurettes and interviews.

CD Release of the Week

Martinů Operas

(Capriccio)

Czechoslovakia’s Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1959), one of the most underrated 20th century composers, had an estimable musical career that ran the stylistic gamut from solo piano and chamber music to orchestral and stage works. This superb disc collects two of his wonderful one-act operas, the early Larmes de couteau (Knife Tears, 1928) and the masterly—and perfectly titled—Comedy on the Bridge (1935, revised 1951).

There’s no shortage of frothy but arresting music on display, performed with the necessary lightness of touch by the Stuttgart State Orchestra and vocal soloists under the direction of conductor Cornelius Meister.

The New York Youth Symphony Present Gabriela Lena Frank & the Sounds of Peru

Details: Parent Category: Film and the Arts; Category: Reviews; Published on Wednesday, 14 December 2022 14:29; Written by Jack Angstreich

Michael Repper conducts the New York Youth Symphony

At Carnegie Hall on the afternoon of Sunday, November 20th, I had the pleasure of attending a fine concert featuring the terrific musicians of the New York Youth Symphony under the effective direction of Michael Repper.

The event opened auspiciously with a confident account of contemporary composer Gabriela Lena Frank’s Escaramuza from 2010–which is especially notable for its excellent orchestration—in this venue’s premiere performance. I here cite her note on the work:

Escaramuza, which signifies "skirmish" in the Spanish language, is inspired by the kachampa music of Andean Perú. Celebrating the pre-Hispanic Inca warrior, the kachampa dance is executed by athletic men who convey a triumphant, even joyful, spirit. Inspired by the kachampa dances done with fast-snapping ropes that I've witnessed in Perú, especially in Paucartambo during the Virgen de la Carmen festival, I've created a brightly chiseled romp in an asymmetrical 7/8 rhythm that is launched after an extended bass drum solo. Through most of Escaramuza, no section of the ensemble is allowed to rest for long, maintaining the high energy typical of kachampas.

The impressively promising soloist, Francisco Fullana, then entered the stage for an admirable version of Édouard Lalo’s popular Symphonie Espagnole. The initial movement, marked Allegro non troppo, is lyrical despite a bold beginning, while the ensuing Scherzando is charming and dance-like. The more dramatic Intermezzo is a habañero and the Andante that follows is moody and introspective. The Rondo finale is ebullient and virtuosic.

The second half of the concert was even better, beginning with a rendition of the Ukrainian national anthem and then a marvelous performance of the world premiere of contemporary composer Ari Sussman’s compelling aleatoric work, I hope this finds you well, which was commissioned by this ensemble. The evening concluded magnificently with what was the highlight of the evening: a thrilling realization of George Bizet’s exquisite L’Arlésienne Suites 1 & 2. The opening Prelude is substantially a thoroughly captivating march. The waltz-like Minuet is succeeded by an elevated Adagietto. The Carillon which ends the first Suite is exultant with a pretty wind chorale in its middle section. The second Suite’s Pastorale is evocative with moments of grandeur. A majestic Intermezzo, a gorgeous Minuet, and a bewitching, irrepressible Farandole that recapitulates the initial march, complete the set. Enthusiastic applause prompted the conductor to repeat the final part of the last movement as a welcome encore.

Broadway Musical Review—“Kimberly Akimbo” with Victoria Clark

Details: Parent Category: Film and the Arts; Category: Reviews; Published on Monday, 12 December 2022 18:58; Written by Kevin Filipski

Kimberly Akimbo

Book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire; music by Jeanine Tesori

Directed by Jessica Stone; choreographed by Danny Mefford

Opened November 10, 2022

Booth Theatre, 222 West 45th Street, New York, NY

kimberlyakimbothemusical.com

Victoria Clark in Kimberly Akimbo (photo: Joan Marcus)

All hail, Victoria Clark!

Tony winner for The Light in the Piazza back in 2005, Clark has done solid work since, but she’s rarely gotten another juicy role—until now. Whatever its considerable shortcomings, the musical version of David Lindsay-Abaire’s play Kimberly Akimbo is worth seeing for Clark’s wonderfully humane performance in the eponymous role, as a teenager with progeria, which makes her body age more than four times faster than normal.

The original play didn’t cry out for musicalization. Lindsay-Abaire’s 2001 comic fable tried a tricky balancing act of absurdism and empathy, in the mode of Christopher Durang, only fitfully succeeding as it followed Kimberly’s travails with her dysfunctional family.

For the musical, the archness seems to stick out more, and Jeanine Tesori’s songs feel as if they are pulling this weirdly schizophrenic story in antithetical directions. Tesori is not your typical Broadway composer, but her songs (with a couple exceptions) come off as standard show tunes that rather unconvincingly bump up against Kimberly’s bizarre life.

Jessica Stone’s directing has a tendency to highlight the strangeness embedded in the original play, which in effect diminishes Kimberly herself. For example, Kimberly’s aunt Debra was already overwritten, her manic proclivities writ large, but as overacted by Bonnie Mulligan, obviously nudged by Stone, it tips the scales too far, making Kimberly too often a spectator in her own story.

Pattie, Kimberly’s mother, is played by Alli Mauzey, also inclined to overact, but she at least seems like a woman angry with her lot in life. Conversely, Steven Boyer is subdued as Kimberly’s father, Buddy, which makes his faults all the more forgivable. His song about his daughter, “Happy for Her,” is one of the best in the show, illuminating rather than underlining what the playwright originally created. Of Kimberly’s high school friends (who weren’t in the original play), Justin Cooley is most memorable as Seth, Kimberly’s awkward suitor.

But through it all hovers Clark, who never condescends to the fact that she’s a 63-year-old playing 15. Instead, she gives a profoundly touching portrayal that grounds even the show’s goofiest moments—like Debra’s ridiculous money-laundering scheme—in something approaching a plausible reality. Clark even makes the treacly sentiments of the climactic song, “Before I Go,” emotionally palatable. Without her, this show would be even more akimbo.

Isabel Leonard Enchants With Spanish Classics

Details: Parent Category: Film and the Arts; Category: Reviews; Published on Monday, 12 December 2022 15:18; Written by Jack Angstreich

Isabel Leonard (L) and Pablo Sáinz-Villegas, photo by Lawrence Sumulong

At Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, on the evening of Friday, December 9th, I had the tremendous privilege to attend a magnificent, Spanish-themed concert featuring the gorgeous mezzo-soprano, Isabel Leonard, brilliantly accompanied by classical guitarist, Pablo Sáinz-Villegas.

The first half of the program, in which the singer wore a sexy, sparkling black gown, opened stunningly with the extraordinary Seguidilla, from Georges Bizet’s Carmen,which she followed with the equally famous and indelible aria,“Voi che sapete,” from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. As memorable was her impossibly charming rendition of the delightful “Tu n'es pas beau, Tu n'es pas riche” from Jacques Offenbach’s decidedly underrated operetta, La Périchole: Couplets de l'aveu. Less commonly heard was the beautiful Canzonetta Spagnuola of Gioachino Rossini. Sáinz-Villegas then returned to the stage alone for a mesmerizing performance of the haunting Recuerdos de la Alhambra of 1899, one of the most celebrated works for solo classical guitar. Less tuneful and more austere than what preceded, but nonetheless powerful, were Leonard’s five arresting selections from Siete canciones populares españolas of 1914 by Manuel De Falla, probably the greatest modern Spanish composer: “El paño moruno,” “Asturiana,” “Nana,” “Canción,” and “Polo.” (She has recorded the entire set of songs twice.) In a program note for the La Jolla Music Society, Eric Bromberger commented that “In arranging the collection of songs, Falla took the unaccompanied melodic line of seven Spanish popular or folk songs and harmonized them himself, occasionally rewriting or expanding the original melodic line to suit his own purposes.”

After intermission, Sáinz-Villegas opened the second half of the event by masterfully playing an arrangement for solo guitar of Isaac Albeniz’s marvelous Asturias from his Suite espagnole of 1889, one of the most renowned works in the Spanish repertoire. Leonard then returned to the stage—she wore a fabulous, shimmering gold gown designed by Naeem Khan—to compellingly perform a another seldom heard but nonetheless remarkable selection of the Canciones Españolas Antiguas of the revered poet, Federico García-Lorca (who according to Bromberger, collected, arranged, and harmonized the twelve Spanish folk songs that constitute the set): “La Tarara,” “Nana de Sevilla,” and “Sevillanas del s. XVIII.” (She has recorded these as well.)

The remainder of the program was in a more popular idiom, beginning with Sáinz-Villegas enjoyably playing Tango en Skäi by French composer Roland Dyens. Leonard’s Argentine heritage was reflected in her choice of another exquisite tango,“El día que me quieras,” by the most renowned practitioner of the form, Carlos Gardel—a song which she performed unforgettably. The next song— the basis of which was another Latin-American dance-form, the zamba—was the classic “Alfonsina y el Mar” by Ariel Ramírez, with lyrics by Félix Luna, written as a tribute to the eminent Argentine poetess, Alfonsina Storni. The program concluded wonderfully with a pleasurable bolero, the 1959 “Sabor a mí,” by Mexican composer Álvaro Carrillo.

Enthusiastic applause was rewarded with three sterling encores, starting with the enormously popular, enchanting bolero,“Bésame mucho,” by Consuelo Velázquez. However, nothing in the evening could surpass the sublimity of Leonard’s rendition of the “Habanera” from Carmen.Finally, she winningly sang the bewitching, familiar “Cielito Lindo” by Quirino Mendoza y Cortés, joyfully ending a fantastic encounter.

Reviews

December '22 Digital Week II

The New York Youth Symphony Present Gabriela Lena Frank & the Sounds of Peru

Broadway Musical Review—“Kimberly Akimbo” with Victoria Clark

Isabel Leonard Enchants With Spanish Classics

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