Went to see In the Heights

February 28, 2012. JG and I went to see In the Heights, the musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda, at IU. It got four Tony Awards in 2008, including Best Musical. Had a great time. Quite a lot of Spanish in the dialogue and the lyrics, luckily I've had a good teacher. Excellent rhythm and very likable actors.

Went to see Bernadette Peters

February 25, 2012. JG and I went to see Bernadette Peters at IU. Wow. What a tremendous show. Broadway comes to Bloomington. Camp jokes, camp moves, loads of glamour, and a great voice. Excellent choice of gown and excellent choice of songs (loads of Sondheim, needless to say). Bernadette, you're worth every cent of that expensive ticket. Only glitch: you said "University of Indiana" instead of "Indiana University." Well, at least you didn't say, "Hello, Cleveland."

Watched DVD: Saw Sex and the City 2

January 28, 2011. Watched DVD: Saw Sex and the City 2 (Michael Patrick King, 2010). So I have this Word file, where I just write the titles of the movies I see, and the dates. This way when I have a few minutes to blog I can go back in time. For some reason I had never found the time to blog about this, until today, when JM discussed it, and I had to react. Sex and the City 1 I had tolerated, because I was happy to see the girls again, and although it wasn't a masterpiece it wasn't a disaster like this one. Sex and the City 2 consists is taking everything I like and make it ugly, offensive, and boring: countries, people (Liza Minnelli), gay weddings, fashion, female agency, love, you name it. Every tremendous feature of the old TV show has been mangled beyond recognition. Michael Patrick King had better stick to producing, if you ask me. Naturally, that doesn't mean in January 2010 I stopped liking Sarah Jessica Parker and Cynthia Jackson (you go, girl, don't let the gay essentialist police tell you what to think!).

Watched TV: Saw What Women Want

February 2012. Watched TV: Saw What Women Want (Nancy Meyers, 2000). I'd seen it back then. Script Diana Drake, Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa. A woman director and two women scriptwriters plus one man. Some women among the producers. It is really hard to review such a movie and remain calm. There are clearly a couple of good intentions there, there might even be a degree of feminism (though which wave remains unclear), but the final result just makes me cringe, in spite of the funny moments. Why Mel Gibson, to begin with? Did they deliberately choose the guy least likely to understand non men? non whites? non Catholics? It reinforces so ma,y of the most damaging clichés of the dictatorship of gender! I like Helen Hunt, though, needless to say. Oh, and of course, all women want the same things--what, you mean you didn't know?

Watched TV: Saw Miss Congeniality 2

February 2012. Watched TV: Saw Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous (John Pasquin, 2005). With la Bullock. She is indeed congenial. One always feels some measure of affection for her, whatever she's in. So this movie (I'd seen it back then), like Miss Congeniality (Donald Petrie, 2000), is an acceptable comedy if you're really tired, at the end of a long work day, toiling at the mine (no, I don't mean IU). You stuff your face with junk food on your couch and you smile at Gracie Hart's mishaps. However, it is a little bit annoying that they managed to get drag queens and Dolly Parton and Dolly Parton drag queen jokes, and still the level of Camp is only so so, and the subversion non existent. Even Vegas in underexploited, really. You'll have a better time watching The Proposal (Anne Fletcher, 2009) again.

Watched TV: Saw Hitch

February 5, 2012. Watched TV: Saw Hitch (Andy Tennant, 2005). Had seen it back then. Reasonably amusing, at times. Will Smith has been better employed. He is charming in that and quite believable as a master of seduction, I guess. Of course, any movie with the superhot Eva Mendes can't be all bad.

Went to see Pina

February 17, 2012. G. took me to see Pina (Wim Wenders, 2011). Tremendous Art Deco IU Cinema. I am one of the few people I know who's actually been to a Pina Bausch show. I'm still wondering what it MEANT. I have been a Wenders fan for decades (nothing before 1977, though). This multilingual movie is more a tribute to Pina Bausch than a documentary. Very interesting use of 3D. Great choice of scenery. It makes her look less annoyingly INTENSE than she was. Even moving at times. So, no, it's not just skinny decrepit dancers in dirty nightgowns gesticulating wildly in a psychiatric institution.

225 - Assignment #2 due March 27, 2012.

225 - Assignment #2 due March 27, 2012.

Write an essay (1,500 to 3,000 words) about an American TV series. You may choose to write about the whole series, one season, or one episode. After a short introduction based on the biographies and filmographies of the creators and / or principal actors, you will describe then analyze the product, concentrating on the representation of femininity and masculinity, of sexuality, relationships and power dynamics (highlight gender stereotypes, discuss race and class if you think it's relevant).

Times New Roman 12. Double spaced , 1 to 1.25 margin

Went to see a play: The Boy in the Bathroom

February 18, 2012. JG and I went to see a play: The Boy in the Bathroom (Michael LLUBERES). Great (musical) play. Three excellent actors. Lovely theater (Playwrights Project). Clearly LLUBERES called the boy David Williams because of Tennessee Williams. There's a big wink there, with the pseudo Freudian backbone and all. Had a great time.

Saw Yes Man

February 2012. Watched TV: Yes Man (Peyton Reed, 2008). I had seen it back then. A Jim Carrey vehicle. Acceptable comedy, with lovable Zooey Deschanel and gorgeous Bradley Cooper.

Saw Together

February 2012. Watched DVD: Together (Lukas Moodysson, 2000). Thank you JM. Swedish movie about a "hippy" commune in the 1970s. Absolutely hilarious. Plus it reminded me of my short but anthropologically fascinating stay in such a commune in France in the 1970s. Simple but clever script, tremendous period costumes amd decor.

Saw The Little Shop of Horrors

February 2012. Watched TV, saw The Little Shop of Horrors (Roger Corman, 1960). Funny I had seen the 1986 musical movie, several times, but never this odd original. Never got to see the musical, on stage, wish I had. A very interesting piece of curio. Some would call it Camp. Jack Nicholson has a small part. More Film Studies scholar food for thought than 2012 entertainment, really.

Watching TV series

January and February 2012. Watching American TV series. In America. In English. On the days the episodes premiere (plus sometimes reruns). Some of you guys just don't realize how lucky you are.
Glee
New Girl
Raising Hope
House
Smash
Hart of Dixie
The Big Bang Theory
Two and a Half Men
Vampire Diaries
Secret Circle
Seinfeld
Friends
Cheers
The Middle
Happy Endings
Revenge
Modern Family
Family Guy
Suburgatory
Royal Pains
White Collar
Being Human
Lost Girl
Grey's Anatomy
Private Practice
Once Upon a Time

Etc.

Watched the Superbowl

February 5, 2012. Watched my first Superbowl, live, in the US. And it was only an hour away. In Indy. The halftime Madonna show was stupendous. She is back. On top form. She is the Queen again. Madonna rules. That mise en scène of "Vogue," wow. As if she had read my book and decided to add the only logical, coherent, ultimate, PoMo mise en scène she could add to all the previous all interesting ones. It was Greek, Roman, Egyptian, gladiatorial... It was a comment on the demise of the star system of 1962, all that and much more. And her choice of guests was perfect, of course.

Went to see The Iron Lady

February 13, 2012. B. took me to see The Iron Lady (Phyllida Lloyd, 2011). Funny to think they made Mamma Mia! together (Bloomington here I come). I've always said Meryl Streep is the best actress in the cosmos, and this is only one more example (she not only gets the accent, she gets the voice[s]). But I have two problems with this movie: it's far too kind to its subject, presenting her as some kind of war heroine in the Falklands chapter (and God knows things were much more sordid than that) -- and that's only one instance. Plus, they spent too long on the last years, the decrepit Maggie with the hallucinations (Broadbent always good)... It's funny because I was living in Manchester in those years (1979 onward), I saw it all, first hand.

Went to see One for the Money

February 10, 2012. Went to see One for the Money (Julie Anne Robinson, 2012). So all those women churn out endless book series, and you can't really keep up, however entertaining, right? If you have a life? You continue reading every new JK Rowling, and every Anne Rice, and every Charlaine Harris, but you stop reading the Susan Grafton novels when she reaches the letter I (I Is for Innocent), and you stop reading the Janet Evanovich novels when she reaches number 6 (Hot Six)... Anyway, the movie doesn't really work, it's not half as convincing as the book, in spite of Katherine Heigl's efforts, and in spite of Irish actor Jason O'Mara's dreamboat antics. I guess I could have bought Seven Up for the price of the movie ticket...

RIP Whitney

February 11, 2012. RIP Whitney. Breaks my heart. Is there a better song than "I Will Always Love You" when you're feeling sentimental?

I liked Hudson's tribute, and I loved Glee's tribute on Valentine's day.

Maybe she's jamming with Michael and River and Amy in Pop Heaven (isn't that a nice thought?)