Some of the news that is fit to print

Movie review: Brokeback Mountain

We went to see the much discussed Brokeback Mountain last night – the movie that has been billed as a ‘gay cowboy movies,’ and that is mostly because we have to categorize everything. The movie is stunning. Truly stunning. That being said, it is also horribly sad – a tragedy, really.

That being said, I’ll give my grade up front so if you don’t want to know anything more about the movie… As if it was some big secret, I give it a strong A, and yet I recommend this movie with some trepidation because it is just so sad. I even called my sister, who has had a tough month, and recommended that she not see it. So yes, it is phenomenal, but just be prepared.

I was not. I went into the movie knowing little about it – I knew it was based on a 1997 short story that was published in The New Yorker by Annie Proulx (whose name I can just never pronounce. Is it Pro-lix or Pru? She actually answers that question on her Web site, for those curious… Go to the FAQ. ) My boss actually had given me the complete New Yorkers for Christmas and I looked up the original, but I had not had a chance to read it yet.

I also knew that the movie was directed by Ang Lee, who directed Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, of course. My first experience with Lee, however, was with one of his early movies, 1993’s The Wedding Banquet. That subtitled movie is about a gay couple, one of whom looks to satisfy his nagging parents by marrying a friend, but it gets out of hand when the parents arrive and begin to take over the wedding plans. I have not seen it in years, but the movie is a CJD-fav.

Lee has such a delicate touch. His movies are always just so graceful. And Brokeback Mountain is no exception. From the scenery to the characters, the movie is just delightful.

Brokeback Mountain is that rare thing, a big Hollywood weeper with a beautiful ache at its center. It's a modern-age Western that turns into a quietly revolutionary love story.
-- Entertainment Weekly

The movie is about Ennis del Mar (remarkably played by Health Ledger) and Jack Twist (also very well played by Jake Gugenhaller), two ranch hands who come together when they are working as sheephearers on summer on a range on Brokeback Mountain. The two begin to share more that summer and eventually share their tent. That leads to a much deeper relationship.

Both men go on to marry and have kids – that’s what cowboys are supposed to do. Yet the two repeatedly come into each others lives – they eventually have regular “fishing trips.” Let’s just say that fish have never been safer. And during this period of the movie, it feels somewhat like the Alan Alda movie, "Same Time Next Year" but in some parallel universe.

The story is truly one of love – these men are passionate about each other. One of my faviroite scenes is on their first reunion, Jack is coming to visit Ennis and Ennis sitts at the window waiting in anticipation.

The tragedy is this love does not conquer all. There are severe consequences for this relationship – lost jobs, bad marriages, affairs, divorces, extreme loneliness and almost poverty… and more. In the end,

As the movie goes on, Ennis, penniless and alone, becomes a shard of a man, nurturing a lost dream.

Again, from the EW review:

Brokeback Mountain has a luscious doomed tenor that, at times, makes it feel like Edith Wharton with Stetsons. It's far from being a message movie, yet if you tear up in the magnificent final scene, with its haunting slow waltz of comfort and regret, it's worth noting what, exactly, you're reacting to: a love that has been made to knuckle under to society's design. In an age when the fight over gay marriage still rages, Brokeback Mountain, the tale of two men who are scarcely even allowed to imagine being together, asks, through the very purity with which it touches us: When it comes to love, what sort of world do we really want?

The movie is well worth the time. Andenjoy!

Falalala la...

We are being very cultured this afternoon by going to the nearby Washington National Cathedral to hear the Cathedral Choral Society sing Beethoven. (Read more about Beethoven's Missa Solemnis. here and here and here.) Our wonderful neighbor, who works for the British Embassy, sings in the chior. Yet somehow we just don't do enough of these kinds of things, so I'm really looking forward to it.

As you can see, the building is just stunning sitting at one of the highest spots in Washington overlooking the rest of the city. What a great place to hear music!

Star Wars: I'm feeling better now

Yes! I'm feeling guilty about having failed to resist the Star Wars hype -- even proclaiming that I would not even see episode III because I was so disgusted with episode II. And I feel guilty that I am just too weak to resist. I'm so weak that I'm now seeing  midnight showing.

But that is why it is always good for there to be people out there who are even freakier then I am. (Thus explains the existence of Jerry Springer.)

This from the WP's Star Wars blog -- yes, you heard that right, a Star Wars blog, which they creatively named the 'Sith' Sense. What a great idea is that?

The line for "Star Wars" at Washington's Uptown Theater has begun. I spoke this morning with line organizer Adrienne Maul-Sari.  That's right, her last name used to be Maul until she got married and decided to hyphenate. She legally changed it after developing an attachment to Darth Maul from "The Phantom Menace."

Ahhh! I'm feeling much better about myself, thank you very much.

A fond final Cherwell

A fond final Cherwell… Giving credit where credit is due, the wonderful headline comes from CherWorld.com, but it captures our weekend to SoCal.

We took the traveling typepad to Hollywood this weekend to see the final final for Cher’s Living Proof Farewell Tour 2005. Cher had come through Washington three times. I missed her the first time, so on the second round, DMV got me tickets for my birthday. (I discovered this weekend that he didn’t actually buy the tickets on eBay until days before that concert.) Cher came through DC for a third pass, but we had plans and so we missed that one. But then Cher announced that she was going to shut down this tour, which she says will be her last. And if one was going to do a final concert, it would seem that the stars are aligned correctly. She show was 40 years almost to the day after Cher performed her first concert with Sonny -- also at the Hollywood Bowl. So when Cher made the announcement, I quickly called my father. He is a Bowl season ticket holder, so I thought he might have some pull. And he did. We had great seats about 15 rows back. I’ll post the poor camera phone photos when I figure out how to transfer them over.

But I’m getting ahead of the story.

I flew out Friday – DMV had gone out earlier in the week for business. On Saturday, we did the perquisite tour of my father’s apartment building. He’s so cute because he is so proud of the building and the facility. And you have to give him credit – they are really nice! If I had to live in an apartment, it’s a nice place to live.

Given that we were in my old neighborhood, I called my best friend’s parents to see if we could do a pop-in. When we did, they had a neighbor over who said his friends tried to see Cher Friday – the next-to-the-last-show – and he said that they were stymied by gridlocked traffic. I panicked because I know what a horrible frustrating feeling that is. Years ago, I tried to go see Fleetwood Mac’s first reunion tour at the Nissan Pavilion and ended up spending more than two hours sitting in traffic, a trip that shouldn’t take more than an hour tops. Needless to say, I have never been back to Nissan. But I wasn’t going to let traffic interfere with our Cher-ebration!

We decided that we would have dinner in Hollywood and walk to the Bowl. (I generally prefer the low stress route. I’d rather get to the airport an hour early rather than having all the stress of rushing. DMV does not share that opinion, unfortunately, and it has led to some of our biggest fights.) We made reservations at the Hotel Roosevelt, a wonderfully remodeled hotel on Hollywood Boulevard across from the famous Chinese Theater – yes, the same Chinese theater where people are lined up to see the final Star Wars movie although the movie is not going to be showing at the Chinese Theater. We had a wonderful dinner at Theodore’s and then made on the 20-minute hike up the hill to the Bowl. And traffic wasn’t all that bad. I mean, it wasn’t free flowing, but it wasn’t gridlocked. So we make the 20-minute walk, there were people dressed up as Cher – of course. As we approach the Bowl enterance, there were religious fanatics out front with anti-gay messages. “Gays are sodomites,” one said, which is difficult to argue with. Most gays are, in fact, sodomites. Of course, not all sodomites are gay, but… From the look on the faces of most of these people, they could have used a little sodomy. Another sign said, “Gays like fecies – ‘skat’” Ah yes, I can’t get enough – sh*t pancakes for breakfast, sh*t, tomato and mozzarella for lunch, and sh*t soup for dinner… I always wonder what these people really hope to accomplish. Does anybody – let alone anybody at a Cher concert – walk away saying, “You know, those gays… they DO like skat.”

Of course, the concert crowd seemed like there was a direct bus line from West Hollywood to the Bowl. There was a high gay quotient – no shock there.

As I said, we had great seats. We did not realize that there was going to be an opening act – the “official” Village People, no less. They were actually much better than I expected. The biker boy – well, not really a “boy” anymore, but...  – is still in great shape. And they seemed really thrilled to be there. They finished up their show and had not sung YMCA, so you just know there is another song coming, right? There was.

And then – Cher!

The 57-year-old diva (she turns 58 on May 20) is just fabulous. (She only ranks second to Tina Turner in terms of putting on a great show… and that’s saying a lot!) I have now listened to and seen this show numerous times. She starts off lowering from the ceiling on a chandelier singing U2’s “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for” and then quickly launches into her own stuff. The order of this show was different then both the televised version and the version we saw in DC, but the heart of them are there. Actually this show seemed to be considerably longer – about two hours. She does a great job using video clips, which allows her costume changes, which are numerous. She only does “I got you babe” using the video, including clips from her famous appearance on Letterman’s old NBC Late Night program, where she appeared with Sonny. Her first monologue is also different from the broadcast version. In the recorded version, she says that she wanted to make the show fabulous because there are all these young girls coming to take… “well they’re not going to take my place, but they are going to take somebody’s place.” She said that one of those girls – “I’m not going to say which one, but she has a very big butt!” – complained about being called a whore. I’m just joking, she said. But she said she has a motive for making the show so fabulous. She wanted to say to those girls, “Follow this, you bitches.” And, in fact, at the conclusion of the show, she did say it – in fireworks on top of the Bowl at the conclusion of the program!

She said that this would be the end of her 325 day tour and she said that she would not do another final tour like so many other artists. "This is the last time - 'cause I'm approaching 80." She suggested if she did, she would be riding a rhinestone-encrusted Liberty Scooter.

The show was everything we could have hoped for. The great thing about Cher is that she is a performer. She has that Tina Turner quality where she just goes out there and puts out 100 percent. In one of the video montages, she says that she has never been liked by singers and that she has never really been liked by actors… but she does her thing! And she sure did it well!

Two celeberity sightings... "Jo" from the "Facts of Life"... and Michelle Lee from Knots Landing "fame"

Then on Sunday, a baseball game – yes, me! – in my father’s fabulous Dodgers seats that are about four rows back from home plate. (A friend commented, "Only the two of you can do those two events in one weekend!") Now THAT’s the way to see a baseball game! Then dinner with my cousin and a viewing of “The Witches of Eastwick,” of course.

So… a huge thanks to my father and step-mother for getting the tickets and hosting us for the weekend! We had a great time!

M-I-C...

Mickey is here in Washington -- at the Ronald Reagan building, no less. In celebration of Mickey Mouse's 75th anniversary, Disney created 75 uniquely designed, 6-foot, 500-pound statues. The statues have toured the country, but all 75 have only appeared in a few places -- Disney World, Disneyland, and here in Washington, D.C. They have had different celeberties design the mice, so they are pretty fun. And it will be interesting to see all 75 of them in one place. I'll post photos, of course. I thought these ones were fun.

CHER!

So we just got word that we got tickets to see Cher's final concert of her Farewell Tour at the Hollywood Bowl on April 30. Yes, yes, I know that she has done about 2,000  'final' shows, but... this may actually be her final show given that she first performed at the Hollywood Bowl 40 years ago with Sonny. Regardless, it is a great show and it will be a blast. Thanks to my father and step-mother for getting the tickets! And the show will apparently feature this cool Instant Live recording where you can actually buy a recording of the show literally as you leave. How cool is that?

Christo's 'Gates'

Christo and Jeanne Claude's pretty amazing exhibit, "The Gates" opens this weekend in New York City's Central Park. Here are some resources:
* New York Magazine has an excellent overview piece on "The Gates."
* The Met has an online piece on the exhibit.
* The New York Times has a round-up of the paper's coverage.
* Wired New York has its overview.
* The Gates are expected to be a boon for NYC tourism. So... NYC's visitor Web site has a piece on "The Gates."
* Read more about Christo himself.

Philip Johnson, 1906-2005

Johnny Carson died over the weekend, of course.
Today, Philip Johnson, the American architect, passed away at the age of 98.

Back from the MotherLand...

Some stuff from my travels last week. As I mentioned, I was in the United Kingdom -- London to be exact. Earlier, I posted where I was staying at Hampton Court Palace. It was nothing short of amazing. We were staying in the "Georgian House," which was actually used as the pastery shop when Henry VIII was there. Anyway, it was a fantastic place to visit.

I was lucky enough to get tickets to Michael Frayn's new play, "Democracy." Frayn is one of my favorite playwrights who wrote "Noises Off," which was turned into a movie in 1992... but see it on stage...
He also penned one of my favorite plays ever, "Copenhagen," which is the re-imagining of the mysterious wartime meeting between two Nobel laureates to discuss the atomic bomb. It sounds dense, but it is amazing. Here is a link to some reviews.
"Democracy" follows a similar vein. It is about the chancellor of what was then West Germany, who made the initial efforts to reconcile with communist East Germany. Again, it sounds dense, and if it was anybody other than Fryan, it would be, but he just makes this subject sing. The play is wonderfully acted. But it is the way the production is written and crafted that makes this otherwise stoggy subject a dramatic powerhouse.
Don't take my word for it.
Here is the UK Telegraph's review...
The Telegraph's political reporter loved it too...
And a story about Fryan himself...
The NYT did one as well...

Some of the UK news while I was over there...
So you think housing here is expensive????
In U.K., fears that the roof will fall [IHT]
A few weeks ago, a steel magnate, Lakshmi Mittal, paid what is believed to be the highest price ever recorded for a home anywhere in the world, forking over £70 million for a mansion in West London that was previously owned by Bernie Ecclestone, the head of Formula One auto racing.

The big news during the week was British PM Tony Blair announcing that he would change course and put the UK's participation in the EU up for a referendum.
Blair stakes his future on Britain's place in EU [UK Telegraph]

No Reverse Gear, Please [Newsweek International, 5.3.2004]
Blair relishes being a passionate advocate of Europe to his wary countrymen

The Economist opines...
Britain's referendum on the EU constitution [The Economist]
Why Tony Blair is right to propose a national referendum on the draft EU constitution

One UK media note...
UK publisher Richard Desmond went on an extraordinary, anti-German tirade during what was supposed to have been a routine business meeting with executives.

The WSJ actually opines on the issue...
Fleet Street Uber Alles [WSJ, 4.26.2004]

There was tech news in the UK papers as well...
ID card technology trial launched [BBC]
Home office minister Des Browne demonstrates the proposed ID card
A trial of identity card technology was launched on Monday involving 10,000 volunteers.

And, of course, Iraq...
But more on that later... plus more on the AI travesty that occured while I was away.

Overall, a good trip, but I'm glad to be back.

Theater: 'Cooking With Elvis'

Theater review: 'Cooking With Elvis'

I enjoy small theater companies, and one of my favorites is Washington's Woolly Mammoth Theater Company. That being said, this is the second small theater production that just fell short.

The story is about a English family that has had its disfunction heightened an accident that left the father in a vegitative state. The dughter deals with it through food while the mother deals with the situation by sleeping around -- here, with a guy named Stewart. The father will occationally -- in his own mind, you're left to assume -- break out into Elvis impersionations.

The show is somewhat crude, but that is not its biggest failing. That is left to the fact that you just don't care about these people. It is a sad story, but not one that you want to know more about.

Again, more professional critics disagree. Here are some reviews...

'Cooking With Elvis': A Recipe Both Sordid And Satisfying [WP, 12.25.2003]
Theater 'Cooking With Elvis': A Recipe Both Sordid And Satisfying ... Cooking With
Elvis" is in absolutely terrible taste. And I mean that in a good way. ...

Food for thought - The Washington Times: Entertainment
... Woolly Mammoth takes the far less traditional approach to seasonal revelry with
its pitch-dark, pitch-perfect "Cooking With Elvis," a dysfunctional family ...

Washingtonian Online - Theater Review
... Cooking With Elvis. Reviewed by ANN LIMPERT. Three Stars. Foucheux courtesy
of Woolly Mammoth. Elvis Presley was all about excess: sequins ...
http://www.washingtonian.com/thismonth/Reviews/elvis.html

And a review from some site called Curtain Up, which I had never heard of before.