A friend invited me to this one-man show at Theatre J largely because it is performed by her favorite writer/director, Josh Kornbluth who co-wrote and co-directed the film Haiku Tunnel. It's a great little film, so I agreed to go along, knowing pretty much nothing about the show except that it centers on Andy Warhol's Ten Portraits of Jews of the Twentieth Century.It was a pretty good show, especially considering it was the premiere and clearly still in the works. After the show, four of the people behind the show (including Josh) sat down on stage to ask the audience questions about how the show worked and what might be done to improve or clarify sections. That was when we learned that the order of the sections of the show had only been settled on that morning, so it was understandable that Josh needed some prompting from the director at various points. I actually didn't mind at all, it lended a certain credibility to the whole thing.
As the show progresses we learn things about each of the ten subjects of the portraits. These vignettes ranged from very simple segments (about Albert Einstein) to much longer and involved stories that intertwined with Kornbluth's own life experiences. Those were the best parts, when a story about his own childhood bore a striking connection to one of the portrayed historical figures and their own life works. Personally, I really loved the story behind Martin Buber's "I and Thou" relationships and how this tied into one of Kornbluth's formative childhood experiences. Not only was it touching and telling, but it got me thinking about my own "I and thou" relationships.
There really isn't much talk in this show about what it is to be a Jew or what it means to be a Jew, but you do come away with a sense of the cultural significance of being a Jew and pride in being a part of the same religious and historical community as the ten Jews portrayed by Warhol. Also, the show is pretty funny.
Talk about a title that leaves you out of breath! So here we have director Chris Columbus taking on another series of young adult novels only instead of bringing us the excellent Harry Potter, he drops a mediocre Percy Jackson at our feet and smiles uncomfortably. I realize we shouldn't have very high expectations for adventure movies targeting kids and teens, but I suppose I was hoping for more. Straight up, this movie suffers from a bad script full of forced jokes that feel very played out. There's also the overall story, which suggests that demi-gods are as common as... witches and warlocks in the modern world. But in this case, we're squeezing in a lesson in Greek mythology and the true meaning of family. Awwww... It felt like a stretch to me too. There were some moments that weren't as bad as others, but they were fleeting. Any time I started to feel like something might actually get interesting, it was quickly suppressed by crappy dialog. So sad. Well, I've moved on.
One of the iconic monsters in movie history gets a fresh coat of paint so that it can look pretty much just like it did in the 
Oh come on, no one is surprised I went to see this movie. Alone. On Valentine's Day. I consider it one of my responsibilities to meet expectations. Now, back to the review...
It's always daunting going into a movie knowing there's really no happy ending, but even then it's nice to be surprised to discover there is, in fact, life after death. The story itself is fairly simple and is outlined clearly in all the trailers. Suzie Salmon is murdered at age 14 and most of the movie follows the people she loves and her murderer over the next two years or so, while Suzie herself watches from the in-between, the space between earth and heaven. There's more, but I am reluctant to give anything else away. I will say that Suzie's ending provided a pleasant surprise, in that it isn't what I would have expected from a typical Hollywood movie. There was no graphic violence and the viewer is left to guess about the details of young Suzie's final moments. I understand the book goes into a lot more detail, but I was happy to not have to experience that. Instead of loading up on the gruesomeness of the killing, we instead ride an emotional rollercoaster along with the Salmon family, narrated by Suzie as she watches what they are going through. I found it poignant and it kept me close to tears for a large part of the film. Assuming you know what you're getting into and you are in the mood for something shy of a thriller, more like a walk through the emotional journey a family facing tragedy deals with... then I think you'll enjoy The Lovely Bones just fine. 
The Book of Eli is another movie set in post-apocalyptic North America. Unlike The Road's east coast setting, The Book of Eli takes place in the barren west as Eli, played by Denzel Washington, travels toward the coast in a divine quest to simply "go west." The villain Carnegie is played by one of my favorites, Gary Oldman, as the de facto mafia mayor of what looks to be an old prospecting town. Of course, Eli's interest in spreading the word for the good of all is somewhat in conflict with Carnegie's desire to gain power through the control of the weak-willed and ignorant. The story goes that, after "the flash" all copies of The Bible were burned because some thought religion caused the war. Make of that what you want. So now all that's left is this one copy of The Bible and it must be saved because it is good. Or something. Honestly, I'm not sure what the message is here. So, on top of the foggy message and motivations, we're slapped in the face with a huge twist at the end that makes you want to go back and watch the whole movie again to catch all the clues... and then you realize you really didn't enjoy the movie enough to have any interest in watching it again.
Leap Year is another fairly typical romantic comedy utilizing the "fish-out-of-water" scenario. Boston upper-middle-class woman travels to Ireland on a quest to propose to her boyfriend of four years who has yet to propose to her. Unfortunately, instead of landing in Dublin, the plane is diverted to England, and she is forced to work her way across sea and land to find love and ends up discovering it in the one place she would never have expected. You know you're in well-trod territory when the female lead is trying to walk in stiletto heals on dirt roads. Still, I enjoyed the movie for what it was and found the actors charming and the resolution fairly satisfying.
Oh look, another vampire movie... Thankfully, this isn't your typical vampire flick and actually presents some interesting ideas to consider. In short, what would happen if most of the world's population were turned to vampires? As a tiny minority, there's food walking around everywhere, but as the dominant species, the possibility of consuming all the available food sources is very realistic. On one side you have the vampire corporate interests trying to control the food supply, and on the other you have the few remaining endangered humans struggling to keep the race alive. I felt echoes of both Equilibrium (a small underground fighting against a monolithic power to save humanity) and Gattaca (one man trying to hide his true self from an oppressive corporation/government). Daybreakers doesn't approach the philosophical topics that both of those movies confronted, but I felt like the conversation was there, dozing under the surface with an occasional snort or snore to make itself heard. Also noteworthy is the film's score which is a score. I was expecting a modern vampire movie to be filled with dark pop songs and pumping bass beats, but instead the entire movie, end-to-end, is scored. And I'm not talking about a horror movie score that's designed to build tension, I mean there was orchestral music playing all the way through. It was also filmed in a semi-noir fashion that I found appealing. My final notes are on content, there is some profanity and there are also moments of graphic (though not scary) gore.
I bought tickets for this show the day they went on sale over the summer. As I often do, I'll buy two tickets thinking, "hey, it's six months off, I'm sure I'll find someone to go with me at some point..." And as often happens, I did not find anyone to bring along. It's a shame, because the Sixers are always best when shared. So, while I felt like I was the only person there alone, the show itself was wonderful, as always. Lots of songs off the new album and several from earlier albums. There was a rendition of Winter Wonderland thrown in along with the traditional medley during one of the two encores. View the full set of 