Theatre Review: National Ballet of Cuba Don Quixote

On Friday night I went to go see the Natinal Ballet of Cuba’s  Don Quixote performance in Vancouver. I had been wanting to see some sort of theatrical rendition of Don Quixote for some time and I hadn’t been to a theatre in awhile so the ballet’s rendition of the historical tale couldn’t have been more welcomed.

Despite my desire to see the show, I’m sick and as such, I wasn’t too in the mood to leave the confines of my couch. Nonetheless, I made it out and quite enjoyed the ballet. I’m always drawn to international ballet companies. It’s not that I don’t appreciate Ballet BC, because I do, but they’re a lot more modern in their choreography and I appreciate the more classical efforts of their international (even national such as the Royal Winnipeg Ballet) counterparts.

The National Ballet of Cuba’s performance of Don Quixote was just that, classical. Despite a few slip ups here and there, the dancers were phenomenal. The lead female ballerinas, particularly Kitri (played by Sadaise Arenciba) were beautifully graceful and exerted  effortless control in their movements.

My only qualm with the whole production is the lack of classical Spanish guitar. I understand that ballet’s normally dance to symphonies but I thought it would have been nice touch to incorporate a classic musical component in a classical tale. That being said, the castañuelas (castanets) gave a nice Spanish touch to the music.

It’s too bad they were only here for three days! Mind you, it’s not like the theatre was full, which truly was a shame!

The Hunger Games Movies!

I know it was announced quote awhile ago that The Hunger Games trilogy are going to be made into books but when I saw Breaing Dawn which had a Hunger Games preview, it reminded me how excited I am for the movies to come out!  I’ve read all the books and I loved them. Read my reviews:

The Hunger Games
Catching Fire
Mockingjay

I’m stoked that Jennifer Lawrence got the role of Katniss Everdeen and Liam Hemsworth (plays Gale) is a babe.

I frequently visit hungergamesmovie.org for movie info. It’s an awesome website and they’re constantly updating it. The authors of it also have very detailed Twilight pages for each film (seriously, check it out).

Movie Review: Breaking Dawn

I wasn’t going to write a movie review for Breaking Dawn, hence why I haven’t written anything sooner. I’m also not quite sure if this will be a review or just a collection of unorganized thoughts.

The reason I decided to write something about the film is because I was discussing it with a friend yesterday and we got to talking about what they’re going to include in Part 2. I’ll get to that later though…

Breaking Dawn….what I thought about it….I liked it.

The Good:

• Awkward wedding speeches.
• The wolf graphics.
• Rio de Janeiro scenery.
• Esme Island.
• The clothing Alice packs for Bella. Not because it’s beautiful but because it’s so not Bella and she’s awkward about it.
• How Edward laughs at her negligee pajamas as if she had packed them and was trying to be sexy.

The Bad:

Twilight Inspiration

Every time I see this photo by Daniel Gaworksi, I think of Twilight. I saw Breaking Dawn today and was feeling inspire to post this photo.

See more cool landscape photography at Gaworski’s website. Read more about Breaking Dawn here.

Movie Review: Red Riding Hood

If you like Twilight, you’ll like Red Riding Hood.

I saw it for a few reasons. One, I like Twilight and figured they would be similar (same director of the first film – Catherine Hardwicke, wolves, etc). Two, I like Amanda Seyfried. Three, I shamefully admit that I think Shiloh Fernandez is hot. Four, something about Fever Ray’s “The Wolf” drew me to the film (see song below).

I knew going into the film that it was probably going to be a teen-fest. I also knew it had gotten horrible reviews. In fact, my mom, who I don’t think knows anything about the film said to me, “why are you seeing it? Everyone’s talking about how bad it is.” My mom has never commented on any of the films I have ever gone to see. Ever. Some might have argued that that was a sign I shouldn’t see the film.

I will admit that the film was a bit silly. I enjoyed it for all the reasons I saw it in the first place (particularly Shiloh), but you can tell the film was banking on cashing in on the werewolf hype. Despite the fact that it was a slight cash-grab of sorts, the plot was spun in away that you would never guess who the wolf is. Just when you think it’s one person, you change your mind and think it’s another, and then another, and then when you find out who it is, you think, whoa…didn’t see that coming. Or maybe people did and I’m just dense.

I liked it. Most people apparently didn’t. So where does that leave you? If you think you would like it for the same reasons I did, then you probably will like it. If you have an aversion to teen-inspired films, skip it.

Movie Review: Boondock Saints II

Sub par.

I was really excited to see Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day. The original Boondock Saints is ridiculous, but great. It has a large cult following who like me were stoked to hear that a sequel was in the works. We should have remembered that sequels generally aren’t a good thing. Even more so when you don’t even recall it being in theatres but then stumble upon it at your local video store, months after it was released.

All of the same cast from the original came back for round two. This is great seeing as how in Hollywood “replacement” is always the mot du jour.

The plot is what killed the movie. I could get over the bad accents and such, but the plot…it did nothing for me. I have some questions…

1) What was the point in telling us that Crew Cut had a height obsession? I guess to point out that it was him and not the MacManus brothers?

2) What was the point of bringing The Roman back? He had to know he would die and that his mission to be the new boss would be fruitless.

3) What kind of relationship did Eunice and Smecker have?

4) Was Eunice’s ridiculous cowboy outfit necessary? I suppose Smecker did ridiculously dress up as a woman in the original.

5) Why is Romeo always crying and what’s up with the stares his uncle gives him? The staredowns made me think he was going to be one of the bad guys, but clearly he wasn’t, dissapearing from the film completely after his two scenes.

And I have so many more….

Movie Review: KICK-ASS

Morally wrong? Probably. Hilarious? Absolutely! KICK-ASS’ unconventional, satirical plot will have you cheering your guts out like a horny 16 year old nerd.

In a nutshell, a dorky teen wonders why no one has ever tried to be a super hero. His friends assure him that it’s because doing so would not only be difficult, but insane. As you can probably guess, he takes it upon himself to do just that, and…he gets his ass kicked. Being your typical adolescent, a good ass-kicking doesn’t deter him so he continues to try and “save the day” getting some much needed teenage ass along the way. Only problem is that things go sideways quickly and he finds himself in a major predicament, along with another batch of homemade superheroes that include a vicious 11 year old that should probably be in a cage, the biggest wuss on this side of the Mississippi, and Nicolas Cage, aka Big Daddy. Yes, that is what he calls himself.

I know. Nicolas Cage? Worrysome. But fear not, this may be the only film you’ll ever be able to tolerate him in. He plays weird so well in it. Weird how, you ask? Well first, he has a sick handlebar moustache. Second, he thinks he’s funny and actually kind of is. Third, he thinks he’s Batman. Fourth, he trains his daughter to be a killing machine. Not the average behaviours of a typical father.

Movie Review: Date Night

Tina Fey and Steve Carell team up for a film full of chuckles…that could have been better.

Walking into a flim with two comedy giants, you expect to bust an organ laughing. Although I was consistently chuckling throughout the film,  I think the final product was sub par considering what those two are capable of.

In a nutshell, Fey and Carell play Claire and Phil Foster, a married couple stuck in a boring routine that has them living more like “excellent roomates”. In an attempt to spice things up, they go on a date in the city (they live in the burbs so this is a big deal). Basically, they steal the dinner reservation of a couple who is wanted by a mafia boss: shit hits the fan. They stick together through thick and thin, no pun intended, and come to realize that their boring marriage really isn’t that bad.

Although Fey and Carell did have their share of funny moments, the potential to take jokes to level 400 was dismissed. In fact, the funniest jokes were of Fey and Carell improvising during the bloopers that run with the closing credits.

The film basically had a “moral of the story” ending. This may have unintentionally killed part of its success. Moral of the story: appreciate the life you have, don’t steal, and stick together. All of these things are nice and all but I wanted to hear jokes so lewd that I would blush like a school girl. If I wanted to see “nice”, I would see a chick flick.

I think you should watch this flim, but not in theatres. Mark Wahlberg’s pecks may look juicier on the big screen, but let’s not be silly, that’s not the focus of the movie.

Highlights:

• Fey and her mouthgaurd
• The Fosters as Will.I.Am’s friends
• Carell dancing
• Blooper scene where Fey talks about a girl and a hand mirror

Alice in Wonderland

Look at me, busy bee…seeing a bunch of movies.

Alice in Wonderland hasn’t received very good reviews. Although I didn’t love it, I didn’t hate it either. It was your typical  Tim Burton flim: sinister yet aesthetically delicious.

I don’t really want to write a review. I just wanted to posted the poster above. Aesthetically, I was in love with the film. I wanted to touch everything. The bright colours had me over the moon.

I’m not sure how I feel about Johnny Depp being cast as the Mad Hatter. I like him as an actor and yes, he’s good at playing the roles Burton makes up for him, but the roles he takes have become cliche for him. Fun I’m sure, but the theatrics are getting boring.  Also, the stark contrast between Anne Hathaway’s china look and dark eyebrows was unsettling. I found it hard to take her role as the delicate White Queen seriously: I kept thinking she was going to morph into some unnatural blood-sucking creature. Also, her hand movements were incredibly irritating.

As per usual, this movie was hyped up far more than it should have been. I suppose it’s hard not to hype up a literary giant turned into a 3D explosion of colour.

That’s all.

Movie Review: Remember Me

Only reason I feel compelled to write anything about this movie is because it’s not what I thought it would be.

Yes, there’s a love story. Yes, it’s slightly chick-flickish. Yes, Robert Pattinson is in it (automatically alienating potential male viewers). All this being said, it also starts and ends in ways I wouldn’t have imagined. Major theme of the movie? Death and life after death.

Main characters are Pattinson and Emilie de Ravin, playing Tyler Hawkins and Ally Craig. At a young age, both characters are affected by the deaths of close family members. These deaths have greatly shaped their lives. I don’t want to ruin the plot, but one death in particular, greatly affects the lives of all the characters.

The movie starts with  Tyler Hawkins, quoting Gandhi: Whatever you do may seem insignificant to you, but it is most important that you do it.  – Mohandas Gandhi

In hindsight, you’ll realize how much that quote sets the scene for the rest of the film. The same can be said for the title of the movie as well.

Here’s an outline of the plot: