A Bunch of Movies and a (Real) Musical

I'm testing out something new: Three-Word Movie Reviews. It gives me more room to play around with, and I kinda like it.

Sommersturm (Summer Storm) - Surprisingly, wasn't terrible
Bonjour Monsieur Shlomi - Sweet, bland, forgettable
Inside Deep Throat - Not so deep
In My Father's Den - Convoluted yet simple
Der Untertag (Downfall) - Simple yet convoluted
War of the Worlds - Intense; false ending
The Upside of Anger - Decent but disinterested
Mr. & Mrs. Smith - Sexy as hell
頭文字 D (Initial D) - Fucking shitty crap
Fantastic Four - Cheap-looking mediocrity
Voces inocentes (Innocent Voices) - Repetitive blahness

I know some have only two words. So sue me.

Just saw a musical over the weekend as well - The Admiral's Odyssey, by Action Theatre. Perhaps the shadows from the one I worked on were still hanging around, because I felt this was done really well, even though it might not have been. I mean, in comparison to the shitfest that I was involved in this was Tony Award-winning calibre, or as K put it, "It's a real musical!"

So maybe at first glance I was blown away. But after mulling over it for a bit, I thought it could be done better. On the whole, it felt like it could be tighter, especially in the first half. I also wasn't really sure how well the character of Cheng Ho was handled and tied into the whole thing - that aspect could definitely be worked on further. The theme could also be handled more deftly and explored more thoroughly, I suppose.

But to give credit where it's due, here's what worked well. The cast gave excellent performances (even though the kid could learn to enunciate better), the music was appropriately stirring, and the set, while simple, was effective. Holding it in a small venue like Jubilee Hall also made the audience that much closer to the actors, both in physical proximity and in emotional intimacy.

I went to see it because I really liked their previous attempt, Chang and Eng, about a pair of Siamese twins. But then again, when I saw that it was already into its third run. Hopefully they'll tweak this one further before they bring it back to the stage. If they do it should have some legs at least.