My Week in Entertainment
Well I had a very busy week that started last Wednesday with Shining City.
Ben Brantley may have been "blown away" but I certainly wasn't, it was rather disappointing after all the raves. I found it rather boring, yet another tale of repressed sexuality hits the Broadway stage, how terribly original. Unfortunately the acting didn't do much for me. Oliver Platt, who I adored on The West Wing, was entirely too skittish and rather annoying. I had been looking forward to finally seeing Brian F. O'Byrne on stage but I found his performance rather dull... my friend Torri assures me he was brilliant in Doubt, then again that was a much better play. The only person that made an impression was Martha Plimpton who gave the show a shot of life when she came on for her short scene. I will say this for the show, it ended on a surprising high note that woke me up in the end with an unexpected shot of adrenaline... scared the bejesus out of most of us!
I was going to see Audra at Central Park Summerstage but I was feeling sick so I skipped it. Luckily for me the weather turned bad and the performance was cancelled last minute. I felt bad for Torri who waited in the rain for two hours but I was happy I hadn't missed her.
I met up with Torri again on Friday to check out The Devil Wears Prada which was great fun. Meryl was freaking brilliant and she looked superb! The story is a flimsy excuse to have cow eyes (a.k.a. Anne Hathaway) play dress-up yet again but the divine Meryl Streep vamping it up as the ruthless bitch Miranda elevates it beyond your usual chick-flick. Besides Streep I also rather enjoyed Stanley Tucci as our Cinderella's fairy godmother and Emily Blunt as the supremely snooty Emily. On the downside I continue to be skeeved out by Adrian Grenier (he of the gorgeous eyes and tawny skin) who always looks like he's in need of a bath and is one inch away from a unibrow... also didn't care for Simon Baker who played a sleazebag with all the subtlety of a hammer.
The weekend was a time for relaxation. I did a lot of shopping with the mom and the auntie who came to hang out. Did my laundry, watched a lot of Remington Steele and watched a few movies. Did more shopping with mom on Monday and got the cutest little mary-janes from Skechers. As for the rest, I think I'll be returning most of it this coming weekend because I went a little too crazy with the spending.
Today we woke up early and headed to the IMAX theater to catch Superman Returns. I bought the tickets on Friday and while I wanted to see it the truth is that I didn't have a lot of expections and was not very excited about it which is why I was surprised to find myself getting caught up from the opening credits. I love that they kept the John Williams score... the moment I heard it I just found myself getting excited!
The movie is not perfect, it's entirely too long for one, but boy does it looks fabulous! The flying sequences look incredible, especially when seen on 3D IMAX, and the action is quite thrilling! Brandon Routh is no Olivier but he really doesn't need to be. He's got the most gorgeous eyes, looks fabulous in those tights and he pulls off Clark's dorky charm rather nicely. I think his eery resemblance to Reeves makes it that much easier to accept him, he just feels familiar. Kate Bosworth was okay but I really missed the quirky and feisty Lois of the old movies... Margot Kidder may be a nut but her Lois was indelible. I'm kinda undecided about Spacey, I liked him but I found his Lex Luther extremely vicious when compared to Hackman's... my brother says that in this respect they stuck more to the comics than the original movies. Having said that he's rather upset about the story twist in the end as it doesn't stick to comic-lore but since I know nothing of that I was okay with it. All-in-all a great effort from Singer and I look forward to the next one. I hope he gets Parker Posey back because she was a real bright spot and I'd love to see more of Kitty the next time.
Ben Brantley may have been "blown away" but I certainly wasn't, it was rather disappointing after all the raves. I found it rather boring, yet another tale of repressed sexuality hits the Broadway stage, how terribly original. Unfortunately the acting didn't do much for me. Oliver Platt, who I adored on The West Wing, was entirely too skittish and rather annoying. I had been looking forward to finally seeing Brian F. O'Byrne on stage but I found his performance rather dull... my friend Torri assures me he was brilliant in Doubt, then again that was a much better play. The only person that made an impression was Martha Plimpton who gave the show a shot of life when she came on for her short scene. I will say this for the show, it ended on a surprising high note that woke me up in the end with an unexpected shot of adrenaline... scared the bejesus out of most of us!
I was going to see Audra at Central Park Summerstage but I was feeling sick so I skipped it. Luckily for me the weather turned bad and the performance was cancelled last minute. I felt bad for Torri who waited in the rain for two hours but I was happy I hadn't missed her.
I met up with Torri again on Friday to check out The Devil Wears Prada which was great fun. Meryl was freaking brilliant and she looked superb! The story is a flimsy excuse to have cow eyes (a.k.a. Anne Hathaway) play dress-up yet again but the divine Meryl Streep vamping it up as the ruthless bitch Miranda elevates it beyond your usual chick-flick. Besides Streep I also rather enjoyed Stanley Tucci as our Cinderella's fairy godmother and Emily Blunt as the supremely snooty Emily. On the downside I continue to be skeeved out by Adrian Grenier (he of the gorgeous eyes and tawny skin) who always looks like he's in need of a bath and is one inch away from a unibrow... also didn't care for Simon Baker who played a sleazebag with all the subtlety of a hammer.
The weekend was a time for relaxation. I did a lot of shopping with the mom and the auntie who came to hang out. Did my laundry, watched a lot of Remington Steele and watched a few movies. Did more shopping with mom on Monday and got the cutest little mary-janes from Skechers. As for the rest, I think I'll be returning most of it this coming weekend because I went a little too crazy with the spending.
Today we woke up early and headed to the IMAX theater to catch Superman Returns. I bought the tickets on Friday and while I wanted to see it the truth is that I didn't have a lot of expections and was not very excited about it which is why I was surprised to find myself getting caught up from the opening credits. I love that they kept the John Williams score... the moment I heard it I just found myself getting excited!
The movie is not perfect, it's entirely too long for one, but boy does it looks fabulous! The flying sequences look incredible, especially when seen on 3D IMAX, and the action is quite thrilling! Brandon Routh is no Olivier but he really doesn't need to be. He's got the most gorgeous eyes, looks fabulous in those tights and he pulls off Clark's dorky charm rather nicely. I think his eery resemblance to Reeves makes it that much easier to accept him, he just feels familiar. Kate Bosworth was okay but I really missed the quirky and feisty Lois of the old movies... Margot Kidder may be a nut but her Lois was indelible. I'm kinda undecided about Spacey, I liked him but I found his Lex Luther extremely vicious when compared to Hackman's... my brother says that in this respect they stuck more to the comics than the original movies. Having said that he's rather upset about the story twist in the end as it doesn't stick to comic-lore but since I know nothing of that I was okay with it. All-in-all a great effort from Singer and I look forward to the next one. I hope he gets Parker Posey back because she was a real bright spot and I'd love to see more of Kitty the next time.