29 June 2007
Studio 54
Book by N. Richard Nash
Music by Harvey Schmidt
Lyrics by Tom Jones
Directed by Lonny Price
Audra McDonald
John Cullum
Will Swenson
Christopher Innvar
Bobby Steggert
June 30, 2007
June 29, 2007
1408 (2007)
US
Mikael Håfström - Director
Scott Alexander - Screenwriter
Matt Greenberg - Screenwriter
Larry Karaszewski - Screenwriter
Stephen King - Short Story Author
John Cusack - Mike Enslin
Samuel L. Jackson
It is really difficult to discuss a film's plot with a big name original book author, or maybe this question can extend to every adaptation. Who should I attribute, refer to, especially most of the time I've never seen the book? So maybe the wise thing to do is put this issue aside, just concentrate on the film.
Although the plot is short lasting, the tension building between Jackson and Cusack is awesome. This kind of claustrophobic, supernatural, blurring reality and dream thriller doesn't have much surprise, basically all you have to do is to plan the seeds of terror in the first part of the film and wait for the right moment to make them bloom. But this doesn't mean it can't invoke the involuntary screams. Basically 1408 is Cusack's one man show, and he did a great job.
The ending seems to me bear less significant, nothing can really surprise audience these days, and nothing can conclude and rationalize the whole story easily. The best ending is already become cliche, and to avoid that, it means to loose the best choice.
This is Håfström's second Hollywood film, he directed the Danmark film Evil.
Mikael Håfström - Director
Scott Alexander - Screenwriter
Matt Greenberg - Screenwriter
Larry Karaszewski - Screenwriter
Stephen King - Short Story Author
John Cusack - Mike Enslin
Samuel L. Jackson
It is really difficult to discuss a film's plot with a big name original book author, or maybe this question can extend to every adaptation. Who should I attribute, refer to, especially most of the time I've never seen the book? So maybe the wise thing to do is put this issue aside, just concentrate on the film.
Although the plot is short lasting, the tension building between Jackson and Cusack is awesome. This kind of claustrophobic, supernatural, blurring reality and dream thriller doesn't have much surprise, basically all you have to do is to plan the seeds of terror in the first part of the film and wait for the right moment to make them bloom. But this doesn't mean it can't invoke the involuntary screams. Basically 1408 is Cusack's one man show, and he did a great job.
The ending seems to me bear less significant, nothing can really surprise audience these days, and nothing can conclude and rationalize the whole story easily. The best ending is already become cliche, and to avoid that, it means to loose the best choice.
This is Håfström's second Hollywood film, he directed the Danmark film Evil.
June 25, 2007
Under the Sand (2000)
Sous Le Sable
France
François Ozon - Director / Screenwriter
Marina de Van - Screenwriter
Charlotte Rampling - Marie Drillon
Bruno Cremer - Jean Drillon
Jacques Nolot - Vincent
Alexandra Stewart - Amanda
Pierre Vernier - Gerard
France
François Ozon - Director / Screenwriter
Marina de Van - Screenwriter
Charlotte Rampling - Marie Drillon
Bruno Cremer - Jean Drillon
Jacques Nolot - Vincent
Alexandra Stewart - Amanda
Pierre Vernier - Gerard
June 23, 2007
[Broadway] The Public Theater - Romeo and Juliet
22 June 2007
Delacorte Theatre
Directed by Michael Greif
Cast
Escalus - Timothy D. Stickney
Mercution - Christopher Evan Welch
Paris - Dan Colman
Romeo - Oscar Isaac
Capulet - Michael Cristofer
Juliet - Lauren Ambrose
Tybalt - Brian Tyree Henry
Nurse - Camryn Manheim
Delacorte Theatre
Directed by Michael Greif
Cast
Escalus - Timothy D. Stickney
Mercution - Christopher Evan Welch
Paris - Dan Colman
Romeo - Oscar Isaac
Capulet - Michael Cristofer
Juliet - Lauren Ambrose
Tybalt - Brian Tyree Henry
Nurse - Camryn Manheim
[Misc] ABT - Romeo and Juliet
21 June 2007
Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center
Choreopraphy by Kenneth MacMillan
Music by Sergei Prokofiev
Romeo - David Hallberg
Juliet - Gillian Murphy
Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center
Choreopraphy by Kenneth MacMillan
Music by Sergei Prokofiev
Romeo - David Hallberg
Juliet - Gillian Murphy
June 21, 2007
History Boys (2006)
US/UK
Nicholas Hytner - Director / Producer
Alan Bennett - Play Author / Screenwriter
Richard Griffiths - Hector
Frances de la Tour - Dorothy Lintott
Stephen Campbell Moore - Irwin
Samuel Barnett - Posner
Dominic Cooper - Dakin
James Corden - Timms
Clive Merrison - Headmaster
Jamie Parker - Scripps
Russell Tovey - Rudge
Samuel Anderson - Crowther
Sacha Dhawan - Akthar
Andrew Knott - Lockwood
Nicholas Hytner - Director / Producer
Alan Bennett - Play Author / Screenwriter
Richard Griffiths - Hector
Frances de la Tour - Dorothy Lintott
Stephen Campbell Moore - Irwin
Samuel Barnett - Posner
Dominic Cooper - Dakin
James Corden - Timms
Clive Merrison - Headmaster
Jamie Parker - Scripps
Russell Tovey - Rudge
Samuel Anderson - Crowther
Sacha Dhawan - Akthar
Andrew Knott - Lockwood
[Broadway] Frost/Nixon
20 June 2007
Bernard B. Jocobs Theatre
Directed by Michael Grandage
Play by Peter Morgan
Cast
Frank Langella
Michael Sheen
Bernard B. Jocobs Theatre
Directed by Michael Grandage
Play by Peter Morgan
Cast
Frank Langella
Michael Sheen
June 17, 2007
Best in Show (2000)
US
Christopher Guest - Director / Screenwriter
Eugene Levy - Screenwriter
Cast
Eugene Levy - Gerry Fleck
Catherine O'Hara - Cookie Fleck
Christopher Guest - Harlan Pepper
John Michael Higgins - Scott Donlon
Michael McKean - Stefan Vanderhoof
Michael Hitchcock - Hamilton Swan
Parker Posey - Meg Swan
Jennifer Coolidge - Sheri Ann Cabot
Jane Lynch - Christy Cummings
Fred Willard - Buck Laughlin
Guest is able to mock and show the love for the same thing, at least most the mockery for human and the love for canines. Even though I'm not in the mood for laughing, this is still a clever, acerbic comedy that manages to be sincere at the same time.
Christopher Guest - Director / Screenwriter
Eugene Levy - Screenwriter
Cast
Eugene Levy - Gerry Fleck
Catherine O'Hara - Cookie Fleck
Christopher Guest - Harlan Pepper
John Michael Higgins - Scott Donlon
Michael McKean - Stefan Vanderhoof
Michael Hitchcock - Hamilton Swan
Parker Posey - Meg Swan
Jennifer Coolidge - Sheri Ann Cabot
Jane Lynch - Christy Cummings
Fred Willard - Buck Laughlin
Guest is able to mock and show the love for the same thing, at least most the mockery for human and the love for canines. Even though I'm not in the mood for laughing, this is still a clever, acerbic comedy that manages to be sincere at the same time.
June 15, 2007
[Broadway] Talk Radio
Longacre Theatre
13 June 2007
directed by Robert Falls
written by Eric Bogosian
created for the stage by Eric Bogosian and Tad Savinar
cast -
Liev Schreiber
Stephanie March
Peter Hermann
Michael Laurence
An 20 years old script can still catch the heart of conflict and struggle of human beings. Like I always said, nothing has changed.
13 June 2007
directed by Robert Falls
written by Eric Bogosian
created for the stage by Eric Bogosian and Tad Savinar
cast -
Liev Schreiber
Stephanie March
Peter Hermann
Michael Laurence
An 20 years old script can still catch the heart of conflict and struggle of human beings. Like I always said, nothing has changed.
Ocean's 13 (2007)
US
Steven Soderbergh - Director
Jerry Weintraub - Producer
Brian Koppelman - Screenwriter
David Levien - Screenwriter
Steven Soderbergh - Director
Jerry Weintraub - Producer
Brian Koppelman - Screenwriter
David Levien - Screenwriter
June 13, 2007
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)
US
Gore Verbinski - Director
Jerry Bruckheimer - Producer
Ted Elliott - Screenwriter
Terry Rossio - Screenwriter
To be honest, the heavy British and, well, all the weird accents, and my remarkably bad memory of what happened in Dead Man's Chest hinder my full understanding of the plot. But put my little inability aside, I like it. It does not overdo the jokes, the romance, or the plot (at least as far as I can comprehend...) It does have something underdeveloped. The beautiful and touching opening does not reach its full potential in the proceeding part of the film. The fighting choreography is far less spectacle and entertaining from the first two of the trilogy. (Trilogy? Maybe more to come.)Yet the slightly low-key style just something I will like, with some amazing sequences involving ships sailing though the stellar underworld sea, turning up side down and moving by the pebble-turned crabs. And who wouldn't love the schizophrenic Captain Jack Sparrow and the handsome Pirate Queen Elizabeth Swann?
Gore Verbinski - Director
Jerry Bruckheimer - Producer
Ted Elliott - Screenwriter
Terry Rossio - Screenwriter
To be honest, the heavy British and, well, all the weird accents, and my remarkably bad memory of what happened in Dead Man's Chest hinder my full understanding of the plot. But put my little inability aside, I like it. It does not overdo the jokes, the romance, or the plot (at least as far as I can comprehend...) It does have something underdeveloped. The beautiful and touching opening does not reach its full potential in the proceeding part of the film. The fighting choreography is far less spectacle and entertaining from the first two of the trilogy. (Trilogy? Maybe more to come.)Yet the slightly low-key style just something I will like, with some amazing sequences involving ships sailing though the stellar underworld sea, turning up side down and moving by the pebble-turned crabs. And who wouldn't love the schizophrenic Captain Jack Sparrow and the handsome Pirate Queen Elizabeth Swann?
Strangers on a Train (1951)
US
Alfred Hitchcock - Director / Producer
(appeared when Guy steps down the train)
Raymond Chandler - Screenwriter
Whitfield Cook - Screenwriter
Patricia Highsmith - Book Author
Czenzi Ormonde - Screenwriter
Robert Burks - Cinematographer
Farley Granger - Guy Haines
Robert Walker - Bruno Anthony
Ruth Roman - Ann Morton
Leo G. Carroll - Senator Morton
Patricia Hitchcock - Barbara Morton
This is what a thriller should look like. Needless to say, the beautiful mise-en-scene, immaculate plot development, the cross cutting and the duration of suspension. Wonderful 101 minutes of entertainment.
Alfred Hitchcock - Director / Producer
(appeared when Guy steps down the train)
Raymond Chandler - Screenwriter
Whitfield Cook - Screenwriter
Patricia Highsmith - Book Author
Czenzi Ormonde - Screenwriter
Robert Burks - Cinematographer
Farley Granger - Guy Haines
Robert Walker - Bruno Anthony
Ruth Roman - Ann Morton
Leo G. Carroll - Senator Morton
Patricia Hitchcock - Barbara Morton
This is what a thriller should look like. Needless to say, the beautiful mise-en-scene, immaculate plot development, the cross cutting and the duration of suspension. Wonderful 101 minutes of entertainment.
War of the Worlds (2005)
US
Steven Spielberg - Director
Josh Friedman - Screenwriter
David Koepp - Screenwriter
H.G. Wells - Book Author
The invasion of aliens has been filmed countless times, this adaption of H.G. Well's classic does not repeat the hero-making alien-slaughtering cliche makes it exceed my expectation. It is slow-paced, investing time on the Ferrier family. It is much more about human beings, about any disaster that might come and go without a trace yet takes away everything from you. But does it change you? When Ray standing outside his ex-parents in law's house, nothing is changed, it just a terrible nightmare.
Steven Spielberg - Director
Josh Friedman - Screenwriter
David Koepp - Screenwriter
H.G. Wells - Book Author
The invasion of aliens has been filmed countless times, this adaption of H.G. Well's classic does not repeat the hero-making alien-slaughtering cliche makes it exceed my expectation. It is slow-paced, investing time on the Ferrier family. It is much more about human beings, about any disaster that might come and go without a trace yet takes away everything from you. But does it change you? When Ray standing outside his ex-parents in law's house, nothing is changed, it just a terrible nightmare.
June 10, 2007
Paprika (2006)
Japan
Satoshi Kon 今敏 - Director / Screenwriter
Yasutaka Tsutsui 筒井康隆 - Book Author
雖然最後的夢境對劇中人物來說是一場惡夢，但是畫面卻不是。陪著日本小孩及動畫迷長大的各種玩具人偶，沒有變成令人不悅的影像，反倒變成一種鄉愁。看到御宅族真心的美女警探或許只會出現在童話故事中，但童話也沒什麼不好。
Satoshi Kon 今敏 - Director / Screenwriter
Yasutaka Tsutsui 筒井康隆 - Book Author
雖然最後的夢境對劇中人物來說是一場惡夢，但是畫面卻不是。陪著日本小孩及動畫迷長大的各種玩具人偶，沒有變成令人不悅的影像，反倒變成一種鄉愁。看到御宅族真心的美女警探或許只會出現在童話故事中，但童話也沒什麼不好。
[Broadway] A Moon for the Misbegotten
Brooks Atkinson Theatre
June 2007
Director - Howard Davies
Book - Eugene O'Neill
Cast -
Ebe Best
Kevin Spacey
Colm Meaney
June 2007
Director - Howard Davies
Book - Eugene O'Neill
Cast -
Ebe Best
Kevin Spacey
Colm Meaney
[Broadway] Journey's End
6 June 2007
Belasco Theatre
Director - David Grindley
Book - R.C. Sherriff
Cast -
Hugh Dancy
Boyd Gaines
Jefferson Mays
Stark Sands
Belasco Theatre
Director - David Grindley
Book - R.C. Sherriff
Cast -
Hugh Dancy
Boyd Gaines
Jefferson Mays
Stark Sands
June 05, 2007
Inherit the Wind (1960)
US
Stanley Kramer - Director / Producer
Jerome Lawrence - Play Author
Robert E. Lee - Play Author
Harold Jacob Smith - Screenwriter
Ned Young - Screenwriter
Spencer Tracy - Henry Drummond
Fredric March - Matthew Harrison Brady
Gene Kelly - E.K. Hornbeck
bring back all my good memories of courtroom dramas. incredible mise-en-scene, the way of putting people's back on the front of the frame just genius.
Stanley Kramer - Director / Producer
Jerome Lawrence - Play Author
Robert E. Lee - Play Author
Harold Jacob Smith - Screenwriter
Ned Young - Screenwriter
Spencer Tracy - Henry Drummond
Fredric March - Matthew Harrison Brady
Gene Kelly - E.K. Hornbeck
bring back all my good memories of courtroom dramas. incredible mise-en-scene, the way of putting people's back on the front of the frame just genius.
June 04, 2007
Tokyo Godfathers (2003)
Japan
Satoshi Kon 今敏- Director / Screenwriter
Keiko Nobumoto - Screenwriter
絕佳的幽默，恰到好處的感人。在《東京教父》裡，巧遇和奇蹟不是廉價的敘事把戲，而是試著找尋已經商品化的聖誕節的靈魂。
Satoshi Kon 今敏- Director / Screenwriter
Keiko Nobumoto - Screenwriter
絕佳的幽默，恰到好處的感人。在《東京教父》裡，巧遇和奇蹟不是廉價的敘事把戲，而是試著找尋已經商品化的聖誕節的靈魂。
Spider-man 3
Sam Raimi - Director / Screenwriter / Screen Story
Ivan Raimi - Screenwriter / Screen Story
Alvin Sargent - Screenwriter
Ivan Raimi - Screenwriter / Screen Story
Alvin Sargent - Screenwriter
June 03, 2007
A Heart in Winter (1992)
Un Coeur en Hiver
France
Claude Sautet - Director / Screenwriter
Daniel Auteuil - Stephane
Emmanuelle Béart - Camille
André Dussollier - Maxime
Elizabeth Bourgine - Helene
Myriam Boyer - Madame Amet
France
Claude Sautet - Director / Screenwriter
Daniel Auteuil - Stephane
Emmanuelle Béart - Camille
André Dussollier - Maxime
Elizabeth Bourgine - Helene
Myriam Boyer - Madame Amet
Alice (1988)
Czechoslovakia / Switzerland
Jan Svankmajer - Director / Screenwriter / Set Designer
Czech surrealist animator's first feature length film. A dark adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. A perfect film to apply Freud's The Uncanny.
Jan Svankmajer - Director / Screenwriter / Set Designer
Czech surrealist animator's first feature length film. A dark adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. A perfect film to apply Freud's The Uncanny.
[Gig] Animal Collective
south street seaport
1 june 2007
w/ danielson
when the first thing i think of is that i was not in the mood of inhaling second hand smoke and pot, it's not a good sign.
this was the first time i heard danielson, actually they're quite good. i was just not in the mood, the sky drizzled rains, and it was hot and humid, what a waste for the concert held outdoor. the crowd is young, emo kids, and then i felt extremely old.
animal collective. yes, they were still good, yet i was disappointed i didn't hear anything i know of. when listening their music on mp3, i felt like they are magicians. i know mixer must be very important, yet i'm still very curious about how they produce all those sounds. ohmyrockness says those sounds are eccentric but catchy, what a wonderful description. usually this would be the time that i complain i wasn't tall enough, and i saw nothing but the back of people's heads. nevertheless, between sight and sound, it's either one or another, can't have them both.
1 june 2007
w/ danielson
when the first thing i think of is that i was not in the mood of inhaling second hand smoke and pot, it's not a good sign.
this was the first time i heard danielson, actually they're quite good. i was just not in the mood, the sky drizzled rains, and it was hot and humid, what a waste for the concert held outdoor. the crowd is young, emo kids, and then i felt extremely old.
animal collective. yes, they were still good, yet i was disappointed i didn't hear anything i know of. when listening their music on mp3, i felt like they are magicians. i know mixer must be very important, yet i'm still very curious about how they produce all those sounds. ohmyrockness says those sounds are eccentric but catchy, what a wonderful description. usually this would be the time that i complain i wasn't tall enough, and i saw nothing but the back of people's heads. nevertheless, between sight and sound, it's either one or another, can't have them both.
[Gig] BRMC
webster hall
31 may 2007
w/ The Cobbs
i still feel really happy to see them, even though i stood in the front row, blasting by the loudspeaker all night, oh, and my ears are still humming now. singing was all muffled, i could barely hear what came out from peter hayes.
my heart must died a little bit these days. eventually it will happen, i know, after all the gigs i went. i'm kind of sad that it comes so fast, i don't feel the creeps on my skin any more, not even a beer can help.
yet BRMC, they are my first love, nothing in the world can ruin that. even though i heard someone said they're copying themselves in baby 81, or they signed with sony, my first shoegazer is still very special to me.
31 may 2007
w/ The Cobbs
i still feel really happy to see them, even though i stood in the front row, blasting by the loudspeaker all night, oh, and my ears are still humming now. singing was all muffled, i could barely hear what came out from peter hayes.
my heart must died a little bit these days. eventually it will happen, i know, after all the gigs i went. i'm kind of sad that it comes so fast, i don't feel the creeps on my skin any more, not even a beer can help.
yet BRMC, they are my first love, nothing in the world can ruin that. even though i heard someone said they're copying themselves in baby 81, or they signed with sony, my first shoegazer is still very special to me.
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