Susan's Scribblings the Blog

Category: Theatre/Movies/Entertainment

• Theatre Woes

  Posted at 3:17 am by kayewer, on November 20, 2011

  Why are movie theatres becoming auditorium versions of our own cable dominated living rooms?

  Yesterday I went to see Breaking Dawn Part 1, the first half of the split Twilight fourth book movie adaptation (don’t worry:  no spoilers herein).  The movie was fifteen minutes late in starting:  the rest of the time was taken up by an onslaught of features that amounted to nothing.

  First we were subjected to cinematic-centralized programming that was designed to hold the interest of patrons who arrived early for good seats.  The portion I saw was a behind-the-scenes look into an upcoming movie, the title of which eludes me.  A quick segment mentioned the latest stuff available on eBay.  I don’t shop on eBay, so I busied myself with the theatre’s free literature, which I wisely picked up before entering the coliseum that is the latest movie house layout.

  After the usual warnings to leave our stockpile of toted-in devices turned off for the feature, an advertisement for Coke and a polar bear saving campaign came next, even though a blurb assured us that our feature presentation would begin momentarily (it turned out to be a very long moment).  Since I do indulge in Coke products, I’ll probably save a polar bear now that I know about the program.  Score one for the marketers.

  Next came the fire department mandated blurb about how to locate exits in the theatre.  Each is marked with a red “Exit” sign, and we learned where to find three of them, one by one.

  Next came some quick logo time for the people who bring high-definition theatre experiences into our lives.  One was called Cinedigm, which is apparently a digital camera system company.  I don’t know why we need to know that, but at least the name stuck with me.

  As to the ten or so (maybe 20) movie trailers, none of them caught my eye except for, maybe, the new Muppets movie (who couldn’t like them?)  Sure, call me strange, but I didn’t feel compelled to see any of the other movies plugged while I was held captive in my seat.  There was sci-fi and adventure and horror, all rated for “appropriate audiences” by the ever-vigilant MPAA.  By the way, the color of the screen on any MPAA rated trailer means the content has been planned and edited for the viewing audience.  If you’re a curious movie fan, you can find more at  http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/09/the-color-of-the-background-preceding-movie-trailers-actually-means-something/, so nothing was shown that would freak out Twilight fans or their parents.  Unfortunately they also didn’t impress anybody.

  Maybe I was bound to have issues about this movie-going experience because, having read the Twilight books, I knew, in terms of the film’s content, what I was going to see.  I didn’t know how complicated it would be just to get to the point where I would actually see the 117 minute movie.

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  Posted in Commentary, Theatre/Movies/Entertainment | 0 Comments | Tagged breaking dawn part 1, movie previews, trailers, twilight

• What Dancing Judges Do

  Posted at 2:27 am by kayewer, on October 16, 2011

  Frankly I’m tired of hearing people boo Dancing With the Stars judge Len Goodman.  Yes I guess I am a fuddy-duddy for playing devil’s advocate, but he deserves a good defense, and by gum this Yank is going to give him one.

  Our world has become confusing enough when it comes to competitions of any kind.  If we listened to some sour grapers out there who condemn those who come in second place (the old “failure is not an option” gone wild philosophy), there would be no reason to engage in competitive sports.  Just pick a person, let them run it and win it, and the rest can go home.

  As far as I’m concerned, a race is something which, if you start it and finish it, you have won.  I feel just as good watching somebody limp across the tape dead last as for the first fit sprinter.  I’m sure I could no sooner do a marathon than dance a tango, but I do know that competitions have purpose and reason, and they also have rules.  Those who keep the closest to the rules usually wins.

  It is the judges who “keep the books” on rules.  If the rules were to change every time a little glitch comes up (like people who don’t come in first place or can’t do a samba roll), the original purpose of the activity is lost.  Mr. Goodman is on DWTS to scrutinize the dancers and watch for the elements which make up a particular dance.  Some dances require a constant contact (or hold); others, like waltzes, rely on rhythmic movements.  My favorite, the Paso Doble, has intense exaggerated poses.  The key to a good dance is how well each specific element is performed.

  Of course, for the show and the entertainment value, the producers allow the celebrities and their partners some leeway to “dress up” the dances.  In regular ballroom and Latin competitions, there are no props or set dressings like we see on the show; often Mr. Goodman comments on some of the extraneous setups  and it’s obvious he would rather see the couples get on with the matter at hand. It’s what he is used to.  Go on YouTube and watch any Pro-Am ballroom competition and you’ll see how serious the sport really is.  The competitors have seconds to recognize the music and get into hold and start dancing.  No rehearsal tapes provided.

  What bothers me is that anytime Len Goodman says something that is negative (and unfortunately, often true) about a routine, the audience goes into a lather and boos.  I’m sure a few of the booing audience members might well be ballroom dancers themselves and may disagree with the judges, but the man is doing his job and means well; it’s as much for the good of the professionals to hear his input than for the celebrity who is trying to look like a pro fresh out of ballroom kindergarten.

  In fact, I’m sure the pros put their lives on hold to train the celebrities, and not working with an experienced partner is akin to going off one’s diet, making it harder to get back on track.  I’ve seen pros like Tony Dovolani take top prizes in “real” ballroom competitions, so Len’s advice can’t hurt his continued success.

  I also admire Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli, who also have jobs to do as choreography judges, but I notice that they don’t get the boo volume of Len.  It’s time to look at the trio for what they are there to do and be nicer to contest judges.  Let’s also take the time to tango.

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  Posted in Theatre/Movies/Entertainment | 0 Comments | Tagged ABC, Dancing With the Stars, DWTS, Len Goodman

• Less Comics Relief

  Posted at 1:59 am by kayewer, on August 14, 2011

  To the Philadelphia Inquirer and its Readers:

  The comics page changed this week, and it shrunk.  What’s up with that?

  The idea of increasing the cost of a newspaper has always been to also offer an incentive to readers.  In this case, unfortunately, more means less.

  Some popular strips, including “Prince Valiant,” are gone.  The paper is offering a chance for readers to vote for a new comic to be added to the roster, but not without losing “Rex Morgan, MD” and “Lio.”

  There is nothing more relaxing than to come home from a day at the office, sit with the newspaper and enjoy the laughs and nostalgia provided by comics.  In the old days, strips like “Dondi” and “Dick Tracy” were popular.  They were around long enough for me to enjoy them.  They’re gone now.  Classics like “Peanuts” couldn’t possibly be pulled from circulation without risking mass subscription cancellations.

  Just because the cost of living has gone up, the cost of laughing doesn’t have to.

  Also, one full-page which used to carry comics is now filled with the evening television listings and puzzles.  Some of the puzzles have been enlarged and others shrunken, to add to the further alienation of readers.  Now nearly all of the paper requires the use of my reading glasses.

  If newspapers want to continue to thrive, they must evolve into better harbingers of news.  This doesn’t mean shrinkage but growth, in the form of better articles, classier photography and more entertainment value.  By removing comics, nobody benefits; readers lose interest, artists lose jobs and the paper loses customers.

  At least bring back “Prince Valiant.”  It’s one of the best drawn strips.  Also, it was remiss of the Inquirer to leave whole story lines unresolved without giving readers advance notice.

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  Posted in Commentary, Theatre/Movies/Entertainment | 0 Comments | Tagged comics, Philadelphia Inquirer, Prince Valiant

• Well Met?

  Posted at 12:11 am by kayewer, on May 16, 2011

  I have been an opera patron for about 15 years, and my first love is Richard Wagner’s epic Der Ring des Nibelungen (or simply The Ring).  In 2010 the Metropolitan Opera presented a new production of the 15-hour four-part opera, replacing a classic and much loved version directed by Otto Schenk that endured for 20 years.  This new version is the work of Robert Lepage.

  The key to the new production is “The Machine,” a 40-some-ton set of planks designed to rotate independently and serve as sets and backdrops for most of the action.  The planks tilt and undulate, and projections of oceans, mountains and forests add the depth of scenery.  In the first part of the Ring tetralogy (“Das Rheingold”), the mechanics failed on the maiden performance to configure into a bridge for the gods onstage to cross, so the performers were forced to simply walk off the stage at the climax.

  Like movie buffs, we opera goers know what we like, we watch for certain elements in a performance and can get testy when things don’t look right by our preconceived standards.  For example, it was not unusual for opera fans to boo Pavarotti at La Scala if they didn’t think he was performing well.   Some things one just can’t control in live theatre, but when a piece of machinery is the main source of your production’s entertainment value, mechanical flubs will get bad reviews as scathing as those for a bad tenor.

  In the Met’s next to last production of the 2010-2011 season, on May 14, the machine rebelled against the gods again.  This time, the mechanical behemoth caused a delay of 45 minutes in the start of a performance the Met was broadcasting to worldwide movie audiences as well as 4,000 patrons in the opera house.  I was one of the latter.

  After presenting tickets, the audience members milled about the lobby in increasingly oppressive heat (a lack of lobby ventilation/air conditioning, combined with 4,000 human bodies, is a bad combination).  An announcement came saying that–surprise– there was a delay.  Most of us knew right away that The Machine was to blame, though there were also concerns for conductor James Levine, who is a stalwart at the podium but in sub-perfect health.

  We were finally admitted to the auditorium by an apologetic staff about ten minutes past the scheduled start time, because they felt we would be cooler inside.  The crew was still at work on the planks.  The show started at 12:45 at last, and the planks appeared to function properly for the entire performance.

  The cause of the problem was attributed to the computerized communication system that keeps each plank properly aligned for each new configuration, but we were not told that by the Met staff.  The movie audience received that tidbit, and I learned it from the online news.

  So how was the performance?  Having been to a handful of complete Rings during the 20-year run of the Otto Schenk production, I find this version needs something more, but what is uncertain.

  It starts promisingly, with a pursuit through the plank’s projected stand of trees.  I particularly enjoyed Jonas Kaufmann as Siegmund and Hans-Peter Konig as wronged husband Hunding.  I’m still on the fence about Bryn Terfel’s take on the fountainhead of the gods Wotan, though he seems more powerful in this performance.  The proof of a good Wotan comes at the climax, in which the god renounces his own daughter and summons fire to surround the rock on which he has left her in a deep sleep.  Terfel strove hard to be torn between his roles as god and parent, and he gets points for that.  Stephanie Blythe plays Wotan’s wife Fricka, and her presence is stunning, especially when riding into a scene in a chariot flanked by golden rams.  She puts her husband in his place effectively.

  Also worth noting are the title Valkyries, eight warrior daughters and Brunnhilde heading the brood, all mighty women with powerful voices.  Their task is to bring dead heroes to Valhalla to protect the gods, but in this interpretation they must bag up the discarded bones of said heroes, which lay about the set.  I’ve seen versions in which they drag deadweight stunt doubles around, but this method didn’t seem necessary.

  At the climax of the production, Brunnhilde is suspended upside down on a wall of well-behaved planks, surrounded by projected flames, with a distraught Wotan taking a knee in front of the orchestra.  Some of the visual power was lacking from what is normally a profound scene.  That being said, I know that any new production needs to get its roots in before it blossoms, so I’m holding off on a thumbs down for now.  There are still two operas left, to come this fall and next spring.  The gods will fall, because it is in the script, but I hope the Met can make sure they don’t fall with them.

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  Posted in Theatre/Movies/Entertainment | 0 Comments | Tagged Met Die Walkure May 14 delay

• DTV: One Minor Detail

  Posted at 10:21 pm by kayewer, on June 13, 2009

  On Tuesday, June 9, our region experienced an extreme weather event unlike any we had seen in decades.  My neighborhood in particular was directly in the path of the most volatile storm cells, and hail fell in spots.  Across the street from my home, a neighbor’s tree succumbed to the wind, downpour, lightning or a combination of any of them, and blew over onto a garage.  Fortunately no vehicle was inside and nobody was hurt.

  The power also went out for nearly three hours.

  Barely 72 hours before the scheduled June 12 transition into the digital age of television, we found ourselves breaking out something that was in its last hours of existence:  the little battery-powered portable TV/radio/cassette player we kept for emergencies.  The screen was only three inches, and it was black and white (horrors!), but we picked up the local newscast without power simply by popping nine D batteries into the back of the gizmo.  At least we were able to find out that no other imminent danger was on the horizon in the absence of electricity.

  Just for the heck of it, we set up the little battery-loving machine next to our main set in time for one network’s official countdown to switching off the analog signal:  suddenly, at 12:15 PM, the little picture turned to snow and wavy lines.  It was a strange experience.

  What, we wondered, will television networks do to inform the public during future power outages?

  According to the website DTVanswers.com, our power-outage helpmate can survive the conversion with a similarly battery powered digital to analog converter if the proper connections are in the back.  Doesn’t it seem rather odd to have to take your portable and a converter and two sets of batteries to, say, the beach or campground?

  Some folks might be thinking it’s better to pitch the old stuff, but if you’ve seen what happens to the world’s forgotten electronics on shows like 60 Minutes–children in countries like India sorting through piles of wires, metal and chemical waste to sift out profitable bits to sell or recycle–you’d give it another thought.

  Analog television still has a purpose, and I fear it may be needed in the future, as we modernize ourselves to the point of no return.

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  Posted in Commentary, Theatre/Movies/Entertainment | 0 Comments

• The Biggest Loser: The Viewers

  Posted at 1:50 am by kayewer, on January 11, 2009

  I took two hours of my time to watch The Biggest Loser on NBC Tuesday night.  It featured some true record setters, including a hefty elderly couple and the heaviest man to weigh in at 454 pounds.  Their goal is to endure weeks of diet and exercise and abuse at the hands of two merciless trainers to lose the most weight and, therefore, be crowned Biggest Loser and win the show (and, supposedly, their lives back).

  Working in a call center as I do, I have seen some ponderously disproportioned people who are stuck in cubicles all day and don’t have the benefit of diet and fitness gurus to help them overcome the problems associated with the current American lifestyle.  The folks on this show would have made P. T. Barnum a fortune if he could have assembled so many overweight people under a tent instead of a training camp.

  What really shocked me was how little the show tackled diet issues and the fact that nobody was seen actually eating anything.  During one close-up shot of somebody who worked out to the point of throwing up I noticed, apart from being grossed out by the fact that I was paying attention to this, that they appeared to be puking nothing but water.

  Is this it, then?  Do these contestants do nothing but drink water and subject their weight to such drastically insane calisthenics that it drops off in fear or heaves itself out in vomit?  I would hate to think that viewers can’t get decent diet advice from the show.

  Maybe there isn’t any good diet advice to be had.  I wonder if the food industry isn’t so far gone that we will never be able to eat pure decent food again.   Maybe the exercisers are in cahoots with the food industry to try and kill us all.  Think about it:  how many famous exercise icons have dropped dead while exercising?  A few like Jack LaLanne have push-ups for breakfast and live to be 110 with minus two percent body fat, but the rest of us have to eat.

  Last blog I complained about the choices available for breakfast, but the day after watching The Biggest Loser, sitting at lunch with a cup of 80 calorie yogurt, crudite, grapes and hot tea (with a thermos of water on standby), I didn’t feel that I had learned anything useful from the show at all.

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  Posted in Theatre/Movies/Entertainment | 0 Comments

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