Lamentations

Yesterday, I experienced something that almost everyone can relate to, almost everyone has experienced- and yet, it was such a shocking blow that I felt it down to my very core. It seemed to suck the life and joy out of me. When this thing happened, I heard those words that still cry and scream in my ears, and my stomach fell a thousand feet and collided with the hot and bubbling Earth's core, igniting a tide of despair that has yet to subside in me.

The movie I wanted to see was sold out.

SLIFF (Saint Louis International Film Festival) started this week, so I was super pumped to see one of the starting films, Nebraska (2013) by Alexander Payne. It's by an award winning director who has never made a negatively recieved film (I've had the pleasure of seeing Sideways [2004] and The Descendants [2011]). It has an intriguing cast, the typical comedy actor Will Forte in a dramatic role and the award winning Bruce Dern, who won the best actor award at Cannes for this. Even the poster looks pretty dope. 

I think the worst part was the guys face when he said it was sold out. Completely cold and emotionless. I hate that guy. He's the one who gave me a weird look when I asked if Blue Is the Warmest Color was full.

I had driven thirty minutes in the shittiest traffic and had a pretty lackluster day beforehand. I was in a rush, desperate, a little hungry, my head hurt a little, and I badly had to urinate. Finding a spot was a nightmare, the walk from the Fitz's parking lot to the Tivoli was like being in an action movie. Each passing moment standing in line was like watching a lepers arm slowly detach from his wretched torso. And the guy's face. Like stone, like Mount Rushmore telling you to fuck off. He looked like Anton Chigur.

Sold out.

 I should be working there. At my job, when I have to let a customer down, I always apologize for their inconvenience and let them know I understand their situation.

I decided maybe I should just go see 12 Years a Slave (2013) at another theater, but I just couldn't bring myself to.

So there's pretty much no review for this week. I did see a few movies, but they were all older.

But since I don't want to skimp on you guys, I did see something I want to talk about, but it wasn't a movie. It was a musical by Stephen Sondheim.

This musical was something else. I guess its something you guys should know about me. I love musicals. My favorite is actually another by Sondheim, Sweeney Todd. I also like Into the Woods, Cabaret, Little Shop of Horrors, Annie, some of Disney's stuff, and what have you. *

I was bored yesterday and decided to check out the televised version of Passion on YouTube. It's kind of considered Sondheim's last great work. He's still alive and all, but he's only done one musical after Passion and it flopped pretty hard.

I try not to talk too much about music and theater, because I don't think I'm as adept to analyze that kind of stuff. I'll take a crack at this one in the most humble way I can. It had a really romantic score and a very operatic story, but underneath all of that was something very newly dark and unsettling. The antagonism and vices seen in this musical seem more complex and subtle than what you see in a large scale opera. Sometimes the music was (probably intentionally) saccharine, other times really sinister, and not in a scary movie way. I mean in a deep and disturbing, psychologically unsound way.

It's about a soldier named Giorgio in a relationship with the beautiful Clara in 19th century Italy. The play begins with them in a loving embrace, which is soon ended when he reveals he is being transferred to another military outpost. In this outpost is a group of obnoxious and petty soldiers, a dignified major, and a stern doctor. The major's deranged cousin, Fosca, resides there too. She screams at night, goes into convulsions, and is terribly sickly and unattractive, and she grows obsessed with Giorgio during his stay, testing his patience and, ultimately, his devotions.

The play is extremely sad and also kind of creepy. It's unnerving. It kind of makes you squirm, because Giorgio is a really good guy, actually, and Fosca is terribly unhinged and manipulative, but there are many times when you just feel bad for her and completely understand why Giorgio keeps leading her on despite how crazy that sounds.

I don't want to spoil it, but it has the most intense and expressive endings I've seen in musical theater. It was very calm, it ended in a whisper, but it's so brutal.

If you're into musicals, you've got a glowing recommendation from me.   

Movies I Saw This Week
Monty Python's the Meaning of Life (1983)**, Gone With the Wind (1939)

*I would like to stress that I like the stage versions of these musicals. I don't think stage musicals translate into film at all, and I prefer to keep the two genres separate. The film version of Sweeney Todd was especially disappointing to me. I don't fucking understand why people are putting Helena Bonham Carter in musicals now. It needs to stop, her voice is pathetic.

**rewatch. I find Monty Python pretty hit and miss. Holy Grail is the best thing they ever did, I think.