A Couple of Reviews

About a week and a half ago, Christy and I went to see Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf at the Lasalle Bank Theatre. It was supposed to star Kathleen Turner but she was out that day so we got her stand-in instead. That was a tad disappointing, but considering that Kathleen Turner hasn’t really been a star since about 1992 it wasn’t the end of the world. I had never seen this play or the movie before, and I was initially a bit concerned when I found out there would be two intermissions and a total running time of 3 hours. In addition, everything takes place in one room and there are only 4 characters. So, basically, you’ve got 4 people talking in a living room for 3 hours. I make a point of that not as a knock on it, but rather so you can see that it is quite an accomplishment just that it was able to hold my attention the entire time. Actually, the first act was pretty slow and could have been pared down, but I found myself being surprised that we’d already reached the 2nd intermission and the final act flies by. I think the best way to describe it is that it’s a lot like War of the Roses minus the action and most of the comedy. To be sure, there’s plenty of stuff that’s funny in here, but it’s much more in the vein of “ok, wow, that’s about the worst thing a husband/wife could ever say to each other.” It’s even uncomfortable to watch at times, and that’s exactly what it’s designed to be. It’s tough to say that something like that is “enjoyable” to see, but at the very least you can appreciate the skill involved in crafting it. The other thing that makes the story extremely unique is that there really is no protagonist or indeed any character that’s likeable. The closest thing to it is the male lead, George. He definitely is the best written character and he delivers the perfect range whereby just as you reach the point where you’re starting to root for him he crosses the line and you start hating him again and then the cycle repeats. There’s also very little in the way of plot. Basically you are just thrown into the lives of these four people (two couples who are just getting to know each other) and over the course of the play you get a lot of background and insight into who these characters are, how they came to be here, and why they are capable of being so nasty to each other. You get something of a reveal in the 3rd act, but it’s one that doesn’t hit you right away and it’s only later on reflection that a lot of the significance sets in. The “big twist” is actually done pretty subtly; in fact you could tell by some of the discussions going on afterwards that some of the audience completely missed it. It’s just refreshing to see something contrary to the Hollywood mass films of today where they metaphorically beat your over the head with every minor plot point. Finally, it’s worth noting that this play was written over 40 years ago and, while I’m sure there have been some updates, overall it holds up remarkably well. All in all, for anyone that enjoys good dialogue and isn’t immediately revolted at the notion of sitting still in a theatre for 3 hours, you’ll find it well worth your time.

Next, last week I saw Children of Men, which was just released on DVD. All I can say is that there is A LOT to digest in this film. It’s one of those that exists on pretty much as many levels as you care to look at it on. On the surface, it is a futuristic sci-fi story where the human race has somehow lost the ability to procreate and all of a sudden after 18 years one woman has managed to become pregnant. The plot centers around how one man gets involved with this and is attempting to get the pregnant woman to some vaguely defined group of scientists referred to as “The Human Project.” Watched on this level, it’s pretty much your typical sci-fi chase film and could be classified as pretty forgettable. But, as I said, there’s a lot more going on beneath the surface. On another level, it is an examination on how different the world becomes without children in it. There’s a lot of morality in western culture that seems to be defined by “what message does it send to children?” and what happens when that’s no longer relevant? What happens to the collective human psyche when they’ve essentially been given a terminal illness? What’s the point of building towards a better tomorrow when there won’t be one? Then, on a whole separate level, it’s a movie that is not really taking place in the future at all. Even though the human race still obviously has the ability to give birth, much of the world does not value life. Individual groups cling to their own ideologies with such rigidity that the preservation of life becomes secondary to achieving their goal. There are a lot of characters that die during the film, and while all of them have some connection to the pregnant woman it is interesting to see which die in the spirit of self sacrifice and which ones die in pursuit of their own agenda. There’s a lot more that I can say about this film, but not without giving away too much of the plot (for those still planning on seeing it) or boring you to tears (for those who aren’t).

Lastly, but certainly not leastly, is Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theatres. If you have never heard of ATHF before, this review will make about as much sense as the movie (that is to say, none). For everyone else, I will just say that it was pretty much what I expected it to be. I regret that I ended up seeing this film sober; I certainly didn’t plan to but that’s just how it worked out. I went down to Champaign to visit my bros and they failed to inform me that it was Mom’s Weekend at U of I. Hence, when we bought the tickets and then tried to go out for dinner and drinks in the 90 minutes before the movie started we discovered that every restaurant in the area had a 2-hour wait except for a Chinese buffet that didn’t serve alcohol. And believe me, although I tried it is very difficult to catch a buzz off of Kung Pao chicken. In any case I still found the film to be pretty damn funny. It felt long, particularly in the middle, but that is to be expected when you take something usually seen in 12- minute increments and stretch it out to 85. I think it’s also probably the most narrowly targeted film I’ve ever seen released in a theatre. I mean, Family Guy has about 5 times the viewers and they still went straight to DVD with their movie. It’s pretty comical to read some of the reviews from critics who obviously went into the film knowing absolutely nothing about it. Given that, I’m actually surprised it’s gotten as good of reviews as it has (currently 47% positive according to rottentomatoes.com). I’ll definitely be giving this one another look when it hits DVD so I can view it again in the proper mindset.

And in other news, the Cubs are off to their trademark craptacular start. A 4-7 record to start the year means I now need them to go 88-63 the rest of the way to hit my prediction. I love that the pitching staff gives up a grand total of 1 run combined in two games this weekend and the Cubs still went 1-1 over those 2 games. And that on the heels of blowing a 5-0 lead in approximately 7 minutes on Friday afternoon. How long till football season start?

Marathon Update - Still doing pretty well, although I slacked last week and only ran twice (5 miles each time). Still mainly focusing on trying to drop some weight and run between 15-20 miles per week till we get to mid-June. I've also started walking to work again ~3 days per week (4 miles) patially for health reasons and partially to avoid the disaster that is the el construction . Looking to get back on my regular schedule of running on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday starting tonight/