Mindless entertainment gets Adjust-ed

Sometimes I have to go see movies with my parents. Movies that my parents want to see. And sometimes I dread the choices that they make, but I’m a good daughter (most of the time) so I swallow my pride from time to time and take a trip down to the local St. Albans theatre to appease them. Being forced to go home and sleep on the couch for two days over spring break, my mother decided she couldn’t have my brother and I hanging around the house anymore, and sent us off with our father to the movies to give her two hours of peace. Which meant that since my father was paying, he was always choosing the movie. Which meant I was going to see The Adjustment Bureau despite my desire against it.

The amazing thing is that I liked it. My brother liked it. My dad hated it from the moment it began until the moment that the credits started rolling. He sighed and he groaned and he got up several times to use the bathroom and refresh his popcorn. He whispered snarky remarks and insisted on switching seats so he could sit in the middle and whisper comments to both his children. He was, to put it lightly, not happy.

But I was engaged. I wanted to know what happened. The movie was primarily set-up. Introducing us to David Norris’ (Matt Damon) life, introducing us to Elise (Emily Blunt), introducing us to the Adjustment Bureau, introducing them all to each other, and so forth. The whole movie was setting us up for one single scene (that I won’t state for those of you planning to see the movie, which you should) that never came. It just…didn’t happen.

The last five minutes left me with a feeling of dissatisfaction. Extreme dissatisfaction. And shock that the scene I was waiting for the entire time never came. The last five minutes of this film were quite possibly the most unsatisfying five minutes of any movie I’ve ever seen. Certainly it wins some sort of award for cop-out, just-kind-of-stops ending. I was so mad after those last five minutes, I could hardly talk on the car ride home. I definitely didn’t want to talk about the movie.

But then I let it sit for a couple of days, and I went back to it. I enjoyed the first 85 minutes and that should not be negated by loathing the last five. It’s an interesting story. It’s engaging. It held my attention. Often times I judge movies that I see in the theatre by the number of times I checked the time on my watch. During The Adjustment Bureau, I checked my watch exactly zero times. That’s no small feat for a movie to do.

Overall, I was impressed with the movie and I highly recommend it. It’s not the type of movie that’s going to change the world or the watchers view of the world, but as I’ve said before (and even if I haven’t, I’m saying it now), there’s something to be said for a little bit of mindless entertainment. This is the quality kind.

Who knew Vermont could have great local theatre?

Neil Bartlett's adaptation of Oliver Twist was Charles Dickens meets Monty Python: eloquently spoken and bitingly hilarious. It wasn't a laugh-out-loud success, but it had all the subtle humor of everything that I love in a show. Dickens has always been long-winded and kind of dull to me; I didn't know he had humor in him. I am overjoyed to know that I was wrong.

The Artful Dodger was delightfully demonic. Every time he took the stage, there was no one else on it. I had heard that he was shocking, almost unbelievably impressive prior to seeing it, but when Robbie Tann took the stage as the narrator, I didn't see the greatness that everyone had mentioned. But with the addition of a top hat and the most fantastic coat I've ever seen, he was suddenly something else entirely from great. I couldn't take my eyes off from him. I couldn't believe how good he was for being anyone, let alone an actor in Vermont. At first I thought there was no way he could keep up the level of his performance all the way through, but he never dropped it. Color me impressed with him. He made Charles Dickens sexy. That IS unbelievable.

My only complaint, if I had to make one (which I suppose I don't, but will anyway), was that Oliver Twist was the weakest character in the production. I've never read the novel, only seen the cheesy musical, so I don't know if he suppose to be weak or not, but I definitely would have liked the play better without him. Or her, I guess in this case. It didn't bother me that the actor was an actress as much as the actress wasn't much of an actress. Not in comparison to the others, anyway. It was clever of the director to disguise this fact by giving her less stage time and many less lines.

The real star of the show, however, was the accordion. I have always had a warm place in my heart for the accordion. When I was just knee high to a grasshopper, I used to beg my parents to let me play the "squishy woo thing", but I was never given the opportunity to learn. So when David Symons took the stage during Sunday's matinee performance of Oliver Twist carrying an accordion, I knew I was going to love him. I'm glad to say that I was not wrong.

Symons may be better known around the town of Burlington, Vermont as a taxi driving master or the guy rocking out on Church Street to the beat of his own orchestra, but in this production, he was seen as nothing else but the musical backbone of the production. Not only did he perform the musical numbers as a member of the chorus and provide most of the sound effects for the show (accompanied by Emma Gonyeau on the violin), but he seemed to pull instruments out of the thin air to play throughout the show.

If the accordion was not enough for the audience, at one point he danced down the aisle in the audience, wearing the accordion across his chest while he played the trumpet (and only messed up one note impressively enough). He then danced across the stage to resume his place beside Gonyeau at the side of the stage. And if that wasn't enough, he then began to play the xylophone, which took his a step back for me because I used to play "Mary Had a Little Lamb" on the xylophone when I was five, but then he shot him forward again when he turned to the keyboard, then back to the accordion, back to the keyboard, and so forth.

The number and quality of instruments that he played aside, the thing that was the most impressive about Symons' performance was the way he played each instrument. Every time I would look over him, he would appear to be in his own little world. He didn't just play the notes, he created them, and even on the final performance of the show, it seemed fresh, like he was just now discovering the notes and enjoying how they sounded.  He was completely engulfed in the sound of his own music and it was a beautiful spectacle for the show.

I was able to suspend my disbelief into thinking that the story was unfolding in front of me for the first time because of Symons' performance. He was so convincing  that he was playing those instruments and the music that was in the play for the first time and enjoying himself in doing so that I was able to enjoy them for the first time, as well. I found myself believing that he was a musician in the 1800's more than anyone else in the show was from that time period, and that feeling alone made the show a success for me.

Note: Oliver Twist was put on by the Vermont Stage Company at the Flynn Space in Burlington, Vermont. It ended its run on Sunday afternoon.

February in Vermont: a joke review

So this semester I'm taking a Reviewing class and the first couple of weeks we had fairly serious conversations about the merit of Black Swan and what constitutes a "good" review, as well as what the reviewers responsibility is to the reader. So I was glad to take a step back from all that discussion and be able to write a fun review of last week's snow-mageddon. For those of you who don't live in the Burlington area, the snow was accompanied by Mass Hysteria and Canceling Classes the Night Before. Here's my review. Hope it makes you giggle as much as I did writing it.

Mother Nature Gets Back to her Roots and

Shows Winter in a Way That Will Dazzle

No one can say it's an easy job being Mother Nature. Controversial in the past, Mother Nature's work is often panned by critics for either playing it "too safe" or "revealing too much", but with last week's episode of February in Vermont, she struck the right balance between covert and obvious. I think it's safe to say that no one walked away from the episode disappointed.

February followed a storyline similar to those we've seen in the past--everything is very picturesque and quintessential until Snow enters the scene and begins to destroy the town Godzilla-style--but Mother Nature managed to both tone down the obviousness of Snow's attacks and yet bring  out a more forceful and assertive performance from Snow than we've seen in the past. It was refreshing to see the young actor actually act rather than puff out his chest and strut around to make himself known.

Snow really needed the success of February to bring back his career after a slew of failures, such as Christmas in June and I'm Going to Ruin Your Graduation Party, where he played in a supporting role so bad the critics said, "The only thing relevant that Snow will do in the future is keep the toilets clean for serious actors". But in his guest role in Wednesday's episode as a terrorist covering windshields and roads alike, he brought something new to familiar territory, and really dazzled in the role.

Mother Nature also brought something that was new and interesting for her. Her work with February has been limited to working with Ice and Temperature playing the role of Bitter Cold, so it was refreshing to see her take a step away from that and bring Snow in a guest role. Wednesday's episode was just what she needed to bring audience interest back to the show.

Mother Nature has been known for her use in visuals, most notably for her subtle use of color in last fall's mini-series, Autumn Leaves, but it was the simplicity of February that delighted and charmed audiences. It seems Nature has found her calling in keeping things one-toned and clean. It allowed her to focus her efforts on the more psychological side of the subject matter, which is where she really shines.

Audiences will love and relate to February in a way that hasn't been seen in a weather series in a long time. The last time we've seen one with such heart was in 1998's Rain Showers in July. February come onto the scene just in time to show audiences that weather series are still around and have fresh things to say. This series, and Wednesday's episode in particular, are worthy of being watched, especially if you are a fan of Snow's earlier work. This is his best performance to date. I wouldn't be surprised if Nature brought him back in a future episode.

There was an encore performance on Saturday evening for those of you who missed it during the premiere, and it was equally as satisfying the second time around.