New York Gilbert & Sullivan PlayersOpera in Drag
Oh, the agony .... Lady Devine would have been so at home in this version of Gilbert and Sullivan's completely un-PC pop-opera, The Mikado. All the bounce and pep of the opera went to the players heads and resulted in hot air enough to make Harvey Fierstein's stage dresses turn into a hot air balloon. The plot is pure absurdity with sill names (Yum-Yum, Ko-Ko, Pish-Tush, Nanki-Poo!), a silly premis (the town leadere is Hihg Executioner but can't keep his job unless he kills someone or himself), and a goofy love triangle (the prince, the town girl, and a crazy-in-love lady of the court). The Lady is fat, the man-with-too-many-titles is fat and in drag, the town High Executioner is short and doing a Don Knotts impersonation, and the rest of the cast is kookyTechnicolor. They modernized to dialog and songs, specifically in the "list" song to refelct more modern dislikes which I found thater pandering. While I don't find it too insultive of the Japanese culture (I agree with most critics who say it was G&S criticism of English and Victorian sensibilities and riduculous relieance on royal protocol), I found the entire production lacking in new interpretaion or vigor. A good high school could have produced this mess. If only I could get those three hours back.
The Good Sheperdso quite ..... for soooooooooooooooooo long
Reason 465 why actors should not direct: They just can't edit a film to a reasonable length! 2 hours and 47 inutes (over three hours with previews and ads! Why am I paying for a film to be bombarded by ads!) of mind-numbing inaction as we watch Edward Bell Wilson (Matt Damon) stoically go to Yale, join Skull & Bones, fall for a deaf girl, knock-up and marry is friends sister, turn in his communist leaning teacher, join the secret side of the military in WWII and then help form and drive the CIA. Any one of these moments in his life might have made for an interesting film but thrown together they induce apathy or sleep. I wanted some sort of action or explosive drama to come oput somewhere. There is the occassional female tantrum or mystery 'reveal' about what is in a hidden photo but these elements don't make for engaging stroytelling. This was one long loop of the same character piece again, and again, and again, just in different scenes. Matt Damon's performance was too monotone to even be believable. If a guy looks that innocuous, that 'normal', something must be seathing just below the surface. This film never explored that. What is left is a story that scould have just as easily been about the formation of the Post Office.
1 comment:
You nailed the Good Shepard! We worked on the film in post, and the film was radically re-edited in the last several cuts. I suspect that DeNiro showed it to Scorsese and received a laundry list of cut suggestions, but that is only speculation. I have not seen the film, but have heard that it is a bit of mess.
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