Monday, February 17, 2014
Everybody knows you're not supposed to yell "fire" in a crowded theater unless the theater is filling with smoke.
But apparently there are still people out there who think it's OK to yell "hello" in a crowded theater. Into a cellphone. During a concert.
I saw Kronos Quartet at the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday night and have been outraged ever since. I've just got to vent.
No, I'm not outraged about Kronos, whose playing was exquisite, as always. Their program was on the esoteric side — what some listeners might call "challenging" — but really, really powerful and moving, IMHO.
On the bill — the second half of the concert — was "Black Angels." That's the piece that inspired violinist David Harrington to form Kronos when he heard it for the first time in 1973. If you've never heard it, there are many moments of extreme quiet — almost inaudible music. All the more reason the audience was almost holding its collective breath, trying not to interrupt with the noise of inhaling and exhaling.
And that's when the cellphone rang. It was in the purse of a lady in the row right behind me. After she rummaged around for it for several painful seconds, everyone who had turned to glare at her assumed she would then silence it, duly chastised for forgetting to turn it off.
But no.
Tags: Kronos Quartet , Flynn Center for the Performing Arts , Black Angels , string quartet , cellphone , Image , Web Only
Friday, February 14, 2014
Now there's a question that never occurred to Sandra Bullock's character in Gravity while she was worrying about all that sciencey stuff.
What You Missed
"The universe, so full of wonders," rhapsodizes Jim Sturgess in voiceover as the film opens. "I could spend hours and hours looking up at the sky. So many stars, so many mysteries. And there's one very special star that makes me think of one very special person."
So, yeah. Sturgess' character, Adam, goes on to explain our premise. Two planets somehow exist so close together that you can throw a rope between them, and they have opposite gravity! Gravity that sticks to you. So everybody (and everything) from the world called Up-Top will always be drawn toward it, and same goes for the Down-Below world. If you want to visit the opposite world and walk upright, you'll have to weight yourself down with "inverse matter" from that world, but the inverse matter gets hot and burns if you hold it too long. Got that?!
Oh, and don't take a bathroom break in the other world. Trust me on this.
Tags: Movies you missed , Upside Down , Kirsten Dunst , Flop House , Image , Video , Web Only
Thursday, February 13, 2014
My friend Eric and I went to see David Lynch's Dune at a local movie theater when it first came out in 1984. It was a particularly memorable occasion for two reasons. The first is that Eric and I got into a shouting match with some annoying kids who were sitting behind us and kicking our chairs. (As I recall, we emerged victorious from that confrontation.) The other reason this particular moviegoing experience sticks in my brain is that it was the first and only time that a ticket taker handed me an actual glossary: a two-sided, one-page document to which I would need to refer in order to understand the film.
The glossary, which I wish I still had, defined key terms and concepts that the film itself did not. (I remembered just now that we live in the Internet Age; of course someone else was clever enough to keep a copy of this odd little item. Here's a site that confirms my recollection and gives some context.) Neither Eric nor I had read any of Frank Herbert's Dune novels, so the glossary was probably welcome, though I remember being puzzled by its very existence.
Universal, the studio that released Dune, was justifiably worried that moviegoers would be baffled by its obscure story and lack of explanatory detail. It's indeed hard to make sense of Dune's story — but maybe that doesn't matter so much. I know that Eric and I walked out of that theater in Mamaroneck, N.Y., far more baffled than when we entered it. But, hey, we were 11 years old.
I watched Dune again about a week ago, probably for the first time since its theatrical release. (I'd recently completed a fifth or sixth go-round with Lynch's and Mark Frost's marvelous series "Twin Peaks," and wanted to revisit some of Lynch's earlier work.) I found myself enjoying the film much more than I did 30 years ago, but not necessarily because I found it to make more sense. While printing that glossary smacks of a panicky effort by Universal to curry favor with the viewers it feared alienating, I can understand the studio's reasoning. Dune really doesn't make much sense, period.
Tags: Dune , David Lynch , What I'm Watching , film , movies , Twin Peaks , Hollywood , Web Only
Last week I downloaded a free concert of works for piano and cello by Mendelssohn and Brahms from Vermont Public Radio. The “Beyond Beethoven” cycle of two cello sonatas by each post-Beethoven composer, performed by pianist David Kaplan and cellist Ben Capps, now lives on my laptop, where I will play it again as a reward for finishing this blog post.
Whether you pay for online streaming services, such as Spotify, or order CDs by mail (a way of listening to music that seems to have found its last surviving market among classical fans), a free download is a free download. It’s easy to do, and you have until February 28. Go to vpr.net/apps/beyond-beethoven, and click on the tiny word “download” at the corner of each of the four pieces. If you miss the window to own them, you can listen to them online at VPR’s website.
“Beyond Beethoven” is Kaplan and Capps' second free-download collaboration, following last year’s “The Beethoven Project.” For that, the duo played all five cello sonatas by the composer, who gifted the form with an equal balance among instrument parts. (Before Beethoven, what we now call “cello sonatas” were often piano pieces with a cello doubling the bass line.) Of that project, sonatas 2, 4 and 6 have been made available again for free download through April.
This is all treat enough, but last Friday, VPR invited donors and media to a live concert by Kaplan and Capps, who played excerpts from and discussed the works they chose for “Beyond Beethoven.” VPR Classical host Joe Goetz, who produced the recordings, introduced the duo. The concert took place in the same intimate recording studio where the downloads were recorded, the space’s large red digital clock ticking away the microseconds. Kaplan and Capps were not paid for their work, and they won’t earn anything from it; it’s a gift.
Tags: classical music , Vermont Public Radio , Joe Goetz , Ben Capps , David Kaplan , "Beyond Beethoven" , downloads , Image , Web Only
Brattleboro-ish "f*lk rock" outfit Wooden Dinosaur are set to release their latest EP, Rhubarb Wine, a follow-up to their excellent 2012 record, Spaces. That latter album was not only one of the best local releases that year but, in our humble opinion, one of the finest Vermont albums of the past decade. An evolution from the esoteric chamber folk of the band's 2010 debut, Nearly Lost Stars, Spaces presented a clever and emotionally bold mix of early country and intricate indie folk — in our review of the album we wrote, "imagine if Sufjan Stevens composed for Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys." So you can understand if we're a little giddy at the prospect of a new work from Michael Roberts, Katie Trautz and Co.
Sadly, Rhubarb Wine won't hit our collective ears until March 18. But the band has released a video album teaser, which you can watch below. The video features the song "I'm All Right," which you can listen to in its entirety at WD's Bandcamp page — where, incidentally, you can also pre-order the EP.
Tags: Wooden Dinosaur , Rhubarb Wine , Brattleboro , Image , Video , Web Only
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
This week in movies you missed: We reach the end of this year's Oscar-nominated documentaries. Those are The Act of Killing, The Square, Cutie and the Boxer, 20 Feet From Stardom (which doesn't qualify as an MYM) and now this documentary about covert U.S. counterterrorism efforts from director Richard Rowley and journalist Jeremy Scahill.
What You Missed
Maverick war correspondent Jeremy Scahill (of the Nation) is hanging around Kabul, getting sick of reporting on canned news from the war zone. He heads out to rural Gardez, where a family tells him a harrowing story of the "American Taliban" soldiers who raided a celebration and killed several of them, including pregnant women.
Scahill starts digging into the evidence to find out who's responsible for this mistaken attack on Afghan civilians — and for covering it up. He learns about the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), the elite unit that would later become famous for killing Osama bin Laden.
Scahill tries to return to his normal life in Brooklyn, but he just can't let the story go. He ends up traveling from Yemen to Somalia in search of victims of this covert U.S. counterterrorist effort, and meets with a Deep Throat-type informant who suggests that JSOC is actually creating more new terrorists than it eliminates.
All the while, our hero gets more and more scruffy and haggard, his eyes haunted by the specters of bereaved children and grieving parents. His attempts to speak truth to power net him lots of talk-show appearances, but little attention from Congress.
Tags: Movies you missed , Image , Web Only
Gillman, who now lives in Denver, Colo., is a graduate of CCS, where she received her MFA. The winner of both this prize and the same organizations' choice for best graphic novel of 2013 will be announced in March.
Gillman contributed to Seven Days' first-ever all-cartoon issue last July 3. At left is her self-portrait.
Tags: Melanie Gillman , Center for Cartoon Studies , CCS , comics , comix , graphic novel , as the crow flies , slate , Image , Web Only
The theme this year is Sailors & Mermaids. (Didja catch the sly wink at S&M there? Nudge, nudge.) And the acts slated for both Poseidon's Ballroom and the adjacent Siren's Lounge — aka the HG Ballroom and Showcase Lounge — should certainly shiver some timbers and swash some buckles … or something. These include "A Pirated Prince" (Craig Mitchell and band performing Prince's Purple Rain),
"Laughter Around the Captain's Table" (local standup comedy showcase), an all-drag lip-sync showcase and performances by glam rockers Rue Mevlana drag troupes Kings Local 802 and the Good Wives, the Catamount Dance Crew, drag queens Amanda FonDell (not to be confused with the unfortunately named Swedish pop singer) and Isis Vermouth, drag king Mike Oxready and DJs Rob Douglas and Alan Perry.
To prep for the big night, we caught up with the belle of the ball, Amber LeMay of the local drag troupe House of LeMay, to play a little game we like to call Seven Questions. ———-
Tags: Vermont , Winter is a Drag Ball , House of LeMay , LGBTQ , Image , Slideshow , Video , Web Only
It was but one scene in a brief directed play, written by Jordan Gullikson and performed at Playmakers last Monday night at the Off Center for the Dramatic Arts in Burlington.
Playmakers was launched last November by playwright, actor and former Waterfront Video buyer Seth Jarvis. The monthly evening of live entertainment features new and experienced writers and actors.
Judging from this week's offerings, the works are eclectic, creative and sometimes zany. And that's just what Jarvis is going for.
"The intention behind the series was to offer local artists and writers the chance to ... step out on limbs, and I think that's happened," says Jarvis, who estimates that about a third of the Playmakers participants are newcomers. "People are taking that leap and moving out of their own wheelhouses and trying something new, and the format for the event allows for that," he adds.
The format for each evening is three "cold" readings of short plays (20 pages or shorter, in less than 25 minutes) by local playwrights, followed by one directed play that had been selected from the previous month's readings and produced by two assigned "watchers." The directed play is rehearsed without input from the playwright to allow the piece to evolve in a fresh direction, Jarvis explains.
Monday's lineup featured plays from Erik Esckilsen; Genevra MacPhail and Todd Townsend; and Kimberly Caterino and Kristofer Friore. They treated the audience to scenes such as an Urban Outfitters-clad journalist interviewing a reclusive rock legend; a crotchety old man leading two young guys on the world's most bizarre heist; and an unlikely pair of restaurant diners pontificating on religion. And that was even before the Stag showed up.
Jarvis says he hopes that the series will help individual artists and nurture collaborations of playwrights. This was the first event in which Playmakers showcased works by playwriting duos MacPhail/Townsend and Caterino/Friore. Jarvis hopes the series will also help local theater companies connect with artists for longer projects.
In the coming months Jarvis says he'll be expanding the Playmakers programming with some extra events. In May, Playmakers will attempt a screenwriters' edition, and selected script will be made into a short film. June will bring a "Short Shorts" event in which anyone can come with a play shorter than five pages and present a cold reading.
The next Playmakers event is Monday, March 17, and will feature Tonya Pellegrino, Lesley Becker and Kevin Christopher with Patricia Julien. Tracey Girdich and Alex Dostie will present a directed reading of Erik Esckilsen's heist play from last Monday's event.
Tags: theater , Off Center , Burlington , Playmakers , Image , Web Only
It's hard to dislike this film, which is not only hilarious but historically important. Girl Shy is one of the very first Hollywood romantic comedies. A fine way to kick off this esteemed genre.
This screening will feature live piano accompaniment by Bob Merrill, the Hop's longtime silent-movie accompanist, who is guaranteed to further enliven the show. Seven Days profiled Merrill in October 2013; check out the story to learn more about the man and his music.
Tags: Hopkins Center , Dartmouth College , Bob Merrill , Harold Lloyd , film , movies , art , comedy , Image , Web Only