Music: Madonna Live- Taking back her Crown

Last night in TD Garden I saw my fourth Madonna concert in her Boston stop of the Rebel Heart Tour.   After seeing her on her Drowned World Tour in 2001, Hard Candy Tour in 2008, and the MDNA tour in 2012, it was do or die for me when it comes to shelling out money to see Madonna perform. She has always charged a lot for her shows but hasn't left me disappointed--until the MDNA tour.   Her age was showing as her dancing became less tight and frankly the music from that album mostly wasn't very good.  After that show, I said no more Madonna concerts.

Then Rebel Heart happens.  Though it is one of her worst selling albums, Rebel Heart is Madonna's best collection of music since Ray of Light in the mid/late 1990s.  So when I saw that she was coming to Boston after some considerable hemming and hawing I decided to go.  But this time I bought cheap seats--relatively speaking.  I was not disappointed.   Madonna has redeemed herself with her music and her live performing.

The set list has always been a tricky thing for Madonna shows.  She, of course, wants to play her new material, but she has a hard time striking a good mix between new and old.  She did it best on the Hard Candy tour, but she is mostly successful on this  tour.  She has eliminated most of the filler tracks on Reb el Heart (except Body Shop) and played mst all the of great tracks on Rebel Heart.  In Boston the only great track excluded was her adult contemporary hit Ghosttown which she alternates with Who's that Girl as an acoustic track. You can't go wrong with either of those, but it made me wish she would just perform both like she did in Brooklyn.  The title track of Rebel Heart was the stand out. I enjoyed most all the rest of the new material (again except Body Shop) including Holy Water which isn't one of my favorite tracks, but the stage arrangement definitely kicked up its game a notch.

As for her old material Madonna goes back on this tour--far.  Minus two  songs, she pretty much ignores everything after the True Blue album through  MDNA. The  set list was sprinkled generously with her hits from the 80s--many of which she usually doesn't sing live too much.   It did my 1980s 15 year old heart good to hear her sing the forementioned Who's that girl, True Blue, and Dress You Up.  But she went back even further to the song that was her first well known music video, Burning Up.   The show ended with Holiday, and I know some disagree, but I think she should end every show with this song.  It never gets old.  It's a perfect concert ending.

Performance wise Madonna is realizing her limitations and that is OK.  She still does plenty of dancing, but she leaves the complicated moves to her dancers.   This gives her more time for singing. There was noticeably less lip syncing on this tour.   It is also to her credit that she allows the dancers to shine without her.   One of the best performance pieces was for Illuminati which is a song that she is totally off stage for making a costume change.

Whatever I gained in a lower ticket price, I lost in merchandise purchases which included two new T  shirts and Madonna men's briefs.  :), but I left a happy guy.  Again live Madonna had been redeemed for me.   I will definitely be back for show number 5.  She didn't disappoint.

Film: The strange worlds of Paul Thomas Anderson.

I finally saw Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice, and I have to admit it was a chore to get through.   I think it is basically an incomprehensible mess, but as the case with everyone of his films there is something worthwhile about it.  While I can declare this my least favorite of his films, I have heard that it is a good adaptation of the book Inherent Vice, and if that is the case that story was pretty unfilmable.  So good on him!  There are also scene stealing  moments from Hong Chau and especially Josh Brolin.  The screenplay has some humorous moments, but it basically links a lot of stories and characters together without much development.  Maybe it is supposed to represent the drug haze that everyone in the films seems to be in.   I give it 5 out of 10.

Paul Thomas Anderson is one of the most interesting filmmakers of our time even with this slight disappointment.  Here are my rankings of his work.  It should be noted that only the bottom 2 scored less than an 8 out of 10 from me.

7. Inherent Vice
6.  Punch-Drunk Love- an interesting detour for Adam Sandler. If only he had continued in that direction.
5.    Hard Eight- It's Anderson's debut.  Honestly until I reviewed the synopsis I kind of forgot I had seen it.  While it is maybe forgettable long term, I enjoyed it in the moment.
4.  Magnolia- the frogs almost did it in for me, but fortunately there is a lot of amazing acting in this film including turns from Julianne Moore, Jason Robards, and even Tom Cruise
3. The Master- One of Joaquin Phoenix's best performances and one of many great Philip Seymour Hoffman performances (which often came from PT Anderson movies).
2.  There Will Be Blood- this is most likely the film that will stand the test of time and has the best chance of becoming a film classic.  Daniel Day Lewis gives an iconic performance

But my favorite is

1. Boogie Nights-  the first time I saw this I wasn't a fan and I especially hated the Sister Christian scene, but something made me revisit it and apparently I just needed to mature a bit.  Boogie Nights is just as much of a classic film as There Will be Blood, but it's story about the world of porn is slightly less palatable.  The casting is spot on. Mark Wahlberg, Burt Reynolds and yes Heather Graham gives career best performances here.  This is where I discovered Don Cheadle, and Julianne Moore and Philip Seymour Hoffman give two of the most complicated and beautiful performances I have seen on film.

Film: Coming out from different views

Anyone who watches gay independent films or especially American gay independent films know that a coming out story is a dime a dozen.  But that's only if the coming out in question is a white middle class Midwestern boy. Those are a dime a dozen.  There are some members of the gay population who do not get their coming out stories shown quite as often.   Two films I watched over the weekend share a different kind of coming out story with some degree of success.

Boulevard tells the coming out story of a 60 year old man played by the late great Robin Williams in his final film role.  His character, named Nolan, comes to a point in his life that he can not go on any longer living a lie.   Many men have sort of a second adolescence when they come out after their teen years.  I came out when a I was 23 and I definitely had a second adolescence that wasn't always such a good thing.  that isn't always a good thing.  Nolan has a bit of a second adolescence himself which causes him to make some choices that could have him lose his job, his wife,--everything. One night Nolan befriends a hustler named Leo, and the film does a nice job showing that even though they gradually get a little closer throughout the film, Leo always still sees Nolan as a way to make money and not much more.

Nolan's meeting with Leo serves as the catalyst that eventually forces Leo to live his truth.  After awhile the male prostitute plot gets a little tired, and the film is best in Robin William's quieter moments of anguish.  His best acting is not in his interaction with the hustler, but also with his long suffering loving wife played excellently by Kathy Baker.  Boulevard is a decent film elevated by what should be regarded as one of Robin Willuam's best performances.

Another population we don't see represented enough in gay movies is black men.  Patrick Ian Polk has made a career of trying to right that wrong with independent films like Punks and TV series like Noah's Arc. He continues to tell gay African American men's stories in Blackbird,  the story of a religious teenage boy named Randy in small town Mississippi.

Blackbird has a lot going well for it.  It does a great job showing a religious teenager coming to terms with his sexuality, then dealing with his parents, and ultimately falling in love.  That would be enough of a movie in itself so it is frustrating that there is so much more.  Too much.  The film is based on a book which I haven't read, so all the other parts may have come from the book.   It ultimately deals with abortion, being clairavoyant, a missing child, STDs, changing a gay person back to straight.  Like I said, It is too much.  It doesn't need all that.  Polk's created a world where Randy dealing with his sexuality, surrounded by his friends and his family (Mo'Nique and Isaiah Washington are best in show as the parents. ) and that should be enough.  All the rest of the sub plots feel unnecessary and at times make the film go over the top into after school special territory.  There is a good film inside Blackbird it just struggles a bit getting passed the other subplots in the film.

Boulevard 7 out of 10
Blackbird 6 out of 10

Film: The most unnecessary sequels

Residents of nursing homes and gay men crying into their pillows that there will never be a Golden Girl reunion were perhaps pining for the sequel to the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel called not so cleverly The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.  But that's about it.  No one else cared.  And there was a moment as I was watching it that I wondered Why? This totally unnecessary sequel reminded me that I just thought the movie was decent but charming.  This one is not.  It is a total bore, I will admit that I was distracted  by shiny silver fox object Richard Gere appearing in this.  But even my childhood crush could not save this.....zzzzz.  Sorry I nodded off.  Please stop opening hotels for us, Maggie Smith!

I'll keep it short-4 out of 10.

But this film reminded me of 9 other completely unnecessary sequels I've seen.  Here they are in no particular order.

 The Hangover 2- because why wouldn't a group of men have a completely over the top chaotic night again? And then a third time (I didn't watch that one)?

Smokey and the Bandit 3- for some reason when I was a kid I saw this A LOT! But why does it exist? no Burt Reynolds! And no pre cry baby Sally Field! boo!

Sex and the City 2- because after everything was all tied up after the first movie, the NYC  besties would of course go to......Dubai?

Jaws 2 and 3D- wow that shark is really spiteful!

Home Alone 2-Lost in New York- I know that some people really like this, but while I can maybe forgive accidentally leaving your kid at home while you go on vacation once, if you lose him in NYC after that I'm calling Child protective services.

Caddyshack 2- movies without any of the original stars and low rent imitations of the original actors ALWAYS work.  At least they got another Kenny Loggins song.

Hannibal (sequel to Silence of the Lambs and NOT the great TV show) - not so much unnecessary as insulting.  Thomas Harris wrote a great female character for Silence of the Lambs then ruins Clarice Starling  in this one.

Grease 2- this one hurts because the nostalgic part of me loves it and the songs, but none of the original actors  were in it except the teachers and Frenchy, and most of the actors looked at least 30.  (I still love it though, cool riders!)

And Weekend at Bernies 2- How is his body not decomposing yet?

Film/TV Documenting Chaos

Over the last week I caught three different documentaries that told the stories of different chaotic lives with varying degrees of success.  

Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief

There's is a moment in this film when they are explaining the belief system of the Scientology religion where I thought to myself, "I still have no idea what these people believe!".  What I do know is that Scuentology is insanity, and I've thought a lot this week about what would bring seemingly somewhat intelligent people  into this religion.  I still really have no idea.   What becomes more obvious through interviews of credible ex members is that the whole thing is a scam cult. Both John Travolta and Tom Cruise, perhaps the most famous scuentologists, are not interviewed, but they are given their own segments via news footage.  When  I finished John Travolta's segment, I just felt sorry for him because he is clearly struggling with some things if he needs to cling onto this.  Tom Cruise was a different story.  He clearly has an insane god complex, and now I am more resolute to not see any of his movies anymore. Luckily he hasn't made anything recently that I've actually wanted to see.  If you get a chance, catch this film. It is definitely interesting and exasperating.  

8 out,of 10

Kurt Cobain : Montage of Heck

Kurt Cobain's ultimately tragic story is told differently than a conventional documentary. While there are some interviews of loved ones, most of his story is told through home video footage, his music, and some of his other art work and journals. The artwork and journal entries are interesting at first but because a little bit repetitive by the end of the two hour  film.  The home video footage is more revealing.  The saddest and scariest moment is when he is interacting with his baby while he's totally fried on drugs.   As his parents, friends and the great Courtney Love tell his story, it becomes obvious that the story was always going to end the way that it did.  His legacy should be his musical talent and not the way he died.  Unfortunately, that isn't the way it will ever be.  

7 out of 10

Citizenfour

This was this year's Oscar winner for best documentary, and I can't really understand why.  Other than the fact that it was so timely, and the fact that this filmmaker had such access to Edward Snowden as he leaked classified information.  It had to be the immediacy of the event because this isn't great documentary film making.   Long moments of people staring and not talking does not tell me a story. The film definitely paints Snowden as a hero, while I don't  necessarily think it is quite that black and white.   I just think something with the intrigue of this story  shouldn't be this dull.  Hey, they got an Oscar. What do I know?

5 out of 10

Theatre: Broadway-ish

Over the past week I've been lucky enough to see three different performances  from three different  Broadway stars.  It's been one singular sensational week!

Idina Menzel in Concert-  I've Been following Idina's career since I fell in love with Rent, sigh, twenty years ago.   I finally was able to see her on Broadway last year in If/Then, a show and performance that I think is really underrated.  I was excited to catch her world tour last week in Boston. She sings a couple forgettable tracks from her previous studio albums, but the rest of her set was songs from her shows, songs from other Broadway shows and remakes.  She gives her all to every one of her singing performances.  Standouts were Defying Gravity, an acapella For Good, Annie's Tomorrow, and surprisingly a remake of Radiohead's Creep.  You can tell that the between song banter is not her specialty because those moments lessened the energy. Luckily, everything was back to a great place when she started singing again with that amazing unique voice. 

Waitress: A New Musical : 

Cambridge's excellent A.R.T. theater is presenting Waitress directed by  Diane Paulus before it heads to Broadway.   Paulus has had quite a streak at A.R.T. and Broadway with Tony favorite revivals Porgy and Bess and Pippin and the crowd pleasing Finding Neverland.   It remains to be seen if Waitress will continue her streak because it definitely needs some work.  The play does a great job recreating the setting of the original excellent film.  the dialogue and some characters are a  bit clunky though , but it's fixable.  I just hope they take the time to work on those things before heading to Broadway.  I didn't know what to think when I heard Sara Bareilles was writing the songs for the show, but they are definitely the highlight.  I'm very much looking forward to the cast recording even if there is one ballad too many in the second act.  There is some casting that may need to be changed for Broadway, but getting rid of Tony Winning Jessie Mueller would be a huge mistake.  Her unique voice is perfectly suited for the folky songs.   I'm cheering for this one to do well, but until some tweaking happens Broadway success seems iffy.  That said Boston seems to love the whole run has been sold out.  I had to buy a scalped ticket on Dtubhub to go at markup price.  The audience minus the theatre geeks I was sitting next to was not disappointed.   So what do I know?

Hedwig and the Angry Inch starring Taye Diggs-

It is coincidence that I saw Taye Diggs perform in the same week as his ex wife Idina Menzel. Hedwig is officially the show I've seen the most. After Saturday night's performance it was my 6th time to see it on and away from Broadway.  And while it was not my favorite performance of it,  Taye Diggs does a nice job of making it his own.   He has a nice time with an audience pointing out that he's, in fact, a black Hedwig, and poking fun at the primarily white Broadway audience.  He's a better singer than his Rent character showed. His jazzing up the Hedwig songs was surprisingly not unwelcome.  Hedwig finishes its successful Broadway run next week, and it is nice that it is going out with a talented cast and some diversity.  

If I chose the Emmy nominees: Part 3

Best Guest Actress in a Series
Christine Baranski The Big Bang Theory
Kate Burton Scandal
Marla Gibbs Scandal
Allison Janney Masters of Sex
Laurie Metcalf The Big Bang Theory
Rita Moreno Jane the Virgin
Julianne Nicholson Masters of Sex
Cicely Tyson Scandal

Best Supporting Actor in a Conedy Series
Tituss Burgess Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Jaime Camil Jane the Virgin
Adam Driver Girls
Nick Offerman Parks and Recreation
Marcus Scribner blackish
Steve Zissis Togetherness

Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Allison Janney Mom
Carol Kane    Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Jenifer Lewis blackish
Melanie Lynskey Togetherness
Lauren Weedman Looking
Constance Wu Fresh off the Boat

Best Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Anthony Anderson blackish
Jonathan Groff Looking
Chris Messina The Mindy Project
Jim Parsons The Big Bang Theory
Jeffery Tambor Transparent
Josh Thomas Please Like Me

Best Actress in a Comedy Series
Tracee Ellis Ross blackish
Mindy Kaling The Mindy Project
Ellie Kemper Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Lisa Kudrow The Comeback
Amy Poehler Parks and Recreation
Gina Rodriguez Jane the Virgin

Best Comedy Series
Blackish
Getting on
Looking
Parks and Recreation
Togetherness
Transparent
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Part 2 : if I chose the Emmy nominees

Guest Actor in a Series
Christian Borle Masters of Sex
Beau Bridges Masters of Sex
Reg E. Cathey House of Cards
Jon Hamm Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Paul Rudd Parks and Recreation
Sam Shepard Bloodline
Courtney B. Vance Scandal
Bradley Whitford Transparent

Best Supporting Actress in A Drama Series
Uzo Aduba Orange is the New Black
Annaleigh Ashford Masters of Sex
January Jones Mad Men
Maura Tierney the Affair
Lorraine Toussaint Orange is the New Black
Bellamy Young Scandal

Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Jim Carter Downton Abbey
Michael Kelly House of Cards
Ben Mendelsohn Bloodline
Joe Morton Scandal
Craig T Nelson Parenthood
Jussie Smollett Empire

Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series.
Kyle Chandler Bloodline
Jon Hamm Mad Men
Freddie Highmore Bates Motel
Peter Krause Parenthood
Kevin Spacey House.of Cards
Dominic West The Affair

Best Lead Actress in a Drama
Lizzie Caplan Masters of Sex
Olivia Colman Broadchurch
Viola Davis How to Get Away With Murder
Taraji B. Henson Empire
Ruth Wilson The Affair
Robin Wright House of Cards

Best Drama Series
The Affair
Empire
House of Cards
Mad Men
Orange is he New Black
Parenthood
The Walking Dead

If I picked the Emmy Nominees. My favorites in television Part 1

Best Female Actor  (Lead or Supporting) in a TV Movie or Miniseries

Khandi Alexander Bessie
Zoe Kazan Olive Kitteridge
Jessica Lange American Horror Story:Freak Show
Queen Latifah Bessie
Frances McDormand Olive Kitteridge
Mo'Nique Bessie
Sarah Paulson American Horror Story: Freak Show

Best Male Actor (Lead or Supporting) in a TV movie or Mini Series
John Gallagher Jr.  Olive Kitteridge
Richard Jenkins Olive Kitteridge
Bill Murray Olive Kitteridge
David Oyelowo Nightingale
Cory Michael Smith Olive Kitteridge
Michael Kenneth Williams Bessie
Finn Wittrock American Horror Story: Freak Show

Best TV movie. Or mini series

American Horror Story: Freak Show
Bessie
Nightingale
Olive  Kitteridge.


Best Reality Television Show
The Next Food Star
Project Runway
Rupaul's Drag Race
Shark Tank
Survivor
Top Chef

Tomorrow the Drama series!

TV/Film: Bessie

A challenge that biography movies has is that a two hour space is never long enough to adequately explore the life story of anyone much less a person who has lived a million lives.   The bio pics that work best are often the ones that take a small period of time as part of the person's story.  The film Lincoln and the Broadway show turned future HBO movie Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill are examples of biographies that give you just a snapshot,of the life of their subject, but really allow you to get to know a part of his or her character.  Unfortunately, the script for Bessie which is the story of Bessie Smith decides to take on the life story route, and it just doesn't have enough time totally pull it off.

Fortunately, Bessie has a lot of really talented people working on it.  Dee Rees who made the excellent film Pariah does her best to make this more than a conventional bio pic and often she succeeds.  Rees is a talented filmmaker who deserves more opportunities.   There is one scene where Bessie played by Queen Latifah is playing in a juke joint while the Ku Kux Klan is mounting an attack outside.  The two separate scenes meld together seamlessly.  It is extremely well filmed and the story of that scene is well told.

Bessie is also fortunate to have an amazing cast.  Obviously Queen Latifah is the captain of the ship as Bessie.  She is particularly well suited for the role because of her musical background, and in a way she gives such a fine performance she almost makes it seem easy.   Michael Kenneth Williams, formerly the great Omar of the Wire, gives pretty much the only full fledged performance of any of the major male characters in the movie.  Williams is destined to be one of Hollywood's great character actors.  Khandi Alexander plays Bessie's older sometimes abusive sister.  No one plays steelyand cold while giving just a glimmer of warmth better than Alexander does.  Finally, Mo'Nique once again proves that it is Hollywood's big loss for not being able or wanting to be able to figure out what to do with her as an actress.  She plays Ma Rainey and though her screen time is limited, she owns every moment she is in the screen and makes you anticipate her return when she is gone.

There are several other characters in the movie but unfortunately due to time and script restrictions, none of them are very developed.   It would have been nice to see the character who play's Bessie's female lover to be more full fledged especially since the character is actually a composite of several women in Bessie's life.  These are generally small critiques.  Due to fine performances and a passionate filmmaker the story of Bessie Smith gets its due!

7 out of 10

Film and TV: Short Takes on some films I've watched recently

Life has been happening and I found myself getting a little behind, but here are some of the films from both the theatre and the the television that I have caught over the past few days.

Tangerines: This is not to be confused with a movie released this summer called Tangerine.  This was one of the five films nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars, and I can now safely say that it is the best of the 5.   Unfortunately it's a pretty ho hum group of movies.  This one is an Estonian-Georian film that takes place in the 1990s during a time of war.  A tangerine farmer is in the middle of a battle from which he saves two men.  As fate would have it the men are from opposing sides of the battle and at first are at each other's throats, but they agree to not kill each other until they leave the farmer's house.  They learn a lesson that all people at war should learn and that is killing a man is killing a man regardless of what country he comes from.  The films short length makes the two enemies relationship turn a bit too quickly, but it is ultimately very watchable and touching.  

7 out of 10

The Clouds of Sils Maria- This  film about acting and aging is a great showcase for its three actresses Juliette Binoche, Chloe Grace armorers and especially Kristen Stewart (who is working her ass off to make us forget about those horrible Twilight movies).  The film itself tries to be deeper and more elusive than it really deserves to be.  By the end I kind of shrugged and said "What was that?" It is definitely worth it for the performances though

6 out of 10

Atari: Game Over

This is a short  documentary about the rise and fall of Atari video games mixed with the excavation of a pit in New Mexico that ends up being filled with unsold Atari cartridges.  It mainly deals with the game E.T. Which has been called "the worst video game ever" by many.  I played it when I was a kid and I can attest that it was pretty awful.  Since I was in the Atari generation I would have liked more about the rise and fall of Atari and its games and less digging around New Mexico.  As such it's a welcome fleeting diversion 

6 out of 10

And then I watched two HBO movies/mini series 

Olive Kittridge- Pleasantly surprised would be an understatement regarding this four part mini series. I didn't know what to expect, and a I really enjoyed this Frances McDormand led project.  It is basically the story of Olive Kittridge's life as she interacts with different people throughout it.  She is not necessarily a lovable person and McDormand is so good in the role at being hateable but also loveable.  This is probably the best performance of her career and yes I've seen Fargo and Almost Famous.  Richard Jenkins, Zoe Kasan, John Gallagher Jr., Cory Michael Smith and Bill Murray are also excellent in their roles of different sizes.  It is some of the best television that I have seen in some time. If it had been made as a film, I imagine it would have been Oscar nominated.  

9 out of 10

Nightingale-  Selma's David Oyelowo gives an amazing performance in this one man show about a man unraveling after he has killed his mother.  Even though it is only 80 minutes long the monologue goes on way too long. There just isn't enough story there for one person  to merit a full length film. It reminded me of this guy in high school who I remember didn't learn an assigned monologue so he just made up a very very dramatic one.  I probably shouldn't have thought about that considering the film's serious subject matter, but I did.  But definitely check it out for Oyelowo.  He proves again that he is the real deal.

6 out of 10