Movie Review: **^ Hancock (2008)

 Hancock (Will Smith) is a super hero, at least he has super powers, but it seems everything turns out wrong for him and he causes lots of damage when he does his heroing.  However he finds a friend, Ray (Jason Bateman) who takes him on as a case of reconditioning.  But it is his wife that is Hancock's mate.  

Hancock woke up at the doctor some years ago not knowing who he was, just that he has special powers.  However he is drawn to Ray's wife, Mary (Charlize Theron).  Only Mary also has powers.  Mary was with Hancock, but left him because if they are together they start to lose their powers.  And that happens again.  They lose their powers and are vulnerable to attack.   

Hancock thwarted Red's (Eddie Marsan) bank robbery.  He is brewing for revenge.  He recruits some thugs and where their powers are weakened they are in real danger.

This is in the lower teir of super hero movies, but in the end it turns out.

Movie Review: *** The Lady in the Van (2015)

 The Lady in the Van has Maggie Smith portraying, Mary or Margaret who is on the run from the law, and goes off grid and parks her van in a driveway, for 15 years.  She lives in the van and takes advantage of the restroom in the home of Alan Bennett (Alex Jennings) who is torn between empathy and taking advantage by writing her story.  He is a playwright.  He often does one person shows talking about his mother.  He is wanting to add a new show about the homeless lady.  Jennings actually plays this character twice, the generous man and the take advantage man.  We often see him talking to himself.  Smith does a great job of portraying the cantankerous old lady who lives in the van, and often grumbles.  But then there is Mr. Bennett who actually cares for her.  She has a brother (Jim Broadbent) who visits on occasion.  It isn't until after she has died that we learn why she is living in the van and she has changed her name.  She is actually a pianist who has played with the symphony.   

Movie Review: **** Men In Black II (2002)

 Men in Black are back with more of the same; but of course with some twists.  Serleena (Lara Flynn Boyle) has been looking for the Light of Zartha, thinking it will give her power to destroy the Zarthians.  She has been looking for it for 25 years, and finally decides it is on earth.  Kay (Tommy Lee Jones) was involved in hiding it.  Jay (Will Smith) realizes that they need Kay's memories, and so they retrieve him and Jeebs (Tony Shalhoub) help them with this, and gets his head blown off for his troubles (it grows back).  Jay meets and falls for Laura Vasquez (Rosario Dawson).  He witnessed a murder of her boss, who in fact is an alien and helped keep the light safe.  In the end they take her with them to keep her safe.  Serleena takes over the agency with her many tentacles, and Kay and Jay escape to fight another day.  

It takes both of them to overcome Serleena, which they barely do.  Turns out Laura is the light, and she has to leave to avoid blowing up the planet.  She returns to her own kind.  Kay had something for her mother who was murdered by Serleena.  Could she be Kay's daughter?

Fun ride again

Music Review: LeAnn Rimes: Greatest Hits

LeAnn Rimes: Greatest Hits, Curb Records, 2003.

LeAnn Rimes can sure sing.  This C.D. is mostly of music written by others.  Only two songs where Rimes was listed as a writer, "This Love" and "Life Goes On."  She is really good at covers.  She sings "O Holy Night" and "Unchained Melody" which would fit in this category.  She sings "Written in the Stars" with Elton John.  She sings another duet, "Last Thing on my Mind" with Ronan Keating.  There are no show stopper songs, except for "Unchained Melody."  She does a very good job her.  She also does well with "O Holy Night" which was a promo for her upcoming Christmas album.  

Sandra Bullock Movie Review: **** Gravity (2013)

 When everything goes wrong that possible can go wrong on a space mission, this is the movie.  This movie is very intense, as the space craft is subject to a massive space debris collision.  The ship is torn apart, and so our two surviving astronauts must space walk to a space station, with depleting oxygen.  One (George Clooney) gives himself up to get the other (Sandra Bullock) to the station.  It is not in much better shape.  She boards a vehicle to get away, but it gets caught on wires and a chute.  She finally gets free, but discovers no gas.  When things are desperate she reaches out and talks with an Inuit.  Even though she can't communicate she gets hope from a baby crying, and from the dogs howling.  She is ready to give up, but with the help of the ghost of Clooney, she burns the gas reserved for breaking to get free.  She is headed for the Chinese space station.  She gets there but the debris also gets there.  She pretty much falls to earth.

This movie is very tense as lives are in danger through out.  It does show the need for connection and the will to survive.  The special effects are great.  I do not know how they replica zero gravity and the spinning and everything.  I would recommend it to others.  

Movie Review: ***Men In Black (1997)

 Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith star as the Men in Black, a team of super secret agents who fight crime amongst aliens who come to our planet from other worlds.  The bad thing is there is a bug who has come to find the galaxy which is on Orion's belt.  Turns out Orion is a cat, and the belt is his colar.  World's will kill for the galaxy.  This is a comedy action movie which has a very good premise; and who knows who might actually be an alien.  I enjoyed it.  Linda Fiorentino stars as a morgue doctor and future recruit.  Rip Torn stars as the boss.  Vincent D'onofrio stars as the bug.  Bugs are killing machines.  

Opera Review: Blue Beard's Castle.

My grand daughter and I saw the opera at the Holland Center.  Blue Beard's Castle was written by Béla Bartók with the libretto by Béla Balász, with just two singers, and the Bard who introduced the opera.  Is the story without or within?   The original was written in Hungarian.  This is probably what they were singing, or German.  The words showed up above the singers in English as they sang.  Ryan McKinney sang baritone the Duke and Michelle DeYoung soprano the wife.  Her hair reminded my of the character the Bride of Frankenstein.  The orchestra was conducted by Lidiya Yankovskaya.  The light projections were provided by David Murakami.  This is a collaboration with Opera Omaha.

What a story.  The story is very macabre.  The couple, Blue Beard and Judith elope and he brings her home for the first time.  The castle is dark.  She insists on opening the house to let in more light.  She opens one room at a time.  The first is the dungeon and torture room.  You see this through the use of lighting.  Then you see the instruments of torture are covered with blood.  The second room is the armory with many weapons.  Again they are covered with blood (shown by dripping blood on the screen and red light.)  The third room is the treasury with gold and jewels.  Then again the blood.  The fourth room is the garden.  The projectionists showed this in black and white, then also going to blood.  The house is becoming lighter, but the new wife insists on opening all the doors.  The husband keeps asking her not to open them all.  

The fifth door is the husbands many kingdoms.  In this case the lights are on the audience, looking far off because his lands and kingdoms are vast.  But again everything turns red.  The sixth door is water, which are actually tears.  Then we come to the seventh door.  The husband says don't open it.  It is the room with all the former wives.  Did he kill his former lives or are they living in the room.  The husband sings of the morning, noontime and evening wives.  She is the night time wife he met at 12 a.m.  The opera ends with  darkness taking over.  

The story has me thinking.  Is the story without or within?  I think it is both.  It is without, but we interpret the story within and each come to our individual conclusions.  The lighting was  ery eerie.  As thins got darker they but a light on the conductor and her shadow flashed upon the wall.  It was. very effective.

The venue did not allow pictures, so I stole a couple from Facebook from the Omaha Symphony.

singers

conductor