TV (1) of the Day: Malcolm In The Middle

After I finished re-watching Breaking Bad, I was searching for something else to watch to fill up my time until the New Fall TV shows start up.  Bryan Cranston was the deciding factor.  I was first introduced to the  actor as Hal, the goofy, lovable, gentle patriarch of the family.
If you want to understand why Bryan Cranston got such recognition and praise for his performance in Breaking Bad, watch him in Malcolm in the Middle and wonder no more.  The contrast and differences between Hal and Walter White are mind blowing.

Malcolm in the middle is about a young boy named Malcolm {Frankie Munez} that has an IQ of 160.  He's a genius.  His family is dysfunctional and disrespectful and off colored and the series is about Malcolm trying to just live through the dynamics of all the factors in his life.  From his goofy, somewhat oblivious father, to his over bearing and controlling mother, (Jane Kaczmarek).  To his older brother Francis (Christopher Masterson) who has been sent away to Military school for bad behavior, his brother Reese (Justin Berfield) who is totally dim witted and a bit of a bully to his space case of a brother, Dewey (Erik Per Sullivan) who lives in his own fantasy world.

The series is very Funny and light hearted.  As dissconnected and dysfunctional as they are the family still loves each other and I found it was quite heart warming and enjoyable.

I think it kind of lost it's mojo after the third season or maybe the fourth season but the series did last for seven delightful season.

It has a rating of 8.0 on the IMDB

Are you Ready for this? TV of the Day: Breaking Bad

As I was going through my post i realized I have yet to talk about any of the vast array of television I watch.  This is my first TV post.  We're really kind of in between seasons right now and really I haven't watched too much 'NEW' TV since April or May when all the series had their finales.  So I've been re-watching my favorites or I started watching Downton Abbey... which i absolutely love or all the TV shows on Netflix or Hulu while i wait quite impatiently, I might add, for all my Favorite TV to once again start up with new Seasons.  All I can say, is I sincerely hope it's not Daryl that dies in the walking dead.  They'll have a bunch of really angry people on their hands, I'll tell you what.
In the meantime... i went back and over the last two weeks I did a Breaking Bad marathon.
Breaking Bad was so well done and so well acted and I totally regret not watching it while it was on live TV so I could enjoy 'Talking Bad"... just like i enjoy "Talking Dead".

True... Breaking Bad has a totally terrible subject.  Meth.  I hate drugs and it is one of the worst plagues in modern day.  It destroys so many lives.  Breaking Bad doesn't sugar coat that fact it all.  There are overdoses and it shows how terrible addiction can be.
It takes a totally relatable and everyday guy, Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and literally by the end of the series he is the devil.  Total transformation.
He starts out as a hard working Chemistry Teacher, devoted to his family.  When he is diagnosed with Lung cancer he decides he needs to discover a way to provide for his family after he is gone.
His brother in law, Hank (Dean Norris) sparks the idea in Walt when he takes him with him to work one day.  Hank, by the way, is a Drug Enforcement Agent DEA. Walt Witnesses a drug bust and the stacks of cash confescated by the police.
He is an excellent Chemist and cooking Meth would be a piece of cake.  He recruits a former student of his, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) to help him distribute his superior Meth.
Over taken with greed and the excitement this alterior life provides Walt becomes addicted to cooking Meth and the danger that his secret life provides.  His arrogance and pride ultimately become his downfall.

So bad... and so good all at the same time.

This was an excellent television show and I know that Bryan Cranston won several, well deserved Emmy's for his performance.

My thoughts.... watch it.  watch it.  watch it!

Movie of the Day: Jack the Bear

This is a pretty old movie.   It was released in 1993.  Wow!  That's over 23 years ago!  But I think it's a virtually unknown movie.
John Leary (Danny Devito), plays a single father trying to raise his two sons, Jack (Robert J Steinmiller Jr) and Dylan  (Miko Hughes).  The movie is told from Jack's perspective and is kind of A coming of age story.  John Leary is the host for the midnight horror films on a local television channel.  Really, he's just a big kid which leaves Jack to handle a lot of responsibility, such as taking care of his 3 year old brother.
There is a creepy guy in every neighborhood in America.  In Jack's neighborhood the creep is played by Gary Sinise and is known as Norman the Zombie.  After a few petty pranks the kids of the neighbor hood perpetrate against Norman, Dylan turns up missing with Norman as the main suspect.

The cast also includes Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Reese Whitherspoon.

Was the acting oscar caliber?  No.  Was it the tightest script ever written?  No.  But it was plenty emotional and honest and sweet.

The IMDB only gives it a 6.5
Rotten Tomatoes gave it 29% critic rating and 59% audience rating.
I give it a 2 out of 3 stars and a very big WATCH IT.

Book of the Day: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Okay, obviously I'm not really going through an entire book, an entire NEW movie and the latest TV shows and a Broadway type show, or live theater all in one day.  Nobody could possibly do that.  At least not with the most current films and books and TV shows out there.  And as far as the live theater or plays go... I make it to one of those maybe once or sometimes, on a rare occasion two times a month.    But I would like to post on both of my blogs at least every other day, and on the weekends when I have a bit more time. every day.

Long story short -- sometimes I will talk about old favorites.  I will usually be talking about the books we do in book club but when I have no new books to talk about. I'm going to talk about the books that have given me so much enjoyment and comfort over the years.  Alot of my favorite books are either children's books or young adult books.

One of my very favorite series of all time is Harry Potter.  I didn't get into the Harry Potter craze until the release of the third book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.  I will not deny that Harry Potter was a level above anything else I had ever invested myself in.  It truly was magical.

Over the years my family and my friends kind of tease and taunt me a bit about my obsession with Harry Potter.  I have a huge collection of Harry Potter memorabelia.  I have a replica of the Mirror of Erisad.  I have scarfs and a Sorting hat.  I have figurines.  My brother, bought my a set of those little Russian Dolls with Harry Potter characters on them.  Ironically the tiniest little doll is Hagrid.  LOL.  I have dishes and wands and a clock and yes, I was one of those nutters that showed up at the book stores the night of each book release and waited for hours and hours for the next installment in the series.  There was a comradery and excitement that just can't be denied and that I don't know if I'll ever experience again.

So when the announcement came that they were going to release an 8th Harry Potter book I was ecstatic.  Then I heard it was merely the stage play script.

And then I started hearing other things... dissapointment being expressed.  Even... bad reviews.  But this was JK Rowling writing about Harry Potter.  How could that even be possible?  So I was not disuaded.  I purchased my own copy of Harry Potter and the cursed Child and delved right in.

With previous Harry Potter books I was riveted to my cozy bed with my nose in the book for hours and hours.  I lived on Harry Potter until the book was finished.  Like a zombie i would make my way to the restroom periodically or I would head to the kitchen for a simple and quick meal and then back to my Harry Potter world.

With Harry Potter and the Cursed Child... not so much, sadly.  The 'Play' format was difficult to follow for me.  The vivid descriptions that I was accustomed to from the novels that were like pictures in my mind... were gone.

And then the concept and the idea of the plot was so... opposite of everything else it was just... almost offensive.  I mean it would be different if Voldemort levels of evil were at play but this was Harry Potter's son... and as much as i despised Draco Malfoy, we all know he wasn't really evil either.
It was just kind of... different.

It took  me two weeks to get through the book and I would read a few pages here or there when i had time... but I didn't MAKE time to read it.

All of that being said... I would love to see the play and see it brought to life and it might be better than just reading the screen play.  When the scenery and the interpretations and the magic is brought to life it will probably be different.  With all the blanks filled it... the scenery and the pictures and all the descriptions from the books that is lacking in just the words of the screen play...

It's worth reading... just maybe not worth buying.  If anybody wants to read it, I'll lend you my copy.

Broadway of the Day: Arsenic and Old Lace

At the Terrace Plaza Playhouse in Ogden Utah they are currently showing the hilarious classic, Arsenic and Old Lace.
To elderly sisters rent out the extra bedrooms in their house to single gentlemen.
They have three nephews,  Teddy, Mortimer, and Jonathon.  Teddy lives with them and he genuinely believes that he is President Teddy Roosevelt.
Mortimer visits his aunts regularly as his fiance lives just across the cemetery from them.  Yes, that is correct.  There is a cemetery between them.  He also is a theater critic.
They don't really talk about Jonathon.
By a fluke Mortimer discovers a body in the window chair in his Aunt's house.  He presumes that his eccentric and crazy brother, the one that believes he is President Roosevelt, has finally crossed a dark and unforgivable line.  However, when he confronts his aunts they admit openly that the body is of their doing and that they have poisoned him with Arsenic.  They also admit they have done away with 12 "gentlemen".  Mortimer is horrified and wracks his brain trying to devise a plan to protect his aunts.
Things are complicated further when their evil brother, Jonathon shows up with a body of his own.  That's when the comedy really begins.

This is a twisted, psycho, hilariously funny little play.  I was torn between shaking my head because the whole concept is just so wrong and LMAO.  Oh my gosh!  Seriously, I was rolling on the floor laughing.

For a little amateur theater the Terrace Plaza Playhouse always does an exceptional Job!

Arsenic and Old Lace will be playing until September 17, 2016.

SEE IT!!!!!

Movie of the day: Don't Breathe

Rocky (Jane Levy), Alex (Dylan Minnette), and Money (Daniel Zovatto), are petty thieves.  They break into houses and rob them but they are careful.  I kind of got the impression that Alex's dad is a cop or law enforcement of some sort.  His rule is they  never steal money.  

Rocky and Money are determined to get enough to leave their unhappy lives in Chicago and go to California.  When Money announced he has the solution for them Alex makes it clear he is not up for it.  A veteran's daughter was killed in a car accident and the family settled for over 300,000 dollars.  Money is desperate to get Rocky away from Chicago and he begs Alex to help them.

They are all a little hesitant when they find out their victim is blind.  But it's a easy job and Money and Rocky, at least, are determined to find the stash and leave town.

The blind man (Stephen Lang) is no pushover though and he fights back with a vengeance.  

I won't spoil everything.  So I'm not going to talk any more about the plot.  

What I liked about it:  This is a horror movie and there are plenty of moments of sheer suspense.  A blind man trying to defend his home from intruders and since he can't see he uses all of his other senses, but mostly hearing to ferret out the thieves.  There were a few moments when I felt I couldn't breathe.  It's so quiet and eerie I found myself holding my breath too.  As far as that goes it's pretty good.  

I like that the characters are all human.  That is, there is no supreme evil and there is no supreme good.  It's kind of a change that there is no true victim and there are no true heroes.  The fact of the matter is three people break into a man's home and he has every right to defend himself.  Too bad he's a bit psycho and extreme.  But unlike a lot of horror movies where the psycho has very little to NO reason for their unscrupulous acts of violence... there was a somewhat logical reason behind everything that is happening in this movie.  The extreme that things are taken I don't understand but there is purpose.  And in horror movies... that's pretty rare.

Things i didn't like:  Complicated... confused me.  The reason I liked it so much is the same reason i didn't like it.  There were no true heroes.  There were no innocent victims.  I had no sympathy or empathy for any of the characters.  The blind guy totally had justification in defending himself against thieves, no matter their noble motivation.  However, like I said... the guy was also psycho in his own right and he took his retaliation to such an extreme that I couldn't relate to him either.  And part of me was cheering on the Thieves.

The swearing was on the extreme side although it does lessen up a bit after about half an hour or so into the movie.

Extreme violence.  The blind man has psycho mad skills... and he's not nice.

There wasn't a lot of sex in this movie, another division from the normal horror movie.  However, towards the end of the movie there is some disturbing stuff.  Without actually doing the deed there is some intense stuff going on.  

The IMDB gave it 8.0

Rotten Tomatoes:  86% both critic and audience ratings.

I give it a 2.5 out of 3 stars.  

It worth giving a watch.                                              

Broadway Show: La Cage Aux Folles

We all tend to get embarrassed by family.  Some times the things our parents do are beyond humiliating.  I remember being embarrassed by my own parent's as a teenager.  My mom running around with pink and turquoise blue curler's in her hair and she had an extra loud voice.  And I was a normal, extra sensitive teenager.                                              Imagine that your fiance's father is an ultra conservative well known for his political views regarding transgender people and gay people.  Now imagine that you have fallen deeply in love with a beautiful, lovely young lady and she wants you to introduce her and her ultra conservative mother and father to meet your parents.  

Problem.  Your parents are gay and you mother is a man that prefers to dress as and behaves as a woman.  Sounds like trouble.  So Jean-Michael (Daniel Pack) goes to his parents and tells his father, Georges (Caleb Perry), no, he begs his father to call his biological mother and that Albino (Cameron Kapetenov) the woman/man who has raised him as her/his own must make herself/himself scarce for one night.  Just this one night!  Imagine what Anne, Jean-Michael's fiance will think?

Bigotry and hate shouldn't be accepted on any level for any reason.  Who are we to judge?  Who determines what is right and what is wrong in this world?   The social pressures now-a-days are strong and very real.  We all have our opinion on morality but it should be kept in mind, whoever you are whatever you believe, that it is not our place to judge.  Tolerance, love and a little understanding go a long, long way.

Jean-Michael takes down all of the decorations in his parent's house and begs them to 'tone it down' to appease his fiance's father.  And his parent's, because they love him so much oblige.  They adorn suits and ties and do away with their regular flamboyant garb in an attempt to please their son.

Again, I must talk about my mom for a minute.  I remember a few instances in school where I forgot my lunch or a homework project or something little and I would call her and ask her if she would bring it to me.  It was clear she wasn't happy about it... but she never failed to say she would do it.  And she would come marching down the halls of my school with whatever I had asked her to bring to me and rather than being thankful and adoring I would run up to her snatch the thing away from her and usher her away because I was so embarrassed by her.  My friends though would tell me  how lucky I was that my parents loved me so much.  Back then I couldn't comprehend it.  Doesn't every parent in the world just drop what their doing automatically to fill their child's every desire?  To bail them out and clean up whatever mess they've gotten themselves in to?  Isn't that how life works?

Yeah.

Eventually Jean-Michael realizes the error of his ways.  Recognizes how much his parents love him and have sacrificed for him and he apologizes for asking them to pretend to be something they are not.

La Cage Aux Folles is playing at the Ziegfeld Theater for a limited time.  Below is the link for the official press release.  And also the link to the Ziegfeld Theater

http://www.theziegfeldtheater.com/

http://www.theziegfeldtheater.com/la-cage-press-release

See this hilarious, beautiful, heart warming show before it is gone!!!  It was just amazing!!!!