entertainment

sleep no more

Yesterday was wedding anniversary number three. Three years already! Doesn’t really seem like it. Did you know that the traditional third anniversary giftage is leather? Yeah, we weren’t about to pass that opportunity up. The boy got me these. His present is going to be slightly belated because I had to custom order it, but it is just as leather and possibly just as awesome.

We usually go apple picking on our anniversary, but the weather has been cold and rainy and not apple picking conducive, so we came up with alternate plans.

We went to see Sleep No More, a Hichcock-flavored version of Macbeth staged in an abandoned Brookline school. I am very thankful that I am still on the A.R.T. mailing list, I hadn’t heard of it until a postcard landed in my mailbox last week and it seemed the perfect Octobery anniversary thing to do.

I have been trying all day to come up with ways to explain the sheer wonderment that is this show. It doesn’t even seem proper to call it a show, that sounds too passive. It’s an experience. It’s exploratory theatre. You enter this place and you’re set loose in a creepy, beautiful, moody wonderland of darkness and mystery and Shakespearean goodness.

I loved every second of it. The boy and I split up fairly early to explore solo, which is absolutely the way to do it. I think it’s the only way to really immerse yourself in the environment. We both had wildly different experiences and we both adored it and thought all three hours flew by. It’s not enough time to see everything, even though we left sweaty and exhausted and the boy ended up with (stage) blood on his shirt. We’re going to go again before it closes. I am vaguely bitter that I don’t live in the UK to better access everything Punchdrunk does, but I feel very, very lucky to be able to have this production a comparatively short train ride away.

I have to admit, I don’t like going to the theatre. I think I overdosed on it back in the day when I was a theatre major and now I find it draining and uncomfortable. I tend to avoid it entirely and I despise audience participation. But I was too curious about this to resist checking it out. And I adored it, possibly more than any theatrical experience I’ve ever had. It was inventive and experimental without being pretentious. Giving the audience members masks provided a brilliant sort of comfortable anonymity. Loved it. LOVED.

I can’t wait to go back.

Careena Melia Hector Harkness

By erin, ago

UP

I am a Pixar junkie. I don’t always love their films (I hated Cars, I really did) and I maintain that the comparative lack of female characters is annoying, but for the most part I love most things Pixar.

When the teasers and trailers for UP first came out, I was nonplussed. I thought the balloons were pretty but it wasn’t really doing it for me.

But it came out today, and it’s getting really good reviews, and the boy had today off, and sometimes Pixar films are surprising when compared to their advertising campaigns. So we went to see it this morning.

And within 15 minutes it made me cry.

It is, indeed, much deeper than just a story about an old man and a little kid floating off in a house carried by countless Technicolor balloons. It’s thoughtful and touching and genuinely funny. I don’t know if it surpassed Ratatouille as my favorite Pixar film, but it is definitely up there with the best of them. We saw it in 3D, and the effects are wonderfully subtle. Mostly it just adds depth to the gorgeous scenery.

And it made me cry within 15 minutes. It might have been 10, I’d have to watch again and time it.

Loved it. Maybe even moreso because I didn’t think I was going to. And Partly Cloudy, the short that runs before it, might just be my new favorite Pixar short.

Go. See it. Bring Kleenex.

By erin, ago

omglost

Those of you who know me well, or even vaguely, are probably aware that I am somewhat obsessed with a little television show called LOST.

I turn into a squeeing fangirl for very few things. Well, I suppose I respectably fangirl a decent amount of things, but the squeeing is comparatively rare.

I love LOST more than any television show ever. Sure, I’ve had my flings before and they’ve always ended in disappointment (excuse me whilst I glare in the general direction of The X-Files) but I have faith that LOST is not going to break my heart. Why? Because in 5 seasons they’ve yet to disappoint, and they just keep getting better and smarter. I’m a pretty smart cookie, and I’ve predicted a great many plot points on this show but they continue to surprise me.

I think, at the core of it, I love that LOST is a narrative that is working from the outside layers of story inward towards its meaning. I can’t think of another show that does that, and it’s brilliant. I trust that there’s an endgame, that the writers know what the island is even if the audience can only guess. I know a lot of viewers don’t like the mystery and the constant questions but I love it, it keeps me watching and guessing and hypothesizing. I love entertainment that requires me to think.

Also, I have a huge crush on Michael Emerson. But if you know me at all (or vaguely) you probably knew that, too.

Anyway, I am beyond excited for tonight’s season finale. I have no idea what’s going to happen. I’m concerned about Frank’s general well-being. I have my numbers shirt on. I don’t think I’ve ever actually owned a shirt for a tv show before. (I have DHARMA shot glasses, too.) I’m making Blue Hawaiians later. I’m kind of unable to focus on anything else right now. Have I mentioned that I love this show? Cause I do. With a love that is pure and true and knows no bounds.

By erin, ago

to boldly go

We went to see Star Trek this morning. Going in pretty skeptical of all the rave reviews, I was pleasantly surprised. It is really, really good. It’s not flawless, it’s not perfect, but it’s really, really good. 

I had some problems with the plot, I thought the first half was stronger than the last, and I’m rather annoyed that Uhura started out kick-ass and then got relegated to love interest. But overall I was impressed. I grew up on TNG and I don’t know my classic Trek as well but I’m pretty well-versed in a general sense. 

It’s the first time, I think, in any Star Trek, that I could see the step between modern present and Star Trek future. That was my favorite part, really, that this universe didn’t seem so distant. The design and aesthetic of it was brilliant.

Loved the cast, love the idea of actually rebooting the universe. Loved the Slusho reference. Curious to see if they can maintain this fresh, new energy through another film, but I can wait until 2011 or whatever to find out.

It was fun. We hadn’t been to the movies in awhile, either. Lousy previews, except for 9 which I am really looking forward to. Need to make a list of upcoming things to see, really. Up should be next, I think.

By erin, ago