| Other releases
Here's a stylish Korean "horror romance" set in 1942, a time of enough horrors even without the predicament about to beset a young doctor, whose care for the young survivor of a car crash and fascination with the beauty of a dead woman from the accident lead to very strange things. It's a well-received and lush production that dares to engage the emotions and move on from Asian horror cliches. Hero Heartthrob Takuya Kimura reprises his role as a semi-rebellious prosecutor in this feature that was hugely successful in Japan, just like the 2001 TV series of the same name. Kimura is Kohei Kuryu, a Tokyo legal officer who teams up with his band of colleagues to battle graft in the upper branches of the political tree. President Albert Dupontel (Irreversible) stars as a youngish, more idealistic president of France, a man under increasing professional and personal pressure as his daughter interacts with a young man the president then brings into his inner sanctum.
Brilliant lead lifts 'Othello' to artistic heights
One of the main reasons that few community theater companies are capable of successfully staging Shakespeare's tragic masterpiece, "Othello, Moor of Venice," is not having a truly gifted, black actor to cast in the emotionally and physically demanding title role. Not only must he embody the stature of a noble, passionate military leader of men; but be equally believable as a romantic, newlywed husband -- one whose love flaunted the period's social prejudice with his bold interracial marriage to the "fair Desdemona." The actor portraying Othello must also be capable of capturing the subtleties of the character's mental unraveling, as his trust in "the loyalty and virtue" of his guiltless bride is maliciously and methodically destroyed by the lies of a false "friend." His performance must engage the audience and make them care as they watch this innately good man struggle in anguish until unreasoning, blind jealousy turns him into someone capable of destroying what he loves best -- "one who loved not wisely, but too well." He must break your heart.
The Mitford Myth
Tolstoy believed that all unhappy families are unhappy in their own way; if he had known the Mitfords, he might have reconsidered. The Mitfords, of course, were no ordinary sisters, and their problems were not the kind most families have to deal with. Yet reading the "The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters" (Harper Collins, 834 pages, $39.95), the giant new selection from nine decades' worth of their correspondence, it becomes clear that family dynamics are much the same whether the family is made up of peasants or peeresses. Rich, famous, and frequently horrible as they were, the Mitford sisters too fought about who their parents loved most, who teased whom the worst during their childhood, and who should be in charge of the family photo album. "I must admit 'the Mitfords' would madden ME if I didn't chance to be one," wrote Diana, the most notorious of the six, in 1985.
Benedict XVI's Pep Talk; A Potter Betrayal
ROME, NOV. 2, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Last Sunday Benedict XVI read my mind. After a week of being trapped alone among very secular intellectuals smugly parroting anti-Catholic dogma, I passed St. Peter's Square to see an image of the newly beatified Spanish martyrs proudly emblazoned on the broad stone facade of the basilica.By Elizabeth Lev"The martyrs had it easy," I thought, as I stood in the back of the square, just out of reach of Bernini's colonnade. Laden with books and papers to prepare arguments against the mindless mudslinging of hate speech toward the Church, I envied a few short hours of witness in the arena with the lions. An afternoon of being mauled and chewed seemed preferable to a lifetime of inconclusive arguments.Faced with the modern hypocrisy of false tolerance, where all beliefs are accepted except the "arcane and rigid" morality of Catholics, I longed for the intellectual honesty of Diocletian.
Alonzo King's Lines Ballet turns 25
Alonzo King motions to the pianist to cut the music, then steps to the center of a musty Market Street studio. "I am not limited," he says in a soft but strident voice. "Get that in your head! I am not a victim of habit." Two dozen sweaty dancers stare as King gathers the fingers of his right hand and draws them in front of his face, down his broad, thick chest, toward his heart. "You're not living in the moment," he says. "How do you make new what you are going to do with the rest of your life? This is huge!" The room is motionless. "If any of you are in relationships, which you are - with yourself, with your art ..." King's enormous, curly-lashed eyes flutter wide. "You want to be what?" Heads nod, and King throws his long arms open.
Molly's Shannon's manic performance redeems 'More of Me'
Molly Shannon is beside herself. The "Saturday Night Live" comedienne stars in the 2007 cable comedy "More of Me" (9 p.m. Saturday, Lifetime) as a harried mother, wife and career woman who turns to her inner voices and gets a little more than she bargained for. "More of Me" begins with Alice (Shannon) in crisis. She's too busy to celebrate her 10th anniversary with her doting husband (Steven Weber); she wants to devote her full energies to her protest march to save a beloved tree from a bridge construction project, but her fussy daughter and not-quite-toilet-trained son keep her too busy. Alice "cracks up" soon after her son vomits all over her work outfit, making her late for the tree protest. She finds herself divided into three separate versions of her personality (all played by Shannon) — a cutthroat professional, a craft-obsessed perfect mom and a sex-crazed housewife.
Hands-on or too posh to parent?
Mothers come in all shapes and sizes, with different parenting styles and values, each having its own pitfalls and pluses. Are you a hands-on mom, working girl, new-age nurturer or too posh to parent? Just answer a few questions: 1 It's your tot's first birthday. You: a Get a party co-ordinator. b Hold a hippy naming ceremony to mark the occasion. c Hire an upmarket venue in the country where everything's done for you. d Bake a cake (from scratch) and have a garden tea. 2 Your child throws a tantrum in public. You: a Hand her to the au pair and pretend she's not yours. b Throw a hissy fit yourself - your therapist says it's the best way to deal with other people's outbursts. c Thank goodness you're too busy climbing the corporate ladder to deal with this. d Stay calm and distract her. 3 It's time to think about schooling.
'More' of Shannon may be too much
Molly Shannon is beside herself. The ''Saturday Night Live'' comedienne stars in the 2007 cable comedy ''More of Me'' (Lifetime at 9) as a harried mother, wife and career woman who turns to her inner voices and gets a little more than she bargained for.
''More'' begins with Alice (Shannon) in crisis. She's too busy to celebrate her 10th anniversary with her doting husband (Steven Weber); she wants to devote her full energies to her protest march to save a beloved tree from a bridge construction project, but her fussy daughter and not-quite-toilet-trained son keep her too busy.
Alice ''cracks up'' soon after her son vomits all over her work outfit, making her late for the tree protest. She finds herself divided into three separate versions of her personality (all played by Shannon) -- a cutthroat professional, a craft-obsessed perfect mom and a sex-crazed housewife.
|
