Theatre: Miss Saigon

I finally saw this . . . I went in only knowing, er, Saigon, I guess? And that there was a helicopter. So I didn't really have any preconceived notions or expectations. And . . .

I didn't enjoy it at all.

It was bombastic and melodramatic. I could tell it had been written by the guys who did Les Mis (which I've only ever seen the film of). There was just . . . so much wrong with it, I can't even.

Okay, okay, I get that this play is nearly 30 years old. So sensibilities have changed. Even so, gah. The songs weren't catchy, and they repeated the same handful of information over and over again. The Engineer would sing about girls/whores and wanting to go to America. Kim would sing about being in love with Chris, and then about missing Chris and still being in love with Chris. Chris got to sing about being in love with Kim a few times, but then he was relegated to wallpaper status. We were told he tried to find Kim, but we don't see it. We never see his struggles except, like, one nightmare maybe? I couldn't tell if he was supposed to be a sympathetic character or not. I suspect not given that two French guys wrote this about America taking over Vietnam after they had it.

I cringed my way through most of the show. The actors we saw were amazing and had great voices. The dancers were terrific. But the show is just . . . It's not good. I kept wondering what my uncle who served in 'Nam would have made of it. While I understand they do (kind of?) show the horrors of war, the writers also romanticize it quite a bit. If most of the songs had not been about love and longing, and if they'd shown more of Chris' PTSD or his frantic attempts to go back to Vietnam/Kim only to be told he couldn't, maybe it would have been better? Who can say? I don't think those changes would have made it any worse anyway.

Ugh. I'm sure a lot of people love this musical. But let's face it, "You're sunlight and I'm moonlight" is super cliché. Like, were the writers even trying? Or did they look at each other after the success of Les Mis and say, "Let's expand on the prostitute character and just pick a different setting"? That's what it felt like to me. I couldn't stop rolling my eyes through a lot of it.

Oh! And the thing where she kills her betrothed? That really went a whole lotta nowhere. There's a plot thread that someone dropped for sure. I guess they felt we needed more songs about her loving Chris and loving her son and stuff.

Sigh. Just . . . not a fan. Maybe I'm missing something, or maybe I'm cold hearted. I dunno. But this show did nothing but irritate me.

Movies: Pitch Perfect 3

This movie was just . . . bad. Clunky writing seemed to be the primary problem. A lot of exposition in dialogue. A lot of ham-fisted bits (like the flashes of the Bellas' various work lives). And just a lot of half-baked plot lines that they somehow figured would be fine to wrap up via small clips as the credits rolled.

It really felt as though the writers were struggling to (a) come up with any kind of story, and (b) fit everyone in so that no one felt as though they'd been sidelined or overshadowed. But the overall result was a mishmash. It's almost as though the movie didn't know whether to take itself seriously or parody itself. So it tried to do a bit of both and none of it worked.

Even when it hung a lampshade on things ("Is there a competition? There's always a competition."), pointing out its own formula did not make the movie any better, nor did it excuse the lack of originality.

Is there a competition? you ask. Well, of course. Of sorts. Thanks to one Bella's military dad (and don't ask me to tell you which one because there are too damn many, and we all really only know Becca and Fat Amy, right?), they get invited to perform for the troops overseas. Like the USO. Except there's also some plot about how a well-known DJ/musician is going to choose someone to tour with him from these USO acts? And we're introduced to a couple other bands only to have them disappear almost immediately. Well, or become incidental as this movie sees shiny things and chases one random plot bunny after another. Until we ultimately end up with Fat Amy and her estranged dad (John Lithgow with a bad accent) and a pseudo-James Bond thing. Also, a non-romance between Becca and the DJ's righthand man.

Oh, and John Michael Higgins and Elizabeth Banks are back as faux documentarians, following the Bellas around for no apparent reason? Except that it was decided they couldn't do another Pitch Perfect movie without shoehorning them in somehow.

It's just such a bad, boring movie. Like, not even so bad it's good. It's not funny. It's not cohesive. It's just a waste of time.

Movies: The Greatest Showman

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Michelle Willams, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson
Directed By: Michael Gracey
Written By: Jenny Bicks & Bill Condon
20th Century Fox, 2017
PG; 105 minutes
5 stars (out of 5)

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This is a good movie.

Look, I suspect—and I don't know for sure because I don't know anything about P.T. Barnum—it whitewashes a lot of Barnum's actual character. But it's still a good story, which makes a good movie.

And the songs are fabulous.

For those who don't know, a summary: this is the story of P.T. Barnum's rise from nothing to becoming a famous showman. It features his struggle for acceptance and legitimacy within the higher circles of society. It doesn't portray him as perfect, far from it, but there's the chance that it also doesn't dip all that deeply into anything too dark or muddy. And that's fine. This isn't a gritty movie; it's a musical. Following Barnum's philosophy, it's meant to bring people joy.

On a broader level, The Greatest Showman asks us why we seek approval and when is something enough to satisfy us. Similar to Hamilton (though I wouldn't necessarily equate the two), it explores a man's ambition and his impact on those around him.

In addition, the production is gorgeous.

I just really, really enjoyed this movie. My kids did, too. It's not everyone's cup of tea, I'm sure, but if you're so inclined to these kinds of things, I certainly recommend it.

Movies: La La Land

I wasn't as transported by this film as so many others seem to have been. I'll tell you what I did like:

1. The music.
2. Ryan Gosling.
3. All the bright colors.

Now here's what I didn't like:

1. The entire first hour, which is the story of Seb and Mia falling in love.
2. Mia in general.

Fundamentally, I have a problem with movies where the female character is this perfect little ball of cute and sweet and she's struggling in a world of not cute and not sweet. This gives the character nowhere to go. I mean, the character fights for what she wants, but she doesn't actually grow in any way as a person because she's already perfect. And then she ends up having the perfect life: happy family, big career.

Meh.

Also, why is it okay for a woman to be obnoxious—because somehow that's "cute" and funny—but if a man were to do the same thing, he'd be an asshole?

Why does the woman have to be the one that got away, or the great unattainable object?

Something about this movie—or a lot of little somethings—just doesn't sit right with me, and while I understand I'm probably working too hard here, I walked away with a sense of nagging unease rather than elation or regret or whatever else the filmmaker was going for.

Maybe I was in the wrong frame of mind, I don't know. I see the merit in this movie, but I feel like I can only see it from a distance; there's too much between me and it for me to embrace it.

Movies: Beauty and the Beast (2017)

Starring: Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Kevin Kline, Josh Gad, Ewan McGregor, Ian McKellen, Emma Thompson
Directed By: Bill Condon
Written By: Stephen Chbosky, Evan Spiliotopoulos
Disney, 2017
PG; 129 minutes
4 stars (out of 5)

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I was 15 when the animated feature was released, and like many a girl, I was charmed by Disney's take on the fairy tale. I could identify with Belle, being that I was also a bookish, lonely outcast. And I remember loving the stained glass of the opening narration, and thinking Adam (I took pains to figure out the prince's actual name—remember that this was before the Internet could be found in every house and library) was quite handsome for an animated guy. I liked him more than The Little Mermaid's Eric anyway. I think it was the hair. Again, remember: 90s.

Still, the charm faded over the years. I got older and life happened. Even once I had children of my own . . . I don't know. Disney used to feel like something magical that happened only once in a while. Now it's everywhere all the time. Its ubiquitousness has cheapened it a bit, at least for me.

So. This live-action remake of the beloved animated version. Well, it goes to some effort to answer lingering questions from its predecessor, like, "Why didn't anyone notice the prince and the castle were cursed?" And, "How does Belle get the Beast onto her horse?" It also expands the stories of the castle servants and tells us how Belle and Maurice came to be in Ville Neuve. And it goes back to the original fairy tale in that the reason for Beast imprisoning Maurice is that Maurice tries to take a rose from Beast's garden.

It also gave us some new songs that weren't all that necessary.

As for all the fuss about Le Fou being gay, it wasn't nearly as in-your-face as I was expecting. I think they could've done more, in fact, but I suppose they feel they need to be gradual with these things.

There was a moment when I was afraid they would err on the side of "men dressed as women = shaming for the men," but I was glad to see they twisted that a bit.

I was entertained, yes. I thought the production design was magnificent. The acting pretty much spot on. But the sum total did not, as they say, bowl me over. I didn't walk out wowed, merely satisfied.

And that's fine. Not every meal you eat is going to be memorable. Some will simply fill you when you're hungry. At least this isn't one I'll remember for being terrible.

Television: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

Finally tried this one out. Well, actually, I tried a random episode some months ago but didn't find it all that funny. Over time, however, I wondered if maybe I just needed more context. So I went back to the pilot and started from there.

Now I'm bingeing.

This show is incredibly funny though at times also truly cringe-worthy. What I really appreciate, though, is that none of the characters is perfect and almost none are caricatures. For example, the main character Rebecca (played by Rachel Bloom) is socially inept but very good at her job. I'm so glad they didn't go with her being an all-out mess. She has facets, as do almost every other character. (So far—and I'm only a few episodes in, mind—Valencia is the one character that seems to be from cardboard stock.)

You can't always like Rebecca, but that's okay. They even call out the fact that she's sometimes terrible in an episode in which she tries to prove otherwise. (Remember, kids, if you're doing good things for the wrong reasons, you're still a terrible person.) But the genuineness of the characters makes them ultimately relatable. And yet they're just over the top enough to be hilarious in a way real life almost never is.

Also: musical numbers. That are amazing.

I think I've been starved for comedy, so I'm really, really glad to have this to watch. I'm trying not to eat it up too fast because then I won't have anything left.

I'd say if you like, oh, Kimmy Schmidt, you'd probably enjoy this too. Rebecca isn't quite as alien as Kimmy but they come from neighboring petrie dishes, I think. As the straight man, Greg is my favorite character and probably the most sympathetic.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend can be bought On Demand or streamed via Netflix.

Movies: Sing Street

John Carney has made a career of basically finding a frame story to give him reasons to string would-be music videos together. I'm not saying this is a bad thing. He's good at it, and I've liked two of the three movies I've seen. It's just very noticeable. By the time I got to Sing Street, as cute as the plot is, I had come to realize it was more about the music than the characters.

Feel free to argue. The story of Sing Street is that in 1980s Dublin, 15-year-old Conor wants to impress a girl he sees sitting on a stoop. She tells him she's a model, and he randomly asks if she wants to star in his band's video. Which means he needs to start a band and shoot a video. Then comes the crash course in learning to write songs, etc., and a series of music video shoots.

Sure, there's a bit more to it. The would-be romance between Conor and Raphina, the stresses of a family falling apart, the school bully—or bullies, if you count the administration as one. But none of it feels all that important. They're there because there needs to be mortar to fill the gaps between the bricks that are the musical numbers. Mortar is important to a wall, yes, but the bricks make the wall. You dig?

Again, it's not necessarily a bad thing. I actually really enjoyed the movie, and it's a toss up between this one and Begin Again for me. I like them about equally. (I tried to watch Once, though, and couldn't get through it. Sorry. Know it was an award-winning whatever but not for me.) Bottom line is, John Carney movies are this one thing. When you're in the mood for that one thing, you watch one. Or maybe you skip the movie and just buy the soundtrack.

Television: Galavant, "My Cousin Izzy" & "It's All in the Executions"

Wow, what a fizzle.

We last left Galavant, Isabella, Sid, the jester, and Isabella's parents in the dungeons. Now Rutger Hauer has turned up as Richard's older brother Kingsley. He challenges Richard, and they each select their champions to fight in their steads. Kingsley calls on Gareth before Richard can get a word out, and so Richard is left with Galavant, who makes Richard promise to free his friends once he wins.

But of course we don't get any kind of fight. Isabella's cousin/fiancé Prince Harry shows up and distracts everyone. The fight is postponed in favor of a welcome feast. Chef and his would-be girlfriend plot to poison everyone at the feast, which would have been a nice finale, but of course Chef can't go through with it and merely puts in the things he knows everyone is allergic to. So everyone crawls away from the feast very ill.

At this point I ceased to pay much attention. I had really wanted to see how they would conclude things, but the answer is: they didn't. Galavant and Richard go off with the pirates. Madalena stabs Kingsley in the back—literally—and takes Gareth as a new consort. Isabella, her parents, Sid, and the jester all escape to Prince Harry's, where Harry imprisons Isabella in a special room he's made for her. It looks like the inside of a little girl's jewelry box, all pink.

Considering there's a fair chance the show won't get a second season (ratings haven't been stellar), it's a shame they didn't give viewers some kind of satisfying ending. The series was cute, but there was a definite downward trend. The final result was more whimper than bang.

Television: Galavant, "Completely Mad . . . Alena" & "Dungeons and Dragon Lady"

Okay, so I can easily begin to picture Galavant as a stage musical. The plot is pretty rote. And there seems to be a definite end coming, as this doesn't appear to be the kind of thing that can be carried too long or too far.

We've skipped any and all high seas hijinks in favor of direct arrival in Valencia. Isabella grows increasingly anxious as the time for turning over Galavant nears. Weird Al turns up as a singing monk and is sadly underutilized.

We're supposed to believe Isabella and Galavant have at the very least grown fond of one another if not fallen in love. Unfortunately, there's been little to demonstrate that. They appear to have become friends, maybe, in the sense of high school movies in which the guy has a friend who's a girl or vice versa. Not love interest, just buddy. And maybe that's because Galavant is still nursing an ember for Madalena—again, the high school movie comes to mind: the guy in love with the mean girl and unable to see that his great friend is really a better choice. (Isn't this a Taylor Swift song?)

But if we're going with this high school movie metaphor, at the very least it should be clear that Isabella has fallen for Galavant, and I don't quite believe it. She's grown to like him and is feeling bad now that she's betrayed him, sure. But love? Nah. The chemistry isn't there.

Honestly, I'm disappointed the show didn't do something cleverer with the plot. It's just so by the numbers. Okay, so Galavant and Isabella and Sid are thrown in the dungeons (with Isabella's parents and the court jester). Madalena proposes to save Galavant and keep him as a "boy toy." Her plan is to overthrow Richard and assume the throne, since she's sure she could do a better job.

Meanwhile, Chef takes Richard to see the magician Xanax (Ricky Gervais, put to slightly better use than Weird Al had been). Richard wants to know why he is the way he is, and after some "medication," he flashes back to the day his father died and his older brother Kingsley assumed the throne. Richard concludes that his life is all about having been the second choice in everything, though how he plans to change that remains to be seen.

Madalena orders Gareth to torture Isabella, but after a crisis of conscience he refuses; he serves the king and will only take orders from him.

Both episodes were somewhat weaker than those before, in part (again) because the plot offered no surprises. The "Love Is Strange" duet was fun, but if they're hoping a song will take the place of actual character development—that we'll just take the song's words for it and believe Isabella and Galavant are now officially in love—they are sadly mistaken. Decent songs do not make up for poor writing.

Television: Galavant, "Two Balls" & "Comedy Gold"

Is ABC doubling up to burn the episodes off more quickly or merely to fill a Sunday-night gap? Hmm.

The show continues to charm despite some hackneyed plots that include Sid having told his parents he was the knight, meaning when they stop over for the night Galavant is forced to act as squire while Isabella pretends to be Sid's fiancée. What's going to happen when there's no wedding, though?

At least King Richard got wise to Madalena's trysting with the jester. But instead of doing the kingly thing and having said jester's head removed from his shoulders, he hits the jester up for comedy lessons? So he can impress and woo Madalena by making her laugh? Sigh.

Timothy Omundson as Richard is a bright spot, but I'm not sure how long I can tolerate his tolerating Madalena's bad behavior.

"Comedy Gold" did also feature a fabulous turn by Hugh Bonneville as the Pirate King, and the pirates' musical number was pretty funny. I also enjoyed the executioners' song (har, lit joke there).

So Galavant is a cute bit of fluff, but how long can it really last? Already this week I felt myself tipping away from finding the music as fun as last week. Well, and it's true that not every person is going to like every song; you can't please everyone all the time. (And yet I'm still hoping for a soundtrack . . . Cuz I can skip the songs I don't like.) Also, the episodic plots are super thin. I'll keep watching, but I suspect it will start to be in a half-aware kind of way because the show simply doesn't require one's full attention. Nor does it command it.

Television: Galavant, "Pilot" & "Joust Friends"

ABC opted to double up on the Galavant, airing both the pilot and a second episode in a one-hour bloc, and it's probably a good thing they did. While the pilot was amusing and set the story, had the premiere ended there, it might not have brought viewers back next week. The "Joust Friends" episode furthered the plot and ended with the best of the songs thus far featured: "Maybe You're Not the Worst Thing Ever."

Galavant is a musical comedy about a medieval knight, Sir Galavant, who loses his will to fight when the love of his life chooses to marry King Richard. The music is by Alan Menken, so we definitely get the full musical experience. Unfortunately, the first half hour of the showing were all songs about Galavant himself, which became noticeably repetitive. The second episode broke free from that and was the better of the two.

A year after he was thrown over by the beautiful Madalena, Galavant is approached by Princess Isabella of Valencia for help in saving her parents from an invading king. At first Galavant dismisses the idea, but when he learns it is King Richard who has taken over Valencia, he agrees to take up Isabella's cause. He, his page Sid, and Isabella set off for Valencia.

King Richard, meanwhile, is the Christoph Waltz of bad guys. He's polite and apologetic, even as he's having someone's head cut off. Madalena only agreed to marry him for the money and stature, and she cuckolds him every chance she gets. She also badgers him by continually comparing Richard unfavorably to the great Galavant.

So Richard gets an idea: Kill Galavant and Madalena will no longer have anyone to hold over his head.

The "twist" was foreseeable practically from the start. [spoilers] Isabella was sent by Richard to bring Galavant back to Valencia so Richard could kill him. ::shrug::

Galavant himself is the least interesting of the characters. As per usual, the villain (Richard—though, honestly, Madalena is the true villain of the show) and the secondary characters are funnier and more engaging. Vinnie Jones as Gareth is particularly well cast. Actually, everyone is pretty well cast, but Jones is a stand out.

"Joust Friends" features John Stamos as rival knight Jean Hamm as Galavant must participate in a joust in order to win prize money to fund their travels. A simple enough plot, but there's enough funny to keep the show going. The big question is whether it's sustainable over the long term. We all remember Cop Rock, after all. But maybe this subject matter lends itself a little better to the song and dance.

Movies: Pitch Perfect

This was the kind of movie I had to be in exactly the right mood to watch, which is why I waited so long to see it. I'm glad I did. Both wait and see it, that is. I'm glad I waited because being in the right frame of mind was key to my enjoyment. And I'm glad I saw it because it's a cute movie.

For those of you even more behind than I am, Pitch Perfect is about rival acapella (yes, I'm using that rather than "a capella") groups at the fictitious Barden University, supposedly in Atlanta, Georgia, but filmed in Louisiana. The male group is the Treble Makers, and the female group is the Barden Bellas. There are actually two other acapella groups at the school, but they're mere blips in the story. And doesn't four seem like a lot?

Anyway, central to the story is Beca, who is going to Barden free because her dad is a professor there. But what she really wants to do is jet off to L.A. and try her hand at becoming a professional DJ. Her love is mixing music. Beca's dad tells her that, if he sees her really put in an effort to join in the college life and she still doesn't love it after freshman year, he'll help settle her in L.A. So, after being accosted in the communal shower, Beca tries out for and joins the Bellas.

Whoever wrote this—and I believe it's based on a book?—really liked the letter "B."

Beca also strikes up a friendship with Jesse, who in turn becomes a member of the Treble Makers. Bellas are forbidden from fraternizing with Trebles. You'd think this would cause a bunch more tension in the film, but surprisingly it doesn't really add much to the story at all.

A couple things stuck out to me while watching. One, Jesse is a bit of an asshole for dropping Beca when she won't take it to the next level with him. Okay, yes, she gets bitchy. But when she apologizes, he won't accept it. If he at least valued her as a friend, he would relent. But there's a definite sense that he doesn't forgive her basically because she won't be his girlfriend and kiss him or sleep with him or whatever. Like, he was her friend for as long as he felt he had a shot. Once it was clear he didn't, he dropped her.

On the flip side, though, turning the trope on its head is Beca having to win Jesse over rather than the boy winning the girl. And that's kind of fun.

The core story is of the groups competing through various levels of regional/state/whatever singing competitions. Very standard for the genre. And I do think competition films are their own genre of sorts. Dodgeball, for example. Bring It On and Step Up and all those types of films. They're basically underdog movies, right? Pretty formulaic. But because I actually love to sing (did a bit of it as an undergrad myself), I was more engaged in Pitch Perfect than I might have been in other such films. I found Beca refreshingly unaffected and the supporting cast of characters charming and funny. I could do without the vomit (yech), but other than that, I found it to be a cut movie overall.

A second film is due out next May. I don't know if I'd make it a point to see it in the cinema, but . . . Maybe if the mood strikes me just right . . .

Television: Selfie, "Pilot"

My Fair Lady is one of my all-time favorite musicals. Maybe it's because it was the first professional production I ever saw (with Richard Chamberlain as Henry Higgins), or maybe it's because I love the 1964 film so much, but for whatever reason . . . Anyway, my strong feelings made me nervous about watching Selfie, which is a re-telling of MFL for the modern . . .

Not adult, exactly, I don't think. I feel like Selfie is for younger viewers than me, even if the characters are ostensibly adults. John Cho as Henry is actually a solid bit of casting, and he does seem like a grown-up. And yet he's represented as something of a fuddy-duddy. As if to be smart and articulate, and to have [high] standards in this day and age, is a bad thing.

The flip side of this is Karen Gillan (yes, from Doctor Who) as Eliza. If "kids these days" are self-centered and narcissistic, Eliza here takes that to the extreme. But again, instead of this being an entirely bad thing, the writers see fit to try and make Eliza sympathetic by having her narrate her origins as an outcast back in grade school.

When Eliza becomes the butt of the joke again, this time in a viral video posted by coworkers and airplane passengers, she hits up marketing guru Henry to help her "re-brand" herself.

If the show was supposed to be funny, well, it wasn't. I didn't laugh once. And yet, it wasn't 100% awful either. The oil-and-water element of Henry and Eliza not mixing is definitely there; my question is whether they'll ever have any chemistry together, since they absolutely don't now. If there's supposed to be an element of Henry helping Eliza improve, and yet she also somehow makes him more "human" (and note Henry doesn't get some backstory to help us understand his behavior and world view, so the writers have failed to humanize him at all so far) . . . I can't see these two actors combining in a way that suits. But maybe the show will surprise me. I do love to be surprised.

So I'm not sold on Selfie, but I'm not completely discounting it either. Yet.

Movies: Muppets Most Wanted

It wasn't fun.

That's really the bottom line for me. It had okay musical numbers, but on the whole . . . It wasn't fun. It lacked inspiration. And tried to make up for that lack with a bunch of cameos.

The plot itself was pretty rote. Hot off the latest reboot (The Muppets, which was a fun movie), Kermit & Co. seek to stay relevant. They're hit up by Dominic Badguy (Ricky Gervais), who offers to manage a world tour for them. Kermit has misgivings but succumbs to peer pressure and agrees. But of course Dominic is actually working with Constantine, "the World's Most Dangerous Frog." And Constantine has just escaped from a Russian gulag. Except for a mole on Constantine's cheek, Kermit and Constantine look exactly alike. So of course Kermit gets picked up as the escaped convict and . . .

Hilarity presumably ensues, but not really.

Ty Burrell does a stint as a French Interpol agent, and Tina Fey turns up as Nadya, one of the guards of the gulag. But somehow Muppets Most Wanted ends up being less than the sum of its parts. It relies almost too much on the surprise guests, some playing themselves (Christoph Waltz, Celine Dion, Salma Hayek, Danny Trejo) and others popping up in various other roles (James McAvoy, Ray Liotta, Tom Hiddleston, Josh Groban). Is a walk-on in a Muppet movie the latest "it" thing to do? Maybe, but the long list of stars did the film no favors.

Truly, there was no joy in the story. In a technical sense, it ticked all the boxes, but somehow came out flat and uninteresting. Overprocessed. The best part was watching Kermit direct the gulag's annual talent show. If the whole film had been that, it would have been a lot better.

Movies: Double Features

Lately I've been thinking about movie pairings. You know, just like some people would think about food and wine pairings, I've been thinking about movies that make good back-to-back viewings.

When I was a kid, it was practically required that we watch The Last Unicorn and Labyrinth at every sleepover. So that's probably my first experience with pairing up movies. Though, thinking about it now, I do feel The Neverending Story works better with either The Last Unicorn or Labyrinth, more so than TLU and Labyrinth do together. Both TNS and Labyrinth have the Creature Shop factor to tie them together. Meanwhile, there's something similar in tone in TNS and TLU.

You see I take this seriously.

Of course, some movies are natural mates. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan must necessarily be followed with Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. And the Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies . . . Any series, really. But when you are dealing with something as massive as Star Trek, I can personally suggest Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home be paired with Star Trek: First Contact, as these share the time travel theme. I watched them both the other night and they played well together.

It's relatively easy to pair sci-fi type films. For sci-fi comedy, I tried Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Galaxy Quest, and they were a good duo.

But what if you don't want action or sci-fi? The most common thing, then, is to either choose an actor or a genre (or both) and go from there. My friends and I did The Innocents and The Haunting for a chilling evening of entertainment. To see Cary Grant get knotted up over ex-wives, go for The Awful Truth and His Girl Friday (where Grant plays against Ralph Bellamy in both). If you're looking for more modern rom-com, My Best Friend's Wedding + Runaway Bride works pretty well.

Harder to pair is drama, because so many dramatic movies can feel "heavy," and it can be difficult to watch more than one. You could maybe pick any two Coen Brothers movies, though many of those are more dark comedy than drama. Or you could do one drama and one comedy, like Steel Magnolias followed by some other Julia Roberts movie to lift your spirits. I know at least one person who really hates Julia Roberts, though, so maybe I should come up with another example . . . St. Elmo's Fire and Sixteen Candles?

You could pick movies based on stage plays. Arsenic and Old Lace and Rope, for example. Or throw in Suddenly, Last Summer with one of those. California Suite and Sleuth (I recommend the 1972 version). Or, keeping with Michael Caine, Sleuth and Deathtrap. (Actually, I believe Caine was also in California Suite . . .)

Taking that up a notch, musicals are fun features, too. However, many musicals have a longer running time, so be sure you take that into account if you're planning back-to-back viewings of, say, My Fair Lady and Camelot.

I could go on and on, of course. There are infinite combinations to suit every whim and mood. I'm only here to say what's worked for me (Secret of NIMH + Anastasia, if you like Don Bluth). I'd love to hear what you come up with.

Movies: Frozen

The nanny took the kids to see this one at the cinema, and of course they won't (my daughter in particular) shut up about it. I finally watched it on Blu-Ray last night.

The first 15 to 20 minutes were kind of awful. The setup for the story just took too long. And there was a lot more singing than I typically enjoy. I like musicals—the kind where there is a song now and then—but I'm not into opera. Not everything needs to be a song (IMHO).

What I'm really trying to wrap my brain around is why my daughter and all her little friends identify so strongly with Elsa when Anna is (a) more prominently featured, and (b) a lot more fun. But clearly little girls go for the wounded woman thing? Maybe it's to do with herd nature, and the desire to bring Elsa "in from the cold" and add her to their social collective. Anna has friends and thus does not need the viewers; Elsa, on the other hand, is alone and must be included. Just from a sociological standpoint, I find it fascinating.

Still, from a story standpoint, there were just a lot of problems. The trolls, for one. They either needed more story or to be excised entirely; as they stand their function as a simple expositive device is ick. And the "true love" thing. Wouldn't Kristoff bringing Anna back to the castle count as "an act of true love"? Or are we going with the "blood is thicker" argument? Much as I appreciate sisters doing it for themselves and all, the logic is deeply flawed. Someone needed to introduce and/or explain the hierarchy of valid types of love in order for this to work.

Really, what I walked away feeling was the stuff they compressed was the stuff they should have expanded, and the stuff they went on about was the stuff they should have compressed.

But I'll admit a juvenile amusement with Olaf and Sven, and with the way Kristoff would speak for Sven. I did laugh out loud several times, in that way when you feel you shouldn't be laughing because it's so dumb and childish, but you can't help it. That's really what saved the movie for me, that and Anna's winning personality. I didn't love the story or the music, but the characters were solid. And the animation was beautifully done.

It's possible that, after all the hype, Frozen wasn't going to be able to live up to expectations no matter how good it was (or is). On the whole, though, I was disappointed.

Movies: Summer Magic

I'm reaching way back for this one, which was one of Disney's Hayley Mills features, this one from 1963 (well before I was born). But there was a summer in which the Disney Channel played this film repeatedly, and I watched it again and again, never failing to be charmed by the songs and the sweet, simple story.

For those who don't know it—and I've no idea how well known Summer Magic might be—it is set in the early 1900s ("Time: Rag" per the title card) and features the downfallen Carey family who, after the death of the patriarch, must leave their upscale Boston home for less expensive digs. Enterprising young Nancy Carey (Mills) has written to the postmaster of tiny Beulah, Maine, asking about an old yellow house the family had once seen during a visit. And the postmaster, played by lovable Burl Ives, writes Nancy to tell her they can rent the house for a mere pittance because the owner—Mr. Thomas Hamilton—lives abroad in China anyway.

Of course things get complicated when Cousin Julia arrives to stay, what with her spoiled and stuck-up airs, and when she and Nancy crush over the same young man, and then when an unsuspecting Mr. Hamilton turns up wondering who is living in his house.

The songs are by Disney staples the Sherman brothers, and while in retrospect "Femininity" is kind of awful (one hopes it was meant to be tongue-in-cheek), "The Ugly Bug Ball" is a favorite now of my own children, and I use "On the Front Porch" as a lullaby for my daughter. For that reason, and because Summer Magic did fill one of my own childhood summers with a kind of magic, this one will always be close to my heart.

Television: Smash, "The Nominations; The Tonys"

And now we say our sad farewells to Smash, which after two seasons is closing its curtains. The soapy musical was unlike anything else on television, which isn't always a good thing, though here I think they simply failed to find their audience. Or maybe they did find it, but it wasn't big enough to sustain the show.

As the series ends, we have Karen in Hit List going up against Ivy in Bombshell. Both shows are on Broadway, and both are gunning for Tony noms (and, ideally, awards). The writers of Smash tend to be very diplomatic—they like it when everyone wins so no "team" has cause to complains—so going in (I'm blogging as I watch) I'm curious to see if there is a tie of some kind in the future.

Things start off with Karen winning the Outer Critics' Circle award, and Tom getting the same for Director. Or, rather, here is at least one tie: Derek and Tom are co-winners. In fact, Hit List all but swept, with Bombshell winning only two.

However, Hit List is on the verge of sinking as Ana's lawyer starts swinging with a wrongful termination lawsuit (remember the Daisy thing?) days before the Tony noms. And in the meantime, Ivy is trying to decide whether to keep the baby—though when she tries to tell Derek, he gives her the brush-off; he's got plenty on his plate as it is.

Karen tries talking to Daisy, but of course Daisy defends her reasons for sleeping with Derek and then blackmailing him into giving her Ana's part. After all, Daisy has worked ten years to land a leading role . . . And when all else fails, I guess?

I was hoping in all this to be able to ignore the ongoing farce between Tom and Patrick Dylan, which is ridiculous without being all that funny. But it won't go away.

We also get a look at the escalating hostilities between Hit List and Bombshell as the media gets involved, printing quotes out of context, and fans take camera-phone video of ill-considered remarks. (Pervasive ideas include: Julia wrote more of Hit List than Kyle did, the only reason Hit List got so much attention is because Kyle died, Ivy is a mere imitation artist as opposed to a real actress, Bombshell is traditional and safe whereas Hit List is new, fresh, and edgy.) The Outer Critics' Circle luncheon ends in a roundtable of people spewing invectives at one another until Mama Eileen makes them all go sit down and behave.

Derek sets Ana up with a big audition (without her knowing, but when she finds out she decides to go public with her lawsuit against him . . . or threatens to . . . then changes her mind). When Ivy overhears Ana talking to Derek, she decides against telling him about the baby: "You've never done the right thing, Derek. And you never will." Well, he can't if you don't give him the chance.

Tony Noms: It's Kyle versus Julia for book. Tom versus Derek for director. Ivy has one for supporting actress in that Liaisons show and one for best actress for Bombshell. And of course Karen has a nod for actress as well. Totals: Bombshell 12, Hit List 13.

And just as Derek gets three nominations, he opts to come clean to a reporter.

END HOUR ONE

A ensemble version of Queen's "Under Pressure" proves very uneven.

Jimmy decides not to perform at the Tonys and fails to pick up his tickets for the show. We discover he's since packed up his apartment in preparation for a getaway, though Karen makes him promise to pick her up and go to the Tonys together.

And Derek? Holed up in his apartment, refusing to leave. When Karen can't draw him out, she sends in Ivy.

Seems like everyone's having to face up to something as Julia talks to Frank about her relationship with Michael. And Eileen finds out Nick has been released from prison some three weeks prior and tracks him down to get some closure.

Oh, and none of the supporting cast wants to perform with Daisy at the Tonys, so Jerry gives Daisy a solo. Birds of a feather . . . Fingers crossed she crashes and burns. Though she does end up winning a Tony.

Hey, remember when Ron Rifkin was on Alias?

Kyle wins for Hit List! Guess the writers of Smash wanted to make sure Kyle (and Jimmy) got his happy ending. Jimmy's acceptance on Kyle's behalf gets dangerously close to derailing when he starts talking about Kyle meeting Karen . . . But he manages to pull it together.

Yeah, that's your incidental music, dumbasses. (This is me to Tom and Julia when they win for Bombshell and are too busy chatting to realize it.)

Derek wins for choreography for Hit List. And thanks Ivy in his speech, saying she was the one who convinced him to go to the Tonys at all . . . And saying he loves her very much. (He also thanks the Tony voters for judging the work and not the man.)

Then Derek yanks Daisy from her solo and puts Karen and Jimmy in to perform. After all, if everyone already hates him, Derek figures it doesn't matter what he does any more. The number grows into an a cappella ensemble, very nicely done.

And then Patrick Dylan hits Tom and Julia up to write a movie musical. Tom, having developed a crush on PD, lands a kiss on him . . . And concludes PD isn't gay. (Well, and PD tells him, just to be clear.)

Ivy Lynn wins for best actress, which in the end makes sense because Smash began with Bombshell and should end with it, too—end with its success, and the unqualified success of one of its stars. It wins best musical as well.

The show coulda ended there. But it continues. Ivy talks to Derek and tells him about the baby. (And where am I going to get my Jack Davenport fix now, I wonder?) And Jimmy tells Karen about an O.D. he witnessed five years ago and that he turned himself in . . . Which is why he was clearing out his world. He's looking at some jail time. Julia gives Michael the letter about how much she's always loved him. Nick comes back to Eileen. Yes, "coming clean" is definitely the theme of this show.

And then we get a weird Ivy-and-Karen Smash duet? (I only say it because the big, lighted SMASH sign is hanging behind them.)

Well, we can't say they didn't give us some closure—at the least we get a sense of everyone's potential, the general directions of their lives. And we can't say Smash didn't entertain us. Sure, it was sometimes silly, sometimes downright dumb, but it was always fun. I'll miss it. There's nothing else like it on television, and considering how it floundered enough to make networks hesitate to take such a risk, there may never be again.

Television: Smash, "The Transfer"

Hit List is transferring to Broadway to give Bombshell a run for its money.

This is a nice way for the writers to satisfy both audience teams (Karen & Ivy): they both get Broadway shows! It also gives them a straight trajectory toward the next big tension point: instead of the competition being about who gets the role of Marilyn, it is now about who gets the Tony. Though Karen and Ivy have promised one another they will behave maturely no matter what happens. Doesn't mean anything, though, since they didn't pinky swear.

Another dramatic point: Julia being caught between both shows.

Alas, the move to Broadway has tripped up Anna as The Diva—she's making a lot of mistakes—and Derek decides to give Anna "a night off" and put in her understudy. Julia and Jimmy, on the other hand, feel the problem is the venue. Off Broadway the stages are on a level with the audience; on Broadway they are above, elevated—the world of the play is removed. Maybe Hit List doesn't translate so well because it's the kind of story that's meant to be close to the viewers.

Additional pressure: everyone always asking or saying whether the late, beloved Kyle would have wanted [fill in the blank].

Car commercial in the middle of the show.

Angling for more attention (and hopefully Tony noms), Tom is working on a revue for a gathering at the Oak Room. A blind item pinning Ivy with bad behavior and a leak to the press that Tom and Julia are splitting up . . . No such thing as bad publicity?

Jimmy and Julia decide to cull Kyle's old notecards to see if there's anything they can use to make Hit List's transfer any smoother. By using Kyle's ideas, no one feels bad for changing some of the book.

Meanwhile, Anna tells Karen her understudy (Daisy) may be blackmailing Derek to get Anna's role. (For those who may not remember, Daisy is the one who at one point had accused Derek of sexual harassment then apologized because being a snitch had come back to bite her and she'd been unable to land another part.) Turns out Daisy has a sex video of her and Derek that includes his promise she can be an understudy on Hit List, maybe even a star? So yeah. Blackmail.

This is kind of a sudden and stupid turn of events. Derek had been doing so well . . . Seems like the writers felt like they needed to do something more with him and this was the best they could come up with. (Or maybe they needed more for Anna? Is she still seeing Jimmy's brother? Guess not.)

Audience interaction via social networking . . . I've been reading about this in The Dramatist. How very timely of the writers to include it here.

We shouldn't have to listen to Debra Messing sing. Especially not a song about writers, over a montage. (Guess the writers wanted their own song? As a writer, I understand, but this wasn't a good song. I'll take "If I Could Just Get It on Paper" by Jimmy Buffett over this any day.)

As for all the press leaks: Eileen is the culprit (though Ivy believes it's Karen and their fragile truce falls apart; this is the downfall of not pinky swearing). Playing Bombshell up as Tom and Julia's last hurrah gives Tony voters impetus to vote for it, as if to reward a body of work epitomized in one final production.

With Hit List now ensconced on Broadway, Julia tells Jimmy she can no longer help him tool the show.

Oh, and Ivy is pregnant.

Television: Smash, "The Phenomenon"

Jimmy's singing to himself. That's a sure sign of psychosis.

And then he goes and knocks on Karen's window. Except Derek stayed the night (but nothing happened, not that Jimmy knows that). Awkward.

Tom phones Kyle because they were supposed to meet up. The police return his call, letting Tom know Kyle was hit by a car . . . And has died. Time to call the crisis and grief counselors! (Isn't that what they do when it's a classmate?)

I've concluded the actor who plays Jimmy is a wanna-be Chris Pine. He turns up as the cast of Hit List is hanging around mourning, Jimmy still unaware of Kyle's death, gives one of his usual diatribes that includes "Kyle can go screw himself," and the cast takes the opportunity to tell him where Kyle is. As in, the morgue. So of course Jimmy takes off and Karen goes after him.

I dislike the attempt at weight in this episode. I always feel when a show does this kind of thing, it's unnatural. Then again, I often find people's reactions to death in real life unnatural . . . Grief as an obligation, or an opportunity for drama. But that's another discussion.

Despite plans to cancel Hit List for the night, ticketholders turn up demanding the show. "For Kyle!" becomes the rallying cry. But Karen has to hunt down Jimmy. And declare her love.

I so totally don't feel any chemistry between Karen and Jimmy. I don't know if it's the actors, or the way the show is written or what, but it falls flat. Maybe they're just trying too hard. That's been a problem for Smash this season, a manufactured urgency. The show has been trying too hard.

Turns out that Scott was the one to tell the ticketholders the show would go on after all. He tries to package it as a way to honor Kyle, but Julia calls him on it. It's really about Scott wanting the show to do well, about his need for success, about wanting to tap into that "death drama" and use it for gain.

The show does go on—as a stage reading—until Jimmy shows up and says he wants to perform. One supposes the whole end of the show, what with the death of Karen's character (named Amanda, I might add), now takes on a special poignancy, every song doubling as a funeral hymn for Kyle. And I have to say: It was well done. It was touching. Possibly the best moment of the season. And since I've been reliably informed I have a heart of stone, it's pretty telling that I felt something.

The Kyle flashbacks, on the other hand . . . Meh. Not a great device.

But hey! On the up side, Jerry is moving Hit List to Broadway! What a nice gesture . . . It's all for Kyle, right? Right?