X-Men: First Class

This was a film with an end in mind - somewhere it had to reach, beats it had to establish before its runtime was up. Xavier had to be crippled, Magneto evil, Beast blue, the lines drawn. This definitely detracted from its fundamental goal, as a movie, of being coherent and not shattering suspension of disbelief (how did Mystique know to put a dopey helmet on Shaw in order to perplex Azazel?) but not interfering with the other fundamental goal of providing a set of action set-pieces, tearful dramatic beats, and superpowered soap opera that near-summer movie-watchers and X-Men fans craved like taquitos.

So it was fun in the theatre, in a '60s James Bond or Austin Powers sort of way. Some lazy storytelling and trope-indulgence - killing Darwin, really?! why didn't he "adapt to survive" by not being the lone African-American in an action movie - and some really half-assed characterization (Rade the eternal Russian, and Ironside acting like Ric Olie from The Phantom Menace) made me roll eyes and grit teeth, and invoking the power of Hannukah Magic was really silly.

And Beast's blue face looked like a Zathras costume, mustn't forget that.

But all of that doesn't matter. Tears in McAvoy and Fassbinder's eyes as Magneto completes his arc with the helpless, despairing Kevin Bacon looking on, reaching desperately for his helmet (and really, the superpowers in this movie MATTERED to the storytelling, in a fascinating way) felt real. Mystique's internal struggle felt honest. Submarines being torn from the water and flights of missiles being plucked from the air made up for the shocking weakness of the special-effects battles in X3.

This felt like a movie taken seriously. And while it is very important not to take everything about the X-Men seriously, it is important always to look like you are. Consequently, this worked, as an X-Men movie.

Countermeasure Public Launch

My A Cappella choir Countermeasure had a two-hour public launch concert/event that combined us with the Art Battle crowd for a visually and stylistically heterogeneous start to our career as our own thing.

The set list was ambitious, and sometimes we weren't quite able to reach our goals. Musically, I know we have a lot of work to do. But artistically, the show was a success.

This post will expand.

My Fair Lady (Alexander Singers and Players)

From February to May of this year, I was involved in a production of the Alexander Singers and Players, a musical and community theatre group with whom I've now performed in six shows, going back to 2006.

It was worth my time, and to say that you have to realize just how much time I didn't have, and how much it's worth to me.

It meant that I didn't get to post here, and that I didn't see a lot of movies or read a lot of books. But I did dance a fair bit.

This post will expand.