True Stories

We recently watched two films that are based on true stories -- The Iron Claw and Maestro.

The Iron Claw tells the dramatic story of a wrestling family that I had never heard of before.  Apparently, this family is in the Wrestling Hall of Fame.  I heard of some of the bigger name opponents they faced in the film but I don't recall ever hearing of them.  The story is at times difficult to watch, and the family faces a lot of hardship and tragedy.  Much of it is self-inflicted and largely the fault of the strict father who wanted his sons to fulfill his own dreams which were never accomplished in his youth.  By pushing them all so blindly toward his goal, many of them develop a skewed sense of what is important in life.  I thought the film was well done and I thought Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White gave strong performances.

Maestro is probably better known to most people as the story of composer Leonard Bernstein and his wife.  It was written, directed and stars Bradley Cooper who gives a strong performance but it felt a bit one-note to me.  Bernstein comes off as selfish and indulgent and we don't really have clear understanding of what drove the decisions that he made.  Did he really love his wife?  In all of the interviews, Bradley Cooper and Bernstein's children say that he did.  That this was a unique love story.  However, there were many gay people of the same era who married spouses of the opposite sex to "fit in" and seem more acceptable to others.  Was this story so unique?  For me, a good biopic offers a deeper understanding of its subject, revealing layers that may not be known to the public.  I guess this film felt a little distant and didn't really leave me with the feeling of learning so much that was new.  I'm sure it will get a lot of nominations when they come out and it was certainly a well-produced film.  Note that the lead producers were Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg.

As this is our last blog for the 2023 Christmas season, I wanted to say thanks to those of you who have read along with us.  New blog entries everyday for the month of December (and Jan 1) are tough to maintain and I give my family a lot of credit for everyone's contributions.

Happy New Year to all and here's to a year of happiness, health and success!

Frosty

Another New Year's Eve

Apparently my mom wrote something similar yesterday, but I haven’t read it so any similarities are purely coincidental and not eligible for legal action.

New Year’s Eve is a time of celebration, newness, and excitement. For me, it is a time of stress and yet another year of figuring out what the hell to do. I would love New Year’s if it actually went as promised— crazy party where you’re not too hot, there are places to sit when my back hurts, and someone cute to kiss at midnight in a whirlwind-slow motion moment. But it never looks like that. 

Being in New York, it would seem our best option is to find somewhere in the city, but that’s also terrifying on NYE so ultimately not really worth it. Everything is overpriced and watered down, and not enough seating. 

From what I gather, the best option is a house party, but I don’t have enough NY peeps to throw one of those right now, and even if I did I doubt people wanna trek to Westchester. Hopefully next year, I’ll be at a raging house party with my copious amounts of extremely close friends and a few mysterious strangers, but for now, I'm off Brooklyn by myself for a jam session/party thing because I couldn’t find someone to go with me. Hoping to make some new friends and harmonize into the new year, bringing me a 2024 filled with warmth and music. 

Happy New Year’s Eve to you all and may you find something worth doing that brings you joy and luck in the new year!

Holly

What To Do On New Year's Eve...

I have never been one for big fanfare on New Year’s Eve. If one goes out, places are super

crowded and super expensive. Restaurants slightly alter their menus for NYE and then majorly

jack up the prices. And those giant parties with a huge cover charge? Ugh don’t get me started.

 

Therefore, over the years, I have found myself doing many different things on the last day of

the year. Yes, I have watched the ball drop from the comfort of my couch and I am proud of it.

But I have done many other things which have been pretty fun.

 

The Ball Drop: Many years ago I was out to dinner with a bunch of people in midtown and at the last

minute we decided to go to Times Square to watch the ball drop. It was spontaneous and chill.

Glad I got to experience that before they started the system of cordoned-off people standing in their 

little section wearing diapers for 12 hours. However, I also got to watch the conch shell drop in Key

West. A much smaller event but nicely reminiscent of home.

 

New Year’s Abroad: Unintentionally, I have celebrated the holiday away. In addition to Key

West, I have witnessed the New Year blossom in Las Vegas, Dallas, Reykjavik, Okemo, and

Antarctica. Of those, Antarctica was literally and figuratively the coolest – and also a bit surreal.

We were considerably medicated with anti-motion sickness meds which make a person really

drowsy and sporting a drug-induced haze. But on top of that, the stroke of midnight is in broad

daylight! The ship captain had the shades drawn to enhance the vibe, but one could easy pop

them up and witness icebergs in the sunshine. But perhaps the funnest fun fact about that trip

is our ship held the distinction of being the most southern ship of any ship at midnight. The

captain made sure of it. Pretty wild!

 

While all of these adventures are fun and unique and I am glad that I did them, one of my

favorite ways to ring in the new year continues to be hanging out with a handful of friends, and

watching the ball drop on the TV.

 

Happy New Year all!

 

Eve

A Brief and Earnest Reflection of 2023

Like last year, I’m going to use my last blog post to reflect on the past year. Another strong one! Turns out, most years are pretty good when there isn’t COVID. That’s what I’m deducing. 

We traveled outside of the country twice, for the first time since before COVID. I explored more of California and immersed myself more in the LA community. I used the WGA and SAG strikes as an opportunity to get back into acting classes and to produce my own improv shows. I also finished all of UCB’s improv coursework, in under a year. I made a lot of new great friends that I feel lucky to have. I have some projects lined up for the new year that I’m excited about, too.

Thanks for reading and Happy New Year!

Rudolph

Go See "Poor Things"

If you haven't already done so, I strongly recommend that you make time this holiday season to go see the new film, "Poor Things" directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and starring Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe and Mark Ruffalo.

The basic premise a retelling of Frankenstein, with Dafoe as the doctor and Stone as the "monster".  Other than that, the film really defies description.  It is funny, inventive, extremely creative (often bizarre), visually stunning and very entertaining.  You've probably not seen another film like it.

The performances by the main cast are fantastic, with a special shout out for Emma Stone who starts off so simple and child-like, and evolves over the film to someone who is much smarter and worldlier than many people.  I would be shocked if she doesn't get nominated for best actress for this film.  Her performance alone is worth the price of admission.

I was initially thrown by the film, not having read much about it before seeing it.  Was this supposed to be dramatic, scary, farcical, funny?  It quickly establishes its tone and is really quite funny with so many humorous lines, visual gags and physical bits that kept me laughing throughout the film.

I agree that some of the material is bizarre, and the film may not be for everyone.  It is kind of crazy in a similar way to "Everything Everywhere All At Once".  You need to accept that anything can happen.  But if you are willing to go for the ride, I think most people will find this film super-entertaining.  Let me know what you think.

Thanks for reading.

Frosty

Percy Jackson

As someone who has read the original Percy Jackson series and its spinoffs multiple times, seen both movies multiple times, and now is watching the new Disney+ TV show, I feel like I can speak in this topic with relative authority. The books are brilliant in my opinion. I feel the characters grow with us, and they brought me my love of Greek and Roman mythology. There are wonderful, well-developed characters that have faults and gifts and go on real human journeys (even if they’re technically in demigod situations).

As for the movies, looking at them as stand alone films and not as adaptations, they’re kind of fun and the cast did a great job. However, as adaptations they are a terrible representation of the depth and brilliance of the books, and should not be used as a tool to teach mythology (this is actually a direct quote from the man who wrote the books, Rick Riordan, if that tells you anything about them).

I’m excited for the potential of the new show. While some of the acting seems a little hokey and Disney Channel-ish (it feels like it could have a laugh track playing after some of the more cliché jokes), I have hope. I’m hoping that maybe it’ll be like the Harry Potter movies, where the kids were younger in the first few movies and got better as they grew up and grew into their talents and their characters. Regardless, I’m enjoying the loyalty to the original material for the most part, and I’m ready to watch more with an open mind and an open heart.

Overall, despite my varying opinions about the movie and TV show, I still very much enjoy them both, and while I may not rewatch them as often as I reread the books, I encourage you all to partake in whatever medium works best for you.

Thanks for reading.

Holly

Thoughts on Portugal

So my family just came back from Portugal – a rather quick but jam-packed trip that gave us 5 full days there.  One of those we spent in Sintra, the rest in Lisbon. Herewith are my musings:

Best Christmas-themed thing we did: As Europe is famous for its Christmas markets, we made sure we hit a few.  We ultimately went to two different markets two times each.  It was a great way for us to get in the Christmas spirit while we were away from home. We also did a night walking tour in parts of town where there were lots of Christmas lights so that was special.

Most addictive local treat: Pao con Nutella. This is basically warm pizza dough with Nutella incorporated throughout.  But it is hearty heaven.

Most delightful surprise: Discovering that Lisbon has the oldest continuously open bookstore in the world - the Bertrand which opened in 1732. It’s in the Guinness Book of World Records and everything. We got to go there twice, and of course purchased a book which they stamped as such.

Most unusual sight: The Initiation Well at the Quinta da Regaleira estate. This “well” is better described as a gothic spiral staircase that descends 90 feet underground, apparently to simulate nine circles of hell.  Once you get down to the bottom, there is a maze of underground tunnels for you to wander around seeking salvation. How this thing never made it into Game of Thrones is beyond me.

Best last minute find: the Banksy Museum.  We had moved our schedule around a bit and decided to check out this small museum.  It was a nice break from palaces, castles and larger museums.  The best part was that each piece of art had a little explanation next to it giving the context of the art.  Very helpful considering Banksy’s work is so politically/culturally/societally motivated.

Best overall fun thing we did: we took a four hour Tuk Tuk tour of the city.  Our guide was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable, and it was like being outside but still in a sheltered vehicle. Very easy to pop in and out to look at various views and sights. It was an easy and convenient way to cover a lot of ground.

Hope you enjoyed my comments! Feliz Natal!

Eve