Two Words, One Answer.
Harrelson
 The Frogs (2004 Broadway Cast) $18.98 On the stage, this was a pageant of spectacle and low humor -just what Aristophanes would have wanted. Sondheim and Lane, in their effort to do the ancient playwright justice, may have shot themselves in the foot - but their show remains a fascinating rollercoaster ride through imagination, politics, and mythology. Sondheim provided a number of new songs, including the haunting "Ariadne" which is destined to become a classic. That song alone makes this the indispensable version of the show (as opposed to the concert cast with Lane, Brian Stokes Mitchell, and Davis Gaines, which is wonderful, but a completely different animal). Unlike the previous concert recording, this is a real cast album -and it sounds like one. The cast is energetic and the orchestra brash and exciting. The score is bouncy and melodic -and wickedly funny. As is typical of Aristophanes, the show is extremely political, with satirical jabs thrown at the Bush administration and its policies (though not by name). It asks the audience to demand more from its leaders while celebrating the power of art (especially drama). Those who would cry "leftist propaganda" simply don't know their theatrical history. The Frogs without leftist propaganda wouldn't be The Frogs at all! Other reviews have mistakenly referred to the show's Broadway run being cut short. Just the opposite is true. It was scheduled for a limited season at Lincoln Center (not an open-ended run) and it was extended. Far from playing to empty houses, it was a hard-to-get ticket and a crowd pleaser. I had to fight to get in, but it was worth it.  Grass Poster Ron Mann Woody Harrelson $9.99 This poster is 12 inches by 24 inches. It is in mint condition. It is 2 sided  Transsiberian $2.99 The movie sounded interesting and Brad Anderson hasn't made a bad film yet, so we gave it a shot, and I'm here to tell you, it is better than we hoped! Woody Harrelson in real life is only about ten years older than Emily Mortimer, but onscreen you'd think they came from entire different generations. That works in the movie, sort of, but really it would have been better with almost any other actor. Everyone seems skewed a little older: Kate Mara's supposed to be playing a teenager for goodness sake, and anyone could tell she's been around the block more than once or twice. And yet so strong are the movie's powers of horrors that you just sit there and accept all its improbabilites and oddities. Be warned, there are some awful violent sights to be seen. Well, as soon I saw Thomas Kretschman's name in the credits my gorge rose, since I remembered him being so beastly to Asia Argento in those long, cruel torture scenes in her father's film THE STENDHAL SYNDROME. He may look like an angel but he's always evil inside. As for Ben Kingsley, he walks around with the offended pout he gets when in real life someone slips and forgets to address him as "Sir Ben." Okay, so the moral of this movie, like every horror movie recently (like HOSTEL or THE RUINS), seems to be, don't go to any foreign countries, people will take advantage of you. Are these antiwar allegories perhaps? Woody Harrelson seems to think so. |
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