The Wild Blog in the West

Okay, I jumped the gun a little.  I was going to wait to review classic musicals after I finished with the most notable musicals from the past 20 years.  However, the recent Carrie Underwood take , plus the movie's annual pre-Christmas airing, left The Sound of Music  (1965) fresh in my mind.  So what the hell?  Why not write about my favorite movie musical while it is still fresh? The Sound of Music was adapted from the 1959 stage musical of the same name, which itself was (loosely) based on real life events.  In real life, 18-year-old Maria Augusta Kutschera entered Salzberg's Nonnberg Abbey as a postulant, hoping to become a nun.  Having trained as a school teacher, she accepted an assignment to teach one of Captain Georg von Trapp's seven children.  Captain von Trapp fell in love with Maria, and Maria married him more out of love for his children than for him.  They eventually had a few more children of their own.  Captain von Tr...

Ah Les Miz , it seems like only yesterday I was anticipating you the way I once anticipated gifts from Santa.  Then you arrived and all was well.  Then you came out on DVD, and I watched you more times than was probably good for me. Since then, things have been a little quiet.  A new Broadway production of the stage play is set to open in 2014, and I hope to be able to see it.  However, there has been no mention of an extended cut.  Hopefully Hooper and company will produce one for the 30th Anniversary just two years away. So in honor of Les Miz 's release a year ago, and to relive the excitement of those days, have a look at the series that chronicled the film's journey: Les Miz Is Coming!  Les Miz Is Coming!  " Yet for years, it remained a mystery as to whether the musical could ever be made into a decent screen adaptation.  After several aborted attempts, it looks as though they have finally succeeded." Les Miserables the Movie Part ...

Since I have been weighing in on modern movie musicals, I could not resist the opportunity to comment on Carrie Underwood's version of The Sound of Music , which was aired last Thursday to big ratings and will be airing again tonight.  True, it is not exactly the same thing -- it is not a movie musical, but a televised version of the original stage musical of The Sound of Music .  Yet it stands in the long, deep shadow of the 1965 movie  The Sound of Music  starring Julie Andrews, with every note destined to be compared.  (Though I have not yet reviewed movies older than 20 years, let me just say that this movie will not appear on the Wrong list.) Really, this was a can't win situation from the get-go.  Underwood and the brain trust behind the televised version deserve credit for chutzpah alone.  Beyond that, was this a successful musical on its own terms?  Well... kind of.  To the extent that it wasn't, it can't all be blamed on Underwoo...

For those who have only watched the television show or those who have not read A Dance With Dragons , spoilers for the series are below!!! After Season Four, Game of Thrones  the television series will have a tough task: making A Feast for Crows  and A Dance With Dragons  into a compelling viewing experience.  While A Feast for Crows is criticized for focusing too much on side characters and subplots, A Dance With Dragons  may be more frustrating -- it promises series progression and largely fails to deliver. In Dance  we are finally reunited with Daenerys and Tyrion Lannister -- the former of whom is trying to rule Meereen, a conquered slave city, and the latter of whom is traveling to serve her.  Readers know that after 1,000 or so pages, Tyrion never actually meets Daenerys.  However, the biggest source of disappointment may be Daenerys herself. The Situation Many critics believe that Daenerys is simply a poor ruler.  During her ...

Last time, I was talking about how I was running out of musicals made in the last 20 years to review, and that I would soon be stuck reviewing musicals that I dread.  But lo and behold, I remembered that there were still some good musicals out there!  How could I have forgotten the musical that got modern musicals rolling? Moulin Rouge  (2001) is less a traditional musical than an amped-up, psychedelic jukebox musical sprung from  the mind of director Baz Luhrmann.  Although set in Paris at the fin de siecle , it contains songs like "Roxanne" (the Police), "Like a Virgin" (Madonna), and "Your Song" (Elton John).  The actors sing with their own voices, but no doubt there was some Auto-Tune sweetener along the way. Almost everything about Moulin Rouge  is secondary to the visuals -- the kaleidoscope of colors and constant swirling motion expressed through quick-cutting, fast zooms, and pans.  The visual craziness is a Baz Luhrmann trademark, t...

I don't have a whole lot to report.  I've been busy for both good and bad reasons... recently bad, but I won't go into it. First, What's New With the Blog?  Well this month and next month will likely be quiet, or at least not unusual.  However, I'm toying with the thought of expanding it to three times a week -- two posts short, less than 500 words, and one post my standard long one. You may have noticed that I changed my tag at the top.  While mainly keeping the content unchanged, I want to skew the focus on this blog a bit more in the introvert and introverted section. That said, an old and welcome piece of business will soon be back: Downton Abbey recaps!  I'm sure no one will know what happened and everyone will be super surprised, right?! Second, What's New With the Novel?   I know you want to hear, right?  Well the selling part remains stalled mainly because it's the holidays.  I still have that query letter and synopsis hovering ...

There is a mocking term for people who have an unearned sense of their own importance: "snowflake." "You're such a special snowflake!" the taunt goes.  "You got trophies just for showing up in kindergarten.  Your mommy and daddy told you every day how wonderful you are and no one else is like you.  You think you shit gold.  Only now do you understand that no one else gives a shit about you ." This taunt is usually aimed at today's youth, up to about the age of 30, though technically it could be aimed at anyone.  The taunter aims to knock a sense of humility into the recipient, reduce the recipient's confidence, remind him or her that the world is hard and unforgiving.  People get used and chewed up and spit out, and only a few truly get to wear the "special" mantle. But what if this is the wrong message? What if the problem is that this person is special?  That there are not too few special people in this world, but too man...

With novels like The Chocolate Wars , A Separate Peace , and  Lord of the Flies under its banner, Young Adult literature was never a bastion of sweetness and optimism.  Rather, Young Adult literature (or "YA," as it is fashionably called) is used frequently to explore dark themes about ourselves and our society.  In fact, one could even argue that YA novels are often darker  than adult novels, not only because the events are happening to kids, but also because authors can take advantage of the "kids' novels are safe" misconception to push the envelope. Certainly The Hunger Games  trilogy does not shy from darkness.  It's a post-Apocalyptic world where North America has been separated into 13 districts, each with its own specialty, while an oppressive Capitol rules over all of them.  If you have not read The Hunger Games , or you have only seen the first movie, stop reading now because I will be discussing the first and second novel along with the t...

I don't normally do this, but I figured it was appropriate for the musical that many regard as Stephen Sondheim's masterpiece.  Prior to my review , I had listened to some of the songs and watched part of the stage musical, but I wanted to post the review while the movie was still fresh in my mind. Since then, I have watched the entire stage production on YouTube with George Hearn and Angela Lansbury, purchased the 2005 Broadway version with Patti LuPone and Michael Cerveris, and watched the 2001 Sweeney Todd  concert in front of the San Francisco Symphony, starring LuPone, Hearn, and Neil Patrick Harris as Toby.  While I feel as certain as before that Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd  was a very good musical adaptation, I am able to approach the transition with a more nuanced perspective. And durn it, if I can go on and on about the changes to Les Miserables  over the years, I can at least give some attention to the American Mozart's masterwork, can't I? After...