"The Book Of Henry" (movie critique)

THE BOOK OF HENRY
movie poster

The choice for the Friday Movie Mavens and The Travelling Toe was, "The Book Of Henry".  A friend had suggested this movie and we were so glad we had followed through and saw it.  We all really thought this was a very good movie.  

Susan Carpenter, a single Mom with 2 young sons, works as a waitress at a local restaurant. Her friend and sometime drinking buddy, Sheila, also works at the same place.  Henry, the oldest son takes care of everyone and ensures that Susan's money is invested wisely, he pays all the bills and even oversees his younger brother, Peter.  Susan is the one playing video games at night while Henry pours over financial reports to ensure the stability of the family.  Henry and Peter have build a treehouse way out in the back of their property where Henry builds intricate Rube Goldberg contraptions.  Henry finds out about a dark secret regarding the young girl next door, who is one of his classmates.  When he tries to help her, nothing gets done as her stepfather is the Police Chief.  When Susan discovers what is happening to Christina, she finds Henry's book with the detailed plan he had devised to help rescue Christina  But can Susan pull of Henry's plan and save Christina?  Well, Dear Readers you will just have to see this movie yourself to find out.  But one last note, tissues might be required.


CAST:

Naomi Watts
Susan

Jaeden Lieberher
Henry

Jacob Tremblay
Peter

Maddie Ziegler
Christina

Lee Pace
Dr David Daniels

Dean Norris
Glenn

Sarah Silverman
Sheila

The Travelling Toe awards this movie 2 second toes up with your very own set of plans to construct a Rube Goldberg contraption. 

"Amadeus" presented by NT Live at the Magnolia Theater

NT Live is the best of British theater experienced at a local venue.  Here in Fort Worth the plays are shown at the Magnolia Theater located in The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.  

The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth

Amphibian Stage Productions

The Travelling Toe and a Dear Friend recently saw the latest presentation which was "Amadeus". Yes, Dear Readers that Amadeus - Mozart that is  It was a successful and award winning play, written by  Peter Shaffer, before the very popular movie was made.

Peter Shaffer
playwright

The play is described as follows on the National Theatre Live website:

Music. Power. Jealousy.

Lucian Msamati (Luther, Game of Thrones, NT Live: The Comedy of Errors) plays Salieri in Peter Shaffer’s iconic play, broadcast live from the National Theatre, and with live orchestral accompaniment by Southbank Sinfonia.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, a rowdy young prodigy, arrives in Vienna, the music capital of the world – and he’s determined to make a splash. Awestruck by his genius, court composer Antonio Salieri has the power to promote his talent or destroy his name. Seized by obsessive jealousy he begins a war with Mozart, with music, and ultimately, with God.

After winning multiple Olivier and Tony Awards when it had its premiere at the National Theatre in 1979, Amadeus was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film.

 

Lucian Msamati
Salieri

Adam Gillen
Amadeus

The cast was wonderful.  Lucian as Salieri, was the main focus of the play and he gave a magnificent performance.  The music performed by the orchestra ensemble, as well as the singers, was exquisite.

So the question remains, did Salieri really poison Amadeus?  No one knows for sure - not even now!

Antonio Salieri

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

"The Mummy" (movie critique)

THE MUMMY
movie poster

It was movie time again.  The Travelling Toe and Dear Friend went to the local Movie Tavern to see the latest incarnation of "The Mummy" franchise.  

The Travelling Toe must admit a fondness for the original Mummy movie of 1932 starting the great Boris Karloff.  That movie was made before all the current computer generated gizmos.  He was creepy even back then!

Then the next round came in 1999, starting Brendan Fraser. Those 3 movies had a different slant with a love interest for the hero as well as a couple of interesting villains and lots of scarab beetles.

Now we have Tom Cruise taking on a female Mummy.  Here is the plot of the latest Mummy movie via the internet:

Nick Morton is a soldier of fortune who plunders ancient sites for timeless artifacts and sells them to the highest bidder. When Nick and his partner come under attack in the Middle East, the ensuing battle accidentally unearths Ahmanet, a betrayed Egyptian princess who was entombed under the desert for thousands of years. With her powers constantly evolving, Morton must now stop the resurrected monster as she embarks on a furious rampage through the streets of London.

CAST:

Tom Cruise
Nick Morton

Jake Johnson
Sgt Vail

Annabelle Wallis
Jenny Halsey

        

Sofia Boutella
The Mummy - Ahmanet

Russell Crowe
Dr Henry Jekyll

Courtney B Vance
Colonel Greenway

The movie has been a "stinker" at the box office but it is one of those movies you can go see and check your brain at the door.  Just go with it.  The Travelling Toe gives this movie 1 middle toe up with your very own sarcophagus.

"Matilda" presented by Broadway at the Bass

MATILDA
play program

The touring show of "Matilda" made a recent stop in Fort Worth at Bass Hall.  The Travelling Toe and a Dear Friend attended the Sunday matinee.  The musical is based on the book of the same name written by esteemed author Roald Dahl.  It also was nominated and won several Tony awards.

ROALD DAHL
author

Matilda is born into a family where she is referred to as no more than being a "lousy little worm".  Her father bullies her relentlessly and her mother ignores her as she is obsessed with dancing and her dance partner and cares little about her young daughter. But Matilda, who is left on her own, spends her days at the library reading everything she can. She is brilliant and brainy beyond her years.  When she finally gets to attend school, she is elated. But there she finds more dark times ahead due to the headmistress Miss Trunchbull, who is a mean and hateful person. The only light in her life is her teacher Miss Honey, her books and her imagination.

Can Matilda, Miss Honey and all the other school children become bold and powerful enough to out wit Miss Trunchbull?  Well you will just have to see this delightful play yourself to find out.

The cast consisted of numerous child actors who were exception as they had to learn their parts, sing, dance, stage direction and even performed gymnastics.  The young star of the show did an amazing job in her role by not letting her character get beaten down but come out fighting.  Additionally, the "actor" who played Miss Trunchbull was awesome as the mean hateful headmistress. His costume was not to be missed - so funny and fit the character to a T!  The entire cast, set design and live orchestra all added to the success of this production.

stage setting at Bass Hall

Bass Hall

"Wonder Woman" (movie critique)

WONDER WOMAN
movie poster

To shake things up a bit, The Travelling Toe and the Movie Mavens went to see "Wonder Woman" at the multiplex on a Tuesday.  

A young Amazon girl, Diana, is the daughter of the tribal leader. The Amazons live on a protected island which was set up by Zeus.  The Amazons themselves were created by the Mount Olympus gods in order to safeguard the weaker humans. Diana, is trained to be an unsurpassed warrior out performing all the other young Amazon women.

One day, during training, Diana, sees a plane penetrate their force field and it crashes into the sea.  Diana rushes to the cliff and dives in to rescue the pilot. German soldiers begin landing on shore and the Amazons must fight to protect their way of life.  The pilot, Steve Trevor, is interrogated using the Lasso of Truth.to find out what was happening in the outside world which caused  the German soldiers to invade their island.  Steve, tells Diana and the other Amazons, about the massive conflict of WWI, that is taking the lives of innocent women and child.  They are being slaughtered and starved.  Steve says he is a American spy for the British.  Diana, tells her mother she is sure it is Ares who is responsible for the conflict and she must protect the humans and kill Ares once and for all. Diana has to leave her home in order stop the threat.  Steve and Diana, travel to London and assemble a team to take out the evil General Ludendorff and his henchwoman           Dr. Maru, who is preparing a more deadly form of mustard gas. 

So does Diana, Steve and their merry band of comrades take out the bad guys?  Well Dear Readers if you have seen the movie then you know what happens and if you haven't The Travelling Toe will not divulge any spoilers here!!

We all enjoyed the movie, with the only tiny criticism being is that some of the fight scenes went a bit too long.  But a friend explained that when Diana was finally taking on Ares, she was having to find the warrior goddess within herself and what her true strength and super powers could do.

Just one side note - Gal Gadot was the true Wonder Woman as she was 5 months pregnant when this movie was filmed.

CAST:

Gal Gadot
Wonder Woman/Diana

Chris Pine
Steve Trevor

Robin Wright
Antiope

Danny Huston
General Ludendorff

David Thewlis
Sir Patrick Morgan

           

Lucy Davis
Etta Candy

Elena Anaya
Dr (Poison) Maru 

The Travelling Toe gives this movie 1 big toe up and 1 pinky toe up with a  lasso of truth!

JUST A SHORT SIDE NOTE:

Since this movie is such a success for a strong  woman leading action figure, The Travelling Toe would like to mention a few real life Wonder Women who have graced her life.  Starting with 2 loving grandmothers who provided babysitting services; a doting aunt who opened the world of literature, the arts and movies; teachers who provided direction and support; senior women who paved the way for younger women coming up the ranks and most of all
a hardworking mother who worked in retail to put food on the table then when the nest was empty in her 40's,went back to school and became a nurse, - her true calling!  Just look around and you will see Wonder Women everywhere.  Dear Readers, you probably know some yourself and you are probably one as well!!  

Mexico 1900 -1950...exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art

The Travelling Toe bravely traversed the highways, byways and road construction of the Metroplex area to meet up with a Dear Friend at the Dallas Museum of Art.  The reason for the trip was to view the current exhibit, "Mexico 1900 - 1950: Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Jose Clemente Orozco and the Avant-Grade."

Frida Kahlo

Diego Rivera

   

Jose Clemente Orozco

After the first successful showing at Grand Palais, Paris, the exhibit was making it's only stop in the US at the DMA.  The collection is a cultural assocation of Mexico and France.  It is comprised of over 200 works of art including paintings, sculptures, drawings, photography and even films.  The exhibit explores the golden age of Mexican Modernism and how the artists of that era explored it's own cultural identity.  Many Mexican artists found influences in the Paris artististic life along with their own folk heritage.  

The Travelling Toe has been a fan of Frida Kahlo's work for some time.  Her paintings, mostly self portraits, are interesting and reflect what was happening in her life at the time. She and Diego Rivera had a turbulent married life and one of the paintings on view expresses those emotions.  There was a small gallery just of her paintings.

Because of a dead IPhone battery, The Travelling Toe was unable to take photos.  However there were very nice and inexpensive postcards at the gift shop.

This painting by Frida Kahlo below, was on exhibit and is titled "The Two Fridas".  It is oil on canvas and she painted it in 1930.  It expresses her two sides of the divorce with Diego.

Diego Rivera seems to be best remembered for his beautiful murals but there were several of his paintings in the exhibit.  It including several he finished when he was in France.  One was of a windmill and was reminiscent of the Expressionism period.  Sorry there is no picture of it as it was quite lovely.  But this painting, featured below, was so beautiful and was really happy that they had a postcard of it. It is called "Calla Lily Vendor" which he painted in 1942 and is oil on Masonite.  You can almost smell the lilies!

One last painting to share is "The Fruit Seller" painted by Olgin Costa in 1951 and is oil on canvas.  There is no way to describe the vibrant colors of this large painting. One just wanted to reach in and grab some of that luscious fruit!

If you are in the Metroplex area and have a chance, do try to see this astounding exhibit. Parking is always an issue and the going rate at the museum is $12.00.  The exhibit itself for seniors if $14.00. But the whole exhibit made the tedious travelling and the sticker price so worthwhile as these lovely works of art will eventually return to museums that cost more in travel that those two fees....just a thought!

Dallas Museum of Art

"South Pacific" presented by Granbury Theatre Company

SOUTH PACIFIC
play program

"Here am I your special island

Come to me, Come to me."

Bali Ha'i,

Bali Ha'i,

Bali Ha'i!

The Travelling Toe and Dear Friend heard that musical lyric calling to us and we answered...here we come.  Our "South Pacific" was actually in the cute town of Granbury were it was presented on the historic stage of the Granbury Opera House.

What a lovely trip we took to the South Pacific during World War II.  The leads did an excellent job on the familiar songs such as "Some Enchanted Evening", "There is Nothing Like A Dame", "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Out Of My Hair" and of course "Bali Ha'i". The supporting cast as sailors and nurses also did a super job.  It takes a lot of creativity to produce such an iconic musical on a small scale.  But this group did a super job! 

What a wonderful way to spend a warm Sunday afternoon.  

Granbury Theatre Company