"Baby Driver" (movie critique)

BABY DRIVER
movie poster

It was movie day for the Friday Movie Mavens and The Travelling Toe so we decided to see an action flick called "Baby Driver".

Baby is a genius getaway driver.  Using earbuds, he drives to his own soundtracks and tunes everyone and everything out to concentrate on his driving.  Baby was orphaned at a young age and lives with his foster father, Joseph, who is deaf and disabled.  They have a close relationship and Joseph wants Baby to get out of the crime business before he gets blood on his hand. But Baby can't quit as yet because he has an old debt to pay off to his boss Doc. When Baby tells Doc he wants out, Doc tells Baby he will be out when Doc tells him he is out. Along the way, Baby meets a cute waitress, Deborah, at the local diner. As their romance takes off, Baby is pulled back in for a big score at the main Post Office. One of the thieves is "Bats" a reckless and devious thief. He threatens both Joseph and Deborah if Baby screws up the caper. When the heist starts to turn sour, Baby has to decide what to do to protect those he cares about and to get out alive.

Jon Hamm, of the popular TV series "Mad Men" plays Buddy one of the thieves and he is not only a mad man but he is also a very bad man.  He was so good in this role.  He was tough as nails and mean as a rattlesnake.  Jamie Fox  was excellent as "Bats" who was crazy and unhinged! His nickname says it all!!

There is violence, blood and some F-words, but the movie was very very good.


CAST

Ansel Elgot
Baby

Lily James
Deborah

Kevin Spacey
Doc

Jamie Foxx
Bats

Jon Hamm
Buddy

                                                 

Elza Gonzalez
Darling

                                                









The Travelling Toe awards this movie 1 big toe up with your own set of ear buds and an Ipod so you can drive to your own soundtrack!

Just a few suggestions from The Travelling Toe:

    Take It Easy
    I've Been Everywhere
    Born To Be Wild
    Greased Lightnin
    Born to Run
    On The Road Again

"Grease" presented by the Stolen Shakespeare Guild

GREASE
play program

The Travelling Toe with 3 Dear Friends attended the Saturday matinee performance of "Grease" presented by the Stolen Shakespeare Guild.  The performance was at the Sanders Theater.

We went back in time to Rydell High School in 1959.  There we found Danny Zuko and "good" girl Sandy Dumbrowski reminiscing about their summer romance in "Summer Nights". But when they see each other at school Danny acts cool towards to Sandy which hurts her feelings - so it would seem that teenage angst was alive and well in 1959.

The T-Birds and the Pink Ladies sang and danced through their senior year at Rydell High.

THE PINK LADIES

The boys were excellent performing one of the musical's signature songs, "Greased Lightnin". Even though the stage area is rather small at the Sanders Theater, the set designers are always very creative and the front end of car was rolled out for the song!
                                                     "Go Greased Lightnin!!!!"

It was the Pink Ladies turn to be featured and they did a wonderful job with "Freddie, My Love" while at a girls sleepover. Oh, what sweet memories of days gone by.

We saw the show on opening weekend.  It was sold out as has the second weekend and the third weekend is almost sold out.  In fact they had to add an extra performance due to the high demand for ticket requests.

This ensemble cast was smashing! They all excelled in singing, dancing and acting. The interaction between all the cast members made it feel like they were truly high school friends. The young actor who played Danny Zuko, (Taylor Vasek) not only  danced but did a few back flips as well! Forget about the old movie and see this musical, as it is really fabulous and fun!!


Stolen Shakespeare Guild

Sanders Theater

"Kidnap" (movie critique)

KIDNAP
movie poster

On a very hot Tuesday afternoon, The Travelling Toe and Dear Friend, decided to find some cool air in the movie theater.  The movie choice was "Kidnap" starring Halle Berry who plays the central character of the movie, Kayal Dyson.

Kayla is a single mother who works as a waitress to help support her young son Frankie.  After a day at work, she and Frankie decide to spend the afternoon at the local park.  They are watching a clown/magic show when Kayla steps away from the noise to answer a cell phone call.  When she looks back to check on Frankie, she sees him being snachet and dragged away.  Kayla starts after them screaming for help but no one pays her any attention.  The woman who has Frankie throws him into a car and it takes off.  Kayla runs after them, falls and drops her purse and her cell phone falls out (duh).  She jumps into her red van and takes off after the kidnappers.  As she follows the car, the chase causes many collisions along the way.  Without a cell phone she has no way to call for help.  So, does she catch-up with the bad guys and get Frankie back?  Well, Dear Readers, The Travelling Toe will not spoil the ending for you as you will just have to see the movie yourself. One final thought her red van takes a beating but keeps on keeping on.

It is obvious from the scenery that the movie was filmed around perhaps the New Orleans area as some of the car chases on the freeway system are filmed from above with the bayous below the action.  Very nice panorama shots of the bayous and lakes.  You can almost feel the humidity in the air.  



CAST:

Halle Berry
Kayla

Sage Correa
Frankie

Lew Temple
Bad Dude

Chris McGinn
Bad Dudette

The Travelling Toe awards this movie 2 third toes up with a map of Louisiana just in case you get lost in the backcountry where GPS doesn't go......but then probably neither should you!!

"The Bodyguard" presented by Broadway at the Bass

THE BODYGUARD
play program

A Dear Friend and The Travelling Toe attended the Sunday matinee performance at Bass Hall of "The Bodyguard".  The musical is a touring show with Fort Worth being one of many stops along the way.

The stage show is based on the 1992 hit movie of the same name stating Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston. 

movie poster

The stage version of the musical premiered in London's West End in 2012.

original London poster

 

The USA tour began in the Fall of 2016.

Pop sensation Rachel Marron has a problem - she has attracted a stalker.  But she tries to go on with her shows and activities.  When the threats become even more personal, along with concerns about her young son and also at the insistence of her manager, a personal security specialist is hired.  Former Secret Service agent, Frank Farmer, is requested for this duty but he is reluctant to take the job as he dislikes guarding celebrities. He eventually decides to take the job with the stipulation that Rachel follow his rules. Rachel is not happy with the restrictions placed on her and she treats Frank accordingly.  However as the threats increase, Rachel realizes that Frank does have her best interest, and that of her son, at heart.

The actress who played Rachel Marron, Deborah Cox, did a fantastic job.  Am sure that any actress who plays Rachel will always be judged by the job Whitney Houston did in the movie.  But Deborah wowed the entire audience with her singing, dancing and acting.  

All the actors and actresses in the troupe were excellent singers and the dancing was phenomenal. What a super cast!

Just a  few of the well known songs included in the musical were:

                                      Greatest Love Of All

                                      One Moment In Time

                                      I Wanna Dance With Somebody

                                      I Will Always Love You

                                      Where Do Broken Hearts Go
What a wonderful show - we both enjoyed it so much!

Bass Hall

"On The Town" presented by Stolen Shakespeare Guild

ON THE TOWN
play program

The Travelling Toe and 3 Dear Friends attended the Saturday matinee production of "On The Town".  The play presented by SSG, was performed on the Sanders Theatre stage.

Perhaps you might remember the 1949 movie that is sometimes played on movie channels. It starred Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Ann Miller and Betty Garrett.  

On The Town
movie poster

The story is about 3 young sailors, Gabey, Chip and Ozzie, who have a 24 hour liberty pass from their ship in NYC.  Since they only have a short time in the Big Apple they want to make every second count - and they do!! 

         

Ozzie, Gabey and Chip

                                             

Along with all the sightseeing they each meet the girl of their dreams.  But not with out some singing and dancing and a lot of fun.  

Sailors and Gals

The opening and closing song, "New York, New York" is now considered a classic.

The entire cast in this production were awesome in both singing and dancing. The stage area is rather small but they always do an excellent job of stage setting and design.

What a fun time we had.  We were able to see the "sites' of NYC with the sailors and did not have to board a plane to join them!!

Stolen Shakespeare Guild

"Sex With Strangers" presented by Stage West

SEX WITH STRANGERS
play program

It was a hot Texas Sunday afternoon when Dear Friend and The Travelling Toe attended the matinee production of "Sex With Strangers" at Stage West

The play was written by Laura Eason who is an Emmy award winner for writing on the popular cable show, "House of Cards".

Laura Eason
playwright

An overview of the play as provided in promotional material by the theater is as follows:

When twenty-something star-sex blogger and memoirist Ethan tracks down his idol, the gifted but obscure forty-ish novelist Olivia in the middle of a blizzard, they find each carve what the other possesses.  As attraction turns to sex, and they inch closer to getting what they want, the truth comes out and both must confront the dark side of ambition and the trouble of reinventing oneself when the past is only a click away.

One incident in this play that was so funny is when Ethan becomes so distraught in not being to connect with WiFI and losing touch with the world.  Whereas Olivia found solace in reading actual books.  At first he could not see the attraction of having a real book to read when the world was just a keystrokes away...that is if you have access to the web.  

The two actors in this play were exceptional:

                                      Dana Schultes played Olivia

                                             Jake Buchanan played Ethan

Dear Readers, inquiring minds want to know - was there sex with strangers on stage?? Well, The travelling Toe never kisses and tells!!


Stage West scored another winner with this production!

Stage West

The Phillips Collection at the Kimbell Art Museum

Paul Cezanne
Ginger Pot with Pomegranate Ceramic Tile

Recently The Travelling Toe and 3 other Dear Friends visited the Kimbell Art Museum to view the latest exhibit, "A Modern Vision of European Masterworks from The Phillips Collection".  Duncan Phillips amassed a vast number of artworks ranging from Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and Expressionist.  In 1921, Mr. Phillips opened the Phillips Collection in his family home and it is considered to be the first American museum dedicated to modern art. 

Duncan Phillips
1886 - 1966

Photographs were not allowed in the museum but The Travelling Toe purchased several postcards with some of the paintings we saw on display - needless to say these postcards do not do justice to the real paintings

Vincent Van Gogh
The Road Menders

Edgar Degas
Dancers at the Barre

 

Edouard Manet
Ballet Espagnol

Alfred Sisley
Snow at Louveciennes

We all thoroughly enjoyed viewing these works of art that we might never have had the opportunity too see them if not being on loan to the Kimbell.   What a wonderful way to spend about an hour viewing these beautiful pieces of art!  Then having lunch afterwards of course!

Kimbell Art Museum

Kimbell Art Museum