Archive for the Live Action Category


LGBTQ Live-Action: Gentleman Jack

June 9th, 2019

In a world where every generation of people seem to need all of history explained to them, personally, or they don’t “get” why we need a Pride month, it’s sometimes easy to feel a sense of disconnection from history.

The Stonewall Uprising happened 50 years ago – I recommend the American Experience episode on Stonewall for first-person recounting of what happened and why. If you haven’t read Lillian Faderman’s The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle, consider it assigned reading for this Pride Month, as well. ^_^

The protests we’re seeing this year tend to be about pushing back against rainbow capitalism and corporate overrun of Pride events – and these are legitimate issues, but there is also a welcome renewed “in your face”-ism about Pride, as a whole generation of hate groups show up to the party, enabled by the downfall of empathy in our governing bodies; so we’re back to having fun as loudly and publicly as possible to remind people that we won’t be forced back into the closet.

Most folks are probably not all that clear on the who and whats of even recent LGBTQ history, literature or art, much less events in the distant past. As I’m starting to see a whole generation of young people who are new to the ongoing struggle, I find I do want to re-establish those connections. Especially as we’re once again finding ourselves facing increasing violence and bias. It’s good to remind ourselves that we are not alone now…and we have never been alone.

As I get older, I’m also really finding myself less tolerant of people who believe that because the word “lesbian” didn’t exist, people could not be presumed to be lesbian. (Much as if Indigenous people needed colonizers to name their country before they had an identity. Which, yes, I know colonizers and white supremacists believe.) There have always been words to describe women who, when they look for romantic or sexual partnership, look to their own sex. There have always been words that queer people used for themselves, as well as those that have been used about us. The premise that because the word “lesbian” did not exist means that no lesbian relationships existed before the word is…well, it deserves to be ridiculed. Regardless of the words used, I guarantee that women fell in love and lust with other women before the 20th century.

And so we come to Gentleman Jack.

Gentleman Jack is a fictionalized story based upon the real diaries of a real 19th century English lesbian, Anne Lister. Actual passages from her diary are used in this show, in which the characters are won’t to break the 4th wall and address us in their actual, historically accurate words.

This HBO/BBC production is lovely, and painful and honest and often rather funny. Written and directed by Sally Wainwright, my wife and I are finding it to be compelling watching right now. Wonderfully acted by Suranne Jones, Anne is not all that likable, until she is…and she often is. Funny, snarky and scheming, hyperactive and overachieving, Anne Lister is someone who would be exhausting to be around, but amazing to watching from a distance. Anne’s relationship with the emotionally fragile Ann Walker can be tiresome, but I’m all in for watching this story take us into a second season.

The setting, the clothes, the facts of life in 19th century West Yorkshire are all impeccably researched and presented. Shibden Hall itself is a fantastic member of the cast. Anne’s relationship to the people around is presented as accurately as possible, with interpretation coming in the form of tone of voice, body language, expression, all of which feel real. The music is another cast member, “almost like her companion” as my wife describes it.

As an insight to one lesbian’s life, Gentleman Jack is a terrific story, but since our job today is to understand history and the context of the day we find ourselves in, it’s worth remembering that Anne Lister was not the only well-known 18th century lesbian in the UK. The Ladies of Llangollen were contemporary, preceding Anne in society as lesbians. They apparently knew each other and Anne visited Plas Newyd at least once (as have I, for what it is worth.)

I actually like that the sex scenes are not explicit or extended, but are not coy or childish either. The strongest bits of the narrative, in my opinion, are Anne talking about her gender presentation and sexuality with honesty, a little pain and a lot of self-awareness. These scenes are largely taken from her own words, which give them power and resonance.

Ratings:

Acting – 10
Cinematography – 8, but there have been some controversies.
Story – 9
Lesbian – 10

Overall – 9

Much of Anne’s voluminous diaries remains untranslated, but there are number of abridged editions available, including Gentleman Jack: The Real Anne Lister, by Anne Choma, the historical advisor for the series and a woman who is still transcribing the diaries. Also worth looking into is The Secret Diaries of Anne Lister, a 2010 BBC movie.





Sailor Moon Super Live Event Report

March 31st, 2019

Sailor Moon fandom is, without question, the most charming, delightful and adorable group of people on the planet. I mean that so sincerely. A more joyful, happier group of people I cannot even imagine.

Yesterday, it was my sincere pleasure to gather together with 2000 of the cutest people in the world, decked out in glorious finery as their favorite Senshi, or in Sailor Moon-inspired clothing, with ribbons and bows and handbags and t-shirts and back packs, all proclaiming their love of this lovable series to see Sailor Moon Super Live.

The performance is not quite a musical and not quite a play. It is more properly a pantomime of the key elements of the first Sailor Moon Arc, accompanied by singing, dancing and a host of really fun stage effects. The opening was worth every penny as the effects allowed integration of manga panels, and animated fore and backgrounds. We are able to enjoy rather sophisticated quick-takes on scenes like Mamoru and Usagi meeting, the gathering of the Senshi and the various battles.  The fight scenes, which combined effects, were especially fantastic when, for instance, black light effects turned Usagi’s classmates into monsters and stage elements, lighting and CGI effects combined for attacks and scenery. All of which made for a fun and dramatic stage. There were subtitles being shown but at one point, they had become rather silly, so when Kunzite was laughing evilly – about all he had for lines – I joked that I was surprised it wasn’t subtitled. ^_^ “Bwahahahah. Hahaha. Haha…” Random spoken lines are also displayed in the background as manga panels. Having seen this, I now understand why it’s called a “2.5D Musical” and I think it works.

The songs sung during the show are all original and, IMHO, mostly forgettable, except the song sung by the Senshi to encourage Sailor Moon, which was spot-on for their temperament and relationship to Usagi, and which was reprised during the concert portion of the show. The concert also included “La Soldier” and an extended version of “Moonlight Densetsu” to which we all sang along.

We had paid for the VIP seating, so when the show was over, we got high fives and hand shakes from the cast and a Super Live fan, along with the concert light stick and t-shirt we had bought before the show. The concert light stick could change colors and I giggled every time we all dutifully changed the color to match whomever was singing. We’re such nerds. ^_^

We spoke with folks about the amazing variety of goods and clothes and designs we saw. A lot of the stuff was fan-created, but without difficulty, we saw official Sailor Moon goods from Her Universe and Torrid/Hot Topics (I was wearing my old Inner Senshi HT shirt from the first time they carried Sailor Moon goods back in the 2000s, and people were recognizing it, which means we’ve all been doing this a long effing time. ^_^). And of course folks trotted out their Japanese brand goods – my wife carried her Sailor Moon x Gu collaboration purse, filled with Sailor Moon hand towel and gashopon Sailor Moon locket purses from Japan. Everyone was decked out in their Sailor Moon finest. 

Before and after the show, there was a flurry of photo activity. I took a few pictures of folks who were dressed up. One set of Haruka and Michiru were magnificently cosplaying as this cosplay magazine photoshoot. They looked so good we recognized them cosplaying as this cosplay. How amazing is that?

 

This group we encountered on the street outside the theater. I asked them if I could use this picture.

For some pictures of the cast and from the performance, check out this article on Theatermania. Unexpectedly, Forbes(!) also has an article on the show and short trailer, as well.

The only, only down side was that the music was so loud, it fuzzed out sometimes. This worked okay for the bad guys’ distortion music, but less so when it was meant to be melodic. I’d totally see this again, but bring earplugs to cut back on the noise. 

Ironically, the night before we had gone to see a bit of contemporary dance, Elizabeth, the dance, by Ann Carlson, which was also a kind of pantomime of female dance choreographers’ work, so as we sat through Sailor Moon Super Live, it felt kind of like it was the same – homage to a pop culture phenomenon as the dance troupe paid homage to high culture phenomenon.

Sailor Moon Super Live was a heck of a collage to celebrate of 25 years of a pop culture phenomenon.

 





Live-Action: Colette

February 24th, 2019

Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, known as Colette, was a noted French author of the first half of the 20th century, who went on to gain fame as an actor and journalist. Her most well-known works are the Claudine stories, and novella Gigi, upon which the movie and musical are based. She was nominated for a Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948. Her life and career were larger than life – as so many of the talents that inhabited pre-war Paris seem to have been. 

The movie Colette, starring Keira Knightley and Dominic West was a surprisingly excellent retelling of her early career. Beginning with her marriage to Henry Gauthier-Villars, known as “Willy” and her writing under his name, it follows her through their turbulent years together, the popularity of the Claudine stories, their mutual affair with a visiting American woman, the break up of their marriage and ends with Colette touring Europe as an actress with her lover Mathilde de Morny, known as Missy, who was scandalous for wearing men’s clothes, portrayed by Denise Gough.

As you may know, I do not sleep on the plane very well so, with almost 30 hours to kill on the roundtrip to and from Japan, I take some time to watch movies, which I otherwise would not sit through. I watched 5 movies all the way through and 2 I started but did not finish. (The remainder of the movies mini-reviews will be in the postscript.)

Because I really don’t like movies, I’m predisposed to being disappointed when I watch them. Colette did not suck. Her bisexuality was neither erased nor fetishized, her passion for writing and creating centered. Paris was not portrayed as all-white, for which I am grateful.  The writing was a bit predictable, but at this point, movies just are. Her life is well-known, this movie makes no pretense to insight. It’s just a retelling of the woman’s young life as highlights.  IMHO, Knightley does a fine job of plucky young author, Dominic West did a fine job as Kenneth Brannagh as Willy, and while the beginning had a slow start, by the end, I found I had enjoyed it.

Ratings:

Cinematography – 7 Honestly, a bit conservative
Acting – 8 As one would expect
Story – 7 
Queerness – 7

Overall-8

For a reasonably accurate and very pretty movie about one of the Belle Époque‘s most famous women of letters, Colette was a decent watch.

Here are mini reviews of the other movies I watched this time around:

Ant-Man and the Wasp: What a shocker to me that I enjoyed it. I cannot stand Paul Rudd or the type of character he plays, so I was amazed that I didn’t hate the movie, but I actually enjoyed it. I can’t remember any of it now. I thought they did a decent job of showing Hank as a narcissistic asshole, which is how I think of him.

Crazy Rich Asians: Not a fan of rom-coms, (this is a minimalist statement, they make me want to claw my eyes out) but the acting was *superb.* 

The Four Heavenly Kings: The acting for this was the opposite of superb. But Detective Dee and Tsui Hark, so I forgave a lot. Like, really, the whole movie really needs to be forgiven.

Ocean’s 8: Thoroughly enjoyable nonsense. Between this and CRA, Awkafina may be my new favorite actress ever.

I started but did not finish Along with the Gods a Korean action flick and The Great Battle, a Korean historical action movie. Along with the Gods I just couldn’t follow, but turns out (thanks, Richmond!) that this is the second part of a two-parter. The Great Battle was fun, but we landed before the climactic scene. So, I looked it up to find out what happened historically and boy was I surprised to learn the ending. ^_^ I’d recommend this one.





Live Action: Rose of Versailles Digital Remaster Blu-ray (ベルサイユのばら デジタルリマスター版)

December 24th, 2018

What better way is there to celebrate a holiday, than to watch Lady Oscar, the French live action movie with English cast and audio, Japanese subtitles, based on a Japanese manga about the French Revolution that is being translated into English?

Rose of Versailles Digital Remaster (ベルサイユのばら デジタルリマスター版) is Schrodinger’s movie – not bad, not good, not inaccurate, not accurate. I think I like it but I cannot be sure. ^_^

On second thought, I think I like it.

As a live-action version of the manga classic, it’s really not bad. It follows the key pieces of the story in a condensed fashion. The Affair of the Necklace has a chunk of the story and the end rush to tragedy plays out at increasing speed. 

The major changes are in the characterizations. 

Andre is a freedom fighter and tends to chide Oscar, demanding she be one, too. He’s not lovelorn, he’s vexed that his woman is so gosh-darn delusional. He’s kind of a mix of Bernard and Andre.

Girodel is another changed character, but at least he is in purple, which I thought was funny. Instead of being a self-proclaimed rival, Girodel is a jerk, but his marriage offer provides us with a scene in which Oscar strides into Versailles in white and silver and cape and dances with one of the court ladies, then kisses her, so I am not complaining. ^_^

General de Jarjayes is not nice to either Oscar nor Andre, which is a shame. I much preferred the General of the anime.

Jeanne and Rosalie are exactly as we remember them, although we don’t get to spend too much time with them. (I also feel that the actresses were too old for the roles by about 25 years, but that might be me.)

Marie Antoinette is overblown and likewise delusional right to the very end. They do a fine job of making her unrepentant through the final moments. 

And finally, there’s Oscar. Catriona MacColl plays the role exactly as it is written and does a fine job of it. 

I also want to shout out Granny, who is the only sane character in the movie. When Fersen is praising Oscar as a fine young man, Granny looks at him like he’s an idiot and says, “How could anyone see Oscar and not realize she’s a woman?” Thank you Granny. Oscar could not have passed for a man if she were trying.  In fact, the issue of her sex and gender presentation is a running thread throughout the story and is one of the reasons General de Jarjayes comes off as such an asshole. For a man who called Oscar his son for two decades, he marries his daughter off pretty quickly. It was a vexing moment.

The movie ends with a nice little scene of Oscar and Andre shouting each other’s names, but fades on Oscar unable to find Andre, who has been killed. She does not die at the storming as she did in the manga and anime. It kills some of the epic feel of the story.

Ratings:

Overall – Not bad

I wouldn’t probably recommend this movie to someone who isn’t already a fan of the story, but if you are, how could you pass up this chance to see this classic manga as a live-action movie?

 





Live-Action: Shoujo Kakumei Utena ~Shirokibara no Tsubomi Musical (少女革命ウテナ ~白き薔薇のつぼみ~)

October 10th, 2018

In Spring 2018, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Shoujo Kakumei Utena franchise, a stage play musical was performed in Tokyo. Now the Shoujo Kakumei Utena ~Shirokibara no Tsubomi Musical (少女革命ウテナ ~白き薔薇のつぼみ~) is available  on DVD, Blu-ray and streaming on Amazon for folks in JP.

Now, if you have been a Utena fan for a long time, you may remember that in the early 2000s, there had been a Utena Musical stage play. And, should you remember that musical, you will remember that it was, in a word, excruciating. The word “unwatchable” also comes to mind. ^_^;

We set the memory of that earlier musical aside to watch the new musical and found that we generally enjoyed it. 

There were a few glaring weaknesses, primarily that the boys couldn’t sing. This is a pretty major problem in a musical. And, in comparison to all the female leads, especially Anthy and Utena’s actresses, Yamauchi Yuka and Nouji Ami, it was a pretty stark failing. 

But that aside, there were a number of elements that made the play move along well. In Utena”s first duel with Saionji at the climactic moment, they switch swords. It was a low-tech way to communicate a moment of intense magic. Instead of focusing on drawing the sword from Anthy’s chest, which was handled with little subtlety, the focus of this musical is the actual relationships of the characters. Time is given to everyone’s back stories. In the first act we clearly see the delusions that make up Miki’s and Juri’s pasts. And Tatemichi Riona as Juri did a convincing flinch away from B-ko when she got too close.

The second act was much tighter than the first, with a number of highlights. Yokoi Shojiro, who plays Saionji, has a brilliant moment when, defeated by Utena a second time, he creates his own Shadowgirl scenario and enters it himself. It was both a funny and profound moment. It was, my wife points out, very self-aware of the play. As one of the few wholly original moments, it worked beautifully.

The final scenes are extraordinary and moving, as Nouji does an excellent job of communicating Utena’s despair at having been defeated by Touga. Takeuchi Yume is brilliant as Wakaba, motivating Utena to take control of herself.  Nouji notches up the acting with a very emotional climax, where her need to get through to Anthy is pretty darn convincing. (My wife had stepped out of the room and returned as the play wrapped up. She noted immediately that it looked like Nouji had been crying. And she had been, fairly realistically.)

For staging, dueling concepts and acting, it was worth watching. For fans of the Utena story, this was a pretty decent re-telling of the first 13 episodes of the anime.

Ratings:

Overall – 8

 If the boys had been able to carry a tune, it would have definitely been a 9.