The Ache In Her Song (Music Thoughts: It Had To Be You, Isabella Lundgren)

Isabella Lundgren is from Karstad, Sweden but studied music in New York City. At the age of twenty three she moved back to her native country and released "It Had To Be You," her first album. It is wonderful. At a young age, you can tell that she knows and understands the intricacies of songs from The Great American Songbook. I love her "Don't Ever Leave Me," as she infuses it with much longing. Her voice reminds me of a less harsh version of Stacey Kent, and it is wondrous. I couldn't help but feel her soul as she sings, like in "You Belong To Me," she gave me yearning, vulnerability, passion. Though in bluesy numbers like "Blues In The Night," you can sense her greenness, she always soars in the ballads. (I had "if I Should Lose You" in repeat for an hour and did not tire of it) She is one of those singers who can convey angst in her singing, reminiscent of Billie Holiday and Edith Piaf, and I am always a sucker for those. She can even make an ubiquitous song like "La Vie En Rose" sound like you are hearing it for the first time. I know at times I can be jaded when it comes to jazz vocals, but I am smitten by Isabella.

Me & My Machine (Film Thoughts: Ex-Machina)

We are responsible for what we create. Wasn't that a quote from "The Little Prince?" I can't help but think of that quote after I finished watching "Ex-Machina," a movie I did not realize would even affect me. I remember seeing the trailer a while back and thinking to myself that this is not my kind of movie. But this is one of those movies that instantly grabs you once you start watching it. The story unfolds like an onion, as you dig deeper into it, you get more and more layers, and most of it is surprising. I don't think I have seen any of Alex Garland's previous movies (he is also a novelist) since his oeuvre is mostly sci-fi (not my genre at all, as I had mentioned) but points for him for keeping my attention, and getting me engaged. We also get wonderful performances here, especially from the trio of Oscar Castillo, Domhnall Gleason, and Alicia Vikander (the latter is a major star in the making) I don't think I will ever watch this movie again, but for the time I gave it it entertained me - and made me think.

Top Heavy (Book Review: Guys On Top, Darien Cox)

Love stories - they all are basically one and the same, aren't they? The joy in reading about them is how one gets to a point and overcome obstacles.  Darien Cox gives little details that make "Guys On Top" more enjoyable than your run-of-the-mill MM romance,he sets up the Boston suburb pretty vividly,  but I am still a little turned off by the gratuitous sex scenes - this is just me, by the by, because I know most people enjoy that. More emotions and less physicality for me, please!

Hooray For Hollywood (Movie Thoughts: Maps To the Stars)

Julianne Moore won Best Actress last year for the movie "Maps To The Stars," and some say it is a better performance than her Academy-Award winning role in "Still Alice." I don't know if I agree with that. While her role as Havana Segrand here is more daring, and a braver choice, her refined elegant take as an early Alzheimer patient in "Still Alice" was more crowd-pleasing. But everyone else in "Maps To The Stars" despicable, and that is probably why I am having a hard time warming up the movie.  The movie shows different characters in Tinseltown, and every single one of them is damaged. There's the thirteen year old boy Evan Bird who is on a box-office hit franchise, his sister who tried to burn down their house, their father who does self-help books, and all of them act miserably. Director David Cronenberg paints Hollywood as a sick town filled with sick people. And this is not a film with black humor. This is pretty serious stuff. By the end of the movie, I felt exhausted.  Maybe that is the point of the movie, and I do get that, but maybe I am just too old to pay good money for a bad experience.

It's The Real Thing (Television Thoughts: Mad Men Series Finale, Person To Person)

Mad Men's series finale starts with a mini montage of scenes from the series set to Paul Anka singing 'Times Of Your Life,"  and I always tear up whenever I hear that song anyway (I know... ) but it gave the episode a little more texture. What was I expecting for the series finale? Honestly, I was expecting something artsy, as only Matthew Weiner could deliver. And as the episode started to wrap up its characters, I thought I was wrong. Characters were rounding up their story lines pretty conventionally - Pete gets a fantastic job in Kansas and moves there with Trudy and his daughter, Roger ending up with Megan's mother (finally, someone his own age) and Joan starting her film production business. Most of it seemed to be crowd-pleasers, with the biggest one - Peggy finding love and success with Stan - kind of bland and boring. I thought, well, this is nice, but this isn't what Mad Men stood for the entire time. Until we get to Don storyline - which has really been bizarre for the past couple of episodes. He leaves New York, and McCann Erickson, to drive cross country and now he ends up in California at some type of commune. As we get to the end of the series, we see him backlit by a sunset, and then doing a yoga pose with fellow hippis. Until Weiner slams us with that iconic Coke commercial from the 70s, "I'd like to teach the world to sing," and with Don's last smile to the camera, I found myself laughing: what a great wink to the audience. After all of what Don has gone through, he ends up delivering the commercial that best describes that decade. It is brilliant - and exactly how I envisioned this series to end. I'll miss this terribly, there has been nothing like it.

Falling In Love On Broadway (Stage Thoughts: An American In Paris, The Palace Theater)

Sometimes, everything just gels. That happens at The Palace every night in "An American In Paris,"  Christopher Wheeldon's production which is an adaptation on stage of the 1951 film of the same title.  The idea itself is a tough act to follow: Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, Vicente Minnelli. But Wheeldon infuses this production with some of the most gorgeous dancing in recent Broadway history that for that reason you will be enchanted by this show.  The ballet is threaded seamlessly with the show that it the story is told in three ways : by Craig Lucas' book, by Gershwin's music, and by Wheedon's choreography. Everything matches, everything fits, everything radiates with wit, effervescence, and elegance. Lucas' book has just enough ham for it to be charming, and matches the piece perfectly. And what else is there to say about the Gershwin melodies? I found myself laughing at "Fidgety Feet," wistful in Jill Paice's brilliant singing in "But Not For me," and Max Von Essen (the best voice on that stage) makes "Stairway To Paradise" soar higher than I ever thought it would. And speaking of, I thought the performances were all top notnh: all well-deserved Tony nominations for Robert Fairchild, Leanne Cope, and Max Von Essen. There's a youthfulness in Fairchild's performace that differs it from kelly's so after two minutes, I have all but forgotten Kelly's ghosts. And Cope has surprising layers in her acting - those doe-eyed glance showing hope, hopelessness, and vulnerability. And I think I would cry if Von Essen loses on Tony night: I loved his performance so much I found myself rooting for his Henri to end up with Liza. Above all, "an American In Paris" has that kind of rare thing that's hard to find in today's musicals: romance. Just plain old-fashioned romance. It made me want to go out on 47th looking for someone to kiss. even on Broadway, love is hard to find.

Joan's Daughter (Book Thoughts: The Book Of Joan, Melissa Rivers)

Who is Melissa Rivers? Is she just Joan's daughter? I thought by reading her memoir "The Book Of Joan: Tales Of Mirth, Mischief, and Manipulation" we would get a glimpse. Except for two short pages that bookend the book, Rivers never really gets "personal," and what we get is nothing different from past press releases or interview points as she promotes this book. What we do get are essays that evoke Joan's humor. It feels like Melissa went to rummage through Joan's filing cabinet of jokes and collated them. What more, the tone is confusing - we go from an essay of Joan's stand-up routine to Melissa talking about Joan resentign Jay Leno upholding Carson's ban to not have Joan guest on "The Tonight Show," and I frankly can't tell if the latter is a joke or true. Maybe I was looking for something more thoughtful from Melissa, and in that manner this (very thin) book just did not deliver.

Cool Citrus Cat (Perfume Thoughts: Jo Malone Lime Basil & Mandarin)

Since I always have tons of perfume samples, they always come in handy when I travel because I don't have to bring bottles with me, and not to mention TSA friendly. I recently found a whole bunch of Jo Malone samples, so I grabbed them for my recent trip. I find I never instinctively grab my Jo Malone scents, even though I have a fair number of them. It was hot and humid in New York City when I was there recently, and I found myself wearing the sample of Lime, Basil & Mandarin. And I had forgotten how glorious this was. Jo Malone is a brand with a steady mix of commercial and niche (and nowadays the distinction between the two has gotten so blurry anyway) I do suspect that nowadays it is the farthest thing from a niche: turn any corner and you'll find it. But for the most part, there is some thought and vision to the scents, and I appreciate it more nowadays. But back to Lime, Basil, and Marin: for a Jo Malone scent I found it tenacious, and enjoyed the heady mix of citrus and vetiver: the scent never cloyed and always refreshed. Teh basil gave it the heft that a citrus needed, and character to make it distinguishable from all the "cologne" type scents out there. Is it the most imaginative perfume in the world? I don't think it set to do that, but it is crisp, bullshit free scenting, and on a hot hazy humid day, brought the ice cubes for my lemonade.

There's Trouble (Movie Thoughts: Apartment Troubles)

Some movies go straight to VOD for a reason. Why would anyone want or pay to see "Apartment Troubles," for example. This movie, written and directed by Jess Wiexler and Jennifer Prediger is so bad I am scratching my head how and why it was done. We get two lifeless unlikeable characters, who in the beginning of the movie, declare that they have opted to not use electricity, for political reasons. Yet they would also be the the same people who would use a private jet, and audition for a reality competition television show. It doesn't make sense. They fly to New York, and we see Megan Mullaly do a character that is once again reminiscent of her Karen Walker character from "will And Grace" How could they have attracted talent such as Mullaly, and Will Forte, even. (He plays an obnoxious character) Seventy seven minutes of my life has been wasted on this movie.

Broken And Babysitting (Television Thoughts Younger S01 E07 Broke And Pantyless, S1 E8 Sk8)

I haven't had a chance to write about the past two episodes of Younger (Episode 7: Broke And Pantyless, Episode 8: Sk8) so I am consolidating them on one post. On "Broke And Pantyless," Liza finds herself with a financial dilemma: her ex-husband is not fulfilling his share for their daughter's college tuition so Liza has to find cash, and quick. The first solution? To sell her soiled panties to fetishists. Ew. I think I remember reading a review of the show where the writer was saying how the show was obsessed with vaginas, and now I cannot get that out of my head. I honestly am not too fond of this part of the storyline either. And poor Sutton Foster - I kind of feel bad for her filming scene where she takes off her panies, wads them in a ball and hands them to a pervy man. Thank God the episode doesn't  linger there and she finds other ways to make money. And it even has a soft epilogue, when her boss Diana gives her a check for the money. 

I prefer Episode 8, where there are no stories about soiled panties. Instead, we get to see Anton win the PEN Award, and her wife surprising him. This is too close for comfort for Kelsey, and the situation is exacerbated by the fact that Anton has been writing about hsi affair with Kelsey and have been sending the manuscripts to his wife. So when Liza picks up the wife at the airport, the wife assumes it's Liza who is having an affair with her husband. At the dinner later that evening, Kelsey confesses to the  wife. I thought this part of teh story was a little unbelievable, and Duff's acting is a bit too wooden to make it work. Meanwhile, we see Liza babysitting Charles' kids, and obviously she connects with children, and we start to see romantic tension between Liza and Charles. Hmmm.. I kind of see the end game for this story.

The Asian Jazz Beat (Music Thoughts: Melissa Tham, Falling In Love Again)

Here's something that is a little bit of an oddity: a jazz vocals album by an Asian singer. Melissa Tham is from Singapore, and I think another jazz singer I like, Jacintha, is from there as well. It must be something in the water there.. But Tham has more Europe in her it seems: she sings in London and this album was actually recorded in Germany for the JazzNotes label. No wonder it sounds slick - the production is first rate and she is backed ably. The singing style is, too - perhaps even a little too slick. While I do think she knows what she is singing about, the motto here is more style over substance. But that's not a bad thing. The repertoire is mostly first rate, if a bit predictable. The "Yesterdays" here is not Kern but The Beatles, and "Falling In Love Again" is an original. She sings with great confidence, and swings well - you can sense that in the opener "Swing With Me," and "Just Squeeze Me."  In fact, most of the swinging tracks are hot. On ballads, she is competent if a bit detached, and I don't know if purposely. She may sound more lounge than jazz club, but the album can grow on you.

Dearly Darren (Stage Review: Hedwig And The Angry Inch, starring Darren Criss, The Belasco Theater)

It’s a long boring story how I ended up seeing Darren Criss as Hedwig. Needless to say, that show wasn’t my first choice to see that night. I saw the 1998 Off Broadway production with John Cameron Mitchell, and I wasn’t in love with the show then, but have full respect for Mr. Mitchell. I know the show has a cult following, and that’s fine – they are kind of like the Rentheads, I guess. I know someone who went to see the original production numerous times, and now on Broadway have seen every major replacement in this production since Neil Patrick Harris. I never saw Mr. Harris’ Tony Award winning performance, so I don’t know if that favoured my opinion of Mr. Criss who is now essaying this role. While I also like Mr. Criss, I also can’t say I am a big fan – I mean – he was cute enough on Glee, but and that’s all I really feel about him. So anyway, I have to admit it took me a little bit of time to warm up to this production – initially I am thinking this is too big for the show – the effects, the projections. There was a part of me who felt Mr. Mitchell copped out. But you know what? I mean, isn’t small, or biggishly small the whole point of Hedwig – a never was, slightly bitter, miniaturist fabulous performer? I can’t really say I loved this production, to be honest. I missed the intimacy of the show, where it felt like the theater was a dive bar. But they do recreate it in all its glory, for better or worse. And… (drumroll) Mr Criss surprised me. I went in hating the experience, skeptical of the production, but I felt like he worked his hot ass off to not just win me over, but have me go gags over him. While I have to admit that there was a big part of me who was imagining Mr. Harris doing the role, that quickly went away as I experience Mr. Criss – he has the stage presence, and this production shows off his skill set immensely. I would even say that he sang some of these songs, like “tear Me Down,” and “Midnight Radio” fairly better than how Mr. Harris performs it on the cast recording, which I have listened to. So it was a tough sell, but Mr. Criss delivered, and I left The Belasco Theater happier than when I entered - and that is a mighty good thing.