Tag: Comedy

Movie Review: Project Hail Mary (2026)

~ Liam ~ 3 Comments

Title: Project Hail Mary
Release Date: March 20, 2026
Director: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | Lord Miller Productions | Pascal Pictures | Open Invite Entertainment | Waypoint Entertainment
Main Cast:

  • Ryan Gosling as Ryland Grace
  • Sandra Hüller as Eva Stratt
  • James Ortiz as Rocky
  • Lionel Boyce as Carl,
  • Ken Leung as Yao Li-Jie
  • Milana Vayntrub as Olesya Ilyukhina
  • Priya Kansara as the voice of Mary
  • Malachi Kirby as Martin Dubois
  • Liz Kingsman as Annie Shapiro
  • Mia Soteriou as Dr. Browne
  • Orion Lee as Dr. Li
  • Michelle Greenidge as Chimamanda

Synopsis (via Letterboxd):

Science teacher Ryland Grace wakes up on a spaceship light years from home with no recollection of who he is or how he got there. As his memory returns, he begins to uncover his mission: solve the riddle of the mysterious substance causing the sun to die out. He must call on his scientific knowledge and unorthodox ideas to save everything on Earth from extinction… but an unexpected friendship means he may not have to do it alone.

My Thoughts:

An astronaut awakes on a ship in deep space with amnesia and discovers that the other two crew members are dead. In a flashback we learn that an organism called an astrophage is consuming the Sun and other stars in the galaxy.  Ryland Grace is part of a “hail Mary” mission to the one star that is unaffected by the astrophage. As he attempts to complete the mission, Grace encounters another spaceship and meets it’s occupant, a five-legged rock-like creature he calls “Rocky,” the only survivor of his planet’s mission to the same star.  Grace and Rocky share knowledge and technology and work together to find a solution to the astrophage forming a deep bond in the process.

Project Hail Mary has a lot of antecedents: the grandeur of 2001: A Space Odyssey, the heartwarming aspects of Spielberg/Amblin films of the 70s & 80s, and the expert must find solutions to avert a global catastrophe plot of Interstellar and Arrival.  For all that it feels refreshingly original and hopeful. The movie benefits from the extensive use of practical effects for the spaceship and puppetry for Rocky.  The one aspect I didn’t like is that Grace is an outsider in the scientific community due to his unorthodox views and thus works as a middle school science teacher before being recruited for the Hail Mary program.  This feeds into the tired maverick renegade knows best trope, when Grace’s would’ve had enough challenges even as a trained astronaut. It also adds a lot to the run time in extensive flashback scenes.

Apart from that, Project Hail Mary is a delight and is well on the way to becoming a classic of the genre.

Rating: ****

100 Years of Movie Musicals: Romance on the High Seas (1948)

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Next year marks the 100th anniversary of the movie musical, and to celebrate I’m embarking on a two-year project to watch 100 movie musicals from 1927 to the present!

Title: Romance on the High Seas
Release Date: June 26, 1948
Director: Michael Curtiz, Busby Berkeley
Production Company: Michael Curtiz Productions
Main Cast:

    • Jack Carson as Peter Virgil
    • Janis Paige as Elvira Kent
    • Don DeFore as Michael Kent
    • Doris Day as Georgia Garrett
    • Oscar Levant as Oscar Farrar
    • S. Z. Sakall as Uncle Lazlo
    • Fortunio Bonanova as Plinio
  • Eric Blore as Ship’s Doctor
  • Franklin Pangborn as Rio Hotel Clerk
  • Leslie Brooks as Miss Medwick
  • William Bakewell as Travel Agent
  • John Berkes as The Drunk (as Johnny Berkes)
  • Specialty Players
    The Samba Kings
    Avon Long
    The Page Cavanaugh Trio
    Sir Lancelot

Synopsis (via Letterboxd):

Georgia Garrett is sent by jealous wife Elvira Kent on an ocean cruise to masquerade as herself while she secretly stays home to catch her husband cheating. Meanwhile equally suspicious husband Michael Kent has sent a private eye on the same cruise to catch his wife cheating. Love and confusion ensues along with plenty of musical numbers.

My Thoughts:

Elvira and Michael Kent are a three-years married couple, each suspicious that the other is cheating.  When Michael once again has to cancel their anniversary trip due to an important business deal, Elvira pretends to go on the cruise on her own.  Instead she remains behind to spy on Michael, sending nightclub singer Georgia Garrett in her place.  Meanwhile, Michael hires private detective Peter Virgil to tail “Elvira” on the cruise ship. Naturally, Peter and Georgia fall in love.  To further complicate matters, Georgia’s night club manager and wannabe suitor also arrives on the ship to pursue Georgia.

The humor is an earlier version of Three’s Company-style mistaken identity with everyone making the worst assumption.  It’s hit or miss, but charming enough.  Despite her billing, Doris Day is the star of this movie.  I read somewhere that Day is underrated and they think they’re on to something.  Her comic timing reminds my of Ginger Rogers, and she has a lovely singing voice.  That being said, whenever she sang “It’s Magic,” I couldn’t help but think “Oh, carrots are divine…You get a dozen for a dime. It’s magic!”

Rating: ***

Theater Review: Eureka Day at The Huntington Theatre

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Eureka Day

Written by Jonathan Spector
Directed by Margot Bordelon

June 18, 2026: The Huntington Theatre, Boston, Massachusetts

Cast

 Nancy Lemenager – Suzanne
Ken Cheeseman – Don
Japhet Balaban – Eli
Sasha Diamond – Meiko
Eunice Woods – Carina
Ebonie Marie – Winter

This sharp, satirical comedy is set at Eureka Day, a private independent elementary school in Berkley, California.  The small cast represent the school’s executive board who meet in a classroom and use social justice terms in their dialogue as they attempt to reach consensus.  Carina, in her first year on the board representing first-year parents, looks as befuddled and skeptical as the audience listening to the arcane language of her fellow board members. It quickly becomes evident that these people who keep claiming to want to hear other voices are going to talk over one another and hold to their biases.

Things reach a crisis point when the school is forced to close due to an outbreak of the mumps leading to conflict between parents who favor and oppose vaccination.  One of the funniest scenes is when the board attempts to livestream a community meeting with the parents’ tangential and increasingly insulting chat messages, relatable to anyone who has ever been in an online parent community.  The audience laughter was so loud that it was impossible to hear the cast’s dialogue on stage, which I think was the point at showing how quickly they lost control of the situation.

The central conflict is between Suzanne, an older white woman who helped found the school and opposes vaccinations, and Carina, a Black woman who delicately attempts to respond to Suzanne’s microaggressions.  Ken Cheeseman deftly plays Ken, and older white male teacher who so even-evenhandedly moderates the meetings that I had no idea what side he was on until a unexpected twist near the end of the play.  The cast overall is terrific although I felt the characters of Eli, a secretly very rich stay-at-home dad, and single mother Meiko were underwritten. There’s a subplot about their relationship and that Eli has overstated the nature of his open marriage with his never-seen wife that just doesn’t go anywhere.

The play is set during the 2018-2019 school year and despite the fact it so clearly channels the experience of living through the COVID-19 pandemic, it actually premiered in 2018.  It is obvious however that the hilarious final lines of dialogue were re-written post-pandemic. There are so wonderful touches in the set that add detail the story without being commented on (look to the bookcase on the left in the final scene!).  Eureka Day continues at The Huntington Theatre through June 28, 2026.

Movie Review: Chimes at Midnight (1965)

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Title: Chimes at Midnight
Release Date: December 22, 1965
Director: Orson Welles
Production Company: Internacional Films Española | Alpine Productions
Main Cast:

  • Orson Welles as Sir John Falstaff
  • Keith Baxter as Prince Hal
  • John Gielgud as King Henry IV
  • Margaret Rutherford as Mistress Quickly
  • Jeanne Moreau as Doll Tearshee
  • Alan Webb as Justice Shallow
  • Walter Chiari as Justice Silence
  • Michael Aldridge as Pistol
  • Tony Beckley as Ned Poins
  • Charles Farrell as Bardolph
  • Patrick Bedford as Nym
  • José Nieto as Earl of Northumberland
  • Keith Pyott as the Lord Chief Justice
  • Fernando Rey as Earl of Worcester
  • Norman Rodway as Henry Percy
  • Marina Vlady as Kate Percy
  • Andrew Faulds as Earl of Westmorland
  • Jeremy Rowe as Prince John
  • Beatrice Welles and Bruno Yasoni as Falstaff’s Page (Yasoni took over the role when Beatrice could not finish filming)
  • Ralph Richardson as the voice of the narrator
  • Ingrid Pitt as a courtesan

Synopsis (via Letterboxd):

Henry IV usurps the English throne, sets in motion the factious War of the Roses and now faces a rebellion led by Northumberland scion Hotspur. Henry’s heir, Prince Hal, is a ne’er-do-well carouser who drinks and causes mischief with his low-class friends, especially his rotund father figure, John Falstaff. To redeem his title, Hal may have to choose between allegiance to his real father and loyalty to his friend.

My Thoughts:

The Henry IV plays are not my favorites, but there’s a big difference between reading a play and seeing an adaptation.  Chimes at Midnight wisely condenses the two plays into one and centers it on Falstaff.  I can’t imagine any human who can embody Falstaff more than Orson Welles.  Not only does he look the part but he portrays Falstaff as a liar, carouser, and swindler who is nonetheless empathetic.  All the acting is wonderful with Keith Baxter showing Prince Hal’s sense of betrayal overhearing  Falstaff speak ill of him, paired with Falstaff’s heartbreak when the now King Henry V turns his back on him at the end. And this movie is just beautiful, with a crisp black & white film that highlights the shadow and light.  I wonder if Welles was influenced at all by Akira Kurosawa, especially during the battle scene which is magnificent.  So there we have it: a couple of Shakespeare plays I found to be so-so become one of my all-time favorite movies.

Rating: ****1/2

100 Years of Movie Musicals: The Pirate (1948)

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Next year marks the 100th anniversary of the movie musical, and to celebrate I’m embarking on a two-year project to watch 100 movie musicals from 1927 to the present!

Title: The Pirate
Release Date: May 20, 1948
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Main Cast:

  • Judy Garland as Manuela
  • Gene Kelly as Serafin
  • Walter Slezak as Don Pedro Vargas
  • Gladys Cooper as Aunt Inez
  • Reginald Owen as the advocate
  • George Zucco as the viceroy
  • Specialty Dance sequence by the Nicholas Brothers
  • Lester Allen as Uncle Capucho
  • Lola Deem as Isabella
  • Ellen Ross as Mercedes
  • Mary Jo Ellis as Lizarda
  • Jean Dean as Casilda
  • Marion Murray as Eloise
  • Ben Lessy as Gumbo
  • Jerry Bergen as Bolo
  • Val Setz as juggler
  • Gaudsmith Brothers as themselves
  • Cully Richards as Trillo
  • Dorothy Tuttle as dancer (uncredited)

Synopsis (via Letterboxd):

A girl is engaged to the local richman, but meanwhile she has dreams about the legendary pirate Macoco. A traveling singer falls in love with her and to impress her he poses as the pirate.

My Thoughts:

Judy Garland inexplicably stars as a character named Manuela, fated to marry a dull older man when she dreams of the romance of the pirates of the Carribean.  A traveling performed named Serafin falls for Manuela, and attempts to woo her by pretending to be a notorious pirate.  Serafin’s aggressive approach and womanizing comes off very creepy, not just in our time, but in the movie itself when Manuela responds by throwing every object in the room at him, very appropriate in context.  But the musical numbers are wonderful with Kelly and Garland playing to their strengths, and a cameo performance by the Nicholas Brothers.

Rating: ***

Theater Review: The Mystery of Irma Vep at Central Square Theater

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The Mystery of Irma Vep

By Charles Ludlam
Directed by David R. Gammons

June 10, 2026: Central Square Theater, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cast

Gabriel Graetz – Jane Twisden, Lord Edgar Hillcrest, et al
Paul Melendy – Nicodemus Underwood, Lady Enid Hillcrest, Alcazar, et al

There’s a great display in the lobby of the Central Square Theater about actor, director, and playwright Charles Ludlam and the LGBTQ-informed works he created for his off-Broadway Ridiculous Theatrical Company in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s.  None of this context prepared me for the delightful strangeness of The Mystery of Irma Vep.  The play is a high-camp spoof/pastiche of Gothic horror (there’s a werewolf, vampire, mummy and a ghost!) and Victorian melodrama with allusions to Shakespeare, James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, Rebecca, and Gaslight. On top of all this, there’s no shortage of dick, boob, and butt jokes.  And the actors frequently break the fourth wall.  Of course, the most notable thing about this play is that there are only two actors, each playing multiple characters which requires over thirty costume changes.  No offense to Gabriel Graetz, who is terrific, but Paul Melendy (recently of A Sherlock Carol) steals the show as the overly-dramatic Lady Enid, the crude gameskeeper Nicodemus, and the cigarette-flicking Alcazar.

The Mystery of Irma Vep must be seen to be believed and will continue playing at Central Square Theater through June 28. Note: it’s quite chilly in the theater, so bring a sweater.

 

100 Years of Movie Musicals: Road to Utopia (1946)

~ Liam ~ Leave a comment

Next year marks the 100th anniversary of the movie musical, and to celebrate I’m embarking on a two-year project to watch 100 movie musicals from 1927 to the present!

Title: Road to Utopia
Release Date: February 27, 1946
Director: Hal Walker
Production Company: Paramount Pictures
Main Cast:

  • Bing Crosby as Duke Johnson/Junior Hooton
  • Bob Hope as Chester Hooton
  • Dorothy Lamour as Sal Van Hoyden
  • Hillary Brooke as Kate
  • Douglass Dumbrille as Ace Larson
  • Jack La Rue as LeBec (as Jack LaRue)
  • Robert Barrat as Sperry
  • Nestor Paiva as McGurk
  • Robert Benchley as Narrator
  • Chester Conklin as Banjo Player (uncredited)
  • Al Ferguson as Policeman (uncredited)
  • Paul Newlan as Tough Ship’s Purser (uncredited)
  • Snub Pollard as participant in talent show (uncredited)
  • Bobby Barber as bartender (uncredited)
  • Ferdinand Munier as Santa Claus (uncredited)

Synopsis (via Letterboxd):

While on a ship to Skagway, Alaska, Duke and Chester find a map to a secret gold mine, which had been ‘stolen’ by thugs. In Alaska to recover her father’s map, Sal Van Hoyden falls in with Ace Larson, who secretly wants to steal the gold mine for himself. Duke, Chester, the thugs, Ace and his henchman chase each other all over the countryside—for the map.

My Thoughts:

As I’m reviewing 100 years of movie musicals, I figured I should include a Crosby/Hope/Lamour “Road to…” movie, and Road to Utopia is the the top-rated of the series.  Unfortunately, I was underwhelmed.  For all their talent, Crosby and Hope seem to be coasting on shtick.  Even the musical numbers are good but not great.  Dorothy Lamour shines, though.  For a 1940s movie I was surprised by the frequent meta-textual/breaking the fourth wall humor.  I keep having to remind myself that that style of humor was not invented in the 1990s.

Rating: **1/2

100 Years of Movie Musicals: State Fair (1945)

~ Liam ~ Leave a comment

Next year marks the 100th anniversary of the movie musical, and to celebrate I’m embarking on a two-year project to watch 100 movie musicals from 1927 to the present!

Title: State Fair
Release Date: August 29, 1945
Director: Walter Lang
Production Company: 20th Century Fox
Main Cast:

  • Jeanne Crain as Margy Frake
  • Dana Andrews as Pat Gilbert
  • Dick Haymes as Wayne Frake
  • Vivian Blaine as Emily Edwards
  • Charles Winninger as Abel Frake
  • Fay Bainter as Melissa “Ma” Frake
  • Donald Meek as Mr. Heppenstahl
  • William Marshall as Marty
  • Frank McHugh as McGee
  • Percy Kilbride as Dave Miller
  • Jane Nigh as Eleanor
  • Phil Brown as Harry Ware, Margy’s fiancé
  • Harry Morgan as a barker
  • Blue Boy, a boar that was raised by Ed S. Rennick of Pilger, Nebraska
  • John Dehner as hog contest announcer
  • JoAnn Dean Killingsworth as a dancer

Synopsis (via Letterboxd):

During their annual visit to the Iowa State Fair, the Frake family enjoy many adventures. Proud patriarch Abel has high hopes for his champion swine Blueboy; and his wife Melissa enters the mincemeat and pickles contest…with hilarious results.

My Thoughts:

In the only movie with original music by Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II, the Frakes family visit the Iowa State Fair.  There’s no central plot to the film, but more of a slice of life of the heightened experience of escaping every day life for each family member.  Margy finds romance with a reporter named Pat Gilbert, while her brother Wayne pitches woo at the fair’s big band singer, Emily Edwards.  The family’s boar Blue Boy also finds love but is unable to consummate his relationship because Frake patriarch Abel is too busy trying to win the hog competition.  Meanwhile, the mother Melissa enters a heated mincemeat competition using performance enhancing substances.

The movie is admittedly hokey Americana, and the dated masculine posturing (especially by Wayne) is off-putting.  Nevertheless, I found myself really enjoying this movie for its humor, warmth, and humanity.  The songs are enjoyable with the dance numbers really well incorporated into the plot and character development.  I also enjoyed the film’s technicolor brilliance and the state fair sets realistically recreated on a studio lot.

Rating: ****

Theater Review: Head Over Heels at The Footlight Club

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Head Over Heels

Songs by The Go-Go’s
Based upon The Arcadia by Sir Philip Sidney
Original book by Jeff Whitty
Adapted by James Magruder

May 15, 2026: Eliot Hall, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts

Cast

Basilius – Rob Nunes
Gynecia – Adena Walker
Pamela – Morgan Kaplan
Philoclea – Tori Vance
Dametas – Jasper Pasciuto
Mopsa – Kat O’Connor
Musidorus – Peter Tone
Pythio – Dayna Reichert

Ensemble

Travis Burt (US Basilius)
Sadie Piatt (US Gynecia)
Haley Thompson (US Pamela)
Pamela Petterchak (US Philoclea)
Corey Freedman (US Dametas)
Sevi Ettinger (US Mopsa)
Sarah Koury (US Musidorus)
Jules McClendon (US Pythio)
Cate Maslan (Swing, Dance Captain)
Elaina Murdock (Swing)
Allie Villa (Swing)
Georgia Bowder-Newton

Note that the May 15th performance I attended featured the understudies for Pythio, Dametus, Philoclea, and Musidorus.

In the Hellenistic kingdom of Arcadia, King Basilius receives four prophecies from the oracle Pythio.  Rather than telling his family the truth of the prophecies, he takes them on a journey by falsifying a quest.  Before departing, the younger princess Philoclea is proposed to by her childhood friend, a shepherd named Musidorus, but Basilius refuses the proposal.  Musidorus joins the journey disguised as an Amazon woman named Cleophila and he renews the romance with Philoclea.  However, both Basilius and Queen Gynecia are attracted to “Cleophila” and aggressively pursue a tryst. Meanwhile, the elder princess Pamela and her handmaiden Mopsa realize their love for one another.

As one might expect there’s a lot of mistaken identity, ribaldry, and all four of the prophecies coming true in unexpected ways.  The message of acceptance for different sexualities and gender identities is a bit heavy-handed but nevertheless necessary to celebrate in our troubled times. The cast was strong but I do want to call out Kat O’Connor as Mopsa for her absolutely stunning singing voice.  Also the understudy for Musidorus, Sarah Koury, is gifted in physical comedy. The highly-energetic dance ensemble were excellent and brought a lot of charm to the show.

The Footlight Club always does an excellent job with sets, costumes, music, and enthusiastic performances.  Which is why I feel a little guilty that this show didn’t sit quite right with me.  I think it all boils down to my mixed feelings on “jukebox musicals.”  In this case we have a story from Greek mythology through the lens of an English renaissance pastoral channeled into the musical theater tradition with the music of The Go-Go’s (and Belinda Carlise’s solo career) wedged in.  It feels a bit forced, especially the idea that the kingdom of Arcadia thrives on a mystical “beat” in order to shoehorn in The Go-Go’s “We Got the Beat.”  That being said, the title song works really well as the Act II opener with Musidorus being chased on and off stage Scooby Doo style.

Head Over Heels closed on May 16, but The Footlight Club – America’s oldest community theater – returns in the fall with their 150th season!

100 Years of Movie Musicals: The Fleet’s In (1942)

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Next year marks the 100th anniversary of the movie musical, and to celebrate I’m embarking on a two-year project to watch 100 movie musicals from 1927 to the present!

Title: The Fleet’s In
Release Date: January 24, 1942
Director: Victor Schertzinger
Production Company: Paramount Pictures
Main Cast:

  • Dorothy Lamour as the Countess
  • William Holden as Casey Kirby
  • Eddie Bracken as Barney Waters
  • Betty Hutton as Bessie
  • Betty Jane Rhodes as Diana Golden
  • Barbara Britton as Eileen
  • Jimmy Dorsey as himself
  • Cass Daley as Cissie

Synopsis (via Letterboxd):

Shy sailor Casey Kirby suddenly becomes known as a sea wolf when his picture is taken with a famous actress. Things get complicated when bets are placed on his prowess with the ladies.

My Thoughts:

The shy and intellectual* sailor Casey Kirby inadvertently gets selected for a promotional photo of a movie star kissing a sailor.  Among the crew on his ship, Casey gets the reputation as a ladies men and the sailors start a betting pool on whether or not he can kiss the standoffish night club singer “The Countess” at their next shore leave in San Francisco.  The b-plot involves Casey’s buddy Barney Waters who needs Casey to win the bet to avoid a beating being aggressively pursued by The Countess’ fellow performer and housemate Bessie.  Betty Hutton plays Bessie as a Manic Pixie Nightmare Girl and is the funniest thing in this movie.

The plot is kind of meh, and a little icky, so fortunately there’s not much of it between musical numbers.  In fact, most of the movie features stage performances of song, dance, and comic bits.  It’s like someone filmed a vaudeville show and decided to edit in a service comedy around it once the U.S. entered the Second World War.  It should be noted this movie had to be in production before Pearl Harbor, and there’s no mention of a war, so it was good timing, I guess?  Jimmy Dorsey and his Orchestra appear prominently in the film, and the songs by Victor Schertzinger and Johnny Mercer features standard like “Tangerine”, “I Remember You”, and “Arthur Murray Taught Me Dancing In a Hurry.”

* – It’s entirely possible that Casey is being coded as gay as he even says “I don’t like girls and they don’t like me” but a movie in 1942  isn’t going to make that explicit.

Rating: ***