I saw Idina Menzel as the headliner of DC Pride 2023 and I will never forget it. She frowned constantly the entire time and would sing every other line of the songs because she would take long drinks from a boxed water in between. In the middle of her 20 min set she gave what seemed to be a very long speech about how she was such an ally that she was really part of the community or something. I think she only did Frozen, no Wicked or Rent, but she would just vocalize on random “oh” sounds for half of the choruses that did not really seem to journey anywhere. Wonderful evening
Someone asked which song in Redwood is the song where she "does the riff" and it's like they reverse-engineered a musical in which EVERY song is the song where she does the riff. There's also like, a half-hearted, winky Frozen joke in it???? Idina........ I hope she's famous forever!!!
Her appearance in wicked where she does the riff before Cynthia gets to is, of course, bad, but in a fun way, sort of like having dessert before dinner. I’m surprised she didn’t need boxed water to get through it
Hi Fran I have seen Destroyer it’s like basically good but soon after I heard Karyn Kasuma complain about “Bernie Bros” on a podcast about Fight Club which was lol
rewatched Only Angels Have Wings to write about it this week — it’s the best! my theory prof showed it in undergrad mainly to talk about the gender roles, which is an essential part of Hawks but I also felt like missed a lot of what’s special about the movie. saw a couple more Hawks this week, Ceiling Zero (had no idea this was based on a play, but makes more sense if you know that going in) and I Was a Male War Bride (so funny!)
currently reading The Trees by Percival Everett. he rocks. Black X-Files with that harsh satirical edge
Re Eisenberg: when I was in college I went to a show at SoHo Rep that he also attended. As I was leaving, a couple guys on the street saw that Eisenberg was unlocking his bike and asked for an autograph. I can’t say he was “charming” in the way he told them no, but I can say I was charmed by how he blew them off — less that it was inconvenient and more that he found it surreal and unsettling. And he had to tell those guys “no” like three times before getting on his bike.
His little digs at each question/reporter were ultimately making me laugh, even as I took a few myself. He seemed to be really and truly in hell having to do a press line - I get it!!!
wait did the new Bridget Jones not get a US theatrical release? I’m in New Zealand rn and every time I’ve gone to the movies here (the indie cinema scene here is better than I was expecting) it is BUMPING with women in line to get wine and see Bridget Jones
If I go to Nicole Kidman's Letterboxd page the first _fifty_ titles are faded (i.e. seen). So Destroyer definitely unspooled before me, so to speak, but I cannot tell you anything substantive about it. Kidman played "grizzled," judging by her makeup. Seen-it-all, jaded, etc.
Astro Bot is a completely shameless Mario Oddysey rip-off through and through, but we have gone eight years without a new mainline 3D Super Mario game and in that time Team Asobi has ruthlessly dissected everything that makes Oddysey work so well, and reassembled it in a way that mogs Nintendo at every opportunity— it looks better, plays better, sounds better, has cuter/funkier guys, more creative gimmicks... basically the only thing Mario has over Astro Bot is deeper movement techs and the beautiful Mayor Pauline. The use of the PS5 controller’s advanced haptics is absolutely mind blowing, almost terrifying (the way that Balatro is terrifying) in its satisfying, juicy addictiveness, and it feels like a watershed moment in gamefeel that basically every first-party PlayStation title will have to live up to.
finished two fairly brief novels about King Arthur yesterday: Tim Powers’ The Drawing of the Dark (awful) and Barthelme’s The King, which was fun! asks the question “what if the atomic bomb was the holy grail, but the wrong one like in The Last Crusade,” which is, you know, novel. also been listening to a lot of Witchdoctor and Hop Along.
“woman in tree” is a very powerful theme for a week…i am soooo bad at tree climbing so i sympathize with ms kidman in the above screenshot.
I finished a friend's memoir on Friday and looking forward to doing a series of short novels and maybe a Tana to kickstart my apprecation for fiction again. The King sounds awesome; I love Hop Along!! I am bad at tree climbing and afraid of heights - Renée did not even get that far up in Bridget Jones, but even then... scary...
I saw Idina Menzel as the headliner of DC Pride 2023 and I will never forget it. She frowned constantly the entire time and would sing every other line of the songs because she would take long drinks from a boxed water in between. In the middle of her 20 min set she gave what seemed to be a very long speech about how she was such an ally that she was really part of the community or something. I think she only did Frozen, no Wicked or Rent, but she would just vocalize on random “oh” sounds for half of the choruses that did not really seem to journey anywhere. Wonderful evening
Someone asked which song in Redwood is the song where she "does the riff" and it's like they reverse-engineered a musical in which EVERY song is the song where she does the riff. There's also like, a half-hearted, winky Frozen joke in it???? Idina........ I hope she's famous forever!!!
Her appearance in wicked where she does the riff before Cynthia gets to is, of course, bad, but in a fun way, sort of like having dessert before dinner. I’m surprised she didn’t need boxed water to get through it
100p - those cameos make the movie worse and in turn iconic
> there’s a rugged unpleasantness to [Idina] that’s extremely entrancing
i have never been able to tell if she Austin Butlered herself with Maureen from Rent, or if Maureen the character is like that because Idina is
Great question tbh…
Every scene of "Destroyer" makes it seem like Nicole Kidman got into a bar fight before each take.
Fromtheyardtothearthouse.substack.com
I ( and everyone else! ) am happy about
your F/T position. Hope they apprec$ate your talent / dedication to the Arts.
Enjoyed your (B’way) theater comments. Saw my 1st Broadway show when I was 1O — ‘The Miracle Worker.’ (progressive
parents — lucky me!)
* FYI - ‘LIZA’ doc. is Fantastic!
LOVE READING Your FRAN ADVENTURES
Please continue SHARING!
Thank you!! I am DYING to see the Liza doc, she is a hero in our house!!
Not me going to the Early Life section of Idina Menzel’s Wikipedia page to see if she is Jewish
Oh yeah… OH YEAH
Hi Fran I have seen Destroyer it’s like basically good but soon after I heard Karyn Kasuma complain about “Bernie Bros” on a podcast about Fight Club which was lol
No….
rewatched Only Angels Have Wings to write about it this week — it’s the best! my theory prof showed it in undergrad mainly to talk about the gender roles, which is an essential part of Hawks but I also felt like missed a lot of what’s special about the movie. saw a couple more Hawks this week, Ceiling Zero (had no idea this was based on a play, but makes more sense if you know that going in) and I Was a Male War Bride (so funny!)
currently reading The Trees by Percival Everett. he rocks. Black X-Files with that harsh satirical edge
have been dying to see I Was a Male War Bride for forever... need to scoot this one up on the list...
really good date movie for you and esoteric fiancé …. sweet/horny slapstick rom-com that is also basically a Gravity’s Rainbow subplot
Re Eisenberg: when I was in college I went to a show at SoHo Rep that he also attended. As I was leaving, a couple guys on the street saw that Eisenberg was unlocking his bike and asked for an autograph. I can’t say he was “charming” in the way he told them no, but I can say I was charmed by how he blew them off — less that it was inconvenient and more that he found it surreal and unsettling. And he had to tell those guys “no” like three times before getting on his bike.
His little digs at each question/reporter were ultimately making me laugh, even as I took a few myself. He seemed to be really and truly in hell having to do a press line - I get it!!!
astro bot is SO good! he is SO awesome! congrats on ur ps5 we absolutely love ours
He is my son <3
wait did the new Bridget Jones not get a US theatrical release? I’m in New Zealand rn and every time I’ve gone to the movies here (the indie cinema scene here is better than I was expecting) it is BUMPING with women in line to get wine and see Bridget Jones
no :( straight to Peacock
If I go to Nicole Kidman's Letterboxd page the first _fifty_ titles are faded (i.e. seen). So Destroyer definitely unspooled before me, so to speak, but I cannot tell you anything substantive about it. Kidman played "grizzled," judging by her makeup. Seen-it-all, jaded, etc.
Absolute hilarity, love these reviews. Making me want to catch up on the Bridget Jones movies
Pro Destroyer over here! But she looks just as weird running as she does up the tree
And that’s why we love her…
Astro Bot is a completely shameless Mario Oddysey rip-off through and through, but we have gone eight years without a new mainline 3D Super Mario game and in that time Team Asobi has ruthlessly dissected everything that makes Oddysey work so well, and reassembled it in a way that mogs Nintendo at every opportunity— it looks better, plays better, sounds better, has cuter/funkier guys, more creative gimmicks... basically the only thing Mario has over Astro Bot is deeper movement techs and the beautiful Mayor Pauline. The use of the PS5 controller’s advanced haptics is absolutely mind blowing, almost terrifying (the way that Balatro is terrifying) in its satisfying, juicy addictiveness, and it feels like a watershed moment in gamefeel that basically every first-party PlayStation title will have to live up to.
I like when Astro Bot has a GUN
https://youtu.be/DwTdIQ9fw4U?si=A_zs_edondo-ZPMJ
fml I need to rewatch
finished two fairly brief novels about King Arthur yesterday: Tim Powers’ The Drawing of the Dark (awful) and Barthelme’s The King, which was fun! asks the question “what if the atomic bomb was the holy grail, but the wrong one like in The Last Crusade,” which is, you know, novel. also been listening to a lot of Witchdoctor and Hop Along.
“woman in tree” is a very powerful theme for a week…i am soooo bad at tree climbing so i sympathize with ms kidman in the above screenshot.
I finished a friend's memoir on Friday and looking forward to doing a series of short novels and maybe a Tana to kickstart my apprecation for fiction again. The King sounds awesome; I love Hop Along!! I am bad at tree climbing and afraid of heights - Renée did not even get that far up in Bridget Jones, but even then... scary...
we support tana always…i believe in your short novel mini-era