I guess it's High Culture night tonight. Jon's got Ralph Fiennes (a.k.a Lord Voldemort), talking about his directorial debut Coriolanus. Yes, Shakespeare. Here's from the NYTimes review:
As soon as a thrilling Ralph Fiennes appears on “Coriolanus,” it’s clear why he chose this lesser-known Shakespeare tragedy for his directing debut. Dressed in camouflage fatigues, Mr. Fiennes — as the mythic Roman military hero first known as Caius Martius and later Coriolanus — enters a raucous scene and commands it with just a glare. What power! The city’s hungry, rioting citizens, some carrying protest signs and one holding a camera phone, have descended, demanding food. Martius charges at them and then lets loose the contempt that will aid in his downfall: “What’s the matter, you dissentious rogues, that, rubbing the poor itch of your opinion, make yourselves scabs?”...
...Mr. Fiennes has made smart choices here, notably by surrounding himself with a strong secondary cast (the smaller roles are less successfully played), and by hiring the cinematographer Barry Ackroyd. Mr. Ackroyd, who shot “The Hurt Locker,” gives “Coriolanus” a visual density that complements the bright opulence of Martius’s mansion yet can pick faces out of the fog of war and the darkest shadows. (The sound mixer, Ray Beckett, also worked on “The Hurt Locker,” in which Mr. Fiennes had a small role.) Together they bring this world alive, closing the centuries-long distance between the writing of the play and this interpretation. The language lives, as do the people, who are present enough that it’s almost a surprise that no one brandishes that timely protest sign, “Occupy Rome.”
The 42 reviews currently at RottenTomatoes have it at 93%. There's a trailer out there, should you be interested.
And Stephen's got:
The ballet dancer David Hallberg has been busy the past few weeks performing with his new company, the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow. He is the first American to join the company on a permanent basis. But, lucky for his fans here, he has returned to United States to dance with American Ballet Theater in Alexei Ratmansky’s “The Nutcracker” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Dec. 23 and 28, and to appear on Wednesday night on “The Colbert Report” on Comedy Central. Dancing is on the show’s agenda, in addition to an interview, and we can’t wait to assess Stephen Colbert’s technique. Hee Seo, a principal dancer with American Ballet Theater, will also perform...
(That's from the NYTimes artsbeat blog.)
Hallberg's website looks like it hasn't been updated for a while, but for those of you looking for pretty pictures, there are plenty. He is on twitter, though:
You'll find those pictures here and here.
|