Rigoletto

GENERAL INFORMATION

View Date and Location: 30 Jan 2013 Live from the Metropolitan Opera House

Premiere Date: Venice, Italy 11 March 1851
Language: Italian
Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
Director: Michael Mayer

REVIEWS

MY RATING: 8

STORYLINE

Originally set in 16th century Mantova, Italy in the house of the Duke. Rigoletto is a jester in the Duke's court. The Duke is a ladies man who feels meaningless if he can't chase women. He's got eyes for young Gilda, the daughter of Rigoletto. There are curses, more affairs,  and finally to humiliate Rogoletto, the Duke and his entourage kidnap Gilda. Rigoletto hires a thief, Sparafucile and his sister Maddalena, who he hires to murder the Duke. But, in a twist, Maddalena falls for the duke and begs her brother not to kill him but kill the first person home comes into the door. He says no but eventually agrees. It's Gilda who comes in and is nearly killed by Sparafucile who wraps her in a rug and delivers her to Rigoletto. Thinking he's gotten vengeance, he paddles to dispose of the body, then realizes it's his own daughter who is dying. Que heartbreaking song and she dies. Rigoletto's curse comes to pass.

MY REVIEW

I love Michael Mayers concept of setting Rigoletto in the decadent 50's Las Vegas. It was a real treat to see the showgirls and dancing suits looking a lot like the Rat Pack. I love that I got to sit in the theater with my good friend Lisa and really enjoy this Opera. Love love love!!

Mama

GENERAL INFORMATION
Release Info: 18 Jan 2013
Running Time: 100 Minutes
Staring:  Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Megan Charpentier
Rating? PG-13
SPOILERS? YES

REVIEWS
IMDB: 6.2 of 10
MY RATING: 2

MY REVIEW:
So this movie does have SOME redeemable qualities. The concept seemed interesting and the script wasn't too bad.

Basically, there are two little girls who are raise by a ghost int he forrest. The ghost was making up for the children who she lost in life. They're found in the woods and are given to their aunt and uncle. Uncle gets put into a coma and aunt is incredibly unprepared for kids but loves them in like three days. Now they are haunted by the Mama ghost, the ultra-lame CGI ghost. Then the very obvious plot twist.. give Mama her original baby back and then she'll leave them alone. Mama goes but takes one of the girls and punches a hole through the uncle. But then it's all okay and everyone lives happily ever after.

Here's where the movie fell apart for me.. CGI! This was so ridiculously over the top for me that I fully felt that the CG turned this possible horror flick into a mere comedic horror. It's definitely a PG-13 horror, which is really my first
mistake when selecting a horror movie.

The IDEA of the plot seemed to be interesting and new but in the ned it turned out to be pretty predictable. Just another lame ghost story. The main characters are utterly unlikeable and the ending was a joke. Not the greatest.

On a personal note... I finished a baby blanket for my friend Ryan who is having a little girl. She wanted something different so I made a black blanket with pink and blue skulls! AND, I won an award at work, MVP!! (It's kind of like Employee of the Quarter). And I took a little selfie today!!

Zero Dark Thirty

GENERAL INFORMATION
Release Year: Jan 1 2013
Running Time: 157 Minutes
Staring:  Jessica Chastain, Joel Egerton, Chris Pratt
Rating? R
SPOILERS? NO

REVIEWS
IMDB: 7.4 of 10
Rotten Tomatoes: Critics: 93% Audience: 80%
MY RATING: 8

STORYLINE
This movie chronicles the decade-long hunt for al-Queda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the September 2001 attacks and his death at the hands of the Navy SEALS Team 6 in May 2011.

MY REVIEW:
From the very beginning this movie takes you on the hunt, shows the value of the importance of it as well as the sheer desperation. It's thrilling and unbelievable. I did wish there was more backstory of the characters involved. Seemed like there would be more interest in the people themselves and not jus the story. Other than that, this was a great movie.