#anyways. she is FLAWLESS. literally so fucking perfect as christine!!!!!

[thephantom]

Flowers fade, the fruits of summer fade... They have their seasons, so do we. But please promise me that sometimes, you will think of me...

Lily Kerhoas as Christine Daaé, West End 2023. @shakeatradefeather's master.

#*mine #potoedit #lily kerhoas #christine daaé #christine daae #phantom of the opera #the phantom of the opera #poto west end #poto london #think of me #this was originally going to be a six gif set but then i realized it would be wayyyyy too huge of a post #so i shrank it down to my favorite two! #anyways. she is FLAWLESS. literally so fucking perfect as christine!!!!!

[allthefilmsiveseenforfree]

Cruel Intentions

Cruel Intentions was the most forbidden movie my 11-year-old brain could possibly imagine. 1) it was all about sex 2) it starred teenagers and 3) those teenagers’ motivations were just right there in the title. I didn’t see it in full until I was 25 years old. It was re-released for its 20-year-anniversary and I was curious to see how well it held up, both as an artifact of the 90s and as relevant to today. Does it live up to the dark, sticky legacy my 11-year-old self could have imagined? Well...

I hate to say it but...no? The half that has aged fine has aged fine. No real additional layers of meaning or transformative commentary in the past 20 years have been added. But the half that has aged poorly has aged really fucking poorly. While there are moments of truly inspiring cinema to be found here, this sordid tale of high school seniors betraying and fucking each other has no real central hero or villain to root for or against, which makes it kind of a convoluted mess.

Quick plot summary for the uninitiated. It’s summertime for rich assholes in New York City, and Sebastian (Ryan Phillipe) makes a bet with his stepsister Kathryn (Sarah Michelle Gellar, relishing every minute) that he can get the new student starting at school, self-avowed virgin and all around good person Annette (Reese Witherspoon), to sleep with him before the semester starts. But uh-oh, over the course of his deception, he falls in love with Annette for real and can’t deflower her. Until he does anyway? But it’s for love. And he’s still kind of an asshole and terrible person. And then he dies and everyone finds out what a bitch Kathryn is and The Verve makes $20 million because everyone’s new favorite song is “Bittersweet Symphony.”

Some thoughts:

As an artifact of the 90s, you can’t get much better than this. The tiniest sunglasses that do NOTHING! The pastels! The sheer blouses over spaghetti strap tank tops! Even this font in the credits looks 90s. The nostalgia is THICK with this one.

And this soundtrack is excellent through and through. *puts on repeat on Spotify*

What happened to Sean Patrick Thomas? Between this and Save the Last Dance, he was my ultimate ~artistic~ dreamboat guy of 1999. I just saw him in The Curse of La Llorona where he was woefully underused. I need a Sean Patrick Thomas renaissance, stat.

Oh shit, and Tara Reid! Oh what a terrible crier she is here. But I suppose that’s to be expected with her awful mother who is a psychologist and slut-shaming her own daughter when she knows what an asshole Sebastian is.

Sebastian is so insufferably full of himself that it’s frankly nauseating BUT I will say, watching him make fun of Christine Baranski is pretty funny.

Sarah Michelle Gellar is honestly the most flawless and iconic part of this movie because it’s clear she’s having so. much. fun.

It’s confusing when every film and tv show uses 20-something actors to play teens but if they’re starting school in the fall that means Sebastian and Katherine both are maximum 17? And he’s meant to have slept with this many girls already? Bullshit. Have you met 17-year-olds? Especially before Instagram and YouTube were a thing? Give me a break. 

Way to throw around a shitton of gay slurs, wowie wow 1999 how I did not miss that. Plus the whole “closeted gay guy has Barbara Streisand cds” thing...god I’m glad we’ve moved past that, not because the joke is offensive, but because it’s just about as funny as saying “Women like cats.” It’s not even a punchline, that’s just you saying a sentence.

I literally can’t believe we’re supposed to root for Sebastian at any point in this movie when he made a bet in order to buttfuck his stepsister.

Selma Blair is overacting like hell in every scene she’s in, but she’s having nearly as much fun as SMG, so I’ll allow it.

And even though I’m obviously so into the #iconic scene giffed above, the way two girls kissing is filmed makes it seem like THE most voyeuristic, salacious thing which is pretty gross. 

Why would you put perfume on before you get into a pool, Annette??

SMG’s monologue about unfair pressure for girls is LEGIT. This is probably the only scene in the movie, where she describes how much pressure she’s under to be the perfect little lady even though she’s smart and driven and actually likes sex, that has aged really well and feels very relevant to today.

Um...did Sebastian just get a girl drunk and commit sexual assault? Yeah, that really cancels out SMG’s female empowerment monologue up above like what the snail-sucking FUCK.

The line “But I have theater tickets!!” is the funniest goddamn thing in this movie.

Can we talk about how it makes no sense that Annette likes Sebastian at all? They have nothing in common, and he treats her like an idiot most of the time when he’s not gaslighting her SO HARD. Is it the mystery? Girl, buy yourself a Nancy Drew book, because he’s not fucking worth it.

Ok but “Colorblind” is still an amazing song, damn. And the lighting in this love scene between Annette and Sebastian is incredible. But why are they so sweaty when they’re doing it? And again, why is she into him in the first place???

I can’t believe Sebastian thinks giving Annette the journal will solve things. Who reads this and says “yeah this guy gets a pass”???

Who is this person inciting a riot at a funeral?

I love that we realize what everyone is reading when people start looking at Kathryn and doing the slow head shakes. And why should we be happy about Kathryn’s comeuppance when Sebastian never really proved that he had changed and did all this fucked up stuff too?

I don’t think I realized how nonsensical this movie was in its goal of being ~scandalous~. I feel like I have whiplash between one scene and the next. You hate Sebastian, then he’s kinda dreamy, then he’s a rapist, then we’re meant to sympathize with him because he laughed ONE TIME? Each individual scene is good, but all together they make no real sense. Still a banging soundtrack tho.

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#119in2019 #cruel intentions #cruel intentions review #ryan phillipe #sarah michelle gellar #reese witherspoon #selma blair #sean patrick thomas #tara reid #christine baranski #movie reviews #film reviews

[folklorestv]

Hamilton London: Review (Oct 2018)

I saw Hamilton in London on Oct 4, 2018 (matinee show) and I decided to write a little review; I was located in the stalls, row K, seat 40 (scroll further to the bottom of the post to see where my seat was exactly). I’d been wanting to see Hamilton for about two and a half years and I bought the tickets eight months ago, and it feels so surreal that the moment I’ve been looking for is over at last. I flew out to London on Wednesday, the show was on Thursday (two show day). We got to the Victoria Palace Theatre at around 1pm and by that time, a small queue had already formed outside. We got in pretty quickly as the paperless ticketing system works great! The redeveloped theatre is absolutely beautiful, not to mention fancy as hell. They let us inside the actual stage room at 1.45pm, there’s different entries and they let us know beforehand which one to take, so we were at our seats in no matter of time. Fortunately, my seat had plenty of leg room and sitting was not uncomfortable at all. Being in 11th row, I was super close to the stage. Like, for real, I was really close. You can’t tell on the photo, but when the actors were on stage I could see every single tiny facial expression. Let’s just say that I could always see clearly whenever the actors spit while singing/rapping.

I’ve written a review on each actor which I will put under the cut (it actually got really fucking long, I doubt anyone will read all of it). You will be able to tell that I actually prefer the West End company over the OBC! I only have the OBC to compare them to, anyway. One thing I want to mention beforehand (because I don’t want to write it multiple times) is that you could actually hear the cast’s British accents here and there, but overall they did a solid job at faking an American one! I rather enjoyed it whenever a bit of a British accent slipped through at certain words.

Jamael Westman as Alexander Hamilton: I honestly don’t know where to start. Jamael is absolutely amazing, in my opinion a lot better than Lin! He is a perfect Alexander Hamilton and I can’t praise him enough. I’m glad he extended his contract and hopefully I’ll be able to see him again next year. He is great down to every micro-expression, like I said, he definitely beats Lin. His voice is awesome and very lovely to listen to, he hits all his notes, and he speaks clearly which made the rapping fantastic as well. He has a wonderful gentleness about him that is beautiful in That Would Be Enough and Stay Alive (Reprise); his Hurricane and his verse in The World Was Wide Enough are breathtaking. Moreover, Jamael nails the role in both acts. He has that certain playfulness in the first act and I enjoyed watching him so much. In the second act, he plays the fatherly and slightly more serious role really well, too. In contrast to the serious part, he is amazing during the Cabinet Battles and earned a lot of laughs from the crowd! Opposed to Lin (in my opinion), Jamael just fits the role a lot better physically, too. He’s young, fresh and handsome and that is mirrored in his portrayal of Hamilton. To sum it up, Jamael’s energy as Hamilton is out of this world and I’m at a loss for words.

Rachelle Ann Go as Eliza Hamilton: She didn’t particularly stand out for me, but she is still an amazing Eliza! She brings the necessary eagerness in Helpless and you could see her go through a real character arc as she grew more mature. She has a phenomenal singing voice and her acting is great, too. She’s genuinely crying in Burn and you could feel all her disgust towards Hamilton, it was amazing. Furthermore, her scream in Stay Alive (Reprise) is heartbreaking. She’s an excellent emotional singer. She’s also a lot shorter than Jamael which just made them look cute as a couple on stage.

Giles Terera as Aaron Burr: I have mixed feelings about him. I had to get used to him first for a couple of songs as his lisp annoyed me a bit, particularly at the start with the spoken narration. I wasn’t a big fan of his voice but I soon realised that he’s an incredible performer! He can sing really well which he definitely shows in Wait For It and The Room Where It Happens, so as the show progresses the lisp became less noticeable and you can focus on his excellent performance and acting. Overall, he plays a different Burr than Leslie Odom Jr, and at the end I actually adored his portrayal since it’s fresh and new. I still preferred him in the second act, though. He does a great job of making Burr a victim and The World Was Wide Enough - especially the end of it - was simply beautiful.

Rachel John as Angelica Schuyler: Oh my lord, she is absolute perfection. She might have beat Renée Goldsberry for me just because she has that certain something, she is a lot more fierce. Her voice is badass and she killed Satisfied! You can see her gentle side in It’s Quiet Uptown which she plays really well. She can sing, rap, act and get all the right emotions across. I’m so glad I got to see her as Angelica! I would’ve loved to see her sing Congratulations as that song seems to be written only for her. As you can tell, I’m literally speechless when it comes to her. She definitely owns the stage whenever she is on it.

Obioma Ugoala as George Washington: Definitely one of my favourites. He was unreal. Imagine Chris Jackson but even better! He has a really powerful and super deep voice along with amazing vocals. He was full on yelling a few times in Right Hand Man and you definitely feel intimidated by him. He plays the comedic part in the Cabinet Battles well, which is something I haven’t seen with other Washingtons. He gives the role all the aspects that were missing and I was completely speechless after his performance! He gets the loudest applause after One Last Time as he does a particularly fantastic job during the song! His vocals are simply incredible and he dominates the tricky role of George Washington. Fun fact: He actually forgot his line “Remember, my decision on this matter is not subject to congressional approval / The only person you have to convince is me” in Cabinet Battle #2 while saying it and just changed it up quickly to “Anybody else’s opinion doesn’t matter”. I just thought that was funny, it just proves what live theatre is like.

Jason Pennycooke as Marquis de Lafayette / Thomas Jefferson: Absolutely loved him! I wasn’t immediately a fan of his Lafayette because I got caught up in how different he is to Daveed Diggs. But in reality, he brings completely new energy to the role, which I enjoyed a lot. Guns And Ships is flawless, so he is really likeable in the first act. He is sort of this small, young guy who comes out of nowhere and saves the day. The second act blows everyone away! His Jefferson is perfect, probably better than Daveed’s. His version is again different but he is so funny and gets the majority of laughs! Next to Jamael as Hamilton, he does perfect comedy in the Cabinet Battles - they both do. I am basically in love with his portrayal of both characters as he brings a lot to them each. He does a stand out performance and is a true joy to watch. Although he is so very, very different to Daveed, he is very talented and awesome in his roles! Again, the second act had me completely amazed. His rapping and singing is on point and he is really flamboyant and confident. I also met him at the stage door and he’s very lovely in person. He genuinely appreciated when I told him how much I liked his portrayal and he took tons of time with everyone.

Tarinn Callender as Hercules Mulligan / James Madison: Personally one of my cast favourites as I’ve been enjoying his Instagram stories (and Cleve’s) for a year now. I was super excited to see him on stage and he was perfect! His portrayal is quite similar to Okieriete’s, but I still enjoyed it! He brings a booming energy to the group as Mulligan in the first act and he morphs perfectly into Madison in act two. He kills his rap in Yorktown and I was in love. He has this  wonderful “I’m so done with this shit” attitude about Jefferson which is funny and he gets a lot of laughs as well. Tarinn is a wonderful performer and has an amazing comedic timing! He is awesome alongside Cleve in act one, and then alongside Jason in act two. He lifts the scenes and picks up the pace. He was the nicest person ever at the stage door (I had been dying to meet him) and he took a lot of funny photos with my phone! It was a blast to see him that day, definitely my favourite part of my London trip. (I’m putting the photos he took with my phone at the end of the post.)

Cleve September as John Laurens / Philip Hamilton: My other favourite besides Tarinn! Cleve and Tarinn are an amazing duo, on and off stage. They put a lot of comedy into the first act and bring new energy to the characters’ beliefs. It is absolutely heartbreaking when John Laurens dies (right after Dear Theodosia) and Cleve is able to bring the sadness and the pride across at the same time. He is absolutely fantastic as Philip, too, I probably prefer him over Anthony Ramos. Take A Break was sooo funny, I wish everyone could see him in it! His portrayal differs from Anthony’s while he still stays true to the character. He’s so scared during Blow Us All Away and he’s genuinely shaking before the duel. Stay Alive (Reprise) is absolutely heart wrenching to watch. Cleve’s acting is flawless during the conversation between Philip and Alexander (”I did exactly as you said, Pa / I help my head up high / Even before we got to ten- / I was aiming for the sky”). He actually screams out in pain while talking and my heart shattered into pieces. He does an awesome job! Definitely a bummer that I didn’t meet him at the stage door as Cleve is such a lovely and funny person as well.

Sharon Rose as Peggy Schuyler / Maria Reynolds: She is the only understudy of the main cast that I saw but she really kills her role! I had heard recordings of Christine Allado as Maria before and thought she was amazing; therefore I was really curious to see Sharon. She is really fun-loving during The Schuyler Sisters and her portrayal as Peggy is everything it has to be. I thoroughly enjoyed watching her and she is adorable during Helpless and Satisfied. She also kills her performance as Maria during Say No To This and it reminded me more of Christine Allado’s version, rather than Jasmine Cephas Jones’s. Sharon hits every note and plays that helplessness and state of being devastated well, she’s definitely an amazing emotional singer, similar to Rachelle!

Michael Jibson as King George: I wasn’t sure about him first but afterwards I can say that I definitely like his portrayal more than Jonathan Groff’s. I prefer Jonathan’s vocals as I felt like Michael was sometimes struggling with the high notes, but he absolutely owns the stage when he was on it! All of his mannerisms are superb; he might have got the most laughs and cheering from the audience. The British definitely love to make fun of themselves and poke at the Royals, it was awesome! Michael adds a lot of tiny tweaks to the character which is really creative. He changed several things about the performance as King George that make the whole portrayal a lot more fun to watch. You should definitely go see him in his role if you ever have the chance. I also met him at the stage door where he seemed like a really laid-back and nice guy!

Jack Butterworth as Samuel Seabury: Now, this is a super minor role but I thought I should mention it anyway. Jack Butterworth is a pure joy to watch as Samuel Seabury. Completely different energy compared to the OBC; Jack seems a lot more innocent and playful. Also, he is standing on a podium and Jamael is almost taller than him without a podium, just a funny thing I noticed. Jack was definitely the right casting choice (as are all the other actors involved).

Gregory Haney as Charles Lee: Another really minor role that I want to mention nevertheless. Charles Lee is usually played by Leslie Garcia Bowman so it came as a bit of a surprise to me that Gregory played the role that day. I’ve been following him for several years as he was part of the Broadway cast before and I was really excited when he starred as Charles Lee in Stay Alive! He did a really good job in both Stay Alive and Ten Duel Commandments. His “I’m a general, whee!” sounds different than the Broadway one and earns many laughs.

Ensemble - Jade Albertsen, Curtis Angus, Courtney Mae Briggs, Jack Butterworth, Jon Scott Clark, Kelly Downing, Gregory Haney, Leah Hill, Walyon Jacobs, Miriam-Teak Lee, Chris Tendai: The ensemble are the true stars of the show; they bring beautiful harmonies and mind-blowing choreographies. Leah Hill stood out for me as the Bullet and she did a beautiful job. Miriam Teak-Lee is another one who stood out in all of the dancers, I’ve heard recordings of her as Angelica (she’s actually an alternate for all the Schuyler sisters!) and she definitely has potential to rise up. Kudos to everyone in the ensemble, they’re doing an amazing job every night.

Like I said, I was pretty close to the stage. My ticket was £100 while the ticket for the seat to my right is already £250. This is because my view of the stage was slightly obstructed to the left side which didn’t matter at all. The only thing I missed was Washington’s “Me, I trusted him” during Alexander Hamilton and I couldn’t see Hamilton standing on the staircase during Satisfied. Both of those are, however, very minor things that didn’t bother me. I felt extremely close to the actors in 11th row, and it was definitely worth saving £150 (the rows in front of me are £250, too).

Aaaand here are the photos Tarinn took with my phone!

#hamilton london #hamilton west end #hamilton london cast #west end #hamilton #kristina.txt