Take a trip to 'La Mancha'

The Mount Washington Valley Theatre Company’s 42nd season continues with a smashing and thoroughly engaging production of “Man of La Mancha,” which opened Tuesday, July 24, at the Eastern Slope Inn Playhouse in North Conway, N.H. and is playing through Aug. 4.

Based on Miguel de Cervantes’s classic 17th century novel “Don Quixote,” “Man of La Mancha,” by Dale Wasserman with lyrics by Joe Darion and music by Mitch Leigh, first appeared on Broadway in 1965.

The show has a story frame in which a fictionalized version of Cervantes (Larry Daggett) is thrown into a prison to await trial by the Inquisition. Cervantes’ fellow prisoners have their own trial for him and accuse him of being an idealist.

To defend his case he acts out the story of Don Quixote, a simple man who has read so many tales of chivalry that he has driven himself mad and created a fantasy world in which he is a knight. Cervantes asks those around them to fill parts as needed.

In the play-within-a-play, Quixote is joined by his loyal squire Sancho Panza (Patrick Michael Valley) in his courageous quest. Their journey brings them to an inn that Quixote believes is a castle. There Quixote meets Aldonza (Leah Monzillo), a tavern wench that Quixote sees as his virtuous Dulcinea. He shows her tenderness for the first time in her life and she doesn’t know how to accept it.

The plot also features family members trying to convince Quixote of his true identity, which leads to one of the show’s musical highlights “I’m Only Thinking of Him.” The song features complex, overlapping vocals provided by Jennifer Lauren Brown and Liz Wasser. The song also establishes one of musical’s key themes of whether bursting Quixote’s bubble is what is truly best for him.

“Don Quixote” was originally written as a satire of chivalrous adventure stories. Written in two parts, the first was farce, but the second was more serious and bleak with Quixote seen as a madman who was cruelly ridiculed.

“Man of La Mancha” explores these two sides of Cervantes’ work with a light and fun beginning giving way to a darker second half. There is a brutal rape scene that director Richard Sabellico doesn’t shy away from. It is difficult to watch, but necessary in bringing the show’s message across.

Sabellico’s direction throughout is superb and filled with interesting choices enhanced by the lighting design by Victoria Miller. Music director George Wiese has gotten the cast to an exceptionally high level of quality. The set designed by Kenneth John Verdugo and costume design by Barbara Erin Delo effectively creates the 17th century atmosphere.

Daggett is fantastic in the dual role of Cervantes and Quixote. He makes both characters distinct. His Quixote is full of bravado and performed with a Shakespearean quality. He has a rich and powerful voice and he sings with a conviction appropriate for the stubborn, strong willed Quixote. He makes the show’s most famous song, “The Impossible Dream” moving and powerful.

It is also a very physical performance with his impassioned and sincere stare getting across that Quixote means everything he says. Daggett makes it easy to see why those around Quixote would like him in spite of his seeming madness.

Valley provides strong support and comic relief as Sancho. Daggett and Valley have a nice comedic chemistry that is played effectively low key instead of for broad, easy laughs. Valley makes the best of his one song “I Like Him.” He sings the song with a good balance of warmth and humor.

Monzillo nicely captures Aldonza ‘s cynical, bitter edge. There’s a caustic anger to her performance that shines on songs like “It’s All the Same,” which showcase her powerful vocals. It is also a subtle performance as she slowly begins to embrace Quixote’s worldview as her own.

The three leads are supported by a well rounded cast. The inn is populated by The Muleteers, a group of rough men, who never the less sing the sweet “Little Bird, Little Bird.” This song later gets a dark, sinister reprise.

Todd Fenstermaker is fun in the dual role of the “governor” of the jail and the innkeeper. As the innkeeper he takes a shine to Quixote and takes pleasure in participating in his fantasies even when they turn aggravating. Playing against type, Craig Holden, who starred as Quixote in 2009 for Arts in Motion, makes an impression as the cruel Pedro and Jake Levitt is funny as a barber.

“Man of La Mancha” is ultimately a funny and moving show with an important message. In a world that is unfair, no one’s dream, however absurd, should be squashed.

For more information or tickets call 356-5776 or visit www.mwvtheatre.org.

'Moonrise' a sweet exploration of young love

In "Moonrise Kingdom," Wes Anderson, the quirky filmmaker of such films as "Rushmore," "The Royal Tenenbaums" and "Darjeeling Limited," heads to summer camp for a sweet, melancholy exploration of young love.

The film is set in 1965 on isolated island off the coast of New England. As "Moonrise Kingdom" opens Sam (Jared Gilman), a camper at a boy scout camp, has gone AWOL to meet up with Suzy (Kara Hayward), a girl he met the previous summer. Through year-long letter correspondence, the pair plan to escape on a 10-day hiking trip of their own.

Gilman and Hayward, making their acting debuts, are splendid. Sam and Suzy are both given odd quirks that if overplayed could have become too cute, but, under Anderson's direction, Gilman and Hayward are natural and believable. They capture all the uncertainty and awkwardness of being in love as a pre-teen.

Their relationship is based on their shared status as outsiders dealing with similar emotional issues. Sam is an orphan, and Suzy's mother (Frances McDormand) is having an affair with the local cop (Bruce Willis). They lash out, in hopes of someone noticing or caring, or perhaps because they simply don't know how to deal with their feelings. No one ever truly attempted to listen to or understand them until they met each other. This connection may not be love, but they are certain that it is and that's what counts.

The film is squarely centered on Sam and Suzy, but they are surrounded by an extraordinary cast. Edward Norton is the scoutmaster, Bill Murray is Suzy's father, Tilda Swinton works for civil services and Jason Schwartzman pops up as another scout leader.

All the adult actors are wonderful performing within Anderson's very particular style. Willis, who plays a sad, lonely man, is a standout. As of late, Willis hasn't been acting so much as doing lazy variations on the familiar "Bruce Willis" persona, so it is nice to see him challenging himself again. A couple scenes with Gilman recall the quiet tenderness of his work in "The Sixth Sense."

Anderson is a filmmaker who could be considered an auteur. The auteur theory, developed by French critics in the 1950s, regards the director as the true author of a film. It is a highly debated theory as it ignores the contributions of everyone else involved in the filmmaking process, but it also changed how audiences perceive films.

We often attribute a film to its director. Most film directors really don't leave a distinct stamp to their work, so the theory doesn't hold water for every filmmaker. Directors such as Woody Allen or Tim Burton have a style so recognizably their own that you instantly know you're watching one of their works.

Anderson, who also co-writes his films, has such a unique visual style and tone that it is safe to say that no one else makes films like him. Anderson's films are a genre unto themselves. They are categorized as comedies, but their tone is so dry and deadpan, that it is difficult to discern the comic from the serious.

Visually, Anderson is fond of slow-mo sequences set to pop tunes, long tracking shots, sweeping pans, shooting things from above, medium shots of his actors and first-person perspectives of moving vehicles. His films are realistic, but with absurdist flourishes.

Anderson's characters are often eccentric and, yet, in spite of their idiosyncrasies, are recognizable as they grapple with emotions and situations that are relatable and real. No matter how offbeat Anderson's films become, there is always an emotional honesty.

Too often comedies mock their characters, but Anderson doesn't ridicule his misfit creations. His affection toward them reveals that he sees himself as one, too. In all his films, Anderson's characters are struggling to be understood and accepted as they are.

"Moonrise Kingdom," perhaps more so than any of Anderson's previous films, flaunts its peculiar tone proudly. This is the kind of film where a character gets struck by lightning with no ill effects, but also features the accidental killing of a dog. The film also features an on-screen narrator — in the style of a historical or nature documentary — wryly played by Bob Balaban. It is a delicate balance of realism with the utterly ridiculous.

It is an uplifting and heartwarming story, although it certainly doesn't get there through the traditional route of feel-good films. As holds true for all of Anderson's films, this is not going to be for everyone. Some films are meant to have a broad appeal and others a very specific, limited audience. "Moonrise Kingdom" rewards the audience members willing to take the risk on something different.

New 'Spider-Man' offers worthy reboot to franchise

Five years after audiences last saw Tobey Maguire swinging around New York as our favorite arachnid superhero in "Spider-Man 3," we have the "The Amazing Spider-Man," a complete reboot with a new cast and a retelling of the origin story.

Going into "The Amazing Spider-Man," the biggest complaint seems to be that we don't need another film about how Peter Parker becomes Spider-Man. It was only a decade earlier that Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" told the story of how geeky Peter Parker was bit by a radioactive spider and gained super powers.

But is this really any different than when we get a new James Bond every decade or so? "The Incredible Hulk" did a reboot five years after "Hulk" with little complaint from either critics or audiences. That film, though, streamlined the origin of the Hulk to the opening credits sequence.

The world of comic books is all about different perspectives with artists and writers bringing multiple takes on iconic characters. In the cases of comic characters that have been around for decades, there is often no definitive version of their story and fans will debate whose interpretation is best.

"The Amazing Spider-Man" exists because if Sony, which owns the movie rights to the character, didn't make a "Spider-Man" film it would lose those rights. The film takes the form of a reboot because the studio had a falling out with Sam Raimi, who was briefly set to do as many as three more "Spider-Man" films.

It is probably for the best though that the studio went for a fresh start as Raimi's series had completed its story arc. Raimi's first two "Spider-Man" films, particularly the second one, were well made, acted and visually compelling, but by third film the series was showing signs of fatigue. Even at their best Raimi's films were melodramatic and, at times, cornball.

This new film has a different tone. Andrew Garfield plays Peter Parker with a chip on his shoulder. He is still an awkward outsider, but even before he gains his powers he's willing to stand up to a bully.

Peter is also given back his sense of humor. Spidey was a smart aleck and a wisecracker in the comics, but there was little of that in Raimi's films. Garfield is given sharp, clever dialogue and he delivers it with the perfect amount of snarkiness.

Garfield is fantastic in the role and makes the film work. As Peter he holds himself as someone who is still growing into his body. Through gaining his powers he gains confidence in himself. "Spider-Man" was always an allegory for puberty, and Garfield, under the direction of the appropriately named Marc Webb, gets this across more so than Maguire and Raimi ever did.

Maguire's Peter, despite having his occasional doubts about being "Spider-Man," was pretty saintly. Garfield's Peter is a bit more rebellious and impetuous, but he still remains a character who wants to do right with his newly found gifts. There's a sincerity to Garfield's performance that balances out the brooding elements.

This isn't solely Garfield's show as he's surrounded by a particularly strong cast. Emma Stone plays Peter's love interest Gwen Stacy. The sweet, funny and immensely likable Stone has a wonderful chemistry with Garfield. Their scenes together capture the awkwardness of teen love. It is easy to become emotionally invested in them as a couple.

Rhys Ifans plays Curt Connors, a one-armed scientist doing research in cross species genetics in hopes of being able to regrow his missing limb. When he tests a new serum on himself it does indeed grow his arm back, but also has the nasty side effect of turning him into a giant lizard who wants to transform the rest of humanity into human lizards.

Ifans makes Connors a worthy villain. Like so many of Spider-Man's adversaries, Connors is a tragic figure with dueling personalities. He's a good, gentle, if ever so slightly mad scientist, who is transformed both externally and internally into a monster. Ifans brings a nice subtly to the performance instead of going over-the-top.

There's a lot of typecasting, in a good way, with Sally Field, Martin Sheen and Denis Leary all playing variations on roles they've played before. Field and Sheen are ideally cast as Aunt May and Uncle Ben with Leary as police Captain Stacy. The characters are one-dimensional, but the actors are so familiar to audiences that we fill in the blanks.

Perhaps more so than ever before, Hollywood is very franchise-minded. You no longer simply make a single film. Now studio execs plan out whole series. So, yes, perhaps we are getting this new "Spider-Man" a bit too soon, but if they had to tell Spidey's origin again at least they have done it rather well.

Mount Washington Valley Theatre Company back in the habit with 'Nunsense'

The Mount Washington Valley Theatre Company opens its 42nd season of professional theatre at the Eastern Slope Inn Playhouse in North Conway, N.H. with "Sister Amnesia's Country Western Nunsense Jamboree," the third installment in Dan Goggin's immensely popular "Nunsense" series.

The original "Nunsense" opened off-Broadway in 1985 and became an international sensation translated into at least 26 languages with more than 8,000 productions worldwide. Goggin, to date, has written seven sequels including a Christmas and all-male show. The Mount Washington Valley Theatre Company did the Las Vegas-themed "Nunsenations" in 2006.

If you've seen one "Nunsense" show, you've seen them all. Each one features a group of nuns from Hoboken, N.J. cracking jokes, singing and interacting with the audience for two hours. The plot of "Nunsense Jamboree" focuses on the singing sisters hitting the road in promotion of Sister Amnesia's new country western album.

The "Nunsense" concept originated as a line of greeting cards, which makes sense as the jokes are on the level of the lame punchlines and puns that are common in greeting cards. How much you'll enjoy a "Nunsense" show depends on how high your tolerance for Christian jokes is.

"Some people think it's fluff and worthless," Goggin said in a 1996 New York Times article. "It is fluff but it ain't worthless."

The "Nunsense" series is lazy, but in its simplicity it is a crowd pleaser. This is theater for people who don't normally go to theater. It is non-demanding and non-challenging. A "Nunsense" show makes something like "The Music Man" seem like "MacBeth."

As Semina De Laurentis, the original Sister Amnesia, noted in the same New York Times article: "Because of 'Nunsense' we see people developing as theater-goers. These shows are bringing them in."

This production, which is playing through July 24, stars Jill Twiss as Sister Amnesia, Liz Wasser as Sister Mary Wilhelm, local girl Emilie Jensen as Sister Mary Leo, Jennifer Lauren Brown as Sister Robert Anne and Ryan Murvin as Father Virgil.

It is an amicable cast featuring high energy and strong vocals. The show stealer, though, is Brown as a tough talking nun from Brooklyn. With a New York accent and a sassy attitude, she commands the stage with songs like "A Cowgirl from Canarsie." The highlight of the show, at least musically, is "Growing Up in Brooklyn," which Brown makes a sweet, funny and tender ballad.

The best songs of the show are the ones that don't push too hard for the jokes or force the Christian message. "Seven A.M. in Phoenix" is a song that sister Mary Wilhelm sings to Sister Mary Leo to convince her to not give up being a nun, but it is also a beautiful ballad about not letting fear prevent you from being with someone or doing something you love. Wasser does a lovely job singing it.

The cast is given a fun barn set designed by Kenneth John Verdugo to play in. The rest of technical aspects are also in good form with solid lighting design from Victoria Miller and costume design from Barbara Erin Delo.

I'll be the first to admit that "Nunsense" is not for me. Reviewing the content of a "Nunsense" show seems moot. This isn't great or even good theater, but with the right cast and good direction it can be high energy fun.

Luckily, the Mount Washington Valley Theatre Company's production has both. Director and choreographer Richard Sabellico, musical director Michael Hopewell and the cast do a good job of making sense out of the nonsense that is "Nunsense."

For more information or tickets call 356-5776 or visit www.mwvtheatre.org.

Looking 'back' on The Beatles' early days

Thirty years after The Beatles first graced the big screen they returned, albeit in fictional form, in “Backbeat.” The film chronicles the tragic story of Stu Sutcliffe (Stephen Dorff), The Beatles’ fifth member during the band’s formative years in Hamburg. Sutcliffe left the band to pursue his real passion of painting only to die from a brain hemorrhage just as The Beatles were about to explode.

Roger Ebert wrote in his review of Backbeat that “the exhilaration of the young Beatles has already been captured in one of the best musicals ever made, 'A Hard Day’s Night' and this movie never convinces us Stuart Sutcliffe could have held his own in the band.” But that’s not the film’s intent.

Sutcliffe wasn’t a musician. He joined the group because his friend John Lennon (Ian Hart) asked him to. He went to Hamburg for a laugh and out of loyalty to his best mate. Ebert, like many other critics, complained that Sutcliffe’s life and death is far less interesting than The Beatles story and that the only reason we are hearing his story is because of his peripheral presence in the band. Both statements are true, but don’t necessarily mean Backbeat is an unworthy film.

The Beatles are the reason the film exists and also, in many respects, what undermines its central story. There is genuineness between the friendship of Stu and John as portrayed by Dorff and Hart, who have the chemistry of lifelong mates. There is a sense of betrayal when Stu falls in love with German photographer Astrid Kirchherr (Sheryl Lee). Astrid took the definitive photos of the band from this era and helped define the image that would make them stars a couple years later.

Dorff and Lee have a sweet chemistry that is completely different than that of Dorff and Hart’s and makes for an interesting counterpoint. A subtle love triangle develops, but not in a typical Hollywood fashion. It is the sort of triangle that you find in life, quietly there and deeply painful. Astrid is stuck between two men who care about each other deeply, but are heading down separate paths. Hart smolders with anger, desire and ambition to be something great. While Dorff’s Stu is content to just work on his art and be in love.

If Backbeat’s story was about fictional characters it would intrigue, but since it features characters that would go on to be debatably the most influential pop group of the 20th century, there is a sense that there should be more to the film. The film focuses so directly on Stu, Astrid and John that Paul (Gary Bakewell), George (Chris O'Neill) and original drummer Pete Best are barely present. Director and co-writer Iain Softley even debated changing the band and character names to avoid the film being overwhelmed by The Beatles unavoidable mystique. That the band is indeed The Beatles isn’t mentioned until near the film’s end.

While "Backbeat" doesn’t focus specifically on The Beatles it does capture their essence. Ebert was right in saying “A Hard Day’s Night” is the definite time capsule of The Beatles youthful energy and humor. But “Backbeat” does capture some of that humor in dialogue, for instance: “I had a word with Van Gogh last night. He said, ‘If he could do it all again he'd be down here shaking his bottom to 'Blue Suede Shoes.’ I gave him your regards.” Yet the film wisely doesn’t live and breathe on the loony-dialogue showcased in Richard Lester’s films. Instead the dialogue has a realness to it. The goofy camaraderie is balanced with desperation and yearning, whether it is for fame or love, that feels truthful.

This being a film featuring The Beatles, the music is, naturally, great. Softley chose not to use the actually Beatles, most likely out of necessity since recordings from the time period are unavailable or are bootlegs at best. In its place, Softley compiled a super group of post-punkers and grunge artists that included Nirvana’s Dave Grohl, R.E.M.’s Mike Mills, Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, Soul Asylum’s Dave Pirner and Afghan Wings’ Greg Dulli. It is a dynamite recreation of the music The Beatles were playing at the time, primarily covers of their favorite American 50s rock. It doesn’t quite sound like The Beatles, but it does capture the raw, infectious energy of the band. In addition to the music being spot on, so are the period details. The hair, costumes and atmosphere feel right. It is clear Softley and his crew took great care to have everything look and sound right and the attention to detail pays off.

The film has its flaws. It is implied that Sutcliffe’s death was due to a combination of a blow to the head in a bar fight and the use of speed, but neither rings true. Although we are shown Sutcliffe having one devastating headache and a drastic mood swing, his death occurs too abruptly. In actuality his death was a slow and painful one that left him bed ridden with agonizing migraines. Softley’s decision to cut that away for the sake of running time is reasonable, but Sutcliffe’s death feels almost like an afterthought. The film also has an annoying habit of cheekily dropping Beatles song titles into conversations. It is too knowing and cute for a movie that is otherwise above such gimmicks.

'Lie of the Mind' offers powerful, challenging night of theater

With their production of Sam Shepard's "A Lie of the Mind," M&D Productions is doing what they're known best for: challenging, emotionally complex and thought-provoking theater.

Clocking in at two hours and 45 minutes including two intermissions, "A Lie of the Mind," which opened Thursday at Your Theatre in North Conway and is playing Thursday through Saturday for the next three weeks, is not a light, easy night of theater. The play is an exploration of the repercussions and the self-perpetuating nature of abuse.

The play opens in the aftermath of a brutal act of violence. In a jealous rage, Jake (Brian Chamberlain) has beaten his wife Beth (Janette Kondrat) to the point of brain damage. He believes her to be dead and runs to his brother Frankie (Tomer Oz) to calm him down.

Beth is in the care of her brother Mike (Daniel Otero), but eventually Beth's parents Baylor and Meg (Bill Knolla and Stacy Sand) get involved. On the other side, Jake's mother Lorraine (Christina Howe) and sister Sally (Kate Gustafson) are trying to help as well. The play bounces back and forth between the parallel reactions to this terrible event.

The actors are performing on a stage designed by Deborah Jasien to look like a pane of shattered glass. This is a none-too-subtle, but effective representation of the minds of the characters.

Although it was Beth who was left physically brain damaged, Jake's actions against Beth seem to have left his mind fragmented and confused as well. Both Beth and Jake are reduced to childlike states as they lie to themselves about what happened.

The New York Times' Ben Brantley wrote in his review of the 2010 Broadway revival of the show that "it's not easy putting together a complete ensemble (there is no starring role) up to the demands of a script in which hyperreal and surreal teeter in delicate balance."

Director Ken Martin has managed to do just that though. He pulls performances out of his actors that go to deep, dark places. The entire cast bravely exposes raw nerves.

Kondrat, who played a different kind of crazy in "Misery's Child," finds a sweet innocence in portraying Beth. Beth's mind is damaged, but not lost. The pieces are all there, but the order is jumbled. Sometimes she has moments of clarity, but other times she's like a child lost in a supermarket.

Chamberlain finds similar notes in his performance, but also has an extraordinary anger inside of him that comes seething out of him. Even so, in spite of Jake's act of cruelty being the catalyst for the entire play, Chamberlain manages to make the character sympathetic.

Howe and Gustafson share a powerful scene together as mother and daughter attempt to confront a grim secret. It is a hard scene to watch with both actresses tapping into heavy emotions. Howe reveals previously unseen depths as an actress. Her Lorraine is full of bitter hatred and venomous vengeance and Howe brings those emotions painfully and completely across.

Knolla is a bellowing cantankerous old man, who is often cruel, but just as often right in how to deal with Beth's fragile state. Sand's Meg has a mind that is nearly as flighty as her daughter's and Sand does a nice job capturing her sweet-natured simpleness. This dysfunctional family is topped off with Otero's over-protective brother, who is angry at everyone, even the one he means to protect.

This already tense family dynamic is further complicated when Frankie shows up to confirm Beth is alive. Frankie spends much of the play in pain, for reasons best left discovered by the audience. When everyone around him appears to be going insane, he oftens seems to be the only voice of reason, but no one will listen. Oz does a good job portraying his confusion and frustration.

"A Lie of the Mind" is a difficult, often obtuse play that challenges its audience. Shepard realizes that the world is not black and white. He asks hard, even troubling, questions about the essence of humanity, love and how to break a continuing cycle of abuse. In the place of simple answers he leaves uncertainty and ambiguity. It is an intense, but rewarding experience.

For more information or tickets call the box office at 662-7591.

'Ted' is raunchy, sweet fun

Seth MacFarlane, the creator of the hugely popular animated series "Family Guy," makes the leap to live action feature films with "Ted," a gloriously coarse film about a grown man and his foul-mouthed living teddy bear.

In recent years, there have been a lot of arrested development comedies of man-boys, who are forced to face the real world. "Ted" takes this story arc one step further by making the protagonist best friend a teddy bear.

As "Ted" opens, we are introduced to little Johnny (Bretton Manley). He is so loathed by the other kids that they won't even beat him up as that would further acknowledge his existence. Even the little boy getting pummeled tells him to get lost. Johnny makes a Christmas wish that his teddy bear would come to life and be his lifelong friend.

The wish comes true, leading Ted to become an instant celebrity including an appearance on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson. Flash forward 27 years later and Ted (voiced by MacFarlane) and John (now played by Mark Wahlberg) are lazy stoners obsessed with the 1980 film "Flash Gordon."

Remarkably, John is dating Lori (Mila Kunis), who is beautiful, intelligent, well employed and incredibly patient. After four years of putting up with Ted's negative influence, Lori is finally asking John to move on by having Ted move out.

There are subplots involving Lori's lecherous boss (Joel McHale) and, even stranger, a creepy stalker (Giovanni Ribisi) who wants to buy Ted. For the most part, though, the film focuses on the friendship of John and Ted and John's strained relationship with Lori.

This is more or less an R-rated live-action version of "Family Guy," complete with cutaway gags in the form of flashbacks and fantasies. There's even a score that recalls the sitcom-esque music of "Family Guy."

Much like "Family Guy" and MacFarlane's other shows, "American Dad" and "The Cleveland Show," "Ted" is full of vulgar and offensive humor. The film is proudly un-politically correct with racist, sexist and homophobic jokes. So, how is that acceptable?

MacFarlane's sense of humor, however crude it may be, is rarely mean spirited or truly negative. His jokes are meant to point out the hypocrisies and double standards of a culture that has become overly PC. He is holding both the bigots and the overly uptight to task. He doesn't condone the actions of bigoted people, but rather mocks a society that claims to loath them and yet creates an environment that continues to produce them.

The biggest problem with MacFarlane's style of humor is that his target audience of 15 to 30 year olds doesn't always understand the satirical elements of his humor and simply repeat the offensive jokes because they seem cool.

For those who have a taste for low brow humor with an edge, "Ted" has some very funny bits. Two of the best parts — already seen in the R-rated trailer — the "Thunder Buddies Song" and Wahlberg's listing of white trash women names are instant classics.

On a technical level, Ted, a computer-generated creation using motion capture technology, is impressive. Similar to last year's little seen "Paul," which featured a foul-mouthed alien instead of a foul-mouthed teddy bear, it isn't long before you stop seeing Ted as a special effect and simply see him as real.

Wahlberg, who first showed off his talents at outrageous humor in 2010's "The Other Guys," is a good dramatic actor, but continues to prove that, with the right material, he may just be a better comedic actor. He has a believable easy-going chemistry with Ted, which is even more impressive when you consider that Wahlberg was playing against nothing as Ted was added in post-production.

Kunis, a fine comedic actor in her own right, is sadly just given the thankless role of the girlfriend. Fortunately, she isn't written to be a shrill harpy, but it would've been nice to see Kunis get to build some comic energy with Wahlberg and MacFarlane. Instead, she is just seen as a buzzkill, which is usually the case with women in MacFarlene's creations.

In terms of direction, MacFarlane paces his film right. He knows how to set up a gag and not cut away too soon. In fact, he often lets a gag run long, a trademark from his animation. When the film builds to a climactic confrontation with Ribisi, MacFarlane manages to create some genuine, and unexpected, tension.

What will be most surprising though to MacFarlane fans is how sweet and tender the film becomes. The film takes a dark turn in the final act and there's some real emotions mixed in with the laughs. This injection of heart into the proceeding helps to make the film become more than just another crass comedy.

'Brave' ventures into the world of princesses with unexpected results

"Brave" marks the first film from animation juggernaut Pixar to have a female protagonist. Thanks to the strikingly beautiful visuals in the trailers and Pixar's nearly flawless track record, expectations for what the studio would do were huge.

Pixar's films are, with the exception of last year's "Cars 2," are of such high quality in terms of the visuals and sophistication of storytelling that nearly all other animated films pale in comparison. They tell well-worn stories in ways that feel orginal and emotional true. Even the lesser "Cars 2" is still of a higher quality than the average animated feature.

Many of Pixar's films have had strong female characters such as Dory in "Finding Nemo" or Elastigirl in "The Incredibles," but "Brave" is Pixar's first film to center the story on a heroine.

Merida (Kelly Macdonald) is a Scottish princess, which may let some audiences members down as it would appear that Pixar is heading down the path of a Disney-style princess film instead of doing something more unique.

Dismissing "Brave" as just another princess movie is too superficial a read of the film because the portrayal of Merida is refreshing. This is not the story of a love-sick girl waiting to find a man to sweep her off her feet. Merida has little desire to wed. She is fiercely independent, adventurous and a damn good shot with a bow and arrow.

This is also very much a mother-daughter story, which, unfortunately, we don't see enough of. There are plenty of stories of father-son bonding, but positive mother-daughter stories are too rare a commodity, particularly in the realm of animation. If you look at most of the Disney princess films they are either mother-less ("Little Mermaid, "Beauty and the Beast," "Aladdin") or stuck with an evil stepmother ("Cinderella," "Snow White").

Merida's father (Billy Connelly), who loses his leg to a bear in the prologue, is proud of his daughter's free spirit, but her mother (Emma Thompson) simply wants her to accept her duties and get married.

When Merida is being presented to potential suitors she takes a stand that greatly angers her mother. Merida flees to the stunningly rendered Scottish hills and forests and finds her way to the house of a witch (Julie Walters) where she asks for a spell to change her mother's mind.

Naturally, the spell doesn't work as expected and mother and daughter must work together to undo the magic. It wouldn't be fair to reveal how the spell goes awry, but it may lose some audience members who, given the title, are expecting something with high stakes adventure. The title refers to having the courage to stand up from what you believe, but to also have the nerve to admit your mistakes and right your wrongs.

Mother and daughter must discover how to truly listen to each other for the first time. They must learn to put someone else's wishes in front of their own while not sacrificing their own beliefs. It is an important lesson and one that is rarely done in a way that doesn't feel forced or heavy handed.

The writers and directors of "Brave" — Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman, who developed the project, Steve Purcell and Irene Mecchi — have a created a story that is familiar, but tell it in a way that is sweet and emotionally honest.

Comic relief is provided by Merida's three mischievous siblings and from the antics of the various clansmen whose voices include the likes of Craig Ferguson and Robbie Coltrane. The glorious Connelly also brings a great deal of levity to the proceedings.

Macdonald gives a wonderful vocal performance as Merida. She makes the character plucky and fun rather than petulant and whiny. Thompson does a nice job portraying a mother who is frustrated, but loves her daughter and only wants what is best for her.

Pixar's best work, the "Toy Story" films, "Ratatouille," "Wall-E," "Monsters Inc.," "Finding Nemo" and "Up," resonate deeply. "Brave" isn't quite of that caliber, but does tell a moving story that is sure to strike an emotional chord with mothers and daughters who are having their own communications issues.

Cast makes 'Rock of Ages' a guilty pleasure

"Rock of Ages," a rock musical based on 1980s hair bands like Bon Jovi, Poison, Foreigner, Def Leppard and others, is a tricky film to review. Its central plot and lead characters are sleep inducingly dull, but they are surrounded by a supporting cast of interesting and colorful characters who help raise the film to a guilty pleasure status.

To call the film good would take a rewriting of the definition of that word, but "Rock of Ages" does have certain charms, chiefly a stellar performance by Tom Cruise as the fictional rocker Stacee Jaxx.

Cruise nails the rock star swagger, smarminess and ego. He trained extensively to be able to do his own singing, and the efforts pay off as he credibly belts out songs like "Wanted: Dead or Alive." It is quite a performance that is believable and funny. In a departure from the stage version, the character is given more dimension and growth, allowing Cruise to add unexpected shadings.

The problem is Cruise is not the main character, but rather a supporting character, who is off-screen for too much of the film. Instead we have a tired story of a small town girl (Julianne Hough) taking a bus to Hollywood to follow her dream to become a singer.

Within five minutes of being in Los Angeles she is mugged. Within 10 minutes she meets her love interest (Diego Boneta), who gets her a job at the rock club the Bourbon Room. Clearly, things happen fast in L.A. What follows is a generic love story in which the couple breaks up over a misunderstanding and then gets back together to sing "Don't Stop Believing" in the climatic ending.

By removing characters and adding new ones and changing plot details, the film actually improves upon the stage version of "Rock of Ages," but that speaks more about the quality of stage version than the film. The script by Justin Theroux and Allan Loeb working with Chris D'Arienzo, the author of stage version, doesn't go far enough in making this more than just a serviceable plot to string a series of unrelated songs together.

It would've taken a complete rewrite to make this something truly engaging. That being said, Theroux and Loeb's additions keep "Rock of Ages" from being a complete waste. There's a lot of entertaining stuff happening on the fringes of the film.

Catherine Zeta-Jones plays a new character seemingly tailored after Tipper Gore, who in 1985 went before Congress to urge warning labels for records marketed to children. Zeta-Jones, the wife of a mayor, sets out to clean up Sunset Strip by shutting down the Bourbon Room much to the chagrin of club owner Alec Baldwin and his right-hand man, Russell Brand.

Zeta-Jones is great fun in the role, and her rendition of "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" is one of the movie's highlights. She also leads a version of "We're Not Going to Take It" pitted against a Russell Brand-led version of "We Built This City" that is one of the better moments in the movie.

Baldwin and Brand get some of the best lines in the film. They have an amusing dynamic and have great, loose energy singing together on "I Love Rock and Roll" and "I Can't Fight This Feeling."

Paul Giamatti is also fantastic as Stacee Jaxx's sleazy manager. This is the kind of role Giamatti does best and he's clearly enjoying being big, hammy and over-the-top. He even sings a bit too, and isn't half bad.

Zeta-Jones along with Mary J. Blige, as the owner of a strip club, are easily the best singers of the cast followed closely by Brand and, surprisingly, Cruise. Unfortunately, their vocals aren't spotlighted enough. Instead, Hough and Boneta sing the vast majority of the songs and they simply don't cut it.

Hough's voice has the strength to belt out the more powerhouse songs, but she is annoyingly high pitched. Boneta fares better, but his vocals lack personality. This may not even be entirely their fault as there seems to be heavy post-production polishing and sterilizing. Even Cruise's vocals come across too clean. It would've been nice to hear some imperfections.

Director Adam Shankman, who previously helmed the big-screen adaptation of "Hairspray," keeps things too sunny and focuses too much on that oh-so-boring love story.

This is supposed to be a light musical, so I'm not expecting soul searching from the characters, but every moment between Hough and Boneta is a cliche. We are given no reason to care about these characters.

A better director might have steered away from the lesser material to focus on the funnier and more compelling performances of Cruise, Baldwin, Brand, Zeta-Jones and Giamatti. It'll be a great movie to have on DVD where there is easy access to the skip button.

'Prometheus' — Ridley Scott's bold, ambitious return to sci-fi

"Prometheus" is director Ridley Scott's much anticipated return to the sci-fi genre. His films "Alien" and "Blade Runner" were hugely influential to the genre, so it is understandable that expectations for this new film are massive.

First and foremost, this is an extraordinary looking film. H.R. Giger, the Swedish surrealist artist who provided much of the design work for "Alien," has created new visuals and designs that are darkly beautiful.

Scott, ever a masterful filmmaker, has created a vivid world in which all of his special effects are seamlessly integrated. The film is heavy with effects, but at no point does the visual fabric of the film feel fake or false. This is a film worth seeing if only for its visuals.

Much like when "Blade Runner" was first released into theaters, "Prometheus" is proving to be a divisive film with some calling it brilliant and others dismissing it as a colossal misfire.

Reasons for the distinct divide in opinion tie into the knowledge that "Prometheus" takes place within the same universe as the "Alien" franchise and so many people have preconceived notions of what this film should be. Fans hoping to see carnage with the iconic xenomorph alien will be disappointed.

Scott and his screenwriters, Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof, decided to focus on what fans refer to as the "space jockey," the fossilized creature found in "Alien." The scene in "Alien" was only a couple minutes long, but the origins of this character have been hotly discussed by fans over the years and thus were ripe for exploration by Scott.

The story sets out not only to explore the origins of this mysterious alien race, but of mankind itself. This brings the film closer in tone to Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" than Scott's "Alien."

Archaeologist Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Repace) and her partner in digging and love Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) have discovered cave paintings and carvings from across the globe and separated by centuries that depict a giant humanoid creature pointing to the stars.

They deduce that Earth was visited several times by these creatures they've dubbed "The Engineers" and that it is very possible that they created us. The duo convinces the dying head of Weyland Corp. (Guy Pearce under pounds of makeup) to fund the trillion dollar trip to hopefully discover their makers.

Upon arrival they find that a race of humanoid aliens is seemingly deceased, but danger comes in the form of a black substance with extraordinary adaptive and evolutionary abilities.

The crew is made up of fairly generic stock characters, but then again so was the crew of the Nostromo in "Alien." The standouts of the supporting cast include Charlize Theron as a representative of Weyland Corp., Idris Alba as the captain and, most interestingly, Michael Fassbender as David, an android, who patterns himself after Peter O'Toole in "Lawrence of Arabia."

Fassbender, who last year appeared as Magneto in "X-Men: First Class," is extraordinary and, in terms of acting, is one of the primary reasons to see "Prometheus." Emotionless human-like robots are hardly a new concept, but Fassbender's performance is so precise that he makes the old idea compelling and new again.

Fassbender infuses David with a curiosity that sets off a disastrous chain of events. He gives David a sly, perhaps unintentional, wit that makes the character always interesting and hard to predict.

Repace, who was the original "Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," gives a solid central performance that is very much in the tradition of Sigourney Weaver's Ripley. Both Ripley and Shaw are forced to find a strength and survival instinct that they previously didn't know they had. Repace plays Shaw, a woman of faith, with an open mind hungering for answers.

Theron, on the heels of "Snow White and the Huntsman," gives another strong performance, but isn't given much in terms of multiple dimensions to work with. Even so she gives a forceful performance. Alba provides some comic relief, but, portraying a working stiff, he is able to see what is happening for exactly what is when others cannot.

Generally speaking, "Prometheus" doesn't follow the same story beats of either "Alien" or James Cameron's equally and justly beloved "Aliens." "Alien" was an extremely well made and suspenseful haunted house movie in space. "Aliens" took the approach of a taut, intense action film. "Prometheus" has elements of both, but a tone that is more cerebral and a pacing that is more about creating an ominous mood and atmosphere.

That being said, there are still plenty of icky, ooey-gooey visuals and sequences of suspense. There's a surgical scene involving Repace that is sure to induce seat squirming. It doesn't match the sheer shock value of the chest-bursting scene in "Alien," but it comes close.

The film has its flaws. Some of the dialogue between Repace and Marshall-Green is clunky and some characters do needlessly careless things. Even with its imperfections, this is a bold film. Within the framework of a summer sci-fi blockbuster, Scott has dared to make a film about ideas and present questions that go unanswered. It will surely frustrate many, but others will appreciate the ambiguity. It is an ambitious film that is worthy of exploration.

Revisionist 'Snow White' is darkly beautiful

"Snow White and the Huntsman," a revisionist take on the Brothers Grimm story, is one of the most faithful, at least in tone, adaptations of the tale.

Most fairy tales are sugar coated, so it is easy to forget that the works of the Brothers Grimm were dark and twisted parables. Even Disney's classic 1938 version of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves," for all its sunniness and cheer, couldn't remove all the sinister qualities of the story.

In this version, the evil queen is Ravenna (Charlize Theron), a mystical woman obsessed with beauty, youth and subverting a cruel patriarchal society that uses women and then tosses them aside. This queen moves from kingdom to kingdom overthrowing kings. She preserves her beauty by sucking the souls of the young and pretty, and eating the hearts of animals.

Snow White (Kristen Stewart), the daughter of the last king to fall to Ravenna, is imprisoned in a tower for years. She eventually makes her escape into the dark forest. Ravenna has discovered that if she eats Snow White's pure heart she will be eternally beautiful. She sends the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) to bring her back, but upon meeting the fair maiden he switches sides.

Naturally, Snow White and her new ally meet the dwarves, a motley collection of reliable English character actors including Bob Hoskins, Ian McShane, Ray Winstone, Eddie Marsan, Toby Jones and Nick Frost. Soon an army is formed with Snow White and the Huntsman leading the charge.

In addition to being the Huntsman, the character now essentially fills the role of Prince Charming, so it is odd that there is also a prince (Sam Claflin) thrown into the mix. Like the Huntsman he is a worthy warrior, but he is also dull and wooden as performed by Clafin. The character is entirely unnecessary and seems to only exist to create a "Twilight"-like love triangle since the film stars Bella herself.

Perhaps Stewart has been playing Bella too long or perhaps she simply has no range, but she gives the same flat, pouty faced performance that she's been given in the puerile "Twilight" series.

Stewart plays everything on the same note. We're supposed to believe that people are drawn to Snow White's beauty and her vibrant, warm personality, but Stewart brings none of that across. Thankfully, Stewart isn't asked to speak much. She does have one supposedly rousing speech to the troops before battle, but it is hard to imagine anyone being moved to follow Stewart into a kitchen let alone onto a battlefield.

In contrast, Theron's performance is fierce and frightening. She also manages to create some sympathy for the character in spite of her villainous way. Theron creates a fully dimensional character that is far more interesting than Stewart's bland Snow White.

Hemsworth, who is best known to audiences as Thor, continues to showcase a masculine charisma paired with a sensitive soul. He is believable in both action scenes and in the more tender moments.

The dwarves, a gruffer bunch than the familiar Disney versions, don't arrive until about an hour in, but are wonderfully acted particularly by the always splendid Hoskins. The film could've used more of them.

Director Rupert Sanders, making his feature film debut following a career directing commercials, creates an extraordinary looking film with striking visuals that have power to linger in the mind. Most directors that come from a background in commercials have a tendency to rely heavily on quick, chaotic editing, but Sanders actually allows for shots of some length. His scenes often have a poetic beauty to them and fluid pacing.

Sanders, along with his extensive art direction team, have created a bleak, but vivid world that favorably recalls Guillermo del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth." Snow White's first venture into the dark forest is truly nightmarish as she deals with a mushroom spore induced trip. On the flip side there is the brightly designed land of the fairies which includes turtles gathered in grass and mushrooms with eyes.

It is a credit to the strength of everything else around Stewart that the film still works in spite of her painfully uninteresting lead performance. The film is worth seeing for Theron's compelling characterization and the memorable visual splendor on display.

'Little Shop' — Laughs, blood and doo-wop

The Leura Hill Eastman Performing Arts Center in Fryeburg, Maine has been invaded by a carnivorous alien plant bent on nothing short of world domination in Arts in Motion Theater Company's enjoyable production of "Little Shop of Horrors."

"Little Shop of Horrors," which opened June 1 and is continuing its run Friday, June 8, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, June 9, at 1 and 7 p.m., is based on a 1960 black comedy of the same name produced and directed by B-movie master Roger Corman.

The musical, a parody of 1950s sci-fi, written by Howard Ashman with music by Alan Menken (who went on to do Academy Award-winning work on Disney's "Little Mermaid," "Aladdin" and "Beauty and the Beast"), made its off Broadway debut in 1982. Four years later the musical got the Hollywood treatment featuring such comedy superstars as Rick Moranis, Steve Martin, Bill Murray and John Candy.

That's quite a pedigree to live up to, but Arts in Motion does so admirably thanks to crisp direction by director Barbara Spofford and musical director Ben McNaboe, and a cast that is lively and fun.

Chris Madura stars as Seymour Krelbourn, a klutzy nerd, who works at a Skid Row flower shop along with Audrey (Taylor Hill) and shop owner Mushnik (Craig Holden). Business is bad until Seymour begins displaying an unusual plant he has named Audrey II. Suddenly, people are flocking to the store to look at the plant and spend money. The problem is Audrey II's diet is exclusively human blood and Seymour has run out of fingers to prick.

As Audrey II gets bigger, the plant becomes a foul mouthed R&B singing monster who is increasingly more hungry and manipulative. While Seymour is contending with Audrey II, Audrey I is contending with her sadistic dentist boyfriend (Reed Van Rossum). A better candidate for plant food never existed.

Eric Andrews provides the voice of Audrey II and Keith Force puppets the ever growing plant. It is an impressive bit of teamwork as nearly every line of dialogue or music is perfectly in sync.

Madura is strong in the lead role. He brings the nerdiness of the character across, but also manages to be a confident stage presence with a commanding singing voice. He is his best when singing with the Audreys. "Suddenly, Seymour" is Seymour's sweet proclamation of love to Audrey. "Feed Me (Git It)" is a raucous, tongue-in-cheek duet with Audrey II.

Hill is sweet and lovable as Audrey and has an easy chemistry with Madura. Her powerhouse voice shines on "Somewhere That's Green," a ballad lampooning the 1950s idea of a perfect life.

Van Rossum is a bit flat as Audrey's cruel boyfriend and on his big number "Dentist!" seems to be trying too hard to emulate Steve Martin's performance in the film. He fares better on "(Now) It's Just the Gas."

Courtney Rae Phelps, Natasha Repass and Shannon Oliver form a doo-wop singing Greek chorus that provides narration and commentary throughout the show. They steal several scenes with Phelps and Repass particularly standing out.

Choreography by Nancy Shappell leaves something to be desired with the exception of "Skid Row (Downtown)," a complex musical number with lots of extras. In terms of the staging, it is perhaps the most challenging song of the show, so kudos to Shappell, McNaboe and Spofford for nailing it.

Live music is ably provided by a band consisting of McNaboe, Graeme Gengrass, Al Hosper, Chuck O'Connor and Rafe Matregrano. Set design by Colleen Bousquet, costume and wig design by Patricia Hibbert and makeup design by Lori Cashman are all impressive

The show itself is top heavy with the script shoving nearly all of its best songs and moments in the first act leaving only "Suddenly, Seymour" to make an impression during the muddled second act.

But flaws in the script aside, Arts in Motion has provided is a bright, fun production of this popular offbeat show.

For more information visit www.artsinmotiontheater.com.

Third 'Men' has surprising wit, charm and heart

"Men in Black 3" is quite remarkable. It is the second sequel to a film that came out 15 years earlier — heck the first sequel came out a decade ago — that actually manages to match and, in some ways, surpass the original.

The first "Men in Black" presented the idea that aliens are among us. A secret government agency makes sure the public doesn't learn this and protects against the more hostile extraterrestrials. Essentially, it is "Ghostbusters" with aliens.

Featuring a clever script, imaginative visuals and great chemistry between stars Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, "Men in Black" was an immensely entertaining film. The same could not be said of the forgettable "Men in Black 2," which merely recycled the dynamic between Smith and Jones, but added nothing to it. It is telling that the best laughs in that film came from supporting characters.

Things don't look very promising in the all-too-familiar opening scenes of "Men in Black 3" with Partners J (Smith) and K (Jones) still battling aliens and bantering the whole time. We've seen Smith and Jones do this schtick before and, in those initial scenes, the screenplay by Etan Cohen offers little to justify a third go around with these characters.

Thankfully, things get shaken up in a big way when Boris the Animal (Jemaine Clement), one of K's former adversaries, breaks out of his moon prison, travels back to 1969 and kills K. It is now up to J to travel back and save the young K (Josh Brolin) and prevent an alien invasion in the present.

Once things shift back to 1969 things become interesting, thanks largely to an inspired performance by Brolin as a young Tommy Lee Jones. It is an extraordinary bit of mimicry. Brolin has Jones' voice, mannerism and demeanor down cold. It is worth the price of admission just for him.

Giving the ever charming Smith a new person to play off of makes things feel fresh again, and the dynamic between young K and J has a different tone than the one between Jones and Smith.

Clement, of the New Zealand comedy music duo Flight of the Conchords, is buried under makeup, but gives a funny and frightening performance. "Men in Black" had a formidable villain in the form of Vincent D'Onofrio. Laura Flynn Boyle in "Men in Black 2" didn't cut it. Clement delivers a memorable baddie and that's central for making a film like this work.

Griffin (Michael Stuhlbarg), an alien with the ability to see every possible variation of the future at once, is the other major character that gives the film a comedic, whimsical boast. Stuhlbarg makes Griffin sweet, naive and slightly absent minded, but at the same time wise and knowing. It is a wonderful performance that is rather special.

There's also nice, but too brief, supporting performances from Emma Thompson, as the new head of Men in Black, and the invaluable Bill Hader as Andy Warhol.

Once again director Barry Sonnenfield, returning for the third time, creates a zippy pace. He nicely showcases his special effects, which successfully blend computer-generated visuals with practical effects and makeup.

As the film races to its conclusion there's a great sense of fun, but an unexpected emotional turn in the final scenes adds a depth to the film that no one will see coming. These concluding moments even improve upon the opening scenes. For the first time in the series, there's a real sense of poignancy that makes the film so much more than just a quickie cash-in sequel.

'Dictator' delivers rude, crude satire

"The Dictator" is the latest rude and crude satire from the chameleon-like comedian Sacha Baron Cohen and, for fans of "Borat" who may have been let down by his follow-up "Bruno," the good news is this one works.

Collaborating again with director Larry Charles, Cohen has created another loud, abrasive caricature that he uses to lampoon American culture and politics. Unlike "Borat" and "Bruno," the film doesn't take the form of a mockumentary in which Cohen fools real people in a crasser version of "Candid Camera." Instead "The Dictator" is a straightforward narrative film.

It was wise to move away from the mockumentary format as the conceit was already growing stale in "Bruno" and would've been moldy and rancid in a third outing. Plus no longer having to trick real people allowed Cohen to gather a cast of cameos from big names including John C. Reilly (in a very funny torture scene) and Megan Fox.

It is worth exploring Cohen's previous characters to put "The Dictator" and his new persona Admiral General Aladeen into context.

Borat was an over-the-top version of how Americans perceive foreigners used to reveal United States' xenophobia and ignorance to the rest of the world. The film's satire was on target, and while it was perhaps over praised as a brilliant indictment of America's worst qualities, it still was often very funny and raised interesting points in the process.

Bruno was an over-the-top homosexual stereotype who is supposed to reveal people's homophobia. The film failed because Bruno's behavior was so outrageously offensive that it went beyond being about his sexuality. If a straight man acted the way Bruno did it would be just as offensive and thus it entirely undermined the point Cohen was making.

Which brings us to Aladeen, a cartoonish version of dictators like Saddam Hussein or Muammar Gaddafi. As a character he is slightly different from Borat and Bruno because in spite of the unbelievably offensive things that come out of his mouth he is oddly likable and sort of sweet.

The plot of the film has Aladeen coming to New York to address the United Nations only to be betrayed by his advisor (Ben Kingsley) and replaced by a double. Aladeen is left wandering the streets beardless and nameless. He is taken in by a health food shop owner (Anna Faris) and teams up with his former nuclear physicist (Jason Mantzoukas), who much to his surprise is alive despite being sent to execution, to regain his power.

In "The Dictator," Cohen, Charles and co-writer Alec Berg (a former "Seinfeld" writer) use Aladeen to comment on post 9/11 America. In one of the film's best and most on target scenes, a helicopter ride with a couple of American tourists leads to a hilarious misunderstanding.

The humor, as was true in his previous films, is outside of the realm of what some might call good taste. For Cohen, everything and everyone is a target, which is as it should be. Nothing should be sacred in comedy. No one can complain if everyone is made fun of and that's what Cohen does.

As a performer, Cohen can't be faulted. He commits to characters in a way that few modern comic actors do. While his films aren't always genius, as an actor he often is. He is a fearless performer.

Cohen ends the film with a speech that brings home the point of the whole film: that perhaps America really isn't any better than countries run by dictators. Is that an overstatement? Yes, but that's how satire works: you make a sweeping statement that gives pause and causes discussion and, hopefully, thoughtful debate.

M&D's 'To Gillian' offers honest, heartfelt laughs and tears

Some shows grab you instantly while others sneak up on you and slowly take hold. M&D Productions' "To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday," which opened Thursday, May 24, and is playing Thursday through Saturday until June 9, is the latter. It is a show that, rather unexpectedly, envelopes you in its characters, emotions and story.

"To Gillian" focuses on the weekend gathering of friends and family on both the birthday and anniversary of the death of Gillian (Lisa Fida), who died two years earlier. Her husband David (Scott Katrycz) is still in deep mourning. He has removed himself from life and resides year round at an island beach house. Every night he talks to Gillian's ghost or, more likely, his memories and his own tortured subconscious.

David's 16-year-old daughter Rachel (Jessie Biggio), his sister-in-law Esther (Janette Kondrat) and Esther's husband Paul (Rob Clark) are concerned for David and attempt to set him up with Kevin (Bethany Taylor), one of David's former college students. Also in the mix is Cindy (Ellen Hill) , David's 16-year-old running partner, with whom has a chaste relationship with even though she has a bit of a crush on him.

As playwright Michael Brady's script sets the plot in motion it seems a bit forced and even clunky. Initially, it seems like the show will be comprised of nothing more than one liners paired with a shallow exploration of grieving, but then the story and the character interactions become deeper and more complex. The dialogue becomes more authentic and begins grappling with real emotions.

Characters that started out as one dimensional are given more shading and depth through conversations that are bare and, often, painful. David is unable to see past his own grief and his family is finally calling him out on that. As the play progresses we begin to see characters heal and actually talk and listen to each other perhaps for the first time since the tragic accident that killed Gillian.

The strong cast brings this conflict, which has both laughs and tears and ranges from heartbreaking to heartwarming, across beautifully. Director Christina Howe manages to get performances that feel honest from the entire cast.

Katrycz believably portrays David's grief and his struggle to reconnect with the world, his daughter and to allow himself to, perhaps, find love again. It is a well balanced and controlled performance that never feels maudlin. His scenes with Fida have a melancholy sweetness in the first act that changes in a shocking way in the second act which puts a different color to the whole show.

Biggio, who was excellent in M&D's "Diary of Anne Frank" last year, continues to impress. She has a natural, easy stage presence and gives an expressive, genuine performance. Her emotions feel real. Biggio and Katrycz create a tangible father/daughter connection.

Kondrat gives a forceful performance as woman that has always been the rock of her family who can no longer keep her emotions in. She is particularly strong in an intense confrontation with Katrycz towards the end of the first act that raises the emotional stakes of the entire show.

Clark is the comic relief character of the production. Adorned with bright, garish outfits, he gets a laugh every time he walks on stage. He kills with a joke involving a priest, a man with no arms and a bell. But even Clark gets to show a tender, supportive side toward the end of the show.

Taylor is a bit one note in her performance, but has good chemistry with both Katrycz and Biggio and develops interesting relationships with them. Her character is meant to be a listener and a catalyst for change and Taylor does a nice job of coming across as a caring, compassionate ear.

Hill is given the task of playing a smart, sarcastic, but also hormonally confused teenager. Although some of her line readings are a bit stilted, she is quite good with sardonic one-liners and captures the angst of being a teen nicely.

It goes without saying, but I'll say it again, that Deborah Jasien's set design, this time a beach house with actual sand, is stellar.

This is a show that has dark, even depressing moments, but finds a happy ending that isn't a cheat and that is actually earned. This is a show that is emotionally satisfying and well worth seeing.

For more information or tickets call the box office at 662-7591.

Burton and Depp serve up eighth round of 'dark' laughs

Tim Burton and Johnny Depp reunite for the eighth time to do a comic riff on the 1960s/1970s TV series "Dark Shadows."

Depp stars as Barnabas Collins, who in the effective Gothic 18th century prologue rejects the love of servant girl Angelique (Eva Green). The spurned Angelique is a witch who curses Barnabas to being a vampire, kills his true love (Bella Heathcote) and locks him a box. All and all a pretty normal reaction to rejection.

The film flash forwards to 1972 when Barnabas is finally released from his prison. He seeks out the remains of once illustrious manor and remnants of his family. Angelique is still alive and has been assuring the failure of the Collins family. She is also still harboring a crush on Barnabas. He is still rejecting her. She's still being witchy. Some things never change.

We are also introduced to what remains of the Collins family including Michelle Pfeiffer as the matriarch of the family, Chloë Grace Moretz as her moody daughter, Jackie Earle Haley as the groundskeeper and Helena Bonham Carter as a live-in psychiatrist. Barnabas also meets Victoria (also played by Heathcote), the reincarnation of his true love. She is working as governess for young David Collins (Gulliver McGrath), who communicates with the ghost of his dead mother.

After all the characters are introduced, the film's focus shifts to the love/hate relationship between Barnabas and Angelique. This central conflict does yield a lot of entertainment value including a raucous fight/sex scene and some well written barbed exchanges. Depp is given some lively insults that are spoken in a very prim and proper manner.

Green is a fantastic mix of menacing and sexy. Depp gives a nicely measured and controlled performance. He gives an eloquent recitation of the Steve Miller Band's "The Joker."

But it is unfortunate that so many of the other characters get sidetracked. Pfeiffer in particularly feels underutilized especially since at first she is presented as suspicious of Barnabas and as having hidden motives.

The Victoria character also feels underwritten. Outside of one exchange with David, we don't see any of their interactions nor do we really get much sense of the love between her and Barnabas. It would've been nice to have Victoria's relationship with both David and Barnabas fleshed out.

Burton has been taking some hard knocks for this film and other recent productions such as "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "Alice in Wonderland," which prove popular upon release, but are then largely derided.

The main criticism, from both professional critics and the general public alike, seems to be that Burton is going through the motions and that his newer films lack the originality, personality and creativity of his earlier films like "Beetlejuice," "Edward Scissorhands," "Ed Wood" or "Nightmare Before Christmas."

The implication of such criticism is that Burton is no longer the young, vibrant, passionate filmmaker he once was and now he's just another cog in the Hollywood machine churning out mass market product.

That doesn't seem fair. Burton has been making big budget movies since "Batman." While some films he makes are more clearly commercial products, he also does deeply personal projects like his forthcoming stop-motion animation expansion of his short film "Frankenweenie."

Burton is still very much the same, offbeat, quirky filmmaker making the films he wants to make. Burton is an auteur filmmaker meaning he has a distinct style and likes to work with the same people. This can be perceived as a staleness and lack of growth as a filmmaker, but for those who appreciate what he does it is a comfort. You know what you get with a Burton film.

It may seem as if I'm trying to make excuses for "Dark Shadows" being not as good as Burton's previous films. It is true, if you put "Dark Shadows" next to "Edward Scissorhands" it pales in comparison, but the film is entertaining in its own right.

"Dark Shadows" has much to admire. The whole cast is solid with Haley and Moretz standing out in the supporting cast. As always with Burton, the art direction is spectacular. The film looks amazing and finds an interesting tone of quirkiness balanced with an uneasy tension. This holds most true during scenes at a ball which features Alice Cooper as himself. Cooper's music is effectively utilized in the sequence.

This is middling Burton, not bad, not great, but it succeeds at what it sets out to do. Burton still remains such an interesting filmmaker that even when he is not on his A game, it is still more compelling than most films that come out any given week.

'Avengers' is a smart, funny, thrilling summer smash

"The Avengers," which brings together several of Marvel comics biggest heroes, is, as the Hulk might say, a smash. It is critically hailed, publicly loved and blasting its way through box office records.

In just three days it has made $200 million in the United States alone. There have been plenty of summer blockbusters that have made huge money at the box office that have been rather odious, but "The Avengers" is not just another loud, special effects machine akin to the headache-inducing "Transformers" franchise.

While, like the "Transformers" films, "The Avengers" concludes in chaotic action and effects, the huge difference is there are characters that we are emotionally invested in and a sharp sense of humor that doesn't rely on juvenile jokes that a 10 year could write. Basically, the filmmakers behind "The Avengers" actually respect the intelligence of their audience.

The film's hero roster includes Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Bruce Banner/The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner). They are brought together by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), the director of the secret government agency SHIELD.

Each of these characters have either starred in their own film or at least featured in another film, even if only in a cameo. For each of the films feeding into "The Avengers," Marvel Studio has been smart in choosing directors that not only fit the material, but have a real love for the comic book mythology.

With "The Avengers" they found an ideal match in director/co-writer Joss Whedon. As the creator of the shows "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Angel," "Firefly" and "Dollhouse," Whedon has a key trait important to making a film like this work: He knows how to juggle ensemble casts.

For a film so loaded with characters, Whedon has pulled off a neat trick. Everyone gets their moment to shine. There is an even dispersal of dialogue and scenes between the characters that never feels forced. The interactions and scenes flow naturally.

The plot isn't particularly special. It is a standard superhero origin story, which follows these beats: A character gets powers, struggles with these gifts and then faces first challenge. The difference here is the characters have their skills in the beginning, so the conflict is for this group of big egos to learn how to work together as a team.

Their adversary is the demi-god Loki (Tom Hiddleston), the adopted brother of Thor, who has been banished from his home world of Asgard. In his banishment, the heartbroken Loki has turned bitter and vengeful and has set his sights on Earth, the planet Thor fell in love with during his own banishment in last year's "Thor." Loki has an alien army at his disposal and, naturally, he wants nothing less than world domination.

Before facing Loki, there will be a lot of infighting between the Avengers, often spurred on by a captured Loki. Comic book fans will thrill to see such match-ups as Iron Man versus Thor, Black Widow versus Hawkeye and Thor versus the Hulk.

What rises the film above the standard plot is that it is told exceptionally well. Whedon's script, co-written with Zach Penn, is peppered with clever lines and unexpected hilarious moments, particularly from the Hulk in the climatic battle. The banter between the characters has a real spark and the actors are given interesting things to do dramatically. While this always stays a popcorn entertainment, there are still moments of weight.

The acting across the board is top tiered. Downey continues to ooze charisma, as the quick witted "genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist," who despite all his snarkiness has a huge heart.

Downey's cocky charm is nearly matched by Hemsworth, who shows flashes of Thor's arrogance alongside the humility he learned in his own film. Evans, who comes across earnest and sincere, continues to be a good match for Captain America

Ruffalo, coming into the role of Bruce Banner after Eric Bana and Edward Norton, gives a compelling performance. He is a man no longer comfortable in his own skin because he knows "the other guy" is lurking below.

Hiddleston is a fantastic villain. He brings a genuine sense of menace to the screen. Hiddleston is particularly unsettling in an exchange with Johannson that recalls scenes from "Silence of the Lambs."

The bottom line with this movie is this: If you have eagerly been anticipating this film, you'll love it. If you've seen and enjoyed at least once of the previous films, you'll have a good time. If you have no interest in any of these characters, it still won't be your cup of tea. If you're on the fence, give it a go, you may be pleasantly surprised.

Kasey Bartnick — Dance is her happy place

Kasey Bartnick, a senior at Kennett High School, is the captain of the dance team and treasurer of the Kennett Key Club. She has also danced in several of the Kennett Drama Club productions co-produced with Arts in Motion including, most recently, "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

How did you get into dance?

I started dancing when I was little, probably 5 years old. My mom took me to dance classes at Tina Titzer's, but only stayed there for about a year and then I got back into it freshman year. At the high school they have dance classes during school, so I did that and then sophomore year I joined the dance team because Holly [Fougere] was the teacher of the dance class and coach of the dance team, so she got me into it.

Is there a particular style of dance that you enjoy doing most?

I like jazz dance the most probably because it is flirty and it is just really fun. You can do technical stuff, but still be able to let loose a little.

What kind of dance styles have you experimented with?

With dance team we do all sort of things. On Fridays we do ballet, full team, and then we do hip hop, jazz, lyrical, some modern, so it is a little bit of everything.

Have you or do you have any interest in choreography?

I do. Right now, I am choreographing a duet with my friend Katrina [Prime] for the showcase and hopefully trying to do choreography for a trio with Lindsay [Spadaccini] and Nicole [Bean], so I'm working my way into it. Sometimes I ask Holly for help with it.

You've done things with drama?

Yes. I've been cast the last three years of the Kennett Drama Club with Arts in Motion.

What roles?

The past one was "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and I was a fairy. The one before that was "Guys and Dolls" and the year before that was "Disco Inferno."

And is it always just the dance aspect of it?

Yes. This year all the fairies had lines, so I had like five lines.

How does it differ dancing in a production like that rather than a stand alone dance piece?

In the plays I get more into the character. We had a lot of makeup for ["Midsummer"]. We had leaves all over and we had to be kind of creepy, so throughout the whole play I had to be the same character. When I am dancing in a showcase or at a competition and we have different dances I take on different characters for each dance or not characters, but attitudes towards what I am doing.

Do you hope to continue dancing?

I do. I am not sure what I am doing next year. I might go to NHCI part time, but still live at home. I am either going to try to find a dance studio to work at or, maybe, help Holly out with the dance team. I haven't talked to her about, but I thought it might be fun to be assistant coach or something.

What would your dream job be if you could just get anything?

I don't know what I want to do yet. I kind of got interested in sign language a couple of years ago. I've been trying to find a class to go to, so maybe an interpreter for deaf people, but I'm not sure yet.

What drew you to dance? Is there any particular thing that inspires you to dance or speaks to you about dance?

Dance is, I don't know how to explain it, when I walk into dance practice it is place where I don't need to worry about everything that's going on at school or home or with my friends. All I have to focus on is remembering dance moves or the next move I am going to have to make. The team is like our family and they always make me laugh. Dance is a place to go to make me happy — where I can be most comfortable basically.

Do you have any final thoughts about your past in dance or what you want to do in the future?

Just a shout out to Holly because she puts so much time into dance team and she's there for us all the time. She is just a really good coach. She is kind of like, not a mentor, but like an older sister to all of us. She reminds us to keep our grades up and to focus on what we want to do and our dreams. She is just really inspiring.