![\"KiKi](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vweisfeld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/If-Beale-Street-Could-Talk.jpg?resize=278%2C360&ssl=1\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nIf Beale Street Could\nTalk<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When James Baldwin published the book this movie is based on\nback in 1974, it was out\nof sync with the times<\/a> and not a success. Americans had turned attention\nfrom their civil rights concerns, distracted by Watergate and the windup of the\nVietnam War, perhaps, or perhaps it was another sorry indicator of how short\nour national attention span is for issues that defy quick solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now writer\/director Barry Jenkins has timed the book\u2019s film\nversion perfectly (trailer<\/a>).\nAll the issues Beale Street<\/em> raises\nremain relevant, and our persistent racial injustices are once again\ntop-of-mind. This is a love story with many threads, and each is knotty,\nwhether the love is between a young man (played by Stephan James) and woman\n(KiKi Layne, the film\u2019s gentle narrator), between parents and their daughter, or\nbetween an incarcerated father and his pre-school son, living apart. The acting\nis all top-notch, and I particularly enjoyed Tish\u2019s parents, Colman Domingo and\nRegina King, who doesn\u2019t have to say anything to reveal her heart to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rotten\nTomatoes<\/a> critics rating: 95%; audiences: 69%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stan & Ollie<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As a kid, I was a big Laurel and Hardy fan, and this Jon S. Baird film, written by Jeff Pope, about the duo\u2019s late-stage career, is necessarily bittersweet (trailer<\/a>). They\u2019re approaching the top of the hill they\u2019re about to go over. Genius British comic Steve Coogan is Stan, the writer of most of the skits and bits, and John C. Reilly, in an unbelievably natural fatsuit and rubber chin is American comic Oliver Hardy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although it\u2019s a movie about two slapstick comedians and about what it means to have and be a partner, some of the funniest moments come from the sniping between Ollie\u2019s devoted third wife Lucille (Shirley Henderson) and Stan\u2019s fourth wife Ida (Nina Arianda). The two women can\u2019t stand each other, but even Ida softens when Ollie\u2019s precarious health is endangered. Well worth the price of a ticket! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Rotten Tomatoes<\/a> critics rating: 92%; audiences: 88%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Noises Off<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Two River Theater in Red Bank, New Jersey, is presenting this non-stop Michael Frayn comedy on stage through February 3. Directed by Sarna Lapine, you may run out of breath laughing well before the end of Act I and the absurdities continue to pile up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In case you\u2019re not familiar with the story, in Act I, a\nlackluster theater company is in the final rocky rehearsal for a show called Nothing On<\/em>, which takes place in an\nEnglish country house. The house is supposed to be empty, but is soon filled\nwith people trying not to be found there. During the cast\u2019s conversation\nbetween scenes, you learn about several ongoing love affairs and problems among\nthem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In Act II, the set is turned around and, though you hear\nsome of the play dialog on the other side of the wall, the action is backstage,\nmostly in pantomime, as the lovers quarrel, try to make up, and generally\nbehave badly. There\u2019s a pause before Act III, and the set turns again to the\nfront. Now it\u2019s the play\u2019s last performance, and situations have spiralled totally\nout of control. Sheer mayhem!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ellen Harvey plays the housekeeper in the\nplay-within-the-play, Jason O\u2019Connell the homeowner and Kathleen Chloe his\nwife; Michael Crane is the realtor and Adrianna Mitchell his somewhat dim\nwould-be paramour (when the show is falling apart, she keeps delivering lines\nthat no longer fit what\u2019s happening); Philip Goodwin is an aging actor whose\nsobriety must be constantly monitored; Gopal Divan is the play director,\nPhillip Taratula the stage manager, and Kimiye Corwin his assistant. I named\nthem all, because they were all so good!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Two River ticket\noffice online<\/a>; or call 732 345 1400. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In Washington, D.C., summers, we\u2019d go to a movie theater to cool off. You may be considering the same strategy this weekend just to warm up! If so, here\u2019s my take on two movies currently on view and one riotous … Continue reading ![\"Stan](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vweisfeld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Stan-and-Ollie.jpg?resize=256%2C334&ssl=1\")
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