Plucky Pipsqueak II... This Time it's Personal!

Last year, when it came time to select a script for my acting students (at the Houghton Movement & Arts Center) to perform at the showcase, I hit a bit of a brick wall.  I scoured the internet for something in the public domain that was interesting and age appropriate but all I could find were things that were either dated and stuffy or light and cutesy.  I worried that working with a script like that would do more harm than good.  I wanted something fresh that would emphasize the individual strengths of the students in my class.  Left with no alternative, I decided to sit down at my computer and see what I could come up with. (See here for more details.)  The result was A Plucky Little Pipsqueak, a 15-minute, 4-character comedy centered on a group of students waiting at the principal’s office.  It was a fun experiment that I think/hope worked out in the end.

This time around, with a year of teaching under my belt and a mix of new and returning students, I decided to work the script-writing process into the class.  As the spring semester rolled around I began to open class asking for suggestions for a showcase piece.  It was agreed upon that we would do a sequel to Pipsqueak with the returning students reprising their roles and the new students taking on new ones.  (I have a weakness for sequels.  See this or this or this.) The students became very engaged in the brainstorming process, as we began to discuss plot points, characters and other details of the new script.  We settled on a mystery theme, fleshed out the new characters and even decided the resolution together. 

In the week that followed, I once again sat down at my computer, this time armed with my notebook filled with their suggestions and got to work.  The next week I presented them The Trophy Case, and was pleasantly surprised by their excitement upon seeing the new script.  Just as we had discussed, The Trophy Case tells the tale of 5 students accused of breaking a prized trophy and their mission to solve the crime.  As we first read it aloud, I watched their faces light up as they saw their ideas come to life on the page.  It was an incredibly rewarding experience for me, and hopefully for them too. 

One of the things I try to emphasize in class is that the art of stage craft is layered.  I think that in order to be a truly good actor you have to have an understanding and appreciation for all of the things that go into plays.  Like most things in life, the more knowledge you gather on something, the better you become at it.  It is a joy for me to watch these talented students work through The Trophy Case each week, and I can’t wait to see it up on stage at the showcase.  My hope is that their involvement in its inception will make it that much more rewarding when they finally get to do it in front of an audience.

Movie Review: Jack the Giant Slayer

I'm not really sure I'm down with this current fascination with fairy tales.  The TV shows, the terrible movies; it's just not working for me.  Recently, Hilary and I saw the latest one to enter the fray, Jack and the Giant Slayer.  I didn't expect greatness.  I like Bryan Singer, it fit within the right time window, and I figured it would be some harmless fun.  I'm not sure what it was, but it certainly wasn't fun.  

The beginning started off interestingly enough: Jack is being told the legend of the giants by his father while Princess Isabelle is hearing the same story from her mother.  Good way to set up the backstory; it pulls you in.  Cut to ten years or so down the road, and suddenly Jack has no parents, and Isabelle only has her father, the king.  This seemed as though it was laying the foundation for some sort of revelation or something in regards to the missing parents, but (Spoiler Alert, I guess) it never does.  In a scene inspired by the far superior Disney's Aladdin, Jack meets and awkwardly defends Princess Isabelle in the market, not realizing who she is until Ewan McGregor shows up as Elmont, the princess' protector.  (Yes, the Ewan McGregor.  He owes me an explanation.)  We soon learn that the princess ran away because she is being forced to marry the king's adviser, Jafar Roderick played by Stanley Tucci.  (Yes, the Stanley Tucci.  No explanation needed.)  Meanwhile, Jack is given magic beans by a monk, and we learn that the beans go with a magic crown.  The beans provide a way to the giants' realm, and the crown controls them for some convoluted reason.  Also, the princess runs away again and ends up at Jack's door. 

Now, I should say that up to this point I am totally in.  It's corny, but in a fun way. So here we are 30 minutes in: the beans fall in some water, make a beanstalk, Jack falls down and the princess is swept up into the land of the giants.  Nothing good happens after this part... and there are still 90 minutes to go.  Basically, the King, played by Ian McShane (who is actually a good actor in spite of this and the AWFUL Snow White & the Huntsman), sends Elmont, Roderick, Jack and some Red Shirts up to save the princess.  Here it begins to alternate between weird graphic violence and  immature fart/booger/burp humor from the giants.  The tone is all over the place, and it's hard to watch. In a nutshell, Act II goes like this (Spoiler Alert, but you shouldn't care):  The extras die. Elmont gets kidnapped and made into a pig in a blanket.  Jack rescues him and the princess.  Roderick pulls out the magic crown to control the giants and hopes to make them destroy the humans because [insert your best guess here].  Elmont kills Roderick and stops the giants from attacking.  Jack and Isabelle escape down the mountain.  All is well.  But it isn't.  Because there are 40 minutes left.  Surprise, it's Act III!  

Had it ended at this point, I would have been like, "Okay, that was dumb, but it had it's moments."  Instead (Spoiler Alert, but seriously if I find out you saw this movie I will be angry), the giants gain control of the crown and the remaining beans and decide to attack the kingdom because [insert your best guess here].    The finale is this weird violent brawl between the giants and the kingdom.  Jack kills the lead giant (who happens to be two-headed and guess what, one of the heads is dumb), gains control of the crown, banishes the other giants, marries the princess and the magic crown becomes St. Edward's Crown.  I'm not even kidding.

I just don't get movies like this.  Who is the audience? Needless to say, this did not impress me.  I think it had some good ingredients: strong actors, good special effects a story that hasn't gotten much play recently.  In the end it was just a weird mash up of tongue-in-cheek mugging, graphic violence and giant farts.  Pass.  Ugh, you just know they are going to reboot this with Shia LaBeouf as Jack in like 7 years.