From: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com (aml-list-digest) To: aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: aml-list-digest V2 #230 Reply-To: aml-list Sender: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk aml-list-digest Friday, December 12 2003 Volume 02 : Number 230 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2003 13:28:36 -0800 From: "Kathy Tyner" Subject: Re: [AML] The Envious Critic (was: Harry Potter) Let me assure you Eric, you and Richard both wield big hammers in our community of artists and those who love to watch, read or hear it. It's a fine line to criticize without being too harsh. However, your post of mea culpa shows an incredible amount of honesty and class, and THAT is a virtue to be most earnestly sought for. Thanks. Kathy Tyner Orange County, CA - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Eric Samuelsen" I've been away, stuffing myself on turkey, and, well, stuffing (I make mine with apples and sausage, yummy), and so, on arriving home, I found this response from my good friend Scott Parkin. Believe me, I don't see this as remotely ad hominem. But I would like to respond. [snip] - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2003 17:18:32 -0500 From: "C.S. Bezas" Subject: [AML] Ashley Harris Article Congratulations go to Ashley Harris for a wonderful article outlining her recording career. It is December's "Feature Article" at http://www.latterdayauthors.com/. Many of her suggestions apply to writers. Congratulations again, Ashley. You've done a beautiful job. Cindy C.S. Bezas Board of Editors, Advisory Chair LatterDayAuthors.com http://www.latterdayauthors.com/ - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2003 22:38:19 -0700 From: "Scott Parkin" Subject: Re: [AML] The Envious Critic (was: Harry Potter) At the risk of beating this horse beyond all recognition, I just want to clarify one point. I seem to have a talent for speaking at angles to what Eric says, so that I'm never quite sure that my responses match up to his points. I apologize if I'm repeating myself. >>>The second closest I have ever come to leaving the Church came after seeing Singles Ward. My experience with that film was depressing, alienating. I left in a state of despair. This isn't just being melodramatic; it's an honest response to the film.<<< I don't doubt that the reaction is honest or truthful. My only question was whether it was a useful criticism when offered in a public forum. We seem to agree that it might have been possible to couch the subsequent (and very helpful and incisive, IMO) criticism in a context more likely to instruct than inflame. I tend toward a cheerleader approach where I praise the things I like and ignore the ones I don't unless drawn into a discussion about specific points. Others believe that it's just as important to slam the stuff you don't like as it is to praise what you do. Different strokes. To each his own. I raised the point not to condemn you or your criticism (and I certainly don't want to raise Brother Dutcher's ire; I still hope to do business with him at some point--as I hope to do business with you in the not too terribly distant future). I was responding to a comment from Brother Duncan that seemed to characterize my disagreement with your method as disagreeing with critical commentary as a whole. It seemed like an all-or-nothing proposition, and I just don't see it that way. I believe in a vigorous discussion about what works, what doesn't, and how we can all better reach the audiences we target with our work. So I offered my opinion that your excellent criticism may have been less effective than it could have been as a result of the context it was delivered in. That's all I meant. Nothing more. I just wanted to be clear on that point. >>> So I've probably made an enemy or two. That's a shame, because I don't want to make enemies in this bad ol' world. And it's a shame, because I don't have any credibility with Halestorm right now, and neither does Richard, and frankly, we could help. They're important filmmakers, and their work continues to be mediocre. That seems the real shame. <<< It turns out that I agree with nearly every criticism you and Richard made. Some of the comments were just differences in imagination and reflect how different artists bring different assumptions and approaches to similar problems. If you look at parts of John Moyer's Web site you see that he was working from a fundamentally different set of assumptions about audience and content than I think you or Richard were working from, and I can't really argue with his reasoning on those matters. But even when I didn't agree with your specific diagnoses, I agreed that the scene(s) in question needed additional work. What I find most amusing (or is that frustrating) about the extended discussion is that I had the same general response to _Singles Ward_ that you apparently had to _Brother Bear_ when you saw it--I was essentially ambivalent to the whole thing. It raised neither my gorge nor my interest, and I left feeling vaguely curious about how Halestorm would follow it up. I'm no longer ambivalent or curious, which I suppose is a good thing. I now have very distinct opinions as a direct result of our various discussions here on AML-List. I think we should have strong opinions, even when we sometimes choose to mitigate or withhold them in certain contexts or forums. Scott Parkin - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 05 Dec 2003 07:33:42 -0700 From: Ivan Angus Wolfe Subject: [AML] re: KUSHNER, _Angels in America_ here's a link to the first non-positive review of Angels in America I= 've ever seen: http://www.nationalreview.com/nr_comment/keane200312050900.asp excerpts: The acting =97 by Meryl Streep, Justin Kirk, Jeffrey Wright, and, at = times, Pacino =97 is brilliant, but in an unworthy artistic cause. With one excepti= on =97 the AIDS-stricken Walter Prior =97 it is hard for viewers to invest emoti= onally in the fate of Kushner's characters. Furthermore, he's too obviously incapab= le of writing strong parts for women: Mary-Louise Parker's chattering, vali= um-addicted Mormon housewife is irritating; Emma Thompson's oversexed angel has g= reat hair but little substance. Kushner's dialogue is occasionally witty, and h= is emotional range is broad; but he cannot get past his anger long enoug= h to teach the audience anything new. Roy Cohn is simply too convenient as a demon-figure. He was such an a= wful person that Kushner can damn Reagan for employing him, Ed Meese for working = with him, and any remaining Republicans for thinking he did some things right. = Cohn played a large role in getting Ethel Rosenberg executed, so Kushner brings b= ack the convicted traitor to haunt the disbarred lawyer; she is forced to fee= l sympathy for his suffering, but never once empathy for his beliefs. Kushner ca= n't separate out the complexities of such this truly conflicted character= . And this failure to comprehend complexity is the play's major flaw. K= ushner talks about progress and awakening, but the only people who learn are Republican. We are expected to believe that the rest of his character= s would have no problems, if they could just get Reagan and his evil crew to = leave them alone. At the end of the play, the 1980s are over and nearly everyone =97 be= sides the dead or reformed Republicans =97 is exactly as he was. Cohn is dead, = his apprentice has disappeared from the script, and Joe's insipid wife ha= s run off with his credit card to self-medicate herself into oblivion. Joe's Mo= rmon mother (reformed!) has shed her dowdy look and replaced her confused family = with her new friends. Even the angelic mysticism embodied by Emma Thompson proves a meaning= less dead end: Prior rejects her offer of prophecy and everything goes convenie= ntly back to normal. Those Berkeley researchers described wanting to "shun and even punish= outsiders and those who threaten the status of cherished world views" as a feat= ure of conservatism. In fact, it's in a work like Kushner's that this pathol= ogy is flagrant. In his world, there is practically zero space for opposing = thought. In the end, his play is not really about the unfolding saga of the chara= cters, what they have learned, or what place religion has in the modern world. De= spite all his talk of modernity and moving forward, Tony Kushner's play is trag= ically stuck in his own, truly reactionary solipsism.=20 - --ivan wolfe - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 3 Dec 2003 10:11:12 -0600 From: "Patricia Wiles" Subject: [AML] Book in a Week Event Hello everyone- Our site held a successful Book in a Week event during November. The BIAW moderator, Cindy Bezas, has written an excellent summary article for our site. If you're not familiar with what a BIAW is like, this is a good way to find out: http://www.latterdayauthors.com/events/nov2003biaw.htm I believe she is planning another one for February. If you're looking for motivation to sit down and write instead of WABing as Jongiorgi likes to say, BIAW may be what you need to get going. Patricia Wiles Executive Editor, latterdayauthors.com Member National Society of Newspaper Columnists Member Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 3 Dec 2003 19:49:08 -0900 From: Stephen Carter Subject: [AML] Pioneer Women Orators I thought this call might be of interest to a few of you. Mormonism has a very interesting history of female orators - especially from the Edmunds-Tucker days. Fifty years of rhetorical scholarship on women: Papers in honor of Lillian O'Connor and Pioneer Women Orators Plans are being made and papers are being solicited for a series of panels to be presented at the 2004 National Communication Association conference in Chicago in honor of the 50th anniversary of the publication of Lillian O'Connor's groundbreaking work, Pioneer Women Orators. Currently panels focusing on reform, suffrage, politicians, labor reformers and marginalized voices are planned. Additional suggestions/submissions are encouraged. If you are interested in having your work considered for inclusion, please contact: Anne F. Mattina, Associate Professor Department of Communication Stonehill College 320 Washington St. Easton, MA 02357 amattina@stonehill.edu 508-565-1117 THE DEADLINE IS DECEMBER 31, 2003 for inclusion in the NOVEMBER 2004 National Communication Association conference. =============================================== >From the Literary Calls for Papers Mailing List CFP@english.upenn.edu Full Information at http://www.english.upenn.edu/CFP/ or write Erika Lin: elin@english.upenn.edu =============================================== Stephen Carter Fairbanks, Alaska - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 4 Dec 2003 08:47:36 -0700 From: Steve Perry Subject: [AML] New Interview on "The Cricket & Seagull" Thursday, December 4, 2003 Hi Friends, The new edition of "The Cricket & Seagull" features Scot & Maurine Proctor, founders, publishers, editors of Meridian Magazine online. If that strikes your fancy, click on http://www.meridianmagazine.com/radio Have a good one! :-) Steve - -- skperry@mac.com - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2003 09:56:27 -0700 From: Christopher Bigelow Subject: [AML] (DesNews) _Pride and Prejudice_ 'Pride' features LDS twist By Nicole Warburton Deseret Morning News It's the first time "Pride and Prejudice" has come to the big screen since 1940 - only this time there's a twist. "We've used an LDS setting and an LDS cultural backdrop to tell that story, and it's worked really well," said Jason Faller, who produced "Pride & Prejudice: A Utah Comedy." "It has a universal appeal of a story that so many know and love," said Faller. Filmed primarily in Utah - with some scenes shot in London and Las Vegas - "Pride & Prejudice" follows the story of Elizabeth Bennet (Kam Heskin), a Brigham Young University student determined to remain single. As in Jane Austen's classic novel, Elizabeth receives attention from two suitors, Will Darcy (Orlando Seale) and George Wickham (Henry Maguire) and must choose where her heart lies. Kynan Griffin, production manager for "Pride & Prejudice," said, "I think the attraction for 'Pride & Prejudice' will be that, as with the book, thousands of young girls and women of all ages have related to Elizabeth Bennet as the central character. "She's a very strong-minded woman; a very strong female character, which we don't see in a lot of films - and I think we haven't seen very much in LDS films, either." Griffin added, "For guys, it's important to see characters who are intelligent, who are moral, good people making good choices and still living wonderful lives. And it's got a lot of comedy, got a lot of romance, got car chases - it's packed full of entertainment." While "Pride & Prejudice" is one of many LDS-genre films that have come to theaters in recent months, Griffin and Faller - who, with Daniel Shanthakumar founded the production company Camera 40 Productions - are confident about the potential for success with their film. "Visually, it's pretty spectacular," said Griffin. "Everything about the film is just fun: the characters, the colors, the story. It's all aimed at just having a good experience." "This is first and foremost a movie about people, which people should love," Faller added. "It has two sides, the comedy side, so (people) can go to it and laugh, and there's the dramatic side, so they can go for just a great story." "Pride and Prejudice" is directed by Andrew Black, an award-winning BYU film student from Scotland. "American Idol" finalist Carmen Rasmusen makes a cameo appearance. - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 08 Dec 2003 23:55:05 -0600 From: LDS Film Festival (by way of Jonathan Langford ) Subject: [AML] LDS Film Festival Extended Deadline LDS FILM FESTIVAL Newsletter #03/03 http://www.ldsbox.com email@ldsbox.com - --------------------------------------------------- ENTRY DEADLINE EXTENDED - --------------------------------------------------- If you weren't able to finish your film or script, here's a last chance: We have extended the deadline for entries until Monday, December 22 (postmarked). That gives you a little more time to finish up your project. The extended entry fee is $20.00 for both feature scripts and short films. If you have already submitted your work and want to use the extended deadline to improve your script or film, feel free to resubmit your project free of charge until December 22. Please let us know if you plan to do so. So far we have received a record number in scripts and are excited about plenty of new films to be presented at the 3RD ANNUAL LDS FILM FESTIVAL 2004. The festival will be held January 22-24 in Provo, Utah. Prizes totaling $ 2,000.00 will be awarded to the three best films and screenplays. For more information, go to: http://www.ldsbox.com/cgi-bin/04festival.php To download the entry form, go to: http://www.ldsbox.com/cgi-bin/04entryform.php To review the entry guidelines, go to: http://www.ldsbox.com/cgi-bin/04guidelines.php - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2003 09:54:38 -0700 From: Christopher Bigelow Subject: [AML] (DesNews) _Angels in America_ 'Angels in America:' These aren't your 'Touched By' angels All-star cast brings Pulitzer-winning play 'Angels in America' to HBO By Scott D. Pierce Deseret Morning News Tony Kushner's Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Angels In America" is about to air on HBO, and he's "terrified." "I'm used to thinking on sort of a theater scale," Kushner told TV critics. "Thousands of people saw the play. Probably hundreds of thousands by now. But the idea that, at one moment, a few million might be watching it. . . . "It's sort of like the budget for the thing. It's numbers that don't make sense to me. So I just put my fingers in my ears and hum to myself when that's being discussed." Kushner's six-hour adaptation of his two-part play, directed by Mike Nichols and starring Al Pacino, Meryl Streep and Emma Thompson, among others, was in production for two years at a cost of more than $60 million. It translates the stage play onto the screen without falling into the trap of being too stagey or overblown. "The fact that it's on television preserves that kind of intimacy," Kushner said. "The relationship between the televised event and the audience is a very intimate one, and that returns it to something I'm familiar with, because theater is an art about intimacy. I'd be much more frightened if it were on IMAX." Which is not to say that it doesn't preserve the larger-than-life aspects of the play. As a matter of fact, it enhances them. "It sort of lives very much in the here and now, and reality, and the way that people talk to each other and react to each other," Streep said. "And then there's another whole layer of - I don't want to say theatricality but, but it's almost opera. It's on a bigger scale, is what I mean. There are some wild, wild parts to this." Kushner has made some changes to his script - it's actually about an hour and a half shorter than the combined time of the two plays ("Millennium Approaches" and "Perestroika"). And, at the prompting of Nichols, he has reworked a scene in the second half of the production. But it remains an engrossing opus revolving around gays and AIDS in the mid-1980s. Though set in New York City, three of the characters are Utah Mormons - - Joe Pitt (Patrick Wilson), a closeted gay man and conservative law clerk; his pill-popping wife, Harper (Mary-Louise Parker); and Joe's tough mother, Hannah (Streep). Their lives interact with those of Prior Walter (Justin Kirk), an AIDS-afflicted man whose fantastic dreams (or are they dreams?) provide the production's most fantastic elements; his lover, Louis (Ben Shenkman), who also gets involved with Joe; and Roy Cohn (Al Pacino), the foul-mouthed, ultra-conservative lawyer who has hidden his homosexuality and is now dying of AIDS himself. "I thought it was a great play. . . . It's a great role," said Pacino, who worked on "Angels" between other projects over the two-year period. "It's such a profound piece, and so important for me, that I did it anyway." Pacino has never done television before but said he couldn't pass up the chance because of Kushner's "wonderful" script. "With Tony's work, it's so profound and the rhythm and iambic of the words are necessary to bring off the feeling of it and the idea of it." Streep echoed those thoughts. Seeing the two plays was "an overwhelming experience" for her. "I have to say, I couldn't imagine how they could possibly translate it to film. It was a terrifying proposition," she said. "But Mike (Nichols) offered me three parts, and then he offered me four. It was like a feast, and wonderful to work with Al and all the great actors in it. "I don't expect to get anything remotely as ambitious as this piece of work in my life again, so I'm grateful." (In addition to Hannah, Streep plays the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg, who haunts Cohn, as well as two smaller roles. Several actors, including Thompson, Kirk, and Jeffrey Wright, also play more than one part.) "Angels In America" isn't for everyone - it's full of R-rated language, brief nudity and sexual situations, and LDS viewers may be offended to see characters wearing temple garments. But it's the sort of ambitious programming television too often avoids. Working from an amazing script and brilliantly directed, acted and produced, it's a television event. And, whether you agree with everything Kushner has to say or not, it's as thought-provoking today as when it was first produced on stage more than a decade ago. "I think that these things are still relevant and I think . . . the extent to which this is a film very much about human relationships, those haven't changed all that much since the late '80s, and I think the film stays current," Kushner said. "I think the way the question of period is addressed in the film is incredibly smart. It doesn't feel like a period piece, but it's also very true to the time it's describing." - ------------- If you watch What: "Angels in America" Where: HBO pay-cable When: Begins Sunday, 9 p.m. Rating: Not rated, probable R (language, brief nudity, sexual situations) HBO subscribers have their choice of ways to watch "Angels In America." And if you have HBO-multiplex, you've got multiple choices. Parts 1-3 (comprising "Millennium Approaches") premiere Sunday from 9 p.m.-midnight on HBO. Parts 4-6 (comprising "Perestroika") premiere Sunday, Dec. 14, from 9 p.m.-midnight, with repeats scheduled throughout the month and on HBO2. On Jan. 3, HBO Signature will air the entire six hours on Saturday, Jan. 3, beginning at 7 p.m. The channel will also telecast each of the six parts separately on consecutive Sundays at 10:30 p.m., beginning Jan. 4 According to director Mike Nichols, "each chapter" has "a certain integrity. And, of course, 'Millennium Approaches' and 'Perestroika,' the two halves of it, would. And for crazy people, you'll be able to see it all at once, too. So you get your choice, and you can see it almost any way you want." - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 Dec 2003 17:16:55 EST From: Irreantum2@cs.com Subject: [AML] (SLTrib) _Angels in America_ feature The following article contains commentary on the Mormon elements in this fil= m. Angels in America: HBO drama is a soaring study of hope and despair=20 By Vince Horiuchi=20 The Salt Lake Tribune=20 In 1990, Tony Kushner's "Angels in America" was a revelation in the=20 theater world, dazzling audiences with its progressive exploration of AIDS,=20 politics and religion.=20 Thirteen years later, HBO's filmed adaptation of the Tony Award-winning=20 two-part play, which debuts Sunday night at 9 p.m. and concludes Dec. 14, wi= ll=20 probably reverberate through the television world in much the same way.=20 "It's a great piece of work. Kushner is one of the greatest American=20 writers that's working in the theater," said David Chambers, managing direct= or of=20 Salt Lake Acting Company, who saw the two-part, six-hour HBO film at a speci= al=20 screening last month. "The film also is pretty bold to take on the subject=20 and the length and the enormity of the story."=20 Kushner's "Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes," is=20 divided into two plays, "Millennium Approaches," which debuted in 1990 in Lo= s=20 Angeles, and "Perestroika," which premiered a year later. SLAC staged the pl= ays in=20 Salt Lake City in 1995 and 1996, respectively.=20 They were an enormous accomplishment for Kushner: "Millennium" earned th= e=20 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and both plays were awarded a Best Drama Tony. In=20 1998, London's National Theater selected "Angels" as one of the 10 best play= s of=20 the century. (Kushner's latest play, the musical "Caroline, or Change,"=20 opened Sunday in New York.)=20 "Angels in America" centers on a group of New Yorkers, including a young= =20 Mormon lawyer who reluctantly accepts that he is a homosexual (Patrick=20 Wilson); a liberal Jewish man (Ben Shenkman) wracked with guilt for leaving=20= his=20 AIDS-infected lover (Justin Kirk); and Roy Cohn (Al Pacino), the infamous=20 anti-Communist and malevolent attorney of Sen. Joseph McCarthy.=20 Like the plays, the movie balances multiple narratives, weaves reality=20 and fantasy, and unravels an epic story of power, faith, love, abandonment,=20 redemption, change and finally, hope in the 1980s.=20 Louis Ironson (Shenkman) is a young gay man who abandons his lover, Prio= r=20 Walter (Kirk), after learning Walter has contracted AIDS. While in a=20 delirium, Walter is visited by an angel, who asks him to be one of God's pro= phets.=20 Meanwhile, Cohn, a confidante of President Reagan and notorious for his=20 hate-filled and vulgar diatribes, also is stricken with the disease. His you= ng=20 prot=E9g=E9, the Mormon attorney Joe Pitt, realizes he also is gay and consi= ders=20 leaving his wife (Mary-Louise Parker).=20 At the center of this sprawling story, Kushner uses Mormonism and the=20 character of Hannah (Meryl Streep), Pitt's mother, as "the most effective ag= ent=20 of hope in the entire play," said Oskar Eustis, who directed the world=20 premieres of both plays. He also worked with Kushner on "Perestroika" at the= Sundance=20 Theatre Laboratory in the summer of 1990.=20 "Out of all of the religions originating from American soil, the one tha= t=20 is most purely American is Mormonism," Eustis said, explaining why Kushner=20 picked The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as part of the play's= =20 framework. "One of the inherent things [in Mormonism] is the belief you can=20 reinvent yourself, to engage in a direct dialogue with the Divine and to bec= ome a=20 different person. That ongoing revelation in Mormonism is something Tony=20 [Kushner] sees as a pure expression of what is positive."=20 To research the second play, Eustis and Kushner spent a couple of days o= n=20 Temple Square during their summer at Sundance, talking with LDS members and=20 touring the church visitors' center. The time they spent there evolved into=20= one=20 of "Perestroika's" most provocative scenes, in which the wife of the gay=20 lawyer has a conversation with a mannequin in one of the dioramas at the New= York=20 City LDS visitors' center.=20 "We were working a number of different aspects there," Eustis said. "We=20 took advantage of the locality to do research and talk to a number of Mormon= s.=20 His [Kushner's] interest in Mormonism is deep . . . He was trying to=20 investigate what was at the heart of Mormonism."=20 Brigham Young University theater professor Megan Sanborn Jones, who has=20 seen the film, says it is respectful of the LDS religion.=20 "The Mormonism in the play is being used in a very particular way and in= =20 a positive way -- that it's an extraordinarily strong faith and that people=20 have these beliefs," said Jones, an active LDS member who once directed=20 "Millennium Approaches" in Minneapolis and did her doctoral work on 19th cen= tury=20 anti-Mormon melodrama. "It says it's a belief to be respected, and it's the=20= whole=20 crux of the play."=20 The road to a filmed adaptation was a long one that began in the early=20 1990s, first with film director Robert Altman ("M*A*S*H," "Nashville") at th= e=20 helm. But its complex stories and considerable length at more than six hours= =20 would have made it impossible to show in theaters. And its graphic nature wo= uld=20 have made it impractical for regular network television.=20 HBO stepped in to produce the two-part, six-hour film adaptation, which=20 carefully balances Oscar winners Pacino, Streep and Thompson with newcomers=20 Wilson, Kirk, Shenkman and Tony-winner Jeffrey Wright (the only carryover fr= om=20 the Broadway production).=20 Making the film was a grueling but exhilarating experience for Shenkman.= =20 Shenkman relished his chance to work with some of the film world's most=20 accomplished actors.=20 "To be in the company of people who are basically my heroes is a=20 wonderful learning experience," he said.=20 That included a lengthy scene with the legendary Pacino -- even though=20 "The Godfather" star's character was dead in a hospital bed the entire scene= and=20 had no dialogue with Shenkman.=20 "He didn't give me any pointers, but he was gracious about staying there= =20 off camera with me," said Shenkman, who once played the Roy Cohn part in a=20 college production of "Angels." "It's really going the extra mile when you'r= e=20 just a dead object."=20 While the gap between a play and its filmed counterpart often is as wide= =20 as the Grand Canyon, HBO's "Angels in America" sticks close to its roots.=20 That is partly because Kushner adapted his own plays and HBO hired=20 director Mike Nichols, a Broadway-trained theater director with plenty of mo= vie=20 experience ("The Graduate," "Silkwood").=20 "Mike has done an absolutely superb job," said Eustis, the original=20 director of the plays and now artistic director of the Trinity Repertory Com= pany in=20 Rhode Island. "It's stunning how well he's captured this play. For years, we= =20 thought it would never be made into a movie."=20 Stan Penfold, executive director of the Utah AIDS Foundation, said the=20 movie retains the play's immediacy even though it is, in part, about issues=20 specific to the 1980s, including Reagan's politics and the introduction of A= IDS.=20 "Like the way they address the stigma around HIV and the fear around it,= =20 the reluctance to talk about it openly," he said. "That's still something we= =20 deal with almost constantly. The film communicated that really well, that wh= ole=20 world of separation."=20 Shenkman said working on "Angels in America" is a once-in-a-lifetime=20 project, a great opportunity for a young actor.=20 "It's the chance to witness the best actors there are and work with=20 them," he said. "And it's a chance to take on adventurous material that in s= ome=20 ways breaks the rules on what's supposed to work in movies and television."=20 =20 Prepare the way=20 =20 * "Angels in America" debuts Sunday night on HBO at 9 p.m. and concludes=20 Dec. 14 at the same time. - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 Dec 2003 17:18:34 EST From: Irreantum2@cs.com Subject: [AML] (SLTrib) Review of _Angels in America_ Review: Epic, provocative 'Angels' goes where most TV movies fear to tread By Vince Horiuchi The Salt Lake Tribune At the core of the bold new HBO film "Angels in America" is a scene with a stodgy Mormon woman comforting an AIDS victim who says he was visited by an angel. Faith, it seems, is what he needs. Ravaged by disease and covered with sores, the man, Prior Walter, cries out to her, "I want to be done. I don't want this. I reject this!" The woman, Hannah, played to perfection by Oscar winner Meryl Streep, whispers in solace: "An angel is a belief with wings and arms that can carry you. It's not to be afraid of. And if it can't hold you up, seek for something new." It is an affecting scene, one that shows this epic story of a group of troubled New Yorkers -- a circle of homosexuals, Republicans and Mormons in the 1980s -- is about more than just a decade in flux. It explores timeless themes: love, hate, power, race, faith, social injustice and our will to change for the better. "Angels" a deep, lyrical, and provocative movie, is a miracle rising above a landscape of bloated true-to-life TV movies about past presidents and Utah kidnappings. "Angels in America" is the best television movie of 2003, and it can't be missed because, like the 1990 Pulitzer Prize-winning plays it is based on, this film is a grand, two-part, six-hour event. The first part, "Millennium Approaches" debuts Sunday on HBO at 9 p.m. The second three hours, "Perestroika," premieres Dec. 14, also at 9 p.m. Both will be repeated throughout the month. Justin Kirk is Prior Walter and Ben Shenkman is his lover Louis Ironson. The two break up when Walter learns he has AIDS. As Walter's condition worsens, he is visited by an angel (Emma Thompson), who tells him he is a prophet of God. Ironson is filled with guilt over abandoning his lover and seeks refuge from a stranger, Joe Pitt (Patrick Wilson), a young Mormon lawyer grappling with the realization that he is gay. Pitt's wife, Harper (Mary-Louise Parker), is a Valium-popping agoraphobe. As their marriage goes into ruin, she slips off into fantasy worlds as a form of escape. Meanwhile, Roy Cohn (Al Pacino), the attorney to Sen. Joseph McCarthy during the blacklisting era, also is dying from AIDS. As his condition deteriorates, he is visited by the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg (also played by Streep), the American communist prosecuted by Cohn and sentenced to death in 1953. The film, directed with a deft hand by Mike Nichols ("The Graduate," "Catch-22") is a carefully woven set of stories covering the decade when AIDS became a metaphor for losing hope. The teleplay, adapted by playwright Tony Kushner from his plays "Millennium Approaches" and "Perestroika," is full of complex and sometimes brutally pointed dialogue. While many Utahns may wonder if "Angels in America," which uses Mormonism as part of its framework, will be offensive to Latter-day Saints, the film is not disrespectful. While it does take some shots at certain cultural aspects, Kushner uses Mormonism to push the message that faith and will can spur positive change. By the end, Mormon mother Hannah becomes one of the most enlightened characters in the story. There are two sets of actors -- Oscar-winning heavyweights Pacino, Streep and Thompson, and newcomers Shenkman, Kirk and Wilson, but all the performances are rich with character and detail. Jeffrey Wright, who repeats his Tony Award-winning performance as Cohn's nurse, Belize, is especially good -- his performance is sassy but poignant. Streep turns in one of the best-crafted performances of her career as Hannah and Ethel Rosenberg. The movie isn't perfect. Some of the scenes with the angel are stilted, and there is an awkward moment when Pitt sheds his Mormon garments. Some of the political debates, in which the Reagan administration is criticized for its slow reaction to the AIDS crisis, is the only element that feels dated. The second part of the movie may begin to feel as if it's drowning in its own misery, but a wonderful and quirky sense of humor keeps it from being just an exercise in despair. "Angels in America" is a television milestone. Like the iconic angel figure at its center, the movie soars and ultimately uplifts, telling us we are on the verge of great transformation. These six hours will make you believe that, with care and creativity, television can be great art. - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2003 20:21:43 -0600 From: Sam Brown (by way of Jonathan Langford ) Subject: [AML] _Carnages_ (Review) [MOD: This is not Mormon lit per se, and thus not something we would normally review here. However, Sam made the case, in emailing me, that like our discussions of Harry Potter et al, "I would submit that _Carnages_ is in the same vein and think that the review by rights ought to stand as is. Part of building the community of LDS "literati" is having the same kinds of conversations that other literati do, which includes reviews of the latest arthouse gems." So in that vein... --Jonathan Langford] Carnages (2002) Director/Writer: Delphine Gleize Unrated (would be "R" is US) From the buzz it appears that this is a debut for Gleize, who has done simply a > fantastic job. I give about a movie per year (max) an A, and this one garners > an A- in my book, probably the best I've seen all year. The basic story-line > is that a bull is slaughtered after an eventful encounter with a toreador in > Spain, and portions of his body are distributed across Europe. We come to know > the people through the "carnage" of the bull. His eyes are sent to a neurotic > veterinarian in France whose wife is pregnant with quintuplets (she has been > taking infertility therapy without telling him). The femur is sent to a > dog, "Fred," the reason that Winnie, an epileptic, starry-eyed French girl > believes that the world is filled with animals larger than humans, via an out- > of-work Italian actress who is finding herself in nude regression bathing > therapy at the local pool. (This is some of the most refreshing, merrily non- > erotic nudity I've seen since _Room with a View_. This is where the film would > garner an "R" rating unless the male pudenda qualify for an NC-17; I would take > my daughter once she was 15 or so). The horns are stolen by one of the most > endearing babushki with a lazy eye (paralleling the blind eye of the bull), who > gives them to her son, a reclusive aspiring taxidermist who is splaying the > innards (incorrectly) of their five Guinea pigs. > > The movie is filled with death and scars, and it does it in a way that is > ultimately affirming. There is clear celebration of the cycles of life and a > sense of prying into our scars (there are several shots of bandaids), as our > scars sometimes pry into us (as in the actress who is scared to remove the mole > that invades her chest "halfway between my nipples," just as her mother's mole > does). In this sense, there seems to be play with the themes of Hawthorne's > _Birthmark_. It is also filled with love and kindness, particularly the > relationship between the babushka and her taxidermist son, the accidental > romance of the actress and the ersatz figure skater, and the tragic > relationship of Winnie's schoolteacher with her own troubled mother. There is > a sense here (tying it to AML) where the complex net (like the tapestry of the > Fates) of relationships and coincidences is a postmodern reflection of the > presence of God, a contemporary expression of the security that the Hebrews > felt in knowing that history was higher and more complex than any of them could > fathom and that there was a pattern in it. > > I have to say that of the frenetic comedies that explore life in a somewhat > existential way, this is by far the most compelling and pleasant. My wife and > I loved the film and felt refreshed by it. I wish I had written it. We had to > see it at the arthouse cinema, so I suspect it will need to be viewed on DVD. > Happy viewing. > > sam brown - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ End of aml-list-digest V2 #230 ******************************