Monday, July 25, 2005

too much time between posts

Work has been busier than usual lately, so posting from the office has become more difficult. Last week I had several moments when I wanted to put up a coherent thought, but couldn't find the time to do it. I would have posted something over the weekend, but our cable Internet connection is down AGAIN (second or third time this year!) so I was stuck using our neighbors' unreliable networks.

We finally got to see Spamalot on Friday night. It was funny, but not as hysterical as I had hoped. James, who saw it a few months ago, said "If I wanted to see a bad imitation of ...the Holy Grail, I could sit at home and do it myself." I enjoyed the parts of the show that were original (the new songs and the Lady of the Lake character) much more than I liked the parts that were lifted right from the movie. Tim Curry had the night off, so we got the standby King Arthur instead, and he was just fine. David Hyde Pierce was good, but I wasn't thinking how great it was that I got to see Niles in person. The thing about the show is that it's not actor-driven, so it would be just as funny (or unfunny) with unknowns instead of big names. It's a good show nonetheless, and if you're a Monty Python fan it's worth seeing. But I enjoyed Glengarry Glen Ross and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? much more than Spamalot. It's not really a fair comparison (musicals vs. dramatic plays) but the performances in the two plays were just outstanding, and those shows would definitely suffer without the lead actors.

Yesterday, Liz and I went to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We both really enjoyed the movie. Danny Elfman's music, especially the Oompa-Loompa songs, is exceptional even for his considerable talent. Johnny Depp makes a great Willy Wonka -- funny and odd but not as scary as Gene Wilder was. I don't think he was better than Wilder, or that Wilder's Wonka was better, because they are just completely different versions of the same character, in two vastly different movies. I still like the original film, but I could see Tim Burton's again. Liz didn't like the ending (which I won't spoil here), and I agree that there's a part that feels tacked-on and unnecessary. But overall we had a great time. And we can't wait to see Burton's Corpse Bride.

It's time to leave work and see if my home Internet connection is back up. Time Warner told me it was an "outage" (meaning I'm not the only one affected) and that it should be back up "soon." I guess we'll see what their definition of "soon" is.

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