Whispers, Waitresses and Wonders
Mar. 11th, 2019 09:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearLast week, I finished listening to Whispers Under Ground, the next in the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch. It was marvellous to treat my ears to the wonderful Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, who does an excellent job with the narration for this series. I love his voice and his characterisation of Peter is very appealing. I like this world and all the recurring characters in it, so I enjoyed spending time there for a few hours. I have to admit the main murder mystery plot passed me by somewhat (I think I lost concentration somewhere along the way and missed some vital explanations) but all the ongoing background and character stuff was great, so I'll be carrying on with the series a while yet.
On Saturday, I went to see Waitress, a new musical that caught my eye because I recognised Katherine McPhee on all the posters. My overwhelming impression was that it was too loud, with the performers amplified past the point of comprehension during many of the songs. But it also had a lot of energy, the cast was very talented and clearly giving it their all, and the plot managed to subvert my expectations in satisfying ways. During the interval, I expressed my dismay to my companions that the story was heading in various annoying or problematic ways, but then it solved all but one of these issues in the second half (and the one remaining one was a fairly minor quibble). I briefly thought everything was being solved by a ridiculous deus ex machina, until I considered that the protagonist had earned this act of beneficence twice over, by dint of her kindness and her talent. So, in the end, the show went in an interesting and laudable direction by swerving away from all the very predictable outcomes it set up earlier on.
The same can unfortunately not be said for Captain Marvel, which I went to see directly after Waitress. Actually, I'm being unfair - because there was one plot twist I didn't see coming, and which I found pleasantly surprising in terms of switching around the audience's perception of evil. Plus, the cat was very funny. But, for the most part, I found the film kind of boring. It had its moments, but they were few and far between and the attempts at banter were lacklustre at best. It was very pretty in terms of effects, but I didn't feel invested in the protagonist's story much at all. It lacked both emotional depth and any spark of fun and, as a result, felt a lot longer than it really was. I'm still going to go and see Avengers: Endgame next month, but I'm not excited by the addition of Captain Marvel to the mix.
On Saturday, I went to see Waitress, a new musical that caught my eye because I recognised Katherine McPhee on all the posters. My overwhelming impression was that it was too loud, with the performers amplified past the point of comprehension during many of the songs. But it also had a lot of energy, the cast was very talented and clearly giving it their all, and the plot managed to subvert my expectations in satisfying ways. During the interval, I expressed my dismay to my companions that the story was heading in various annoying or problematic ways, but then it solved all but one of these issues in the second half (and the one remaining one was a fairly minor quibble). I briefly thought everything was being solved by a ridiculous deus ex machina, until I considered that the protagonist had earned this act of beneficence twice over, by dint of her kindness and her talent. So, in the end, the show went in an interesting and laudable direction by swerving away from all the very predictable outcomes it set up earlier on.
The same can unfortunately not be said for Captain Marvel, which I went to see directly after Waitress. Actually, I'm being unfair - because there was one plot twist I didn't see coming, and which I found pleasantly surprising in terms of switching around the audience's perception of evil. Plus, the cat was very funny. But, for the most part, I found the film kind of boring. It had its moments, but they were few and far between and the attempts at banter were lacklustre at best. It was very pretty in terms of effects, but I didn't feel invested in the protagonist's story much at all. It lacked both emotional depth and any spark of fun and, as a result, felt a lot longer than it really was. I'm still going to go and see Avengers: Endgame next month, but I'm not excited by the addition of Captain Marvel to the mix.
