(no subject)

So I decided to try a new LUSH bath bomb, mainly because my bath bomb of choice was out of stock on the last visit. So I got this Avocado Lemongrass one, and somehow, neglected to realize until I dropped the bloody thing in the water that it would turn it green.

Bright, vivid, vivid green.

Oh god, I laughed so hard. And then sat in the bath shaving my legs and practiced Lady Anne. Which helped more than you would think.

audition

I'm terrified.
But my hair looks really good.
And my Lady Anne has levels to her she didn't have before.
Now if my eye could stop watering, I'd have half a bloody chance.

(no subject)

Today I did my first solid, competent monologue audition.
Obviously, there's always lots to work on.
But I am proud of myself, and they asked me about Counsellor at lot.
So I bought maple sugar candy and the Wicked song book as a reward.

the play that would not die

John is such an amazing advocate for this piece, it's just ridiculous:

Clearly, veteran actor John Rubinstein is hopeful that commercial producers will pick up Elmer Rice's 1931 chestnut "Counsellor-at-Law," in which Rubinstein had the title role. "But that's not the reason I was willing to appear in an Equity Showcase production," he insists. "I love the play and the part. I've done it in Los Angeles, and now I've done it here in New York. I've been trying to get it produced for 10 years."

Will it happen? That's still a question mark, although a production spokesperson says there are some serious nibbles, despite the play's large cast—23 characters—and close-to-three-hour running time. Regardless of the outcome, Rubinstein has no regrets about his three-week stint (May 3-30) with the Peccadillo Theater Company "for just about no money." The affable, white-haired 58-year-old Los Angeles native, who meets me in an Upper West Side eatery, admits frankly that there are projects he does for money, and those he appears in at personal and financial sacrifice because he is convinced they have artistic merit, popular appeal, and should be seen. "Counsellor-at-Law" is undoubtedly a real vehicle for Rubinstein.

Continues here: http://www.backstage.com/backstage/members/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000528008

Chronicles of Riddick

This may be the most awesomely bad (and enjoyably so) movie ever made.

Unlike the first movie, which was actually good, mainly because they had no budget and no idea how people would react, and as such didn't try to punch upon moments in all sorts of cracked out ways, Chronicles of Riddick is ambitious. Embarassingly so.

First some things that are honestly positive:
- the design, while often absurd, is really fantastic and compelling
- Graeme Revell delivers a very nice score
- the ending (which is apparently a big twist, although I didn't think so) is exactly what it should be

But oh my god. First of all, if they had just renamed all the races and planets, we'd be miles ahead. But we have people delivering lines (which are awful in their own right beyond the proper noun situation) containing things like "We must stop at Crematorium before heading to Helion Prime." NOTE: I am not making that up. Those are planet names. Also: "There was a prophecy that a Furion would destroy the Necromonger race." Say it with me kids, Ne-cro-mon-ger.

Now tell me you aren't howling with laughter.

The whole movie is like this. And on Megan's and I scale of bad movie awesomness this gets like twelve-bazillion inside-out dogs (you had to be there).

Actually, this movie sort of has inside out dogs. That purr. They're on the prison volcano planet (see: Crematorium) where the surface gets to be 800 degrees, but that's okay, because if Riddick pours water on himself, he just steams.

One of the weirder things about this film (and oh there is a lot of weird... some good, some bad, ninety percent of it beyond my descriptive powers) is that it manages to make direct reffereneces ot almost every sci-fi movie ever, and I suspect it doesn't realize it's doing it.

There's a really tough fighter guy with a big black ugly mohawk (Karl Urban, I didn't know you were in Highlander).
A blond guy gives a speech in which he says "I've done things you can't even imagine." (but have you seen troop ships on fire off the shores of Orion?)
Lots of Dune and Fifth Element references in the design.
Blatant Star Wars and Star Trek references
inevitable Matrix rip-off fighting
...and Kat sitting next to me going "by Grapthar's Hammer!"

There's inexplicable religious subtext. Weird homoerotic statues (to quote the idiots behind me, "did you see the faggot statue?!" -- they shouted this no less than three times), terrible Russian accents, a mention of child-prostitutes, ugly goth silver claw rings, bimbos is faux snakeskin dresses and Judi Dench wandering around -- all to varying degrees of effect, point and relevence.

It's truly one of the most awful things I've ever seen. But I howled with laughter for two hours, and you should all go, because it is that... astounding.