Every Little Step (four and a half stars total) DISCLAIMER: All I knew of
A Chorus Line before watching this was the Michael Douglas film adaptation, (which my wife wants to rent now but it's been checked out everywhere). As I've mentioned here before, I'm not the biggest fan of Broadway musicals, and I have yet to see a film adaptation of one that's come close to swaying me, that is, until now. I'll even go out on a limb and say that this documentary
improves on its source material.
Every Little Step may be structured like a TV reality show competition, but without the annoying music, the constant recaps, and the useless judges/narrators getting in the way of the performers, it's worth revisiting, even after knowing the results. Getting to know the actors "backstage" before becoming familiar with the characters they were auditioning for actually made me care more about those fictional characters. I may not have liked all the actors that got hired from the beginning, but by the end, I agreed with ALL the casting choices. No disagreement with the rest of America about who should be its idols here. What's more, you get
two stories for the price of one. The documentary goes back and forth between the history of the stage production, as it was originally dictated on reel-to-reel tape by creator Michael Bennett, and a behind-the-scenes of the contemporary revival, including awkward home videos. I loved the way they edited the songs seamlessy while still showcasing all the candidates each singing a line. It makes it so much easier to pick your own favorite. I guarantee you'll smile and perhaps laugh out loud. The audience I watched it with cried and even clapped at the end. I learned that this musical was the first ever to use the workshop device and the story's ending was changed after the first few performances so as to not "alienate the audience." My only slight would be against the '70s fashion; other than that, it's a bunch of "T&A" (for those of you that don't know, that's a reference to one of the songs in
A Chorus Line) in leotards and tights, so what am I complaining about?
The Girlfriend Experience (three stars total) DISCLAIMER: This review is not for the faint of heart. When I heard that Steven Soderbergh, the director of
sex, lies, and videotape, Out of Sight, Erin Brokovich, Traffic, and
Ocean's Eleven was making a documentary about a call girl, I naturally pictured someone middle aged. I mean, look at the movies I just listed, and you can see for yourself that their common thread has to do with midlife crises, starting over, and character defining moments. I was so surprised to see someone younger than me as the subject, and not only that, but someone so reserved and small. To show how much I know about the porn industry, I thought its stars were all "gone wild" and as big as mud wrestlers. Why would a prude like me want to watch this and even write a review that my mother might read? Let me just say,
there's nothing sensualized in it. Real life just isn't that hot. Yes, I was intrigued by its premise of an "escort in a committed (open) relationship." No, I wasn't as impressed by its being the first movie depiction of our current economic recession. That part was too redundant to all the conversations I hear in real life. I went to hear about a real life very different from my own, and not just the part about prostitution. I don't condone it, but I get why some dirty old men (and women, I suppose) pay for quick, anonymous sex. What I don't get is why one would want to pay $2000 an hour to chitchat all day, with or without sex. Is that honestly what some would consider "the girfriend experience?" All the while, the subject keeps a journal of what brands of lingerie she wears and how long she spends doing different activities with clients (e.g. eating out, watching street performers, sitting alone during important business calls). Is she getting paid to be herself, a real life girlfriend, or
are they paying to be themselves around someone out of their league? Truth be told, she is both direct and honest, and that's real, but I agree with one guy who says, "if they wanted you to be yourself, they wouldn't be paying you." After she gets critiqued in an online review, she wants to cry, but she has a client and while she tries to focus on him, he still asks if she needs to "get some fresh air, go for a walk" and come back. Later she does cry, when she breaks up with her boyfriend over her belief system, and then gets stood up by a family man over a videochat with his children. It turns out she can neither be herself at work or at home. As I walked out of the theater, there was an elderly couple in front me, talking about leaving with more questions than answers. I asked them if they had attended the same screening as me, which they hadn't, and I replied, "We might as well have."
Every Little Step (four and a half stars total) DISCLAIMER: All I knew of A Chorus Line before watching this was the Michael Douglas film adaptation, (which my wife wants to rent now but it's been checked out everywhere). As I've mentioned here before, I'm not the biggest fan of Broadway musicals, and I have yet to see a film adaptation of one that's come close to swaying me, that is, until now. I'll even go out on a limb and say that this documentary improves on its source material. Every Little Step may be structured like a TV reality show competition, but without the annoying music, the constant recaps, and the useless judges/narrators getting in the way of the performers, it's worth revisiting, even after knowing the results. Getting to know the actors "backstage" before becoming familiar with the characters they were auditioning for actually made me care more about those fictional characters. I may not have liked all the actors that got hired from the beginning, but by the end, I agreed with ALL the casting choices. No disagreement with the rest of America about who should be its idols here. What's more, you get two stories for the price of one. The documentary goes back and forth between the history of the stage production, as it was originally dictated on reel-to-reel tape by creator Michael Bennett, and a behind-the-scenes of the contemporary revival, including awkward home videos. I loved the way they edited the songs seamlessy while still showcasing all the candidates each singing a line. It makes it so much easier to pick your own favorite. I guarantee you'll smile and perhaps laugh out loud. The audience I watched it with cried and even clapped at the end. I learned that this musical was the first ever to use the workshop device and the story's ending was changed after the first few performances so as to not "alienate the audience." My only slight would be against the '70s fashion; other than that, it's a bunch of "T&A" (for those of you that don't know, that's a reference to one of the songs in A Chorus Line) in leotards and tights, so what am I complaining about?
The Girlfriend Experience (three stars total) DISCLAIMER: This review is not for the faint of heart. When I heard that Steven Soderbergh, the director of sex, lies, and videotape, Out of Sight, Erin Brokovich, Traffic, and Ocean's Eleven was making a documentary about a call girl, I naturally pictured someone middle aged. I mean, look at the movies I just listed, and you can see for yourself that their common thread has to do with midlife crises, starting over, and character defining moments. I was so surprised to see someone younger than me as the subject, and not only that, but someone so reserved and small. To show how much I know about the porn industry, I thought its stars were all "gone wild" and as big as mud wrestlers. Why would a prude like me want to watch this and even write a review that my mother might read? Let me just say, there's nothing sensualized in it. Real life just isn't that hot. Yes, I was intrigued by its premise of an "escort in a committed (open) relationship." No, I wasn't as impressed by its being the first movie depiction of our current economic recession. That part was too redundant to all the conversations I hear in real life. I went to hear about a real life very different from my own, and not just the part about prostitution. I don't condone it, but I get why some dirty old men (and women, I suppose) pay for quick, anonymous sex. What I don't get is why one would want to pay $2000 an hour to chitchat all day, with or without sex. Is that honestly what some would consider "the girfriend experience?" All the while, the subject keeps a journal of what brands of lingerie she wears and how long she spends doing different activities with clients (e.g. eating out, watching street performers, sitting alone during important business calls). Is she getting paid to be herself, a real life girlfriend, or are they paying to be themselves around someone out of their league? Truth be told, she is both direct and honest, and that's real, but I agree with one guy who says, "if they wanted you to be yourself, they wouldn't be paying you." After she gets critiqued in an online review, she wants to cry, but she has a client and while she tries to focus on him, he still asks if she needs to "get some fresh air, go for a walk" and come back. Later she does cry, when she breaks up with her boyfriend over her belief system, and then gets stood up by a family man over a videochat with his children. It turns out she can neither be herself at work or at home. As I walked out of the theater, there was an elderly couple in front me, talking about leaving with more questions than answers. I asked them if they had attended the same screening as me, which they hadn't, and I replied, "We might as well have."
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