Howie Balaban: Pop Culture As a Way of Life

If you’re at all active in social media – and by active, I mean you have an account on any of the platforms – chances are you’ve seen a meme, a gif, or noticed how there has been a trend in recent years of a significantly decreased “grey area” on a number of subjects. Among those subjects are tv shows, movies, the people cast in those forms of entertainment, how to watch those forms of entertainment, and politics.

For the sake of all our sanity, I’m NOT talking politics here.

Shenanigans Episode 41: It Begs the Question

Howie accidentally stumbled upon one of Rich's pet peeves, and then proceeds to stun Rich with all his obscure pop culture references. Who knew there were so many drunken characters in Disney movies? Apparently only Howie. We discovered that there is an Amish Uber driver. Do we have to use smoke signals or semafore to book our ride? Have we had enough of sex robots yet? The consensus is no. Heck, now you can even finance one like a car. The poor mailman...

Cinderella Dances Across Roy-Hart Stage

You know what March Madness means at our house? It means it’s musical season. We had The Wizard of Oz at North Park, James and the Giant Peach at Emmet Belknap, and The Little Mermaid at the Palace in downtown Lockport. This past weekend, we went to Roy-Hart to see their performance of Cinderella.

The Little Mermaid Swims Into the Palace

When the Palace released their schedule for the 2017/2018 season last May, the spring show was definitely considered a highlight for our household. The Little Mermaid would be gracing the stage for two weeks in March. With our season tickets in hand, Saturday was date night for Wendy and I. After some dinner at a fine, local restaurant, it was off to our Row B seats at the Palace for the Disney classic.

Disney's Plan Keeps Moving Forward

Go ahead and read this link and then I will meet up with you after the page break:

https://www.moviefone.com/2017/08/08/disney-starting-streaming-service-pulling-netflix-movies/

Why Disney Wants Your Favorite Movie Theater To Close

My wife, my grandsons, and I all love Disney stuff. My grandsons watch Mickey Mouse all of the time, and they have the usual number of toys related to Disney that one would expect. When it comes to your kids, you swallow your pride sometimes and go with the flow. But that Disney flow is starting to be stained with a putrid stench that is causing me to rethink my lifelong devotion to the mouse. Disney is trying to close down the drive-in movie theaters I love and grew up with. It is my theory that Disney wants my favorite drive-ins closed, and I also believe that the mouse is coming after your favorite theater as well.

Beauty & the Beast Roars Across Palace Stage

It was date night again in the Bacon household. “Beauty and the Beast” was playing at the Palace Theater in downtown Lockport. It was a long day for us, though. Earlier in the day, we took the girls to Lockport High School to see “The Little Mermaid.” That was after I took one child to Medina for bowling in the morning, and Wendy took the littlest one to two hours of dance class. It was a little bit of a hectic date night, to say the least.

Looking at Movies - Beauty and the Beast (2017)

I tried not to be impressed with this movie because to me the idea of making a live-action film that follows the original cartoon scene-for-scene seemed almost like a waste of time. I really tried, but I failed. At two hours and nine minutes, Beauty and the Beast is easily the longest of the new Disney live-action remakes, and it rivals Jungle Book as the best.

Yes you have seen the story before and you know how it ends, and yes you know the songs. But we all knew how Titanic was going to end, and yet it is considered one of the finest movies ever made. I am not sure Beauty and the Beast will reach any kind of iconic status, but knowing how it is going to end should not stop you from seeing it.

Thinking Out Loud on the Homefront: Here We Go Again

For the first time in recent memory I spent Saturday without jumping through too many hoops. I wasn't cleaning non-stop, wasn't cooking something, wasn't running hither and yon. I woke up, had a cup of coffee, and leisurely checked my social media feed.

Thinking Out Loud on the Homefront -- Changing Perspectives

Frequent readers of Niagara's Water Cooler know that my wife and I have three children. Many of my posts regard the trials and tribulations of being a stay-at-home dad to those children.

This one is a combination of that and my forays into more standard column writing, which I've done in the past when given the opportunity in printed mediums.

Like the last time I wrote a strict opinion piece for the NWC, I am sure it will have a reaction. What that reaction will be, I can't say. I'd be especially curious what fellow parents think.

Let's get to it, shall we?

Looking at Movies - Pete's Dragon (2016)

I'm going to go ahead and admit that I did not see the original Pete's Dragon, but luckily that does not affect my ability to enjoy this one. For those of us who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s, Disney was the source of movies where you could just turn off your brain and watch the story. Suspension of disbelief was easy because it was Disney and you didn't care. None of the movies were going to win awards, but they were fun to watch. The new Pete's Dragon brought me back to my childhood to those Sunday evenings where I had just taken a shower and was curled up on the couch waiting for this week's Wonderful World of Disney movie. It isn't a great movie, but it doesn't have to be.

Looking At Movies (First Run): Captain America: Civil War

Disclaimer: This review deals with the content of this movie. This is in no way an endorsement of the Marvel or Disney Corporations. The tactics used by the Disney Corporation on movie theaters around the world are ruining the theater industry. For the love of movies, I will still review Disney's movies. I hope the mouse chokes on its own greed some day.

The long-awaited new Captain America movie has finally been unleashed, and it is good. Before we get started, let's just cut through the red tape and call this what it is - an Avengers movie. The idea that this is a movie starring Captain America is kind of crazy when Iron Man gets just as much screen time as Captain America. And yes, I will be referring to the characters by their names and not by the actors who play them.

Why Disney? Why?

There was a small furor raised by the release of the new Marvel movie Captain America: Civil War. It was so small that most people didn't even realize a furor was going on, but everyone will feel the effects of this furor in the very near future. When your local movie theater closes because of a lack of business, you can thank the Disney Corporation for that. For some reason, the Disney Corporation hates your small town.

Mary Poppins Soars at the Palace

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that the Curtains Up Productions are all local actors and actresses living out a hobby. The shows they put on at the historic Palace Theater in Lockport are very often some very professionally produced, directed, and entertaining musicals. This past weekend’s “Mary Poppins” was one of those great shows. Lucky for you, a second weekend of performances is on tap for Thursday through Sunday of this week.

Emily Prucha as Mary Poppins

I was fortunate enough to see “Mary Poppins” both Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Saturday evening are our season tickets, with prime seating nearly dead center of the second row. For Sunday, we took the entire family to the matinee and sat in the balcony on the left side of the stage. Both shows were well done, with each being just a tiny bit different.

For those people who were expecting the musical to be a clone of the saccharine Disney movie of 1964, you found something unexpected. In the case of the musical, it has taken elements from the Disney movie as well as some of the grittier parts from the books by P.L. Travers. Mary Poppins for instance, is not as sweet as the portrayal by Julie Andrews.The addition of Miss Andrew from the original novel is an example of things from the novel that Disney felt was too dark.

Bert and Mary dance and sing in the park.

Robby Syruws, who we have seen previously as the ghost of Jacob Marley in “Scrooge” and as the Scarecrow in “Wizard of Oz,” hits the stage in the role of Bert, the Jack-of-all-Trades and Mary’s friend. Once again, his commanding stage presence and vocal acumen keeps the audience fixated. He channels Dick Van Dyke’s bloody awful Cockney accent in a way that is both endearing and humorous. He plays the part of Bert so very well.

Playing the beautiful, prim, and proper Mary Poppins is the very talented Emily Prucha. Emily brings a vitality to the role that demands that the audience follow her every move. Her singing shines on old favorites like “Spoonful of Sugar” and “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” as well as on new songs, “Practically Perfect” and “Anything Can Happen.”
 

Robby Syruws as Bert serenades from the rooftop.

Sadie Igoe was a perfect choice to play Jane Banks. Her facial expressions in response to her costars were completely in line with the role, and probably more her own reaction as an actress rather than something that was directed to her. While I’m sure that Chris Parada gave her direction on how to react to certain situations, but there seemed to be quite a bit of Sadie in those reactions. She was wonderful. During Sunday’s performance, Sadie had to pick up some of the lines of Michael Banks when that actor was forced to leave the stage due to illness. She more than ably covered the unexpected change to the dialogue.

Jane and Michael are ready for a "spoonful of sugar
with Mary Poppins.

Speaking of Michael Banks, Isaac Fesmire was just as well suited to the role he was given. Again, some of the facial expressions were priceless. There were moments that Isaac mimicked some of the great facial tics of Matthew Garber. Unfortunately for Isaac, he was not feeling well during the Sunday performance. While the rest of the cast were extremely capable at picking up and covering his absence, we missed his personality on stage. Even though he is still very young, like Sadie Igoe, will be a force upon the Palace stage for as long as he feels the desire to do so.

Mary measures the children, while she is "practically perfect."

Meanwhile, the tandem of Kyle Beiter and Angela Szafran as Mr. and Mrs. Banks worked wonderfully. With Beiter playing a self-absorbed banker, and Szafran playing his eager for attention wife, this team of two provided much of the back story that the main story of the children and Poppins rested upon. Szafran’s singing alone is worth the price of admission. Her voice rises above the music of the pit and grabs ahold of your attention, not letting go until the echoes of her last syllable fade into the corners of the theater.

Much of the comedy in the show comes from the duo of Jake Hayes and Meghan Curr. As always, Jake’s physical comedy and timing make his laughs that much greater. Meghan plays straightman (or rather straightwoman) to Hayes and his antics. They work well together and off each other. There seems to be a natural comedic connection between the two.

The highlight of the entire show was the choreography. Dyan Mulvey took the dancing during this musical to new heights. The dance numbers were crisp. Even Isaac Fesmire, who probably didn’t have a lot of dance background, fit in wonderfully with the dance numbers. Everyone on stage brought their A-Game to the dancing.

Emily Prucha and Robby Syruws "step in time" with the sweeps

Easily the best dance routine of the evening came late in the show during the song, “Step in Time.” For both performances that I saw, people stood to applaud at the conclusion of this number. Each dancer of the routine were on fire. The mid-air flips during this dane excited everyone. I heard one daughter on Sunday mutter “wow” during that particular sequence. Keep in mind they’re singing at the same time. It truly is a wonderful part of the show.

The Banks family: L to R: Angela Szafran, Sadie Igoe,
Isaa Fesmire, Kyle Beiter

Executive Director, Christopher Parada was the director for “Mary Poppins.” He put together a fantastic show that people of all ages will enjoy. If you’ve seen the movie, or read the books, this musical has a little something for everyone. Favorite songs from yesteryear will echo in your head even after leaving the Palace. You might find yourself humming or singing along to one of those tunes when you least expect it.
 

There is still time for those of you who haven’t seen “Mary Poppins” yet at the Historic Palace Theater in downtown Lockport. There are performances in the evenings of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, with a final matinee on Sunday. Trust me, please take the time to see these amazing local actors and actresses give new life to a grand, old, childhood favorite. If you miss your chance, you only have yourself to blame.

I’d like to thank Chris Parada for allowing me to post his photos of the performance to this column. I'd also like to give a shout out to a certain oboe player who was instrumental in catching Michael's bird seed bag when he finished feeding the birds. It truly is a great effort by all involved.

Craig Bacon is still singing “Step in Time” two and three days after seeing the show. He’s tried, but his umbrella still doesn’t fly.

Looking at Movies (First Run) - The Jungle Book (2016)

The Walt Disney Company never goes into a project expecting to fail, but it does like to temper expectations for projects they are not too sure about. With the live action versions of Disney's most-loved animated features failing left and right, the release of The Jungle Book was not given nearly as much hype as you get with most other Disney releases. Despite the lack of major hype associated with The Jungle Book, it opened with an incredible $103 million weekend in the United States, and $290 million around the world (including the United States). So much for hesitation.

I have never seen the original animated version of The Jungle Book, and I have never read the book. It does not appear to me to be a coincidence that The Jungle Book was originally released in 1894, and the first Tarzan story debuted in 1912. The two stories seem to run together, which really has nothing to do with this review. I just felt like pointing that out to give everyone something else to think about.

Without having any previous experience with the story to skew my opinion in one direction or the other, I found this movie extremely entertaining. It was one of those movies where my wife and I both said "Now, that was a good movie" when it was over. That does not happen every week, and I consider any movie that can cause that mutual reaction to be something special.

When it comes to important elements such as casting and CGI, this movie is almost perfect. It wasn't until after I watched the movie that I read in IMDB that most of the movie was made using puppets and CGI. All I can say is that The Jungle Book has the most amazing and realistic CGI that I have ever seen. Everything looked realistic, and you can only appreciate the CGI when you realize just how much was used to complete the movie.

The voice actors and Neel Sethi (Mowgli) were ideal for their roles. Ben Kingsley's majestic voice was ideal as Bagheera, and Bill Murray proved that only he could voice Baloo in a way that makes it funny and emotional. Idris Elba is rapidly becoming my new favorite actor, and he was brilliant as the evil tiger Shere Kahn. To be honest, I found not one problem with all of the casting that was done for this movie. Every voice performance was ideal, and the young Sethi proved to be more than equal to the task of playing Mowgli the man cub.

There were two aspects of this movie that I found odd and potentially distracting. The first is the use of the songs in the movie. This version of The Jungle Book is not a musical, but yet there are several instances when the cast breaks into musical numbers that were choreographed and way out of place. The movie could never seem to make up its mind on whether it wanted to be a comedy, a drama, or a musical.

The other thing I felt to be odd was that this Disney movie did not have a single scene that ripped your heart out, as I have become accustomed to seeing in Disney movies. There were several potential tear-jerkers that were set up throughout the movie, but none of them actually occurred. I guess it was nice to be able to watch a Disney movie without having to fight back a few tears at the loss of a key character that we had all just come to love, but it also left the movie feeling incomplete.

This movie was able to get past its flaws and deliver something that I intend to see again and probably buy on Blu-Ray. This movie was fun, funny, entertaining, and perfectly paced from beginning to end. It is perfect for every member of the family, and it has Christopher Walken in it. Seriously, what else could anyone want from a movie?

Rating: 4 out of 5

George N Root III is a drive-in fanatic who always likes it when he gets surprised by a Disney effort. You can follow him on Twitter @georgenroot3, or send him an email at georgenroot3@gmail.com.

Looking at Movies (New Release): Zootopia (2016)

It is not a big secret that my wife and I love animated movies. There is no shame in it because most animated features are made for an adult audience. But just in case anyone ever gets suspicious, we always bring our grandsons to the animated films now to stop the gawkers. But it is all good, movies to us are ageless, and that is the way it should be.

Every once in a while, Disney puts out an animated feature that raises the bar on what people expect from Disney movies. Disney films such as Cinderella, Toy Story, and Fantasia established new heights of quality that the creative minds at Disney had to strive for. In 2015, Disney released Inside Out and raised the bar again. Now fans want comprehensive animated movies that account for every detail, and tell an interesting story. While Zootopia does not exceed the expectations set by Inside Out, it definitely lives up to them.

The story is very funny, and the comedy works for adults as well as children. There are plenty of sight gags that work well, and some of the more subtle innuendos can give the adults a giggle while the kids laugh at the funny characters. The animation is, as always, amazing with a tremendous amount of detail. People don't realize that even these animated features take years to finish, and the company is usually work on the film weeks (or even days) before it is released.

The thing that connects Zootopia to Inside Out is the incredible depth of the story and the comprehensive attention to detail. Instead of just throwing a bunch of animals together into a big city, there are sections of the city designed to accommodate different types of animals. The polar bears live in an arctic zone, the camels live in a desert setting...you get the idea. It is obvious that Disney has finally realized that with a more detailed outline comes the potential for better comedy and a better story. All of that works with Zootopia, and works extremely well.

Disney has also started to give more depth to its characters in these animated features, and that just makes the movies more interesting. Instead of being two-dimensional at best, the characters in Zootopia have many levels and some are even downright complex. Parents with ulterior motives and good girls falling for the bad boys is nothing new, but a rabbit wrestling with an inferiority complex that goes back generations for all of the rabbit race is something pretty deep.

Zootopia picks up where Inside Out left off in terms of the quality of everything in the movie, but it doesn't do anything to raise that bar again. Still, it is a fun movie with plenty of stuff for every member of the family, and something I would definitely recommend.

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5

George N Root III loves the drive-in and movies in general. You can follow him on Twitter @georgenroot3 or send him a message at georgenroot3@gmail.com.