Hooray for you, Mari Sasano.

Dear Hollywood, more Paul Bettany please. Even in this, he’s quite lovely.

Legion is, I think , an attempt at the Christian-horror genre. It’s not good, but it’s interesting in its own ways. In fact, as Christian horror, it’s an utter failure, unless you think that the whole angels-as-killer-zombies thing is NOT blasphemous. If you can let go of that, you might have a good time, if you also let go of the fact that it’s deeply silly.

And oh yeah, there’s the whole sometimes-you-have-to-disobey-to-do-the-right-thing problem. I can’t imagine that’ll go over well.

In it, God is so ticked off, he’s wiping the slate clean. But the angel Michael loves us so much that he’s willing to renounce his wings and disobey his boss to help out a group of misfits in an isolated roadside diner. After all, the waitress is pregnant with the blessed child sent to save us all. Kind of like Terminator.

But there’s no flood this time, instead, He’s going with the very inefficient zombie massacre route. Apparently angels can possess the weakest-minded humans to do their dirty work, which give us the pleasure of seeing a little granny go all Exorcist on us, climbing the walls and spitting out hateful theology. The ice cream man even gets a little werewolfy, growing elongated limbs. And there’s a creepy child. There must always be a creepy child.

But really. If God wants to get rid of his most beautiful creation, why would He do it in a way that is so easily thwarted with machine guns? Or why not possess one of the people in the diner?

And the whole love-the-human-race-so much thing is done up much better in Wings of Desire. I would love to see that again.

I think I was unnecessarily mean in my last post, and now that I’ve had a couple of days to think about it, here are some more thoughts:

It sucks that the mainstream media has clout and access, and that’s why I don’t mind aligning myself with them. But that makes me kind of sucky, too. But man, have I ever been spoiled in my career. When you’re with a daily newspaper, people really work to accommodate you. It’s awesome. Sorry for my sense of entitlement; I will try not to be too petulant in the future.

On the other hand, I was still surprised at how many people showed up simply to document the building, which is redundant considering how much coverage that angle has had. The value of writing about the building at this point is to really critique it honestly, but so far no one has really done so aside from the obtuse “waste of taxpayers’ money” kind of argument.

My two cents? It’s a fantastic improvement over the last facility. I can’t wait to see what they do with it. So much more proper, climate-controlled gallery space which will enable proper exhibition conditions for tours. The public areas are beautiful, though I might miss the big donut in the middle of the second floor, which was kind of nice for people-watching across and all the way down the stairwell. I hope, too, that  in the new galleries there are secret pockets and corners for intimate discussions, like the weird little appendix on the far  north east part on the upper level of the former building, or the kitchen gallery. And the theatre really does seem like an afterthought. If the most interesting feature of that room is the ambient lighting, yikes! It makes me worried that the acoustics and other technical considerations were given the short end. I really, really hope I was misunderstood when I asked about projection formats. An art exhibition theatre without 35 and 16 mm film projectors, at least, would be odd considering how uptight media artists are about stuff like that.

I do think that social media types are a long way from legitimacy, and part of the problem is quality control. Some bloggers seem to be heavily invested in the idea of being outlaws, rather than merely independent. And though an outsider view is sometimes valuable, outsider does not equal willfully ignorant. This causes institutions like the AGA to regard us with some incredulity, and rightly so.

So, here’s what I’m doing. I’m having another look, and doing some penance, by volunteering for 9 hours on Sunday. I’ll let you know how that goes.

I don’t have  legitimate arts media accreditation other than my blog anymore, so I figured I would join the other social networking people on a tour specially for bloggers.

I won’t make that mistake again!

Not that I didn’t enjoy their company. I do know and like a number of them. But I felt that we were being treated rather poorly by the AGA. For example, after receiving an email that specifically said we could take photos of the lobby and building (but not the artworks), a security guard barked at those who were snapping pics before AGA staff came to get us. AND THEN! They didn’t even let us into the galleries!

Enough previews have been done  of the building proper by the Journal and other big media, so my interest was in seeing the new exhibitions and the galleries themselves. As far as I can tell, there is more space for artwork, but who knows? And such a disappointment not to be able to preview the work: Degas and Goya on the first floor; Karsh (KARSH!) and George Bure-Miller and Janet Cardiff on the second; and another Bure-Miller/Cardiff on the third.

The theatre seems smaller or the same as before. They couldn’t tell me what formats they supported, which was weird too. In fact, when I asked, the new Executive Director laughed my question off: “Who uses Super 8 anymore?” I felt humiliated and angry, on behalf of the many media artists who continue to use Super 8 and other film formats.

That being said, I will buy a ticket and go see the shows. Probably on a weekday, at full price, so I can properly take the time to see everything at my leisure. I don’t mind doing it. And to be fair to the AGA, a few of the people on the tour seemed uninterested in the artwork, or outirght hostile to the idea of a new gallery to begin with. That’s the difference between journalists and bloggers: research and accountability. I go both ways, but in the future I think I’ll go through official channels and show up with the legit media. In order to do a good job, I need to be trusted to see the pretty art.

It seemed lovely from the outside, anyhow.

When I was 12 or so, I was on a rhythmic gymnastics team representing Alberta. Our group routine was to a piece of music that was sad and beautiful, and even though we were far from the best in the country (Ontario and New Brunswick were– Alberta was the party team), I was always really proud of that piece and loved to perform it. I had no idea at the time, but the song was from Fiddler on the Roof. It took me nearly 20 years before I saw the movie of the play, and it was then that I discovered that not only does it have my beloved Sunrise, Sunset, but a raft of giant hits! That and the funniest, sweetest, most tragic story ever: the milkman, Tevye, has five daughters and a scolding wife, Golde. He tries to maintain authority as his three eldest girls find love and break tradition (Tradition! Another great song!), but finds that there is nothing more important than the happiness of his family in the long run. He is a wonderful character, a cuddly bear of a man played by Theodore Bikel.

The version at the Jube (playing until January 24) is outstanding. Originally, the role of Teyve was to be played by 75-year old Topol, star of the film version. But when he injured his shoulder, they found a replacement in the incredibly energetic Bikel– who is a decade older than the man he replaced! And even though Bikel wasn’t the first choice, he’s no slouch: this is the man who created the role of Baron Von Trapp in the Broadway Sound of Music, and he has played Teyve over 2000 times! His Hollywood debut was in The African Queen! He was nominated for an Oscar! He WON an Emmy! He was in Star Trek: The Next Generation!

Honestly, he fits the role effortlessly. I don’t know how much of his wisecracks are scripted and how much is improvised– you can’t tell. He keeps the jokes low-key, which is a relief in a role that could be taken over the top. It’s funnier that way! And Susan Cella as Golde (who understudied Kathleen Turner in the Broadway version of The Graduate!) is lovely. One of my favourite songs is Do You Love Me? and these two are crusty and bashful and wonderful doing it.

But really, the music is the standout. If I Were a Rich Man? Matchmaker, Matchmaker? HELLO! And lots of fun kletzmer and a little Ukrainian hopak for good measure! I’m not Jewish, but from where I sat, it seems like being Jewish is the best thing in the world: the comfort of ritual (holy crap, the Sabbath Prayer scene!), the recognition of the great sorrow of life tempered by a wry sense of humour and a party-hard attitude (Tzeitel’s wedding!)– it seems very sane. And beautiful!

And then there is Sunrise, Sunset. Ah.