DVD review: “John Adams”
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
The superb HBO miniseries “John Adams” takes American history out of the dry prose of textbooks and gives the Founding Fathers a humanity not seen in formal portraits.
The seven-part series, directed by Tom Hooper and co-executive produced by Tom Hanks, feels like a sweeping epic, but also remains grounded in gritty realism.
Based on David McCullough’s Pulitzer Prize-winning biography, it begins in 1770 as Adams (Paul Giamatti) defends the British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre. The case earns him a reputation as a fair-minded lawyer and orator and a spot on the first Colonial Congress.
The series follows Adams through the colonies’ bid for independence, his diplomatic missions in Europe, his vice presidential service, his term as the second U.S. president, family tragedies, his oldest son’s successful presidential campaign, and his death on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
But the story remains centered in the close partnership between Adams and his beloved wife, Abigail (the excellent Laura Linney).
Giamatti gives a well-rounded performance as Adams, who was not only a brilliant, principled and passionate patriot, but also as a stubborn, tactless and ambitious curmudgeon.
Tom Wilkinson (Ben Franklin), Stephen Dillane (Thomas Jefferson) and David Morse (George Washington) put in stellar performances, too.
“John Adams” unflinchingly shows the ugliness of war and politics. While sometimes hard to watch, it should be required viewing for history buffs.
DVD extras: McCullough documentary, making-of featurette and pop-up historical facts.
- BAM
Brooks & Dunn, ZZ Top coming to OKC
Country music duo Brooks & Dunn, which includes Tulsan Ronnie Dunn, will bring their “Cowboy Town” tour with ZZ Top and special guest Rodney Atkins to Oklahoma City later this summer.
The show will be at 8 p.m. Aug 17 at the Ford Center, 100 W Reno.
Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. June 28. Prices are $64, $44 and $19. (Additional fees may apply.)
For more information, go to www.okfordcenter.com.
-BAM
What to do in Oklahoma on June 20
Today’s featured event:
If you’re not “Working for the Weekend,” hear ’80s rock band Loverboy play at 8 p.m. today at Riverwind Casino, 1544 W State Highway 9, Norman.
For more information, go to www.riverwind.com.
For more events, go to www.wimgo.com.
-BAM
Weekend Warmup
A preview of the weekend of June 20-22:
Arts
- “Much Ado About Nothing”: Follow the verbal sparring when Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park continues performances of “Much Ado About Nothing” at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Myriad Gardens Water Stage, 301 W Reno. More performances will be offered. For more information, call 235-3700 or go online to http://www.oklahomashakespeare.com/.
- Oklahoma Folklife Festival: Take in live music, dance and other entertainment, and try making piñatas, corn husk dolls, lace and other crafts, at the festival. The event will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Oklahoma History Center, 2401 N Laird Ave. For more information, call 522-5207.
- Story Slam: Share work-related horror stories at a story slam titled the “‘The Office,’” Stories about Bosses, Employees and the Workplace” at 7:30 Friday at Istvan Gallery, 1218 N Western. A story slam is a competitive storytelling event; stories must follow the theme. Registration starts at 7. For more information, call 831-2874 or go to www.myspace.com/okcstoryslam.
- “Roman Art from the Louvre”: The highly anticipated exhibit opened today at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive. It should be required viewing for anyone with an interest in art, history, mythology, Western civilization or just beautiful, amazing objects. For more information, go to http://www.okcmoa.com/.
Family
- Sam Noble museum’s Library Day: Get free admission with your library card from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, 2401 Chautauqua in Norman, as the museum celebrates Library Day. Representatives of the Pioneer Multi-County Library System will be at the museum to sign up people who don’t have library cards. For more information, go to snomnh.ou.edu.
- RedHawks baseball: Cheer on the Oklahoma RedHawks against the Round Rock (Texas) Express at 7:05 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the AT&T Bricktown Ballpark, 2 S Mickey Mantle Dr. For more information, call 218-1000 or go to http://www.oklahomaredhawks.com/.
Movies
- “Get Smart”: Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway and Dwayne Johnson star in the film adaptation of the 1960s TV series.
- “The Love Guru”: Pitka (Mike Myers), an American raised by gurus in India, is hired to help a star hockey player (Romany Malco) whose game has suffered since his wife left him for another man (Justin Timberlake).
- “Standard Operating Procedure”: Filmmaker Errol Morris (“The Thin Blue Line”) examines the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in this documentary.
Music
- Peaceable Jones and First Lady Assassins: Hear the punk rockers at 10 p.m. Saturday at the Blue Note Lounge, 2408 N Robinson Ave. For more information, call 524-5678 or go to www.myspace.com/okcbluenote.
- Lil’ Ed Williams: Lil’ Ed and the Blues Imperials will perform at 10 p.m. Sunday at VZD’s Restaurant and Club, 4200 N Western. For more information, go online to http://www.liledwilliams.com/ or call VZD’s at 524-4200.
Statewide
- “Beehive,” Guthrie: Take a nostalgic look at girl groups and soloists of the 1960s in this musical, which features songs by The Chiffons, The Supremes, Aretha Franklin and Petula. Showtimes are at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at The Pollard Theatre, 120 W Harrison. Performances continue through June 28. For more information, go to www.thepollard.org.
- Oklahoma Celtic Music & Heritage Festival, Stillwater: Celebrate the Celtic heritage with musical performances, workshops, demonstrations and living history exhibits. The festival will take place at the Payne County Expo Center. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. For more information, go to www.okcelticfest.com.
-BAM
Jonas Brothers going to camp
Disney is hoping the musical Jonas Brothers can use their power over preteen girls to create another “High School Musical”-esque phenomenon.
The Mouse House is premiering the TV musical “Camp Rock” at 7 p.m. Friday on the Disney Channel.
The telefilm centers on Mitchie Torres (Demi Lovato), a musical standout who can’t afford to attend a top-notch music camp until her mother gets her a break on the tuition by getting them both jobs in the kitchen.
But Camp Rock is packed with snooty rich kids, so a kitchen job is a bit awkward for Mitchie. She hides that she is the cook’s daughter and pretends to be one of the well-to-do girls to make it in the camp’s top clique. (Naturally, this kind of duplicity will come back to bite her before the final credits roll.)
Also attending the camp is wayward rock star Shane Gray (18-year-old Joe Jonas), whose bandmates (Kevin, 20, and Nick, 15) have sent him back to camp to regain his inspiration. He overhears Mitchie singing one day, but doesn’t see her. He becomes determined to track down the girl behind the amazing voice.
Undoubtedly, Mitchie and Shane will have the whole camp rocking in a big musical finale sure to delight tween girls ’round the globe.
It will be interesting to see if “Camp Rock” can break the cable viewing record “High School Musical 2″ set last summer.
I recently participated in a teleconference with the Jonas Brothers, who will be coming to OKC’s Ford Center on July 8. Stay tuned to BAM’s Blog in the next couple of weeks, asI’ll be bringing you more news about the musical trio making all the girls swoon.
-BAM
Rascal Flatts to celebrate July 4 with Boston Pops
Country music’s star trio Rascal Flatts, which includes Joe Don Rooney of Picher, will perform on the “Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular,” airing live from 9 to 10 p.m. July 4 on CBS (KWTV-9 in Oklahoma City).
The group will join conductor Keith Lockhart and The Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra on the special, which will be broadcast live from the Charles River Esplanade in Boston. Craig Ferguson of CBS’s “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” will host the special for the second straight year.
This year will mark the 35th anniversary of the ”Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular,” the orchestra’s annual free outdoor Fourth of July concert sponsored by Liberty Mutual Group insurance company.
Rascal Flatts will perform some of their greatest hits with the orchestra.
In keeping with tradition, the show also will feature the Boston Pops’ rendition of the “1812 Overture.” The final 23 minutes of the telecast, featuring the fireworks display, will be aired commercial free, according to a news release.
- BAM
Roadside Attractions picks up “Beer for My Horses”
Top photo: From left, Ted Nugent, Greg Serano, Rodney Carrington and Toby Keith in a scene from “Beer for My Horses.” Bottom photo: Toby Keith and Claire Forlani. (Photos provided by Shock Ink.)
Roadside Attractions has acquired worldwide rights to country music star Toby Keith’s new movie, “Beer for My Horses.”
The independent film distributor will release the film, which is now in post-production, in the United States on Aug. 8. Distributor Lionsgate will handle the international and all domestic ancillary rights, according to a news release issued Thursday by Keith’s publicist, Elaine Schock.
Keith, who lives in Norman, and Tulsa-born country comic Rodney Carrington co-wrote and co-star in the movie. Keith and Donald Zuckerman produced the film. Executive producers are TK Kimbrell, Jeff Yapp and Leslie Belzberg.
In addition, the country star has been working on the film’s soundtrack, along with some of the recording artists on his record label, Show Dog Nashville.
“We’re finishing up the soundtrack for it right now. The movie is almost a lock; it’s almost locked in. … We’re really close to seeing a final on it,” he said in an interview earlier this month with The Oklahoman.
The title of the film comes from his chart-topping 2003 duet with country legend Willie Nelson, who appears in the movie.
The movie also stars Claire Forlani, Barry Corbin, Greg Serano, Ted Nugent, with a special appearance by Golden Globe-nominated actor Tom Skerritt.
The comedy follows the adventures of a pair of best friends (Keith and Carrington) who work as small-town deputies. They defy the local sheriff to go on an outrageous road trip to save one of their girlfriends, who has been kidnapped by a drug lord.
The film is directed by Michael Salomon, who won a CMT Music Award for video director of the year in April for his work on videos such as Keith’s “High Maintenance Woman” and Trace Adkins’ “I Got My Game On.”
“We are thrilled to be releasing this fun-loving road trip movie,” said Eric d’Arbeloff, co-president of Roadside Attractions, said in the release. ”Toby Keith is terrific as both writer and star and this film delivers the most fun at the movie theater since ‘Smokey and the Bandit.’”
“Beer for My Horses” will be Keith’s second big-screen outing. He co-starred with Kelly Preston in the drama “Broken Bridges” in 2006.
“Toby’s first film ‘Broken Bridges’ sold approximately 1.3 million DVD units alone last year. We feel his film audience is growing by leaps and bounds and will be primed to see his next film in theatres,” said Roadside Co-President Howard Cohen in the release.
Keith, who embarked on his summer tour today, told The Oklahoman that working on the film was a great experience.
“It was a blast to make,” he said.
-BAM
Art review: “Roman Art from the Louvre”
“Portrait of Lucilla” (Photo by Jim Beckel, The Oklahoman.)
A version of this review also ran in Thursday’s The Oklahoman.
Ancient artists carve place in history
Although they date back about 2,000 years, the artworks and antiquities in the special exhibition “Roman Art from the Louvre” still have power to intrigue and amaze and even sadden.
The museum has been preparing for the exhibit – the largest and most prestigious in its history – for more than two years. The sprawling assortment of 184 sculptures, sarcophagi, mosaics and other items more than live up to the hype.
The exhibit begins and ends with a pair of highlights. Coming around a corner into the second floor galleries, visitors first see “Portrait of Lucilla,” a stunning 5-foot-tall colossal marble head with a tranquilly lovely expression.
Dru Isaacs, left, and Preston Pendergraft look at “Polymnia” during the opening night of the “Roman Art from the Louvre” exhibit. (Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman.)
Her look complements the peaceful visage of the restored marble statue of the muse “Polymnia,” the final piece as visitors exit the first-floor special exhibitions gallery. The goddess is portrayed serenely resting her arms on a short column with her chin cupped in her hand.
In between, the exhibit features a striking variety of ancient items, from elaborately decorated sarcophagi to simple clay jugs and dishes. A collection of small glass vessels exude a lovely fragile quality, but have survived intact for nearly two millennia.
“Relief Showing the Reading of Auguries and Declaration of Sacred Vows.” (Photo by Jim Beckel, The Oklahoman.)
The men and beasts depicted in relief sculptures are so skillfully carved they seem alive. Equal craftsmanship can be seen on a tiny figure fashioned at the end of a silver hairpin.
A fearsome faces of beard satyrs caught in the throes of revelry glower from a large “Vase with Masks.” In contrast, a cylindrical marble “Alter Consecrated to Selene” shows the moon goddess, her children and the god Oceanos floating contentedly amid the stars.
In the exhibit’s military section, a carefully carved marble box evokes a sense of grief. It is an urn for the ashes of a 17-year-old soldier, with his name, age, rank and other information preserved on the stone sides.
“Roman Art from the Louvre” includes too many highlights to list them all. But it is undoubtedly one of the most stunning exhibits ever to come to Oklahoma City.
- BAM
The 5 most valuable items from the Louvre exhibit
A version of this story also ran in Thursday’s The Oklahoman.
Louvre exhibit’s most valuable items
The special exhibition “Roman Art from the Louvre” includes more than 184 artworks and antiquities, from monumental sculptures and sarcophagi to marble busts and glass bottles.
While all the items are ancient and irreplaceable, Cecile Giroire, curator of the Louvre’s Roman art collection and co-curator of the exhibit, named these five as the most valuable:
1. “Portrait of Augustus Wearing a Toga.”
his sculpture stands 7 feet tall and is exhibited with a similar sculpture of the emperor’s wife, Livia. The head dates to 10 A.D. and was discovered in 1777 in Velletri (Italy). The toga dates to 120 A.D.; the origin is unknown.
2. “Portrait of Lucilla.”
The first item visitors see in the exhibit, this colossal gray veined marble head is more than 5 feet tall. It dates to the second half of the second century A.D. It was found in 1845 in Carthage (now Tunisia).
3. “Sarcophagus Showing the Myth of Actaeon.”
This elaborately carved marble sarcophagus, thought to date to 125-130 A.D., shows the hunter Actaeon surprising the goddess Artemis as she bathes in the forest. The angry deity turns him into a stag, he is devoured by his hunting dogs, and his body is buried by his family.
4. “Relief Showing the Reading of Auguries and Declaration of Sacred Vows.”
This highly sculpted relief dates back to the first quarter of the second century A.D. The scene unfolds on two panels: On the left, a soothsayer, haruspex (interpreter of entrails) and their helpers examine the innards of a newly slaughtered bull. On the right, the emperor, senators and a priest of the god Jupiter await to hear whether the gods approve of a planned war mission.
5. “Mosaic Panel.”
This intricate mosaic is made of marble, limestone and molten glass and dates back to the late first or early second century A.D. It depicts the mythological “Judgment of Paris,” in which Trojan shepherd-prince Paris had to pick the fairest goddess from among Hera, Athena and Aphrodite. According to myth, his choice of Aphrodite started the Trojan War.
(All photos by Jim Beckel, The Oklahoman.)
-BAM
The Romans have arrived
Preston Pendergraft, left, and Dru Isaacs are silhouetted as they look at “Relief Showing the Reading of Auguries and Declaration of Sacred Vows” during the members preview Wednesday night of the “Roman Art from the Louvre” exhibit at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. (Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman.)
From Thursday’s The Oklahoman.
Monumental exhibit leaves mark on viewers
The Roman invasion starts today and is expected to conquer Oklahoma City.The long-awaited special exhibition “Roman Art from the Louvre” opens to the public today and runs through Oct. 12 at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.
Museum members were offered a preview Wednesday.
“I think it’s wonderful. It’s amazing to get to see this in Oklahoma City,” said Lucy Kemether, who works at Colonial Art Gallery.
Standing at the feet of a towering sculpture, Kemether said she couldn’t choose a favorite item from the vast show.
“They’re all just so exceptional. It’s hard to pick out just one out of the bunch,” she said.
The Oklahoma City Museum of Art announced the “Roman Art from the Louvre” exhibit more than two years ago. Museum Executive Director Carolyn Hill expects at least 50,000 people to view the exhibit.
“We’re hoping for more,” she said. “We are really excited, to say the least.”
“Roman Art from the Louvre” is the largest and most distinguished traveling exhibit to come to the museum. The Oklahoma City museum, the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the Seattle Art Museum were the only three U.S. venues chosen for the exhibit, Hill said.
“It certainly lifts us to the top tier of international exhibits, into the top-tier cities. It puts us in a position for consideration for other blockbusters in the future,” Hill said.
Museum members Preston Pendergraft and Dru Isaacs of Oklahoma City said the preview had been marked on their calendar for months.
“It’s pretty spectacular,” said Pendergraft, a retired interior designer with a longtime interest in ancient Roman art. “I’ve been to the Louvre, and it sure is nice to see something like this in Oklahoma City.”
Isaacs said she never expected to see an exhibit of this magnitude in Oklahoma City.
“When I was young, I got to visit Rome, so this brings back good memories,” Isaacs said.
Contemporary painter Don Joint of New York was in town doing business with Colonial Art. He visited the preview as a guest of the gallery.
“I’ve been to the Louvre a bunch of times, and it looks just as good here,” he while examining “Fragment of a Statue of Augustus as Supreme Pontiff.”
He said the Oklahoma City museum, which he has visited several times, did a professional job.
“It’s the best show I’ve ever seen here,” he said.
“Roman Art from the Louvre” includes 184 sculptures, jewelry, furnishings, sarcophagi and other items dating from the early first century B.C. to the sixth century A.D.
“The idea was to introduce the general public to the Roman empire,” said Cecile Giroire, curator of the Louvre’s Roman art collection and co-curator of the exhibit. “We tried to give an idea of the variety of Roman art.”
People who visit the once-in-a-lifetime exhibit will be stunned, Hill said.
“I think they’re going to be able to take away from it a stunning concept of sheer beauty, of sheer scale, a tremendous, overpowering sense of history,” she said.
IF YOU GO
‘Roman Art From the Louvre’
When: Today through Oct. 12. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursdays; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays; and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays.
Where: Oklahoma City Museum of Art.
Admission: $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and students, free to children 5 and younger and museum members.
Information: 236-3100 or www.okcmoa.com.
-BAM
