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Review: In the Ahmanson’s ‘2:22 – A Ghost Story,’ poltergeists are more believable than people

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Review: In the Ahmanson’s ‘2:22 – A Ghost Story,’ poltergeists are more believable than people

Horror seldom rears its ugly head on the higher theaters. The style is rather more at dwelling within the pitch darkish of film homes, the place viewers can scream anonymously whereas comforting themselves with fistfuls of buttered popcorn.

However the stage is totally able to terrifying an viewers. (And no, I’m not speaking concerning the latest deconstruction of “Oklahoma!” that upset so many Ahmanson subscribers.)

Centuries earlier than “The Exorcist,” Shakespeare was conjuring evil spirts in “Macbeth.” Earlier than “Night time Should Fall” and “Wait Till Darkish” had moviegoers on the sting of their seats, they have been hit performs.

And the story is hardly lifeless and buried: Conor McPherson, a contemporary grasp of ghost dramas, has discovered poetic fact in inexplicable phenomena in performs resembling “The Weir,” “Shining Metropolis” and “The Seafarer.”

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“2:22 – A Ghost Story,” which opened Friday on the Ahmanson Theatre, isn’t simply following on this custom. The manufacturing, directed by Matthew Dunster, is making an attempt to present refined fashionable horror a run for its cinematic cash.

Sound and lighting results are engineered to fray nerves. The all-important dream dwelling that turns into a dwelling nightmare sprawls stylishly throughout the stage. A digital clock with devilish illumination counts down the minutes to the inevitable confrontation with the menacing unknown.

The U.S. premiere of “2:22 – A Ghost Story,” which debuted in London’s West Finish final 12 months, appears decided to make theatrical fright nights trendy once more. The staging, as slickly fashionable as it’s unapologetically sensationalistic, makes an attraction to a brand new and maybe youthful demographic — the type of people who may not suppose an Ahmanson outing is for them.

The present’s apparent scare ways can get a bit of campy, however laughter isn’t incompatible with worry. Certainly, it might be a obligatory security valve.

The sometimes over-the-top staging isn’t what in the end holds the manufacturing again, although. The issue is the writing. The occult world is made to appear completely pure, however on a regular basis actuality sorely lacks credibility.

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The script by Danny Robins, who created the favored podcast drama “The Battersea Poltergeist,” strains the appreciable abilities of the American forged that has been assembled. It’s a waste of appearing sources to assemble Constance Wu (“Loopy Wealthy Asians,” “Recent Off the Boat”), Finn Wittrock (Mike Nichols’ Broadway revival of “Dying of a Salesman,” many Ryan Murphy endeavors) , Anna Camp (“True Blood” and the “Pitch Good” trilogy) and Adam Rothenberg (Mel Sattem on the ultimate two seasons of Neflix’s “Ozark”) for a Heart Theatre Group providing that’s extra floor than substance.

The figures within the play — fashionable sorts whose identities are swiftly compiled like errant Wikipedia entries — are portrayed with excessive tv sheen. However they converse and act in ways in which usually don’t compute. Psychological coherence takes a again seat to tricksy plotting.

The setting is a home present process renovation in a newly gentrified neighborhood in Boston. Jenny (Wu) is doing a little last-minute paint touch-ups after we first encounter her. She has one ear cocked towards the child monitor because the gurgling of a sleeping toddler pipes by.

Time scrambles, and Jenny and Sam (Wittrock), her physics professor husband, are entertaining one other couple. Lauren (Camp), who went to varsity with Sam, and her romantic accomplice Ben (Rothenberg), who grew up within the neighborhood earlier than it turned stylish and has the thick Boston accent to show it, have come to take a look at Jenny and Sam’s new life and drink as a lot booze as characters in an Edward Albee play.

Jenny is noticeably short-tempered with Sam. She’s offended that he didn’t name to clarify why he could be so late, however she’s extra upset that he left her alone in the home. One thing occurred the opposite night time within the child’s room, at 2:22 a.m., that has satisfied her that the home is haunted.

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Sam offers no credence to the concept of ghosts. However his conceited rationalism seems like a betrayal to Jenny, who resents dwelling in a scary home she had reservations about from the beginning.

As glass after glass of wine is downed, supernatural tales are exchanged. Opinions on the topic are divided, however conflicts are infected by male egos, class resentments and simmering jealousies.

There’s an apparent romantic backstory between Sam and Lauren, however neither character is convincingly drawn. Sam is writing “Astronomy for Idiots,” however the science he trots out seems like one thing from a potential reader of the e-book. Lauren is ostensibly a psychological well being care skilled, however her “skilled psychiatric analysis” of her mates calls for everybody to get hammered — an acceptable snicker line for a personality who acts extra like an unstrung affected person than a clinician.

Jenny and Sam share all of the intimacy of drained commuters on a rush-hour prepare. Lauren and Ben have a spat that escalates so clumsily it’s fortunate that theatergoers don’t have entry to distant controls.

Human interplay shouldn’t be the toughest factor to credit score in a drama that has furnishings shifting by itself accord.

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I’m working assiduously to not spoil any surprises, of which there are fairly a couple of. Was I scared? Not significantly, however I used to be made jumpy by Ian Dickinson’s tense soundscape (the child monitor alone!) and Lucy Carter’s unpredictable lighting, recreated right here by Sean Gleason.

Anna Fleischle’s scenic design succeeds in turning the home into one of many manufacturing’s principal characters. However the dimensions of the Ahmanson stage are so huge that it’s as if cocktail banter have been being traded throughout a canyon.

The ending is intelligent, however I rolled my eyes — partly in disbelief, partly in chronological confusion. The moments main as much as the ultimate twist struck me as extra persuasively unique. But when I say one other phrase I’ll be haunted by scores of readers complaining that I spoiled the enjoyable.

The place: Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., L.A.
When: 8 p.m. Tuesdays by Fridays, 2 and eight p.m. Saturdays, 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sundays. Ends Dec. 4. (Name for exceptions)
Tickets: $40-$175 (topic to vary) 
Data: (213) 972-4400 or centertheatregroup.org
Working time: 2 hours, together with one intermission
COVID protocol: Masks are strongly advisable.

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Nina Dobrev hospitalized after e-bike accident; says a 'long road of recovery' awaits

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Nina Dobrev hospitalized after e-bike accident; says a 'long road of recovery' awaits

Nina Dobrev was hospitalized for an injury after riding an e-bike for the first — and apparently final — time

“I’m ok but it’s going to be a long road of recovery ahead,” she wrote Monday on her Instagram stories, adding in another update, “I think it’s safe to say my first time on a dirt bike will also be my last lol.” .

The 35-year-old “The Vampire Diaries” alum also had a “How it started vs how it’s going” post on her main grid, showing her grinning astride an e-bike in the first image and grimacing in dismay, hooked up to monitors with an IV in one arm in the second. In the latter, she was clad in a blue hospital gown, with braces around her neck and one leg .

Dobrev didn’t say where or when the accident occurred or whether the injury would affect her work. Her most recent role was in the action-thriller “The Bricklayer,” released in January in the United States, alongside actor Aaron Eckhart.

Dobrev’s publicists did not respond immediately Tuesday to The Times’ requests for comment.

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The e-bike that Dobrev was pictured sitting on was identified by website Autoevolution as E Ride Pro’s Pro-SS, an electric motorcycle. The 2024 model can accelerate from 0 to 30 mph in less than three seconds, according to its manufacturer.

The celebrity, also known for her roles in the romantic comedies “Dog Days” and “Love Hard,” is no stranger to off-road adventures and extreme sports. Her Instagram features her riding horses and helicopters as well as surfing and snowboarding. Since 2020, the actor has been dating three-time Olympic gold-medal winning snowboarder Shaun White. Together they’ve ventured all over the world, including a trip to Antarctica in early 2023.

Dobrev is seen in one summer 2022 Instagram post riding an ATV that’s almost perpendicular to the ground and casually flashing the “hang loose” sign as White runs toward her with a look of concern on his face. “[H]e always one ups me,” the caption says. “it was my turn.”

White posted a shot of Dobrev, seemingly well enough to travel, a few hours after her posts went up. Her injured leg was propped up on pillows on what appeared to be a private plane as her border collie-Australian shepherd mix, Maverick, lounged next to her.

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‘Armand’ Review: Ingmar Bergman’s Grandson Directs Renate Reinsve as a Mother Defending Her Son in Ambitious School-Set Drama

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‘Armand’ Review: Ingmar Bergman’s Grandson Directs Renate Reinsve as a Mother Defending Her Son in Ambitious School-Set Drama

Norwegian writer-director Halfdan Ullmann Tondel takes some big swings with his first feature Armand, not all of which connect, but the ambition and risk-taking are largely impressive.

A single-setting drama that unfolds in an echo-filled elementary school after hours, it stars Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person in the World) as local celebrity Elisabeth, the mother of never-met Armand, a first-grade boy who is accused by his classmate Jon, also never seen, of sexual abuse.

Armand

The Bottom Line

Works hard, but not quite top of the class.

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Venue: Cannes Film Festival (Un Certain Regard)
Cast: Renate Reinsve, Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Endre Hellestveit, Thea Lambrechts Vaulen, Oystein Roger, Vera Veijovic
Director/screenwriter: Halfdan Ullmannn Tondel

1 hour 57 minutes

When the boys’ teacher and key school staffers call a meeting with parents to decide the next steps, Elisabeth clashes with Jon’s parents, Sarah (Ellen Dorrit Petersen) and Anders (Endre Hellestveit), although not all is as it seems. The basic setup recalls, among other stories about accusations, Roman Polanski’s adaptation of stage play Carnage, but Armand gets much weirder as it goes on, with choreographed dance sequences and melodramatic revelations that feel contrived and tacked on to make the film more arthouse and less issues-driven-middlebrow.

Reception in Cannes has been largely warm following its debut in the Un Certain Regard strand, and Armand has racked up some offshore sales.

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Bit by bit, Ullmann Tondel’s screenplay reveals that Elisabeth and Sarah have more history than shared playdates for their kids. They’ve known each other since they were children at this very same school, and Elisabeth was married to Sarah’s brother, who is now dead, possibly from suicide after a tempestuous relationship with Elisabeth. Reinsve plays her character here as a woman trying to live as normal a life as possible and be the best mother she can be, even though she’s well aware how her fame changes the dynamic in every room she enters — though egalitarian-minded Norwegians often try to seem unimpressed.

That’s certainly the case with the boys’ classroom teacher Sunna (Thea Lambrechts Vaulen), who, although she looks young, is trying to appear as professional as possible and handle the whole situation by the book. The school’s principal, Jarle (Oystein Roger), is mostly concerned with covering his back and avoiding any escalation that would get him in trouble. School safeguarding lead Ajsa (Vera Veijovic) is there to back him up with policy advice, but when she keeps getting uncontrollable nose bleeds the constant interruptions to the meeting only serve to escalate the tension.

The atmosphere could be cut with a popsicle stick from the start already, with prissy, judgy-faced Sarah ready to call the cops at any second and keen to put all the blame on Elisabeth. But Elisabeth is not to be trifled with, and she defends her son vigorously, pointing out that it’s only one kid’s word against another and questioning whether or not what was said was misinterpreted.

Back and forth the bickering goes until Ullmann Tondel starts to throw strange shapes into the drama. In the press notes he talks about the influence of films by Luis Buñuel, especially The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and The Exterminating Angel, and that’s felt in the increasingly surreal touches, as when Elisabeth suddenly gets an uncontrollable fit of giggles — a scene that goes on uncomfortably long. While that feels closer to Buñuel’s taste for shock moves and absurdist mystery, the sequences of Elisabeth suddenly breaking into a choreographed pas de deux with the school janitor (Patrice Demoniere) and later an almost orgiastic ensemble dance with a larger cast just seem self-indulgent and silly.

Some may find themselves straining to find artistic traces here of the work of Ullmann Tondel’s grandparents, Ingmar Bergman and Liv Ullmann, but millennial-generation Ullmann Tondel’s directing style feels more of a piece with contemporary Nordic cinema, with its flights of fancy and quirky humor, than the high style of his progenitors. His screenwriting here, however, feels like it’s lost its way when it tries to tidy everything up in the final scene, even if the staging strains to maintain a sense of mystery by drowning out the dialogue with thrashing rain.

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Full credits

Venue: Cannes Film Festival (Un Certain Regard)
Cast: Renate Reinsve, Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Endre Hellestveit, Thea Lambrechts Vaulen, Oystein Roger, Vera Veijovic, Assad Siddique, Patrice Demoniere
Production companies: Eye Eye Pictures, Keplerfilm, One Two Films, Prolaps Produktion, Film I Vast
Director/screenwriter: Halfdan Ullmannn Tondel
Producers: Andrea Berentsen Ottmar
Executive producers:  Dyveke Bjorkly Graver, Harald Fagerheim Bugge, Renate Reinsve
Co-producers: Koji Nelissen, Derk-Jan Warrink, Fred Burle, Sol Bondy, Alicia Hansen, Stina Eriksson, Kristina Borjeson, Magnus Thomassen
Directors of photography: Pal Ulvik Rokseth
Production designer: Mirjam Veske
Costume designer: Alva Brosten
Editor: Robert Krantz
Sound designer: Mats Lid Stoten
Music: Ella van der Woude
Casting: Jannicke Stendal Hansen
Sales: Charades

1 hour 57 minutes

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Amid cancer treatment, Princess Catherine still hasn't been cleared for return to public duties

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Amid cancer treatment, Princess Catherine still hasn't been cleared for return to public duties

Princess Catherine will be staying out of the public eye for a while longer — but her philanthropic work isn’t slowing down.

“The princess is not expected to return to work until it’s cleared by her medical team,” a Kensington Palace spokesperson told the BBC at the release of a new report by the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood. Early childhood development is a focal point for Catherine.

Kate has remained a “driving force” behind the center and was “excited” by the report, which detailed how cultural changes in the workplace could better support parents of young children, the spokesperson said.

The princess has been out of the public eye since January, when she underwent abdominal surgery that later led to a cancer diagnosis. Prince William has since shared that the family was “doing well” and recently made his own return to public duties after taking time off to care for his wife.

King Charles III revealed a cancer diagnosis of his own in February but returned to work publicly in late April while continuing to receive treatment.

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