From The Movie Snob, a movie review . . .

THX 1138 (director’s cut) (D). I had heard of this movie many times over the years as George Lucas’s first movie, but I never expected to get a chance to see it on the big screen. Lo and behold, here it is, "projected digitally with DLP Cinema technology." Supposedly this remarkable technology allows the viewer to experience "a range of up to 35 trillion colors." Well, in this movie, most of those colors are white. It is a futuristic movie, kind of a cross between 1984 and Brave New World. Although people seem to go about their business and do their jobs just like in the real world, they are apparently heavily sedated most of the time, sex is illegal, and love is apparently virtually unknown. One man, named THX 1138, stands up against the system and, not surprisingly, gets in trouble with the authorities in short order. I was surprised to see Robert Duvall starring in the title role, and Donald Pleasance in the cast as well. Anyhoo, the movie didn’t make much sense to me, and I didn’t really enjoy it. (Hence the grade.) Still, I guess if I had tried to make a futuristic thriller in 1970 that also commented on the dehumanizing effect of technology run amok, it probably wouldn’t have been even this good.

. . . and a stage review.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I like musicals, and this is one of my favorites, certainly among Andrew Lloyd Webber’s oeuvre. This touring production starred Jon Secada, whom I take to be a pop music star of some renown. I’m unfamiliar with his work, but he was a fine Joseph, and the gal who played the Narrator was excellent. The show is the biblical story of Joseph from the book of Genesis, and it’s told through a delightful melange of musical styles, including country, reggae, and Elvis-style rock and roll. The program said that the show started out as a 20-minute piece, and it does feel a little padded in places, but all in all it’s a fun entertainment.