The Toronto Sun n Friday, april 27, 2012

SHOWBIZ

75

A real iron Lady

LIZ BRAUN QMI Agency

the lady
2 hours, 12 minutes
STARRINg Michelle yeoh, david Thewlis DIRecTOR luc Besson

George Takei, best known as Lt. Sulu on the original Star Trek will be hosting a TSO event next week.

Sulu flies solo at TSO

If you visit George Takeis Facebook page, youll discover the guys a real joker. He regales his million-plus friends with funny quotes, cartoons, and observations both serious and funny about life, pop culture and politics. Heres a joke he posted a few months back: Since were on the topic of Canada today, heres a gem : And G od turned to Gabriel and said, I shall create a land called Canada of outstanding natural beauty, with majestic mountains soaring with eagles, sparkling lakes abundant with bass and trout, forests full of elk and moose, and rivers stocked with salmon. I shall make the land rich in oil so the inhabitants prosper and call them Canadians, and they shall be praised as the

Rhythms N Rhymes

nazareth

errol

friendliest of all people. But Lord, asked Gabriel, Is this not too generous to these Canadians? And G od replied, Just wait and see the neighbours I shall inflict upon them. Given his sense of humour, it will be interesting to see what Takei, fondly known as Lieutenant Sulu of the Starship Enterprise, comes up with when he makes his Toronto Symphony Orchestra debut next week. Takei will be hosting the TS Os Sci-Fi Spectacular which, the publicist tells me, will feature sweeping

themes and dynamic suites from Star Trek, Star Wars, E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The D ay the Ear th Sto o d Still, plus a nostalgic medley of vintage sci-fi television themes. I dont doubt her. Hearing the symphony perform these compositions will be nothing short of breathtaking. Jack Everly, who will lead the TSO, says the concert was inspired by the publics enthusiasm for this genre of great symphonic music. He says the concept was proposed to Takei and he beamed on board immediately. The shows on Tuesday and Wednesday are part of a concerted and admirable effort by the TSO to diversify and expand its audience. Wonderful shows like Holly-

wood Hits, Broadway Divas!, screening The Wizard of Oz set to live accompaniment by the TSO, and performing a program called Creepy Classics two Halloweens back while wearing costumes are proof of this. Everly agrees. Over the years, the TSO programming has become more encompassing of so many different genres of music, he said in an e-mail interview. I see this program as an important part of that vision. Sci-Fi Spectacular happens Tuesday at 8 p.m. and Wednesday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Tickets for the Tuesday and Wednesday night performances are $31-$109. Tickets for the Wednesday afternoon show are $29-$82. Go to tso.ca

The Lady is a biopic of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. The film celebrates her role in Burmas struggle for democracy and underlines the personal sacrifices involved in her dedication to her country. The Lady opens with a scene from Suu Kyis childhood. She is pictured as a toddler with her father, Aung San; he helped Burma gain independence from England in 1947 and his violent death changes Suu Kyis destiny. As an adult, Suu Kyi (Michelle Yeoh) is the married mother of two boys. She lives in England with her husband, British academic Michael Aris (David Thewlis), but is called back to Burma in 1988 when her mother becomes sick. As the daughter of national hero Aung San, Suu Kyi is perceived as an enemy of the military regime running the country. The country is in the midst of an uprising against that regime; the film recreates some of the atrocities of August 1988, when thousands of demonstrators for democracy were shot dead in the street by government troops. After witnessing these events, Suu Kyi realizes she must stay and fight for a truly free Burma. The people are ecstatic. She is a symbol of Bur-

mese hope for democracy. For that same reason, she is the ruling regimes worst nightmare. What happens next involves Suu Kyi being held under house arrest and detained, off and on, for more than 20 years. She continues to work for the freedom of Burma, but the story is told through her personal life and her forced separation from her husband and two sons. Suu Kyi is even prevented from seeing her husband at the time of his death. The Lady is a fascinating historical document, and considering that Suu Kyis story continues at this very moment in Myanmar (Burma), it could not be more timely. The films attempt to tell a larger story through the specifics of her relationship with her husband does not entirely work; the storytelling is choppy, and likely because theres too much story to tell. Still, the performances from Yeoh and Thewlis are enough to keep you watching. The film is in English and Burmese, with English subtitles.

Could Gibson join Lohan and Sheen in career rehab? Maybe...

HOLLYWOOD Are the enfants terribles of entertainment finally getting their acts together? You have to wonder with news that Charlie Sheen, Mel Gibson and Lindsay L o h a n h av e a l l s e e m e d t o c h e c k i nt o ( h ow e v e r

Hollywood South
slightly) career rehab.

michael rechtshaffen

First, there was this weeks confirmation Lohan will be indeed playing the part of Elizabeth Taylor in the Lifetime TV movie, Liz & Dick as well as news that a test screening of Sheens upcomi n g An g e r Ma n a g e m e n t earned impressive scores.

As for Mr. Gibson? You may have heard Mel has a new coming movie out, although thats out as in out in Video-onDemand, since Get the Gringo (formerly How I Spent My Summer Vacation), is going to be bypassing movie theatres. But what did get released

was a fresh recording of another Gibson expletiveladen tirade this one aimed at screenwriter Joe Eszterhas. Can this career be saved? At this point it would take something along the commercial lines of a Lethal Weapon 5. Instead word is

Gibson is inching his way back to respectability with another sequel. Hell join the cast of Machete Kills for director Robert Rodriguez. Who knows? Maybe he should then ask Charlie for a guest shot on Anger Management.