Jana Monji

4 weeks ago | asamnews.com | Jana Monji

By Jana MonjiLea Salonga joins Bernadette Peters in the musical revue, Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends, which opened this week at the Manhattan Theatre Club in New York. With two Tony Award-winning actresses at the helm, this is a must-see for West Coast fans of musicals and the Tony and Academy Award-winning Sondheim. For US Salonga fans, this musical revue is an opportunity to see Salonga in a meaty roles. The revue was originally being developed by Cameron Mackintosh at Sondheim’s suggestion.

1 month ago | wp.me | Jana Monji

The best thing that can be said for this current live-action version of “Snow White” which includes extensive CGI (e.g. all the dwarves), is that somewhere in Los Angeles or New York or Chicago, there are scenes that will be a treasure trove for drag queens and fans of campy parodies at small equity-waiver theaters. When that happens in Los Angeles, please invite me.

2 months ago | asamnews.com | Jana Monji

By Jana MonjiLove Hurts is a painful 83-minute action-comedy film that takes two likable Oscar-winning actors, Ke Huy Quan and Ariana DeBose, through their paces but fails to be a cohesive, balanced mix of romance and laughs, spiked with violence. Not even the Goonies reunion between Sean Astin and Quan or the cameo of a certain reality show personality can save Jonathan Eusebio’s directorial debut. Quan’s Marvin is a successful realtor in his current life.

Jan 14, 2025 | wp.me | Jana Monji

Do we really need the sex-positive view of sex workers, written, directed and edited by a man? Sean Baker’s “Anora” enamored audiences and critics at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, winning the Palme d’Or, but it hasn’t won my heart. The film is about a young sex worker who marries a young rich client and follows her foul-mouthed struggle to hang on to her Cinderella dream. Baker lost me almost immediately with his soft-porn opening.

Jan 14, 2025 | wp.me | Jana Monji

Two films romanticize the bad boys musicians and I wonder if both don’t have the underlying message, “Boys will be boys.” One looks at a specific period in the life of Bob Dylan, “A Complete Unknown.” Another, “Better Man,” looks at the rise and fall into substance abuse of British rock star Robbie Williams before his redemption. Bob Dylan is not a handsome fellow. His voice is not melodic and I find it irritating.