In March, artist Konstantin Dimopoulos and an army of volunteers declared their appreciation for arboriculture through a public art installation that applied a new hue to two patches of trees nestled on the Memorial Drive and Allen Parkway corridor at Waugh Drive.
Sponsored by the Houston Arts Alliance, The Blue Trees is a social commentary that lauds the critical role plant life plays in the survival of all species on the planet — particularly in light of the Great Drought of 2011 that stripped bare the verdant from the city's canopy.
Now that the ultramarine crepe myrtles are in full bloom, one can say that money does grow on trees.
Yet more than just a scene to be admired, The Blue Trees also offers a surreal environment in which Houstonians can experiment with photography. It wasn't long before amateurs and professionals took to their cellphones and cameras to capture the mystique of this fantastical world for portraiture and fine art photography.
Where else can you find a Avatar-esque backdrop this easily? And for free?
Now that the ultramarine crepe myrtles are in full bloom, one can say that money does grow on trees — at least for the next six weeks for one lucky nonprofit arts organization.
The Houston Arts Alliance is sponsoring a photo contest that awards $2,500 to a nonprofit of the winner's choosing. The "Blue Trees in Bloom" photo feud, which runs through Aug. 14, encourages entrants to post photos via Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #BlueTreesHOU. Each week, the submission with the highest number of "likes" will advance to a final round.
A panel of judges will select a winner and two runners up from among the top contenders.
Just remember to say cheese.
The Houston Chamber Choir stages a photo shoot around the installation.
The impact that writer/director/producer James L. Brooks has made on Hollywood cannot be understated. The 85-year-old created The Mary Tyler Moore Show, personally won three Oscars for Terms of Endearment, and was one of the driving forces behind The Simpsons, among many other credits. Now, 15 years after his last movie, he’s back in the directing chair with Ella McCay.
The similarly-named Emma Mackey plays Ella, a 34-year-old lieutenant governor of an unnamed state in 2008 who’s on the verge of becoming governor when Governor Bill (Albert Brooks) gets picked to be a member of the president’s Cabinet. What should be a happy time is sullied by her needy husband, Ryan (Jack Lowden), her agoraphobic brother, Casey (Spike Fearn), and her perpetually-cheating father, Eddie (Woody Harrelson).
Despite the trio of men competing to bring her down, Ella remains an unapologetic optimist, an attitude bolstered by her aunt Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis), her assistant Estelle (Julie Kavner), and her police escort, Trooper Nash (Kumail Nanjiani). The film follows her over a few days as she navigates the perils of governing, the distractions her family brings, and the expectations being thrust upon her by many different people.
Brooks, who wrote and directed the film, is all over the place with his storytelling. What at first seems to be a straightforward story about Ella and her various issues soon starts meandering into areas that, while related to Ella, don’t make the film better. Prime among them are her brother and father, who are given a relatively small amount of screentime in comparison to the importance they have in her life. This is compounded by a confounding subplot in which Casey tries to win back his girlfriend, Susan (Ayo Edebiri).
Then there’s the whole political side of the story, which never finds its focus and is stuck in the past. Though it’s never stated explicitly, Ella and Governor Bill appear to be Democrats, especially given a signature program Ella pushes to help mothers in need. But if Brooks was trying to provide an antidote to the current real world politics, he doesn’t succeed, as Ella’s full goals are never clear. He also inexplicably shows her boring her fellow lawmakers to tears, a strange trait to give the person for whom the audience is supposed to be rooting.
What saves the movie from being an all-out train wreck is the performances of Mackey and Curtis. Mackey, best known for the Netflix show Sex Education, has an assured confidence to her that keeps the character interesting and likable even when the story goes downhill. Curtis, who has tended to go over-the-top with her roles in recent years, tones it down, offering a warm place of comfort for Ella to turn to when she needs it. The two complement each other very well and are the best parts of the movie by far.
Brooks puts much more effort into his female actors, including Kavner, who, even though she serves as an unnecessary narrator, gets most of the best laugh lines in the film. Harrelson is capable of playing a great cad, but his character here isn’t fleshed out enough. Fearn is super annoying in his role, and Lowden isn’t much better, although that could be mostly due to what his character is called to do. Were it not for the always-great Brooks and Nanjiani, the movie might be devoid of good male performances.
Brooks has made many great TV shows and movies in his 60+ year career, but Ella McCay is a far cry from his best. The only positive that comes out of it is the boosting of Mackey, who proves herself capable of not only leading a film, but also elevating one that would otherwise be a slog to get through.
