Posted By admin on March 8, 2010

Once again, the Oscar telecast managed to annoy me almost as much as it entertained me.

Starting with the red carpet coverage, when exactly was Kathy Ireland replaced with a giant robot? Or did she come that way? I just kept staring at her right hand, waiting for her bionic fingers to relax, and it never happened.

Steve and that other guy were all right, but almost superfluous. Seriously, did Baldwin say more than five words all night? NPH was, per usual, fantastic.

The only gown that really stood out to me was Amanda Seyfried’s. Very interesting, structurally.

Announcer-girl was intensely annoying. Best “pitcher”? “Barber” Streisand? Where do they find these people?

The John Hughes tribute was amazing, although I always have a moment of massive disconnect when I see the grown-up Anthony Michael Hall.

So they cut out performances of the Original Song nominees, and it still managed to run 4+ hours. Perhaps next year we can leave out the glowing tributes to the lead actor/actress nominees and put the songs back in.

They managed to screw up the In Memoriam segment yet again, by showing us their pretty stage (and their not-so-pretty James Taylor) instead of showing us the people they were supposedly paying tribute to. Speaking of, Farrah Fawcett got shafted yet again by Michael Jackson. I saw some folks on Twitter sneering that she was a “TV” actress, not a movie actress, but she was in more movies than Michael, and I can name at least 3 off the top of my head. (Myra Breckinridge, Cannonball Run and Logan’s “sexiest movie ever” Run.)

Finally, I’d like to know whose obnoxious idea it was for the orchestra to play “I Am Woman” as Kathryn Bigelow was walking offstage after her historic win. I mean, what would they have played if Lee Daniels had won? Theme from “Shaft”? Idiots.

But other than that, I enjoyed it.

ETA: RDJ’s “sickly little mole people” line made me laugh the hardest.

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Posted By admin on February 10, 2010

Because I surely do. I mean, it’s the kind of place where my doctor’s office is, literally, across the street from this:

Actual unretouched photo

It does make for something of a surreal life sometimes.

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Posted By admin on February 8, 2010

It’s not quite 4:30am, and I’ve just spent 15 minutes standing in the freezing cold, but it was all totally worth it to see the last night shuttle launch. So crystal clear outside, I could track the two solid rocket boosters as they fell back to earth. My god.

*cries*

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Posted By admin on February 7, 2010

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Posted By admin on February 6, 2010

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Posted By admin on January 25, 2010

Or, the return of 365 Movies!

Movie 10

The Three Musketeers (1973)
Rated PG
Runtime: 105 minutes
Written by my hero, George MacDonald Fraser, with an assist from Alexandre Dumas père
Directed by Richard Lester
Notable peoples: Michael York, Oliver Reed, Charlton Heston, Faye Dunaway, Raquel Welch, Christopher Lee, Richard Chamberlain, Frank Finlay
Look out for: Iconic British actor (and C.S. Lewis portrayer) Joss Ackland, as D’Artagnan’s daddy.

There are myriad versions of The Three Musketeers in filmland, but I’ve yet to see one more enjoyable. I’m not even sure where to start with this movie, is how much I love it. I guess I’ll start with the incredibly light and witty writing and directing. Richard Lester is probably best known for letting the Fab Four run about in front of his camera in both A Hard Day’s Night and Help!, and there’s a touch of that manic energy at work here as well, but it’s tempered with more sober cinematography and a stately (at times) score by Michel Legrand. As for the writing, well, I’ve been in love with George MacDonald Fraser’s Flashman series of books since I was a teenager, so I’m not even going to pretend to be objective. Fraser imbues Dumas’ characters with a new sense of wit and fun, while still letting them be themselves in the best way possible.

And the cast is stellar. Michael York plays an unbelievably earnest D’Artagnan, Oliver Reed made me love him for life as Athos, Richard Chamberlain (my first big gay boyfriend) plays Aramis as a deadly dandy, and Frank Finlay plays Porthos as not-quite-the-buffoon. Throw in Christopher Lee as Rochefort, Faye Dunaway as Milady, Raquel Welch (perfectly cast as the hapless Constance), mix well with veteran character actors Roy Kinnear as Planchet, Spike Milligan as M. Bonacieux, and Jean-Pierre Cassel as Louis XIII, and you really have to try hard not to have a fabulous time watching this movie.

Here, the boys demonstrate how to eat out on a budget:

Movie 11

The Four Musketeers (1974)
Rated PG
Runtime: 108 minutes
Written by my hero, George MacDonald Fraser, with an assist from Alexandre Dumas père
Directed by Richard Lester
Notable peoples: Michael York, Oliver Reed, Charlton Heston, Faye Dunaway, Raquel Welch, Christopher Lee, Richard Chamberlain, Frank Finlay
Look out for: Z-movie queen Sybil Danning, as one of Milady’s maids.

Okay, so I’m kind of cheating here, but they were released as two movies, so I get to count them as two movies, even though they were filmed simultaneously and broken up when everyone realized how long this was all getting.

The second half of our story takes a more grim turn (especially for the female members of the cast) what with war breaking out and Athos revealing his little secret, and various folks dying and whatnot. But it’s an action-packed and very satisfying conclusion, and leavened with enough fun to still be fantastic.

And never let it be said the musketeers don’t know how to dine well:

Today’s quote – “Let me have a Three Musketeers, and a ball point pen, and one of those combs there, a pint of Old Harper, a couple of flash light batteries and some beef jerky.”

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Posted By admin on January 14, 2010

365 Movies

Movie 9

With thanks to The Peej for the inadvertent (or perhaps it was advertent) reminder.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1990)
Rated PG
Runtime: 117 minutes
Written and directed by Tom Stoppard, with an assist from William Shakespeare
Notable peoples: Gary Oldman, Tim Roth, Richard Dreyfuss
Look out for: The late lamented Ian Richardson as Polonius

If you’ve ever read Hamlet or seen one of the many screen incarnations, you may remember Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet’s sycophantic false friends. In this re-telling, however, they are mostly clueless pawns in the game between Hamlet and Claudius.

Stoppard lets Hamlet the play unfold around our hapless heroes, but keeps the focus firmly on R & G, who are both brilliantly played by Oldman and Roth, respectively. Adding to the weirdness is Richard Dreyfuss as an itinerant actor, who shows up at seemingly random yet highly significant intervals in the lives of R & G.

The dialogue between our two protagonists is lightning-fast, witty and at times profound. While wandering about Elsinor, wondering why they’ve been “sent for,” R & G discover gravity, the steam engine, and various other importances, all the while keeping their sweet sense of puzzlement at the tragedy playing out all around them.

If you haven’t seen it, fix that now.

Yesterday’s quote was from Sliding Doors.

Today’s quote – “Shut up. You’d laugh at a Shakespeare comedy.”

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Posted By admin on January 13, 2010

I’ll be doubling up for a bit, until I get caught up.

365 Movies

Movie 7

With thanks to Olivia for providing the year.

Radio Days (1987)
Rated PG
Runtime: 88 minutes
Written and directed by Woody Allen
Notable peoples: Baby! Seth Green, Julie Kavner, Michael Tucker, Dianne Wiest
Look out for: Curb Your Enthusiasm and Seinfeld co-creator Larry David as “Communist Neighbor” and poor murdered Rebecca Schaeffer as his daughter.

I’m not generally a huge fan of Woody Allen, but there are two of his movies I absolutely adore, and this is the first. It’s a fond look back at The Narrator’s (Allen) family in Rockaway Beach during the golden age of radio. In addition to meeting the family, we get glimpses of the radio stars whose every word, song and perilous escapade they hang on.

There are moments this film reminds me strongly of A Christmas Story, especially when following the adventures of Joe, the young Narrator (played by tiny little Seth Green) and his friends, but there are more moments of drama and great poignancy as well. Dianne Wiest plays Joe’s scandalously single aunt, and her search for love (or at least a non-disastrous husband) is one of the more touching storylines in this vignette-styled piece.

Overall, a lovely trip down Memory Lane, even if you weren’t around for those particular memories.

Movie 8

The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
Rated PG
Runtime: 82 minutes
Written and directed by Woody Allen
Notable peoples: Mia Farrow, Jeff Daniels, Danny Aiello
Look out for: ‘40s heartthrob Van Johnson as Larry

Mia Farrow plays Cecelia, a dispirited mouse of a waitress in 1930s New York, married to an ignorant slob (Aiello) who’s not above smacking her around a bit here and there. Cecelia’s only escape is the movies, and this week the theatre is showing the glamorous The Purple Rose of Cairo. Cecelia goes to see the movie repeatedly — so many times, in fact, that one of the characters, Tom Baxter (Daniels) notices and steps off the screen to find out more.

While this is wonderfully thrilling for Cecelia, it is less so for the characters Tom has abandoned onscreen, who must figure out a way to carry on until he returns. Also perturbed is the actor who played Tom, Gil Shepherd, various movie houses, and Cecelia’s husband.

The movie is wonderfully silly and frothy at times, but ultimately comes down to the choice to live in a fantasy world or the real world, however ugly it may be. Cecelia’s agonizing over that choice is deftly handled by Allen, and rings true, whether you agree with her choice or not.

Today’s quote — “For God’s sake, Gerry. I asked you a simple question; there is no need for you to become Woody Allen.”

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Posted By admin on January 12, 2010

Barring any more unexpected hospital trips, the 365 Movies feature will resume tomorrow.

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Posted By admin on January 6, 2010

365 Movies

Movie 6 With thanks to Chance for providing the year, even if it was in a bidding war with Charlie.

Alphaville (1965)
Not rated
Runtime: 99 minutes
Written and directed by Jean-Luc Godard
Notable peoples: Eddie Constantine, Anna Karina
Look out for: Paul Misraki’s eerie, random score

Think film noir meets 1984 meets Dr. Strangelove, and that’s the basic feel of the wonderfully weird Alphaville. Detective Lemmy Caution is sent to the planet of Alphaville (in his Ford Galaxy, yet) to take out ultimate mad scientist Dr. Vonbraun, inventor of the Alpha 60 supercomputer that runs Alphaville.

Of course the mad scientist has a lovely daughter, Natacha, who, having spent her whole life under Alpha 60’s rule, has no notion of the concepts of love, art, beauty, etc. Lemmy would like to change this.

The movie can be maddening at times with its pacing and rhetoric, but it’s as stylish and visually engrossing a film as you’d expect from an auteur like Godard.

Today’s quote – “Oh, please. If I paid attention to signs with little pictures on them, I would never get a parking space.”

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