Category: movies

My 20 Favorite Actresses

Everyone who has done this meme, Tom the Dog and SamauraiFrog and the person who tagged him and the person who tagged that person has explained what they mean by “favorite” actress differently, or not at all. So I’ll define it for me. These are actresses that I’ve seen large numbers of their movies; not necessarily the best actresses, but ones who, for whatever reason, I end up seeing, and for the most part, enjoying.

Since I don’t know how to do that clever little box of photos, instead I’ll be listing the first, most recent, and favorite movie I saw them in. I’m only considering theatrical movies, not TV.

Joan Allen – Peggy Sue Got Married (1986), Upside of Anger (2005), Nixon (1995)
Cate Blanchett – Oscar and Lucinda (1997), Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007), Elizabeth (1998). She’s been in so many movies I’ve seen, I thought she’d been around even longer.
Ellen Burstyn (pictured) – The Last Picture Show (1971), Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002), Requiem for a Dream (2000). She should have won the Oscar for Requiem, which she lost to Julia Roberts.
Hope Davis – Flatliners (1990), Synecdoche, New York (2008), American Splendor (2003). I don’t remember her in Flatliners, TTTT, but I’ve seen the first and last movie listed for her in IMDB.
Judi Dench – Mrs. Brown (1997), Notes on a Scandal (2006), Iris (2001). I would have thought I had seen her in films earlier.

Jane Fonda (pictured) – Barefoot in the Park (1967), Stanley & Iris (1990), They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1969). An actress who I saw a lot in the day, but not much recently. But then she hasn’t done much recently.
Jodie Foster – Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974), Contact (1997), The Accused (1988). Also haven’t seen her much lately, but saw her quite often in the day.
Katharine Hepburn – Bringing Up Baby (1938), Love Affair (1994), The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Barbara Hershey – Last Summer (1969), Lantana (2001), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
Holly Hunter – Raising Arizona (1987) The Incredibles (2004), Broadcast News (1987)
Diane Keaton – The Godfather (1972), Something’s Gotta Give (2003), Annie Hall (1977). At least 5 Woody Allen movies on the list.
Laura Linney – Dave (1993) The Savages (2007), You Can Count on Me (2000). When I decided to do the list, one of the two automatic choices.
Shirley MacLaine – Around the World in Eighty Days (1956), Mrs. Winterbourne (1996), Being There (1979)
Julianne Moore – Benny & Joon (1993), The Hours (2002), Boogie Nights (1997)
Helen Mirren – O Lucky Man! (1973), The Queen (2006), Gosford Park (2001)
Susan Sarandon – The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), Enchanted (2007), Dead Man Walking (1995)

Mary Steenburgen – Time After Time (1979), Sunshine State (2002), Philadelphia (1993). Early in her career, it seemed as though every other movie I saw, she was in. Remember when Jude Law seemed to be in every other film a couple years ago? Well, it was like that.
Meryl Streep – Julia (1977) The Devil Wears Prada (2006) Sophie’s Choice (1982). The other automatic choice.
Emma Thompson – Dead Again (1991), Stranger Than Fiction (2006), Sense and Sensibility (1995)
Sigourney Weaver – Annie Hall (1977), Holes (2003), Working Girl (1988)

As everyone mentioned, this was tougher than it seemed. I tried Minnie Driver, Glenn Close, Anne Hathaway, Keira Knightley, Sissy Spacek, and Kate Winslet, but they didn’t quite meet the criteria I set, though I suspect if I get back into movie-watching mode Hathaway and Knightley might make the list.

ROG

ROG

It’s Black History Month Again, and I’ve Got Nothin’


It’s that time of year again. Somehow, I’ve become the unofficial leader of the group of people to put this thing together in my church this year – again – and I’m not sure what new angle I can come up with.

Oh, it not as though we have absolutely zero planned. We have a speaker for one Sunday. There will be a kente cloth presentation. And I expect there will a luncheon after church one week.

More at issue are three weeks of adult education. I think one Sunday the topic will be related to race relations in the era of an Obama presidency. How does he change the conversation? Some think this means the black community has arrived, and such things as B H Month are no longer needed!

To that last point, I would disagree. A Swahili aphorism states: “You are what you make of yourself, and not what others make you.” A positive self-concept is important, and so an awareness of the richness of Black history becomes important. This is one of the reasons we continue to celebrate Black History Month, first celebrated in 1926.

Another thought is to use the class would to show film clips – 15 to 20 minutes – and then discuss for remainder of class. One white person suggested segments from White Man’s Burden, a 1995 movie I was unfamiliar with. (Anyone out there seen it? ) He said this film is always an eye opener for white audiences, and it does a good job of showing unnoticed race-based behaviors and norms in our society.

I will be participating in “The 3 Biggest Diversity Blunders Your Organization Could Be Making Right Now (And How to Avoid Them)” workshop in a couple weeks, and that might have some help. But that won’t be for a couple weeks, and I need to put something together for the church newsletter this Friday.

Any thoughts about resources you would use?
ROG

ROG

The Year In Review: Mixed Media

As pop culture goes, my participation in same was pretty dismal. But I’m going to plod on and describe the highlights.

COMICS
Last month, the Comic Reporter asked its readers to “Name Five Memorable Comics-Related Things About 2008 (A Book You Read, An Experience You Had, An Event That Made You Take Notice — Anything That Would Help You In The Future Recall This Year.” I failed to participate there, but I will here.

1a. Fred Hembeck’s book came out, and I’m mentioned in the thank yous; I like seeing my name in print, what can I say? This also meant that I actually went to more comic-related shows (three) than I have in a while. At two of them, I saw Fred.
1b. At one of those shows, someone actually asked ME to sign some FantaCo Chronicles I worked on 25 years ago. What an ego boost!
1c. I also saw my friend Rocco Nigro, and re-met the inestimable Alan David Doane, who was probably an annoying teenager last I had seen him, rather than the charmer he is now.

2. Someone put out a Wikipedia page for FantaCo, a place I worked for 8.5 years, this summer. Frankly, the page was awful, riddled with errors and omissions. Fortunately, the guy contacted me, and it became the mission of mine and of my old buddy Steve Bissette to rectify the record; the thing is not perfect, but it’s a WHOLE lot better. The incident also gave me a chance to get in contact with former FantaCo owner Tom Skulan for the first time in nearly a decade.

3. Reading Kirby: King of Comics by Mark Evanier. It explained a lot about Jack’s motivation the times I dealt with him on the phone in the early 1980s.

4. The deaths of Steve Gerber in 2008, who unbeknowst to him helped inspire this blog, and of Raoul Vezina, 25 years ago.

5. Freddie and Me by Mike Dawson, which, among other things, made me want to listen to more of the music of the group Queen.

MUSIC
I got maybe a dozen 2008 albums all year, by Lindsay Buckingham, Elvis Costello, Randy Newman, REM, She and Him, Brian Wilson, Lizz Wright, a couple others plus the MOJO take on the Beatles’ white album. I liked them all at some level, but the even snarlkier than usual Newman album “stuck” the most. More old fogey music I received for Christmas and haven’t heard enough to judge: Paul McCartney, James Taylor and Johhny Cash. The latter is a 40th anniversary double CD/DVD box set of his Folsom Prison concerts; just on a quick listen, I’m happy to hear the Carl Perkins and Statler Brothers tunes for the first time.

MOVIES
A paltry number of 2008 pics so far: Iron Man (my favorite), Young@Heart, Man on Wire, Vicki Cristina Barcelona, and Synecdoche, New York. Three of them, IM, MoW and VCB made the Top 10 list at the WSJ along with WALL-E, Slumdog Millionaire and a bunch of other films I will try to see.
Yes, I did see some 2007 films in 2008 and I will undoubtedly see some 2008 films in 2009. Still, five is worse than the seven I saw last year, and catching up on video just doesn’t seem to happen, not that it’s entirely comparable anyway.

TELEVISION

Oh, heck, TV deserves its own posting. Thanks to technology, it’s about the only thing I have even a modicum of a chance to (barely) keep up with.

ROG

ROG

2009: A life odyssey

I’ve never been that big on resolutions. Sure I’ll work on losing weight, but I think (know) I need more…fun challenges.

Thus and therefore, I resolve:
*to play more backgammon. I’ve been playing online quite a bit in 2008. But I have an actual board with actual pieces in my cubicle, and I haven’t touched it, except to dust it off, in the nearly three years we’ve been in cuby land. This MUST change. I have one opponent lined up, and a date for next Tuesdayand a novice ready to learn.
* to play more cards, specifically hearts. I may have played once in 2008. Not acceptable.
* to see more movies. The wife and I may have to go to the virtual date plan, where one of us sees the 1 pm movie while the other watches the child, then the other sees the 4 pm movie while the first watches the child, then discuss later. It’s not optimal, but neither is seeing five movies/year.
* to play more racquetball. Actually, more correctly, to continue to play racquetball. This year, the daughter goes to kindergarten. There appears to be no preschool at her school. Since the wife can’t take her to school because of timing, it would default to me. But that would mean that I’d almost NEVER play racquetball, which might, quite literally, kill me, since it is both my primary form of exercise – especially in the winter, when I don’t ride the bike – and something with which the competition provides a joie de vivre that riding on a stationary bike or running around a track simply doesn’t generate for me. To that end, we’re investigating hiring someone to get Lydia up, dressed, fed and taken to school, perhaps a student from a nearby college. We’re paying for daycare now, so that’d be the source of the payments.
Oh, jeez, I almost forgot: come spring, I need to BUY a bike to replace the one that was stolen.
*read more books. I’ve started literally dozens that I simply never finish.
*listen to more music at home. This will be facilitated by the fact that the daughter got a boom box for Christmas. This means that the other boom box, which technically belongs to the wife – my matching one got stolen from my office a few years ago – can reside in the living room. My stereo, specifically the CD player, has ceased to work, despite taking it into the shop. So until I buy a new one, the boombox will be the primary form of entertainment in the living quarters.

I think that’s enough.

Do YOU have any resolutions that you’d like to share?

Oh, and I had one of those reminders why I do the blog this past week. My mother, sister and niece made an impromptu visit to the Salisbury National Cemetery where my father was buried, but they couldn’t find the grave site. They knew they were close, but lots of folks have been buried there in the past eight years. So my sister calls me on her cellphone; did I have a record of where he was buried? I went to my trusty blog and found the citation, section 8, grave 358. Yet another notation that while I like to provide the best of the psychodrama in my head for your entertainment, I have to do the blog for ME.


ROG

ROG

MOVIE REVIEW: Synecdoche, New York


On Christmas Day, the wife and I left the daughter in the capable hands of the parents-in-law and traversed to the Spectrum Theatre in Albany to see Synecdoche, New York.

There were four basic reasons I wanted to see this film:
4) Roger Ebert gave it a four-star review.
3) I have liked some of the movies Charlie Kauffman has written, such as “Being John Malkovich” and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”; “Adaptation”, not so much. This was Kauffman’s directoral debut.
2) It has a stellar cast, with Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Michelle Williams, Samantha Morton, and Hope Davis.
1) The movie’s first setting is in Schenectady, New York, where I lived for 20 months before moving to nearby Albany. (An interesting piece on Schenectady and the title word here.)

Early on, I’m loving this film. It’s a dark comedy that pegs Schenectady in the first song, in the architecture. I found a particular imagery of a house on fire hysterically funny. I laughed out loud more than once. It is wonderfully performed. Yet somewhere in the theatrical remaking of the life of Caden (Hoffman), it just unraveled for me, as too long, too unfocused.

Here’s a cheat: I’m going to quote from various Rotten Tomatoes reviews, both positive (63%) and negative, that reflect as well as anything how I was feeling.

POSITIVE
Charlie Kaufman’s latest example of screenplay extrapolation begins with an obscure definitional allusion…and ends in some sort of self-referential apocalypse. – Bill Gibron

It is a portrait of disappointment and melancholy, tickled by bits of wit, that defies logic and resists description. – Duane Dudek

For about two-thirds of its length, this is an extremely funny if extraordinarily dark comedy… But we begin to measure out the time in teaspoons, and the movie becomes banal and morose. – John Beifuss

You could quite possibly be enthralled — or not. – Pete Hammond

NEGATIVE
This makes the film interesting in concept but disappointing in execution. And surreal touches added throughout that just do not add up to anything but a film more challenging than rewarding. – Mark R. Leeper

It’s all crazy enough to work for a while, but the 124 long minutes don’t pass soon enough. – Jeffrey M. Anderson

…a picture that is (a) brilliant, in scattered parts, but also (b) a reminder that virtually every writer needs an editor. – Kurt Loder

For a film that desperately wants us to empathize with its main character’s plight, Kaufman’s inability to reconcile his overambitious gimmickry with the story’s emotional demands is a fatal flaw. – Jurgen Fauth

Watching the film is also wearying, like assembling a puzzle from a box into which a sadist continually pours new pieces. – Lawrence Toppman

More than one critic compared it, unfavorably, to Fellini’s “8 1/2”.

Ultimately, the line that described it best for me is this technically positive review by Philip Martin: “An impossible, bewildering and brave failure of a movie …”

I would not say, “Don’t see it.” You may enjoy it, “get” it more than I did. Or not.

ROG

ROG
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