FIRST AUDREY...NOW ELIZABETH...GONE BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN

  I cried last week when I heard that Elizabeth Taylor had died.  She was one of two actresses whose films are among my most favorite and continue to give me great pleasure whenever I happen to view them which is quite often thru the years.  More on Ms. Taylor later.

  Who was my other fav?  Audrey Hepburn.  I loved Elizabeth but I idolized Ms. Hepburn.  From the first time I saw her in ROMAN HOLIDAY (1953) when I was a mere 12 years old, I was mesmerized by her beauty and elan.  How could Gregory Peck NOT fall in love with the princess that she portrayed in this delightful film.  Academy members must have felt the same because she won the Oscar for best actress for her performance.

The next year she enchanted filmgoers in SABRINA in which both Humphrey Bogart and William Holden lost their hearts to her, understandably so.  In 1959 she gave a stunning performance (my personal favorite) in THE NUN'S STORY and I remember being broken hearted when Simone Signoret's name (for ROOM AT THE TOP) was announced as winner of the best actress Oscar that year.  

  She continued to enchant millions of fans (including me) with deft performances in BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S (1961), CHARADE (1963) with Cary Grant and of course, MY FAIR LADY (1964) which I saw 7 days in a row while skipping my afternoon classes at GWU.  To watch her standing at the top of the stairs in that white empire gown with a tiara in her hair ready to attend the ball with Professor Higgins (Rex Harrison)

was a rush and pleasure that I have never experienced again while watching a movie.  Heavenly.  Her cockney accent in the first half of the film was dismissed by many critics (unfairly so I feel) and she was ignored by
Academy members when nominations for best actress were announced that year.  Mind you, MY FAIR LADY won the Oscar for best film and I would have to ask how could it have won that honor without Ms. Hepburn's

enchanting (yup, that word again) performance as Eliza Doolittle.  She showed her class when she presented the Oscar for best actress to Julie Andrews (the sentimental favorite for having been snubbed in favor of Hepburn being cast in the film version of MFL) for MARY POPPINS.

  Can we talk?

  Hepburn peaked in film in 1967 in TWO FOR THE ROAD with Albert Finney (also one of my fav Hepburn films) and her Oscar nominated performance in WAIT UNTIL DARK.

  Other than a role in ROBIN AND MARIAN (with Sean Connery), she went into an early retirement from film work and concentrated on her activities as Special Ambassador to the United Nations UNICEF for Latin America and Africa between 1988-1993.

  She died from appendicular Cancer in 1993 at age 64.  I cried a lot the day she passed away. I adored her.

  And now we've lost another bigger than life movie star who starred in some of my most favorite movies.

 Starting with NATIONAL VELVET (1944) which I saw in re-release when I was 10 years old.  Fast forward to 1956 when I was 15 and was mesmerized by her beauty and performance in my favorite film of hers (GIANT).  I recently watched it on TCM and it holds up to this day.  She's great in it along with Rock Hudson and James Dean.  The following year I saw and loved her in RAINTREE COUNTRY, a film she refused to finish until her dear friend and co-star, Montgomery Cliff, recovered from a near fatal car crash during production.  

  She was terrific in CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF with Paul Newman and SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER

with Katherine Hepburn and Cliff.  And who can forget her in her Oscar winning performance opposite Richard Burton in WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOLF? She had dismissed her Oscar winning performance in BUTTERFIELD 8, a film she hated.

  I met Ms. Taylor when she was married to US Senator (Va) John Warner in '77 or '78.  I drove her hairstylist ( a stunning gal from Luxembourg named Monique and a close friend of my sister's) out to Warner's estate in Virginia and remember being real nervous over the prospect of meeting the glamorous Ms. Taylor.

But she couldn't have been nicer and when I complained about having a headache while Monique was cutting her hair, she told me to go down the hallway and into her bathroom and to help myself to whatever pills I found in her medicine cabinet.  

  Eureka, I screamed.  I helped myself to some valium, soma and a handful of diet pills and shared the booty with Monique on our drive back into the city.  I'll never forget Taylor's magnificent violet eyes and gorgeous skin.

She was waaaaaaaaaaaaaay overweight at the time but who cared.  I'll always remember how down-to-earth she was that day.

  I don't need to dwell on her charitable activities, in particular her involvement with AmFar which she was instrumental in establishing when no one, including President Ronald Reagan, was even mentioning the word

AIDS.  In addition she created her own AIDS Foundation and was responsible for raising millions of dollars for AIDS research.

  As with Audrey Hepburn along with all the dear friends I have lost thru the years (so many to AIDS),

I shed many tears last week when it was announced that Elizabeth Taylor had died.  But they will all remain in my heart for the rest of my days on planet Earth..

  

PRICILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT - The Musical

  Took the bus up to NYC last Sunday to see PRICILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT, which had its official opening at the Palace Theatre on Broadway a week ago.  Reviews were mixed but PRICILLA will prove to be - like MOMMA MIA - immune to critics and have a long, successful run.
  This ain't Shakespeare, folks.  You want serious theatre, go see Tom Stoppard's ARCADIA.
  The stage musical is adapted from the 1994 Australian film about 3 queens (one of them a transexual) who travel across the Australian Outback from Sydney to Alice Springs in a tour bus they have named 'Pricilla'.
One of the drag queens was portrayed by a young Guy Pearce (who I developed a crush on) and Bernadette, the transey, was played by English actor Terrence Stamp.  At one time when the project was first pitched to producers attending Cannes in 1992, Tony Curtis was attached to it and later on, David Bowie.
  Written and directed by Stephan Elliott, it was made on a shoe string budget and was one of the first films to feature popular disco songs that were lipsynced by the 3 drag queens throughout the film.  Its costume designers took home an Oscar for their fabulous, over the top designs.  An America rip-off, TO WONG FOO, THANKS  FOR EVERYTHING, JULIE NEWMAR was released in 1995 starring Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes and John Leguizano.  It sucked.
  Fast forward to 2006 when a musical stage version opened in Sydney and became the longest running play there.  Last year it opened in the West End in London and became an instant hit.  Prior to opening in New York,
it had a successful run in Toronto where major changes were made in the book and some songs deleted and others added to appeal more to American tourists who make or break musicals on Broadway.  I can only comment on what I saw on Sunday and I LOVED IT.
  Will Swenson (fresh from the successful revival of HAIR) is Tick (Mitzi) who is asked by his wife who runs a casino in Alice Springs to come and spend time with their 6 year old son whom he hasn't since since he was born.  Joining him are Nick Adams as Adam (Felina) and Tony Sheldon as Bernadette, a retired cabaret performer and a transey of a certain age.  Sheldon originated the role of Bernadette in Sydney and then in London and he is the heart and soul of PRICILLA.  If he doesn't take the Tony for best actor in a musical this year, there's no justice.  It is a one of a kind performance.  Funny, poignant, honest and real and he alone makes PRICILLA special.
  The costumes, designed by the same Oscar winning duo of the film, are over-the-top, fabulous, fantastic, spectacular and a hoot.  They alone are worth the price of admisssion.  But wait, there's more.
  The sets are to die for.  The tour bus is amazing.  It moves forward, spins around and open to show the interior which has been redone by the 3 queens and it blew me away.
  3 divas a la the Supremes open the show and slowly descend from the ceiling (on hooks) and appear periodically during the musical singing one popular disco treat after another.  The supporting cast is terrific
and some have stand out moments that add to the merriment.  The choreography is so-so but who cares.
Everyone looks like they're having a gay ole time and the audience, including my friend and myself, ate it up.
  There are 21 production numbers, all done to popular disco hits from over 3 decades.  I didn't mind the fact that some songs were lipsynced by Swenson, Adams and Sheldon because their characters would have been lipsyncing songs in the bars where they performed.  And I wasn't bothered by there not being any original songs because I haven't seen a musical in several years with new scores that I wanted to hear again.
  Bernadette's relationship with a heterosexual guy she meets along the way to the casino in Alice Springs is truncated here and the new ending with Swenson and his son singing a sappy duet is a bit much but who cares.  Swenson more than makes up for his lousy Australian accent with a dynamite rendition of MacArthur Park.
  The cast deserved  the standing ovation it got at the performance I attended.  I was won over from the moment a humongous mirrored disco globe descended from the ceiling above the orchestra seats with confetti falling everywhere.  I was in musical heaven.
  Next time I see it - and I bought tix to see it again in June - I'm taking my tambourine and police whistle with me.
  3 cheers for PRICILLA.  Forget your troubles, the wars in the Middle East, the earthquake in Japan and
enjoy.  Great fun.  Simply FABULOUS.  I LOVED IT.
 

POETRY From South Korea Well Worth Seeing

POETRY, written and directed by South Korean filmmaker Lee Chang-Dong (love this name), lost out last May at Cannes to UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN REFLECT ON HIS PAST LIVES which took top honors (Palme D'or).  It wuz robbed in my humble opinion.  A far better film in every respect, Chang-Dong was awarded best screenplay honors at Cannes.  
Mija, portrayed by Yun Junghee, a famous actress in her homeland but making her first screen appearance in 15 years, lives in a small town with her middle school aged grandson and barely gets by on her pension and what she makes as a caregiver for an old paralyzed man.  She enrolls in a poetry writing class and is told by the poet instructor that poetry is a search for beauty and truth and that by the end of the month long class, each student will be expected to write one poem.
Meanwhile, she learns that her grandson is part of a gang of 6 teenagers who repeatedly raped a classmate until she commits suicide jumping off a bridge (the film opens, in fact, with a long shot of the body floating in the river as it moves closer to shore).  Despite the fact that the grandson is a selfish jerk and feels no remorse for his actions, the grandmother meets with the fathers of the other teenage boys who have decided to try and buy off the dead girl's mother's silence and to prevent a police investigation of the crime.  
Mija continues to attend her poetry classes and poetry readings and when she isn't fighting her conscience over whether or not to agree to the payoff and where she is going to come up with her share of it, she takes long walks smelling flowers and taking notes that hopefully will lead to her writing a poem.
She finally does write one out of suffering and self expression but from someone else's perspective and I won't ruin the ending of this lovely, lyrical film by telling you whose that it is.  See it and discover for yourself.
Yun Junghee lost out to Juliette Binoche (Certified Copy) for best actress at Cannes but her performance is award worthy.  Whatever the South Korean equivalent of our Oscar is, she deserves it.  
I found it far more rewarding than Uncle Boonmee and I highly recommend it to you.  

UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES

  My sister Marcia and I went to the beautifully restored deco treasure AFI-Silver Theatre last Saturday night to see a new film from Thailand called UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL
HIS PAST LIVES (or Tante Bobby Who Cannot Recall Which Hand He Used to Wipe...) and we will remember it for a long time and for all the wrong reasons.
  Written and directed by Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul (try saying that quickly 5 times over), Uncle Boonmee, terminally ill, has returned to his village to die and has brought with him  a nephew and his sister-in-law to take care of his needs.  
  I knew we were in trouble when the film opens with a shot of a water buffalo tied to a tree in the forest at night that seems to go on for minutes before the animal manages to free itself and takes off into the woods followed close behind by someone chasing it.  Little did I realize at the time that the buffalo may have been Uncle Boonmee in a previous (or future) life.  
  The scene then shifts to the dinner table where Uncle Boonmee is visited by the spirit of his dead wife, very matter-of-fact like, who sits there smiling while Boonmee enquires about how things are going in the afterlife.  Then Boonmee's long missing son makes an appearance wearing what looks like a King Kong halloween outfit from a Party Inc. store.  He tells his dad that all is well with him and that he found true love in the jungle...with a monkey.  Ah, l'amour, toujours...toujours, l'amour.
  Not much else happens in the film although my favorite moment occurs when Boonmee in a previous life as a catfish is shown fucking a princess who is floating in the water near a beautiful waterfall.  I kid you not.
At this point I turned to my sister and blurted out "O-M-G".  Only moments before, I had almost
yelled, "B-O-R-I-N-G," but I was afraid sis would punch me out if I had (remembering how pissed she was the last time my cellphone rang while we were watching a performance of ANGELS IN AMERICA).  
  Not that my sister was enthralled by what she was watching.  When I wasn't yawning and close to dozing off, she was.  You could hear a pin drop in the crowded theatre.  Either everyone else had dozed off or was stunned by the visual beauty of the film.  I was stunned alright but for all the wrong reasons.
  UNCLE BOONMEE was awarded the Palme D'or at last year's Cannes Film Festival.  Tim Burton was the jury chairman and all I can say is that I wish I had smoked whatever Burton inhaled before he saw the film so I could have enjoyed it half as much as he did.  
  At the film's (merciful) conclusion,  the audience politely applauded while my sister and I raced into the lobby to see if we could get our money back.  Alas, no luck.  When I got home, I goggled the film to read some print reviews and I was astounded to find them mostly glowing and favorable.
Had I seen a different film?  Am I that jaded and cynical that I couldn't open up and embrace this quiet, lovely metaphysical story about life, death and reincarnation.
  The answer, I guess, is YES.  I can't recall being so bored by a film and soooooooo unmoved.
But that's why, I guess, that Baskin-Robbins makes over 31 different flavors of ice cream.  Something for everyone.  Here is a film that has won major international awards since it was first screened at Cannes last May and I just don't get it.  
  See it at your own risk. 
  

WHEN YOU'RE WRONG...ADMIT IT

    In my last blog about new film openings, I mentioned THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU and how I planned on passing it up despite a couple glowing reviews in the NY Times and the Washington Post.
I also mentioned that David Denby in The New Yorker didn't care for it and called it a 'downer'.
Well, I saw it and Denby is wrong.  With terrific performances by Matt Damon and Emily Blount who have great chemistry between them and a terrific supporting cast led by Terrence Stamp, the film is both suspenseful and romantic.  It was the perfect film to see on a wet and dreary day in DC town and I recommend it to one and all.
    I also mentioned another film (still playing first run), BARNEY'S VERSION, and said I just couldn't get it up to see it, primarily because Paul Giamatti was playing a romantic lead.  Well, although I did have a slight problem accepting the scenario that 3 beautiful women would fall in love with Giamatti's character, he is so good - brilliant, in fact - that I got over my reservations and loved the film.  He deserved the Golden Globe he won for best actor (comedy/musical) and should have gotten a Oscar nom for best actor as well.  His performance will remain in my memory bank a helluva lot longer than Jeff Bridges' in TRUE GRIT (alright, alright, so I didn't see Bridges' film but I saw the trailer).
   Although BARNEY'S VERSION was released last year, I didn't see it until last week so it will go on my 2011 top films list when I compile it next January along with the Spanish language film I just saw, EVEN THE RAIN.
   So please accept my apologies for leading you astray by suggesting THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU and BARNEY'S VERSION aren't worth viewing.  I was dead wrong.
   Have a nice day.

POST OSCARS AND THIS 'N' THAT

A FEW SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO IMPROVE THE OSCARS
______________________________________________________
1.  BRING BACK BILLY CRYSTAL AS  MASTER OF CEREMONIES

    The Oscars' show hasn't been funny since Billy Crystal was M.C.  James Russo and Anne Hathaway are nice to look at but they're not funny, period.  Last year Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin had a moment or two, but the rest of the time...they weren't funny, period.  Demographics be damned, ratings for the Oscars are dependent on the popularity of the movies and actors nominated. None of the actors nominated this year were marquee names.
And the most popular movie of the year (at the box office) was a family oriented film, TOY STORY 3, and most of audience who may have been rooting for it to take home the Oscar for best film had gone to sleep long before  that Oscar was announced.  Kids would have to wait unil morning recess to find out if their favorite pic won.

2.  RETURN TO HAVING ONLY 5 FILMS UP FOR BEST PICTURE

    10 nominated films?  Bad idea.  Stupid.  Whoever came up with it should have his Academy membership cancelled and be forced to sit thru THE  BLIND SIDE at least half a dozen times without any intermission.
If you have to have a category with more than 5 films nominated, how 'bout best foreign film and/or best documentary.  I can think of at least 3 other foreign films that were worthy of 'best' nominations and several documentaries (think JOAN RIVERS: A WORK OF ART) that missed being on the short list.

3.  GIVE OUT THE OSCARS FOR ALL MINOR CATEGORIES BEFORE THE TELECAST AND HAVE ONE PRESENTER ANNOUNCE (QUICKLY) THE WINNERS DURING THE TELECAST.
THESE WOULD INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES:  COSTUME DESIGN, DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT; MAKE-UP, ORIGINAL SONG, LIVE ACTION SHORT, SOUND EDITING, SOUND MIXING AND VISUAL EFFECTS.  THIS WOULD LEAVE 15 OSCARS TO BE PRESENTED DURING THE ACTUAL TELECAST AND REDUCE THE LENGTH F THE SHOW BY AT LEAST ONE HOUR.

4.  HAVE ONE BIG MUSICAL PRODUCTION NUMBER WITH DRAG QUEENS IMPERSONATING BIGGER THAN LIFE STARS LIKE BETTE DAVIS, JOAN CRAWFORD, SUSAN HAYWARD, JUDY GARLAND, GLORIA SWANSON, GRETA  GARBO, VIVIEN LEIGH,
ELIZABETH TAYLOR (I know, I know...she's still alive).  YOU GET MY DRIFT.
and
5.  MOVE UP THE DATE OF THE OSCAR TELECAST TO MID-JANUARY SO THEY CAN COMPLETE WITH OTHER AWARD SHOWS LIKE THE GOLDEN GLOBES, SAG AND OTHER GUILDS IN THE FILM INDUSTRY.  LET ACADEMY MEMBERS VOTE ONLINE SOON AFTER THE NOMINATIONS ARE ANNOUNCED NO LATER THAN JANUARY 15.  BY THE TIME THE  OSCARS ARE GIVEN OUT (late Feb), EVERY OTHER AWARDS SHOW HAS BEEN TELECAST MAKING THE OSCARS ANTICLIMATIC AND WORST, PREDICTABLE AND BORING.

OTHER THINGS ON MY MIND
____________________________

1.  GET FUCKING CHARLIE SHEEN OUT OF MY FACE.  I CANT TURN ON  MY TV WITHOUT SEEING THIS JERK ON EVERY MAJOR NETWORK'S MORNING, AFTERNOON AND EVENING NEWS BROADCASTS, NOT TO MENTION THE LIKES OF ET, ACCESS HOLLYWOOD, 20/20 AND DATELINE NBC.  IN 9 SEASONS OF HIS LAME SITCOM, I HAVE SEEN MAYBE A TOTAL OF 10 MINUTES.  AND WHAT LITTLE I SAW WASN'T THE SLIGHTEST BIT FUNNY.  JON PRYOR LOOKS PUFFY AND DEPRESSED AND WHO IS THAT LITTLE FAT FUCK OF A KID PLAYING THEIR NEPHEW?  THE NATIONAL MEDIA SHOULD BE ASHAMED FOR GIVING SHEEN SO MUCH OF A PLATFORM AND THE VIEWING PUBLIC SHOULD BE CHASTISED FOR WATCHING HIM.   JESUS.  ENOUGH ALREADY.

2.  GET THAT FUCKING HYPOCRITE NEWT GINGRICH OUT OF MY FACE.  THIS IS THE SAME MAN WHO WHILE LEADING THE CHARGE TO IMPEACH  BILL CLINTON FOR GETTING BLOWN IN THE PRIVACY OF HIS OFFICE, WAS, IN FACT, HAVING AN ILLICIT AFFAIR WHILE MARRIED TO HIS SECOND WIFE.  HE DIVORCED HIS FIRST WIFE WHILE SHE WAS RECOVERING FROM CANCER SURGERY AND VISITED HER IN THE HOSPITAL TO DISCUSS THE TERMS OF THEIR DIVORCE.  GINGRICH SUBSEQUENTLY CONVERTED TO CATHOLICISM AFTER MARRYING HIS 3RD WIFE.

3.  EXPLAIN TO ALL THOSE REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMEN WHO VOTED TO ELIMINATE FUNDS FOR PLANNED PARENTHOOD THAT BY DOING SO, THE NUMBER OF ABORTIONS WILL DRAMATICALLY INCREASE AS A RESULT.  TRY AND REASON WITH THEM AND WHEN THAT FAILS, SHOUT AT THE TOP OF YOUR LUNGS, "GO FUCK YOURSELVES INTO OBLIVION".

HAVE A NICE DAY

ANOTHER FRIDAY OPENING...AND NOT A FILM TO SEE

  Another slate of new films opening today and not a single one holds any interest that would compel me to race out my front door and bike to my nearest multiplex and throw down $9 (senior citizen rates, thank you very much) to see one.
  Starting with RANGO, starring the 'voice' of Johnny Depp, in yet another new animated film, this one about a chameleon who has to fend for himself in the Mojave desert and finds himself in a old west town called 'Dirt' inhabited by various desert creatures and becomes a sheriff/hero a la 'High Noon'.  Westerns have never been a favorite genre of mine and making one in an animated film interests me even less.  I lost that child like wonder for animation when I crossed the half century mark in years.  Sorry.
  Another new film opening today is THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU which (apparently) has been sitting on the shelf for some time now.  Beware ye of movies collecting dust while waiting for a distributor or better time slot in which to open.  Still, the Washington Post gave it 3-1/2 stars out of 4, a rarity indeed and headlined "When 'Blade Runner' Meets Alfred Hitchcock".  The desk editor who dreamed up this cap might be accused of overstatement and Ms. Ann Hornaday who wrote the review probably cringed when she saw it.  I presume David Denby of The New Yorker saw the same cut.  He called the film, "flimsy" and in the end, "a downer".  Never a big fan of the writer, Philip K. Dick, who wrote the story that the fiilm is adapted from, I think I'll pass.
  Moving right along, we have TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT, which according to reviews, is a throwback to 80s nostalgia.  I don't recall having recently experienced any feelings of nostalgia for this decade so I will refrain from throwing down $9 (remember, senior citizen rates) to see this piece of shit.  Furthermore, I refuse to see any film starring an actor with the name of Topher Grace.
Just what kind of name is TOPHER???  Not tonight...or any other night.
  For foreign film fans (moi), there is A SOMEWHAT GENTLE MAN. I do prefer original language with English subtitles though I must admit a certain aversion to all of the Scandanavian languages...they just sound so weird.  Just try watching any Bergman film, great as they are, and keep a straight face.  This new film from Norway is about a recently paroled career criminal with a paunchy belly and receding hairline and ponytail who apparently gets more pussy than Brad Pitt ever did in his early films.  Being gay, I think I'll pass on this one.
  Back to English language films, there's THE GRACE CARD which sports an evangelical message and has been called by at least one critic as "inspirational" and "uplifting".  That's enough to scare this agnostic off.  But if you're a believer, be my guest.
  Last, but certainly not least, is the new documentary, THE LAST LIONS.  I remember fondly all of the Disney documentaries from the 50s about the wilds of Africa,  lions and tigers and bears (oh my), The Living Desert, etc., but having just watched on  cable tv a National Geographic doc about lions and tigers and  leopards and how they care for their cubs, I cant imagine what this new film has to offer that I haven't seen before.
  Still in release is BARNEY'S VERSION, starring one of  my fav actors, Paul Giamatti, but I just cant seem to get it up to pluck down $9 to see it.  There's also CEDAR RAPIDS that the NY Times' A.O. Scott (just what does A.O. stand for?) called "a tender and raunchy comedy of self discovery."  Tender and raunchy?  Spare me.
  I'd go see KABOOM by gay filmmaker Greg Araki, but if I want to see some erotic foreplay on screen, I can always throw one of my porn flicks in the DVD player and...(OMG TMI).
  Fret not.  There's still a few more days of 31 DAYS OF OSCAR  left on TCM.
  And there's always next Friday.