Someone's At The Door

To be honest, I kind of forgot about this blog. I've been quite busy doing a whole lot of nothing and so I've been unable to contribute to what should be my life's purpose. Also, there hasn't been anything that intriguing to me as of late. Awards season was a snoozer, the Academy seriously needs to give Tarantino his due but never will, though, I am extremely pleased with both Christophe Waltz and Jeff Bridges winning. Other than that the only thing I have been intending on writing about is Harry Dean Stanton and how f'ing cool he is. That was until last week when I discovered what has become my favorite show of all time, American Gothic. No one remembers this show because it aired for one season in 1995 on CBS, and CBS being CBS destroyed it seemingly on purpose. The Sam Raimi produced/Shaun Cassidy created horror series takes place in a small South Carolina town called Trinity where a demonic Sheriff rules with no conscious and a wicked sense of justice while trying to get custody of his 10 yr old son who he wants to raise in his image. With an ensemble cast of relative unknowns (with the exception of Gary Cole who is kick ass in his role as the evil Sheriff) and a cliched but captivating intricate plot, the show was an unfortunate casualty of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Had the show aired today on a cable network such as HBO, it would be a huge hit ala True Blood. The characters are tremendously engaging (particularly the 10 year old boy who the show revolves around) and the story line's arc inescapably alluring. CBS drove it into the ground by not only pulling the show off for weeks at a time, but also airing episodes out of order. I have decided that CBS stinks. I also suggest that you take a look at this devilishly charming series, but in episodic order.

I'll Never Have That Recipe Again, Oh No

Helllllloooooooooo!!!!!!!

My it's been a while. Now that there's no hope of anyone reading this blog I figure it'll be nice to start fresh. And by fresh I mean jump right back into writing various incoherent cinema nonsense. And what shall my return post be? I could go with the obvious, considering it's February and Oscar nominations were recently announced, but Hell, let's face it, this year's Oscar race is slightly more interesting than a typical day in the life of my Grandmother, who never leaves her house. Scratch that, my Grandmother's day is way more interesting since it always ends with 3 Manhattans, at least. No, I will not be addressing this year's lame attempt at an awards season (Okay, Jeff Bridges and Christoph Waltz are the two bright shining stars that I am clinging to). I'm gonna dish about one of my favorite Crazies, Richard Harris. I was recently watching the last Harry Potter film (hey, I have younger brothers and that is what we do with our time besides playing the ukulele or Left4Dead 2) and I was thinking how much I miss Richard Harris as that Old Wizard Man and how much the newer Old Wizard Man will never touch my heart the way Harris did, kinda like how the second Darren wasn't terrible but could never live up to the first. I also started reading the book Hellraisers, which is a collection of stories about Harris, Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole and Oliver Reed and their saucy ways. I was raised to like Harris and O'Toole purely based on their Irishness. But as I got older I became a fan on my own because of their damn fine acting. And I mean DAMN FINE ACTING. And while nowadays Harris' later work (i.e. Potter, Gladiator, Patriot Games and Unforgiven) may be well known, his earlier work is not. That's where I come in.


This Sporting Life (1963)
This was his breakthrough role. As a teen, Harris was a rugby player but had to stop due to catching Tuberculosis

Il Desserto Rosso (1964)
Some people love it, some don't. I like it.

Major Dundee (1965)
Peckinpah + Harris + Heston = Kick Ass

The Bible: The Beginning (1966)
It's John Huston so you have to see it.

Hawaii (1966)
Where else are you gonna get Harris, Max von Sydow, Julie Andrews, Gene Hackman AND a non-speaking Bette Midler? No where.

The Molly Maguires (1970)
Maybe it's an Irish thing.

A Man Called Horse (1970)
Cultier than Harry Potter.

Orca (1977)
It's so stupid but Bo Derek is in it! But sans cornrows.

The Wild Geese (1978)
Three wild and crazy kinda guys hanging in Africa


On top of all this he sang MacArthur Park too.

Can Anyone Tell Me What Christmas Is All About?!?

I realize that my sarcastic nature sometimes misleads people as to the type of person I really am. That's totally on purpose. It's entirely unnecessary for anyone except those closest to me to know me. But 'tis the season and I feel compelled to express that I love Christmas not only because of presents and garland and hot cocoa and Home Alone, but also because it is the birthday of the son of God. And since I believe in God and the power of Mary and that Jesus was the Savior, Christmas means more to me than the money I get, though that is pretty cool too. It's sad that Christmas is so blown out of proportion, hella fun, but sad. Whenever I see Xmas I cringe. I get that JC wasn't born in December, I also get that Christmas derives from Winter Solstice. But since I was born and a long time before that, Christmas has represented the birth of Christ and that's what I'm sticking with. I'm not a religious person, I don't believe in attending Church every Sunday to prove your faith. I also don't believe in disrespecting the tradition. What I guess I'm getting at is that in this current world (especially in New York) where rejecting the possibility of the existence of something greater is synonymous with intellect, I'm really appreciative that I am not one of those people and while I don't pretend to know what's true for anyone else, I know what's true for myself. And what I know is what Christmas is really about. Take it Linus...

If He Only Had The Fame

Both Gone With The Wind and The Wizard Of Oz turned 70 this year. Both anniversaries were well publicized. What was not well publicized is that both films were directed by the same person, Victor Fleming. Okay, it could have been well publicized. I wouldn't know since I don't pay attention, but I know generally people don't know/realize this. Yes, he was a director for hire for both films to replace canned directors, came in halfway to GWTW and had virtually no control over either one. I don't care if all he did was stand on the set with an ear piece repeating what David O Selznick screamed into a microphone from his bed in the Hills, if you've ever been a part of a film production you will know that doing ANYTHING involved in the making of a film is difficult, let alone for all intents and purposes being the director. The man smoothed over two what seemed to be irrevocably doomed productions and transitioned both into two of the greatest movies ever made IN THE SAME FREAKING YEAR. Wrap your brains around that. Both of these movies had such a huge impact on cinema that not only is 1939 considered the greatest year of filmmaking, but 70 years later both are still revered and celebrated as much as when they were first released, if not more. I can't even balance my check book. Fleming was never really appreciated as a film director and only in recent years has started to gain the attention he deserves. A number of his films like Red Dust, Treasure Island and Joan of Arc are classics. Of course none of his films are as renowned as GWTW and Oz, but then again, no one even knows who Victor Fleming is anyway. For Shame.


The Lollipop Guild is more famous than Victor Fleming



Oh My God I Love This Movie

I Don't Want To Scare The Dickens Out Of People...The DICKENS Out Of People! Nobody Gets Me

I am a Christmas junkie. As soon as Thanksgiving rolls around I hop on Jesus' Birthday Bandwagon. I am actually pretty into my faith and believe in JC and all that, but let's face it, Christmas isn't reallly about the birth of our Lord and Savior. It's about movies and TV shows!!! I will be going to Hell in a handbasket. Anyhoo, I usually compile a mental list of each movie and show I have to watch before the season ends. I always miss a few and then I spend all day December 26th chastising myself for being so neglectful. I then promise myself that next year will be different, I won't let myself down by living my life and being active and social, but that I will hunker down and do what we're meant to do during the Holidays, sit on the couch with hot cocoa and watch our boob tubes. I have to say this year I am off to a great start. A great start! Thanksgiving weekend afforded me the time to hang with my family and catch a number of movies, also Rudolph. As I write this, Christmas Vacation is on making it the second time I'm watching it in a week. A solid beginning I'd say. By the end of the month, I should have tackled every movie on the list below, including the endless number of Lifetime and ABC Family holiday movies that are just awful but like a car crash, you just have to watch. Except for Single Santa with Steve Guttenberg, that's just a damn fine film. I can't spend anymore time on this post, I have a lot of work to do. Merry Christmas!

My Christmas List (in no particular order, It's A Wonderful Life is not on this list because I hate it. Yeah, I said it. It AIN'T A Wonderful Life!)

Home Alone
Rudolph The Rednose Reindeer
Die Hard
Elf
How The Grinch Stole Christmas (the cartoon)
NL's Christmas Vacation
Scrooged
The Muppet Christmas Carol
Santa Claus: The Movie
Jingle All The Way (only for my bro's Arnold impersonation...Jaime! Get your mudda!)
Frosty the Snowman
White Christmas
Black Christmas
A Charlie Brown Christmas
The Santa Clause 2
A Christmas Story
The Family Stone
Mickey's Christmas Carol
March of the Wooden Soldiers
Gremlins

George C Scott aint got nothin on Michael Caine

Worry, Why Do I Let Myself Worry?

I recently mentioned how I adore Jeff Bridges. If you've seen The Big Lebowski you can understand why. While that is certainly his most noteworthy role, I find him most appealing and sexiest in The Fabulous Baker Boys. His cool and aloof approach to acting is just the thing to pull in a cinefemme. His talents are varied and always on point, just watch the difference between The Fisher King and The Mirror Has Two Faces. The man can do anything, and with a face and physique like his, I would let him. But onto why I started this post. His new film, Crazy Heart, stirs many emotions in me that I can't quite filter through. The thing is, I'm not sure how I am going to react to this film. I usually can read a synopsis or see a trailer and at least roughly estimate where my opinion will fall. This one, however, has me stumped which is actually great cause I'm really excited to see it but torturing because I must resolve these mixed up emotions. Like I said, I love the Bridges. On the other hand, Saggie Gyllenhaal also stars and while I think her a fine actress, one of the best of her age group, I just don't enjoy her which may unbalance my affection for Jeff. BUT, Robert Duvall is a producer of the film (along with Bridges) and also a co-star which greatly increases the odds of me digging the film since I think he is the cat's pajamas. And yet, I saw Tender Merices which starred Duvall and won some Oscars and Crazy Heart seems very similar and may incite a been there, done that feeling (I won't even explore the similarities to The Wrestler). I'm just so unsure! I'm so confused! I must tame my own crazy heart (get it?!?!?) until the film's release.

Maybe Now We'll Finally Get A Third "Any Which Way" Movie!

Though the French are French and by that I mean annoying, at least they appreciate Clint Eastwood. His status as a knight in the Legion of Honor was promoted to Commander this past week. I can see Clint now sitting in the back of a dimly lit cafe dressed all in black with a scarf around his neck, smoking Gauloises and with lips pursed saying "My ass is twitching, you people make my ass twitch". Wait, no, I see myself doing that, not Clint.

Who doesn't love this man.