1) Oscars. Long. Mostly boring. Short acceptance speeches, thankfully. The few little surprises along the way didn't add up to any huge surprise a la Crash, but the biggest of the little was definitely Tilda Swinton. I assume that it was a tight race and she slipped through between Ruby Dee and Cate Blanchett.
Interminable clip shows, but what I minded most were the dreadfully bland musical numbers. That was some fairly lackluster choreography and costuming.
2) Raisin in the Sun was very good (I didn't quite catch all of it), though I wish that the camerawork had been a tad more creative. I know, confined space, TV movie budget. Wonderful cast. I'd like to see Sean Combs do more in the future with his vocal inflection, but his timing and emotion are definitely in place. I look forward to seeing what he does next. And yes, to the hilariously enraged John Stamos fan who posted below and all others out there, he was very good indeed. There are many ways to play that little role, but I liked the idea of making him oily and quietly offensive rather than a pompous old man.
The best for me was Audra MacDonald, whose intensity and suppressed rage and hurt just can't be beat, even when it's channeled through the soapy Private Practice.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
TV alert: Uncle Jesse?!
Post-Oscar comments another time, I hope, but tonight is the TV movie Raisin in the Sun, one of the most depressing plays ever written, about an aspiring African American family limited by poverty and discrimination. It stars Diddy, who I'm told is quite good, as well as the stalwart Phylicia Rashad, Audra MacDonald, and David Oyelowo. And... John Stamos. I thought I had gone temporarily blind from my new eyeglasses, but no, he's in it, as the president of the local homeowner's association. Good for him, I guess, but I think the cognitive dissonance of seeing Uncle Jesse in a Lorraine Hansberry play is going to make my head explode.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
24-hour watch
A few quick Oscar predictions:
1) Jon Stewart will look less nervous than he did two years ago.
2) Best Actor: This is the closest to a shoe-in, if you ask me or just about anybody. What is it with all the bouquets for Day-Lewis this time? Has he just reached that age where as a British Actor he qualifies for worship? A few years ago, with Bill the Butcher in Gangs of New York, he was viewed as kind of crazy. Maybe it was just the character, but there were also all these rumors about how he was found making shoes in Florence or something (which he actually did take up for a few months, apparently). This character is not less frightening, but the movie's being better received, and so is the man himself after his quite dignified Heath Ledger tribute at the SAG awards. I think it's in the (gift) bag.
3) Best Actress: You know, I just don't know enough about the Academy to call this one. Kind of like two years ago when it surfaced afterwards that power players and academy voters had been making all kinds of homophobic remarks about Brokeback Mountain. So much for liberal, open-minded Hollywood. Anyway, here it's probably veteran Julie Christie, fresh face Ellen Page, or lovely foreigner Marion Cotillard. I'm inclined to say Christie, but I'm really not sure. I really thought Ellen Page's nomination was her award, but I hear that there's buzz for her...
4) Best Picture: Eh... No Country, probably, though I'm going to wait to call it as the night goes on. Again, referring back to the Crash surprise, I thought I could see that one coming because awards were peeling off and going in scattered directions all night (Memoirs of a Geisha picked up three Oscars. Three. That's as many as Brokeback).
5) Ryan Seacrest will be everywhere.
6) Not seeing any love or opportunity for Atonement, unless it's for Best Cinematography for the Big Tracking Shot. I'm sure its stars will be presenting something or other. I sure hope it doesn't win Best Score. It wouldn't kill me if it won Best Costume Design, though I am a little tired of the media going on about Keira Knightley's green dress. It was a beautiful dress, yes, move on.
7) Poor Joe Wright didn't get nominated for Best Director, either. I'll go with the Coen brothers here.
That's enough. Not feeling a ton of energy for these awards, though as always, I look forward to Stewart. And pretty dresses. Let us hope that the Heath Ledger mentions are few, short, and tasteful.
1) Jon Stewart will look less nervous than he did two years ago.
2) Best Actor: This is the closest to a shoe-in, if you ask me or just about anybody. What is it with all the bouquets for Day-Lewis this time? Has he just reached that age where as a British Actor he qualifies for worship? A few years ago, with Bill the Butcher in Gangs of New York, he was viewed as kind of crazy. Maybe it was just the character, but there were also all these rumors about how he was found making shoes in Florence or something (which he actually did take up for a few months, apparently). This character is not less frightening, but the movie's being better received, and so is the man himself after his quite dignified Heath Ledger tribute at the SAG awards. I think it's in the (gift) bag.
3) Best Actress: You know, I just don't know enough about the Academy to call this one. Kind of like two years ago when it surfaced afterwards that power players and academy voters had been making all kinds of homophobic remarks about Brokeback Mountain. So much for liberal, open-minded Hollywood. Anyway, here it's probably veteran Julie Christie, fresh face Ellen Page, or lovely foreigner Marion Cotillard. I'm inclined to say Christie, but I'm really not sure. I really thought Ellen Page's nomination was her award, but I hear that there's buzz for her...
4) Best Picture: Eh... No Country, probably, though I'm going to wait to call it as the night goes on. Again, referring back to the Crash surprise, I thought I could see that one coming because awards were peeling off and going in scattered directions all night (Memoirs of a Geisha picked up three Oscars. Three. That's as many as Brokeback).
5) Ryan Seacrest will be everywhere.
6) Not seeing any love or opportunity for Atonement, unless it's for Best Cinematography for the Big Tracking Shot. I'm sure its stars will be presenting something or other. I sure hope it doesn't win Best Score. It wouldn't kill me if it won Best Costume Design, though I am a little tired of the media going on about Keira Knightley's green dress. It was a beautiful dress, yes, move on.
7) Poor Joe Wright didn't get nominated for Best Director, either. I'll go with the Coen brothers here.
That's enough. Not feeling a ton of energy for these awards, though as always, I look forward to Stewart. And pretty dresses. Let us hope that the Heath Ledger mentions are few, short, and tasteful.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Birth of a series
My friend pointed me towards a new Victorian-era mystery series by Deanna Raybourn, featuring two sleuths -- one a newly widowed lady from an eccentric titled family, and the other a gentlemanly but taciturn sleuth with a mysterious past. Sounds unoriginal, but very well written, and with actual character development. Great treadmill reading. Two are out already, and hopefully it will be a long series.
Monday, February 18, 2008
The Cats of Mirikitani
A strategic title, as the director admitted, to bring in the cat lovers -- of which she is one herself, and connecting about cats was the origin of this really great documentary.
I saw it downtown at a commemoration of the signing of Executive Order 9066, which cleared the way for the Japanese American internment. One of those internees was hapless young Jimmy Mirikitani, who was born in Sacramento, was taken back to Hiroshima as a child, and came back to America at the age of 18 to elude military service in Japan. Talk about not catching a break; Jimmy was interned at Tule Lake (the worst of the camps, where the "disloyals" were segregated), separated from his sister who he never found again after the war. He renounced his citizenship, like so many at Tule Lake. Most of his mother's family was killed in the atomic bomb drop.
Jimmy seems to have drifted after internment. He went to work at Seabrook Farms in NJ, like a lot of post-internees, and then drove for a rich man in NYC, cooked for Jackson Pollock in East Hampton for a while... Eventually, he was living on the street in Soho and surviving as an artist. Quite a remarkable one, as you'll see by this little sample. He started drawing cats in the internment camp for a young boy who liked cats. That boy died there and was buried in the desert.
After 9/11, the director Linda took eighty-year-old Jimmy into her apartment, and together they changed his life. I won't spoil it for you. It's really a great little film with many different plot arcs. Jimmy himself is a fantastic character, with trenchant criticism of the government, a sly sense of humor, and an unbelievable, almost completely untrained artistic gift. I'll warn you that it's quite weepy along the way, and I have a couple of critiques of the ending, but run, don't walk to see it. You can buy the DVD from the official website, wait for PBS to show it again, or go see it in Manhattan right now, where it's showing at a theater downtown.
I saw it downtown at a commemoration of the signing of Executive Order 9066, which cleared the way for the Japanese American internment. One of those internees was hapless young Jimmy Mirikitani, who was born in Sacramento, was taken back to Hiroshima as a child, and came back to America at the age of 18 to elude military service in Japan. Talk about not catching a break; Jimmy was interned at Tule Lake (the worst of the camps, where the "disloyals" were segregated), separated from his sister who he never found again after the war. He renounced his citizenship, like so many at Tule Lake. Most of his mother's family was killed in the atomic bomb drop.
Jimmy seems to have drifted after internment. He went to work at Seabrook Farms in NJ, like a lot of post-internees, and then drove for a rich man in NYC, cooked for Jackson Pollock in East Hampton for a while... Eventually, he was living on the street in Soho and surviving as an artist. Quite a remarkable one, as you'll see by this little sample. He started drawing cats in the internment camp for a young boy who liked cats. That boy died there and was buried in the desert.After 9/11, the director Linda took eighty-year-old Jimmy into her apartment, and together they changed his life. I won't spoil it for you. It's really a great little film with many different plot arcs. Jimmy himself is a fantastic character, with trenchant criticism of the government, a sly sense of humor, and an unbelievable, almost completely untrained artistic gift. I'll warn you that it's quite weepy along the way, and I have a couple of critiques of the ending, but run, don't walk to see it. You can buy the DVD from the official website, wait for PBS to show it again, or go see it in Manhattan right now, where it's showing at a theater downtown.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Hairspray
I did see Hairspray when it came out, with a couple of friends, and we all enjoyed it. Colorful, bouncy, upbeat, lots of fantastic dancing. I Netflixed it and found myself mentally cutting bits here and there, shortening numbers, making it a little darker here and there. Like most reviewers, I would certainly have cut down the numbers featuring the adults, because the kids are so sharp and energetic. Christopher Walken and John Travolta do a cute duet together, but there are two fantasy sequences spliced in, one tango-ish and one tux and evening dress. I would have cut the tango and severely shortened the Astaire. I would also have cut the fantasy sequence from Michelle Pfeiffer's first number, which does nothing but show off her legs. Incidentally, Pfeiffer is quite good, but for me probably the weakest of the whole cast -- which is not a harsh thing to say, as they're all so good.
Second time around, I also don't know how I feel about John Travolta playing the mom. The character is traditionally a drag character, but on film, as Travolta astutely noted, you have to play it more straight or it's just ridiculous. In that case, what's really the point of having a man at all? Just to gawk at Travolta playing a woman? It becomes a distracting novelty focused on star power instead of a wink-wink campy Harvey Fierstein.
A very enjoyable musical, with plenty to think about between its theme of racial integration/ tolerance for all body types, and its send-up of the sixties. A special shout-out to James Marsden, who is just so super-committed to his character, the aptly named Corny Collins. In one group number, there's a throwaway shot of him with his arms out like an airplane, grooving to the music, and it's lol funny.
Second time around, I also don't know how I feel about John Travolta playing the mom. The character is traditionally a drag character, but on film, as Travolta astutely noted, you have to play it more straight or it's just ridiculous. In that case, what's really the point of having a man at all? Just to gawk at Travolta playing a woman? It becomes a distracting novelty focused on star power instead of a wink-wink campy Harvey Fierstein.
A very enjoyable musical, with plenty to think about between its theme of racial integration/ tolerance for all body types, and its send-up of the sixties. A special shout-out to James Marsden, who is just so super-committed to his character, the aptly named Corny Collins. In one group number, there's a throwaway shot of him with his arms out like an airplane, grooving to the music, and it's lol funny.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
To the TV stars
I've been reading like a maniac for my latest dissertation chapter, and I don't usually post about what I read for 'work' on here. But I found myself reading something that required some considerable explanation when a friend found me reading in a spare moment: George Takei's autobiography, To the Stars. There's a picture of him on the cover, looking off into space. I don't know how recognizable he is, but between the uniform he's wearing and the fact that the bottom of the cover says "Star Trek's Mr. Sulu," I think people get the general idea.
Why was I reading it? Well, not for the seemingly obvious reason; I have seen exactly one Star Trek (The Original Series) episode in my life. Takei, being a Japanese American of a certain age, lived through the unconstitutional, racist, and generally shameful internment during WWII. As a matter of fact, because his parents answered 'no-no' to the double questions of serving in the military and swearing a loyalty oath to the very government that was quarantining them, the Takeis were sent to Tule Lake, where all the rebels and 'no-nos' were segregated. I'm working on memoirs of the internment right now.
The book was very useful from this point of view, because the internment is almost Takei's first memory. He was four when they went to the camps, seven when they came out. He also talks about living in a mostly Mexican American area afterwards, and then his early days as an actor, moving from bit part to bit part. I didn't even know that he was in some fairly major films like John Wayne's Green Berets and Ice Palace with Richard Burton. Nor did I know much about his political work in more recent years.
And yes, there's Star Trek. It's not a pretty account. He constantly had to lobby to advance Sulu and his salary, and he clearly detested Shatner and his huge ego. From what he recounts, so did many of his fellow actors, who Takei loved very much. The little snubs and credit-grabs that he remembers are sad--I understand his resentment, of course, but it comes across as a little sad, too. Takei seems particularly respectful of Leonard Nimoy's acting skills, which might be odd to people who have only seen him as Spock. It certainly is to me!
A surprisingly good read in an unexpected place. Oh, and in case you were wondering, no mention of his sexuality at all; there's a little smokescreening when he mentions kissing one of his female castmates in an early play. It's a long journey from there to this.
Why was I reading it? Well, not for the seemingly obvious reason; I have seen exactly one Star Trek (The Original Series) episode in my life. Takei, being a Japanese American of a certain age, lived through the unconstitutional, racist, and generally shameful internment during WWII. As a matter of fact, because his parents answered 'no-no' to the double questions of serving in the military and swearing a loyalty oath to the very government that was quarantining them, the Takeis were sent to Tule Lake, where all the rebels and 'no-nos' were segregated. I'm working on memoirs of the internment right now.
The book was very useful from this point of view, because the internment is almost Takei's first memory. He was four when they went to the camps, seven when they came out. He also talks about living in a mostly Mexican American area afterwards, and then his early days as an actor, moving from bit part to bit part. I didn't even know that he was in some fairly major films like John Wayne's Green Berets and Ice Palace with Richard Burton. Nor did I know much about his political work in more recent years.
And yes, there's Star Trek. It's not a pretty account. He constantly had to lobby to advance Sulu and his salary, and he clearly detested Shatner and his huge ego. From what he recounts, so did many of his fellow actors, who Takei loved very much. The little snubs and credit-grabs that he remembers are sad--I understand his resentment, of course, but it comes across as a little sad, too. Takei seems particularly respectful of Leonard Nimoy's acting skills, which might be odd to people who have only seen him as Spock. It certainly is to me!
A surprisingly good read in an unexpected place. Oh, and in case you were wondering, no mention of his sexuality at all; there's a little smokescreening when he mentions kissing one of his female castmates in an early play. It's a long journey from there to this.
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