sometimes there's nothing to watch. photo by william gedney
Sunday, January 30, 2011
what's not to love?
“Life is full of melancholy times. These things come, but luckily they go away…otherwise we’d jump in the East River, and it’s so filthy.”- Greta Garbo
no one comes close. i adore garbo. her beauty has such grace, her eyes communicate volumes. most likely her music would turn angels tears into tinkerbelle wings that would drop like old shoes into an endless moonlit sea.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
top of the pops
the 2010 masterpiece theatre drama 'downton abbey' is fabulous. every character is interesting. the actors rule. maggie smith is as excellent as ever.
aristocracy and their troubles co-exist with servants and their loyalty. this small screen treasure is sumptuous on the eyes and full of enough wickedness to keep you wishing for the good souls both upstairs and downstairs.
one of the highlights is discovering the actress michelle dockery. i have read that she played the part of 'eliza doolittle' (from 'pygmalion') on the british stage. if dame wendy hiller had not already owed that role in my heart i would take a moment to imagine just how good michelle might have been.
i recommend this.
images: the amazing cast of 'downton abbey'/michelle dockery/the three sisters of the saga
missed opportunity
leo missed his shot at stepping into one of elvis's jumpsuits. the guy surely had the hair.
partners in crime
alrighty then, let's get started. british actor andrew garfield has an impeccable american accent in 'the social network.' social is a very key word here. not only did 'facebook' founder mark zuckerberg wish to unite a large group of people, but it took a small group of people to really make this grow. his close buddy, played by garfield, was truly winning.
dropping the 'the'
jesse eisenberg has 22 screen credits and convincingly plays a rookie. i have only seen him in 'the social network' (a few times) so i can but imagine this actor in other films. i trust he will not go on to only play the awkward and misunderstood, though sincere, person from now on. he could easily win our favor should he do so.
everyone knows how big 'facebook' is. what i now know is just how terrific the film version of its rise to world domination is. all the actors are swell and considering i tend to only watch classic films, it was a treat to jump into the precise style of director david fincher.
this film could have been called 'about a boy', but that's been done. it could have been called 'about a girl', but that is perhaps simpy the motivation behind facebook founder mark zuckerberg's efforts. i did not go to college and this movie would not encourage me to do so. i found the movie to be insightful, entertaining, and far from draining. i can't know if college life is any of those things.
dang, i had no idea anyone could type that fast.
photos: jesse/the brilliance (with Joseph Mazzello)/the beauty (with rooney mara/and the bored
Thursday, January 27, 2011
wise words
"We’re finally to be judged not by the degree of our involvement in the mainstream, but by our individual response to it.”- orson welles
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
funny
blanche: They told me to take a street-car named Desire, and transfer to one called Cemeteries, and ride six blocks and get off at Elysian Fields.
imagine if the order was reversed and the play was called 'a streetcar named cemetery.'
marlon moment
Jor-El (played by marlon brando) : 'This is no fantasy - no careless product of wild imagination. No, my friends. These indictments that I have brought to you today, specific charges herein against the individuals. Their acts of treason, their ultimate aim of sedition. These... are matters of undeniable fact. I ask you now to pronounce judgement on those accused.'
i have no doubt he treated himself to a gallon of french vanilla at the end of the day he delivered those lines.
wicked eyelashes...
worn by the wickedly great actress gemma arterton, someone who is rolling with the punches:
'I did get punched in the face by accident. And the day before that I got punched in the nose, and got a nose bleed.'
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
she's so heavy
“I felt a strange, remote sense of relief. A tempting voice whispered to me, ‘You will never again have to look twice when you see a tall, lanky man with a certain stance. You will never again step a little closer to see his face. You will know he can never again be there. Now you can rest.’
How wrong the voice. How incredibly wrong.”
- Patricia Neal on Gary Cooper's death
Sunday, January 23, 2011
bygone days
'Chester Morris wears a yellow stiff-bosomed shirt, a pink wing collar and a blue bow tie before the cameras… all of which photograph white.' -studio press release.
how sweet is that?
divine direction
"Garbo had something behind the eyes that you couldn't see until you photographed her in close-up. You could see thought. If she had to look at one person with jealousy, and another with love, she didn't have to change the expression. You could see it in her eyes as she looked from one to the other. And nobody else could do that on the screen." (director Clarence Brown in a 1968 interview).
photos: brown/presenting a plaque to actress Pauline Frederic, 1952/the gang's all here: brown with harlow, myrna loy and clark gable
the eternally fading flower
'Without her eloquent acting the picture would go to pieces.'- from 'variety' 1929.
i saw 'a woman of affairs' for the first time just last night. i knew nothing about it other than it did not have nils asther opposite her. i love the guy. however, it did have her playing with her many times leading man, john gilbert. forgive me, all you gilbert lovers. i am going to assume that he was a lovely human being, that he helped her immensely in her early years in hollywood, and that they did indeed love one another. i just don't feel for him onscreen. maybe this is why he was so good for her. perhaps he provided a perfectly blank canvas on which she could project her emotions. that in itself is a very important role.
she is luminous in this. it was a very successful film and even though the talkies had already been in production, i am glad she continued for a bit to make silents. i love her voice but nothing can touch the emotional range of these silent films.
douglas fairbanks jr. does not have a large part but he is astonishingly gorgeous in a timeless way, a borderline leonardo dicaprio.
photo: Passport photo, 1930/siblings in strife: garbo with douglas fairbanks. jr.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
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