Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

2008 Wrap Up Part 2: Entertainer of the Year



There can only be one. And there is no one more deserved than TINA FEY. Not for '30 Rock' which i just don't get but for 'Saturday Night Live' and her Sarah Palin. What a riot. I laugh over and over when I see these.












The runner-up is 'Saturday Night Live' itself. This past campaign season brought it back from the dead. And Keith Olbermann and his staff put the best of it together in their year end roundup. And as Sarah Palin might say "Yup Joe and Janet America it stars me ya know... wink wink".

Monday, December 29, 2008

'The Reader'

WOW!!!
Intense, Direct, Bold.
BRILLIANT!!!!!!




This is not just another Holocaust film. This is the after story. The oft forgotten after story. Just one story behind the stories we already know. We know they were there. We know they knew. We now know someone(s) had the guts to cut through the gloss. Gest to the vein and slices it open. No ovens. Just the heartache, grief, guilt and disgust of their having been ovens in the first place. The heartache of the unsuspected and unsuspecting.

The surprise here is David Gross an unknown german actor in the lead as the young Michael Berg. He is a phenomenon. This young actor has a depth and breathe seen in someone his first time out. He damn well had better have been playing opposite Kate Winslet and portraying the younger version of Ralph Fiennes character. A revelation to say the least. I can only hope film sees more of him in the future.

I refuse to give much of the plot on any film. Suffice it to say an illicit affair turns to something bigger than one of the participants could imagine.

And now about Kate Winslet. She again proves how great an actress she is. She just keeps getting better. I wonder how this is possible. Yet there she is on screen in her best role to date. (i have yet to see 'revolutionary road') A former nazi guard living years later in Berlin. And years later in....no I won't... Go see for yourself. Where does she get the will to delve into every character she portrays so deeply? How does she keep the integrity of each character so honest? No matter what the reason, treason, goodness or crime? How the hell does she do it? Besides being a genuinely genuine actress i don't know. I'm just damn glad she goes the extra miles to do it.

The only problem I have is Hollywood is pushing her for a supporting actress for this role. Kate is the star here. It is an insult to her and a snub for a deserving supporting actress. Nobody wants Kate to win an Oscar more than I do except maybe for Kate herself. This however is not the way to do it. This is what happens when greedy stupid pruducers and studio heads collide.

That being said go see this adult, intelligent, mature, brilliantly written, directed and acted film.

And and it was great to see Lena Olin back on film in a small, supporting actress deserving, role.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Entertainer of the Year







Judgement At Nuremberg is #13




Nominated for 11 Oscars it won two. Abby Mann for screenplay and the brilliant Maximilian Schell for Best Actor. It could have won more but this was the year of 'West Side Story". Enough said.

Sadly the Oscar winning screenwriter passed away this past week.

The story that needed to be told.












The Trailer



Why Maximilian Schell Won The Oscar!





The Brilliant Montgomery Clift



Marlene Dietrich's :"We Did Not Know"



Judy Garland's Finest Moment On Film



The Verdict



Maxamilian Schell on Oscar night

Saturday, December 27, 2008

The Best! The Worst! the Funniest! The Most Absurd! And my Favorite: The Idiot of the Year.

So much to choose from. So many to choose from.

So now through the New Year I will choose the winners and losers of 2008.

Film will probably come later as I have too many to catch up on. Many of the best and worst seem to appear in December so off to the cinema's I will go.

With a little help from the Huffington Post, Keith Olberman, MSNBC as a whole, film sites, and YouTube I will share these Best and Worst 0f 2008.

Today The Person of the Year:

Is The Person of the Year 2008 obvious? Well I have a tie. But the tie is tied together. We the People and Barack Obama.

We, at least the correct WE, voted the Man of the Year and He inspired us to do so. He gave us a new voice in catastrophic, home and abroad, times. So though I say he is the Man of the Year Barack along with US is the PERSON OF THE YEAR!






And now with the help of Keith Olbermann a look back at the winners:



Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Merry Christmas Giuliana

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My family's Christmas Baby.
My youngest great niece Giuliana Rose.
The only gift I need this Year.
Thanks Carli and Michael for giving her to us.

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