Sandra and Stephen Daldry

he got the oscar for kate (the reader) and for nicole kidman (the hours). now oscar winner sandra is meeting with stephen daldry. so the oscar it seems has put sandra on the front burner with oscar caliber directors. she should have been there all along by the way. i mean that does seem to be a script she's carrying doesn't it?

STATE OF WEDDED BLISS: California Judge Rules Gay Marriage Ban Unconstitutional

Judge: 'Proposition 8 Is Unconstitutional'

Happy Birthday Barack

This Woman Really IS an Idiot

she wants the press to ask the questions she wants asked! she has to be related to sarah palin.

The New Summer Season Series 2010

'covert affairs' a cia dramedy is a keeper. piper perabo as new agent annie walker is a charmer. she makes you believe that covert ops may actually be a good thing. christopher gorham and the always wonderful kari matchett costar in this delightful summer romp. 'cover affairs': A



'the glades' is a&e's new police procedural that places an out of place chicago cop in a small town florida town. jim longworth keeps it all moving along nicely with his charm and charisma. but he better watch his step as the delightful kiele sanchez may just steal it all out from under him. it needs a bit of work but is worth a look. 'the glades': B



'rizzoli and isles' brings angie harmon back to all things law and order as a boston cop who has a bff in medical examiner sasha alexander. if this all sounds familiar it should as it is almost a carbon copy of 2008's 'women's murder club'. this is not a complaint though. abc never gave that one the chance it deserved. tnt has already renewed this for next summer so more power to them. and even though ms. harmon is a republican i am giving 'rizzoli and isles' a B+



'i have already blogged on 'pretty little liars' and called it my summer guilty pleasure. it remains that as it only gets better week after lying week. it is wicked fun at it's best: A



'hot in cleveland' is a tv rarity for me. a situation comedy i can actually sit through. this has not happened since 'mary', 'raymond', 'seinfeld' 'friends' and some golden ladies left the air years ago. it's the talented cast and the double entendres that keep me coming back. it's not a classic comedy but it fulfills it's goal to make us laugh. 'hot' gets a warm B.



'the gates' appears to be a summer fill in on abc. they should renew it. it's better than half it's winter shows at the very least. i give it a B+ and abc a D- when they cancel it!




all in all not a bad summer. the majority of those that already wrapped along with these are on cable networks where shows are given a chance to thrive. maybe oneday the small minded big 3 will follow suit.

as i said "all in all not a bad summer". but there was bad...and really bad and here they are:




'happy town' may have had potential but abc yet again took it's ax and chopped it off too soon for me to be really fair to it. all i can say is that it's eccentric ways did not immediately hook me in. but out of fairness i'm giving it a half hearted C-.

'persons unknown' is a repetitive bore week after week. i gave up awhile ago. i saw no hope for it nor did i feel like wasting anymore time on it. it gets a D because the big F is saved for the worst of the lot.

'scoundrels' is the one abc needed to take an ax to first. what an idiotic mess about a bunch of idiots. you'd be better off sticking an ice pick in your eye than watching one second of this frackin' piece of crap. an F is not good enough for this show but it's all i have.

Happy Birthday Mary-Louise

TCM Celebrates the Films of Julie Christie Today

they represent some of her best and some of the rest. i guess it's a fair sample if not the ultimate festival. but hell they are celebrating one of the greatest actresses of all time so who am i to complain. set your dvr.


6:00am Fast Lady, The (1962)
A civil servant hopes a car will impress the heiress he hopes to romance.
Cast: James Robertson-Justice, Stanley Baxter, Leslie Phillips, Kathleen Harrison Dir: Ken Annakin C-95 mins, TV-PG

7:37am Short Film: One Reel Wonders: Sean O'Casey: The Spirit Of Ireland (1965)
A promotional featurette about the making of "Young Cassidy" (1965) as well as the life of Sean O'Casey, whose autobiography "Mirror in My House" served as the basis for the movie.
Cast: Herschel Bernardi C-8 mins

7:45am Young Cassidy (1965)
True story of playwright Sean O'Casey's involvement with the Irish rebellion of 1910.
Cast: Rod Taylor, Flora Robson, Jack MacGowran, Sian Phillips Dir: Jack Cardiff C-110 mins, TV-14

9:45am In Search of Gregory (1970)
An heiress becomes obsessed with a mystery man she meets at her father's wedding.
Cast: Julie Christie, Michael Sarrazin, John Hurt, Paola Pitagora Dir: Peter Wood C-96 mins, TV-PG
11:30am Go-Between, The (1971)
A young man carries letters between an aristocratic young woman and the groundskeeper he idolizes.
Cast: Julie Christie, Alan Bates, Dominic Guard, Margaret Leighton Dir: Joseph Losey C-115 mins, TV-PG

1:28pm Short Film: One Reel Wonders: This Is...Julie Christie (1965)
BW-1 mins

1:30pm Doctor Zhivago (1965)
Illicit lovers fight to stay together during the turbulent years of the Russian Revolution.
Cast: Geraldine Chaplin, Julie Christie, Tom Courtenay, Alec Guinness Dir: David Lean C-200 mins, TV-PG

5:00pm Far From The Madding Crowd (1967)
A romantic English lass can't choose among three very different suitors.
Cast: Julie Christie, Terence Stamp, Peter Finch, Alan Bates Dir: John Schlesinger C-171 mins, TV-14

What's On Tonight: SUMMER UNDER THE STARS: JULIE CHRISTIE

8:00pm Billy Liar (1963)
An emotionally stunted clerk retreats into his fantasies.
Cast: Tom Courtenay, Julie Christie, Wilfred Pickles, Mona Washbourne Dir: John Schlesinger BW-99 mins, TV-PG

9:45pm Darling (1965)
A young beauty sacrifices love and happiness to become an international celebrity.
Cast: Julie Christie, Dirk Bogarde, Laurence Harvey, Roland Curram Dir: John Schlesinger BW-126 mins, TV-MA

12:00am Petulia (1968)
A married doctor falls for the young wife of an abusive rich man.
Cast: Julie Christie, George C. Scott, Richard Chamberlain, Arthur Hill Dir: Richard Lester C-105 mins, TV-MA

2:00am Shampoo (1975)
A hairdresser expresses his fear of commitment by seducing his female clients.
Cast: Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Lee Grant, Goldie Hawn Dir: Hal Ashby C-110 mins, TV-MA

4:00am Demon Seed (1977)
A sophisticated computer falls in love with its creator's wife and terrorizes her.
Cast: Julie Christie, Fritz Weaver, Gerritt Graham, Berry Kroeger Dir: Donald Cammell C-95 mins, TV-MA

Congrats to All

The Returning Summer Season Series 2010*

things are still hot in the hamptons this summer. and so is the show. 'royal pains': A



'lie to me' is the best show still in search of an audience. it is smart. it is witty. it is adult. well there are three good reasons why america may not be watching it. america: D+: 'lie to me': A+



'drop dead diva' is the best non emmy nominated comedy on the air. jane elliot the best non emmy nominated actress in a comedy on the air. Emmy committee: D: 'drop dead diva': A



'the closer' gets better season after season. so does kyra. so does the rest of the cast. it's good to see mary mcdonnell back as the thorn in kyra's side. they are great together. 'the closer': A



'army wives' is a perfect summer series. it has a heart and a hell of a lot of soul. it has one of the most pleasant and appealing casts on tv today. it just has the right flavors of color and real. 'army wives' A+



'true blood' is back. i don't just mean back for the season. it is back from the dead. pun intended. after last season's fiasco with all that maryann crap, that seemed more deadly awful than being undead, it is thankfully back with a vengeance. 'true blood': A







*to be continued tomorrow

'Chloe' on DVD and Blu Ray: **1/2stars

'chloe' is not just another psycho-sexual drama. it's psycho-sexual drama with a twist. and it is twisted just enough for me to recommend it.

the casting of julianne moore and liam neeson was more surprising than genius. although they both handed in good performances it was somewhat disturbing to see them in these parts. really it was!

i can understand why amanda seyfried would sign on for the film. it's more dramatic fare than her previous turns and was an obvious image changer. she does succeed on both the dramatic stretch and the image change. she shows the talent she showed each season on 'big love' that most of her big screen roles didn't utilize. and i can now almost forgive her for 'dear john'.

it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea but if you are a regular to my blog you have to be somewhat twisted so go ahead and give it a shot and rent it.

'Supernatural' Seasons 1-4 Gets an A

every summer i seem to catch up via netflix on a series i previously missed. last summer it was '24'. this summer it's 'supernatural with' breaking bad' on deck.

i don't know how i missed 'surernatural' at all. it is right up my alley: demons, devils, ghosts, vampires and all sort of evil things. two hot guys hunting them down, their own devilish ways and remarks. plus their total hotness. or did i say that already? what the hell they are. the they being the older brother dean and the younger sam *

i only have the as yet unreleased fifth season to go which won't be released until september. so the dvr will be holding season 6 for a bit. i love my dvr. the best thing about watching this series in sequence was seeing how much better the two leads became as they got a better understanding for better or worse, of their destiny. they are really damn good actors.







*jared and jensen: to be continued

'In Plain Sight' Gets Two More Seasons*

USA Network has given a two-season pickup for "In Plain Sight."From the net's own Universal Cable Prods., the New Mexico-set drama stars Mary McCormack as a U.S. marshal who works in the witness protection program.

Show ended its third season in June with strong ratings, one of a handful of successful USA summer skeins. Net recently launched "Covert Affairs" in mid-July, a month that saw a slew of basic cable dramas fare well, including TNT's "Rizzoli and Isles" and "The Closer," as well as freshman skein "The Glades" on A&E.

USA is also preparing to add some comedy to its lineup now that "Monk" is off the air, ordering up sitcom "Driven" from Linda Bloodworth in May.



*reprinted from 'variety'

'The Kid's Are All Right' **stars

'the kids are all right' and so are the adults. merely all right. the adults are a same sex couple and paul the biological dad who will soon be referred to by one of the moms as an interloper. this is really just a typical unconventional family trying to live conventionally. now let me say upfront i know unconventional families and enjoy them. just not this one all that much.

the couple nic and jules, portrayed by annette benning and julianne moore respectively, shared the sperm donor portrayed by mark ruffalo although 3 years apart. fast forward 15 years and one of the 'donations' wants to meet his biological dad. sister joni not so much. but they do and they like him. and then the moms meet him. jules likes him well enough but not nic whose entire world is threatened by him. however, in fact jules likes him a bit too much. so maybe nic is right. but nic is just too damn rigid. it is so terribly unsurprising when jules gets "that bit too close" i mentioned. between the rigidity and alcohol consumption by nic all hell breaks loose. jules and nic fight, lazer who set the whole thing in motion kinda crumbles like a whimp and joni goes to college.

poor paul the donor who was minding his own business, running a restaurant and growing vegetables to start off with gets kicked in the balls, the balls he so willingly donated from for a measly $60.00 a pop, so to speak. he's sucker punched by the lot of them. he should have run to the hills and far away from this group sooner. he probably wished by the end of this mess that his cell had gone dead and never answered phone call number one to begin with.

now somehow in this mess there are three really wonderful performances and one surprisingly good one. annette benning is the surprisingly good performance. i've never been a fan but she plays this rigid alcoholic lesbian pretty good. well the lesbian and alcoholic parts anyway. i've always found her pretty rigid on screen so that was no stretch.

julianne moore is truly delightful and convincing as the 'what the hell have i done' jules.

mark ruffalo is in his always brilliant mode in yet another understated role and thus far under-rated as usual performance. but not by me.

but the best of the lot is joni played by mia wasikowska <'alice in wonderland'> as the 'donation' that didn't want any part of this mess in the first place. she was right. by the film's end she is off to college. if she is really smart she will never go home again. or go live with the the sperm donor dad who seems the sanest of the lot.

there is oscar buzz surrounding this film. what can i say? i suspect they will not take the oscar away from 'the hurt locker' so anything is possible. walk don't run to see this movie. better still rent it. in cinematic history it is no more meaningful than spitting into a lake.








*who the hell names a kid lazer?

(and just for the record...as a gay man i really wanted to like this movie. i long for more good gay themed films. this just isn't one of them. and i find it patronizing that straight critic's are going all out and falling all over themselves trying to be cool in their praise. )

What Is Going on in My Mind Today?

well the following posts are on my mind.



i'm glad justice was served in arizona at least for today. immigrants 1: racists: 0

the democrats are finally linking the republicans and tea party together. "hello anybody home in that party? little slow on the uptake folks!"

the frightening person known as carly fiorina in california. the great earthquake sounds better to me.

and leo...just because he's leo.

Immigrants 1: Racists 0

JUDGE BLOCKS ARIZONA IMMIGRATION PROVISIONS

ban 1070






racial profiling





racist republican governor

Democrats' 2010 Strategy: Republican Party, Tea Party Are 'One And The Same'

Leo on 'Rolling Stone'