Monday, April 16, 2012

Omar Sharif Jr. and the Gay, Jewish, Egyptian Dilemma


The grandson of two-time Golden Globe winning actor Omar Sharif "hesitantly confessed" in an article published Sunday that he is gay and half Jewish, and worried about being welcome in Egypt.
Omar Sharif Jr. wrote in The Advocate, "I write this article in fear. Fear for my country, fear for my family, and fear for myself. My parents will be shocked to read it, surely preferring I stay in the shadows and keep silent, at least for the time being. But I can't."
Sharif expressed his disappointment at the recent parliamentary elections, writing that the revolution gave him hope for a "more tolerant and equal society," but now he is not as hopeful.
"The vision for a freer, more equal Egypt - a vision that many young patriots gave their lives to see realized in Tahrir Square - has been hijacked. The full spectrum of equal and human rights are now wedge issues used by both the Supreme Council of the Egyptian Armed Forces and the Islamist parties, when they should be regarded as universal truths," Sharif wrote.
"I write … for fear that Egypt's Arab Spring may be moving us backward, not forward," he wrote.
The Jerusalem Post noted that Sharif's mother is Jewish, making him fully Jewish according to rabbinical tradition.
Sharif wrote that admitting he has a Jewish mother is "no small disclosure" for an Egyptian.
"With the victories of several Islamist parties in recent elections, a conversation needs to be had and certain questions need to be raised. I ask myself: Am I welcome in the new Egypt?  Will being Egyptian, half Jewish, and gay forever remain mutually exclusive identities? Are they identities to be hidden?"
Sharif, an actor like his grandfather, left Egypt in January 2011, just before the revolution. He now resides in the United States.


(reprinted without permission from abc news)

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Spring TV Is Here

some new series have been unveiled. here's how they rate.

'scandal' has the most promise. the pilot set up what was coming in a fast paced manner. kerry washington is a sheer delight. it worked. give it a shot. i'm going out on a limb and giving it an 'A'. now we wait and see if it can hold onto it. and that answer may come very soon on abc. it's from shondra rhymes of  'grey's anatomy' fame and it is time for that one to go. it's worn out it's welcome.


'gcb', those good christian bitches, started off slow and let's be honest deadly dull. i am not sure why i kept going back. but since i did i have to say it improved. what would have been a D+ now gets a C+. it's up to them. leslie bibb as amanda is a charmer and coupled with eric winter (luke) may be able to keep it afloat. a standout for me is marisol nichols as heather cruz who befriends amanda while the other bitches just try to up each other in nastiness. that all need to calm down a bit.



'The Client List' started out strong. ms hewitt is as always likeable. loretta devine steals every scene she is in. it's not as slimy as i thought it would be. but who knows. right now it gets a B. time will tell.

the devine loretta devine

Saturday, April 14, 2012

'Tomorrow Belongs to Me'

i mentioned it on thursday. not sure why i did not upload the video. i was remiss. well here goes the most harrowing three minutes in a musical.



Thursday, April 12, 2012

Bob Fosse's 'Cabaret' Restored to Original Glory




LOS ANGELES (AP) — It took a stray bit of dirt to scratch the perfection of "Cabaret," and painstaking effort to return the 1972 film to cinematic glory.
The restored "Cabaret" is opening the TCM Classic Film Festival that runs Thursday to Sunday in Los Angeles. Liza Minnelli and Joel Grey, the movie's stars, were scheduled to attend the ceremony marking the movie's 40th anniversary.
Minnelli's turn as cabaret singer Sally Bowles captured a best actress Academy Award and cemented her young stardom. She said making "Cabaret" was a joyful "secret," filmed in Munich and far away from meddling Los Angeles studio bosses.
Other TCM film festival events include a tribute to "Vertigo" star Kim Novak.
TCM said it expects to air the restored "Cabaret" later this year.


most all of the musical numbers existed within the cabaret in the oscar winning film version. the horrific and chilling 'tomorrow belongs to me' was sung in a german beer garden by a member of hitler youth. it absolutely is the most frightening song ever written for and sung in a musical.


The sun on the meadow is summery warm
The stag in the forest runs free
But gathered together to greet the storm
Tomorrow belongs to me

The branch on the linden is leafy and green
The Rhine gives its gold to the sea (Gold to the sea)
But somewhere a glory awaits unseen
Tomorrow belongs to me

The babe in his cradle is closing his eyes
The blossom embraces the bee
But soon says the whisper, arise, arise
Tomorrow belongs to me
Tomorrow belongs to me

Now Fatherland, Fatherland, show us the sign
Your children have waited to see
The morning will come
When the world is mine
Tomorrow belongs to me
Tomorrow belongs to me
Tomorrow belongs to me
Tomorrow belongs to me

Musical Interlude: 'Car Wash'

an andrew christian underwear ad






Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Goodbye, Good Riddance Mr. 13th Century

little ricky dropped out of the republican clown show. that leaves the big bag of wind gingrich and willard. oy.

'Dream House' Gets a D




i just caught this on dvd. what a waste. rachel weitz what were you thinking. well at least you got a new husband out of it (daniel craig). don't bother. it's a  predictable mess. go out and enjoy the beginning of spring.



Tuesday, April 10, 2012

'Glee' Preview: "Somebody That I Used To Know''


darren criss and matt homer tonight on 'glee'





'Today' Show Stunt Lost Me Permanently


i will not watch nbc's the 'today show' again. not that i was a 'regular' viewer. why? sarah palin of course. her extended guest spot, far from co-host was an insult. her babble babble babble is more than i want to handle. in all honesty i did not watch a single second of it. did i need to watch to critique. no way! she has been on the tube enough, too much, since 2008 for anyone to make a good call on either side. all i can say 'today' is you betcha i'm out of here for good.

Monday, April 9, 2012

Time Mag Futuristic Fashion Piece with Michelle Dockery


i'll do just about anything nowadays to post michele dockery. this pics and this video showed up on my ipad time mag app.it was from a special fashion issue. it featured ms dockery. so now i feature it. it's all so simple really.



Sunday, April 8, 2012

Gay Mormon Students From Brigham Young University Produce 'It Gets Better' Video

wow! this is amazing. must be sending some of the latter days upside down. these young adults are so brave. this is difficult for most kids. for mormons? damn i admire them. hey willard aka mitt what do you think?


'The Client List' Tonight on Lifetime


i mean really...how trashy does this seem to be. now i am not adverse to good trash. 'valley of the dolls' anyone? but that became 'camp' trash. so it became fun. 
'the client list' however, costars the devine loretta devine so i have to give the first episode a shot. then again it may turn out to be good trash or guilty pleasure trash. we'll see. lifting 'hey big spender' from ''sweet charity'' is clever. and it proves hewitt sings as well as shirley macclaine did in that film. not well at all.



sunday at 10 is becoming a real crowded field. this week we have 'the good wife', 'gcb', 'game of thrones', 'the borgias', 'the killing', 'csi:miami' and now this. thank the tv gods that the cable series offer alternative viewing and there are dvr's and on-demand.


Saturday, April 7, 2012

Go Israel!!!

my mid-east trip was real good. exhausting but worth the time and effort. still weakened from my cancer treatments there were difficult moments. but to arrive in israel and spend time there was worth any effort i may have needed to muster up. it was this year in jerusalem. always israel!


starting soon...real soon...this site will have 'may be only suitable for adults' disclaimer which you will need to accept to enter. the times they are a changing' here. i do this so as not to offend anyone. i do not know what offends anyone. i only know what offends me. like republicans. they offend me. i would like to be warned when entering a republican site. prepare myself for their pornography of thoughts and words. i'd say ideas but i have no time for time traveling back centuries. 



Friday, April 6, 2012

Thursday, April 5, 2012

'Scandal' Premiers Tonight on ABC

i've always liked kerry washington so i'm giving this new shondra rhimes series a go....




Keith Explains It to Dave



Ali MacGraw Turns 73: WTF!

hey i know we are all getting older but...ali turned 73 this past sunday. i thought it was an april fool thing. it wasn't. so happy belated birthday ali.




Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Kate Winslet says luck helped land 'Titanic' role

Kate Winslet would like to use the occasion of Titanic's re-release Wednesday — an event she welcomes even though she says it's "profoundly weird" — to clarify some of the lore about the 1997 blockbuster that has trailed her like a wayward dinghy.

  • Kate Winslet says she and Leonardo DiCaprio became close during the filming of 'Titanic,' and remain close friends.

    By Alastair Grant, AP

    Kate Winslet says she and Leonardo DiCaprio became close during the filming of 'Titanic,' and remain close friends.

By Alastair Grant, AP

Kate Winslet says she and Leonardo DiCaprio became close during the filming of 'Titanic,' and remain close friends.

She did not stalk director James Cameron to win the part of Rose, the defiant teen bride-to-be who found true love aboard the doomed ship with Leonardo DiCaprio's scruffy artist, Jack.

Articles that appeared when the epic romance originally opened described the British actress as having waged an aggressive campaign, flooding the filmmaker with phone calls and letters until he relented.

Not so, she says from London, where the 3-D version had its premiere last week.

"I wouldn't do that," Winslet, 36, insists. "It's not my style."

She does, however, own up to sending Cameron a bouquet of roses with a note signed "From Your Rose" three days after her audition in Los Angeles. "Jim took a risk in casting me," she says. "A lot of my contemporaries —Uma Thurman, Gwyneth Paltrow,Winona Ryder— were much more likely candidates. I got lucky."

Meanwhile, Cameron feels he was the lucky one to have found the perfect Rose.

"Kate had a powerful intelligence and strength of personality," he says. "And a vulnerability. People have a glossy memory about the film, but her character is at the brink of suicide at one point. I knew whoever I cast would have to carry the movie on her shoulders, although Kate did feel a bit lost and overwhelmed by the magnitude."

Winslet also brushes aside any disparaging remarks she made about Cameron's temperament during the grueling shoot.

"A lot of it was blown out of proportion," she says. "Jim Cameron is a feisty man and a perfectionist but also absolutely brilliant. I'm not going to pretend it was easy for any of us. The reality is, nothing has been harder since then. It was an extreme version of moviemaking."

Still, she is delighted to relive the experience again on the big screen, seeing it for only the third time: "I saw it twice 15 years ago. I don't own copies of my own movies." Fans will be glad to hear that she and DiCaprio, 37, have stayed close, even though his work on Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained kept him from joining her in London.

"That is the only reason for him not being here — and not being here for me," Winslet says. "We really do talk a lot on the phone about life, love and work. I can't imagine not having that."

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

Posted 9h 40m ago | Updated 9h 17m ago

More from USATODAY

Are We Ready to Go Back to 'Titanic'?


well now is the time to decide. 'titanic 3d' starts it's run today in theaters everywhere. it will be good to see it back on the big screen again. but is the 3d really necessary? i mean did we miss it the first time around? well it is kate. and leo. and yes i'll be there and let you know as soon as....

trailer not in 3d

kate at the london reopening

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Jennifer Lopez's 'Dance Again' is Damn Good


j lo has a new dance release that caught my attention and got me to resurrect a few of my best dance moves. i like it!




Monday, April 2, 2012

Sometimes 'Smash' Gets It Right


especially if they use katharine mcphee properly. when they give her the spotlight. perhaps now that megan hilty's character may be replaced as 'marilyn' and that the show's creator is OUT they can concentrate on the real talent. MCPHEE!!!



MCPHEE
'touch me'

'brighter than the sun'


it was obvious in ep.1 who the STAR was when they both asked us to 'let me be your star'

her costar megan hilty just does not make the cut. trying to embody marilyn monroe she lacks warmth. she does have a voice but her acting chops leave everything to be desired. she tries to be sexual something marilyn monroe did not have to try to be. she was sexuality personified. and monroe had an abundance of warmth and charm. and much like anne hathaway ms. hilty has as much charm as a meat clever.

if this show is going to make it they had best rethink some of their choices. the ellis character has to go. hilt's ivy character needs to go back to the chorus or better yet to a secretarial pool. are there still secretarial pools?

okay then one more from mcphee

'rumour has it'

Sunday, April 1, 2012

'Game of Thrones' Season 2 Tonight


one of the best of 2011 returns tonight with season 2. they promise bigger and better. i'm hoping for just as good to be honest. i always worry about over hype.




a 22 minute refresher from hbo


Carpophorus


having just returned from egypt and israel and temples and forums and amphitheaters this seemed to fit the bill.