White House Correspondent's Dinner

'Run' and 'A Thousand and One Nights' Brighten Up ''Smash''

Shalom Shabbat

A 'Glee' Moment

the whitney houston tribute was soso at best. a friend of mine, a real whitney fan, said the difficulty was that only whitney could really sing these songs. i say they were mediocre songs to begin with. 

so here's a non whitney song as lea michele sings 'firework'.

Rick Santorum Aborts Presidential Campaign from 'Funny or Die'

Michelle and Julianna: Well Done VF

glad to see michelle dockery making this vanity fair tv issue. she does belong in the same class as julianna margulies. whether danes or vergara belong with them is a whole other question.

claire danes has shown a better side on 'homeland'. so maybe. but sofia vergara? give me a break.

'Glee' Preview: "How Will I Know': Tonight

'glee' preview of whitney houston tribute.

'how will i know'

'Camelot' Blu Ray Releases Today

i love 'camelot'. i contend it is one of the best translations of a broadway show to film media. i love the book, the look, the score, the casting and the direction. richard harris and vanessa redgrave are the perfect arthur and guenivere. if there is a weak link it is franco nero as lancelot getting one of the worst dubbed singing voices in musical history. otherwise it is actually a better film than the original broadway production. 

richard harris plays arthur as a big kid with a big heart, a lot of love, warmth and charm. he is just so damn perfect. vanessa redgrave gives us a guenivere that is worth fighting a war over. and she has never been more sensual as  a guenivere should be.

the score soars. it seldom falls flat although 'if ever i would leave you' one of it's most famous tunes is utterly destroyed by the aforementioned nero dubbing. rather than list my favorites i give you some videos instead. please realize these are not from the blu ray version but some older you tube clips.

'i wonder what the king is doing tonight' introduces us to mr harris's youthfully charming arthur

'where are the simple joys of maidenhood' in turn introduces us to a  youthful yet sensual guenivere

'the lusty month of may' gives us an equally lusty guenivere, lusty knights and lusty ladies

'camelot'

'what do the simple folk do'

'take me to the fair'

'how to handle a woman'

don't let it be forgot
that once there was a spot
for one brief shining moment...


and now it is on blu ray forever

 

Willard vs Reality

he's an idiot and obviously a liar!

he wouldn't know the truth if it came up and bit him on his fat ass.

'Marry You'

i first heard this on 'glee'. searched out the original by bruno mars. i kind of really like this song. and the young mr mars is pretty damn good.

bruno mars

the cast of glee

Amanda Seyfried First Sighting As Cosette in 'Lez Miz'

Amanda joins hugh jackman, russell crowe, eddie redmayne and the abysmal and always terrifyingly awful anne hathaway in this years 'les miserables'. as far as hathaway goes her character fanzine dies early soon after hathaway will destroy 'i dreamed a dream' so we will need to be patient for 40 or 50 minutes. why her? why does anyone hire this woman? well at least with ms seyfried the better and larger part of cosette is in good hands. and samantha barks as eponine is brilliant. so again why hathaway???

'Veep' Sunday on HBO

i like julia louis-dreyfus. the clips seem promising. quess we will no soon.

'Glee' Time Marching On

this weeks episode go 'glee' began to prepare viewers for certain goodbyes as graduation approaches. i've often complained that it was , is, one of the most eleven shows on tv. but even it's unevenness it's musical numbers were almost 100% spot on.

so for the next few weeks i think it might be fun to remember some of the best. first up: 'total eclipse of the heart'.

i gotta admit that cory monteith's finn has become one of my favorite characters over the last four years. they have allowed him to go through 'real' adolescence with all it's ups and downs and seemingly coming out on the upside. so here he is with lea michelle and sometime rival jonathan gruff. 

Drren Criss Has That Star Quality

it is again proved in glee's bee gees tribute last night. his brief foray on broadway this year was inspired. i just hope he chooses wisely and has people who care about his career over their wallets looking out for him.

'you should be dancing'

Some Rare Bette Davis Photos Published by Life Magazine

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)

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

'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.

Good Shabbos from Israel

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

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.