Remembering Donna on Her Birthday and Oscarbation 1953

donna reed may best remembered for her role in 'it's a wonderful life' with jimmy stewart.

or she may be best remembered for her role as donna stone on the 'donna reed show'

however donna should always be best remembered for her academy award winning role as alma 'lorene' burke in 'from here to eternity'

Happy Birthday Julianna

happy birthday julianna and thanks for making this a better year with your great wife in 'the good wife'. the emmy ballots are in the mail...get started on looking for what you'll be wearing to the awards ceremony as you are most definitely attending.

'National Board of Review' Is First Out of the Gate: Let the Awards Begin

Awards for 2009:

Best Film
UP IN THE AIR

Top Ten Films
(In alphabetical order) AN EDUCATION, (500) DAYS OF SUMMER*, THE HURT LOCKER, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, INVICTUS, THE MESSENGER, A SERIOUS MAN, STAR TREK, UP, WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

Best Foreign Language Film
A PROPHET

Top Five Foreign Films
(In alphabetical order) THE MAID, REVANCHE, SONG OF SPARROWS, THREE MONKEYS, THE WHITE RIBBON

Best Documentary
THE COVE

Top Five Documentaries
(In alphabetical order) BURMA VJ: REPORTING FROM A CLOSED COUNTRY, CRUDE, FOOD, INC., GOOD HAIR, THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA: DANIEL ELLSBERG AND THE PENTAGON PAPERS

Top Independent Films
(In alphabetical order) AMREEKA, DISTRICT 9, GOODBYE SOLO, HUMPDAY, IN THE LOOP, JULIA, ME AND ORSON WELLES, MOON, SUGAR, TWO LOVERS

Best Actor
GEORGE CLOONEY, Up In The Air; MORGAN FREEMAN, Invictus

Best Actress
CAREY MULLIGAN, An Education

Best Supporting Actor
WOODY HARRELSON, The Messenger

Best Supporting Actress
ANNA KENDRICK, Up In The Air

Best Ensemble Cast
IT'S COMPLICATED

Breakthrough Performance by an Actor
JEREMY RENNER, The Hurt Locker

Breakthrough Performance by an Actress
GABOUREY SIDIBE, Precious

Spotlight Award for Best Directorial Debut
DUNCAN JONES, Moon; OREN MOVERMAN, The Messenger; MARC WEBB, (500) Days of Summer

Best Director
CLINT EASTWOOD, Invictus

Best Adapted Screenplay
JASON REITMAN and SHELDON TURNER, Up In The Air

Best Original Screenplay
JOEL AND ETHAN COEN, A Serious Man

Best Animated Feature
UP

*my pick in this grouping

Just Thinking About Kim Lately

Valley of the Dolls

good opening.
nice theme song sung by dionne warwick.
campiest film accident ever made.

Opening Today: 'Public Enemies'

Starting Today I Am Going to Share DVD Recommendations along with in theater recommendations

Some will be movies I missed.
Some will be movies I choose to wait for DVD release.
A number of films will movies I did not know existed because the studios did not trust them enough and gave them limited runs if any run at all.
One of the few reasons I miss New York. Everything opens there even if for a short time.

Recommend DVD: 'What Happens in Vegas'

Never saw an Ashton Kutchner movie. Never saw his TV show. Could have cared less.
But I do enjoy Cameron Diaz. She's a welcome throw back to the brilliant screwball comedy parts of the late great Carole Lombard.

So for Cameron alone I rented this movie. As always she was a sheer delight.

Ashton, however, was a revelation to me. He was wonderful. This man has a real Cary Grant quality about him. You go Ashton. You have a new fan in me.

DVD Rating: B+

Julie and Julia

Is Meryl Streep beomcing the 'Queen' of the summer movies?

In 2008 she had a summer smash with 'Mamma Mia' following 2006's summer smash 'The Devil Wears Prada'.
If 'Julie and Julia' is another summer smash the question is answered and the title assured.
That Meryl, of the deep, often dark, good lord 'she has another accent film' would become this is astonishing.
First of all she is at that supposedly 'unbankable' age group for women in ANY film.
Secondly she was a premier actress of the fall/winter worthy of Oscar 'consideration' films.

To be honest I like this Meryl better. Enough with the accents already. After her damn Australian accent that let us know "a dingo ate my baby...it was not an object it was a baby" movie I was done. Done I tell you. But then came 'Prada' and 'Mamma Mia' and she sucked me in again. She almost lost me with the too slick click-click performance in 'Doubt' where she was once again telling us "Look what a great actress I am. You can't deny I'm brilliant". No Meryl not quite. The critics have fostered that on you and us. Yet, when you play a 'real' woman like Donna in 'Mamma Mia' they kill you. Accents do not make great actresses they make great and mostly grating accents. When the audience is listening for the 'next accent she can do' the performance is lost. She has lost me a lot!

I thank god for 1984's 'Falling in Love' . No bloody accent!

Point in case: one of Meryl's greatest performances was in the tv film 'Holocaust' playing a German woman amidst the horrors of the nazi regime. Guess what? No German accent. Guess what? She was believable and almost brilliant.

Well enough. 'Julie and Julia' a sneak peak. And trust me THIS is not an accent but it is a brilliant impression/interpretation of a real life 'self made character'.
I do want this to be wonderful.

'State of Play': B-

An adult film early in the year. It is a good film. Period.
But I must say it is boasts the best performance Ben Affleck has ever given on screen. I knew he had it in him.
It will not make my best of 2009 but it won't make my worst either.
Rent it...save the trip to the theater.