Happy Birthday Sean

'Invictus' ***1/2stars

in lesser hands this might have been titled 'guess who's coming to the world cup'. however, damn good direction (clint eastwood) and two amazing performances by morgan freeman and matt damon raise this film above the sentimental or just another sports film based on historical events. trust me i know nothing, zero, nada about sports nor do i want to but the final minutes of this film had me on the edge of my seat and holding my breathe. eastwood did something my parents never could: get me interested in sports. trust me it's surely a once in a lifetime moment. god i pray it is.

rent this or buy this...just see it.

p.s. yet this is another 2009 film that lost the oscar to 'the hurt locker'.actually it wasn't even nominated for best picture. i still don't get it!

Sandra Bullock Plays Surprise Musical Performance at Nashville Rising Benefit for Flood Victims

Happy Birthday Michelle Lee

i have to admit i miss 'knots landing'

What Is Going on in My Mind Today?

rumors abound that the oscars will move to a january presentation. this is a great idea. i have championed it for years now.

every year the oscars come after a now gaziilion critics awards, the golden globes, the baftas and the sag awards. so by the time the oscars role around award season fatique has set in. 90% of the time the question is not who will win but will there be any surprises. coming in last at the gate has made the oscars old, tired and mostly irrelevant. the academy has let itself be run over and surpassed by too many usurpers.

i mean when the big question every year is 'will meryl finally win a third? ' the time has come to up the ante.

so to the academy board: realizing it can't happen in 2022 make it happen in 2012. and please go back to 5 nominees not the 10 of 2010. it was an experiment. it was a flop. own up and reverse this idiotic move.

Revisiting: 'Hair' *1/2

i love to revisit film yesterday. i pulled out my dvd of 'hair' and much to my surprise i hated it. i can only say i must have been stoned or tripping when i first saw this. though the locations shots were mostly authentic the wardrobe came right out of costume. show me one real hippie and/or flower child that had 'designer hippie' clothes. the orchestrations though serviceable killed a few of the numbers and a few bars in almost every number.

the acting was appalling thus i apologize but treat williams you sucked. and beverly d'angelo got the career she deserved following her portrayal of shelia...no career...gone...forgotten...take a hint anne hathaway.

john savage as claude was almost redeemable but just almost.

i have no idea what i was on the night i went with my friends to see this in 1979 but i'd love to get my hands on some of it, well a lot of it, today.

p.s. 'hair: a tribal musical' opened in 1967 off broadway. in 1968 it transferred to broadway and caused a sensation and quite a stir. waiting until 1979 to film it was so untimely as those days were well gone. at best some musicals should never be filmed. this stands atop a semi long list. this milos forman directed movie was so far from tribal and as close to hollywood mediocrity as one could get. what was i thinking or yet again what was i on?

Happy Birthday Meryl

my favorite meryl films







'i'm checking out' from ''postcards from the edge''... i love this!



and from 'mamma mia'

'the winner takes it all'



'waterloo'



'mamma mia' with film clips

Happy Birthday Amy

What Is Going on in My Mind Today?

have you noticed lately that many film critics in local papers and some magazines have been replaced by just the associated press reviews?

it really is a sad state of affairs but par for the course. as the arts are the first to go in underfunded schools so the 'arts' are the first to go in the struggling print media.

that's why we need more blogs dedicated to the arts, yes like mine, so independent thought on film and theater can get out there.

for film lovers i tell you this: the death of the local reviewer will most especially mean sure death to the already struggling independent film.

this whole turn of events really pisses me off.
hell get rid of the cartoons..or the sport pages...yeah get rid of the sport pages i mean they are on the news tv all the time...

Remembering Maureen on Her Birthday

remembering sheer brilliance.

i had the great fortune to see miss stapleton perform on broadway many times in her 'late' career. she was absolutely amazing on stage...she actually gets my nod for the best of her time. she is sorely missed by me and the broadway community.

for a great read try her autobiography 'a hell of a life'. it certainly was. fun, funny, serious and so very candid...meaning o so maureen.

Wed, Bed, Behead: A Fond Farewell to 'The Tudors'

wed, bed, behead...well not all of them...but there was a lot of beheading and more...there was drama, love, romance, blood and guts and conniving and intrique. oh those tudors...tonight we say fare thee well to one of tv's best limited series and certainly showtimes best ever.
a great cast headed by jonathan rhys meyers brought history to life. he excelled as henry VIII king of england from 6/24/1509 to his death on 1/28/1547.

special kudos to maria doyle kennedy (katherine of aragon), natalie dormer (anne boleyn), joely richardson (catherine parr), jeremy northam (sir thomas moore), sarah bolger (princess mary tudor), james frain (thomas cromwell), anthony brophy (ambassador eustace chapuys) and last but never least henry cavill (charles brandon 1st duke of suffolk).















showtime will next visit 'the borgias' in 2011 starring jeremey irons as the cunning rodrigo borgia.
i can't wait for lucretia's antics and ring of poison.

Happy Birthday Olympia

IDIOT OF THE WEEK!!!: Sharron Angle Republican Senate Nominee for Arizona

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

'Valentine's Day' **stars

a slight fluffy concoction that's sticky as cotton candy and like that candy will leave you basically unfulfilled. but it is a confection that you might enjoy if you happen to enjoy cotton candy.

vignettes is too broad a word to use here as it is all edited together but it does consist of mostly disjointed stories.

the best belongs to jennifer garner and ashton kutcher. i'm not a big fan of the mostly unphotogenic garner but i must say she has one really good scene with which she steals the whole candy box.

then there are the surprises that involve eric dane, bradley cooper and the always charming julia roberts. all are touching really. now get your mind out of the gutter as there is no 3way.

some talent is truly wasted like queen latifa, some have seen better days like shirley macclaine and some are just window dressing like patrick dempsey.

then there are the terrible. the awful jessica biel in a terrible role for instance.

but as in any movie she appears the absolutely worst yet again in this film is anne hathaway. anne should find another millionaire, hopefully not a criminal this time, and go off into the sunset with him. way off in the sunset. far from any and every movie set.

i say rent if you really have nothing else to do.

'Shutter Island' ***1/2stars Available on Blu Ray and DVD

the best film of 2010 so far. that really may not be saying very much due to all the crap that's come out but this is a damn good film. something different and if not completely unique it's the best of it's kind since 2005's 'the jacket'.

an excellent supporting cast is headed by leo dicaprio in a great performance the oscars will probably once again ignore. mark ruffalo as always is perfect and will be forever ignored by the academy.

max von sydow and ben kingsley support admirably. but it is the always good and always underestimated/underrated patricia clarkson that turns out the type of worthy of a nomination supporting role people remember.

personally i think this is martin scorsese's best directorial effort in years. truth be told he really lost me ages ago retreading the same old same old. here he tries something new with good results.

my verdict is rent it, make popcorn and get caught up in it's web.

What Is Going on in My Mind Today?

well eric cantor did not fail and bashed obama yesterday on andrea mitchell's show on msnbc. he's an idiot.

pb caves in and obama gets what he wants...anything to say eric cantor or john bonehead boehmer?

if the republican senator nominee from nevada feels americans can use their second amendment rights to stand up to tyranny does that mean i can use the same rights and take arms up against those who support this said tyranny and our against our duly elected president? sarah palin, michelle bachman and glenn beck trust me i will...just trust me! oh yeah and you too sharron angle who put this on the table. sharron you're an idiot!

i finally saw 'shutter island'. review tomorrow. hint: rent it.

'True Blood', Vampire Diaries' 'Twilight' and This Horror

'Hot in Cleveland' Premieres Tonight oh TV Land Starring the HOTHOTHOT Betty White

What Is Going on in My Mind Today?

Barack will speak tonight from the oval office. gee i wonder how the republicans will react...any guesses? what wisdom shall boneheaded john boehner impart to us all...how will the anti semitic jew eric cantor respond. gee i wonder...can't wait.



chris mathews has an msnbc special tomorrow night entitled rise of the new right...




that means those wonderful, delightful and ever so brain dead teabaggers will get a spotlight yet again...why chris why?
however they do put forward a real sense of fashion style...oy.




catherina zeta jones did win a tony. it was not a nightmare. i think i should go back to bed....

Happy Birthday Neil