Academy Awards 2008

Here's a list of things I liked:

1) Marisa Tomei's dress-beautiful

2) Hugh Jackman and his opening song and dance with Anne Hathaway-hilarious and she can sing-who knew?

3) Ben Stiller as Joaquin Phoenix and Natalie Portman telling him he looked like he lived an Hassidic meth lab

4) Sean Penn winning-I really did think his performance was wonderful-and I hate him

5) The way the announced the performance awards. When I first saw it, I thought "this will add 30 minutes to this show". But as others have noted-it's the first time ever that it put truth to the saying "it's an honor just to be nominated". When the actors introduced their nominee and spoke about their career and performance, you finally felt that it WAS an honor just to be nominated. I'll overlook the people who I didn't like (okay, Nicole Kidman and Marion Cotillard who seemed to be reading from cue cards) in favor of those who I did like and who seemed to speak from their heart-Whoopie Goldberg, Shirley Maclaine and Robert DeNiro.

6) Yay Kate Winslet-who probably should have won for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind or Little Children or Sense and Sensibility...wel, you get the drift. It's always nice when the woman dubbed the finest actress of her generatin finally wins the big award.

7) Yes, I liked Sean Penn's speech. He acknowledged he was difficult, he gave a shout out to Obama, gay marriage and Mickey Rourke. It just would have been nice he said hi to the woman who has tolerated him for so many years and is a fine actor in her own right (oooh, bad pun. Sorry, Robin Wright Penn).

8) All the love for Slumdog-not a surprise but it was still nice to see.

9) Meryl Streep finally wearing something nice to the big show. She's looked frumpy so many times, but this was nice.

10) Phillippe Petit making a coin disappear and balancing the Oscar on his chin-so cool.

11) Kate giving a shout out to her parents and her Dad whistling so she knew where they were-awesome.

12) The Pineapple Express takeoff and hugh Jackman's-I didn't see The Reader, I didn't the Reader..I went to the multiplex but the lines were so long..-it was very funny. Good on Hugh that he was very genial and kept things moving. The people there hate it when they're mocked and Hugh did none of that-good job.

13) Tina and Steve. Enough said.

And some things I didn't...

1) I swear if Beyonce wears one more big mermaid gown in a flashy print/shiny color I'm going to scream. Just stop! Wear something else! Please. At least she didn't try to LOOK like an Oscar, like she has in times past.

2) The second musical number was unnecessary and annoying. Mixing the pop songs with classic Broadway songs just irritated me-it could have been handled better and frankly I expect better from Baz Luhrmann.

3) If I saw one more big dress with netting, I was going to scream. Everyone looked like it was age-inappropriate. Sarah Jessica's dress looked too fairy princess for her, Miley Cyrus's looked like it belonged on someone older, Marion Cotillard's was okay, not great and Penelope Cruz's looked like it belong on the top of a wedding cake-why is this hard?

4) Every time Jen Aniston was on (and thebit with Jack Black just about defined the the word "strained", they cut to Brad and Angie. Jesus, just stop.

5) And here's Angie-looking like the evil Disney queen who wasn't invited to the party but showed up anyway-with the mouse she turned into a handsome footman. Even her smile said "I'd rip you to shreds if I weren't on tv". I did want to get a better look at her earrings though-they looked like pair I saw in the Neiman-Marcus catalogue that cost 3,000,000,000.

6) The way they handled the In Memoriam (also known as the death montage). I was glad to see who I expected-Roy Scheider, Sidney Pollack, Anthony Minghella-but at the very beginning, the viewers at home couldn't see a thing-and they started off with frickin Cyd Charisse-who totally deserved better. And it was unnecessary for Queen Latifah to sing. I love her as much as anyone, but it drew attention away from the montage itself and was distracting.

So, I'd like to thank the Academy for a pretty good show. It wasn't perfect but these things never are. And who wants that anyway? Perfection is dull and boring-give me Mickey Rourke dressed in a white Gaultier suit with a picture of his dog on a chain around his neck any day.

One Irritated Academy Award Note

I'll have a full round up later-but they spend all that time honoring the nominees for best supporting actress (which was lovely, actually) and the nominees for best song don't get to sing the whole song? Really?

My New Hero

I'm not really a fan of Louis C.K., but this bit from Conan is accurate, amazing and hilarious. He is now my new hero, until Lewis Black has a new special.
And here's a link to another web site with his rant.

http://barefootmeg.multiply.com/video/item/56

I Hate the 70's

Specifically, I hate 70's music. All that power rock stuff-I hate it. I tried to listen to Aerosmith and Led Zepplin and I just couldn't do it, not even to fit it. When disco arrived and that was what my friends liked, I was relieved. Here was fun music, catchy music, not that rock-opera, so hooked on it's own self-importance that it was ridiculous. And when I first heard punk-well, that was it. My disco-loving friends were surprised I liked it, but punk was awesome and it was the first music I liked that was mine.

This is in reference to two movies I saw over the weekend, and music played a large part in both of them.
First up, The Wrestler. I really didn't want to see The Wrestler, but if Mickey Rourke is going to win an Academy Award for it, I want to see it for myself. I knew going in that there plenty of things I wouldn't like and that was all true. The 80's power ballads (which might as well have been 70's power ballads with a little more electronica), the big 80's hair, professional wrestling and last but not least, Mickey Rourke's face. It's painful to look at him when I remember how he was almost pretty in the 80's-and talented. To look at him now is to witness the worst of what human being can do to themselves, willingly. And for all the things that I didn't like about this movie, it has stayed with me since I saw it. It's a bit like Monster-dislike and repulsion..and yet it won't go away. So, good for you Mickey, for living up to your potential after 15 years of screwing up. I think Sean Penn should win but I won't be unhappy if Rourke gets it instead.

I got Still Crazy because my friend R recommended it. he told me the soundtrack was addictive and he would lend it to me once I had seen it-and I may have mocked him. I was definitely sceptical. But Bill Nighy was in it (which was the reason we were talking about it)and as I'll watch him in almost anything, except for Pirates of the Caribbean, I got it. And as I watched it, I'll be damned if R wasn't right.
Still Crazy is about getting the band back together. You know, that crazy late 70's band with the power ballads and ridiculously elaborate clothes. The one where the lead guitarist died of a drug overdose, the lead singer freaked over a lightning strike and keyboard player is now a bit broke. That band. The thing is, the music is catchy, the performances are great and the whole thing is not only fun, it has a heart-mainly supplied by the great Bill Nighy and Bruce Robinson. Why did I not know who Robinson was until now? He was in Zefirrelli's Romeo and Juliet, he wrote Withnail and I, he wrote Fat Man and Little Boy. And as the drug-addled musician who had a nervous breakdown, he makes this movie, despite Bill Nighy stealing almost every single scene. All Robinson has to to do is give his half-smile from under his ragged bangs and he's won over everyone-this guy has charisma to burn.
And I even liked the 70's music in it-and here's a link to the final scene.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2SJbhVbPsA

Brad Van Pelt and I

I found out that Brad Van Pelt died the other day-he was only 57 and had a heart attack in his home in Owosso, not far from East Lansing where he played football at MSU.

I met Brad when I was but a child (a SMALL child) when he was my teacher's aide-he was going to MSU (and was the star of the football team) and I was....in 6th grade. 6th grade was hard for a variety of reasons-a new school, difficulties between my parents at home, the crazy people in school (although I met D in 6th grade and we've been best friends ever since, so that was a truly bright spot-I just didn't know it at the time). But Brad (who was tall, blond, handsome and kind) was our teacher's aide. We mocked our teacher, (who didn't like me) for thrusting her breasts out at him-and how always acted like he didn't notice. And I couldn't wait to tell my brother, seven years older than I, and who knew all about football-the game I was taken to every Saturday afternoon (even when it snowed) and which baffled me (it became easier to understand once I made my dad explain it to me in some detail). My brother, of course, did not believe me. I did have a habit of making up stories (see Saki's The Open Window for an exaggerated story on how I behaved) but this was actually true-and Brad helped me (inadvertently) to prove it.
Yes, I wore my MSU hat to get attention from him-but in a childish way. The hat was green and white, of course, not a baseball-style cap, but more like a old-fashioned cap that a cabbie would wear, but with pie-shaped wedges of green and white. (it was the 70's and I was ten. Don't judge). And Brad, bless him, noticed. Nice cap, he said and we chatted a little about football. I glowed-but only because at that point in my life, if anyone was kind to me, I glowed. It didn't take much.
Let's cut to a couple of days later, when my brother (who still did not believe me) said we had orders from Mom to go get some milk and I had better come with him because he couldn't leave me at the house alone. So, there we were at the Quality Dairy-and Brad walked in. "Hey, where's your hat?" he asked, while rubbing my head (much like my parents would). "I left it at home" said I. And my brother stood there, baffled that I was actually talking with star of the football team-but I was kind enough to introduce him. Of course I did-I actually got to show him that I had not been lying. In fact, the first words I said to him when we got into the car were "I TOLD you he was my teacher's aide".
And Brad was nothing but gracious and kind to a child that he barely knew and her brother.
When I read the obits, everyone mentioned that however great a football player he was (and he was very good), his family came first. And he was always gracious and kind to everyone-always the nice guy and how much they liked him. And I thought, yeah, that's the guy I met. I'm so glad he didn't change.
So, thank you, Brad, for always being that guy.

Lost

Sooner or later I'm going to have to write about the last few episodes of Battlestar Galactica, which have been fantastic, but that would take more time than I have right now. So let's just say I laughed when I saw Entertainment Weekly's cover on Lost, which said:

Lost!
Outrageous!
Addictive!
Totally Confusing!

That pretty much says it all.

MILK

Here's the thing-I've never liked Sean Penn. I've never thought much of him as an actor-being twitchy in every part does not constitute good acting and he's been twitchy in every part he's had since Fast Times at Ridgemont High. So many people have liked hi when I just found him annoying-the sole exception being 21 Grams, when he couldn't be twitchy. But Milk looked good and and he didn't seem too twitchy. (I keep hearing the phrase "twitchy bastard" in my head. Is that from The Maltese Falcon? I've always thought it fit Penn perfectly). So I went to see it and was pleasantly surprised. He was really good-capturing the heart of a gay man who cared desperately about how other gay people were treated. His sexuality was important to him, but being open about it and making the world a better place were more important. I liked the fact that the movie never shied away from his sexuality but also never shied away from his determination or his political awakening. And Penn was terrific in it-humorous, self-deprecating, determined and sexual-it's his best part. And I never once caught myself thinking "he's doing a great job", which is my kiss of death, so to speak. Milk overall is a great movie-the supporting players are all great, from Josh Brolin as the uptight Dan White (who is treated with dignity and respect and is never turned into a monster), to James Franco as Scott, the sweet stoner who finally can't take politics, to Emile Hirsch as the firebrand Cleve, turned from rent-boy to community organizer by his friendship with Harvey Milk.
Finally, Milk is a really entertaining movie. Well-written and interesting, while never preachy or didactic, it's really well-done. But I'm still not convinced by Sean Penn. I'm sure there's another twitchy part out there calling his name...

What I'm Watching

What's on TV lately? If you look past all the reality crap (which I do because i can't stand any of it except MAYBE Extreme Makeover Home Edition) there actually quite a few good shows on right now. Well, in my opinion, anyway.

1) First up: The return of Lost. Yes, I've heard the jokes about "Lost has lost me". But I'm still watching. I admit that last week's episode came thisclose to giving me a headache and a nosebleed. All that cutting between the island, the island hopping through time and the Oceanic Six-it was, as usual, filled with interesting moments (a young Charles Widmore! Juliet speaking Latin! Locke telling Richard when he will be born and to go see it!). All these individual scenes were cool but the show seemed less than the sum of its parts. But this week, it was very cool. maybe because the people on the island really only interacted with each other, which made their time-travel much less confusing. And the Oceanic Six had their own problems-who wants to take Aaron from Kate? Who sent that guy to kill Sayyid? (like someone could actually KILL Sayyid-he's such a badass). And will Hurley stay in the LA County lockup? But the coolest moment of all was the return of Jin-and the look on his face when he realizes he's talking to a young and pregnant Danielle Rousseau. I have high hopes for what happens next on this show.

2) Fringe. I started off kind of liking Fringe and being amused at its blatant X-Files homage. While it is still doing an homage to the Files, it's still a good show. Anna, Pacey and crazy john all get good lines, the plots, while intricate, are understandable and there's also an underlying overall plot going on, which no one understands yet (yes, I'm referring to the whole "Observer" thing). but what makes this show, to me, are the performances. Anna Torv does a nice job of playing the rational (mostly)FBI agent, Joshua Jackson gets some good lines as the skeptical son of Crazy Scientist, John Noble. John Noble (who I haven't really seen in anything before this-sorry), is awesome in this show. He gets crazy lines, and delivers them with aplomb. In someone else's hands, he might come off as just a crazy scientist, but in Noble's hands, Walter has heart and soul along with the crazy. It's worth it just to watch him.

3) Bones. When I first started watching Bones, it was pretty lightweight, and in some respects, it still is. You know no one will ever die, you know that eventually they'll figure out the crime, you know that nothing really, really bad will happen. But what they do, they do really well-and in some episodes, it's clear they're shooting for more. The episode where we meet Boothe's brother-the navy officer who turns out to have a drinking problem is an example of this-it could have been After School Special-ish but instead was better than that. No one learned a lesson, life went on and the people involved dealt with it and learned a little more about each other-but it didn't help. But I'd like to give a shout-out for last night's ep-The Hero in the Hold, in which Boothe is trapped by the Grave Digger and has to not only escape from the hold of decommissioned ship he's on, but also has to get off the sip before it blows up.
This ep was all about David Boreanaz, who gave a terrific performance-spending the whole time talking to a fallen comrade who is helping him (who is also a ghost), he was equal parts, desperation, humor and pathos. He was great. yes, everyone else was good too-but this show was clearly a showcase for him. The only part I did not like was the scene late in the show that showed Boothe supposedly in a war. His make-up was bad, his "Army" uniform looked silly and the set looked so fake it was ridiculous. It completely brought me out of what, up until then, had been a very captivating show.

4) A quick shout-out to NCIS. No, it's not a show that will make you think. But it's always entertaining. the characters are good and the cast has real chemistry together-there are many worse ways to pass the time.

5) The return of The Closer. I hear Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgewick lost all their money to Bernie Madoff, so it's a good thing she's got a good show on that can bring in some cash. She's seriously good on it, the supporting (particularly Anthony Denison and Paul Provenza) is great and it's always fun to see Brenda take down the bad guy-and to see how she does it. And every once in awhile, it rises above itself to turn in something really special. Most shows are willing to coast on the strength of its cast, and The Closer is now exception. But when it reaches beyond that, it's something special.

6) Battlestar Galactica. This is just a really, really good show. It turns its ongoing plot about human fighting evil robots while searching for home (not Earth anymore, as Earth is now a radioactive mess) into something that is far more than that. Hope, redemption, loyalty and what it means to be human. Are all ongoing themes in this show, along with power, violence and betrayal-and the effect they can have on anyone who comes into contact with someone willing to use them for their own ends. This show is not only powerful, it makes you think. What does it mean when the robot has more emotion than the human? When the human is willing to torture when the robot is not? When the robot doesn't know what it's like to be human because when it "dies" it can download into a new body? This show is not afraid to tackle tough questions and raise tough questions-it enjoys doing so. And now it's dealing with what it means to be loyal-and what it means to be a traitor to those who served with and beside for years. Who is right and who is wrong when both have valid viewpoints?

7) And a show I've been disappointed in lately: I'm looking at you-Supernatural. The one-offs have always been the weakest part of the show and never more than now. Following the whole Lucifer is trying to break free and bring Hell on Earth storyline, we get Criss Angel is a Douchebag? Last night's ep was a little better because we had some real conflict between Sam and Dean but honestly, where are the demons? The angels? Lucifer is just out breaking the seals and no one is fighting this? I like this show but to bring out such a strong plot and then abandon it for three episodes (are we saving the good stuff for sweeps?) is enough to make me return to CSI and no one wants that.

A Perfect Moment

I was sitting in the Rocking Horse Cafe in NYC, I was eating my favorite thing there (panquequas with ancho chile syrup, nectarines, bacon), reading the NY Times and a song I really like played over the speakers-and i was sitting with M.
It was just right.

Full Circle

So, I was watching Colbert the other night and he had Henry Louis Gates on. Prominent historian, Harvard professor, all-around really smart guy. He has written a book on Lincoln, he's doing a show on PBS on Lincoln-and he said something I liked, which was that each generation rewrites Lincoln as a way of looking within. It's true that each generation rewrites previous wars, events and heroes as a way of looking within and this has happened with Lincoln maybe more than any other president except Washington.
But he told a story that really bothered me-about going to visit the Sons of the Confederacy. And how do they feel about Lincoln?
They view him as a traitor who should be tried in absentia for crimes against the United States.
What a coincidence! I feel the same way about Robert E Lee-you know, the man who graduated at the top of his class at the United States Military Academy and was offered the position of top general in the United States Army-and instead resigned his commission and went home to Virginia to lead the Confederacy. he's the one I think is a traitor-but we are entitled to our opinions.