Oprah Winfrey--1/29

Today is Queen Oprah's birthday, so I'm writing about her. Op hasn't made that many movies as an actress, but everything she does tends to be significant. She always plays strong women overcoming terrible odds and adversity. Her best performance to date, in my opinion, is her first. The Color Purple is one of my favorite movies. Its one that I can catch on TV at any spot and will sit and watch the rest, and sob at the end of. Oprah is amazing in this movie. She is Sofia. Granted, I read the book after I saw the movie, but there is NOTHING about Sofia in the book that I don't see in Oprah's performance. She captures the strengh and vulnerability of Sofia with grace and dignity in every word.

My favorite scene of Oprah's in The Color Purple is when she finally goes back to see her family, after being in jail, and being Miss Millie's maid. She hasn't seen her children in years, but their reunion is cut short by Miss Millie's ignorance and selfishness. Oprah shows you how hurt Sofia is in this moment, without showing too much. She walks a fine line between being true to the character and being over the top. She gives us a whole person in this movie, a whole person's life, a whole person's soul. I can only imagine what Oprah's career would have been like, had she focused on film acting, rather than her talk show. God knows the world would be a completely different place were that the case. She may have been a fantastic Mary Jones in Precious or Mrs. Miller in Doubt. I do love her, and would love to see her do more acting when her show goes off the air. Happy Birthday Oprah!!!!!!!!!

Diana Rigg--1/28

The movie version of the Sondheim musical A Little Night Music is pretty much universally thought to be one of the worst movie musicals of all time. The transfer to screen just didn't work for this one. Some blame it on bad casting (Elizabeth Taylor) and some on bad filmmaking (Harold Prince was a successful stage director, not film). I happen to appreciate this movie, because I LOVE the source material. There is one thing in this movie that is the bright spot, whether you like the movie or not, you will love Diana Rigg. She is FANTASTIC as the long suffering wife of Count Mittelheim. Her wry wit, and spot on comic timing crack me up!  She delivers looks over her teacup that remind me of one of the greatest at "the look" Bea Arthur. It's not just her comic chops that I love. She breaks your heart at the same time. When she is degrading herself, she holds herself together so well. And, my God, she is class all the way! I can't even tell you!! Love her. Watch this movie, the whole thing, on YouTube.

LITTLE ASHES

Title: Little Ashes
Director: Paul Morrison
Starring: Robert Pattinson, Javier Beltran, Matthew McNulty, Marina Gatell
Rating: 1.5/4 stars

I had high hopes for this movie, I really did. I was really interested in seeing the relationship between Frederico Garcia Lorca and Salvador Dali. Pretty much what I was given was a mediocre gay romantic drama. This was pretty formulaic. Boy meets boy. Boy is afraid of attraction to boy. Boy screws requisite loud, lonely straight girl. Boy dumps boy. Boy runs into boy years later and realizes boy is a freak. Thats all it was. The style of this film was pretty uneven, and the tone was all over the place. I just couldn't get into it. The only redeeming thing this movie had was Javier Beltran. He gave a wonderfully real performance. He was also VERY nice to look at. Robert Pattinson did just what I expected him to do. His performance was all over the place. He went from brooding to The Joker at the drop of a hat. This role would have been perfect for Heath Ledger, he would have done something interesting, and maybe had an accent that was consistent! Such a shame. This movie had such potential, and just fell into a formulaic mess, that was no better than any B gay romance!!!

The Gayssentials

Here is a list of some of my Gayssentials, by genre:

Comedy:

3-The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert**

2-Sordid Lives

1-The Ritz

Drama:

3-Bent

2-Torch Song Trilogy

1-Maurice

Romance:

3-Kissing Jessica Stein

2-My Beautiful Laundrette

1-Beautiful Thing**

TV:

3-Serving In Silence

2-An Early Frost**

1-Tales of the City

Coming Out Stories:

3-Making Love

2-Dorian Blues

1-Get Real

Classics:

3-Advise and Consent

2-The Children's Hour

1-Victim


Seen any of these? Have any thoughts on them?? A personal Gayssential???

Gayssential

Gayssential (gey'sěn'shəl)
        noun. def-A Gay Essential. A movie, book, television show that is essential to gay life either historically, politically or for its entertainment value. ex. You've never seen BEAUTIFUL THING? You must, its a Gayssential.

I plan to start working my way through my Gayssentials, reviewing them. So I am coining the term now!

Rita Moreno--1/26

Rita and Treat Williams in The Ritz

Rita Moreno is an Oscar winning actress. I remember her most from my early introduction to musical theatre in the movie versions of The King and I and West Side Story. It wasn't until a few years ago, that I came across a fantastic little comedy from the 70's by one of my favorite playwrights, Terrence McNally. The Ritz is most definately Rita at her best. I LOVE this movie for many reasons, but this is not a review, this post is all about Rita. She is the queen of comedy in the movie. As Googie Gomez, the headliner at a gay bath house, she carries this movie on her shoulders, and she is not even the star. Rita makes every moment she is on screen a 'must watch' moment. Her energy is infectious. Her tempermental moods, and loud mouth are comedy gold. The scene that sticks out the most for me is Googie's entrance into the movie. In the first few moments, she comes on the scene, and she stakes her claim on your funny bone. Her accent, her attitude, her facial expressions. Again, I find, with comedy it's hard to say what it is that makes it brilliant. Its something that you need to see to believe. So just go rent The Ritz. You won't be sorry. It is a Gay Essential, or Gayssential as I like to call them!

GYPSY

Title: Gypsy
Director: Mervyn LeRoy
Starring: Rosalind Russell, Karl Malden, Natalie Wood, Ann Jillian
Rating: 2/4 stars

Last night I popped this in for the first time in about 5 years. It was nice to revisit the big screen adaptation of one of my favorite musicals. This movie lacks some of the energy that I love about the show. It feels kind of heavy, even in it's lightest moments. Rosalind Russell does make a great Mama Rose, driving through the story like a bulldozer. Her singing is dubbed fantastically by Lisa Kirk, who sounds exactly like Russell. Wood actually does her own singing here, unlike in West Side Story. Its too brash, and she cannot blend, poor Ann Jillian has to fight to be heard during their duet, and it's Wood's character Louise who is the meek one. Singing aside, I actually do love Wood's performance, she really makes the journey to becoming Gypsy Rose Lee believable. She goes from mousy tomboy to sexy woman, and we don't even see her working at it. Malden is bland. Jillian has a great voice, but thats about it. The look of the film is drab and washed out, especially during the strip sequence, where I want more brightness and glamour. Overall a mediocre adaptation of a GREAT musical!

Bullock????

With her SAG win, I am now officially SCARED that Sandra Bullock is going to win an Oscar. I liked her in The Blind Side, but really??? It's going to be a long wait 'til Oscar time.
I suppose if she wins she can join Elizabeth Taylor (Butterfield 8), Gwenyth Paltrow, Julia Roberts, Halle Berry and Reese Witherspoon in the Most UNDESERVING Best Actress Oscar Winners Club!!! I'm setting myself up for disappointment!!!!

SAG AWARDS!!!

OK...starting the Live Blog...Be sure to check back for updates!!!

Starting kind of late, because of internet issues...DAMN!! But here we go with the reactions.

• ALEC BALDWIN=Best Actor in a Comedy Series I am not surprised because he is AWESOME and the actors love him!!
• TINA FEY=Best Actres in a Comedy Series I am surprised that Toni Collette didn't take this one...She is BRILLIANT in TARA.  But I do love me some Tina, so I'm not holding it against anybody!!!
• Cast of GLEE=Outstanding Ensemble of a Comedy Series Disappointment sets in. I just don't get Glee, and why they are winning this stuff, and Lea Michelle looks like a Monchichi!!
• CHRISTOPH WALTZ=Best Supporting Actor OK, Now I really need to see this movie. What the hell are you talking about in your speech man?? I don't get it really.
• JULIANNA MARGULIES=Best Actress in a Drama Series She so deserves this one. The Good Wife is fantastic and Julianna is brilliant in it! But I must say that I just don't get her dress, velvet, droopy boobs???
• MICHAEL C HALL=Best Actor in a Drama Series I know many Dexter fans who will be happy about this one!!
• Cast of MAD MEN=Best Ensemble of a Drama Series They always seem to win these awards, this is a show I have not been able to get into! I don't know why. But John Slattery is a silver FOX and Christina Hendricks is BEYOND gorgeous.
• Ken Howard is great, but I hate when they do all these speeches...just get to the awards!!!!
• OOOOOOOOOOO It's Betty White time!!! She is so deserving of this award!!!
• Good speech Sandra. Heartfelt and funny, I'm sure Betty LOVED it!!
• This Package is making me tear up!!! I love me some Betty!!!!!
• Now I am officially SOBBING!!!
• Betty White is ABSOLUTELY a LEGEND!!! She really has done everything and can continue to do so! She is hilarious, and dirty. I wish she was my grandma, and yet I kind of feel like she is!! WOW!!!!!
• DREW BARRYMORE=Best Actress in a TV Movie/Miniseries Most deserved!! She was AMAZING as Little Edie! She made me love the real Little Edie even more!!!!! Acceptance speech...iffy! But I love that it's real!
• KEVIN BACON=Best Actor in a TV Movie/Miniseries I got this from Netflix, but I sent it back without watching it...is that bad?!? He is a sexy man though....and only gets sexier with age!!
• The Memoriam. This is always hard to watch. So sad, Hollywood really lost some greats this year. Patrick Swayse, Harve Presnell, Jennifer Jones, James Whitmore, Karl Malden, Natasha Richardson and Bea Arthur! I'm so glad they included 'God'll get you for that, Walter'!!!!!
• MO'NIQUE=Best Supporting Actress OK...This one is in the bag...She is BRILLIANT in Precious, I just love watching every one of her acceptance speeches. She is so eloquent!! And she knows it. She is sort of my hero right now!!!
• JEFF BRIDGES=Best Actor I don't know about this one, because I haven't seen the movie. But he is always stellar in everything, so it's ok. I was secretly rooting for Jeremy Renner though!!!!
• SANDRA BULLOCK=Best Actress I am a little mad..see previous post!!!!!
• INGLORIUS BASTERDS=Best Ensemble Now I DEFINATELY need to see this one! Sad that it wasn't Hurt Locker!!!

Lesley Ann Warren--1/23

This column is not always about people who have turned in the best work, consistently, but is also about a singular performance or moment on the screen. As I was re-organizing my DVD collection today, I was making mental notes of performances I wanted to mention here in the future. When I got to the letter 'v' I saw a movie, and thought "I have to talk about Lesley today". Lesley Ann Warren is not the greatest actress ever. She doesn't have a long long list of stellar performances to mention. But she does have at least one performance that has affected me, like in a life changing way. Victor/Victoria is one of those comedies that I feel has taught me something about how to perform comedy. And Lesley Ann Warren is perhaps the highlight of that movie.
She plays what could be your typical 'gangster's moll', but she does it with such panache and style that it is unforgettable. One of the things I love about comedy, is when beautiful women are not afraid to look like fools. This is why I love Lucille Ball, Fran Drescher, Debra Messing and other television commedienne's. Warren has this quality in spades, and her comic timing in Victor/Victoria is impeccable. She really has something special in this movie. It's so hard to explain without actually just showing the whole movie, but there is a commitment. Lesley LOVES Norma, and she plays her without any condescension. And I love how she is loud, and over the top. Yet she has a vulnerability and a reality to her that is awesome.
This is one of those Oscar history things that kind of makes me mad. She lost to Jessica Lange for Tootsie. Now I really think Jessica just won for that, because she was also up for lead actress that year, and they wanted to give her one. She wasn't going to beat Streep in the lead category, so they gave her the supporting statue. Looking at these two performances next to each other, Lesley Ann Warren should have taken the trophy. She is FANTASTIC in this movie. If you haven't seen it, check it out.