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Pardon the silence. My computer is moving homes. My laptop is also travelling to its new location. Updates to site during this move? Unlikely.

Weird Personal Music Facts (part 2)

OK, Part 2 will have to be done differently. excludinganything not played in 2005 or the top songs already covered (they take their playcounts with them when they're moved into iPod apparently) I wish you could search this by most played during a specific time period. The iPod most played list includes (alpha order):

Alive -Beastie Boys
The Blowers Daughter -Damien Rice
Hollaback Girl -Gwen Stefani
Just Like a Pill -Pink
Knock Yourself Out -Jon Brion from I Heart Huckabees
Lot's Wife -Tonya Pinkins from Caroline or Change
Pavement Cracks -Annie Lennox
Precious Box -George Michael
Triumph of the Heart -Björk
Unforgiven -The Go-Gos
What Are U Waiting For? -Gwen Stefani
You're My Only Home -Magnetic Fields

The absolute weirdest thing about all of these playcount lists is that Scissor Sisters barely show up anywhere and theirs is definitely the CD I have listened to most in the past year. Ah, but it's in the ancient device in my living room: The CD player.

Weird Personal Music Facts (part 1)

Just as I was about to go to bed I clicked on iTunes and hit the Play Count feature to see which songs I've listened to the most since getting this program (can't remember when but I've had it since at least late 2002 so we're talking at least 2 and 1/2 years) --I don't know why I did this and the results were not what I expected. Keep in mind this list is from my actual computer. I listen to my iPod more than I do my computers so this is going to naturally skew towards somewhat older stuff before I had the iPod. Maybe I should check the iPod stats instead?

iTunes Most Played
01 Cucurrucucu Paloma from the Talk to Her soundtrack. Gorgeous.
02 Come What May Ewan & Nicole from Moulin Rouge!
So far it's making sense. Than suddenly...
03 Me Against the Music -Britney Spears (featuring Madonna)
I don't even really LIKE this song. Let alone love it. How did it get played so much? Yikes.
04 Cannonbal -Damien Rice. Beautiful song but it's since been eclipsed in my heart by his other really well known song The Blower's Daughter
05 It's in Our Hands -Björk
06 Why Can't I? -Liz Phair
07 A Call From the Vatican -Jane Krakowski from the Broadway revival of Nine.
now, I knew I was obsessed with Jane Krakowski as Carla when that came out. But top ten? Wow. And the fact that it's the most played Broadway tune.
08 Crying in the Rain -A-Ha
Another odd 'I did not see that coming' finalist. A-Ha is one of those groups that definitely has more than one fine pop song but the world doesn't know it. To America they seem to be the definition of one hit wonders -although in point of fact they had more than one hit here, too.
09 Take it With Me -Megan Mulally (yes, the Megan Mullaly of Will & Grace fame)
Her CD Big as a Berry is g-r-e-a-t. Terrific vocalist. I wish she'd do a Broadway show or a movie musical. Ignore that annoying M&M commercial. She can belt with the best of them.
10My Phone's on Vibrate for YouRufus Wainwright.
And that song is truly gorgeous and resonant so it's a lovely bookend to the Talk to Her song to round out my top ten.

Some runners up?
Pass That DutchMissy Elliott, MaryPatty Griffin, Where Do We Go From Here?the cast of Buffy the Vampire Slayer,Hella Goodand Ex-GirlfriendNo Doubt, Paris ParisMalcolm McClaren & Catherine DeneuveNothing Fails and American Life Madonna. Further down are several more songs each from Rufus Wainwright, Madonna, and Missy Elliott.

Madness

I suddenly want to do a photo-blog! Because my life simply is not complicated enough. (snort) Please give me my 380th deadline/expectation for the day. Or medication. Whichever.

(And I Am Telling You)

...great article today on the negotiations for Dreamgirls the movie over at David Poland's Hot Button. Read it if you're at all interested in star wheelings and dealings.

April Showers Bring May Flowers

The old saying had better be true this year. It's not physically raining right now. But when it rains it pours...even if only in the life sense. And in both good and bad ways. And I need to see a light at the end of the tunnel (and all that). While I try to deal with all the personal whammy going on, please enjoy the new site feature -The Calendar (linked above).

Spoke too soon

So I brought my site back up today but I probably spoke too soon about the many updates I was going to make. See, I like to do 39 things at once... and in addition to trying to do this I am also moving next week so I spend lots of boring hours throwing possessions away, regifting, and packing boxes. And I'm also working ridiculous hours. Fun for me. I hate my life right now. But thank God it's Spring. When you're really really low, the only way is up...

Julius Caesar

All over NYC you can see posters trumpeting Denzel Washington's appearance on the boards as Brutus in Julius Caesar. This advertising blitz and Denzel's fame should explain the big sales for his limited run in this Shakespearean production. Sadly my friends, Romans, and countrymen, if you lend me your ear I cannot report good news. The play comes with a certain hard-to-mess-with gusto (Shakespeare you know) but otherwise it is very much a mess. The modern trappings don't seem to be saying much. And shouldn't they if that's the direction a production goes with? The performances are pitched all over the place from classical Shakespearean delivery (Cassius) to film-like method underplaying (Brutus) to plain old over the top cluelessness (I shan't say). Sometimes you can't hear Denzel's voice. The voice itself is lovely and resonant of course as the entire nation is aware --but on stage... well, he just doesn't seem to have the training for it. It's hard to make out many of his lines and despite the quiet line deliveries in certain spots the rest of the soundcraft is ear splitting. The guns, special effects, war sounds are extremely loud. The gorgeous language Shakespeare is known for is often lost in the shuffle. Not a good trade.

"525,600 Minutes" (x 9)

Any Rentheads out there? Rent is about to enter its ninth year on Broadway so I figured I ought to check it out having only touring productions prior to moving to New York now (!) six years ago (!). The film will be arriving in November. If Chris Columbus (of Harry Potter / Mrs. Doubtfire fame) who is directing can harness the energy that this show is known for without sacrificing its pansexual East Village edge (even if that "edge" is theme-parkish as edge goes...) than he could have another huge hit on his hands.

The show just works. Not sure why. Sometimes it feels like it shouldn't. But it does. It gets to you. Whether it's the raucous youth comedy of "La Vie Boheme" or Maureen's Laurie Anderson spoof-like performances or the all choked up sentimentality of "I'll Cover You" or "Seasons of Love" Rent remains extremely hard to hate and easy to get swept up in.

...at least on stage. Good luck Columbus!

wha. the. fu. ?

Whenever I rent "gay films" as in films that are really only made by and for gay people as opposed to real films with gay content or gay directors my boyfriend expresses much dismay and says very loudly "gay people should not be allowed to make films!"

Now, part of this is a pose... obviously nobody wants Todd Haynes and other greats to quit working. But sometimes he has a point. And queer cineastes do certainly have a lot to complain about. A lot of stuff that does get made that is of questionable quality would not get made if it were straight i.e. if you're serving a specialized starving audience, you don't have to deliver good taste, exquisite plating, or even anything all that edible to pack your restaurant full. Or, to put it in film terms your story doesn't have to make even a lick of sense, you don't have to follow any standard rules of storytelling, and your protagonists and supporting characters don't have to be likeable or interesting as long as they drop trou.

Frank Miller's Town

I know that when the first "event movie" of the year comes out I should make a much bigger todo about it... but I don't have a lot to say. I grew up reading Frank Miller comics so it was a treat to see his aesthetic visualized --but as a film it didn't completely satisfy --too long. repetitive. gross. etc... Since it was so faithful to the source material I kept wondering why they just didn't animate it? But, yes, it looks hella cool.

Tarantino's section is best starring the always (and increasingly) magnetic Clive Owen. Is it just me or does he get better all the time even though he started out sensationally? *
*edited out comments about other actors since maybe Tarantino didn't direct this whole section I'm hearing.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf

Despite two hours of sleep on Wednesday night and a marathon work day on Thursday, I was wide awake on Broadway Thursday night for the duration of that infamous and vicious couple's pub crawl through the home of George and Martha. The boozy evening of which I speak (for those of you who are young...or older folks who have lived under a rock) is the framework of Edward Albee's masterpiece Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf.

For those unfamiliar with the original play or its film incarnation, it begins as if already in Act 2: George and Martha, a middle aged college professor and his wife, return home from a faculty party already inebriated and waiting for the arrival of a younger couple whom they met earlier in the evening. For the remainder of the three act play George and Martha torment each other, their guests, and especially themselves. It's an all-night binge on strange love, regret, bourbon, petty grudges, and the comfort of familiar emotional baggage. Sounds like a laugh riot, huh? Yet thanks to Albee's razor sharp skills as a writer and the indelible characters within, the play is thrillingly alive and therefore funny, smart, and joyous in the way art can be even when its subject matter is bone-crushingly dark.

Woolf is hardly Albee's only major theatrical claim to fame; he also wrote the blisteringly funny The Goat, or Who is Sylvia and Three Tall Women among other important pieces for the stage. His most recent triumph was the off Broadway The Play About the Baby which was, in a peculiar way, a kind of abstract rendering of Virginia Woolf's central mystery. Albee has also won the Pulitzer three (!) times. Yet George and Martha's epic tussle remains his signature piece. In the course of its history (1962 to the present) and throughout its various incarnations it has won 8 Tony Nominations (with more presumably to come for this production), 5 Tonys, 13 Oscar nominations, 5 Oscars, 7 Golden Globe nominations, and many others. Not too shabby.

This Broadway revival's cast features Bill Irwin (famous New York clown) as George in his second dark descent into Albee's land of tormented couples. He previously starred in The Goat I'm happy to report that he's much more impressive here. But then, to be fair, Bill Pullman's creation of The Goat role would have been impossible for anyone to top -being one of the best performances ever(hyperbole fully intended). But of course the marquee name here is the one and only Kathleen Turner.

For longtime readers of my site, my love for certain actresses is well known. Yet my devotion to Kathleen Turner may have slipped by unnoticed due to her rather abrupt descent from the movie star ranks. Those who first dropped jaw at this actress's debut in Lawrence Kasdan's early 80s noir effort Body Heat probably wouldn't have seen a fine grande dame stage career in her future.... but, in a way, Turner has been building up to Martha for years. From her memorably dangerous seduction of William Hurt in that film to her breakout star turn with Michael Douglas in Romancing the Stone through her sometimes violent love/sex matches with Jack Nicholson in Prizzi's Honor Steve Martin in The Man With Two BrainsTony Perkins in Crimes of Passion and within the divorce dramedies The War of the Roses and Peggy Sue Got Married nearly all of Turner's important characters have been women in the midst of extremely contentious and high stakes coupledom. Stepping into Martha's shoes, once inhabited by legends as large as Uta Hagen and Elizabeth Taylor is, to Turner's great credit, a completely unforced fit. Taylor's bray as Martha in the film version was a perfect match and won her the Oscar. Turner's famously husky voice and big throaty laugh spin just as naturally from and in service of one of the best written characters for stage or screen. She is Martha and will certainly be rewarded with one of this year's Tony nominations.

By the end of the play I had momentarily forgotten all about the film (which I love) so immersed was I in this new production. The finale is a marvel. In those superb last moments overflowing with repetitive "yes" and "no"s the consensual nature of George and Martha's emotional violence hits home. For these weary warriors, one realizes with a shudder, this night might be just like any other night. It's a dismaying thought. But for the audience, happily, this is not just any night at the theater. Highly recommended.

no coffee...

...is strong enough right now. The Day After Insomnia... it ain't pretty.

i can't sleep

...why else would I be posting a two sentence entry at 1 AM when I have to get my ass out of bed at 5?
Know any good cures?

Wherefore art thou, Julie Ann?

I am suffering Julianne Moore withdrawal. Oh, sure. I know it was just a short time ago when her flaming locks were tossing to and fro as she weathered alien agression and boy-snatching sneakiness. And it wasn't much earlier when her gorgeous mouth was masticating junkfood in a bathroom stall blown up to silver screen heights. But... let's be honest... for the Julianne Moore fan, The Forgotten and Laws of Attraction just don't cut it. Not after the apotheosis of 2002 which starredThe Hours and the supercalifragilisticexpialadocious Far From Heaven.

But when is she reappearing and will we have another 2002? or a 2004? The IMDB which I've learned to take with multiple grains of salt when it comes to films in the works. Suggests that she is filming Savage Grace, a film about the torturous life of Barbara Daly Baekeland in which Julianne would certainly be nothing other than stupendous. But, the IMDB lists no other cast members. If the movie is truly filming surely Julianne is not playing ALL the roles!?! Well, if anyone could do it... What an overachiever!

The IMDB also claims that she is done filming two projects, Bart Freundlich's Trust the Man which is worth looking forward to because, whatever the arguable merits of deficiences of his two previous features --in both Julianne came on like gangbusters making the most of the material. According to the IMDB she is also done filming The Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio but I fear a Laws of Attraction style trainwreck there given the preciousness of Anderson's last film, the HBO Jessica Lange movie Normal.

And finally, newly announced, is Next based on a Philip K Dick story and co-starring Nic Cage. Nicolas Cage? "Next!" indeed.

Joss & Eliza

I use to get through Mondays by saying to myself 'self, tonight you get to meet your friends for Buffy at the Urge.' But then we stopped going. And Mondays become more dull. So last night had a little ressurection of my previous Monday haunt and watched Angel. I don't really 'get' Angel the series the way I got what Joss Whedon was always doing with Buffy. Probably my loss. But last night was two 'guest-starring Faith' episodes (...with one special appearance by Willow!) so I enjoyed nonetheless.

Why don't they just cancel Tru Calling already and let Eliza Dushku free to do Whedon's rumored Faithseries. I would be SO there. I know Whedon is doing Hollywood right now but I love "Faith" as a character way more than I'll ever love Wonder Woman. You know?

around the corner...

...lies my nervous breakdown. I am moving from the boroughs to the island very shortly and as a result my headspace is full of "shit that I gotta do" Meanwhile i'm working 6 to 7 days a week. And i'm still posting daily to a blog even though I'm supposed to be on hiatus from webstuff. All the while I'm looking for a new job, losing a bunch of weight, and living in a total obstacle course of boxes, both packed and previously stored, and in some cases cobweb covered because I threw them in closets ages ago and I don't even know what's in them.

Basically I'm in the middle of a clusterf*** of life changes all within a tiny time frame even though you're supposed to spread stuff like that out so that you don't have the nervous breakdown. It's just around the corner! I feel it waiting 'round the bend. somethings coming --- I don't know what it is--- but it is not gonna be great....

So I go to the movies! Today I saw the Oscar nominated shorts. Ryanwhich won the animated short film prize is very bizarre, original, and documentary like while also being visually arresting but kinda scary/ugly at the same time. The other really good one is Birthday Boy about a Korean boy in 1951 playing amidst war wreckage. wasp which won the live action short film prize is about as depressing as it gets but well made and sharp. For those of you who haven't heard of Natalie Press, she is the star and you will be seeing her very soon as I expect she's about to be the new Emily Watson/Samantha Morton/much raved about new import... She's also the lead inMy Summer of Love which is opening this summer and worth a look. Paddy Considine (In America, Last Resort) is great in Love as well. I wasn't blown away by any of the live action nominees except maybe 7:35 in the Morning which is blessedly weird, funny, and a touch unsettling.

Today's Screenings

The Caine Mutiny (1954)
This was the second biggest hit of 1954 and also an Oscar nominee for Best Picture. Audiences and Academy voters were stupid back then, too. Some things never change.

Once & Again -another couplea episodes
I'm a third of the way through the first season and if ABC doesn't find it in their hearts to put the 2nd and 3rd season on DVD I may become violent.

Melinda & Melinda (at the theater)
Great concept. so-so to good execution. Look, I'm never going to tell anyone to skip a Woody Allen picture unless it has Jade Scorpion in the title...so take my thumbs-up with a grain of salt if you are a Woody hater. The premise here is so good it makes up for a lot says me... And it's always a pleasure to see Brooke Smith onscreen. She does not work enough. If you don't know who Brooke Smith is, shame on you and here is your triple-feature viewing assignment: Silence of the Lambs, Vanya on 42nd Street, and Series 7: The Contender. If you're not a fan afterwards...

Sabrina

Believe it or not I had never seen Billy Wilder's Sabrina until last night. I don't know why but I had this vague perception that it was a dated clunker. Maybe my fear of the remake (Remember that Julia Ormond vehicle in the 90s? Remember when they were trying to make Ormond into a big star?) which I never saw somehow bled into the original and, knowing that some classics are unworthy of their reputation, I somehow assumed Sabrina was one of those. Also this film is brought up in every article about Hollywood's sexism/ageism collision so I naturally thought "ew" about Bogie and Audrey as a couple.

But as per usual with Billy Wilder, it has the just-right combo of laughs, drama, and overall cleverness. If Wilder made beds, the princess would never feel a pea under the mattress. If Wilder made porridge Goldilocks would never feel it was too hot or too cold. Sabrinais "just right." It's lovely to look at (not just for Audrey Hepburn) and a couple of images/scenes will stick with me for their sheer perfection; I'm thinking of two shots of otherwise prim and proper people smooshed up against one another hopping up and down on a sheet of plastic. Once as a plot point joke, the next as a beautiful refrain and comic aside. It's all just so graceful. Wilder is such a confident smooth filmmaker. And my favorite scene is a climactic one in which Sabrina (Hepburn) finally understands out what Linus (Bogart) is up to with their frequent dating. Watching it I'm marvelling at how Hepburn geniusly underplays it. It's the type of scene that I think most lesser actors and directors would have really pushed -and thereby lost it's quiet wounding force. As she leaves the scene in beautiful longshot b&w cinematography -(haven't seen it but I bet the remake used a closeup) I just said to myself 'Doo-Wah!*'

* 'Doo Wah' being a term once overused as personal shorthand amongst friends in the 90s whilst in the collective fan throes of dance group Deee-Lite's shortlived 'World Clique'dominance. 'Doo Wah' being pulled from the song "Good Beat" as in 'I just wanna hear a...' Doo Wah being a term of respect/endearment/drop-jawed awe usually provoked by some diva-esque action. In the vernacular family of the finger/vocal 'Snap' and "you go girl!" -- i.e. unneccessary verbal/physical punctuations to dramatic/showstopping moments. This lesson in personal 90s pophistory is brought to you by Nathaniel's early morning coffee.

Carbing my hunger...

I am completely ashamed to admit it but I have joined the cult of this fad diet. In just three weeks I've slimmed down 14 lbs (a big + in keeping motivated, that speed) It's totally noticeable. Now, if I could only convince myself to go to the gym I could be a hottie someday...and even eat my beloved pasta dishes once again. We'll see if it really works though once I move into the next phase (the one where you eat normally now knowing which foods to avoid and which in which to indulge occassionally...)