Birthday Suits: Deserve's Got Nothin' To Do With it

Celebrating the birthdays of the cinematic peoples daily. If you were born on 11/22 shout it out in the comments. How will you celebrate these fine folks, listed below?

Scarlett, Mark and Mads

1920 Anne Crawford Israeli born British actress of the 40s. Died when she was only 35.
1923 Arthur Hiller Canadian director. Oscar nominated for mega-hit Love Story (1970). Also known for comedies like The Out-of-Towners, Silver Streak and Outrageous Fortune and some erratically interesting choices like The Americanization of Emily, Man of La Mancha and Hollywood's first mainstream gay film Making Love (1982).
1932 Robert Vaughn The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and one of The Magnificent Seven
1940 Terry Gilliam crazy indispensible auteur. He doesn't deserve all the funding / filmmaking problems he's had of late. But, sadly, I can't really recommend The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus which is messy in dozens of ways
1956 Richard Kind character actor (A Serious Man)

1959 Jamie Lee Curtis actress of the Perfect bod, Mrs. Christopher Guest, the most successful "final girl" of all time, yogurt spokesperson and Oscar snubbee (deserved so much better but at least the Golden Globes paid respects)
1960 Christopher Ciccone Madonna betrayer (boo. hiss)
1960 Leos Carax French auteur behind the excellent Lovers on the Bridge and the darkly hypnotic Pola X. Rent them
1961 Mariel Hemingway Woody Allen's first intergenerational onscreen love affair in Manhattan. Unfortunately she would not be his last. Her birthday suit was an 80s staple: Personal Best, Star 80 and Playboy magazine.
1964 Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson Icelandic actor of memorable eyes and scary forehead (Jar City, Angels of the Universe)
1965 Mads Mikkelsen Denmark's chief export, male actor division
1967 Mark Ruffalo (sigh) Hollywood ain't done right by him. Enough with the thankless second banana crap... give him something meaty. He's proven his worth
1984 Scarlet Johansson remember when I was so obsessed with her that I devoted a whole week to her on the blog? Damn that was a shortlived infatuation. I don't expect my new indifference will turn around much with Iron Man 2, given that ScarJo does her best work as quiet reactive women in dramas but we'll see...

Finally, I have been terribly remiss in writing more about Geraldine Page who left this mortal coil shortly after her long-awaited Oscar win (Trip to Bountiful) 24 years ago. She would have been 85 today.

Page and her kept man. Who wouldn't keep him?

Of all of Oscar's most beloved actresses (up there with Bette Davis and Ingrid Bergman!) she gets zero attention in the online film world. Surely she deserves more. I promised reader George that I'd write about her two years ago and I still haven't. Argh! At any rate, I need to watch a few more films but my favorite performance of hers from those I've seen is unquestionably Tennessee Williams' Sweet Bird of Youth, opposite Paul "hard gold" Newman, in which she plays a temperamental actress, desperate for a big comeback. She out divas several more famous divas and that's saying something. Have you seen it?

Streep Noms, #6 (1985)

A Note: I will be returning to reviewing Streep movies soon but for now let's return to discussing Streep's competitive Oscar fields. I'll try to wrap up the 80s pictures very soon. I knew this month would be Streep heavy I had no idea how mired down in the 80s nostalgia we'd get. See also: Farrah & Michael Jackson.

1985
Six Oscar nominations is a lot for anyone but what is perhaps even more impressive / serendipitous about Meryl Streep's 1985 accomplishment is that Out of Africa, a big hit and Oscar champ, was her third Best Picture winner in seven years. That's quite rare. She would go on to lose Best Actress to Geraldine Page who was, at that time, the most nominated performer (8) never to have won the golden boy (Peter O'Toole now holds the record since he lost on his 8th nomination). Page died a scant 15 months later at 62 years of age. She is one of only five women in the history of the Oscars to have won this prize after the age of 60, the most recent being Helen Mirren in The Queen. I've been meaning to write about Ms. Page for two years now. Really must get to that soon.


To this day I have never seen Geraldine Page's Oscar winning performance though my best friend considers it one of the most moving he's ever seen. I think Page is spectacularly good in Sweet Bird of Youth and Interiors and terrible in Summer and Smoke (her three other Best Leading Actress nominations) so I'm curious. I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments. At the time I wanted Meryl to win. Now, my heart unquestionably belongs to Mia Farrow in The Purple Rose of Cairo for 85's gold medal.

1985
the nominees were...

• Anne Bancroft, Agnes of God
• Whoopi Goldberg, The Color Purple (Globe winner)
  
• Jessica Lange, Sweet Dreams
• Geraldine Page, The Trip to Bountiful (watch her win)
  
• Meryl Streep, Out of Africa

More '85 Ladies for context: There were many snubs since it was a rich year for leading ladies but only two snubs if you go by media attention and awards traction. Kathleen Turner won the comedy Globe for Best Picture nominee Prizzi's Honor but went on to experience her third high profile Oscar snub in the first five meteoric years of her career (the Academy never loved her though audiences instantly did). The other snub was Cher in Mask, which prompted her famous confrontational quip at the actual ceremony

As you can see, I did receive my Academy handbook on how to dress like a serious actress

But snubs are often blessings in disguise. The Mask diss probably helped Cher win for Moonstruck in 1987 (we'll get to 1987 next week).

1985 also featured Norma Aleandro in The Official Story (a foreign hit and she was the NYFCC winner), Coral Browne in Dreamchild (zero awards traction but a fine turn), Kelly McGillis in Witness and the following comedy Globe nominees: Mia Farrow in The Purple Rose of Cairo, Glenn Close in Maxie, Rosanna Arquette in Desperately Seeking Susan and Sally Field in Murphy's Romance.

Tom Baxter: We'll live on love. We'll have to make some concessions, but so what? We'll have each other
Cecilia: That's movie talk.

What's your ideal Oscar lineup in 1985? Were you born yet?

Linkup on South Street

Rob Scheer loves those actors but still hates Deception
The Hot Blog quotable Ang Lee @ Ebertfest
GreenCine Daily The Lola Awards in Germany. Fatih Akin wins big
Thompson on Hollywood anticipating Synecdoche New York (production still!)
Filmmaker Directors Fortnight at Cannes heavy on French film. One from the US.
Victim of the Time on Happy Go Lucky and Son of Rambow
Coming Soon Tilda Swinton to star in an Italian film
Guardian Unlimited on the British reaction to the Cannes lineup

StinkyLulu's "Supporting Actress Smackdown"s are my favorite thing about the last Sunday in each month. Today he and his rotating team of actress freaks (I couldn't participate due to my trip) take on Grace Kelly  in Mogambo, Geraldine Page in Honcho, Marjorie Rambeau in Torch Song, Thelma Ritter in Pickup on South Street and Donna Reed in the best picture winner From Here To Eternity, the supporting actress field of 1953. They dismiss Oscar's eventual choice (Donna Reed in From Here To Eternity ... I'm fond of her performance and the film) but their imaginary winner results are a true nail biter. If Charlie Parker..., participates unknowingly in this Smackdown delivering a photo of Grace Kelly preparing for a role.

And while we're on the actress front: Here's a video about Julianne Moore's mermaid shoot for Disney

Friends of the Experience #7

The fundraiser is almost over --so close to the goal! Trying to build a career out of writing leaves one pummelled & bloody but you make it worthwhile. This appreciative, smart and loyal readership I'm getting to know is like a cool glass of water, a bandaid, a sports massage and a peptalking coach all rolled into one. Thank You! Today's spotlight shines on Sam, Michael, George, and Patrick.

Michael in Philly grew up watching the movies during the wondrous 70s, the lucky dog. That was such a smashing film decade. But his favorite comes in 1980.

But the one that cemented my love for the art of film and semi-obsession with the Oscars was Raging Bull. I was 18 when it was released. And everything about it was captivating. The creamy black-and-white cinematography, DeNiro's transformation, Pesci's white-hot rage, Moriarty's ice-cold contempt, the choreography and brutality of the boxing scenes. Above all, the sheer brio and forcefulness of Scorsese's directing. (Incidentally, like Marty, I was raised in an urban Italian-American Catholic home, so I could certainly identify with his worldview).

Of course, on Oscar night, the white-hot rage was mine.

And it only took the Academy another 26 years to make it up to Michael and all of us. Aren't they sweet?

George is next door to me (OK, across the water) in New Jersey and has been a reader for years. George's first "Oscars" was Tatum O'Neal's historic win for Paper Moon and he tells me that before the days of the internet he had no idea how many other Oscar obsessives there were.

I couldn't pick a favorite movie, there are so many (Terms of Endearment, The Birdcage, Room with a View, The Hours are all up there); but I do have a very favorite actress -- Geraldine Page. If you ever have a minute I'd love to see what you have to say about where you rate either her Oscar winning performance or those she did not win for (love her in Sweet Bird of Youth, but especially Trip to Bountiful).

Again, love your site. Still amazes me to see people from all over the world are reading and loving the same stuff I am.

It amazes me too, the response and the community feeling of movie worship. As for Geraldine... It's probably high time I wrote about her. So I'll cook something up but my quick take is: I'm still deciding. But I'll leave you with a positive two-fer. I think she's brilliant in both Sweet Bird of Youth (recent acclaimed diva performances owe her royalty checks) and Interiors. More on Geraldine later!


Sam hails from Texas and picks a southern film to cherish.

I'm almost embarrassed to say so, but my favorite film really has to be Gone With the Wind. I know, I know, it perpetuates racist myths, and the guilty white liberal in me hesitates to admit it, but I can't help it. I grew up in the deep south (SC) and always wanted to be Scarlett O'Hara. I worship at the alter of Vivien Leigh. Bettie Davis said Leigh's performance was the best screen performance ever, and I think that's still true. Hattie McDaniel took a paper-thin stereotype and wrung every bit of life out of it. Everybody was at the top of their game.

I think that's true about Gone With the Wind --a'top of the game' film for sure. In some ways I think Titanic is a perfect modern counterpoint. You can see why people don't like it. You can even see its flaws clearly but it hardly matters because of the movie-movie perfection of it. It's just too much movie to ignore. I last saw Gone With the Wind about 12 years ago but it was my first time seeing it in a movie theater. The hours flew by. I could scarcely believe it when the lights came up.

Patrick sent a donation from Berlin along with an unusual confession to which I actually relate (*buries head*)

The film that made me fall in love with movies was actually Ghost (I was 12 and it was my first time at the movies without my parents...). It's hard to admit for someone who usually loves the likes of Tilda Swinton, Julianne Moore, Toni Collette or Helen Mirren, but I've had a thing for Demi Moore ever since. Of course I know she's not a very good actress and has made horrible choices, but all the bad press she got in the second half of the 90s made me love her even more. And for everyone who thinks Ghost was the peak of her career acting wise, I recommend Mortal Thoughts by Alan Rudolph - which is especially good since it also stars Glenne Headley.

I shared this with Patrick earlier but I also have a thing for Demi Moore. A small thing...but it still flickers now and again. I fell hard during St. Elmo's Fire (I was young, don't judge) and remained minorly smitten throughout bad performances, bad films, awesome magazine covers, lots of pregnancies, and strange choices: Living in Idaho? A house built just for her dolls. Divorcing Bruce Willis? Why not! I sometimes wish she was a little more visibly bat-shit crazy (like, say, Sharon Stone) to ramp up her celeb appeal but she was pretty good at being famous during her peak.

Questions for Comment
Who do you find it hard to admit that you love?
What say ye on Oscar perennial Geraldine Page or that #1 film of all time (yes, still) GWTW?