Lists as Queue

I love "greatest movie" lists. Here's another one. The best thing about such movie lists is that it plans your rental queue for you if you're stumped as to what you should see next. On the other hand, there are so many... where to begin?

Some Other Lists To Choose From Sight & Sound Polls / The Cinemarati Canon Cinemarati.org / 100 Greatest Films -Tim Dirks / "The AFI 400" -on Jeeem's Cinepad /

Post links to other lists in the comments please. I'm in a listing mood.

Which 20something Actress Are You?

I actually made this one. I kept taking the quizzes so why not create...

You scored as Anna Paquin. You were precocious as a child but you managed to steer clear of the attention-whore tendencies of those with early success and fawning. Good for you: You're happy in the ensemble.

Which 20-something Actress Are You?
created with QuizFarm.com

My Weekly Panic

This is how silly I am: At some point every weekend I actually feel panicked about going to the movies. Sometimes it hits me full-tilt-boogie on Friday night. But it's usually a Saturday morning thing as I look over listings.

The panic follows this pattern.
1. the choice of which film ('which' is a minor drama / 'where' a momentary puzzle unless i'm planning on seeing multiple films in which case it becomes a minor drama)
2. guilt over not choosing movie b
3. sudden desire to return to step 1 due to the stack of Netflix titles above the TV

Silly me.

Friday CatBlogging: Depressives Unite

In keeping with the postings yesterday I think my cat is also feeling the doldrums. At least he has a good excuse: How crazy sad would you get if your entire life consisted of sleeping with occasional breaks for wandering around your home and eating?

That said he does have easy amusements like flies, crumpled up pieces of paper, pen lights, and frequent petting.

Two Posts I Like

I tried to get at my frustration with 50% of the electorate in my post about Happy Endings today. Lately with the rising tide of homophobia, hate, religious extremism I've been really angry. It aint just the Nation of Islam folks...it's right here in your own backyards --at least in a tadpole-like version, soon to be a frog. I've been angry about the future (or lack thereof). I've been thinking of scary films. I don't want to be so angry. Sometimes I worry that the modern fundamentalist extremism we see all around us is making those who are afraid of it (including myself) into alternative fundamentalists. I hate thinking in blacks and whites. It's not healthy. The world is more complicated than that.

So this post on Badtux I liked. It reminds me that there is hope for some conservatives out there. Also this old post on Joe.My.God gets at what I'm talking about, too. It's not healthy to see so much hate that your own capacity to do so just keeps on growing in response...

I promise tomorrow that my posts will be more cheerful.

Poland Predix

Interesting read as always from David Poland. But I think he's overestimating: The Producers (too funny-haha and not enough substance for the faux-gravitas of true Oscar candidates) and Vengeance the Spielberg entry. Not that it might not be the frontrunner. But it also might have significant problems... We shall see.

Happy Endings Hangover

The best scene in Happy Endings, the new Don Roos movie, has stuck with me for days now. It plays on loop in my head. So as to not throw spoilers around I'll be vague. In this scene a pregnant woman meets with a counsellor regarding a scheduled abortion. She is certain she's getting one. To both parties it begins as a formality. But the counsellor happens to be dealing with her own issues and has an uncharacteristic response to the younger woman's nonchalance. A semi-heated discussion over the upcoming abortion occurs in which both players seem shaken, annoyed, challenged, and emotionally fatigued afterwards. It's a teensy bit schematic as lynchpin scenes go but it's very well written and exquisitely performed by both actors.

You would never see this level of soul searching, uncertainty, and pain regarding ones own beliefs in a film made by those leaning to the right of the political spectrum. The nuances of thought just aren't there. It's this absolutism, this blind adherence to belief systems, that makes the conservative-minded impossible for me to trust.

But the alternative, relativism, is a double edge sword for smarter people. When you're capable of seeing things from numerous perspectives, or when you're prone to questioning your own motives and beliefs... it can cause you a lot of pain. You may end up a better and stronger person for having gone through the fire. You can make truly difficult choices without checking in with an authority figure. Unfortunately you can also end up an ineffective self-doubting wreck.

So, to me, this scene is all about how Democrats deal with their own politics and an excellent snapshot of why they're often ineffective when confronted with the unifying zeal of lock-stepping Republicans. If diversity of thought and freedom for all law-abiding citizens is your ideal... you will face many more challenges in defining and promoting your agenda than those who do not value diversity and true freedom. You're a better person but you'll have more pain in your life ;) That's just the way it is.

I love this scene.

Sloppy Madonna Dissing

The article linked above which discusses Madonna's forthcoming album "Confessions on a Dance Floor" contains the following sentence:

The set will be the follow-up to 2003's critically maligned album "American Life," which debuted at No. 1 on The Billboard 200, but posted the lowest sales of any Madonna album to-date

I HATE sloppy reporting. Poor sales do not equal 'critically maligned'. I personally think it's a fine record. Not that my opinion matters in such an argument. Critically divisive? That I would grant you. But 3 stars from Rolling Stone, B+ from EOnline, MetaCritic says it received "average/mixed" reviews. I've read this "critically panned" thing in more than one place now. I'm burning up. Just because something doesn't sell doesn't mean that the critics panned it. Ugh.

While it's true that the singleAmerican Life was greeted by a lot of negativity at the time of its release most of the criticisms were complete and utter misreadings of what Maddy Mo was up to on the CD. Reviews like this one (which claims its an unlistenable CD and rates it a zero (!) ) are perfect examples of how misread Madonna often is. The title song is not, if you listen closely, a celebration of Madonna's egocentricity but a discussion about celebrity and, by titular and thematic extension, American egocentrism. As is typical of Madonna she uses herself as the battering ram/joke to get the point across. Many people don't get her jokes and think her long faux-rap litany about her riches is actually a serious congratulatory reflection of what she considers to be important.

The jokes on her critics (as always). It's not a perfect song and her messages may be a little cloudy given that she does spend a lot of time vaguely soul searching in the song. But it should be clear from the way she spits out "do you think i'm satisfied?" after listing her many temporal rewards, that she's not championing her own blond ambition. She's getting at a lack of meaning or a spiritual emptiness that can greet you in a culture of greed and always wanting more, more, more.

Madonna has had to live down Material Girl her entire career. I hope her new record meets a warmer reception.

Julianne Moore - Time Traveller

To date we've seen the great Julianne Moore receive two Oscar nominations for playing 50s housewives. In Far From Heaven(for which she should have won her second or third Oscar followingSafe and Boogie Nights) she played Cathy Whitaker, trapped in social mores of the time into an unhappy marriage. It was a rather astounding recreation of Sirkian melodrama and up to the minute political resonance . In The Hours she essayed a certain bookwormish Laura Brown trapped in social mores of her time within a loveless marriage.

Next up is The Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio in which she portrayed another 50s housewife in an unhappy marriage. Actually the trailerto this film leads us to believe that the third time may be the charm. What I mean is.... maybe there's a connection between marital portrayal and Oscar love. We all know that the Oscar loves longsuffering but eternally devoted spouses as evidenced by many Oscar wins and nominations. So, maybe if her onscreen marriage actually survives the film's duration than Oscar may read it as a happy ending and bestow her the Oscar as well? We shall see. Early press on this movie portrayed it as more of a comedy than the trailer suggests. But my hopes are now higher. I'm guarded still, though, considering I had trouble with the preciousness of Normal, the last effort from Prize Winner's writer/director Jane Anderson.

Next up Julianne will be leaving the 50s (Hooray). The eternally busy actress has five more films lined up. In two of them (Next, The Children of Menshe plays maternal figures in the future. Watch out Oscar, she's doubling again! two more are potentially searing dramas (Freedomland, Savage Grace) and she will make her third appearance in a Todd Haynes film as well for good measure.

Nathaniel Recommends

Today, in honor of 'six things' one of my new blog obsessions (heaven for those who live for random lists), I would like to recommend six things.

01 Me, You, and Everyone We Know.
macaroni [click]
02 Live Theater.
Recently I've attended quality memorable shows at Dixon Place and Ars Nova both of which sated my theater urge without Broadway-style wallet robbery. So take a chance on something small and cheap. If you're not in NYC, skip that touring company and support your local theater. They're out there. Even if you've never heard of them.
03 Posting Comments
Bloggers deserve feedback from their readers.
04 Turner Classic Movies
In just the past three days I've managed to catch two gems, commercial free: 1938's Jezebelwith an Oscar winning Bette Davis and The Magnificent Ambersons by the great Orson Welles.
05 Twenty-Four Hour Air Conditioning
Screw the electricity bill. Sweating is disgusting. Plus if you have pets, it's the humane thing to do.
06 Regular Flossing
Well, at least my dentist recommends that. I failed to take the recommendation seriously. Pain is my reward

Fantastic 1.5

Though there be many ways to short-hand rank a film's worthiness (10 point scale, $ticket price, thumbs, apples, whatever) the 'classic' is the four star system. Me and Math? We're not close. But I can perform simple calculations. So, since four is the magic number for the latest comic book adaptation how do we rate Fantastic Four?

+2 movies start out even-steven then prove or disprove worth
+2 points for daring to adapt tricky but fun source material
-1 exhibits almost no tonal control over material (is "bland" a tone?)
+1 potential to be a visually exciting summer blockbuster
-1 exhibits little visual excitement -where's the "gee whiz" effects?
-1 wait -isn't that the whole raison d'etre of comic book films?
_________
=2 stars so far...but wait so much more to talk about.

+2 points for casting Chiklis & Evans
-1 The Thing's makeup. Should look like rocks. Not foam rocks.
+1 Gruffud is perfect for the Mr. Fantastic role.
-1 ...but he's not having any fun with it. Shame
-2 Invisible Girl: Spectacularly miscast.
-1 Plus an embarrasing Alba-esque performance.
-1 Oh, wait. That is Jessica Alba.
-1 Why does she always stand with face vacant/arms crossed?
+1 ohhhh...that's to emphasize the cleavage. Got it! Cleavage is good.
+1 The forcefield special effect is pretty good.
+1 so is the Human Torch effect. Even moreso
+3 Chris Evans in a towel
-1 Sloppy filmmaking. His underwear shows under it--Who wears both?
_________
=3 stars

+1 Dr. Doom's look is perfect. cloak. mask. I got a geeky thrill.
-1 But the character is boring.
-1 In fact most of the characters and the action are boring.
-1 I wish Peyton Reed hadn't been fired. He would know how to direct this.
________
=1 star.

I'll give it a half point for not being downright awful as I was expecting. Aren't I sweet?

2005 < 2004

Exactly what is going in with 2005's movies? By this time last year I had seen 50% of my Top 10 list (#1, #2, #5, #6, and #8 specifically). This year I've only seen three films I'd be comfortable putting on such a list: Me, You, and Everyone We Know, Brothers(from Denmark), and Duck Season(from Mexico) ~the last of which still doesn't have a release date so I might have only seen two. When do the A films start arriving? I grow impatient.

Men

Q: What do Warren Beatty, Ewan MacGregor, William Hurt, Buster Keaton, Gael Garcia Bernal, Dustin Hoffman, and Jeff Bridges all have in common?

A: Me.

Read. Discuss. Tell me who I forgot. And also check out the ladies if you're a new reader and missed this post.

Happy Endings Haiku

Messy and thoughtful
Kudrow is great as if it's
Opposite redux

Friday CatBlogging: CATWOMAN

In the world of super-heroes, women often get the short end of the stick. For every Wonder Woman there are at least a dozen heroic muscle men. So, when a female character achieves major longevity, one has to bow down. While your *ahem* prone please lick the boots of Batman's vampy 'double' Selina Kyle. She demands it. Where Batman is a hero with a heart encased in darkness, his female counterpart and sparring partner in both love and war is a villain with a heart of gold. There aren't that many of them. I don't know enough about comic history to say for sure... but perhaps she was revolutionary at the time (?) A villain that just wasn't evil.

My earliest memory of Catwoman comes, not from comics, but from watching the ultra campy Batman on television in the 70s. To be honest I was as a little boy far more hooked on Batgirl. I suspect, though, that this preference was due to sheer childhood laziness or attention deficit disorder. You see, if I was not in a TV mood I would turn Batman off if the cutout Batgirl figure had not swung across the screen during the opening animated credits; that was our clue that she would be appearing in the flesh in that episode. No Batgirl in the opening credits meant no Batgirl in the next half hour. It also meant that Natty often ran outside to play. Consequently I'm sure that I missed some choice Catwoman moments.

Yet, despite my erratic viewing of Batman's three seasons I cherished any episode which did feature Catwoman, the slinkiest & kinkiest of Bruce Wayne's rogues gallery. I know that Eartha Kitt's growl justly had legions of fans but for wee little me?--I was all about Julie Newmar's purr.

Catwoman slipped from my consciousness until 1989 when Jack Nicholson and Michael Keaton duked it out in Tim Burton's blockbuster revival of Batman. I loved the movie which was visually everywhere that summer... but for its entire running time I wondered when I'd get to see a modern take on my favorite female super-villain. To say that I was excited three years later when my favorite female movie star squeezed into black vinyl and learned how to crack. that. whip is an understatement. I was closer to orgasmic.

To twist a classic Pfeiffer-line from Batman Returns for my own wrap-up purposes here: 'I don't know about you kitten but (when I think of Catwoman) I feel so much yummier' .

purrrfectly pleasurable Catwoman-related links:
Catwoman Changes Her Spots ~a history of divine-feline wear.
Julie Newmar ~for your viewing pleasure. It is pleasurable.
Batman Goes Hollywood~from Comics 101's great 'histories of' series
Hell Here ~ a fansite.
Bio from the "Women of Gotham" site
Morticia's Morgue ~Batgirl & Catwoman, two of my earliest loves.

the one about the lightbulb

you know all those jokes about "how many ___________ does it take to screw in a lightbulb?" There are endless variations of that joke. Something really simple is twisted for humor to be complicated in numerous and complex ways. I feel like my life is exactly like that lately. Nothing that is simple stays that way.

Heath & Jake -Posterized

Thanks to the great blog Towleroad [here is me bowing down] for placing this online yesterday... you can see a bigger version over there. Ang Lee is a talented filmmaker but, damn, this will have to be unarguably masterful to live up to both the hype/promise/fantasy of what it could be for gay and gay friendly viewers and what it needs to be in order to win over the non-gay friendly audiences to find Oscar or financial glory.

Music Shuffle

Thought I'd try this iTunes / iPod meme. List the 25 songs your iTunes or iPod plays on shuffle no matter how incriminating. Here we go:



01 Express Yourself Madonna
so far so good. A bit overplayed but still unarguably classic Mo. Ahhhh I remember the days of dancing to this @ the Nectarine Ballroom in Ann Arbor with Maddy Mo parading around in the altogether with sweaty muscle men on the giant video screen.
02 Love Me or Leave Me Billie Holliday
03 Simple Jane Krakowski from "Nine"
This is horribly opportunistic of me but I've never been to London and I figure fare$ must be really low right now? Should I fly over and see Guys and Dolls with Ewan and Jane and report back? It's oh so tempting.
04 The Gal From Joe's Nina Simone
05 Peter Pan (Live) Patty Griffin

06 It's Not Up To You Björk
07 Remind Me Peggy Lee
08 Multitudes of Amys Stephen Sondheim from Sondheim Sings Vol 1
So, Stephen is not the greatest singer but this CD (which one lovely reader bought for me from my birthday wish list ~thank you thank you) is very cool for Sondheim fanatics.
09 Too Fat Too FitCast of The Producers
This is a novelty number from a charity CD of Broadway casts doing original and traditional Christmas songs... but the fact that this showed up at all on random play illustrates one of my frustrations with "shuffle" -Who wants Christmas songs in July? But I don't exactly want to have to upload my same Christmas music to my computer every December?
10 What You Didn't Say Mary Chapin Carpenter
so, so far... it looks like I only listen to showtunes and female singers. Um, I just might be gay.

11 3 MCs and 1 DJ The Beastie Boys
12 Osanna in Excelsis Mass in B Minor ? Chorus...
I'm not sure what this is but both the boyfriend and the best friend usurp my computer from time to time so I end up with classical stuff --another reason I hate shuffle--
13 Love Song for a Vampire Annie Lennox
14 Jennifer eURYTHMICs
Ooh, a little Annie set. I don't know if I've ever shared this throughout my time websiting & blogging but Eurythmics is pro'ly my favorite band. Jennifer is one of the greatest songs Annie & Dave ever birthed. Now normally repetitive songs wear me out but this one hypnotizes. underneath the water ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh underneath the water. I would absolutely scream with pleasure if this set off a shuffle music meme of creepy songs about women & water imagery. Maybe PJ Harvey's classic "Down by the Water" will be next? please. oh. please. I love "sets" on iTunes.
15 Truth Is... Tweaker (featuring Robert Smith)

16 There's No Business Like Show Business Harry Connick Jr.
17 Come With Me Sara Ramirez from "Spamalot!"
I really loved Monty Python and the Holy Grail when I was a teen... but I have had almost zero interest in seeing this on stage. I guess I'm sick to death of movies-to-stage transfers. There's so much great stuff that needs to go in the other direction.
18 To Have and Not to Hold Madonna
I think Ray of Light is her best CD. In my opinion the trinity isRay of Light, Like a Prayer and Music
19 My Darlin' Eileen cast of Wonderful Town
20 Acoustic Guitar Magnetic Fields
I know the hipster reign of 69 Love Songs is very 2000 --but it really is a must-have. It's aging well.

21 Billy Oddity Mojave 3
22 I Need a Man eURYTHMICs
23 Hometime Alison Moyet
Um... I'm sorta surprised to say that I've never really listened to this despite buying it some time ago. You know how that can happen when you buy someone out of habit rather than a "I must buy this CD" type of urge. But, this song is cool. Now I guess I should really listen to the CD.
24 Everything's Ruined Fountains of Wayne
25 Nadine Frank Black
there goes Nadine...
bonus track:
Everything You Can Think Tom Waits from Alice

Adam & Steve

Saw Adam & Steve a new romantic comedy written, directed and starring Craig Chester at the Philadelphia Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. I am happy to report that it was delightful. I am happy to report this because I see a lot of gay-themed indies which are pretty much crap. I have also been pulling for Craig Chester ever since I saw him in Swoon many years back and since he has always been out-of-the-closet, an act of integrity that so few professional actors seem to have the personal strength to perform. I haven't read his book yet "Why the Long Face?" but I will pick it up soon.

His new comedy is light on its feet, unashamed of its silliness, and quite funny. Not all of it works but it's so sweet that you can forgive missteps. It actually pulls off the romantic part, too. This might qualify Adam & Steveas a minor indie miracle. The film also stars Parker Posey, Melinda Dillon, Sally Kirkland, Chris Kattan, Julie Haggerty, and Malcolm Gets. The production company Funny Boy Films mentioned in the intro that they are expecting it to be released in January of 2006. It's a shame you have to wait that long.

In the interest of full disclosure I should say that I have actually met Craig Chester once in real life and also Jackie Beat a few times (who has a hilarious cameo in what will surely be one of the film's two most-talked-about scenes) as both are friends with someone I once spoke with regularly. It's the one showbiz circle that I've ever had any real contact with. I also see various members of their circles at various theater events around town (Parker Posey & Alan Cumming being the celebs I've seen most in NYC) so I guess I feel kind of proprietary about all of them. Must be the convergence of my love for New Yorkers, theater, queer creative types, and Hollywood.

Just thought I'd name drop --gag-- and share.

Philly Fest

In Philly for the weekend. Hoping to catch some of the GLBT Film Festival going on here whilst visiting mis amigos. We'll see.