"You know what you're problem is Yo-Yo? You Don't realize thet you're wearin' your ass on your head."
- Rosie Perez "Night On Earth"
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Friday, August 17, 2007
Hottest Actresses That Have Won Oscars
With the luscious Penelope Cruz nominated this year for "Volver" it got me thinking about past female winners that have been not only blessed with the ability to turn out a compelling, interesting, complex, nuanced performance but by also looking incredible while doing so. A lot of the time actresses will downplay, or even complete disguise all and every trace of a flawless profile (Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron) to disappear into a believable character, but often if the role requires it, an actress will play around with her physical appearance by creating a striking, sexy image to flesh out a character. Think Julia Roberts In Erin Brockovich. But what makes these actresses really hot is not what they look like, but what they bring to the character. How real these actresses make their characters to be. Here is my list of the Hottest Women performers and performances that have won.
Jolie won for her wild, fragile role as Lisa, Winona Ryder's Psychiatric ward- mate in this true story from Susanna Kaysen's autobiographical memoir. Jolie played Lisa as surly, vulnerable and tragic. Like glass that could shatter any second. Now Jolie is Tabloid and Gossip Site queen #1, but remembering this early performance it's obvious Jolie can act up a firestorm.
Angelina Jolie - Best Supporting Actress - Girl Interrupted (1999)
Jolie won for her wild, fragile role as Lisa, Winona Ryder's Psychiatric ward- mate in this true story from Susanna Kaysen's autobiographical memoir. Jolie played Lisa as surly, vulnerable and tragic. Like glass that could shatter any second. Now Jolie is Tabloid and Gossip Site queen #1, but remembering this early performance it's obvious Jolie can act up a firestorm.Mira Sorvino - Best Supporting Actress - Mighty Aphrodite (1995)
Sorvino scored with her ditzy call-girl, ex porn-star new york gal role in 1995. Playing Linda Ash Sorvino created a character that was vibrant and found humour in life, even while coming to terms regarding her past and current situation. Linda always looked toward a brighter tomorrow, next year or whenever. Sorvino shone in this role, creating a person who could laugh at herself but would wound deeply when she felt others were laughing at her.Sorvino played a role similar in the also hilarious "Romy And Michele's High School Reunion". But it's the vulnarbility of Linda that resonates the deepest.
Marisa Tomei - Best Supporting Actress - My Cousin Vinny (1992)
"You stick out here like a sore thumb" I'm sure those thoughts were going through a lot of people's minds upon seeing Marisa Tomei at the 1992 Oscars. Tomei was nominated for her spunky turn as Mona Lisa Vito. With her stand-by-her-man stance and nasally Bwook-lyn accent she may play the dimbulb at the beginning but it's her smart's that wins the day and the audience. One of Oscar History's biggest urban myths is that Jack Palance read the envelope wrong when announcing the winner and declared Tomei the winner by accident. Bull! Can you even remember who else was even nominated that year? Maybe, maybe not, I do remember Judy Davis' seething, manic performance in Husbands And Wives but Tomei's performance is still remembered and enjoyed today.
Other Hot Female Performances: From present to 1960:
Rachel Weisz - Best Supporting Actress - The Constant Gardner (2005)
Catherine Zeta-Jones - Best Supporting Actress - Chicago - (2002)
Nicole Kidman - Best Actress - The Hours (2002)
Halle Berry - Best Actress - Monster's Ball (2001)
Kim Basinger - Best Supporting Actress - L.A. Confidential (1997)
Juliette Binoche - Best Supporting Actress - The English Patient (1996)
Jodie Foster - Best Actress - The Accused (1988) & The Silence Of The Lambs (1991)
Geena Davis - Best Supporting Actress - The Accidental Tourist (1988)
Marlee Matlin - Best Actress - Children Of A Lesser God (1986)
Jessica Lange - Best Supporting Actress - Tootsie (1982)
Meryl Streep - Best Actress - Sophie's Choice (1982)
Diane Keaton - Best Actress - Annie Hall (1977)
Faye Dunaway - Best Actress - Network (1976)
Ellen Burstyn - Best Actress - Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)
Jane Fonda - Best Actress - Klute (1971)
Julie Christie - Best Actress - Darling (1965)
Quotes # 1
"What's the point of being famous if the people you hated in high school can't kiss your ass now?"
- Alan Cumming "Josie And The Pussycats"
- Alan Cumming "Josie And The Pussycats"
Friday, August 10, 2007
WANTED # 1
Anyone ever hear of a charming little movie directed by frequent Woody Allen Cinematographer Carlo Di Palma Called Blonde In Black Leather?
Um...no it's not that kind of movie. While reading up on some works of Antonioni over the past 2 weeks on Wiki and various other sites, I clicked on a Monica Vitti link. My crush on Vitti was written by me in an earlier piece (below) and this title among her filmo struck me as interesting, to say the least.
Oh yeah...did I mention it also stars Claudia Cardinale! (Droool!)
So Ok, a movie called Blonde In Black Leather starring Monica Vitti and Claudia Cardinale exists and I'm only now hearing about it? Well. Color me surprised.
From what little info I've managed to find out about it, it's supposedly a Thelma And Louise type of picture. OK, I'm sold! Only problem is WHERE IS IT? It's not listed in any volumes of Leonard Maltin's movie guide (complete, my Ass!) and the bit of online info is scarce. Sooo I'm guessing a DVD is like, uh, nonexistent, huh, Dude? Bummer.
But still I shall not give up. A movie like this is begging to be re-discovered. I Betcha QT has seen it. BIBL does have that Grindhouse-ish kinda ring to it, don-cha think?
Anyway here is the VHS cover art: Hopefully somebody out there in blogland has any info.
Rev' em up.
Um...no it's not that kind of movie. While reading up on some works of Antonioni over the past 2 weeks on Wiki and various other sites, I clicked on a Monica Vitti link. My crush on Vitti was written by me in an earlier piece (below) and this title among her filmo struck me as interesting, to say the least.
Oh yeah...did I mention it also stars Claudia Cardinale! (Droool!)
So Ok, a movie called Blonde In Black Leather starring Monica Vitti and Claudia Cardinale exists and I'm only now hearing about it? Well. Color me surprised.
From what little info I've managed to find out about it, it's supposedly a Thelma And Louise type of picture. OK, I'm sold! Only problem is WHERE IS IT? It's not listed in any volumes of Leonard Maltin's movie guide (complete, my Ass!) and the bit of online info is scarce. Sooo I'm guessing a DVD is like, uh, nonexistent, huh, Dude? Bummer.
But still I shall not give up. A movie like this is begging to be re-discovered. I Betcha QT has seen it. BIBL does have that Grindhouse-ish kinda ring to it, don-cha think?
Anyway here is the VHS cover art: Hopefully somebody out there in blogland has any info.Rev' em up.
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Movies I Love # 1
BOOGIE NIGHTS (1997) ****
"Sailing Away, Like A Crest On A wave, It'sLike magic, Rollin' &Ridin', Slippin' & Slidin', It's Magic." - Livin' Thing - ELO
As this song storms over the end credits of Paul Thomas Anderson's knockout film Boogie Nights, the lyrics almost accurately reflected the state of euphoria I found myself in after experiencing this movie in a theater one December night in 1997. Like Sid Vicious' mad dog holler that played over Goodfellas end credits, the song "Livin' Thing" by ELO wops your senses, much like the events in Boogie Nights. When people describe movies nowadays they tend to do so in short single sentences like, "Well, Boogie Nights is about a bunch of people who work in Porn." I always get very irritated when people do that. It's like saying Lawrence Of Arabia is about a guy in the desert. The person who gets a reply like that is being cheated. As Roger Ebert professes: "It's not what a movie is about, but HOW it's about it." I beleive such a statement was made for movies such as Boogie Nights And as for that simple summary of it being about people working in Porn well, that's half the case. It's not so much about porn as it is about the people who work and live in it. It's about the world they live in, the bonds they form with each other while the rest of society looks down at them and the family they form.The events of Boogie Nights take place from 1997 to 1984, and from it's dazzling, spectacular, single full three minute opening shot which starts on a movie theatre marquee, winds down to the street and takes us viewers right into the heart of a jumping disco night club, we are grabbed and transplanted to a place and time. The movie is vibrant and alive in it's first 90 minutes, bathed in bright, loud flashes of whirlwind and color. The second half of the film takes on a more concrete and washed out look, as the world became more industrial and Reagonized in the early 1980's. Certain scenes such as, Julianne Moore's court scenes actually look like they could very well be filmed in the early 80's. A lot of director's try to get a "feel" of a certain era by using, clothes, music, or cinematography lighting, but apart from perhaps Martin Scorsese and Paul Thomas Anderson, I haven't felt it. It works tremendously, here.And what a cast that's in this film. Mark Wahlberg certainly is a popular actor today but 11 years ago was a different story, but this movie proved he had what it took. His John Holmes-inspired Dirk Diggler, diswasher turned porn-god over night was a perfect fit for an actor looking for the same kind of oppertunity. The two married wonderfully. Burt Reynolds as director Jack Horner played Jack with a real gravity that given Burt's personal life, really adds depth to the character. Julianne Moore is amazing in anything she does. You can't look at her in this without wanting to break down. (She was eqaully devastating in The Hours) She's a powerhouse. Heather Graham is so charming in her early scenes as Rollergirl that when she delivers the movie's most brutal scene near the end, it's like watching youthful innocence die in front of our eyes. William H. Macy is amazing as always, so is Philip Seymor Hoffman, Don Cheadle, John. C. Reilly, Luiz Guzman, and Alfred Molina. That cast alone makes Boogie Nights belong in a time capsule. A lot of comparisons have been made between Boogie Nights and Goodfellas. Both are ambitious, epic accounts of people living extraordinary lives in past eras, both hypnotize the viewer with it's complelling story and characters, both can be considered true stories (more so Goodfellas as Boogie Nights is more a fictionalized version of some real life individuals) and both display amazing technical framing, brilliant cinematography and lighting, Gliding camera work, long, masterful tracking shots (which in Nights case probably owes more to Brian DePalma than Martin Scorsese) and both have often been named as two of the top five films that represent true, amazing, visceral, and daring filmaking of the 1990's.
"Sailing Away, Like A Crest On A wave, It'sLike magic, Rollin' &Ridin', Slippin' & Slidin', It's Magic." - Livin' Thing - ELO
As this song storms over the end credits of Paul Thomas Anderson's knockout film Boogie Nights, the lyrics almost accurately reflected the state of euphoria I found myself in after experiencing this movie in a theater one December night in 1997. Like Sid Vicious' mad dog holler that played over Goodfellas end credits, the song "Livin' Thing" by ELO wops your senses, much like the events in Boogie Nights. When people describe movies nowadays they tend to do so in short single sentences like, "Well, Boogie Nights is about a bunch of people who work in Porn." I always get very irritated when people do that. It's like saying Lawrence Of Arabia is about a guy in the desert. The person who gets a reply like that is being cheated. As Roger Ebert professes: "It's not what a movie is about, but HOW it's about it." I beleive such a statement was made for movies such as Boogie Nights And as for that simple summary of it being about people working in Porn well, that's half the case. It's not so much about porn as it is about the people who work and live in it. It's about the world they live in, the bonds they form with each other while the rest of society looks down at them and the family they form.The events of Boogie Nights take place from 1997 to 1984, and from it's dazzling, spectacular, single full three minute opening shot which starts on a movie theatre marquee, winds down to the street and takes us viewers right into the heart of a jumping disco night club, we are grabbed and transplanted to a place and time. The movie is vibrant and alive in it's first 90 minutes, bathed in bright, loud flashes of whirlwind and color. The second half of the film takes on a more concrete and washed out look, as the world became more industrial and Reagonized in the early 1980's. Certain scenes such as, Julianne Moore's court scenes actually look like they could very well be filmed in the early 80's. A lot of director's try to get a "feel" of a certain era by using, clothes, music, or cinematography lighting, but apart from perhaps Martin Scorsese and Paul Thomas Anderson, I haven't felt it. It works tremendously, here.And what a cast that's in this film. Mark Wahlberg certainly is a popular actor today but 11 years ago was a different story, but this movie proved he had what it took. His John Holmes-inspired Dirk Diggler, diswasher turned porn-god over night was a perfect fit for an actor looking for the same kind of oppertunity. The two married wonderfully. Burt Reynolds as director Jack Horner played Jack with a real gravity that given Burt's personal life, really adds depth to the character. Julianne Moore is amazing in anything she does. You can't look at her in this without wanting to break down. (She was eqaully devastating in The Hours) She's a powerhouse. Heather Graham is so charming in her early scenes as Rollergirl that when she delivers the movie's most brutal scene near the end, it's like watching youthful innocence die in front of our eyes. William H. Macy is amazing as always, so is Philip Seymor Hoffman, Don Cheadle, John. C. Reilly, Luiz Guzman, and Alfred Molina. That cast alone makes Boogie Nights belong in a time capsule. A lot of comparisons have been made between Boogie Nights and Goodfellas. Both are ambitious, epic accounts of people living extraordinary lives in past eras, both hypnotize the viewer with it's complelling story and characters, both can be considered true stories (more so Goodfellas as Boogie Nights is more a fictionalized version of some real life individuals) and both display amazing technical framing, brilliant cinematography and lighting, Gliding camera work, long, masterful tracking shots (which in Nights case probably owes more to Brian DePalma than Martin Scorsese) and both have often been named as two of the top five films that represent true, amazing, visceral, and daring filmaking of the 1990's.
"What Ever happned To?"
Hello readers in Internet land. This will be the first part of a series called "What The Hell Ever Happned to...?" and I'll be asking whatever happned to those rising stars and starlets from the 90's. Probably the 80's and 2000's as well but I'll mostly concern this series about those rockin' 90's. The Decade we all loved. This will ask whatever become of some really bright faces who appeared on the verge of stardom. Some reached mild levels of stardom. Some were merely familiar faces. Some never moved beyond lame sitcom status. But they made an impact, however small and this is why I dedicate a topic about them: Here we go:
What a stong list of credits this striking, amazing redhead made for herself in the first half of the 90's. I first saw her in 1990's great Pump Up The Volume and immediately wanted a girlfriend just like her character Nora Diniro. After that dynamic debut she followed in a number of classy projects like This Is My Life, The Music Of Chance and Peter Bogdonavch's The Thing Called Love - which Mathis would star alongside and later date River Phoenix. She won hearts again in 1994's Little Women in which she played a grown up version of young Kirsten Dunst's character. Classiest of all was her her role in Rob Reiner's 1995 The American President acting alongside Michael Douglas, Annette Bening, Martin Sheen, Michael J. Fox, John Mahoney and Richard Dreyfuss. That same month Mathis tried her hand at big budget action starring alongside her Pump Co-star Christian Slater and John Travolta in Broken Arrow. She was set for big time stardom. Along the way she appeared in Super Mario Bros. and gave a tender performance in How To Make An American Quilt.So what Happned since 1996? Well she worked in some small and independent films, and personal issues in her life probably kept her out of the industry as well. She appeared in 2000's American Psycho as the one character in the film with any sort of soul at all. Since then she's given many TV appearences in shows like Law And Order and House and just recently Lost, but I do wonder why real super-stardom eluded her. Probably because by the time she was just about to break through along came another spunky, lovable, dark-haired charmer named Sandra Bullock (who played Mathis' best friend in Thing Called Love) and this decade it's all been about two more of Mathis's old co-stars (Reese Witherspoon from American Psycho and Kirsten Dunst from Little Women). Fate is funny. So is the acting and stardom biz. But Mathis was a very bright shining star in 90' to 96' - She had that Natalie Wood quality. hope to see more of her in the last half of the 00's.
"Whatever happned to...?"
Samantha Mathis
What a stong list of credits this striking, amazing redhead made for herself in the first half of the 90's. I first saw her in 1990's great Pump Up The Volume and immediately wanted a girlfriend just like her character Nora Diniro. After that dynamic debut she followed in a number of classy projects like This Is My Life, The Music Of Chance and Peter Bogdonavch's The Thing Called Love - which Mathis would star alongside and later date River Phoenix. She won hearts again in 1994's Little Women in which she played a grown up version of young Kirsten Dunst's character. Classiest of all was her her role in Rob Reiner's 1995 The American President acting alongside Michael Douglas, Annette Bening, Martin Sheen, Michael J. Fox, John Mahoney and Richard Dreyfuss. That same month Mathis tried her hand at big budget action starring alongside her Pump Co-star Christian Slater and John Travolta in Broken Arrow. She was set for big time stardom. Along the way she appeared in Super Mario Bros. and gave a tender performance in How To Make An American Quilt.So what Happned since 1996? Well she worked in some small and independent films, and personal issues in her life probably kept her out of the industry as well. She appeared in 2000's American Psycho as the one character in the film with any sort of soul at all. Since then she's given many TV appearences in shows like Law And Order and House and just recently Lost, but I do wonder why real super-stardom eluded her. Probably because by the time she was just about to break through along came another spunky, lovable, dark-haired charmer named Sandra Bullock (who played Mathis' best friend in Thing Called Love) and this decade it's all been about two more of Mathis's old co-stars (Reese Witherspoon from American Psycho and Kirsten Dunst from Little Women). Fate is funny. So is the acting and stardom biz. But Mathis was a very bright shining star in 90' to 96' - She had that Natalie Wood quality. hope to see more of her in the last half of the 00's.Amy Pietz
I have a confession. One I'm not proud of. Sometimes, very late at night or very early morning (I mean like 5 in the morning early) I'll stumble upon a re-run of the kinda stupid but watchable Caroline In The City. I remember the show when it first premiered in 1995 and tho
ught it was cute enough. I liked the full size framed Kubrick's Lolita poster hanging on the stairway wall (which they stupidly changed to Jailhouse Rock in the second season. WTH?)and for the delictable Amy Pietz who played Caroline's oversexed (read: slutty), tight-outfit wearing, CATS performer Annie Viola Spadaro. Probably modeled after Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny, Amy as Annie smoldered. She was clearly given the broadest role on the show and was the most arresting to watch. So what if she was given lame jokes and a one or two note character. Pietz played Annie like a cat ready to pounce any second. It's unfortunate Caroline's creators never let her character hardly evolve over the course of the show's run. I mean Cybill had Christine Baranski play the same kind of role to great ratings and acclaim. Perhaps Caroline's creators wanted the same. Unfortunately for veiwers that's all they got - the same. The Slutty, Boozy, sassy neighbour/best friend is too easy a stock role for lazy sitcom writers. Why even bother with something new?Still as Slutty, sassy neighbour/best friend roles go, Amy always played her's with charm and sexiness, bounce and without bitterness.So since Caroline Amy appeared in Cursed/The Weber Show/What The Hell is it? in 2000, some Ally Mcbeal's, Law And Order (Does everybody wind up on Law And Order?) and the brief comedy Rodney last year. (Remember that show? yeah, me neither.) It's a shame. I remember her from an E.R. Episode about two years ago but she was wearing the gory make-up and hardly recognized her. And I see she was in The Whole Ten Yards as uh ..waitress!? You know where I'd like to see Amy? Possibly in a recurringrole in something like Rescue Me where I think her style would fit perfectly.
ught it was cute enough. I liked the full size framed Kubrick's Lolita poster hanging on the stairway wall (which they stupidly changed to Jailhouse Rock in the second season. WTH?)and for the delictable Amy Pietz who played Caroline's oversexed (read: slutty), tight-outfit wearing, CATS performer Annie Viola Spadaro. Probably modeled after Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny, Amy as Annie smoldered. She was clearly given the broadest role on the show and was the most arresting to watch. So what if she was given lame jokes and a one or two note character. Pietz played Annie like a cat ready to pounce any second. It's unfortunate Caroline's creators never let her character hardly evolve over the course of the show's run. I mean Cybill had Christine Baranski play the same kind of role to great ratings and acclaim. Perhaps Caroline's creators wanted the same. Unfortunately for veiwers that's all they got - the same. The Slutty, Boozy, sassy neighbour/best friend is too easy a stock role for lazy sitcom writers. Why even bother with something new?Still as Slutty, sassy neighbour/best friend roles go, Amy always played her's with charm and sexiness, bounce and without bitterness.So since Caroline Amy appeared in Cursed/The Weber Show/What The Hell is it? in 2000, some Ally Mcbeal's, Law And Order (Does everybody wind up on Law And Order?) and the brief comedy Rodney last year. (Remember that show? yeah, me neither.) It's a shame. I remember her from an E.R. Episode about two years ago but she was wearing the gory make-up and hardly recognized her. And I see she was in The Whole Ten Yards as uh ..waitress!? You know where I'd like to see Amy? Possibly in a recurringrole in something like Rescue Me where I think her style would fit perfectly.Tamara Mello
I really can't say enough about Tamara Mello. Cute, Sexy, Adorable, feisty, relaxed. Someone who I can't believe isn't a huge star. Imagine a cross between Sarah Michelle Gellar and Jessica Alba and you have Tamara Mello. But more down to earth. Tamara is breathtakingly beautiful and she's a really great talent as well. Best known for playing spirited, activist, champion of the helpless Lilly Esposito on the WB's Popular Mello quickly became the fan favorite and it's no wonder. Those eyes, that face, that mouth all supported by a tiny 5'1 frame and body. It was impossible to fall under her spell when she would scrunch up her nose, grit her teeth and sneer at foes like Nicole Julian, Bobbi Glass or Mary Cherry. Popular became a minor hit in 99' but after a horrible, almost unwatchable second season the show was abrubtly killed. Since then Mello Appeared in the feature Tortilla Soup and a few episodes of shows like JAG and What I Like About You. After 2 1/2 years Mello was nowhere for her fans to be seen. She just appeared in the Drama Psych looking more stunning then ever, but she was only on for one lousy minute. Fans are going through withdrawls and really want to see Tamara show up in more. My Suggestion? Team up again with Popular creator Ryan Murphy and appear on Nip/Tuck this upcoming season. Perhaps Lilly could portray a feminist deploring the practices of McNamara/Troy. Hmmm..a Popular/Nip/Tuck crossover? Of course Mello would have to eventually sleep with Christian and that would almost make up for the Tamara Mello drought fans have been dealing with. Almost.
I really can't say enough about Tamara Mello. Cute, Sexy, Adorable, feisty, relaxed. Someone who I can't believe isn't a huge star. Imagine a cross between Sarah Michelle Gellar and Jessica Alba and you have Tamara Mello. But more down to earth. Tamara is breathtakingly beautiful and she's a really great talent as well. Best known for playing spirited, activist, champion of the helpless Lilly Esposito on the WB's Popular Mello quickly became the fan favorite and it's no wonder. Those eyes, that face, that mouth all supported by a tiny 5'1 frame and body. It was impossible to fall under her spell when she would scrunch up her nose, grit her teeth and sneer at foes like Nicole Julian, Bobbi Glass or Mary Cherry. Popular became a minor hit in 99' but after a horrible, almost unwatchable second season the show was abrubtly killed. Since then Mello Appeared in the feature Tortilla Soup and a few episodes of shows like JAG and What I Like About You. After 2 1/2 years Mello was nowhere for her fans to be seen. She just appeared in the Drama Psych looking more stunning then ever, but she was only on for one lousy minute. Fans are going through withdrawls and really want to see Tamara show up in more. My Suggestion? Team up again with Popular creator Ryan Murphy and appear on Nip/Tuck this upcoming season. Perhaps Lilly could portray a feminist deploring the practices of McNamara/Troy. Hmmm..a Popular/Nip/Tuck crossover? Of course Mello would have to eventually sleep with Christian and that would almost make up for the Tamara Mello drought fans have been dealing with. Almost.
Natasha Gregson Wagner
While Samantha Mathis may have the same quality as Natalie Wood, Natasha Gregson Wagner literally has Natalie Wood embedded in Her. Wagner is the daughter of Natalie Wood. In short Wagner descends from Hollywood Royalty. Wood Died in 1981 and the emotional darkness Wagner posseses from that tragedy comes out in her roles. The first thing I remember her from was David Lynch's dreamy, dark, hallucinatory Lost Highway which she played Balthazar Getty's girlfriend who gets it on with him in the back of his car, it was her first nude scene and her character (and perhaps Wagner's own inner dark) fit into the black, mysterious, uncertain dark that textured the film. Then she appeared in Two Girls And A Guy, firing vocal barbs and deathly stares at her two costars Robert Downey Jr. and Heather Graham. Fierce, complex, intimate, outrageous and shocking is how Gregson played Louise Johnson in that film. Wagner fired on all cylinders. Then she was briefly In Urban Legends but dissapeared way too soon. She shone again in High Fidelity and Wonderland and over the past couple of years she's done a lot of TV like THE 4400, Medium and E.R. It'd be good to see more of Wagner in more gritty movies. Or even once in a mainstream title. But somehow I don't think "Summer Feel-good movie" and Natasha Gregson Wagner would make a good fit. But who knows. If horrid "Actresses" like Lindsay Lohan (Please Go away, ...Forever. In fact no please...just Go!) and Hilary "Soooo annoying" Duff get paid to be in horrible, horrible movies why can't someone exciting, daring, real and alive shine a little? Your answer is as good as mine.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Antonioni - The Great Eye
On monday July 30, 2007 the world of film lost two of it's brightest (or darkest, however you wish to look at them) beacons in movie History. Ingmar Bergman and Michelangelo Antonioni.
A few months later I watched my first Antonioni movie L'Avventura. I fell under it's spell right away. It was gorgeous, hypnotic and rich filmaking. It changed how I viewed movies and life. I wanted to dive right in and live that life. I wanted to wear suits all the time, walk down narrow, sparse hallways
come up behind and start kissing beautiful Italian women and tell them that it didn't mean anything and converse about how sex with them was merely to pass the time. This was the world L'Avventura and Antonioni presented to me.
Wite the passing of Antonioni so ends one of the greatest examples of director and actress collabprations in film history. And one of the greatest eyes the form has ever seen.
Just like they are Elvis worshippers and there are Beatles worshippers each director had his own set of followers. But as Mrs. Mia Wallace purrs in Pulp Fiction a person can't be both. Bergman had Woody Allen in his camp and Antonioni had Scorsese.
Although I admired Bergman enormously (Persona is one of the most stunning and shocking movies ever) I'd have to place myself in the Antonioni camp.
In 1995 Antonioni was starting to be recognized again and was awarded a lifetime achievement Academy Award by his old Passenger leading man Jack Nicholson. It was around this time I started to delve into Antonioni myself - it was two images that captured my attention. One was from Zabriskie Point. The shot of Daria Halpin looking out over the sand (above) and of the wonder bread flying in the air. The other was the iconic image of the mimes playing imaginary ping-pong at the end of Blow-Up. For some reason those images captivated me.
come up behind and start kissing beautiful Italian women and tell them that it didn't mean anything and converse about how sex with them was merely to pass the time. This was the world L'Avventura and Antonioni presented to me.
He continued exploring that world and the same themes in in his next films La Notte and L' Eclisse but I was still enchanted by the vacant longing in each character and the way Antonioni juxtaposed that with his locations and framing. But by this point I was madly in love with Monica Vitti - Antonioni's muse.
Wite the passing of Antonioni so ends one of the greatest examples of director and actress collabprations in film history. And one of the greatest eyes the form has ever seen.
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