I was surprised the other day to see a TV ad for a film that looked to be about the Stalin-engineered Ukrainian famine (known as the Holodomor). What an excellent topic for a film, and one few people today know … Continue reading →
This Oscar error wasn’t noticed by so many people. But to Jan Chapman, it was a bit of a shock: Janet Patterson, an Australian costume designer and four-time Oscar nominee (“The Piano,” “Portrait of a Lady,” “Oscar and Lucinda” and … Continue reading →
Blame it on Bonnie and Clyde (aka Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty) in their dotage. Blame it on the Russians, who must have hacked the thing. Because the f-up at the end of the Oscars—the climax, as it were—was monumental. … Continue reading →
The Oscars are being held tomorrow. I can understand why a lot of people might not want to watch them: the self-satisfied political posturing, the paucity of good movies, the windy acceptance speeches, and the sleaziness of what passes for … Continue reading →
Obsession may be a necessary but not sufficient requirement for success in the arts (and perhaps even elsewhere). I know quite a few people who later became famous—some a little famous, some more famous. Having known these people in childhood … Continue reading →
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers generated more human happiness than many do-gooders. In the comments to the YouTube videos of their dance routines, you can find many people (some of them, I assume, young people) lamenting the death of this … Continue reading →
Who was Astaire’s best partner? Fred Astaire himself was unique, and as a solo performer in his genre he was unsurpassed. Period. It wasn’t just that he could choreograph routine after routine and bring freshness to each one. It wasn’t … Continue reading →
First, the “speech” part. Apparently some remarks by Meryl Streep about Donald Trump have caught fire on social media, and everyone is weighing in pro and con. Well, maybe I should turn in my blogging badge, because I find I … Continue reading →
…one day after the death of her daughter, Carrie Fisher. Carrie Fisher’s death came as a shock because she had not been ill until experiencing cardiac arrest during a flight, and at 60 she was still relatively young. Afterwards, on … Continue reading →
What a name she had: Tallulah Bankhead. What a voice she had. Even among the many dramatic and flamboyant personalities who used to populate Hollywood and the theater in the 30s and 40s, Bankhead was more unpredictable than most as … Continue reading →
This from Ann Althouse made me chuckle: “Both campaigns live in fear of one thing: the last seven days of the election being a referendum on why they stink.” Said Mike Murphy (the Republican strategist) on “Meet the Press”… And … Continue reading →
This story could be turned into a movie. It already seems like a movie in terms of the distance, and the timing of the rescue: A sharpshooter killed a top ISIS executioner and three other jihadists with a single bullet … Continue reading →