Month: March 2006

Last night I watched the free screener the producer’s of Crash sent to all members of the Screen Actor’s Guild. I finally got to see if it was better than Brokeback Mountain which was its main competition for the Academy Award as Best Picture. Well I think the voters of the academy made a mistake. Crash for me was a 1 layer movie. Every character gets a chance to show his or her prejudice. It was so obvious; I found it laughable at times. I think some of the performances were great, but I felt like I was watching some sort of instructional film on the dangers of prejudice. I felt the writers were banging me in the head with their constant drone. Every character is so obvious in their distaste for some other race; it just didn’t ring true to me. I think many bigots and racists are a lot more subtle, and it would have been nice to see a few more realistic characters.  I also didn’t like all the many interrelated little storylines. It was done before in the movie Grand Canyon and much better I might add.  Crash is plainly and simply a message movie, while Brokeback Mountain is an original and compelling drama that is not spoon fed to the moviegoer. Even Capote, another nominee, was far more intelligent. If you want pabulum…  see Crash, but if you want brain stimulation… see Brokeback Mountain. 

P.S. It probably didn’t hurt that the producers of Crash had the finances to send copies of the film to everyone!   

I have really tried to like this new show on ABC. I like a lot of the cast. The show is just too much about the central character whining. Fred Gross, as Cameron Walker, is just not all that appealing either. I also don’t like all the improvising that is going on. Very few actor’s can pull it off without it looking like they are improvising. Those very few actors…are not in this show. Screenwriting is an art and so is acting. Very few people are good at both. The show also seems like a rip- off of Arrested Development…shaky camera shots, big quirky family, etc. I am also curious as to how many episodes they filmed with the same basic plot! For two weeks we have had stories where there is a family secret that has to work its way through the family members…and all hell, and I suppose hilarity, ensue. I am still waiting for the hilarity.

Liza Minnelli is 60 years old! I can’t believe it! I fell in love with her when she was only 28! I can still remember the first time I saw her in concert. It was at The Music Hall in Boston (now the Wang Center). I had really bad seats up in the nose bleed section of the theatre. From the moment she came on the stage and began an a cappella rendition of How Long Has This Been Going On?… I new I was seeing something special. I had her record albums and thought she was great, but in concert was a different story. The woman is like no other performer in front of an audience. Her voice was so powerful back then and the show was a tour de force of singing, dancing, and acting. I loved it so much I begged my parents to take me again on another night! Throughout the years I never missed a performace on television or at a local theatre. I have been lucky enough to meet her backstage several times and she has always been one of the most gracious and genuine people I have ever met. Onstage and off, Liza Minnelli always gives 110 percent of her energy. I don’t know where she gets it! One of the highlights in my life was seeing my first Broadway play, The Rink, starring Liza and Chita Rivera. Other great Liza moments where when she performed at Radio City Music Hall and Carnegie Hall. Yes, we have all heard of her trials and tribulations, but I feel that she often gets a bum rap. She is no more or less immune to the ups and downs of life than you or I… but she is a hellava lot more talented! Happy Birthday Liza!

 Capitol/EMI released this press release this morning. I was a big Helen Reddy fan in my youth and this is great news. I met her several times as a kid, and she was always very gracious. I just wish they would release all her albums in cd format, and not just digitally. Raven Records in Australia has released most of them, but there are still more that need to be released.

Helen Reddy: The Woman I Am – The Definitive Collection To Be Released In May By Capitol/EMI
Monday March 13, 10:00 am ET

New Single-Disc Anthology Contains 22 Career and Era-Defining Songs, Including Nine #1 Hits, the Grammy-Winning Single ‘I Am Woman’ and Six Previously Unavailable Tracks

New Anthology and Twelve of Reddy’s Original Capitol Albums to Make Digital Debut

Reddy’s Memoir, The Woman I Am (published by Tarcher/Penguin), to be Launched in the U.S. on NBC’s ‘Today’ May 4

CD In Stores: May 2 Book In Stores: May 4

Can you believe it? There will be new episodes of HBO’s The Sopranos starting again on Sunday, March 12, at 9:00 PM. Personally, I am really not that excited. There has just been too much time between seasons that I have completely lost interest. I guess the producers expect us to keep watching the reruns over and over to keep the storyline fresh in our minds. There are too many choices now for our attention. I think HBO has made a terrible mistake allowing the writers to take their sweet time. No television show can generate that much interest if you can’t keep it out in front of us!

I better go set up the DVR to record it!