'Silver Lining' One movie down for the weekend so far

I saw 'Silver Lining' last night. I wasn't excited about going to it at all. That's the best when you have zero expectations and then, bam, it's a great movie. I did see where it had an 8.3 rating on IMDB, but that misses the mark with me a lot so that didn't have me convinced. Jennifer Lawrence is awesome and Robert Di Nero is always fantastic. I just liked it. Dialogue was super.

'The Fitzgerald Family Christmas' written, directed and starring Edward Burns

I just got home form seeing 'The Fitzgerald Family Christmas' at the Village East Cinema with a Q and A with Edward Burns afterward.

Tremendous. 'The Fitzgerald Family Christmas' is so awesome. It's available on I Tunes and a select amount of Indy Theaters. Hooray for Edward for making these kinds of movies. I really loved this. And he said he is going to make a sequel. That's great news.

This is his 10th movie and he brought all his actors and actresses back from his other films to be in this one. Bravo!!!!!

I cannot wait until the next Edward Burns movie......

 

'Hitchcock'

I saw 'Hitchcock' last night and really really liked it. Helen Mirren is tremendous. She always is, but I liked her better than ever in this movie. I had an idea after listening to Tippi Hedren talk (see earlier post) that Alma, Hitchcock's wife, was awful, but Helen Mirren showed another side to the woman. That's not to say that Alma's way of handling, or not handling, her odd husband's infatuation with elegant blondes, was  beneficial to the target of his lustful eyes. Helen Mirren's portrayal could do nothing but justice to the character  because she made her into someone very real and very special. Scarlett Johannson was a beautiful Janet Leigh. The movie has lightness to it and is very well done!!!

'Untold History of the United States' by Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick

There's a new book out....'The Untold History of the United States' by Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick. The two were at the 92nd St Y in NYC last night to talk about the book and the 10 part documentary, to air on Show Time.

This, according to Oliver and Peter, is the history that grade schools and high schools do not teach. Some Universitys do. When you're given part of the story it is possible to paint a whole different picture. And that is what the 1% with all the wealth love to do. Control. Manipulate. Confuse. And keep in the dark. And that is the truth.

Clips from the documentary were shown. Facts about Julius Robert Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb, the Manhattan Project, the Soviet Union and other facts that are not shared openly.

Good for the people who open the doors and windows. The way to change what isn't working is to have an honest look at all the facts. Thank you to Oliver and Peter for all of their hard work in bringing these facts out.

 

'Skyfall' and the Roger Moore James Bond

Thursday night Roger Moore signed his very cool Bond book and talked about his career, the seven Bond movies he was in and other fascinating tidbits. He is very funny. He said the worst part about getting older is, you lose your friends. He said, "Now I've depressed myself," and took a sip of wine. He also talked about skiing and how he stood at the top of the mountain trembling and embarrassing his children when people recognized him as James Bond who did all these fabulous stunts in the movies. He was asked what gadgets had he kept from the Bond movies he was in. He said, "None. They don't work." He was also asked what his favorite Bond film was. He said, "Skyfall. That paid me to say that." It was a very good time with a very elegant man.

The night I went to see 'Skyfall.' It is excellent. If you're a Bond fan, you will love this one. It's almost 3 hours long. Great movie. Directed by Sam Mendes, perfect!!!

The longest running franchise in movie history..... cha cha cha

 

'Exonerated' and 'Life After Death' a book by Damien Echols

Last week I finished the book 'Life After Death' by Damien Echols. I could not put it down. It tells of his life. His innocence. His 18 years on death row. It is beautifully written and poetic. Depending on your own childhood, be it poor, middle, or maybe even wealthy, you will be able to identify with him. He touches the soul because all he had was his memories of childhood and I suspect, no matter what station you came from, you can relate to strong childhood memories of your favorite things. That is why this book is so tragic and beautiful. He takes you along on his mind trip to the past when he sat in a concrete room. I hope he writes more books and shares his experiences as he walks free and discovers more of the outside world; in all its majesty and sorrow.

Just after completing the book about an innocent person convicted of a crime, I find myself at a play: 'Exonerated.' A play about innocent people on death row. 'Exonerated' is playing Off-Broadway with a rotating cast. I saw it yesterday with Marg Helgenberger, Peter Riegert, Joe Morton, Chris Sarandon, Ameila Campbell, JD Williams, April Thompson, Bruce Kronberg, Curtis McClarin, Jim Bracchitta and directed by Bob Balaban.

Read Damien Echols book. Go to the play if you have the chance. And also, Peter Jackson has a documentary coming out next month about this.

It's one thing to sort of know that things like this might happen. It's another to hear the real stories from the people it has happened to.

 

'The Good Mother' and 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood'

The week  of the big, bad hurricane and all the Broadway and Off-Broadway shows I can see. Being a Florida gal I can tell you that hurricanes blow. Pun intended. But this is NYC and the show must go on if at all possible. A couple of years ago I saw a play during a blizzard with Alicia Silverstone and Laura Linney. 'Time Stands Still.' It was absolutely no fun getting to that show that day.

Since the transit system isn't still 100% I walked to and from 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood' the other night and got to 'The Good Mother' today with no problem.

Tomorrow may be a little tougher. 'Exonerated is a bit farther downtown. I was there about a week ago and met some of the rotating cast; Trudie Styler and Martin Short. Bernadette Peters was there too so we took a group shot. Pics to follow.

'The Mystery of Edwin Drood,' is a fun musical with Chita Rivera. It is the last thing Charles Dickens wrote. He didn't finish it and the audience gets to vote on the ending. It's at Studio 54 and a very good time. Chita is ageless and beautiful and awesome and a show stopper.

 

 

'The Good Mother,' stars Gretchen Mol. She is excellent and I was  engaged and entertained throughout the entire play. I can always tell if I'm really into what's going on on stage. If not, I fidget more and more. I didn't fidget once.

'Cloud Atlas' before the kooky storm

Yesterday I committed a kindness and I went to see 'Cloud Atlas.' And that's what this movie is about. Partly. The other part is doing the opposite of kind. Being mean. How, do you ask, did going to see a movie make me kind? I'll just say disappearing for a while was kind and it didn't matter where, but a movie is what I chose.

It's long. Three hours. And I'm pretty sure they showed at least 30 minutes of trailers before. Most of the trailers were really good. I cannot wait to see 'Les Miserable' and I can watch that trailer a thousand times. Probably how many times I'll see the movie.

But back to the Wachowski film, 'Cloud Atlas.' There is a lot going on. Tom Hanks and Halle Berry had six or seven parts each. Hugh Grant is four characters, maybe three.

Here's the thing. You've got to play with others. They keep popping up from lifetime to lifetime. If you ain't nice, you pay the piper. If you are nice, you're going to slip out of tight situations like grease. Oh yeah, Mr. Smith from 'The Matrix,' was a badass then, and he's a badass now. See how it works! :)

Watch all the characters do this....Good stuff! Karma.

'Argo' and 'Seven Psychopaths'

'Argo' is a real nail biter. I love this movie. Ben Affleck is a great director and he is awesome in this film as are Alan Arkin and John Goodman. I think every time John Goodman shows up on screen in a movie a big light flashes. He is so awesome. It's very tense waiting for the rescue of of the Americans from Iran. It's based on a true story. If you like to sit on the edge of your seat, get out to this one!!!

 

'Seven Psychpaths' is different. Different in a good way because it's funny

with a twisted sort of humor. What a great cast. Woody Harrelson,

Sam Rockwell, Colin Farrell, Christopher Walken and Tom Waits. I don't like movie with lots of gory stuff, but this one is okay by me because it

makes fun of that stuff. Like a Guy Ritchie movie.  I say go on out there

and catch this and 'Argo.'

 

 

 

A Garden Party with Russell Crowe and Sting

Last night. Phenomenal. I went to see 'The Garden Party' with Russell Crowe and his talented group of singers and musicians. The stage was beautiful, looking like a twinkling light, garden party.

Russell came out on the stage and then came down the steps and through the audience from front to back. If you've read my other posts and have learned that magical, tremendous things happen, I had another one.

I was lead to my seat which wasn't my seat. It was a perfect seat. The girl looks at me and says, "You're seat isn't available." I yelled "Sweet."

On his tour through the audience, Russell was standing next to me. Whoa. I love him. I love his voice. He was funny and tremendous. Sometimes he sang along, played the guitar, sang with Samantha (her American debut) and brothers from Ireland rapped and sang as did other talented people. They were a group and then solo and it was all great.

An encore, and then Russell said, "My friend is coming if you want to wait. He's on the other side of town." 98% wanted to wait. Silly 2% who left. Sting came out and sang....

My favorite musician of all time, Sting. Love love love this night!!!!
Love, love, love this week!!!

Love, love, love NYC.

 

Secret Screening of 'Lincoln' and Steven Spielberg, Daniel Day-Lewis and Sally Field

This week rocked, beginning Monday. Pretty much that's why it's Sunday and I'm just getting to the blog part.

I'm sorry I have no pictures to share for this one, but it was top, top secret. I had no idea what I was getting. Like a grab bag. No cameras, no phone.

Richard Pena, director of NYFF (accent mark on the n in his name), came out and said, "Here's Steven Spielberg." I gasped. Whoopi Goldberg sat behind me for a while. I loved the Vans she was wearing. I wanted to tell her I love lots of her stuff, but I behaved.

He introduced his film, coming out later this year, 'Lincoln' and said it wasn't finished. I couldn't tell.

Don't miss it. Daniel Day-Lewis makes Lincoln pretty. I've never seen that before. Tommy Lee Jones is awesome too. I love listening to Lincoln's voice the entire way through. Steven Spielberg said in the Q and A that followed the screening that Daniel created his historic characterization all the way.

They had real historic artifacts in the movie. Put this one on the top of your 'Must See List.'

Comic Con in town and Kevin Smith and Comic pals at Gramercy Theater

I have the weirdest, coolest experiences. Friday night I was excited about getting to Gramercy Theater to see Kevin Smith and listen to him tell his
great stories. I was waiting for the bus and two pulled up at the same time. Two ladies were to the left of me and opted for the second bus. The first bus said NOT IN SERVICE. So I turned to follow back to the 2nd bus and the doors opened on the NOT IN SERVICE bus. The driver motioned for me to get in. I said, "What bus is this?" He told me and I said, "That'll work."
I zipped my metro card and took my seat on the empty bus. We moved along quickly, never stopping. I'm thinking. This is really nutty. Finally after shooting past about 6 stops and not stopping I call out to the driver, "Are you going to pick up anyone else?" He said, "I'll stop at Time Square. Where are you going?" I told him. We get to Time Square and there's another bus pulled over picking up the peeps so he goes, "No need for me to stop and he keeps going. He also tells me a story about getting stuck for 24 hours in his bus during a blizzard. I say, "Do you want me to ding the bell before my stop?" He says, "Not unless you want to." I say, "It won't do much for me." So he stops at my destination and says, "Have a great night." A bus limo to Kevin Smith. AWESOME!!!!

The show was fantastic. I laughed so hard, I cried. They talked about their favorite toys they had when they were little. View master came up. Kevin explained what it was. I still have my discs....They talked about their most disappointing toys. I related to that story, remembering how thinking something was going to be so much fun, and it was a dud. There was a story about Vincent Price and a shrunken head, but it ended up that it had to be constructed by peeling an apple and letting it sit out. Does an 8 year old boy want to peel an apple? Hell no! Funny stuff. Another story about a 'Jaws' skateboard that he wanted so badly, but gets one with palm trees on it instead.
Great night. Great fun. Hooray for Comics!!!!

 

Dustin Hoffman at the New Yorker Festival with a Screening of 'Quartet'

Susan Morrison interviewed Dustin Hoffman after a screening of "Quartet," a beautiful comedy Dustin
directed. I do mean beautiful. Set in the English countryside, the colored leaves rustle, the grass
whispers, the floors are polished in the elegant residence. It is magnificent. Funny, heart-warming,
and sweet.

I saw a screening of this movie about five months ago and loved it too. At that time it was said to
still be in a rough state. I guess I'm not savvy enough to tell because I loved it then too. Everyone
must see this movie.

Dustin's interview was my favorite live interview ever. I have loved most. I loved Daniel Radcliff
and Hugh Jackman and all the others, but Dustin spoke of his days with Arthur Miller and when
he was roommates with Gene Hackman and Robert Duvall. He talked about 'The Graduate.'
I felt like I was witnessing a private history that made me want to have the evening go on and on
and on. Rather like when I'm at a Hugh Jackman Broadway show or a Mark Rylance. I never,
ever want them to end.

I almost got a picture with Dustin. I took a picture of him with a lady and he came off the stage and
said, "I should come down there for that." He was swept over here and there and then in conversation
with a lady for a while and then he had to go.

So, Dustin, if you google this and it comes up, you said you would be in a picture with me. Where??? And when??? tee hee

I got a picture with the wonderful Billy Connolly who Dustin introduced and these great pics of Dustin while
Susan interviewed him. He is simply awesome and you will love, love, love Billy in "Quartet." BTW, he's in the 'Hobbit' movies too.