'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.'