Pop Culture Weekend

Every once in a while, the calendar lines up so that my birthday falls close to Easter.  This was one of those years, which also very conveniently meant I had Friday off from work.  And what were my industrious goals for that extra day in the weekend?

1.  Getting ready for my book club meeting about Water for Elephants, which was my suggestion for April, and reading reviews of the movie version.  Also, wondering what Robert Pattinson will do post-Twilight.  This was not in fact necessary for book club preparation, but a pleasant diversion nonetheless.

2.  Watching Giant, which was recorded from Turner Classic Movies during their Elizabeth Taylor marathon earlier in the month.  She really did have a vibrant screen presence -- so sensual and alive.

3.  Seeing a few episodes of Band of Brothers, and perfecting my impression of a World War II paratrooper during battle.  (You might notice all of these activities could be done from a comfortable sofa.)

4.  Getting my ping pong on at Spin and standing very near to Susan Sarandon while a guy in a Speedo and nothing else battled to be tournament champ.  You might say Susan and I hung out, technically.  (Also: this meant I actually got off the sofa!)

And in a final pop culture installment for the weekend, a very thoughtful someone surprised me with tickets to Anything Goes on Broadway for Sunday afternoon.  A buoyant, brash, hilarious musical, I almost never wanted it to end, and the dance numbers had us tapping up and down the staircase during intermission.

Elizabeth Taylor: 1932-2011

Elizabeth Taylor has passed away at the age of 79.  A potent combination of beauty, talent, and sheer star power, Ms. Taylor became famous as a child actor and never stayed far from the public's imagination thereafter.  From her serious health scares to her multiple marriages, the drama of Ms. Taylor's off-screen life frequently rivalled that her on-screen roles.  She was one of the last great movie stars.

There are many tributes appearing online: The New York Times obituary, this 1986 piece by Vincent Canby, a look back from The Washington Post, an appreciation from Roger Ebert, and another obituary from Entertainment Weekly.  Vanity Fair has a number of articles at their site, including this excerpt from a book on Ms. Taylor's passionate relationship (and two marriages) with Richard Burton.

Welcome to Fall

Hello from lovely San Francisco!  Work sends me to some nice cities sometimes, and while this isn't a hotel I'd plan to visit again (sorry, Radisson), I do welcome the opportunity to sit down and enjoy television premiere week on the major networks.  Here's what's on my mind, pop culture wise:

1.  Undercovers from J.J. Abrams.  Currently playing on my TV, and halfway through the pilot episode.  First, the man who created Lost, one of the most spine-tinglingly great shows ever made, is pretty much a genius, so this show already has a lot going for it.  Second, what a fun premise!  Two married former spies are running a catering business, having a nice but unexciting life, when they get pulled back into active duty to find a missing friend.  You get world-wide travel, attractive people in exciting situations with a taste of danger, and how refreshing that it's about an already committed couple who clearly still love and enjoy each other.  You so rarely see that in movies or TV -- the journey often seems to end when they get married.  And for an especially great third, the lead actors are both black and it's not a big deal.  A major show with a lot of money behind it anchored by two charismatic leads who happen to be minorities not usually given major roles in primetime: extremely cool.

2.  A new trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows!  How I cannot wait for November, and not just because of a certain birthday.  This. Looks. So. Good.

3.  The novel One Day by David Nicholls, now in paperback.  My love of all things British continues with this laugh out loud funny, moving, and altogether engrossing book.  College students Dexter and Emma meet on the night of their graduation, and although they don't initially seem like natural friends, the relationship continues and each chapter revisits them on the same date for two decades.  True to life in the way we don't always progress in the straight line we envisioned, and how random chance can have such enormous impact.

Buy, Read, Watch

I read Elizabeth Gilbert's soul-searching travelogue Eat, Pray, Love two years ago.  Although it occasionally meanders into preciousness, I found her to be a very endearing and thought-provoking narrator. 

Gilbert is almost unbearably honest about her crushing divorce and subsequent depression, but also, often surprisingly funny.  Her book has been turned into a movie starring Julia Roberts, making one of her increasingly rare leading role appearances.  The trailer is here.  (I tried embedding but it cuts the video in half.)

Incidentally, the song they're using is Dog Days Are Over by Florence & the Machine, which seems to be having a moment.  It popped up on last week's Gossip Girl, too.

"Titanic" to be re-released in 3D

Yes, the dialogue may be bad at times, and it's not cool to like it anymore, but I still harbor a love for Titanic.  It's one of those movies where if I happen to come across it while channel surfing, I just can't turn off.  Following the massive success Avatar enjoyed, it's no surprise that James Cameron has decided to re-release his other billion-dollar baby in 3D.  Personally, I can't wait.

Roger Ebert Speaks

There's no doubt that Roger Ebert is the most famous and popularly influential film critic in America today.  Syndicated in over 200 newspapers, author of more than 15 books, and the co-host of two popular movie review shows with now deceased colleague and friend, Gene Siskel, Ebert is also the first film critic to win a Pultizer Prize for Criticism.  Sometimes Ebert is criticized for being too lenient on movies, but defends himself, I think rightly, for judging pictures based on merits within their genre and the expectations of their intended audience.

Ebert has been fighting thyroid cancer since 2002, and over the course of his treatment and a series of surgeries, he's lost his lower jaw and the ability to speak, drink, or eat.  It is strange and sad to think of a man who became most famous for his never-ending stream of chatter on movies will never speak out loud again, but to see Ebert's recent appearance on Oprah or to read this revealing interview in Esquire, he seems a truly happy man.

Reading the interview, I found the description of his unbridled excitment and enthusiasm for films to be both endearing and moving, not to mention his determination to continue communcating with fans and his loved ones, and his general outlook on life.  I also liked that he's not presented as a saintly sage with important life lessons.  He's still a person.

Moment where I geek out: I once got an email from Roger Ebert!  During my senior year of college, I wrote to Ebert in response to column he wrote about The Shawshank Redemption, wherein he mentioned that women don't usually like prison dramas.  I told him I'd happened to love that movie, and asked if he'd heard any advance word about The Green Mile, which, like Shawshank, was directed by Frank Darabont and based on a story by Stephen King, and was about to be released.  So either Ebert himself, or an assistant who signed RE at the bottom, responded with a nice message and told me he hadn't heard anything about it yet.  The email was maybe two sentences long, but I thought it was awesome nonetheless.

I heard things

Vanity Fair is a reliable source for deep, dishy articles on celebrities and film classics, and this month they have a fascinating one on the making of Raging Bull.  Some of it will be familiar to anyone who's read Peter Biskind's Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, but it's an illuminating read nonetheless. 

I haven't watched Raging Bull since film class in college over ten years ago, but I vividly remember how enthralling it was to look at.  It was mt first experience with a boxing film, and I never anticipated how beautifully shot or moving it would be.   

While reading the above article, I was tickled to learn that Scorsese and De Niro had worked on the script in a hotel I once stayed at.  And when you combine that coincidence with my mom's conviction that one of her cousins was once married to one of De Niro's, then obviously, he and I will have a lot to talk about if we ever meet, and he'll no doubt want us to hang out all the time.

Russell Crowe: The Rapprochement

Despite my inflammatory statement last year that Russell Crowe would have been a bad choice to play Drover in Baz Lurhmann's Australia, I have a soft spot for this actor, especially lately.  For the moment, we'll put aside that whole phone throwing incident, and focus on the positive.

First and foremost, he is an excellent actor.  Crowe initially made a name for himself stateside in Curtis Hanson's LA Confidential, a gorgeously-shot film noir, in 1997.  Check out this scene where his emotionally wounded yet oh-so-manly Detective Bud White meets Kim Basinger's Lynn Bracken for the first time.  This was Crowe's first major part in a big movie, and he absolutely holds your attention here.  It's very impressive. 

Another thing I admire about Crowe is his willingness to completely transform himself for a role.  He was completely believable as tobacco industry whistleblower Jeffery Wigand in The Insider, the true story of a man who revealed that cigarette makers Brown & Williamson intentionally formulated their products to be more addictive (and therefore harmful) to smokers.  Wigand was an older, slightly nerdy guy, and heavier than Crowe -- not a stereotypically sexy part -- but a real hero nonetheless, and Crowe totally inhabits him.

Not long after this film, Crowe won the Best Actor Oscar for Gladiator.  This is actually, I think, one of his less interesting roles, but that's not to say he doesn't make you believe he's a wronged man out to avenge his family's murder.  I am convinced to this day that Russell Crowe could hack off an opponent's limbs, romance a Roman princess, and terrify a tiger with ease.  And only a year after this, he displayed similar versimilitude as mentally-ill mathematician John Nash in A Beautiful Mind.  Watching Master and Commander made me damn near want to join the British Navy -- it looked so convivial and full of good, honest work, not to mention botany and entomology!  And cute sailors!  But I probably wouldn't be so thrilled about the whole surgery without anaesthesia aspect.

Besides all the aforementioned acting chops, however, let's consider other qualities.  There isn't anyone else out there who can be as forcefully masculine onscreen as Russell Crowe.  He isn't a pretty boy, and that is a very good thing.  His physical presence is rather overwhelming.  There's a reason the ladies on Sex and the City named him in their sex fantasy list: Russell Crowe, and those who are compared to him, is all man.

Next up, he plays Robin Hood in another collaboration with Ridley Scott.

Up in the Air

We're now heading into one of the most excruciatingly pleasurable times of year for movie fanatics like me. Pleasurable because the studios bring out all their prestige, Oscar-bait films, and excruciating because how are you ever supposed to find the time to see all of them?

High on my list is Jason Reitman's Up in the Air. The first trailer is here and the second trailer is here. (Fun/random fact: a former co-worker from my game show days was an assistant to someone on the set. Flashy!)

Jason Reitman has quietly and steadily created a good name for himself on the basis of only two films so far: Thank You For Smoking and Juno. I'm sure being the son of director Ivan Reitman doesn't hurt with opening doors, but the guy is clearly a very talented, skilled filmmaker in his own right. Just 'cause your dad is a hot shot doesn't mean you automatically get to be one (see Cameron Douglas).

The New York Times has a nice little interview with Reitman, as does Newsweek.

Like most women, I love George Clooney. Not just for his smooth, handsome urbanity, but also because he's never taken the obvious route with his career. I like how he bops between the Coen Brothers and Steven Soderbergh, once wore a batsuit with nipples, and was the one who campaigned for ER to do a live episode. And this might finally be the movie to push Vera Farmiga into greater awareness with American audiences. She was so fantastic in The Departed -- I can't think of anyone else who could have played that part.

What a sweet disposition

This afternoon I went to see (500) Days of Summer with my brother's lovely fiancee. It's a charming, funny movie, and a refreshing change from typical romantic comedies. It also has an especially good soundtrack. One of the standouts is Sweet Disposition by The Temper Trap.

Those aren't pillows!

Like a lot of people in my generation, I've been re-watching some John Hughes movies in the past weeks since he died. I think he remains so beloved because he made movies about teenagers that didn't condescend, and capture some of the awkwardness and giddiness that come with being that age. The intoxicating freedom of a day skipping school in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, one of the best father giving advice to his daughter scenes ever in Sixteen Candles (the scene with Samantha trying to sleep on the couch and telling her dad about her huge crush on Jake Ryan). Oh, that scene kills me.

And in a more adult spectrum, Planes, Trains & Automobiles is something I like to watch every year at Thanksgiving with my brother, and think of every time I'm traveling and something goes wrong.

Here are a few of the things I've enjoyed reading since Hughes passed away:

Jezebel.com had this very funny breakdown of the pros and cons of having a John Hughes boyfriend, written in early June.

This is one of the sweetest tributes ever: a woman who asked John Hughes to be her pen pal, and he actually did it.

EW ran remembrances from actors who worked with Hughes.

That's the way it crumbles, cookie-wise

I just watched The Apartment, directed by Billy Wilder, for the first time since film class back at Kenyon. I think I'm on a bit of an early 1960s kick, between this and Mad Men. The Apartment covers some similar ground but in a warmer, but not sentimental, way: workplace alienation, infidelity, the power imbalance between a young woman working as a secretary or elevator operator and the more successful, less emotionally involved guy with a wood-paneled office.

Billy Wilder's dialogue always impresses me afresh, and it's hard to believe he was not a native English speaker. He pairs beautifully with I.A.L. Diamond here, and together they walk a fine line between comedy and tragedy, being touching without getting maudlin. One of my all-time favorite movies.

Sweet Land

I just finished watching Sweet Land, an independent film written and directed by Ali Selim, and released in 2005. A simple, straightforward story told mainly in flashbacks, it concerns Inge, a German mail order bride in the 1920s, who arrives in a small Minnesota farming community to marry Olaf, a Norwegian man she's never met.

With anti-German sentiment following World War I still fresh, the community initially rejects Inge and her marriage to Olaf is delayed. Waiting for her official papers to arrive, Inge and Olaf slowly get to know each other through shared labor and tiny glimpses of poetry, music, affection for animals, and concern for neighbors.

It's not a flashy story and much of the dialogue is in German without subtitles, but the film quietly absorbs your attention and draws you into the growing relationship between Inge and Olaf. It's gorgeous to look at, too. Minnesota never looked so luscious.