Tuesday, January 30, 2007
amaryllis
Some dear friends sent me an Amaryllis this past Christmas (alright alright...it was Earl H.)....and this is a first, for me. There were these bulbs----six of them in a lovely basket...(actually, I think there is another bulb hidden under the dirt...because this little sliver has appeared as of today....! (See this picture right below....)
So, never having gone through this fascinating process before, I am having a wonderful time documenting what is happening. I am sorry I didn't start on the first day of arrival, but....well, I didn't. So here are a few pictures over these couple of weeks, from the first appearance of a few of the slivers of green, to today.....
So, this was about three days or so into the appearance of "green slivers"....very very exciting to me...partly because it took me a while to figure out the best place for these bulbs given the instructions that came with them....They are on one of the sideboards in the Dining Room....plenty of light, plenty of warmth, and mostly deferred sun in the late afternoon.
The above picture is two days later....Only two days and there was growth! These Amaryllis are quite extraordinary, aren't they? And it is not just the angle of the picture. There was truly growth, believe me.This next picture is only three days after that....Amazing Amazing! Because we are already seeing a 'pod'....! A sweet sweet pod that has the growing blossom inside it....
Yeah! Right there in the middle is the very dear pod! The first of six, I am hoping....And, so then I decided to wait for maybe a week. Well, almost a week, if your week is only six days long....And quite a lot had happened in those short but very productive six days...Look Below, Please....
And this, too....
Here's that first pod getting bigger and better and it's stem, much longer. I guess this is what they do, huh?
Then, today....! This is a closer look at that first original pod that I first noticed on January 17th....It is so lush and juicy looking, isn't it?
The picture at the top of this post is today, and as you can see from it and this one just below a whole lot is happening in that basket, including the little sliver in the second picture from the top.....
Here above is another little pod just beginning to do it's thing. I just love nature so much....It is, to me, one of the most exciting things in our world....wether it's plants and flowers growing, or people and animals forming and growing, it is all miraculous and beautiful.
A fellow blogger, Suzann, from Journey To A New Life, who many of you visit, has an Amaryllis growing right now, too....She is a veteran where these wonderful plants are concerned and I learned a lot about what to do after these beautiful flowers have bloomed reading that post of hers....Click on Suzann's name and pay her a visit to read about her five year old Amaryllis....Meanwhile....here is where we are here on the hill with these amazing plants.....Stay tuned, for more to come.....
So join me while we watch all these pods now showing, plus all the ones yet to come do their wonderful magical thing....Oh, yes....there will be much much more to come on these babies, I promise you.....
| posted by OldLady Of The Hills at 1:38:00 PM
Saturday, January 27, 2007
larry parks
I said I was going to do a post about my dear friend Larry Parks and so, my dear's, here it is....! Many many years ago....almost 61 years to be exact....I saw a film called "The Jolson Story" at one of the then two movie theatres in Great Neck, where I grew up. I was blown away.....! The film was about one of the greatest entertainers of the 20th Century, Al Jolson. At the time of the making of this film, Jolson's career was pretty much on the downhill side....but, this movie and it's sequel, "Jolson Sings Again", revived Jolson's career and introduced him to a whole new generation of people through the embodiment of the actor who played Jolson in these films, Larry Parks.
I fell in love with both Larry Parks and Jolson right then and there. So along with two friends of mine who also became Larry Parks-Al Jolson "groupies", we went back to the Squire Theatre on the Saturday of that week when the theatre opened at 11 A.M. in the morning, and we carried in bags of sandwiches to sustain us for the day. (They didn't sell actual "food" food back then in movie theatre's....just candy, popcorn and soft drinks) We stayed in the theatre all day long and into the evening, leaving only when the theatre closed down for the night just after midnight.....(you could do that in those days...you could go in any time and stay as long as you liked for 25 cents....and people did this all the time.)What is it the Larry Parks had? Well, aside from the fact that he was gorgeous, he had a sweetness about him that made you feel he was like the boy next door who also just happened to have the chops to become a big 'movie star'.
Now, Al Jolson was a larger-than-life performer and Larry had to "be" Jolson without just doing an imitation....This was a new form of movie back then....they hadn't made too many Biographical films of famous performers who were still alive, back then....Jolson did his own singing for the film and Larry 'lip synched' the songs, and did it brilliantly, too. The war had ended just the year before and Columbia Pictures had all these wonderful young talented people under contract. Larry Parks was one of those people. You believed he was Al Jolson, and especially if you were too young to have acrually seen Jolson perform. Larry received a Nomination for an Academy Award for his great great performance of Al Jolson that year....I tell you, this film was a stunner. More people went into show business because of this film than you can possibly imagine. And this was such a popular picture that there was a sequel, "Jolson Sings Again"....and it was as popular as the first picture. For a studio to do a sequel back in the late 1940's was practically unheard of....I know, that's hard to believe isn't it, when everything has a sequel or two or three, these days...., but, indeed, it was the 'unusual' back then...and because "Jolson Sings Again" was as big a hit as the first film, this further established Larry Parks as an A-list Star at Columbia Pictures....until the dark days came....
I won't go into the details of what happened next because to really understand about it you need read Betty Garrett's book, 
"Betty Garrett And Other Songs", in which she tells what happened from the most personal and factual viewpoint---the only time, no doubt, too---as Betty and Larry were married in 1944 and stayed married until his untimely death at 60 years of age, in April of 1975. Her book is a wonderful 'read' and you won't be sorry....So, suffice it to say, Larry was Blacklisted in the early 1950's durimg that horrible ugly McCarthy-Witch-Hunt period, and his career as a film star, never really recovered....Though he continued to perform on stage in plays and tour with Betty in a nightclub act, he only made two more feature films after that, and appeared in a few television shows, too, but his very last film was in 1960. It was "Freud" starring Montgomery Clift as Freud, and Directed by John Houston.
When I joined Theatre West in 1962, (it's first year of existance) Betty was there having been a founding member of this wonderful theatre group. It was a very very small group back then...maybe 25 people....And I had fallen in love with Betty about the same time I discovered Larry.
She was starring on Broadway in a show called "Call Me Mister" and she had "it"....Yes, the famous "it" factor was up there on that stage on Broadway....And MGM Studios thought so too and put her under contract. The Parks had met in 1943-44 and on their first date Larry knew this was the girl he wanted to marry....And marry they did. On September 8th, 1944, Betty and Larry were married in this lovely church on Hollywood Blvd., right here in Los Angeles....In 1974 they had their 30th Wedding Anniversary....
That is the fast background. The thing that has always amazed me about Betty and Larry is that these two people had been so important to me before I ever met them and then after meeting them and working with Betty in "Spoon River" and living in the same hotel for those almost 5 months back when we were on Broadway---(And Larry was doing a play on Broadway at that same time....) 
we got to be truly good and close friends and they became even more important to me in a "real" flesh and blood way. This friendship continues to this day and extends to their two sons, Garrett Parks and his wife Karen and their daughter Maddie, and to Andrew Parks, (called Andy) and his wife Katy....In fact in my capacity as a minister, I married both of 'the boys'---they will always be called 'the boys', I think....Garret and Karen in November 1991 and Andy & Katy in September, 2002.
We have shared so very many important times together, some very joyous times and some deeply sad times, too. The milestones of long term friendships just cannot be replaced by 'new' things.
Not that the 'new' aren't important---they certainly are and I am grateful for all the new friendships and experiences I still encounter. But at my age, to be close to people still, who knew both my parents and my siblings and my significant others, is a great gift. And these things cannot be replaced nor can they ever happen anymore...certainly not with my parents. All this is by way of saying that The Parks and I shared a lot over the years.
Larry made many many films during his career before the dark days happened....Click on his name and it will take you to The Internet Movie Data Base where you can see his body of film work. It is very very impressive. Larry Parks deserves a "star" on Hollywood Boulevard's Walk Of Fame. He still doesn't have one. Many people feel that the stumbling block is The Blacklist. It certainly can't have anything to do with his credits in films and theatre....he has those, including his Academy Award nomination,
and if he had done nothing else but "The Jolson Story" and "Jolson Sings Again", these two films alone should have assured him having a 'star' on The Walk Of Fame, but as you will see if you click on his name, there is so much more. And it's not the cost....because the money would be found one way or another....that is not the problem. The only other stumbling block is that they only give one star a year, postumously. But here is what is truly distressing: That someone like Donald Trump gets a "star" on The Walk Of Fame, and Larry Parks still doesn't have one...well....there is something wrong with this picture.You know, in the early days of this Walk Of Fame Project some people would have more than one 'star'....like Gene Autrey. Because his career covered films, records, radio and television...he has four stars. Bob Hope, at least three stars, maybe four....Bing Crosby, Milton Berle, etc....Because of space on the streets of Hollywood, now people who's careers span Films, TV, Records, etc....get just one star.
Well, that's all we want for Larry Parks. One star. One Star on The Walk Of Fame, please. Betty has hers, Thank God....and now, Larry should get his.
Years ago---almost twenty years now, I began this campaign to try to get Larry a star...it was almost a 'crusade'...And it was an amazing thing that happened....I distributed a Petition through the good graces and generosity of Milton Goldman, who was a big big entertainment lawyer in New York who's client list and friends read like a Who's Who of show business. He circulated his copy to as many people as possible and the got all these fantastic people to sign it. Big stars of the day who's names should have carried a lot of weight, like Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Kitty Carlysle, Maureen Stapleton, to name just three...I cannot find my copy of this petition---it is somewhere, but I don't know where, The point is, with over one hundred (100) BIG names on this petition, and it didn't happen.
There is someone right now today who may have some 'clout' with the Hollywood Chamber Of Commerce, because maybe that is what it is going to take, and the hope is that this person can convince them that the time is 'now' for Larry Parks to finally receive his "star"....I hope and pray that this will happen, and soon. It would be so wonderful for Betty to have this happen in her lifetime---it is her dearest wish, you know.
If you want to help, please write the Walk People: info@hollywoodchamber.net. It certainly can't hurt and who knows, if enough people from all over this country and the world bombard them with LARRY PARKS' name.....maybe, just maybe this will finally finally happen.
Larry was a dear sweet man who was a good friend and was always supportive of anything you were doing. If you appreared on some show on tv, you would hear from him the next morning telling you how wonderful you were---no matter the size of the part. He was a good man, a wonderful husband, and a devoted father....He is still so very missed by all who knew him and loved him, including his legion of fans all over the world. Check out Larry's 'tribute' page....it is a joy!
I am going to leave this post up for a little longer than usual because it is a little longer than usual and I'd like as many people as possible to see it...But not to worry, I will put up something 'new', before you know it....thanks for understanding.
More To Come.....
| posted by OldLady Of The Hills at 1:50:00 AM
Thursday, January 25, 2007
more movies & the oscars...
Okay. Let's start with "Bobby". Yes, I saw this film, too...For anyone who is not familiar with any of the current films, this is about June 4th, 1968 at The Ambassador Hotel, here in Los Angeles which was Bobby Kennedy's headquarters for this very important day...What was this day? It was the day of the Primary election, here in Los Angeles and if you look in my archives I wrote a post about this very day because I had worked on the Eugene McCarthy campaign...he was running against Bobby Kennedy as Democratic candidate for the Presidency of The United States, in 1968.
This is a very worthy film. Written and Directed by Emilio Estavez, (one of Martin Shean's sons), it is very heartfelt and an important piece of work. Why is it important? Because of all the wonderful things that Emilio Estavez has chosen to include from Bobby Kennedy's speeches. And there is much that we hear said in Bobby Kennedy's voice...wonderful, eloquent, meaningful things that we can take to our hearts in this horrific time we are living in right now as I write this.....As I said in that archival post...we have no voices like this now....We have no Martin Luther King's, (who was assassinated exactly two months to the day before Bobby Kennedy was shot....Kennedy died two days later on June 6th), We have no Bobby Kennedy's.
Can any of you who didn't live through all this imagine what it was like to live through those few months back in 1968?
Can any of you imagine what it was like to have two of the last great hopes for the leadership of this country, killed, just two months apart? It was more than horrific. I don't think our country has ever recovered from these terrible losses that began really with John F. Kennedy's assassination in November of 1963, and continued with the killings of Medgar Evers and Malcom X, and then MLK and Bobby Kennedy. Truly, the country never really has recovered.
But back to "Bobby"....This is not a great or perfect film....I wish it were. It has too many recognizable 'stars' in it that I found distracting, unfortunately....too many 'famous' people playing parts in the film that could have been played by people we do not yet have an association to....
Lindsey Lohan? Sharon Stone? No. I was taken completely out of the movie by these two actresses, and it's really not their fault. They are both very good and worthy actresses, but there is just too much media hoopla surrounding them, particularly Lindsey Lohan....the constant "in your face" photographs and the watching of every move made under a microscope----it is hard to separate all that from 'the work'....at least it was for me. And again I say, it is not her fault.
I saw "Babel", too.....another very worthy film, but so damn depressing...! It is a complex story that jumps around from one country to another, but all the stories are connected, ultimately, and it is filled with violence...So many films today inundate us with horrible awful violent scenes....again, too much for me....The actors are all truly truly wonderful, and I was not distracted by 'the star' names in this film, at all, and I'm not sure why exactly....but, anyway, it has now been nominated for Best Picture by The Academy.
2006 was quite a year, as it turned out, for a lot of really good good films. Besides the previously mentioned "Babel" there were four other very wonderful films nominated for Best Picture of 2006. And these other terrific and memorable films are, "Little Miss Sunshine",
a small but utterly delightful and engaging ensemble film with exceptionally wonderful performances by everyone who is in it, but I would have to say the two 'stand out' performances are the fabulously talented Alan Arkin, (who should win for Best Supporting Actor, but probably won't because Eddie Murphy will win that one....) and that darling little girl, Abigail Breslin, who is the little Miss Sunshine of the title, and who has been nominated for her performance in the Best Supporting Actress category. The chances of this dear little girl winning are slim, because it is pretty much "a lock" for Jennifer Hudson.
Then we have "The Departed", the Scorsese film which I liked very very much
---it is a 'movie movie' in the old fashioned 1940's-studio-film-kind-of-way....I was never bored for a second....and it has some very wonderful performances in it, too. Both Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon are very very good, and as always, Jack Nicholson is terrific. It is kind of spooky, but at times you are not sure if you are looking at Matt Damon or Leonardo DiCaprio....and it is obvious that that is what Scorsese wanted....and it works like gangbusters! And of course, as with any film by Scorsese, it too is filled with a lot of violence. And then we have the superbly touching film "The Queen", with the always 'spot on' Helen Mirren, (this may be her year, too, for the Oscar...though one never knows what the Academy members might do....) "The Queen" is a truly truly wonderful picture.
Very moving and quite funny, too. It is a beautifully rendered depiction of the events in England immediately following Princess Diana's death...And the great Helen Mirren of course plays Queen Elizabeth II and is magnificent...There is not one false move in her truthful performance. It is in no way a caricature but always a flesh and blood woman with a heart. Not an easy.
And last but by no means least, there is my personal favorite, and my pick for Best Picture, "Letters From Iwo Jima", which I wrote about already in a previous post. I hope with all my heart that it wins though I don't think it will, even though I think it should...though, again, one never knows what the Academy members will do....and quite frankly, I kind of like that the Academy is often unpredictable.
It would be very very interesting if "Little Miss Sunshine" wins
Best Picture as it did from The Producer's Guild of America....And there is an outside chance that that could happen...As I have already stated the Academy members always go there own way, and if "Sunshine" does win, that would be rather a triumph considering it is a little movie that is about a little but important idea...the other movies that have been nominated are 'big' movies in every sense...big subjects each with a panoramic sweep....Not so with "Little Miss Sunshine", but a very important little picture, none the less....Time will tell.
More To Come....
| posted by OldLady Of The Hills at 1:15:00 AM
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
more on isaiah
So here is the statement that Isaiah Washington issued after ABC issued it's statement about 'taking this situation seriously'...Forced to own up and say something to save his job, possibly?
Here are his words:
"I apologize to T.R., my colleagues, the fans of the show and especially the lesbian and gay community for using a word that is unacceptable in any context or circumstance. By repeating the word Monday night, I marred what should have been a perfect night for everyone who works on 'Grey's Anatomy.' I can neither defend nor explain my behavior. I can also no longer deny to myself that there are issues I obviously need to examine within my own soul, and I've asked for help.
"I know the power of words, especially those that demean. I realize that by using one filled with disrespect I have hurt more than T.R. and my colleagues. With one word, I've hurt everyone who has struggled for the respect so many of us take for granted. I welcome the chance to meet with leaders of the gay and lesbian community to apologize in person and to talk about what I can do to heal the wounds I've opened.
"T.R.'s courage throughout this entire episode speaks to his tremendous character. I hold his talent, and T.R. as a person, in high esteem. I know a mere apology will not end this, and I intend to let my future actions prove my sincerity."
It is almost sickening in it's 'mea culpa' after his very strong denial that he had ever said anything like this at all.
Why am I going on about this?
Because I think this incident points up how so many people in our country think it is okay to use language like Mr. Washington did, when it comes to gay people....Somehow, that name calling of a gay person is not as awful as attacking other minorities....The Mel Gibson remarks about Jews; The Michael Richards remarks about Blacks; And now, Isaiah Washington's remarks about gays....
Reading elsewhere about this situation, a person who I respect a great deal had this very cogent thought and I repeat it here and that is the following: If the situation had been reversed and T.R. Knight had called Isaiah Washington the N-Word, (Forgive the euphemism),
T.R. Knight would probably have been fired on the spot, back in October....but, this respected person went on to say, that it seems like a double standard in this case, and I agree. And maybe it's because so very many people in this country in their hearts, do not think it is 'okay' to be gay in the first place and have hatred in their heart, where gay people are concerned. And there are laws all over the place in our country that bear that out...and more laws contemplated, including one from our President who would like to write this prejudice into our constitution....These are scary times we live in on so very many levels and the hatred that seems to be seething everywhere in so called decent people, scares the hell out of me! What will change that? The only thing that will ever change that is if we live our lives as Martin Luther King said we need to....
With love.
Here is a quotation from a speech that Martin Luther King gave in August of 1967 to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference...
"I know that love is ultimately the only answer to mankind's problems. And I'm going to talk about it everywhere I go. I know it isn't popular to talk about it in some circles today. I'm not talking about emotional bosh when I talk about love, I'm talking about a strong, demanding love. And I have seen too much hate. I've seen too much hate on the faces of sheriffs in the South. I've seen hate on the faces of too many Klansmen and too many White Citizens Councilors in the South to want to hate myself, because every time I see it, I know that it does something to their faces and their personalities and I say to myself that hate is too great a burden to bear. I have decided to love. If you are seeking the highest good, I think you can find it through love. And the beautiful thing is that we are moving against wrong when we do it, because John was right, God is love. He who hates does not know God, but he who has love has the key that unlocks the door to the meaning of ultimate reality."
And he also said in another speech earlier that same year....
"Hate cannot drive out hate: Only love can do that."
These words are just as meaningful today as they were 40 years ago....
I hope Isaiah Washington can find love in his heart, and Mel Gibson and Michael Richards, too, and anyone else he feels hatred in their hearts, and that that changes something in them because as Martin Luther King said...'hate is too great a burden to bear....'
| posted by OldLady Of The Hills at 1:10:00 AM
Sunday, January 21, 2007
weather
So we had snow in Malibu this past Wednesday, and that was while it was raining all around me....and from what I understand, it was sleeting in West Los Angeles, as well....So here is what the sky looked like for part of the time facing the west and Santa Monica which is just down the coast a bit from Malibu which is not visible because of my mountain.....Later the sun did it's amazing streaming-through-the-clouds beautifullness....
And as Blanche Dubois said in Tennessee Williams beautiful play "Streetcar Named Desire"......'.....Sometimes there's God so quickly....' I have quoted this before and I'm sure I will quote it again when the spirit is so called upon because it is the only thing that comes to mind when I see something this awesome....And a bit later...a closer look at that sun streaming through the clouds throwing light on that part of the city, just as if a Lighting Designer worked for hours and hours to create this fabulous "effect"....
I love my trees in this picture above....I call them my trees because I think they are so very beautiful and I never tire of photographing them because it is different every time....
Look here at this picture below....
The dramatic and beautiful sky behind my dear sweet trees....be sure to click on these pictures so you can see them bigger cause the bigger these pictures are, the more dramatic they are.....
And here below, is a far away shot of the whole panorama....Towards the middle lower left of the picture you can see the streaming sun, among other amazing things....such a dramatic sky that day...My Lordy....
And my little trees look so far away from me in this shot above....it's more the camera than anything else because to the naked eye as I stand on my deck looking west, these trees don't look far away at all....they look much more like this below....
Well.....maybe not quite this close, either....you can't win for losing can you...lol....I love those sweet trees a whole lot, as you all have no doubt figured out by now....And as you have probaly also no doubt figured out by now, you haven't seen the last of these dear sweet trees either.....
The voting is over for Whitney Steele and hopefully we will know sometime on Monday, January 22nd, 2007 what the outcome is....Thank You ALL for your votes and coming back and voting as often as you did...Hopefully, that helped to bring her to winning!
More To Come.....
| posted by OldLady Of The Hills at 11:59:00 PM
whitney steele and one tree hill
PLEASE see below for a new post...I will leave this up through January 21st, when "voting" ends....Do vote for Whitney if you are so inclined....
Below is a link to this contest that is going on at "One Tree Hill" which started today (January 10th, 2007) and ends on January 21st.....WHITNEY STEELE, who just happens to be the granddaughter of a very very old friend of mine, is competing in this contest and the winner will appear on the television show "One Tree Hill", singing the song he or she has submitted! And in her case, it is a song Whitney Steele has written, too.
Whitney is a very very talented young woman and I know because I have her CD and I think she has got "IT"! Truly!
So, do go here:
http://www.cwtv.com/thecw/rocktheprom
and give WHITNEY STEELE a listen---and, then vote for her, please. A 'break' like this----getting on this show, I mean----can mean so very much to someone's future career in this very very difficult business....That dear Whitney actually got into the five finalists says a whole lot about her talent...Help make the difference with your vote, and by the way, you can vote on your computer or another computer, too, once a day through January 21st. That's what I am doing, having already voted...well now...yesterday, and I will continue voting each day through January 21st....
By way of the history here: I went to High School with Whitney's dear Grandfather Burt Robbins...and Burt's 'late' sister, Zoe Olin, was a dear dear friend from those early days in Great Neck....In fact, The Robbins family were the first people I knew in Great Neck to have a television set.
One of those big huge pieces of furniture with a little ten inch screen....I used to go over to their apartment on Tuesday Nights to watch Milton Berle...Yes....'Uncle Miltie'. We all would sit around the tv set, mesmerized by this amazing miracle of an actual 'live' talking picture in one's living room....My mother finally broke down in self defense and bought a TV set just so I would not be at the Robbins house 4 nights a week watching different TV shows....Indeed, we all became addicted to television almost immediately back then, just as people are addicted now....(lol)So, do go on over to that link and give a listen to this incredibly talented young woman....And just think how really good it will make you feel if Whitney Steele wins and you know that by voting you had some part in making that happen and in supporting a very hard working gifted artist to achieve her dreams....It will make you feel like a million bucks, I promise you!
So, here is that link, one more time....And I thank you, in advance for your support in this very worthwhile endeavor....Yayyyy Whitney!http://www.cwtv.com/thecw/rocktheprom
More To Come.......
| posted by OldLady Of The Hills at 11:30:00 PM
Friday, January 19, 2007
more movies, the globes, etc...
So Meryl Streep ("The Devil Wears Prada") said on the Golden Globes among many many fabulous things that came from her lips when she won for "The Devil Wears Prada", that if there is a film you really want to see and it is not playing at your local theatre, go down to that theatre and speak to the manager and ask "WHY?" Great Great advice from the great great Meryl! And if I lived anywhere else, besides Los Angeles or New York, or Chicago, etc., I would take Meryl's advice and hurry on down to my local theatres and do just that.....Just ask why?She was eloquent, and funny, too....
About "Venus" with the great and wonderfully charming and gorgeously talented Peter O'Toole....This will not be a movie for everybody but it surely is a wonderful and truthful film....It is poignant and funny and at times, a bit creepy to some people, though I didn't feel that way----maybe you have to be 75 1/2 to really understand this film on a truly deep cellular level....It is a 'small' movie....that is to say, it is not a huge canvas like the two movies I spoke of in my last post....it is about one particular aspect of life...when one is facing one's mortality and see's the grim reaper coming on down the street towards you, and in this case, about the needs and desires of one man (Peter O'Toole) at this juncture of his life....It was to me ultimately a beautiful movie about friendship and a man's flickering desire to hold on to life for as long as possible.....
Peter O'Toole gives that rare and perfect performance by an actor, bringing all his history, his humor, his heart and his extraordinary talent to this strange but lovely picture....The young woman in the film, a young actress named Jodie Whittaker, is quite wonderful, too, as is everybody. His best friend, is played by Leslie Phillips, and he is just magnificent, too, and the always superb Richard Griffiths as well as that truly special and gifted actress Vanessa Redgrave playing Peter O'toole's wife---all giving memorable performances in this very special film.
Do ask your local movie theatre about "Venus". Because, just maybe if you speak up and enough other people speak up, films like "Venus" will play in a much wider release than they are now not playing! Power To The People!
Can we talk about Isaiah Washington for a minute? I mean, what the hell is going on with him? He denies having said something back in October that he already apologized for having said on the set of "Grey's Anatomy", and then says it again, to the press no less, after the Golden Globes! There are many ugly words in this world. Words that are unmistakable in their meaning and intention. And he should know this in his soul. He obviously has a problem.....
And let's talk about Donald Trump, too. Oy!
Among other indignities, Donald Trump gets a "STAR" on Hollywood Boulevard? The world is upside down and nuts....Well, we already know that from the situation we are in with Iraq and with this President of ours....so depressing. Well, it depresses me, too, for other reasons, that Donald Trump would be given a 'star' on Hollywood Boulevard and there are others....many many others, who have had careers in this business and have a history with a body of work deserving of a place on the Boulevard....like Larry Parks, that get nothing! We have been trying to get Larry Parks a "star" for over twenty years, but that is a whole other post, which I will do, but suffice it to say, the above mentioned 'star' for the above mentioned 'bully', is a travesty! And here is a lovely picture of Larry Parks for those who are too young to remember him....
And let me just say that the two pictures that Larry Parks is best remembered for are "The Jolson Story" and "Jolson Sings Again". More people went into Show Business because of these films than you can even mention....and Mr. Parks was nominated for an Academy Award for "The Jolson Story". That should count for something, shouldn't it?
And let's talk about "Running With Scissors for just one quick second. I watched "Running With Scissors" and I'm sorry, I don't get it. Some wonderful performances in a film that confounds me...I haven't got a clue as to what the filmmaker was trying to get across...A strange, strange picture, which I'd love to be able to recommend, but I can't. I'm sure there are people who completely disagree with me and I absolutely respect that...Well, that's it for the moment, my dears....
More To Come, For Sure......
| posted by OldLady Of The Hills at 1:21:00 AM
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