by Sandy | Feb 24, 2009 | Actors, Arts, Entertainment and Music, Blogroll, Directors, Film, Movies
I sometimes forget how good some actors are until I see them again in a well done film.
Al Pacino, Russell Crowe, and Christopher Plummer are excellent in – “The Insider”, 1999. (Not to be confused with Spike Lee’s “The Inside Man”, which I also enjoyed)
Based on a 1996 Vanity Fair magazine article “The Man Who Knew Too Much“, by Marie Brenner, the movie was directed by Michael Mann and stars Crowe as Jeffrey Wigand, an employee of a large tobacco company, who has a juicy story to tell.
He has secret documents in his possession that reveal that top executives of major cigarette companies perjured them selves before a congressional inquiry – all knew that tobacco was addictive, even while telling the public that nicotine was harmless.
After he sought out Mike Wallace to offer up the smoking gun, Wigand found himself in the midst of a game of hard ball – the players being the tobacco company, the U.S. government and CBS’ “60 Minutes”.
His attack of conscience catches him up in a giant publicity shredder, his personal life unravels, he is threatened with bodily harm, but, he’s still got information that can affect the health of thousands and cost big tobacco millions.
Our whistle blower discovers that sometimes the raw truth is not enough. It often depends upon how deep your pockets are and how much money you’re willing to lose.
Great performances by all – this “docudrama” is a very entertaining movie.
by Sandy | Feb 13, 2009 | Actors, Arts, Entertainment and Music, Blogroll, Events, Film, Movies
I rented it again. This is a good movie! “Children of Men” (Released in 2006, now on DVD).
Set 20 years into the future, women are no longer able to bring a fetus to full term. A 17 year old, the youngest person in the world, dies suddenly and there is universal mourning. Perhaps as a result of air and earth toxins new life stopped being created and supported by the universe. Based on results, mankind is on a slippery slope.
Enter the “miracle” – a sole pregnant woman is discovered in England and she must be saved if the human race is to go on.
A reluctant savior, Clive Owen, at his craggy faced/ 2 day stubble best, is enrolled by his ex-wife in taking the young woman to safety. Thru bullets, treachery and strange, fierce characters, he must get the mother-to-be to an outlawed group called the” Human Project”. They search for doctors that can keep her and the baby alive – and so the adventure begins.
The movie is both dark in atmosphere and premise, the film’s city scenes are mostly sepia and gray contrasting greatly with the few lighter, green country locations. The director, Alfonso Cuaron, wrote the screen play based upon a 1992 novel by P. D. James, famous for the Inspector Adam Dalgliesh mysteries. Her vision of a barren future was translated by Cuaron into a cramped, desperate city filled with angry, lonely people.
While on the run, the fugitives do get a chance to experience the lush greenness of the countryside, but, the pastoral is slowly being encroached by the urban insanity. Huge betrayal and huge amounts of violence is encountered while trying to escape those who wish to use the baby for propaganda and gain. In the midst off all this dreck, there is a possibility of “future”.
The baby represents “hope” and many are enlisted to assist in preserving the miracle, keeping it alive and getting it to a haven, even at great risk to themselves.
A totally engrossing film. The actors are all terrific, regardless of the length of their scenes or dialogue. Owen is wonderful, and so is Michael Caine. (He makes an appearance as a kind eccentric.) The actress who plays the mom to be, Claire-Hope Ashitey, makes you believe that she would be a great mother – even though her character only remembers seeing children on television. The ending is both triumphant and tragic.
“Children of Men”– this is a good movie!
by Sandy | Feb 10, 2009 | Actors, Arts, Entertainment and Music, Directors, Film, Movies
Award season is here – SAG, Directors Guild, Golden Globes and of course the Academy Awards in 2 weeks. Was just thinking over past winners and there are many multi-taskers among them.
They say that everyone has at least one good book in them (The rules: “write what you know”. “Write about what is real for you”, etc). To paraphrase a little, every good actor has at least one great directing job in them. Quite a few of them have won Academy Awards for their efforts. These actor/directors don’t always put together a movie about what they themselves have experienced, but they do direct films with subjects that you can tell they are passionate about:
*Warren Beatty* Beatty was nominated for 4 academy awards, best Director/Picture/Actor/Screenplay for “Reds” 1981 – a film about John Reed who went to Russia in 1917 to report about the revolution. At one time, many thought Communism to be the utopia of the people and Beatty was able to bring a lot of that era to life. He won for Best Director.
*Robert Redford * “Ordinary People”, 1980, Best Director for this dysfunctional family drama. (Also gave us a good movie called, “Quiz Show” 1994 – I’m dating myself, but I remember that scandal from the early days of television)
*Kevin Costner* Early in his career, Costner was cast as the dead friend in “The Big Chill”. I’m sure realizing there was no where to go but up, he gave us “Dances with Wolves” 1990, Best Director, Best Picture.
*Clint Eastwood* Much more than just a squint eyed cowboy with no name and a cigarillo, he has won critical acclaim for tons of films and was nominated several times, same film, for Best Actor/Director/Picture. Eastwood won Academy Awards for “Unforgiven” 1992 and ”Million Dollar Baby” 2004. (“Mystic River”, 2003 did not win, but it is still brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.)
*Ron Howard* And, of course, can’t forget “Opie” (Andy Griffith Show) /” Richie Cunningham” (Happy Days). He won Best Director in 2001 for “Beautiful Mind”. He has been nominated again, Director/Picture this year for “Frost/Nixon”. (I thought another of his movies, “Apollo 13” was awesome. I remembered how the space flight ended, but I was still totally wrapped up in the drama of it all.)
I know there are other terrific movies directed by actors, but these are just some of my Academy Award winning favorites.
by Sandy | Feb 6, 2009 | Art, Artist, Arts, Entertainment and Music, Blogroll, Culture, Exhibits, Museums, sculptor
Newark Museum has grouped together 50 works of the last 15 years by artists that represent creativity from all parts of the world. Painting, sculpture, ceramics, textiles, and jewelry are examples of “global” art for modern times.
Included are Martin Puryear, Diego Romero, Kwesi Owusu-Ankomah, Lu Wen Xia, Lorna Simpson, Vivan Sundaram, Gonkar Gyatso, Rossinah Maepa, Senzeni Marasela and many more.
According to the program curators, the exhibit is “A dynamic thematic display highlighting the universal concerns and ideas that inspire artistic creativity, creating unexpected connections or groupings that transcend traditional divisions based on geography, genre or media.“
The Newark Museum – 2/11/09 thru 8/16/09
49 Washington Street, Newark, NJ
by Sandy | Jan 21, 2009 | Arts, Entertainment and Music, Blogroll
The TV series “Burn Notice” on the USA network takes place in Miami. The male stars wear pretty pastel colored or floral shirts and the scenery is filled with images of ocean, sand and palm trees. But don’t confuse it with “Miami Vice” – the 1980’s cop show that made aqua and tangerine t- shirts trendy for men. “Burn” has the dramatic explosions, the car chases and the guns, but in addition to being action packed, it is also a funny, clever show.
Instead of Crocket & Tubbs chasing drugs across Florida and Caribbean, we have Michael Westen, a former government spy, trying to stay alive after being abandoned by his bosses (“burned”). He gets into one adventure after another as he is determined to find out the who/the why of his betrayal.
The cast, led by Jeffrey Donovan, as the exposed agent, Sharon Gless (of “Cagney & Lacy” fame ) as his mother and Bruce Campbell as the handy side kick, are all great and seem to be having a great time.
BTW: The title refers to the burn notices issued by an Intelligence Agency in order to discredit or announce the dismissal of agents or sources who are considered to have become unreliable.
by Sandy | Jan 15, 2009 | Art, Arts, Entertainment and Music, Blogroll, Creativity, Museums
Starting January 23, 2009, MoAD presents a group of 20 artists that go to the edge to break stereotypes of religion, race, and gender.
Their intentions are to question and challenge beliefs with art: Lorraine Bonner, Ed and Linda Calhoun, Christopher Carter, Lalla Essaydi, John Yoyogi Fortes, Chaz Guest, David Huffman, Clint Imboden, Stephanie Anne Johnson, Annette Lawrence, Kelly Marshall, Wardell Milan, Ramekon O’Arwisters, Adrienne Pao, Jefferson Pinder, Dario Posada, Danny Ramirez, Manuel Rios, Blue Wade, and David Yun.
“Decoding Identity: I Do it for My People”, 1/23/09 – 3/8/09
MoAD – Museum of the African Diaspora, 685 Mission Street San Francisco, CA
(Image: “Xhosa Maiko”, Chaz Guest 2008)
