"LOOK, IT works best if you just make me the hero!" said the great Gary Cooper to a screenwriter struggling with his plot.
This is from a wonderful book, The Whole Equation: A History of Hollywood by David Thompson.
- SPEAKING OF heroic figures on film, Jessica
Chastain certainly impressed many critics and moviegoers playing the
good-looking if somewhat robotic CIA operative who was part of the plan
to hunt down Osama bin Laden in Zero Dark Thirty. (Chastain did
not rock my drone, nor did the film -- it's slow, sparse on character
development, and not compellingly performed. But the people who give out
awards obviously disagree -- although director Kathryn Bigelow was shut
out of the best director slot. But then so was Ben Affleck, who
directed a movie I loved, Argo.)
Now, along with her Oscar nod for Zero, Chastain is the star of the weekend's big box-office winner, the suspense/horror film, Mama. That movie was number one, and Zero Dark Thirty
was number two. And even if it is more likely that the subject matter
of the films drew audiences more than Chastain's name, the simple fact
that she stars in both hits cannot be lost on the industry. Jessica is
having her "moment" -- one of those moments the Academy loves to honor.
And although Jessica is young (35) she's not a kid. So Oscar might want
to honor her now. I mean, not everybody is Meryl Streep or Helen Mirren
or Maggie Smith.
Things look good for Miss Chastain; maybe even better than good. So many people don't understand irony or satire and might not have been amused by Jennifer Lawrence comically slamming her fellow Oscar nominees on Saturday Night Live recently. (Jennifer is having her own "moment" -- as the cult heroine of The Hunger Games films and her much praised performance in Silver Linings Playbook, which follows 2011's Academy Award nomination for Winter's Bone. She is 22. I guess it's a battle of the "moments" this season.)
- I SUPPOSE we aren't much different from the ancient Greeks. We create our gods (especially our star athletes) and then we despise them for lying, cheating and not acting like "special" beings. While I can't imagine a heroic football player would let a non-physical attraction for a girl he's never really seen dominate his life enough to be heart broken over, I guess it's to each his own. I feel kind of sorry for his naivete. And his need to have people feel sorry for him. Lance Armstrong is a special case. His lying over and over and making liars of those who were telling the truth is just incredible to me. I knew Lance slightly and feel totally taken in by his behavior. I want to forget I ever gave him credence. I want to bike away and forget I ever heard of him; it doesn't matter how much money he raised against cancer. (Half a billion dollars is pretty great but begs the question) But how could he lie, keep lying, and make others seem like liars? How could he? Ugh.)
- A SHOUT-OUT to a TV sitcom that didn't much
impress me when it debuted two years ago, but has improved immeasurably
since then. I do mean Hot in Cleveland. This show about three
women from Los Angeles transplanted to Cleveland stars Valerie
Bertinelli, Jane Leeves, Wendie Malick and the unstoppable Betty White.
All these talented ladies are TV veterans, and thanks to vastly
improved writing, they have been able to create real characters and
ignite genuine chemistry. A charming addition this season is Georgia
Engel, who was a castmate of Betty White on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
(Engel played Georgette, the sweetly patient girlfriend of pompous news
anchor Ted Baxter.) Engle still speaks in her famous whispery baby
voice -- which is real, not put on -- and it's obvious Betty White is
enjoying their renewed camaraderie.
One complaint. Miss Bertinelli is voluptuously adorable. But Leeves
and Malick, though strikingly attractive, both look almost alarmingly
slim this year. Remember ladies, you're supposed to be in Cleveland now;
you can put on a few pounds. The occasional cheeseburger is not to be
despised.
P.S. Also improved, though not yet to the level of Hot in Cleveland is Fran Drescher's Happily Divorced, a fictionalized version of Fran's own experience with a husband who comes out of the closet after many years of marriage. Drescher receives mighty support from Rita Moreno (who plays her mother)... Robert Walden (as her dad)... John Michael Higgins (the gay hubby) and Renee Taylor (as a neighbor -- Taylor memorably played Fran's eternally noshing mom on The Nanny.)
Tighter, wittier writing still needed. But Drescher and her castmates are hard to resist.
- WELL, AS MY daddy used to advise all the time, "Wise people change their minds!" So one of my employers Fox News has decided I should have a Facebook page and start Twittering. I once swore I'd never do such a thing, but then Daddy's advice re-occurs to me. I have been doing philosophical gossip and entertainment and show biz news for several years now on Roger Ailes healthy network. The show Lips & Ears plays on Fox every Friday and if you'd like to see it, you can tune in. My new Facebook is https://www.facebook.com/LipsAndEars.
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