Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Birthday Suits, Funny People

Your cinematic birthdays for December 1st. This post is dedicated to frequent reader/commenter Chris Na Taraja who celebrates the big 4-0 today. Happy Birthday, Chris!

1521 Takeda Shingen, Japanese warlord who Kagemusha tried to impersonate. Oopsie. I've actually never seen that Akira Kurosawa picture. How quickly should I rent it?
1913 Mary Martin, broadway star of Peter Pan, The Sound of Music and South Pacific fame. Those famous roles hit silver screens, but without Mary
1935 Woody Allen, legend (abundant posts)
1940 Richard Pryor, influential comedian
<---- 1945 Bette Midler the divine. In a fit of complete absence of budgeting sense I nearly purchased a flight to Vegas and a concert ticket last month. Just because. I've never seen her perform on stage but I did used to love her in the movies. Particularly: The Rose, Beaches (so underrated... weepies can't get no respect) and Big Business
1951 Treat Williams enduring B lister. Among the highlights: Hair, Prince of the City, being married to Michelle Pfeiffer in The Deep End of the Ocean, and memorably seducing an underage Laura Dern in Smooth Talk
1955 Verónica Forqué "Kika" herself, a three time Almodóvar alum
1956 Julee Cruise, the haunting siren voice of Twin Peaks


"The World Spins" one of my single favorite scenes on television ever.
Although it doesn't really work out of context. So sorry

1958 Candace Bushnell aka "Carrie Bradshaw" minus the perfection of SJP
1961 Jeremy Northam I bought the Gosford Park soundtrack just to hear him sing over and over again

1967 Nestor Carbonell tv series regular (Suddenly Susan, Lost, Kim Possible), occasional screen actor (The Dark Knight) who may or may not nab the famous "Khan" role in the sequel to this year's smash Star Trek reboot
1970 Sarah Silverman who is no longer f***ing Matt Damon
1971 Emily Mortimer (right) fine actress, Mrs. Alessandro Nivola. Not shy about her bod either, witness Lovely & Amazing in which she poses for a lengthy inspection or Young Adam in which she lets Ewan McGregor rub custard and ketchup all over her. But then again... who wouldn't? Next up for Emily: a key role in Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island. More on that here.
2005 Violet Affleck, Spawn of Bennifer, beloved by all gossip blogs.
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