Showing posts with label Faye Dunaway. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Faye Dunaway. Show all posts

Friday, February 13, 2009

Breakfast With... Faye Dunaway

I've always loved this portrait of Faye Dunaway on March 29th 1977, the morning after her Oscar win for Network.


I can't tell what she's eating here (yogurt, cottage cheese, lemons with tea... what is it?). But she looks too tired for masticating anyway. I suspect there was only sipping and nibbling after the brief skimming of headlines.

Which Oscar winner do you wish you could have had breakfast with after their big night?

In case you missed it: my Network respective
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Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Mothers on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

Adventures in DC Part 2

This weekend with friends visiting for the holidays we hit a lot of museums (and margaritas. shhhh). My friends are almost to a one culture lovers so museums are often good options. One of the best things we saw was something called The Cinema Effect: Illusion, Reality and the Moving Image (closing this coming weekend, here's a NYT review]. All of the video installations were about the way the motion picture portrays or pretend realism. My favorite piece in the roundup was by Candice Breitz and simply titled Mother (pictured below)


In the supremely well edited six screen extravaganza Faye Dunaway as Mommie Dearest, Susan Sarandon & Julia Roberts from Stepmom, Meryl Streep the ex Mrs. Kramer, Diane Keaton The Good Mother and Shirley Maclaine ...from the Edge have what amounts to a schizophrenic tearful and angry conversation filled with interrupted monologues and asides about being mothers and women. Fused together and separated from the context of their films, Keaton actually rivals Dunaway's camp icon for overacting and Maclaine comes across as the most sane. "I am...[slams piano]... STILL. HERE." This, as you may have guessed, is unsettling. Clearly none of them have been taking their meds. It's very very funny.

Thought provoking too, sure, in its voyeuristic way but I mention the funny because too few people in museums ever laugh. Another piece in the exhibit lampoons the E! True Hollywood Story pretending great typical rise-and-fall fame for Francesco Vezzoli following that nifty Trailer for the Remake of Caligula in which he convinced Gerard Butler, Helen Mirren, Milla Jovovich, Courtney Love and more to star. His E! prank follows all of the beats of those shallow infotainment documentaries so well that anyone who sat next to me in the room didn't get that it was a spoof. (I saw the ending three times -- trying to let friends catch up) and both times when it ended conversations were along the lines of "I have never heard of this guy. He's famous?" or "Did he really die?" Before you think this is a Nathaniel feeling superior moment I assure you it was more along the lines of confusion. The exhibit is called "Illusion, Reality and the Moving Image" and every piece is about how the presented real is never real. I really think misunderstandings arise because people don't expect humor when they go to see "Art". Certainly not humor that pairs Dame Helen Mirren, gay porn, Dietrich, biopic cliché and infotainment specials.

P.S. There was also a companion piece to Mother called Father which featured Dustin Hoffman, Steve Martin, Jon Voight, Tony Danza (!?) and Harvey Keitel but it wasn't as interesting. Men never are. But give me six Hollywood moms on the verge of nervous breakdowns? Bliss.
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Because you've been good museum attendees today, here's a retro treat. It's Shirley Maclaine's house rattling "I'm Still Here" from Postcards from the Edge.



How Maclaine wasn't Oscar nominated for this turn as the Debbie Reynolds-esque mom in this movie is one of the great mysteries of the 1990s.
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Friday, May 23, 2008

Network (1976)

A reader request (long time in coming --my apologies Chris!)

One thing I suspect about director Sidney Lumet: He likes his drama super sized. I'm talking Empire State Building big. No 800 lbs gorillas in the room please, make it King Kong. Give them 16 tons of drama. Lumet wants grunting, sweating, lunging, screaming, gargantuan desperate drama like the kind you get in Dog Day Afternoon, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead and Serpico. Never mind 12 Angry Men. How about 1 Angry Man, Sidney Lumet himself, and in the case of Network -- arguably his best film -- one angry fictional man named Howard Beale" (Peter Finch). Network eventually gets around to naming Beale the “mad prophet of the airwaves” but it’s also a self descriptive tag. This movie is mad as hell and prophetic, too. Network is Howard Beale and Howard Beale is Network. This impressively large but also miniature film --it's not hard to imagine it as a stage play --swings wildly from mood to mood just like its bipolar madman.

Peter Finch is 'mad as hell' in his Oscar winning role

A lot of movies steal from Network but I love the borrowing that it does right out of the gate, in ominiscient detached voiceover.
In his time Howard Beale had been a mandarin of television. The grand old man of news with a hot rating of 16 and a 28 audience share. In 1969 however his fortunes began to decline. He fell to a 22 share. The following year his wife died and he was left a childless widower with an 8 rating and a 12 share.
That calm voiceover, giving numbers as much if not more weight as the man's personal life, has already begun the chilling process of reduction. It's overtly reminiscent of both All About Eve's arch view of the theater world and Sunset Boulevard's ghost-eye view of Hollywood. Network’s target is television. Is it boldly proclaiming itself the final third of the Holy Trinity of Self-Loathing Showbiz Pictures? Whatever the intent, it moves with utter confidence, thereby forcing itself into the godhead.

Read the rest...

Return and report. Have you tuned into Network recently?
(click here for fresh posts)
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Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Dustbowl Dreams

Hey gang, this is Thombeau, visiting from Fabulon and Arcanta. I'll try not to be too pretentious or annoying!

It wasn't until the mid-1960s that a new generation of filmmakers was ready to address "The Great Depression" in more artistic terms than the backdrop for the struggles of the noble Joad family. Though the cinematography may be beautiful in these films, giving a haunting, almost romantic feel, the barren landscapes and weatherworn faces of the poor provided desolate images of loss and despair. It is in the midst of dusty towns and rural environs that the following three films are set. You have probably seen them all, as they are universally acclaimed and considered modern classics by many. If you haven't, you really should, and if you have then you just might want to experience them again.

By far the most popular, and arguably revolutionary, of this trilogy is Bonnie and Clyde (1967). The beauty and charisma of its leads, the great ensemble acting, the sass and violence, all make for a rollicking good time with an overtone of serious issues. However fictionalized, this was based on events that actually took place. Hovering around the periphery is the constant reminder that these were hard times; people had lost everything and were just trying to get by. Robbing banks may have been a fun and easy way to get money, but most of those banks were near empty. The famous scene where Bonnie reunites with her elderly grandmother, on a windswept hilltop, is striking for summing up the era in a few short minutes with the eyes of an old woman who has seen it all.



Seldom taken as seriously, Paper Moon (1973) is not only a great comedy, it's a fantastic evocation of a time when pleasures were simple and money was scarce. The use of period music ("Let's have another cup of coffee"), or, conversely, the silence that fills the background in many scenes, plus the attention to detail in the prop, costume, and makeup departments, create a very definite time and place. Long dirt roads and wide open spaces provide a vast context for the tiny dramas of the lead characters. Once again, a windy hilltop comes to mind: when Miss Trixie, after going winky-tink, approaches young Addie and tells her what her plans are, the desperation and determination are obvious.



The incredible Days of Heaven (1978), though portraying a slightly earlier time, fits in well with the above-mentioned films. Much has been written about the fabulous, dreamlike cinematography. The vast and endless plains seem to swallow up the characters and their intertwined destinies. The sound of the wind is almost another character. The gypsy lives of migrant workers is shown without explanation; it's simply a given. Again, people are doing whatever they can to get by. This movie, more than most, is so image-driven that it is difficult to choose only one that sums it all up. If ever possible, see this on the big screen. Please.

Other recommended films that display an essence of the era are They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) and Bound for Glory (1976), but this list is far from complete. Any additions that you're crazy about?


As a footnote to this post, I simply must add that each of these films has a fantastic supporting cast. Estelle Parsons won a well-deserved Oscar for her hysterical (in every sense of the word) performance in Bonnie and Clyde. Paper Moon would not be the same without the fabulous Madeline Kahn as Trixie Delight. Also, P. J. Johnson's performance as Imogene never fails to amuse! And Days of Heaven would not be as strange and wonderful without the phenomenal narration of a young Linda Manz. Great stuff!


Monday, November 6, 2006

A Movie Meme

I'm in a horrid mood so rather than bore you with whiny details, I thought I'd force a new silly meme into the blogosphere. I'm pushy and community-oriented like that. Enough with the book memes, ipod shuffles, and god knows what else. MOVIES! I'm tagging the following ten humanoids to answer this bakers dozen of movie-related questions on their own blogs.

Arden, JA, Catherine, Jeffrey, Nick, Javier, Glenn, Rob, Nova, and RC

After which they should tag at least 3 more people to answer it.

  1. Popcorn or candy?
  2. Name a movie you've been meaning to see forever.
  3. You are given the power to recall one Oscar: Who loses theirs and to whom?
  4. Steal one costume from a movie for your wardrobe. Which will it be?
  5. Your favorite film franchise is...
  6. Invite five movie people over for dinner. Who are they? Why'd you invite them? What do you feed them?
  7. What is the appropriate punishment for people who answer cell phones in the movie theater?
  8. Choose a female bodyguard: Ripley from Aliens. Mystique from X-Men. Sarah Connor from Terminator 2. The Bride from Kill Bill. Mace from Strange Days
  9. What's the scariest thing you've ever seen in a movie?
  10. Your favorite genre (excluding comedy and drama) is?
  11. You are given the power to greenlight movies at a major studio for one year. How do you wield this power?
  12. Bonnie or Clyde?
  13. Who are you tagging to answer this survey?

A Movie Meme

I'm in a horrid mood so rather than bore you with whiny details, I thought I'd force a new silly meme into the blogosphere. I'm pushy and community-oriented like that. Enough with the book memes, ipod shuffles, and god knows what else. MOVIES! I'm tagging the following ten humanoids to answer this bakers dozen of movie-related questions on their own blogs.

Arden, JA, Catherine, Jeffrey, Nick, Javier, Glenn, Rob, Nova, and RC

After which they should tag at least 3 more people to answer it.

  1. Popcorn or candy?
  2. Name a movie you've been meaning to see forever.
  3. You are given the power to recall one Oscar: Who loses theirs and to whom?
  4. Steal one costume from a movie for your wardrobe. Which will it be?
  5. Your favorite film franchise is...
  6. Invite five movie people over for dinner. Who are they? Why'd you invite them? What do you feed them?
  7. What is the appropriate punishment for people who answer cell phones in the movie theater?
  8. Choose a female bodyguard: Ripley from Aliens. Mystique from X-Men. Sarah Connor from Terminator 2. The Bride from Kill Bill. Mace from Strange Days
  9. What's the scariest thing you've ever seen in a movie?
  10. Your favorite genre (excluding comedy and drama) is?
  11. You are given the power to greenlight movies at a major studio for one year. How do you wield this power?
  12. Bonnie or Clyde?
  13. Who are you tagging to answer this survey?

Thursday, May 25, 2006

Link is the New Blog

As Little As Possible X3: The Last Straw?
Cinemarati The Devil Wears Prada trailer review
Defamer CGI Facial Rejuvenation & Faye Dunaway
Dlisted "You Know You Wanna Hit This"
European Films Blog Volver review
GreenCine Daily Marie-Antoinette @ Cannes
Pink is the New Blog Gerri Halliwell's baby girl gets a name much crazier than "Apple"
popbytes gives much love to the Dixie Chicks. I share his sentiment.

Link is the New Blog

As Little As Possible X3: The Last Straw?
Cinemarati The Devil Wears Prada trailer review
Defamer CGI Facial Rejuvenation & Faye Dunaway
Dlisted "You Know You Wanna Hit This"
European Films Blog Volver review
GreenCine Daily Marie-Antoinette @ Cannes
Pink is the New Blog Gerri Halliwell's baby girl gets a name much crazier than "Apple"
popbytes gives much love to the Dixie Chicks. I share his sentiment.