no coffee...

...is strong enough right now. The Day After Insomnia... it ain't pretty.

i can't sleep

...why else would I be posting a two sentence entry at 1 AM when I have to get my ass out of bed at 5?
Know any good cures?

Wherefore art thou, Julie Ann?

I am suffering Julianne Moore withdrawal. Oh, sure. I know it was just a short time ago when her flaming locks were tossing to and fro as she weathered alien agression and boy-snatching sneakiness. And it wasn't much earlier when her gorgeous mouth was masticating junkfood in a bathroom stall blown up to silver screen heights. But... let's be honest... for the Julianne Moore fan, The Forgotten and Laws of Attraction just don't cut it. Not after the apotheosis of 2002 which starredThe Hours and the supercalifragilisticexpialadocious Far From Heaven.

But when is she reappearing and will we have another 2002? or a 2004? The IMDB which I've learned to take with multiple grains of salt when it comes to films in the works. Suggests that she is filming Savage Grace, a film about the torturous life of Barbara Daly Baekeland in which Julianne would certainly be nothing other than stupendous. But, the IMDB lists no other cast members. If the movie is truly filming surely Julianne is not playing ALL the roles!?! Well, if anyone could do it... What an overachiever!

The IMDB also claims that she is done filming two projects, Bart Freundlich's Trust the Man which is worth looking forward to because, whatever the arguable merits of deficiences of his two previous features --in both Julianne came on like gangbusters making the most of the material. According to the IMDB she is also done filming The Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio but I fear a Laws of Attraction style trainwreck there given the preciousness of Anderson's last film, the HBO Jessica Lange movie Normal.

And finally, newly announced, is Next based on a Philip K Dick story and co-starring Nic Cage. Nicolas Cage? "Next!" indeed.

Joss & Eliza

I use to get through Mondays by saying to myself 'self, tonight you get to meet your friends for Buffy at the Urge.' But then we stopped going. And Mondays become more dull. So last night had a little ressurection of my previous Monday haunt and watched Angel. I don't really 'get' Angel the series the way I got what Joss Whedon was always doing with Buffy. Probably my loss. But last night was two 'guest-starring Faith' episodes (...with one special appearance by Willow!) so I enjoyed nonetheless.

Why don't they just cancel Tru Calling already and let Eliza Dushku free to do Whedon's rumored Faithseries. I would be SO there. I know Whedon is doing Hollywood right now but I love "Faith" as a character way more than I'll ever love Wonder Woman. You know?

around the corner...

...lies my nervous breakdown. I am moving from the boroughs to the island very shortly and as a result my headspace is full of "shit that I gotta do" Meanwhile i'm working 6 to 7 days a week. And i'm still posting daily to a blog even though I'm supposed to be on hiatus from webstuff. All the while I'm looking for a new job, losing a bunch of weight, and living in a total obstacle course of boxes, both packed and previously stored, and in some cases cobweb covered because I threw them in closets ages ago and I don't even know what's in them.

Basically I'm in the middle of a clusterf*** of life changes all within a tiny time frame even though you're supposed to spread stuff like that out so that you don't have the nervous breakdown. It's just around the corner! I feel it waiting 'round the bend. somethings coming --- I don't know what it is--- but it is not gonna be great....

So I go to the movies! Today I saw the Oscar nominated shorts. Ryanwhich won the animated short film prize is very bizarre, original, and documentary like while also being visually arresting but kinda scary/ugly at the same time. The other really good one is Birthday Boy about a Korean boy in 1951 playing amidst war wreckage. wasp which won the live action short film prize is about as depressing as it gets but well made and sharp. For those of you who haven't heard of Natalie Press, she is the star and you will be seeing her very soon as I expect she's about to be the new Emily Watson/Samantha Morton/much raved about new import... She's also the lead inMy Summer of Love which is opening this summer and worth a look. Paddy Considine (In America, Last Resort) is great in Love as well. I wasn't blown away by any of the live action nominees except maybe 7:35 in the Morning which is blessedly weird, funny, and a touch unsettling.

Today's Screenings

The Caine Mutiny (1954)
This was the second biggest hit of 1954 and also an Oscar nominee for Best Picture. Audiences and Academy voters were stupid back then, too. Some things never change.

Once & Again -another couplea episodes
I'm a third of the way through the first season and if ABC doesn't find it in their hearts to put the 2nd and 3rd season on DVD I may become violent.

Melinda & Melinda (at the theater)
Great concept. so-so to good execution. Look, I'm never going to tell anyone to skip a Woody Allen picture unless it has Jade Scorpion in the title...so take my thumbs-up with a grain of salt if you are a Woody hater. The premise here is so good it makes up for a lot says me... And it's always a pleasure to see Brooke Smith onscreen. She does not work enough. If you don't know who Brooke Smith is, shame on you and here is your triple-feature viewing assignment: Silence of the Lambs, Vanya on 42nd Street, and Series 7: The Contender. If you're not a fan afterwards...

Sabrina

Believe it or not I had never seen Billy Wilder's Sabrina until last night. I don't know why but I had this vague perception that it was a dated clunker. Maybe my fear of the remake (Remember that Julia Ormond vehicle in the 90s? Remember when they were trying to make Ormond into a big star?) which I never saw somehow bled into the original and, knowing that some classics are unworthy of their reputation, I somehow assumed Sabrina was one of those. Also this film is brought up in every article about Hollywood's sexism/ageism collision so I naturally thought "ew" about Bogie and Audrey as a couple.

But as per usual with Billy Wilder, it has the just-right combo of laughs, drama, and overall cleverness. If Wilder made beds, the princess would never feel a pea under the mattress. If Wilder made porridge Goldilocks would never feel it was too hot or too cold. Sabrinais "just right." It's lovely to look at (not just for Audrey Hepburn) and a couple of images/scenes will stick with me for their sheer perfection; I'm thinking of two shots of otherwise prim and proper people smooshed up against one another hopping up and down on a sheet of plastic. Once as a plot point joke, the next as a beautiful refrain and comic aside. It's all just so graceful. Wilder is such a confident smooth filmmaker. And my favorite scene is a climactic one in which Sabrina (Hepburn) finally understands out what Linus (Bogart) is up to with their frequent dating. Watching it I'm marvelling at how Hepburn geniusly underplays it. It's the type of scene that I think most lesser actors and directors would have really pushed -and thereby lost it's quiet wounding force. As she leaves the scene in beautiful longshot b&w cinematography -(haven't seen it but I bet the remake used a closeup) I just said to myself 'Doo-Wah!*'

* 'Doo Wah' being a term once overused as personal shorthand amongst friends in the 90s whilst in the collective fan throes of dance group Deee-Lite's shortlived 'World Clique'dominance. 'Doo Wah' being pulled from the song "Good Beat" as in 'I just wanna hear a...' Doo Wah being a term of respect/endearment/drop-jawed awe usually provoked by some diva-esque action. In the vernacular family of the finger/vocal 'Snap' and "you go girl!" -- i.e. unneccessary verbal/physical punctuations to dramatic/showstopping moments. This lesson in personal 90s pophistory is brought to you by Nathaniel's early morning coffee.

Carbing my hunger...

I am completely ashamed to admit it but I have joined the cult of this fad diet. In just three weeks I've slimmed down 14 lbs (a big + in keeping motivated, that speed) It's totally noticeable. Now, if I could only convince myself to go to the gym I could be a hottie someday...and even eat my beloved pasta dishes once again. We'll see if it really works though once I move into the next phase (the one where you eat normally now knowing which foods to avoid and which in which to indulge occassionally...)

so very...

...sleepy.
the eyes are getting heavier. must. sleep.

Stage Magnolias

Tried to watch this on Broadway last night. Only made it halfway through. It was just so lifeless to me. Whether that's because I know the movie too well or because this particular staging was uninspired or the cast was all wrong, I'm still trying to figure out. Mostly it just wasn't funny. And the first half should be really funny. The line readings seemed very off. Like a high school play with actors waiting to have each other's lines end before they spoke their own. Not very interactive/natural. At least for the first half I was not impressed --maybe it got better? But, Delta Burke is no Dolly Parton. And there's no getting around that for her and for most of this cast.

So I came home and settled into Once & Again again with the blanket around me (my apartment is suddenly like ice -damn landlord!) and the cat on my lap. How domesticated is that?! Still, if you need comfort, take it. Nothing better than warmth when you're cold.

I still haven't seen the new Woody Allen. argh.

my new arch-enemy

I really hate Patricia Heaton. It began as indifference. I thought she was funny enough on Everybody Loves Raymond but I began to get annoyed when she was winning the Emmy for comedic actress over my preferred choices. Still, no big whoop.

My annoyance turned to outright public dislike (of the comic I-don't-know-her-as-a-person variety) when she publicly dissed none other than Michelle Pfeiffer a couple of years ago. The brouhaha was mini in scope but did get Heaton some media play (Pfeiffer was mum because she's a classy woman) and involved Pfeiffer's implication that she had not had any plastic surgery... whereas Patricia Heaton had admitted to it and presumably wanted others to do the same. I didn't know at the time that this was because Ms. Heaton was a pious morally superior and judgmental person. But it pissed me off: If you do not want to feel the tiny web wrath of Nathaniel, you do not under any circumstances diss La Pfeiffer.

And if I'm being honest... I would say it also pissed me off a little because moral superiority is possible a character trait I've tried to stamp out in myself as well. It's unattractive even if it's easy to fall prey to. So before I go off on Ms. Heaton some more, it takes one to know one.

Now, I see Heaton sucking up airtime on Entertainment Tonight as the spokesperson for this group Feminists for Life... which seems to be a code word for women who think they're feminists but fight for conservative patriarchal causes like the pro-life movement which is all about controlling women of course --very feminist of them! And their latest cause du jour is the Shiavo case.

Now, I understand that this case has people from all walks of life and political viewpoints all atwitter and its extremely divisive. There are all sorts of moral / ethical / political / personal issues involved in opinions on this one. So to each their own. But what rubbed me the wrong way was the imbalance. Listening to Heaton, a famous and wealthy star using a popular news program to denounce the character of someone she has never met, Mr. Schiavo, made me sick to my stomach last night --and she's doing it again tomorrow night. Same bat time. Same bat channel.

Mr. Schiavo is already being sufficiently vilified these days --whatever your thoughts on the case consider that the only thing the media ever seems to be covering is how evil he is, make sure to use discernment to realize that you are not hearing anything balanced about this case. at all. Certainly no coverage of the political ramifications of the Federal government sticking its nose in where it doesn't belong.

I use to dislike Patricia Heaton. Now I really despise her. Who died and made her God? I've never been the type to be this angry with celebrities who express political opinions because they're citizens just like you and I. Mel Gibson. Eminem. Streisand. Penn. Heston. Whatever. That's their perogative. But to use your platform to publicly demean the character of some civilian whom you disagree with? Who doesn't have an equal platform to defend himself (he's not famous. not glamourous. not wealthy. not a politician. etc...) Despicable. She oughta be ashamed of herself.

Tonight on the news channels she will be demonstrating her superiority again by claiming that she would never let her child starve. My guess is that Mr. Schiavo wouldn't let his child starve either. Most people wouldn't. But what if you WERE the brain-dead woman? What if you had expressed to the person closest to you (spouse) that you would never want to live like that? There's more than one way to look at this. Which is why people should just mind their own business rather than judging the marriage of people they've never met or even heard of till last week.

I don't feel comfortable judging the woman's family (who want her kept alive) or the husband (who says she didn't want to be kept alive) but I feel totally comfortable in judging political and public figures who feel comfortable judging the family or the husband.

My advice? Get yourself a living will so that if a tragedy ever happens to you (God forbid) you won't be used as a political football for people who never knew you existed up until you became a way for them to score political points or get their faces on television when their hit series is finally going off the air.