Happy Haloween. Please enjoy this Photo of Oscar nominee and birthday girl Sally Kirkland wearing a live tarantula Halloween isn't only for trick or treating and costume parties though it is most definitely for those things. It's also home to many fine birthdays and events on this day in showbiz history...
1795 Poet John Keats is born. Two hundred and fourteen years later Ben Whishaw plays him beautifully in the still undervalued Jane Campion movie Bright Star 1864 Nevada becomes the 36th State. Without Nevada no Las Vegas, one of the favorite cities of filmmakers and storytellers. It is entirely untrue that what happens there stays there -- it's always broadcast! 1879Oscar nominee Sara Allgood (How Green Was My Valley) is born in Dublin 1892 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle publishes the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Movies and TV haven't shut up about the Great Detective since they were invented as mediums. 1906 George Bernard Shaw's Caesar & Cleopatra premieres on Broadway. 39 years and 11 months later the film version starring Vivien Leigh is released. 1922 Barbara Bell Geddes of Dallas and I Remember Mama fame is born in NYC 1925 Oscar winner Lee Grant (Shampoo) is born. Have you read her recent autobiography yet? 1926 Harry Houdini dies
Mount Rushmore, River Phoenix and more after the jump...
File Under: I have had this Netflix disc out for so long and it really has to be returned to unclog my queue. -Nathaniel
You got a terrific knack for being nice and a prick all at the same time.
Have any of you ever seen Cinderella Liberty? Back when we were doing our 1973 celebration, I rented it since it was the sole Best Actress nomination I hadn't seen from that year. Marsha Mason plays a prostitute with a heart of... well, not gold exactly. But she's got one. She's raising Doug, her biracial teenager (Kirk Calloway nominated for Best Newcomer at the Golden Globes) on her own but she's doing a pretty shit job of it. Enter: James Caan, fresh off the double whammy star-making years of Brian's Song (1971) and The Godfather (1972), as a sailor named John Baggs Jr. who hooks up with her. In actuality it's Baggs' story and Maggie is missing for good stretches of the movie. Seemingly on a whim, this goodhearted sailor decides to stick around and decides to fall in love with her. That's the one thing that's most clear and most enigmatic about the movie.
I found it a fascinating watch primarily because, though Mason is just fine as a moody blowsy hooker who can't manage her life towards something better, it was Caan's masculine reserve and softly shaded performance that drew me in...
Sometimes movie publicists are telepathic. Last week I was thinking about The Hamptons and how it's weird that I've never been but I'm so eager to spend every weekend there this fall shivering from the icy cold glares of Victoria Grayson and Emily Thorne (Revenge returns Sunday night ~Holla). Then a friend who had never seen Scarface (1983) sent me a text that was basically like “Steven Bauer ♥ omg!” to which I responded with a “Queue Thief of Hearts - it's pure Bauer Porn." Last but not least, I was wondering which celebs I should invite as future gueststars and my mind wandered to Sally Kirkland, star of Anna (1986), for which she won the Golden Globe, an Independent Spirit and the Heart of Me.
All of these things were jostling for attention in my crowded celluloid packed-brain for the past few days when what should arrive in my inbox but the first photos from the set of the thriller Awakened which is... wait for it...
A) now shooting in The Hamptons...
B) co-stars my Sally Kirkland
and C) also features Steven Bauer in one of the leading roles.
Salon on the reinvention of Brad Pitt. Good history piece / career overview Vulture Best Pictures as infographics Pajiba "interviews" Amanda Seyfried about her latest hacktress movie Gone. NPR Monkey See smart provocative piece on the politics of Warrior (2011) New York 100 pictures of Meryl Streep through the years. She ages backwards in this gallery IMDb a gallery of your acting nominees in and out of character
My New Plaid Pants has my favorite "which is hotter?" of all time featuring (American Psycho) Low Resolution's top ten films of 2011. Not your average top 10 list. Some Came Running objects to the frequent comparisons of Singin' in the Rain and The Artist Sunset Gun, now married to Guy Maddin -- is this the first time a film critic has married a director? trivia experts? -- explains his latest project, seances if you will to remake lost silent films. Booby Finger How To Watch The Oscars a very snarky guide if you're into that sorta thing
Film Festivals Are Infinite With Skyfall just around the corner I find myself thinking of 007 James Bond quite often and then Pierce Brosnan popped up in my inbox. Have you ever heard of Cinemagic? It's a film festival / workshop type thing for young people interested in filmmaking. (I'm reasonably confident that someone starts a new film festival every day of each year in the 21st century; they are infinite). It's Irish born but it's been expanding and Pierce Brosnan is a celebrity supporter.
Should I revisit all the Bond films this year. I'm torn on how to honor the 50th anniversary.
Our Apologies To 50% of the World's Population Between the still pervasive global problems of sexist, patriarchal and theocratic governments and cultures and religions that love to treat women like shit, and the latest hypocrisies of the ever sick-making US Republican party ("we believe in small government except when it comes to war-making and your personal morality so hold still while we insert this probe into your vagina without your consent!") women just can't catch a break lately. So why not share this video from IndieWire's Women in Hollywood blog about the female directed movies Oscar didn't love.
It's interesting how many quality female-helmed films there were this past year and I absolutely support the notion that we need more female directors. But I also think it's worth being realistic and saying that none of these films would have won Oscar attention even if their directors had penises. Not that kind of movie(s).
Sally Kirkland when Cher wins. Love ya, SallyWhat you still need more Oscarable links? Jesus! 24 Frames interesting bit about Alfre Woodard's activism within AMPAS Vulture Best Pictures as infographics In Contention Guy defends The Artist ... and has money on it. Gawker on Netflix user reviews of Best Pictures Slate Acceptance Speeches! Yes, I linked / wrote it but wheeee interactive
Finally...fourfour has a "how they lost" an animated gif wall of Oscar name-reading and the instant smiling that follows. I don't know what caused it but I kind of think nominees are better at hiding their feelings in today's Oscar world which makes it less fun.
Naturally I love this gif wall though my favorite isn't listed. So here it is again for you because it's my preferred method of self-flagellation.
I love you Kathleen!
I'm aware that this post is extremely scattered but it's the day before the Oscars. I'm all over the place with anxiety!
Sally sings a lullaby she wrote in "African Chelsea"A confession: I've never been this caught up in the drama of the short film categories before. But this year I await Oscar's finalist list on pins and needles. At least four former Oscar players are involved in shorts from the long 70ish wide semi-finals list (the actual list has been hard to come by with no AMPAS press release detailing it). One of them is 80s nominee Sally Kirkland who I've always felt a certain kooky fondness for. She campaigned tirelessly for the actressy drama Anna back when campaigning wasn't so loudly expected of people. She was rewarded with a spot in the 1987 Best Actress list which turned out to be one of the greatest in Oscar's entire history. There's not a dud or even a "just good" performance in that shortlist; they're all freaking great. Sometimes you've got to work for the nomination when your film is small.
There's a new somewhat provocative piece up at the LA Times Envelope about her current director Brent Roske's campaigning for "African Chelsea" the short she's currently co-starring in. Campaigning for short films is not, you see, the norm... though people do do it. I've recently been in contact with the short's director Brent Roske and I reached out for a comment today on working with Sally. Turns out he plans to do it again and quick-like no matter what happens with the short film race.
I've just finished writing an inspiring dramatic feature that Sally will be starring in called 'Alice Stands Up'. I'm hoping I can get her in the Best Actress discussion next year."
Ah, directors and their muses. We love it when they stand by their divas. It's probably too much to hope that a miracle like Anna could reoccur again but we wish him luck in trying. Shine that spotlight on Sally!
Sally Kirkland sure was vivid in "Anna". Have you seen it? It's available on Netflix Instant Watch
Monday, October 31, 2016 at 12:19PM 
Happy Haloween. Please enjoy this Photo of Oscar nominee and birthday girl Sally Kirkland wearing a live tarantula Halloween isn't only for trick or treating and costume parties though it is most definitely for those things. It's also home to many fine birthdays and events on this day in showbiz history... 
