So I don't claim to be any kind of music snob at all. I like what I like. I don't like what I don't lie, and I don't know and I don't know. Here are the 2016 songs I listened to a lot throughout the year in no particular order. I was heavily country influenced this year for whatever reason, and usually my rule is one song per artist, but one artist owned music so much this year so this artist gets more than one. My blog my rules.
1. Formation Beyoncé
Because she slay, she slay. Even if she does think Red Lobster is yum.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WDZJPJV__bQ
2. Runaway Train Cam
Hopefully Cam is one of country'S new badass women. As you will see in this list, she has a lot to compete with!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=m85ozkDrXxw
3. Cheap Thrills Sia
An ode to cheap fun! One of the songs of summer
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=31crA53Dgu0
4. False Alarm The Weeknd
The Weeknd continues to be one of the most unique voices in music with this 80s influenced song.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CW5oGRx9CLM
5. Used to love you Gwen Stefani
Gwen Stefani gives up style and gimmicks for her most naked track since Don't Speak.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zeT_nYtjgTQ
6. Big Day in a Small Town Brandy Clark
There ain't no mall. No Waffle House. If you lived it then you know it.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vAppyuYLgkQ
7. Grigio Girls Lady Gaga
An anthem for woman in what should have been the year of women.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aPDRG0PJ9s4
8. Strive A$AP Ferg with Missy Elliot
A positive message in a hard year. And everyone needs more Missy Elliot.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=z4Co_H50hUw
9. Ugly Lights Miranda Lambert
You know if you've ever been at a bar at closing time and the ugly lights come up.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YYnPIoQsz9w
10. Ugly Fantasia
More Ugly from someone that I wasn't sure had any good songs left in her.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=C7YTDzhrBDQ
11. Audition (The Fools Who Dream) Emma Stone (from the film La La Land)
For all the dreamers and the aching hearts
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mwjalGJo7vA
12. Different for Girls Dierks Bentley with Elle King
I'm generally not into bro country, but this leans away from that. And Elle King's voice is wow.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xXeL3CHdLYk
13. Work from Home Fifth Harmony Ft. Ty Dolla $ign
Song of the summer. Hands down. But they are over before they really got started.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5GL9JoH4Sws
14. It's Quiet Uptown The Cast of Hamilton and Kelly Clarkson
There has to be a showtime! It's required. It is also a cheat because it came out in 2015. But I jumped on the Hamilton bandwagon late and Kelly Clarkson did an amazing remake in 2016
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rrsmUzqweBI
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MdBws54ZHyY
15. My Church Maren Morris
Perhaps my favorite song of the year. For those who love the freedom of road travel and who maybe don't love real church that much. Hopefully Maren is just starting!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ouWQ25O-Mcg
16. Daddy's Lessons Beyoncé and Beyoncé with the Dixie Chicks
Beyoncé gets 2 songs because she was queen. She probably deserves 4. Hold up and Freedom
Are close to as good Plus Beyoncé did country! And sang about guns! And then the Dixie Chicks sang it on tour! And thenthen they recorded it together! Perfection! I faint!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1Y7h9heQjw
Cheers to great music in 2017!
Saturday, December 31, 2016
Wednesday, December 28, 2016
My 2016 wasn't so bad (and I hope yours wasn't really either)
2016 wasn't my favorite year or anything, but I would still easily take it over 2015! I get it though! I had my share of personal issues, we elected a potential dictator (no, I won't wait and see) for President, and a bunch of cool talented celebrities died.
BUT
the only person who has the power to decide how I react to negative things is me. So I have made a list of 16 great things that I did in 2016. It didn't take long. I could've listed more easily, and I bet if you think about it a little you probably did some pretty cool things in 2016.
So here is my list!
16 amazing things I did in 2016
1. Above all I was very lucky this year in that I Spent lots of time with friends from all over the USA and world. Some friends I saw a lot and some I had not seen for over 20 years.
2. Ate amazing Tacos in West Hollywood wth my friend Thomas and took a picture under the Beverly Hills sign which was my most liked Instagram post ever.
3. Saw Kacey Musgraves make lots of noise
4. Turned an unexpected week off of work into a vacation to Seattle where I caught up with many of my long time friends.
5. Well I took a 3 day weekend to London and saw Glenn Close in Sunset Boulevard. No big deal.
6. Took one of many trips to Portland Maine, and I finally got into Duckfat and had poutine, beer, a milkshake, and donuts along with my main courses.
7. Went to the Ben and Jerry's factory on a side stop before heading to Montreal where we were hosted by the best Airbnb ever. Many snacks and drinks were provided as well as wine and cheese on the rooftop deck.
8. Explored the beaches and the town of Provincetown.
9. Saw Beyoncé and the Dixie Chicks sing Daddy's Lessons in the same week.
10. Work took me to a Chicago and I was able to use some of the time for fun, new and old friends, and exploring new territory.
11. Ate where they filmed the Los Pollos Hermanos scenes in Breaking Bad in Albuquerque an explored beautiful Santa Fe.
12. Went to a great wedding and Atlanta and then took a road trip where I knocked out states #48 and #49 (Kentucky and Michigan).
13. Saw Miranda Lambert start crying in the middle of the "House that Built Me"because a veteran made a really sweet sign for her.
14. Saw Barbra Streisand sing Evergreen live. My mom would have liked that.
15. Took a very relaxing, mostly unplanned trip to PalmSprings after a rough work season and the day after a horrible election.
16. Flew to DC after a wonderful Christmas season and was moved by the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial before the fall In January and as a bonus tomorrow I'll get to see my good friend who I have not seen in person since 1991!
BUT
the only person who has the power to decide how I react to negative things is me. So I have made a list of 16 great things that I did in 2016. It didn't take long. I could've listed more easily, and I bet if you think about it a little you probably did some pretty cool things in 2016.
So here is my list!
16 amazing things I did in 2016
1. Above all I was very lucky this year in that I Spent lots of time with friends from all over the USA and world. Some friends I saw a lot and some I had not seen for over 20 years.
2. Ate amazing Tacos in West Hollywood wth my friend Thomas and took a picture under the Beverly Hills sign which was my most liked Instagram post ever.
3. Saw Kacey Musgraves make lots of noise
4. Turned an unexpected week off of work into a vacation to Seattle where I caught up with many of my long time friends.
5. Well I took a 3 day weekend to London and saw Glenn Close in Sunset Boulevard. No big deal.
6. Took one of many trips to Portland Maine, and I finally got into Duckfat and had poutine, beer, a milkshake, and donuts along with my main courses.
7. Went to the Ben and Jerry's factory on a side stop before heading to Montreal where we were hosted by the best Airbnb ever. Many snacks and drinks were provided as well as wine and cheese on the rooftop deck.
8. Explored the beaches and the town of Provincetown.
9. Saw Beyoncé and the Dixie Chicks sing Daddy's Lessons in the same week.
10. Work took me to a Chicago and I was able to use some of the time for fun, new and old friends, and exploring new territory.
11. Ate where they filmed the Los Pollos Hermanos scenes in Breaking Bad in Albuquerque an explored beautiful Santa Fe.
12. Went to a great wedding and Atlanta and then took a road trip where I knocked out states #48 and #49 (Kentucky and Michigan).
13. Saw Miranda Lambert start crying in the middle of the "House that Built Me"because a veteran made a really sweet sign for her.
14. Saw Barbra Streisand sing Evergreen live. My mom would have liked that.
15. Took a very relaxing, mostly unplanned trip to PalmSprings after a rough work season and the day after a horrible election.
16. Flew to DC after a wonderful Christmas season and was moved by the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial before the fall In January and as a bonus tomorrow I'll get to see my good friend who I have not seen in person since 1991!
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Manchester by the Sea and other Wicked Massachusetts Movies (Yes, people really say Wicked here. )
Location is everything in Kenneth Lonergan's wonderful film, Manchester by the Sea. Coastal towns of eastern Massachusetts play an important supporting character in this story of family, tragedy, and forgiveness. I've only lived in Massachusetts for three and one half years so I'm no expert, but I looked at the road signs to see if I had ever drove to any of the places they were driving on the north shore. I had. I also laughed as I recalled hearing similar types of conversations as I rode through Andrew station in Southie on the T. There are many great movies that Massachusetts plays a character, and Manchester by the Sea will go down as one of them.
But what about the human characters and the story? Most everything about the film is great, and it is certainly one of the best films of 2016. Casey Affleck appears in most every scene of the film as the quietly internal janitor Lee, who moves from the south shore to the north shore after a death in the family. Despite all that is revealed about Lee's past and present in Manchester, Affleck never overplays any of it. In less capable hands it could have been a role of scenery chewing.
Kenneth Lonergan has written a wonderful screenplay and perhaps does not get enough credit for the quiet choices he made for the film and the way he weaves present and past together. Michelle Williams, as usual is also quite wonderful and if she had many one more big scene, she would have a better chance of finally being an Oscar winner. Her final big scene is a classic heartbreaker though. While both of those actors are getting most of the talk, I have to say that the performance of Lucas Hedges as Lee's nephew was the most surprising and exciting one. He brings his character from wise cracker to genuinely sensitive and loving in one fell swoop. I am really looking forward to see what he does next. Hopefully Hollywood has room for a very talented pasty ginger!
I will admit that Manchester by the Sea is nearly a perfect movie, but a couple things did underwhelm me. The score in the film is used Too much and really didn't match the emotion or the setting of what was happening in the scene. I also thought Hedge's character's mother was a very underwritten part for the amount of screentime she received. I wonder if that would have come off differently with a different actress. But those are minor quibbles! Manchester by the Sea does film, storytelling, performing, and of course Massachusetts proud.
Manchester by the Sea gets 9 out of 10 from me, and as an added bonus here are some of my favorite films with Massachusetts as a supporting character. I only chose ones that I really liked a lot! They are in no particular order!
The Conjuring
The Crucible (1996)
One Crazy Summer
Little Women (1994)
With Honors
The Departed
Fever Pitch
Good Will Hunting
Mystic River
The Social Network
Spotlight
And, of course, Gone Baby Gone since parts of it were in my neighborhood and one part in particular is about a hundred steps away from my front door.
But what about the human characters and the story? Most everything about the film is great, and it is certainly one of the best films of 2016. Casey Affleck appears in most every scene of the film as the quietly internal janitor Lee, who moves from the south shore to the north shore after a death in the family. Despite all that is revealed about Lee's past and present in Manchester, Affleck never overplays any of it. In less capable hands it could have been a role of scenery chewing.
Kenneth Lonergan has written a wonderful screenplay and perhaps does not get enough credit for the quiet choices he made for the film and the way he weaves present and past together. Michelle Williams, as usual is also quite wonderful and if she had many one more big scene, she would have a better chance of finally being an Oscar winner. Her final big scene is a classic heartbreaker though. While both of those actors are getting most of the talk, I have to say that the performance of Lucas Hedges as Lee's nephew was the most surprising and exciting one. He brings his character from wise cracker to genuinely sensitive and loving in one fell swoop. I am really looking forward to see what he does next. Hopefully Hollywood has room for a very talented pasty ginger!
I will admit that Manchester by the Sea is nearly a perfect movie, but a couple things did underwhelm me. The score in the film is used Too much and really didn't match the emotion or the setting of what was happening in the scene. I also thought Hedge's character's mother was a very underwritten part for the amount of screentime she received. I wonder if that would have come off differently with a different actress. But those are minor quibbles! Manchester by the Sea does film, storytelling, performing, and of course Massachusetts proud.
Manchester by the Sea gets 9 out of 10 from me, and as an added bonus here are some of my favorite films with Massachusetts as a supporting character. I only chose ones that I really liked a lot! They are in no particular order!
The Conjuring
The Crucible (1996)
One Crazy Summer
Little Women (1994)
With Honors
The Departed
Fever Pitch
Good Will Hunting
Mystic River
The Social Network
Spotlight
And, of course, Gone Baby Gone since parts of it were in my neighborhood and one part in particular is about a hundred steps away from my front door.
Saturday, December 17, 2016
A Journey Through La La Land
My favorite film of 2014 was Damien Chazelle's Whiplash. At the time I was experiencing harassment and manipulation from a bully disguised as a mentor, so it felt very relevant to me. Aside from my own personal experiences, it was such an immersive experience of the senses that it is not exaggerating too much when I say that I felt like I'd just had an intense physical and mental workout coming out of it.
Chazelle,who is currently, one of the most exciting directors making "somewhat" mainstream films right now. His long awaited and current Best Picture front runner La La Land takes audiences on a different kind of journey. However the previews for this film are showing it, it isn't a light easy journey. La La Land wasn't what I expected. There were times I found the first half frustrating. I wasn't alone. I counted four people on my side of the theater who walked out of the film in the middle. I stuck through it until the end, and I definitely felt rewarded, but this film will definitely not play well for just anyone.
La La Land is a musical, and in a way it is an homage to Astaire and Roger type musicals of Old Hollywood. As a major musical lover, I have to admit that I'm not a fan of many of the old time Hollywood musical that La La Land clearly adores. It also has a basic premise that I just couldn't totally buy, and that despite the traffic, the grit, and the disappointment, that Los Angeles is a magical place of dreams. This is a hard pill for me to swallow because in all of my many travels LA is one of my least favorite places I've ever been to.
But then something happens. I can't pin it down exactly. I know it was after all of the walk outs though. La La Land will stay in my thoughts for awhile for because of how confounding and beautiful it is. For this is a simple girl meets boy movie that seeks to be something more. The second half is excellent--at times genius, but to say more than that would be unfair to anyone who reads this and may potentially view the film.
Emma Stone, who may or may not win a Best Actress Oscar for this, pulls off the wide eyed naivety well. Her ride through La La Land ends up being the most defined, and she often gives a quite fearless performance. Ryan Gosling, my favorite male actor, catapults a perhaps underwritten character with his charm and great talent. It's funny that this is finally the film that will finally probably get him a second Oscar nomination because he has played many roles that have required much more of him (aside from the dancing). It's a strong performance, but he makes it look easy (even if it maybe isn't).
The third star of the movie is Damien Chazelle's direction which again creates an immersive experience with the music and the colorful visuals. He was clearly influenced by The classic French Film Umbrellas of Cherbourg, and perhaps this film is America's Umbrella. The songs range from fun (the opening traffic scene) to amazing (Emma Stone's monologue song), but ultimately I would say drop your conceptions of what a musical is at the door of you may be disappointed. La La Land is not what you expect. Ultimately it is probably more. What I do know that it is an ambitious but flawed piece is art that makes me even more excited for what it's director's next move is.
La La Land 8 out of 10
Monday, December 5, 2016
The Winners. Better late than never. The Best of TV. The 2015-2016 season
I watch a lot of TV! Here are my favorites from June 1, 2015 to May 31, 2016
The winners are noted below.
Best Reality Television show
Making A Murderer
Project Greenlight
Rupaul's Drag Race Logo
Shark Tank
Survivor- Winner
Top Chef
Best Guest Actor in a Series
Mahershala Ali House of Cards
Richard Armitage Hannibal
Reg E. Cathey House of Cards
Jeffrey Dean Morgan The Walking Dead-Winner
Paul Sparks House of Cards
Jon Tenney Scandal
Best Guest Actress in a Series
Gillian Anderson Hannibal
Ellen Burstyn House of Cards
Kate Burton Scandal
Molly Parker House of Cards
Cicely Tyson How to get away with murder
Mare Winningham The Affair-Winner
Best Supporting Actress Mini Series or TV Movie
Kathy Bates American Horror Story: Hotel
Regina King American CrimeMelissa Leo All the Way
Charlotte Rampling London Spy
Jean Smart Fargo- Winner
Mare Winningham American Horror Story Hotel
Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Laura Carmichael Downton Abbey
Melissa Leo Wayward Pines Season 1
Maggie Smith Downton Abbey
Maura Tierney The Affair-Winner
Bellamy Young Scandal
Constance Zimmer Unreal
Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Anna Chlumsky Veep
Kether Donohue You're the Worst
Jenifer Lewis blackish Winner
Judith Light Transparent
Niecy Nash Getting On
Allison Williams Girls
Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Jim Carter Downton Abbey
Joshua Jackson The Affair
Lenny James The Walking Dead
Rob James-Collier Downton Abbey Winner
Michael Kelly House of Cards
Jussie Smollett Empire
Best supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Titus Burgess Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt
Jaime Camil Jane the Virgin Winner
TJ Miller Silicon Valley
Timothy Simons Veep
Zach Woods Silicon Valley
Steve Zissis Togetherness
Best Supporting Actor in a TV movie or Mini Series
Connor Jessup American Crime Winner
Ne-Yo The Wiz
Denis O'Hare American Horror Story Hotel
Jessie Plemons Fargo
Joey Pollari American Crime
Bokeem Woodbine Fargo
Best Guest Actress Comedy
Tina Fey Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt
Beth Grant Mindy Project
Linda Lavin Mom
Niecy Nash Scream Queens Winner
Jenny Slate Girls
June Squibb Mom
Best Guest Actor Comedy
Christopher Abbott Girls
Mike Carlsen Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt Winner
Peter Macnichol Veep
Anthony Mendez Jane the Virgin
Chris Messina Mindy Projec
Corey Stoll Girls
Best Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Anthony Anderson blackish winner
Aziz Ansari Master of None
Noah Calvin The Real O'Neals
Chris Geere You're the Worst
Jeffrey Tambor Transparent
Josh Thomas Please Like Me
Best Lead Actor in a Mini series of Tv Movie
Bryan Cranston All the Way Winner
Idris Elba Luther
Timothy Hutton American Crime
Andy Samberg 7 Days of Hell
Ben Whishaw London Spy
Patrick Wilson Fargo
Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Kyle Chandler Bloodline
Hugh Dancy Hannibal
Freddie Highmore Bates Motel Winner
Mads Mikklesen Hannibal
Kevin Spacey House of Cards
Dominic West The Affair
Best Lead Actress in a Mini Series or Tv Movie
Kirsten Dunst Fargo Winner
Felicity Huffman American Crime
Audra McDonald Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill
Lili Taylor American Crime
Kerry Washington Confirmation
Shanice Williams The Wiz Live
Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Shiri Appleby Unreal
Viola Davis How to Get Away with Murder
Michelle Dockery Downton Abbey
Taraji P. Henson Empire
Ruth Wilson The Affair
Robin Wright House of Cards Winner
Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Rachel Bloom Crazy Ex girlfriend Winner
Tracy Ellis Ross blackish
Ellie Kemper Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt
Julia Louis Dreyfus Veep
Gina Rodriguez Jane The Virgin
Constance Wu Fresh Off The Boat
Best Mini Series or Tv Movie
All The Way
American Crime Winner
Confirmation
Fargo
Lady Day at Emerson Bar and Grill
London Spy
The Wiz Live
Best Comedy Series
blackish
Crazy Ex Girlfiend
Getting On
Jane the Virgin
Please Like Me Winner
Transparent
Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt
Best Drama Series
The Affair Winner
Downton Abbey
Empire
Hannibal
House of Cards
Scandal
Unreal
The winners are noted below.
Best Reality Television show
Making A Murderer
Project Greenlight
Rupaul's Drag Race Logo
Shark Tank
Survivor- Winner
Top Chef
Best Guest Actor in a Series
Mahershala Ali House of Cards
Richard Armitage Hannibal
Reg E. Cathey House of Cards
Jeffrey Dean Morgan The Walking Dead-Winner
Paul Sparks House of Cards
Jon Tenney Scandal
Best Guest Actress in a Series
Gillian Anderson Hannibal
Ellen Burstyn House of Cards
Kate Burton Scandal
Molly Parker House of Cards
Cicely Tyson How to get away with murder
Mare Winningham The Affair-Winner
Best Supporting Actress Mini Series or TV Movie
Kathy Bates American Horror Story: Hotel
Regina King American CrimeMelissa Leo All the Way
Charlotte Rampling London Spy
Jean Smart Fargo- Winner
Mare Winningham American Horror Story Hotel
Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Laura Carmichael Downton Abbey
Melissa Leo Wayward Pines Season 1
Maggie Smith Downton Abbey
Maura Tierney The Affair-Winner
Bellamy Young Scandal
Constance Zimmer Unreal
Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Anna Chlumsky Veep
Kether Donohue You're the Worst
Jenifer Lewis blackish Winner
Judith Light Transparent
Niecy Nash Getting On
Allison Williams Girls
Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Jim Carter Downton Abbey
Joshua Jackson The Affair
Lenny James The Walking Dead
Rob James-Collier Downton Abbey Winner
Michael Kelly House of Cards
Jussie Smollett Empire
Best supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Titus Burgess Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt
Jaime Camil Jane the Virgin Winner
TJ Miller Silicon Valley
Timothy Simons Veep
Zach Woods Silicon Valley
Steve Zissis Togetherness
Best Supporting Actor in a TV movie or Mini Series
Connor Jessup American Crime Winner
Ne-Yo The Wiz
Denis O'Hare American Horror Story Hotel
Jessie Plemons Fargo
Joey Pollari American Crime
Bokeem Woodbine Fargo
Best Guest Actress Comedy
Tina Fey Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt
Beth Grant Mindy Project
Linda Lavin Mom
Niecy Nash Scream Queens Winner
Jenny Slate Girls
June Squibb Mom
Best Guest Actor Comedy
Christopher Abbott Girls
Mike Carlsen Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt Winner
Peter Macnichol Veep
Anthony Mendez Jane the Virgin
Chris Messina Mindy Projec
Corey Stoll Girls
Best Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Anthony Anderson blackish winner
Aziz Ansari Master of None
Noah Calvin The Real O'Neals
Chris Geere You're the Worst
Jeffrey Tambor Transparent
Josh Thomas Please Like Me
Best Lead Actor in a Mini series of Tv Movie
Bryan Cranston All the Way Winner
Idris Elba Luther
Timothy Hutton American Crime
Andy Samberg 7 Days of Hell
Ben Whishaw London Spy
Patrick Wilson Fargo
Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Kyle Chandler Bloodline
Hugh Dancy Hannibal
Freddie Highmore Bates Motel Winner
Mads Mikklesen Hannibal
Kevin Spacey House of Cards
Dominic West The Affair
Best Lead Actress in a Mini Series or Tv Movie
Kirsten Dunst Fargo Winner
Felicity Huffman American Crime
Audra McDonald Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill
Lili Taylor American Crime
Kerry Washington Confirmation
Shanice Williams The Wiz Live
Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Shiri Appleby Unreal
Viola Davis How to Get Away with Murder
Michelle Dockery Downton Abbey
Taraji P. Henson Empire
Ruth Wilson The Affair
Robin Wright House of Cards Winner
Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Rachel Bloom Crazy Ex girlfriend Winner
Tracy Ellis Ross blackish
Ellie Kemper Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt
Julia Louis Dreyfus Veep
Gina Rodriguez Jane The Virgin
Constance Wu Fresh Off The Boat
Best Mini Series or Tv Movie
All The Way
American Crime Winner
Confirmation
Fargo
Lady Day at Emerson Bar and Grill
London Spy
The Wiz Live
Best Comedy Series
blackish
Crazy Ex Girlfiend
Getting On
Jane the Virgin
Please Like Me Winner
Transparent
Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt
Best Drama Series
The Affair Winner
Downton Abbey
Empire
Hannibal
House of Cards
Scandal
Unreal
Friday, December 2, 2016
Film: Their stories matter- Loving and Moonlight
Two small independent films, Loving and Moonlight, are beginning to catch on with audiences as award season begins. Both of them are worth your time. Aside from telling stories of African American characters that are all too rarely told on film, they are also works of art in their own right.
Loving is based on the true story of Mildred and Richard Loving. (I am embarrassed that I only realized during the movie where the title came from. Prior to that, I thought it was a pretty uninspired title. Of course my mind is changed now.) Mildred and Richard are an interracial couple (one white and one black) who want to get married, but the state of Virginia (as well as many other states in the USA at that time) would not allow it. It is the kind of thing that maybe even a year ago it would have blown minds that it was even as issue, but now sadly anything in the USA is possible again.
Loving, the film, does something interesting and risky. It stays quiet. It would have been easy to make a bombastic deal about the Supreme Court decision that ultimately allowed them to be married, but the film keeps it understated and unassuming just like its two main characters. Loving is ultimately not about the Supreme Court case that gave these two individuals the right to marry, it is this couple's love story, and it is beautifully told!
Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga are amazing as the Loving couple. Both deserve major award attention including Oscar nominations, but neither has a scene that screams "Give me an Oscar, or I will throw more fine china on the floor!" This is very much to director Jeff Nichol's credit for letting these quiet characters stay quiet and not acted out with a capital A. There is a nice scene with Michael Shannon as a Life photographer. The only performance that did not really fit in for me was Nick Kroll's as their ACLU attorney. He did his best, but it is hard to leave his huge comic persona at the movie theatre door.
Loving is worth your time for a beautiful love story and the reluctant hope that such a story could never happen again in the United States.
Moonlight is another story that is rarely told on film. It is about an African American male dealing with his sexuality, and his place in a world that is always pushing against him. It may be extreme for me to say that Moonlight is a revolutionary film, but I can think of no other word, and it is how I feel. The closest thing I can find to compare to what has been made here is Brokeback Mountain. Certainly, not since that film has the issue of same sex attraction in a world that does not accept it been dealt with such sensitivity and complexity. What I am about to say is going to make some people clutch their pearls, but I think Moonlight is a better film than that the excellent Brokeback Mountain.
Moonlight is so great because the way that it tells its character's stories. Three of the main characters are a drug dealer, a crack addict, and a son of a crack addict, but these characters which lean toward being stereotypical African American film characters feel more human than almost any character of any color I have seen on screen for a few years.
The acting is astonishing, but in a way that is hard to single any actor out. This film is very much an ensemble piece with great scenes for all the actors. However, if I have to single out actors I would definitely make the case for Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, and Trevante Rhodes as the adult version of the main character all deserve attention. Singer turned actor Janelle Monae is also a welcome addition to the cast.
The film is more than its performances though . It is crafted like it was made by a veteran filmmaker. Director Barry Jenkins, who is a director to watch, has an eye for great detail. His camera operators makes some interesting choices with cinematography that you would not expect in such a story driven movie. The score is also amazing, and it is wisely used sparingly to make the moments it is used even more effective.
While I have many movies to see this year, it is hard to imagine a film that will be better than Moonlight. It is also difficult to imagine that many movies will be better than Loving. These are two movies about characters that don't have their story told often enough on screen. And their stories matter.
Loving scores an 8 out of 10
And Moonlight scores a rare 10 out of 10.
Loving is based on the true story of Mildred and Richard Loving. (I am embarrassed that I only realized during the movie where the title came from. Prior to that, I thought it was a pretty uninspired title. Of course my mind is changed now.) Mildred and Richard are an interracial couple (one white and one black) who want to get married, but the state of Virginia (as well as many other states in the USA at that time) would not allow it. It is the kind of thing that maybe even a year ago it would have blown minds that it was even as issue, but now sadly anything in the USA is possible again.
Loving, the film, does something interesting and risky. It stays quiet. It would have been easy to make a bombastic deal about the Supreme Court decision that ultimately allowed them to be married, but the film keeps it understated and unassuming just like its two main characters. Loving is ultimately not about the Supreme Court case that gave these two individuals the right to marry, it is this couple's love story, and it is beautifully told!
Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga are amazing as the Loving couple. Both deserve major award attention including Oscar nominations, but neither has a scene that screams "Give me an Oscar, or I will throw more fine china on the floor!" This is very much to director Jeff Nichol's credit for letting these quiet characters stay quiet and not acted out with a capital A. There is a nice scene with Michael Shannon as a Life photographer. The only performance that did not really fit in for me was Nick Kroll's as their ACLU attorney. He did his best, but it is hard to leave his huge comic persona at the movie theatre door.
Loving is worth your time for a beautiful love story and the reluctant hope that such a story could never happen again in the United States.
Moonlight is another story that is rarely told on film. It is about an African American male dealing with his sexuality, and his place in a world that is always pushing against him. It may be extreme for me to say that Moonlight is a revolutionary film, but I can think of no other word, and it is how I feel. The closest thing I can find to compare to what has been made here is Brokeback Mountain. Certainly, not since that film has the issue of same sex attraction in a world that does not accept it been dealt with such sensitivity and complexity. What I am about to say is going to make some people clutch their pearls, but I think Moonlight is a better film than that the excellent Brokeback Mountain.
Moonlight is so great because the way that it tells its character's stories. Three of the main characters are a drug dealer, a crack addict, and a son of a crack addict, but these characters which lean toward being stereotypical African American film characters feel more human than almost any character of any color I have seen on screen for a few years.
The acting is astonishing, but in a way that is hard to single any actor out. This film is very much an ensemble piece with great scenes for all the actors. However, if I have to single out actors I would definitely make the case for Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, and Trevante Rhodes as the adult version of the main character all deserve attention. Singer turned actor Janelle Monae is also a welcome addition to the cast.
The film is more than its performances though . It is crafted like it was made by a veteran filmmaker. Director Barry Jenkins, who is a director to watch, has an eye for great detail. His camera operators makes some interesting choices with cinematography that you would not expect in such a story driven movie. The score is also amazing, and it is wisely used sparingly to make the moments it is used even more effective.
While I have many movies to see this year, it is hard to imagine a film that will be better than Moonlight. It is also difficult to imagine that many movies will be better than Loving. These are two movies about characters that don't have their story told often enough on screen. And their stories matter.
Loving scores an 8 out of 10
And Moonlight scores a rare 10 out of 10.
Sunday, August 28, 2016
My favorites in Television for the 2015-2016 TV season
I watch a lot of TV! Here are my favorites from June 1, 2015 to May 31, 2016
Best Reality Television show
Making A Murderer
Project Greenlight
Rupaul's Drag Race Logo
Shark Tank
Survivor
Top Chef
Best Guest Actor in a Series
Mahershala Ali House of Cards
Richard Armitage Hannibal
Reg E. Cathey House of Cards
Jeffrey Dean Morgan The Walking Dead
Paul Sparks House of Cards
Jon Tenney Scandal
Best Guest Actress in a Series
Gillian Anderson Hannibal
Ellen Burstyn House of Cards
Kate Burton Scandal
Molly Parker House of Cards
Cicely Tyson How to get away with murder
Mare Winningham The Affair
Best Supporting Actress Mini Series or TV Movie
Kathy Bates American Horror Story: Hotel
Regina King American Crime
Melissa Leo All the Way
Charlotte Rampling London Spy
Jean Smart Fargo
Mare Winningham American Horror Story Hotel
Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Laura Carmichael Downton Abbey
Melissa Leo Wayward Pines Season 1
Maggie Smith Downton Abbey
Maura Tierney The Affair
Bellamy Young Scandal
Constance Zimmer Unreal
Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Anna Chlumsky Veep
Kether Donohue You're the Worst
Jenifer Lewis blackish
Judith Light Transparent
Niecy Nash Getting On
Allison Williams Girls
Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Jim Carter Downton Abbey
Joshua Jackson The Affair
Lenny James The Walking Dead
Rob James-Collier Downton Abbey
Michael Kelly House of Cards
Jussie Smollett Empire
Best supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Titus Burgess Unreakable Kimmie Schmidt
Jaime Camil Jane the Virgin
TJ Miller Silicon Valley
Timothy Simons Veep
Zach Woods Silicon Valley
Steve Zissis Togetherness
Best Supporting Actor in a TV movie or Mini Series
Connor Jessup American Crime
Ne-Yo The Wiz
Denis O'Hare American Horror Story Hotel
Jessie Plemons Fargo
Joey Pollari American Crime
Bokeem Woodbine Fargo
Best Guest Actress Comedy
Tina Fey Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt
Beth Grant Mindy Project
Linda Lavin Mom
Niecy Nash Scream Queens
Jenny Slate Girls
June Squibb Mom
Best Guest Actor Comedy
Christopher Abbott Girls
Mike Carlsen Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt
Peter Macnichol Veep
Anthony Mendez Jane the Virgin
Chris Messina Mindy Project
Corey Stoll Girls
Best Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Anthony Anderson blackish
Aziz Ansari Master of None
Noah Calvin The Real O'Neals
Chris Geere You're the Worst
Jeffrey Tambor Transparent
Josh Thomas Please Like Me
Best Lead Actor in a Mini series of Tv Movie
Bryan Cranston All the Way
Idris Elba Luther
Timothy Hutton American Crime
Andy Samberg 7 Days of Hell
Ben Whishaw London Spy
Patrick Wilson Fargo
Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Kyle Chandler Bloodline
Hugh Dancy Hannibal
Freddie Highmore Bates Motel
Mads Mikklesen Hannibal
Kevin Spacey House of Cards
Dominic West The Affair
Best Lead Actress in a Mini Series or Tv Movie
Kirsten Dunst Fargo
Felicity Huffman American Crime
Audra McDonald Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill
Lili Taylor American Crime
Kerry Washington Confirmation
Shanice Williams The Wiz Live
Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Shiri Appleby Unreal
Viola Davis How to Get Away with Murder
Michelle Dockery Downton Abbey
Taraji P. Henson Empire
Ruth Wilson The Affair
Robin Wright House of Cards
Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Rachel Bloom Crazy Ex girlfriend
Tracy Ellis Ross blackish
Ellie Kemper Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt
Julia Louis Dreyfus Veep
Gina Rodriguez Jane The Virgin
Constance Wu Fresh Off The Boat
Best Mini Series or Tv Movie
All The Way
American Crime
Confirmation
Fargo
Lady Day at Emerson Bar and Grill
London Spy
The Wiz Live
Best Comedy Series
blackish
Crazy Ex Girlfiend
Getting On
Jane the Virgin
Please Like Me
Transparent
Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt
Best Drama Series
The Affair
Downton Abbey
Empire
Hannibal
House of Cards
Scandal
Unreal
Best Reality Television show
Making A Murderer
Project Greenlight
Rupaul's Drag Race Logo
Shark Tank
Survivor
Top Chef
Best Guest Actor in a Series
Mahershala Ali House of Cards
Richard Armitage Hannibal
Reg E. Cathey House of Cards
Jeffrey Dean Morgan The Walking Dead
Paul Sparks House of Cards
Jon Tenney Scandal
Best Guest Actress in a Series
Gillian Anderson Hannibal
Ellen Burstyn House of Cards
Kate Burton Scandal
Molly Parker House of Cards
Cicely Tyson How to get away with murder
Mare Winningham The Affair
Best Supporting Actress Mini Series or TV Movie
Kathy Bates American Horror Story: Hotel
Regina King American Crime
Melissa Leo All the Way
Charlotte Rampling London Spy
Jean Smart Fargo
Mare Winningham American Horror Story Hotel
Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Laura Carmichael Downton Abbey
Melissa Leo Wayward Pines Season 1
Maggie Smith Downton Abbey
Maura Tierney The Affair
Bellamy Young Scandal
Constance Zimmer Unreal
Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Anna Chlumsky Veep
Kether Donohue You're the Worst
Jenifer Lewis blackish
Judith Light Transparent
Niecy Nash Getting On
Allison Williams Girls
Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Jim Carter Downton Abbey
Joshua Jackson The Affair
Lenny James The Walking Dead
Rob James-Collier Downton Abbey
Michael Kelly House of Cards
Jussie Smollett Empire
Best supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Titus Burgess Unreakable Kimmie Schmidt
Jaime Camil Jane the Virgin
TJ Miller Silicon Valley
Timothy Simons Veep
Zach Woods Silicon Valley
Steve Zissis Togetherness
Best Supporting Actor in a TV movie or Mini Series
Connor Jessup American Crime
Ne-Yo The Wiz
Denis O'Hare American Horror Story Hotel
Jessie Plemons Fargo
Joey Pollari American Crime
Bokeem Woodbine Fargo
Best Guest Actress Comedy
Tina Fey Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt
Beth Grant Mindy Project
Linda Lavin Mom
Niecy Nash Scream Queens
Jenny Slate Girls
June Squibb Mom
Best Guest Actor Comedy
Christopher Abbott Girls
Mike Carlsen Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt
Peter Macnichol Veep
Anthony Mendez Jane the Virgin
Chris Messina Mindy Project
Corey Stoll Girls
Best Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Anthony Anderson blackish
Aziz Ansari Master of None
Noah Calvin The Real O'Neals
Chris Geere You're the Worst
Jeffrey Tambor Transparent
Josh Thomas Please Like Me
Best Lead Actor in a Mini series of Tv Movie
Bryan Cranston All the Way
Idris Elba Luther
Timothy Hutton American Crime
Andy Samberg 7 Days of Hell
Ben Whishaw London Spy
Patrick Wilson Fargo
Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Kyle Chandler Bloodline
Hugh Dancy Hannibal
Freddie Highmore Bates Motel
Mads Mikklesen Hannibal
Kevin Spacey House of Cards
Dominic West The Affair
Best Lead Actress in a Mini Series or Tv Movie
Kirsten Dunst Fargo
Felicity Huffman American Crime
Audra McDonald Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill
Lili Taylor American Crime
Kerry Washington Confirmation
Shanice Williams The Wiz Live
Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Shiri Appleby Unreal
Viola Davis How to Get Away with Murder
Michelle Dockery Downton Abbey
Taraji P. Henson Empire
Ruth Wilson The Affair
Robin Wright House of Cards
Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Rachel Bloom Crazy Ex girlfriend
Tracy Ellis Ross blackish
Ellie Kemper Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt
Julia Louis Dreyfus Veep
Gina Rodriguez Jane The Virgin
Constance Wu Fresh Off The Boat
Best Mini Series or Tv Movie
All The Way
American Crime
Confirmation
Fargo
Lady Day at Emerson Bar and Grill
London Spy
The Wiz Live
Best Comedy Series
blackish
Crazy Ex Girlfiend
Getting On
Jane the Virgin
Please Like Me
Transparent
Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt
Best Drama Series
The Affair
Downton Abbey
Empire
Hannibal
House of Cards
Scandal
Unreal
Sunday, August 21, 2016
2016 Oscar Nominated Best Foreign Language Films: This is the best the world has to offer?
Every year usually after the Oscars are over, I do my best to watch all 5 of the film's nominated for Best Foreign Language Film. I'm announcing here that this is the last year I will do this and here is why:
I'm looking forward to some good films this fall. I'm sure that there will be great ones that the Oscars will ignore.
I've loved watching foreign films for a very long time. I used to go the Seattle International Film Festival year after year and see many of the best and worst that other countries on this Earth have to offer. So those experiences should pair well with watching the five Oscar nominated foreign films right? Wrong. Because each country is only allowed to advance one film to represent them and then a panel of seemingly pretty out of touch panel chooses the "best" 5, sometimes they get it correct as is the case of All About My Mother and A Separation. But mostly they get it wrong. They often exclude many critically acclaimed nominees for questionable and uninspiring choices.
This year's 5 films were no exception for being generally unexceptional.
The nominees were:
Embrace of the Serpent- Colombia
This is two different parallel stories of two white men trying to find this cure all drug in the jungles of South America. Sometimes it had something interesting to say about wealthy nations exploiting tribal people for their industries,but mostly it just plodded. The film is well shot in black and white, but who's great idea was it to make the subtitles white as well. Fortunately the plot was not so complicated for the times I couldn't read the subtitles. Unfortunately, overall it's just mildly interesting. 6 out of 10
Mustang- France
The best and definitely only near great film of the bunch was this one about a group of teenagers growing up in a country who will not allow them be themselves due to tradition. The film is a sad watch, but I particularly admired the realness of all the teenage characters. While it was a fictional film, it felt like a documentary of these young women's sometimes tragic lives. 8 out of 10
Son of Saul- Hungary
This film was the eventual Oscar winner. It's a harrowing story about a man's experience trying to navigate his way through the Holocaust. The one thing that really works for the film is the way the camera follows the character in order to create the feeling that you are following this man's experience. Otherwise this doesn't add a lot to the many many films that the Oscars have recognized about the Holocaust. Certainly tragedies like this should have films made to educate filmgoers, but the Holocaust is definitely the Academy's favorite tragedy of choice. 7 out of 10
Theeb- Jordan
This film about a child's experiencing dodging a war torn country was interesting and well done,but I have to admit that it's also the one I forgot first. I had to go back and remind myself what it was about. While the film had some powerful moments in the moment I viewed it, its power for me was short lived. 7 out of 10
A War- Denmark
Of the five films I was most interested in this one's story. A celebrated military officer is charged with a war crime that he probably unintentionally committed to protect his squadron. If seeing every minute detail played out intrigues you, then you'll like this. I was mostly bored by the lack of action in what could have been a very interesting and provocative film. The military scenes are the best, but they only last not even the first half of the film before it turns over to the officer's somewhat tedious
home life and trial.
home life and trial.
6 out of 10
So I find it hard to believe that these are the best the world has to offer. The only film that would've been even close to being in my top 10 of the year is Mustang and even it would've fallen short.
I'm looking forward to some good films this fall. I'm sure that there will be great ones that the Oscars will ignore.
Saturday, July 16, 2016
I know what I did this summer: My travel and concert adventures Part 1
This has been my first summer in many many years that I worked through the summer, but I have managed to fit some fun weekend trips, some concerts in and some beer.
Lots of beer.
So far it's been a great summer!
Here are my adventures so far with some recommendations and best moments. It's part 1 because I have some pretty cool adventures coming up.
Summer started for me over Memorial Day when I traveled up to Portland, Maine for my birthday weekend. Portland is a cool little New England town with an unusual amount of restaurants, coffee shops, and comic book stores considering it's only a town of 60,000 people. For me the highlights are definitely walking around Old Port and seeing all the cool little shops, the dining scene, and local breweries and beer everywhere (I know that's shocking!). It's also a very outdoorsy town and a great place to walk your dog.
My recommendations for Portland:
1. Beer- any place that's a bar will have a number of very local beers on tap. Don't waste your beer consumption on your standby domestic beer here. Try out as many of the local beers as you can in your time here.
2. Duckfat- if you know anyone who has been to Portland they will suggest Duckfat, a small (too small) restaurant that is known for their fries that are cooked in duck fat. The wait can be crazy. I was able to get in quickly because I ventured out on my own and was able to get a single open bar seat. But a table for 2 can have a two hour wait. Come at a non peak time and you will not be disappointed. I ordered everything I wanted to try and ended up bringing half of it back to the hotel. I'd suggest any of the following: the Cuban sandwich, poutine (apparently the plain fries are excellent too but that's not my thing. I need gravy and cheese curds), their famous vanilla milkshake (it's very vanilla), housemade donuts with a delicious caramel dipping sauce, and of course a fine selection of local beers.
3. Otto- Boston people can probably ignore this choice because now Boston has Otto. I think the west end Portland Otto is the best though. They sell pizza and beer essentially. You can get pizza by the slice too. They have a bacon mashed potato pizza that's amazing if not sacreligious to traditional New York style pizza.
4. Lobster- yeah, Maine is lobster land. If you like it , you can find it here for pretty cheap. But do your research. Don't get lured into touristy lobster shops.
After Portland I took a few week traveling break in which I went to two concerts.
First up was Beyonce. I acted late on this concert and got a ticket in the upper echelon of the football stadium where the Patriots play. To be honest Beyonce was so far from me, I can't say if it was actually her. It could have been drag queen Beyonce for all I know (it was not).
I have been a low key fan of Beyonce since Destiny's Child, but she never got many props from me before Lemonade. Lemonade was a game changer, and so I knew I'd regret not going to this show. It definitely was a fast moving spectacle of a show. Even though I couldn't really see her, the very unique screens were twisting and turning throughout the show so I didn't miss a whole lot.
Best parts: this was a Lemonade showcase. All of the best tracks, including Formation, Hold Up, and Daddy's Lessons were on display. Halo, the rare ballad on the set list, was a great show ender, but Freedom with its walk on water choreography was easily the best thing of the night.
Also the stadium had a lot of good beer.
Could've been better: I know Beyonce has so many hits, but another ballad or two would've been fine. Halo was basically it. Irresistible, XO, or If I were a boy would've been welcome additions.
A week after that show I went to a much more intimate Xfinity Center to see the Dixie Chicks. I've seen the Dixie Chicks before, and they are probably my favorite live band that I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot of concerts. Let me just say if you like their songs and won't go because of what they said about Bush, well too bad for you. You're missing out on some amazing music. (Plus I'm guessing you've probably said much worse about President Obama)
Best parts: Taking the Long Way, a remake if Nothing Compares 2 U which was written by Prince, a cover of Beyonce's Daddy Lessons and the patriotic confetti explosion of Ready to Run. And to be honest pretty much everything was great.
Could've been better: Not much. I would have liked one of their lullabies on the set list and like everyone else I'm holding my breath we will someday get new material from them. But the chicks are amazing musicians.
A couple weeks later I was headed to Montreal with my friend. On the way we stopped at the Ben and Jerry's factory in Vermont. I highly recommend the quick tour, the free ice cream and a tour of the flavor graveyard (no Schweddy balls there though). On the way home we want to the White Mountains of New Hampshire, went on a train ride to the top, and stayed at a cozy B&b
So back to Montreal. Montreal is a great city! It came to my attention from one of my friends that some people don't know a lot about Montreal, and they were not aware of it as a tourist destination. I've been three times, and I always go because it's as close to a European experience as you can find in North America (except for maybe Quebec City. I haven't been there yet). There is great shopping, dining and drinking . It's also a very walkable city with lots of interesting areas. You definitely don't want to miss the old town area. We had my best AirBnb experience ever there. I was so spoiled by that experience that I can now only stay at that Air BNB when I go to Montreal.
What I recommend: experience as much of the French places as possible, walk or bike a lot, have poutine in Old Town, and walk the always exciting, pedestrian friendly,and gay Rue de St. Catherine.
Finally, the next weekend we went to Provincetown (otherwise known as PTown). It's the very tip of Cape Cod, and it used to be primarily a gay resort area, but like everything else as soon as straight people found how fun the gays made it, they wanted to come too! :)
Ptown is full of quaint B&Bs, lots of beach or forestry hiking areas, restaurants, lots of shows, and lots of bars. Do a little research on tripadvisor and find the best B&b you can find unless you know someone who has a place there. In the summer Ptown runs cooler than Boston so if it's 90 in Boston, it can often be like 75 in PTown, which is perfect!
I recommend Mews which is the only restaurant I've been to all three times I've bern to Ptown. They have an amazing Lobster Vindaloo there but everything is good. I also recommend getting a reservation. I like the bars The Monkey Bar and Harbor Lounge. I also recommend hunting down places with draught beer because there is a lot of bottled beer in Ptown. Finally, I recommend going to a drag show unless you can't be cool. Varla Jean Merman is a PTown mainstay. She is very funny, and she pulled me out if the audience and I got a wet kiss. Haha
I have a lot of traveling coming up in the next few weeks so Part 2 to this is imminent.
Lots of beer.
So far it's been a great summer!
Here are my adventures so far with some recommendations and best moments. It's part 1 because I have some pretty cool adventures coming up.
Summer started for me over Memorial Day when I traveled up to Portland, Maine for my birthday weekend. Portland is a cool little New England town with an unusual amount of restaurants, coffee shops, and comic book stores considering it's only a town of 60,000 people. For me the highlights are definitely walking around Old Port and seeing all the cool little shops, the dining scene, and local breweries and beer everywhere (I know that's shocking!). It's also a very outdoorsy town and a great place to walk your dog.
My recommendations for Portland:
1. Beer- any place that's a bar will have a number of very local beers on tap. Don't waste your beer consumption on your standby domestic beer here. Try out as many of the local beers as you can in your time here.
2. Duckfat- if you know anyone who has been to Portland they will suggest Duckfat, a small (too small) restaurant that is known for their fries that are cooked in duck fat. The wait can be crazy. I was able to get in quickly because I ventured out on my own and was able to get a single open bar seat. But a table for 2 can have a two hour wait. Come at a non peak time and you will not be disappointed. I ordered everything I wanted to try and ended up bringing half of it back to the hotel. I'd suggest any of the following: the Cuban sandwich, poutine (apparently the plain fries are excellent too but that's not my thing. I need gravy and cheese curds), their famous vanilla milkshake (it's very vanilla), housemade donuts with a delicious caramel dipping sauce, and of course a fine selection of local beers.
3. Otto- Boston people can probably ignore this choice because now Boston has Otto. I think the west end Portland Otto is the best though. They sell pizza and beer essentially. You can get pizza by the slice too. They have a bacon mashed potato pizza that's amazing if not sacreligious to traditional New York style pizza.
4. Lobster- yeah, Maine is lobster land. If you like it , you can find it here for pretty cheap. But do your research. Don't get lured into touristy lobster shops.
After Portland I took a few week traveling break in which I went to two concerts.
First up was Beyonce. I acted late on this concert and got a ticket in the upper echelon of the football stadium where the Patriots play. To be honest Beyonce was so far from me, I can't say if it was actually her. It could have been drag queen Beyonce for all I know (it was not).
I have been a low key fan of Beyonce since Destiny's Child, but she never got many props from me before Lemonade. Lemonade was a game changer, and so I knew I'd regret not going to this show. It definitely was a fast moving spectacle of a show. Even though I couldn't really see her, the very unique screens were twisting and turning throughout the show so I didn't miss a whole lot.
Best parts: this was a Lemonade showcase. All of the best tracks, including Formation, Hold Up, and Daddy's Lessons were on display. Halo, the rare ballad on the set list, was a great show ender, but Freedom with its walk on water choreography was easily the best thing of the night.
Also the stadium had a lot of good beer.
Could've been better: I know Beyonce has so many hits, but another ballad or two would've been fine. Halo was basically it. Irresistible, XO, or If I were a boy would've been welcome additions.
A week after that show I went to a much more intimate Xfinity Center to see the Dixie Chicks. I've seen the Dixie Chicks before, and they are probably my favorite live band that I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot of concerts. Let me just say if you like their songs and won't go because of what they said about Bush, well too bad for you. You're missing out on some amazing music. (Plus I'm guessing you've probably said much worse about President Obama)
Best parts: Taking the Long Way, a remake if Nothing Compares 2 U which was written by Prince, a cover of Beyonce's Daddy Lessons and the patriotic confetti explosion of Ready to Run. And to be honest pretty much everything was great.
Could've been better: Not much. I would have liked one of their lullabies on the set list and like everyone else I'm holding my breath we will someday get new material from them. But the chicks are amazing musicians.
A couple weeks later I was headed to Montreal with my friend. On the way we stopped at the Ben and Jerry's factory in Vermont. I highly recommend the quick tour, the free ice cream and a tour of the flavor graveyard (no Schweddy balls there though). On the way home we want to the White Mountains of New Hampshire, went on a train ride to the top, and stayed at a cozy B&b
So back to Montreal. Montreal is a great city! It came to my attention from one of my friends that some people don't know a lot about Montreal, and they were not aware of it as a tourist destination. I've been three times, and I always go because it's as close to a European experience as you can find in North America (except for maybe Quebec City. I haven't been there yet). There is great shopping, dining and drinking . It's also a very walkable city with lots of interesting areas. You definitely don't want to miss the old town area. We had my best AirBnb experience ever there. I was so spoiled by that experience that I can now only stay at that Air BNB when I go to Montreal.
What I recommend: experience as much of the French places as possible, walk or bike a lot, have poutine in Old Town, and walk the always exciting, pedestrian friendly,and gay Rue de St. Catherine.
Finally, the next weekend we went to Provincetown (otherwise known as PTown). It's the very tip of Cape Cod, and it used to be primarily a gay resort area, but like everything else as soon as straight people found how fun the gays made it, they wanted to come too! :)
Ptown is full of quaint B&Bs, lots of beach or forestry hiking areas, restaurants, lots of shows, and lots of bars. Do a little research on tripadvisor and find the best B&b you can find unless you know someone who has a place there. In the summer Ptown runs cooler than Boston so if it's 90 in Boston, it can often be like 75 in PTown, which is perfect!
I recommend Mews which is the only restaurant I've been to all three times I've bern to Ptown. They have an amazing Lobster Vindaloo there but everything is good. I also recommend getting a reservation. I like the bars The Monkey Bar and Harbor Lounge. I also recommend hunting down places with draught beer because there is a lot of bottled beer in Ptown. Finally, I recommend going to a drag show unless you can't be cool. Varla Jean Merman is a PTown mainstay. She is very funny, and she pulled me out if the audience and I got a wet kiss. Haha
I have a lot of traveling coming up in the next few weeks so Part 2 to this is imminent.
Sunday, July 10, 2016
Wisdom from my Uber Driver: The American Dream
Like many of you I've been disgusted lately by some of my fellow Americans. That has definitely been the case after a very trying news week. So many are fed up with division and those who create it. I've been tired of politicians who use division to make people fearful and forward their nefarious cause.
I will admit. This week I've been tired of America.
And that is why if you've also been tired or cynical or angry or afraid, I must share this story.
Last night I called an uber from the train stop I was at to get the rest of the way home since it was rainy and very dark.
Muhammad was my Uber driver last night. Usually I can gauge very quickly which uber drivers want to chat and sometimes I don't particularly feel like chatting myself. But last night I endulged in my typical polite conversation with Muhammed.
I asked how long he worked for uber and if he liked it. His enthusiasm for his tone when he told me that he loved it was surprising. He started giving tips on the best places to catch ubers and then went into how busy the night had been because it had been raining. He told me some people caught ubers just to drive them a couple blocks.
The jaded part of me who was tired of people's privilege took over and said, "isn't that annoying to pick up someone who just wants to be driven a couple blocks"
Get ready, because this is where I really started to listen.
Muhammed said, "No," without a smattering of irony, "I'm grateful for every dollar I can earn."
How humbled on my tower of fortune and privilege I felt.
I later asked him how often he drives and he told me "well, when I was in school I did it every night along with my other job"
More humility. I never had to be enrolled in any school and work two jobs at the same time.
"But when I graduated I got a job promotion so now I only drive uber on weekends"
I asked him what he did for his other job , and he is a manager of something that I didn't entirely understand.
He said, "Listen, I've only been in the USA for three years. And you won't believe this, but I started out working as a valet. Now I'm a manager at the company I was a valet for." Then he laughed, "and now I manage some of my previous managers."
I laughed also, "that's awesome!"
"But I am very respectful of those people," he told me.
Of course he was.
I thanked him for telling me that story. I told him, "That's the story of the American dream. You don't hear people telling that kind of story much anymore"
He said, "I believe that this is the land of opportunity and if you work hard you can be successful."
Do I think his glasses were a tad too rose colored? Sure. Would I have liked to give up my jaded glasses in exchange for his for awhile? You bet.
Obviously the USA has problems, but Muhammed's is the kind of story America was built on. And even hundreds of years ago it was an overly positive way to look at the darkness that has always been happening around us in this country.
But the country Muhammed was talking about is the country we should strive to be. Even if the reality is that we never can 100% quite be that country. But we can be better.
And dividing and frightening and shooing out people is not going to make us that country. If we continue on that path, we will continue to be the country that we were last week. Hopefully most people really don't want that.
I hope.
I will admit. This week I've been tired of America.
And that is why if you've also been tired or cynical or angry or afraid, I must share this story.
Last night I called an uber from the train stop I was at to get the rest of the way home since it was rainy and very dark.
Muhammad was my Uber driver last night. Usually I can gauge very quickly which uber drivers want to chat and sometimes I don't particularly feel like chatting myself. But last night I endulged in my typical polite conversation with Muhammed.
I asked how long he worked for uber and if he liked it. His enthusiasm for his tone when he told me that he loved it was surprising. He started giving tips on the best places to catch ubers and then went into how busy the night had been because it had been raining. He told me some people caught ubers just to drive them a couple blocks.
The jaded part of me who was tired of people's privilege took over and said, "isn't that annoying to pick up someone who just wants to be driven a couple blocks"
Get ready, because this is where I really started to listen.
Muhammed said, "No," without a smattering of irony, "I'm grateful for every dollar I can earn."
How humbled on my tower of fortune and privilege I felt.
I later asked him how often he drives and he told me "well, when I was in school I did it every night along with my other job"
More humility. I never had to be enrolled in any school and work two jobs at the same time.
"But when I graduated I got a job promotion so now I only drive uber on weekends"
I asked him what he did for his other job , and he is a manager of something that I didn't entirely understand.
He said, "Listen, I've only been in the USA for three years. And you won't believe this, but I started out working as a valet. Now I'm a manager at the company I was a valet for." Then he laughed, "and now I manage some of my previous managers."
I laughed also, "that's awesome!"
"But I am very respectful of those people," he told me.
Of course he was.
I thanked him for telling me that story. I told him, "That's the story of the American dream. You don't hear people telling that kind of story much anymore"
He said, "I believe that this is the land of opportunity and if you work hard you can be successful."
Do I think his glasses were a tad too rose colored? Sure. Would I have liked to give up my jaded glasses in exchange for his for awhile? You bet.
Obviously the USA has problems, but Muhammed's is the kind of story America was built on. And even hundreds of years ago it was an overly positive way to look at the darkness that has always been happening around us in this country.
But the country Muhammed was talking about is the country we should strive to be. Even if the reality is that we never can 100% quite be that country. But we can be better.
And dividing and frightening and shooing out people is not going to make us that country. If we continue on that path, we will continue to be the country that we were last week. Hopefully most people really don't want that.
I hope.
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
An Open Letter to Hillary Clinton Supporters: You Must Chill!! Stop Panicking and Vote!
You must chill!
I have been thinking about writing this blog post for a long time. After all of the "the sky is falling! Bernie Sanders is going to win!" moments from Hillary supporters I endured during primary season, I had to have my eye surgically moved back to their correct location after all of my eye rolling! It didn't take much to set most Hillary supporters off into panic (except for me).
Well today is the perfect day to write this because as I write a poll has been released that shows Clinton up by 2 points over that joke of a candidate that the Republicans have chosen. I have seen this many many many times before. This will be the poll that gets a ton of media attention. Then all my Hillary Clinton supporting friends will post it on Facebook or other social media while dabbling with the idea of moving to a foreign country and/or building a bomb shelter.
Here is what I have to say! STOP PANICKING!!! We most likely got this! I am worried for your blood pressure! I am also worried that your panic will lead us to Drumpfian doom! I know panic is natural for some and a hard habit to break, so here are three options for you to focus on instead of being a Chicken Little.
1. READ- I cannot emphasize this much. Read. A lot. Read multiple sources. Read point of views that you don't like or agree with. Be educated. I have always been critical about the many conservative Republicans who only watch Fox News and listen to conservative radio that only feeds into what they already think or want to believe. Well guess what? One thing I learned from primary season is that extreme liberals are just as bad. If you are only getting all of you news from Bernie Sanders media like Huffington Post and God forbid usuncut.com, you simply aren't well informed. Your information is as one sided as Fox News. I do my best to stay away from the extreme media on both sides and even if many of my media resources lean liberal like some of my favorites writers who write for MSNBC do , I counteract that with information from more conservative points of view.
That leads me to the poll problem. The media picks and chooses which polls are going to panic people the most. Yes, a 2 point lead over the Donald is nerve wracking. Your nervousness will get you to pay attention to their site or TV station. What they don't mention is that every other poll released in the last week has had Hillary up by anywhere from 5 to 12 points. But that's boring! The media needs you to believe this is a close race even if right now it is not. A blow out isn't interesting. This is why many media sites in 2012 led people to believe that Mitt Romney might actually defeat President Obama. You see how that turned out? If you were really paying attention then you knew it wasn't going to happen.
But Clinton's lead could change for the worse. Even if it doesn't change, I have some suggested sites for you. Fivethirtyeight.com is my go to polling statistics site. Yes, most of the people on it are Democrats, BUT they use the most thorough analysis of statistics that I have ever seen in Politics. Their politics may be biased, but their math is not. You can't go wrong when people are using real math to support their findings. You still don't buy into it? In the last several elections, fivethirtyeight.com has been extremely accurate in their predictions of presidential and congressional elections. During the Primary season, they were wrong about Trump getting the nomination and Bernie Sander's winning Michigan like most media was. But unlike most media they ate their crow and admitted they were wrong and did a full scale analysis of where they went wrong.
I am also a fan of the Upshot at the New York Times site. Yes, it is also liberal biased, so I balance it out by reading articles and polling information on Realclearpolitics.com. This site averages many of the polls that come out to give an average of where the races stand. It isn't as thorough as fivethirtyeight.com, but it also has news and editorial articles written by both conservative and liberal writers. It overall leans slightly conservative though. But the more you know!
2. STOP PAYING ATTENTION TO WHAT BERNIE SANDERS DOES OR SAYS- Bernie Sanders may not be endorsing Clinton and he may not be dropping out, but he really isn't running for president. He isn't. The Democratic race is over. So stop worrying when the media gives him time to let us all know that he isn't dropping out. Even the media is finally starting to stop falling for his game and he is getting less attention.
Senator Sanders should be commended for what he was able to do during this primary season. He engaged voters who were not engaged before (even though I kind of want to say "shame on you" if you were old enough to be engaged before), but the primary season is OVER. Bernie Sanders has gone from leader of a new movement to the guest at a party who WILL. NOT. GO. HOME. Everyday he prolongs this he becomes more of a joke and so do the few squeaky wheels left who are still Bernie holdouts.
Yes, there will be some Bernie followers who will not vote for Hillary. Most likely they won't vote at all or waste their vote on a third party candidate. Guess what? This happens in every election. Bernie just has some extremely loud supporters that NEED TO BE HEARD!!! But just because they are noisy does not mean that there are actually that many of them. And if they opt to vote for the Republican candidate over Secretary of State Clinton, then my guess is that they did not really know much about Sander's actual position on political issues at all.
Stop worrying! Every month more and more voters move over from Sanders to Clinton. She may not be their first choice, but most of them are intelligent people who know that choosing the other real option will have dire consequences. The ones who won't change their mind want you to know that they won't they won't change their mind. They are the spoiled brat craving their parents' attention and there truly aren't enough of them to make a real difference.
Move on everyone! The Sanders ship has sailed. We have bigger fish ahead to fry.
3. VOTE VOTE VOTE- You may think that I am living in a blissful state of mind that believes the host of the Apprentice can't become president. You are wrong. I know he could win. I know he can.
But here is the reality. There are more liberals, Democrats, moderates and sensible independents in this country than there are crazy conservatives who wish to bring on the rapture. That is just the truth. Here is the problem. Potential Democrat candidate voters are much less inclined to actually show up to vote than their conservative counterparts. The Republicans know this. It is a big part of their strategy. They work hard to make voting difficult. They want to make sure you don't participate in Democracy.
But it isn't totally the Republicans fault. In fact, it is more our own problem. Apathy seems to win out with us. There is an attitude among too many of us that our vote won't matter. Many argue that unless their state is one of the swing states our vote doesn't matter. But the swing states change over time. Your candidate might not win every time. But doing nothing is a worse option. You should still vote. Vote every time you have the chance! . Vote for who you believe in even if they won't win. Vote in smaller elections Especially vote in smaller elections. A lot of the problems we have today is because Democrat voters didn't come out for the 2012 unsexy midterm elections. Voting is not sexy. Do it anyway. Do it every time!
I have been thinking about writing this blog post for a long time. After all of the "the sky is falling! Bernie Sanders is going to win!" moments from Hillary supporters I endured during primary season, I had to have my eye surgically moved back to their correct location after all of my eye rolling! It didn't take much to set most Hillary supporters off into panic (except for me).
Well today is the perfect day to write this because as I write a poll has been released that shows Clinton up by 2 points over that joke of a candidate that the Republicans have chosen. I have seen this many many many times before. This will be the poll that gets a ton of media attention. Then all my Hillary Clinton supporting friends will post it on Facebook or other social media while dabbling with the idea of moving to a foreign country and/or building a bomb shelter.
Here is what I have to say! STOP PANICKING!!! We most likely got this! I am worried for your blood pressure! I am also worried that your panic will lead us to Drumpfian doom! I know panic is natural for some and a hard habit to break, so here are three options for you to focus on instead of being a Chicken Little.
1. READ- I cannot emphasize this much. Read. A lot. Read multiple sources. Read point of views that you don't like or agree with. Be educated. I have always been critical about the many conservative Republicans who only watch Fox News and listen to conservative radio that only feeds into what they already think or want to believe. Well guess what? One thing I learned from primary season is that extreme liberals are just as bad. If you are only getting all of you news from Bernie Sanders media like Huffington Post and God forbid usuncut.com, you simply aren't well informed. Your information is as one sided as Fox News. I do my best to stay away from the extreme media on both sides and even if many of my media resources lean liberal like some of my favorites writers who write for MSNBC do , I counteract that with information from more conservative points of view.
That leads me to the poll problem. The media picks and chooses which polls are going to panic people the most. Yes, a 2 point lead over the Donald is nerve wracking. Your nervousness will get you to pay attention to their site or TV station. What they don't mention is that every other poll released in the last week has had Hillary up by anywhere from 5 to 12 points. But that's boring! The media needs you to believe this is a close race even if right now it is not. A blow out isn't interesting. This is why many media sites in 2012 led people to believe that Mitt Romney might actually defeat President Obama. You see how that turned out? If you were really paying attention then you knew it wasn't going to happen.
But Clinton's lead could change for the worse. Even if it doesn't change, I have some suggested sites for you. Fivethirtyeight.com is my go to polling statistics site. Yes, most of the people on it are Democrats, BUT they use the most thorough analysis of statistics that I have ever seen in Politics. Their politics may be biased, but their math is not. You can't go wrong when people are using real math to support their findings. You still don't buy into it? In the last several elections, fivethirtyeight.com has been extremely accurate in their predictions of presidential and congressional elections. During the Primary season, they were wrong about Trump getting the nomination and Bernie Sander's winning Michigan like most media was. But unlike most media they ate their crow and admitted they were wrong and did a full scale analysis of where they went wrong.
I am also a fan of the Upshot at the New York Times site. Yes, it is also liberal biased, so I balance it out by reading articles and polling information on Realclearpolitics.com. This site averages many of the polls that come out to give an average of where the races stand. It isn't as thorough as fivethirtyeight.com, but it also has news and editorial articles written by both conservative and liberal writers. It overall leans slightly conservative though. But the more you know!
2. STOP PAYING ATTENTION TO WHAT BERNIE SANDERS DOES OR SAYS- Bernie Sanders may not be endorsing Clinton and he may not be dropping out, but he really isn't running for president. He isn't. The Democratic race is over. So stop worrying when the media gives him time to let us all know that he isn't dropping out. Even the media is finally starting to stop falling for his game and he is getting less attention.
Senator Sanders should be commended for what he was able to do during this primary season. He engaged voters who were not engaged before (even though I kind of want to say "shame on you" if you were old enough to be engaged before), but the primary season is OVER. Bernie Sanders has gone from leader of a new movement to the guest at a party who WILL. NOT. GO. HOME. Everyday he prolongs this he becomes more of a joke and so do the few squeaky wheels left who are still Bernie holdouts.
Yes, there will be some Bernie followers who will not vote for Hillary. Most likely they won't vote at all or waste their vote on a third party candidate. Guess what? This happens in every election. Bernie just has some extremely loud supporters that NEED TO BE HEARD!!! But just because they are noisy does not mean that there are actually that many of them. And if they opt to vote for the Republican candidate over Secretary of State Clinton, then my guess is that they did not really know much about Sander's actual position on political issues at all.
Stop worrying! Every month more and more voters move over from Sanders to Clinton. She may not be their first choice, but most of them are intelligent people who know that choosing the other real option will have dire consequences. The ones who won't change their mind want you to know that they won't they won't change their mind. They are the spoiled brat craving their parents' attention and there truly aren't enough of them to make a real difference.
Move on everyone! The Sanders ship has sailed. We have bigger fish ahead to fry.
3. VOTE VOTE VOTE- You may think that I am living in a blissful state of mind that believes the host of the Apprentice can't become president. You are wrong. I know he could win. I know he can.
But here is the reality. There are more liberals, Democrats, moderates and sensible independents in this country than there are crazy conservatives who wish to bring on the rapture. That is just the truth. Here is the problem. Potential Democrat candidate voters are much less inclined to actually show up to vote than their conservative counterparts. The Republicans know this. It is a big part of their strategy. They work hard to make voting difficult. They want to make sure you don't participate in Democracy.
But it isn't totally the Republicans fault. In fact, it is more our own problem. Apathy seems to win out with us. There is an attitude among too many of us that our vote won't matter. Many argue that unless their state is one of the swing states our vote doesn't matter. But the swing states change over time. Your candidate might not win every time. But doing nothing is a worse option. You should still vote. Vote every time you have the chance! . Vote for who you believe in even if they won't win. Vote in smaller elections Especially vote in smaller elections. A lot of the problems we have today is because Democrat voters didn't come out for the 2012 unsexy midterm elections. Voting is not sexy. Do it anyway. Do it every time!
Sunday, June 12, 2016
Yesterday I went to a gay bar.....(one year later).
One year ago I wrote this blog post after the terrible tragedy at Pulse, a gay dance club, in Orlando. Through my fear, anger and sorrow of seeing this happen at a place that I would most definitely frequent, a fire was lit under me. I hoped that fire wouldn't go away. I hoped that I would never forget, and I hoped that I would take action.
The fire in me didn't die, but unfortunately it calmed.
Fortunately, so many of us are reflecting one year later. I hope the fire is back! Because one year later there have been some minor state victories for sensible gun control, but unfortunately at the federal level things are the same or even worse due to the nefarious nature of the current presidential administration and Republican congress.
We are experiencing a national crisis, and the gun epidemic in the USA is a notable part of that crisis. We have to stand up and continue to fight even when it doesn't feel like it is enough.
There is no choice. I cannot let the lives of my friends In Orlando who I will never know be in vain.
I have to remember what it felt like that day. One year later.
Yesterday I went to a gay bar by Dan Rosson 6/12/2016
Edited 6/12/2017
Yesterday I went to a gay bar. I don't always go to gay bars. Sometimes I do. Sometimes I don't. I tend to go to places that I am going to feel comfortable in whether that be gay or friendly to everyone. But on the evening of June 11th I went to a gay bar. It was gay pride weekend in Boston. So being proudly out, I went to a gay bar. It was fun. I hung out with my friends. I drank a few beers. We eyed a few sad fashion errors. Kind of what I do at ANY bar. Gay. Gay friendly. Or straight.
I was not at THAT bar. THAT gay club.
It was a few hours before it happened. My fun was not ruined by automatic rifle fire. I was able to walk to a restaurant and get some pizza. I was able to make a poor choice and attempt a very bad dance on a wall while ripping my pants and risking further beer induced minor injuries. I was able to have a couple more beers. My fun was not ended by automatic rifle fire. My life was not stopped by automatic rifle fire.
But it could have been. I was lucky that night.
You see there are people who don't know me who wish I was a dead. There are those who wish to do me harm because of who I love. Because of who I am attracted to. Because I am unapologetic about being who I am.
There are those that wish harm to many of you too: Because you are black, because you are Asian, because you are a Muslim, because you don't speak much English, because you are a woman. Because you are many things you should always be very proud of. Unfortunately, you are not the things that a small handful of sick hateful people want you to be.
Fortunately, those evil people are few and far between. As Anne Frank once said, "I still believe in spite of everything that people are good at heart." I, like Anne Frank, believe most people are good at heart. Even the misguided. Unfortunately, there are a small few that just aren't good. There are a few that choose evil over good. Those few will always find a way to do evil.
But we must not make it easy for them. We don't have to.
We must not make it easy for them to get guns that will make it possible for them to kill 50 people in a couple short minutes. We do not have to.
"But the second amendment!!" you gasp.
That amendment was created when slow loading muskets and cannons were the norm over two hundred years ago. Of course, the second amendment is still relevant. But I think any amendment that continues to compromise the safety of so many people day after day needs to be seriously thought about. I'm not anti-gun, but the 2nd amendment is broken. We must fix it.
"But but!" You gasp, "that man would have found a way to kill people regardless. So there is NOTHING we can do."
That is wrong. If that man had just walked in with a regular shot gun or with a knife he would not have been able to kill 49 people! Any life lost is terrible but 49 lives did not have to be lost at Pulse. That isn't difficult to understand! Studies have shown that the places in the USA that have fewer guns have fewer gun related deaths. Massachusetts, where I live, is one of the states with the most gun regulations. It is also one of the states with the fewest gun deaths. But we have to do this as a nation and not at a state by state basis or tragedies like this will continue to happen all too frequently.
We must not continue to let people who wish to commit evil to others have easy access to automatic rifles. We must not continue to let people with violent criminal backgrounds have easy access to any
kind of gun. We must not continue to let it be easier in some states to get a gun than it is to get a driver's license. We must not let this continue!!
We cannot let my friends in Orlando deaths be in vain. We cannot let our Jewish brothers and sisters killed in Seattle in 2006 be in vain. We cannot let the death of the precious children and teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown CT be in vain.
We can't! We have to act
We cannot let this one be forgotten and then let this all start over again the next time it happens!
Please. Join me to find ways to end unnecessary gun violence.
Here are some groups I know that are working hard to make this happen.
The Coalition to End Gun Violence
http://csgv.org
Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense
http://momsdemandaction.org
Sign this petition to Ban Assault Weapons
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/ban-assault-weapons
An Easy Guide to Contacting Your Elected representatives about Gun Control
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nicole-silverberg/guide-elected-representatives-gun-control_b_8708154.html
Everytown for Gun Safety
http://everytown.org/
Gays Against Guns
http://gaysagainstguns.net
Follow Gun Control Now on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/guncontrolnow.campaign/
Know how your congressional representatives vote on gun control issues
http://occupydemocrats.com/2016/06/12/hypocrites-republicans-offering-prayers-accepting-money-nra/
Ways we can help The Orlando community
http://www.hrc.org/blog/ways-to-help-in-the-wake-of-the-orlando-nightclub-shooting
If you know others groups. If you know other ways, please comment! Please join them. Let's stop this. We can. We must.
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Short Movie Reviews 4: The Not so Final Chapter
It goes like this. I give a movie a score from one to ten. The review is as many words long.
Quick and to the point.
A Bigger Splash.- 6
Ralph Fiennes is plenty naked. Eh.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2- 6
Two movies wasn't better than one
Newsies- 5
Christian Bale sings snoozy songs.
The Green Butchers- 7
Laughing loud about murderous butchers and cannibalism
Concussion- 5
Should be provocative but isn't.
Krampus-6
I guess Christmas is not scary.
Before Stonewall-7
Everyone should know more American gay history.
Sunday, June 5, 2016
A Movie that Changed my Life: Six Weeks
What movie changed my life? Yes, I know any film snob worth their salt takes making a statement about which film changed their life very very seriously. And Yes in the thousands of films I have seen, I could have given you a palatable film snob answer that would've also been mostly true, but today I have chosen chose not to do that.
Ladies and gentleman, a film that changed my life and was an essential part of making me The film lover I am today is called.......Six Weeks
What? You have never heard of Six Weeks (of if you have heard of it you are asking "What kind of delicious thing is he smokin?"). Six Weeks was released in 1982 and went on to be nominated for exactly zero Oscars and it can claim to be a Razzie (worst in movies) nominee.
It stars the late 80s romantic comedy icon Dudley Moore as a married politician who strikes up an affair with an uptight character played by Razzie Nominee and television icon Mary Tyler Moore. What? That sounds boring to you? It gets better! Mary's character has a daughter who is a really good ballet dancer and GET READY FOR THIS, she has leukemia! Her daughter has six weeks to live (get it?!) and her one dying wish is to dance in the nutcracker in NYC. It's melodrama at its...uh....finest?
So actually I can wholeheartedly admit that it isn't a very good movie, but in the summer of 1983 that movie was my jam. You see these days kids are raised by tablets. Well my generation was mostly raised by a big fat half ton console television, and around that time something called HBO reached the culturally starved town of Casoer Wyoming where I grew up.
We had a few movie theaters back then, but this was before the multiplex. We had a movie theater with TWO theaters and that was really living large! So while I saw movies before Six Weeks, obviously, HBO was great because it was a then 24 hours a day movie channel. I spent much of that summer holed up in our freezing basement watching HBO and especially the movie Six Weeks. I think I also watched Willy Wonka a lot that summer AND I cannot forget all the times I also watched Grease 2. But I must have watched Six Weeks over a dozen times in a month. One time I actually set my alarm clock to go downstairs and watch it at around 5:00 in the morning. I was a Six Weeks maniac!
It was very dramatic! And now I know too dramatic! The writing is kind of terrible there is a very dramatic speech given at the end by MTM (Spoiler Alert!!!!! THE DAUGHTER DIES!!!!) that has a line that starts out "There's a place in France" and even through my pre teenage crying eyes I could not resist responding to the screen with "where the naked ladies dance!" I was indeed a very mature 11 year old!
But why was it so important to me? Six Weeks was my film gateway drug that made me want more much more. Eventually I was on to bigger and better things (while still loving some pretty admittedly terrible movies), but Six Weeks deserves some credit for making me the film lover I am today. Even if today I won't touch the Nicholas Sparks type films that is spawned with a twenty foot pole.
Granted I am now very nostalgic about the film, and I would love to find a watchable non VHS copy of it, but have yet to find one. It doesn't matter though because in the summer of 1983 in my basement, at 5:00 in the morning, Six Weeks was everything to me!
Next in this series: a TV show that changed my life.
Ladies and gentleman, a film that changed my life and was an essential part of making me The film lover I am today is called.......Six Weeks
What? You have never heard of Six Weeks (of if you have heard of it you are asking "What kind of delicious thing is he smokin?"). Six Weeks was released in 1982 and went on to be nominated for exactly zero Oscars and it can claim to be a Razzie (worst in movies) nominee.
It stars the late 80s romantic comedy icon Dudley Moore as a married politician who strikes up an affair with an uptight character played by Razzie Nominee and television icon Mary Tyler Moore. What? That sounds boring to you? It gets better! Mary's character has a daughter who is a really good ballet dancer and GET READY FOR THIS, she has leukemia! Her daughter has six weeks to live (get it?!) and her one dying wish is to dance in the nutcracker in NYC. It's melodrama at its...uh....finest?
So actually I can wholeheartedly admit that it isn't a very good movie, but in the summer of 1983 that movie was my jam. You see these days kids are raised by tablets. Well my generation was mostly raised by a big fat half ton console television, and around that time something called HBO reached the culturally starved town of Casoer Wyoming where I grew up.
We had a few movie theaters back then, but this was before the multiplex. We had a movie theater with TWO theaters and that was really living large! So while I saw movies before Six Weeks, obviously, HBO was great because it was a then 24 hours a day movie channel. I spent much of that summer holed up in our freezing basement watching HBO and especially the movie Six Weeks. I think I also watched Willy Wonka a lot that summer AND I cannot forget all the times I also watched Grease 2. But I must have watched Six Weeks over a dozen times in a month. One time I actually set my alarm clock to go downstairs and watch it at around 5:00 in the morning. I was a Six Weeks maniac!
It was very dramatic! And now I know too dramatic! The writing is kind of terrible there is a very dramatic speech given at the end by MTM (Spoiler Alert!!!!! THE DAUGHTER DIES!!!!) that has a line that starts out "There's a place in France" and even through my pre teenage crying eyes I could not resist responding to the screen with "where the naked ladies dance!" I was indeed a very mature 11 year old!
But why was it so important to me? Six Weeks was my film gateway drug that made me want more much more. Eventually I was on to bigger and better things (while still loving some pretty admittedly terrible movies), but Six Weeks deserves some credit for making me the film lover I am today. Even if today I won't touch the Nicholas Sparks type films that is spawned with a twenty foot pole.
Granted I am now very nostalgic about the film, and I would love to find a watchable non VHS copy of it, but have yet to find one. It doesn't matter though because in the summer of 1983 in my basement, at 5:00 in the morning, Six Weeks was everything to me!
Next in this series: a TV show that changed my life.
Monday, May 23, 2016
#ignorance Part 1
A few weeks ago President Barack Obama said the following at a commencement address at Rutger's University.
"Class of 2016, let me be clear as I can be: In politics as in life, ignorance is not a virtue......facts, evidence, reason, logic, and understanding of science: these are good things. "
In my life I've been called many names. I kind of have a thick skin for that kind of thing. But for me one of the worst things you could call me is ignorant. I take great pride in exploring, researching and really thinking about my point of view. I never just took in what my parents spoon fedme, what my church told me to believe or what one media source has to tell me. Ignorant is something I work very hard not to be.
But for some, maybe many, ignorance really is bliss. Many choose not to learn outside of what they were raised to believe or really do much thinking outside of their comfort zone. For some reality is whatever they wish it to be even if it isn't the case at all.
If you are someone who does a lot of thinking and reading, you are probably not going to be too offended by what I'm about to say. For everyone else, this might sting a little.
I'm not going to start where you think I'm going to start just yet. Right wing conservatives you have a few moments to take a few yoga breaths now but believe me, you will get your turn.
Im going to start with some of my progressive friends. I'm going to start with a small unyielding group of people who identify as Bernie Bros. This does not exclude you Susan Sarandon (one of my favorite actresses but not one of my favorite outspoken liberals), for I have no gender bias.
First of all, I have nothing against anyone who voted for Bernie Sanders. I'm from the Socialist Republic of Seattle. If I had a big beef with anyone who voted for Bernie, I'd have very few Seattle friends left. I also, get ready, DO NOT THINK Bernie should drop out. I support the idea that every person in every state who wants to be part of the process should be able to vote. In 2000 I still cast my vote for Bill Bradley even though it was very clear that Al Gore was going to be the nominee. Imagine that? A democracy.
But let me clear. Senator. Bernie. Sanders. Is not winning. the nomination and no amount of reading usuncut.com or Huffington Post (which used to be a credible news source before Bernie started running for president) is going to change that.
He just isn't. Sorry to be the ruiner of unicorn and rainbow dreams, but most of the people have voted and it really hasn't been close.
So here is the thing. If you are a young new voter and voted for Bernie as your first vote, Welcome. I profoundly hope that you'll be a good sport and continue to participate in the process. Because if you don't like the process the only way to change it is by being part of it and voting. That's just the truth. Going to Nevada and acting like a petulant brat at the convention by throwing chairs isn't going to change the process. It's not revolution, Jean Valjean. It is a two year old throwing a tantrum. And no one is going to take that seriously.
If you have been of voting age for some time, but have chosen to make a statement by not voting until this year, I welcome you also. However, I will also say that your "statement" you made by not voting is perhaps not the statement you were going for. The process that was created that you do not like exists because you weren't part of it. You let it happen.
To all of you, if you want to make change you must vote. Not just once at a caucus that you were lucky enough to not be disenfranchised for and that you were able to have enough time off work to actually attend. You must continue to vote. Even when it's boring. Especially when it's boring. The boring elections are probably the most important ones, but they are the ones that get terrible turnout. It's the boring elections that gave the congress to Tea Party Right Wingers who continue to obstruct justice and not to do their job. That didn't have to happen. There are more liberal minded people in this country than Tea Party right wingers. The liberals didn't show up to vote, and the right wing conservatives did.
So again Bernie, a man who deserves respect, is not going to be the president. Stop pouting and become part of the process. Democratic change doesn't happen quickly. It's messy. It isn't perfect. It especially isn't perfect if the people don't come out for it.
Don't worry Conservatives, you aren't getting off. Your turn is coming. To be continued.
"Class of 2016, let me be clear as I can be: In politics as in life, ignorance is not a virtue......facts, evidence, reason, logic, and understanding of science: these are good things. "
In my life I've been called many names. I kind of have a thick skin for that kind of thing. But for me one of the worst things you could call me is ignorant. I take great pride in exploring, researching and really thinking about my point of view. I never just took in what my parents spoon fedme, what my church told me to believe or what one media source has to tell me. Ignorant is something I work very hard not to be.
But for some, maybe many, ignorance really is bliss. Many choose not to learn outside of what they were raised to believe or really do much thinking outside of their comfort zone. For some reality is whatever they wish it to be even if it isn't the case at all.
If you are someone who does a lot of thinking and reading, you are probably not going to be too offended by what I'm about to say. For everyone else, this might sting a little.
I'm not going to start where you think I'm going to start just yet. Right wing conservatives you have a few moments to take a few yoga breaths now but believe me, you will get your turn.
Im going to start with some of my progressive friends. I'm going to start with a small unyielding group of people who identify as Bernie Bros. This does not exclude you Susan Sarandon (one of my favorite actresses but not one of my favorite outspoken liberals), for I have no gender bias.
First of all, I have nothing against anyone who voted for Bernie Sanders. I'm from the Socialist Republic of Seattle. If I had a big beef with anyone who voted for Bernie, I'd have very few Seattle friends left. I also, get ready, DO NOT THINK Bernie should drop out. I support the idea that every person in every state who wants to be part of the process should be able to vote. In 2000 I still cast my vote for Bill Bradley even though it was very clear that Al Gore was going to be the nominee. Imagine that? A democracy.
But let me clear. Senator. Bernie. Sanders. Is not winning. the nomination and no amount of reading usuncut.com or Huffington Post (which used to be a credible news source before Bernie started running for president) is going to change that.
He just isn't. Sorry to be the ruiner of unicorn and rainbow dreams, but most of the people have voted and it really hasn't been close.
So here is the thing. If you are a young new voter and voted for Bernie as your first vote, Welcome. I profoundly hope that you'll be a good sport and continue to participate in the process. Because if you don't like the process the only way to change it is by being part of it and voting. That's just the truth. Going to Nevada and acting like a petulant brat at the convention by throwing chairs isn't going to change the process. It's not revolution, Jean Valjean. It is a two year old throwing a tantrum. And no one is going to take that seriously.
If you have been of voting age for some time, but have chosen to make a statement by not voting until this year, I welcome you also. However, I will also say that your "statement" you made by not voting is perhaps not the statement you were going for. The process that was created that you do not like exists because you weren't part of it. You let it happen.
To all of you, if you want to make change you must vote. Not just once at a caucus that you were lucky enough to not be disenfranchised for and that you were able to have enough time off work to actually attend. You must continue to vote. Even when it's boring. Especially when it's boring. The boring elections are probably the most important ones, but they are the ones that get terrible turnout. It's the boring elections that gave the congress to Tea Party Right Wingers who continue to obstruct justice and not to do their job. That didn't have to happen. There are more liberal minded people in this country than Tea Party right wingers. The liberals didn't show up to vote, and the right wing conservatives did.
So again Bernie, a man who deserves respect, is not going to be the president. Stop pouting and become part of the process. Democratic change doesn't happen quickly. It's messy. It isn't perfect. It especially isn't perfect if the people don't come out for it.
Don't worry Conservatives, you aren't getting off. Your turn is coming. To be continued.
Monday, May 16, 2016
A Book That Changed My Life: Then Again Maybe I Won't by Judy Blume
Tales of the Fourth grade nothing was my gateway drug to "naughty" Judy Blume.
My parents knew that my teacher had read Tales to us at school so surely any other book that Judy Blume would be in that same vein. Fortunately, there was no internet for my parents to look up what other books Judy Blume had written. I thank God that they never checked up on what I was reading.
Judy Blume books were my education on many topics that I wasn't learning about at school or at home. They were full of life lessons that were in many cases more important than what I was actually learning. In the 1980s , where was I going to learn about topics like racism, sex, and bullying in an intelligent way that never talked down to a kid? Judy Blume books were one of the only options.
"Are You There God? It's me Margaret" was a book that changed many young women's lives because of its honest depiction of a girl going through puberty (and frankly it was also eye opening for me to know what was going on with all of the girls around me). Then Again Maybe I Won't was the boy version of that book. It doesn't get as much credit as Margaret gets, but for me it was a life changer.
Tony, the main character, is a boy in the middle of a lot of changes. His family has just moved from there working class neighborhood to a more white collar neighborhood in New York, and in the middle of all this life change he dives into the pangs of adolescent change as well.
I related to Tony. Not so much because I had just experienced a big move in class because I hadn't. Not so much because I was girl crazy like he was because let's face it, I wasn't. But I related to him because all the people around him thought everything was going just great because he was one of those kids like me who people just made those assumptions about but didn't actually ask.
One of the most "shocking" moments of the book is when Tony has a sexual dream and wakes up to the mess on the bed that every teenage boy wakes up to at some poin. Thank you Judy Blume for teaching me what a wet dream was! It made the first time I ever had one on a family vacation at my eighty five year old aunt's house slightly less mortifying.
Another way I related to Tony was that he was a big worrier like me. At a certain point his worrying over something his "friend" has done gets to him so much that he develops an ulcer. We didn't have the words for those things then like we do now, but Tony struggled with anxiety. As someone who has been diagnosed with and continues to live with an anxiety disorder, seeing a character in a book go through sometung similar was very important. It made me feel like I was less alone and that I wasn't totally crazy.
Last summer I was able to listen to Judy Blume speak and was able to ask her a question from the audience. Afterward she stayed to sign her new book, and I was able to thank her for Then Again Maybe I Won't and thank her for the impact her words made on my life.
Below is a picture of the moment that I got to tell Judy Blume what a difference she had made in my life. It isn't a particularly flattering picture of me, but it is a moment I will not forget.
Next time: A film that changed my life
My parents knew that my teacher had read Tales to us at school so surely any other book that Judy Blume would be in that same vein. Fortunately, there was no internet for my parents to look up what other books Judy Blume had written. I thank God that they never checked up on what I was reading.
Judy Blume books were my education on many topics that I wasn't learning about at school or at home. They were full of life lessons that were in many cases more important than what I was actually learning. In the 1980s , where was I going to learn about topics like racism, sex, and bullying in an intelligent way that never talked down to a kid? Judy Blume books were one of the only options.
"Are You There God? It's me Margaret" was a book that changed many young women's lives because of its honest depiction of a girl going through puberty (and frankly it was also eye opening for me to know what was going on with all of the girls around me). Then Again Maybe I Won't was the boy version of that book. It doesn't get as much credit as Margaret gets, but for me it was a life changer.
Tony, the main character, is a boy in the middle of a lot of changes. His family has just moved from there working class neighborhood to a more white collar neighborhood in New York, and in the middle of all this life change he dives into the pangs of adolescent change as well.
I related to Tony. Not so much because I had just experienced a big move in class because I hadn't. Not so much because I was girl crazy like he was because let's face it, I wasn't. But I related to him because all the people around him thought everything was going just great because he was one of those kids like me who people just made those assumptions about but didn't actually ask.
One of the most "shocking" moments of the book is when Tony has a sexual dream and wakes up to the mess on the bed that every teenage boy wakes up to at some poin. Thank you Judy Blume for teaching me what a wet dream was! It made the first time I ever had one on a family vacation at my eighty five year old aunt's house slightly less mortifying.
Another way I related to Tony was that he was a big worrier like me. At a certain point his worrying over something his "friend" has done gets to him so much that he develops an ulcer. We didn't have the words for those things then like we do now, but Tony struggled with anxiety. As someone who has been diagnosed with and continues to live with an anxiety disorder, seeing a character in a book go through sometung similar was very important. It made me feel like I was less alone and that I wasn't totally crazy.
Last summer I was able to listen to Judy Blume speak and was able to ask her a question from the audience. Afterward she stayed to sign her new book, and I was able to thank her for Then Again Maybe I Won't and thank her for the impact her words made on my life.
Below is a picture of the moment that I got to tell Judy Blume what a difference she had made in my life. It isn't a particularly flattering picture of me, but it is a moment I will not forget.
Next time: A film that changed my life
Saturday, May 14, 2016
Coming Soon: Art That Changed My Life- In five parts
In addition to my regular blog posts, I have been thinking about what pieces of art have had a profound impact on my life. So coming soon, I will profile 5 different works of art over 5 posts that made a difference in my life.
They will include:
A book
A television program or series
A film
A song or album
A musical or play.
The first part will be coming soon, and it will be ....a book
Stay tuned!
They will include:
A book
A television program or series
A film
A song or album
A musical or play.
The first part will be coming soon, and it will be ....a book
Stay tuned!
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
My 5 Favorite Prince Songs (1978-1993) plus 14 more essential tracks.
I still can't believe Prince is gone. :( I am definitely looking forward to see what great stuff comes out of his unreleased vault. For now here is my list of great Prince songs starting with my favorite 5 with 14 other essentials. I will admit that I paid a bit less attention to his late 90s work and work that went into the 21st century.
My 5 Favorite Prince Tracks (in chronological order)
Little Red Corvette (1983)
When Doves Cry (1984)
Let's Go Crazy (1984)
I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man (1987)
U Got the Look (1987)
14 Other Essential Tracks in No Particular Order
Why Do You Wanna Treat Me So Bad
When You Were Mine
1999
Alphabet Street
I Wanna Be Your Lover
Head
Delirious
I Would Die 4 U
Raspberry Beret
Kiss
Cream
200 Balloons
Erotic City
and of course Purple Rain
My 5 Favorite Prince Tracks (in chronological order)
Little Red Corvette (1983)
When Doves Cry (1984)
Let's Go Crazy (1984)
I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man (1987)
U Got the Look (1987)
14 Other Essential Tracks in No Particular Order
Why Do You Wanna Treat Me So Bad
When You Were Mine
1999
Alphabet Street
I Wanna Be Your Lover
Head
Delirious
I Would Die 4 U
Raspberry Beret
Kiss
Cream
200 Balloons
Erotic City
and of course Purple Rain
Saturday, May 7, 2016
On Second Thought....In Defense of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard, the movie starring Gloria Swanson as the iconic character Norma Desmond, is considered one of the greatest films of all time. If you've seen it, you know that it's a biting look at the Hollywood movie system that ate up and spit out silent movie stars as the shift was made to talking films. When Andrew Lloyd Webber created a musical version of this classic film in the mid 90s, there was a collective sigh and eye roll in the entertainment community. Why remake something that was close to perfect?
Keep this in mind I am no Andrew Lloyd Webber apologist. While I think Evita is one of the greatest musicals of all time, I also think Cats and especially the roller skating musical Starlight Express are two of the worst things to ever grace musical theater. All that said I think the musical version of Sunset Boulevard is some of Lloyd Webber's best work and perhaps one of the most underrated and unfairly maligned musicals in existence.
I first saw Sunset Boulevard in 1995 on the London Stage. I had heard the mixed reviews, but I was new into my fandom of musical theatre, so I was very excited to see the show. Some of the reviews were right. The show was a bit of a mess. The show was known for its expensive, over the top large set pieces and frankly they were a bit much. They were a distraction. Take that away and what was left was a melodic piece of biting satire as well as a damnation of our culture's treatment of women past a certain age. I left the show feeling not disappointed but also not entirely fulfilled. The groundwork of an amazing musical was there but not fully realized.
Generally even the people who hate the show could appreciate Glenn Close's portrayal of Norma Desmond in the original Broadway version. She and the musical won Tony's in an admittedly weak year for musical theater. But Close's performance was over the top and grandiose in the moments where it should be and in the next moment childlike and vulnerable. Glenn Close is perhaps my all time favorite actress and when I heard that she was going to be portraying Norma Desmond again in a semi staged smaller scale version of the show in London, I had to find a way to go.
I expected that Glenn Close would be amazing and she definitely was. I definitely felt like I was witnessing greatness in her performance in a way that I don't often feel when I see movies,television, theater or music performance. But what did surprise me was how good the show stood on its own without the big set pieces and with the orchestra on stage. The focus could now go on the performers who were all excellent and the beautiful music and clever lyrics. If you were able to get past the fact that it was a remake of one of Hollywood's finest movies, you were able to witness greatness.
I expect that based on the sold out month of shows in London that this version will make its way to Broadway with or without Glenn Close. If you open your mind to it, you may be surprised by how well done this show really is.
Keep this in mind I am no Andrew Lloyd Webber apologist. While I think Evita is one of the greatest musicals of all time, I also think Cats and especially the roller skating musical Starlight Express are two of the worst things to ever grace musical theater. All that said I think the musical version of Sunset Boulevard is some of Lloyd Webber's best work and perhaps one of the most underrated and unfairly maligned musicals in existence.
I first saw Sunset Boulevard in 1995 on the London Stage. I had heard the mixed reviews, but I was new into my fandom of musical theatre, so I was very excited to see the show. Some of the reviews were right. The show was a bit of a mess. The show was known for its expensive, over the top large set pieces and frankly they were a bit much. They were a distraction. Take that away and what was left was a melodic piece of biting satire as well as a damnation of our culture's treatment of women past a certain age. I left the show feeling not disappointed but also not entirely fulfilled. The groundwork of an amazing musical was there but not fully realized.
Generally even the people who hate the show could appreciate Glenn Close's portrayal of Norma Desmond in the original Broadway version. She and the musical won Tony's in an admittedly weak year for musical theater. But Close's performance was over the top and grandiose in the moments where it should be and in the next moment childlike and vulnerable. Glenn Close is perhaps my all time favorite actress and when I heard that she was going to be portraying Norma Desmond again in a semi staged smaller scale version of the show in London, I had to find a way to go.
I expected that Glenn Close would be amazing and she definitely was. I definitely felt like I was witnessing greatness in her performance in a way that I don't often feel when I see movies,television, theater or music performance. But what did surprise me was how good the show stood on its own without the big set pieces and with the orchestra on stage. The focus could now go on the performers who were all excellent and the beautiful music and clever lyrics. If you were able to get past the fact that it was a remake of one of Hollywood's finest movies, you were able to witness greatness.
I expect that based on the sold out month of shows in London that this version will make its way to Broadway with or without Glenn Close. If you open your mind to it, you may be surprised by how well done this show really is.
Monday, May 2, 2016
The best, worst and non-winners of the Best Musical Tonys
In honor of the Tony nominations tomorrow. May I present three lists? They pertain to musicals as I have not seen as many non musical plays.
While I've seen many musicals, I obviously haven't seen all of them.
The first is the Top 10 musicals to win Best Musicals ranked by how much I love them!
10. Billy Elliot
9. Sunset Boulevard
8. Avenue Q
7. Evita
6. The King and I
5. Sweeney Todd Demon Barber of Fleet Street
4. A Chorus Line
3. Cabaret
2. Rent
1. Les Misérables.
Second is an alphabetical order list of ten musicals that won Best Musicals that I'm not particularly fond of. A few of them I hate, but most are kind of meh to me even if they have their merits.
Cats
Damn Yankees
Hello Dolly
In The Heights
Memphis
Once
Phantom of the Opera
Spring awakenings
The Sound of Music
Titanic
Finally, here is my ranked list of the best musicals that did not win the Best musical Tony and what beat them.
10. The Drowsy Chaperone (defeated by Jersey Boys)
9. Grey Gardens (defeated by Spring Awakening)
8. Chicago (defeated by A Chorus Line)
7. Hedwig and the Angry Inch (not nominated. When it was finally on Broadway it was nominated as a revival. A little cheat on my part)
6. Ragtime (defeated by The Lion King)
5. Matilda (defeated by Kinky Boots)
4. Into the Woods (defeated by the Phantom of the Opera)
3. West Side Story (defeated by the Music Man)
2. Wicked (defeated by Avenue Q)
1. Next to Normal (defeated by Billy Elliot)
While I've seen many musicals, I obviously haven't seen all of them.
The first is the Top 10 musicals to win Best Musicals ranked by how much I love them!
10. Billy Elliot
9. Sunset Boulevard
8. Avenue Q
7. Evita
6. The King and I
5. Sweeney Todd Demon Barber of Fleet Street
4. A Chorus Line
3. Cabaret
2. Rent
1. Les Misérables.
Second is an alphabetical order list of ten musicals that won Best Musicals that I'm not particularly fond of. A few of them I hate, but most are kind of meh to me even if they have their merits.
Cats
Damn Yankees
Hello Dolly
In The Heights
Memphis
Once
Phantom of the Opera
Spring awakenings
The Sound of Music
Titanic
Finally, here is my ranked list of the best musicals that did not win the Best musical Tony and what beat them.
10. The Drowsy Chaperone (defeated by Jersey Boys)
9. Grey Gardens (defeated by Spring Awakening)
8. Chicago (defeated by A Chorus Line)
7. Hedwig and the Angry Inch (not nominated. When it was finally on Broadway it was nominated as a revival. A little cheat on my part)
6. Ragtime (defeated by The Lion King)
5. Matilda (defeated by Kinky Boots)
4. Into the Woods (defeated by the Phantom of the Opera)
3. West Side Story (defeated by the Music Man)
2. Wicked (defeated by Avenue Q)
1. Next to Normal (defeated by Billy Elliot)
Sunday, May 1, 2016
My 10 favorite cities and towns in Europe and North America.
I have done a good amount of traveling in Europe and North America. This weekend I went to London for the first time in over twenty years and the first time as an adult. What a great experience to have so many years later when I can appreciate it more. As celebration I'm going to list in alphabetical order my 10 Favorite cities and towns in North America and Europe in alphabetical order. Please feel free to comment or question. London is not eligible as I'm still processing the experience. Also no city or town I have lived in is eligible. So that would explain no Seattle or Boston
1. Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2. Budapest, Hungary
3. Florence, Italy
4. Madrid, Spain
5. Montreal, Canada
6. Naxos,Greece
7. New York City, USA
8. Paris, France
9. Prague, Czech Republic
10. San Francisco, USA
1. Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2. Budapest, Hungary
3. Florence, Italy
4. Madrid, Spain
5. Montreal, Canada
6. Naxos,Greece
7. New York City, USA
8. Paris, France
9. Prague, Czech Republic
10. San Francisco, USA
Monday, April 25, 2016
Short Movie Reviews 3: The Search for a Smock
The drill is I rate the movies. They get a score 1 to 10. The review of the movie reflects their score. If a movie gets a 5, the review is 5 words. Here we go.
Sisters starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler-6
Shouldn't this movie be way funnier?
The Good Dinosaur-6
Better than Cars and Monsters Inc.
The Intern-7
Anne Hathaway learns lessons? Sign me up!
James White- 6
Need more antidepressants after this movie
Suffragette- 5
Women who vote deserve better!
The Peanuts Movie- 6
Why so much damn Red Baron?!
The Tribe- 5
Deaf people make no sounds?
Sisters starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler-6
Shouldn't this movie be way funnier?
The Good Dinosaur-6
Better than Cars and Monsters Inc.
The Intern-7
Anne Hathaway learns lessons? Sign me up!
James White- 6
Need more antidepressants after this movie
Suffragette- 5
Women who vote deserve better!
The Peanuts Movie- 6
Why so much damn Red Baron?!
The Tribe- 5
Deaf people make no sounds?
Sunday, April 24, 2016
King Prince
After January 10th, I read tributes regarding the surprising death of David Bowie with respect and admiration. But I hadn't experienced peak Bowie. Most of my musical knowledge of his was his 80s music which inarguably was not his best. As I read and listened to these tributes I wondered who my David Bowie was. Which music artists had such an effect on my life and who I came to be as a person. Two names came to mind quickly: Madonna and obviously Prince. I wondered what it would feel like when they, two of my artistic heroes, would pass from this world. Here less than four months later I'm feeling the feels so much sooner than I ever would have expected. Prince was iconic to me as he was for many, but also an important cultural influence in my childhood and early adulthood.
I first became aware of Prince in about 1983 when a lot of other people did. The song was Little Red Corvette. I hovered over the radio for hours listening to KTRS in Casper Wyoming waiting for the very second the song began so that I could record it onto a blank cassette. At this point I knew little about Prince (but did I or anyone really ever know that much about him?), but I knew that I loved this song. There was something exciting and new about it.
Perhaps a year later I became very aware of Prince the man. MTV played music then, and they used to have World Premiere videos at the top of the hour. There had been huge buzz about this relatively known artist and the fact that he was making a rock musical called Purple Rain, but nothing had been seen until that day. The video of When Doves Cry came on that day and I was excited, terrified and in lust as Prince arose out of the bathtub and crawled and writhed and beckoned his audience to follow him. It was unlike anything I had ever seen before. It felt like I should look away and yet I never could or would.
I won't pretend to be the world's biggest Prince fan. Sure, like many I consider Purple Rain to be one of if not the the best albums of all time. Sure, I kept up with his career in wonder as he posed nude on one his album covers, as he performed on the VMA with assless pants, and when he tried to make Sheena Easton a thing well past her expiration date. After the late 90s I became less of a big fan and more of an admirer as he continued to put out music. Those later albums didn't touch me in the same way that his earlier work had, but they led me to a realization. Prince was to my generation and others what the Mozarts and the Beethovens of the worlds were during there time. Even when I didn't love the newer Prince songs I appreciated the musicianship and technique that went into them. As an artist there was no one that has rivaled Prince's musical talent in modern times. He was an enigmatic legend with more talent than we will probably ever see again from one person in our lifetime.
On December 19th, 2011, I went to my first and tragically last Prince concert. It had been at the top of my concert bucket list to see Prince live. Prince was being a little diva that day it seemed. He came on stage very late and then only performed about 90 minutes which was short for a man with a reputation performing several hours on end. I was a little disappointed the show was so short, but only because I was in awe of what I did see. I knew Prince was a magical musician but as a live performer he took that magic to a different level. After he left the stage we stuck around for an hour hoping that Prince would return to the stage for another encore. Sadly he did not. I vowed to see him live again, but I never did. I'm very pleased though to have had that time with him and for ninety minutes to have been in the presence of a genius.
Favorite Prince songs:
When Doves Cry, Little Red Corvette, Take Me With U, I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man, Cream, Let's Go Crazy, U Got the Look
Favorite Prince written songs:
Nothing Compares 2 U, Manic Monday, When U Were Mine.
I first became aware of Prince in about 1983 when a lot of other people did. The song was Little Red Corvette. I hovered over the radio for hours listening to KTRS in Casper Wyoming waiting for the very second the song began so that I could record it onto a blank cassette. At this point I knew little about Prince (but did I or anyone really ever know that much about him?), but I knew that I loved this song. There was something exciting and new about it.
Perhaps a year later I became very aware of Prince the man. MTV played music then, and they used to have World Premiere videos at the top of the hour. There had been huge buzz about this relatively known artist and the fact that he was making a rock musical called Purple Rain, but nothing had been seen until that day. The video of When Doves Cry came on that day and I was excited, terrified and in lust as Prince arose out of the bathtub and crawled and writhed and beckoned his audience to follow him. It was unlike anything I had ever seen before. It felt like I should look away and yet I never could or would.
I won't pretend to be the world's biggest Prince fan. Sure, like many I consider Purple Rain to be one of if not the the best albums of all time. Sure, I kept up with his career in wonder as he posed nude on one his album covers, as he performed on the VMA with assless pants, and when he tried to make Sheena Easton a thing well past her expiration date. After the late 90s I became less of a big fan and more of an admirer as he continued to put out music. Those later albums didn't touch me in the same way that his earlier work had, but they led me to a realization. Prince was to my generation and others what the Mozarts and the Beethovens of the worlds were during there time. Even when I didn't love the newer Prince songs I appreciated the musicianship and technique that went into them. As an artist there was no one that has rivaled Prince's musical talent in modern times. He was an enigmatic legend with more talent than we will probably ever see again from one person in our lifetime.
On December 19th, 2011, I went to my first and tragically last Prince concert. It had been at the top of my concert bucket list to see Prince live. Prince was being a little diva that day it seemed. He came on stage very late and then only performed about 90 minutes which was short for a man with a reputation performing several hours on end. I was a little disappointed the show was so short, but only because I was in awe of what I did see. I knew Prince was a magical musician but as a live performer he took that magic to a different level. After he left the stage we stuck around for an hour hoping that Prince would return to the stage for another encore. Sadly he did not. I vowed to see him live again, but I never did. I'm very pleased though to have had that time with him and for ninety minutes to have been in the presence of a genius.
Favorite Prince songs:
When Doves Cry, Little Red Corvette, Take Me With U, I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man, Cream, Let's Go Crazy, U Got the Look
Favorite Prince written songs:
Nothing Compares 2 U, Manic Monday, When U Were Mine.
Sunday, April 10, 2016
Three Weekends at the Theatre
Over the last three out of four weekends, I have been fortunate enough to have tickets to three musicals. Here is my response to each of them.
The Color Purple- I can't lie. I saw this show because I love Jennifer Hudson to the infinite power. I love the story of the Color Purple, but I saw the touring company of the original production several years ago and found it to be a big mess. While Jennifer Hudson was what got me in the door, I left with many reasons to rave about it. This revival is a vast improvement from the original musical. Lots of editing was done, the sets are more sparse, and there is just less. And in this case that lets the performers and the songs shine. Jennifer Hudson is well suited vocally and personality wise to play Shug Avery, and she pulls it off, especially vocally. Danielle Brooks from Orange is the New Black is well cast as is the rest of the cast, but ultimately the show is a "star is born" moment for unknown actress Cynthia Erivo as Celie. In the way that Whoopi Goldberg made one of the all time great debuts in the movie version, Erivo shines and steals in a theatrical experience that I was so pleased to witness. If there is any justice, Erivo will continue to do great acting work in the future, and I will be able to say "Remember when...." I have seen many plays and musicals, but this is the first time that I had seen an actor get a standing ovation in the middle of the show. Jennifer Hudson is leaving the production soon so if you want to see her, hurry up! But ultimately Cynthia Erivo is who you should be there to see!
Assassins- I have seen a lot of Stephen Sondheim over the past couple of years, and Assassins is a departure from what people in the know view as typical Somdheim. It is a musical telling of the stories of all of the people in the USA who have either attempted to assassinate a President or actually were able to follow through with the assassination. The play does a good job at making the characters human without making them entirely sympathetic for what they did. It is not the kind of musical that has tons of stand alone sing a long songs, but I did like the Ballad of Booth, The Gun Song, and the unlikely love song Unworthy of Your Love which is about two of the character's dark obsessions with Jodie Foster and Charles Manson. Assassins is not always a smooth ride, and it is easy to see why it has more of a cult following than actually being a huge hit, but I admire the creativity in it and the drive to do something original in musical theater. In that regard it overwhelmingly succeeds.
Ragtime- This one has been at the top of my musical bucket list for years, and I am glad I was able to catch a performance of it. Ragtime begins with characters pursuing or living the American Dream. In the first song, characters are lit up in red, white and blue depending on their lot in life. The white middle to upper class who are already succeeding in the dream are lit up in white, the African Americans already living in the USA are lit up in red and the immigrants coming to Ellis Island are lit up in blue. Their paths take them to different places, some to success, some paths diverge and some don't ever succeed in the American Dream. It was amazing to me how a story that takes place at the beginning of the 20th century had so many storylines around race and immigrants could be so very relevant in 2016. As in the original production Coalhouse, Sarah and Mother are the standout characters with the best songs and because I had listened to the Original Cast Recording I had a hard time not imagining the original actors as these characters. (Audra McDonald won one of her six Tony's playing Sarah in the original version). But the actors who played these characters in this touring version were also excellent. This isn't a show that tours much so if you ever get the chance to see Ragtime, you must take advantage of it.
The Color Purple- I can't lie. I saw this show because I love Jennifer Hudson to the infinite power. I love the story of the Color Purple, but I saw the touring company of the original production several years ago and found it to be a big mess. While Jennifer Hudson was what got me in the door, I left with many reasons to rave about it. This revival is a vast improvement from the original musical. Lots of editing was done, the sets are more sparse, and there is just less. And in this case that lets the performers and the songs shine. Jennifer Hudson is well suited vocally and personality wise to play Shug Avery, and she pulls it off, especially vocally. Danielle Brooks from Orange is the New Black is well cast as is the rest of the cast, but ultimately the show is a "star is born" moment for unknown actress Cynthia Erivo as Celie. In the way that Whoopi Goldberg made one of the all time great debuts in the movie version, Erivo shines and steals in a theatrical experience that I was so pleased to witness. If there is any justice, Erivo will continue to do great acting work in the future, and I will be able to say "Remember when...." I have seen many plays and musicals, but this is the first time that I had seen an actor get a standing ovation in the middle of the show. Jennifer Hudson is leaving the production soon so if you want to see her, hurry up! But ultimately Cynthia Erivo is who you should be there to see!
Assassins- I have seen a lot of Stephen Sondheim over the past couple of years, and Assassins is a departure from what people in the know view as typical Somdheim. It is a musical telling of the stories of all of the people in the USA who have either attempted to assassinate a President or actually were able to follow through with the assassination. The play does a good job at making the characters human without making them entirely sympathetic for what they did. It is not the kind of musical that has tons of stand alone sing a long songs, but I did like the Ballad of Booth, The Gun Song, and the unlikely love song Unworthy of Your Love which is about two of the character's dark obsessions with Jodie Foster and Charles Manson. Assassins is not always a smooth ride, and it is easy to see why it has more of a cult following than actually being a huge hit, but I admire the creativity in it and the drive to do something original in musical theater. In that regard it overwhelmingly succeeds.
Ragtime- This one has been at the top of my musical bucket list for years, and I am glad I was able to catch a performance of it. Ragtime begins with characters pursuing or living the American Dream. In the first song, characters are lit up in red, white and blue depending on their lot in life. The white middle to upper class who are already succeeding in the dream are lit up in white, the African Americans already living in the USA are lit up in red and the immigrants coming to Ellis Island are lit up in blue. Their paths take them to different places, some to success, some paths diverge and some don't ever succeed in the American Dream. It was amazing to me how a story that takes place at the beginning of the 20th century had so many storylines around race and immigrants could be so very relevant in 2016. As in the original production Coalhouse, Sarah and Mother are the standout characters with the best songs and because I had listened to the Original Cast Recording I had a hard time not imagining the original actors as these characters. (Audra McDonald won one of her six Tony's playing Sarah in the original version). But the actors who played these characters in this touring version were also excellent. This isn't a show that tours much so if you ever get the chance to see Ragtime, you must take advantage of it.
Monday, April 4, 2016
The Walking Tease: Why I'm running out of patience with The Walking Dead
This post contains spoilers of Walking Dead Season 6.
For all of Season 6, I waited out 15 mostly tedious episodes with a promise of Negan. Negan came. Negan lifted up Lucille his pet deadly baseball bat and then.....fade to black.
More tease in a season full of tease. And the payoffs haven't been worth the tease. The Walking Dead is giving me blueballs.
For the past three seasons, I have spent around $50 per season to watch the Walking Dead on Apple TV since I don't have cable. That is one of the most expensive season passes. I used to not mind because there was a reason that Walking Dead was the number one show. Sure it had lots of cool ways to kill zombies or...,eh...walkers, but the main draw for me at least was the character interactions on the show and how they survive (or don't) in the extraordinary environment of the undead. One of the best things about the Walking Deaf was how unsentimental it was about killing off fan favorites since they are after all in a place for pending doom and a place where death is a reality.
That's not the case anymore. Something changed.
I've been far more critical than most about the show for the past few seasons. There has been a real pacing problem. Storylines full of action like Terminus were over pretty quickly while slower ones like Alexandria seemed to go on forever. This would've been fine if anyone had actually thought about building character development, but throughout the first half of season 6 in Alexandria Walking Dead swapped out interesting characters for more gory zombie kills.
Then there was the second half of season 6 which was spent trying to get excitement stirred up about Negan and his savior crew, but after the third repetitive episode which involved looking for supplies outside Alexandria and running into walkers, bad guys, or both. I had started to have enough. Bring Negan on already!!
Then there was the Glenn thing. This was the moment that the makers of the TV show may have really started to ruin the show. We see fan favorite (for whatever reason) Glenn in a zombie pileup that nobody could survive. NOBODY. The show runners copped out in killing a character that has been long dead in the books BECAUSE they were afraid of fan reaction. This is a show that decapitated it's wise gentle old sage and had a grieving mother shoot a child who had killed her little sister. Those moments were disturbing and unflinching. The Walking Dead is better when it doesn't flinch. With the Glenn debacle, the show flinched badly.
Then there it was last night. The moment that the season had trudged toward. Most of the cast was on its knees begging at the mercy of Negan. He decides he is going to kill one of them, he looks to have actually done it, and then it's over. We won't know for at least 5 months who it was (And it better be Glenn and NOT one of the more ancillary characters). A season of build up for this?!
The Walking Dead isn't a terrible show. Not even close. But I'll spend part of the cliffhanger months deciding if it's worth paying for a season pass. I may have to resort to being a more casual fans and waiting it out and watching it on Amazon Prime or Netflix about a year after it aired on TV.
You teased one too many times, Walking Dead.
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
The best sandwich I ever had
Let me take a pause from reviewing movies, pop culture, and politics for something really important. Yesterday on my vacation to Seattle, I had the best sandwich I've ever eaten.
Salumi is just a barely noticeable sliver in a not too prominent building in Seattle's Pioneer Square. It is owned by celebrity Chef Mario Batali's father Armandino Batali. It's open four days a week for very short hours, but yesterday eating a sandwich there was life changing. I lived in Seattle 16 years before I moved to Boston and never went to Salumi. If I had gone there I maybe would've never left Seattle. Ok that's a lie. The sandwich was really good though.
Around lunch time, Salumi is known for having long lines every day it is open. I arrived at about 1:00, and the line was slightly out the door. It took me about 30 minutes to get to order. It was worth it. I ordered a hot sandwich called Porchetta. I almost changed my order because the sign for the Porchetta said that they do not recommend cheese. Since for me cheese is life, and I want to respect the chef's vision, I almost ordered something else. That would've been a mistake.
There is very little seating inside, so I opted to find a place outside on an unusually sunny Seattle afternoon. From the first bite, I was in heaven and knew they were correct to not add cheese to this perfect sandwich.
Essentially Porchetta is pork butt that has been rendered and braised in its own delicious fat with Italian spices, carrots, fennel, grilled onions and peppers on a fresh baguette. My description cannit do it justice. But trust me after you take one bite and the fatty spiced pork juice starts dripping out, you also will be sold (unless you're vegetarian then Salumi is definitely not for you).
I only ate half of it and this morning I had the second half. After heating it up only slightly to not dry out the fantastic bread, I can tell you that this sandwich was just as good on the second day.
I also ordered a pork meatball on the side which was outstanding. I will most definitely go to Salumi again. It's hard to imagine ordering anything besides the Porchetta, but I may also order some of their delicious fresh made cheese and cured meat to go as well.
If you are visiting Seattle, make Salumi one of your top priority lunch destinations.
Saturday, March 26, 2016
Teeny Tiny Movie Reviews Returns!
This is the deal. I give movies a score from 1 to 10 and the review is as many words. Here we go.
Zootopia- 8 out of 10
Charming Disney fare with a nice liberal message.
99 Homes- 6 out of 10
Kinda forgot about this movie already.
The Witch- 5 out of 10
All atmosphere. Almost no substance
Miss You Already 7 out of 10
Standard tearjerker. I love Collette and Barrymore
Chi Raq 6 out of 10
Interesting choice for Spike Lee. Messy
Truth 6 out of 10
Liberal bias in a standard biopic
Lady Sings The Blues 6 out of 10
Props to Diana Ross. Average movie
The Omen 6 out of 10
1970s horror feels sorta slow now
Saturday, March 19, 2016
My Very favorites in 2015 Film: The Winner's Version
Now that I've finally seen my first 2016 film (Zootopia), it's time to close up on 2015. Here are my choices for winners in 2015 film.
Best Song in a Film- Til it Happens To You (from the Hunting Ground)
Best Original Score- Music from It Follows
Best Animated Film- Inside Out
Best Costumes in a Film- Carol
Best Set Direction- Mad Max: Fury Road
Best Use of Sound in a Film: The Revenant
Best Visual Effects: Ex Machina
Best Cinematography- The Revenant
Best Acting Ensemble- Spotlight
My Favorite Adapted Screenplays:
Brooklyn
Carol
Creed
The Martian
Room - WINNER
My Favorite original Screenplays
Inside Out - WINNER
It Follows
Spotlight
Spy
Straight Outta Compton
Best Supporting Performance by a Male Actor
Steve Carell The Big Short
Idris Elba Beasts of No Nation
Tom Hardy The Revenant
Mark Ruffalo Spotlight
Sylvester Stallone Creed -WINNER
Best Supporting Performance by a Female Actor
Joan Allen Room
Rose Byrne Spy
Jennifer Jason Leigh The Hateful Eight - WINNER
Alicia Vikander Ex Machina
Julie Walters Brooklyn
Best Documentary Feature
Amy
Best of Enemies -WINNER
Cobain: Montage of HeckGoing Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
What Happened, Miss Simone?
Best Director
Lenny Abrahamson Room -WINNER
Peter Docter and Ronne Del Carmen Inside Out
Todd Haynes Carol
Tom McCarthy Spotlight
David Robert Mitchell It Follows
Best Lead Performance by a Female Actor
Blythe Danner I'll See You in my Dreams
Brie Larson Room -WINNER
Rooney Mara Carol
Saoirse Ronan Brooklyn
Alicia Vikander The Danish Girl
Best Lead Performance by a Male Actor
Matt Damon The Martian
Leonardo Dicaprio The Revenant
Michael Fassbender Steve Jobs
Samuel L Jackson The Hateful Eight
Jacob Tremblay Room - WINNER
And my 10 favorite films of 2015 were
Brooklyn
Room
Spotlight
And ranked in Order from 10 to 1 my favorite films of 2015 were:
10. Straight Outta Compton
9. It Follows
8. Carol
7. Creed
6. Amy
5. Best of Enemies
4. Brooklyn
3. Spotlight
2. Room
And my favorite film of 2015 was:
INSIDE OUT.
I'm looking forward to more great film in 2016!
Best Song in a Film- Til it Happens To You (from the Hunting Ground)
Best Original Score- Music from It Follows
Best Animated Film- Inside Out
Best Costumes in a Film- Carol
Best Set Direction- Mad Max: Fury Road
Best Use of Sound in a Film: The Revenant
Best Visual Effects: Ex Machina
Best Cinematography- The Revenant
Best Acting Ensemble- Spotlight
My Favorite Adapted Screenplays:
Brooklyn
Carol
Creed
The Martian
Room - WINNER
My Favorite original Screenplays
Inside Out - WINNER
It Follows
Spotlight
Spy
Straight Outta Compton
Best Supporting Performance by a Male Actor
Steve Carell The Big Short
Idris Elba Beasts of No Nation
Tom Hardy The Revenant
Mark Ruffalo Spotlight
Sylvester Stallone Creed -WINNER
Best Supporting Performance by a Female Actor
Joan Allen Room
Rose Byrne Spy
Jennifer Jason Leigh The Hateful Eight - WINNER
Alicia Vikander Ex Machina
Julie Walters Brooklyn
Best Documentary Feature
Amy
Best of Enemies -WINNER
Cobain: Montage of HeckGoing Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
What Happened, Miss Simone?
Best Director
Lenny Abrahamson Room -WINNER
Peter Docter and Ronne Del Carmen Inside Out
Todd Haynes Carol
Tom McCarthy Spotlight
David Robert Mitchell It Follows
Best Lead Performance by a Female Actor
Blythe Danner I'll See You in my Dreams
Brie Larson Room -WINNER
Rooney Mara Carol
Saoirse Ronan Brooklyn
Alicia Vikander The Danish Girl
Best Lead Performance by a Male Actor
Matt Damon The Martian
Leonardo Dicaprio The Revenant
Michael Fassbender Steve Jobs
Samuel L Jackson The Hateful Eight
Jacob Tremblay Room - WINNER
And my 10 favorite films of 2015 were
Brooklyn
Room
Spotlight
And ranked in Order from 10 to 1 my favorite films of 2015 were:
10. Straight Outta Compton
9. It Follows
8. Carol
7. Creed
6. Amy
5. Best of Enemies
4. Brooklyn
3. Spotlight
2. Room
And my favorite film of 2015 was:
INSIDE OUT.
I'm looking forward to more great film in 2016!
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