Happy 75th Birthday Dame Judi Dench!

Born 9 December 1934

"The more I do, the more frightened I get. But that is essential. Otherwise why would I go on doing it?"

First Fig

Edna St. Vincent Millay in 1914, photo by Arnold Genthe

First Fig by Edna St. Vincent Millay

My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends-­
It gives a lovely light!

Wes Anderson gets me every time. . .

Wes Anderson has this knack of choosing a song and pairing it with a simple scene so that your heart is suddenly pulled by nostalgia and you feel almost a little bit devastated by it. In The Royal Tenenbaums he did it by pairing Vince Guaraldi’s Christmastime is Here from A Charlie Brown Christmas to the scene where Royal takes Margot out for ice cream. In his new film Fantastic Mr. Fox, he did it by pairing the song Love as sung by Nancy Adams from Disney’s animated film Robin Hood with the lazy afternoon scene where Mr. Fox is lolling under their tree while Mrs. Fox paints a picture and the young foxes are diving and swimming in their tiny pool. The song was playing so quietly in the scene that it was almost unnoticeable, but I was immediately struck by its haunting familiarity and my brain scrambled to identify it. I couldn’t stop thinking about that song for the rest of the film. I knew it was Disney, but I couldn’t place from which film it came. I thought maybe it was from The Fox and the Hound, which would make sense, but the fact that it comes from Robin Hood, where the classic hero is played by a fox, makes even MORE sense. Even though Mr. Fox is a creation of Roald Dahl, Wes Anderson’s version of him could definitely be a direct descendant from Disney’s foxy Robin and with the inclusion of this song, I like to think that Wes is admitting that. I loved Fantastic Mr. Fox. It was unique as an animated film, but fully, wonderfully, obviously a Wes Anderson film. He may have found his true medium.

Here is the scene in Disney’s Robin Hood that features the lovely song:

Happy 94th Birthday Eli Wallach!

Born December 7, 1915
And still kicking!

"Even if I don't want to slow down, I'm slowing down."

Happy 109th Birthday Agnes Moorehead!

Born December 6, 1900
Died April 30, 1974

Photo I Love

Alfred Hitchcock and Ingrid Bergman (sorry, I don't know the photographer)

What could he possibly have said to make her laugh so?
I like to think it was something dirty. . .

One of my favorite real life couples. . .

James Dean and Pier Angeli

True romance or publicity stunt?
It doesn't matter. They were sweet together.

The Brothers Bloom - My Review

Phillip and I have this recurring thing happen to us. We’ll get a movie from Netflix, never be in the mood for it, and let it sit for literally months, then finally watch it and realize it’s a FANTASTIC movie! We then berate ourselves for letting it sit so long unwatched. We always feel guilty thinking about all the people we may have deprived from seeing it because we had it so long. As if Netflix can’t possibly have multiple copies, right?

Some of the films we did this with were Zodiac, In Bruges, and then most recently The Brothers Bloom. The reason this one sat so long is that Phillip doesn’t like con artist movies. I finally convinced him to give it a try when we were too lazy to go out to the movies on Thanksgiving Day and he was sick of football and I reminded him that it was directed by Rian Johnson who directed Brick which we loved.

The Brothers Bloom is not a perfect movie, the plot gets a little convoluted with its twists and turns, and I had some concerns with the motives of the characters. Sometimes what the characters did the hard way to further the plot seemed ridiculous when it could have been done so easily and everyone would have been happy. But those are little squabbles that would have deprived us of any movie whatsoever so I can overlook them because everything else about the film was so wonderful! The cast was superb, every one of them charming, endearing, and with a genuine lived in feel to the performances. Rian Johnson really likes that retro 40s thing and even though this film was obviously set in present day – from the clothing to the sets to the locations to the dialogue – it felt like the past. When the movie was over I felt really happy and immediately wanted to watch it again. I love when a movie leaves me feeling warm and fuzzy inside.

One more thing which added to my pleasure. I follow Rian Johnson on twitter (@Rcjohnso) and after watching the film I sent him this message: "Just watched The Brothers Bloom! It was truly delightful. Thank you so much for making it!" And guess what? He responded with, "Thanks Kerry, glad you dug it!" His unexpected reply just helped to further my warm and fuzzy feeling about his movie. I can’t wait for him to make more.

Art I Love

Cafe Terrace at Night or Cafe Terrace on the Place du Forum
Vincent Van Gogh, 1888

You know that question, "If you could transport yourself into any painting, what painting would you choose?" I would choose this one.

One of my favorite real life couples. . .

Aimee Mann and Michael Penn