9.27.2008

In Memoriam: Paul Newman (1925-2008)

For more details, click here.
Now's as good a time as any to rewatch this gorgeous video composed by And Your Little Blog, Too.
click image to be routed to video

Now's also probably a good time to go out,
buy a case of Newman's Own something or other
and donate it to your local foodbank.

Blessings, Mr. Newman.

9.26.2008

"Tank Thong vs. The Mansy" (Homo Heritage Fridays)

Though they said the Mansy was just an April Fool's gag...
from LA Weekly.
March 28, 2008 ~ inside front cover

Turns out the Haberdashery was turning heads
with the Tank Thong thirty years prior...
from MANDATE:
The International Magazine of Entertainment and Eros.
March 1977 ~ page 50.
For details, click the image; then click again to magnify

9.23.2008

To Dos Day

___ Item 1: GO CLORIS!
Support the Supporting Actressness!

___ Item 2: BUY A BOOK.
By this guy, if possible. He's a nifty dude - generous, kind, hilarious. Spending the weekend on his first creative getaway was a real treat. (In one workshop, I started writing my first piece of fiction - can you believe it?)

___ Item 3: LEAVE A FRESH EUCALYPTUS SCENT.
MrStinky says I'm a sucker for marketers, but I hafta say that, like joe*to*hell, I'm sorely tempted by Just A Drop. After all, I'm always looking for a "new way to use the bathroom" -- aren't you?

___ Item 4: LISTEN TO SISTER ANNE.
She's got a strategy for dealing with my recurrent obsession: She Who Must Not Be Named. (For background, see this piece by Deepak.) Sister Anne's recommendations feel sane to me, somehow. (And if you want to actually do something right now, register your opinion quickly here.)

___ Item 5: GET READY FOR 1976.
Yay.

___ Item 6: CHOOSE "THE BEST OF" STINKYLULU.
He Shot Cyrus has a fascinating (and easy) blogathon challenge: choose your "best" post or two to share with blogathon readers. Seems a great way to get to introduce one's blog to a broader readership. (So y'all should just plan to do it, too.) Anyway, I have no idea what to pick. I've considered one post of which I am quite fond, but it was already for a blogathon, so I don't know if it's representative. So, I put the challenge to you, lovely reader: what posts do you think represent StinkyLulu's best? I'm not seeking praise, at least not entirely, but I am interested to hear your perspective on which posts have stood out to you? (I'll probably build a list of the top 6 or so...) Give your shout out in comments.
Have at it, lovelies...

9.21.2008

Wendy Hiller in A Man for All Seasons (1966)

There's a bit of danger in posting my regular profile of a performance after the Smackdown's already happened. Indeed, sometimes, investing just that little bit more attention to the performance in question (while timing, screencapping, etc) reveals subtly hidden depth and dimension, all too easily missed on a first pass. And then, it's all, "Mayyybe I should have given another heart to this performance, after all. Mayyyyyybe I could even still..." But, by then -- or by now, as the case may be -- it's too late. The moment has passed. The hearts must stand. Another lesson learned on Supporting Actress Sundays. And this Sunday, my able teacher has been...

...Wendy Hiller in A Man for All Seasons (1966)
approximately 15 minutes and 48 seconds
11 scenes
roughly 13% of film's total running time
Wendy Hiller plays Lady Alice, the devoted wife of Sir Thomas More, the English statesman whose steadfast devotion to religious and legal principle, in an era of political treachery and expedience, occasions his doom.
It might be easy to dismiss Hiller's portrayal of Lady Alice More (as I think I may have initially) as a blowsy earth mother, grimacing and growling her way through the role solely to underscore the tension between the character's humble, laboring origins and her more courtly, present social station. (Indeed, I first suspected Hiller's work in the role was mostly interesting as a cleverish take on the Mores as a Tudor version of "nouveau riche.)
As the actress snorts her way through Lady Alice's early dashes of domestic comedy -- ostensibly included to humanize the impossibly ideal Sir Thomas (Paul Scofield, in a deservedly revered performance) -- Hiller's broad facial and vocal flourishes might seem at times ill-fitting to the gravitas of both the role and the film, especially in the film's middle scenes when Lady Alice's impatient, irascible practicality provide the focus of the character.
Yet, amidst all Lady Alice's apparent shortsightedness, Hiller's performance amplifies the essential truth at the core of this garrulous Lady: Alice loves her husband, Thomas. True, she doesn't feel entirely appreciated by him. And, yes, his formidable intelligence -- as well as that of her daughter, groomed by her husband to be his intellectual peer -- does intimidate her.
But Hiller's Lady Alice knows that she knows her husband Sir Thomas better than any human. So, when even she finds herself at her limit in comprehending why her husband would take such a stand against the king, Alice's inner conflict animates the emotional core of the film: the palpably human risk of taking a principled stand against power.
Hiller clearly marks the complex emotional contours of this conflict when she visits her husband, for what is to be the last time, within his damp prison cell. In this bravura scene, Hiller illuminates not only that she is "a lion" (as per Thomas's apt description) but also that she's the sole person capable of instigating an emotional break in her husband's apparently serene, intellectually sanguine edifice of noble self-sacrifice. As Hiller's strength in this sequence amplifies, it becomes devastatingly clear that Lady Alice's unflinching witness -- not the entreaties of his beloved daughter -- holds the potential to cause Thomas to break his conscientious resolve.
When Hiller's Alice bellows to the top of the Tower of London -- declaiming her doubt in both the British crown and in God -- hers is such an elemental shriek that it's almost a surprise that the stone roof doesn't cleave open to permit God's own reprieve. And when the heavens don't open, the moment becomes a devastating confirmation of the human certainty of Thomas impending execution. In this turn, Hiller scores a moment of genuine feeling, an emotionally tectonic shift in the foundation of this intellectual passion play.
With deft clarity (and more than a little bit of actorly stealth), Wendy Hiller thus ably animates the heart of this all-too "heady" a picture. (And in my heart of hearts, she's retroactively earned one, or even two, more Smackdown hearts than she already had...)

9.19.2008

"I Truly Am Shy" (Homo Heritage Fridays - Sophia Sisterhood Edition)


from MANDATE:
The International Magazine of Entertainment and Eros
July 1979, page 48-56.
To read article, click page image; then click again to magnify



Happy Birthday, Sophia!
Who cares that it's a day early!
This member of the Sophia Sisterhood's got a plane to catch!

Johnny's Got Some McSplainin' To Do (PhotoQuote of the FriDay)

click image to be routed to complete post

Hee.
Just...hee.

9.18.2008

"All The Boys LOVE HomoLulu"

click image to be routed to video
thanks to the gorgeous Jose for the hot tip

9.16.2008

To Dos Day - Make A Wish Edition

___ Item 1: WISH ME HAPPY BIRTHDAY.
It's a big one come Saturday. Of course, I want lots of presents, but your continued kindness as I enter middle age will be welcome too.

___ Item 2: WISH FOR GOOD SURPRISES.
Exhibit A. (The twisted part? I so totally want me a box...)

___ Item 3: WISH FOR SOME PERSPECTIVE.
One or two comments on the current state of affairs.

___ Item 4: WISH ME LUCK.
I'm putting the finishing touches on a project that has stalked me for nearly a decade. And it's alllllllllllmost ooooooooover. Keep those digits crossed for me for the next two weeks. Please. Really. Please. I need all the moral support I can get at this point. Really. Please.

___ Item 5: WISH ME WELL.
I'm diving off into an adventure this weekend (to honor the milestones referenced in Items 1 and 4) and I'm sorta totally scared. It's long been my fantasy to do a writing retreat and off I go. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!

___ Item 6: WISH FOR SOMETHING REALLY GOOD FOR YOU.
What are you wishing for these days? Spill it, kids, in comments.
Have at it, lovelies...

9.14.2008

Feeling a Little Naked Today...

Two consecutive Sundays without a Supporting Actress profile.
Dunno when that's happened
in 30 months of Supporting Actressness.
Haven't even screened a movie in nearly a week.
I am feeling the withdrawal.
Ouch.
But, alas, it can't be helped.
Claims to make.
Prose to polish.
Citations to list.
But every time I start to doubting my ability
to do what needs to be done,
The fact of 100+ Supporting Actress Sunday Profiles
reminds me that I can do what's necessary.
That's thanks to you.
So, thank you, lovely reader,
for reintroducing me
to my writerly self.

And while I'm whiling away the hours,
conferrin' with the flowers,
consultin' with the rain,
Consider amusing yourself within the archives.
Or inside the statistic sheets.
And report back with comments,
regarding your thoughts, impressions, and discoveries.
(Though, please, do hold off on the corrections.
At least for the time being.
I'm about at my limit for revisions right now.)
And know this,
I'll be back...


9.12.2008

"I Take Special Care To Keep My Leathers Looking Good..." (Homo Heritage Fridays)

from MANDATE:
The International Magazine of Entertainment and Eros.
February 1983 ~ page 2.
For details, click the image; then click again to magnify
Ahh...
Moisturizer for the Macho Man.

9.09.2008

To Dos Day

___ Item 1: MEET MARTINIQUE.
The story of Martinique has provided me some of the most genuine delight and happiness I have known in this fairly grueling week. (Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou, "9 Year Old Nephew," for sharing the glorious Martinique with us!)

___ Item 2: GET DOWN WITH THE GIRLS.
The reliably amazing And Your Little Blog, Too tops himself with this fabulous video mashup. If you haven't seen it, you must. If you have already seen it, I think it's time for you to see it again. Click here for the fabulous fun.

___ Item 3: WHEN THE CRITTERS & THE GREENERY ATTACK.
Things were pretty creepy in Film Club land this weekend, what with Nathaniel's hosting the Musical of the Month on Little Shop of Horrors on Saturday and Final Girl making us watch the skeery, maggoty ratness of Food of the Gods. Be sure to peruse the creepiness...if you dare!

___ Item 4: TO BE OR NOT TO BE PSEUDONYMOUS.
There's a fascinating meditation on internet anonymity over at my new favorite blog, The Broad-Guage Gossip. (Thanks, SheepDog, for the hot tip!) Of course, now that I've decided it's my favorite new blog that can only mean that, in the space of the next few weeks, the blog will (a) shut down; (b) become a viral cliche; or (c) combust in some kind of nauseating scandal. (Any bets?) But, I guess, I'm feeling especially academented these days. Perhaps that's why the musings of Professor Beirce are so resonant for me. (But, then, I'm also adoring the intermittent ravings of Totally Not Crazy...especially this little bit of truth-telling.)

___ Item 5: OF BUNNY & BANANAS.
Criticlasm has just outdone himself this week with a simply gorgeous writeup on the new production of John Guare's The House of Blue Leaves at Los Angeles' Mark Taper Forum. Even if you don't know the play, and even if you don't like the theatre, you really shouldn't miss this excellent commentary.

___ Item 6: SUNDAYS A DAY OF REST?
Indeed, shocking as it may seem -- I am giving myself a breather for this month of what should be Supporting Actress Sundays. I'm freaking out a little about the fact that I'm not doing a new year this month but I keep reminding myself that this brief respite is a simple gesture designed to help preserve my delicate sanity. Your patience and support are well appreciated. (And, not to worry, the formidable presences of Wendy and Vivien will be making themselves finally felt in the coming weeks.)
Have at it, lovelies...

9.08.2008

It May Be Monday, but Be Grateful You're Not...

Head-Butting a Giant Cock, or...
Arm-Wrestling a Massive Maggot, or...
Getting Cozy with a Really Big Rodent, or...
Aswim in a Swamp o' Rats, or...
Poking the Pink-Eyed Varmint.

Gratitude.
'Tis truly a question of perspective...

This post is brought to you as part of Final Girl's Film Club.
For more on this epic cinematic treatment of the inevitability of ecological disaster (aka Food of the Gods), click here.
For StinkyLulu's unedited ramblings on same, click
here.
But whatever you do...watch out for the
MASSIVE MAGGOTS!

9.06.2008

VOTE: OCTOBER's Supporting Actress Sundays!

As you may have noticed, lovely reader, I have decided to give Supporting Actress Sundays some breathing room this September (so that I might use September's Sundays to catch up on 1966's nominated performances while I also attend to other writing obligations). I have also decided to "push back" my work on 1969 -- the year y'all decided for September -- until November. Why the extra month delay? Well, an accident of timing in 2007, permitted me to profile Judith Anderson's performance in Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca on Halloween week and I found that 'twas quite a treat to profile a "horror" performance in such a seasonally appropriate way. So, this year, I'm stacking the voting roster for October with variously haunting and thrilling nominated performances, so that I might make (intentionally) scary Supporting Actressness an annual StinkyLulu/Halloween tradition. So, in anticipation of October thrills, I ask...

What year deserves the focus
for OCTOBER'S month of
Supporting Actress Sundays?
1937: Alice Brady in In Old Chicago, Andrea Leeds in Stage Door, Anne Shirley in Stella Dallas, Claire Trevor in Dead End, May Whitty in Night Must Fall.
1945: Eve Arden in Mildred Pierce, Ann Blyth in Mildred Pierce, Angela Lansbury in The Picture of Dorian Gray, Joan Lorring in The Corn Is Green, Anne Revere in National Velvet.
1946: Ethel Barrymore in The Spiral Staircase, Anne Baxter in The Razor's Edge, Lillian Gish in Duel in the Sun, Flora Robson in Saratoga Trunk, Gale Sondergaard in Anna and the King of Siam.
1956: Mildred Dunnock in Baby Doll, Eileen Heckart in The Bad Seed, Dorothy Malone in Written on the Wind, Mercedes McCambridge in Giant, Patty McCormack in The Bad Seed.
1960: Glynis Johns in The Sundowners, Shirley Jones in Elmer Gantry, Shirley Knight in The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, Janet Leigh in Psycho, Mary Ure in Sons and Lovers.
1964: Gladys Cooper in My Fair Lady, Edith Evans in The Chalk Garden, Grayson Hall in The Night of the Iguana, Lila Kedrova in Zorba the Greek, Agnes Moorehead in Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte.
1968: Lynn Carlin in Faces, Ruth Gordon in Rosemary's Baby, Sondra Locke in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Kay Medford in Funny Girl, Estelle Parsons in Rachel, Rachel.
1973: Linda Blair in The Exorcist, Candy Clark in American Graffiti, Madeline Kahn in Paper Moon, Tatum O'Neal in Paper Moon, Sylvia Sidney in Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams.
1976: Jane Alexander in All the President's Men, Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver, Lee Grant in Voyage of the Damned, Piper Laurie in Carrie, Beatrice Straight in Network.

1987: Norma Aleandro in Gaby - A True Story, Anne Archer in Fatal Attraction, Olympia Dukakis in Moonstruck, Anne Ramsey in Throw Momma From the Train, Ann Sothern in The Whales of August.
Let your voice be heard by voting fairly in the column at right or by clicking HERE.

9.05.2008

"Maurizio On The Rocks" (Homo Heritage Fridays)


from MANDATE:
The International Magazine of Entertainment and Eros.
November 1979 ~ page 56-57.
For details, click the image; then click again to magnify
Ahhh, shoulder pads...
On a ribbed t-shirt...
That's attractive...



9.02.2008

To Dos Day

___ Item 1: BE HAPPY.
Like the folks here. (I have no idea why a simple gif gives me such glee.)

___ Item 2: NYBLADE GETS MANHUNT OFF; MODFAB GOES OFF.
I love it when Gabriel of Modern Fabulousity fame lets it rip. And lately he's been letting it fly about all sorts of political topics. But, lovely reader, it's worth your while to take note of his elegantly composed poison pen letter to the New York Blade editorial board for their wrongheaded defense of that Manhunt founder who supports John McCain. In a mere three hundred words, Gabriel hits 'em everywhere it matters: on what defending the freedom of expression actually means; on how personal politics actually are; on the responsibilities of gay media; on the dimensions of diversity; on it all. In short, ModFab lays it down. Read it.

___ Item 3: TEAM MIDDENTO BLOGS SHORT FILMS.
StinkyPal Middento has begun a new semester and, with it, an excellent bit of cyber-generosity with The Short Films Blog, a collaborative undertaking among participants in one of his courses this semester. Already, the posts are fascinating, highlighting interesting short films in an interesting array of compositional styles. I'll be reading for the next few months. So should you.

___ Item 4: GUARANTEED GIGGLE #902.
Didja hear about the "eerie parallels" between McCain's VP nominee and that abandoned Goldie Hawn movie project? (Via Your Mom). For less hilarious -- but no less fascinating -- "actual" conspiracy theories, click here. (Via Beautiful Things for Questionable People.)

___ Item 5: A WORD OF WARNING.
A heads up. I may put "Supporting Actress Sundays" on a short hiatus for the month of September, to permit me to attend to other writing obligations (including, but not limited to, finishing up 1966). I'll make the decision before this coming Sunday, but I did want to let y'all know. If I do forego SAS for the month (which, honestly, seems more than likely), we'll hit 1969 in November as I want to hew to my original plan to devote October to a year that features a horror performance. (Voting will commence sometime in the next week or so). So apologies, lovely reader, if this shift in plans disorients or dismays or offends. A gal's gotta do what a gal's gotta do. (And, please note, I won't be shutting up shop for the month -- I'll merely be giving myself a brief respite from the SAS treadmill.)

___ Item 6: "CAN'T STOP THE MUSIC - DANCE-ALONG EDITION?"
AfterElton recently posited a fairly lame list of movies ready for audience interactivity. Which makes me wonder: what film, lovely reader, would you suggest as ideal for such a sing-along -- or a dance-along, or a snark-along -- screening opportunity? Posit your proposals in comments.
Have at it, lovelies...