12.31.2008

Commencement - Fame (1980) - The Endings Blogathon

I offer this post as my contribution to The Endings Blogathon instigated by J.D. over at Valley Dreamin'. Be sure to check out the miscellaneous cinematic endings over there as you begin your new year and, while you're here, consider one of StinkyLulu's favorite cinematic endings which -- as it happens -- is also a hauntingly poignant beginning.

click above image to be routed to video of scene

Commencement
A time of beginning
The time at which something is supposed to begin
The act or process of commencing
A beginning
Set in motion
Take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
Get off the ground
The action of taking the full degree
A start
The great public celebration
An academic exercise
In which diplomas are conferred at the end of the academical year
The act of starting something
Cause to start
Commencement


12.30.2008

To Dos Day - Supporting Actress Blogathon Edition


Item #1: SCREEN NATHANIEL'S FABULOUS TEASER FOR THE SUPPORTING ACTRESS BLOGATHON (1.4.09).
Nathaniel has constructed the most delicious video swirl of 2008's Supporting Actressness to whet your appetite for this weekend's Supporting Actress Blogathon. Watch it. Watch it again. And then....

Item #2: PREPARE YOUR POST FOR THE SUPPORTING ACTRESS BLOGATHON.
StinkyLulu's 3rd Annual Supporting Actress Blogathon - The Class of 2008 will be happening in a mere five days. And posts are already beginning to stream in. I do hope that each and every one of you lovely readers are contemplating which of 2008's actresses at the edge have most earned your appreciation and affection and are preparing your entry so that you can...

Item #3: SEND YOUR POST NO LATER THAN THE CRACK OF DAWN ON SUNDAY (1.4.09).
The deadline is simple: email the link for your post to me, no later than the crack of dawn (your time) on the Sunday of the blogathon. (I will, of course, be adding posts throughout the day but it will really help me to have as many as possible as soon as possible.) You do NOT need to confirm your participation with me prior to sending your post. Likewise, you do NOT need to "sign up" to cover this or that performer. You also are NOT limited to one post in the blogathon. I only ask that you limit yourself to profiling one performance in each post. The event is really a "more the merrier" sort of fandango, and remember too to...

Item #4: USE THIS OPPORTUNITY PROMOTE YOUR FAVORITE BIT OF SUPPORTING ACTRESSNESS IN 2008, NO MATTER THE "QUALITY" OF THE FILM OR THE USUAL FOCUS OF YOUR BLOG.
One of the most fun parts of the blogathon each year is seeing the range of performances highlighted by such a diverse crew of web writers. So, again, please do not feel limited to profiling "contender" performances or only top-shelf performers. This is our chance to hear about great actressing in all genres and from all corners of the cinematic landscape. So, please feel free to shock us or surprise us or challenge us or amuse us with your pick of a truly noteworthy bit of actressing at the edges. And remember too that all web writers are welcome to this blog party, no matter the usual focus of your blog. We just want to see you there! Still uncertain? Just...

Item #5: PEEK AT "THE CLASS OF 2006" and "THE CLASS OF 2007" BLOGATHONS FOR INSPIRATION.
One of the delights of hosting a blogathon is that, for all the "rules" or "guidelines" you put out there, there really are no rules and the only guidelines that end up mattering are those that folks choose to follow. As proof I refer you to our two previous adventures: The Class of 2007 and The Class of 2006. Anything goes; it's up to you.

Item #6: JOIN THE FUN IN CELEBRATING "THE CLASS OF 2008" BY POSTING, LINKING TO AND COMMENTING ON THE 3rd ANNUAL SUPPORTING ACTRESS BLOGATHON.

Even if you don't plan to participate by posting in the blogathon (and, really, lovely reader, why on earth wouldn't you), I do hope you'll consider beating the drum and spreading the word about the event. Use one of my handy little promo graphics (poster, panel, button). Embed Nathaniel's video. Comment promiscuously on the blogathon posts. But please do consider spreading the word however feels right to you. (Forgive me, but I've got an especially bad case of hostess panic -- it's so early this year, so close to New Year's, people will forget and nobody'll post, blah blah blah.) Nonetheless, I ask your help in promoting the Blogathon -- all through this week and into next. It's a great way to ring a fabulous new year of actressing at the edges!


What do you think, lovelies?

Will we see you there?
RSVP in comments.
But do keep "your date" (ie. who you'll be posting on) a secret...
We love the surprises...

12.29.2008

Supporting Actress Sundays for December'08/January'09: 1945

After much unanticipated seasonal delay, I am very pleased to officially announce the roster and panel for the next Smackdown...


Supporting Actress Smackdown for 1945:
Sunday, January 18.
Featuring an excellent (and patient) panel of Smackdowners, including:
Ken, Matt, Stacia and one or two others...
(A
ny volunteers?)

12.28.2008

Anne Revere in National Velvet (1945) - Supporting Actress Sunday

When I was but a wee little stinky, no matter how much I adored my actual mother, I nonetheless trawled the popular culture horizon for the ideal candidate to take over maternal duty should I ever be swept away into some more fabulously cinematic version of my life. Sometimes I liked Carol Brady or Samantha Stevens for the job. Other times I preferred Julie Andrews or Cicely Tyson. Most of the time, I knew Karen Grassle ("Ma" from Little House on the Prairie) was the perfect choice. But now I realize that my childhood game of "fantasy parent" might have looked entirely different had I ever seen...

...Anne Revere in National Velvet (1945)
approximately 28 minutes and 33 seconds
24 scenes
roughly 23% of film's total running time
Anne Revere plays Mrs. Brown, the adored mother of the Brown brood, which includes precocious daughters Edwina, Malvolia, and Velvet (Elizabeth Taylor, radiantly exuberant in the role).
Mrs. Brown is formidable...strong, kind, generous, and wise, with just enough sophistication (not to mention a hint of rebelliousness) to keep her from entering sainthood right now.
In short, Mrs. Brown is the sort of idealized mother character that's very nearly impossible to play, at least without lapsing into the realm of saccharine cliche or adding a compelling hint of malevolence.
Several central choices within Revere's characterization serve her well in essaying this stealthily difficult role.
First, Revere's Mrs. Brown is not especially effusive. She's an exacting, stern parent who seems unflummoxed by the difficult demands of parenting three teen girls and a boy child barely out of diapers. At the same time, Revere's Mrs. Brown does not withhold her affections from her brood. Her children, husband and even houseguest all know that she loves and cares for them.
Second, Revere's Mrs. Brown is not humorless. Now, don't get me wrong -- Revere is no laugh riot in this role. That said, Revere maintains an easy, occasionally amusing banter with her husband throughout the film. As Mrs. Brown teases Mr. Brown, Revere scores each exchange with what Tyra Banks might call "smiling eyes," the character's underlying amusment communicated legibly through the merest twinkle in the actress's eye.
Finally, Revere makes the perfect vocal choice for the role. Nearly every line the script provides Mrs. Brown is declamatory, nearly every utterance either a pronouncement or a Socratic query addressing the true state of affairs. Revere, in what is I think a master stroke, delivers each line in basically the same register: as a loving but stern challenge. It takes a confident actress to give every line essentially the same reading, but Revere does, and in so doing, amplifies the quietest nuances in each exchange.
These three moves -- to neither express nor withhold; to maintain a subtle humor throughout; and to deliver each line in basically the same register -- provide a foundation for Revere's characterization of Mrs. Brown, permitting Revere's Mrs. Brown to be both a distinct person and an archetypal presence.
And the amazing thing? Anne Revere is startlingly believable as Mrs. Brown. I don't believe for one second that Mickey Rooney is a British scamp, or that Donald Crisp is a smalltown butcher, or that Angela Lansbury is Elizabeth Taylor's slightly older sister. Nor do I really believe that Taylor's Velvet was a plausible enough drag king to win the climactic race. When I tally it all up, I don't buy much of anything this movie is trying to sell me.
Yet, for some reason, I completely believe Anne Revere's Mrs. Brown. I believe her love for her family and for her husband. I believe the wisdom of her scene-ending aphorisms. I even believe that she's (one of) the first women to swim the English Channel and saved her prize money for this rainy day. (Indeed, the only time I think she's full of s*** is when she says girls have only one opportunity to live "the folly" of their greatest dream.)
But, truly, the only thing I still have trouble believing about Anne Revere's performance as Mrs. Brown is how good it is.
Revere took what should be an impossible cliche and, through precise understatement, turned it into a marvel of quiet transcendence. It's what actressing at the edges is all about...

12.26.2008

A Half Century of SANTA BABY :: Eartha Kitt, 1927-2008

circa mid1950s
click either image to be routed to video
circa mid2000s

Blessings, dear Eartha.
see memorials at
TOWLEROAD
THE FILM EXPERIENCE
FABULON
SHORPY
STIRRED, STRAIGHT UP, WITH A TWIST
JEW EAT YET?

& then there's my favorite Eartha recording ever...

The Heel
& don't forget that other song about "heels"
(which really should be Eartha's true xmas classic, imho)...


12.24.2008

Wishing You A Very Stinky XXXMas~

And, now, one for the rest of us...

A Very Stinky XXXMas - FILTHY

Have Yourself A Bitter Little Christmas - David Ford
Merry Xmas You Suckers - Paddy Roberts
I Got Nothin ( 'Cause We Were Jews) - Pat Guadagno
We're A Couple Of Misfits - Substance W
Santa's On A Diet - Zoogz Rift

Elf's Lament - Barenaked Ladies
The Night Santa Went Crazy - Weird Al Yankovic
Stick 'Em Up Santa - Bobby Salvatore
Santa Claus Is Gay - Uncle's Institution
Daddy, Is Santa Really Six Foot Four? - Kay Brown
I Saw Mommy Fucking Santa Claus - Matt Rogers
Little Altar Boy - Vic Dana
I'm Gonna Hang Up Mommy's Stocking - Bobby Sabatino
C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S - Little Marcy
Hang Your Balls on the Christmas Tree - Kay Martin & Her Body Guards
Gonna Kidnap Santa Tonight - Mona Murry
I Want A Man For Christmas - Joan Shaw
She's Underneath the Mistletoe Again - Antsy McClain
Daddy's Beer - Dave Gunning
Ghost on Christmas Eve - Allen and The Lads
The Christmas Dolly - Little Betty Ashley & J. W. Thompson
Merry Christmas Anyway - Scotland Barr & The Slow Drags
Hard Candy Christmas - Angie Heaton
Last Christmas - Juan Tormento

Wishing You A Very Stinky XMas~

Sorry, lovely reader, for having been such a slacker. But it's that time of year. It's also been the time of year in which MrStinky & I go a little crazy assembling scores upon scores of these little cd collections of basically surprising (and often inappropriate) holiday music. But it's not fair to leave you out of the loop, is it? So, for a limited time only, I'll be posting the contents of our 2008 Very Stinky XXXMas CD for your illicit downloading pleasure. We'll start with "FESTIVE" -- the first cd, suitable for the entire family. Later tonight I hope to post "FILTHY" -- the second cd, suitable for the rest of us. These links will only be live for a few days, so download while you can.

A Very Stinky XMas - FESTIVE
It's Christmas Time - Brittlestar
Miracles Can Happen - Betty
Take Me Away - Nellie McKay
Rudolph Pouts - Israfel's Son With Connie & Chorus
Close Your Mouth (It's Christmas) - The Free Design
Swing Low, Sweet Mistletoe - Lylas
Little Town - Over The Rhine
River - Sixpence None The Richer
Long Night Moon - Catie Curtis
I Love (Christmas Stuff) - Sarah Dashew
I Just Need You For Christmas - Gwen Sebastian
All Hopped Up On Jingle Bells - Punchline
Please, Please, Please, Please, Please - The Imprints
Don'tcha Try To Tell Me There Ain't No Santa Claus - Lisa And The Lollipops
The Most Wonderful Day Of The Year - The Quinto Sisters
Ho Ho Ho - Larry Hooper & Lawrence Welk's Champagne Music Makers
Fum Fum Fum - The Glad Singers
Escuchad, Escuchad - Los TNT
Jingle Bells - Lisa Loeb
Hard Candy Christmas - Acoustic Grace
Last Christmas - The Dreamer and The Sleeper

12.12.2008

20 (Supporting) Actresses Meme

Below please find my contribution to the epic-delightful 20 Actress Meme, instigated by Nathaniel at The Film Experience. My list departs somewhat from the root conventions of the meme, as I have opted to draw my list exclusively from those nominated Supporting Actress performances I have already profiled as part of my Supporting Actress Sunday project. This list doesn't necessarily represent the performances I think to be "best" but, rather, those that are my most favorite -- the 20 nominations in which the actress, the performance and the role combined to dig deeply under my skin. In short, these are the nominated performances that continue to delight, to surprise, and to thrill me months (sometimes years) since I first developed their profile. Indeed, I could (and, very likely, would) watch these performances over and over and over again. As you scroll through my 20, please click the image to read the profile, and, as always, the actresses are arranged to reflect StinkyLulu's ascending level of love...