On Molly Ivins

Whew, will we miss reading Molly. She loved this country and always urged us to take responsibility for its preservation. Here's a few of Molly's quotable quotes:

"I've always found it easier to be funny than to be serious."

"Real Texans do not use the word 'summer' as a verb."

"I dearly love the state of Texas, but I consider that a harmless perversion on my part, and discuss it only with consenting adults."

"The first rule of holes: when you're in one, stop digging."

"It's hard to argue against cynics--they always sound smarter than optimists because they have so much evidence on their side.”

"What you need is sustained outrage...there's far too much unthinking respect given to authority."

"Think of something to make the ridiculous look ridiculous."

"The thing about democracy, beloveds, is that it is not neat, orderly, or quiet. It requires a certain relish for confusion."

"Satire is traditionally the weapon of the powerless against the powerful."

"I believe that ignorance is the root of all evil. And that no one knows the truth."

"You can't ignore politics, no matter how much you'd like to."

"Next time I tell you someone from Texas should not be president of the United States, please pay attention."

"I know vegetarians don't like to hear this, but God made an awful lot of land that's good for nothing but grazing."

"It is possible to read the history of this country as one long struggle to extend the liberties established in our Constitution to everyone in America."

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Fort Worth Star-Telegram

On Great TV Commercials

Kudos to Ogilvy and Mather Advertising for this truly creative 2006 commerical with Ellen DeGeneres and the animals promoting AMEX Card,"My Life. My Card." This one, the Apple/PC guys, and Geico's "So Easy A Caveman Can Do It" series are great fun. Creatively, these ads remind me of those vintage "No Matter What Shape Your Stomach's In" Alka Seltzer commericals from the 60's.

On Boogie Woogie

Maeva and William, great boogie woogie-ers!
Boogie Woogie Festival with Silvan Zingg on piano.

On California Dreamin'

When If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears came out over 40 years ago, I had to have it and still do. I always found myself California Dreamin' and here I am! This week we lost Denny Doherty, Michelle Phillips remains the sole survivor. My favorite group members were Mama Cass Elliot and Denny.

Check out this vintage clip (1966 or '67) from "Hullabaloo"with The Mamas and The Papas lipsynching to California Dreamin':

On Golden Globes

My prediction: Helen Mirren Night!

Mirren has three Best Actress nominations: one in Film, The Queen, and two in Television Mini-Series, HBO's Elizabeth I (even more brilliant than The Queen) and Prime Suspect: The Final Act, Jane in 3D portrayed down to her bones, fabulous! A tie in television category with Mirren winning for both series would be enjoyable, but to choose one I'll go with Elizabeth I.

Helen Mirren, Best Actress: The Queen and Elizabeth I

Here's a list of all nominees by category, my picks in bold:

MOTION PICTURE

DRAMA
"Babel" - Anonymous Content Production/Una Producción De Zeta Film/Central Film Production; Paramount Pictures/Paramount Vantage
"Bobby" - MGM; The Weinstein Company
"The Departed" - Warner Bros. Pictures; Warner Bros. Pictures
"Little Children" - New Line Cinema; New Line Cinema
"The Queen" - A Granada Production; Miramax Films

ACTRESS (DRAMA)
Penélope Cruz - "Volver"
Judi Dench - "Notes on a Scandal"
Maggie Gyllenhaal - "Sherrybaby"
Helen Mirren - "The Queen"
Kate Winslet - "Little Children"

ACTOR (DRAMA)
Leonardo DiCaprio - "Blood Diamond"
Leonardo DiCaprio - "The Departed"
Peter O'Toole - "Venus"
Will Smith - "The Pursuit of Happyness"
Forest Whitaker - "The Last King of Scotland"

MUSICAL OR COMEDY
"Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" - One America; Twentieth Century Fox
"The Devil Wears Prada" - Twentieth Century Fox; Twentieth Century Fox
"Dreamgirls" - DreamWorks Pictures/Paramount Pictures; DreamWorks Pictures/Paramount Pictures
"Little Miss Sunshine" - Big Beach/Bonafide Productions; Fox Searchlight Pictures
"Thank You For Smoking" - Room 9 Entertainment/David O. Sacks Production/Content Film; Fox Searchlight Pictures

ACTRESS (MUSICAL OR COMEDY)
Annette Bening - "Running with Scissors"
Toni Collette - "Little Miss Sunshine"
Beyoncé Knowles - "Dreamgirls"
Meryl Streep - "The Devil Wears Prada"
Renee Zellweger - "Miss Potter"

ACTOR (MUSICAL OR COMEDY)
Sacha Baron Cohen - "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan"
Johnny Depp - "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest"
Aaron Eckhart - "Thank You for Smoking"
Chiwetel Ejiofor - "Kinky Boots"
Will Ferrell - "Stranger Than Fiction"

ANIMATED FILM
"Cars" - Walt Disney Pictures/Pixar Animation Studio; Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
"Happy Feet" - Kingdom Pictures, LLC; Warner Bros. Pictures/Village Roadshow Pictures
"Monster House" - Columbia Pictures; Sony Pictures Releasing

FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
"Apocalypto" (USA) - Touchstone Pictures/Icon Productions; Buena Vista Pictures
"Letters from Iwo Jima" (USA/Japan) - Warner Bros. Pictures/DreamWorks Pictures; Warner Bros. Pictures
"The Lives of Others" (Germany) - Wiedemann & Berg Filmproduktion; Sony Pictures Classics
"Pan's Labyrinth" (Mexico) - Estudios Picasso/Tequila Gang/Esperanto; Picturehouse
"Volver" (Spain) - El Deseo; Sony Pictures Classics

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Adriana Barraza - "Babel"
Cate Blanchett - "Notes on a Scandal"
Emily Blunt - "The Devil Wears Prada"
Jennifer Hudson - "Dreamgirls"
Rinko Kikuchi - "Babel"

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Ben Affleck - "Hollywoodland"
Eddie Murphy - "Dreamgirls"
Jack Nicholson - "The Departed"
Brad Pitt - "Babel"
Mark Wahlberg - "The Departed"

DIRECTOR
Clint Eastwood - "Flags of Our Fathers"
Clint Eastwood - "Letters from Iwo Jima"
Stephen Frears - "The Queen"
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu - "Babel"
Martin Scorsese - "The Departed"

SCREENPLAY
Guillermo Arriaga - "Babel"
Todd Field, Tom Perrotta - "Little Children"
Patrick Marber - "Notes on a Scandal"
Wiliam Monahan - "The Departed"
Peter Morgan - "The Queen"

ORIGINAL SCORE
Alexandre Desplat - "The Painted Veil"
Clint Mansell - "The Fountain"
Gustavo Santaolalla - "Babel"
Carlo Siliotto - "Nomad"
Hans Zimmer - "The Da Vinci Code"

ORIGINAL SONG
"A Father's Way" - "The Pursuit of Happyness" - Music by: Seal and Christopher Bruce; Lyrics by: Seal
"Listen" - "Dreamgirls" - Music & Lyrics by: Henry Krieger, Anne Preven, Scott Cutler and Beyoncé Knowles
"Never Gonna Break My Faith" - "Bobby" - Music & Lyrics by: Bryan Adams, Eliot Kennedy and Andrea Remanda
"The Song of the Heart" - "Happy Feet" - Music & Lyrics by: Prince Rogers Nelson
"Try Not to Remember" - "Home of the Brave" - Music & Lyrics by: Sheryl Crow

TELEVISION

DRAMA
"24" (Fox) -Imagine Television and 20th Century Fox Television i.a.w. Real Time
"Big Love" (HBO) - Anima Sola and Playtone Prods. i.a.w. HBO Entertainment
"Grey's Anatomy" (ABC) - Touchstone Television
"Heroes" (NBC) - NBC Universal Television Studios i.a.w. Tailwind Prods.
"Lost" (ABC) - Touchstone Television

ACTRESS (DRAMA)
Patricia Arquette - "Medium"
Edie Falco - "The Sopranos"
Evangeline Lilly - "Lost"
Ellen Pompeo - "Grey's Anatomy"
Kyra Sedgwick - "The Closer"

ACTOR (DRAMA)
Patrick Dempsey - "Grey's Anatomy"
Michael C. Hall - "Dexter"
Hugh Laurie - "House"
Bill Paxton - "Big Love"
Kiefer Sutherland - "24"

COMEDY OR MUSICAL
"Desperate Housewives" (ABC) - Touchstone Television
"Entourage" (HBO) - Leverage and Closest to the Hole Prods. i.a.w. HBO Entertainment
"The Office" (NBC) - Deedle Dee Prods. with Reveille i.a.w. NBC Universal Television Studio
"Ugly Betty" (ABC) - Touchstone Television
"Weeds" (Showtime) - Showtime i.a.w. Lionsgate Television and Tilted Prods., Inc

ACTRESS (COMEDY OR MUSICAL)
Marcia Cross - "Desperate Housewives"
America Ferrera - "Ugly Betty"
Felicity Huffman - "Desperate Housewives"
Julia Louis-Dreyfus - "The New Adventures of Old Christine"
Mary-Louise Parker - "Weeds"

ACTOR (COMEDY OR MUSICAL)
Alec Baldwin - "30 Rock"
Zach Braff - "Scrubs"
Steve Carell - "The Office"
Jason Lee - "My Name is Earl"
Tony Shalhoub - "Monk"

MINISERIES OR TV MOVIE
"Bleak House" (PBS) - BBC and WGBH Boston Prod. i.a.w. Deep Indigo
"Broken Trail" (AMC) - Butchers Run Films and Once Upon a Time Films i.a.w. Sony Pictures
"Elizabeth I" (HBO) - Company Pictures and Channel 4 i.a.w. HBO Films
"Mrs. Harris" (HBO) - Killer Films, Number 9 Films and John Wells Prod. i.a.w. HBO Films
"Prime Suspect: The Final Act" (PBS) - Granada and WGBH-Boston Prod.

ACTRESS (MINISERIES OR TV MOVIE)
Gillian Anderson - "Bleak House"
Annette Bening - "Mrs. Harris"
Helen Mirren - "Elizabeth I"
Helen Mirren - "Prime Suspect: The Final Act"
Sophie Okonedo - "Tsunami, The Aftermath "

ACTOR (MINISERIES OR TV MOVIE)
Andre Braugher - "Thief"
Robert Duvall - "Broken Trail"
Michael Ealy - "Sleeper Cell: American Terror"
Chiwetel Ejiofor - "Tsunami, The Aftermath"
Ben Kingsley - "Mrs. Harris"
Bill Nighy - "Gideon's Daughter"
Matthew Perry - "The Ron Clark Story"

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Emily Blunt - "Gideon's Daughter"
Toni Collette - "Tsunami, The Aftermath "
Katherine Heigl - "Grey's Anatomy"
Sarah Paulson - "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip"
Elizabeth Perkins - "Weeds"

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Thomas Haden Church - "Broken Trail"
Jeremy Irons - "Elizabeth I"
Justin Kirk - "Weeds"
Masi Oka - "Heroes"
Jeremy Piven - "Entourage"

CECIL B. DEMILLE AWARD
Warren Beatty

On Village Voice Film Guide

Happy to note that I received a Christmas gift copy of the recently published The Village Voice Film Guide: 50 Years Of Movies From Classics To Cult Hits edited by Dennis Lim. A must-have guide for any cinemaphile, readers will devour 150 reviews of classic films by renown contributors Jay Hoberman, Michael Atkinson, Jonas Mekas, Georgia Brown, Andrew Sarris, Amy Taubman, and several by Dennis Lim.

The Village Voice remains the foremost alternative newspaper in the country. Upon reading this collection, you'll find a distinct difference in approach and opinion rendered by Voice contributors than say by contributors to the SF Chronicle or other mainstream media. Then again, the Voice pioneered alternative newspaper publishing from its inception in 1955---their film reviews take an entirely different intellectual spin.

You'll discover a notable review and letter exchange between critic Jonas Mekas and the late great dreamer, John Cassavettes about SHADOWS. Mekas championed Cassavettes original version of SHADOWS screened in 1958 and basically panned a reshot/recut version completed in 1959. Jay Hoberman contributes a review in June 2003 due to a restored version of SHADOWS which was premiering at Anthology's Jonas Mekas Theater. The next update from Hoberman comes in 2004 with the rediscovery of the original 1958 film he refers to as "ur-Shadows." Interestingly, this original "ur-Shadows" film was "turned down by Sundance" and premiered at Rotterdam Film Festival. Hoberman says that the 1959 film "is not a virtual remake" as Mekas suggested when he disowned the film. These pages leave you wanting more about the story-behind-the-story of this "lost"version of SHADOWS---and its ur-Sudden reappearance.

Book cover photo credit: Still from John Cassavetes's SHADOWS/Photofest,Inc.

On Tillie Olsen

Long time Bay Area resident, writer, and social activist Tillie Olsen passed away on January 1 at the age of 94. Olsen published her first short story, I Stand Here Ironing in 1955. Her published works include Tell Me A Riddle, Yonnondio, and Silences.

Do wish I'd met her or had a chance to sit in on a local reading or interview.

I like this quote attributed to Tillie Olsen:

"Time granted does not necessarily coincide with time that can be most fully used."

On Dreams

The morning sun makes its way through the fog and spotlights my potted plants. I stand above them while looking out over Huntingdon Park. My gaze falls to the homeless man walking in the middle of Sacramento Street. A familiar face, he travels up and down Nob Hill between the Embarcadero Hyatt and at least as far as Polk Street in the opposite direction. Muni bus drivers and local merchants know him, if the #1 California isn't crowded, the bus driver may let him on. He appears harmless and returns a hello when greeted. The next time that I see him, I will say hello, too---he's one of my neighbors.

The man makes PigPen look clean. Once in a while, he must be picked up because he's had a bath and his hair and beard have been cut. Even so, his soiled and greasy trench coat remains securely wrapped around him and the soles of his shoes still flap as he shuffles along his walk.

Whenever I see him, I wonder when he lost his dreams and commit to hold my own close by, no matter what.