I thought I'd share this email from a friend who attended the MDA fundraiser at the Marriott Wardman Park Saturday. Who knew Tony was so close by last weekend?
he's so much better live . . .
He may not, in fact, be the Boss, but -- as you may have suspected -- one Tony Danza puts on a hell of a live show. Yes, I was there to witness with my own eyes last night the stylings of our friend from Taxi and, more recently, of Vegas and several botox treatments. It was like he was channeling Sinatra (both Frank and Nancy), Sammy Davis Jr., Frankie Valley and Vanilla Ice.Yes, there was rapping, and so much more.
Since I know the [Palavers] are big fans, I thought I'd share. He was the featured performer at an MDA fundraiser I was volunteering for. I suspect he left most of the crowd wondering, "haven't these kids suffered enough?"
P.S. - In fairness, I have to say that Danza's not a bad tap dancer. If only he'd stick to that.
Sometimes scheduling something as simple as dinner with a few busy friends can lead to dozens of emails, the handwritten equivalent of an Excel spreadsheet, and a diminishing desire to go through with the event. Fortunately, mysterywriter tipped me off to Doodle. This simple, bare bones, Swiss website offers an easy way to pick a date for an event or to select among options (for example, movies, restaurants, menus).
It's free, it's easy, and you don't have to register or otherwise provide personal information. The organizer just sets up a "poll" (as they call all the services), with either dates and times ("Schedule an event") or other options ("Make a choice"), then emails a link to all participants. The organizer can enter an email address if she likes, in which case she'll receive an email anytime someone participates in the poll. Participants follow the link and vote for their choices. Doodle does not ask participants for personal information other than a name of some sort so the organizer can keep track. You can leave a comment if you want, such as this one my friend Lynn left in response to a fake dinner poll/pre-mbpalaver post test run: "i simply cannot make thurs. the 28th at 7:00....i know it is fakely ok for everyone else, but i have a life to live and entertainment tonight to watch."
One more thought on the Oscar-nominated short films (well, two if you're counting): If you subscribe to Netflix, you can view "Madame Tutli-Putli," one of the animated shorts, online. I found it hauntingly beautiful, eerie, and inscrutable. I imagined Madame Tutli-Putli to be the woman in the cloche hat in Edward Hopper's Chop Suey a few decades down the road. Here's what Andrew O'Hehir says in Salon:
It's been years since any version of old-school cell animation dominated the Oscars, but this year's Academy Award-nominated animated shorts offer a particularly strong sampler of contemporary trends in the genre. As with the live-action shorts, it's not possible for five films to represent all possibilities, but all these are aiming higher than mere amusement, and three of the five are highly impressive. "Madame Tutli-Putli," a distinctive stop-motion film with the undertow of a bad dream, is probably the year's most influential animated short and the likely Oscar winner. But it isn't (in my personal and admittedly peculiar judgment) the best or most memorable movie on the dance card.
Just don't watch it with the kiddies in the room. It's pretty scary at times. Reminder: Printable Oscar ballots can be found here.
Finally, when I went to see the live action shorts last weekend, among the annoying things that happened in my one social outing since having knee surgery was that we were stuck in line for a good 20 minutes behind a bunch of pretentious film buffs. The ringleader of one group, who kept extolling the virtues of "3:10 to Bucharest," ended up in conversation with an even more pretentious man who was rejecting everything Oscar stands for, dismissing the movies they nominated, and faulting them for overlooking superior films. (And yet, he was there to see the nominated live action shorts.) All I had to say to my friend J. was "Annie Hall":
Just a brief programming reminder: Please do not get so caught up in Oscar hoopla that you forget that the third and last installment of Pride and Prejudice airs Sunday night at 9 on PBS. Will Lady Catherine de Bourgh stand in the way of Lizzie's happiness? Will Bingley and Jane self-combust from an unsustainable concentration of sweetness? Will Darcy take another dip in the lake? This is what VCRs and DVRs were made for.
I'm a bit tardy with this post, but given my semi-ambulatory state I automatically chucked the postcards for the annual Baltimore craft show and forgot all about it. But it's not too late for you to head to Baltimore to see the wares of more than 700 American craft artists. This show is big. Ridiculously big. Either go early and plan to spend all day (or two), or review the catalog and come up with a plan, such as checking out the New Wave Craft artists:
The Council invited 300 artists of the national New Wave Craft community to apply to a special section of the show: out of 100 applications, 15 have been juried in. Their handmade items are varied and include: lampshades made out of cocktail umbrellas; colorful adult and children’s clothing made out of vintage and reclaimed fabrics such as sheets, drapes, table linens, and lace; and jewelry incorporating Barbie parts; among others.
And while you're there, please pick me up a nice bowl. I once imposed a craft show bowl moratorium on myself, but I recently had a mishap involving the long fronds of a palm tree I wanted to carry to the kitchen to water and a tall vase holding some holly branches arranged in a devil-may-care fashion and placed next to some stacked ceramic and glass bowls, proving once again that I am more Ann Marie than Martha Stewart. I live in fear that there are still glass shards around my home waiting to get my one walking foot. I would also accept a lampshade made out of cocktail umbrellas.
WHEN Friday, February 22 (10 am - 9 pm) Saturday, February 23 (10 am - 6 pm) Sunday, February 24 (10 am - 5 pm)
HOW MUCH $14 per person $20 for a two-day pass $25 introductory new membership at the Show only Children 12 and under free American Craft Council members admitted free. JOIN NOW
Last week I listed some places to see Oscar nominated short films. Those films -- and prior winners in the short film categories -- are now available on iTunes as well (for $1.99 each). Before you purchase away, a caveat.
I went to the live action shorts at E Street last Sunday. It was my first time out of the house other than to go to the doctor or the polls since I had knee surgery on January 31, so maybe I was feeling particularly vulnerable. Whatever the reason, I almost fainted during the second film. I don't mean a big theatrical "would you please pass the jelly?" fainting spell. I nearly blacked out.
"At Night,"a Danish film that clocked in at just under 40 minutes (evidently barely meeting the eligibility requirements for short film nominees), is about three young women dying of cancer in a hospital over the holidays. It is as bleak and sad and gut-wrenching as that suggests. Some ways into it I started feeling warm. I took off my wool sweater, leaving me in a light t-shirt. I was still warm. Then hot. Then really hot. And sweating. And clammy. Then I started hearing that szhuszhing noise you hear just before you hit the floor. But what could I do? Escaping the movie would have meant hobbling down the stairs in my crutches in the dark while on the brink of losing consciousness. So I covered my face, was thankful I don't speak Danish, and waited . . . and waited . . . and waited for it to be over. I still don't know how it ended, but I suspect it will win on Sunday night. In Salon, for example, Andrew O'Hehir says "Thanks to its serious theme and its exemplary execution, ["At Night"] should win the Oscar in a walk." And maybe it should. Maybe the fact that the dialogue alone -- there was no violence or even invasive medical procedures on screen (while I was watching) -- was so intense and real that I almost fainted means that it is great art. All I know is that I was relieved it was followed up with the silly, truly short, Italian movie "The Substitute" (which Salon called a "virtually unwatchable" "shtick-laden Italian high-school comedy"). Whatever. It was just the ticket for me.
So my advice is go to the live action shorts, but after the first one (a sweet Belgian comedy called "Tanghi Argenti") step outside for some Milk Duds and don't come back for 40 minutes. Or pick and choose which ones to see on iTunes But vote for "At Night" in the pool.
By the way, the same Salon article says "If you haven't seen Peter Capaldi's 1994 short-Oscar winner, 'Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life,' seek it out immediately." I wouldn't have had a clue what they were talking about, except that my friends S&B brought it by last week as part of a post-surgery care package. (That coincidence concept is known as "poached eggs," but that's a topic for another post.) O'Hehir is right -- it's terrific. It's not available on iTunes, but is on Netflix. (Bonus for mysterywriter and Lynn: Kafka is played by Richard E. Grant, aka The Scarlet Pimpernel.)
Years ago I took a bike ride with Contessa to Hains Point in East Potomac Park. When we came upon The Awakening sculpture it was a revelation -- it felt like the dreams I have where, for example, I find out that the ocean rolls in right behind my building, in Woodley Park. I have a view of East Potomac Park from my office, and though I can't see The Awakening, I've always liked knowing he was there, just out of view. Sadly, the giant man, buried underground and struggling to break free, will be dug up next Wednesday and moved to Prince George's County, where it will become part of the National Harbor project. It's an especially sad loss for children, as described by The Washington Post's John Kelly in an article asking what should take the giant's place:
Something with hands-on appeal to kids, wrote Anne Rensberger, who for years was a licensed D.C. tour guide. One morning as she shepherded a group of school kids on their eighth-grade class trip to war memorials and Arlington National Cemetery, one boy commented to her, "This is sure a sad town, isn't it?"
Wrote Anne: "I knew then it was time to take that class for a 'recess' at 'The Awakening,' where they could escape the gravity of the morning. There I turned the kids loose and let them crawl up and slide down the giant's knee and sit in its hand for memorable pictures."
If you're looking for an outdoor activity this weekend, you can head down to East Potomac Park for your last chance to see The Awakening in its DC location. Click here for a map of Hains Point. For more photos, check out Flickr and dcmemorials.com. Here are more details about the sculpture and the move from The Washington Post:
J. Seward Johnson's creation, which has been at the site at East Potomac Park since June 1980, will be moved to to Prince George's County. During the excavation, the area will be closed for safety reasons, Park Service spokesman Bill Line said.
The five-piece, cast aluminum sculpture stands 17 feet tall at its highest point and is 70 feet across. It has been a popular attraction for tourists and locals, Line said.
"The Awakening" had been on loan to the Park Service, which manages East Potomac Park. The owner, California-based Sculpture Foundation, sold the work last spring to the developer of the National Harbor project in Prince George's, and it is to be placed there.
Now that the writers' strike is over, the Oscars will air in all its overly scripted and awkwardly presented glory on Sunday, February 24. That gives us 10 days to catch up on Academy Award-nominated movies. Here are some options to help you take educated guesses when you fill out your Oscar pool ballots.
Short Films at E Street and Beyond Starting tomorrow (Friday) night, DC's E Street Cinema is showing the Live Action and Animated Short Films nominated for Academy Awards. Check out synopses of the short films and a list of other cities where they are or will be available, including, among many others, Columbus (Gateway 8), New York (IFC Center), Charlotte (Ballantyne Village 5), Stamford (Avon Twin Theatre), and San Francisco (Embarcadero Center Cinema).
Documentaries and Shorts at the National Archives The National Archives will again offer free screenings of the nominated documentaries and short films, from February 20 to 24. The schedule and details are available on the Archives website. If you go, whatever you do, for the love of God, get there early. I blithely showed up once fifteen minutes before show time and found out the screenings were sold out.
AMC Best Picture Showcase Nationwide February 23 Did you miss all five of the nominated movies last year? On Saturday, February 23, you can see all of them (plus get a free large popcorn and unlimited refills) for $30 at selected AMC theaters around the country. Check out where the showcase is being offered in your area at AMC's website. And bring a cushion and some Jolt Cola.
Nominated Films Still in Theaters A number of films that received nominations are still running in theaters. DC's E Street Cinema itself is showing "Atonement," "There Will Be Blood," "No Country for Old Men," Juno," "Persepolis," and "Taxi to the Dark Side," and its sister theater in Bethesda is also showing "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" as well as some of the others. "Michael Clayton," one of my favorite movies of the year, and "Charlie Wilson's War" are also available in some theaters.
Nominated Films on DVD You can also rent several of the nominated movies, though if they're in the bigger categories you might not want to wait until the last minute. "Michael Clayton," "American Gangster," and "In the Valley of Elah" will be available on Netflix on February 19. Available now are "Away From Her" (I saw it last night and loved it), "Eastern Promises, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," "Ratatouille," "Elizabeth: The Golden Age," "La Vie en Rose" (I couldn't get through that one), "Gone Baby Gone," "Across the Universe," and "Sicko." As always, you can get an overview of film reviews on metacritic.com. (By the way, did you know you can browse past Best Picture Oscar winners on Netflix?)
A few weeks ago I happened upon this scene on TCM (Turner Classic Movies) during an Australian Open commercial break, and found myself mesmerized. I guessed -- and turned out to be right -- that it was from Charles Burnett's film "Killer of Sheep," which I wrote about last June when it was being screened at the E Street Cinema. I taped it when it reran late that night, and finally watched it last night (knee surgery recovery is great for catching up on movies). It's a short movie (only about an hour and 20 minutes), and not much happens, though there's a dread of tragedy hanging over it. It is a powerfully touching and sad portrait of ordinary people in a certain place and time. Check out reviews at metacritic. Here, now, are three ways you can see it too.
First, the AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring is showing it tomorrow (Wednesday) night at 6:30 pm as part of its screening of Burnett's films. If you can't make it then, Burnett's later movie, "My Brother's Wedding," will run this Saturday through Monday evenings, his short films on February 23-24, and "Bless Their Little Hearts" on March 1, 2, and 5. See the full AFI schedule here.
Second, unlike when I wrote about it last fall, the film is finally available on DVD. You can rent both "Killer of Sheep" and "My Brother's Wedding" on Netflix.
Finally, TCM will be airing "Killer of Sheep" again on April 20 at 4:00 am. Can't think that far ahead? You can sign up for an email reminder.
As far as I can tell from this email I received, there's no catch to the offer (usually these offers only apply if you spend, say, $125 or more). The fine print merely says:
Free shipping offer expires at 11:59 pm ET on Wednesday, February 13, 2008. This offer is valid on Internet orders shipped via Regular Shipping (4 to 7 business days) to US addresses only. Offer is not valid on telephone orders. This offer cannot be combined with any other promotion. Previous purchases are not eligible for this discount.
They've got great new spring clothes, if you're the kind of person who can think ahead like that, or you're planning a vacation in a hot spot. I'm the kind of person who waits until there's two feet of snow on the ground to go shopping for boots, then am surprised to find nothing but sandals in the shoe department. The J. Crew website has a Rome theme, so even if you're stuck inside with your crutches and a bag of Twizzlers, you can dream of scooting around Rome on a Vespa carrying a lemon yellow full-grain leather Uptown tote with a sumptuous suede lime interior.
I thought I'd share this email from a friend who attended the MDA fundraiser at the Marriott Wardman Park Saturday. Who knew Tony was so close by last weekend?
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