tongue and groove

why the Oscars blew it.

poor James Franco. i'm not going to waste time reading any reviews of this year's Oscars telecast, but i suspect that his work as co-host will take a lot of blame for why the show sucked. but i don't think it was his fault.

last Thursday he posted a photo to his Whosay account of what appeared to be the telecast's writing room. take a look, and make sure you note the large man with the Prince Valiant haircut, red glasses and blue t-shirt. you know who that is, right? Bruce Vilanch. for anyone who might not know, Vilanch has been writing jokes for the Oscars shows for over 20 years. some of you may know him for his uproariously funny work (NOT) as a performer and joke writer on Hollywood Squares. (although it might sound like i do, i mean no disrespect to Mr. Vilanch. he's clearly carved out a very successful career for himself in mainstream Hollywood comedy.)

this, to me, is the crux of the problem: the people who run the Oscars telecast still think we're living in a Hollywood Squares world.

the Academy acted like it wanted to rocket the show into relevance by casting James Franco and Anne Hathaway as hosts. this was breaking the mold! this year was going to be different! this would surely get the kids to watch!

the first sign of trouble in my opinion was when the opening montage (which had been pretty good up to that point) suddenly presented us with the aging Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox in their Back to the Future roles. if you really wanted to skew younger demographically, i'm not sure i'd have gone with a reference from 1985. but that's just me.

i'm trying to understand what the thought process was in the writers' room when someone suggested, "hey, you know what would be really great and funny? let's have 94-year-old Kirk Douglas teeter out there on his cane to present!" or: "i know! we'll put Anne in a tux and then she can sing a really corny song about Hugh Jackman. and then we'll send James out dressed like Marilyn Monroe! because she'll be dressed like a man...get it?! that'll KILL!" because nothing skews hipper than a sight gag that Hollywood's been doing since Uncle Miltie days.

the only reason i even watch televised awards shows anymore is to read the accompanying Twitter snark. if Twitter didn't exist, i wouldn't even waste my time--i'd just watch the video clips online the next day. Twitter's the only thing that makes it tolerable. the only time i laugh is when i'm reading tweets.

during Sunday's show, the consensus on Twitter seemed to be that James Franco was baked. i laughed at all the tweeted Franco jokes as much as the next person, but i actually didn't think he was stoned. (though if he wasn't, he probably wishes he'd been.)  :)  maybe i'm old-fashioned, but he seems to come from a pretty tight-knit family. i guess i have a hard time believing that he'd have his parents and grandmother sitting 3rd row center just get really high before he performed in front of them. i felt bad for him. he could only do what they asked him to do, and they didn't ask him to do much. and the tone was all off. Anne Hathaway is a lovely, adorable young woman and a good actress. but she was coming off like a gushing, fawning cheerleader rather than a host. it would have been even weirder for Franco to adopt her tone. so he was left to stand there in his tux, next to Anne and occasionally recite some corny words written for him by a roomful of highly-paid Hollywood writers.

he was taking some bashing online for his backstage posting, but maybe firing off those photos and very short videos during the show was the only thing helping him get through the show. i was watching the video clips as he posted them and i found one of them very telling. James is with Jordan (Rubin, i think). he says that Jordan is the head writer and points out that it's all his responsibility. Jordan says there are other writers--that he can't take all the credit. to which James replies that, no, it's his responsibility. Jordan says James has improvised a lot. James insists that he's said the lines as they were written for him. watch.  :)

what was the point of Billy Crystal's appearance? (and why in god's name was he given a standing ovation?) was that a nod to the 60+ crowd to say: we didn't forget about you--here's someone you know and love. and just to drive the point home--and make sure that the 80-somethings didn't feel left out--they also included Bob Hope. because lord knows, nothing says 2011 like a hologram Bob Hope.

James Franco often blazes his own path and last night was no exception. and with a mother like Betsy, it's no surprise. my favorite quote from this profile of her last week: "If your partner doesn't understand creativity, just find somebody else." from reading about Betsy and her husband, it's clear that the Franco kids were raised in a home where creativity was not only encouraged, but valued:

"My kids are very, very inspiring to me," said author Betsy Franco. "They are so fearless. I consider myself fearless, but no way, by comparison, when I see what they are doing. If you are willing to fail, you can pretty much do anything. If you pick yourself up and keep going, you can do anything."

James Franco, some will say that you failed as an Oscars co-host. i applaud you for being willing to try it. i'd even argue that it was the Academy and its writers that failed you.

and where is James Franco today? based on this photo, my guess would be he's right where he wants to be...back at school.

screenwriting

this is a fascinating interview with screenwriter Aaron Sorkin. Happy Oscars Sunday!

TECLOPOLIS

if you can spare 12 minutes, this is a beautiful stop-motion film. gorgeous visuals. brilliant storytelling.

Poetry the movie

Poetry looks like a beautiful film. from the NY Times review: "The importance of seeing, seeing the world deeply, is at the heart of this quietly devastating, humanistic work from the South Korean filmmaker Lee Chang-dong."

here's the trailer:

i feel as if i've been holding poetry at arm's length lately...pretending i don't even know it. for me, poetry requires a quiet engagement...a diving-in that on the surface can feel like a simple act...yet one that requires my willingness to open to expansiveness.

which poets have you been reading lately?

La Salonniere recap

i can hardly believe it's already been 10 weeks since i  launched my interview blog, La Salonniere. in lieu of a new interview this week, i'm doing a recap of the first nine interviews. what a wonderful group of talented and creative people! if you missed any of their interviews over the last couple of months, i hope you'll take a moment to catch up because each one is chock-full of insights and tips on how to lead a more authentic, creative life.

thank you for reading. more great interviews are on the way!

and now, here's the recap.

Eric Shiveley

i have a brand-new interview to kick off the new year at La Salonniere. Eric Shiveley is a smart, talented, funny musician and filmmaker in southern Colorado. you can meet him here.

The 1st Annual Marilyn Awards

the final Reverb 10 prompt from Molly O'Neill is:  "Core Story. What central story is at the core of you, and how do you share it with the world?"

it's awards season in the film industry. i love films and this time of year i enjoy reading about the nominations, seeing films and performances that have been nominated, watching the awards shows and chatting with my fellow film lovers. since story is at the core of what makes a good film, it was what came to mind when i read today's prompt. i thought it might be fun to look back at my year by sharing some of this year's moments and stories in a nominations format. may i present the 1st Annual Marilyn Awards...

Best Art Direction - Bellagio Arboretum in Las Vegas

Best Cinematography - Flickr's 10.10.10 project (this is my shot)

Best Makeup - The nominations committe could not find enough instances of makeup use to even come up with a nomination, let alone an award. Check back next year.

Best Costume Design - thrift store pumpkin

Best Song - "Happy Birthday" performed for me by Joe Louis Walker and his band (with J on drums) from the stage in Nevada City, CA

Best Soundtrack - Fremont Street Experience in Las Vegas

Best Visual Effects - 4th of July fireworks in Watertown, SD

Best Series, Drama - my mom's life

Best Series, Comedy - my brother's life

Best Mini-Series - my relationship with J

Best Writing - Adapted Screenplay - Reverb 10

Best Writing - Original Screenplay - my poem in Creative Is a Verb

Best Documentary - Amgen Tour of California

Best Documentary Short Subject - Amelie

Best Film Editing - forgiveness for snapping a big chunk of grievance out of the loop that continuously plays in my head

Best Ensemble - my family for their performance in the 2-week run of South Dakota Family Vacation

Breakthrough Performance - my niece Ciara for her first solo plane ride and vacation

Best Actress in a Supporting Role - me in my roles as spouse, daughter, sister, aunt

Best Actress in a Leading Role - me in my role as interviewer at La Salonniere - the interviewing is genuine...it took some acting (as if) on my part to convince myself to do it.  ;)

Best First Feature - La Salonniere

Cecil B DeMille Award - my mother

Robert Altman Award - the community of creative bloggers, tweeters and Facebookers who are my tribe

Best Film - storyboarding my dreams (i suspect this will be the winner next year, too.)  ;)

here's a poem i wrote a few years ago that i recently came across...and, yes, it's called "storyboard your dreams"...

break the mold that's
grown around your
forgotten desires open
the windows and let the
air circulate around your
spirit so you can hold
your heart in your
hands until its wings
unfurl break the slumber
that's become your
mind's thoughts the
numbing drumming of
doubts that have formed
the backbeat of your
life write a new
soundtrack and
storyboard your dreams
casting yourself to the
winds as star

wishing everyone a beautiful, bright, shiny 2011. may your heart's wings unfurl in the coming year. xo

man in a blizzard

i've quieted things down this week. i let go of Reverb 10 after Monday's post...spent a mellow day with Jeffrey on Wednesday celebrating his birthday...and have been reflecting on the last year. i plan to put up a post tied into the new year, but until then, here's a beautiful short film about the blizzard in New York...

 

reverb 10 - make

Gretchen Rubin of The Happiness Project provides the day 6 prompt for Reverb 10:  "Make. What was the last thing you made? What materials did you use? Is there something you want to make, but you need to clear some time for it?"  i really love Gretchen's project and greatly enjoyed her book. my post about it at the beginning of the year (which Gretchen kindly commented on) is here.

my answer to this prompt dovetails nicely with a lovely Jamaica Kincaid quote Gretchen posted on her blog yesterday:

"Why is a picture of something real eventually more exciting than the thing itself?"

last month my youngest niece, Ciara, turned 13. when i was visiting my mother in Las Vegas last summer, we went through a big box of her photos. she wanted to downsize the photos she was keeping and gave a big batch of them to me to disperse to various family members. since many of the photos of Ciara were of her infancy and toddlerhood, i suggested that for her birthday we put together a photo album for her. my mother could supply the photos and i'd create the album. so that's what we did.

adolescence is, for many of us, one of the funnest times of our lives, but also one of the most painful. i wrote unexpected captions for the photos and short paragraphs filled with what i hoped would be life lessons and tidbits of wisdom as she entered this big life milestone. they were worded to be funny and clever and sometimes poignant. i won't re-create them here, but i'll share some of the lessons i shared with her.

i told her that sometimes as a teenager she's going to think that parents just don't get it, and then let her in on a little secret--that they thought the same thing about their parents...who thought the same thing about theirs.  i acknowledged that adolescence is a time that's all about friends and shared with her that sometimes even our closest friends can let us down or hurt our feelings. i told her she'll get her heart broken, but not to worry about it because it happens to everyone. i admitted that she might feel embarrassed by her family at times (what teenager hasn't felt embarrassed by her parents?), but that ultimately it's her family (all of us) who love her unconditionally and will always be there for her no matter what. (and i made sure to include photos of all of us in the album.) i warned her that there will be a ton of societal and peer pressure to have her body look a certain way, but to love her body as it is because it's already beautiful and it's hers alone.

there were no fancy art supplies used in making this album. i'm not crafty by nature, but the end result was cute. i used a 3-ring binder album, some construction paper to cut out different background shapes and typed captions in a cute font. i remembered that i had some peel-and-stick letters left over from another project that i used to spell out her name on the cover. i only filled the first half of the album, telling her that the other half was for her to store keepsakes and memories of her 13th year.

my nieces and nephew are like a lot of American kids these days--they're pretty spoiled. my brother and sister-in-law aren't wealthy, but their children typically get whatever they've asked for for birthdays and Christmas. but i think sometimes we underestimate kids. i wanted to give C. something special and unique...and she loved it.

so in answer to Jamica Kincaid's question that appears on Gretchen's blog, i don't know if it's that the photos seem more real as much as it is that they give us a shortcut  into that place in our hearts where we store some of our most cherished memories.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

for today's A Month of Music i'm going with a great, catchy pop song from the early 80's by one of my favorite singer-songwriters, Bonnie Hayes.  it was on the soundtrack of the film Valley Girl, which happened to be the first film directed by Martha Coolidge...and the first one where Nicolas Coppola was billed as Nicolas Cage.  :) 

 

hunting

i love that moment when you've finished a book and are now in the hunt for the next one...that 'what am i in the mood to read?' moment. when i woke today, i rooted around in the two tall stacks of books on my bedside table to see what might strike my fancy. sometimes i go through three or four books before i hit on the one that feels right right now. this morning i opened up a novel, read a few paragraphs and thought, "hmmm, not now..." then i spied Melisssa Bank's book of short stories, The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing. i'd read it when it was first published in 1999. i'd seen her read, in fact, at Powell's on Hawthorne. i'd been living in Portland for several years at that point and it was nice to hear her read in what had been my old neighborhood Powell's...from my first neighborhood there. somewhere along the way i'd given away or sold my hardcover (signed!) copy. [sidebar:  it's nice to not be attached to possessions, but sometimes i could care just a little bit more. end of lecture to myself.]

i seem to recall her reading from a story set on St. Croix and i remember how exotic that locale seemed when i read the story myself. how ironic that seems now, since a year later we were living 40 miles from there on the island of St. Thomas. i remember enjoying the stories, but i'd forgotten how good they are and how much i loved her particular kind of wit. googling Bank this morning, i'm astonished to see all these years later that this book was compared at the time to Bridget Jones's Diary. they're nothing alike! a woman wrote it, therefore it must be 'chick lit.'  gah. in that Salon interview, Bank mentions that she enjoys reading Pam Houston. if you've read Houston, you'll understand when i say that this book is much more in a Houston, than a Fielding, vein.

some of the stories are set in Greenwich Village and it made me sort of miss New York. i've never lived there. have visited many times, but not for a very long time. and then i started thinking about all of the places i've traveled--often alone--and how the person who traveled to all of those places seems like a character in a book of short stories to me now. and then i wondered what that says about my current life.  ;)

but back to the Girls' Guide...i also discovered in my googling that two of the stories were made into a film starring Sarah Michelle Geller and Alec Baldwin. oh, no no no! Baldwin is completely wrong as the Archie Knox character! even so, i will now have to watch Suburban Girl via Netflix to see how it turned out.

*photo of Greenwich Village by surekat, licensed under Creative Commons