Monday September 6^th (Labor Day)

is Jane Addams’ 150^th Birthday!

Please join us in Jane Addams Park (on the Chicago Lakefront)

for celebratory cake & good fellowship.

Date: Sept 6, 2010

Time: Noon

Location: Jane Addams Park

550 East Grand Ave

(west of Navy Pier/south of Oak Street Beach)

Cake will be provided FREE,

but please bring your own drinks.

Questions?  Contact Jan Lisa Huttner312.771.6949 (cell)

PS: Please forgive the late notification.

We waited to ensure pleasant weather conditions

before sending our eVite J

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Click HERE for Chicago Park District info.

Click HERE to read my award-winning presentation

“The History of Jane Addams Day”

 

SUMMER BOX OFFICE REPORT:

WOMEN RULE THE ART HOUSES

“…One would be hard-pressed to find an example

of such dominance in specialty summers of yore…”

It’s what I keep saying, folks: You DO NOT have to see s&%t just because it’s easy.  Find someone you trust (hopefully me), & you’ll soon discover all the wonderful films (like Winter’s Bone) available to you in theatres if you just know where to look!

Shout-Out to Peter Knegt: Thanks, Buddy J

Photos reposted from Rotten Tomatoes.

*****

                                    More from Penny… 

  Don’t judge a book by its cover or a film by its poster!  What appears to be a “period romance,” is actually a ferocious battle of wills dressed up in gorgeous costumes.  On the one hand, we have Von Koren: aescetic & unforgiving.  On the other hand, we have Laevsky: spoiled & petulant.  Watching Laevsky with his beautiful mistress Nadya (Fiona Glascott), Von Koren becomes obsessed with the thought that they might soon “breed,” further despoiling the human gene pool.  To Von Koren, these idle aristocrats represent nothing less than the ruination of the species.

     Andrew Scott perfectly embodies Laevsky–this handsome man who was clearly once a pretty boy.  We know from the self-important way he carries himself that he’s always been the light of his mother’s life, never disciplined as a child or told he could do wrong.  His character is now shallow & mean, & watching his despicable behavior (especially the hateful way he treats Nadya both in private & in public), I wanted to kill him myself.  But when Von Koren takes up his pistol & begins to aim…

     Von Koren is a man who thinks he has all the answers, & that arrogance sets us against him, making us root for Laevsky even knowing all his faults.  Seeing the film first (as I almost always do), my heart was pounding at the end.  I really didn’t know what would happen, & that’s a rare treat for a film lover in today’s mind-numbingly predictable multiplex.  Then, going back & reading Chekhov’s original novella, I was further dazzled.  The speeches he writes for Von Koren capture the essence of Nazi ideology; we will soon hear these arguments again from those who stood at gates of Auschwitz, deciding who went left & who went right. 

Kudos to Edie Falco, winner of the 62nd Annual Primetime Emmy Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series in her role as NURSE JACKIE.  For all those years that Falco played back-up on THE SOPRANOS, here’s proof that the lady can carry her own show with heart, soul, & true brilliance.

Shout-Out to Edie Falco:

You Go, Girl!!!

 

Cinematic adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert’s incredibly successful memoir (written & directed by Ryan Murphy with assist from actress turned screenwriter Jennifer Salt) has all the right pieces (charismatic stars, fabulous location shots, terrific soundtrack), but in the end, there’s no there there, making the whole far less than the sum of its parts. Soulless “spiritual journey” succeeds as an enjoyable–but forgettable–travel romance.  Qualified recommendation by me & Rich.  Click HERE for FF2 haiku.

*****

Penny Rants On… 

Date: May 1974

Time: Early Evening

Place: Street Scene; Florence, Italy 

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     I’m suddenly hit with a giggle fit.  “What’s up?” asks my surprised companion.  “My mother always says she has ‘the vibes’,” I reply.  “I wonder if she sees me now—eating artichoke pizza for dinner… with lemon gelato for dessert?!?” 

     So when I read Eat Pray Love, it was easy to enough to slide into the platters of pasta Elizabeth Gilbert describes in the “Eat” phase (phase one) of her spiritual quest.  And once she had me hooked, I was happy enough to go along for the rest of the ride. 

     But, alas, perhaps the only thing more boring than watching someone else eat is watching her meditate.  So while I certainly sympathize with the urge to be true to their source book, I think screenwriters Ryan Murphy & Jennifer Salt lost track of their first imperative: make an interesting film.

     Times have changed since Gilbert (played onscreen by Julia Roberts) first met Felipe—hero of the “Love” phase (played on screen by Javier Bardem).  In the midst of the Great Recession, the screenplay would have benefited from Deep Throat’s admonition to always “follow the money.” 

     Although Gilbert’s readers all know she set off with book contract in hand (having already authored several successful books by the time of her divorce), no one in the theatre will know this unless told later.  But it’s critical information that changes everything: Elizabeth Gilbert is a professional “seeker,” not just, say, a rich heiress with wanderlust. 

     It would have been easy enough for Murphy & Salt to drop this critical piece of information into one of Roberts’ early scenes with “Delia Shiraz” (Viola Davis).  After all, they’re meeting in Delia’s large Manhattan office, so they’re more than just friends.  But who is Delia?  Gilbert’s editor?  Her agent?  No clue. 

     Turning Gilbert from a highly accomplished careerist into a dilettante is a fatal error.  For shame, Ryan Murphy!  Given all the resources at your command, it appears you blew it because you just had no respect for your heroine… or her audience!

     Kudos to activist blogger Melissa Silverstein for her great new logo, playfully simulating movie clapper imagery (”Take One: Action!” ) but also visually communicating the gap between where women are in Hollywood right now (at an angle) versus where we have every right to be (fully equal).

     Melissa is now one of Third Wave Feminism’s most prominent cyberspace voices, & her WOMEN & HOLLYWOOD site is a must read for everyone concerned with breaking thru the celluloid ceiling.

Here’s a reposting of my favorite shot of Melissa

(taken by a friend during recent Thanksgiving prep):

I call it: “Melissa stirs things up.”

(Photo Credit: Rachel K. Jones)