nycitykitty

So, after looking up April 30 on Wikipedia, here are my choices of 4 events, 3 birthdays, 2 deathdays and 1 holiday.

Events:
     1006: the brightest supernova in recorded history occurs in the constellation Lupus.
     1492: Spain gives Christopher Columbus his commission of exploration.
     1789: George Washington is inaugurated as the first elected President of the USA on the steps of Federal Hall in NYC.
     1927: Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford become the first stars to leave their footprints in cement outside Graumann's Theatre.

Birthdays:
     1662: Queen Mary II of England
     1877: Alice B. Toklas
     1965: Adrian Pasdar

Deathdays:
     1883: Edouard Manet
     1945: Adolf Hitler

Holiday:
     Walpurgis Night

 Oooh, this is scary...I'm starting to think I see too many movies.  Maybe I should have less escapism in my life?  NAH!

1. Pulp Fiction (1994)

2. The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-03)

3. Titanic (1997)

4. Blue Velvet (1986)

5. Toy Story (1995)

6. Saving Private Ryan (1998)

7. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)

8. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

9. Die Hard (1988)

10. Moulin Rouge (2001)

11. This Is Spinal Tap (1984)

12. The Matrix (1999)

13. GoodFellas (1990)

14. Crumb (1995)

15. Edward Scissorhands (1990)

16. Boogie Nights (1997)

17. Jerry Maguire (1996)

18. Do the Right Thing (1989)

19. Casino Royale (2006)

20. The Lion King (1994)

21. Schindler's List (1993)

22. Rushmore (1998)

23. Memento (2001)

24. A Room With a View (1986)

25. Shrek (2001)

26. Hoop Dreams (1994)

27. Aliens (1986)

28. Wings of Desire (1988)

29. The Bourne Supremacy (2004)

30. When Harry Met Sally... (1989)

31. Brokeback Mountain (2005)

32. Fight Club (1999)

33. The Breakfast Club (1985)

34. Fargo (1996)

35. The Incredibles (2004)

36. Spider-Man 2 (2004)

37. Pretty Woman (1990)

38. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

39. The Sixth Sense (1999)

40. Speed (1994)

41. Dazed and Confused (1993)

42. Clueless (1995)

43. Gladiator (2000)

44. The Player (1992)

45. Rain Man (1988)

46. Children of Men (2006)*

47. Men in Black (1997)

48. Scarface (1983)

49. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)*

50. The Piano (1993)

51. There Will Be Blood (2007)

52. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad (1988)

53. The Truman Show (1998)

54. Fatal Attraction (1987)

55. Risky Business (1983)

56. The Lives of Others (2006)

57. There’s Something About Mary (1998)

58. Ghostbusters (1984)

59. L.A. Confidential (1997)

60. Scream (1996)

61. Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

62. sex, lies and videotape (1989)

63. Big (1988)

64. No Country For Old Men (2007)*

65. Dirty Dancing (1987)

66. Natural Born Killers (1994)

67. Donnie Brasco (1997)

68. Witness (1985)

69. All About My Mother (1999)

70. Broadcast News (1987)

71. Unforgiven (1992)

72. Thelma & Louise (1991)

73. Office Space (1999)

74. Drugstore Cowboy (1989)

75. Out of Africa (1985)

76. The Departed (2006)

77. Sid and Nancy (1986)

78. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

79. Waiting for Guffman (1996)

80. Michael Clayton (2007)*

81. Moonstruck (1987)

82. Lost in Translation (2003)

83. Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn (1987)

84. Sideways (2004)

85. The 40 Year-Old Virgin (2005)

86. Y Tu Mamá También (2002)*

87. Swingers (1996)

88. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)

89. Breaking the Waves (1996)

90. Napoleon Dynamite (2004)

91. Back to the Future (1985)

92. Menace II Society (1993)

93. Ed Wood (1994)

94. Full Metal Jacket (1987)

95. In the Mood for Love (2001)

96. Far From Heaven (2002)

97. Glory (1989)

98. The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

99. The Blair Witch Project (1999)

100. South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut (1999)*

 pirates, Pirates, PIRATES!!!  Every time pirates!  :)

 I just read an article in the NY Times that terrified and enraged me.  An Italian lawyer who has an American girlfriend has been coming to the US fairly regularly to see her over the last couple of years.  On his last trip he was denied entry to the US, harshly interrogated and thrown in a detention center for more than 10 days.  With a valid visa, no violations and no crime being committed.  The government official whose quotes pepper the article says (and this is what scares me most) that because he was not "officially admitted" to the US by customs he could be held with no rights and no representation because he wasn't seen as actually being here.  This occurred in Washington DC and the girlfriend's parents had influential friends, including a Republican Senator, who were unable to help the situation.  Here's a link to the article:  http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/14/us/14visa.html

I'm amazed and disgusted every day by the lengths to which our government will go and the depths to which we're sinking.  Every day we lose respect from the citizens of the world and seem to move further and further away from the democracy we claim to be.  More, to defend.  Where will we be in another 10 or 20 years if we don't act now?  We need to find a way to halt the degeneration of our country and bring back common sense, compassion and morals.  And when I say morals, please don't mistake me for someone who uses the phrase "family values" as a cover for their bigotry and narrow mindedness.  Morals are and should be universal and encompass rather than exclude the people.  We can be moral and yet live and let live.  They are not and should not be mutually exclusive.  Since the tragedy in 2001 our government has systematically and subliminally convinced us that every infringement of our rights, curtailment of the rights of others and despicable actions such as the torturous interrogation techniques now in effect are necessary to safeguard our freedom and that to disagree with our leaders makes us less American.  We began as the Republic and are quickly becoming the Empire.  It needs to end before we find ourselves living in fear and passing a legacy of fear and contempt for other ways of life to the next generations.

 So, I've been too busy to post lately so this is a little belated.  I saw Boeing-Boeing last week on Broadway and it's hysterical.  It is probably the funniest show I've ever seen and that's saying a lot.  I laughed till my sides hurt, then laughed some more.  And with a couple of exceptions you wouldn't really think of this cast for theater.  It stars Bradley Whitford from West Wing and Studio 60, Gina Gershon, Kathryn Hahn from Crossing Jordan, Mary McCormack, Christine Baranski and Mark Rylance.  Those last two are the theater regulars in the crowd.  Christine Baranski has two Tony awards and Mark Rylance was the Artistic Director of Shakespeare's Globe for 10 years.  I saw him in a production of Lear on my first trip to London.

Anyway, Bradley Whitford plays an American living in Paris who has 3 fiancees, all stewardesses who work for different airlines so he doesn't have to worry about them meeting.  An old friend, Rylance, shows up out of the blue pining for something different and Whitford offers him a place to stay.  Rylance's character is a shy, geeky, never-had-a-date midwesterner who gets caught in the fray when, on the day he arrives, all three women's schedules get fouled up and they all end up descending on their fiance at once.  It's one of those zany, situational comedies where everyone runs around and screams and gets into silly mixups but it was so well done, it was brilliant.  Into all this, Baranski is the snarky Parisienne maid who does her best to help Whitford avoid the consequences of his lifestyle, albeit with a bit of extortion thrown in.  I was thinking about the show this morning because the Tony noms were announced and it's up for best revival of a play.  Deservedly so!

 This isn't one of my long posts.  A friend sent this to me and I just had to share.  Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8lvc-azCXY

 "Why is that, as a culture, we are more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than holding hands?" -Ernest Gaines

We would like to know who really believes in gay rights on livejournal. There is no bribe of a miracle or anything like that. If you truly believe in gay rights, then repost this and title the post as "Gay Rights." If you don't believe in gay rights, then just ignore this. Thanks.

It staggers me that gay rights are still a question that needs to be fought.  How many different ways can we as a species find to segment ourselves and cause divisions?  Inalienable human rights should apply to all humans.  Period.

 So, a friend of mine works for Nile Rogers (a music producer) who founded and chairs a charity and last night I worked their annual gala.  Wow am I tired this morning but it was worth it.  Not only is it a great cause but each year I get to meet really cool people.  My friend Sooze is in charge of the talent for the gala and as such her volunteers are each assigned a VIP and you've got to keep an eye on them all evening - without crowding or stalking them - get them whatever they need, and make sure they're on time and where they need to be for the various aspects of the event.  In a crowd of 700 people that's not as easy as it sounds.  But it's so much fun!  My VIP last night was Mickey Dolenz from the Monkees (who I love!!) and he was so nice.  There were one or two hiccups in the info I was given but he was so sweet and understanding.  He also performed last night which was awesome!  I feel like I'm back in high school as I write that but oh, well.  He was.  He sang Last Train to Clarksville, Pleasant Valley Sunday and Daydream Believer and really got the crowd going.  Perfect way to begin the concert portion of the evening.  He got everyone up on their feet and they stayed up.  Then came Patti Labelle followed by Nile and his band Chic who played some of their classics and after they played 5 songs, they were joined by Slash for Freak Out and then Nile, Chic and Slash were joined by Eric Benet for Let's Dance.  I didn't stay for the finale of We Are Family with all the musicians (except Mickey Dolenz, he'd left) up on stage because I had to run to catch my train but I'm so looking forward to next year!!

 I went to see the new musical Cry-Baby last night (based on the John Waters movie) and I really liked it!  I've seen some clunkers in my time (erm...Urban Cowboy??) and I was a little nervous since movie-based musicals always have that effect on me, but it was so much fun!!  It was campy and silly and risque and imaginitive.  It starts out at a picnic for Polio Vaccine Day (or something like that) where, at the end of the picnic all the teenagers will be vaccinated.  Of course, Cry-Baby's gang crashes, wreaks havoc and he and Allison fall for each other but they're first duet is pure gold.  It's called "Infected" and is about the effect they have on each other.  The first act did have some problems, but act two just knocked my socks off.  If you know the movie, you know Cry-Baby is sent to jail and in the jail is a musical number.  It was amazing.  Pre-number the ensemble have photocopier sized props they're using to stamp license plates and there are piles of license plates everywhere.  Cry-Baby knocks them all over and the number begins.  About halfway through, the ensemble look like they've been beaten back only to spring up with the license plates attached to their feet like snow shoes and they use them to tap.  It was majorly impressive.  As someone who tapped for years, I can tell you it is not an easy dance form and to have to tap without having the flexibility of your feet (they were kept board straight by the plates) must be brutal.  None of them missed a step or sounded a wrong beat that I could hear and we were in the 10th row center.  Not only that, they did backflips and jumps off set pieces, splits in the air - all that sort of thing.  The one liners were funny too.  There were too many to remember them all but my favorite (also in the jailhouse scene) was when the cops and the priest (Officer Father) are beating back the ensemble.  One officer hits an inmate and says "You're cruisin' for a bruisin'."  Officer Father uses his nightstick to poke an inmate in the belly and says "You're requestin' a molestin'."  Maybe you had to be there, but the audience loved it!  Except actually the two Catholic cousins I was with.  Oh well, they liked the rest of the show!  I hope this show does well and runs a long time.  I'm sort of afraid it won't because it's so stylized and not kid-friendly.  I hope I'm wrong.

I really do.  Anyone who knows me at all knows that much, but there are times it gets a little weird.  

I was on the train this morning for my daily commute in, we pull in to Penn Station and then just sit.  We're all standing in the aisle (or trying to get there) bags over our shoulders and an announcement comes on: "Ladies and gentlemen, we regret that due to an ongoing police investigation we are unable to open the doors at this time.  We will have them open as soon as we can."  Oh, really?  Okay.  Then why the #$%#^ are we sitting here?!?  If it's too frakkin' dangerous to open the doors, why is a packed train full of people sitting there like ducks in a barrel??  Grrr...  

It actually couldn't have been too bad because the doors opened about a minute later.  Disturbingly, there was a very strong smell of sulfur on the platform and everything on our end of the platform was soaking wet.  The floor, the tracks, the walls, the ceiling - everything was dripping but the only sign of a police presence were two cops talking to four well-dressed people who looked like they'd gotten off another train and an argument ensued.  Very odd morning.  I'd really like to find out what that was all about but I probably never will.  I've noticed that whenever things go wrong at Penn it doesn't tend to make the news!!

 And with a subject header like that, I'm sure everyone thinks of some uber-serious discussion to follow.  I saw November last night, a new David Mamet play with Nathan Lane, Dylan Baker and Laurie Metcalf.  I bought the ticket because I love Mamet but when I got out of work last night I was inwardly groaning at the idea of sitting through a serious show.  November is not that show.  I was so happily surprised!  Mamet wrote a comedy.  Who knew??

It's about a sitting President who has no chance of re-election and it's only weeks from election day.  With his ouster looming, the President (Nathan Lane) is looking for a way to put money in his pocket so he can leave the White House and build his Presidential Library which he sees as his due.  To get money, he shakes down the Turkey Association of America.  He tells them it will cost $200 million for him to pardon a turkey this year or he will make a speech telling the public that at the first Thanksgiving the founding fathers ate cod which the Native Americans new as "toonah" (he wants money from the tuna people, too).  The Turkey Assoc rep is Ethan Philips and his outrage and obsessive love of his turkeys is not really on point.  It's how Mamet wrote it, but one of the two dropped the ball on the realization.  For my money I'd bet on Philips.  

Anyway, throw in his speech writer Bernstein (Laurie Metcalf), who just returned from China where she and her partner Daisy adopted a little girl and who feels this is her best chance for some leverage over her boss.  She's come home sick, she's miserable and she wants to marry Daisy and have a real family so she blackmails the President into promising to marry them on national TV before she'll give him his "legacy" speech.  Just to complete the package is an outraged Indian Chief, Dwight Grackle who tries to kill the President while the secret service are on their coffee break.  

It's a zany and silly comedy and had me in stitches from the beginning to the end, but the real magic of all this was Dylan Baker.  The play tends to feel overwritten at times and Baker as the President's lawyer and confidant is brilliant.  He delivers his lines with his signature "serious with a wink" demeanor and urges the most underhanded schemes with a seeming rightness to them.  Also, his physicality is brilliant.  He could steal a scene standing still.  And he did.  He never went over the top in either his body language or facial expressions but a raised eyebrow from hi was enough to cause a breakout of giggles from the 50- and 60- somethings seated around me and, of course, I was laughing like a hyena.

 As a society, I mean.  I read this article this morning over my coffee and it's just wrong.  Granted, the Sun is a conservative paper and I usually read it for it's arts section and that I like to read more than one point of view on any given topic, but this is bad.  Even the very title of the article carries bias: "Alternative to confinement puts sex offender on train".  Apparently, the case in question is about an offender who has been convicted multiple times and was recently released from prison.  He is currently arrested for "rubbing up against a woman on a subway in an inappropriate manner" and the article says his previous arrests were for "similar charges".  I don't know if other states have this law (or one like it) but here in NY an offender with can be sentenced again after his release to a medical institution if it's deemed he has "mental abnormalities".

As a woman in NY, I definitely want fewer sex offenders on the street.  Let me say that right now.  But as a person, I don't want to see people's rights taken away entirely.  My problem with all this is that a person is arrested, tried, convicted, sentenced and serves the maximum for his crime.  That's how it should work.  And this article does state that this offender served the maximum.  If we want to see sex offenders incarcerated for longer periods, our lawmakers should increase the maximum sentences allowable under the law.  Even murderers are subject to parole and release.   If a person has "metal abnormalities" they should have been sentenced to a medical institution in the first place.  Not sentenced to prison for the maximum allowable and then, without re-offending or the benefit of another trial, transferred directly to an institution.  Putting mentally ill people in the general population in prison is cruel and unusual and unnecessarily punitive considering what every thinking person knows will happen to them there.  It makes me burn that lawmakers have come up with the phrase "mental abnormalities" as opposed to calling someone mentally ill as a way of allowing themselves a loophole.  I don't want to be in danger walking the streets, but nor do I want to see us become a society where our fear leads us to actions we know in our souls is wrong.  I've included a link to the article if anyone wants to read it.

http://www.nysun.com/news/new-york/alternative-confinement-puts-sex-offender-train

 This past weekend was Icon on at Stony Brook University on Long Island.  It was the funniest feeling to be back after so long.  I managed to make it out there for a day last year, but didn't really feel connected to anything.  I used to volunteer there a lot but because of my last job hadn't been to the con at all for  6 years.  It felt so good to be there again and even if the friends I "went with" had none of the same interests I did (or nearly none), it was still cool.  They had some amazing panels this year like a panel on voice acting with Billy West and panels on eternal themes in literature and how they've been adapted through the ages and so forth.  Also, the Boogie Knights and the Brobdingnagian Bards were there and were terrific.  There was also a cool display of dancing Chinese dragons on the lawn and, as always, lots of people in garb and costumes.  I felt so at home being there again, I think I'm going to try to get involved for next year.  Then again, I always feel at home at conventions!!  I'm such a raging geek.  :) 

Okay, so I know I'm absolutely awful about posting.  Not only have my friends said so, but LJ itself sent me a reminder so I've come up with a plan.  One of the great loves of my life is theater and I see a fair amount of it so I've decided to write about that for now.  Luckily, there's plenty of good theater here.

On Tuesday I saw Antony and Cleopatra with Laila Robbins and Marton Csokas (from LOTR, Timeline, Kingdom of Heaven, etc.).  I'd gone to a reading a few weeks ago where the two leads read scenes from the play and there was a panel discussion in amongst them with James Shapiro  (a Shakespearean scholar), the Exec. Dir. of Theatre for a New Audience (producer), Laila Robbins, Marton Csokas and Darko Tresjnak (the director).  It was a fascinating evening and ever since I've been excited to see the show and it is worth seeing.  There are one or two issues with the production but overall it's a really interesting take.  Darko Tresjnak has re-set the play in the colonial era of expansionism which is illustrated by the costumes but doesn't materially change or affect the play otherwise.  It's a seamless transition like Trevor Nunn's Twlefth Night film.  I saw Macbeth recently with Patrick Stewart and that play is a prime example of when re-setting the action is a bad idea!!  That show was re-set from Scotland to Stalinist Russia and boy, did that not fly!  The soldiers marched around in Russian army dress, images and sound effects of the Russian army were projected and broadcast at various points throughout the production and yet, no time was taken to update the text.  Everyone still referred to Scotland and the thanes and Malcolm's flight to England.  I mean, come on folks, if you're going to make sweeping changes then make them.  Doing half the job is worse than doing nothing at all!!  But I digress...sorry...anyway, Laila Robbins was wonderful as Cleopatra and Marton Csokas is a complex Antony.  There are times when he seems to swallow his words and that can make him hard to understand, but the changes he brings the character through are there in his movements and persona and even if every line isn't there, the performance is still not only understandable, but draws you in.  The other cast members are also very good (for the most part).  I won't go into detail about everyone else since this is getting a bit long!  The sets are minimal, and the staging is impressive for such a large show in such a small space and overall it's a terrific night.  

Re-reading this, I didn't mean to sound so much like a theater review, but it's a good show, fun and exciting and it's worth the admission.

So, everyone knew from my interests that I was a geek, but here it is in my own hand (so to speak).  I just got an e-mail alert from The One Ring.net that the Hobbit is finally being made and I couldn't be happier than I am right now!  I never understood my friends who carried lightsabers or spoke Klingon until I came across LOTR and found my fandom, as my friend Jocelyn would say.  Here's a link to the story for anyone who, like me, has been hoping and waiting with baited breath.  Enjoy!

http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2007/12/18/28150-peter-jackson-and-new-line-cinema-join-with-mgm-to-produce-%e2%80%9cthe-hobbit%e2%80%9d/

 So, one of my very good friends (who recommended LJ to me in the first place) has been wanting me to post.  I've been really deficient that way due to a lack of free time but since this is my favorite day of the year, I thought I'd make the time.  I hope everyone has fun and exciting plans filled with silliness and horror.  And, yes, those things go together beautifully!  Just watch PJ's "Dead Alive" if you don't believe me.  :)  On that note:
happy halloween!