In Memoriam - Pete Postlethwaite

         One of the greatest character actors around has passed away at the age of 64.
         Pete Postlethwaite appeared in many prominent films including Amistad, The Usual Suspects, The Lost World:Jurassic Park, The Last of the Mohicans and In the Name of the Father, for which he received an Academy Award nomination as best Supporting Actor. Most recently he had important cameos in both The Town and Inception.

         However, it is his performance as Danny, the conductor of the Grimley brass band in Brassed Off, that will forever be my favorite performance by Mr. Postlethwaite. His perfomance was so perfect, without being overdone or showy, that you could easily forgive the character for being so out of touch to his surroundings and the crumbling lives of the local coal miners, who make up the band, and also of the town itself. Of course, Danny takes a stand when the miners plight hits his own family, but you always understand why he is so impassioned that the band should soldier on through the worst of circumstances.
        His performance was excellent, as was the movie.
        Rest In Peace.
     


Image courtesy of http://www.cinema.com/

Artists/Groups I want to see

              These are the artists I hope to see one day, in no particular order. I did not include groups which are no longer together.

                    Simon & Garfunkel
                    Alison Krauss
                    Prince
                    Tony Bennett
                    Loretta Lynn
                    Aretha Franklin
                    Cliff Richard
                    The Killers
                    George Strait
                    The Who
                    Badly Drawn Boy
                    Arcade Fire
                    Wilco
                    Liza Minnelli
                    Barbra Streisand
                    Brian Setzer
                    Eros Ramazzotti
                    Robbie Williams
                    Eric Clapton
                    Randy Newman

                    
                  
                   
                  

The Day After Christmas

          This is what happened the day after Christmas. There is a road there somewhere.

Favorite Movie Moments-The Shop Around the Corner

One of my all time favorite movie moments comes from the 1940 Ernst Lubitsch romantic comedy The Shop Around the Corner.

In a movie which is about as charming as a movie can get, one moment stands out as one of my favorite scenes of all time.

The movie is filled with some of the best character actors you could ever find, Felix Bressart, William Tracy, Inez Courtney, Joseph Schildkraut, Sara Haden, William Tracy. Add to that James Stewart and Margarat Sullavan in the leads and you really can't go wrong.

The movie has many, and I mean many, memorable and funny moments. The running joke about the cigarette box which plays Ochi Tchornya, Pirovitch continually going through great lengths to avoid any confrontation with shop owner Hugo Matuschek, played brilliantly by Frank Morgan, or watching Matuschek explode in anger but able to turn into the sweetest person once a customer enters the store. There are too many moments to mention, because one leads right into another.

However, the most touching moment comes when the brilliant Frank Morgan returns to the shop after a stay in the local hospital due to a mental breakdown. As the shop workers are gathered together before they leave that Christmas Eve, Mr. Matuschek thanks them for lifting his spirits while he was in the hospital by sending over a Christmas tree and also having one of the best days the store has ever had. He tells them that he spends the majority of his life in the store and that they are his family.

A very sentimental moment, but one that is never hokey or ruined by too much dialogue or close ups of the other actors looking at each other and acknowledging that "this is a touching moment".

Brandon Flowers-Stone Pony 12/1/2010

The lead singer of The Killers performed a solo show at the Stone Pony on December 1st. The setlist was made up of primarily songs from his solo release Flamingo. He also included a couple Killers songs and one Bruce Springsteen cover, for a show which ran 75 minutes.
San Diego band Transfer opened the show.
Here's the setlist.

On the Floor
Crossfire
Magdalena
Promised Land(Bruce Springsteen Cover)
Jilted Lovers & Broken Hearts
Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas
Was it Something I Said?
Hard Enough
Losing Touch(Killers Song)
Swallow It
Only the Young
Playing With Fire

The Clock Was Ticking
When We Were Young(Killlers Song)