What about Jeremy Renner...

With the Oscars coming in March and the nominations just out, lets look at one of the, perhaps, lesser know nominees for Best Actor (he was also up for a Golden Globe Best Actor). His nomination comes for starring in The Hurt Locker which I have not yet seen, but will soon - very soon.

I remember seeing Renner in North Country, S.W.A.T., The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The Unusuals, and even an appearance on House, M.D.. There is something compelling about Renner that makes him hang out in my mind and jump at the opportunity to see him in something - anything.

He's really cute but not necessarily a classic hottie like George Clooney. In really good shape, but not necessarily mega-buff like Brad Pitt (Troy or Fight Club). But he is a good actor, a memorable actor that subliminally stays with you. He seems like just an everyday kind of guy you could easily hang with or have a lovely blind-date with (H - I do not want to hear about the sentence ending with "with").

I'm glad he is being recognized because this will bring him to light for an even greater audience than he has thus had which will hopefully then bring him even more great roles f or me to seek out. If you are not aware of Jeremy Renner, I suggest S.W.A.T. as an introduction or The Hurt Locker (since it's up for Best Picture and it really does look good).

Can we talk "The Thin Man"...

Who hasn't see a "Thin Man" movie? All who said raised their hands - gold stars for you! The rest of you - shame, shame, shame....rush right out and rent one now. Hurry - it's never too late meet Nick and Nora Charles!!!

There are six of the 1930-40's films to choose from - in order, they are: The Thin Man, After the Thin Man, Another Thin Man, Shadow of the Thin Man, The Thin Man Goes Home, and Song of the Thin Man. And the best part - wait for it - they all star Myrna Loy and William Powell - if you just said 'Who?' - look them up on IMDB and never admit that out loud : (

Nick used to be a private detective before he married wealthy Nora. But when they return to Nick's old stomping grounds, they are constantly running into the colorful characters that used to populate his world and getting sucked into investigating criminal activities. Nick is always reticent to help solve the crime but Nora always wants to be involved because she finds the seedy underworld fascinating and exciting.

Every 'Thin Man" film contains loving witty banter between Nick and Nora, lots of cocktails, physical comedy, and classic get-togethers of the sort that reveal our criminal-du jour. Trust me on this one - watch them, watch them all!

"The Dollhouse" done...I am sad : (

Let me start by saying, I am a Joss Whedon groupie. "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer", "Angel", "Firefly" - love'em all! "Buffy" had seven seasons, "Angel" five, and criminally, "Firefly" only had one but did get a movie to wrap it up. And now "The Dollhouse" is cut short too soon after only two seasons. And it was getting really good - really, really good.

"The Dollhouse" is about a company that takes people (mostly voluntarily), stores their personality, wipes their minds clear and then imprints them with other personalities (and skills) for the benefit of others - these people are called 'Dolls' and they live in a secret, protected environment called the Dollhouse. Typically, these others who benefit are rich people or corporations who have some bizarre or not quite legal need or fantasy. The dolls commit to six years of service at the end of which they will be richly compensated and will have no memory of all they did as dolls. Sounds good - right? Especially if you had something horrific happen to you which caused you to want to skip the grief of the next six years of your life anyway.

Well - be assured - it is not as good (?) as it sounds. The technology becomes a very bad thing that could lead to the end of mankind as we know us. And a few dolls, a few Dollhouse executives, and the genius that created the technology have to band together to save the world from becoming mindless drones.

As usual, Joss Whedon has created a brilliant show and uses many of his favorite actors from his previous shows (Eliza Dushku, Alan Tudyk, Summer Glau, Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof) to populate his world. Unfortunately, like "Firefly", "The Dollhouse" is being ended way to soon. Fan fervor brought about "Serenity", a movie based on "Firefly" - let us hope that fan fervor can resurrect "Dollhouse" in some way. As a fan of all things Whedon - I am SAD, Sad, sad about the end of "The Dollhouse" and will keep my fingers crossed. I will also anxiously await the next genius show out of Joss Whedon's genius mind.

"Inglorious Basterds"

Quentin Tarantino - you go guy! What a terrific ride of speculative history.

'The Basterds,' who are the mostly American Jewish group of Nazi hunters on a quest to get themselves 100 Nazi scalps each, are lead by Brad Pitt and comprised of a wonderful if not altogether well-known group of actors. Probably the most well-known of these would be Til Schweiger. The supporting cast in the rest of the movie do a great job as well, and I can now fully appreciate why Christoph Waltz won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for playing the an extremely pleasant and chipper Jew hunter (which really makes him even more sinister).

I will say that even as disaffected as I am by violence there were scenes in this that made me put my hand up to block my view - scalping is just gruesome. And anytime someone is being cut, I cringe - even when it's just some scene where two people are going to be 'blood brothers' or something and cut their thumb a little. It could have something to do with how many times I've cut myself slicing vegetables or opening a box or whatever - I'm clumsy or accident prone or grace-challenged. I just can't say - I'm OK with stabbing scenes just not slicing scenes. I dunno....but, I digress.

Bottom line - great movie, a little tongue-in-cheek (standard Tarantino), funny, but serious too. The Squeamish and Faint-of-Heart - don't say I didn't warn you. I am encouraged though; it's always a good sign, to me, if I can see why movies are nominated for multiple awards.

The FINAL update on "Harvest of Stars"

I am done! I have have finished the book. I made a concentrated push two days ago so I could wrap this up. Although on a personal note, I do still have to do the 'discussion' of it with H.

In conclusion, Poul Anderson is not to my taste, so I can safely say I have no intention of reading anything else by him. And I'm going to hide behind, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."

Even I'm tired of this topic, so on to other things. I'm about to start a book about the Smothers Brothers - I'll keep you posted.

All things creative are such a personal experience

It has occurred to me as I am writing on several projects of my own and also as I read "Harvest of Stars" (yes - that again) (H - go ahead and gloat). What I, Poul Anderson or anyone else creates means something to that creator and, if made for public consumption, hopefully will mean something for others.

Will it mean the same thing - not likely. Will it impact someone in both obvious and vague ways, some perhaps not even realized until years down the road - probably. Will it find resonance with everyone - odds are slim. Will it even mean the same thing to its creator as time passes - who knows. One writer (I think poet, Robert Browning, but don't hold me to it) when asked what he meant by some piece of writing said, and I paraphrase, that when he wrote it, he and God knew that answer, now only God does. This has stuck with me for a decade because I agree - people change and times change and perspectives change and you get the idea...

"Harvest of Stars" is one such beast. My best friend, H, (H - meet everyone, everyone - H) has found an immediate and subliminal connection to it. I have not. "Atlas Shrugged" resonates so deeply with me I feel compelled to re-read it every five years or so but H has no such compulsion.

I absolutely love the painting, "The Green Violinist" by Marc Chagall, but my mom who is a fabulous painter (and has painted me my own copy of "Starry Nights") won't make me a copy of this one because she thinks it's jarring and unappealing. Taste - who can account it.

Now, this is not an original muse, I do realize, but one I want to share anyway. The cliche' 'One man's trash is another man's treasure' is so apt. And just because one person or one group or whatever may not appreciate something fully or even at all does not mean it is without value - it is just without value to them.

So, as I speculate on various topics here - they are only my thoughts which may or may not appeal to you - which is as it should be!

More on "Harvest of Stars"

I have finally reached the middle of this book. I am now reading faster as it is becoming more interesting to me but it is still going slow, and I now have a backlog of books I need/want to read. It is improving for me though and want to acknowledge that. I think I can say that I will probably not read any more Poul Anderson; he's just not to my taste. Besides, I tend to like Fantasy better than SciFi anyway. More later, friends.