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Happy Birthday, Robert Nesta Marley!
In celebration of music legend Bob Marley’s 65th birthday, here’s one of my faves with him and The Wailers, “Trenchtown Rock.” Enjoy!
Behind-the-Scenes with Sade on ‘Soldier of Love’
Friday Nite @ the Movies: STILL BILL
Showing for a limited-time only (thru Thursday, February 4th) at the IFC Center here in New York City, Still Bill is a wonderfully moving, intimate, funny and honest portrait of soul singer and songwriter Bill Withers. In case you’ve forgotten the hits, the classics are “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “Lean on Me,” “Lovely Day,” “Just The Two of Us,” “Grandma’s Hands,” and “Use Me.”
Without saying too much about the documentary (and myself), other than it’s a must-see, there are a few things about Mr. Withers that hit me something hard. He didn’t pursue a career in music until after his nine-year stint in the United States Navy, at age 29. I, too, didn’t decide to pursue a career in writing, let alone a career writing about music until long after my eight-year term in the United States Air Force, at age 32. The point is Mr. Withers will be 72 in July; I’ll be 35 in May, yet Still Bill is a story that resonated beyond our ages. It’s a story of struggle, doubt, fear, insecurity, love, passion, which are all emotions – if we’re honest with ourselves, we confront at some point in our journey. It’s a remarkable film. Definitely one for the movie collection. Still Bill releases on DVD Spring 2010.
Still Bill Trailer from B-Side Entertainment on Vimeo.
Sade – "Soldier of Love" (Official Video)
Cary Grant Monday, "His Girl Friday"
I actually caught His Girl Friday on Christmas Eve during its one-week run at Brooklyn Academy of Music, and it was a great way to unwind before the big day.
Cary Grant stars as Walter Burns, a fast-talking newspaper editor who persuades, uh, rather bamboozles his former star reporter/ex-wife Hildy Johnson (Rosalind Russell) into covering one last story – and of course, into not remarrying the cornball, I mean, the nice guy. His Girl Friday (1940) is the kind of screwball comedy where the dialogue is more spot-on than the storyline. I loved it! Plus, Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell’s verbal insults are priceless.
Flashback Thursday: Diana Ross
When one thinks of the legendary ’60s female-group The Supremes, there’s only one name that jumps to the forefront of the mind: Diana Ross. And it isn’t any disrespect to Florence Ballard or Mary Wilson who were/are fantastic singers but Ms. Ross simply had/has that “It” factor.
Cary Grant Monday, "Father Goose"
For those that don’t know, Cary Grant is quite possibly the only man next to Prince that can make me swoon. Perhaps it’s the accent, the urban sophistication, the swag, the accent…Simple plot: Grant plays Walter Eckland, a beach bum basically who’s coerced by a good friend in the Australian navy to monitor the air activity of Japanese aircraft in exchange for alcohol. Then comes a lady and kids and marriage, all classic elements for Cary flicks. Which is why I dig him soooooo much!!
Friday Nite @ the Movies: Mahogany
In honor of New York’s Fashion Week, which kicked off yesterday with Fashion’s Night Out, I decided to indulge in the uber-classic, Berry Gordy-produced 1975 film, Mahogany, starring Diana Ross, Billy Dee Williams and Anthony Perkins.
For the uninitiated, Mahogany tells the story of Tracy (Ross), an “ambitious secretary” who’s launched into the world of fashion modeling and designing. Brian (Williams) is her love interest and Chicago politician. Meanwhile, Sean (Perkins) is the photographer who becomes obsessed with his subject (Ross).
An old favorite for years, admittedly, the soundtrack is even more flavorable with the title track “Do You Know Where You’re Going To.”
Flashback Thurs: Teddy Pendergrass
Theodore DeReese Pendergrass Sr. otherwise wise known as the incomparable Teddy Pendergrass – singer, songwriter, musician, soul icon has a career spannning nearly 40 years. With a stint with Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes in the early 70′s, it was a solo career launched in the late 70′s that brought classic Teddy P and a string of hits: “Close the Door” (1978), “Turn Off the Lights” (1979), “Come Go With Me” (1979), “When Somebody Loves You Back” (1979), “Love T.K.O.” (1980), “You’re My Latest, My Greatest Inspiration” (1982, my personal favorite), “Hold Me” (duet with Whitney Houston, 1984), “2 A.M.” (1988), “Joy” (1988), and the list goes on and on.
Friday Nite @ the Movies: Claudine
In honor of Mother’s Day this weekend, thought to give a toast to mine (and many others) in tonight’s feature – Claudine (1974). It’s my mother’s all-time, all-time favorite movie! The way I love Prince, is the way she adores Claudine.
The movie stars Diahann Carroll as Claudine, a single mom raising six children in Harlem U.S.A. Working as a maid, tapping into the welfare system and the many obstacles it entails, she finally meets romance, in the way of garbageman Roop aka James Earl Jones aka Mufasa. They fall in love, and then he jets. Of course, in the end, he returns (after much begging from the kids, which also stars a very young and rebellious Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs).
I’ve seen this movie so many times with my mother, it simple makes me laugh just thinking about watching it again! (Not to mention, the soundtrack is classic soul with Gladys Night and The Pips).
Happy Birthday, Audrey and Me!
I’d nearly forgotten … Audrey Hepburn and yours truly, share the same birthday! Audrey Kathleen Hepburn (May 4, 1929 – Jan 20, 1993); Nicole Denise McCray (May 4).
So instead of “Cary Grant Monday”, I’ll honor Ms. Hepburn with one of my favorite flicks which stars her as a European Princess in the 1953 romantic-comedy, Roman Holiday. Co-starring Gregory Peck as a news reporter (which I honestly believe Cary would’ve been perfect for!) sitting on the story of a lifetime.
The movie’s filmed in Rome and drenched in Italian culture, so what more could you ask for?
Roman Holiday will air on TCM today at 3pm (EST).
Cary Grant Monday, "Charade"
Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn star in this “Charade” of sorts, where Grant has so many alias’ (Peter Joshua, Carson Dyle, Alexander Dyle, Adam Canfield and Brian Cruikhank) that at one point, I actually started to believe he was a bad guy. (We don’t do Cary as the bad man!). Nonetheless, Hepburn plays a widower (Regina Lampert) in search of a mad fortune her late-husband has supposedly left … somewhere, and in comes the real bad guys – and of course Cary to save the day. Loved it!
Cary Grant Monday, "Houseboat"
Okay, so it’s been a minute (a few months actually) alright, damn-near six months since I’ve done Cary Grant Mondays. In my defense, been busy with a little situation called relocating to New York City. So now that I’m slightly settled, I’m re-starting my ode to one of the smoothest actors to ever live. Imagine a man who is use to living by himself, a woman who can not cook or clean, and three very needy kids – all living together, on a houseboat no less. Can we say, drama?! I like the movie for what it was, nothing more than romance and comedy, and Cary of course.
North By Northwest
Okay now I’m onto my third Cary Grant flick: the 1959 Alfred Hitchcock romantic suspense thriller, North By Northwest.
Though it was damn-near two-and-a-half hours long, I enjoyed it nonetheless. Scenario: case of mistaken identity in that Grant plays an advertising executive who’s thought to be someone, so he must outsmart the bad guys. Of course with the help of a beautiful lady played by Eva Marie Saint. Drama, fights, a cliffhanger you have to see to believe–classic Hitchcock.
The Philadelphia Story
Released in 1940 and garnering two Oscar wins, Katherine Hepburne plays Tracy Lord Haven, a beautifully spoiled socialite who’s about to marry George Kitteridge, an uber uptight exec – but on the day of the wedding – her ex-husband, C.K. Dexter Haven (played perfectly by Cary Grant) and Macaulay “Mac” O’Connor (James Stewart) has other plans for her. It’s one of the greatest love stories put out by MGM Studios. So I do hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
There’s Something About Cary Grant
Generally, I don’t go for older guys but there’s something about the late-actor Cary Grant I can not resist! There’s something about the man I just dig! He was confident, funny, suave. He just had that “It” factor man. Hollwood loved him too.
Alfred Hitchcock, who was notorious for disliking actors, said Grant was “the only actor I ever loved in my whole life.” This is why I’m on a mission to watch every single solitaire movie Cary Grant has starred, co-starred and/or cracked a smiled in.
And so it started five years ago when I saw my first Cary Grant flick in Leo McCarey’s An Affair to Remember, which was released four years after my mom’s birth (in 1957) and 18 years before mine – but I loved it anyway! It stars Grant as the handsome Nicky Ferrante who meets and falls for the beautiful nightclub singer Terry McKay (played wonderfully by Deborah Kerr) while on a cruise ship from Europe to New York. Tempting fate and despite being involved (ugh, engaged to other people) they both agree to reunite at the top of the Empire State Building in six months – if they still feel the same. Ahhh. Anyway, I won’t spoil the rest of the movie for you – you simply have to see it.
Though I’ve seen An Affair at least a half dozen times, I still cry like a big ass baby at that damn finale…
