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The 63rd Golden Globes

The 63rd Annual Golden Globes a precursor to The Oscars. Just in case you missed one of many glorious nights in Hollywood, here is the recap. For more details check out the Golden Globes or see it again this weekend on Bravo.

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With the short recap below, you get out of seeing multitudes of commercials. For every 2 awards they gave out there was at least 4 commercials in between.

Highlights:
-Miss Golden Globe, Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith’s daughter, Dakota Johnson.
-Somebody tell Drew Barrymore, you can see right through her dress. I mean it, she wore this horrible old lady green dress with a complete see through opportunity for the boys.
-Johnny Depp looked like a starved street dweller.
-Clint Eastwood purposely studdering over Brokeback Mountain while announcing the nominees for Best Director. Better yet, Clint Eastwood giving out the Best Director to Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain.
-Joaquin Phoenix laying a smooch and a man hug on John Travolta during his acceptance for Best Actor, Walk the Line.
-Tim McGraw got a tear in the eye while talking about Johnny Cash and June Cash for Walk The Line.
-What did Dennis Quaid mean by Brokeback Mountain being a film that rhymes with chick flick? Shame on you Dennis, we know exactly what you meant, and on TV no less!
Brokeback Mountain got Best Motion Picture Drama, kick ass!

FILM AWARDS

Best Motion Picture – Drama
Brokeback Mountain

Best Motion Picture – Musical Or Comedy
Walk The Line

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
Philip Seymour HoffmanCapote

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
Felicity HuffmanTransamerica

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical Or Comedy
Joaquin PhoenixWalk The Line 

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Reese WitherspoonWalk The Line

Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
George ClooneySyriana

Best Performance by an Actress In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Rachel WeiszThe Constant Gardener

Best Foreign Language Film
Paradise Now – Palestine
Best Director – Motion Picture
Ang Lee Brokeback Mountain

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture
Brokeback Mountain
Written by Larry McMurtry, Diana Ossana

Best Original Score – Motion Picture
Memoirs Of A Geisha
Composed by John Williams

Best Original Song – Motion Picture
“A Love That Will Never Grow Old”Brokeback Mountain

TELEVISION AWARDS

Best Television Series – Drama
Lost
Touchstone Television; ABC

Best Television Series – Musical Or Comedy
Desperate Housewives

Best Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made for Television
Empire Falls

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series – Drama
Hugh LaurieHouse

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series – Drama
Geena DavisCommander In Chief
Geena lied about a little girl tugging on her dress and telling her she wanted to be president because of her role in Commander and Chief, and she worships Donald Sutherland

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series – Musical Or Comedy
Steve CarellThe Office
A very funny thank you speech he claims his wife wrote, that thanks her over and over again throughout the speech.

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series – Musical Or Comedy
Mary-Louise ParkerWeeds

Best Performance by an Actress In A Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television
S. Epatha MerkersonLackawanna Blues
Hot flashes and all, this is her first leading role after 15+ years of working in the industry.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Jonathan Rhys MeyersElvis
He beat out some brilliant performances by Kenneth Branagh, Ed Harris and Donald Sutherland.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Paul NewmanEmpire Falls
No Show

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Sandra OhGrey’s Anatomy
A studdering and stammering thank you.

Cecil B. DeMille Award
Anthony Hopkins
He was sure to thank all the little people from the catoring truck to the hair dresser not excluding grip carriers and lighting. What a wonderful man.

It was a perfect award show, with all the right people, shows and films getting credit for the best of. I can’t wait to see what the Oscars has in store for us next.

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This Week

Miss a show or forget a DVD release or movie opening?  Don’t fret true believers cause we’re here to help you out.  Here’s what’s on tap for your entertainment dollar this week.

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RazorFine gets you set up for the week with a look at what’s coming to your local theater, video store, and beamed directly into your television this week.  Here’s what’s happenin’ this week…

Love Monkey

TV
This week on the tube:

The 63rd Annual Golden Globes 8:00/7:00 Monday NBC
American Idol 8:00/7:00 Tuesday FOX (just kill me!)
Love Monkey (series premiere) 10:00/9:00 Tuesday CBS
Skating with Celebrities 9:00/8:00 Wednesday FOX (kill me now!!!)
Miss America 8:00/7:00 Saturday CMT
Dennis Miller All In 10:00/9:00 Saturday HBO

DVD
New releases for Tuesday January 17:

Lois & Clark
Season Two

Adventures of Superman – Complete Second Season
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman – Complete Second Season
Doogie Howser, M.D. – Season Three
The Mary Tyler Moore Show – Complete Third Season
The Devil and Max Devlin
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
Junebug
Lord of War
The Man
My Dog, the Thief
Two For the Money
Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken

Film
Movies opening Friday January 20th:

Underworld Evolution
The sequel to 2003’s Underworld continues the tale of the war between death dealers (vampires) and lycans (werewolves).  Returning are most of the original characters including Kate Beckinsale, Scott Speedman, Bill Nighy, Shane Brolly, and Michael Sheen.  Who’s been waiting for this sequel?

Transamerica 
This has been out in limited release for a few weeks and finally gets a long delayed wide release.  One of Aaron’s Top 10 movies of the year (read Marion’s review here).  Felicity Huffman plays a pre-op transsexual who learns of a teenage son just days before his/her surgery.  It’s a journey about self-discovery and life’s choices.  The last half of the film is simply spectacular and Huffman gives an Oscar worthy performance.  Not for everybody, but definitely worth a look for those of you not turned off by the subject matter.

The New World
A Terrance Malick flick!  Malick goes where many have gone before in telling the story of John Smith (here played by Colin Farrell) and the struggles between the Native Americans and English settlers in the 17th century.  Also along for the ride are Christian Bale, Christopher Plummer, and Q’orianka Kilcher as Pocahontas.  Promises to be beautifully shot but can Malick breathe new life into a well-trodden story?

Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World
Albert Brooks is hired by the United States Government to discover what makes Muslims laugh.  The film was a hit when it was released at the Dubai Film Festival last year and opens in limited release in the US this week.  The film was dropped by Sony Pictures because of it’s controversal title and nature but was picked up by Warner Independent Pictures who hope they can find an audience for this off-beat little film.

Why We Fight
Also opening in limited release this documentary examines the issue of whether or not American foreign policy is too influenced by the military.  Has the military industrial complex become a monster that we can no longer control?  Eugene Jarecki asks these questions and more.  (Sounds like what I wanted Syriana to be).

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Spike & Blade

It seems the horrendous atrocity known as Blade Trinity wasn’t quite able to kill the franchise after all.  Spike TV and New Line Television have decided rather than letting the “day walker” die from the lethal script of the last movie they’d rather opt for the slow death by making a two hour pilot TV movie instead.  Writer of all three movies (and director of the least, um..I mean last) David S. Goyer was chosen to pen the script.  Kirk Jones (aka Kirk “Sticky Jones, aka Onyx, aka Sticky Fingaz) has been cast in the main role with Jill Wagner, Jessica Gower, Neil Jackson, and Nelson Lee rounding out the cast.  Peter O’Fallon has been tapped to direct.  What, no pro-wrestlers or Jessica Biel this time?

Blade
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Broken-Hearted Mountain

Despite all the terms and comedic monologues that have been associated with the film Brokeback Mountain, as a “gay cowboy” movie, one of the many terms I find missing most are introspective and reflective. This is a film that stays with you, long after the final credits. This film has sparked long, intense discussions with friends, casual acquaintances, even strangers. These discussions usually occur hours or even days after the initial viewing because most find themselves in a state of stunned silence, looking inward for answers, then feeling the need to share.

Brokeback Mountain
4 & 1/2 Stars

At the start of the summer of 1963, two itinerate cowhands, the uber-quiet Ennis Del Mar (a surprising, excellent Heath Ledger) and a more animated Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal)sign up to herd sheep in the high country of Montana.  Ennis’s situation is made clear when he departs from a bus and by the fact that his possessions fit into a small paper bag.

Surrounded by the scenic beauty of the mountain range, with its pristine waters and possible danger of a coyote or two, the pokes perform their duties. Herd boss, Joe Aquirre (played by a crusty Randy Quaid), insist that they have no illegal camp fires to keep warm and what should have been a routine herding job, turns for both men on a freezing night when they are forced to share a small tent, for warmth and possibly survival. During a strange dance of what seemed to be a form of rough and tumble boy’s play, the two become intimate.

Ennis, a man who has a hard time stringing more than three words together, declares this encounter a one time thing cause, “he ain’t no queer.” Throughout this almost, fairytale time, of herding, playing, the two men grow as close as Ennis allows them to. One feels as if this was the happiest period of their lives.

With their sheep gig over, the men disappear into their own worlds only to promise to return the next year, but boss man, Joe, refuses to hire them again.

Jack decides to go back to his life as an also-ran bull rider on the rodeo circuit, landing in Texas where he meets and marries, Lureen (Anne Hathaway), a rich, spitfire. Jack settles into his new life, working for his father-in-law’s combine dealership.

Ennis ends up in a small Wyoming town and marries Alma (Michelle Williams) and fathers two girls. 

But, what fuels both of these men’s lives are their “fishing” trips to Brokeback Mountain, once, maybe twice a year. There, they can relive their first summer on the mountain, over and over.

As 1963 turns into 1973 and beyond, the two keep up the illusions of a family life. Jack, always restless, wants to stop the trips and try to live some idealized life on a ranch somewhere. But, Ennis, who is the loneliest soul in the world, does have a deep love for this daughters, especially Alma Jr., who he can not abandon.

Most of all, Ennis is unwilling to believe in Jack’s fantasy of a life together for them. He can not face what is truly in his heart. The rest of their lives is one of heartbreak, dangers and most of all a loneliness that can not be filled by anyone.

While the great director, George Stevens, was filming a pivotal scene in his 1951 classic, A Place in the Sun, an assistant informed him that Shelley Winters socks did not match a prior scene, whereas Stevens replied (and I am paraphrasing) that if the audience notices her socks, then he had failed and his perfect take stayed.

As I rode the emotional, mountain rollercoaster, I could not help but be distracted by small, but, significant choices director, Ang Lee, made. In other words, is there no way for all the makeup geniuses to age someone where it isn’t so obvious (Ledger’s body language was a more accurate guide to his aging) or better yet, when the script calls for a character to have a mustache, try and not let the audience be so aware that it is a phony, glued job.

That criticism aside, any film that can enter my head, my dreams and continues to stay with me, provoking internal dialogues about love, life, loves lost, never found, is a powerful film. All the alchemy that is required for a good film are there, from Larry McMurtry’s screenplay to the choices of the casting director, even the soundtrack.

It is a shame that so many people find the fact that Jack and Ennis would remain in the closet, suffering and sacrificing a life of love and possible happiness unbelievable . The fact is that Jack and Ennis’s story is still being lived today. In the future, maybe the social scientist will be able to explain the “closet” phenomenon. The complicated formula that is love and the pursuit of that loves takes courage and that is what our cowboys lacked.

Some may feel, at over two hours, this is a slow-moving film, but, viewers, pay attention or you will miss many subtle signs that Lee uses to further tell this story.

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Hearts Afire

John Ritter, Billy Bob Thornton, Markie Post, and Ed Asner make up the core of the cast for Hearts Afire a little remembered sitcom from the early 90’s.  The first two seasons are now on DVD (with the third and finale season to be released on February 7).  A funny little comedy you just might want to check out.

Hearts Afire – Season One & Season Two
Custom Rating

From the writing and producers that gave us Evening Shade and Designing Women, Hearts Afire tells the tale of John Hartman and Georgie Anne Lahti and their romance that begins in Washington D.C. (Season One) and moves to a small southern town (Seasons Two and Three).  Although the show is hurt by having what amounts to two pilot seasons it’s still a nice find with some great performances by Ritter, Post and Thornton.  And any show that lovingly makes an Underdog reference is just too good to pass up.

Season One

John Hartman (John Ritter) works as the chief of staff for Republican Senator Strobe Smithers (George Gaynes) with his best friend Billy Bob Davis (Billy Bob Thornton).  Hartman’s life is in a shambles as his wife has left him for their marriage counselor Dr. Ruth Colquist (Conchata Ferrell).  Into his life walks down and out liberal journalist Georgie Anne Lahti (Markie Post) who Hartman hires as the new press secretary and allows to move into his home.  Sparks fly.  Also along for the ride are Clark Duke and Justin Burnette as Hartman’s sons Elliot and Ben and Ed Asner who appears as Georgie Anne’s recently paroled father who moves into house as well.

Good performances abound here as Ritter and Post have great chemistry on screen together and are given opportunities to demonstrate their considerable comedic chops.  Thornton gives a nice self-effacing role as a good ol’ southern boy and Asner adds class to the show from his first moment on screen.  The supporting performances are also worth noting.  Gaynes is terrific as the befuddled, rambling, politically incorrect Senator Smithers.  Beth Broderick gives a nice turn as the Senator’s dumbbell secretary and mistress Dee Dee Starr who “thinks faces on Mt Rushmore are a natural phenomenon.”  Even the kids are cute!

The storylines move from hot and cold and really rely on the performers to carry the show.  Plots from the first season include: the burgeoning romance between Hartman and Georgie Anne and the struggle to consummate it, a reporter friend of Georgie Anne’s snooping around the Senator’s office, the Senator’s wife running for his seat, Georgie Anne’s date with George Hamilton, the end of the Bush and beginning of the Clinton Administration, an attempt ot write a romance novel, Gerogie Anne’s relationship with Fidel Castro, reasons why you should never play Trivial Pursuit with this group, and the battle of the sexes at the Senate offices and at home.

Season Two

Hartman, Georgie Anne, Billy Bob and the kids leave Washington D.C. and head south to the small town that Hartman and Billy Bob grew up in.  They buy a small out of work newspaper and work to get it back up and running.  Familiar faces show up in the guise of new characters: Ferrell trades her bisexual Washington psychiatrist for the role of small town shrink Madeline Stoessinger and Broderick shows up as a guest star as Dee Dee’s sister Lee Ann Starr Folsom.  Joining the cast is Leslie Jordan as Lonnie Garr, an old friend of Hartman and Billy Bob’s who lusts after Brenda Swain, who works at the local photo hut, despite her illegitamate baby who looks like a pig.

Getting the paper up and running turns out to be quite a chore as the group runs into hard times as the group tries to find financing to get a new printing press and works odd jobs including a stint in the high school cafeteria.  Small time life includes taking revenge on Madeline’s ex-husband, the Boy Scouts, Rush Limbaugh’s visit, Billy Bob’s dating life, the Stud Club, and a very special Christmas present.

Sadly Wendi Jo Sperber, who played Thornton’s wife and co-worker in Season One, and George Gaynes don’t make the trip South and Ed Asner only shows up for one episode.  It’s the last which is most disappointing because it hurts the father/daughter relationship that developed between Asner and Post in Season One which turned out to be one of the strongest storylines of the series.

Of the two seasons I prefer Season One over Season Two (which is six episodes shorter for the same list price).  It’s just hard to struggle through an entirely new premise where the characters are reset (even though once done it works quite well).  The acting and dialogue are first rate and at times I just wished the stories would equal them. 

Also disappointing are that lack of any real extras here.  All that is included is a musical montage containing clips of the show, outtakes and bloopers for each season.  The set-up for each disc is good, but it does require you to click to watch each individual episode without the play all option.  There is one troubling point I’ll mention if you watch the episodes on a stereo system you’ll find the voice dubbing on certain episodes to a little distracting as the voice overs don’t match (in some cases aren’t even close) to the original, though lucky on most episodes these moments are few and far between. 

Still, for formulaic half hour sitcoms Hearts Afire is much better than most and has some serious charm.  Ritter and Post both inhabit their characters and the chemistry between them is just right and Thornton provides glimpses of the actor he would become in the following decade.  Even with some issues I have with the sets it’s definately worth a look and some of Ritter and Post’s best work.

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