Friday, March 24, 2006

Things to do with your favorite party girl.

- So I've already mentioned that tonight I have a date with Holly Golightly (or, as the Asian-style Mickey Rooney says, "Gorightry") in Athens, but I'll hopefully head back to Athens on Saturday night, too, to see someone else just as charming - the brilliant Parker Posey. This weekend, Athens' Classic Center and UGA's Grady College, of which I am an alumnus, will play host to Robert Osborne's Classic Film Festival 2006. Posey is scheduled to attend, for her film BEST IN SHOW is set to play Saturday night at 8:30. And I want to be there because I LO-O-OOVE her. Also scheduled to appear at Osborne's fest are Oscar winner Patricia Neal, who was in BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S, and Ann Rutherford, who played one of Scarlett's sisters in GONE WITH THE WIND and probably had to fight off that damn Mickey Rooney in a dozen ANDY HARDY movies. Other movies scheduled include THE THIRD MAN, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, NORTH BY NORTHWEST, ON THE WATERFRONT and ED WOOD. GONE WITH THE WIND closes the festival on Sunday. Tickets are available online through the Classic Center website. Oh my God, I want to see Parker Posey. I love PARTY GIRL almost beyond reason.
- Remember the band Harvey Danger? They were, like, famous for about three seconds in 1997. They did that song "Flagpole Sitta." You know, "I'm not sick, but I'm not well ..." They're really, really good, and they have a sort of angry Weezer vibe. Anyway, Harvey Danger's first studio album in years, LITTLE BY LITTLE, is available as a free download off of the band's official website, and the album's first single, "Cream and Bastards Rise," is fun and catchy.
- Fanboys galore called the store this week because the complete first season of JUSTICE LEAGUE came out on DVD Tuesday. Breathless Georgia Tech grad students, wearing fogged-over glasses and ironic-sloganed T-shirts, kept running into my section of the bookstore and asking me if we'd sold out of the set. And we had. I've not actually seen the show. However, given the fervor and the age of the inquiring customers, I'm assuming that it must be considerably better than SUPERFRIENDS. I would probably watch all of JUSTICE LEAGUE, then get pissed because Zan and Jayna, the Wonder Twins, never show up with their damn monkey.
- Premiere Magazine, which I've not read regularly since I was 15, published their list of the 100 Greatest Performances of All Time, showcasing great actors in their arguably best roles. Reese Witherspoon's performance as Tracy Flick in ELECTION made it on the list. Also, Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow in PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN. The top performance, according to the magazine, is Peter O'Toole's take on T.E. Lawrence in LAWRENCE OF ARABIA. That seems about right, actually. It's a very good list.
- IN COLD BLOOD is, once again, a top seller, thanks to the movie CAPOTE. Still, because of the movie I'm seeing tonight, I thought about reading Truman Capote's BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S. Apparently, it and the film bear little resemblance.
- Is it time for me to arrange a group trip to the multiplex to see BASIC INSTINCT 2 yet? I half expect the poster of Sharon Stone's legs in a miniskirt to use the tag "Opening Soon." The surefire disaster strikes on March 31. We all need to get drunk and go see it one Tuesday when the theater's practically empty, allowing us to yell Sharon Stone jokes at the screen.
- So Robert Osborne is, I suppose, a celebrity journalist for The Hollywood Reporter and an honorary film historian, even though I only know him from his skits introducing a film on Turner Classic Movies. Because of that cred, Osborne gets to host his own personal film festival, paying tribute to stars he loves. Pretty good job. Still, it makes me wonder what my own personal film festival would be like. What movies would I show? What stars would I pay tribute to? Would I give awards to them? I figure I would have Reese Witherspoon attend and host screenings of ELECTION and FREEWAY. And I would want to talk to Meryl Streep about ADAPTATION. And Jason Statham would attend a clothing-optional screening of THE TRANSPORTER. Oh, and I'd wanna meet Robert Altman. For the fun of it, though, I may have Britney Spears and "her long-lost movie mom" Kim Cattrall host a Q&A on CROSSROADS. My first question would be, "Hey Kim, why are you dressed like a park ranger in the scene where Britney finds her long-lost mother?" Of course, I imagine she'd throw something at me. THIS WEEK'S QUESTION: Imagine you're in charge of your own film festival. What stars would you invite? What movies would you show? What questions would you ask the stars? Would you give out any awards? Would you want to make fun of any stars?

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