On an individual level, I see much hope. Men of my generation are more accepting of women who make more money than they do. My own boyfriend claims that he wouldn’t mind being a SAHD. But what can society do about this issue? If women are moving into the public sphere, can’t men move into the private sphere? And how can we shift our negative perceptions of the private sphere?

Photo Credits

I often feel like repentance is an idea that is talked about all the time but never really grasped. It is central to the gospel, and essential to salvation. It is the second principle of the gospel, after faith, and before baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. We are told to preach "nothing but repentance" to bring people to Christ (D&C 6:9, 11:9, see Mosiah 18:20), and bringing people to Christ is one of the missions of the church and our purpose as disciples of Christ.

So what does it mean? I've heard many definitions that all help me to better understand what repentance means. It means to have a new mind. It's a process of recognizing your mistakes and sins and going to God for forgiveness and letting him change you. It's a conversion. It's acknowledging previous failures. It means to feel sorrow for your sins and make a change for the better. The easiest way for me to think about repentance is to think about change. When you ask someone to repent, or when you are asked to repent you are really inviting and asking them to change their lives to become more like God. Whether it is to stop smoking or to be kinder or to forgive someone, these are all changes that come from repentance--recognizing a sin or something that makes you less like God, and asking for his help to stop it and change your nature.

My New Testament professor gave another definition for repentance. He said that if you go back to the Greek the word means more of "to return." Return to what? In the New Testament and in the Book of Mormon, Christ uses little children as an example of what we are to become:

"At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." ~Matt. 18:1-3

So we are to return to a child-Father relationship with Heavenly Father. The invitation to repent is an invitation to enter into a new relationship with the Father and live as children before God as Father. We are dependent on Him. We need his help, we can't live an independent life. And when we trust God as a Father, as though we were little children depending upon our father for everything we will be so blessed. We will really become more like Christ and we will really be able to return to Him and receive all that He wants to give us.

One of my favorite things is to see little children. I work in the mall and they come into my store with their parents all the time, and the light and joy and innocence and wonder and curiosity that is in each one, and their love for their parents is always amazing to see. It makes my day. I hope that each day and each change I make can help me return to my Heavenly Father as a little child would. I hope that repentance--change, renewal, return--each day will draw me closer to Christ. I know that that is where we will all find the healing and hope that we so desperately need to find joy and peace beyond this mortal existence.

My evaluation can be summed up with the following:

As weirdly mesmerizing as it is to see Cole Hauser wearing a look of perpetual hunger on his face, the sequences devoted to Kathy Bates and Alfre Woodard’s cross-country drive are much more engaging. "The Family That Preys" fails to facilitate a more genuine investment in the adultery thread because it leaves out the best part: the initial flirtations, the escalating innuendo, and consummation of infidelity. When all pertinent hearts are flogged and egos shrunken, it’s nearly comforting to recognize that underneath the melodrama of cheating spouses and power struggles sits a road-movie-buddy-picture that could’ve been its own film.

Click here to read the whole review.

Product Placement & Branding: Coke, Wings &  A Prayer diner, Easy-Off, Fuze drinks, Luzianne Iced Tea, Mercedes (visual and verbal), Cadillac convertible, Country Crock butter, Nike track suit, Red Bull, Dasani, Budweiser, Doritos, Cheetos, Ruffles Potato Chips, Re/Max.

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And now for some fun in the sun.

My alma mater's Creativity & Arts Initiative hosted a discussion with film critic A.O. Scott and actor-director Todd Field this afternoon.  I went because I love Little Children (2006) as a tangential football film.   Highlights from the talk include (verbatim and paraphrased):

A.O. Scott: on writing film criticism

--It's "trying to think and write as deeply and quickly as you can" about the film you just watched with between two days or two hours in which to do it. It is articulating one's engagement with artistic texts.

--He mentioned "relentless treadmill of new material" but I don't recall in what particular aspect of criticism.  He remarked that writing about film is a "grand literary tradition" that, like all other great (literary) traditions, is "always on the decline."

--For Scott, film criticism involves three points: as the "daily grind," relating to other critics, and a "vocation, a calling."

--He isn't concerned with whether or not the reader sees a film.  Scott may "warn or encourage," but he doesn't feel compelled to communicate explicitly if a film is a must-see or a must-not-see.

A.O. Scott: on film adaptations

--"Fidelity is admirable in marriages," but when it comes to film adaptations?  Why should it be hoped for or even a priority?

--He created a super cool way of expressing what happens when market and audience research and filmmaking converge: "subordination of taste to sociology."

--Scott is a bigger fan of reading film criticism after watching the film.

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Todd Field on filmmaking:

--His voyage into cinema is the product of happenstance and girls.  A childhood interest in magic and sleight-of-hand brought forth the experience of having an audience and a critic.  Then age twelve hit and magic was replaced with an interest in girls, which fed into jazz and musical instruments.  The teens gave way to a job at a second run theatre and night after night of Ellen Barkin, Kathleen Turner, and Sissy Spacek on screen.  College was on music scholarship at a school in southern Ohio.  A fascination with an aspiring actress motivated him to change to theatre major.  New York City beckoned after graduation and attending the New York Film Festival in 1984 inspired Todd to decide that moving pictures was it.

--He reads reviews of his work out of necessity; and it's a surreal experience.  Two years have to go by before he feels sufficiently distanced to gain any new perspective.

--"If you really love the book, don't go see the movie."  A.O. Scott concurred on this point and remarked that some film critics avoid reading the book when reviewing film adaptations.

--Prior to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Field had never seen a Kate Winslet film.  She would eventually be cast in Little Children.

--Field is the anti-Hitchcock.  He needs the actors in order to tell a story, which is told best by collaborating with rather than dominating them.  The aesthetic and formal elements of the film are not predetermined.  I imagine he knows what he wouldn't necessarily consider (eg. no classic Dario Argento theatrical colors).  I'm wondering if the lighting and color design are more sketched out, and it is the cinematography that is open for ideas or last-minute inspiration.

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I wonder what Scott thinks about viewers owing it to themselves to do a little research about a film before watching it.  Sometimes it is quite rewarding to know only a title, a country of origin, and maybe a genre.  But other times, knowing a bit more about the cast and director or the storyline could save a lot of disappointment. Don't just buy the hype, dig into the hype.  If the hype is about X narrative or Y theme and you abhor either, then skip the hype.  Go do something you would enjoy.

Oh look, visual aids:

I asked A.O. Scott what he does when he finds himself reviewing the same film over and over again.

Click here for the original version.  Can you spot the difference?

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I told Todd Field that I wrote about Little Children as a tangential football film in the epilogue of my thesis.  His film is based on the book by Tom Perrotta, who also worked on the screenplay with Field.  I haven't read the book yet, but there is apparently a lot of football in it.  In addition to changing the way the movie would end, Field and Perrotta had to figure out how much football to keep in the film.   I'm gonna get my hands on this book and then revisit my analysis of Little Children as a quasi-football film.

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The Impressionist rendering:

Click here, here, and here for more.

[except I don't have the version with a naked Patrick Wilson and Kate Winslet on the cover]

This is a book I wish I had written. I just really love the satire, the style, the structure, subject matter and the plot. I really have to get my hands on some of his other books. The movie, as with all films based on books, loses quite a bit in translation.

The book is about middle class, suburban, 30 something parents of little children. There's Todd (he's Brad in the movie and played by Patrick Wilson) who the mums in the park call "The Prom King" because he's really hot. Sarah (played by Kate Winslet in the film) who is a plain Jane, lapsed feminist and graduate school drop out who accidentally fell into the mundane life she now finds herself living.

Within a couple of weeks of starting the PhD program though, she discovered that she'd booked passage on a sinking ship. There aren't any jobs, the other students informed her; the profession's glutted with tenured old men who won't step aside for the next generation. While the university's busy exploiting you for cheap labour, you somehow have to produce a boring thesis that no one will read, and find someone willing to publish it as a book.

Todd and Sarah have an affair (which every one knows because of the naked Kate and Patrick on the book cover). They have sex, his signature move is the corkscrew, when their children are napping in Sarah's daughter's room.

Sarah's husband is Richard, a much older man who she met when working at Starbucks.
He has a porn addiction and spends more time on the internet than with his own kid. He's addicted to Sluttykay.com a website he stumbled across when doing some research for a client and trying to devise a clever take on "Y2K".

Lately though Slutty Kay had become a problem. He thought about her far too often, and visited her web site several times a day. He was neglecting his work and his family and staying up until ungodly hours composing lyrical e-mails in her honor that he couldn't quite bring himself to send. It was as if he were back in high school, pining after some girl in chemistry class, knowing he'd never find the nerve to talk to her.

There's also Mary Ann, the "perfect" mother who schedules and plans everything including a Tuesday 9pm sex session with hubby, but she's just a minor character and Todd's beautiful wife Kathy (Jennifer Connelly in the movie) a film maker who wants her husband to pass the bar exam so that she can have it all - an artistic career and the lifestyle. Todd has failed twice - like JFK Jnr, as people keep reminding him.

Nothing much happens in this sleepy suburban town until a child molestor returns to town to live with his mother. The book isn't about the child molestor and the kids, but the parents who are the little children. Despite being 30 something year old middle class parents, they're still playing out their high school rolls. The popular girls, the core of the mother's group, the jock prom king, the nerd book worm who feels out of place. It's also about how the 30 something parents find themselves in lives that are less ordinary than the ones they had once envisioned for themselves.

We headed to Millenium Park for the session and I have to say, for my first time ever being there, I was very impressed how nice the park was.  Especially for it being located in a fairly suburban area and so close to the city.

The expressions her little girls make during our sessions always have all of us in bits of laughter and they are so much fun to chase around and photograph.

As for this young man, Zach, he is such a great older brother.  I was so impressed how good he is to his baby sisters.  When you see them together, you can tell they love their brother and they have so much fun together.

To keep updated with the Zimmer family, you can check out their blog here.  Thank you so much, Traci, for once again, photographing your fun family.

I just love these pictures. They are turning out so good! The mom and dad love the photographs too, which is always nice. lol

I'll share some of my more favorites.

O veste buna pentru toti nostalgicii si fanii filmului Titanic, sau ai actorilor Kate Winslet/Leonardo DiCaprio: cei doi au filmat din nou impreuna pentru filmul "Revolutionary Road", care se preconizeaza ca va ajunge in cinematografele din Romania pe 6 februarie 2009. FIlmarile s-au incheiat, mai lipseste doar lansarea filmului. Regizorul este Sam Mendes (cel care a fost rasplatit in anul 2000 atat cu Premiul Oscar cat si cu Globul de Aur pentru cel mai bun regizor - era vorba de filmul "American Beauty"), iar filmul este tot o drama, ca si Titanic.

Eu sunt nerabdator sa vad filmul, mi-a placut mult cuplul pe care l-au format in Titanic si sper nu doar sa fie Kate Winslet (my favourite actress) nominalizata la Oscar pentru rol, dar sa il si castige, pentru ca ar fi a sasea nominalizare...

Image credit

So clearly the portrait update was necessary.

I love photographing their children because they just have the best smiles, especially now while they are going through tooth fairy season and waiting for those adult chompers to come in.

And really, their kids just make me laugh.  When Isaac and Norah are together they always do something they are not supposed to.

Although, this particular session they were much more laid back then usual.

Thank you, Chris and Janet, for once again allowing me to capture your family's beautiful faces.  And Congratulations to your new little man Ari!!

To stay updated with the Carpenter's and their antics, you can check out their blog here.

Director

Writer - Todd Field, Tom Perrotta

Starring - Kate Winslet, Patrick Wilson, Jennifer Connelly, Jackie Earle Haley, Noah Emmerich

Language - English

Runtime - 130 minutes approx.

Age Rating - 15

Genre - Drama, Romance

A FILM REVIEW BY ROSS MILLER

The trailer for Todd Field’s remarkable drama is one of the best I have seen in years. It gives you what the perfect trailer should; a real sense of what the film is about but at the same time not giving anything away. The trailer is tense and gripping which is reflective of this insightful drama in every way.

Sarah (Kate Winslet) and Brad (Patrick Wilson) are both stay-at-home parents who lead normal and mundane lives. After meeting several times at the local park and swimming pool they instantly connect, becoming friends and eventually lovers. They are both desperate for some sort of escape from what they feel is a meaningless existence. Meanwhile in the same town and time a registered sex-offender who has been let out from prison moves into the area, and as a result the quiet little neighbourhood of parents and children are in panic, constantly looking over their shoulders. And an ex-cop, who has formed a vigilante group, is a bit too over-the-top in his surveillance techniques.

The most admirable factor of this film is its tone and the air it has about it. Field’s direction makes us feel uneasy and at times extremely uncomfortable in what we are witnessing. You could cut the tension with a knife at too many moments to count and Field’s talent is what we have to thank for that. The film is very rich and vibrant in it’s colour scheme, which although is a contrast to the film’s melodramatic tone it allows for pleasant viewing and is strangely easy on the eyes.

From moment one I was completely immersed in this film, helped enormously by the narration. Although this could be perceived as unnecessary, I found it to be completely relevant and very necessary. The narration is told not from the usual first-person perspective, but as if someone is reading a story to you. It also doesn’t describe what is happening, as Field is smart enough to know that we can see that with our own eyes, but tells you what each relevant character is feeling and thinking. I found this to be a very interesting way to handle narration, it certainly is unique anyway. As a result the film feels like an adult version of story time you would get at school, with the voice doing the narration being engrossing to listen to (which was terribly crucial).

I am at a loss as to how this film didn’t win (or be nominated for that matter) for far more awards than it was at this year’s Oscars. Not only did it deserve to be awarded for its technical achievements (editing, screenplay etc.) but also on the acting side of things. You would think that there being small amount of main characters as four that we would definitely favour one over the rest in quality of performance. But I argue that each of the four brings something equally brilliant and complex to the table as the rest. We are interested in Sarah and Brad because they are just ordinary, everyday people who make the same mistakes and want the same things as any of us would. The other two characters of the paedophile and the ex-cop are creepy and mysterious when you think about what might have happened in their past. The lack of ability to relate to these two characters may even make them more interesting than Sarah and Brad, although not standing out more in their performances.

As shown in the trailer by the two trains slowly heading towards each other, this film feels like an accident waiting to happen. Not in the way that you are waiting for it to fail but in the actual story itself. You have the feeling that this affair that the film effectively revolves around is going to stir up some major events and that everything will never be the same again as a result of it. You have this sense of “it’s all building towards something”, maybe not in an “in your face” way but more in a complex and emotional way. Although not much happens in the entire film, we are kept interested because of how interesting and compelling the characters are.

In spite of how much I loved this film I did have a few minor problems with it (note I said minor). Although necessary to the story and characters the sex scenes did seem overplayed. I totally understand the relevance of them but with a film as tense as this these scenes were extremely uncomfortable, at least for me. The second problem I had, yet again relating to specific scenes, was the overabundance of irrelevant (at least to me) sports related moments. There are at least two or three scenes of Brad playing American Football and a couple of skateboarding scenes which I just didn’t see the need for. Having said that these are minor issues as these scenes are pretty short-lived.

This is melodrama (and just drama in general) at it’s near best. This is certainly one of most expertly crafted and ultimately memorable films of 2006. The lack of distribution this film received probably has the most do to with why it didn’t do so well at the Oscars, because the qaulity of it demands much more appreciation. Watch; allow yourself just to slip into and being hooked in the subtlety, the tension and the brilliance of Little Children.

I make modest women wet their pants with excitement when I flex my rock hard butt."

I know you want to see pictures of old Patty boy doing hump hump with Kate Winslet but my shit is PG-13, so you will have to go here to see stills of his perfectly chiseled poo-oven in action.

Anyway, one day when E and I were walking we saw some sunflowers. I just love the way they pop against the blue sky.

Little Children (2006)

Director: Todd Field

Cast: Kate Winslet, Patrick Wilson, Jennifer Connelly, Noah Emmerich, Jackie Earle Haley, Phyllis Somerville, Gregg Edelman

Distributor: New Line Cinema

...dan pengadilan memutuskan: Film dengan penuh pesan moral... Berat? Mungkin. Film ini berisi mengenai menghargai apa yang telah kita miliki, memaafkan kesalahan orang yang terdahulu dan... tidak ada seorang pun dengan masa lalu yang sempurna. Diangkat dari novel Tom Perotta (di film ini bertindak sebagai screenplay writer bersama Todd Field) berjudul sama, Little Children bercerita mengenai Sarah Pierce yang tidak puas akan hidupnya yang sepertinya berjalan begitu datar, dan mendapatkan sebuah "sensasi" hidup baru ketika berselingkuh dengan Brad Adamson, seorang bapak rumah tangga yang seringkali merasa terintimidasi dengan kesuksesan istrinya. Tokoh lain juga bercerita mengenai James McGorvey, seorang mantan narapidana karena pelecehan anak di bawah umur yang baru dibebaskan dari penjara dan mencoba kehidupan baru. 

Walaupun mungkin kedengaran berat, namun Field berhasil menyajikannya secara apik sehingga cerita mengalir begitu ringan. Menonton film ini seperti menertawakan hidup. Banyak hal yang harus dipikirkan setelah menyaksikannya. Line terakhir film ini mungkin menyimpulkan semuanya... "You couldn't change the past. But the future can be a different story. And it had to start somewhere." A must see.

Rate: 4.5 / 5

Todd Field, 2007

Il en faut parfois peu pour qu'un film s'attire une immense sympathie. Certains ne se sont toujours pas remis de ces robots géants qui se transforment en bolide. Personnellement une scène de cul possédant un motif cinématographique me suffit. Il y a peu je lisais encore une énième référence à la scène de l'escalier d'History of Violence. Et puis je me souviens tendrement encore du plan introductif de We Own The Night...
Mais bref, lorsque fut écrit cet article pour la première fois - on était alors en 2007- je faisais remarquer l'opportunité de son titre sur un blog qui ne comptait qu'une dizaine de visiteur. Je réitère la formule : il y a un peu de racolage ici.

Mais passons. Quant on voit à quel point la majeure partie des films peinent à construire une vraie tension dramatique dans leur scène, il est intéressant que certains y parviennent, et y parviennent au sein de scènes sexuelles qui plus est. Attention, on ne met pas en avant ici des scènes du cul bien filmées comme on peut le voir faire souvent avec les scènes d'action, car il n'est pas question de couper dans l'œuvre et d'y extraire quoi que ce soit ou de s'étendre sur l'érotisme de certains plans au profit d'autres.
Une scène réussie peut l'être en soi mais doit l'être au sein de l'ensemble. Un film malade résiste précisément à lier ses parties. Et un film qui n'en lie aucune se nomme un film X.
Rien d'équivalent entre le voyeurisme de Eyes Wide Shut et d'une Emmanuelle.
Le cru de Little Children, puisque c'est lui le gagnant de 2007, n'est pas plus comparable à celui deShortbus (bon film au demeurant).

Little Children gagne donc cette palme.

Dans ses trois ou quatre scènes hot Todd Field synthétise au mieux la relation des personnages, tant la froideur de leur environnement - inhospitalier comme les lieux où ils s'ébattent - que le caractère inhabituel de leurs actes aux formes d'un briseur de quotidien (les lieux sont aussi peu propices à leurs activités sexuelles que strictement familiers).
Le caractère plutôt sans gêne et crue de leurs ébats appelle ce que confirmera la fin du film : palliatif sans affection, leur relation est accessoire et cache/bouscule un désordre métaphysique dont l'enjeu est avant tout soi-même. Les modalités de la rencontre le montrent : c'est avant tout pour soi qu'on va vers l'autre. Rien qui rappelle un sentiment ou même une pulsion ne rentre en compte. On fait d'ailleurs peu cas de ces scènes d'ébats, certaines arrivent et meurent sans transition. Elles sont un trou dans le quotidien qui n'a de valeur que toute relative à la teneure de ce quotidien. Lorsque le champ cesse d'être bombardé, le trou n'est plus qu'un accident du paysage.
Bref, ces scènes sont marquantes car elles lient mieux que n'importe quoi d'autre les éléments du film, les fantasmes les ambitions des protagonistes. Il suffit de voir le parallèle évident entre ces excursions charnelles et la scène du club de littérature où se lie en pointillé la valeur que Sarah leur octroie.
Pertinent.

USA 2006 | Regi: Todd Field | Spilletid: 130 min | IMDb

I en lekepark sitter tre hjemmeværende forstadsmødre på en benk og sprer sladder seg i mellom, mens de innimellom kaster noen blikk på sine barn som fredløst leker ved noen apparater få meter unna. Litt på utsiden av den sammensveisede fruetrioen, sitter Sarah (Kate Winslet) og lytter til den trivielle samtalen, tydelig indignert over det hun hører og med liten vilje til å delta selv. Hun er en klassisk «outsider».

Sarah Pierce har mastergrad i litteratur, men trives overhodet ikke i sin nye tilværelse som hjemmeværende forstadsmor - og gift med en fremgangsrik forretningsmann hun tydelig ikke har særlig dype følelser for. Situasjonen blir ikke bedre når hun en dag tar ham på fersken idet han er i gang med å tilfredsstille seg selv foran en luguber pornonettside samtidig som han sniffer til en dametruse. Sarah er frustrert - og hun kjeder seg.

Tilbake til lekeparken. Til de tre prektige husmødrene, og deres daglige fantasier og sladder. Når en mystisk, sexy småbarnspappa med jevne mellomrom dukker opp for å leke med sin sønn, brer stillheten seg over mødrene. De vet ingenting om ham, annet enn at det er dagens høydepunkt de gangene han kommer til parken. Han gir spenning, kun ved sin tilstedeværelse, i mødrenes følelsesløse liv.

Sarah er den eneste som tør å ta kontakt med den kjekke mannen, Brad (Patrick Wilson), og det tar ikke lang tid før de begynner å treffe hverandre jevnlig, bak ryggen på den karrierefokuserte kona spilt av Jennifer Connelly. Barna blir brukt som en unnskyldning.

Little Children dykker dypest ned i personlighetene og skjebnene til Sarah og Brad. Dernest forteller filmen også flere historier, parallelt fra samme sted, om menneskene som bor i nærmiljøet. Skildringene, karakterene og ikke minst problemene er arketypisk for moderne portrett av amerikanske forsteder på film. Med et skjevt blikk, og en blanding av humor og tragedie, blir vi kjent med personer som skjuler sitt egentlige jeg bak den trygge forstadsfasaden. Her er samlivsproblemer, utroskap og diverse pikante hemmeligheter. Det ulmer under overflaten. Ikke minst fordi nabolaget har fått et nytt tilskudd; en mann som tidligere har vært dømt for seksuelle tilnærmelser mot barn. Han representerer en trussel for den rådende idyllen. Det er noe i gjerdet.

En allvitende og usedvanlig velartikulert og vittig fortellerstemme blir i filmens begynnelse vår guide inn i dette universet. Fortellerstemmen forteller oss hvem personene er. Hva de tenker. Og hva de føler. Stemmen føles ikke lagt på for å lette verken arbeidsbyrden for skuespillerne eller et publikum som må ha substansen inn med teskje. Fortellerstemmen slipper alltid taket i de rette øyeblikkene og stimulerer vår tankevirksomhet. Etter hvert bryter den også sjeldnere inn - vi overlates til oss selv.

Little Children er en heldig blanding av et smart manus og smakfull regi. Det siste ved Todd Field, som på en behagelig lavmælt måte skildrer virkelige menneskeskjebner, og skaper en stemning som gjorde at i hvert fall jeg fikk en lengsel etter hans debutfilm, In the Bedroom, som i 2001 sørget for at han ble Oscar-nominert både for beste film og manus.

Mange vil likevel hevde at det er skuespillerne, og i særdeleshet Kate Winslet, som er midtpunktet i Little Children. Jeg er tilbøyelig til å være enig. Winslet stadfester her sin posisjon som en av sin tids beste og mest versatile kvinnelige skuespillere. I et fininnstilt og følelsesladd samspill med Patrick Wilson, som også imponerer, er skuespillet av første klasse. Jackie Earle Haley er samtidig et funn i rollen som den kjeppjagede seksuelle avvikeren Ronnie som etter hvert får en sentral rolle i filmen.

Little Children plasserer seg selv i samme gate som American Beauty, Happiness og The Ice Storm (men kommer kanskje ikke helt opp på samme nivå). Filmen tilfører ikke sjangeren veldig mye nytt, men spiller videre på de samme fordommene, og for oss utenforstående kan ting kanskje oppfattes en smule kunstig og karikert.

Men ikke la det være noen tvil: Little Children er en flott film. Her blandes det uhyggelig morsomme med det dypt tragiske og rørende. Det er samfunnskritisk, men aldri moraliserende, og alltid med en sylskarp svart humor. Og substans.

"The Lord gives us a spirit of hope and a feeling of comfort and confidence that we can overcome the obstacles we face. He has shown the way to gain strength during our struggles. With His assistance, we have the ability to succeed. Listen to His words of counsel and comfort: “Fear not, little children, for you are mine, and I have overcome the world and none of them that my Father hath given me shall be lost."

"In his wildest dreams Larry would never have imagined he'd once again be in this position, where precious minutes count. Tonight he could save a life. He knew Ronnie had done some bad things in the past, but so had Larry. You couldn't change the past. But the future could be a different story. And it had to start somewhere."

-Narrator, Little Children

The weekend was pleasant. It was full of good times with good people. Lots of new faces that I can't wait to get to know better mixed in with some of my bests.  But for some reason, during it all, their was this quietness about it.  Maybe not the whole time, but here and there I felt it.  Sometimes just looking around me thinking how did I get here? What am I doing? I think I'm still in that weird bubble between a past life and the new one blossoming before me.  Driving back home today I began to think how deeply I missed the guys back up in College Station. How even if I was to go back up there it would never be the same.  I know its a part of growing up and moving on. "Bigger and better things to come".  But if anything, I hope I can take a few pieces of the people that made those times so great with me into my future.  Actually, I know I already have.

Something not completely useless.

I just finished watching Little Children a few minutes ago and man oh man is my brain all frazzled. It's been a while since I watched a good drama. This movie has it all, cheating spouses, registered sex offenders and crazy ex-cops. I still can't figure out why the parents at the pool never lynched the creepy guy. Maybe that kind of thing only happens in Jamaica.

I really and truly want to keep writing for you all right now but at the moment I'm on the downside swing of a cycle so I'm finding it hard to motivate myself right now. I'll be able to give you something tomorrow hopefully.

Peace,

BP-Bunny

Stop laughing . . .

Anyway, after the Magnum opus that was my last post, I thought I'd come back today with something a bit on the sunnier, fresh-air side of life.

I love movies. Always have. The peaceful moments of my existence are embodied best in a quite evening at home with a DVD in the Pioneer and the lights out. And while there's nothing wrong with the occasional lighthearted romantic comedy or a mindless blockbuster action movie, what I really enjoy are movies about interesting characters. Often called dramas, these presentations of honest people living real, complex lives in the midst of both the magnificent and the mundane turn my crank and drag me through the entire spectrum of emotions. I laugh. I cry. I escape for a couple hours and then slide reluctantly back into the real world, often having learned a thing or two about myself along the way. And making good character-driven movies take incredibly talented and versatile actors.

I got to thinking about all this last night while watching one such movie with my son, and our chat was still jogging upon the dewy grass track of my mind as I awoke this morning. So I decided to run with it and solidify a list of my favorite character actors to share with you, starting with the ladies. When I see any of these gals cast in a movie, it's almost always a must-see. So here they are, my leading ladies, in no particular order:

Patricia Clarkson

She oozes talent from every pore. While most may not consider her a leading lady, I find that she brightens nearly every movie I've had the pleasure of seeing her in. I fell for her in The Green Mile. To watch her transform from a diseased and bedridden bag of bones into a beacon of light and redemption moved me. She stole the show, even if only for a brief few minutes. She did almost the same thing in The Station Agent. And then she melted my heart completely in Lars and the Real Girl.

Joan Allen

She never plays a weak character, every one a strong woman with poise and intelligence. Consider her as Bonnie Waitzkin, the protective yet compassionate mother to a chess prodigy in Searching for Bobby Fischer, or as the no-nonsense senator in The Contender. And who really wants to mess with Pamela Landy, the hard-as-nails agent with a heart of gold in the last two installments of the Bourne trilogy? She's been in too many good movies to list here. As a leading lady, she's not had much success. But she steals every scene she gets with her wit and charm. She's spot on every time and a pleasure to watch.

Helen Hunt

I've loved her since Mad About You. She was the perfect foil for Paul Reiser, counterbalancing is stupidity with her spunk and grace. She manages to save Twister, and then burst onto the big screen with class in As Good As It Gets, providing the shaky yet determined voice of reason to Jack Nicholson's insanity and earning and Oscar in the process. Her eyes speak volumes and her silence screams. It all just simmers underneath and then bursts out with such precision and poise. She's been sort of underground for a while but has a new movie out, Then She Found Me, which she wrote, produced, directed and starred in. I can't wait to see it.

Charlize Theron

She could have been a bimbo actress. Her first big screen role was in Children of the Corn III. What?! Then came The Devil's Advocate. I was a bit worried. Then she started taking on some real meaty roles and came out shining. Most people missed The Legend of Bagger Vance, which is a shame. And . . . my God . . . the awesomeness that is her performance in Monster. Rent it today if you haven't seen this Oscar-winning performance. She sparkled in The Cider House Rules and showed her tough side in The Italian Job. She's gorgeous, talented and hasn't disappointed me in quite some time. Of course, I haven't seen Æon Flux yet . . .

Cate Blanchett

My favorite elf. I'd enter a spooky, ancient forest any day for an audience with this extremely talented former Queen of England . . . er . . . I mean actress. Cate has portrayed almost everyone imaginable, including Bob Dylan, and done so with her own unique style. Her smile can lift your spirits or rip out your heart. Consider her role in Notes on a Scandal opposite the always-good Judi Dench. She fell apart on screen, deconstructing the stereotypical image of a successful woman with secrets in the closet. And she managed to steal Babel right out from under Brad Pitt. Then there's all that red hair. My oh my, what a beautiful woman.

Toni Collette

She quietly slipped on the scene in 1994's Muriel's Wedding in a performance lauded by critics but missed by most moviegoers. Then came The Sixth Sense, in which her startling and sympathetic turn as struggling single mother Lynn Sear earned her an Academy Award nomination. I watched this movie again last night with my son and I'm still touched by her transparent performance. Simply riveting. Almost as good as her role in the funny yet touching Little Miss Sunshine. Her pout isn't . . . pouty, if you catch my drift. She's honest with her emotions and never fails to make me smile.

Kate Winslet

Face it. Anyone who could make Titanic a joy to watch has to be good. Kate is fearless when it comes to the roles she chooses. She can play the classics, as she did as Ophelia in Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet, embody such eccentric personalities as Iris Murdoch in Iris, and then bring boring to life with an easy dramatic flair as she did in Little Children. She even managed to breathe life into Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind opposite Jim Carrey. That was no small feat, for that movie would have been dead without her knack for sincere laughter atop a smile that speaks a thousand words. She's a rare and elegant beauty, and I just adore her.

Jennifer Connelly

I just realized that Jennifer Connelly is the first brunette on my list. I'll let you decide what that means. Meanwhile, I'll watch her again and again. I loved her in the thinking person's sci-fi noir flick Dark City. She looked just so darn poised and otherworldly standing on the dock at the end of the film, her dark hair blowing in the breeze. But her other roles have taken her deeper, as a drug addict in Requiem for a Dream, as Jackson Pollock's impressionable lover in Pollock, as a single mother with supernatural water stains on her apartment ceiling in Dark Water. But watching her shatter a glass of water in anger and frustration in A Beautiful Mind is a study in excellence of expression and personification. And those baby blue eyes . . .

Hilary Swank

Russell Crowe once encouraged anyone who came from "the downside of advantage" to pursue their dreams whatever they may be. Such is the case with Hilary Swank. She got her first big break in The Next Karate Kid after she and her mother moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting. Then came Boys Don't Cry, and astonishingly compassionate and realistic performance as Brandon Teena, a transsexual who was brutally raped and murdered in Nebraska in 1993. Few people saw this movie, which is a shame. She earned an Oscar for her performance, and then earned a second Oscar for her portrayal as boxing phenom Maggie Fitzgerald in Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby. She's had some duds (The Reaping) but the good far outweigh the bad.

Laura Linney

If I were pressed to name my favorite actress, I wouldn't hesitate a second in picking Laura Linney. Honestly, I've never seen her in a bad movie. She has that rare ability to rescue even the shallowest of screenplays and bring her performance to life. I first fell for her in The Truman Show. Her over-the-top performance matched Carrey's step for step. And consider her opposite Mark Ruffalo in You Can Count on Me. The quiver in her voice sounds genuine and unforced and adds a sympathetic touch that dives deep but never drowns. I especially enjoyed her in The Savages with Philip Seymour Hoffman. Interestingly, she always seems to be cast opposite some of my favorite actors. She holds her own and brings out the best in everyone.

Julianne Moore

Ever see Magnolia? No, not Steel Magnolias. That one sucked. Magnolia is the three-hour ensemble drama directed my Paul Thomas Anderson, the wunderkind behind last years best movie, There Will Be Blood. He has a way of bringing out the best in his actors, and he got way more than even he could have imagined from Julianne Moore in Magnolia. She walks the tightrope of madness and never slips. She's done sensitive and sweet in Far From Heaven, sexy, dirty and nasty in Boogie Nights, and strong and proud in Children of Men. Not all of her movies have been masterpieces, but that's no fault of hers. Heck, I even liked her as Clarice Starling in Hannibal, not an easy role to take on after Jodie Foster's Oscar-winning turn.

So there you have 'em, my leading ladies of cinema. Were I an actor in need of someone to work with who could make my star shine, I'd choose any one of these gals any day of the week. Feel free to add your favorites to the comments, or simply add your praise for these actors if you feel so led. I love talking movies, so fire away . . .

KATE WINSLET

Kate Elizabeth Winslet (b.5th Oct, 1975) Born in Berkshire, England. The daughter of two actors (interestingly Kate's mother also worked as a Barmaid). Probably the most successful British actress of her generation to transfer to Hollywood, managing to balance her career between popular hits like Blockbuster 'Titanic' and smaller arthouse pieces. Although only thirty-five and still a stunning beauty, Winslet is never the less now in competition with the likes of Keira Knightley, Emily Blunt and the new wave of British cinema beauty to hit America. A strong, confident actress with an air of heady sensuality, maturity and a witty sense of humour. Most distinctive feature is probably her exquisite bow lips and curvacious figure (which despite what the British Press says, is NOT podgy.. unless she's standing next to a Victoria Beckham size zero of course)..

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