Glad to see you've already noted Diane Keaton's passing @A Feminine Force. I'm very sad to read this. I've not watched any of her early work, but for my family she'll always be Mother of the Bride. In our house we call her Mrs Naughty George, because our son always called Steve Martin (in Father of the Bride), Naughty George. Comfort to her family and friends ...
I've seen her in about 15 movies, ranging chronologically from The Godfather to Something's Gotta Give, and while many of them were pretty good and she carried out her duties admirably, I can't say her personal presence was usually pivotal to my enjoyment of them.
I think the films in which she played a main character that I found the most interesting were Looking For Mr. Goodbar and The Good Mother, both in their own ways dealing with dark themes of sexual and romantic conflict, the former as gritty urban-realism and the latter as standard courtroom drama(*), and they are for me very concept and dialogue driven
I know the story arc in The Godfather films involves her trusting that Michael is out of the family-business but discovering otherwise, but I don't remember much her own actual involvement in that as an actor. In my defense, for narrative and perhaps thematic reasons the first movie clearly plays down women's presence, PLUS was not likely to provide a lot of opportunity for the actor playing the token Icy-WASP outsider to really burn herself into your consciousness. My clearest memory of her is Part 1's final shot through the doorway, which is great, but could be anyone playing it.
I'm a casually appreciative viewer of Woody Allen, but his ensembles are generally background noise to me. I definitely know the scene from Bananas where she comes to his door canvassing for a left-wing Central American cause, and I assume she's the one under the sheets seen in the final sporting event.
And come to think of it, I did half-enjoy Marvin's World, and am reasonably certain I know which character she played. The scene of her getting the bad news from the doctor has become somewhat iconic in my mind, for a gag which will "ring a bell" for anyone who remebers it.
Will say I found Something's Gotta Give somewhat annoying. Her and the Jackster were probably well-cast for a midlife crisis-fueled romcom, but the very genre itself sorta mitigates against high evaluation.
(*) Looking For Mr. Goodbar is actually quite reactionary in its treatment of sexuality and gender, in a
tragedy-of-a-fallen-woman
kinda way. Interestingly, one of the few movies I've seen of hers where she was THE lead of either gender, The Good Mother being another. FWIW, I'd say the underlying social ideologies of those two films are directly opposite one another.
I've seen her in about 15 movies, ranging chronologically from The Godfather to Something's Gotta Give.
Plus, at least two light comedies in the 2010s, Morning Glory and The Big Wedding. I liked and recommend the second(a hip workplace comedy a la The Devil Wears Prada) but not the latter(country-manor romcom).
Plus, at least two light comedies in the 2010s, Morning Glory and The Big Wedding. I liked and recommend the second(smart, hip workplace comedy a la The Devil Wears Prada) but not the latter(country-manor romcom).
I stand corrected. It was Louise Lasser as the left-wing canvasser in Bananas. Keaton was in Sleeper, which I recall being a similar mildly political comedy with a fish-outta-water set-up.
I think I vaguely remembered that he had a love-interest in that movie, and if asked, woulda guessed it was Keaton, but that's about it for my awareness of her there.
Was shocked to read just now that Ace Frehley has now left us after a fall. I didn't mind a bit of Kiss in my teens, so a bit shocked to read he was mid-70's. Logic tells me this must be right, based on my own age, but still ..
Was shocked to read just now that Ace Frehley has now left us after a fall. I didn't mind a bit of Kiss in my teens, so a bit shocked to read he was mid-70's. Logic tells me this must be right, based on my own age, but still ..
Apparently he suffered a brain bleed. 74 seems too young says she who just turned 64. Though they were never one of my favorite bands I very much admire how fresh and current and clean their sound is even after 50 years.
RIP Spaceman. All the hugs to your fans, loved ones and friends.
She played Sybil well, of course, and outside the UK will likely always be associated almost entirely with that role. I also remember her playing a writer in the Mike Nichols comedy Wolf.
I just heard today that Mary Henderson, social worker, pacifist, author, died on 8 October aged 91.
Mary Henderson was a force of nature. I knew her through one of her many achievements, the Dundee Women's Trail but this was only one amongst many causes dear to her heart.
The last time I saw her was pre-Covid. My daughter and I bumped into her on a train quite by chance. It must have been around this time of year because she gifted us each a white poppy to wear on Remembrance Sunday.
I just found out (or had totally forgotten, but I think I didn’t know) (for All Souls’ Day, I was looking over the people who had died in the last year, and started with October 2024) that my former priest, from when I first started attending the Episcopal Church in 1985, passed a little over a year ago. He was rector of the church I went to, Church of the Redeemer, when I started college in Sarasota, Florida. We didn’t interact as much as I did with the assistant priest (who was older and likely passed longer ago). But the rector… who was very conservative… went on to become the Bishop of Ft. Worth, Texas… and then left the Episcopal Church altogether…
I don’t think he’d have liked me very much had we met again later in life, though I do pray that he’s in God’s hands now. RIP.
Cheney endorsed Kamala Harris for president against trump. We can't overlook all the other things he did, but that is something good for which we can remember him.
Cheney endorsed Kamala Harris for president against trump. We can't overlook all the other things he did, but that is something good for which we can remember him.
This seems like a classic example of getting credit for trying unsuccessfully to fix problems you helped create. Let's not forget that Cheney was a big proponent of the unitary executive and imperial presidency when he was vice president, which led pretty directly to the current crisis in American constitutionalism.
Cheney endorsed Kamala Harris for president against trump. We can't overlook all the other things he did, but that is something good for which we can remember him.
OTOH some would argue it was bone-headed for Harris to want his support in the first place.
(Though I might not be one of them, but only because I doubt the endorsement hurt her any more than it helped her. I think Cheney was pretty much a non-entity by 2024.)
I pray that Dick Cheney is ultimately redeemed in the end. 🕯
I know that he will be, just I would never want his level of karma. The amount of damage he's done to so many people means a lot more of same to come in order to feel it all through and it makes me sad. But hey, we have forever so what's the hurry? He will get there and so will we.
It has just been announced that Pauline Collins, actress, celebrated among other things for playing Shirley Valentine in the film of that name. She was 85, which was older thanI had imagined.
The death has been announced of Prof James Watson, co-discoverer of the structure of DNA.
As a scientist, who once bumped into him in a stairwell in Oxford I am somewhat conflicted as, although he made a sizable chunk of my career possible, he was also a steaming twat of the first order.
The death has been announced of Prof James Watson, co-discoverer of the structure of DNA .
In my view it would be more accurate to say, "co-discoverer of Rosalind Franklin's notebooks."
[/Hostly edit - Nenya, All Saints Host]
In the category of "let the dead bury the dead", here is an obituary of Watson written by Sharon Begley, who herself died in 2021. It largely supports your assessment of Watson's personality.
I don't think I actually became aware of his distinct existence until the late 2000s, when I was in my late 30s or so, though wikipedia confirms that I woulda seen him in quite a few things before that. Apparently, he did a lot of work with Gus Van Sant, but I don't remember his performances in those films, even from the ones I saw after I found out who he was.
Oddly, despite NOT remembering him in films I have seen, I most closely associate him with Paul Morrissey's horror spoofs Flesh For Frankenstein and Blood For Dracula, which I've never seen, YouTube clips notwithstanding.
Comments
I've seen her in about 15 movies, ranging chronologically from The Godfather to Something's Gotta Give, and while many of them were pretty good and she carried out her duties admirably, I can't say her personal presence was usually pivotal to my enjoyment of them.
I think the films in which she played a main character that I found the most interesting were Looking For Mr. Goodbar and The Good Mother, both in their own ways dealing with dark themes of sexual and romantic conflict, the former as gritty urban-realism and the latter as standard courtroom drama(*), and they are for me very concept and dialogue driven
I know the story arc in The Godfather films involves her trusting that Michael is out of the family-business but discovering otherwise, but I don't remember much her own actual involvement in that as an actor. In my defense, for narrative and perhaps thematic reasons the first movie clearly plays down women's presence, PLUS was not likely to provide a lot of opportunity for the actor playing the token Icy-WASP outsider to really burn herself into your consciousness. My clearest memory of her is Part 1's final shot through the doorway, which is great, but could be anyone playing it.
I'm a casually appreciative viewer of Woody Allen, but his ensembles are generally background noise to me. I definitely know the scene from Bananas where she comes to his door canvassing for a left-wing Central American cause, and I assume she's the one under the sheets seen in the final sporting event.
And come to think of it, I did half-enjoy Marvin's World, and am reasonably certain I know which character she played. The scene of her getting the bad news from the doctor has become somewhat iconic in my mind, for a gag which will "ring a bell" for anyone who remebers it.
Will say I found Something's Gotta Give somewhat annoying. Her and the Jackster were probably well-cast for a midlife crisis-fueled romcom, but the very genre itself sorta mitigates against high evaluation.
(*) Looking For Mr. Goodbar is actually quite reactionary in its treatment of sexuality and gender, in a
Plus, at least two light comedies in the 2010s, Morning Glory and The Big Wedding. I liked and recommend the second(a hip workplace comedy a la The Devil Wears Prada) but not the latter(country-manor romcom).
Plus, at least two light comedies in the 2010s, Morning Glory and The Big Wedding. I liked and recommend the second(smart, hip workplace comedy a la The Devil Wears Prada) but not the latter(country-manor romcom).
You're asking me to confirm? Yes, that's the one.
I think I vaguely remembered that he had a love-interest in that movie, and if asked, woulda guessed it was Keaton, but that's about it for my awareness of her there.
It seems fitting that Sherpa lasted longest of all.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/oct/16/kanchha-sherpa-last-surviving-member-of-first-team-to-reach-mount-everest-summit-dies
Apparently he suffered a brain bleed. 74 seems too young says she who just turned 64. Though they were never one of my favorite bands I very much admire how fresh and current and clean their sound is even after 50 years.
RIP Spaceman. All the hugs to your fans, loved ones and friends.
AFF
She played Sybil well, of course, and outside the UK will likely always be associated almost entirely with that role. I also remember her playing a writer in the Mike Nichols comedy Wolf.
Mary Henderson was a force of nature. I knew her through one of her many achievements, the Dundee Women's Trail but this was only one amongst many causes dear to her heart.
I don’t think he’d have liked me very much had we met again later in life, though I do pray that he’s in God’s hands now. RIP.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Iker
Not one to speak ill of the dead, so I won't. But I want to.
If there are any who loved him left in life, then they have my prayers.
AFF
Erik Loomis can do it for you with his comprehensive Cheney obituary.
This seems like a classic example of getting credit for trying unsuccessfully to fix problems you helped create. Let's not forget that Cheney was a big proponent of the unitary executive and imperial presidency when he was vice president, which led pretty directly to the current crisis in American constitutionalism.
OTOH some would argue it was bone-headed for Harris to want his support in the first place.
(Though I might not be one of them, but only because I doubt the endorsement hurt her any more than it helped her. I think Cheney was pretty much a non-entity by 2024.)
If he was still alive I believe he would have died of third degree burns - a scorching excoriation and not a single lie detected.
AFF
I know that he will be, just I would never want his level of karma. The amount of damage he's done to so many people means a lot more of same to come in order to feel it all through and it makes me sad. But hey, we have forever so what's the hurry? He will get there and so will we.
AFF
As a scientist, who once bumped into him in a stairwell in Oxford I am somewhat conflicted as, although he made a sizable chunk of my career possible, he was also a steaming twat of the first order.
In my view it would be more accurate to say, "co-discoverer of Rosalind Franklin's notebooks."
[/Hostly edit - Nenya, All Saints Host]
In the category of "let the dead bury the dead", here is an obituary of Watson written by Sharon Begley, who herself died in 2021. It largely supports your assessment of Watson's personality.
@Crœsos , please avoid "Fixed that for you" posts, which make it look as though a shipmate has said something they haven't.
Nenya - All Saints Host
[/Removes Hostly Halo]
I don't think I actually became aware of his distinct existence until the late 2000s, when I was in my late 30s or so, though wikipedia confirms that I woulda seen him in quite a few things before that. Apparently, he did a lot of work with Gus Van Sant, but I don't remember his performances in those films, even from the ones I saw after I found out who he was.
Oddly, despite NOT remembering him in films I have seen, I most closely associate him with Paul Morrissey's horror spoofs Flesh For Frankenstein and Blood For Dracula, which I've never seen, YouTube clips notwithstanding.