Michael's Musings

March 9, 2015

My friend, actress Lynn Borden, died last week after a long illness. 

I've lost so many old show biz friends during the last year or so: producer Stanley Rubin, actors Michael Ansara, George Dickerson, Don Keefer, and now, Lynn.  I guess that what happens as you get older.

Lynn was not a major star, but she did have some impressive credits.  She co-starred on the old HAZEL series with Shirley Booth, and also appeared in such cult classics as FROGS and DIRTY MARY, CRAZY LARRY, as well as the Clint Eastwood-directed BREEZY with William Holden, and ROUSTABOUT with Elvis Presley.

To know Lynn was to love her.  She will be missed.

Here's a short film I diid about Lynn for YouTube.  If this link doesn't work, just copy the following address into your browser and you'll be taken right there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9azq2Ec3Pc

You have a creative week.

Michael

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March 2, 2015

I guess I did okay on my Oscar predictions this year.  True, I did leave myself an edge, saying that BOYHOOD and Michael Keaton could win, but since they didn't, I hereby declare that I got 100%. 

One thing that I do believe is that 10-20 years from now, the nominated film that people will still be watching and that will play revival houses is THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL.

BIRDMAN and BOYHOOD are both excellent movies, but they are "films of the moment".  THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL is a potential classic.

Perhaps the best example of what I'm talking about is THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH, the Cecil B. DeMille film that won the Best Picture Oscar in 1952.  Aside from the fact that it won that award, that movie is virtually forgotten today.  Indeed, it's a chore to watch.  However, three of the films that it beat are revered to this very day: HIGH NOON, THE QUIET MAN and John Huston's MOULIN ROUGE.  Even the fifth nominated film, IVANHOE, is better remembered than the DeMille circus epic.

The Best Bets on DVD site, accessible via the link in the Introduction section of this page, has been down again for a few days, but it should be up by the time you read this.  There are 3 new reviews posted there: THE HUMBLING with Al Pacino, ST. VINCENT with Bill Murray and, from The Criterion Collection, RIDE THE PINK HORSE with Robert Montgomery.  So, take a look.

You have a creative week.

Michael

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February 23, 2015

Well, today is my birthday, so Happy Birthday to me!

Actually, I writing this column on Saturday (21) because Sunday (22) is Oscar night and I know all of you are breathlessly awaiting my predictions.  So, here goes:

Julianne Moore (Actress), J.K. Simmons (Supporting Actor) and Patricia Arquette (Supporting Actress) are virtual locks.

However Best Picture and Director are a puzzle.  They could both go to BIRDMAN or they could both go to BOYHOOD...or they could be split between the two films.  At this point, I think that BIRDMAN has a slight edge, but I wouldn't be the least surprised if it went the other way.

The same goes with Actor: Eddie Redmayne (THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING) has the edge, but it could easily go to Michael Keaton for BIRDMAN.

Personally, I would like to see THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL take Best Picture, but I think the best it will do is the Writing and some technical awards (e.g. Costuming, Set Design, etc.).

We shall see what we shall see.

You have a creative week.

Michael

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