Sunday, July 9, 2006
Archive for July 9, 2006
The Devil Wears Prada
The Devil Wears Prada is a fine, entertaining, amusing film, well-written and well-acted. NewMexiKen thought it was formulaic (surprise!) — girl gets job, girl succeeds at job, girl quits job — but so well done, who cares. Meryl Streep was magnicent (surprise!) and the rest of the cast does her no harm (Anne Hathaway and Stanley Tucci especially). By herself, Ms. Streep justifies the $9.25.
I did think the one real element of mystery/tension in the plot — what’s going to happen? — came and went too quickly. But it’s a comedy more than a drama, so I’m probably mistaken.
Enjoyable film.
1 CommentHappy Birthday to You
Donald Rumsfeld is 74. This from The Writer’s Almanac:
It’s the birthday of the Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, born in Chicago, Illinois (1932). In 2003, he published Rumsfeld’s Rules: Wisdom for the Good Life, a list of guidelines for his colleagues that he’d gathered over the years. It includes advice such as, “It is easier to get into something than to get out of it.”
Brian Dennehy is 68 — guess he’ll be playing one of the old folks in any re-make of Cocoon. Dennehy won a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild award for his portrayal of Willy Loman in the 2000 made-for-TV presentation of Death of a Salesman.
Chris Cooper is 55. Cooper has appeared in over 50 films and television productions, winning a best supporting actor Oscar for Adaptation.
Jimmy Smits is 51. Smits was nominated six times for an Emmy for supporting actor for L..A. Law. He won once. He was nominated five times for best actor for NYPD Blue. No nominations for his work as Senator Bail Organa in Star Wars. But, then he was elected President on West Wing.
Tom Hanks is 50 today. Hanks has been nominated for the Academy Award for best actor five times, winning for Philadelphia (1993) and Forrest Gump (1994). His other nominations were for Big, Saving Private Ryan and Cast Away.
Kelly McGillis is 49, Courtney Love is 42, and Fred Savage is 30.
And Orenthal James Simpson is 59 today.
(Gonna find ‘em)
(Gonna find ‘em)
(Gonna find ‘em)
(Gonna find ‘em)
Yeah, I’ve been searchin’
A-a searchin’
Oh, yeah, searchin’ every which a-way
Yeah, yeah
Oh, yeah, searchin’
I’m searchin’
Searchin’ every which a-way
Yeah, yeah
But I’m like the Northwest Mounties
You know I’ll bring ‘em in someday
(Gonna find ‘em)
(Gonna find ‘em)
Well, now, if I have to swim a river
You know I will
And a if I have to climb a mountain
You know I will
And a if he’s a hiding up
On a blueberry hill
Am I gonna find ‘em, child
You know I will
‘Cause I’ve been searchin’
Oh, yeah, searchin’
My goodness, searchin’ every which a-way
Yeah, yeah
But I’m like the Northwest Mounties
You know I’ll bring ‘em in some day
(Gonna find ‘em)
(Gonna find ‘em)
Well, Sherlock Holmes
Sam Spade got nothin’, child, on me
Sergeant Friday, Charlie Chan
And Boston Blackie
No matter where he’s a hiding
He’s gonna hear me a comin’
Gonna walk right down that street
Like Bulldog Drummond
‘Cause I’ve been searchin’
Oooh, Lord, searchin’, mm child
Searchin’ every which a-way
Yeah, yeah
But I’m like the Northwest Mounties
You know I’ll bring ‘em in some day
(Gonna find ‘em)
(Gonna find ‘em)
Coronado National Memorial (Arizona)
… was renamed on this date in 1952. It had been first designated Coronado International Memorial, but an adjoining Mexican memorial was never created.
“As a result of this expedition, what has been truly characterized by historians as one of the greatest land expeditions the world has known, a new civilization was established in the great American Southwest” reported the House Committee on Foreign Affairs in 1939. “To commemorate permanently the explorations of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado…would be of great value in advancing the relationship of the United States and Mexico upon a friendly basis of cultural understanding,” stated E. K. Burlew, Acting Secretary of the Interior in 1940. It would “stress the history and problems of the two countries and would encourage cooperation for the advancement of their common interests.”
