April 28, 2006 |
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"IT SEEMS not improbable that it was the engagement in this (human) conversation, where talk is without a conclusion, that gave us our present appearance - man being descended from a race of apes who sat in talk so long and so late that they wore out their tails," says Professor Michael Oakeshott.
He is quoted in a Russell Baker review of the new book "Conversation: A History of a Declining Art."
THESE DAYS - is it something they're putting in the water?
Quite a few people are having "creative differences." First, the talented Samantha Morton, who received an Oscar nomination for her fab work in Woody Allen's 1999 film "Sweet and Lowdown" has now departed the still filming movie "Pride and Glory." This is a flick being directed by Gavin O'Connor of "Miracle" and "Tumbleweeds" fame. And it has a starry cast topped by Colin Farrell and Edward Norton. Samantha has already been replaced by the beautiful daughter of stage legend Rosemary Harris - Jennifer Ehle. You may remember her from 1999's "Sunshine."
Second, we hear that the multi-faceted Christopher Walken (well, how many actors do you know who can really act and also tap dance?) has stepped out of James Gray's "We Own the Night." Robert Duvall, six-time Oscar nominee and onetime winner for "Tender Mercies," has replaced him. This movie, being shot in New York, also has Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg in the cast. And the whisper is that director Gray wanted Duvall all along.
You can see the estimable cowboy Duvall on the cover of June's famous niche magazine Cowboys & Indians.
ALTHOUGH SHE is way taller and less zaftig, Charlize Theron is said to be anxious to play Marilyn Monroe in a movie based on Anthony Summers' dark and controversial 1985 bestseller, "Goddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe." In Touch magazine insists Charlize is a big Monroe admirer and has been checking out spots in L.A. where the late legend lived and played, soaking up the atmosphere.
Charlize is a terrific actress, an Oscar winner for "Monster," in which she played another, far less attractive, real-life woman - serial killer Aileen Wuornos. But nobody ever gets it right "doing" Monroe - it ends up a drag show caricature. I'd rather see Charlize, who is an earthy, funny, loosey-goosey girl in real life, do a comedy that shows off these qualities. Let the famously dead rest famously.
THERE IS so much going on in New York lately that I guess I don't have to tell you I "reluctantly" agree to go anywhere to meet anybody I don't already know. This is a bad state of mind to be in and recently I got my comeuppance.
I wasn't eager to go greet the new president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (the Oscars to you and me) and his wife at the Mandarin Oriental for a drink. Thank heavens I did. I had the chance to chat with two very nice people who seem to have shaken the fairy dust of Hollywood off their feet. We didn't "take" a meeting; we lifted a glass and had a few laughs.
Sid and Nancy Ganis don't "act" like producers. They're quiet and unassuming. She has had a lifelong interest in public education and she seems to be the heart behind the two of them bringing "Akeelah and the Bee" to the screen. He is now out to re-glamorize and rev up the Academy Awards. But once the two of them read writer/director Doug Atchison's screenplay about a little girl and the Scripps National Spelling Bee, they were hooked. "We have to make this movie!" said Nancy. (They did; for a few drop-in-the-bucket millions. Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner are also on board as co-producers.)
And they found a great original cast via Lionsgate and with Starbucks entertainment store promotion, it is already in theaters and super worth your while. I just hope all the people who adored 'The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" and "Avenue Q" onstage will plop down in the dark of the cinema to see young Keke Palmer as Akeelah. She gives a true Rocky Balboa performance and you mustn't miss it.
BROADWAY'S THEATER lovers can bless London's National Theater for sending us one of the most mesmerizing and mind-boggling productions - Alan Bennett's "The History Boys." Nicholas Hytner's meticulous direction serves the superb cast to a tee. The singular Frances de la Tour is, as usual, perfection. Among the "boys" I especially enjoyed Richard Griffiths, Russell Tovey and Samuel Barnett. I do believe this is the first time that an entire production has moved across the Atlantic intact - that is, with every actor coming from abroad. Thank you Actors' Equity!
(E-mail Liz Smith at MES3838@aol.com, or write to her c/o Tribune Media Services, 2225 Kenmore Ave., Suite 114, Buffalo, NY 14207.)
©2006 TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
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