Hold the phone! Unlike most of the reviewers I felt that Lindsay Lohan gave a nice performance in “Liz and Dick,” the television movie that aired recently on the Lifetime network. I truly have paid no attention to Lohan and have no vested interest. It was a role as Elizabeth Taylor that she could relate to and her performance opposite Grant Bowler, who stood out as Richard Burton was, in my opinion, a good one.
My perspective is unique in that I really knew little about Lohan nor would I have recognized her before seeing the movie. My taste is no better nor worse for not having known of Lohan, while I did know a bit about Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, therefore felt the movie was worth watching.
One scene leads to a way to sum up my feelings regarding the movie and Ms. Lohan for now. Lohan/Taylor and Bowler/Burton are “post coital” when the obligatory televised banter commenced. Lohan/Taylor wants “more” and Bowler/Burton thinks that is “her favorite word.” Lohan/Taylor responds by asking if he prefers “less.” My hope is for some amount in between for Lohan. I am glad I “met” her and while not all that anxious to see her perform again, doing so in the future is fine with me.
Lindsay as Liz
Since tonight’s game matching the (2-8) Carolina (Panthers) and the (3-7) Philadelphia (Eagles) is virtually meaningless in the standings, let’s begin our weekly NFL Review a day earlier than usual. As the weeks wind down, (only five left) after this review, there will be both NFC and AFC reviews the rest of the season.
After meaningful play this past weekend, while not as pronounced as the AFC, three of the four division leaders in the NFC have at least two game leads and all four current “div” leaders gained ground. Surely never before and this is the 12th year of the current eight division configuration have seven of the eight leaders enjoyed leads of at least two games. Six leaders have more than two game leads and five lead by three games or more.
In the NFC, the closest race is in the NFC North where after (8-3) Chicago with Quarterback Jay Cutler back in action gained on the (7-4) Green Bay Packers, the margin is only one game. The Packers won the second week clash vs the Bears so if Green Bay wins in Chicago on December 16th they would have the tiebreaker advantage so this one is far too close to call. The next closest race is in the NFC East where the New York Giants gained on the Dallas Cowboys and now lead both the Cowboys and Washington Redskins by two games. Washington defeated Dallas in Dallas on Thanksgiving day. Elsewhere the (8-2-1) San Francisco 49ers gained on the Seattle Seahawks and lead them by two and a half games. Meanwhile the (10-1) Atlanta Falcons reduced their magic number to two, gaining ground on both the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New Orleans Saints.
In the AFC, it is all over save the shouting as far as the division races are concerned. All four leaders have at least three game leads. The (9-2) Baltimore Ravens gained ground and now lead both the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals by three games. Both the (10-1) Houston Texans and (8-3) New England Patriots secured “Turkey Day” wins and maintained three game division leads. As with the Falcons in the NFC, the (8-3) Denver Broncos reduced their magic number to one for a divisional title as they now lead by four and a half games with five games remaining.
When the iconic television show, “Dallas” was “ruling the ratings” in the late ’70’s and early ’80’s, I was not a viewer and complained when the show and not the live NBA playoff games aired in prime time on CBS television on Friday nights. However, I became as big a fan of “Dallas” as there is (Ch 9 Sunday night reruns brought me up to date) falling in love with the show’s family dynamic and with one of the great television character portrayals ever by Larry Hagman as “J.R. Ewing.”
People said my dad looked like Larry and I feel a tremendous loss with this superb actor’s death. I knew and liked Larry Hagman before I loved him as “J.R.” Now older, and somewhat more knowledgeable, I marvel at Larry’s performance as the President’s (played by Henry Fonda, who praised Hagman’s performance) aide in “Failsafe.” He stood out in “Harry and Tonto” playing Art Carney’s son in the film which netted an Academy Award for Carney. A scant few days before Larry’s death, I happened to “catch” his telling scene with John Travolta in Primary Colors. His work in “Nixon” was also outstanding.
Of course his greatest fame came as J.R. and to me the character’s need to please his overwhelming father is the aspect of the show that resonated more than any. Hagman delivered great lines whether it was “that is called playing the come Senator” when double dealing “J.R.” was being investigated by a Senate committee or essentially spitting out the coffee his lover “Kristin” (his wife’s sister, who eventually shot him as part of pop culture history, played by Mary Crosby) made and easing in “that girl just can’t make a decent cup of coffee.”
When Patrick Duffy’s “Bobby” “died” at the end of the 1984-1985 season, notice Hagman as J.R. pleading “Don’t leave me Bobby” and there are other emotional scenes that will live on. I hope the new “Dallas” can somehow convey the love characters Bobby and Sue Ellen (played by Larry’s dear friend, Linda Gray, who was at his side when he died) actually had for “J.R.” despite their “knock down, drag out” battles. It mirrored the real life love they felt for Larry.
I met Larry Hagman only once when he and “I Dream of Jeannie” co star Barbara Eden were promoting a “Jeannie” dvd. Days before news of Larry’s death, I recalled it as one of my most important “meetings.” I mentioned to Larry that I was a friend of another J.R. and recalled the answering machine (’twas machines, not voice mail then) message he personally recorded for our mutual friend, the “other J.R.” In full “J.R.” twang: “This is the real J.R. here that other rascal is out looking for Sue Ellen” and then the incredible laugh.
Hypothetical or real heaven (take your pick) has a “primer” in how to enjoy and live a full, good, productive and meaningful life. After a brief rest to get acclimated to his new surroundings, Larry Hagman is teaching that “primer” right now. Few humans would be more qualified to do so.
During the annual Ohio State/Michigan regular season finale game, a graphic posted by ABC-TV indicated that on four previous occasions Michigan had beaten Ohio State to spoil a perfect season for the Buckeyes. The information was not accurate. In 1973, one of the four times indicated in the graphic as a year Michigan beat Ohio State, The Wolverines tied–that is not beating–Ohio State (10-10).
The factual mistakes continued on ESPN2 when Mark Jones working the Penn State/Wisconsin game decided to embellish on a graphic indicating years USC spoiled unbeaten Notre Dame seasons. He said his favorite moment was when Anthony Davis scored six touchdowns vs “The Fighting Irish” in either 1970 or 1971. The correct year was 1972.
At night on ABC-TV, studio host John Saunders was doing the highlights of the UCLA/Stanford game. Saunders said “Stanford trailing 14-10” when actually Stanford was ahead 14-10.
Mark Jones
Only the (7-2-1) San Francisco 49ers, among the four NFC division leaders, gained ground this past week in the NFL. S.F. ripped the (7-3) Chicago Bears in the Monday night game which was more boring than ultra boring “announcer,” Mike Tirico. The result coupled with the Green Bay Packers’ win at Detroit (Lions) means there is a tie at the top of the NFC North between Green Bay and Chicago. The Niners gained in the win column and now lead (6-4) Seattle (Seahawks) by a game and a half in the NFC West.
The Dallas Cowboys survived, winning (23-20) in overtime vs the Cleveland Browns (oh for the days of five straight years of all but decisive Cowboys vs old Browns games from 1966-1970) and gained ground on the idle New York Giants. The defending Supe champion Giants lead Dallas by one game. From (1967-1969) the last three pre- AFC/NFC configuration seasons, the NFL went to four divisions abandoning the previous two conferences configuration. In each of those three seasons, the Cowboys won the Capital Division and met the Browns, who won all three Century division crowns (Giants’ fans might remember that the Giants alternated playing in both the Century and Capital divisions). Cleveland, after being annihilated by the Cowboys in the 1967 Eastern Conference playoff game won the same game in both 1968 and 1969. However, in both 1966 (Thanksgiving night in Dallas) and in the penultimate regular season game of 1970 on a muddy field in Cleveland, Dallas dealt the Browns’ playoff hopes a severe blow, beating the Browns each time.
Finally, though struggling, the Atlanta Falcons raised their record to (9-1) winning (23-19) as nine point favorites vs the Arizona Cardinals. The Falcons maintained their three game lead over the Tampa Bay Buccaneeers, who were one of three teams to win in overtime in the past week. The Falcons entered the NFL in 1966, the first season with a Super Bowl, and lost in their only Super Bowl appearance. The Buccaneers entered the league ten years later and won in their only Super Bowl appearance.
1968 Cowboys
All four AFC division leaders gained in the standings yesterday. Three of the four AFC division leaders have three game leads while the (8-2) Baltimore Ravens who won (13-10) as a field goal favorite at the Pittsburgh(Steelers), lead the AFC North by two games. Additionally, Pittsburgh was without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger last night and likely will be when the Steelers visit Baltimore in two weeks.
The (9-1) Houston Texans did win in overtime (43-37) vs the (1-9) Jacksonville Jaguars but struggled mightily to do so. Houston trailed the 15 point underdog, Jaguars (34-20) with less than six minutes left in the fourth quarter. However, Texans’ quarterback Matt Schaub, who threw five touchdown passes, rallied Houston to the victory. In the overtime, in this the first regular season with the new overtime rules whereby the first team to score does not necessarily win, each team made a field goal. Then Schaub threw a touchdown pass to Andre Johnson to win the game.
Elsewhere the (7-3) New England Patriots, who did trail (7-0) and (14-7), eased to a (59-24) victory over the Indianapolis Colts. The Pats were ten point favorites at home while the Colts with a (6-4) record are tied with the Steelers for the AFC wild card lead (two wild card teams will join the four division winners in the playoffs). New England gained ground on the (4-6) Miami Dolphins and now lead the AFC East by three games. The Patriots are virtually certain to capture their tenth AFC East crown in the last twelve seasons.
Finally, it looks like the (7-3) Denver Broncos in the AFC West as they actually have the biggest divisional lead after a (30-23) win at home vs the (4-6) San Diego Chargers. The Broncos lead is three and a half games because they would have the tiebreaker against the Chargers, having beaten them in both tilts this season. The Denver comeback win on October 15th in a Monday night game at S.D. was the key game in what now will almost surely manifest in a second straight AFC West crown for the Broncos.
“Want and Need” a play written by John Krisiukenas, was truly entertaining and moving. I saw the show on its penultimate night. The entire cast and crew should be commended as all the audience members I talked with raved about the show both at intermission and after the final curtain. There was a great deal of humor but also a pretty gripping story.
So many cast members were good while Adam Pagdon, as the writer “John,” who could “get” any woman he chose but could not meet the right one, was sensational. He delivered the funny lines but also one could feel the pain of his character’s past as he struggled to go on. Alas it is a tough job to “make out,” if not make love to four different women on stage but someone had to do it. Not that I ever have, but it is a tough job on stage and Pagdon handled it and the far deeper responsibility of showing “John” as someone worthwhile, not a true jerk, very well. Adam Pagdon is an actor to watch. He is a physical and humorous presence on stage.
http://www.newyorkcitytheatre.com/theaters/roy-arias-studios/want-need.php
Adam Pagdon
Perhaps this has been said before but if only we could bottle the energy and goodwill of Rachael Ray. Surely it would help to begin to solve some of our problems. After a long day, which entailed getting up at 6 a.m. and shooting three of her television shows; cooking; exercising; and changing; Ray looked and sounded great at the 92nd Street Y talking about her new book, “My Year in Meals,” with “The View’s” Sherri Sheperd, who did a nice job “pinch hitting” for Joy Behar (cue in Bob Sheppard announcing Sheperd batting for Behar).
Ray enlightened the audience with practical ideas and emphasized the need to try, which is the backbone to her “no regrets” philosophy of life. Her energy and enthusiasm are boundless and normally that type of “do all, all good” does not inspire me all that much. However, Ray, who recently made a big contribution to Hurricane Sandy victims and really cares about kids and their eating and cooking beginnings proved to be most inspiring. Much good comes from her “Yum-o” organization in that regard.
In the cooking department, I will need help just to get to zero but that is another story. I am on board with Rachael’s love for cooking and the saving money and empowerment that comes with it. She proved most engaging when we chatted after the interview and book signing. I made her laugh when I said to this most outgoing, dynamic personality, “You have to overcome your shyness problem.” Indeed “laughter is the best medicine” as is loving what you do. Few people love what they do and bring the passion/personality to it the way Rachael Ray does.
http://www.rachaelray.com/books/year-in-meals/
Film director Oliver Stone and Associate Professor of History at American University Peter Kuznick have collaborated on a comprehensive book and a “Showtime” ten part documentary series called “The Untold History of the United States.” I was fortunate to see Stone, Kuznick and former Harper’s Magazine editor Lewis Lapham being interviewed by Fordham University Professor Thane Rosenbaum in a highly entertaining and informative event at the 92nd Street Y in New York City.
People, including me, get worked up about politics and history, and within reason, that is a good thing. Issues should be discussed without people going “too crazy.” Sadly, my closest living relative does not speak to me, in part, because of differing political viewpoints. This book and documentary series will certainly open up “discussions” and to this point, not much has been refuted. However, as Mr. Stone himself said at the 92nd Street Y interview, “it is early.”
The visual and dramatic presentation (the documentary) is surely worth seeing. Clearly, much needs to be corrected here in the United States and anywhere. Whether it is in a lover’s quarrel, a family situation or a business matter there is something to be said for understanding the other point of view. Pride exists in our families, religion and country but that does not supersede the fact we are all human beings. There needs to be an accounting for things done and the book and series make good cases enlightening us about past horrific deeds perpetrated by our government. On the other hand, Stone can certainly formulate scenarios with “help” he has given along the way. Either way, read the book and see the series. Each is a comprehensive, detail filled overview of history.
This from the book’s “foreword” regarding perspective: “Historical understanding defines people’s very sense of what is thinkable and achievable. As a result, many have lost the ability to imagine a world that is substantially different from and better than what exists today.” Open it up: both the book and your mind. If it does nothing else you will think, and think about history. I fervently wish a history course ripe with excitement was available in my school days when let’s just say the U.S. did have fifty states but had not had that many for too long. I look forward to the documentary airing on Monday nights at 8 p.m. Eastern time on Showtime and to reading “The Untold History of the United States.”
Andy B Sports 