Passages

[justeleblanc]

Woke up late.. can someone tell me what they did on MTP this morning?

Brokow moderated Carville, Matelin, Barnacle, Iful, a presidential historian who's name eludes me, and an intern-cum-producer of MTP as they discussed memories and played clips. It's similar to what we've been seeing, not as many clips as I would have liked to have seen, but some decent moments.

[HerrSchreck]

Much obliged.

God knows who's going to moderate this thing in the coming week(s). Of course whoever does is going to "ask the tough questions", whereupon offscreen looks will be passed and secret eyes will roll. NBC would probably do best to rotate the job during the campaign wind-down.. but I don't think they'll wait that long.

I can think of likely candidates, but I can't see a single one of them not getting taken apart critically (albeit with sympathy owing to the difficulty of the shoe-size they hafta fill).

[justeleblanc]

I would like to see Chuck Todd take it.

[Belmondo]

I would like to see Chuck Todd take it.

Good choice; I also think David Gregory has what it takes, and although Norah O'donnell may not be quite ready, I'll look at her for an hour any old time.

[El Manchego]

I would like to see Chuck Todd take it.

I agree completely. As part of a course I took on media and politics last year, we had the pleasure of meeting with him down at American for an off the record discussion and he was incredibly engaging and demonstrated an incredible grasp of how the city functions. I think his skills and youth are well suited to take over the MTP slot.

[Barmy]

Youssef Chahine in coma. (Sorry I couldn't find the coma thread.)

Good riddance to this awful man.

[Michael Kerpan]

Youssef Chahine in coma. (Sorry I couldn't find the coma thread.)

Good riddance to this awful man.

Was this sort of comment necessary?

[Barmy]

Was his silly little anti-American tirade in the 9/11 film necessary?

[tavernier]

Was his silly little anti-American tirade in the 9/11 film necessary?

Are you looking for a cabinet post in the McCain administration?

[Barmy]

I'm holding out for a Giuliani presidency. =D> =P~

[Michael]

Why do you want to see America getting continously fucked over?

[justeleblanc]

Wasn't he hugely critical of fundamentalists, much like Theo Van Gogh's lover?

[MichaelB]

Wasn't he hugely critical of fundamentalists, much like Theo Van Gogh's lover?

I'd be very surprised indeed if the maker of Destiny (the only Chahine film I've seen) was in any way pro-fundamentalist - what with it being a film about Averroës, one of the most forward-thinking Islamic scholars from a time when Islam really did lead the world in terms of intellectual development.

[ranaing83]

Another big one is gone. Ain't It Cool is reporting that Stan Winston passed away last night. None of the big news networks have picked up the story yet, but unfortunately, it appears to be true.

[Barmy]

Destiny is a very good flick. Chahine is/was definitely not a fundy. He just poisoned the relationship with the 9/11 thing (although frankly that entire portmanteau was dire).

Stan Winston has been dead on wiki for many hours. I think St. Peter (or Satan) himself revises wiki the moment somebody dies.

[colinr0380]

Destiny is a very good flick. Chahine is/was definitely not a fundy. He just poisoned the relationship with the 9/11 thing (although frankly that entire portmanteau was dire).

That still does not justify posting a derisive comment on the passages thread when the person is not yet dead.

The 9/11 segment was not a great one (I could have done without the 'wacky' ghostly volleyball scene between the director and the American soldier that only he can see) but I think you are over egging the anti-American thing - his segment (as were many in that film) was more anti-American foreign policy that arguably led to the resentment that resulted in the attack on the World Trade Center. (A full, though not subtitled in English video of Chahine's segment and a clip from the same segment that is subtitled.)

(Ironically considering current US/Iranian relations the best segment of that film was the first by Samira Makhmalbaf, which touchingly says a lot about how difficult it is to make people care about a particular event when they have no frame of reference to judge it by and that the lack of understanding between cultures can run both ways).

Stan Winston has been dead on wiki for many hours. I think St. Peter (or Satan) himself revises wiki the moment somebody dies.

I hadn't been following this - is this something that had been expected or does it come as much of a shock to others as it does to me?

[Barmy]

I don't care if people make anti-American or whatever films. My all-time favorite film, Zabriskie Point, could be viewed as anti-American. But it was exceedingly rude of Chahine to put his bile into that particular vehicle. Even Ken Loach was less rude. Karma is a boomerang.

[domino harvey]

I think St. Peter (or Satan) himself revises wiki the moment somebody dies.

The Onion hits it out of the park on this one

[Galen Young]

Stan Winston. That's really sad to hear...

[exte]

I LOVED this man's work. Unforgettable images. T2 will never age in my opinion, and this man has a lot to do with it. How truly sad, and what a loss for Hollywood... R.I.P.

[ellipsis7]

Jean Desailly

[Dylan]

Stan Winston. That's really sad to hear...

How shocking.

I met him once - an extremely nice and incredibly talented man who, along with Rick Baker, really expanded the possibilities of make-up and creature effects in cinema in every conceivable direction. Like the films or not, his work on Edward Scissorhands, Batman Returns, The Terminator, Aliens, A.I., even The Monster Squad, and so many others, is just magnificent.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Cyd Charisse

Actress-dancer Cyd Charisse dies in L.A. at 86

By BOB THOMAS, Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES - Cyd Charisse, the long-legged Texas beauty who danced with the Ballet Russe as a teenager and starred in MGM musicals with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, died Tuesday. She was 86.

Charisse was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Monday after suffering an apparent heart attack, said her publicist, Gene Schwam.

She appeared in dramatic films, but her fame came from the Technicolor musicals of the 1940s and '50s.

Classically trained, she could dance anything, from a pas de deux in 1946's "Ziegfeld Follies" to the lowdown Mickey Spillane satire of 1956's "The Band Wagon" (with Astaire).

She also forged a popular song-and-dance partnership on television and in nightclub appearances with her husband, singer Tony Bennett.

Her height was 5 feet, 6 inches, but in high heels and full-length stockings, she seemed serenely tall, and she moved with extraordinary grace. Her flawless beauty and jet-black hair contributed to an aura of perfection that Astaire described in his 1959 memoir, "Steps in Time," as "beautiful dynamite."

(This obit is incorrect in that her husband was Tony Martin, not Tony Bennett. Martin survives her - he's 95.)

Jean Desailly

Posted two pages ago.

[ellipsis7]

Jean Desailly

Posted two pages ago.

Is new obit by Ronald Bergan...

[devlinnn]

I'm going back to bed....