Monday, January 28, 2008

Buff On Movies


Well, no Best Supporting Actor SAG award for Hal Holbrook.  It was awfully hard to compete with Javier Bardem, though.  He gave a very solid, chilling performance.  And the Cohen brothers are brilliant.

Nathan and I saw There Will Be Blood last night.  What a well-made movie!  Daniel Day-Lewis is such a consistently awesome actor.  After we see Michael Clayton, we'll have seen all five nominees for Best Picture.  This is something I've wanted to do for a long time, but I've just always been too busy.  We've seen a lot of really great movies, lately.  

I just also have to say that I loved both National Treasure movies.  Action flicks are my guilty pleasure.

I'm rather saddened by the fallout surrounding Heath Ledger's death.  From numerous away messages, status updates, etc:  "Heath Ledger died.  So sad, he was so hot."  

It's always frustrated me in my acting pursuit when I get asked the question "So, are you famous yet?  When are we going to see you in movies/on Broadway/at the Oscars?"  They mean well, but I have a real problem with the concept of celebrity.  I never wanted that.  Contrary to popular belief, "celebrity" is not synonymous with "successful".  I think giving humans celebrity status dehumanizes them, in a way.  They become icons; objects, in essence.  

I don't perform because I want to be famous.  I perform because I'm an artist with the ability to tell and share stories that can have an impact on people's lives, and that's what I love.  I've put performing on hold for a while because I lost sight of that.

So it really upsets me that there are people who are not remembering Heath Ledger as an artist, a son, a brother and a father; it upsets me that there are people who are first and foremost remembering him as an icon, a celebrity or a piece of eye-candy.

Mmmkay.  Getting off my soapbox now.

On a lighter note, it is a beautiful, little-bit-warmer morning outside.



A celebrity is a person who works hard all his life to become well-known, then wears dark glasses to avoid being recognized.
- Fred Allen

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