Filmmaker Magazine has selected its 20 Essential Movie Soundtracks - seminal scores that tell a story. The list runs the gamut from Hitchcockian suspense (Vertigo) to French New Wave (Contempt) to scifi noir (Blade Runner) to visceral junkie movie (Requiem…
Can someone please explain when black men dressed in drag became so immensely popular?
Tomorrow Madea’s Family Reunion hits the theaters, about a month before writer/director/star Tyler Perry’s first book Don’t Make a Black Woman Take Off Her Earrings hits the shelves.
Now, the theatrical practice of men dressing in drag is nothing new, of course. Guys have been doing it for comedic and sometimes dramatic effect for over a thousand years and many classic modern comedies involve cross-dressing men (Some Like It Hot, La Cage Aux Folles, and Tootsie come to mind).
Seamus and I are both unabashed fans of character actors. Okay, maybe we’re abashed fans, but this is a 
great time for them. Two fantastic character actors (I’m looking at you, Messrs Hoffman and Giamatti) have been granted starring roles in major Hollywood movies (in Mission Impossible 3 and Lady in the Water) and nominated for Oscars (for Capote and Cinderella Man). Long-time under-the-radar character actor David Strathairn has also been nominated for an Oscar for his role in Good Night, and Good Luck. The common factor among all three of these men is that they play creepy really well. Maybe that’s why we like them. Anyway, one of my favorite character actors who happens to play creepy oh so well has been slithering his way into the forefront of public conscience.
There’s a scene in High Fidelity when Rob (John Cusack), the day after having emotional get-back-together sex with his girfriend Laura (Iben Hjejle), storms out of the Championship Vinyl stockroom and onto the salesfloor. He is completely caught off guard by the music playing over the store’s loudspeakers. It is shockingly good and he has no idea who it is.