20 Best Actors

In conjunction with Nathaniel's Challenge, here are, from 20 to 1, my favorite actors:

In descending order...

Michael Douglas, Marcello Mastroianni, Laurence Olivier, Robert de Niro, Robert Duvall, Anthony Hopkins, Dustin Hoffman, Michael Caine, Robert Redford, Warren Beatty, Al Pacino, Gregory Peck, Henry Fonda, Paul Newman, Ralph Fiennes, James Stewart, Cary Grant, Jack Nicholson, and of course Orson & Marlon.

Karl Malden (1912-2009)

Perhaps moreso than any other death in the last week, Karl Malden's seems to have hit me the hardest. Yes, Michael Jackson's music transcended the airwaves and Farrah's flip was awe-inspiring, but for me, it's always a return to the movies.

And there's really nothing you can say about the movies that Karl Malden didn't personify. He was a steady, sometimes sensational, always reliable actor who graced our presences with dynamite roles such as On the Waterfront (seriously, where have the films that could produce three worthy Oscar-nominated supporting turns gone?) to the solid work of Patton. And yet, for me, he will eternally be Harold 'Mitch' Mitchell.

I was eleven the first time that I saw A Streetcar Named Desire, and up until that point in my life, films were merely a place to spend $2 on popcorn, pop, and candy (yes, kids, my theater experience was enough for a $5 allowance). And yet, with that haunting Alex North score, and the cast of four (there are other players, but for me, it's the four central), I found myself in love eternally with the cinema. Something happened on that couch while I watched Mitch, Stella, Blanche, and Stanley in their dangerous ballet of deception, lying, and hidden emotions, and I would never be the same. Maybe it was the performances (legendary, and the best I've ever seen), the script (brilliant, and the best I've ever seen), or the direction (claustrophobic, tortured, and fickle all at once), but one thing was for certain-I would eternally be in love with the movies.

Mitch, of course, was the least central of the four characters-Malden's character wasn't part of the love triangle, but instead the most obvious victim of Blanche and Stanley's mind game duels. He starts off sweet, stumbling across the haunting (some would say faded, I'd say more crystalized) beauty of Vivien Leigh. Watch how playful Malden is when he is attempting to flirt with Blanche-he understands that this character is far less experienced than he thinks he is, and is melding old-fashioned ideals with the recklessness that his friends (like Stanley) exhibit daily. One of the film's most underrated, and most frightening scenes, is Malden's penultimate turn in the film, when he decidedly turns on Blanche, showing her the maleviolent nature that is so obviously outside of his nature. Malden is truly brilliant, and takes his character to heights a lesser actor would have made 2-dimensional.

I remember when Kim Hunter died in 2002, I recessed in her character's contradictory earthiness; in 2004, when the world lost its finest actor, I found myself looking at the coldness and the impossibly sensual Stanley with new eyes. And so, tonight, as I take another ride onto the Streetcar named Desire, I look forward to seeing what newness I will find in Mitch. And as always, Ms. Leigh, Mr. Brando, Ms. Hunter, and, of course, Mr. Malden, thank you for making me fall in love with the movies.

Senate-The Ten Seats to Switch

It's been a good long time since I've counted down the 10 Senate seats most likely to switch, so I figured I'd give it a whirl here:

10. Minnesota-In theory, the DFL should never lose a race in this state.  The "swing state" status of this state is about as true as Arizona's for the Democrats-the opposite party can win, but only when the dominant party screws up.  And this year, the DFL has screwed up big time.  Al Franken, despite being a fine orator, exciting, and a solid fundraiser, is not "Minnesotan."  His articles about Porn-O-Rama and tax problems are sticking to rural Minnesot

ans, and they aren't going to forgive, particularly after getting burned with Jesse.  It's looking likely that Coleman pulls this off, which is unfortunate because against any other DFL candidate would have been able to pull this off.

9. Mississippi-Much like above, there shouldn't be a way that the Republicans are losing here.  The state that elected Trent Lott and Haley Barbour shouldn't have any problem with a mainstream conservative like Roger Wicker.  And yet, Wicker's zilch name recognition seems likely to fall victim to the universal name recognition of Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, a conservative Democrat who has held this race at a tie for most of the cycle.  Granted, Musgrove will need a lead in the polls to pull this off in November, but he's holding his own, which is why this is in the Top 10.

8. North Carolina-Elizabeth Dole is one of those politicians who runs well as a celebrity, less as a candidate (think Jerry Brown, John Glenn, etc.).  Her presidential race in 2000 went nowhere, her race in 2002 was surprisingly close, her tenure as chair of the NRSC handed the Senate to the Democrats, and now she's running even in her reelection race.  I still think that she pulls this off, but it's going to be very, very close.  State Sen. Kay Hagan may be one of the best candidate recruitments of the cycle, and the DSCC's willingness to shove $5 million into this race shows that Chuck Schumer has recognized this.

7. Louisiana-The only Democratic seat in this list, and one that is probably very much in limbo right now.  In a perfect world, a civil servant as outstanding as Mary Landrieu wouldn't have any trouble taking down an empty suit like John Kennedy, but the Republican-tilt of this state, particularly evident when you witness the landslide that Bobby Jindal pulled off last year, is going to keep her on her toes.  However, this game is still decidedly hers, and until John Kennedy starts to show the state reasons to vote for him, I think she's going to take it. 

 Interestingly, with William Jefferson likely to lose or be arrested soon and David Vitter (aka Senator Red Light) likely going down in 2010, this state is going to lose it's seniority hard soon, and so voting out Landrieu, a member of the powerful Appropriations Committee, is going to seem very impractical.

6. Oregon-This is the magical spot on the list where I stop thinking the incumbent-party will keep it, and start siding with the challengers.  Oregon's Sen. Gordon Smith is a fine man, and an excellent candidate, but the reality is that this is a state that Oregon is going to improve upon John Kerry's margin in, and the presidential candidate will be coming armed with coattails, which means that Democratic House Speaker Jeff Merkley has a very solid shot at taking this seat, even though his campaign has been underwhelming thusfar.  This is, in my opinion, going to be the closest race in November, but right now I'm guessing the upset and thinking that Smith will be one of three incumbent Senators to go down in November.

5. Alaska-Another incumbent that I'm guessing goes down is the far more senior Ted Stevens.  Stevens, in fact, is the most senior Republican in the caucus, and a legend of Alaska.  Stevens, who normally would have no trouble being reelected, is in the middle of a huge indictment scandal, and as the mayor of Anchorage, Mark Begich seems to have run the right race at the right time.  He reminds me a lot of Tony Knowles, the state's recent two-term governor, but I think Begich is going to do what Knowles couldn't-get elected to the Senate.  A wild card here will be the Palin coattails (there will be some)-will they help or hurt Stevens, whom she has publicly lambasted?  My guess is the latter.  In an interesting side note, if Stevens does go down, Richard Lugar will become the most senior Republican in the Senate, followed by Orrin Hatch, Thad Cochran, and Chuck Grassley.

4. Colorado-This and Number 3 on the list are both states where McCain's coattails could have an effect, but I doubt it.  Colorado, which has seen a solid swing to the blue side of the map in the last four years, looks like it's going to have it's real test this year with a solid liberal facing off against a solid conservative.  In the past couple of years, the Salazar brothers, Bill Ritter, and Ed Perlmutter were all fairly moderate Democrats, but Rep. Mark Udall is quite liberal, though from a legendary Mountain State family.  While this will be tight, he scored a major coup in running against Rep. Bob Schaeffer, a rather abysmal candidate who couldn't even beat Pete Coors in 2004.  I'm going to have to say that Udall pulls this off and becomes this cycle's Sherrod Brown.

3. New Hampshire-Sen. John Sununu is a better candidate than Gov. Jeanne Shaheen.  But 2006 proved that the environment in the Granite State is completely toxic for Republicans, and Shaheen has yet to be behind Sununu in a poll in this race.  It appears as if Sununu is on borrowed time, but you can bet that he'll have a spot in a McCain Administration.

2. New Mexico-It's a coin toss between this race and the number one being most likely to switch, but the reality is that this seat, left open by retiring Sen. Pete Domenici (R), is headed to the Democrats.  The one chance the GOP had to keep this in their corner they turned down when they picked the ultra-conservative Rep. Steve Pearce in the primary over moderate Rep. Heather Wilson.  This has left open the seat for Rep. Tom Udall (D, and yes, cousin to Mark) to add Senator to his already impressive resume.

1. Virginia-Gov. Mark Warner will win this, nuf said.  Actually, it should be noted his keynote speech was terrible, even if he's a great public servant who will follow in the lines of another great public servant, Sen. John Warner (R-VA).  Now nuf said.

Introducing Sarah Palin

The media has decided to make Sarah Palin into the nation's newest celebrity, and on the surface, this seems like a logical choice of action.  She's an attractive, political unknown to most of the world (I, not to toot my own horn, actually predicted she'd be the VP nominee), and is poised to become the first female Vice President.

Though the Palin announcement could still go either way, the reality is that Obama should be nervous.  This woman adds something to McCain's camp that had been sorely lacking-excitement.  Quite frankly, people could have given a damn about McCain running for President.  He was just another of a long line of conservative white males running under the Republican banner.  But Palin-there's excitement: a new face, a mother of five, and there's the fact that 18 million people nearly cracked an impossibly high ceiling in the last year, and Palin is going to benefit.

Obama's choice of Joe Biden, on the other hand, makes sense in January 2009.  Joe Biden is ready to be President if need be, and works well with Obama.  However, he does nothing to add for the next couple of months to get Obama to the White House.  Obama had a chance to sew this thing up with a Hillary selection, and he turned it down.  Democrats could have coasted for the next couple of months if he'd drafted the Clintons, but he didn't, and as a result we risk a McCain presidency.

While Obama still does well nationally, McCain has slowly but steadily been locking down swing states-Florida, Ohio, and even more frightening, Pennsylvania.  Hillary would have stopped that momentum, but Biden won't.  Plus, the Democratic Convention is going to receive no bounce-a first for the Democrats.  It's starting to look like Obama's campaign, which was always going to be an uphill campaign, isn't climbing fast enough, and now McCain has the big mo.

So, bravo, Sen. McCain, on the smartest pick you could have made here.  Let's just hope it isn't enough.  And let's hope that Obama starts hitting back.

The 25 Most Quotable Quotes of 2007

Here they are, after careful consideration (and probably more work than I intended), I have assembled the 25 Best Quotes of 2007:

25. "I can't tell dreams from truth." -Marketa Irglova, speaking what we all feel, in Once

24. “Spider-Pig, Spider-Pig. / Does whatever a Spider-Pig does. / Can he swing / from a web? / No he *can't*, / He's a pig. / Look out! / He is the Spider-Pig!” -Homer Simpson with America's newest icon in The Simpsons Movie

23. "“Yep. I'm very passionate about Italian food. In fact, um, I'm in love with Italian food.” -Jim Halpert, making a metaphor of his love for Pam, on The Office

22. "“Over the last week, I have listened to you, and in the process I found my own voice.” -Hillary Rodham Clinton, getting her groove back in The Granite State

21. "“I can't keep doing this on my own with these... people.” -Daniel Day-Lewis, losing his humanity in There Will Be Blood

20. "“My point is...a penis when seen in the right context is the most wonderful sight for a woman. But when seen in the wrong context it's like a monster movie.” -Michael Scott, appreciating women, in The Office

19. "“My money is on a Freudian pizza.” -My best friend, trying to explain why I always have weird dreams

18. "“When someone gives you odds like 10,000 to 1, you take it. If John Mellencamp ever wins an Oscar, I'm gonna be a very rich dude.” -Kevin Malone, describing one of the vortexes of my personal hell, in The Office

17. "“I gave them their happiness.” -Vanessa Redgrave, making our jaws drop, in Atonement

16. "It's not enough you love blow and I love puff." -Amy Winehouse, crooning a drug reference I don't understand, in "Back to Black"

15. "Because deep down, you know you deserve to be punished, don't you Mr. Potter?" -Imelda Staunton, finding the devil wears pink chiffon, in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

14. “Hello, I'm Tom Hanks. The US Government has lost its credibility so it's borrowing some of mine.” -Tom Hanks, brilliantly lampooning on at least five different levels, in The Simpsons Movie

13. “I love you. I'll wait for you. Come back. Come back to me.” -Keira Knightley, making us swoon, in Atonement

12. "What's the most you ever lost on a coin toss?” -Javier Bardem, making us bite our lips, in No Country for Old Men

11. “You’re not making the rules, you used to when you did this, you don’t do this anymore, elections have consequences.” -Barbara Boxer knocking out Jim Inhofe as the CHAIR of the Environment and Public Works Committee

10. “Just imagine the fan fiction.” -J.K. Rowling, outing Albus Dumbledore

9. “I'm not suprised. Pam is the office mattress.” -Angela Martin, spouting her always hilarious hypocrisy, on The Office

8. “I saw “Wedding Crashers” accidentally. I bought a ticket for “Grizzly Man” and went into the wrong theater. After an hour, I figured I was in the wrong theater, but I kept waiting. Cause that’s the thing about bear attacks…they come when you least expect it.” -Dwight Schrute, sharing his wisdom, on The Office

7. “Could you double-check the envelope?” -Martin Scorsese, finally winning his Oscar

6. “Once I'm officially regional manager, my first order of business will be to demote Jim Halpert. So I will need a new number two. My ideal choice? Jack Bauer. But he is unavailable. Fictional. And overqualified.” -Dwight Schrute, describing his perfect Assistant to the Regional Manager, on The Office

5. “She’s Alexis, big as Texas, she knows what it’s like to be both sexes.” -Kenny, rapping rhapsodic, about his boss, in Ugly Betty

4. “We only said goodbye with words.” -Amy Winehouse, shedding her sorrow in song, in "Back to Black"

3. "“And my straw reaches across the room and starts to drink your milkshake, I drink your milkshake! I drink it up!” -Daniel Day-Lewis, finally falling over the edge, in There Will Be Blood

2. "You can't stop what's coming.” -No Country for Old Men giving Tommy Lee Jones (and all of us), a universal truth.

1. “The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well.” -J.K. Rowling, closing the door, in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Heath Ledger (1979-2008)

"There ain't never enough time, never enough..."

Remember to Dream

While growing up, I was often one for dreaming-fancifully staring out the windows and staring off into space, wondering what the world beyond my own quaint little town was like. Oftentimes, these daydreams occurred whilst staring at the pages of a book or a magazine, and one in particular, a Life magazine about exploration and man’s quest to become one with nature, would surely jut me into the farthest reaches of space and sea, of jungle and mountain.

These images are flying forward today with the death of Sir Edmund Hillary. Truth be told, I knew little about Sir Edmund outside of his fateful journey one half-century ago. He was a politician but not a particularly successful one (John Glenn would surely beat him in that arena), and a Knight of the Garter (possibly Britain’s highest honor). But to know Hillary was to know his accomplishment, and few in the 20th Century could boast such a feat as to reach for the heavens on earth, or at least the “nearest thing to heaven” to quote Deborah Kerr.

One has to wonder, with the dwindling number of explorers in the world, where the next generation will come from, and where will they go? Where are the Edmund Hillary's, the Neil Armstrong's and John Glenn's, the Thor Heyerdahl's and Jacques Cousteau's? Where are those individuals who will reach into the depths of nature and not try to conquer it, but instead shoot to solve its mysteries? In this age of digital, well, everything, and the stress on the small, do the world’s citizens still want to reach for the stars? I pray that the imagination still thirsts for the grand and quixotic, and I’d like to think that this generation of men and women, those who discovered the world (and beyond) anew in the 1940s-1960s, are not the last to want to go into the depths of the natural unknown.

So tonight, before you head into the cozy enigmas of the unconscious, take a look at the world surrounding you, whether it be the stars in the heavens or the ground below you (or, in my case, the heaps of snow blocking the street), and take a long hard look at the beauty of nature, perhaps even allow yourself to imagine yourself, to wonder and think and pretend. After all, Everest, the Poles, the Moon: they too just began as dreams.

Supporting Actress Smackdown 1990

For those of you who love the wonders of actressing on the edges, Stinkylulu's Supporting Actress Smackdowns need no introduction. This month, Stinkylulu tackled the lovely ladies of 1990, and yours truly is one the panelists. Make sure to head over there and discuss Oda Mae Brown, Marietta Fortune, Karen Hill, Myra Langtry, and Stands With a Fist (seriously, has there ever been such variety in the names of the supporting ladies?)

I, who have to admit I wasn't greatly impressed with the film output of 1990, will readily proclaim that my favorite of the ladies was Ms. Annette Bening, turning in one of her (to date) three Oscar-nominated performances. Bening's delicious con artistl in The Grifters was a true delight, and a nice throwback to the supporting actresses who have populated the film noir genre (my personal favorite film genre). When I first started looking into Bening's perf, I kind of figured that noir, like most genre pieces, would have largely been ignored in this category. Boy was I wrong! Roles as diverse as Angela Lansbury's floozy maid in Gaslight to Cathy Moriarty's childlike bride in Raging Bull have been recognized by the little golden guy. Winners, as Bening illustrates, are far less common; only Claire Trevor's lush mistress in Key Largo has come out on top of the category.

And yet, as any Oscar watcher knows, nitpicking must ensue when discussing Oscar's rather fickle choices. And when it comes to film noir supporting actresses, Oscar's dismissal of Marlene Dietrich in Touch of Evil was one of his biggest mistakes. Granted, 1958 was a year filled with snub miscalculations (Jimmy Stewart and Orson Welles were not included amongst the Best Actor lineup), but Dietrich's snub is particularly grating because she does so much with so little screentime. She can't be onscreen for more than ten minutes, but she flies to mind when I think about the film. The ladies of The Grifters (particularly Anjelica Huston) seem to have borrowed a bit from the world-weary Tanya; each has a history that is alluded to in the film more than actually viewed, leaving the plot largely in the hands of the male protagonists. Dietrich's whisky-worn vocal timbre indents each line-reading, and her eyes and eyebrow raises with Welles show that she's the only true equal to Hank Quinlan in the film. While Charlton Heston may be able to one-up Quinlan due to circumstance, Dietrich's Tanya is his equal, and therefore her place at the stunning conclusion of the tale seems fitting.

Unlike Touch of Evil, Bening's Myra is not the equal to Huston's Lilly Dillon, but she is definitely her only challenge in the film. The real genius to Bening's performance is that one is never quite sure how much this woman is capable of; whilst we know that Huston has a lot of tricks up her sleave, the enigmatic, seemingly bubbleheaded Myra doesn't show her cards, leaving the audience and her co-grifters guessing what she would do for success. Sometimes this is a bit problematic (at times, I wonder if even Bening herself knew Myra's intentions), but as a whole this is a wildly entertaining performance, and a grand counterpart to Huston's epic turn.

I personally would have handed both Dietrich and Bening Oscars in their respective years, but what about you? Head over to the Smackdown and voice your opinions on the actresses of 1990's edges!