Whisper my name to the stars for I am lost in space

[agentxpndble]

Time grows short - I don't leave for the big FAMILY THING until tomorrow, but there is so much packing and cleaning to do I'm not giving my flist much attention before I go. Internet connection looks pretty non-existent but I will be so desperate for contact with my own world in the next 5 days that I will probably find a way to post here and

Comments

Re: To discuss among ourselves while Agent X is gone.....

[tomsister]

I think you're right about the funding of arts and theatrical training. Whenever budgets are cut here, the first victims are arts programs. Americans only want insipid eye candy; can't act their way out of a paper bag. But we do have Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, Rod Steiger, Harvey Keitel, Robert Duvall, Tom Hanks. Superb actors all, but hardly in the same hunk category as our favorite Brits. Leonardo DiCaprio will be worth a lifetime achievement award in about 20 years. He has the ability but needs to age a little like good wine. There are celebrities, and there are 'actors.' There is a big diffence.

Another favorite -- Gary Oldman. The man is a chameleon. He never looks the same in two flicks. Probably a great advantage if you want to go browsing in book shops without being recognized! Maybe some of the great acting comes from having a difficult early life? Many come from broken homes and extremely poor conditions. Could Frank McCourt have made up 'Angela's Ashes' without having suffered through the ordeal personally? I don't think so.

They have the ability to make even great 'little' films with very little fanfare, like "Billy Elliott" and "Waking Ned Devine." I'm reminded of the big hoopla, premieres, weeks of marketing and merchandising that goes on over here for big splashy productions. Cosmetic surgery, boob jobs, Botox can't take the place of acting ability.

Yes, we do have home-grown garbage on our TV sets --not worth turning the damed thing on. I haven't watched network TV in over 11 years. I moved to an area that has very poor broadcast reception and I'm too cheap to get cable! I borrow A&E, PBS and Masterpiece Theatre DVDs from Blockbuster or my library and enjoy really good English stuff whenever I want it. In fact, I had to ask someone who Jessica Simpson and Kim Cattrell are after seeing them on magazine covers so frequently.

Other favorites from the Isles, and we don't have anything to compare: Ian Holm, Emma Thompson, Joan Plowright, Ian McKellen, Derek Jacoby, Kenneth Branagh, Geraldine McEwan, Glenda Jackson, Julie Walters, Liam Neeson, Michael Maloney, Eileen Atkins, Helen Mirren, Michael Gambon, Imelda Staunton, and Hugh Laurie.

Lunch hour is over -- have to get back to work.