A Movie Scene Quiz

Pipped by mac! I was just coming back here to answer this one. Yes, it is surprising that he wrote only the one song.

So yesterday, due to the upcoming season in the Gulf of Mexico, some of us had an all-day drill at work.

The members of

Denzel Washington

Preparedness Committee were dealing with an imaginary

Diane Lane

with the accompanying

Jennifer Grey,

Morgan Freeman,

and the possibility of a

Helen Hunt

and

Greg Fawcett (II).

Hopefully, we're now

Ruby Keeler

to deal with a crisis when it happens.

Wow, that's some scary stuff!

The members of

The Hurricane (Denzel Washington)

Preparedness Committee were dealing with an imaginary

Perfect Storm (Diane Lane)

with the accompanying

Wind (Jennifer Grey),

Hard Rain (Morgan Freeman),

and the possibility of a

Twister (Helen Hunt)

and

Flooding (Greg Fawcett (II)).

Hopefully, you're now

Ready, Willing and Able (Ruby Keeler)

to deal with a crisis when it happens.

Yep!

Aaah!. Don't you just love this movie talk! Now, when the boss, or whoever thinks he's in charge, bids you a pleasant weekend, all you have to say is "Robert Hays".

All together now:

"Take This Job and Shove It"

No. You better just say "Robert Hays", but I can tell from here how good that made you feel.

As usual, your advice is good!

I have a busy weekend in store: tomorrow afternoon, I'm going to a Tribeca Film Festival showing of a movie called Ladies in Lavender, with Judi Dench and Maggie Smith. It got mediocre reviews in England, but with those two in the cast, how could I resist?

And tonight, I'm going to see a Broadway revival of

Marlon Brando,

with Natasha Richardson (that isn't a clue, she's really in the play) as

Irene Dunne (one word from a movie title),

John C. Reilly (not a clue) as

Robert DeNiro (one word from a movie title),

and

Amy Ryan (not a clue) as his wife,

Angela Bassett (one word from a movie title).

That's truly an exciting weekend, Bree.

Streetcar Named Desire (Brando)

with Natasha Richardson as (The Secret of Madame Blanche (Irene Dunne)

John C. Reilly as (Stanley & Iris)(DeNiro)

and Amy Ryan as (How Stella Got Her Groove Back)(Angela Bassett)

I hope you'll tell us all about it.

Yes, please. I'm looking forward to hearing about both the movie and the play.

As promised, here's my weekend report. First, Streetcar, which I really enjoyed. I always knew it was a great play, but I had forgotten (if I ever knew) how funny it is in places: "A shot never did a Coke any harm" may become my new signature line. Natasha Richardson was so charming in Blanche's charming moments that it made the moments when her charm fails her all the more poignant. If I have one complaint, it was that John C. Reilly - while he gave a fine performance - just didn't seem menacing enough. I realize it's unfair to compare any actor to Brando, but when you're talking about Streetcar, it's inevitable, and Reilly just exudes too much of a nice-guy aura to be completely convincing as Stanley.

I also liked Ladies in Lavender a lot. I don't want to say too much about the movie for fear of spoiling it for anyone who's going to see it (it's opening commercially in New York on Friday, so it may eventually make its way around the country), so I'll just say that it's set in Cornwall in 1936, Judi Dench and Maggie Smith play sisters who take in a young Polish man whom they find shipwrecked and almost drowned on the rocks beneath their garden, and it's about the relationships that develop among the three of them. It was directed by Charles Dance, the actor who is probably best known for his part in The Jewel in the Crown -- this is the first movie he's directed. He was present at the screening, as was Maggie Smith, which was a thrill. When he was introduced before the movie was shown, he walked onto the stage, took a camera out of his pocket, and took pictures of the audience applauding (cute touch). After the movie was shown, he came back and answered questions from the audience. When asked what it was like to direct Judi Dench and Maggie Smith, he said that directing "the great Dames" (as he calls them) basically involved deciding which angle to shoot the scene from and which lens to use on the camera, and then getting out of their way.

I'm glad you enjoyed Streetcar, Bree. I like that quote, too.

Was the staircase scene in the play? (I just can't see anybody other than Brando in that role.)

Were the performers who played Stella and Mitch as good as Hunter and Malden?

The movie sounds intriguing and seeing Charles Dance and Maggie Smith in person - exciting.

(I saw Charles Dance in a TV presentation of The Phantom of the Opera in 1990 and he was excellent.) Did you ask him a question?

There I go, asking lots of questions and neglecting to ask the one I'm supposed to ask.

Clues that will link to a movie star, singer, composer :

Audrey Hepburn (word in title) + Ruben Brown (Word in title) + Rupert Everett (title)

Woody Allen (word in title)

Alfre Woodard (title, but strike a letter from a word)

Alice Faye (two words from title) + Barbara Stanwyck (One word from title)

Thanks for the report, bree. How exciting on both counts!

I agree that I see Reilly as more of a Mitch than a Stanley. It is nice that he's become well-known enough to get big roles, though.

I know who Charles Dance is, from various BBC productions I think. Always very elegant.

Was Maggie Smith very frail? She seems so on screen.

To take your questions in order:

Yes, the staircase scene was in this production of Streetcar. I actually thought John C. Reilly was at his best in that scene. In other scenes, I thought his voice was a little too light, but his bellows of "Stella!" in the staircase scene were very forceful.

There was something off-putting to me about the actor who played Mitch, but I can't quite put my finger on what it was. Amy Ryan was very good as Stella, but I found the character more annoying than usual this time around. I'm not sure why that is, but it may have had something to do with the fact that her reasons for staying with Stanley seemed less compelling than they usually do.

I didn't ask Charles Dance a question, partly because I couldn't think of an intelligent question to ask, and partly because I was sitting near the back of the theater (which is where I like to sit at the movies, although I might have sat closer to the front if I had known we'd have guests), and all the people he called on were sitting up front -- much to the annoyance of the people behind me, who kept frantically waving their hands in an effort to be noticed.

Again, the distance made it difficult to judge, but Maggie Smith appeared to me to be much less frail than she usually looks on screen. She did, however, seem to be somewhat jet-lagged, saying something about how she practically had to be "peeled out of bed" to make the screening, and saying that "Jude" would have loved to be there, but she had to go "rescue a lovely old Georgian theater" - whatever that means.

Now to look at Raggedy's question - which may not get solved until tomorrow, since it's almost time for Miss Marple.

Thank you for your informative answers, Bree. But, you made no mention of the "torn T-shirt".

Oh, I just remembered that Charles Dance was the villain with the glass eye that changed colors and flashed strange patterns/designs in "The Last Action Hero" with Arnie. I would have asked him what he thought about that movie. (lol)

My question can wait.

I want to know what "saying that "Jude" would have loved to be there, but she had to go "rescue a lovely old Georgian theater" means.

See you tomorrow.

Sounds like Judi Dench is helping preserve an old theater somewhere. Maybe she's even picketing...

I think mac's explanation is right. Presumably, it's a theatre in the Georgian architectural style. I'll have to look at some of the online London newspapers to see if I can find out more.

Meanwhile, I believe Raggedy's question involves these Hoagy Carmichael songs:

Two for the Road (Audrey Hepburn) + Sleepy Hollow High (Ruben Brown) + People (Rupert Everett)

Stardust Memories (Woody Allen)

Heart and Soul(s) (Alfre Woodard)

Little Old New York (Alice Faye) + Lady of Burlesque or The Lady Eve (or any of four other Stanwyck movies with "Lady" in the title)

Thank you, ladies.

And, of course, Bree is correct. Hoagy Carmichael's the man.

Someone at the office just mentioned to me that Judi Dench and Maggie Smith were interviewed on WNYC (the New York public radio station) on Friday. I've gotten as far as finding the page on WNYC's website from which you can link to an audio of the interview, but I can't figure out how to get it to play on my office computer. If you're interested, and you're more computer-savvy than I am (which isn't hard to be), it's at:

Interview with Judi Dench and Maggie Smith

(Scroll down to the part that says "Ladies in Lavender" if you don't want to listen to the whole show.)

And now, alas, I must do some work. I'll be back with a new question when I can.