ACTING CLASS, WITH BRANDO

Hamlet offered advice to the traveling troop of actors who visited Elsinore:

Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue. But if you mouth it, as many of our players do, I had as lief the town crier spoke my lines. Nor do not saw the air too much with your hand, thus, but use all gently. . .

We act every day; life is performance. Most of us are not very good at it. Some elevate acting to the professional level. This clip is from a New York City acting workshop led by award-winning actor/director Thurman E. Scott.

An actor behind the scenes: Marlon Brando and Francis Ford Coppola on the set of "The Godfather."

To help us, we've recruited Marlon Brando the greatest screen actor of his generation, perhaps all time, who revolutionized and naturalized the art of acting. Even if we skip the more familiar performances from "A Streetcar Named Desire," "On the Waterfront," and "The Godfather," there are still many dynamic scenes to choose from.


Marlon Brando started on the stage, and here he plays Marc Antony in Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar." (1953) Contrast this big grand style of stage acting with the films that follow.


A scene with the amazing Anna Magnani from "The Fugitive Kind" (1960). Brando achieved stardom on Broadway, playing Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire." Here he plays Valentine "Snakeskin" Xavier in a film based on another Williams' play, "Orpheus Descending."


Paul's eulogy in "Last Tango in Paris." (1972) Believe it or not, this was the same year he played Vito Corleone in "The Godfather." An absolutely brilliant performance. (language warning on this clip)

Brando is interviewed in 1973, after winning--and rejecting--the Academy Award for Best Actor for "The Godfather." He skipped the ceremony and sent Native American rights activist Sacheen Littlefeather, in full Apache dress, to explain his objection to the depiction of American Indians by Hollywood and television. Needless to say, Brando stirred some controversy, especially among the old warhorses like John Wayne. Here, Brando plays himself.

NATASHA RICHARDSON

British actress Natasha Richardson is reportedly brain dead after a skiing accident at the Mont Tremblant resort just outside Montreal. Initially the actress appeared unharmed, and walked away from the fall, but an hour later she began complaining of headaches and was rushed into intensive care at the Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur in Montreal. Husband Liam Neeson immediately left the Toronto set of his latest film to be with his wife.

Richardson is best known for her performances on stage and film. She comes from the famous Redgrave family, and is the daughter of Vanessa Redgrave.

Natasha Richardson and Liam Neeson talk about playwright Eugene O'Neill

FELICIDADES!

Gwyneth Paltrow, or a small brown country of no consequence

In case you missed it, Salvadorans voting in Sunday's election put Mauricio Funes of the FMLN, the former rebel party, in control for the first time, ending two decades of right wing Arena party rule.

The US media didn't highlight the story, and it figures. The U.S. should be ashamed of its history with the tiny Central American country. The U.S. isn't very good at finishing things (Afghanistan, Iraq, V...) but it sure jumps into bed with plenty of nasty people for expediency sake.

Jennifer Anniston, or the CIA secretly torturing prisoners at "black sites"

According to CNN ("Leftists Claim El Salvador Presidency," a nice value-laden header):

"Mauricio Funes, a member of a political party that waged guerrilla war against the government 17 years ago, claimed the presidency of El Salvador on Sunday night." It goes on, almost in passing. "The FMLN, which is the Spanish acronym for the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, was formed in late 1980 as an umbrella group for five leftist guerrilla organizations fighting a U.S.-backed military dictatorship. The guerrillas and the government signed a peace pact in 1992 and the FMLN became a legitimate political party. By some estimates, 75,000 Salvadorans died during the war."

Mauricio Funes, or the cast of "Friends"

Bury that below the fold. A newsreader might stumble upon the phrase "U.S.-backed military dictatorship" in a country where "75,000 Salvadorans died." It's kind of messy and requires explanation, and we Americans (Norteamericanos, that is) are so busy, go, go, go. We don't have time for the follow-up story. Or the backstory, for that matter. Or history in general.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, or thousands of "disappeared" dissidents

Dictatorships are depressing, and our attention span is short. News crews need to cover more important things, such as the ongoing love story of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, and poor jilted Jennifer Aniston. Or the woman with octuplets. Or anything that affects our pocketbooks, and jostles our Comfort Zone. Besides, news needs to be flashy to compete with "America's Most Idle" and "Big Fat Loser." A few important stories slide.

Don't get me wrong. The El Salvador story is out there. But not nearly as prominently displayed as one would think considering our history propping up this quasi-fascist police state for so many years. I'm not naive; I don't expect the news to trumpet shameful episodes of our past, but I expect some sense of recognition and historical responsibility, especially regarding conditions we've helped create. We can be a force for great good, or we can continue to support convenient bullies, and we won't know the difference without a truly independent news media asking tough questions.

Julia Roberts or nameless Salvadoran exercising democracy

Jack Kennedy once said that those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable. In this rare instance, the revolution was peaceful and that should be celebrated.

¡El Cambio es Hoy!

HERE COMES OSCAR!

It's Oscar weekend, and may the best movie win. Actually, it's not about the best movie or the best actor (Benicio was brilliant in "Che" but wasn't even nominated) but about backstage politics and take-no-prisoners lobbying. Okay, so no "Che," and no "Dark Knight." "The Visitor" was excluded, and so was "In Bruges," but they basically got it right, didn't they? They generally do, don't they?

Well, no. Not necessarily.

Lost in space? "2001: a Space Odyssey" not even nominated for best pic in 1968

Take 1968, for instance. That year "Oliver!" won best picture against nominees "The Lion in Winter," "Rachel, Rachel," "Funny Girl," and "Romeo and Juliet." "2001: a Space Odyssey" wasn't nominated for best picture that year (it got a director nod) and neither was "Rosemary's Baby," "Battle of Algiers,""Faces," or "The Producers." Neither was "Once Upon a Time in the West," "Planet of the Apes," "Bullitt," or "Night of the Living Dead." The best they could come up with was "Oliver!"

"Oliver!"???

What's the dang deal? The game is rigged. To help clarify the confusing world of the Academy Awards, here's an interview with Harvey Weinstein, master of greasing palms and mercenary awards campaigns. He's one scary dude. Click here to read the Weinstein interview. Click here to read Weinstein's latest press release regarding Best Picture nominee "The Reader."

Tom Cruise hugs movie mogul Harvey Weinstein

If you're like me, you're already going over your tux with a lint brush. This should be fun. See you Sunday...Ciao, baby!



A list of nominees for this years Academy Awards, click here.

HEATH LEDGER - I'M NOT THERE

Heath Ledger, the actor found dead yesterday in New York City, recently gave an interview about his role in "I'm Not There," Todd Haynes kaleidoscopic bio-pic of Bob Dylan. Ledger was one of seven actors to play the mercurial singer, including Cate Blanchett, whose portrayal received an Academy Award nomination.