1: Okay, yeah, I made this. But it’s useful. 🙂
2. For the Emo artistic soul in all of us.
3. I giggle at this every time.
4. It’s the expression on the face.
5. Because… Yes.
6. It’s coming…
7. Awesome.
8. I laugh at this way too hard regularly.
9. Sophistication.
10: And…oh, well, here. Words, Words Everywhere.
Anybody have their own list? Comment below!
1: Sapsorrow. I’ve never liked the usual versions of Cinderella. Even as a kid, I remember thinking, “Who wants a prince who can’t recognize you without the right shoes?” But THIS version is from an old German folk tale, a version of Allerleirauh (yeah, I had to look that up), and is much darker and has characters that believably interact with each other. Animal friends are still there. Wicked stepsisters are still there. A prince is still there – BUT, he has to learn some lessons before getting the girl who leaves a slipper behind after a ball. I immediately became a fan when Jim Henson’s The Storyteller did this story for an episode. If you haven’t seen it, look it up. (pictured below)
2: Llewellyn And His Dog. Okay, not a fairy tale per se, but it’s an old story with a poem. My aunt shared this with us when we were little, and it’s still one of the saddest things I’ve ever read. I did find the poem here.
3: Sleeping Beauty. There were early signs that my interests and creativity might run on the “dark side.” My love of Maleficent in the Disney version was one such early indication. I don’t remember giving a crap about Aurora. I still liked the living-in-hiding-in-the-woods-and-singing parts of her story, but mostly I wanted to get back to the magic and awesome costume of the bad guy. So, obviously I was really happy with Angelina Jolie’s Maleficent because it gave a whole new spin to the story.
4: The Little Mermaid. Bless my mother. At mostly my prompting (my brother liked it too and could do a great Sebastian), we watched the Disney version of this probably every other day for a while there. I’ve always loved the water and swimming, and having my own underwater fort where I could store thingamabobs was pretty much my dream. I also *might* have tried to put on a performance with myself as Ariel, Christian as Sebastian, and my Aunt Sharon as Ursula.
5: The Light Princess. This is by George MacDonald. It’s kind of a Sleeping Beauty story, but the curse on the girl is that she has no gravity. This means she floats in the air unless tethered down, and it means that she doesn’t take anything seriously and cannot cry. But she loves water. The relationship with the prince is much more fleshed out in this story than a good many “prince and princess” stories, and the sacrifices made for love are really lovely.
6: Beauty and the Beast. She’s a book nerd – of course I like this one. In the Disney version (let’s face it, that’s what people of my generation think of first), I love the use of color and light to add to the beauty (no pun intended) of the story. It’s always been about not judging a book by its cover – both for seemingly good guys and seemingly bad guys – and I really like that.
7: Aladdin. Yep, Disney version again. This is such a great “boy’s movie” compared to the usual princess emphasis, and Jasmine is tomboy enough to be okay. I liked the desert and Arabia almost as much as I liked the underwater world, so I liked the culture and look of this one. And the story’s just packed full of adventure, which is fun. And, of course, Robin William’s Genie stole this movie.
8: Hansel and Gretel. The Brothers Grimm version. It’s so dark. I mean, it’s hard to have a story about a witch eating children NOT be dark, but there are a lot of versions which soften that part. And I’ve never thought the dad should get off the hook so easily – being whipped is no excuse for sending your children into the woods to starve. But I love the brother-sister teamwork. And outsmarting pretty much every adult.
9: Pinocchio. There isn’t a romantic love story! I like that. This one’s all about family love and friendship. And honesty. There’s just a lot of goodness in this story.
10: Thumbelina. I really wanted to be small when I was little. Mostly so I could “ride” my Breyer horses.
1: Kate Winslet. I’m not going to lie – having my name in the title of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind set me up to like the movie. Whatever my reasons, this is still one of my favorite Winslet roles. No matter what character she’s playing, though, I’ve always found her relatable. (Yes, that includes Divergent…don’t judge me.)
2: Tatiana Maslany. I got into Orphan Black around the middle of the second season. Holy crap. How one actress can play such vastly different characters so convincingly – often having to fake act with herself – is beyond me. Somehow she can play one clone who’s pretending to be another clone, and you still know which one she really is because of subtle mannerisms or facial changes or whatever that she brings to each. Amazing.
3: Angelina Jolie. I’m always torn with the whole “pretty actress” thing because I think a lot of them coast on their looks. But the emotion that Jolie can bring to life on screen really is respectable. And I also respect the roles she chooses, often political, often stories that might not get attention if she wasn’t involved.
4: Meryl Streep. Cuz she’s MERYL STREEP.
5: Emma Stone. If she’s in a movie, at some point I’m probably going to laugh.
6: Cate Blanchett. Something about seeing her face on the screen immediately makes me pay attention. She’s captivating.
7: Katharine Hepburn. When I first started watching old movies with any kind of commitment, I started with a lot of the other Hepburn. Audrey is fine, I like her work, but she was always a little too proper and girly for me. Then I found The Philadelphia Story and Katharine H., and suddenly here was a tomboy smartass I could identify with. She had a sort of ease about her onscreen that draws me in.
8: Maggie Smith. I can’t think of any character she’s played that I haven’t liked. And I might enjoy her character on Downton Abbey a little too much, because blunt delivery of opinion is probably how I’m going to be if I make it to old age….if my grandmother is any indication.
9: Marion Cotillard. She’s just lovely. My first exposure to her was Big Fish, but I didn’t realize that until Inception, when I looked her up and decided I was a fan. Then Midnight in Paris… The Dark Knight Rises… And I’m looking forward to MacBeth.
10: Laura Linney. Often when I find myself liking a character and not thinking about “oh, it’s the actress from THIS or THAT,” it’s Laura Linney. She’s just consistently good without being overly attention-stealing or flashy.
(On any given day when my tastes are slightly different, switch up with Myrna Loy, Keira Knightley, Octavia Spencer, Jamie Lee Curtis, Judi Dench, Jessica Chastain…)
1: Johnny Depp. Honestly, not so much with his work lately where Tim Burton keeps making him over-the-top for the sake of being over-the-top. But as far as actors who are versatile and creative and somehow GOOD no matter what they’re doing, he’s my favorite. There’s no reason Jack Sparrow should have been so loveable except that Depp made him so. And I laughed ridiculously hard at the simplest thing – trying to put on a glove – in Once Upon a Time in Mexico, which I wouldn’t recommend for any other reason.
2: Michael Fassbender. I love when an actor can make me root for a bad character. Young Magneto is of course on that list. I’m looking forward to Fassbender as MacBeth. In Shame he was impressive for…obvious reasons, but also the depth of internal conflict Fassbender was able to convey was amazing. And he makes a very convincing robot who’s trying to look like Lawrence of Arabia, which made him the only forgivable thing for me about Prometheus.
3: Bill Murray. Be it crazy comedy or a more subdued role, Murray always makes me happy. His delivery is always spot on. Every time I see a sailboat, I think (or yell, let’s be honest), “I”m sailing!” Also, if you haven’t seen St. Vincent, go see it now.
4: Will Smith. As a teen of the 90s, I watched a lot of Fresh Prince. Then Independence Day happened, and I became a devoted fan. It doesn’t hurt that he chooses to do a lot of Sci-Fi (my favorite genre of…any media form), but he always brings a bit of reality to his characters that I appreciate.
5: Daniel Day-Lewis. Is there anything he can’t do? I mean, anything? I feel like he’s the more serious version of Johnny Depp as far as versatility goes.
6: Tom Hardy. He’s been around for way longer than I was consciously aware of, but at some point I noticed a pattern: Whenever I was impressed by an actor and asked, “Who is that guy?”, it kept being Hardy. If you haven’t seen Warrior – OMG, watch it! Yeah, I didn’t think I’d like a movie about UFC fighting either, but I might have sobbed. A lot. In a good way.
7: Michael Caine. Whenever I see he’s in a movie, I enter into it with a certain level of trust – at the very least, I know HE is going to be good. And admit it, he’s kind of like the British grandpa we Americans all wish we had.
8: Kevin Spacey. I can’t think of another actor who can equally seem like an everyday man and then also seem completely evil at the same time. He can play these completely warped men, and there’s something that much scarier about them because he looks so normal. Think Se7en and House of Cards.
9: Gary Oldman. I grin immediately whenever I see him in a movie. I don’t even know why I like him so much, except that he’s always convincing…which I guess is the whole job of an actor, but hey. Again, this guy has range. Think about it – the same guy was in The Fifth Element and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
10: Robert Downey, Jr. Wit and sarcastic humor will win me over every time. I can’t picture anyone else as Tony Stark. And his narration in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang will always be one of my favorite things in film.
(On any given day when my tastes are slightly different, switch up with Tom Hanks, Ralph Fiennes, Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio, Patrick Stewart, Paul Rudd, Bryan Cranston…)
Last night, many gathered to say goodbye to one of the best people I’ve ever known. As I said to someone, “This is the first thing I’ve ever not liked about Jeff.” If you know me at all, you know it’s really significant that I never found anything I didn’t like about him. Jeff was a little man, but his absence will be an enormous hole we’ll all feel every time we gather.
Several people at the visitation last night told me how much they appreciated seeing all the pictures I’d taken of Jeff over the years. In the smallest of ways, it made me feel a little better to know I’d been able to witness and document so many truly excellent Jeff moments. Here are my favorites.
1: Camping Cartwheels. I had a fractured arm. Jeff and Dan were considerably tipsy. Why not choose that moment to learn how to do a cartwheel? There’s video of this on Facebook, but I think these pictures capture the gist. At the very least, it sums up Jeff’s willingness to try new things. “Jeff, can you do a cartwheel?” Jeff: “Absolutely not, but what the hell,” before handing his beer to Dan and having me literally flip him into a cartwheel.
2: Porch Nights. When some of us girls lived in a house together, we regularly had Porch Nights where the group would gather, sit around, drink, play games, and talk about nonsense, TV, our lives, and philosophy. Jeff was always right in the middle of it. I can remember being inside and hearing his infectious laughter out on the porch, and at least a part of me always smiled.
3: Jeff and Ari. (Yep, this is where I start crying.) Jeff was an awesome godparent. I was never sure who seemed happier to see who – Jeff or Ari. But there was a special bond there, and it always made me so happy to see.
4: Catfish Ninja. I can honestly say that Jeff and Dan were the only campers to ever catch one of the needy but skittish catfish in my grandmother’s lake. It was at the every end of a camping trip, but it happened. (This after HOURS of Jeff sitting on the end of the dock trying to reach in and grab them by hand, hence that year’s Jeff name of Catfish Ninja.)
5: Drunken Headbutting. I don’t actually know if this was a Jeff “thing” or it only happened occasionally. I kind of think he did it to make everyone get on his level. And since I now live with a cat who does this as a sign of affection, I think that was part of it too.
6: The Mermaid Pose. My grandmother’s lake where we always went camping was a bit weedy, to put it mildly. One year, Jeff decided to make this happen and then insisted that I do a photo shoot.
7: Mardi Gras Fish Face. Don’t remember why he wanted an aquarium on his face. Do remember that he wouldn’t sit still while trying to do it. The fact that his mouth is done so badly proves that he wouldn’t stop talking.
8: …This. As Brooke said, “For every event there is a ‘Jeff Picture.’ It never fails to delight.”
9: Out on a Limb. This tree WAS begging to be climbed. Dan was slightly more graceful, but Jeff hanging upside down is what made me laugh until I cried. How he did it with a beer I’ll never know.
10: Last Second Thursday Supper. While preparing to go to the visitation, I found the receipt for the last dinner I shared with Jeff. It was also the last time I saw him. Only a few of us were able to go, which in a way I’m glad of because it meant I got to talk to Jeff more than I might have if the whole group had been there. The restaurant had been his suggestion, and it was certainly not a place I ever would have thought to try on my own. It was excellent. And that is so Jeff to me – he had a way of finding the good stuff. Whether food or film or music or book or idea or person – he found the good stuff. I will miss his recommendations and that happy smirk he got when you agreed with him about it.
Sunshine Somerville 