What day is it?

Friday?   Oh.  Time for some Friday Questions I guess.  Warning: I’m still jet lagged. But I'm reasonably sure I can keep my answers straight.

Sam King has a series of questions.

1. To be a staff writer on a network or cable does the writer have to be a WGA member?
Yes, producers will only buy scripts from WGA members. If you’re not in the Guild and they buy your unsolicited script you

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Best Supporting Actor 1970: Richard S. Castellano in Lovers and Other Strangers

Richard S. Castellano received his only Oscar nomination for portraying Frank Vecchio in Lovers and Other Strangers.

Lovers and Other Strangers is a rather forgotten relationship based comedy of sorts.

Richard S. Castellano received his only nomination for reprising his stage role, but to most people I would say that he is best known for portraying Clemenza in the Godfather which he was mostly quite good in. Here though he reprises his stage role in a film that is quite stagy. He portrays an older couple in the film who is Italian and Catholic. His wife is portrayed by Bea Arthur and their whole shtick in the film is that they are always pestering everyone else about the importance of marriage yet they constantly are bickering or describing problems within their and other people's marriages.

Their first scene together is set up in a fashion where he says something and than she says something both supporting their main theme but at the same time they are always contradicting each other at the same time. Their first scenes actually feel a bit off as they are trying to have a comedic dynamic but the direction, the writing, and even the performances do not find the right tone to really make these work. Instead they more of just feel like a scene wants to be performed in colorful comedic fashion, more than one that truly is comedic and colorful. They are not really bad, but the film clearly wanted for the two to do something really special that doesn't work.

Later on in the film they separate their conversions stopping the gimmick from contiguity which is most certainly a good thing for Castellano's performance which picks up a bit in the last part of the film when Frank talks to his son about why he should stay married. The dialogue itself really remains almost the same shtick, but now without the gimmick of the two talking together Castellano is able to bring out a greater degree of realism, even if his performance still is always at least partially comedic.

Castellano has basically one long talk to his son that is constantly broken up by the rest of the stories near the end of the film. Castellano carries on the same course he set previously in the film. All I can really say is he is fine really, just fine as he constantly repeats the same thing over and over again, in basically the same fashion over and over again, which makes sense since he is suppose to be a bit redundant there is only two brief moments that really let him shine in any sort of fashion although they are still only seen within the mix of the repetition.

In a few brief moments Castellano also suggests a sadder quality in his character that he went after the wrong woman in the end and shows some small signs of regret that are well handled by Castellano as he goes on his string of repetition. Aside from those brief moments though this is a repetitive character that Castellano really can only do so much with, but to his credit he does basically all he can with it. Although it really is not saying much of anything he and Arthur are the best part of the film. Really in the end this is a good performance, just not all that memorable of one though.

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AMERICAN IDOL hits its absolute low point

So last night on AMERICAN IDOL, 16 year-old Symone Black finishes her song during Hollywood Week, is talking to the judges, faints, crumples, and falls off a five-foot stage.

As people yell medic and everyone rushes to help her and see if she's even conscious the closing credits roll and Ryan says, "Tomorrow night, see what happens to Symone as the pressure builds."

A cliff-hanger?!  They've

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Best Supporting Actor 1970: Chief Dan George in Little Big Man

Chief Dan George received his only Oscar nomination for portraying Chief Old Lodge Skins in Little Big Man.

Little Big Man portrays Jack Crabb (Dustin Hoffman) a white man raised by Natives who goes through many misadventures in the old west during the Indian Wars.

Native American Chief Dan George portrays Chief Old Lodge Skins another Native American Chief in Little Big Man who is humorous, dignified, and wise. An interesting thing about changing attitudes is it can cause one cliche to go away such as the brutal evil Native American chief, and they then can be simply be replaced by another which is the wise humorous chief. Well I cannot actually say how many not evil chiefs appeared before Dan George's portrayal, there were some before like Jeff Chandler in Broken Arrow, but later on the friendly wise funny chief is a very common character now.

The point is Chief Dan George portrays the part in a fashion I expected to be as the Chief character, and Dan George being a Chief himself it certainly fits. His early scenes he is simply just somewhat humorous charming to a degree, and of course dignified. He is rather quiet, but he conveys the wisdom of his character well, but never builds his character too much into something otherworldly having the occasional comical reaction that are not overplayed but effective in giving a lighter quality to the part.

Later in the film though another aspect required is to give dramatic speeches about the evils of the White man, which actually are the most heavy handed moments in the film that are the most obvious moments in the film really just in the way they are written. Now do not get me wrong in my statement by problem is in that the film was already get the point across visually quite well without having to hammer it in with speeches. To his credit though Chief Dan George is actually very strong in his delivery of his speeches bringing a passion to them that although does not rid them of their heavy handed nature are far more effective due to his performance.

Eventually in the film he seems to become philosophical soul searcher of sorts after he becomes blind. Dan George does not change that much with this part of his performance he more of simply becomes less lively in his performance, and a little more sad and wily instead. Chief Dan George doesn't make Old Lodge Skins dreary as he still shows a charming spirit in his performance, but he certainly shows a lesser degree of heart in Old Lodge Skins from what has happened to him.

I want to make this clear that I do believe this to be a good performance, but I can't see the great performance some seem to. In the end it is mostly just a standard  kindly chief performance and much of the time there isn't anything particularly special about his performance. It is always good though, but I just not see any moment where he really sets his Native American Chief from other similar characters. He is one of the best of the type, but he still feels more like a type than a completely unique character.

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When post-apocalyptic movies aren't fun

Hi there. Back from Australia/New Zealand. Pictures on the weekend and travelogue next week.
Generally speaking, I’m not a big fan of post apocalyptic movies. Grim storylines all shot in and around the nearly deserted Los Angeles River. There are abandoned freeway bridges, streets from THE SHIELD, people in the future all seem to drive black 1967 Lincoln Continentals (gas prices must be $10

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Best Supporting Actor 1970: John Marley in Love Story

John Marley received his only Oscar nomination for portraying Phil Cavalleri in Love Story.

John Marley portrays Phil who is the father of the female half of the titular love story Jennider Cavalleri (Ali MacGraw). He is the opposite of the Oliver Barrett (Ryan O'Neal)'s father (Ray Milland) who is cold, and and not supportive of their relationship whereas Phil is warm rather supportive, even if taken aback by some of their views and values. Marley actually has a very small role here with only four total scenes in the film. Marley is not even the focus of all four of them either and is simply part of the scenes.

I will say though that despite the rather limited and very small amount of screen time Marley does manage to make as much as he can out of his role, and does realize Phil better than one might expect given the limitations on his performance. He actually gives a charming honestly warmth filled performance. Marley makes Phil into an understanding father with a genuine quality to his performance that never feels forced in any aspect to his character from his love for his daughter to his sort of confusion over some of their choices, but the always shows that love is the actual overriding factor for Phil.

Marley gives a nice performance from his first scene where he does instantly establish Phil's character without trouble. To his short second scene that is a nice heartwarming and gentle reaction that again Marley handles well. Than his third and fourth scene where he is dealing with the terminal disease his Daughter has. Marley is actually terrific in his two short scenes where he is actually quite heartbreaking as he shows the sadness in Phil, that he can barely hide due to his promise to not cry to her father.

Marley actually never had a bad scene or moment in his performance. It most certainly is limited there is no question about that with his only four scenes, but he has four good scenes. I can't say it is the greatest performance ever, or even the greatest very few scenes performance ever. After all it is not as if he really makes an undeniable impact on the film, but his presence is a nice warm one that is effective for when he is on screen. A good performance where Marley serves his purpose as well as any actor really could have in the same role.

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I did it Amway

In a recent post I mentioned that one of my former jobs was as an Amway salesman. An anonymous commenter posted this:
You, an Amway salesman? There's got be a good story. C'mon, give.
Okay, so here's the story. It's actually an excerpt from my book about growing up in the '60s... that will be released within the next few months!! (In the meantime, buy my other book. It's only $2.99... that's

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