Tuesday, December 15, 2009

HELEN SLATER



I have JUST found out it is Helen Slater's birthday today! Ring a bell? To me she's the 80's beauty and Michael J. Fox's object of desire in The Secret of My Success (1987), but I guess most people will remember her as Supergirl.



However, I think I enjoyed watching her the most in the leading role in The Legend of Billie Jean, which has that wonderful hell of a song by Pat Benatar, Invincible.
Well she's turned 46 today, and I can say she has aged pretty well, don't you think?




Here's the video for her song, which includes tiny bits from the movie and then a clip from one of my favorite scenes in The Secret of My Success. Enjoy.



Monday, December 14, 2009

OUR DAUGHTERS' DAUGHTERS WILL ADORE US...RIGHT?

As a result of my search for pictures for my last post, I naturally arrived at many that included Julie Andrews. Though I had downloaded quite a few songs from Mary Poppins I realized there were some I was missing. Among them was one that was sung not by Julie Andrews but by Glynnis Johns, the actress who plays Mrs. Banks. The song is called Sister Suffragette, and as the title suggests, it deals with women's votes, something that was forbidden during the period of time the movie was set in, early 20th century.
Though her character is portrayed as somewhat ridiculous, what comes across as ridiculous is the fact that women were not allowed to vote, especially when we come to think that this movie was made during the 1960's. The simple thought of women not being able to exercise their individual rights and have a say in political matters must have felt absolutely insane and unthinkable for the new generations at the time, yet interracial marriage was THEN a topic of social debate.



Well now, nearing 2010, about a hundred years after this fictional nanny changed the lives of the Banks family, some minorities continue to fight for their individual rights. Gay marriage is illegal in many countries, not to mention the fact that BEING gay is considered a crime in some countries too. Though some progress has been made, it is up to our generation to continue the strive for equal rights. Hopefully this WILL change in much less than a hundred years.




Anyway,back to my song-of-the-moment, I searched for the video and then had a little fun playing with the lyrics in the first verse, so as to update it:

ORIGINAL:
We're crearly soldiers in petticoats
And dauntless crusaders for womens'votes
Though we adore men individually
We agree that as a group they're rather stupid!

MY VERSION:
We're clearly soldiers in PRADA coats
And dauntless crusaders for GAY MEN'S votes
Though we adore STRAIGHTS individually
We agree that as a group they're rather stupid!

It's just a stereotypical joke! Here's the video, enjoy:

Sunday, December 13, 2009

SEVENTY-NINE GOING ON EIGHTY




This is a VERY short post, a virtual toast to Christopher Plummer on his birthday. One of my first crushes. I bet there are more people who found him attractive in The Sound of Music.
I mean, who else was there to like, right? OK. OK. I know we probably all related to Liesl (though I particularly liked Brigitta the BEST), but regarding the male characters? Friedrich? Kurt? That mailman-turned-Nazi just didn't cut it for me no matter how many times I watched the Sixteen Going On Seventeen scene.




I then watched him in The Fall of the Roman Empire, and I remember my seven year-old self having a hard time dealing with him as the bad guy....
I just found out he has published an autobiography last year, In Spite of Myself. It must be quite an interesting one, coming from a man whose acting career began in theater and who has been in movies since the 1950's. His latest production, Beginners, is in filming, yet to be released in 2011.




Well, that's it, Happy 80th Birthday Captain Von Trapp.


Edelweiss - Sound of Music - Christopher Plummer's own voice from Mark on Vimeo.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

DÈJA VU

I've been thinking about how the 80's haven't ceased to make their comeback just yet. It started in the late 90's with the Adidas trademark stripes on everything and then kept slowly creeping up on us until there was no more denying it and then suddenly we were all wearing leggings once again. OK, maybe not all of us, but all our girl friends. Believe me, I have nothing against men's leggings but you've got to have a killer physique to pull them off AND then of course, I DO live in Lima, Peru, where I get "Barney" yelled at for wearing purple jeans...Ah! The Third World!
Back to our main subject, regarding the 80's and stuff (yes, I said "stuff"), it is common knowledge music and fashion go hand in hand most of the time. From disco to rock to rap to the next thing, we've seen and heard it all happen. Gianni Versace was one of the first designers to take advantage of this by signing Madonna, Prince and Elton John among others to star in his ad campaigns and by having all of them front row at his shows. This also reminds me Gianni would have turned 63 this year had he miraculously avoided that fatal encounter twelve years ago.


MADONNA IN A 1995 VERSACE AD SHOT BY STEVEN MEISEL


OK, now seriously, back to what brought me to my blog once again. I was paying close attention at how Lady GaGa and, on a very different level (at least up to now), Adam Lambert were adding so much NEEDED glam to the musical scene. It had been a long while since we had seen such attention grabbing theatrics from pop newcomers, the trend had been quite the contrary lately, just remember when Britney came out, then Christina (though she was quick to break from her initial image), Mandy Moore, etc. They all pretty much filled the same pattern.
I think it's refreshing to see people who are willing to challenge an audience that had become numbed by a flatlined scene. Now, this only applies to mainstream pop, I'm in no way trying to ignore the fascinating and amazing talents of the likes of Roisin Murphy and others who HAVE been doing their own "thing", pushing musical and fashion boundaries for QUITE A WHILE but have gone unnoticed by the masses. I mean, Roisin has been wearing avant garde wardrobe (including shoulder pads) for a loooooooong time.



She's wearing a deer-shaped jacket for Christ's sake... (and I love it).



Anyway, this glam thing going on in music is once again VERY 80's. I was just humming "When You Were Mine", thinking it was a Cyndi Lauper original only to find out it was actually performed first (and written) by Prince. However, her version stood out, I think. I youtubed it immediately and found a live performance from the American Music Awards I was happy to recognize as one I had seen many times as a child. Now THAT was a true GENUINE performance. And to think it was over 20 years ago. I think that was probably more shocking back in the day than what our discussed boundary-pushers have done at the last award ceremony held two weeks ago.
It'll be interesting to see how this new wave of pop artists that are embracing louder images shall influence people around the world. Maybe they will let more people bring out their flashy side and enjoy fashion as the role-playing game it can be.
Cyndi Lauper SURE was an influence back in the day, we've seen that hair and make-up on the street, don't you remember?
Here's her UH-mazing performance at the 1985 AMA's for "When You Were Mine". Enjoy.