The Last Blog For 2012!!! The FIRST Blog for 2013 is scheduled to be January 3!!!
Hi everybody!!!
As stated above, this will be our/my last blog until January 3. This blog figures to be relatively short and I'm going to share a couple of personal things with you.
Soooo...Let's get busy!
But first of all, I hope that all of you had a very Happy Thanksgiving.
As some of you know, I was working on Thanksgiving Day. I was doing sports reports for the new NBC Sports Radio Network.
Many thanks to those of you who wrote some very nice notes about a few of the 14-reports I wrote and aired that you had the time to listen to. Much appreciated. Those of you who tuned into the first two of the hours I worked, heard some "rust" being scraped off. Until more than 10-years ago, I was lucky enough to have had many years of fun doing radio and television sports here in Los Angeles. Ever since then, my focus has been on writing and acting. Prior to coming here, I had a lot of fun being a general information talk host on (a then) famous talk station and before that I had a lot of fun being what was then known as a "Top-40" broadcaster on a couple of pretty famous (then) radio stations that played "Rock 'n Roll" music. Yes, I've been very fortunate and after scraping off some of that "rust" I mentioned, I had fun on Thanksgiving Day. Many thanks to big-time NBC executive Jack Silver for giving me the opportunity to HAVE that fun.
And speaking of "FUN"....I've been having a lot of fun seeing a whole bunch of new films because I'm a "Judge" for one of the major Award Shows that you'll be able to see soon. Yes the awards I'm voting for have to do with outstanding actors, outstanding films and a few other things. Example: In the last three days, I've attended screenings for "Les Miserables", "Lincoln" and "The Sessions".
"Les Miserables" isn't in your favorite cineplex yet, but the other two films are.
Brief opinions..."Les Miserables" is a musical. After about 15-minutes, I was seriously thinking about going home and watching a couple of my favorite TV shows. Until something changed my mind. And that "something" was Anne Hathaway who sang a long song that flat "rocked the house". When she finished, the applause was loud enough to be heard three blocks away. Some are already saying they think she'll get a Best Supporting Actor Oscar because of the song she sung. This film features outstanding performances from Hugh Jackman, Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen and Eddie Redmayne. Two surprises. The first song he sang was weak and I was a little embarrassed for him, but after that, the singing that Russell Crowe did was more than passable. In one case, terrific. But the actor who surprised me the most was, Amanda Seyfried. This is a woman who is very sexy and drop dead gorgeous. But a SINGER? In a big time musical the likes of THIS musical? Uh, huh. And major congrats to whoever it was who "went to bat" for Ms. Seyfried.
The film "Lincoln" IS in your favorite cineplex. There is no singing in this film but there is a LOT of TALKING. And it works. Daniel Day-Lewis is a damn good "Lincoln" but other actors who jumped out at me were Oscar winners Tommy Lee Jones and Sally Field. Hal Holbrook shined, too. As did the rest of the cast.
The film "The Sessions" is also in your favorite cineplex. This is an adult film that was/is based on a very true story. A sex therapist (who's still alive) and a guy who GOT the "therapy" but unfortunately wasn't alive to see this film. Oscar winner Helen Hunt plays the therapist and John Hawkes plays the very crippled guy who wants to have the experience of having sex before he dies. William H. Macy plays a sympathetic priest that the John Hawkes character confides in.
I FELT this film, folks. Helen Hunt is 49-years old, she's completely nude in several scenes but there is nothing about her nakedness that makes you think you're watching a peep-show. Helen Hunt is the best damn looking naked 49-year old I've ever seen and it was easy to believe that a very crippled 38-year old would have the physical ability to "get it up" once THIS therapist showed him some tricks.
In my view, every cast member of this film brought something to the table, but to me, Helen Hunt, John Hawkes and William H. Macy brought a ton of the stuff to the table.
SOME QUICK OTHER STUFF...
R.I.P. Larry Hagman. Man, oh man, oh man. There will never be a J.R. kind of character as good as the character that Larry Hagman created. I had the pleasure of working on "Dallas" when it was the biggest TV show in the world during the 80's. The first of my four appearances could easily have been my last. While I was in the make-up chair, I could tell Larry didn't like me much. And that might have had something to do with when I was (early in the morning) wandering around in the dark trying to find the make-up room when I spotted an open door that had bottles of make-up inside. I had never seen "Dallas" and I walked up to the woman inside, identified myself and asked if she was the make-up person I was supposed to go to. She paused, smiled, her smile got bigger and she said, "Hi Scott. I'm Linda Gray. Where you need to go is...."
For those of you who don't know, Linda Gray played the roll of J.R.'s wife, Sue Ellen. A few weeks later, Linda Gray was directing an episode and she hired me. She was great to be directed by and Larry was friendly.
Again...R.I.P. Larry Hagman. You were one of a kind.
On a much brighter note...
Christmas is only a few weeks away. I heard a new Christmas CD that's sung by Jan Daley. Terrific, terrific. You can buy it at Amazon, CD Baby and I- Tunes. Happy Holidays everyone and (again) the next blog will be January 3, 2013. Any thoughts or comments? Send them to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net
Here's hoping that 2013 will be our best year EVER!!!
As stated above, this will be our/my last blog until January 3. This blog figures to be relatively short and I'm going to share a couple of personal things with you.
Soooo...Let's get busy!
But first of all, I hope that all of you had a very Happy Thanksgiving.
As some of you know, I was working on Thanksgiving Day. I was doing sports reports for the new NBC Sports Radio Network.
Many thanks to those of you who wrote some very nice notes about a few of the 14-reports I wrote and aired that you had the time to listen to. Much appreciated. Those of you who tuned into the first two of the hours I worked, heard some "rust" being scraped off. Until more than 10-years ago, I was lucky enough to have had many years of fun doing radio and television sports here in Los Angeles. Ever since then, my focus has been on writing and acting. Prior to coming here, I had a lot of fun being a general information talk host on (a then) famous talk station and before that I had a lot of fun being what was then known as a "Top-40" broadcaster on a couple of pretty famous (then) radio stations that played "Rock 'n Roll" music. Yes, I've been very fortunate and after scraping off some of that "rust" I mentioned, I had fun on Thanksgiving Day. Many thanks to big-time NBC executive Jack Silver for giving me the opportunity to HAVE that fun.
And speaking of "FUN"....I've been having a lot of fun seeing a whole bunch of new films because I'm a "Judge" for one of the major Award Shows that you'll be able to see soon. Yes the awards I'm voting for have to do with outstanding actors, outstanding films and a few other things. Example: In the last three days, I've attended screenings for "Les Miserables", "Lincoln" and "The Sessions".
"Les Miserables" isn't in your favorite cineplex yet, but the other two films are.
Brief opinions..."Les Miserables" is a musical. After about 15-minutes, I was seriously thinking about going home and watching a couple of my favorite TV shows. Until something changed my mind. And that "something" was Anne Hathaway who sang a long song that flat "rocked the house". When she finished, the applause was loud enough to be heard three blocks away. Some are already saying they think she'll get a Best Supporting Actor Oscar because of the song she sung. This film features outstanding performances from Hugh Jackman, Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen and Eddie Redmayne. Two surprises. The first song he sang was weak and I was a little embarrassed for him, but after that, the singing that Russell Crowe did was more than passable. In one case, terrific. But the actor who surprised me the most was, Amanda Seyfried. This is a woman who is very sexy and drop dead gorgeous. But a SINGER? In a big time musical the likes of THIS musical? Uh, huh. And major congrats to whoever it was who "went to bat" for Ms. Seyfried.
The film "Lincoln" IS in your favorite cineplex. There is no singing in this film but there is a LOT of TALKING. And it works. Daniel Day-Lewis is a damn good "Lincoln" but other actors who jumped out at me were Oscar winners Tommy Lee Jones and Sally Field. Hal Holbrook shined, too. As did the rest of the cast.
The film "The Sessions" is also in your favorite cineplex. This is an adult film that was/is based on a very true story. A sex therapist (who's still alive) and a guy who GOT the "therapy" but unfortunately wasn't alive to see this film. Oscar winner Helen Hunt plays the therapist and John Hawkes plays the very crippled guy who wants to have the experience of having sex before he dies. William H. Macy plays a sympathetic priest that the John Hawkes character confides in.
I FELT this film, folks. Helen Hunt is 49-years old, she's completely nude in several scenes but there is nothing about her nakedness that makes you think you're watching a peep-show. Helen Hunt is the best damn looking naked 49-year old I've ever seen and it was easy to believe that a very crippled 38-year old would have the physical ability to "get it up" once THIS therapist showed him some tricks.
In my view, every cast member of this film brought something to the table, but to me, Helen Hunt, John Hawkes and William H. Macy brought a ton of the stuff to the table.
SOME QUICK OTHER STUFF...
R.I.P. Larry Hagman. Man, oh man, oh man. There will never be a J.R. kind of character as good as the character that Larry Hagman created. I had the pleasure of working on "Dallas" when it was the biggest TV show in the world during the 80's. The first of my four appearances could easily have been my last. While I was in the make-up chair, I could tell Larry didn't like me much. And that might have had something to do with when I was (early in the morning) wandering around in the dark trying to find the make-up room when I spotted an open door that had bottles of make-up inside. I had never seen "Dallas" and I walked up to the woman inside, identified myself and asked if she was the make-up person I was supposed to go to. She paused, smiled, her smile got bigger and she said, "Hi Scott. I'm Linda Gray. Where you need to go is...."
For those of you who don't know, Linda Gray played the roll of J.R.'s wife, Sue Ellen. A few weeks later, Linda Gray was directing an episode and she hired me. She was great to be directed by and Larry was friendly.
Again...R.I.P. Larry Hagman. You were one of a kind.
On a much brighter note...
Christmas is only a few weeks away. I heard a new Christmas CD that's sung by Jan Daley. Terrific, terrific. You can buy it at Amazon, CD Baby and I- Tunes. Happy Holidays everyone and (again) the next blog will be January 3, 2013. Any thoughts or comments? Send them to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net
Here's hoping that 2013 will be our best year EVER!!!
posted by Scott St. James at 6:44 PM
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