Breakfast With... Clarissa, Virginia, and Laura

We begin our 10th anniversary celebration of The Hours, in the only logical place: morning rituals

Good morning ladies: Laura would like to sleep in, Virginia never sleeps, Clarissa sleeps fitfully

A woman's whole life in a single day. Just one day. And in that day, her whole life. 
-Virginia Woolf, The Hours

The central framing ambition of The Hours, is vocalized about 17 minutes in after the genius author Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman) has written the first and soon to be rather famous sentence to (one of) her masterpiece(s) "Mrs. Dalloway." I'd liken it to that moment when the tea kettle starts whistling except that nobody is having tea. But, nevertheless the movie's three strands (1923, 1951, and 2001) have been simmering with, bubbling over and spilling into one another in Stephen Daldry's pot and we're definitely full steam. But first things first... what are our ladies having for breakfast?

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Loretta Young, Ruffled

Happy Centennial to Loretta Young!  (January 6th, 1913 - August 12th, 2000) She was my mom's favorite actress as a little girl which is how I know her name. 

So many ruffles! How can Loretta breathe in there?

Well that and my encyclopedic attention to the Best Actress category in theory long before I'd seen almost any of the movies as a kid. The Farmer's Daughter was literally the first of the 1940s Best Actress winners I ever saw -- entirely because of my mom's love for it -- but I have to admit that I don't remember the movie at all now. (FWIW my favorite Best Actress win of the 40s is a tight race between Crawford's Mildred Pierce and DeHavilland's The Heiress)

We name-checked Loretta very briefly on the recent podcast (Part 1 & 2) because my mom was so happy with the book I gave her as a gift recently. My mother is very conservative so perhaps it was Loretta's devout Christianity in the middle of the Sodom & Gomorrah --aka Hollywood -- that was a draw? Or maybe its was regional pride -  Loretta Young was one of the few big movie stars from Utah, where my mom was born and raised.

The book is called "Hollywood Madonna Loretta Young" (by Bernard F Dick) and is apparently the first biography of this Leading Actress of the 40s. In addition to film stardom, she had a secret love child with Clark Gable and found major television stardom in as the host / sometime star of the long running drama series "The Loretta Young Show" (1953-1961)

Have you seen any of her films?

Loretta Young is naturally being celebrated this month here and there. Her official website is tracking the celebrations and screenings if you're interested in checking her work out. I've got to catch Come to the Stable (1949) one of these days. Such a major hole in my Oscar viewing what with its seven nominations (among the highest for a film that missed a Best Picture citation) and it's a nun movie for Christ's sake  -- Oscar subgenre alert! Frustrated that Netflix doesn't have it.

Curio: Frank Langella at 75

Alexa here. I just couldn't let the day pass without paying tribute to Frank Langella on his 75th birthday. He has always been one of my favorite actors; something about his unctuous classicism makes him appear to be a larger-than-life Caravaggio, and my gothic sensibilities have only truly been satisfied with his turn as Dracula. His work continues to intrigue; 2007's Starting Out in the Evening was a recent high point in a career that has spanned more than 50 years. Plus, he revealed himself to be quite the debauched dandy in his memoir Dropped Names, making him all the more endearing (read what Nathaniel had to say about it here; it really is a fun read). 

I'm enough of a fan that I invested in an Edward Gorey-illustrated poster from his Broadway turn in Dracula, and I still hold on to my VHS copies of two of his early films... [more]

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Swag Watch: Lincoln Cooks, Brave Looks

Two yummy gifts arrived, courtesy no doubt of my BFCA membership. But I always pretend the gifts are bribes (don't judge) since I am CLOTHED IN IMMENSE POWERS OF FOR YOUR CONSIDERATIONING. I thought you might enjoy peeks at these.

Lincoln has been going all out. They have an elegant info-heavy free download app for everyone who wants to learn more about the movie and this week a cookbook arrived. The cookbook isn't new -- it existed before the movie -- but why not?

Lincoln isn't really a foodie movie but the recipes are from the Presidential Library -- some of them from Lincoln's own lifetime and family. The subtitle is "a cookbook of epic portions" but really I can't see Honest Abe eating all that much. So lanky.

The very first recipe in for caramel ice cream so I have no choice but to approve.

Brave gifted us with "The Art of Disney Pixar BRAVE" which is a book filled with info about the development of the movie and amazing artwork along the way. I've barely made it through the preface and forward but the moody paintings thus far are awesome.

I'll leave you with  two images, one that delighted me and one that grabbed my attention.

This pencil sketch is by Director Brenda Chapman's own daughter, six years before the film as we know it was released. The indelible pairing of feisty ginger Merida and mama bear were already a part of their lives. Emma Rose was Brenda's inspiration for the movie after all. She writes:

When I came up with the idea of Brave, my predominant inspiration was the bundle of passion, stubbornness, determination and strength of character that is my daughter. Having been a shy and submissive child myself (wink), I was completely unprepared for the impact she had on my life. We locked horns, we butted heads, and we control-freaked each other to distraction. And this was when she was only five! I wondered what she was going to be like as a teenager.

And here's two early sketches of Merida by the artist Steve Purcell back when he envisioned her much younger than she ended up being in the final version of the story. I love that her hair grew and grew and grew until the final version of the character. Hair so big it's full of secrets.

My Link, My Fate, My Fortune... Chanel No. 5

Studio Exec visits the set of Darren Aronofsky's Noah
The New Yorker interviews screenwriter Melissa Matheson for the 30th anniversary of E.T. The Extra Terrestrial
Movie|Line first tease of Carrie. Hmmm, looks very BIG for such an intimate horror story
Yahoo on the internal wars for each character on Homeland. Such a good season 2 thus far, yes?
Nicks Flick Picks spends an evening with Joan Allen at the Chicago Film Festival 

Chanel No. 5 Joe Wright directs Brad Pitt as the first male spokesperson for Chanel No. 5. Joe is the new Baz. Discuss.
Acidemic suggests streaming Netflix options you might not have thought of that are Halloween appropriate.

Today's Very Best News
Tina Fey & Amy Poehler will co-host the Golden Globes. YES. But can they switch show duties with Seth MacFarlane please? Now I have to look forward to the Golden Globes even more than usual and I'd rather be THAT excited for Oscar.

Awwww
Barbra Streisand singing with her son Jason Gould this past week in Philly. The family that sings together...

Finally, for you readers who are also writers... Nail Your Novel has tips on how to prepare for National Novel- Writing Month. I tried to do this once (a sci-fi novel actually) and I liked the exercize but it's hard to do when you're also writing a daily blog. But if you've been stuck in your own writing, I highly recommend.