#Simon Godwin

[ahauandthesun]

INDIRA VARMA as Lady Macbeth Macbeth (2023-2024)

[shakespearenews]

Directed by STC Artistic Director Simon Godwin, this modern-dress “Macbeth” relies on an adaptation by Emily Burns that largely sticks to Shakespeare’s text. Having watched the film on my laptop, I can’t say that I had the ideal viewing experience to appreciate the full effect of the staging.

I found the murder scenes more harrowing than the artificial wartime spectacle. The witches in their street attire suggest a troublesome girl gang. The way Godwin employs these women as a chorus, viewing scenes they have no part in, gives their watchful presence more significance than I was able to decode. What’s clear, however, is that the Macbeths are in over their heads in their pact with evil.

[juniper-girl]

Romeo & Juliet (Simon Godwin, 2021)

[ulrichgebert]

Und weil es gerade so schön war mit Jessie Buckley, kommt sie gleich noch mal, als Juliet mit dem nicht minder entzückenden Josh O'Connor als Romeo in einer ungewöhlich schnellen, aber todesmutigen Verfilmung im Pandemie-bedingt geschlossenen, leeren National-Theatre. Für den vergleichsweise hohen Abstraktionsgrad ist es sehr rührend.

[denimbex1986]

'...7. A pair of Macbeths

David Tennant, Cush Jumbo, Ralph Fiennes and Indira Varma in their respective productions of Macbeth

Donmar Warehouse, London; December (runs until 10 February) / The Depot, Liverpool; December (tours to Edinburgh and London until 23 March

Macbeth, also staged at the RSC, was the year’s most popular Shakespeare play. I can’t detect a widespread appetite for regicide, but the tragedy’s wildness touches a pulse, as does its interest in equivocal truth. Are the witches early bearers of fake news? David Tennant and Cush Jumbo simmered through headphones in Max Webster’s Donmar staging. Ralph Fiennes and Indira Varma were the magnetic murderers in Simon Godwin’s warehouse production...'

[frontmezzjunkies]

"All The Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Invented The Villain" Magnificently Explored Page by Patrick Page

#frontmezzjunkies reviews: #AllTheDevilsAreHere: How #Shakespeare Invented #TheVillain. created and performed by #PatrickPage @pagepatrick directed by #SimonGodwin #AllTheDevilsAreHerePlay at #DR2Theatre #OffBroadway

Patrick Page in All The Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Invented The Villain. Photo by Julieta Cervantes. The Off-Broadway Theatre Review: All The Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Invented The Villain By Ross “Unsex me here!” An appropriate beginning for All The Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Invented The Villain, playing out and summoned with full force downtown at the DR2 Theatre. And he…

[dontcxckitup]

// HE DID IT 😭😭💙💙

[mcgiggers]

London, San Marino, Toronto - October 2023

Just back from fabulous art viewing experiences abroad and in Toronto. Stopovers included: Frieze London, Frieze Masters and the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in London as well as the Philip Guston exhibit at the Tate Modern; La Galleria Nazionale in the Republic of San Marino; and Art Toronto in Hogtown. The whole, for the most part, was enjoyed in the context of a three week stay in Italy where the hilltop medieval village of Petritoli, located in Le Marche, served as home base, and offered spectacular vistas of land, sea and mountains, all longstanding muses throughout history. Without looking too hard, traces of Ellsworth Kelly’s curves, Jasper Johns’ crosshatches and Frank Stella’s grids could all be seen in the roofscapes and landscapes, providing a breathtaking backdrop to daily activities, whether art related or other.

London

The transition from bucolic and sunny Petritoli to chaotic and rainy London was drastic but exhilarating. Frieze Week in mid-October is the global launching pad for the all-important fall season in the art world. With summer days in the rear-view mirror, an intense focus radiated from the London art scene with the convergence of exhibit openings, important contemporary and modern auctions, and preeminent art fairs. While the weightiness of a challenged economy and ongoing wars was perhaps most evident in the squishy auction results, elsewhere, the mood and excitement were upbeat as fair venues and exhibits were flooded by art fans and aficionados.

Frieze London and Frieze Masters art fairs ran concurrently under the stars, so to speak, in separate tents in the wonderful greenspace of Regent’s Park. Frieze London’s defining focus is on living artists and contemporary art. This year’s edition, the 20th, included over 160 participating galleries with a strong contingent of 40 or so international exhibitors. Noteworthy was the caliber of presenting galleries and works on display. While remaining very faithful to the contemporary focus, large well-established mega galleries were ever so present along with their roster of anointed stars, perhaps at the expense of the more experimental flair historically more synonymous with Frieze. A walking distance away through a maze of outdoor sculptures, Frieze Masters hosted over 130 galleries that showcased an eclectic mix of art works ranging from archaeological finds dating to thousands of years BC to 20th century masterpieces. Fair highlights included:  Tabboo!’s “Desert Moon”, 2021, acrylic on canvas (60 x 50 in.); Simone Leigh’s “Untitled”, 2022, stoneware, 25.75 x 11.75 x 16.5 in.); and Anna Mark’s “R 1002”, 1968, synthetic resin, sand, pigment on canvas, mounted on wooden frame (20 x 20.25 in.).

Elsewhere in the city at Somerset House, the 11th edition of 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair was in full swing with a line-up of over 60 galleries showcasing more than 170 artists. There, the excitement of discovery and seeing new things being done by emerging talents was palpable. Highlights included: Godwin Champs Namuyimba’s “Fathering spirit”, 2023, acrylic on canvas (90.5 x 78.75 in.); Emmie Nume’s “When we use to”, 2021, mixed media on paper (55.5 x 41.75 in.); and a pair of works by Theresa-Anne Mackintosh, “Walking with my body conscious” and “Comfortably dazed”, 2023, oil and acrylic on canvas (each, 34.25 x 39.5 in.).

Also in London, a captivating Philip Guston retrospective was being held at the Tate Modern. Spanning a 50-year career, the comprehensive survey included everything from the artist’s more classical early works to pieces depicting his fiery brand of abstraction and, most prominently, paintings and drawings featuring his iconic comic-like figures and imagery that captured the anxious and turbulent world around him. The whole made for an intense and sometimes unsettling experience. While the museum walls were bursting with large scale masterworks that chronicled the Guston story, it was a small self-portrait that was most memorable - “Untitled”, 1968, acrylic on board. Barely noticeable behind the artist’s gaze painted in the foreground were the remnants of an earlier work of a hooded figure. The effect hauntingly captured Guston’s lifelong nightmarish preoccupation with racism.

San Marino

The next art stop was an unplanned pleasant surprise that surfaced during a day trip to San Marino. Located on the northeastern side of the Apennine Mountains and surrounded by Italy, San Marino is the fifth smallest country in the world, and it boasts a historic center high up on Monte Titano at approximately 2500 feet above sea level that features three medieval towers dating back to the 11th century. There was almost a Vegas-like surrealness to the place with throngs of tourists making the pilgrimage to take in the spectacular views and medieval setting. Nestled in one of the few quiet corners of the historic city and a bit isolated from the many churches, palazzos and eateries was La Galleria Nazionale di San Marino, the country’s center of modern and contemporary art.Housed in the renovated Logge dei Volontari, the museum is dedicated to showcasing its collection of post war art which was amassed from international art biennials held in San Marino beginning in the mid-50s. It was totally surprising to come across fantastic works by lesser-known American artists, including: James Brown’s “Opera Contro Natura”, 2003, mixed media and collage on folded linen (59 x 98.75 in.); and David Row’s “B.N.I.”, 1992, oil on canvas (in three parts, overall, 66 x 85.75 in.).

Toronto

Returning back from the old world with only one viewing day left at Art Toronto, the opportunity was seized to cap off the art adventure with a visit to Canada’s premiere contemporary and modern art fair. While the corridors were filled with rumblings of challenging times, the viewing experience was fantastic. Over 100 galleries took to the floor of the Toronto Metro Convention Center and offered up works from over 1000 artists. As a bonus, the launching of Jack Bush’s catalogue raisonné drew out many of his works that were scattered throughout the fair, including two favorites: “Untitled”, 1962, gouache on paper (35.25 x 23 in.); and “Red, Orange, Green”, 1965, serigraph, edition 67 of 100 (25.5 x 20 in.). Other fair highlights included: Emma Kohlmann’s “Tulip”, 2023, oil on linen with cherry frame (14.25 x 12.25 x 1.25); Catherine Desroches’ “Déliason du corps contre le ciel”, 2023, bronze, pine, plywood, lost wax casting dust, foundry kiln ashes, graphite powder, charcoal on newsprint and on panel (84 x 49 in.); Marcel Barbeau’s “Iris”, 1962, acrylic on canvas (76.4 x 51.2 in.); and Jean-Paul Riopelle’s “Sans titre (1958.006P)”, 1958, oil on paper (25.5 x 19.75 in.).

Meanwhile, the sports scene in North America was frenetic with activity as all major sports leagues were in some state of play. In Dinoland, emotions were cautiously optimistic following a perfect pre-season and a home opener win. After that celebratory moment, however, reality set in for rookie Head Coach Darko Rajaković. Three losses later, the new system was being questioned, and all the ghosts of last year’s disappointing season were surfacing. A win against a star-laden Bucks team provided some glimmer of hope, but that too was soon quashed with a thumping courtesy of ex-Dino Head Honcho Nick Nurse and his 76ers. Can a Fredless team be so different? It’s got to be the system. It’s early, I know, but it doesn’t bode well. Up next, Wemby-mania in the Lone Star State. Ugh.

For more information on any of the artists or works mentioned, the fairs, exhibits, Petritoli and Coach Darko’s system, “Just Google It”.

There you have it sportsfans,

MC Giggers

(Https://mcgiggers.tumblr.com) Reporter’s Certification

I, MC Giggers, hereby certify that the views expressed in this report accurately reflect my personal views and that no part of my compensation was or will be, directly or indirectly, related to the specific views expressed herein.

I also certify that I may or may not own, directly or indirectly, works of artists mentioned in this report and that I may or may not have a strong bias for such artists and, more generally, for “Pictures of Nothing”.

[bottomoftheriverbed]

Indira Varma as lady Macbeth, i will be attempting to get tickets

[tipofthemountain]

actress

tags: biker!Simon “Ghost” Riley x actresses!Afab Reader, Fluff, Established relationship, reader is a famous actress. Mentions of sex and sexual acts but no action is taken. Minors should still take extreme caution reading!

word count: 1.5k

summary: Reader is on set of her newest movie and Simon comes to visit!

a/n: First story I’m posting! I’m a little nervous for what everyone will think but I hope you enjoy it!

ps. biker!Simon is my current hyper fixation so bare with me if there’s like a million more biker au stories :}.

edit: adding this in but my requests are open!

༺𖤓༻༺𖤓༻༺𖤓༻༺𖤓༻༺𖤓༻ ༺𖤓༻

It was a warm Tuesday inside studio lot B. A beautiful facade of a two story house stands in a field of white daisies. You almost couldn’t believe your eyes when you walked onto the set. It looked so real! An exact replica of the real house you’ll be shooting on in a week.

The role you are playing is that of a farm wife with her three children, except your husband is having an affair with the barns keeper and your sleeping with the maid. Neither of you know you’re both cheating of course but the children do. The entire plot of the movie is the children trying to get the parents to find out about the double affairs. It’s a LGBTQ+ romance set in the early 1950s. It’s filled with steamy sex scenes and overly dramatic fights.

It’s the exact kind of movie you love doing. Sappy period pieces. In fact the movie that put you in the spotlight was almost exactly like this except it was the 1860s and you where a young unmarried queen with a “live in maid”.

Your boyfriend of 5 years Simon, or as his biker group likes to call him “Ghost” for the skull bandanna he likes to wear around his face, dropped you off on set on his newly refurbished 1980s Harley Davidson. You swore sometimes you thought he was more in love with that bike than he was with you.

“Make some money baby.” Simon told you after a steamy kiss early this morning.

Simons always been supportive of your career. The two of you met on the set of a Tv show when he was hired as a last minute extra for for some bike scene you can barely remember. For Simon it was love at first sight, but for you it was ‘I’ll wait and see where this goes’. Spoiler: You fell in love and are engaged, set to be married later this year.

“Where is my Anna Marie?” You hear your director yell out as you sit in your makeup chair getting touches done to your character’s signature red lip.

“Over here Clark! I needed my lips retouched. I think Amy got a little excited!” Clark Russel. You’ve worked with him a few times now and he’s always been a joy and a pleasure to work with, not something you find comes easy in this industry.

“Your needed on set in five. We’ve got to have this last shot of you and Blanche in the kitchen. We’ve got one week of shooting left here in the studio before we all go out on location.” Clark quickly spills out with you barely catching any of it.

Blanche is played by your costar Amy Heart. A talented actress 3 young years older than you. You’ve done several movies with her by now. You consider her one to your best friends and even plan to ask her to be a bridesmaid.

“James, Finn and Blanche are all on set. We just need you.” Clark makes direct eye contact with you as your makeup artist finishes the last touches on your makeup. He always insisted on calling people by their character names and you never questioned it.

James is played by Arther Godwin. The man that’s supposed to be your characters husband. You’ve never met him before this project but a quick IMDB search led you down a rabbit hole of bad low budget horror movies that you and Simon later binged watched. Finn is played by Roderick Grant, a fresh face. This would be his breakout role after a stream of hit indie movies.

“All done.” Your makeup artist releases you and you stand up from your seat grabbing the jacket that goes with your costume. You throw the jacket on around your shoulders and loop your arm in Clarks.

“Let’s get this show on the road!” You say in an over dramatic southern accent to which your director roles his eyes at.

༺𖤓༻

After 3 more hours of grueling take after take of Clark just having to get the tear sliding down your cheek just right, to which you where ready to rip his head off. Your just about to pass out on your trailer couch in nothing but a robe and very thin 1950s appropriate lingerie, when you hear 3 gentle knocks on your door. You get up with a puff of air leaving your lips putting your hands in your hair.

“Who is it!” You yell not really wanting to get up to answer the door.

“Open the door and find out!” You hear that oh so familiar thick Manchester voice behind the thinness of your trailers door.

In no time you’re rushing to the door and pulling your bulky fiancé in to your trailer and lacing your red lips with his. Simon closes the door through your sloppily sweet kisses. He smells of expensive leather and gas but you still drink all of him in.

“You miss me tha’ much?” Simons thick accent lets out through a smirk.

“Always.” You smile up at the tall man resting your chin on his chest.

“How was today? Make anyone else cry today?” Simon jokes but you take serious offense.

“That was one time and I didn’t even mean to yell at the poor guy.” You slap his shoulder as you both take a seat next in the oh so comfy couch in your trailer.

“I was only joking love.” Simon laughs and places a gentle kiss to your temple. He has one hand around your shoulder and the other rubbing up and down your thigh softly. You with one of your hands on his much bigger thigh and the other holding the hand that’s around your shoulder.

“Long day. Completely closed set. Only Clark and the main cast where set to shoot today.” Closed sets are usually indicators that you where filming your sex scenes today. You had one with your on screen husband and one with Amy. You almost never liked doing sex scene with men. It was never because Simon didn’t want you to or that you ever hated your male costar. You had this respect for Simon and you felt like the sex scenes could get too real sometimes. Personally, you never wanted for Simon to watch a scene of you sharing a bed(or even sometimes a kitchen counter) with another man. But every time you would ask Simon he would always just say some form of ‘This is all make believe. It isn’t real. I know you love me and some fake sex scene isn’t going to change that.” You still sometimes denied it though.

“When are you off?” Simon ask softly moving his hand further up your thigh.

You knew the game he was playing, he always did this when visiting. He always got you worked up and sweating before you had to go back and shoot a scene.

“30 minutes my love. We have to finalize a few things for today, but nice try honey.” You push Simons hand down slightly and look up towards him. Of course he has the cheekiest smirk on his face.

“I miss you at home.” Simon says kissing down your neck this time and creeping his hand back up your thigh.

“Simon.” You whisper scold him as he makes his way onto your shoulder planting sweet kisses.

“I miss the way you smell…” He grabs your hips and lays your back flat against the couch hovering over you as he plants kisses down over your collar bone. You inhale sharply when he moves his hand under the thin bra provided by the costume department.

“I miss the way you feel…” He moved his other hand to finish untying to robe from around your waist. He slowing starts kissing his way down your stomach stopping at the hem of the very 1950s lingerie.

“And I certainly miss the way you taste.” Simon has a giant smile planted on his face when he plants open mouth kisses down your thigh.

And just when he’s about to touch your center 3 harsh knocks are placed on your door.

“Miss, Mr. Russel said he needs you.” The voice calls out not even waiting for you to respond.

Simon lets out a laugh and you sit up and push him lightly.

“That’s not funny!” You whisper yell at him only to make him laugh even more. You stand up and tie your robe back around your waist and walk to the trailer door.

“It’s a little funny.” Simon says watching you with a panicked look on your face.

“I’ll be back in 20 minutes. I love you.” You place a gentle kiss on Simons lips and him returning the kiss.

“I love you too.” He says back placing one final kiss to your forehead.

Before you leave however you whisper into his ear “I think you owe the costume designer.” and bite the end of his ear playfully.

Simon watches you with his his cheek drawn inside his mouth as you grab the door handle of your trailer and leave him alone with his nothing but his thoughts for the next 20 minutes.

༺𖤓༻༺𖤓༻༺𖤓༻༺𖤓༻༺𖤓༻ ༺𖤓༻

final thoughts: i definitely got carried away while writing. I tend to do that. I get caught up on details that most likely don’t even matter all that much. I feel like somethings definitely could have been left out and more things added in but in the end it’s just a story and if you don’t like the first few sentences, just skip the story and move on.

@gauloiseblue for you friend <3

[ahauandthesun]

MACBETH (2023-2024) dir. by Simon Godwin Ralph Fiennes as Macbeth Indira Varma as Lady Macbeth

[shakespearenews]

[thewindysideofcare]

[samkerrworshipper]

who are some of your favorite elite gymnasts or collegiate gymnasts?

love suni lee so much she’s probably one of my absolute favs

as a kid i loved simone biles just bc she’s just amazing to watch

otherwise gabby douglas, aliya mustafina, alicia sacramone, rebecca andrade, georgia godwin, jordan bowers & trinity thomas are some personal favs that i watch now or grew up watching !!

[cinemaocd]

Jenny's ongoing list of films watched 2024

February

January list, here.

Inland Empire (2006)*** It took three attempts to get through this long, confusing film. Like Mulholland Drive or the Season Three of Twin Peaks, Lynch films improve on repeat viewings even if meaning remains elusive. That is part of the joy-- sometimes you just vibe with it.

Death of Stalin (2017)**** One of my favorite films of the last two decades. A harried farce with the bloody-mindedness of Macbeth. Like the Scottish Play, we know how its going to come out, but the fun is in watching the articulate villain, played with delicious malice by Simon Russell Beale being outdone by a team of bumbling, petty bureaucrats and one very bad ass soldier. The Boyfriend (1970)*** Ken Russell's surreal tribute to the burlesque musical genre makes the most of its setting in the 1920s by putting his star Twiggy in iconic psychadelic reiterations of the flapper dress. If you opine the fact that drop waist dresses come back into style every 15 years or so, then this movie is as much to blame as anything. Poor Things (2023)*** Emma Stone gives a wild and convincing physical performance as Bella, a baby's brain in the body of her dead mother and Mark Ruffalo as typical 19th Century Rake Getting His Comeupance iscasting I didn't know I needed. I loved the yearning Godwin (Willem Defoe in truly amazing Frankenstein's monster makeup) and though I haven't read the book, I was drawn into the grotesque, ai generated world of the film. The aesthetics of this movie are as engrossing as the story and characters. Adventures of a Dentist (1965)** The Soviet version of the live action Disney comedies of the 70s, where a humble person is given magical power. Here a dentist is given extraordinary, almost magical abilities to perform dentistry without pain. He becomes a celebrity and his fall from grace involves him giving in to the decadent trappings of being a popular dentist. The humor has a darker edge than Disney though I wouldn't go so far as to call it a black comedy. Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall (1973)** This Spike Milligan film plays like a double episode of Dad's Army, not least because of the presence of Arthur Lowe who plays practically the same character here as he does on the tv show. That is not the end of the world however and this is easy to like farce with Milligan's ascerbic, anti-authoritarian bent that is grittier than anything on the sitcom. The Master (2012)** I had high hopes for this, one of Phillip Seymour Hoffman's final films and his last collaboration with director Paul Thomas Anderson is loosely based on the origin story of Scientology. Joaquin Phoenix plays a shell shocked veteran who drifts into the path of the cult leader played by Hoffman. Amy Adams gives a chilling performance as his much younger, controlling wife who is the real power behind the cult. I think I would have an easier time with this film if Anderson hadn't gone around giving interviews saying that Scientology and it's founder L. Ron Hubbard had "helped a lot of people." Of course, this is PTA and Phoenix's character isn't helped at all and he makes the cult worse by being a violent enforcer for the leader's enemies. The levels of whitewashing involved in making a deeply misogynistic cult into a secret matriarchy is just...ugh. However, the homoerotic tension between Hoffman and Phoenix makes the film worth looking out. Murder of Quality (1991)** Made for TV adaptation of John Le Carre's second novel. Denholm Elliott plays Smiley as more doddering and anti-social than Alec Guinness' iconic version of the character. This early Smiley story is more a traditional English village murder mystery, ala Miss Marple, with Glenda Jackson playing Ailsa, Smiley's war buddy that runs a women's magazine. Christian Bale plays one of the students at an elite prep school that forms the economic backbone of the town. Le Carre is merciless in his portrayal of the toxic, petty characters, the wealthy and wannabe wealthy swamp dwellers who run rings around the local constabulary until Smilley steps in and withstands their slings and arrows long enough to solve the case.

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970)*** Sometimes you sit down to watch a movie with such low expectations that you are pleasantly surprised that it doesn't totally suck. The excitement of things not being as bad as you feared can blot out some of a movie's excesses. At the end of the day this is Billy Wilder, physically incapable of creating a boring movie throwing the whole bag of tricks at this faux biography of Holmes starring Robert Stephens and Colin Blakely. There's farce and physical comedy, verbal gymnastics and exotic locations. Holmes' possible homosexuality is tastefully hinted at and attempts to create a sensationalist account of his drug use, amount to little before the mystery gets rolling. One of the big delights is Christopher Lee as Mycroft whose scenes with Robert Stephens are bitchy queen pissing contests. Genevieve Page does a turn as a would be damsel in distress who turns out to be a worthy opponent to Holmes similar to Irene Adler.

Irma La Duce (1963)*** For some reason between this and Poor Things I ended up watching two movies about Parisian brothels this month. Billy Wilder based this pastiche of 1950s travelogue adventure films like To Catch a Thief and Charade on a French stage play. A strange attempt to weld the success of the Apartment with Some Like it Hot, reconfiguring a Marilyn Monroe vehicle as a reunion of Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine. Like the Apartment, Irma LaDuce is tinged with melancholy while avoiding a lot of the cliches about sex work that wind up dating so many films on this topic. The main complaint I have about Irma LaDuce s that it's about 45 minutes too long, a common complaint about many films of this period. (Damn Lawrence of Arabia and all who sail in her).

Witness for the Prosecution (1982)*** A made for tv adaptation of the classic courtroom drama, which credits Billy Wilder's screenplay of his film version. Ralph Richardson and Deborah Kerr star in this remake and honestly their chemistry is just off the charts and we're left to wonder how they never managed to make a film together before. Wendy Hiller, Diana Rigg and Beau Bridges round out the amazing cast. Lacks the tension and edge of Wilder's film but I'm having too much fun with Ralph to care.

The Major and the Minor (1942)**: Billy Wilder's first film as writer and director has some of the hallmarks of his later, greater works: farce, trains, mistaken identity, and queer themes in the form of a lesbian coded sister of Ginger Roger's romantic rival. That all the fuss is about fairly bland Ray Milland is easy enough to overlook as Wilder makes the film about toying with Rogers image as sophisticated, sexy, dancer. Typical Wilder inside jokes about the film industry abound, such as a craze for Veronica Lake hairdos among the tween set and swipes at Hollywood actors like Charles Boyer Rogers' childish masquerade to avoid paying full adult fare is preceded by a series of calamities where she's pursued and objectified by a lot of nasty older men. Hoping to escape their advances as well as the ignominity of turnstyle jumping, she maintains the charade through a long weekend with a lot of handsy tween boys until Milland's fiancee is discredited as a controlling social climber. There is a bizarre side track into her home town where Rogers also impersonates her mother before revealing her grown adult self to Milland. No one ever accused Billy Wilder of being restrained I guess.

The Children's Hour (1961)**** This classic of queer cinema was necessarily a scorched earth tragedy at the time of its release. William Wyler's dreamy, restless camera drags you into the warm, cozy life of this female partnership between Shirley Maclaine and Audrey Hepburn that seemingly has the potential to be a romantic partnership. When nasty gossips and spoiled children start a rumor that they are a couple, the scandal destroys their business and standing in the community. Terrorized by the homophobic townspeople, they are eventually "cleared" of the crime of being gay for each other, just when Maclaine's character comes to the brutal realization that she really is in love with Audrey Hepburn's character. It's hard to watch her grief and shame as she admits that the bullies have discovered a truth about her that she didn't know herself. A fact so many queer people can find relatable. The film is based on a play by Lilian Hellman which used the topic of homosexuality to expose the cruelty of female narcissists who bully their way into power. There is much in common with Hellman's The Little Foxes in that way, but the film, perhaps owing to Wyler's inherent romanticism has more of a Romeo and Juliet quality than the play. One feels that Audrey Hepburn has perhaps realized the truth in the lie, just a few moments too late.

Sweet Charity (1969)*** Directed by Bob Fosse, starring Shirley MacLaine and Sammy Davis Jr and Chita Rivera this classic musical combines the best of Fossee's signature choreography, sixties pop show tunes and the psychadelic aesthetics of the late 60s. This and the Boyfriend have a lot in common, though I think the music in Sweet Charity is more solid and the contemporary setting makes it a tad edgier. MacLaine plays yet another flavor of sex worker, a dancehall hostess and paid companion who seeks to be elevated out of her life into respectability through marriage. The fiancee here is uptight and lacking in appeal and when he finally just flakes out in the final reel it's no great loss to the film.

Thief (1981)** Atypical heist film starring James Caan and Jim Belushi, directed by Miama Vice creator Michael Mann. You can see the beginnings of that iconic 80s TV show, in this movie which favors long scenes of action being edited to music with sparse dialog. Caan squares off against Tom Signorelli a local mob boss who dares to threaten Caan's wife played by Tuesday Weld.