Posterized: Dame Emma Thompson

Okay, so she's not a Dame yet. Shut up. It's only a matter of time!

Nanny McPhee costar Maggie Gyllenhaal at Emma's star ceremony
for Hollywood's Walk of Fame earlier this month.

Nanny McPhee Returns is on 2000+ of the nation's screens but I probably won't be seeing it. Remember two days back when we discussed what we were always looking for in a movie? One of my answers should have been beauty. I am not a beauty fascist in real life but I suppose I am at the movie theaters. Hollywood's great actresses should be immortalized with key lights, flawless makeup and evening gowns. Movie stars are supposed to be fantasies... our idealized selves. That's why Old Hollywood still has so much appeal. The studio system understood this. I like beauty on my silver screens so I really don't want to see Emma Thompson -- who can be just ravishing (see Much Ado About Nothing. I mean, my god. She's breathtaking in that movie) -- made to look purposefully hideous.

Anyway... her career in posters.

The Tall Guy (89) | Henry V (89) | Impromptu (91)

Dead Again (91) | Peter's Friends (92) | Howard's End (92)

Much Ado..., Remains of the Day, In the Name of the Father (93)

Junior (94) | Carrington (95) | Sense & Sensibility (95)

Intermission. In early 1996 after five Oscar noms and two wins (acting & screenplay) and several arthouse hits, the screen career seems to slow down. She was only 36. It's difficult to say what caused this. A listers sometimes just volunteer for that and if so who could blame her? Her first six years of fame were crazy huge and chaotic.

<--- Emma with her husband Greg Wise at the premiere of his most recent movie in 2009

Consider... She was 30 when fame hit. The first six years of fame were bookended with her wedding and then divorce from Kenneth Branagh (also often her director and co-star) and the movies were iconic arthouse titles. And then there's that stellar 1993 wherein she won the Oscar in the spring then appeared in three more arthouse smashes, two of which she was Oscar nominated for. [Tangent: If you ask me I think Much Ado... is the best of those three '93 performances -- even if it's the least of the three films -- so it figures it's the one she was snubbed for.]

Or maybe it wasn't an intentional break but maybe the offers just started to dry up? The cinema is sometimes nonsensical like that. This is also the time period in which she and Greg Wise, the dangerously good-looking man who breaks her screen sister Kate Winslet's heart in Sense & Sensibility, fall in love. They've been together ever since and were married in 2003.

The Winter Guest (97) | Primary Colors (98) | Judas Kiss (98)

Wit (01) | Angels in America (03) | Love Actually (03)

Mike Nichols to the rescue with two acclaimed pay cable movies that reminded fans what a sensational screen presence she is.

Imagining Argentina (03) | Nanny McPhee (05) | Stranger Than Fiction (06)

Brideshead Revisited (08) | Last Chance Harvey (08) | An Education (09)

not pictured: Pirate Radio (09), two Harry Potter films (04/07) the current Nanny McPhee sequel and a few cameo parts or voice roles.

How many have you seen? Is it odd that she's not in the last two-part Harry Potter film (I can't remember if that character is in the last book)... or if she is, that they aren't crediting her since she's not listed as being part of the cast? And don't you wish she'd have more plum parts again? She was so moving in Last Chance Harvey but it was one of those sacrificial December lambs needlessly disposed of during the year's busiest month. When I rewatched Angels in America a few weeks ago, I was reminded what a glorious comic personality she has. She's the best of both worlds, really, able to wear both of those iconic thespian masks. She sells comedy and tragedy with equal inspiration.
*

Source: http://filmexperience.blogspot.com/2010/08/posterized-dame-emma-thompson.html

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Angels

A dear friend, even after a year, was having a very difficult time accepting the unexpected loss of her mother. I decided to needlepoint for her a guardian angel...More......

From my art history studies, I remembered a tender angel helping a soul successfully undergo its weighing, as depicted on a tympanum of the Romanesque church in Autun, France, and thought that it could be just perfect for her.

I isolated the little angel with the souls in its care, and set it all against a heavenly gold-toned background, achieved through the use of color, not specialty threads.

The (fuzzy, sorry!, but it's the only one I have) picture shows the unfinished, unblocked needlepoint (hence its skew).

(To see the original, go to: http://www.aug.edu/augusta/iconography/iconographySupplementalImages/autunTympanum.psychostasy.html)

Source: http://arsacupicturaestellae.blogspot.com/2010/08/angels.html

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No Girls Allowed*

First off I must say that my Shame My Sisters Campaign has worked splendidly. They have both agreed in principal to visit. They have no idea how excited I am for that. I was smiling so big when I saw their comments. And let me reiterate, how much I love my sisters, and how awesome they are. I'm glad my Washington friends will finally get to meet them.

I'm a little late on this post. Dare I say, I have been crazy busy working and playing I haven't blogged in a few days. Last fall, I came across a photo essay by Bill Simmons about the National Sports Collectors Convention.  It's basically sports nerd heaven. The asterix in this title refers to the fact that although no girls were allowed on the trip, evidence shows that no girl would want any part of it. Just a bunch of guys wandering around looking at baseball cards, autographs and all manner of sports memorabilia.  When Bill said that next year's event would be in Baltimore, I knew I was in. I told JJ, Dan, and Joe and they too were excited. We looked forward to this for a year.

I decided to make Saturday a Man's day. That meant sports, fighting, and meat. My kind of day. Of course one of my most favorite activities is play flag football. I love it. I've loved it since sixth grade and would play everyday if I could. Even though it was really hot, we still had a very competitive game. Of course I love to win, but I really hate losing. That being said, I don't really remember what the result was, but I can safely say, I probably threw some touchdowns, and probably a few picks as well.

Not from Saturday, but you get the idea

I got back from football and Joe, Dan and I headed up. JJ and Jennifer met us there. We knew were going to have a great time the moment we walked in and saw one of Joe and Dan's personal hero's, Nats legend Dmitri Young. Dmitri took a moment from his burrito to stop and chat with Joe and Dan. I doubt that Dmitri realized that he was in the presence of two of his most loyal supporters. He was also nice enough to stop for a snap shot.

Just behind that I believe they had every baseball card you could possibly imagine. I had decided early on that if I could get a Vlad Guerrero game used bat that I would. I set myself a budget and I was on my way. I didn't even know how to tackle everything. There were so many vendors. I finally found a vendor who had a a game used bat, but it was way out of my price range. I did however take a picture with it. 

According to her mom my niece Savannah liked how I looked in this picture. She is so right.

I am a fan of west coast teams, so there wasn't as much for sale of the Angels, Niners, Cougars, Lakers persuasion, but I did find some treasures here and there. One of the booths that I thought was the coolest was the Championship Ring booth. I guess for some of the guys who don't care about their rings, or are low on cash, sell them, and you can buy them. There was a kid at the booth who was wearing an Angels  hat. I of course started to chat with him, and he showed me the 2002 Angels Championship ring. Heck, he even let me try it on.

I told him that I hadn't seen a ton of Angels stuff and that I was thinking of buying a Tim Salmon autograph, if I could find one. Low and behold this young huckster had one. We negotiated, and I walked away with an authenticated autograph of my third favorite Angel. We met up with JJ and he told me there was a vendor who had a Steve Young autographed picture from his BYU days. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to buy it. It's a great picture of him running the ball against UCLA. In the end I ended up with an Angels/USA lapel pin, a Tim Salmon starting line up action figure as well as a Vlad card and Steve Young card for Nikki Sixx, and another Steve Young card for me. I felt good about my purchases and even managed to come in under my budget.

They even had the Honus Wagner baseball card. The last time it sold it pulled in 2.8 million. If only my Wally Joyner collection would be worth that.

After we looked at everything and were completely exhausted from walking all over the Baltimore Convention center, we headed to heart of Baltmore to Chaps Pit Beef for some lunch. We saw a lot more than we expected to in the parking lot of Chaps, and there are still a few questions and one in particular that need to be answered.

Our manly day was not over, as we headed back to Arlington, grabbed Scott, and Dan and headed to Bailey's to watch UFC 117. 

It was just the kind of manly day a guy needs once in a while.

Source: http://petechat.blogspot.com/2010/08/no-girls-allowed.html

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Angel with flower

<a href='http://stylishcode.blogspot.com'><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/xx49/armanmum/140.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 376px;" src="http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/xx49/armanmum/140.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a></a>Welcome to stylishcode.blogspot.com

Source: http://stylishcode.blogspot.com/2010/08/angel-with-flower.html

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