Ken riffs from topic to topic; everything from Jean Smart’s new show “Hacks,” to Toronto, Kurtwood Smith, Gal Gadot, a power failure, making Claire Danes laugh, advice from Red Barber, and getting smacked by Wayne Newton.
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No bathrooms? That's what station trash cans are for!
ReplyDeleteI also agree that Toronto is an amazingly clean city. Last there on a family vacation in 1974, it was like being in Emerald City on The Wizard of Oz. We were wandering around on a Sunday afternoon downtown,not a weed in site, no trash anywhere. Buildings amazingly clean. But.....nobody anywhere on foot and hardly any cars. We found an open door on one business stuck our heads in and yelled hello, the owner came wandering out from back and said "Thanks for stopping in but we're closed." I said "But your door's unlocked." He said there was no need to lock it. I was thinking "that'd never happen in the USA.!" It'd be doubled-bolted deadlocks, wire grate pulled across every window and door and probably be electrified just to be sure.
ReplyDeleteLoved going to Toronto. I read the Movenpick closed permanently last year- saddens me because on every trip we'd make at least one visit there- in addition to the food it was conveniently located close to the Hockey Hall of Fame. RE: the candy counter- Coffee Crisp! "Makes a Nice, Light Snack!"
ReplyDeleteComment unrelated to this particular post, just something I wanted to send in:
ReplyDeleteI'm dying laughing at Matt LeBlanc in EPISODES and after searching your blog, was disappointed that you didn't follow it much beyond (what you perceived as) a jump-the-shark moment in the first season. I would be ENTHRALLED to read your commentary on the entire show specifically because it lampoons the entire TV industry one piece at a time - stalkers, sleeping with the boss to get somewhere, vanity and ego of the stars, the losing battles of the writers, the struggle between genuineness and Hollywood's glitz, hollow suits, etc. As the five seasons unfold, they're continually unearthing more stereotypes of Hollywood and highlighting its absurdity via nuggets of truth. If you'd ever consider giving it a comprehensive revisit, I would LOVE to hear your take on the entire series.
I live in Toronto. It's nothing but condo buildings now. Every available space is being filled with condo buildings. When you used to come in on the highway you would have a great view of The Royal York Hotel. Now the view is of condo buildings. When u go to downtown parks you see homeless tents. On top of it our government botched the covid response and we are just starting to ease out of restrictions now. Hopefully by September things might be fully opened. Lots of places had to close down for good. I don't think movenpick is around anymore Ken.
ReplyDeleteReferences in the same podcast to Jean Smart and Kurtwood Smith! Two cast members from the movie 'Flashpoint.' If you'd brought up Treat Williams or Rip Torn, you could've had a trifecta.
ReplyDeleteNext month represents the 40th anniversary of the release of the movie ARTHUR (July 17,1981). I remembered that it went 2 for 4 on Oscar Night. I decided to look up what other films are celebrating their 40th anniversary and see if I agreed with Oscar choices that year.
ReplyDeleteIf you asked people what film won Best Picture that year most would probably say RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. RAIDERS and CHARIOTS OF FIRE each won four Academy Awards that night (with RAIDERS winning an additional special Oscar). REDS and ON GOLDEN POND won three.(ON GOLDEN POND would be another thing I hate that other people love.) ARTHUR was the other multiple winner.
That was the year Barbara Stanwyck received an Honorary Oscar. In her speech she paid respect to William Holden, who died a few months earlier.
As good as John Gielgud was I would have voted for Jack Nicholson or Howard Rollins Jr. ARTHUR also won for Best Song. I would have picked the Bond song or the song from RAGTIME, that way Randy Newman wouldn’t have had to wait another twenty years for his first Oscar.
I realize that Henry Fonda winning for Pond was more a Life Achievement Oscar but I think Dudley Moore, or Burt Lancaster, should have won.(That On Golden Pond won Best Adapted Screenplay still astonishes me.)
Steve Gordon losing Best Original Screenplay to CHARIOTS OF FIRE is the big head scratcher. The most memorable thing about Chariots is that musical score.
Looking back at the nominees, I was surprised to see that many have fallen by the wayside. I haven’t come across On Golden Pond, Atlantic City or Ragtime in a long time. I liked REDS (Maureen Stapleton was the youngest of the Acting winners; Fonda,Hepburn and Gielgud were all in their mid-70’s) but wanted to love it. Still cant believe that CHARIOTS won Best Picture. ABSENCE OF MALICE has that great Wilfred Brimley scene at the end but not much else.
As far as I’m concerned RAIDERS and ARTHUR are the two that stand up the best after forty years.
it might be interesting to ask your readers who they would have voted for if they’d have had a vote for that year’s Academy Awards.
Wayne Newton also had a hit with Red Roses For A Blue Lady. That's when I first heard of him.
ReplyDeleteScottmc- Chariots of Fire bored me to tears. But it had just won Best Picture, and I wondered if that had impacted my perception.
ReplyDeleteArthur probably wouldn't get made now. I've been known to say, to someone making a prosaic announcement, "I'll alert the media."