Best Actress Playlist

A couple of weeks ago, I randomly noticed that in my iTunes I had three songs whose titles corresponded to the titles of three of Bette Davis' Oscar nominations. I thought this was a funny coincidence so I tried to see if I could come up with any others. I didn't--you try finding a song called Mr. Skeffington!--but it got me thinking about what other Best Actress-titled songs I could find in my iTunes. Here's what I came up with, in order of the Oscar nomination:

Ann Harding, Holiday

'Holiday' by Green Day
'Holiday' by Madonna

Bette Davis, Dangerous

'Dangerous' by Monrose

Norma Shearer, Romeo & Juliet

'Romeo and Juliet' by The Killers

Bette Davis, Jezebel

'Jezebel' by Chely Wright

Irene Dunne, Love Affair

'Was it Just Another Love Affair?' by The Eurythmics

Bette Davis, The Letter

'The Letter' by Michael Johns and Carly Smithson

Susan Hayward, My Foolish Heart

'My Foolish Heart' by Paula Abdul

Katharine Hepburn, Summertime

'Summertime' by Fantasia Barrino

Faye Dunaway, Bonnie and Clyde

'03 Bonnie & Clyde' by Jay-Z and Beyoncé

Ali MacGraw, Love Story

'Love Story' by Taylor Swift

Liza Minnelli, Cabaret

'Cabaret' by Liza Minnelli

Barbra Streisand, The Way We Were

'The Way We Were' by Barbra Streisand

Bette Midler, The Rose

'The Rose' by Bette Midler

Gena Rowlands, Gloria

'Gloria' by Laura Branigan

Sissy Spacek, Missing

'Missing' by Everything But the Girl

Jessica Lange, Sweet Dreams

'Sweet Dreams' by Beyoncé
'Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)' by The Eurythmics

Jessica Lange, The Music Box

'Music Box Dancer' by Frank Mills

Kathy Bates, Misery

'Misery' by P!nk and Steven Tyler

Angela Bassett, What's Love Got to Do With It?

'What's Love Got to Do With It' by Tina Turner

Elisabeth Shue, Leaving Las Vegas

'Leaving Las Vegas' by Sheryl Crow

Juliette Binoche, Chocolat

'Chocolate' by Kylie Minogue

Judi Dench, Iris

'Iris' by The Goo Goo Dolls

Diane Lane, Unfaithful

'Unfaithful' by Rihanna

Charlize Theron, Monster

'Monster' by Lady GaGa

Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line

'I Walk the Line' by Johnny Cash

And, in case you're missing any and want to complete this amazing playlist, click on this link and you can download them.

I know this playlist is hardly exhaustive, so does anyone have any suggestions? There's a song from the 80's called 'Suddenly, Last Summer' but I wasn't able to find it online. And there has to be songs called 'Queen,' 'Blue Sky' and 'A Man and a Woman,' but I haven't come across them. I'm hoping some of my more music savvy peeps can help out in that regard. Bonus points to anyone who can find a song called 'The Story of Adèle H.'

What I Liked and Didn't Like About Sex and the City 2

Liked
1. No Children Allowed (for Carrie and Big at least) Even in 2010, there seems to be this stigma that every married couple should want to have children, and, if they don't, they are selfish, horrible people. Not every couple is meant to raise kids nor should they want to, contrary to what the random couple at the wedding tells Carrie and Big. Kudos to the film for not apologizing for this stance and for not making Carrie and Big have a sudden change of heart at the end of the film (which I constantly feared they would).
2. Samantha's Meltdown "CONDOMS!...I HAVE SEX!...FUCK YOU, I'M AMERICAN!" This was quite literally the funniest meltdown I've seen since Cate Blanchett's immortal "HERE. I. AMMMMM!" in Notes on a Scandal.
3. Liza Minnelli The bitch has still got it. And it's crazy how much she sounds like her mother.
4. Inadvertent Humor I don't know which of these is funner: the idea of sex goddess Penélope Cruz as the president of the Bank of Barcelona, Kim Cattrall telling a group of young gay men, "I'm all natural! I've never had work done!" or the fact that both of these moments happen in the film irony-free.
5. Gay This whole film was shitting unicorns and rainbows. Brokeback Mountain seemed less gay than this film. There were so many "gay inhale" moments throughout the film I'm surprised some queen didn't pass out from a lack of oxygen.
6. Women Can Have It All There is one moment which sheds some light on what I presume the grand "point" of Sex and the City has come to be over the years. Miranda and Charlotte decide to have a drink at the bar in their hotel room when Miranda decides to try to get Charlotte to unload her motherhood guilt. To get her to open up, Charlotte says something to the effect of, "Men want women to either choose to be happy in their careers or with their family. They can't have it both because something's got to give." The Sex and the City women have always drawn a lot of unwarranted criticism for being superficial clotheswhores who live in another dimension that doesn't resemble the real world. But this isn't entirely true. Sure, they live in an escapist fantasy version of the real world, much like the world of Top Hat or any number of 1930's films, but they at least acknowledge some of the problems women have to deal with. It's still a man's world, unfortunately, and judging by the male critics' reaction to this film, they refuse to see things differently. Women can have it all, but it's the men who make them feel guilty for wanting to have it all. And, heaven forbid, if they want a few days for themselves away from their responsibilities, they are the worst women and mothers in the world...

Didn't Like
1. But How? ...The main problem with Sex and the City 2 is the fact that it really doesn't discuss this issue as in-depth as it should. I understand that this film is escapist fun, but in a movie with a 2.5 hour runtime, more than 3 minutes could have been devoted to defending themselves from all of the rabid haters.
2. Loss of Characterization I've never seen an episode of the TV series and my only exposure to these women is through the first movie (which I only saw for J. Hud!) so maybe this isn't my place to say, but I felt like even between the first and second films, the characters seemed to have undergone some whitewashing. Sure, Samantha was still a whore, but the other three felt less interesting as women this go-around. Miranda especially, who is my SATC doppelganger, wasn't a character so much as she was an encyclopedia of Middle Eastern knowledge.
3. Puns The phrase "interfuntion" is uttered at one point. Enough said.
4. "Haha, Aren't These Jokes Clever?" The one-liners felt so forced at some points. Not only where they completely artificial, earmarked as clever by the writer, but then the characters all had to laugh after every damn joke like it was the funniest thing ever said. For whatever reason, this irritates me in comedies more than anything else. It's not funny watching characters crack up at their own jokes.
5. The Fashion Listen, I'm all for women of a certain age embracing their sexuality and expressing themselves through designer fashions. But there comes a point when wearing some of the outfits Carrie and Samantha have to endure becomes embarrassing. There is a way to be sexy over 45 without having to dress like Miley Cyrus.

Overall Rating: C

Anna Kendrick as Sally Bowles...Sort Of

Just when I thought Anna Kendrick couldn't be any more amazing, a friend of mine showed me the above clip of her performing "Life Upon the Wicked Stage" from Show Boat with the Kit Kat Club dancers from Cabaret. Make sure to pay attention for the recreation of Liza Minnelli's immortal "Mein Herr" dance from the film version with Anna gamely taking over the reins. Oh, and did I mention that this was performed in 1999 when Anna was 14? Good God, can someone get this woman a role in a movie musical ASAP? Surely there must be some casting agent/producer who thinks that Kendrick would be a better choice than Vanessa Hudgens.

The Moment I Became Infatuated With Kathy Griffin

I try not to think of it, but there was a time when Two-Time Emmy Award-Winner Kathy Griffin was not a part of my life. I remember the day I was first acquainted with the D-List Diva. My parents had just gotten the Bravo channel and we kept seeing these commercials for a comedienne who was making fun of Britney Spears and Whitney Houston. Needless to say, I didn't need anyone to ask me twice to see what she was all about. The special was her Bravo debut, The D-List, and today marks the fifth anniversary of its release. Right from the opening, when she proclaimed that Britney Spears was "our new Liza," I knew I was going to like her. However, it was this monologue below that truly converted me to the ways of Kathy Griffin. I swear, the first time I saw this I was laughing so hard, I was shaking and couldn't catch my breath for the longest time. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship that, fortunately, has only grown stronger with time.

And now it's time for Sharon Stone to get up there and do her opening statements, right. So she goes up and looks, she holds the podium and looks out in the audience and she says, totally seriously, she goes like this, "You know, ummm, I've spoken about this topic so many times, I don't know if there's anything new I can say about it. So, I'm going to read you something I once read a long. time. ago." And everyone's looking at each other, "What is she...?" I don't know. So...right, it's kinda weird, right? So, then she takes out a piece of paper and goes like this, totally seriously, she goes like this, "Imagine there's...no heaven/It's easy...if you try/No hell below us/Above us only sky"...At this point, I get what I like to call the "church giggles." That's when you're laughing, inappropriately at an inappropriate time and you can't stop, no matter what. I mean I got the shoulders going like this. *starts shaking* I'm crying a little bit. Here's the thing: Sharon Stone is reciting the lyrics to "Imagine" and CRYING AT HER OWN PERFORMANCE....that's funny! I'm only human! Alright, so then she stops and goes, "Wow, ummm, that reminds me. I was walking down the street here in New York many years ago and I passed a man and he passed me. And I went, 'Whoa, that's John Lennon.' And I smiled at him and he smiled at me." In the mean time, I'm watching this thinking, "Oh, I though John Lennon was so into Yoko. No, he's cruising the park, hitting on Sharon Stone." And then she goes, "And then we smiled at each other and then walked away...You may say, I'm a dreamer." Alright, she finishes and I look around and there are people literally moved to tears. I'm fucked! 'Cause if they like that, they're not going to like me and my vagina jokes!

Don't Tell Mama...Dame Judi Dench is Sally Bowles!

In 1968, four years before Bob Fosse's drastically different film version hit the movie screens, Kander & Ebb's Cabaret was making its West End debut with the one and only Dame Judi Dench (before she was a Dame...it's tough for me to imagine a world in which she was just Judi Dench) in the lead role. Here's a number called "Don't Tell Mama" that was cut from the film version:

Don't forget that in the stage version, Sally is supposed to be a third-rate performer with very little talent, so that's why Dame Judi's singing is kinda off. Wasn't Dame Judi quite the looker back in the day (not that she doesn't turn heads today)? Meow! I really wish I could see this whole performance or, at the very least, hear the whole cast recording but I don't think there's a copy in existence. Such a shame because this feels like an essential performance in Dame Judi's career. And, as always, it looks like she completely nailed it.

One of These Things Doesn't Belong...