My ranking of most of Stephen Sondheim's scores

I'm doing this because Sage's ranking of The Golden Girls (I love that show as well) inspired me to do a post that didn't have anything to do with film or the Oscars. And being a huge Sondheim fan, I'm also doing this for fun. So, here it is:

1. Into The Woods: Not everyone loves it as much as I do, but it is my favorite of all of his scores. It is thought provoking, heartbreaking, funny, ect. The entire cast is great, especially Joanna Gleason and Bernadette Peters.

2. Sweeney Todd: This show is probably considered to be Sondheim's best. Although it isn't my personal favorite, it comes close. A very powerful,disturbing,and emotional score.

3. Company: Very beautiful and insightful. All of the songs are great,but my favorites are: Company, The Little Things You Do Together, Another Hundred People, Barcelona, and The Ladies Who Lunch.

4. Follies: A score which grew on me considerably. Stirring and simply brilliant. Original version is the best,even though it isn't complete.

5. A Little Night Music: Just wonderful. Favorite songs are: A Glamorous Life, You Must Meet My Wife, Every Day A Little Death, A Weekend In The Country, Send In The Clowns, and The Miller's Son.

6. Sunday In The Park With George: Hmm, took me a little time to get used to, (The show itself is a mixed bag and Mandy Patinkin is extremely annoying in the first act), but is eventually rewarding.

7. Assassins: Has a few tracks that I skip, but it still works. Unworthy Of Your Love is truly haunting as is the rest of the score.

As for the rest, I never really got into Passion, Pacific Overtures, and Merrily We Roll Along and I don't count West Side Story and Gypsy since he just wrote the lyrics and I've never listened to A.F.T.H.O.T.W.T.F. So if you care enough to comment, what do you think of Sondheim? What score do you think is his best work?

My thoughts on the awards season so far

This year is not as exciting for me as it was last year. There were more films that I wanted to see and a lot more of contenders that were released before December. The only three ''award contender'' films I've seen are A Bright Star, An Education, and Precious. I absolutely hated A Bright Star and I had favorable to mixed feeling about An Education. Let me just get this out of the way: What's the deal with Mulligan? I mean, she was good, and most likely nomination worthy,but Oscar-caliber? No. Despite my opinion, she's the hot favorite right now to win Best Actress. As for Precious, I really liked it. Maybe the fantasy scenes got a bit much at times, but the performances were great and the script was solid. Well, the Golden Globe nominations came out today and it looks like the Best Picture race is a three way race between The Hurt Locker, Precious, and Up In The Air. Nine might be able to gain some steam,but it's gotten mixed reviews so far. The Lovely Bones used to be the frontrunner,but after seeing the trailer I thought it would back fire and it looks like it did,given that has a 43 % on Rotten Tomatoes according an Oscar site that I follow. Best Actor seems to be between Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart), Morgan Freeman (Invictus), George Clooney (Up In The Air), and Colin Firth (A Single Man). Best Supporting Actor is a total mystery to me and it looks like Monique is dominating the Supporting Actress race. So,tell me,who do you think will win and/or be nominated this year? What are your thoughts on the awards season so far?

Judy Garland in A Star Is Born

Guess Who's Coming To Dinner? review

I wasn't planning to watch this film today. I watched about half of A Room At The Top on my computer and I was going to finish it but I watched G.W.C.T.D instead on TV (thanks for giving me the link to it anyway Sage and I might rewatch it). I have to say that I didn't like it at all. It's a horribly dated film which is extremely hard to take. On the plus side,Spencer Tracy and Sidney Poiter delivered strong performances and Tracy's big speech at the end is quite good. As for Hepburn,I don't think that she deserved her Oscar.She is not bad,but her performance is dull and not Oscar-caliber. But I do think that her role is a leading one. Yes,her role is underwritten,but she and Tracy are co-leads. But when I do a Best Actress ranking,she'll probably rank somewhere near the end. But tell me what do you think of this film? Do you disagree with anything I've said about it? Do you think Hepburn deserved to win?

Sissy Spacek in Carrie

My top 10 Best Supporting Actress winners (as of now)

Note:I'm in the process of seeing most of the Best Actress winners so I can do a ranking like Sage (Again,thank you SO much for sending me the links for most of the Best Actress winners that I haven't seen yet!)did and what Fritz is doing right now,but I'l probably not do a Best Supporting Actress ranking anytime soon,so just enjoy this for now. Also,this list is different from the list that I originally had in mind and posted a while ago,both in new performances being added and others being taken out and the descending order.10.Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny: A terrific comic performance which is incredibly enjoyable. 9: Beatrice Straight in Network:In only 6 minutes of screen time,Straight is absolutely unforgettable. 8. Cloris Leachman in The Last Picture Show:Heartbreaking,powerful,and subtle portrayal. 7. Sandy Dennis in Who's Afraid Of Virginia Wolf?:The transformation that Dennis goes through in this film is mesmerizing to watch. 6. Rachel Weisz in The Constant Gardener:Brilliant performance. Enough said! 5. Eileen Heckart in Butterflies Are Free:Heckart is just wonderful in this and becomes the center of the film. 4. Diane Wiest in Hannah And Her Sisters:I just LOVE,LOVE,LOVE,this performance and movie. 3. Catherine Zeta-Jones in Chicago:The most hated performance that is in my top ten. But I was blown away by her. 2. Angelina Jolie in Girl Interupted: An incredible performance which dominates the entire film. And #1. Shirley Jones in Elmer Gantry:When I first watched the video "My favorite Supporting Actress winners" that Sage posted on Youtube,Jones's clip struck a chord in me. After seeing Elmer Gantry last night,I was amazed by Jones. She delivers a stunning performance which I loved from her first scene to her last. So tell me,who are your favorites? Which of my choices do you like or dislike?

Films I've seen recently

The Heiress:I loved this film. Not only was I blown away by Dehavilland's performance,the script,direction,and the other performances were great as well. The Lion In Winter: Wow. I loved this movie as well!. Hepburn was AMAZING and she and O'toole have great chemistry.Hud:A very strong movie as well. Paul Newman was excellent and both Neal and Douglas completely deserved their Oscars. The Rose Tattoo: The 1st half was good,but the film fell WAY down in the 2nd half. Not only was Burt Lancaster terrible,but the relationship between his character and Anna Magnani wasn't conceived very well and it just didn't make sense. However,Magnani is able to rise above this and deliver a brilliant performance. The Good Earth: Didn't really like this movie. Not bad,but it just wasn't my type of film. A good performance by Louise Rainer,although I wish her character was a little more. The Country Girl: A movie that just didn't have much of a plot,in my opinion. Good,but not great performances by Bing Crosby and William Holden,but the film was just alright. Grace Kelly stole the movie with her knock-out portrayal and, in my opinion, deserved her Oscar. Which brings me too............... A Star Is Born: Both Judy Garland and James Mason are outstanding in this. And although,as I said above,I felt that Kelly was deserving,Garland was still incredible,especially when she sings "The man that got away". Note:I also saw Klute and Howard's End recently,but I don't want to include to many films in my post.Please comment! I hate it when I get zero comments.