Watching NETFLIX's FOREVER and APPLE TV+s CAREME, we were reminded of the film CASABLANCA.
The 1942 film was a programmer and wasn't intended to be anything more. But WARNER BROS realized that they might have something more so they did a small December 1942 release to qualify it for the Academy Awards. Its real release was in January of 1943 and it came out with other early in the year films such as Hitchcock's SHADOW OF A DOUBT, Howard Hawk's largely forgotten AIR FORCE, the even more forgotten NO PLACE FOR A LADY and Howard Hughes' eventual blockbuster THE OUTLAW ("eventual" due to release schedule and censorship issues).
The studio's belief that the film was more than just another month's entertainment were justified when the Academy Award nominations were announced and the film garnered nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing. Two nominations it did not receive? Best Song or Best Actress.
"As Time Goes By" remains one of the most famous songs from a film; however, the Herman Hupfeld composition didn't qualify as one of the ten songs nominated that year because it was written years before for the Broadway musical EVERYBODY'S WELCOME. Best song nominees have to be songs written for the film.
The other MIA nomination? Ingrid Bergman for Best Actress. She was nominated that year, and for Best Actress, but for the film FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS which was considered a more prestigious film -- bigger budget, shot in color and the second biggest grossing film of the year (CASABLANCA came in seventh for the year).
FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS is not as strongly remembered today as CASABLANCA (which received Academy Awards for Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Film).
Watching the two new streaming programs may clarify what that is. FOREVER stars Lovie Simone and Michael Cooper Jr. Both will probably give excellent performances later in their careers, probably throughout their careers, but what they give here is what Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman gave in CASABLANCA: true chemistry.
That's why CASABLANCA became a hit and it's why the film remains a hit and the other top ten money makers of the year remain forgotten and forgettable ( FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS and THE SONG OF BERNADETTE are the most remember of the nine but even they aren't remembered very well).
Chemistry elevates FOREVER from a pleasant distraction to a must-see.
Lack of chemistry turns CAREME into a must-flee.
It tries so very hard, this tale of cooking and spying during the time of Napoleon. For goodness sake, it kicks off with cunnilingus and "cock" is said (hurled) three times in the first episode.
But it never captures you.
That's due to lack of chemistry and it's due to bad dubbing.
An upper class French aristocrat should never, for example, sound like a harsh voiced fish wife in Brooklyn. Details do, in fact, matter.
But the primary necessity is always chemistry.
The two shows made us recall CASABLANCA.
But real life can also make you think of TV shows.
Did you catch "Jacks Big Gay Wedding"? The tenth season finale of WILL & GRACE was written by Alex Herschlag and Suzanne Martin.
To bring you up to speed in case you missed it or forgot, Jack (Sean Hayes) and Estefan (Brian Jordan Alvarez) are going to Spain to get married; however, their flight is cancelled so they get married at the airport.
JACK (to Estefan): We have another problem. We don't have anybody to marry us.
MISS COCO: You. Big. Gay. Bitch. I just found out that you're getting married and you didn't invite me.
JACK: I know. I'm so sorry, we totally forgot.
MISS COCO: That bothers me, Jack. If I wasn't on my way to Tampa to marry my sister --
ESTEFAN: Hey. You cannot marry your sister.
JACK: In Florida, you can.
MISS COCO: I'm not marrying her, you dummies. I'm performing the ceremony. I'm ordained.
JACK: Wait, you can marry people? Would you ever consider like --
MISS COCO: Alright, I'll do it. For 75 bucks.
JACK: 25 bucks.
MISS COCO: 100.
JACK: 200.
MISS COCO: You got yourself deal.
We love Jack, we do. And it's hilarious watching him throw numbers around with no real understanding. But what's funny in a sitcom character is honestly frightening in a president.
Jack is a laughable idiot with a kind heart. Donald Chump is just an idiot.
While many on the right are taking bows after the U.S. agreed to a truce on trade talks with China, a prominent Fox Business reporter threw cold water on the idea that President Donald Trump has anything to celebrate.
In a series of posts to X early Monday, Fox Business Senior Correspondent Charles Gasparino delivered a blunt analysis of the drastic temporary tariff reduction by the U.S. and China and the 90-day pause before any further escalation.
“Both sides blinked,” Gasparino wrote. He quickly followed up by adding, “I didn’t say we won.”
In a subsequent post, Gasparino went further.
“Trump raised tariffs on the world, the markets, particularly the bond market — which we need to finance our debt–rebelled,” Gasparino wrote. “Trump then was forced to back off. End of story. Film at 11 of the president spinning this as a major victory. Ok sorry, I couldn’t help myself. But what we have seen is a little lesson on how markets exert their power, how when you have to depend on them as we still do (and remember it’s really the budget deficit thats causing the trade deficit and we need the budget deficit to maintain our standard of living) you can’t go to trade war with the world without bad stuff happening.”
He tanked the markets. Pots are empty. Now he's caved and wants to pretend like that was part of the plan. The damage he did has already had real financial costs and those aren't going away. Increased tariffs under Chump means increased prices. That's inflation.
And he's still has nothing long term in place. What happens in 90 days? How much uncertainty will markets allow for?
He destroyed the economy and when the markets showed Chump who was boss, he backed down. It was all for nothing -- outside of those in his inner circle who benefited from insider trading.
Again, we love Jack on WILL & GRACE; however, we would never, ever vote for him to become president. Somehow we got someone with all of Jacks stupidity and none of his kind heart.
If you're looking for stupid mixed with intolerance, look at Chump. But if you need a gay version, look at pinched-faced Richard Grenell who -- forced to choose between his face or his ass, chose his ass. He's at that age where you either put on a few pounds or all the fine lines on your face become deep engravings. He's slim and trim, yes, but he's also ghastly.
Just how ghastly?
Miss Grenell wants to play the victim. The damsel in distress, in fact. Greg Evans (DEADLINE) reports:
Richard Grenell, the Kennedy Center‘s interim director appointed by President Donald Trump, is blasting what he calls politically intolerant entertainers who won’t perform at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. due to Donald Trump’s newfound involvement with the venerable arts institution.
Grenell was most recently angered by yesterday’s exclusive CNN news report about a group of performers, numbering roughly a dozen, of the touring production of the musical Les Misérables [who plan to boycott the performance] when Trump attends a June 11 performance.
In a statement originally provided to Entertainment Weekly and then retweeted on Grenell’s X account, the special envoy seemed to be suggesting the creation of some sort of a Black List. He wrote last night, “Any performer who isn’t professional enough to perform for patrons of all backgrounds, regardless of political affiliation, won’t be welcomed. In fact, we think it would be important to out those vapid and intolerant artists to ensure producers know who they shouldn’t hire -- and that the public knows which shows have political litmus tests to sit in the audience.”
Trash has a lot of nerve calling others intolerant while he's part of the same administration that's fear mongering on trans people when not attacking and erasing the historical contributions of African-Americans. He's the intolerant one.
The intolerance comes from Chump and his appointees. McKinley Franklin (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER) explains:
Michael Feinstein is speaking out about the Kennedy Center event cancellations which led to the dismissal of a Pride program he was set to conduct.
In an Instagram post earlier this week, the singer and pianist slammed
the "recent Kennedy Center losses," noting them as
"government-sanctioned censorship." There, Feinstein shared his penned
"Fear of Queer?" essay, where he further discussed the cancellations.
"Recently, I was invited to conduct the National Symphony Orchestra, perform and speak at a program entitled ‘A Peacock Among Pigeons: Celebrating 50 Years of Pride' at The Kennedy Center, which celebrated the rainbow of influences upon art, music and our entire culture," Feinstein began. "This program was abruptly and unceremoniously canceled."
"These recent Kennedy Center losses may well be defined in the years ahead, as the 21st century government-sanctioned censorship and silencing of creativity, regardless of value, based strictly on sexual orientation," he wrote.
Michael's comments follow those of Harvey Fierstein's -- per Molly Higgings PLAYBILL:
Tony winner Harvey Fierstein—whose work includes Kinky Boots, La Cage aux Folles, Hairspray, and more—has taken to Instagram to share his response to President Donald Trump's takeover as chairman of the Kennedy Center's board.
Trump previously vowed to ban drag shows at the institution, and Fierstein said that would include his own shows.
"I have been in the struggle for our civil rights for more than 50 years only to watch them snatched away by a man who actually couldn't care less," Fierstein wrote. "This is how freedom ENDS! Trump may have declared 'woke' as dead in America. We must prove him wrong."
Richard tried to lie -- it's his default setting -- but no one believes him.
All these years of watching Glenn Greenwald spout his sexism and his racism should have taught you that White Gay Republicans are digusting. For decades people have tried to understand the Log Cabin Republicans. The Lincoln Logs? They're racist and sexist and that's why -- despite being gay -- they remain Republicans.
They also have no cultural skills. That's why they think it's cool that The Kennedy Center today is like some yokel attraction in Branson, Missouri.
Richard's a liar, a sexist and a racist. He's also the elderly gay that all other gay men point to and laugh at. And he's okay with that. He's okay with anything just as long as it's not his fellow (homophobic) GOPers making fun of him and his prolapsed anus, as long as they aren't making jokes about Mister Fistee. See Richard sold his soul to stay in the GOP. The deal he made was this: He'd never speak honestly about his life as long as the other Republicans tossed him crumbs and waited until he was almost out of the room to shout the three-letter F-word.
For Republican gay men, that passes for self-respect.
Sometimes art reminds you of life. And Chump and Grenell demonstrate that sometimes life just reminds you of trash.
