The great thing about Netflix is that it encourages you to rent DVDs you wouldn't normally pay money for. Recently Ben rented Jem, a show I remember from long ago. Watching it again brought on a flood of nostalgia. It's so weird that hot pink and assymmetrical clothing makes me think of my childhood.

For those who never knew Jem (or have forgotten), it's a Hasbro cartoon (the same universe as GI Joe and Transformers) which debuted in 1985. Jerrica Benton's father died and left her Synergy (below) a super computer which projects audio and visual holograms, so Jerrica and her friends (Aja, Shana, and Kimber) can become rock superstars.

Jerrica takes on the alterego Jem, causing much trouble for her boyfriend Rio, because he naturally falls for Jem as well. Meanwhile, The Misfits, a rival band, stop at nothing to try to ruin Jem and the Holograms' sucess. Each episode has three music videos. If you're lucky, it will have a chorus AND a verse.

I'm enjoying this show far too much for my age. I'm also realizing where I developed a warped sense of the world as a preteen. I didn't know universities were schools until I was in high school. I thought it was just a place where you lived after you graduated. Where would I get such a simplistic definition? Well, let's look at how Jem describes adult issues:

Episode 1: Jerrica and her friends live in a charity home she inherited from her father--but it's falling apart. "We need money to fix this place up" says a girl. "But where will we get money?" asks another. Jerrica replies "when my dad needed money, he would get it from Starlight Music." Cut to Jerrica walking past security into Starlight Music, the company she recently inherited. Eric (who owns the other half of Starlight) says "Jerrica, what are you doing here?" Jerrica replies " We need money." Eric says "I can't just give you the money." Jerrica says "But I own half this company." Eric replies "We'll see about that."

No wonder I had many strange ideas about how the world works.

Sing with me now the song Ben and I have been haunted by for the past week:
Jem! Jem is excitement. Ooo Jem! Jem is adventure!
Ooo, glamour and glitter, fashion and fame.
Jem, Jem is outrageous, truly truly truly outrageous!
Ooo Jem! The music's contageous, Outrageous!
Jem is my name, no one else is the same, Jem is my name!
Jem!

Amanda e-mailed, asking for suggestions for musicals to teach. I came up with this:

When I think of musicals, they tend to fall into 4 categories:
1) Musicals which most Americans know (or at least have heard of) or would recognize a song from it. Nevertheless, these shows deserve to be called "classics."
2) Musicals which are lesser known, but surely any thespian worth their spit can sing two or three songs from each.
3) Musicals that are already too well known (and may or may not live up to that reputation) and shouldn't be bothered with.
4) Delicious treasures which may not have any historical significance, but are gems to those who know them.

With that said, here is how I would categorize most of the musicals out there. I will includ in () significant notes and sometimes a song suggestion for each of the first two categories. Hmm, and since I'm putting so much effort into this, I'll post this on my blog as well (hey, I just did!). I love not working on Fridays!


1) Well known - every American should know these:
Oklahoma (Americana, Rogers and Hammerstein's first smash, first use of dance as a narrative tool rather than entertainment)
"People Will Say We're in Love"
South Pacific (Interracial relationships, nature vs. nurture)
My Fair Lady (Julie Andrews debut, good example of an adapted book musical)
Fiddler on the Roof (psychological musical about modernization)
"Miracle of Miracles" or "Do You Love Me?"
Guys and Dolls (clever use of vernacular in lyrics, costuming was contemporary in its time, yet now it's done as a period piece)
"Sue Me"
King and I (Racial tension, big skirts)
Man of La Mancha (another good example of an adapted book musical)
West Side Story (More choreography as narrative, another contemporary turned period piece, Bernstein and Sondheim)
"Tonight" or "America"
A Chorus Line (innovative narrative, first use of workshops)
"God I Hope I Get It" or "What I did for Love"--which is NOT about a person, it's about dance
Les Miserables (Best of the big budget Mackintosh)
"Do You Hear the People Sing"


2) Lesser known - every thespian should know these:
On the Town (Gotta get some Comden and Green, empowerment of women during WWII) "Let's Go to My Place"
The Music Man (Comforting Americana)
"Trouble"
Caberet (Dark, sexuality, innovative format)
"Wilkommen"
Chicago (Fosse, plays on the Caberet format, explores the cult of celebrity)
"We Both Reached for the Gun"
Company (innovative storytelling, dark musical about the people who probably go to see musicals [upper middle class])
"Company" or "Another Hundred People"
Hair (Rock musical, last time musicals intertwined popular music, great period piece)
"Hair" or "Aquarius"
Into the Woods (Sondheim's lyrics, so hard to choose one song!)
Rent (Updated opera-turned-musical, AIDS crisis)
"Would you light my Candle?" or "One Song Glory"
Ragtime (Great period piece, example of the modern coporate musical)
Lion King (Best of Disney's adapted movies, Taymor's direction)
"He Lives in You"

Already too well known - don't even bother including:
Cats
Phantom of the Opera
Grease
Sound of Music
Hello Dolly
Annie
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat

Delicious, but not necessary:
Sunset Boulevard
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Bye Bye Birdie
Kiss Me Kate
Damn Yankees
Victor/Victoria
Evita
Sweeney Todd
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Little Shop of Horrors
City of Angels
Once upon a Mattress
Ain't Misbehavin'
Tommy
Forever Plaid
You're a Good Man Charlie Brown
The Last Starfighter (Ben made me include it)


Key People
Musicians:
Richard Rogers
Oscar Hammerstein
Irving Berlin
Cole Porter
John Kander
Fred Ebb
Stephen Sondheim
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Actors:
Ethel Merman
Mary Martin
Julie Andrews
Joel Grey
George M. Cohen
Zero Mostel
Chita Rivera
Gwen Verdon
Choreographers:
Agnes DeMille
Jerome Robbins
Bob Fosse
Producers:
Cameron Mackintosh
Hal Prince

Molly does this weird pose when she hunts. I finally got it on film, er, pixels. She splays her arms out really flat. And she doesn't look directly at the object she's hunting. We had a lot of fun with this mouse today.

Yea, I'm 23! I hate prime number years...

Southern California was so richly green from all the rain.
Colorado looked downright dull when I got home.

You can submit your bid on the oscars electronically at Jeff's website: http://jeffc.zapto.org/oscars/.

Our latest movie is up! Check it out here.

From Brian:

Well, it's that time of year again - The magical season when people
are compelled to do crazy things like wager 5$ on whether that one
movie they never saw gets more votes than that other movie they never
saw. I hope you will all forgive me for copying and pasting last
year's instructions pretty much exactly (although there are a few bits
of new information, so I recommend reading it again). And even though
I say it down below, let me reiterate preemptively: Feel free to pass
this message on to anyone who might be interested. More entries =
more money for the winner.

So here's how it works. Select a winner in each category. Remember
to pick who you think will win, not who you think should win. Get the
ballot to me (Brian) along with $5 by midnight, February 26 (The night
before the Oscars). If you are planning to come over to the
Superhouse to watch the Oscars, you can email the ballot by midnight,
Feb. 26 and bring the cash when you come to watch the show. Either
way, I'll need the money before the ceremony starts.

As you can see, each category has been assigned a certain number of
points. If you guess the winner in a given category correctly, you
will receive that number of points. At the end of the night,
everyone's total points, along with the tiebreaker question, if
necessary, will be used to determine who gets to take home what part
of the pot. The money will be divided as follows:

60% to the first place winner
30% to the second place winner
10% to the third place winner.

If, even after the tiebreaker question is taken into account, there is
a tie for first place, the breakdown will be 45/45/10. If there is a
tie for second place, the breakdown will be 60/20/20. If there is a
tie for both, the breakdown will be 45/45/5/5. If there's an even
more complicated tie, we'll figure it out later.

If you're going to email a ballot, send it to (Rachel's e-mail).

Feel free to pass this message on to anyone you think may be
interested. . . remember, the more people that enter, the more money
you can win.

So, without further ado, here's the ballot:

NAME:
PHONE:
EMAIL:

Picture – 5 Points
__A The Aviator
__B Finding Neverland
__C Million Dollar Baby
__D Ray
__E Sideways

Actor – 4 Points
__A Don Cheadle – Hotel Rwanda
__B Johnny Depp – Finding Neverland
__C Leonardo DiCaprio – The Aviator
__D Clint Eastwood – Million Dollar Baby
__E Jamie Foxx – Ray

Actress – 4 Points
__A Annette Bening – Being Julia
__B Catalina Sandina Moreno – Maria Full of Grace
__C Imelda Staunton – Vera Drake
__D Hillary Swank – Million Dollar Baby
__E Kate Winslet – Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Supporting Actor – 4 Points
__A Alan Alda – The Aviator
__B Thomas Haden Church – Sideways
__C Jamie Foxx – Collateral
__D Morgan Freeman – Million Dollar Baby
__E Clive Owen – Closer

Supporting Actress – 4 Points
__A Cate Blanchett – The Aviator
__B Laura Linney – Kinsey
__C Virginia Madsen – Sideways
__D Sophie Okonedo – Hotel Rwanda
__E Natalie Portman – Closer

Director – 4 Points
__A Martin Scorsese – The Aviator
__B Clint Eastwood – Million Dollar Baby
__C Taylor Hackford – Ray
__D Alexander Payne – Sideways
__E Mike Leigh – Vera Drake

Original Screenplay – 4 Points
__A The Aviator
__B Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
__C Hotel Rwanda
__D The Incredibles
__E Vera Drake

Adapted Screenplay – 4 Points
__A Before Sunset
__B Finding Neverland
__C Million Dollar Baby
__D The Motorcycle Diaries
__E Sideways

Art Direction – 3 Points
__A The Aviator
__B Finding Neverland
__C Lemony Snickett's A Series of Unfortunate Events
__D The Phantom of the Opera
__E A Very Long Engagement

Cinematography – 3 Points
__A The Aviator
__B House of Flying Daggers
__C The Passion of the Christ
__D The Phantom of the Opera
__E A Very Long Engagement

Editing – 3 Points
__A The Aviator
__B Collateral
__C Finding Neverland
__D Million Dollar Baby
__E Ray

Score – 3 Points
__A Finding Neverland
__B Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
__C Lemony Snickett's A Series of Unfortunate Events
__D The Passion of the Christ
__E The Village

Foreign Language Film – 2 Points
__A As it is in Heaven
__B The Chorus
__C Downfall
__D The Sea Inside
__E Yesterday

Documentary Feature – 2 Points
__A Born into Brothels
__B The Story of the Weeping Camel
__C Super Size Me
__D Tupac: Resurrection
__E Twist of Fate

Costume Design – 2 Points
__A The Aviator
__B Finding Neverland
__C Lemony Snickett's A Series of Unfortunate Events
__D Ray
__E Troy

Sound Mixing– 2 Points
__A The Aviator
__B The Incredibles
__C The Polar Express
__D Ray
__E Spider-Man 2

Original Song – 2 Points
__A "Accidentally in Love" – Shrek 2
__B "Al Otro Lado Del Rio" – The Motorcycle Diaries
__C "Believe" – The Polar Express
__D "Learn to be Lonely" – The Phantom of the Opera
__E "Look to Your Path" – The Chorus

Live Action Short – 1 Point
__A Everything in This Country Mist
__B Little Terrorist
__C 7:35 in the Morning
__D Two Cars, One Night
__E Wasp

Animated Short – 1 Point
__A Birthday Boy
__B Gopher Broke
__C Guard Dog
__D Lorenzo
__E Ryan

Documentary Short Subject – 1 Point
__A Autism is a World
__B The Children of Leningradsky
__C Hardwood
__D Mighty Times: The Children's March
__E Sister Rose's Passion

Animated Feature -1 Point
__A The Incredibles
__B Shark Tale
__C Shrek 2

Makeup – 1 Point
__A Lemony Snickett's A Series of Unfortunate Events
__B The Passion of the Christ
__C The Sea Inside

Visual Effects – 1 Point
__A Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
__B I, Robot
__C Spider-Man 2

Sound Editing – 1 Point
__A The Incredibles
__B The Polar Express
__C Spider-Man 2

Tiebreaker – How many commercial breaks will there be during the show?
(between the "77th Annual Academy Awards" title card and the end
credits, not including commercials that play during the credits)

Ben is back in town! It sounds like he had a fun time driving across the county. But I'm happy he's home to take care of my cold. This cold has also hampered my efforts to plan the next movie saturday. I still need to gather costumes and storyboard the script because I haven't had the energy to do it yet. I hope I feel good enough tonight to go to ballet class. Let's see...not much else going on. So here's a couple fun links:
maps
names
art mash-ups