Ann Leary, author of The Good House
Author of The Good House
Photo by Katie Hylen
I hope everything you gave and received for Hannukkah/Christmas brought you all joy this season. I’m doing our final end-of-the-year charitable contributions so I’m still enjoying a little bit of the Christmas spirit. My favorite gift this year? Denis and the kids gave me an ERG rowing machine! You know, so I can train for my title.
I made Denis watch this movie with me tonight, again. Can’t explain why I love it so much. SO corny and dated, and yet…
Comme nos voix ba da ba da da da da da da
Chantent tout bas ba da ba da da da da da da
Nos cœurs y voient ba da ba da da da da da da
Sigh
Today, at 2:00 PM(ET) tune into WHDD-91.9FM to listen to my IN HOUSE interview with Milos Forman. You can listen to to it as it’s broadcast by clicking on the WHDD link above, or anytime after the interview by clicking here.
Here’s a shot of Milos standing next to what appears to be a giant Oscar:
He won the Oscar for this:
And this:
And was robbed for films like this:
And began his career with films like this:
Join my discussion with the engaging and brilliant Mr. Forman this Saturday at 2:00 on IN HOUSE.
I was out all day and when I arrived home I found bits of white fluff all over our floor. I followed the trail of fluff to the living room where I learned that the girls had decided to destroy their “puppy”.
They have been taking turns gently carrying this stuffed animal around for over a year – I actually thought that they sort of thought it was their puppy. I have no idea what made them decide to suddenly commit infanticide. When I removed it, to photograph how they had gnawed off one of its eyes, Daphne made a lunge for the other!
This beautiful image is a still from Milos Forman’s film, Loves of a Blonde, which was made in 1965 in Czechoslovakia and was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. You might be more familiar with Mr. Forman’s American films which include One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ragtime, Amadeus, Hair, The People vs. Larry Flynt among many others.
I know it’s only Monday, but I have to start raving about this Saturday’s IN HOUSE Radio program, because in it, I interview Milos Forman. The man is so fascinating and sexy and charming (his wife Martina is too young and beautiful to be jealous) that I could listen to him tell stories all day.
So, I’ve been a little busy, these past 24 hours. Yesterday I had three interviews – two in which I was the interviewer for my new radio show, IN HOUSE, and one in which I was being interviewed about my book, Outtakes from a Marriage. I’ve gotten so caught up in this radio thing that I was a little confused when the other radio hosts asked me questions about my book.
“What’s that you say?” I wanted to ask, “Am I to understand that I have written some sort of …book?”
Last night we attended a screening of Recount, the new HBO film about the 2000 election fiasco in Florida.
The film stars Denis, Kevin Spacey, Laura Dern, John Hurt, Tom Wilkinson among many others, and it was directed by Jay Roach (Meet The Family, all the Austin Powers movies). The performances are all wonderful, of course, with that cast, but what really makes the movie outstanding is the great script, written by a formerly unknown screenwriter named Danny Strong. If you go to the HBO/Recount website, you will find an interview with Mr. Strong, which I found very interesting.
Not that you were asking, but I came up with the name of my new novel,
after Denis and I watched Ingmar Bergman’s Scenes From a Marriage, one night last winter.
Scenes From a Marriage was recently re-released on DVD. It’s very long, as it was originally a series on Swedish Television. It’s shot like a documentary but it’s a drama. Like a Christopher Guest film – only not funny. And artfully shot. It’s beautifully shot (okay, it’s not like a Christopher Guest film at all.)
The other night we attended a screening of our friend Peter Tolan’s new film, “Finding Amanda,” which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. Peter is the co-creator/writer/producer of Denis’s FX show “Rescue Me,” as well as the writer of major television and film hits such as, “Analyze This”, “Guess Who,” “The Larry Sanders Show,” and “Murphy Brown.” “Finding Amanda,” stars Matthew Broderick and is a really funny movie about a gambling addict who must go to Vegas to rescue his wayward niece.
There was a press line outside the screening. Here’s Denis being interviewed:
