RIP Elizabeth Taylor

Many of people from "my generation" who haven't taken the time to investigate the career of the one and only Elizabeth Taylor (she hated to be called "Liz") would probably only know her as an actress that they're meant to like, but who's more famous for marrying a lot of men, releasing perfume, being kooky with Michael Jackson, funny award show mix-ups, AIDS fundraisers and The Flintstones.

I keep meaning to watch more of Dame Elizabeth's films, but get sidetracked. I have, however, seen the performances that are routinely hailed as her best - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Giant, Suddenly Last Summer, A Place in the Sun and Little Women. She is even responsible for the one of the greatest and most poignant moments of The Simpsons' 22 years. Who can forget Elizabeth in that slinky white dress, cooing at Paul Newman as "Maggie the Cat" in Hot Tin Roof? Or, most vital of all, starring as "Martha", sparring with Richard Burton's ""George in Virginia Woolf? Anybody who thinks of her as just a celebrity with a couple of good roles needs to seriously revisit.




Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
General Hospital (bloopers) | The Simpsons
As I've already alluded to, my first on screen experience with Elizabeth Taylor was in the 1994 film adaptation of The Flintstones as "Pearl Slaghoople". A misnomer of a beginning for sure. If anybody from my age group hasn't explored Taylor's amazing filmography - and given the sort of readers that I get here, I'm sure that's the case for nobody, but you never know - then run, don't walk, to the, er, online DVD rental service you use and get to it. RIP Elizabeth Taylor.

Christina Aguilera Getting Her Lines Wrong... in Burlesque!

Yes, yes, Christina Aguilera apparently flubbed the lines to the American national anthem - which amuses me because, here in Australia, it's quite rare to find anyone who knows all the lyrics to our anthem! Conclusion: Xtina should move to Australia, a country that has spent years discussing how much we hate our national anthem and would rather use a song about a man who steels sheep and then kills himself in a lake!! - but if you ask me, her greatest go at making professional mistakes is this clip reel of Burlesque bloopers.

Other than Christina stating "I nearly sang that line!" and other wagon wheel watusi whoopsiedaisies there is Cher taking multiple takes of a closeup of her feet, Cam Gigandet's "Famous Amos" cookie box surprise and general Stanley Tucci sexiness. So, let's face it, if you must watch one video where Christina Aguilera gets her lines wrong MAKE IT THIS ONE!

Scream to Scream, Scene by Scene: SCENE 12 of Scream (0:38:20-0:41:08)

In this project I attempt to review the entire Scream trilogy scene by scene in chronological order. Heavy spoilers and gore throughout!

SCENE 12
Length: 2min 48secs
Primary Characters: Sidney Prescott, Gale Weathers, Tatum Riley, Deputy Dewey, Kenny the Cameraman
Pop Culture References:

• The Exorcist (Linda Blair cameo as "Obnoxious Reporter")
• A Nightmare on Elm Street (Tatum wears a shirt with the same jersey number as Johnny Depp in the original Elm Street film)
  

Another amazing scene because it is the first in which Courteney Cox's Gale Weathers truly takes centre stage and that, dear readers, is a cause for celebration.

But first...


"So how does it feel to be almost brutally butchered! People wanna know, they have a right to know! HOW DOES IT FEEL?"
That would be Linda Blair of The Exorcist fame. I think it's quite incredible to have someone like that in a movie such as Scream. If it were Scream 2 or the cameo-heavy Scream 3 then I'd understand, but what possessed the makers to even attempt to get Linda Blair for this movie that, at the time, was hardly a big popular brand. "Yeah, let's get Regan from The Exorcist for a cameo!" Then again, it would've have been hard since Blair made her post-Exorcist career out of making movies with titles like Roller Boogie, Hell Night, Chained Heat, Banished Women (aka Savage Island), SFX Retaliator, Prey of the Jaguar and the sequel to Zapped! entitled, ingeniously, Zapped Again! as well as TV appearances on shows such as MacGyver, Murder She Wrote and The Love Boat playing a character called "Muffy". She clearly used that childhood fame and put it towards passion-filled projects, didn't she?


I really like this moment. Don't ask me why, I just do.


"Stop right there!"
I know I can't keep mentioning how great Gale Weathers is every single time she shows up in a scene - although I have done that for Rose's Tatum, so... - but, really, when she keeps providing amazing moments like this (hell, the entire scene is a Gale tour de force) then how can I help it?

And how about this exchanged between Sidney and Gale? Great stuff.


"I'm not here to fight, I just need to talk."
"Kenny. Camera. Now."
"Off the record, no cameras. Please. You owe me"
"I owe you shit."
"You owe my mother!"
I love how in the following exchange, where Gale defends Cotton Weary, she actually sorta kinda nearly almost comes off as a decent person who's actually interested in the wellfare of another human being.

Until...


"An innocent man on death row, a killer still on the loose... do you know what that could do for my book sales?"
Blessed are the angels who... somethingsomething I LOVE YOU GALE!


Meanwhile, backtracking ever so slightly, there is of course the revelation of what may indeed be the truth behind the death of Sidney's mother on year earlier. I must say, if I was following the story on the news I'd find Cotton's story hard to swallow: getting drunk and accidentally leaving a jacket behind at the house of the married woman you're having an affair with to then have the jacket leave on the back of someone else who in turn left it in Cotton's car. Sounds awfully far-fetched, don't you think?


"Nice welt, Sweety!"
Seriously. Tatum. Amazing.


"I'm sorry I mangled your face."
One of my favourite Sidney lines, probably because it sounds so unlike her.

Lastly, I did a search for Scream bloopers on YouTube and found bloopers for the two sequels, but not the original! Disappointing because the bloopers from this scene (featured on the DVD) are really funny. Courteney Cox spends about 5 minutes getting one line right. Naturally it's funnier to actually see it than have it described to you. Although while we're speaking of bloopers here are Scream 2's and Scream 3's. Why not.


'til next time
Intro, Scene 1 Scene 2, Scene 3, Scene 4, Scene 5, Scene 6, Scene 7, Scene 8, Scene 9, Scene 10, Scene 11