Royalty
RIP Dame Diana Rigg, 82, at home on the big and small screen and the stage. Her career spanned 1959 until the present. Two productions in which she participated will be released posthumously. She spent part of her childhood in India, where she learned to speak Hindi. She was a graduate of the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. She shot to fame in the mid ‘60’s as Emma Peel in The Avengers, wowing male baby-boomers. My mom didn’t understand a word of what was being said on the show, but she laughed out loud whenever Mrs. Peel used her martial arts skills to throw males around, long before women out-muscling men became the cliche it is now. She was also a Bond Girl opposite George Lazenby in the highly entertaining On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969). At one time TV Guide dubbed her the sexiest female TV star ever. She managed to soar above that label, receiving three Tony nominations, winning in 1994 for Medea. There are 70 titles under her name at IMDb, including multiple appearances on the wildly popular Game of Thrones. After a severe lashing by a critic, she was inspired to do a book: No Turn Unstoned: The Worst Ever Theatrical Reviews. Here’s a quote attributed to her: “I don’t want to retire. I never want to retire. What’s the point of it?” Awesome, madam. Thank you. Here’s a shot of how I will always remember her:
This week’s Friday night movie fix was solid. The Good Liar (2019) stars two UK greats, Dame Helen Mirren and Sir Ian McKellen. The latter plays a smooth con man. At the risk of being a spoiler, I think most folks will see that the woman is not easy prey. The best aspect, besides the pairing of two major talents, is the speculation aroused as to what will be revealed about the past. I was happy that it wasn’t what it initially appeared to be. Jeffery Hatcher adapted the scenario from the novel by Nicholas Searle. He wrote an episode each of two of my favorites, Columbo and The Mentalist. Bill Condon directed. He has been quite successful, having done two of the films in the Twilight series, as well as Gods and Monsters (1998), for which his adaptation of Christopher Bram’s novel won him a screenplay Oscar. His writing also garnered an adaptation nomination for Chicago (2002). 20,000+ users at IMDb have rated The Good Liar, forging to a consensus of 6.6 on a scale of ten. It did well at the box office, returning $33 million worldwide on a budget of $10 million. Unfortunately, the flick is tainted at the end by the inclusion of a gratuitous diversity scene. I don’t know if it was a liberal teaching point designed to irk conservatives or one motivated by the fear that the proceedings may have been too white and heterosexual. Fortunately it is brief. Here are the fantastic leads:
Here’s food for thought from an article at foxnews.com, edited by yours truly: Aria DiMezzo, a self-described “transsexual Satanist anarchist,” has won the Republican nomination for sheriff in Cheshire County, New Hampshire. Her campaign slogan was “F*** the Police.” She expected to lose to a write-in candidate. She said: “I’m running for sheriff because I oppose that very system, and the sheriff has the most hands-on ability in Cheshire County to oppose that system. The system that let you down by allowing me — the freaking transsexual Satanist anarchist — be your sheriff candidate is the same system I’m attacking. I’m sorry, and I know it hurts to hear, but that system is a lie. The entire thing is a lie. It’s broken from beginning to end, and my existence as your sheriff candidate is merely how this reality was thrown into your face.” Cue Ozzy: “Is it the end my friend/ Satan’s coming ‘round the bend…” From the song Black Sabbath: J. Osbourne/W. Ward/T. Butler/F. Iommi. As far as I know, none of the boys in the band’s original lineup has any British titles.
The floating book shop opened almost an hour late due to the lack of parking. The pessimism engendered was chased by session’s end. My thanks to the gentleman who bought My Father’s Wake: How the Irish Teach Us to Live, Love, and Die by Kevin Toolis and The Juror by George Dawes Green; and to Monsey, who selected the Veterinary Sciences pictorial; and to the young man who overcompensated me for The Heist by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg; and to the woman who purchased Palomino by Danielle Steel; and to the gentleman who did a swap and buy of Russian books; and to Barbara, who followed up her inquiry on the Kindle availability of my books by downloading Class of ’67. I believe that was a first. May it become a trend.
RIP to the elderly Latina who bought so many thrillers from me. A week ago she told me she had not heeded the advice of the doctor who said she needed open heart surgery. That was three years ago. She continued smoking all that time. Maybe she disclosed the problem because she anticipated what was coming. I’ll miss her. Condolences to her family.
My Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Vic-Fortezza/e/B002M4NLJE
FB: https://www.facebook.com/Vic-Fortezza-Author-118397641564801/?fref=ts
Read Vic’s Stories, free: http://fictionaut.com/users/vic-fortezza
