Swedish Bill Murray Fan Calls Madlab Post ‘One Lovely Blog’

Tuesdays seem to be a lucky day for this blog -- at least since May 2012. Earlier this month, I became the recipient of a One Lovely Blog Award from Tina Downey at Life is Good. Many of you are already familiar with her as a Monday Movie Meme guest on two occasions so far. So, I’m taking this moment to thank Tina, whose favorite film is “Lost in Translation,” for the award and also for enjoying my comments. There are strings attached to the One Lovely Blog Award that recipients are to honor -- rules for accepting the award.

They are as follows:
1. Name and thank the blogger who gave you the award.
2. List 7 facts about yourself
3. Award 15 other bloggers with this award.*
(*I am modifying this one and awarding 7 other bloggers, to match the number of facts that I list)
4. Enjoy.

Here are 7 facts about me that were not mentioned when I received my Stylish Blogger Award, Versatile Blogger Award nor discussed in my Getting to Know Me Q&A session.

1. I once had a paid freelance gig writing about some of my favorite TV shows including “Friday Night Lights.” What initially started as a fun job -- kinda getting paid to watch TV, became less of an entertaining pastime and more of a repetitive chore that caused me to lose interest in watching television.

2. The photos featured in the header of this blog are still images from four different short movies that I made a few years ago. They include a parody, a comedy/drama, an urban drama and a documentary, although, not necessarily in that order.

3. I am a “Hell’s Kitchen” and “MasterChef” fiend and will likely watch anything with Chef Gordon Ramsay in it -- including that “Hotel Hell” show premiering on the Fox network’s Fall 2012 season.

4. I never owned a couch.

5. I accidentally broke just about every dinner plate and cereal bowl that I’ve ever owned, so now, I refuse to buy any ceramic kitchenware.

6. I still don’t get why so many people make a big deal over Moscato. I’ve tasted the regular one and the red one and still think that it’s nothing to be excited about.

7. Sometimes I hate being female -- for more reasons than I care to name here but particularly when shopping for shoes.

Here are 7 Lovely Blogs that I am passing this award to (in no particular order):

1. Blue Velvet Vincent - This blog made a great comeback in 2012, complete with a spiffy redesign and updates on new projects that actor Vincent D’Onofrio is working on.

2. Terrible Analogies - This blog speaks for itself. Lovely in many ways, Terrible Analogies presents readers with attention-grabbing content that makes you want to share the daily goodness with your friends, so they don’t miss it.

3. Random Thoughts - Of all the blogs I read during 2011, this one continues to be the most memorable. It is constantly flooding with activity from the host’s life and that of the blogging community. Sharon K. often shares the love via author profiles, prize drawings and random acts of kindness.

4. The Non-Review - I dare you to leave this satirical blog without laughing. The stuff that the crew behind “The Non-Review” puts together is hilarious.

5. Hollywood Spy - Dezzy is on point with reporting the happenings in and around tinsel town; He keeps a nice balance between his coverage of all genres of film and television. The hypnotically refreshing green color scheme doesn’t hurt either.

6. Sydney Aaliyah - This blog has a versatile routine going on that includes coverage of monthly writing challenges, reflections on living in China for 5 years and blog posts centered on those who read the author’s content. It’s lovely!

7. In a Pursuit of Publishness - A blog that sure knows how to rally readers to get behind what’s cooking up in the literary world, it nurtures interaction through feedback and helps readers consider various possibilities for the direction of their stories.

There you have it. See you guys and gals this weekend!

Movies with HUGE twists, courtesy of Tina Downey

Join me in welcoming another guest topic for this week’s Monday Movie Meme, from Tina at Life is Good. The theme is: Movies with HUGE twists at the end.

Share on your blog, or in the comments section, movies that have major plot twists at the end. Remember to visit the blogs of fellow Monday Movie Meme participants. Also, if your response is written on your own blog, make sure to link back to this blog post. Here are my selections for this week’s Movies with HUGE twists at the end theme.

Mystic River

It’s sad when friendships get turned upside down over misunderstandings at a time when people in one small community no longer know who to trust -- or what to believe.

Night Catches Us

Loyalty has many meanings in this film about a former black panther who returns to his old neighborhood, only to learn that he is not welcome there. Murder, corruption, rumors, betrayal and forbidden love emerge during this dramatic tale of a struggle to separate fact from fiction while trying to protect the assumed innocence of one individual who could change it all.

The Family That Preys

Social status and money is the only thing that separates two families, tied together by love and business. As a wealthy construction company executive moves to take over his mother’s leading position at their firm, against her will, professional and personal relationships go up in flames -- right before the big surprise at a very heated board meeting that changes the course of the near future for several people.

As a result, the people in the ending scenes are in a very different position than where they started at the beginning of the movie (which opens with a wedding). Even the huge and deadly bombshell thrown in midway through the film doesn’t prepare you for the way the tides turn later.

Honorable Mention: I considered adding “Shutter Island” to this list but it didn’t make top billing for this week’s meme since the film is previously listed, during the week of Confusing Movie Plots, along with some other obvious choices.

What movies have YOU watched that feature HUGE plot twists at the end?

Actors Like Idris Elba who Buck the Typecasting Trends

“It’s up to you to be who you say you are.

I have not done anything different from any other actor, but I don’t accept everything. I very rarely let color bound me. I mean, you can’t be Blacker than me” -- “I was born to African parents. My legacy in life is not led by the color of my skin and I don’t choose a lane because of it. I’m just me.” - Idris Elba

JET magazine calls “Prometheus” star Idris Elba “the actor’s answer to a NASCAR driver” because he has successfully navigated through all entertainment genres without sacrificing the quality of his image. Elba’s previous roles include but are not limited to a blue-collar working single father in “Daddy’s Little Girls,” a French priest who rides motorcycles in “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance,” a finance executive trying to save his family in “Obsessed” and a mythic warrior with superhuman powers in “Thor.”

After discussing complacency this past Thursday, Idris Elba’s quote featured above has me thinking about typecasting -- sometimes it seems necessary when it comes to casting directors or filmmakers trying to find the right actors whom they know will fit a role perfectly (you want an action scene with martial arts? you call Jackie Chan or Masi Oka; you don't call B. D. Wong) -- or when it comes to choosing a role based on strengths that as an actor, you know you possess more than any other person currently working in your field (Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe in "My Week with Marilyn;" Lindsay Lohan as Elizabeth Taylor in "Liz & Dick"). 

Other times, however, typecasting doesn’t always serve a useful purpose because it makes people think that one type of character is all you have to offer such as a thug or funnyman or jerk, etc. -- so it is important for actors to determine the direction that they want their career to go in or decide how they want to be portrayed and then choose roles that support that path -- whatever path that is. Still, for some actors, typecasting seems to be a double edged sword where landing roles are concerned. Action star Vin Diesel used to struggle to get selected for roles because casting directors often overlooked him due to his ethnicity (Italian, African-American “and a lot of other stuff”).

Diesel’s frustrations in trying to become an actor resulted in making a short film called “Multi-Facial” that is inspired by the many auditions he went on that led nowhere -- he was told that he wasn’t dark enough to play black roles, not Italian enough for other roles and not gangsta enough for some roles. In Vin Diesel’s short film, the main character is sent to an audition for a Latino character, despite the fact that he does not speak Spanish -- since casting directors considered him to be brown enough to play a Hispanic character. Legendary director Steven Spielberg was so impressed by Diesel’s “Multi-Facial” short that he cast him in “Saving Private Ryan” and the rest is history.

In “Hustle and Flow,” they said it’s hard out here for a pimp. Well, it looks like it’s also hard out here for actors who just want to live their dreams in an industry where your job prospects are either flowing or minimal depending on whether you fit certain stereotypes rather than how good your performance is in said role. So I say, cheers to actors like Idris Elba and Vin Diesel who take hold of the the driver’s seat, steering their careers in the lanes that fit the type of people they want to be -- influential, believable and as Chellebee once said -- Multifaceted!

Do YOU think that typecasting limits actors from reaching their full potential in a movie role?

In what circumstances would YOU accept the use of typecasting for a particular film?