Lindsay Lohan is one hell of an actress

While my car was in intensive care 150 miles from town I couldn't blog so I watched some movies on TV. First was Prairie Home Companion which I watched because several people told me the music was terrific. To begin with, I had no idea who directed, who was in it, or anything about it except that it was written by a guy I consider one of the all time phonies, one Garrison Keillor, who alleges that he's writing about small town life. I spent my entire life growing up in a small town of less than 5,000 and let me guarantee you that none of us was so lame or stupid that we'd ever accept the lousy singing of Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin. We'd never have watched nor listened more than once. BUT when Lindsay Lohan enters the movie the dam thing takes off like a moon shot from the Cape. She buries both Streep and Tomlin with her acting---and her singing is fantastic. But before you watch it on HBO, let me warn you that it was directed by Robert Altman who, as usual, doesn't use a script and allows two show off actresses, Streep and Tomlin, to meander their way through Actors Studio self indulgent improvisations til you want to scream. Anyway, watch the last 20 minutes and you'll see a major talent---and I mean Brando major---who is flushing her astonishing gifts right down the drain. It's really too bad. BTW she is so good that her songs are not available on the movie CD, I think because she makes all the so called pros like like shit.

Then there was United 93, another scriptless improvisational effort that, because there was nothing to say but "eeek" and we know the ending, was punchless. The only reason to watch it is to get new info and since all of us know everything, there is no sense watching it. I did learn one thing: Our fucking genius Air Defense Command had fighter jets roaming around the skys UNARMED. Like their job was to shoot down enemy aircraft and they had no guns. In passing I'd observe that movies are movies and documentary films are documentary. To mix the two simply doesn't work.

Then I re-saw Domino for a bunch of scenes. That Knightly is as good as Lohan. If you ain't seen it, watch it on HBO. I caught the first two thirds of a Die Hard movie.....zzzzzzzzzzzz; Last King of Scotland, which had a first rate performance by Forest Whitaker , but Jesus, a bio of Idi Amin? Fucking spare me. BTW, this was made by the same people who regard Bush as Hitler, still hate Reagan, and won't even knowingly hire anyone who disagrees with their politics. I liked Miami Vice---for the boats, broads, and bang bangs---it's for air heads, but I was in the mood.

I loved Big Wednesday, the best 60s Vietnam/surfing movie imaginable. Starring Jan Michael Vincent before he decided to ruin his life, Gary Busey ditto, and a first rate script by John Milius. May be the only real surfing movie ever made . This was not well received when released but is catching on now. A hell of a movie. Great maybe. A great double bill might be Domino and Big Wednesday.