Friday Friday, spent running around town. It was a nice day, if not cold. A trip to the bibliothèque, the supermarket nearby and a visit to the post office. Bill and I watched Lincoln the other night and I asked if he had ever seen My Left Foot. He hadn’t so I requested it from the bibliothèque, as well as Searching for Sugar Man, a documentary about Rodriquez, a singer from Detroit who had a record deal that went nowhere and after dropping out of sight, became a big star in South Africa of all places. I haven’t watched it yet, so that was gleaned from the DVD cover.
My Left Foot was the second movie I saw Daniel Day Lewis in, the first being My Beautiful Launderette, which I saw at Maxwells in the 1980’s when the wonderful Martha Griffin was running the film series. I remember seeing My Left Foot with Julio in Secaucus when it came out. Of course by the end of the film my bladder moved behind my eyes. I also saw my mother in the role played by Brenda Fricker in the role of Christy Brown’s long suffering and self-sacrificing mother. Irish stereotypes perhaps, but it did come out a few years before my mother shook off her mortal coil.
I also remember Catherine Cloud talking about how she couldn’t believe (though she did) that Daniel Day Lewis was the same actor, playing a mid 1980’s London punk in My Beautiful Launderette as well as a Victorian dandy twit named Cecil in A Room with a View. I did not see A Room with a View until a few years later when I was able to appreciate Catherine’s astonishment. And it is one of my favorite movies, definitely in my top twenty or thirty.
I did see Daniel Day Lewis once in Union Square Park in the 1990’s when wandering around with Julio one afternoon. He was alone and both Julio and I recognized him, not that he was disguised or anything. We thought we would tell him that we thought he was a great actor, but decided against it, leaving him alone to eat his lunch. No one else seemed to know who he was and I suppose going up to him and drawing attention probably would not be that good an idea. I do think he is probably the best actor working today.
Tonight I am home alone, Bill is driving once more, I think it is to Atlantic City. That is where he usually winds up, though last week was extra special, being an extra on Lawn Hors d’œuvre and driving a bus as part of the role. Of course I will write about when it is broadcast so you can clear your DVR of Cake Boss and Armenian Idol. I do have movies I can watch, and I am catching up on the New Yorker once again. And I have a few books to read that I got for Christmas as well as a book, ‘Suddenly, a Knock on the Door’ by Etgar Keret which is also on loan from the bibliothèque.
Heartbreaker
