Nov
25
Clooney at Last
In Section: I Hate Hollywood Posted By: David Luhrssen
Clooney at Last
November 25, 2007 | 09:20 AM
George Clooney has come to represent the survival of socially and politically engaged filmmaking in Hollywood. According to entertainment writer Kimberly Potts, he's also The Last Great Movie Star, the title of her new book, published by Applause.
It's never a bad thing to scrutinize any claim for first and last—publicists and pundits as well as politicians sling the words too casually. Whether or not Clooney is the last of the line, he is a movie star in the classic mode—good looking, charming, talented and charismatic. Clooney carries himself well on and off camera and uses his acclaim to draw attention to issues. He riled the likes of Bill O'Reilly, who questioned his patriotism because he dared criticize the Iraq war in 2003. In 2007 Reilly and his confederates are the ones who look foolish. Clooney—and Sean Penn and the Dixie Chicks—are standing tall by contrast.
Potts is a familiar name to anyone who carefully scrutinizes entertainment bylines. She does lively work in The Last Great Movie Star, racing through a career that began with schlock such as Return of the Killer Tomatoes (1983) but had long ago grown up by the time of Good Night and Good Luck (2005), for which Clooney won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. It's a fan book, complete with an appendix listing Clooney's top 100 films, but a fan book that is informed as well as fun. The Last Great Movie Star? Let's hope Hollywood nurtures a few more before climate change puts Los Angeles at the bottom of the sea.
..Search Shepherd Express
- Thu
8 - Fri
9 - Sat
10 - Sun
11 - Mon
12 - Tue
13 - Wed
14
Search in Events
2009-01-08 7:30pm
Comedy
Live! Interactive! Improv Comedy For the Whole Family!
Bring the kids, bring Grandma, heck, even bring the dog! Come see the longest running comedy Show in Milwaukee.
Location: Central Milwaukee
The American political drama that began in the upheaval of the 1960s reached its climax with the Watergate scandal and ended in 1974 with the resignation of Richard Nixon. An epilogue was added to the story when Nixon emerged from seclusion in 1977 for an
In 1964, the time of Doubt, no one spoke of pedophile priests, even if the Roman Catholic Church was already riddled with them. Directed by John Patrick Shanley from his own play, one of the most provocative recent productions on a Broadway that has surre
Although the wacky, anonymous, eyeball-mask-wearing members of The Residents make a point of labeling it a collection of "pop songs," The Bunny Boy isn't simply a pop album. It's also a cryptic Internet series that "inspired" the album, a live performance
Steve Grimm's place in Milwaukee music history remains secure for having fronted one of the city's most prominent bands to make it to a major label. It's been a while since Bad Boy was a happening entity, but Grimm remains vital-if inextricably linked to
Mitchell Street was once known as the Polish Grand Avenue, the main drag for Milwaukee’s large Polish-American community. The Poles began moving away in the 1970s, making way for new chapters in the city’s immigrant story. Mitchell Street has
Little touches set it apart: the twist of lime on the rim of a glass of cranberry juice, the faux modern paintings on the wall… Ten years after it opened, Metro Bar & Cafe, just off the lobby of Hotel Metro (411 E. Mason St.), remains a timelessly
Says You
Express Milwaukee Blog Network
Blogging Blue: Hardin removed from MPS ballot
As first reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Charlene Hardin, a 12 year veteran of the Milwaukee School Board, has been removed from the February 17th primary ballot due to an insufficient number of signatures on her nominating paperwork (emphasis mine):
Hardin needed 400 valid signatures to reach the ballot, Election [...]
Free Classifieds
Free Coupons
..Search Shepherd Express
