Category: Hollywood

“Patrick73” is the name of a photographer on Flickr. I had a chance to work with him last week.

He grew up in Southern California. He currently works as an assistant cameraman in film, but he is hoping to transition into a full time career as a still photographer.

Patrick shoots in film. He mostly uses a Mimiya RZ67 or a Hasselblad.

But it’s his eye for the off kilter, blurred and natural that stands out. He doesn’t have any self-consciousness in his work. He embodies another Los Angeles of casual decay and accidental beauty. You can see how he captures this city of trashed furniture and human loneliness without reveling in its decadence.

His photos are touching and profound….and their authenticity leaves something to the imagination.

What is it about the success of one woman that usually inspires another woman to pull her down? Jennifer Aniston, a beautiful and powerful performer, seems to invite a particularly jealous and petty streak in other females.

The New York Times Caryn James writes: “Ms. Aniston’s career has seemed like a case study in how not to become a movie star, how to forfeit the title of America’s sweetheart and how savagely those on-and-off-screen roles can merge. How did her career go haywire so fast?”

James points to the recent fluff movie, “The Break Up” and last years’ “Derailed” and “Rumor Has It” as evidence that Aniston has made odd film choices. She then aims her critique against the physical appearance of the actress:

“The characters in these films are wildly different, but Ms. Aniston’s performance isn’t. She projects the same high-maintenance Jennifer Aniston style — the trademark sleek hair, the natural-looking makeup, the body so toned you wonder how many hours a day a person can spend with a trainer — whether she’s supposed to be a con woman posing as an executive in “Derailed,” an obituary writer for The New York Times in “Rumor Has It” (trust me, no one here looks like that), or a woman so demoralized she quits her teaching job to clean houses in “Friends With Money.”

She blasts her “failed media strategy” after the break-up with Pitt, and says that her “all that coyness about her possible relationship with Mr. Vaughn may turn out to be a misbegotten strategy, echoing the coolness and emotional reserve of her characters.”

When you talk about sleek hair, natural looking makeup and a body so toned….when you are coy about a relationship…..and you made poor choices as an actor…you aren’t talking about Jennifer Aniston. You are describing her ex-husband Brad Pitt.

Pitt is the Teflon actor who has spent the past fifteen years making one unforgettable film after another. He is a poseur and dyed hair, catwalk beefcake who stars in fluff like “Ocean’s 11” and “Meet Joe Black” and uses his relationship with Angelina Jolie to buy more star time from the public.

Aniston strikes me as a fighter, but one who wears her heart on her sleeve, and her performances, even in films that aren’t blockbuster hits, is still way more convincing and emotionally revealing than most other actresses of her age.

Can’t other women respect her without mentioning the tan, the hair and the body? Why don’t male critics tear up Pitt the way females do Aniston?

I just purchased a DVD set of the first season of “That Girl” which ran from 1966-1971.

There are bonus features on the set, of course, including some fascinating color footage of Marlo Thomas on the streets of Manhattan in the fall of 1966. These were location shots: of Thomas coming out of Rockefeller Center, feeding pigeons in Central Park, running into the Seagrams Building to meet boyfriend and co-star Donald Hollinger (Ted Bessell). She also darts into the UN, the Staten Island Ferry building and catches a bus on Fifth Avenue. When her foot is caught in a bowling ball, Donald carries her to a taxi. She is always in a hurry…..

Thomas and Bill Persky (one of the creators of the show along with Sam Denoff) narrate the action. It is bittersweet to watch the scenes, now 40 years old, once the quintessence of youth and all that was young and fresh. In her bright red wool coat, white gloves or high boots, she exudes an elegance and lady-like urbanity that died in the ashes of Woodstock.

Also sad to see are many landmarks of New York City that were torn down in the late 1960’s, soon after this: the Savoy Plaza, replaced by the General Motors Building; Best and Company (where proper young women shopped) which bit the dust and became the Olympic Tower; and the Ambassador on Park Avenue at 52nd Street wearing a sign announcing its demolition……. just as Ann Marie crosses the street to meet Donald at Seagrams.

It is also a city where “casually dressed” meant women in heels and dresses and men in white shirts and dark suits, and the taxis and trucks were bright red, yellow and green.

It might have been contrived, but (unlike today) it wasn’t media digitally altered. The New Yorkers in the background were not extras, but citizens of 1966 going about their daily duties. How innocent to film and not go about getting the proper releases! Weren’t there lawyers back then?

“That Girl” was eventually attacked by feminists as demeaning and trite, and the Norman Lear franchise made all those sit-coms like “Bewitched” and “I Dream of Jeannie” seem like cartoons compared to the weighty Archie Bunker house dramas of racism, Vietnam and menopause.

But “That Girl” provided a plausible fantasy that life in the city might be exciting, adventurous, romantic and set to a Mancini soundtrack.

We are watching fiction and a Hollywood actress from a silly sitcom of a long time ago. But the way Marlo Thomas looked was the way millions of women looked back then, and it wasn’t a bad role model to aspire to.