Favorite Pic of the Day for March 28th

Great shot of model and athlete Patrick Stahl.
Photo by Pat Lee from Axius Photography.

Favorite Birthday Boys for March 28th

Happy Birthday today, March 28th also to:

Talented German actor Matthias Koeberlin turns 36 today.











Actor Ben Richards turns 38 today.




Ben in 'Footballers Wives'.






Vince Vaughn turns 40 today.

Kudos to 'Ordinary People'

In 1990 or so when I was about 15 or 16 when I caught a few scenes of 'Ordinary People' on television. It stopped me in my tracks. The 1980 flick was and remains one of my all time favorite movies. I missed most of the movie so set out the next day to find it on VHS (might have been beta, not sure if we had moved to VHS yet...my family was slow).

I watched the movie 3 times over the next day or so. This was at the height of my wanting to be a star and Timothy Hutton's performance blew me away. It still does.
I re watched 'Ordinary People' the other night and the power of the movie blew me away again.



'Ordinary People' marked the directorial debut of Robert Redford. The movie also helped reshape Mary Tyler Moore's career. For many after watching her as Beth, she would no longer be the Mary Richards we had come to know her for. All of the acting was stellar. Besides Moore and Hutton (who won an Oscar for best supporting actor) the cast was rounded out by Judd Hirsh and Donald Sutherland. To me this was Sutherland's best role and it is a horrible mistake that he was the only one of the four main principals not to be recognized by an Oscar Nomination.



Besides Hutton's Oscar, Ordinary People went on to win the Oscar for best picture that year, beating such films as Raging Bull and The Elephant Man. Redford also took the award for best director.

I also was impressed by each of the supporting cast: Dinah Manoff, Elizabeth McGovern, M. Emmett Walsh and Fredric Lehne. In some cases just a scene or two (Dinah Manoff) left a powerful impression due to the writing and directing. (What has McGovern been up to btw).

If you are a lover of great film and great acting and have not seen Ordinary People I say go find it. The movie does have dated feel, very 80's, I happen to love that feel in movies though, takes me back. The 80's were my growing up years and Hollywood does not make family dramas like Ordinary People and Kramer Vs Kramer the way they used to. It is a shame.

Body Painting with Hans Fahrmeyer

This week artist Hans Fahrmeyer shares something a little different with FH's. Here are a selection of Han's body painting series. What makes these shots stand out, besides the skill and artistry of Hans is that the shots shown were all accomplished without any photoshopping. Hans uses paint, light and his immense talent to accomplish his vision. Thanks as always Hans! Be sure to check out Hans Fahrmeyer's recently relaunched site HERE:

Import of the Day: Shaun Evans

30 year old Shaun Evans hails from Liverpool. Evans completed a course with the National Youth Theatre before relocating to London at the age of eighteen to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Shaun first gained fame playing gay French teacher John Paul Keating in the tv show 'Teachers'. Many tv, film and stage roles followed. It was last years 'Dread' that first introduced me to Shaun. This project, along with 'Being Julia' were his highest profile roles to date.



Shaun, also an accomplished stage actor, appeared last year in the new Roy Smiles play Kurt and Sid, at the Trafalgar Studios, London. Shaun played Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain, opposite Danny Dyer who was playing Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious.

There is very little of Shaun on the net, but I found one small site if I encourage you to give a look. It has quite a bit of info on Shaun and his career. You can find The Shaun Evans Fact File HERE:






Below: Shaun in 'Being Julia' (1994).




Below:
Shaun with Danny Dyer in 'Kurt and Sid'
Last years stage production about the lives of music icons Sid Vicious and Kurt Cobain




Below:
'Dread' (2009)
Directed by: Anthony DiBlasi
Starring: Shaun Evans & Jackson Rathbone
'Three college students set out to document what other people dread most'









Thanks to Braxnis for some of the caps from 'Dread'