Liz Smith
‘2012’ is just a movie
“This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang, but a whimper.” So wrote T. S. Eliot. (Updated: 11/20/09 6:49 AM )
Yule spectacle like no other
“George, a camel, stepped on the foot of a Rockette; six sheep came off the elevator as three kings bearing gifts got on. ... Human Christmas trees bumped into eight maids-a-milking at the water cooler and an elf came down with the flu!” (Updated: 11/18/09 7:29 AM )
A night for great women
“I’ll bet I am the only 60-yearold woman ever to have her photograph on the cover of Glamour magazine,” said Maria Shriver the other night in Carnegie Hall when the magazine did its “Women of the Year” awards. (Updated: 11/14/09 8:07 AM )
A daring role for Kidman
“In the main, and from the beginning of time, mysticism has kept men sane; the thing that has driven them mad is logic,” wrote G. K. Chesterton. (Updated: 11/13/09 6:45 AM )
‘Mrs. Grenvilles’ on DVD
“Mrs. Grenville, must you leave?” “I wish you’d call me Alice.” (Updated: 11/11/09 7:00 AM )
Taylor—the ultimate star
“You see, she didn’t care about being a star. She cared about living a certain way. It was what she was used to. And she lived that grand life with Burton and thought they’d have it forever. That’s what was most important to her: to have a great companion in her great life ... it was all about being with him. That’s all that really mattered.” (Updated: 11/07/09 8:38 AM )
Cracking an intense Meyers
“Life seems to me now to be reduced to anecdotes,” says the genius Elaine May. (I may have used this quote before. It tickles me every time I think of it.) (Updated: 11/06/09 6:58 AM )
Jerry Hall’s loving the 50s
“Alot happens at 50, the best thing being that you just don’t care anymore. At 40, you still care. At 30, you care way too much and your 20s are quite frankly a nightmare. Bring on 60, I say: just imagine the joy of having grandchildren!” (Updated: 11/04/09 7:16 AM )
Managing the comeback
“There’s nothing as exciting as a comeback—seeing someone with dreams, watching them fail, and then getting a second chance,” says actress Rachel Griffiths. (Updated: 10/31/09 7:50 AM )
Tomlin’s characters live
Edith Ann and Ernestine are two characters that Americans feel belong totally to them. So Lily Tomlin is bringing them back to play casinos and venues all over the country. “This is new ground for me,” says Lily. (Updated: 10/28/09 7:13 AM )
Knightley attracts a crowd
Last weekend, I just happened to watch the Jerry Bruckheimerproduced version of “King Arthur.” What emerged from this blood-and- guts version was Keira Knightley as a sword-wielding Guinevere. She was, and is, spectacular. (Updated: 10/24/09 8:24 AM )
A brand new Bisset
Jackie Bisset wound up her duties presiding over the Chicago Film Festival last weekend. The star was as beautiful and glamorous as usual, and the Windy City was blown away by her. (Updated: 10/23/09 7:15 AM )
Buble tops the charts
“Money talks—the only conversation worth hearing when times are bad,” said Fred Allen during the Great Depression. (Updated: 10/21/09 6:55 AM )
The Phantom lives again
Passion is a positive obsession. Obsession is a negative passion,” wrote Paul Carvel. (Updated: 10/16/09 6:36 AM )
Streisand epitomizes grace
As you probably already know, Barbra Streisand has topped the Billboard chart yet again. Her “Love Is the Answer” CD is No. 1. She beat out Mariah Carey and someone or something called Paramore. (Updated: 10/14/09 6:52 AM )