2013-05-22T22:18:43-04:00 Carole Mallory http://www.news.moviefone.com/author/index.php?author=carole-mallory Copyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Carole Mallory Good old fashioned elbow grease. tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.3283902 2013-05-21T14:25:39-04:00 2013-05-21T14:25:45-04:00

Carole Mallory http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carole-mallory/ Stepford Wives was my first major motion picture. It was the 1975 Ira Levin thriller in which women are turned into docile electronic incarnations of themselves.

The scene in which I, portraying Kit Sunderson, recall his talented direction was the following: All us wives were seated in a group therapy session when the topic turned to how our husbands were forcing us to do intense housework and we were rebelling. But instead of objecting to the masculine brow beating, eager to please any male when the topic was cleaning, I said, "It took me so long to get my upstairs floor to shine, I didn't have any time to bake."

"Have you ever tried Easy Off?" my girlfriend asked.
"Is it really that good?" I replied. Bryan wanted me to think about a life and death situation and the gravity this would imply.
"Listen to Toni, Carole. You're not listening to her," Bryan yelled.

And he was right. The music became chime-like and eerie and the audience was given a clue that I was dead. That all the wives were dead. We were servants to our husbands. Slaves. Zombies in house dresses. Not wives. Loving wives.

This was a pivotal scene and Bryan made it work because he watched our performances like a myopic hawk and was forceful in his direction. We all listened to him especially when he yelled which wasn't often.

Stepford Wives drew mixed reviews and endures as a cult film and a quasi-feminist document. It helped make the phrase "Stepford wife," describing any woman who seems vapid and compliant, an enduring part of the lexicon.

In 2004 Bryan Forbes was named a Commander of the British Empire. But For all his accomplishments, Bryan remained remembered almost exclusively for The Stepford Wives, and sometimes found himself having to defend the film against misinterpretation. In an interview in 2004, he recounted having been accosted by an umbrella-wielding woman at a press screening.

"I remember saying to this particular savagely disturbed woman, 'You've missed the whole point,'" he recalled. "'A, it's a fantasy; B, if anybody looks stupid, it's the men. It's not an attack on women. It's an attack on women being exploited by men.'"

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Carole Mallory http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carole-mallory/
As with Fitzgerald's Great American Novel, today number two due to a burst of sales, Jay Gatsby's story is told through his friend and neighbor Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) who is a patient in a sanitarium due to his alcoholism. No wonder. At the doctor's suggestion, he writes what has happened to him. And so Carraway recalls his descent into Gatsby's world of corruption. Wide-eyed, with a bumpkin-like-gaze, Carraway allows himself to be manipulated by Gatsby -- who befriends Carraway solely to recruit his cousin, Daisy -- for a rendezvous. For five years, Gatsby has longed for Daisy and amassed a fortune, mansion, and fast primary colored cars to impress Daisy.

"You can't repeat the past," says Carraway to Gatsby who is obsessed with rekindling his high school sweetheart's love. Gatsby unable to or unwilling to hear and to heed Carraway's warning, turns his life into one led for the elusive and vacuous Daisy. This film takes on an existential novel woven into fabric of America.

It is an important novel and important film that will open the Cannes Film Festival. Though much grousing has preceded its premiere due to the fact that it is the fourth attempt to tell this tale of the nouveau riche being trounced by "real money," it works. If only Moulin Rouge director Baz Luhrmann did not feel the need to give away the ending. Irrelevant if Fitzgerald did. Many of us did not read the novel and could have forgotten that the tragic ending and therefore had a more meaningful viewing experience. Heck Downton Abbey had a similar conclusion with a tragic ending and it worked beautifully because it was not cabled. Luhrmann give more credit to your popcorn eating audience to form its own conclusion, instead of shoving it down its throat along with buttery popcorn.

Still, 3D Gatsby works for the most part due to its fine acting and the good golly atmosphere Luhrmann created. It's worth the price of admission to watch DiCaprio evolve into many shades of Jay. You will lick your fingers from its buttery substance while wishing you had a man's love like Gatsby had for Daisy.

http://malloryhollywoodeast.blogspot.com/]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.3194331 2013-05-01T14:51:24-04:00 2013-05-01T14:51:32-04:00

Carole Mallory http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carole-mallory/ Iron Man. With or without a suit of iron he is possibly the finest actor out there. He takes his moments. His timing is impeccable; his sense of humor, flawless; his looks, more than appealing; his movements are always about to spring into the unknown; he is quick, wiry and wonderful.

Iron Man 3 is directed by Shane Black -- who also wrote the script with a team of hipsters focused on a let's-not-miss-a-beat-pace. I wanted to see more of the world's most beautiful woman, Gwyneth Paltrow (Pepper Potts). Here she is minimalized. Don Cheadle (Colonial James Rhodes) is his usual competent, charming self, but some of the most engaging scenes are between the small fry Ty Simpkins (Harley Keener) and Stark sparring about fathers and whatnot. Keener stands up to his hero, Stark, in a no romper room tete-a-tete. Stark refers to Keener's father and uses 'pussy ' in the exchange which flies over this wise even though from bumpkinland-tot-like-bod.

"Dads leave. No need to be such a pussy about it," Stark blurts to Keener who has no father. Here the dialogue is hip, crisp and ripe for pickins'.

The plot is the usual fare. Tony Stark aka Iron Man is threatened by the evil terrorist, The Mandarin, played with great wit by Ben Kingsley, but it is Guy Pearce (Aldrich Killian) who is the true villain. Special effects help to villainize Killian into a kind of molten lava form. These effects are first seen on a drop down gorgeous Ashley Hamilton (Taggert) who is morphed into a hideous glowing monster on an internal fire in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre. This theatre is also burned to the ground in an attack by the menacing Mandarin.

Rebecca Hall (Maya Hansen) is stellar as biologist friend of Pepper's and a treat to gaze upon amidst the grotesque terrorists. Producer Jon Favreau casts himself early on as Happy Hogan and as usual is competent and provides comic relief. For a moment.

Throughout the film the effects are top-notch particularly near the end. The sound is bombastic and yet not overbearing in quiet moments. As music is played throughout the credits, I was amazed to see the audience not only applaud while some stood and all remained in the theatre for a tag ending that the audience had been waiting for. Word of mouth does wonders for film and Hollywood. This audience had heard about this tag ending and wasn't going to miss it to hit the parking lot early.

In Iron Man 3 we once more concur that the man makes the suit. Iron Man would not exist without that hunk Robert Downey, Jr. and his glib attitude and sense of awe shucks when facing danger that does not faze him. After seeing these films, I envy Tony Stark for his resilience, lack of fear and for choosing to inhabit the body of the irresistible Robert Downey Jr. "Spot on," as Marvel Comics' Stan Lee might say. "Spot on."]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.3122664 2013-04-22T18:18:05-04:00 2013-04-22T18:18:13-04:00

Carole Mallory http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carole-mallory/ Pain and Gain's a sinner and a winnah! Don't be put off by the poster and its violent macho image or its terrible title. This is gangsta that should impress Scorsese. And Tarantino. Yep, Michael Bay knows how to make crime funny. And violent. And bloody. The works. But mostly enjoyable. Former Bad Boys and Transformers director Bay has cast and produced Pain and Gain impeccably. The cinematography by Ben Seresin of that vice ridden town of Miami Beach makes it look like an ad for the fine upscale play land of the nouveau riche that it is.

And please tell me when does Pain and Gain's star Mark Wahlberg (Daniel Lugo) do a bad film? And while it may seem impossible, muscle-bound, tattoo ridden Duane Johnson (Paul Doyle) gets laughs though I felt he could have used tighter direction and editing. Meanwhile Antony Mackie (Adrian Doorbal) rounds out this threesome, a more passionate and less cerebral Ocean's Eleven with touches of the Marx Brothers. Mackie, a good comedienne, in this film is married to the adorable yet sassy beauty Rebel Wilson (Romana Eldridge). Did I forget to mention these specimens of male pulchritude portray body builders and own a gym?

But it is Wahlberg, the former Calvin Klein crotch clutching underwear model and recovered rapper, whose energy drives the film. This guy has said on TV that he gets down on his knees daily, does not go out at night and has transformed his life. Like the character he portrays, as a teen he has been in jail and now produces award-winning Boardwalk Empire as well as his next film, Broken City, and finds time to have four films coming out this year. But don't miss this one, cause it's dousy. A pistol. A slam-bam-no-thank-you-mam-kinda-action to make you squirm in your seat between laughs. A hot combo. Bay will keep you wondering why you're laughing at things and situations that should not be funny. But they are. Kudos to Bay

The plot revolves around Ken Jeong (Johnny Wu), whose acting is always over the top and could have been reined in by Bay, who plays a motivational speaker inspiring these hot bods to commit the crimes of kidnapping and extortion. Mayhem ensues. Ed Harris (Ed du Bois) plays the trailblazing detective whose wife Emily Rutherfurd (Sissy Du Bois) has a small part, but her laughs are gargantuan due to her fine talent. Not to be forgotten is the incomparable Tony Shaloub (Victor Kershaw), the Emmy award-winning actor, who plays the crotchety victim with idiosyncrasies not unlike his fine portrayal of Monk all those years. Even the token strippers Bar Paley and Mindy Robinson are not only VA-VA-VA-Voom beauties, but can handle comedy.

The look of this film is bold -- shout out primary colors with glorious Miami Beach blue skies on the horizon a result of the fine art direction by Sebastian Schroder of this handsome film. But it is the closing credits and accompanying music that cap off a totally enjoyable viewing like an exclamation point. Don't run out of the theatre and turn your evening into a near miss. This exciting movie is based on a true story from a magazine article by Pete Collins while the cartoon-like dialogue, hip in its Miami Beach trendy magnificence, was created by screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.

Though Pain and Gain will leave you feeling a bit spent, you will have deposited your emotions in a worthwhile experience. I'm not a fan of gratuitous violence, but this film is not that. The laughter removes you from any serious intent and lifts this film into the category of excellence.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.3101761 2013-04-17T17:08:50-04:00 2013-04-17T17:09:13-04:00

Carole Mallory http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carole-mallory/ Oblivion begins with great art direction and sci-fi special effects and ends with you longing for Tom Cruise to return to a romantic comedy. Any romantic comedy. This story is one we've seen before in the barrage of time travel films, but the look is one we have not seen.

Tom Cruise is his electrifying self except in the love scenes. Here you see the damage of Katie Holmes's suddenly divorcing him in the midst of this film deep in the heart of Iceland. His lack of being in the scene. In the moment. Something he rarely does. He is an actor capable of great focus and concentration, but, here for a moment, he loses it. You almost feel his pain. You get the feeling that his loss and his stoicism are the real driving forces behind his character, not his need to save the Earth.

Joseph Kosinski wrote with others and directed this blown up hodgepodge of je ne sais quoi. Morgan Freeman, in an effective performance, represents the goodness and the return to a safe Earth. Olga Kurylenko moving as Julia and Andrea Riseborough gripping as Victoria are love interests of Jack Hooper (Cruise).

As pilot for one of the Drones left after a nuclear war, which destroys most of the Earth, Jack Hooper discovers a crashed spaceship which causes him to question everything he has been fed by Sally (Melissa Leo) about the war. Melissa Leo practically steals this film in her firm delivery, masking an ominous anger and danger. She is the head of controls of what has been left of Earth in 2077 after war with alien "Scavs." Who cares? You won't.

Cruise, short in height but big in ego, was surrounded by a stellar soundtrack of blasting rock n' roll which did not compensate the film. Too long. Too loud.

Looking at Oblivion is more pleasurable than listening to it. Radio anyone?]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.3011465 2013-04-04T16:53:08-04:00 2013-04-04T16:54:16-04:00

Carole Mallory http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carole-mallory/ Jurassic Park by now, but if you haven't, you're in for a real treat. The sound and the terrific state of the art special effects from Stan Winston, Phil Tippett and Michael Lantieri -- all part of George Lucas's Industrial Light and Magic -- make for a terrifying journey back to the days when dinosaurs, according to Steven Spielberg, were kept as pets. Spielberg is at his finest in fantasyland just as in this story, the creation of the great late Michael Crichton, and in films where our imagination becomes a character. His Lincoln and War Horse dripped in sentimentality, but this dino dream roars of stand up tall courage vs. fear. You must choose a side. Will you cover your eyes cowardly like I did when one of the prehistoric monsters is about to devour a youngin' or you might identify with the boy who had the courage to face the jaws of a roaring tyrannosaur.

The IMAX is better the second time around. Like love. Laura Dern, Sam Neill, Samuel Jackson, Sir Richard Attenborough, Jeff Goldblum. A magnificent cast not including the good enough to eat youngins, Ariana Richards and Joseph Mazello.

In case you need a refresher in plot, an eccentric billionaire, John Hammond (Sir Richard Attenborough) invites Dr Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Dr, Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) to his playland of prehistoric pets created by cloning dino DNA frozen in sap from trees where it was dormant for centuries. An island off the coast of Costa Rica is the location of the magnificent and majestic Jurassic Park, an immense animal preserve housing real brachiosaurs, dilophosaurs, triceratops, velociraptors and a tyrannosaur rex

Hammond sends his grandchildren along with Dr Grant, Dr. Sattler accompanied by the cynical scientist Ian Malcolm in a computer controlled jeep through the jungle of Jurassic Park for a jaunt to meet and greet his pets. A storm is brewing. Once out of the safety of the electronically protected fortress our band of merry men and women meet all sorts of havoc, trouble, disaster and death,

It is worth a second visit to see this 3D IMAX tour de force because if your memory fails you as to the plot, the horrifying new sights and sounds of this incredible adventure will revive it. Get lots of hot buttered popcorn. Very hot. And as the butter drips on your hands, you can lick them with gratitude, thankful that you are in a movie theatre and not in Jurassic Park. But you have had your own adventure in 3D IMAX and unlike some of the characters in this film, you can live to tell about it.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.2960387 2013-03-28T15:10:55-04:00 2013-03-28T15:11:02-04:00

Carole Mallory http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carole-mallory/ Twilight novelist, Stephenie Meyer, what were you thinking? And Nick Wechsler you made a bundle producing Magic Mike, so why were you wasting your money on this? Sure it has a beautiful cast. Great looking men. Acting uneven. Sets stifling. Andrew Niccol wrote the screenplay and directed this homage to the supernatural where love conquers all. Niccol kept control of the movie all right, but to no avail.

"Get me outta here!", I kept thinking as more dead blue eyes appeared on the silver screen. Yes, they were from another planet -- many other planets -- but did I care? Not really. That's what was missing: caring.

The audience snickered during the love scenes. Rightfully so. Max Irons was drop dead gorgeous and his acting was equally deadpan. Pity. He got your juices going but to where?

Saoirse Ronan stars as a wanderer whose body is taken by the seekers. You figure it out. Not much to figure. Fancy steely cars matching steely eyes and steely architecture. Diane Kruger is the head seeker out to kill off all humans, but Melanie/Wanda (Saoirse Ronan) is our heroine out to save the planet. Therein your plot lies. Yawns abound. At first I thought this was where Stepford Wives left off until I saw Diane Kruger as the femme fatale out to do in Melanie/Wanda. Whatever, The highlight of the film was William Hurt, but I couldn't help thinking how much did they have to pay him to do this film? There are so many human interest stories to make into films and Hollywood chooses this. This ain't no Twilight..
.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.2929578 2013-03-22T00:47:09-04:00 2013-05-21T05:12:01-04:00

Carole Mallory http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carole-mallory/
Karen Croner's screenplay has LOL moments such as when a debonair playboy type meets Portia's mother, Lily Tomlin. 'You look as lovely as you did thirty years ago,' he says. ''I've had a mastectomy,' she replies with a dead pan Tomlin delivery. Tomlin rarely has been better. Again, Weitz put the brakes on Tomlin's tendency to overact and allows the raw sincerity of the moments shine through.

The plot is not complicated and not packed with pizzazz but this film is about characters and their relationships. I found this refreshing with all the slambamthankumam action flicks covered in ratatat-tin jamming our cinemas. John Pressman wants to get his progressive student who has D's but is a self-educated scholar into Princeton and cajoles Portia into bending rules in his favor. A secondary plot line is that Portia has given up a baby for adoption and has been haunted as to his whereabouts. John convinces Portia that his progressive student is her son. Wallace Shawn plays the dean of Princeton's admissions again in an understated non clichéd manner, While director Weitz was watching for over-acting, he missed John's mother, who pushes the envelope in playing a socialite in a stereotypical obnoxious manner. Well, one bad performance can be lived through thanks to Fey,Rudd and Tomlin, who make a mediocre script work and time fly and your ticket to admission worth the price of admission.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.2823961 2013-03-10T15:27:34-04:00 2013-05-10T05:12:01-04:00

Carole Mallory http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carole-mallory/ Wizard of Oz, we have more of this Sam Raimi-directed magic in store for us. Yippee! Raimi, by the way, directed Spiderman 2. Mitchell Kapner and David Lindsay-Abaire wrote this gem.

Slowly this film opens in Kansas in a carnival again in black and white and Oscar Diggs is a two-bit womanizing magician at a small town circus -- a con artist. Michelle Williams appears to reveal her romantic attachment to Oscar just before the tornado swooshes in and suddenly Oscar is up in the air of a hot air balloon running from a body builder he has pissed off royally. The balloon is whisked into the eye of the tornado and in 3D this thrilling, but not as thrilling as when Oscar arrives in Oz. Flowers open up. Bold primary colors shout happiness. Hope. Then streams turn into rivers into water falls into mountains and voila! We are in the Emerald City. Along the yellow brick road Oscar meets a gorgeous witch Theodora (Mila Kunis) who believes that Oscar is the Oz that her kingdom has been waiting for. A kind of savior to rescue her people from the evil witch, Glenda. But eventually we learn Glenda is the good witch and Theodora has been duped by her beautiful sister Evanora who is the real wicked witch.

The plot veers from the Wizard of Oz drastically. This film is inspired by the Wizard of Oz, but far from a remake. It stands on its own slippers, tall, glowing and proud to be a fable that will endure in all its fantasy of bold colors for years to come. The costumes are characters in their own right. Music is nonexistent to this ear. Nothing to write home about. The music is in the rhythm of the special effects unfolding in a layered lyrical way. What new image will we see and sure enough there is a new one which greets our senses. Some are terrifying. Some are endearing as in a china doll that has broken her legs. She is the closest we get to Dorothy but she does not wear red slippers. There is a monkey dressed like a valet who is caught in a dangerous vine which strangles. Oscar rescues this darling monkey, Frank, (Zach Braff's voice) who becomes Oscar's sidekick and porter to carry Oscar's valise filled with his magic tricks and potions. There are flying monster-like-monkeys with nasty teeth all big enough to devour you with, my dear. But It is the end which is a tour de force masterminded by a con artist magician turned into the Wizard of Oz that pays for the price of admission. Clever. It works. You will not be disappointed by this wonderful world of the charming and mercurial Wizard of Oz. A tale that can almost convince you that if you believe, you can make dreams come true.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.2713562 2013-02-21T19:27:41-05:00 2013-04-23T05:12:01-04:00

Carole Mallory http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carole-mallory/ An except from Picasso's Ghost.

At sunset two days after Picasso's death, Paloma, Maya, her husband, Claude and I squeezed into Maya's old Citroen for our journey. Maya's husband drove. I was told to be quiet and to listen to the radio though my French was inadequate for this task. The family again discussed the estate and its prospective worth as well as strategies of entry into the village of Vauvenargues to avoid the press.

We passed through the town of Paulette which Claude and I had visited. When I studied the countryside painted by Cezanne, Matisse, Braque, Van Gogh and Picasso, I felt as if a museum had come alive. Its voices were in the car. Its paintings, now moving landscapes, surrounded us and were sinister to see at night. Deep purple shadows created by the moon cast eerie light upon these rolling hills that reminded me of sleeping giants. I heard Picasso's children cry and whisper as I studied Cezanne's mountains. Van Gogh had cut off his ear in a mistral in this countryside. He painted this country as well. The great masters all had been here. Picasso's ghost wasn't the only one with us this night.

"There's the Mt. St. Victoire!" I said to Claude,

"I know, Cherie. We're talking about our father. Please. Excuse us if we seem to be excluding you," Claude said abruptly.

Paloma fought tears.

Maya who thought of how to get to the Picasso's paintings, planned the attack.

I thought about my days as an art teacher in Lower Merion, Pennsylvania, and how my students would have loved to have been here with us. I remembered the day I took them to Philadelphia's Art Museum and how excited they had been by the post-impressionists, my favorite period of art history. Now it was as though we were driving inside a living painting on the way to a medieval castle for the funeral of the most celebrated artist of our century. I was ashamed of my feelings. Though they cried (all except Maya), I was having an adventure. One I'd never forget. Picasso wasn't my father.

I thought about the probability of my father's death in the near future. The scar tissue from the lobotomy was creating havoc in his brain. There would be a time for tears for my own father. Why weep along with Paloma and Claude? Instead I would try to help them as best I could. Their sorrow had paralyzed their ability to think rationally. Maya was defiant. Paloma wept. Claude was enraged.

We reached Vauvenargues at night. Yet it looked like day. Cameras, television crews, reporters, flood lights, mini-cams were everywhere. The Son et Lumiere of Picasso's death. In the valley between the mountains surrounding us stood the Chateau de Vauvenargues. Like a giant coffin. Beneath the castle over the years a medieval moat had been transformed into a graveyard.

"Make a right up that dirt road," Claude said to Maya's husband who was driving. "Go up the mountain away from the press." Claude bent down. "Watch it! Duck! Here come the cameras!"

Claude, Paloma and Maya crouched in the backseat hiding their faces. Crowds forced Maya's husband to stop. A photographer pushed his face against the window, saw no photo opportunity and turned away.

Maya peeked out of the car. "Keep going," she whispered. "Park behind that big cypress. So we can see the castle."

"Cherie, watch for movement," Claude whispered. "A coffin. A corpse. A body being carried in or out."

We parked in a secluded spot under the foliage of a tall tree. "You can sit up now," I said. "It's safe. The press is below by the castle.

Maya's husband and I were told to be on guard for paparazzi, but the photographers had ignored us because of our battered Citroen. Who would believe that Picasso's heirs, soon to be worth billions, would arrive at his funeral by such humble means? Picasso's ghost, maybe.

The towering cypress and the twisting olive trees brought back those feelings of being in a moonlit museum. I wanted to comfort Paloma's tears. To calm Maya's anger. To soothe Claude's rage. I could do nothing except study the huge wooden castle door as it would open and close and listen to a radio. We kept watching for coffins, for digging, for people carrying things in and out. They wanted to know where Picasso was going to be buried, but nothing happened.

I prayed for their suffering to end. Whether Jacqueline Roque liked it or not, Picasso's spirit was with us.

After an hour of our futile vigil, I made a suggestion. "Let's drive to Aix and buy flowers?"

"Where would we put them?" Claude said.

"On one of those graves down there," I said, pointing to the vast graveyard.

"How would we know which grave is his?" Maya said.

"What's it matter?" I said.

"He likes gladiolas," Paloma said.

"Write a letter," I said.

"What's the p-point," Claude said.

"What do you mean, 'What's the point?' His spirit," I said. "Write to his spirit. Let the world know you were here. And care. Don't let Jacqueline silence you."

"Allons y!" Claude said as Maya's husband turned on the ignition and under the moonlight we sped down the winding dirt road into town. Although it was late, one flower shop remained open.

"Let's not all go in," Claude said.

"I'll buy them," Maya's husband said, parking the car.

"Get peach gladiolas," Paloma said. "A dozen. Peach."

Maya's husband returned with a dozen peach gladiolas. "What do we write on?"

"Look in the trunk," Maya said.

Maya's husband rummaged through the trunk and held up something from a laundry. "How about this? My shirt's wrapped in cardboard."

"Great," Claude said with a smile. It was the first smile of the night.

"What do we write with?" Maya said.

"Paloma pulled a green crayon from her purse. "Will this do?"

"Terrific! Now what do we say?" Claude paused. "How about, 'To our father whom we have loved and will love... forever...?'"

"Au revoir..." Paloma said.

"A bientot..." Maya said.

Claude wrote the letter. Picasso's children signed it in silence. Maya's husband started the car and we drove back to the castle. It was about 10 pm when we pulled off the road and parked by the graveyard that was some 50 feet below.

"Take off your shoes and sox," Claude said. Barefoot, we five descended to the graves. Some were open with mounds of dirt piled by new tombstones.

"One of these must be for your father," I said. "If we run dirt through our fingers, we'll know which grave is the most recent. Soil freshly dug smells damp."

As absurd as it now seems, Picasso's children followed my advice. For over an hour we wandered aimlessly among the many open graves. The moon caste an eerie light overall. The castle remained a shadow looming in the distance. It was cold. Our feet were covered with dirt. I never left Claude's side.

Suddenly he stopped, embraced me, gazed into my eyes and said, "Will you be my wife?"

Though I was unprepared for the question, I knew the answer. "I would be honored to be your wife," I said beneath the starlight.

"I'll be the best husband you'll ever have, my Carolina, and the last."

We kissed and while Claude held me, I never felt so loved, wanted or safe in his arms as this night that Picasso died. Now perhaps Claude could live. No longer tortured by his father's rejection.

Maya and her husband and Paloma, who had been carrying the letter, joined us. "Carole has agreed to be the next Madame Picasso," Claude said and one by one they congratulated me.

Paloma placed the cardboard letter by the closest mound of soil. "I give up," she said. "Will this grave do?"

"It doesn't matter where you put it." I said.

"He'll get the message," Claude said as we knelt by an open grave and said the Lord's Prayer. Claude led us in "Our father..."

As we cried, I felt Picasso smiling upon us. Finally his spirit, now free, could be with his children. After we dried our eyes, we hurried back to the car and drove out of Vauvenargues, past the hoards of photographers still watching the castle.

"Stop the car," I said, shouting. "Tell the press to go down into the graveyard and to look for your message to your father."

Claude rolled down the window as I shouted at the paparazzi just that. A few looked at the battered Citroen in disbelief. They could not image a Picasso relative riding in a jalopy. Then we drove back through the land of Cezanne and onto Marseilles where we slept peacefully at last.

A few weeks later we read Picasso had been buried in a crypt outside the entrance of the Chateau de Vauvenargues. While we had not found his grave, we had found his spirit.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.2679023 2013-02-19T16:39:47-05:00 2013-04-21T05:12:02-04:00

Carole Mallory http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carole-mallory/ Rock of Ages and her hoofing as a regular on Dancing with the Stars. Maybe it is time for her to pack it in and focus on her acting which is stellar. This story is based on the novel by Nicolas Sparks who also produced it. Another good film made by its creator who would not relinquish control of his creation. Safe Haven captivates and keeps you guessing thanks to clever editing and a well-written screenplay by Leslie Boehm and Dana Stevens. Suspense builds. Intrigue is a given. Safe Haven is about a lonely widower who finds love with a mysterious woman hiding from her past. It balances the serenity of love with impending danger always coming at you. Director Lasse Hallstram has a gift to build conflict seamlessly.

Tenderness is part of this love story though the finale packs a wallop. The sleepy town of Southport in North Carolina offers a picturesque backdrop and soothes when evil rears its ugly head. Alex is a store owner who has two small children and grieves the loss of his beloved wife to cancer. Katie is on the run from an abusive husband, a policeman, played by a sinister David Lyon, who will not stop chasing her across the Eastern seaboard until he finds her and controls her. This film is also about the smothering, deadly power of control in relationships and the grace which comes with releasing it.

Alex' played by Josh Duhanel has two children, Josh and Lexie, who are played with great charm and sincerity by Noah Lomax and Mimie Kirkland. While Katie has found a secluded cabin in the woods, a plainspoken single neighbor, Jo, (Colbie Smulders) appears out of nowhere and offers friendship. Jo is matchmaker to Alex and Katie who is deeply wounded by her previous relationship and unwilling to respond to Alex's advances. With the required mystery, Jo plays her part and does not give away the O'Henry ending. Another theme of this film is haunting. With Jo's emphatic and stubborn support Katie realizes she must choose between a life of isolation or relinquish control of this fear, this secret, and allow herself to love another man.

Safe Haven is a real Valentine treat for couples and for singles longing for intimacy because while watching this film, one realizes how healing and soothing a relationship can be.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.2642626 2013-02-08T09:43:45-05:00 2013-04-10T05:12:01-04:00

Carole Mallory http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carole-mallory/
But enough about him. What did I do to believe in myself again?

After supporting him for five years by being a successful cover girl, I flew away from Paris, from him and from his bourgeois family, after he refused to answer this question, 'When are we getting married?" His mother had bought me the wedding dress the year before, When I watched Downton Abbey and one of the daughters is left at the altar, I recalled this night Claude rejected me.

I grabbed his teacup poodle and took the first flight out of Paris back to our apartment in New York. I would begin a new life. Unless, of course, he decided to set a wedding date. He played this game for about five years. Keeping my heart hanging. While I drank on. Yes, I had a drinking problem and realized in 1980 that I was an alcoholic. My drinking had started before my engagement to him, but it escalated to the point of dangerous behavior in 1980. When my therapist saw my bruises, she said, "Carole, you are an alcoholic." I was now in a relationship with a man who would beat me up and after being jilted, I felt I deserved this abuse. Who was I? A reject of men. The only solution was to attract very famous men to prove to the world and to myself that I was worthy after all.

But finding my worth in men was not the answer. I took writing classes UCLA, NYU, Columbia and began to write about my life. To try to make sense of it. Writing brought understanding. Writing brought me respect. Self respect. Peace.

Today I have published my third memoir. It is called Picasso's Ghost because that is what I felt like during this struggle to gain self worth -- a ghost. No, it wasn't Pablo Picasso who jilted me. It was his son, Claude.

Finally I am grateful for having been jilted. Claude, who had trouble finding his identity, helped me to find my own identity. One as a writer. Today I teach writing at Rosemont College and Temple University and help people of all ages to value their experiences above all else. To write about their lives. Self discovery is the path towards forgiveness and serenity.

When I now think about my times with Claude, I realize how much happier I am today and how much I have to be grateful for. And that includes a new teacup poodle. My own.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.2497341 2013-01-20T20:14:20-05:00 2013-03-22T05:12:01-04:00

Carole Mallory http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carole-mallory/ Les Mis. Lastly there is Catherine Zeta-Jones who plays her usual trophy wife role with style and a cat and mouse 'you know she's been there' glint in her eye. But director Allen Hughes and writer Brian Tucker have confused chaos for plot. This is a complex double cross saga so keep your ears open and eyes wide.

It begins with a murder in a NY project modeled after Bedford Stuyvesant. Billy Taggart (Mark Wahlberg) shoots someone who has harmed his girlfriend's sister. Taggart is cleared of all charges and manages to get clean and sober with the help of his girl friend played convincingly by Natalie Martinez. He becomes a private eye and is brought back to work for his old boss, Mayor Hostetler (Russell Crowe), to investigate some personal business for him. The Mayor is fighting a neck and neck campaign for re-election against James Valliant (Barry Pepper).

One night the Mayor meets with Taggart to seek his help as a private detective by spying on the Mayor's wife. The Mayor is convinced Cathleen Hostetler is having an affair. This could ruin the Mayor's chances for re-election.

Taggart is given a check for $25,000 half the payment for the job. Armed with a Nikon and a will to succeed at all costs hoping to redeem himself, Taggart trails a handsome Paul Andrews (Kyle Chandler) whom he spots meeting with Cathleen. Andrews and Cathleen appear to be having an intimate conversation which Taggart photographs.

Taggart meets with the Mayor to deliver the photos for which he has been paid. Then Cathleen seeks out Taggart and offers him $25,000 to no longer work for her husband. Taggart is honorable and refuses her money, but asks just what is going on? Now Taggart is even more confused (and you will be, too) when Paul Andrews is murdered. Slowly Taggart begins to solve the riddle which is about a huge billion dollar real estate fraud which invites people close to the Mayor to commit fraud. The Police Commissioner played by Jeffery Wright adds a pick-me-up to the cast that limps through this mediocre script. Even Wahlberg goes out with a whimper.

See the film if you want to solve the riddle or skip it if it is all too familiar to you after seeing your share of Sidney Lumet films which deal with the same theme, but with greater skill.

Read more from Carole Mallory here.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.2359965 2013-01-02T15:39:48-05:00 2013-01-04T11:53:47-05:00

Carole Mallory http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carole-mallory/ Les Miserables on Broadway and heard its soaring score, you will have a problem sitting through Tom Hooper's movie that diminishes this powerful score and ups the ante in the story. Oh, Hugh Jackman is sensational as is Anne Hathaway, but the real sleeper is Samantha Banks (Eponine) whose voice and acting tear at your heart. Then there's Sacha Baron Cohen who blows his gasket in all the right moments.

Victor Hugo's story is well-known. It begins in 1815 and lasts until the June Rebellion in 1832. In 19th Century France a man is arrested for stealing a loaf of bread. He becomes known as prisoner 24601, or Jean Valjean, and is played by the dynamic and yet tender-hearted Hugh Jackman. After serving his sentence, Valjean is released to serve a life of parole under the grip of relentless Inspector Javert -- played by Russell Crowe. Crowe's performance is pitiful. Valjean escapes from Javert's custody and in the process stumbles upon factory worker Fantine (Hathaway) being violated and savagely beaten. Valjean takes Fantine to a hospital where she dies as she laments the welfare of her little girl, Cosette, played by Amanda Seyfried. Sacha Baron Cohen and Helene Bonham Carter have been caring for Cosette under unfit conditions.

Valjean rescues Cosette all the while running from inspector Javert. Years pass and Cosette grows up to be a stunning teenager played with the appropriate wide-eyed get-me-out-of-here-daddy kind of expression. Valjean has become Cosette's father of sorts while we have the June Rebellion all around us and about to pop. Cosette meets Marius (Eddie Redmayne) and falls in love with him while revolutionary Eponine is also in love with him. Eponine is selfless and realizes Marius loves Cosette and not her, and she begins to deliver messages from Marius to Cosette as her heart breaks. Eponine's singing by Samantha Banks matches Ann Hathaway's, and in my opinion surpasses it.

Jackman's voice is magical and his tenderness oozes out of his every pore. It is apparent that Jackman is a truly caring person.

Les Miserables is a musical of musicals, but I longed for choirs singing the lilting songs rather than actors shored up with as much back up that Hollywood and the talented Ann Dudley could muster. It did not matter much that the actors were singing while acting -- what mattered was the loss of a real live thunderous choir. This film poses the question, Can a successful Broadway musical be turned into a successful movie? Sure it's been done, but this interpretation of Les Miserables is not it.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.2356189 2013-01-02T14:12:27-05:00 2013-03-04T05:12:01-05:00

Carole Mallory http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carole-mallory/ Django Unchained has the passion and spirit that was missing in Lincoln. Tarantino shows the crude cruel, seamy side of slavery that Spielberg glossed over. Slaves fighting to their death in the living room of a sumptuous plantation while wagers are placed on their lives. Blood is spilled on the plush carpet. A neck is broken. Sport.

Tarantino is not afraid to call a slave a slave. To show their victimization at the hands of southern plantation owners who are absurd, grotesque parodies of European aristocracy. Tarantino said to an audience of Bafta members that the research he did was "incredibly shocking" and that violent as his film may seem, slavery's reality was "far worse." He wanted his film to have a visceral effect on the audience. "I wanted to break that 'history under a glass' aspect. I wanted to throw a rock into that glass and shatter it for all times and take you into it."
In Django Unchained the acting is first class and directed with precision and an impeccable eye for detail by Tarantino who also acts in his film. No one misses a beat.

Christoph Waltz (Dr. King Schulz), Leonardo Di Caprio (Calvin Candy) and Jamie Foxx as Django, but the standouts are Christoph Waltz and Samuel Jackson (Stephen) who is smooth as molasses in a heat wave and barely recognizable as a slave master.

The story is about Django's love for his wife Broomhilde Von Shaft (Kerry Washington) and his journey across America to find her in the Deep South amidst its web of diabolical slave owners. Using his former profession of dentist as a cover, Dr. Schulz, a bounty hunter, spots Django at a slave auction and buys him. Dr.Schulz takes Django under his wing when he becomes aware that Django is the only person who knows what the infamous Brittle brothers look like. An enormous reward is offered for them. Dr. Schulz frees Django from slavery and the brutal ownership of the Speck Brothers (James Remar and James Russo). Together Schultz and Django go from town to town collecting criminals wanted dead or alive in search of the Brittle brothers. During their travels Django confesses his love for Broomhilde. Dr. Schulz is intrigued by the love story and discovers that she is enslaved by Mississippi plantation owner Leonardo di Caprio who with a ruthless hand oversees the infamous Candyland. And so they set off to rescue and unchain Broomhilde Von Shaft and perhaps collect a bounty or two on the way. The dialogue has Tarantino's signature dry wit which makes it move rapidly through its 2 hr and 40 minutes.

Ennio Morricone's score is witty and wonderful and inserted as relief from the bloodletting. Jim Croce's I Got a Name is an example of this perfect blending of music and story that Tarantino has mastered.

Stars from the past and some from the present pop up throughout the film. Franco Nero who starred in Sergio Corbucci's 1966 original spaghetti western, Django, upon which this film is based, has a cameo. Jonah Hill, Don Johnson, Bruce Dern, Robert Carradine, Dennis Christopher offer their talents in smaller parts which proves that Tarantino has a cult following among fine actors who will do smaller parts just to be close to his genius. And these actors aren't afraid to get their hands dirty. The Weinstein brothers have another mega hit on their hands. Django Unchained will clean up at the Oscars. Don't miss it. Don't allow your fear of seeing an honest portrayal of violence on screen -- that is less than what the actual slaves suffered-- be your reason to skip this. A ticket to Django Unchained is a nod to the awareness and disapproval of the cruelty and brutality that America inflicted on the negro.]]>