Man, was she gorgeous.

My Yahoo homepage informs me that Elizabeth Taylor has passed away.

I was never a huge fan, but there are two movies of hers you absolutely must see: A Place in the Sun (which, title notwithstanding, is one DARK film) with Montgomery Clift, and Butterfield 8, which is just plain a spectacular movie. In fact, I need to see Butterfield 8 again, I can hardly remember it. I'll never forget A Place in the Sun, though; a million years ago when I was a film major I watched it a million times, to write a paper on Montgomery Clift. The two of them together onscreen is so beautiful it's breathtaking.

I've also wanted to read Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the Marriage of the Century. Maybe that'll get me out of my reading funk.

Comments

[Tripp]

2011 is a reading funk year for me. Occasional bright spots, but mostly I flip through magazines.

Sad to see her go.

[Lee]

Elizabeth Taylor definitely lived out loud. I'll check out the films you mentioned. Didn't know you were a film major.

[Citizen Reader]

You and me both, Tripp. I'll keep an eye out for better things for both of us. I've been reading a lot of magazines too! But sometimes, dammit, you just want a good BOOK. Hang in there.

Lee,
You're right about that: quite the life. I was a Comm Arts/film major when I started out, but it morphed into journalism because I thought it would be more "practical." Good lord. If I was serious about practical I should have forced myself into computer programming or nursing.

[Venta]

I watched Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf a couple of months. Depressing but an amazing film. Wow. I've never been a big ET fan, either, but I will miss her.

Hang in there, all of us in a reading funk.

[Citizen Reader]

Venta,
I've always wanted to see WAOVW and never got around to it. Should I?

Thanks for the encouragement. So far this week I've enjoyed a couple of books so I'm coming out of the funk. Hope you do soon too!

[Venta]

I asked my husband if he ever watched it, and he said he tried but it was so depressing. And it was, but Elizabeth Taylor is so good in it. She could play a mean bitch.

I'm reading a lot of books I have to review and they all seem to have the same theme - how can I be more popular in high school? Then at the end they realized who their true friends are. That's what I get for choosing to review the books no one else want to touch.

Glad to hear you're getting out of the funk.

Printed out the two articles you recommended (sorry, environmentalists, I can't read serious articles online). "Looking forward" to reading them.

[Ruthiella]

Venta, as long as you recycle the articles after you read them, I forgive you.

CR, I think a nice juicy biography of Liz will get you out of your funk. Can't recommend one, unfortunately.

[Care]

I heard that Liz arranged in her will to arrive late to her own funeral cuz she was late to everything. That's pretty darn cool.
I think she was spectacularly beautiful but blame her a bit for bringing me late to the awesomeness that is Virginia Woolf. I didn't realize VW was an author, I thought she was the crazy lady Liz portrayed in that flick! oops

[Citizen Reader]

Care,
Super cool story. Good for Liz. I'm planning to leave instructions not to have a funeral or wake at all--just cremate me, toss me in a field, and then go have a drink, all. But arriving late is a nice statement too.
Oh my, your VW story. Now I've got to see that movie. I do that sort of thing all the time--I thought Robert Heinlein came up with the phrase "stranger in a strange land" until someone told me it was from the bible. Woopsadoodle!