One meeting with Dolly Parton very uplifting
“I’m no angel. I’m capable of doing things. What I ain’t done, I might do yet.”
No, that’s not Mae West, although the lady quoted shares similar qualities of blondeur and pulchritude with the late Mae.
It is the always charming Dolly Parton, who no doubt enjoyed excellent ratings last week on her NBC TV movie, “Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love.”
Parton, born in Sevierville, Tennessee, has, naturally, expressed concern over the terrible wildfires that raged through the state, a blaze that at one point seemed to threaten her famous Dollywood Theme Park.
Dolly — who is working in Los Angeles right now — said said she was praying for those who have been more drastically affected. I’m not here to ruminate on the actual power of prayer, but for sure Parton means it sincerely. (My one encounter with the star — a phone interview, years ago — was a mighty uplifting experience. You just can’t fake what this woman’s got. The fake stuff is all on the surface and she’s happy to talk about it.)
THIS ‘N’ That:
Brava to the divine Michelle Dockery, who has somewhat shattered her “Downton Abbey” Lady Mary image, with a juicy new TNT series “Good Behavior.”
I say “somewhat” because Lady Mary was often no lady, not always “nice” and more than a handful — remember the dead lover in her bed? I adored the character, because as I saw her, Mary was the least hypocritical of the bunch, and I also adored the actress. (I was unapologetically Team Mary, despite pushback from some who just hated the way she treated her eternally insipid sister, Lady Edith.)
In “Good Behavior” Dockery — displaying an excellent American accent — plays Letty, a lying, thieving, harddrinking, drug-taking excon trying to go straight. But how straight can you stay when you accidentally hookup with a professional hit man (played by sexy Juan Diego Botto, aka Javier)? Miss Dockery’s model-slim frame and delicate porcelain loveliness is somewhat at odds with the poor rural roots of her character, and the fact that she’s recently out of prison, which is rarely a beautifying experience; but that is what makes this a compulsively watchable TV show, and not a documentary. (Although the actress has no issue with “looking like s —t” — as Javier remarks unkindly at one point — when it’s called for.)
Four episodes in and I’m hooked. I don’t know where they can take these characters without going really dark, and if they do that, can the series be convincingly sustained for more than one season? We shall see. I probably wondered the same thing about “Breaking Bad.”
P.S. A big shout-out to Lusia Strus, who plays Dockery’s no-nonsense mother, Estelle. She is terrific and had a line in this week’s episode, referencing Letty’s lurid sexual past, that was so vulgarly and brilliantly to the point, that it — and Strus’ delivery — deserve raucous applause.
Bravo to director Anton Corbijn for incorporating Janis Joplin’s searing “Piece of My Heart” into his elegant “runaway bride”-themed commercial for the new Miss Dior fragrance.
The ad stars Natalie Portman (an Oscar shooin based on all advance buzz for “Jackie”) as a woman with second thoughts. It’s lovely to look at, as is Miss Portman, in her wedding gown. But the beautifully harsh growling of Janis, gives the spot a jarring, exciting power.
Director Corbijn sees a feminist theme in the use of “Piece of My Heart.” I don’t know about that — she’s wailing that her man is breaking her heart — he’s out on the street looking good and never ever hears her crying at night, but to each his own feminism.
It’s just great to hear Janis’ blood-boiling voice, even though it, alas, leads to melancholy reflection on what might have been had she not left way too soon.