Contemptible Entertainment

@BenjBrantley happy 'world theater day' to you, good sir. may it last another 3,000 years (or so). #stage #neillabute

On World Theater Day, it's worth acknowledging that thousands of years after it first stirred souls at Epidaurus, this most vital of art forms still elicits a collective catharsis like nothing else. It is where I go to cry in public -- and I do, whether the show is happy or sad.

WORLD THEATER DAY. don't be soft, don't be sweet. be brash, be brave. the theater should be a bold place, not a safe space. do anything as long as you do it well. #stage #worldtheaterday #neillabute

@BenjBrantley there are legends and then there are titans. take a guess which one this guy is. correct answer. happy birthday, titan. #tennesseewilliams #stage #neillabute

It is the birthday of Tennessee Williams, who portrayed the life sentence of being in "solitary confinement inside our own skins" with a compassion unmatched in American drama. Who saw the pain, the grotesqueness and the existential artistry in the illusions that we live by.

MIAMI OPEN. this young frenchman fires it up and muscles his way past tommy paul into the semi-finals, saving four match points in the final tie-breaker. great hair, greater nerves. #arthurfils #tennis #neillabute

MIAMI OPEN. giant killer. korda takes out alcaraz. #sebastiankorda #tennis #neillabute

@BenjBrantley same. absolute fucking legend. untouchable. #stephensondheim #theater #neillabute

It is the birthday of Stephen Sondheim, a man whose words -- and melodies -- surface in my head nearly as often as those of William Shakespeare. One of the key artists who "opened my eyes, taught me how to see, notice every tree." He still does, every time I listen to his songs.

let's make it three in a row: today's the birthday of the true master of the musical. bar none, my favorite composer for the stage (and there isn't even a close second). thank you, sir. #stephensondheim #theater #neillabute

@per16488 my very favorite. unsurpassed, even by him. #cinema #neillabute

another day, another 'happy birthday' to a true legend. writer and director of more of my favorite films than just about anyone else. thank you, sir. #ericrohmer #cinema #neillabute

happy birthday to one of the very best. one life, so many good plays. thank you, sir. #henrikibsen #theater #neillabute

a friend just sent this from london--the three faber & faber collections look nice together. happy birthday to me. #theater #books #neillabute

i see people talking horseshit today on this platform about the movie REDS. idiots. it is the film i've seen more times on the big screen than any other (BARRY LYNDON is second). size matters but quality matters most. fuck the rest. #cinema #film #neillabute

@BenjBrantley ha! this might even be considered 'glamping' by movie standards today but you're so right, it's a fucking blast to watch. throwing someone in the pool was never so much fun. #film #neillabute

This is what I dove into after the sincerity-steeped Oscars (which I had a swell time watching, by the way): "The Bad and the Beautiful," which shows Hollywood in a far purpler light than the awards show did. It felt like the right time to go camping.

happy birthday to a legend. you are everything. #isabellehuppert #cinema #neillabute

@BenjBrantley then i am in! i was tempted to go see THE FEVER instead (what a gem that one is) but i'm always happy to try something new and josh hamilton is my spirit animal! thank you for the tip, good sir! #stage #neillabute

@contemptent It doesn't play heavy. And the acting glides right along. I really was rapt through the whole thing.

Wallace Shawn may be the most dangerously seductive storyteller in American theater. Watching "What We Did Before Our Moth Days" last night, I felt as I did as a child listening to a Grimm's fairytale, which would hook, enchant and then devastate me with its serene, cruel wisdom.

@PepeMeiLoko thank you, those are very kind words. the one i did try to make like CARNAL KNOWLEDGE is YOUR FRIENDS & NEIGHBORS; i showed that film to my cast and said 'this is what we're trying to do; we might not get there but let's come as close as we possibly can.' #cinema #neillabute

@contemptent reminds me a lot of The Shape of Things, one of my favorites

Eu não aceito que esse filme é do Mike Nichols mas sim um script do Neil LaBute

@BenjBrantley a great stage musical gets turned into a perfect movie musical...and then this happens (and you realize you're also watching a horror film). bone-chilling. #cabaret #theater #cinema #neillabute

It is, impossibly, the 80th birthday of Liza Minnelli, the star of one of the greatest movie musicals ("Cabaret") and the most sizzling musical television revue ever ("Liza with a Z"). Celebrate by putting on a bowler, cocking a hip and throwing your leg over the back of a chair.

@BenjBrantley legend. #edwardalbee #HAPPYBIRTHDAY #neillabute

It is the birthday of the possessor of this amused, defiant, penetrating gaze, which was applied in the creation of some of the wittiest, wisest, most coruscating theater ever written. Raise a glass of rubbing alcohol (Martha: "never mix, never worry") to Edward Albee.