MMM: You Know You Gotta Have Hope

Good morning stargazers! It's hard to believe May is half over already. Since the remaining May movie releases hold little of interest to me, I am looking to June, hoping for the best. What do I see so far? The first week holds the same sub-par entertainment. I'll spare you from my full-length diatribe until next month's Trailer Trash. There is, however, one movie that makes me want to hold my head in my hands and cry.

Marmaduke. You'd have thunk the fate of the Garfield franchise would have saved us from future live-action adaptations of pet-centric comic strips. Obviously not. I'd like to support Who's That Lady? inductee Judy Greer or even rising star Emma Stone because fans like me need to spread the love so they can move beyond movies like these. But that's the other side to this coin; doing so prompts Hollywood to push more talking animal movies, ultimately forcing well-respected performers, like Marmaduke co-star William H. Macy, to make movies like these because that's where the money is.

I remember Macy showing up in The Last Dragon. In the early 90's, he established a bit of 'That Guy' status before performances in movies like the Coen Brothers' Fargo and Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights took his career to a whole new level.

You may be wondering what any of this has to do with the Monday Mood Music. Well, this week's selection was central to William H. Macy's character Donnie Smith in the movie Magnolia. It's also a song I've loved since it was first released by British singer Gabrielle in 1993.

The debut of this song topped the UK singles charts. You may vaguely remember Gabrielle as the chick who wore an eye patch. The patch, by the way, was not a gimmick. She has ptosis which she frequently hides with the patch, sunglasses, or her bangs. After her quick rise to fame, she suffered a few bad years before making a comeback in 2000. She's currently working on her sixth studio album.

It just goes to show you shouldn't let the bad in your life overrun the good. I hope Macy takes a cue from Gabrielle and returns to the movie projects that will keep him great. This one's for you, Bill.

Gabrielle - Dreams