MONDAY, November 10
Compiling a list of Anjelica Huston’s greatest screen moments is incredibly time-consuming, because you end up in a Netflix frenzy. “No, Judah,” Dolores Paley sobs in Crimes in Misdemeanors, “I want to speak to Miriam!” It cuts through you like a knife. Same with the way she says nothing but just stares out the window as she flashes back to Judah telling her, having explained the difference between Schumann and Schubert, “Someday, we’ll have a lot of time.” Goddamn, now THAT’s a movie.
She is the cruel Rodmilla, dismissing a miserable Danielle “as a pebble in my shoe” in Ever After. Ms. Huston is the gorgeous Marcia Fox, poker ace of the underrated Manhattan Murder Mystery, who coolly states, “When I come back from the ladies room, I’ll tell you how to trap him.” She’s the distracted mother in 50/50, juggling her ailing husband and dying son. Or the desperate survivor Lilly Dillon of The Grifters, trying to seduce her own son so she can steal his cash. She’s a darling of some pretty good filmmakers, which should come as no genetic surprise, including Woody Allen and Wes Anderson, two directors who know how to use her arched brows and veneer of confidence to great effect.
Ms. Huston is a beautiful writer, too, and this week her second memoir, Watch Me, is published. She will celebrate tonight with Food & Wine at Chefs Club.
This event is by invitation only.
