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I'm not normally into baseball movies, or sports in general, but I just watched Bang the Drum Slowly (1973) and enjoyed it very much. It's more a pal movie than a sports movie. An early role for Robert De Niro who plays a dying baseball player who's a little on the slow side, and his friend and pitcher played by Michael Moriarty of Law and Order fame who has his work cut out for him trying to keep his illness from the manager, Vincent Gardenia, so he won't be traded. It's not mushy or sentimental, but sweet. The performances by the three leads are great. It's also Danny Aiello's first movie. I like it enough that I just bought it used off of Amazon.

Rebecca Backdraft Gone With the Wind

(Warning, SPOILERS) ive been wanting to see THE GREAT SANTINI (aka THE ACE aka MAKING TOXIC MASCULINITY WORK FOR YOU, AT HOME AND ON THE JOB) for some time now. It aired on TCM last night. to get the good stuff out of the way, MICHAEL O’KEEFE, who is the true lead of the movie even though he got a supporting actor nomination, is absolutely outstanding in an unbelievably challenging part. That’s not to say that he’s perfect, he has a couple of “off” moments, but an awful lot is required of him as an actor and he delivers 99.9% of the time. I will however take you all aside to let you know that I think Michael O’Keefe is just about the cutest thing EVER so I am prejudiced (Between this and CADDYSHACK from the same year, I really wish he had gone on to star in a whole string of sports movies, he is just so likable as an actor, I think he would’ve fit the genre like a glove) now the bad. This movie would have been better off to have had absolutely no score than the ham fisted very clumsy very distracting occasional queue of music that sounds like somebody in an AFTER SCHOOL SPECIAL Is having a learning moment. and It is my understanding that Robert Duvall is a genius actor, and to ever miss the omnipresent genius of REDNECK ROD STEIGER is to somehow miss the genius of ACTING! Whatever. i’m gonna go so far as to say that DUVALL is not good in this, and that’s not just because I didn’t like his character. He’s just sort of sitting in the role, letting it play him. It is JOHNNY ONE NOTE almost all the way. Also, HE is the supporting actor in this movie, in no way is he the lead. the singular thing that absolutely ruined this movie for me and quite frankly offended me to the core is the clumsy, ham fisted, “racial enlightenment” provided by the characters of a black maid who works for the family and her son, who is- forgive me for using this term but I know no other- a magical Negro who drives a Mule-pulled flower cart, has a stammer, wears overalls, lives in a school bus down by the river, knows about fishin spots n’ honeybees, and of course teaches the lead white character about life, love, and most importantly HIMSELF by (checks notes) getting murdered by a bunch of crackers led by ROBERT KEITH (I imagine FREDERIC FORREST was busy) Seriously, all he was missing was a couple of animated bluebirds on his shoulder and a corncob pipe. The movie then goes on for another hour, where he’s never even mentioned again in the film. We never see a scene where his mother learns of his death, or mourns him, we never learn anything else about his life, nothing. It is pure plot device and he is A PROP. This black character who was murdered, serves no other reason then to teach the clean, bright, 20 Mule team Borax-scrubbed white people who are of course THE LEADS an important “THE MORE YOU KNOW” moment, Once that’s over with, there’s nothing more to see here, folks, please move along. **** that. And then when the character of the father – Robert Duvall- dies, it is of course in an act of extreme heroism saving an entire town in the process and a good 15 to 20 minutes follow where we (of course) see HIS funeral and HIS flyover and HIS family dealing with their loss and moving on, because well, you know- they’re white. seriously, CADDYSHACK Is a hell of a lot more progressive 40 years later than this movie has turned out to be.

House of Wax The Bad Seed Oklahoma! Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

They brought us plenty of joy. That's all that really matters. My mother used to say, "If you're feeling blue, watch I Love Lucy."

Read this when I came online this morning. It's another end of an era. Often maligned and satired, but also much respected he did manage to interview many that others never had the chance to. Rest In Peace, Larry. Sepiatone

I just saw a fascinating documentary on the life of actress Margaret Rutherford-Truly Miss Marple. The Curious Case Of Margaret Rutherford. It is on Youtube, well worth seeing. She was a true English eccentric, the likes of which probably don't exist much anymore. The tweed wearing, solitary types who love art and literature and spend nights by the fire in their country house. But her life was more bizarre and intriguing than anything Agatha Christie could have come up with. Her father suffered from mental illness and was confined to an insane asylum after he murdered his own father. Margaret's mother later committed suicide. The young girl was brought up by an aunt who got her into the arts. She did not become a working actress until she was in her 40s, playing older woman since she looked much older than she was. She married late in life (53) to actor Stringer Davis, he was 7 years younger and they remained devoted to each other for the rest of her life. She had said she waited to be married later since she did not want children because she was afraid they would inherit her family' s history of mental illness. She herself suffered from bouts of depression. She suffered from dementia in her final years and died in 1972 at the age of 80. But the strange story still doesn't end. In a twist worthy of Christie, after Margaret's death and soon after Stringer died as well, the housekeeper forged Margaret's name on a will which had her as sole beneficiary. The police got a call at the house where she claimed there was a burglary, all of Margaret's possessions (including her 1963 Oscar for The VIPS) were stolen. It turns out she had taken them herself and sold them. The Oscar is still missing to this day. She died before she could come to trial on any of this. So it was strange and sad life for truly unique artist.

The broadcaster Larry King, who was a mainstay on radio talk shows before turning to television and print, died today at the age of 87. The Brooklyn product (born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger) died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, weeks after it was disclosed that he had contracted the coronavirus. But there has been no announcement about the cause of death, Before 24-hour cable news took hold in the 1980s, King's late-night and early morning broadcasts on Mutual Radio served as an information source for millions of listeners. The show's call-in format also allowed his King's audience members to discuss major news events, including the death of Elvis Presley in 1977 and the 1980 aborted U.S. helicopter mission to rescue American hostages in Iran. From 1985 to 2010, he hosted the Cable News Network show "Larry King Live" on weeknights. His guests ranged from world leaders to Hollywood celebrities and the notorious. He also coaxed rare interviews from big names such as Marlon Brando (below). His biggest regret: Never having an opportunity to sit down with Cuba's longtime strongman, Fidel Castro, By the mid-1980s, King augmented his "Larry King Live" stint with other high-profile ventures, including a regular column in USA Today and Sunday duty as a member of NBC Sports' NFL pregame show. A reporter once asked him: "When do you sleep?" His response: "It ain't' easy." King declared that he did not prepare for interviews with guests. Among his favorite interview subjects was Frank Sinatra, whom the talk show host praised as a person who could explain what he did very well. King became as famous as many of the people he interviewed. So it was not surprising that he appeared as himself in numerous film and television productions. One of his best moments onscreen was in the 1993 comedy/drama "Dave," which featured him with the opinionated director Oliver Stone. The film starred Kevin Kline in a double role as the corrupt U.S. president and the upstanding lookalike who secretly replaced him. Mike Barnes @MikeBarnes4 Ted Turner on #LarryKing: "Larry was … in my opinion, the world’s greatest broadcast journalist of all time. If anyone asked me what are my greatest career achievements in life, one is the creation of CNN, and the other is hiring Larry King." 1:21 PM · Jan 23, 2021·Twitter Web App Conan O'Brien @ConanOBrien 12:37 PM · Jan 23, 2021·Twitter Web App Keith Olbermann @KeithOlbermann My friend Larry King has died. It is literally true that thousands of us can make that sad statement this morning. While he was easily caricatured, I’ve never known anybody who made a bigger deal out of the slightest kindness afforded him. #RIPLarryKing 8:03 AM · Jan 23, 2021·Twitter for iPhone Kurt Andersen @KBAndersen By the way, Larry King invented Twitter when he started writing a column in USA Today. Here, for instance, an example from 1992. 8:34 AM · Jan 23, 2021·Twitter for iPad Christiane Amanpour @camanpour Larry King was a giant of broadcasting and a master of the TV celebrity/statesman-woman interview. His name is synonymous with CNN and he was vital to the network’s ascent. EVERYONE wanted to be on Larry King Live. May he Rest in Peace. 8:24 AM · Jan 23, 2021·Twitter for iPhone Piers Morgan @piersmorgan Larry King was a hero of mine until we fell out after I replaced him at CNN & he said my show was ‘like watching your mother-in-law go over a cliff in your new Bentley.’ (He married 8 times so a mother-in-law expert) But he was a brilliant broadcaster & masterful TV interviewer. 8:19 AM · Jan 23, 2021·itter for iPhone

It's the closest thing we have to a theater communal experience-knowing others are watching along too. (all over the continent) I know many of you have great disdain for Sven's corny jokes, but just think of the kids who otherwise might be frightened of the monsters. Lots of different people are watching, right? Sven gives kids something fun & friendly to relieve tension. He just reminds me of the classic local movie host, especially Saturday afternoon kiddie movies. No matter what the movie, I enjoy getting into the spirit of it. Old lady Saturday Nights.

The Last Alarm (1940) Firestarter (1984)

He's also quite good in A BULLET IS WAITING, which TCM showed when Jean Simmons was SOTM a few years back. A plane crashes near Big Sur, and the only survivors are an accused murderer (Rory Calhoun) and the lawman taking him back to Utah (Stephen McNally). They manage to get to a ranch owned by Brian Aherne (absent, though he shows up later) and his daughter (Jean Simmons, looking very sexy in blue jeans). It's a kind of "chamber Western" like THE NAKED SPUR, but with a contemporary setting. I like it a lot.

Sad. I actually checked google yesterday to see how Larry King was doing. I watched most times when Larry had his CNN talk show over the years. He was a great interviewer. Wish he could have survived. I remember his Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando interviews and the 100's of others that I watched. over the years.Thank You Larry for years of informative and entertaining tv watching. RIP Larry King

Saxon, John

As a major Lucille Ball/Desi Arnaz/I Love Lucy fan, I do not think I will be watching this. I've read both of Lucy and Desi's respective autobiographies, and have heard about the problems in their marriage. I don't need to see a dramatization of their tumultuous relationship. I'll just binge-watch I Love Lucy instead.

I've got my DVD of Lon Jr's first starring monster role, But it's still fun to see it on TV-- The way I first saw it many decades ago. With Lionel Atwill as the villain, this is a 1st -rate "B" Universal feature and a wonderful dress rehearsal for Lon's masterpiece, "The Wolf Man", which was also made in 1941.

YOU'RE IN THE NAVY NOW (1951)

Parton, Dolly

He was a legend. Lots of celebrity friends across the spectrum. An influential broadcast journalist. Here is his interview with the Television Academy Foundation: https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/interviews/larry-king "Be yourself. Don't try to be Larry King. Don't be someone else. Be curious. Listen. Listening is more important than what you ask. Because you learn a lot by listening. My motto: I never learned a thing when I was talking."

Sunday, January 24/25 midnight. Rosita (1923). I saw this Mary Pickford film many years ago at the Cinematheque and have been on the lookout for a copy ever since.

I think it probably has to do with the Will and Grace tribute to Lucy. Messing was spot on perfect. She might not be first choice to play Lucille Ball, but she’s a perfect Lucy Ricardo.

Sink the Bismarck! (1960) Paris Is Burning (1990) We're Not Married! (1952)

Speaking of afterglow, let's give some love to Boris Karloff in The Invisible Ray, a great film.

Love that 70's music! I recently bought this one off of iTunes,

1940

The Virginian first season had a great episode called The Accomplice. Bette Davis played a crooked bank teller, who pinned Trampas (Doug McClure) with a shooting and bank robbery. Trampas was brought back to a town , to face charges stemming from the bank robbery. Bette was great in this role as the crooked bank teller. The Virginian ( James Drury) travels to this town to help set Trampas free. This episode had a great court room scene and other good scenes in the episode. The other stars in The Accomplice are Lin McCarthy, Gene Evans, Noah Keen and Harold Gould. I'm giving just an rough overview of the plot in this episode, to avoid spoiling the viewing pleasure for those wishing to see this episode. The Accomplice was an great episode of The Virginian and provides great viewing pleasure.

It doesn't sound flattering a'tall. I've read that Desi was a womanizer, but Lucy also had her affairs, one of which was with George Sanders. Just speculation, mind you. Only what I've read. I prefer to remember the couple as bringing many, many years of laughter to my life. As a matter of fact, I was just thinking about how much comedic brilliance Desi brought to the show in his own right. Take a look at The Handcuffs, where Lucy & Desi are cuffed together. He has to get to a television program. Cuffed to Lucy, she uses her hands as mannerisms while Desi sings. Watch Desi's facial expressions. He is hilarious! Not to mention how they try to get undressed and to bed!

I know what that's from. Boy, Did I Dial the Wrong Number. That's got one of my favorite Bob Hope/Phyllis Diller lines. She plays his housekeeper and comments on her new hairdo. Bob says, "So that's what happened to the eggbeater."

I thought possibly a scene from "When the SGT. Pepper album cover set attacks!" Anyway.... I remember many moons ago the newspaper's TV book listed this movie on it's schedule and described it as.... "A story with a morel." Sepiatone

On Svengoolie tomorrow, January 23, 2021:

MGM definitely was seen as the top studio by most, and its fall was symbolic of a lost Hollywood. But MGM wasn't the first of the "Big Five" (WB, RKO, 20th Century Fox, MGM, and Paramount) of the studio system era to fall. That honor goes to RKO, mortally wounded by Howard Hughes' control in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and then finally killed off when General Tire bought it. RKO lasted just 2 or 3 years under the General Tire conglomerate. Also interesting is that the studios in the middle tier (UA, Columbia, Universal) survived the post-studio-system era and came to equal or surpass the status and stature of some of the "Big 5" , and one non-major studio turned out to be the mouse that roared (Disney).

TCM Programming Challenge #44 “Battle of the B’s” Challenge #1: “B” Stands for B Movies. From the 1930’s to the 1950’s, every Hollywood studio produced B movies (even if MGM refused to admit it!) B movies served as an excellent training ground for actors, writers and directors and were an essential part of the classic era. Sometimes, these films rose above their “B status” to become hits and even beloved classics. In honor of these unsung films, you are to program a block of B movies (minimum of 4) that were produced at the same studio. B movies were the lifeblood of Columbia, Universal and the Poverty Row studios but the major studios also had “B” units including: Bryan Foy’s at Warner’s, Sol Wurtzel’s at Fox and the Pine-Thomas unit at Paramount. You may have 3 films in this challenge which will not go against your premiere limit. Mark these: B Movie-Exempt. For more information on B movies, check out this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B_movies_(Hollywood_Golden_Age) Challenge #2: “B” Stands for Bad Guys. Call them thugs, call them gangsters, call them psychos or evil geniuses, Bad Guys (and Gals) are the villains we love to hate. You are to program a block of films (minimum of 4) featuring The Best of the Movie Bad Guys. You may have 3 films in this category which will not go against your premiere limit: Mark these: Bad Guys-Exempt. Challenge #3: “B” Stands for Bob or Ben. Whether you are on Team Bob (Osborne) or Team Ben (Mankiewicz) you know that both gentlemen occasionally hosted a night featuring their personal picks. You are to program a block of films (minimum of 4) that you believe would be selected by either Robert Osborne or Ben Mankiewicz. You may have 3 films in this category which will not go against your premiere limit. Mark these: Bob/Ben-Exempt. Challenge #4: “B” Stands for Back In The Day. (optional) We are about to start TCM Programming Challenge #44. Wow! The Programming Challenges began in 2006 and, in honor of the brilliant minds who conceived this idea, you are to program a block of films (minimum of 4) from one of the original 2006 Programming Challenges. You may choose: “Holidays” (Challenge #2 by lzcutter,) “Film Series We Love” (Challenge #3 by hlywdkjk) or “Signs of the Zodiac” (Challenge #4 by MattHelm.) You may have 2 films in this category which will not go against your premiere limit. Mark these: 2006-Exempt. Challenge #5: 1944 Guest Programmer (optional) In honor of Challenge #44 you are to program a block of films (minimum of 4) with a guest programmer who is a character from a 1944 film. You have some great characters to choose from! You may have 2 films in this category which will not go against your premiere limit. Mark these: 1944-Exempt. Special note: “B” Stands for Beginners: If you have ever wanted to try doing a TCM Programing Challenge, why not try now? It’s lots of fun and, for the first time in years, prizes will be awarded to all participants. if you like, we’ll assign an experienced TCM Challenge Programmer to be available to help with your questions. Try it! You’ll like it. You may use up to 12 premieres in this challenge. The week selected must be between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022. This challenge starts at 12 Noon (EST) Sunday, January 17, 2021 and ends 11:59 PM (EST) Sunday, February 28, 2021. Good luck!

BILL EVANS TRIO Sunday At The Village Vanguard

"Café 1930" is the second movement of a four movement work entitled Histoire du Tango (1985) by Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992). Originally composed for guitar and flute, but often performed with other combinations, the work as a whole illustrates the history of the tango, with this movement representing the era when people first began to sit and listen to the tango performed as music, rather than as dance accompaniment. Guitar - Alexandra Whittingham Violin - Esther Abrami 6' 46"

THE BRIDE WORE RED (1937)

I have seen it and it's also in my personal collection of films. An interesting film, to say the least.

FOURTEEN HOURS (1951)

MEDIUM COOL 1969

O'Brian, Hugh

John Tucker Must Die Men are Such Fools Earth Girls are Easy You'll Never Get Rich The World's Greatest Lover I Know What You Did Last Summer Gentlemen Prefer Blondes Don't Trust Your Husband Love is a Racket You Can't Cheat an Honest Man Everybody's Doing It I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can Life Stinks I Want to Live!

I have a friend at work who does sit with his daughters to watch the show. I got him a Universal monster tee shirt for Christmas last year and his little girls point out the monsters.

I stumbled over PRICK UP YOUR EARS (1987) un filme dü STEPHEN FREARS and a YIN TO THE YANG of MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE I've always assumed this was a concert film or about a disc jockey, so I've not looked into it- I didn't realize that the title is actually deliciously dirty! it's kind of a hybrid of SUNSET BLVD and ALL ABOUT EVE starring PETER LORRE from MAD LOVE in the VON STROHEIM role, but gay and British. it's dark, but funny- and a lot better paced (i thought) than LAUNDRETTE- although neither film follows a linear pattern. GARY OLDMAN and ALFRED MOLINA star as a pair of gay lovers who are aspiring writers, one makes it big, the other doesn't, and BAD THINGS HAPPEN. It comes right up to the edge of FILM NOIR and I liked it. It was no surprise that OLDMAN invested himself 110% into the role, but it has not been until now that I have really understood the fuss over ALFRED MOLINA- who really gives an INCREDIBLE PERFORMANCE in a challenging part- he manages to be ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS and UTTERLY PATHETIC and MAD and TERRIFYING all at once. VANESSA REDGRAVE is Oldman's character's agent and she plays every scene as if she has just come from having one HELL of a session with the shower massager, it's rather marvelous ('NESSA is one of those very RARE actors who I do not care for in their early years, but really like a lot as they grew older and matured. i can't think of any other actress who went so convincingly from playing ICE COLD to being SO WARM onscreen as Vanessa Redgrave) JULIE WALTERS has, I think, only one scene, but it's GREAT. Definitely a movie I would recommend for all aspiring writers out there. (based on a true story as well, I have GOT to look up some of the plays of JOE ORTON now!!!!)

Man! I've heard of "afterglow", but----- Really? Sepiatone

Oh, this is too weird. I am currently reading The Genius of the System for the 2nd time. I swear, it's the best book on Hollywood history (and I have a ton of those) that was ever written. Just at the part where Irving Thalberg has died, (poor MGM, Mayer is now going to flood you with Andy Hardy films) David O. Selznick has just started Selznick International and you can just see how his genius (and many personal, shall we call them, eccentricities?) are going to impact the making of GWTW. Best book ever!!

I'm not sure I see MGM's history exactly the way the article surmises. I'm currently reading THE GENIUS OF THE SYSTEM by Thomas Schatz for like the 3rd time (I'm forgetful) It provides more detail than generalizations and really fleshes the history of all the studios evolution & highly recommend it.