Tikisoo

What about 1987's WINGS OF DESIRE...?

I don't care for Cooper, but find him tolerable when coupled with Stanwyck- he's the perfect dope for her. Heh, those are the first three movies I showed MrTiki to introduce him to my "classic movie" passion. Stanwyck absolutely won him over & he's now a complete Cinephile...and he still calls bubbas "Heelots".

The moment I purchased a DVD recorder in 1998, TCM stopped showing ALL THE FINE YOUNG CANNIBALS '60-previously on regular rotation. 😠 1934's WONDER BAR was also on TCM regularly, but obviously offended somebody, so that's been pulled too. I don't think TUCKER was ever shown on TCM, there's even trouble finding the DVD. I think it had something to do with Joe Jackson's soundtrack. (I love Jackson but the movie shouldn't be held hostage) Many of the films on the list are readily available on DVD & may be found at your local library.

I'm still confused! Too similar names/themes.

Yup, I changed the previous 3 lettered name to "hoodies". Thanks for mentioning Sybil, she was good in that. I think not unlike Debbie Reynolds, Sally Field's cute baby face & petite physical size & voice seem too childlike for some to take seriously, as a mature woman. Valerie Bertinelli is another one. Betty White killed the stereotype of her pretty sweet face with bawdy humor, making her a beloved charactor.

I just finished seeing PLACES IN THE HEART '84. The closing scene is supposed to illustrate the sentiment that "love never dies": Apparently, the director thought this ending may confuse viewers by including charactors that had died in the story. The hymn along with the preachers words should eliminate any confusion.

Really catching up on my unseen 80's movies, I just watched Sally Field starring in PLACES IN THE HEART '84. The poster sets the story up nicely-a story about a Mom trying to keep her life& family afloat during the Depression. I saw it had John Malkovich in it & I was curious to see him in a "western". The story is rather obvious & contrived, even I knew the result of the opening scene (husband is killed) ...and I'm not very clever! So the plot consists of the Mother (Sally Field) Edna's struggle to support herself & her family...add on charactors that help too, in their own ways. Danny Glover plays a itinerant whom Edna refuses to hire, but gives him a free meal. After working off his meal chopping wood, he offers to manage her farm in turn for meals/board....just like IMITATION OF LIFE. Not knowing more than housewifery, she is cornered into farming her property as the only means of income available. John Malkovich plays Mr Will, a blind man practically dumped at her door as a boarder who canes chairs for a living. My family took in boarders- one, a blind woman who strung beads! (I still have several hanks of them) Malkovich deftly adds a unique color to the drab story-nothing's better than the scene of a blind man wielding a pistol to defend his friend from the "hoodies"! There is a tawdry affair between two charactors, Edna's brother-in-law (played by Ed Harris) and the schoolteacher. Unlikeable side plot, unlikeable charactors, don't know what this adds. In contrast, there's an awesome tornado scene which I found realistic & scary. Notice how the 3 principle charactors cling to each other? That is the real story here. There is plenty of racism & cruelty in the story, but not on Edna's Farm. Trite? Maybe. But I enjoyed this movie. It captured the look & feel of the time, injustice of racism/sexism & the struggle to survive. And it only worked because of the strong performances of the talented trio in the center of the story. I don't know why people dis Sally Field. She really is a talented actress, a natural pro who can carry a film. And no amount of dowdy clothing or dirt can hide her beauty.

I see Anna Mae Wong every day on my "world beauty" wall (clockwise-Yma Sumac, Anna Mae Wong, Louise Brooks & Josephine Baker) If any of you missed it, I had posted an Anna Mae Wong display shrine built by a local student displayed in our historical museum. I imagine that's her name in Chinese charactors on the cartouche : "Saw this lovely display honoring my favorite early 20's-30's actress Anna Mae Wong. The lights around her name blinked-so clever! I found this tribute to a great woman very touching, as her accomplishments are nearly forgotten today."

I'm always noticing actors voices and have found several actors have similar sounding voices. Gene Kelly and John Garfield have similar sounding voices-they use the same part of their throat & speak in the same key. I love John C. Reilly and think he's got a really unique voice... That reminds me very much of Pete Puma, even though I know his voice was based upon a comedy character, Crazy Guggenheim maybe?

YAY! I love Anna Mae Wong, although she has far fewer movies as SOTM than our fave Joan Bennett. The Eastman House in Rochester NY just screened a string of Wong's movies every Tuesday night the past month. Wah-impossible for me to attend but at least I have all of them on DVD. All are recommended viewing for every classic film fan. Anna Mae Wong is a tragic figure: she was too "exotic" Asian for "regular" gal roles yet not Asian enough to play a Chinese woman in THE GOOD EARTH. Personally, I think she was great in any role given her, even the pandering stereotype roles which THE GOOD EARTH ended up becoming.

I watched this last night & enjoyed it. I absolutely think this was a restored version, it looked really good considering the source material. MrTiki kept saying, "I can't believe this movies made after FRANKENSTEIN & THE MUMMY, it looks so much older" This was not an American film, but a British film- the same quality of film wasn't as readily available overseas. We've become spoiled watching classic movies shot on Eastman Film, a high quality product made in Rochester NY. This is about as good as this movie will ever look (sound too) and the creaky, foggy look adds to the atmosphere of the story, for me at least. What was notable to us watching it last night, was all the silent-era over-gesturing style acting going on. I know the actors were capable of quieter, more subtle performances, so I imagine this was a result of the director's urging. One scene, where a charactor is caught & nervously grimaces made us LOL.

I had just posted in I Just Watched thread about THE HUDSUCKER PROXY 1998 and came across this great shot: When using miniatures the correct lighting is EVERYTHING. I certainly have not mastered it, or even comprehend the principles, really. My photography experience is only with catalogue photography, pretty standard lighting, nothing creative like ^^^ above. The mistake I too often see with cgi digital blue screen in movies or photos is lack of depth due to lighting.

1994's THE HUDSUCKER PROXY while mostly forgotten today, has always been a fave film of mine. It has a cute story told with explicit visuals. All sets are split between cold tones of the City, buildings, conformity and hermetically sealed interiors in natural earth tones. The cold "City" is a charactor...always watching, always judging- The repetition of blue toned square sharped edged boxes reminiscent of the buildings, conformity, closing in on you-

I'd break out of EBAY PRISON too!! Doesn't anyone wash their windows? Look how slender Boris is in that pic...he's such a handsome man, wish he had more elegant cad roles like Vinnie Price & George Sanders had. Even last week's Svengoolie movie, Creighton Chaney was handsome enough to have wooed an unsuspecting victim, had he been given a worthy storyline. They were all really good dramatic actors. Guess it's not much different than 40 year old actresses complaining there are no good roles for them after their ingenue years.

I stumbled into a theater by mistake showing one of these & was underwhelmed. The lighting needs to be much better if you're going to build styrofoam sets & miniatures. I'm never entranced by CGI charactors/sets/backgrounds. Meh.

I was first captivated in classic movies by Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers movies. It culminated in the big dance number, most of the time with a glittering oversize Art Deco set. The shiny floor usually has some kind of design or pattern, presumably for camera marks. These were almost always done in really high contrast-very black blacks and sparkling bright whites which along with movement captures your eye. (my dog always watches too) Often, if the floor is black, Ginger wears white-if the floor is white, she wears black: Note-both their legs are mid gray tones above ^^^ This set looks like an atmospheric movie palace: ..and the sets were often symmetrical, to center the star dancers-

I was most impressed with 1978's DEATH ON THE NILE circa 1920's costumes, hair & make up so beautifully conveying charactor: Note "modern" clean silhouette of younger charactor vs flamboyant flapper and classic Edwardian (outdated) dress of older women. Also loose cropped hair for younger vs "tight" hair on older women. It seems the men only wear black/white/cream costumes in this movie.

I just watched 1976's THE DUCHESS & DIRTWATER FOX starring Goldie Hawn & George Segal, two comedians I really like....a lot. Good thing because it's a thin caper chase story but their strong performances save it. Goldie Hawn is great as a barroom stage performing trollop, although quickly tired of seeing her bloomers in attempt of evoking titillating hilarity. Her stage costume was evocative of Marlene Dietrich's bawdy chanteuse-wear but continued to be worn through the film when she was no longer performing. Re this unfortunate video cover photo: Embarassing. She is far more talented than that- Goldie is a natural, charismatic comedienne and she is absolutely gorgeous. She holds her own with super talent George Segal who completely surprised me in this "western". Segal made the western his element by being a sly, overconfident rogue, exactly the type he's best at. But his chemistry works well with Goldie and this is a cute romp of a movie. Predictable? Sure, but who cares, sometimes all you want is a lighthearted movie. I did find it funny the couple tries to hide among a traditional Jewish wedding, since both are Jewish! I also loved his slick "Card Sharp" ploy shown twice, both fails! And a scene with secret wordplay in a stagecoach did make me LOL. The real notable performance to me was the stunt work, mostly "horse" stunts. As some of you know, I'm a trick rider and several of the stunts were so incredible I had to slo-mo them to see the rider's prowess. One in particular, where the horse slides to a fall was done by a horse trained to fall-but that sure wasn't Segal on him! Amazing. Also, the scenes where the two are riding a horse "double" was deftly done-I suspect a special saddle was made for security & safety for the horse's kidneys. I love how Black Jack the horse was a "charactor". I'm amazed the end credits only list "stunt coordinator". I have a feeling the desperado gangs chasing the Duchess & Dirtwater Fox were comprised of the "stunt" riders. The music was horrific, all songs sung by Bobby Vinton, I'm surprised that guy was ever popular he sounds like a trained child. I also noticed several dubbed lines, you could clearly see their lip movement & words were different. (!) Overall, this is a period piece, not because of the setting, but just how times have changed, not unlike Blazing Saddles.

My favorite part of the US-more like paradise than Hawaii (fewer bugs)

Americans will repeat ANY phrase that rhymes, doesn't matter if it makes sense.

After reading Carly Simon's book about her friendship with Jackie Kennedy O, I was intrigued to read her autobiography. Obviously she is great with words, a natural writer and she has lived an incredibly interesting life. There was no disappointments and actually little revelation of those around her-she describes them exactly as you imagine them. Most of the book sets the stage, describing the family dynamics that shaped this little girl pictured on the cover. I found her early music career the most fascinating; originally singing to overcome stuttering, then performing as folkie with her older sister. Carly considered herself the "ugly" sister (!) but I find her unconventional beauty far more appealing... She describes her terrifying years as a solo when her sister changes career, but all you have to do is watch any early Sisters performance- obviously Carly is destined for stardom. I typically don't care for books that go into too much personal detail, but I do love that she reveals that she slept with EVERYBODY. It's the 70's and dare I say, sexual freedom reined. You'll hear about Jack Nicholson, Cat Stevens, Kris Kristofferson, Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, etc. But of course, the 3 pages on Warren Beatty were the most incredible: "I knew who he was of course, before he introduced himself. In actual fact, no one could match him. What a glorious specimen of man, he put them all to shame if looks & charm were what you were after. Warren was naturally skilled at keeping several women on the hook at the same time, but there was always one on the top. He had a list on a piece of white paper he kept in his pocket so he could take it out & show you." (he then wrote her name on top!) "This shouldn't have worked, but this is a man who imitated nothing. He was such an actor he could convince himself he was vulnerable...therefore by the time he communicated it to you, it wasn't false at all. You must give Warren credit for loving women. He became compulsive because he could. I knew I could never have Warren, so I didn't even think to take him seriously but instead played the game he was setting out." She describes her attraction & courtship to James Taylor but thankfully does not go into the details of their marriage. He is a private man and I'm not really interested in personal details. She states simple anecdotes revealing personality points, like Taylor had definite names chosen for the children they were to have. There's also interesting coverage of writing songs, recording albums & the dreaded stage performances. It's hard to think of Carly being in her 70's, but that age gives her an overall perspective of her life & career which I find more forgiving & loving that mean or accusing. LOVE this book, love Carly's music.

Thank you for your thoughtful impressions of these movies. I've avoided both for different reasons- mostly turned off by the casting. Knowing SAYONARA isn't "all" Brando absolutely changes my mind about seeing it - better tolerated in smaller doses.

That belongs in the clever comeback thread.

I love this sentiment! And I so love when finding a delightful movie! I read your first paragraph above and skipped to (spoiler).... then read these 2 closing thoughts! Perfect! I know I've seen this movie once & liked it, now completely forgotten. Looks like it's time to get the ole Kazan box set out.

Ugh I knew a man who completely misunderstood the publicity and often mentioned "Bergman is SO BEAUTIFUL, she never wears make up!" . I had to counter that ALL actors need make up for stage or screen, just to photograph correctly. But yes, Bergman photographed beautifully and didn't need any "enhancement" make up like false contours, fake eyelashes, eye liner or lipstick color. When you see one of those "photographs beautifully" person in real life, their faces often look plain. Our eyes search for proportion and symmetry as "beauty". My observations both as a model, then a fashion photographer.