Tikisoo

MrTiki has been home all week confined to the couch with a back injury, so he watched a lot of TV. He saw his fave movie SERPICO was playing so he tuned in. He reported to me that it was unwatchable because the channel put their logo in the empty the black bars on the side of the picture! Not a small ghost logo, like TCM, but a large distracting logo in color along the entire side of the screen! Back when I had cable, I stuck a small square of dark tape over the spot where "animated" logos were, to block them out of my field of vision. But there is no ignoring this new aggressive obnoxiousness.

Through "Porky Pig's Advanced Math", I mastered college calculus. I replayed the insipid tunes of 70's Schoolhouse Rock in my head whenever I edited a story for publication. My favorite; "Lolly lolly lolly get yer adverbs here!" You hear it in old movies all the time, "Don't take it personal." Oh lolly! But you guys need to see Disney's VD films made during WW2. I was shocked to see one mention infection due to man-to-man contact.

Well I thought this thread was about STAR TREK NEXT GENERATION. It was ok, but I'm a original series gal all the way.

Niven was a very loved, very respected actor in the movies, yet I only have seen one movie I really liked him in; A MATTER OF LIFE & DEATH. What movies will they be showing for his spotlight are "must see"? And I'm another New Yorker that wasn't a Seinfeld follower. I've seen maybe 5 episodes. The charactors seemed to be yelling all the time and while many found the Kramer charactor funny, I found him just too over the top. I did, however see the episode about "Ithaca's black & white" cookies and the truth of the story is they originated in Utica and known as "half moon" cookies-but they're simply a flat "cake". http://cnynews.com/happy-birthday-half-moon-cookies-an-upstate-tradition-but-which-side-do-you-eat-first/ Local bakery with half moons in SU colors:

scsu said: Actually, these days ... not so much Apparently, we're back to kindergarten again.

Ya ever notice how at the end of each SVENGOOLIE show Well I notice they use a sound bite from a famous Bugs Bunny cartoon. It strikes me unlikely WB would grant permission for that, but I could be wrong.

Ooops...I mis typed. I had meant Kurt Russell, not Ken Russell. And yes, I was in school in 1978 and this one teacher, who taught "classic film" as an extra class (of COURSE I stayed after school for it!) brought in equipment from the TV station he worked for. (probably illegally "borrowed") This is how we saw movies. Wish I could thank the guy now, because it sparked my interest in classic film & especially discussion of classic film....as an art form. VHS was a new thing then and I also had a friend who would bring his player over for "movie parties". High tech!

Too bad Tor Johnson couldn't be SOTM either.

Blackboard Bungle. It has been claimed by some, the lead actor is a young Ken Russell. I'm amazed you were still using FILM & PROJECTORS in 1988. 10 years earlier, when I was still in high school, our teacher brought in a VHS tape player to show us PSYCHO. That teacher worked for a local TV station, so maybe he was privy to "modern" technology unavailable to the average teacher. Remember FILMSTRIPS? Wow. If you are really interested in educational films as I am, many have been transferred to DVD. AVGeeks.com has collected and transferred these rare gems for years and they are readily available through their website. Most are in "found" condition, unrestored-which I love! I have rows of these DVDs on the shelf ranging from Driver's Ed films to company's new product films to instructing classrooms on handling an atomic attack. The sex ed ones are particularly interesting, especially the ones made by Disney.

I think it's Lubitsch's best film. What is special about Lubitsch films for you? And why do you like this one the best? I'm reading about Fritz Feld and while working for Lubitsch, he asks Feld to join him for lunch. Feld said, "I can't go anywhere, I'm in this crazy costume!" to which Lubitsch replied, "If you're with me, don't worry, no one will even notice you."

To me an "Essential" film is one that stands the test of time. The definition of the word "classic" is something that is timeless & transends culture. In other words, most any one at any time can understand & enjoy it. This goes for all arts; architecture, music, etc. An Australian or Japanese person can enjoy Mozart or Edgar Allan Poe, for example. If you are interested in movies, you should see those that epitomize the medium. It embodies all that makes a movie a communicative art form; including great writing, great acting and a great visual....for example THE WIZARD OF OZ.

Well I've noticed the boards are moving smoothly, with interesting topics and many different members posting thoughtful & intelligent responses. Not much spam, snarky attacks or immature empty posts. It's like the difference between kindergarten and college.

Not a "remake" per se, but Garbo's in both versions of ANNA CHRISTIE... but that was common in those days because of language. Grace "the human popsicle" Kelly Haha, when referring to a particularly nasty woman client, my crew once said, "Any man that would (have sex with) her would instantly become a popsicle."

Sad news. I admired him for being an accepted & successful foreign actor in US films. Every role I've seen him in, he's played a not so nice guy (Zhivago, Funny Girl) but I still liked him. Guess it was his gorgeous-ness.

Thank you for that report on THIS HAPPY BREED. It was on my July list until I saw my library has it. (Holden-every library has THE GHOST & MR CHICKEN....see it! Rita Shaw in bit part is a riot as usual) When requested THIS HAPPY BREED, I received a box set "David Lean Directs Noel Coward" with BLYTHE SPIRIT, IN WHICH WE SERVE & BRIEF ENCOUNTER & a booklet! I have a feeling I'm going to enjoy them all. I didn't like Brief Encounter very much when first saw it, but will give it another try.

in a year so weak for leading actresses that Debbie Reynolds got nominated for her thoroughly irritating work in THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN ouch and Julie Andrews won for a pretty pedestrian supporting part in MARY POPPINS. OUCH!! Don't lament over Ava's "cheesecake" early in her career. For a shy person, this sort of "quiet exhibition" is a great confidence booster. It gets you used to being scrutinized, primped and comfortable being "looked at". While I think Ava is gorgeous, there is something un-glamorous about her. It could have been the lighting or her make-up, but she came across as pretty ordinary in movies to me. Although I confess, I haven't seen many of her films. I didn't like MOGAMBO at all, mostly because of the clumsily inserted Africa shots. Gable's age was far worse than Ava's imho. Never seen EAST SIDE WEST SIDE and am excited to look it up.

Mae West's timeless advice has rarely steered me wrong Those quotes were great. I keep this one of hers on my bathroom mirror for inspiration: "You're never too old to become younger" MrTiki often calls others "Heelots", sometimes calls me that. And I agree with EmilyDean's NETWORK quote. I say it often, especially in regards to today's "news" and "entertainment" in general. My "life" motto however, comes from HERE COMES MR JORDAN. Claude Rains says repeatedly, "Everything's going to be all right." meaning nothing is insurmountable.

This movie was ridiculous and I liked the guy that kept saying "Attaboy [insert name here]!" The "shakey speech" was Knott's original stand up routine and it was great that it was included in this movie for posterity. I read Don Knott's autobiography after seeing this film recently (it's childish fun!) and Knotts stated he kept the page of the script where the "Atta boy Luther!" line was added in his wallet at all times as a good luck talisman. And everyone should keep watching the Shirley Temple films-they do get better. The film group I belong to screens a Temple film every year and it is AMAZING to sit in the audience. You can hear a pin drop during some scenes while when she sings & dances the room is filled with smiles, ending in spontaneous applause. I notice Shirley has MANY close ups where her face just fills the screen, and her eyes & big smile are genuine. She's not faking. That comes across to the audience in a deep, primal way and I think this is the core reason she "helped" people through the Depression.

8 p.m. Lassie Come Home *SPOILERS* Donald Crisp and Elsa Lanchester are so poor they cannot feed their own family let alone the useless mutt. So, they sell it and are able to eat once again. Haha, reading this I thought it was going to say, "are so poor they cannot feed their own family let alone the useless mutt. So...." .....they cook Lassie up for dinner. End of movie.

As usual speedracer, your thoughtful & insightful posts are a delight to read on this board. While reading an autobiography, I too get excited to see the films they discussed. I'm not real familiar with Ava's filmography, but instantly thought of ON THE BEACH. It's one of my favorite movies because it doesn't wrap up with a happy ending. Fred Astaire is EXCELLENT and it's my very favorite Ava Gardner role.

A day with her movies? I think Hayley would be an incredible star of the month. Spanning her career, there should be loads of her films to showcase. My movie buddy, a fan of British films introduced me to little seen fantastic films starring Hayley Mills including WHISTLE DOWN THE WIND & TIGER BAY, both excellent. I've never seen IN SEARCH OF THE CASTAWAYS or THE CHALK GARDEN. Her Disney movies were great too and I'd love to see her movies as an adult. How about a PRIVATE SCREENINGS with Hayley as icing on the cake?

I love MAN ON A TIGHTROPE too. Love Cameron Mitchell who didn't get enough meaty roles imho. MST3K fans may know Mitchell from the hilarious SPACE MUTINY episode. He plays a space ship commander, (ah, finally Christmas comes to Santa!) while his daughter plays the lead. The male lead is played by beefy original Captain America, Reb Brown, soon to be Mitchell's son-in-law. Successful Hollywood marriage according to IMDB.

A friend gave me a copy of ALL THE FINE YOUNG CANNIBALS, one of my favorite movies never shown on TCM. It looked like it was video taped off TCM because the quality was awful. But great to see it again-it was as great as I remember. Fave Susan Koehner is a standout, and really the only actress I can think of to hold her own next to Natalie Wood. ATFYC used to be on heavy rotation until the DAY I bought my DVD recorder....then it stopped broadcasting it! I took out JERSEY BOYS and FROZEN from the library. As many of you know, I'm anti-Disney, and I disliked the charactor artwork seen on kid chotchke. But I'm open minded. I'd heard a lot about JERSEY BOYS being a great depiction of Frankie Valli's career. Well, I hated it. There was very little charactor development; I had no idea if Valli was a good kid, a trouble maker, a brave pioneer? Instead, the movie was just a string of hits sung. Wha? I took out the disk after 45 minutes. I simply did not care. I put in FROZEN thinking it might be at least visually interesting. Well, I loved it. I loved the charactors, the story and the look of it. Yeas, I cried at the end over CARTOON charactors. The SNOW QUEEN was always my favorite story as a kid and this was a spin off of that story. I fast forwarded through all the songs which seemed to drag the story somewhat-it worked FINE without them. The artists paid attention to detail, including depicting all the horses as Fjord ponies, the correct horse type for Nordic regions. One, even had the traditional checkerboard cut into it's mane. I won't be buying any FROZEN chotcke, but Disney earned my respect for putting out a good movie. The library also had THE BEATLES ANTHOLOGY PT 1 & 2. It was pretty complete, had great interviews both past & present, and great old film footage of the boys performances. The boys were so young, cute & innocent. The story ended at '64 so there was none of the really interesting later stuff. It was an amazing look back, they really were talented singers & musicians. Their popularity was no accident, but so overly dramatic. All the young girls who were crying at the sight of them were right to cry-they'd never see the likes of these lads again. Kind of fitting, Ringo is 75 today. Someone on this board mentioned Madeline Kahn being in WHAT'S UP DOC? a Peter Bogdanovitch movie I had never seen! so I got that out from the li-berry too. It was spotty-slid into "dumb" at times. But the always underrated Ryan O'Neal and effervescent performance by Streisand elevated the movie. And what a stellar supporting cast! Kahn was great as usual, also notable Kenneth Mars with his fractured German accent. I howled out loud at the ending line, which I will not repeat here for any first time viewers, but it's a classic (but yukky) movie line. I am forever amazed when seeing early Streisand movies just how electric she was on screen. Sure, her charactor is zany, but Babs pulls it off well. She's so gorgeous, even with that h o n k i n' nose, really something. And a perfect figure and cute clothes, always fun to watch. Too bad Babs is so polarizing-I guess big personalities can get tiring after awhile. Ryan O'Neal, as I said earlier (I think) is underrated. You're struck by his handsome looks and he plays the straight man. But it's HARDER to play the straight man and be likeable and a stand out. And O'Neal is all that. He brings really subtle comedy to his role, just by his body movements, like running. So the best movies I saw were FROZEN & WHAT'S UP DOC? and by far the worst was JERSEY BOYS.

But he attacked television as "just an adjunct of the advertising business." An interesting observation. Certainly holds true for sensationalism reality shows. Thanks for that article....interesting. Dana Andrews is one of my favorite actors-love his face, voice & demeanor. This was the only poster in my price range featuring Andrews, and it's still not framed yet:

What exactly are "bedroom" eyes? You look in his eyes, and you want to go to bed with him?..and what's so great about a prominent nose? The term "bedroom eyes" for me has always meant sort of "dreamy" eyes-in other words large eyes with the lids a little closed making the person look like they are relaxed. Eyes narrowed by squinting is tense and aggressive, while softly lowered lids are passive and therefore "dreamy". Unfortunately, the dreamiest bedroom eyes I can think of are Bing's, but the rest of him holds zero interest for me personally. But in general, lowered lids are an indication of affection. As for a large nose, it is an indication of largeness down below, for a man at least. So William Powell's face is definitely a turn on as well as his voice, physique & demeanor. It's all just body language. But when your career is in pictures, it can be the difference in a "bit player" and a "star".