Tikisoo

I'm afraid I tend to think of those kiddie cartoon show hosts from yore as preverts. There was a similar kid show host in Toronto (I think) when I was a kid, called "Uncle Bobby". You realize the very best movie about that subject is Canada's DEATH TO SMOOCHY. I am a huge fan of local "hosted" TV shows of the past-now they are all nation-wide. My old bf worked on DTS and urged me to come up to see some of the filming. After the movie came out, he was embarrassed calling it the "worst movie ever made". I finally watched it in it's entirety and it became an instant favorite of mine. Seems to me those who hated it just didn't "get" it. It's a black comedy and Robin Williams is so good as corrupt Rainbow Randolph, with hilarious dirty lyrics in the songs too! Welcome MissW3. At least you've kept yer pitcher so we recognise you.

I am bored to tears with TCM events. I couldn't BELIEVE they are held in crappy megaplexes instead of great vintage theaters (who are struggling to stay in the black) And $15 a ticket? For a digital streamed movie? Not me, man. Instead, I elected to see DOUBLE INDEMNITY screened in 35mm in the classic Capitol Theater. $5 a ticket-brought the entire family & friends to that one. Also saw DRACULA & PSYCHO in 35mm in vintage theaters too. A GREASE sing-a-long would make me want to slit my throat. Obviously, these "events" are thought up by those out of touch with what real classic movie fans really want.

There were certainly plot holes in it, but what a fun movie! We enjoyed it so much, we've gone on a "old man" theme for our family movie night. Last night we watched OH GOD! which I highly recommend if it's been years since your last viewing. HUGE plot hole in that one, but still an IMAGINATIVE fun movie. Of course, Carl Reiner directed & Larry Gelbart wrote it. Tonight: The Sunshine Boys; "En-taaar!" The sad thing is we'll never see the likes of genius movie makers like Carl Reiner or Neil Simon again.

I also vote for TARZAN & HIS MATE as stated earlier. The title and the idea of hot jungle sex is titillating- a sweet civilized white gal with a savage animal of a guy? And the swim scene helps too. Very sexay.

Kicking myself over: Once when I was visiting Philly was told a movie was being made at Eastern States Penitentiary. I used to visit there just to take photos, but decided to avoid it if it was in use! What a jerk. 12 MONKEYS was being filmed there...I could have met Brad Pitt AND Bruce Willis both of whom I like. But WORST was missing the opportunity to meet Terry Gilliam, one of my favorite directors of all time.

Every time Claude Rains says, "It's going to be alright" in HERE COMES MR JORDAN The roundup of guys on horses at the end of the number "Defenses Are Down" in ANNIE GET YOUR GUN. I just love the energy in that musical. But guys on horses singing is extra sexay. And outside of movies, I'm enjoying Ben M's more relaxed wrap-arounds. He's jovial & cute.

I like the letter and thanks for posting it. I think many artists feel that frustration when asked to perform something substandard to their talents - for the money. It's awful compromising, and the serious theme of THE FOUNTAINHEAD. What many forget is that it takes talent to perform well in a bad idea, your performance can somewhat elevate the production. I'm sure Reed is spinning in his grave that he is best remembered for such a horrific vehicle....but at least he's remembered at all. While many great movie actors, like Laird Creegar, are wholly forgotten.

Last night I watched recorded NIGHT TIDE (61) and MOONFLEET (55) Night Tide was pretty cool, with a very young sailor Dennis Hopper falling for a beautiful but mysterious girl. I was thrilled to see so many scenes take place in a carousel round house-the Santa Monica Pier Carousel-a 1922 Philadelphia Toboggan Co machine. Hopper wanders into the building and comments on how beautiful the carvings are and the owner tells him they are all different and hand carved in Bavaria (!) Just goes to show just how easily mis-information is perpetuated. There is a sideshow/carnival sort of theme which I really enjoy, even a fortune teller! It was moody and well told, a pretty good film overall. Then I watched MOONFLEET mostly because I like Fritz Lang's filmmaking skills. I was surprised it was a Technicolor costumer. I wasn't immediately sucked into the story and kind of lost interest-something a film should never do. I'll give it another try over the weekend in the afternoon. If it doesn't "catch" me then, I'll give up on it.

Well laffite, I agree with you on Cohen Brothers. I find their success rate spotty. I like some of their efforts more than others. BUT I am very glad they are out there and get backing to make movies. They are at least creative and unusual in their "art form". Compare what they do to all the "teen boy oriented action block buster" movies Hollywood's trying to spoon feed us. It's kind of the same as Woody Allen- you may not like him personally, his movies may be spotty, but at least he's making them and giving us some kind of alternative to Hollywood dreck.

If you are a fan of stars biographies or autobiographies this is one not to be missed. Are you speculating Dommy or have you read it? Just because I love a star's work does not necessarily mean a book about them will be worth reading. Many recent books about Hollywood stars (Busby Berkeley, William Powell & Barbara Stanwyk) have been horrible. They are badly written, hard to follow, or simply lists of their accomplishments.

I've seen several movies where "montages" had it's own credit. Wasn't the Russian name mentioned earlier, either. Started me wondering just how you specialize in montages/flashbacks? Or was it simply editing the director or principle editor didn't want to bother with?

Anyone here read Gerald Clark's biographies? The Judy Garland one is well written and really fleshed out.

Both this film and Lady From Shanghai use amusement parks for a setting and it is very effective, many of these amusement parks can be terrifying Thanks for the heads up on that- I LOVE any amusement parks/circus/sideshows shown in movies. Just spotted a great vintage carousel (now gone) from another old movie. I get to go through amusement parks when closed (part of my job) and even ride a few rides alone just to check them out. They are very creepy places when closed. PERFECT locations.

Thanks LHF for making me never waste my time watching this movie

Another time I had the opportunity to exchange a couple of words with Hillary Clinton at the time she was running for President in 2008. Wow. Both Hillary & Bill showed up at the New York State Fair when Hillary wanted to be gov of NY in the late 90's early 2000's. They bought a mansion nearby to create "residency". Both had weird coiffed hair that looked like plastic helmets. Their skin looked shiney & plastic too with overdone make up. My impression was they looked like the plastic battery people from that old commercial. It's arresting when you meet a celeb when they are wearing their "show" make up instead of the natural look. It can make the prettiest girl (ex Jennifer Anniston) into a ghoul.

It's nice to hear something positive about Keifer Sutherland. He's a really good actor & I like his work. He just looks like a spoiled punk, a "type" we want to dislike. My mind wandered to this thread the other day and I thought of all the famous people I've met through the years....who was nice, who wasn't. And it occurred to me who was my favorite of all celebrities I've met: Joe Estavez. I know, he's not a big movie star, pretty much in the schlock horror category. Hey, but then again, so was greats Claude Rains & Vincent Price! Joe Estavez starred in 2 of my favorite MST3K movies- Werewolf & Soultaker. Soultaker's a pretty good movie, but Joe really makes it better. I really enjoy his intensity on screen. He reminds me of Kirk Douglas in that respect. I met him last year at a Horror Festival and he was the sweetest guy I ever met. Way handsomer in person than on screen, with thick salt & pepper hair. He's really sociable & hugging him was like hugging a cuddly bear. I watched him for quite a while schmoozing with fans and he seemed to really get into it. I had a few conversations with him & his lovely wife; one story told was how they met. Just hearing about their lives back in CA made it sound as if they were just "regular" people. I think of Joe Estavez every once in awhile and wonder why he doesn't get better movie offers.

I noticed BOTH your avatar changes, Tom & Speedy in other threads. Like them both! Especially Errol in color! I def think subjects that pertain to "fixing" how the board works -even your profile-should be in the message board "problem" or "instruction" sub-forums.

Wow. I had read Ava's book as a teen and recently spotted the copy when at my Mom's. I'll have to re-read that, I'm sure my perspective would be wholly different now. But yeah, Artie Shaw being a jerk is about all I remember about it! My feeling about beautiful women being attracted to Mickey Rooney is he must have been INTENSE. His intensity shows in his performances, I'm sure he was incredibly emotional when it comes to wimmen. Plus, women are attracted to intelligence & talent, like anyone else. It's not all about size, guys. I recommend any book written by Garson Kanin- he has written one called HOLLYWOOD and a book on TRACY & HEPBURN, both interesting glimpses into the golden age of movies.

Well, like Lawrence & Stephen have said, I am not convinced of the stability. What I am referring to is the endless "upgrades" that will be required streaming movies and other content on the 'net. Once you start enjoying whatever service you have, soon you'll have to upgrade your service, your browser, your TV. I'm amazed at how often I'm prompted to upgrade Flash, browsers and even operating systems on my computer. While I have a wireless connection on my big TV, I haven't been impressed with streaming-pixelation, sputters and often a very dark picture. What happens if you fall asleep and want to re-watch what you've streamed? Having a DVD allows me to go back and rewatch where I slipped off. Do you think streaming will give you that opportunity? Sure. They'll just charge you again! Besides, I like having the physical disk so I can share movies/documentaries I like with others.

You can add me to the list -- I'd love to see the post counts, view counts, and other vanity stuff disappear. They're never necessary and rarely useful. Serious forums don't use them. Haven't read the entire thread, but if that's what you're suggesting, I'm ok with doing away with numbers. Heck, when seeing my overall post count, I'm EMBARRASSED about how much time I must have wasted on an internet message board!

I love Fritz Lang films and always felt Hitchcock emulated his style. Lang used a lot more symbolism, like a good German. I can't recall the repeated symbols used in THE BIG HEAT, but his typical ones are doors and clocks.

Thanks for that trivia tidbit, Swithin. Inneresting! And I too have A LONG DAYS JOURNEY INTO NIGHT. Couldn't get through it, glad I'm not alone. I'll try next time I'm snowed in and have a cold. That's how I got through (& loved) LAWRENCE OF ARABIA. It's like a 3 hour Bollywood film, you have to commit to watching and it's always worth it. Last night we all watched GOING IN STYLE since seeing on the schedule for TCM. We all enjoyed it. It was great seeing scenes of NYC and LasVegas from the 70's. Mr Teek did not realize Art Carney was Ed Norton on the Honeymooners! He only knew Carney from his second career as an elderly man. Oy. So now we're going to watch all the "old people" movies they've not seen like, OH GOD, THE SUNSHINE BOYS and COCOON.

I watched 3 movies recorded from last month: HONEYMOON FOR THREE & ONE MORE TOMORROW, two with Ann Sheridan. I never "got" Sheridan, why she was so popular. She seemed kind of contrived and not all THAT pretty judging from movies I had seen previously. Well, TCM's spotlight on Sheridan worked, because after watching these 2 movies, I finally "got" what made her so popular. Both movies were kind of silly fluff, but very enjoyable. (I sometimes don't need more than that to be entertained) Sheridan was beautiful and modern looking, she could have walked off the screen into today, she looked so modern. Pretty, and natural. Finally got to see George Brent, I don't know WHAT anyone sees in him. (Sheridan was married to Brent) I also watched ROUGHLY SPEAKING, although I couldn't recall why I recorded it. It was a power performance by Roz Russell who played an independent woman seeking a career. She played a sort of Candide charactor, that just kept a positive attitude no matter what befell her. Roz just sparkled in that one (Mank said "breakout role") and it was great to see Jack Carson in a larger than usual sidekick role. Priceless the first view of Carson he's in top hat & tux with a candle lit Christmas tree attached to his hat! I really liked their pairing-two strong charactors. Also interesting Roz's kids contract polio reminding me of her role as Sister Kenny. Russell isn't for everyone, but I like her larger-than-life persona, bossy nature and joy of life she brings to the screen.

A whirlwind of activity today. Never confuse quantity with quality.

For all you grade Z movie fans: Just got a notice from local Horror Convention SCARE-A-CON that Bert I Gordon will be in attendance. Amazing he's still around, (age 93?) especially since his very talented daughter Susan Gordon has passed. Bert I Gordon made TORmented in 1960. He also fittingly made ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE and SECRETS OF A PSYCHOPATH both applicable titles for this board. Coincidentally, Gordon was born in the same town Orson Welles was born-Kenosha Wisconsin! Guess one got the talent & the other got the longevity.