Tikisoo

After reading the review in this thread about THE GREAT LIE, I got the Bette Davis Collection from my library. I watched THE GREAT LIE first, as I love both Bette & Mary Astor. They were both great and I enjoyed seeing them together-Astor is one of the few women strong enough to hold her own-and she did, as an unlikeable charactor. The premise of the story, however, was the most preposterous ever! When Bette confronts Astor about "making up the story" of being pregnant, I thought she DID say yes, it was a fabrication. THEN, we see Astor pregnant. Huh? What did I miss? Anyway, the whole idea of raising someone else's child and the husband (George Brent & his flat derrier) coming home? Right. Then I looked at THE OLD MAID, a Bette Davis movie with another fave Miriam Hopkins. Another well acted (well Miriam overacted) weird silly story. Looking at the other titles, that's what groups these Bette Davis films-all soapers where Bette is the good hearted, unselfish one. I like Bette better when she's a b i t c h. I also got THE GREEN PASTURES from talk on this board. I was expecting something like a cross between STORMY WEATHER & HERE COMES MR JORDAN. Instead, it was an awfully insipid series of Bible stories. Hated the music, really hated the stereotype performances. I took the DVD out halfway through. Watched ARSENE LUPIN from last month's recording, which I loved. Both Barrymore brothers salt & sugar their ham. Fun detective type story. SWEET CHARITY also recorded, was a first viewing. Guess I mixed it up in my head with IRMA LADOUCE. Dark story played backdrop to musical dance numbers. Love the attempt to revitalize the musical in film in the 60's while creating an entirely new genre. Wrote about my opinions in another thread. And in an attempt to see what's appealing about Steve McQueen, I watched THE REIVERS recorded from last month. I hated it. I barely made it three quarters of the way through. McQueen was icky and I just didn't get into the relationships. When I mentioned this to the person who recorded it for me, he said he loved it. OK- I'll give it another try later. Said friend loves SWEET CHARITY, so we have some tastes in common. So far the only movie I like Steve McQueen in is LOVE WITH A PROPER STRANGER.

I would also like to see Karloff in Targets (1968). We don't get much of him, but it's an interesting film nonetheless. Sepia, I love how you explain "cult" now being "mainstream"....you articulated it much better than I. I love TARGETS in very much the same way I enjoy PSYCHO. Although Karloff isn't onscreen a lot, he's wonderful. It's great seeing him as a person instead of a charactor role. Love Corman's restriction to use "film within a film" and how Bogdanovitch chose to use it. I showed it to the kid when she was only 13 or 14 and she enjoyed it and still remembers it. She saw a parallel with WHITE HEAT in the use of the un-hero's demise on a big tank tower.

Eh, I'm still waiting to see the movie about Chet Baker, "Let's Get Lost", even if it is a bummer.

A section of Paulina Street in the Ravenswood neighborhood of Chicago, where Bob Fosse grew up, is designated as "Bob Fosse Way." Do you have to walk it snapping your fingers while keeping your tush tucked?

I saw this for the first time too. I'm a Shirley MacLaine fan and loved that she practically carried this film solo. I was kind of surprised how small her singing voice was, but I liked it a LOT, as she just sounded like a normal person. Her dancing was impeccable and her perfectly proportioned body was a joy to watch. I loved the songs, loved the numbers-they were all dramatically lit and set and felt like stage productions on steroids. Every number was a big number and the dancing was electric! Fosse may not have been a nice person, but what he did for dance was revolutionary. The costumes were fantastic too, definitely highlighting the dancing. (this is the first movie my puppy was rapt with TV dancing) I also really liked how the scenes captured the transitional 60's to 70's in costumes for different dance numbers-there were jazz beatniks, early 60's beehives, spit curls and black eyes (makeup) and in the Sammy Davis number (wow) more hippie flower children types of the early 70's. All those "looks" were simultaneous in real life too. In the "I'm A Brass Band" number, there were several real NYC locations used. One was a very busy intersection-empty- except for teeny MacLaine dancing through it! It looked as if it was filmed on a Sunday at 5am to block off traffic. That could NEVER be done today! The story was well written, although I was really sad at the end. Definitely better than a "happy" ending, though. I am very impressed SWEET CHARITY is a story about a "dance hall hostess" complete with saucy lyrics "rhythm in the bedroom/rhythm in the streets" and it was rated G. That's G folks. It just goes to show Hollywood; films with adult themes can be made for ALL age groups to enjoy.

In fact, why even live in the human world at all? I'll bet they could make software to live our whole life for us, we could all just lie down in locked coffins with digital screens and computers, and feeding tubes. Sounds like a great movie premise! My problem is, the picture jerks and moves unevenly, and it takes me out of the world of the film story It may be just you. I "see" computer monitors and florescent tubes pulsate and know a few other people annoyed with this anomaly. While generally all of us find 3-D movies "dark" and some of us have a hard time with it, I know some whose eyesight just doesn't work well with 3-D glasses at all. I will drive 4 hours to attend a 35mm screening, but realize soon no one will be projecting film. Hopefully the technology will evolve to please everyone ....since we have little choice.

I had never read any of the books, but always wanted to. I was given two premiere tickets to the first movie and hoped it would be an easy introduction to what I expected was a great story. The auditorium was like a geek festival-boy was I excited! Instead, I was extremely disappointed with the movie; the sets, costumes and cgi looked cheap and fake not pulling me into any sort of fantasy. Either the acting was ametuerish, or the writing not very good, because I never cared about ANY of the charactors. In stead of a multi-layered intricate story, all I saw was a long "chase" storyline that meandered here, there with seemingly no purpose other than introduce another "monster". I really wanted to like it, but it was no more than an overblown, expensive version of a Harryhousen sandal movie, inho.

Well I have a higher priced flat screen TV and my local news is ALWAYS stretched. No matter what setting I try, it remains either stretched or super stretched making everyone look fat & squatty. It's ONLY my local news-everything else can be "fixed". I'd trust markp on this one.....it's the broadcaster's signal.

PS. I've become a big Faye Dunaway fan relatively recently, TikiSoo, so I've done a bit of research on her. I'm not trying to come off as a know-it-all. You're not, I'm just joshin' around. Seriously though, I appreciate your knowledgeable & opinionated posts. I don't know these things off hand, so I referenced it with IMDB. You'll see it lists Dunaway as winning best actress in both movies: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071315/awards?ref_=tt_awd http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074958/awards?ref_=tt_awd

Wow. That's shocking. I always thought TCM would broadcast movies as uncut/unedited as a theatrical release. I'll bet it's the way the movie was sent to them from the distributor and TCM had nothing to do with it. But it's really sad to think whomever did speed up the credits, did so thinking no one cares to actually read them. Don't you read the credits? I do!

TopBilled said: Sometimes I click to view, but most of the time I do not A-ha! I knew you hadn't read all the posts.

Faye Dunaway won the Oscar for NETWORK rather than for CHINATOWN, but she did thank her hair stylist Well, she won best actress in both. I just guessed it was her CHINATOWN speech because of the year. I was in high school 74-77, so it could have been either. Boy, you can't slide any generalities through THIS group!

Wow. I have a hard time keeping up with the 1400 sq ft house I live in.

The only Hollywood hairdressers I know are Jon Peters and his fictional counterpart, George Roundy. I doubt whether either one is your name. You'd be correct. I first found out about this talented hairdresser when Faye Dunaway thanked her when receiving an Oscar for CHINATOWN (1974) Every kid came up to me the next day in school asking how I knew Faye Dunaway.

You neglected to mention FIRST A GIRL. I mentioned FIRST A GIRL in post seven. EVERGREEN & FIRST A GIRL are the two most commonly broadcast Matthews' starring movies on TCM. The other titles are more spotty, and several titles TCM has never broadcast. You may benefit by reading the posts before replying.

My Mom hung around with Mary Martin....not the one who sings. It was a pretty common name back then, and only back then would most people recognise who Mary Martin was. My name is the same as a very famous Hollywood hairdresser. I LOVE seeing my name in any movie credits!

Count me in as another big Jesse Matthews fan. I better be more aware of the schedule, slayton. I've never seen: The Good Companions (1933) - or- Friday the Thirteenth (1933) tom thumb (1958) Is not really a Jesse Matthews film, but good to see her older. Still adorable. TCM has also shown FIRST A GIRL on occasion and recently SAILING ALONG. I caught THERE GOES THE BRIDE a few months ago on PBS. Our PBS has a channel that shows public domain movies all day, weekdays.

A sad day for a huge Trekker. I was going to revive my green girl & make MrTiki Spock this year for Halloween. Now everyone can point and say, "He's DEAD, Jim!"

Sepia said about Victor Mature: the rivulet of BLACK HAIR DYE was rolling down his forehead! His WILLINGNESS to do that seemed to ME to be unprecedented! I felt exactly the same way when seeing POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE for the first time a few months ago.... The scene of Shirley MacLaine as an aging celebrity in the hospital with ZERO make up (well, possibly only powder to keep her face from shining too much under the lights) and her hair tightly pulled back. She quickly "made up" including fake eyelashes & a wig for the waiting press in the scene. I found that extremely brave of MacLaine, showing us what she truly looks like. (I love her!) It was a perfect example of how "fake" a celebrities appearance is, the entire point of the story, imho.

If one notices the editing it means the editing wasn't done well. Ugh I knew someone would say that. For example- at the beginning of the film, there are very quick establishing shots of "time & place", like an old drive-in, a trailer, etc. It's done with just the exact right amount of screen time to convey the feeling. It could have been heavy handed, but it was done JUST RIGHT. That's what I noticed.

Vanity? Nothing beats Claudette Colbert's insistance she only be photographed from the right side of her face!

kingrat said: The most recent episode of Downton Abbey showed a new footman with hair very full on top and shaved on the sides, not a very credible haircut for the 1920s. I was very surprised to see Frank Morgan sporting this 'do in SHOP AROUND THE CORNER. I too thought it was contemporary. Usually that show has a good sense of period, with wonderful costumes, although the writers sometimes use words from outside the period. I always notice language goofs. It certainly was not common for the average person to use vulgarities unless they were a very low class, or sailor or gangster.

Andy said: But since I'm only thinking of personal "premieres", the one that grabbed me the most was one that just played this evening: Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. I revisited that movie last time it aired on TCM and was struck by how great the editing was. How many movies do you even NOTICE editing? Excellent.

speedracer-I love your posts-they speak to me. I've never heard of The Great Lie but will have to see it based on your opinion. I'd watch these first in this order: Four Daughters Pat and Mike Sweet Charity The Asphalt Jungle Mrs. Miniver Too Much Too Soon (You'll only have to watch this halfway through. Only the scenes with Errol work. Note- Hollywood glamor mag girl is reading in opening scene has young Errol on cover)

Not me. I've been dressing basically the same way for 40 years. Some of the same items, too. Yeah it's kind of weird when your t-shirts have a date "1984" on them and you realizer they're 30 years old! Sweatpants, huh? Also known as Philadelphia chic. Every time I'm in Philly I marvel that goofy pj's and "under-the-butt" low pants are non-existant. I can't believe they're still doing it here.