Tikisoo

Thanks everyone for contributing to this thread- it helps steer me towards some gems and avoid wasting my time with others. I especially like when you describe what you liked or didn't like about the movie. I watched CONTEMPT and found the charactors rather callous. It was hard for me to care about what happens to them. Does the shot of a naked Bardot back side count as "best opening of a movie"?

Kind of like a female Ward Bond. (although Ward almost always had lines)

More corporations trying to get a bigger slice of a shrinking pie. That's just part of it. Another ingredient is everyone needs to be making more. When I cut my cable off I was courted by every TV "service" provider imaginable. DISH's big selling point was "Sign up with us and your rates never go up like they do with cable!" which sounds suspect to me. I bet DISH won't agree to pay more money because millions have signed up and expect "no increase". That means DISH takes that extra money for TCM/CNN package out of their own profits, gawd forbid. Our entire basis in capitalism is making money from investing. Profits don't go up anymore, even banks don't give interest on holding your money for investment. It was recently brought to my attention Insurance Co's work the same way as a bank-you give them your premium, they invest it and live off the interest-and the fewer claims they pay off, the more money they get to keep! No wonder the American people feel cheated and lied to. I am disgusted with business practices, so I voice my opinion with my dollars. No cable, no high speed internet, no cel phone "plans" and guess what? I'm fine.

As for the people on public assistance, I would hope they are purchasing the cheapest options for cable or dish viewing. Free analog television is dead, isn't it? Free television is NOT dead. I have an antenna ($50) hooked up to my digital TV and get about 30-40 digital channels. (funny that losers like QVC are available free) I get all regional PBS stations (one shows classic movies all day, some great rarities too!) ME-TV and local 6pm news ...about all I care to view anyway aside from classic movies on DVD. Heard a statistic on the news today...40% of the people living in poverty in the U.S. do not have computers or computer access at home. This proves to be detrimental in their ability to find jobs, let alone good jobs, as many employers are using technology to find prospective employees and those who know how to use the technologies of today.. Every schmo has an internet cel phone package (except me) Having a home computer isn't necessary for applying for a job. If you don't have a cel phone OR computer, all one has to do is visit your local library for a fast, free internet connection. There is a computer dedicated to job applications at every branch. MrTiki does not have a computer at home, but can use his phone for an internet connection. He also has full TW cable including premium channels & services. I, otoh, have a TV antenna, Mac desktop and cheapo limited cel phone for emergencies only. MrTeek pays more than 10 times what I do per month for his services.

I let them know that they have till the end of the month or I am gone. I won't pay another dime .They already don't have programming that I want. This is the last straw for me. Eh, I did that too, since I pay all my bills the 25th of every month. Apparently, TWCable had my "connection dates" as going from the 15th to the 15th of each month. They actually sent me a BILL for $75 to cover the 2 weeks difference after cutting the cable cord! And yes, I do think they hold people "ransom", as do cel phone/internet "providers". I am amazed that the general public believes these are NECESSITIES. Even Public Assistance applications have boxes for you to state how much you pay per month for these things. Can't feed your kids properly but you have cable/dish TV? Really?

I've gone as Baby Jane Hudson. It was a great costume-a party dress, blonde wig, smeared lipstick. I carried a giant rubber rat.

Although it's great you complained for the record, I think it will take millions of people to threaten to disconnect before anything positive is done about it. I certainly hope TCM has the same clout with these "providers" as the ESPN bundle of sports channels. This is the reason why I no longer subscribe to cable. Time Warner put TCM on the higher tier which was simply unaffordable in my household.

I like the promo that landed in my inbox today: TCM MID MONTH HIGHLIGHTS: 24 HOURS OF HORROR! Some already experienced this. I'm glad many didn't panic over a simple message board outage.

Again, I understand having to follow FCC rules (policies), but to censor something that was A-OK for broadcast T.V. years ago, in this day and age; I don't get it (or I do get it and that makes it all the more disgusting). What about censoring the term "colored" or worse, the N word? We've all talked about the "mighty white of you" comments in old movies. There ARE examples of terms/words that were commonly used 60 years ago that make us cringe today. "Barefoot & pregnant" makes me cringe, but that's all. I'm sensitive to terms that are considered rude today, but that's all they are-RUDE. They should not be eliminated just because they can make some people uncomfortable. IT'S THE PAST. That is more the issue I have with censorship.....who or what does it really "protect"? No one. Ignorance is not bliss. The example of fuzzing out a statue's breasts is the craziest thing I've ever hoid!

The Barbara Stanwyk/Ralph Meeker drama JEAPORDY. Mr Teek & I watched it one afternoon and laughed our a s-s-e-s off. The premise was a family vacationing at a beach. The young son wanders off to a crumbling pier and gets his foot stuck. The father, instead of helping him, climbs up onto the pier himself, urges the kid to walk back and the pier collapses on the father and traps him. The entire debacle is laughably ridiculous. As the tide rises, it's Stanwyk's job to "get help" before he drwns. Even though she meets a group of Mexicans along the way, she gives up trying to communicate with them and drives off (!) She meets up with Meeker, an escaped convict who takes her hostage. There are MANY hilarious moments, one when Meeker looks into the glove box and finds a GUN! Sorry, no one in their right mind stores a handgun in the glove box...only a Hollywood writer would think that one up. The scene that made us roll around in laughter was when the cops stopped Stanwyk's car "looking for the criminal". Meeker pretended to be asleep and the cops just let them go! Really? You don't think in "real life" the cops would wake him & take a look at his face? It remains our favorite "comedy" and I made a magnet of this picture for the 'fridge that always makes me laugh:

I'm right with you slayton. I was leaving MrTeek's when it was coming on & urged him to watch it. He scoffed at the idea of a romance between a woman & a ghost. It DOES sound silly, but it makes it all the more amazing how well the movie works. It was the first movie I recall noticing where the music and imagery moved me as well as the plot along. (waves crashing on the rocks) What really strikes me is that Rex Harrison seems like such a limited actor, but he is just perfect in this difficult role (as well as Henry Higgins) as sexy ghost! You can find the DVD as a "used" copy for well under $10-well worth it in my opinion.

Don't remember the movie but James Gleason said (which I oft repeat) "I never met a defenseless woman in my life." In situations about possessions, the Tikis will say, "..and before you know it, you've become a heelot yourself!" (Meet John Doe) But my life motto, pictured on my bathroom vanity every day comes from Mae West, "You're never too old to become younger"

People recognised his face and especially his voice, but very few knew him by name. He was a classic. Rest in Peace Geoffrey.

Duh I see that now....must have been all those capital letters dat confused me!

RE: "Rocky Horror Picture Show." Agreed. I have seen it with an audience and without. Well I saw it in '77 in the theater (it was pre VHS days) before all the hype. My friends and I loved it because it was homage to our favorite old horror movies with an updated plot. Didn't matter if it was "hokey" because those old movies we loved were hokey too. Add outrageous sexy-ness and a punk feel, it touched a nerve. It became fun to see it in second run theaters, soon going to midnight screenings with old 3 Stooges shorts. We only started talking back at the screen because we knew what was going to happen. Wearing newspapers and misting water at the beginning was fun. It got out of hand when people dragged bags of "props" and started performing in front of the screen obliterating the movie itself. It was a good little movie without all the shenanigans.

Well I love Sabu and keep 3 of my favorites of his in a box set: THEIF OF BAGDAD '40, ARABIAN NIGHTS '42, & BLACK NARCISSUS '47. While he started out as a "natural" actor, you can see his progression becoming a really skilled actor. Plus, he went from really cute teen to gorgeous man with those acting skills. I'm always saddened he wasn't given more interesting & varied roles into his adulthood. He strikes me similarly as exotic Yul Brenner, and if given the same type of roles I think he'd be just as powerful a performer. Love, love, love Sabu.

sorry-double post (but later I remembered Bogdanovich trilogy that were all hits) PAPER MOON MASK TARGETS The kid is familiar with Karloff from his famous monster movies, and TARGETS was an interesting showcase. The subject matter was pretty topical too.

Sounds like dirtyape's household is the same as the Tiki household! The kid (month shy of 17) gets to choose movies too, sometimes at the theater. We attend Monday night 16mm screenings of "B" movies usually around 90 minutes long. But when the season quits for winter & summer, we have "movie night" at home together. Notables the entire family enjoyed: PLEASANTVILLE HAROLD & MAUDE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (the only movie better without the audience) ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOOS NEST WILD BOYS OF THE ROAD SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (shown because they told me they hated musicals)

Thanks for posting that Tom. I too know some celebs that just can't be "normal" people, it's sad.

I agree with your post but I do kind of like the "idea" of a new horror genre that does not include un-follow-able story lines with un-believable cgi and gore. (like the new 13 GHOSTS-dreck!) I have to say though, I took PARANORMAL ACTIVITY out of the library and could not watch it, it scared me too much. I had to fast forward through it to get the jist of the story but not get involved enough to allow it to scare me. I doubt if it disturbed others as much as it did me, but if I had watched it unfold all the way through, I never would have gone to sleep. (I live alone in a haunted house) But yeah, Hollywood has a terrible knack of trying to repeat the success of a one hit wonder to death.

Well, there are several that are really good films: BUCK PRIVATES, HOLD THAT GHOST, RIDE 'EM COWBOY, PARDON MY SARONG, LITTLE GIANT (despite the general apathy among critics, I think this is a very fine character comedy), THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES, BUCK PRIVATES COME HOME, WISTFUL WIDOW OF WAGON GAP, MEET FRANKENSTEIN. Most of their Lubin and Barton-directed films are first-rate. The Lamont-directed films are definitely 2nd tier, though INVISIBLE MAN, KEYSTONE KOPS and MUMMY have elements that make them recommendable. Glad you mentioned BUCK PRIVATES twice-must be great. Cinephile Society is screening it Nov 10th. so I get to see that one with an audience. Sadly, I'll be out of town for the Capitol's 35mm screening of HOLD THAT GHOST. Thanks for the recommendation of the TV show too, I usually skip those.

I don't know....can't an actor be good enough at acting for you to believe the role they're playing? That photo looks like the portrayals would work for me. I am really amazed that I can enjoy A&C as an adult. A&C seem to fall directly in the middle of the slapstick of the Stooges with the silly wordplay of the Hope/Crosby Road pictures. I've seen a few A&C in a theater setting recently and the audience response has been enthusiastic, making a fun experience. The thread about The Times of Their Lives shown recently on TCM has prompted me to request the 15 disk box set of A&C films from the library to see the films of theirs I have missed.

The Svengoolie schedule for October, for those of you interested..... Oct 4 The Incredible Shrinking Man Oct 11 The Uninvited Oct 18 The Wolf Man Oct 25 Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein All these titles have been broadcast by TCM. Maybe we'll get the answer to what actress played Mary Merideth's ghost in THE UNINVITED by Svengoolie. He often introduces the cast and identify other performances we may be familiar with. I really enjoy that about his script, much more than what's written for Robert Osborne's script.

Heh, I thought this thread was going to be about lip reading of silent films...... I was in the audience of a silent film screening where the actor was CLEARLY swearing like a sailor! The audience erupted in laughter because we all could see what the actor was really saying....then the title card read something benign like, "I don't like you" which garnered applause. As for "visual" cues, like montages & iris out/iris in.....I think most of those survived into "talkies". Remember NIGHT OF THE HUNTER '50 used several "silent" cues.

Clearly the more views a thread gets means more to you than does the amount of responses. Yeas, there are a few on these boards who actually think it's sort of some "popularity" contest, like high school. Those people "up" their count by actually responding to their own threads! They do not comprehend the idea of: A. Asking a question or for an opinion and then- B. Reading & accepting the responses It's painfully obvious they need attention and sadder that they crave attention from strangers on a message board. These are nothing more than "vanity" threads. It's self-centered - all about them - not any meaningful conversation.