Tikisoo
-
Posts
9,238 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
6
Posts posted by Tikisoo
-
-
>Poor Audrey was stuck having romantic relationships with Bogie, Cooper, Astaire, and Grant, who were all way to old for her in my view and this impacted the chemistry.
Somewhere, someone thought a young woman in her 20's would be attracted to a man in his late 40's early 50's. If that was "real life" the older person would be considered a "dirty old man" or "cougar" (if a woman) with a non romantic element of manipulation or victimization.
No matter how attractive those leading men, those pairings just come across badly.
-
Ugh, the movie was about Morton, the guy who STOLE the idea from Wells!
http://www.trincoll.edu/classes/hist300/group2/horace.htm
>Calamity wrote: You don't really see facial hair like that billy goat beard on the one man anymore. And I've never had laughing gas, I wonder what it's like.
Are you kidding? It's all the rage with hipsters, especially when there's flat or no hair on top:
(as well as grown adults wearing juvenile theme t-shirts)
As for laughing gas, it was a very fun (if controlled) experience.
First, your extremities would feel like they were leaving your body, then your entire body would follow. I remember the distinct feeling I was floating about 6 inches above the dentist's lounge.
I had asked for the mask to be removed because it was scary (I was 13 or so) and I could NOT form words which caused uncontrollable laughter instead.
I had 2 wisdom teeth pulled and every time the dentist cracked one for removal, the horrific sound made me laugh. It wore off quickly afterwards and my mouth HURT instead!
It's not used anymore probably because it fries brain cells and local shots seems to numb several hours longer.
-
An excellent insider view of the relationship of Tracy & Hepburn is Garson Kanin's book of the same title. Paperback ISBN 1-55611-102-9 and can generally be found in any used bookstore for a song.
Kanin & wife Ruth Gordon were best friends with the un-couple and there are many stories of their travels & interesting incidents.
Through the years I have discovered the inner person comes through charactors portrayed on the screen. This is certainly true of both Spencer Tracy & Katherine Hepburn especially when together.
Hepburn is a strong willed expressive person. Tracy is a controlled person who holds his cards close to his chest. They are best when they influence the other in a story.
I especially like "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?" although the words may not reflect who they are, their eyes do.
-
>What elements do you think make up a "great"musical?
This has been a discussion around the Tiki household numerous times as *I* love musicals, while the rest of the Teeks loathe them.
A good musical is where the music actually furthers the plot, rather than just interjects the story.
A GREAT musical happens when everything comes together with performance, story and great songs. Of course, that can differ among personal opinion.
I have purposely been showing musicals that I know cannot fail, just to open their minds to the genre. They always have more impact on the big screen with an audience. I am quick to point out the movie they just enjoyed was a dreaded musical. :-)
Great musicals EVERYONE enjoys:
The Wizard of Oz
Singin' In The Rain
An American In Paris
Fantasia
My Fair Lady (the costumes!)
Annie Get Your Gun
Mary Poppins
Willy Wonka (1970)
Astaire/Rogers musicals
My Favorite Musicals:
Seven Brides For Seven Brothers
The Music Man
A Star Is Born (54)
Hello Dolly
Gypsy
Evergreen/First A Girl
Busby Berkeley musicals
These are a little more "quirky" and not for everyone.
Many musicals, including the other musicals mentioned (ie Sound of Music) fail for me in one way or another. (where's High Society on the list?)
Early musicals like Astaire/Rogers & Busby Berkeley movies are real crowd pleasers at our Monday night screenings. Amazing to me they seem to grab a modern audience.
I recently watched Carousel and simply hated it. I hated the "heaven" element with the corny stars & sets but especially the song about "My man hit me but it didn't hurt because I love him" I wanted to pull my hair out. And the clambake dance number on the dock just seemed like a weak imitation of Seven Bride's barn raising number.
-
Well I had this recorded because from the description it sounded like it was the story of Horace Wells, the man who discovered anesthesia.
I stumbled across Well's grave site when I visited Katherine Hepburn's burial spot, they are in the same cemetary in Hartford CT.
Well's has a huge elaborate marker with bronze scultures that say "I Sleep to Awaken" and the other side "I Awaken To Glory"
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=5820828
I was really glad they made a movie about him and bonus it's a Preston Sturges film! Hope it's a decent one!
-
Hey Swithin, thanks for that photo of Zohra Sahgal...she's in several DVDs that I own and I knew nothing about her except I like her. She's in everything....the Ward Bond of Bollywood films.
>Apparently Roger Ebert regarded her as one of the most beautiful women in the world.
Well, she WAS Miss World, obviously other people thought so too. And isn't she married to Amitabh's son? Talk about Bollywood royalty.
English language Indian film set in Toronto or London are pretty common, especially romantic comedies. Indian made films are more interesting to me, if only for the exotic locations.
I've been looking for "Desperately Seeking Helen" for years now. It's a FBC film about tracking down the very famous queen of dancing in Bollywood film from the 60's & 70's.
Every once in awhile she shows up in a cameo performance, but I'd love to know her story these past decades.
-
>TomJH said: I (also) think that the best of the Road films made in the '40s finds in Bing and Bob one of the great chemistry collaborations between two male stars. The fact that I grew up with the Road films perhaps prejudices me towards them a little but I never really liked either Crosby or Hope quite so much as when they were bouncing off each other.
I agree 100%.
What I don't quite agree on is "why" I don't care for Crosby. I dislike Crosby because of his smugness. I realize an actor must believe in himself, but Bing just comes across as thinking he's God's gift to women and I don't buy it. (I also dislike Dick Powell for the same attitude-ew)
When you put Hope & Crosby together, you get the perfect foil in self depreciating Bob with smarmy Bing...as a woman, I'd certainly fall for Bob over Bing-which makes Bing's huge ego even funnier.
Bob Hope can be fun in Bing-less movies, but he needs that counter-point for his schtick to work better.
That said, Bing's "I'm sexy" bluffing works well in HS, but Grant is much more believable because he IS sincerely charming and handsome.
-
Wow-I love all the responses! I agree with so many:
>I hate films where Bing Crosby is paired with women half his age.
>I'll watch anything with Weidler and Roland Young. Seriously, Roland (along with Charlie Ruggles) is always great.
>One last thing to note is Cole Porter's score. It was great and worked beautifully with Crosby and Sinatra's style.
(and I didn't know that affair story, mimi-thanks!)
>And Grace Kelly for Katharine Hepburn? I don't think so
>I have far more CDs of Sinatra than I do Crosby so I guess I obviously prefer his singing, but as a screen presence, certainly during the '40s, especially when he was teamed with Bob Hope, I find Crosby a genuine pleasure to watch (and hear).
I too have far more Sinatra than Bing. And I too am a fan of the Road pictures...they hold up well from teen to adult.
The only other thing I'd point out is the "look" of each film. TPS has beautiful luminous lighting, truly giving Hepburn an otherworldly effect. HS is a color acheivement; sets and actors lit beautifully, stunning art direction and camera work in it's own right.
TPS has Kate in a perfectly suited role, and the photography has a dreamy quality which trumps HS musical number strength, for me at least.
-
I love that list of "wordy" titles....two of my favorites:
Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living & Became Mixed Up Zombies
and
Effect of Gamma Rays On Man-On-The-Moon Marigolds
To get back to film trends-
The 70's gave us the flapper throwback with several films that take place in the roaring 20's-
Bonnie & Clyde
The Big Party
Paper Moon (b&w)
come to mind, with many others I'm sure someone can add.
I also notice starting in the late 50's going into the 60's a plethora of mentally ill or alcoholic charactors in long wordy films. It's as if "unstability" became a national fascination.
I immediately think of Liz Taylor & Paul Newman as beautiful but "flawed" charactors.
Was there also a "trend" in filmmaking (preWW1) of depicting (esp NYC) the industrial turn of-the-century? Just recently I watched:
A Tree Grows In Brooklyn
The Strawberry Blonde
Chicken Every Sunday
I Remember Mama
And I don't care if I never see another gentle period piece ever again!
-
>Basically, I am asking the question here: do you regard film as an art form or as mere entertainment? Of course, if the movie is really bad, it's neither.
Well I've clearly defined "classic" here several times before, now I'll attempt at clearly defining "art".
Art is communication of the artist's ideas or feelings through their medium to others. This includes ALL art-music, the written word, visual, dance, documentary, etc.
Within the context of film, the "artist" can refer to the actor, the photographer, the director, the costumer, hairdresser, the sound design, etc.
The "communication" part is important because if no one understands or "receives" the message, the art fails.
Let's take the child's fingerpainting example. The child is enjoying moving colors around with his fingers, just for his/her own expression of joy & fun. If anyone seeing the picture feels that sense of joy, and thinks "that just seems FUN!" then the picture succeeds.
In the case of a bad movie, the intent may be to scare or horrify you but instead it's horribly funny (as in the recently shown "Manitou"(78), it is still touching the viewer, although not in the way intended.
This sort of "art" is more difficult to define, as it technically "fails" but instead creates a life of it's own, touching viewers in a way not intended by any of the artists involved.
So in short yes, film is an art medium and falls under the same definition as any other creative art.
This has nothing to do with my opinion, it's a technical definition.
-
I've never understood Dean's appeal, although I don't hate him....he's just meh. Some of his "cool" was because of the times.
If he truly was an outstanding actor, maybe it would have been more apparent if he had been given many diverse roles to play.
I think the tragedy of Dean's death is that we never really get to see where he goes with his acting skills. (or just peter out because of lack of skill)
Look at Elvis, who was naturally talented and could have done so much better, if given better material. Movie studios tend to give the "same role over & over" to be "safe".
Hollywood still tries playing it safe by releasing the same teen violent goth crap year after year. Nothing changes does it?
-
When I saw the thread title immediately I imagined Gone With The Wind. Such a long involved movie with a one/two punch lines of "...give a damn" then "tomorrow IS another day"
I think great endings give hope for whatever the next chapter may be-and so much better left to the viewer's imagination!
The Ghost & Mrs Muir fits that definition as does 2001 A Space Odyssey.
I agree 100% that Chaplin succeeded in this perfectly as does Woody Allen. My fave Allen endings are those that focus on "classic Hollywood films".
Examples: Mia Farrow's charactor in Purple Rose of Cairo-she's left crying from her broken dreams and stumbles into her local theater. You see her get caught up in the fantasy of Astaire & Rogers dancing cheek to cheek and somehow is comforted by it's escapism. This illustrates the importance of movies during the great (or personal) depression.
Was it Radio Days (? I sometimes mix his movies up) Allen himself walks into a theater after realizing he's going to die SOMEday, (love Julie Kavner, "You're just realizing this?") and he sees the Marx Brothers and realizes the absurdity of life and then realizes the greatest meaning of life is to be happy & make others happy.
But, whenever James Cagney is mentioned in the Tiki household, the kid always says, "Top of The World!" That ending had a huge impact on her and is stamped in her mind although she's seen several great Cagney films.
-
>"In 2002, Bank published his autobiography, "Call Me Lumpy: My Leave It To Beaver Days and Other Wild Hollywood Life." The book drew attention for focusing less on fond memories of "Leave It to Beaver" and more on Bank's sexual escapades."
Maybe his autobiography should have been titled "Couldn't Leave Any Beaver."
-
Count me in as a Bollywood fan...
Glad there's someone else on the board into it. I think TCM would do well to broadcast a few Indian classics (like Straight From The Heart) as a month long spotlight.
I've found US audience to be more receptive to East Asian film including J-Horror & Martial Arts than to anything Indian-and the Indian film industry is HUGE and much better in my opinion!
I enjoy the morality: the honor & dedication to the planet, family and tradition and the joy and spectacle of the dance numbers. Escapism at it's highest form.
Personally, I find the "shoot 'em ups" to be too brutal for my taste, although I did enjoy Eklavya for it's bee-utiful cinematography. Mostly I enjoy the fun Bollywood and the long drawn out epic romances and the spiritual horror. Once in awhile I enjoy the silly comedies like the Munna Bhai series, they always have underlying morality at the base.
Speaking of Amitabh, how did you like him in JhoomBarabarJhoom? All he did was dress up like a hippie and punctuate the dance numbers-typical for silly romance films.
Nowadays I'm limited to library borrowing (thank goodness my city has a large Indian population) and blind DVD buying at the Indian grocer. I did buy young Amitabh in the remake of Meet John Doe online and it was horrible.
I've moved on to Shah Rukh Khan for older beefcake and very much enjoyed My Name is Kahn.
-
I am amazed at the criticisms bombarded on this board for "incidental" hosts on TCM. Remember, I don't get TCM, so I haven't seen Cher, Drew or any of these hosts. But I am interviewed on TV enough to know how it goes...
You may spend an entire day conversing with another person on a subject you are knowledgeable and passionate about and it's edited down to 4 minutes and only a couple of key statements. How can anyone get a real sense of anything in 4 minutes?
While I think Robt O does an OK job as a host because he's personable & well spoken, his spots are well rehearsed but could be much better written and more informative.
OTOH, when you put two people in the mix, you're looking at spontaneous conversation and getting an entertaining & informative few minutes is much more a crapshoot.
I think TCM goes far out of their way to present interesting mixes of celebrity participation, informative documentaries and genre spotlights all concerning classic film. No other CABLE CHANNEL bothers with any "extras" for their viewers, instead it's about money.
If I had TCM, I'd be grateful for the intelligent variety they offer.
-
Oh Kyle! I love those pastel on medium color paper portraits... I once had the Clara Bow with the parakeets, seeing it brought back memories!
I do archival framing & conservation professionally and my walls are covered with original movie posters, (and my framing room full of more waiting to be done) so I have a few tips for you:
Original posters come in several sizes, and usually each size has different images.
The typical "one sheet" is 27" x 41". This is important because standard size materials are 32"x40". Once you go that extra inch, everything is "oversize" and more expensive.
I am more apt to buy "half sheet" posters that are 22"x28", a standard size that you can find cheaper "ready made" frames for.
But I love the "insert" size posters that are 36"x13", tall & thin. You have to have the framing materials custom cut (well I do it myself) but the finished size is small and fits anywhere.
Lobby cards and publicity photos are even smaller, but can get pricey.
Reproduction posters of full size originals are reduced just enough to fit standard frames, and I own a Clark Gable & a Thin Man of those because I could never afford it otherwise. It's the way to go if you want a "famous" movie poster. But if you don't mind "lesser" or obscure films, they can be found for under $10.
Also be aware posters are made from different grades of paper-my Paper Moon from the 70's is very thin and shows the folds when framed. Older posters can be heavier and made from "pulpier" paper.
Any original artwork needs to be kept out of direct sunlight and is best kept in the room on the north side of your house just to avoid ambient light. They fade fast.
It's BEST to sandwich your poster between acid free foamcore (to keep it flat) and a mat or spacers (to keep the paper off the glass) I can't tell you how many posters I have to chemically peel off glass because it was shoved right next to the glass without spacers.
Popcorn sells 11x17 reduced reproduction posters & their selection is vast.
PM me if you want any more info.
-
I don't mean to judge, but if I saw one of those USB port mouthed figures on my shelf, I'd have nightmares! Techno creepy.
(while full size mannequins blankly staring out my windows are MEANT to scare people!)
-
C-lover2, thanks for posting that photo of the Enterprise table. (regretsy's a hoot!) I actually like the table, despite the inaccuracies-could you imagine living in that shades of BEIGE living room?
I sent the photo to my brother since we're both ST original series nuts and he sent me back this:
Still going a bit overboard on the "theme" inho.
-
>"lawn jockey" is definitely offensive
Really? Too bad because the "Jocko, Faithful Groomsmen" is a tradition based on a Revolutionary War story.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawn_jockey
Don't know how accurate the Wiki account is, but I was told the Jocko story along with the "Underground RR beacon" story when I was given the crumbling old Jocko family heirloom to restore.
This is why Jocko has his hand in his pocket (to keep warm) and he is bent over, because he is frozen.
And I still see Disney as a conservative right corporation. Their ethics, not their animation. Do you see a lot of charities or foundations funded by Disney Corporation?
I see a lot of cheaply made chotchke in stores decorated with princesses and superheros perpetuating mass consumerism.
-
Are you asking if anyone here has "homages" to movies decorating their homes?
I suppose you can consider my pinball machine the ultimate homage-just the back glass:
Along with a pair of M-R baby spots resting on the top, I like real artifacts.
I use old film reels to organize all the crazy wire cording running from the TV to the sound system and empty film cans to organize home recorded DVDs (a can for horror, a can for musicals, etc)
Have I made anything? Well, I have a big rubber millipede that I glued a magnet to so it crawls up the refrigerator-bonus points to anyone who yells out "The Tingler!" when they see it.
And just recently I dressed mannequin legs in my old garter belt/fishnets/sparkle platforms as an homage to Rocky Horror Picture Show realizing I'll never fit into that costume as a 50 year old lady! (ew)
-
>Sepiatone said: What the HELL is WRONG with people?
Exactly. Good post.
What's wrong with these people is Disney Corporation is run by (and geared to) rich white men who haven't a clue about diversity in America and only see other cultures as caricatures.
C'mon, their cartoons are still dealing with basic feminism (Brave)
>Pretending that those attitudes and situations never happened doesn't actually change the FACTS.
Those running DisneyCorp are so disconnected, they're afraid of offending other uptight white conservatives so the preferred tactic is to disguise charactors as animals or monsters.
Can you imagine them making Snow White today?
I saw Song Of The South recently and found nothing offensive and believe me-I was looking for it. Their uptight attitude just reinforces my distaste of the Disney Corporation and their "product".
-
>Dargo said...if any of you out there don't "get this", then you also probably have never heard of "Dr.Demento", a Sunday night mainstray of L.A. Alternative Rock radio station KMET back in the '70s, and who played a lot of really rare and funny old novelty songs on his program...)
I listened to his syndicated show as a teen in Rochester NY-loved him! A very close movie friend has a Dr Demento award framed in his office for a parody CD he created that was a fan fave on DD Show-so it must still be up & running!
He said I was one of the only people who recognised his award. :-(
-
Well I just watched John Garfield double feature: Blackwell Island & Castle On The Hudson and noticed Mr Garfield has his own rather large rear end. (I immediately thought of the Geo Brent thread)
I also thought if Garfield brushed his hair forward he'd bear a striking resemblance to Moe Howard.
-
I would have thought hands down it would be Ward Bond with Thomas Mitchell a close second. Those two show up in EVERYTHING-sometimes even in the same film!
PROGRAMMER ASLEEP
in General Discussions
Posted
>there was an category for "Best Title Writing."
Hey, if you've ever watched a foreign film but knew the language you'd be surprised at some of the clunky writing-it's an art. And I love watching a silent and reading lips when the actor is clearly swearing!
When I first read the OP I couldn't believe the mendacity of "only show what *I* like!" and thought to myself .... then someone else will complain about some 'too new' movie shown, like something made in 1989, right?
As for "no one likes silents", I'll throw one out there....15 year old TikiKid PREFERS silent films! She's often lost in dialogue, especially rapid fire dialogue like in screwball comedies.
That said, we both prefer watching film with an audience and silents most notably. TikiKid has sat through endless hours of silents at film festivals and often mentions how much she enjoyed them.