infinite1
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Posts posted by infinite1
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I realize for TCM, there is nothing to compare to the NOW PLAYING GUIDE. But as good as NPG is, it only covers TCM. I miss the old regional POCKET TV GUIDE MAGAZINE that used to list programs, and movies similar in format to the NPG. In addition, they had regional editions of the Guide that listed the programs and movies by channel specific to that region. For me, the new TV guide Magazine, is totally useless. It has degenerated into a gossipy copy of People or US magazine, while ignoring the original purpose of TV GUIDE. Which was to provide a complete listing of national, local, and later CABLE stations; with detailed listings of all programs and movies as well as informative articles. I also realize that even the old POCKET TV GUIDE MAGAZINE began to rely too much on GRIDS, which I hate, and give less and less descriptions of what was on TV, turning instead to bullet type descriptions which provided little to no information. But, the modern TV GUIDE MAGAZINE is an abomination. If the old POCKET TV GUIDE MAGAZINE was becomming too cumbersome with all the stations out there to report on, TV GUIDE could have simply spun the CABLE and SATTELITE CHANNELS off into their own weekly guide and just keep the main digest for NETWORK AND LOCAL PROGRAMMING. Am I alone?
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This idea of a game of some kind would be a good idea in and of itself, but separate from my original idea. Game shows are always interesting. It could be along the lines of TRIVIAL PURSUIT, although the name would have to be changed for copyright reasons, with MOVIES as the main theme. ROBERT OSBORNE, BEN MANKEWICZ, and ALEC BALDWIN can be CO Judges/MCs or even handle it on a rotating basis. We can even get guest programmers involved and maybe some everyday movie lovers as contestents. As far as a prize, that's simple. Tickets for two to an all expense paid vacation to Hollywood as special VIPs to the TCM FILM FESTIVAL. What do you think?
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> {quote:title=Jayo wrote:}{quote}
> To tape 96 hours, you would only need 16 6-hour tapes, not 24.
> {quote:title=Jayo wrote:}{quote}
> To tape 96 hours, you would only need 16 6-hour tapes, not 24.
Yes, my mistake. Thanks.
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Thank you for your kind words misswonderly. I don't mind your enthusiastic comments to my thread at all. In fact, they are greatly appreciated as you qualified 100% what I meant in my initital post.
By the way, in light of your response, do you think I should submit my initial post to the "HOT" board as well, to try and generate additional feedback or would that qualify as repetitious and egotistical on my part?
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> {quote:title=voranis wrote:}{quote}
> I noticed Saturday night that Robert Osborne did not do any commentary for Along Came Jones. I used to think maybe he doesn't do commentary for movies shown after 2am, but I have seem him doing commentary for movies ending as late as 4am or so on Saturday night. Then I was told he does commentary only for the first four movies of the night. Well, Along Came Jones was the fourth movie of the night, and it aired well before 4am, yet he didn't do any commentary for it. Does anyone know what the guidelines are for how many movies he does commentary for?
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> I mean, if it's an evening of Leslie Caron or Gene Kelly, who seem to be two of his favorites, he is often doing commentary for movies airing until 4am or later, even on a weeknight, much less a Saturday. Does he not like westerns very much so he just didn't do commentary for Along Came Jones ?
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> I know I've asked about this before, but I keep hoping someone has talked to the TCM programmers and gotten a definitive answer. TCM seems to operate under a pattern, and I'm just trying to identify what the pattern is, if there is one...
>
> Robbie
I don't think the time of day makes one iota of a difference. Since the commentaries are all recorded way in advance of the films' airing, there should really be around the clock commentaries. I think TCM is trying to promote the illusion the the commentaries are delivered in real time, but we know better, don't we?
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> {quote:title=markfp2 wrote:}{quote}
> I don't think it's a case that they've never seen most of the films, just that they aren't watching them as they are being shown. From a practical standpoint, TCM wouldn't have them do a 3 minute intro, then have the production crew sit around, on the clock, for the next two or three hours waiting to do another 3 minute closing segment. It wouldn't be cost affective.
Right, that would be foolish. What I am talking about is similar to the second audio track on some DVDs where film historians discuss the whole film, frame by frame, while it is being played. Only instead of just hearing their voices, we would ACTUALLY see them watching and discussing the films they love.
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How about Christmas Carols that never were. I could envision BORIS KARLOFF, BASIL RATHBONE, GEORGE ZUCCO, or ERNEST THESIGER as Scrooge. Well, maybe not THESIGER, he might be too similar in delivery to SEYMOUR HICKS. Also, with FREDDIE BARTHOLOMEW, MICKEY ROONEY, JACKIE COOPER, or BOBS WATSON as Tiny Tim.
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We all know that ROBERT OSBORNE, ALEC BALDWIN, and BEN MANKIEWICZ don't really watch the movies they are hosting, they are relaying information to us from prepared scripts, at least that is what I have read on these boards. Yet we all know that they are very film savy, with RO and BM being actual FILM HISTORIANS. Therefore, I propose the following once a week or once a month program where RO, AB, and BM are locked in a theatre together and forced to watch a classic film and discuss it while the film is rolling. This would be similar to the old MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000, but instead of a comedy program that makes fun of films we would get some interesting discussions while they are watching the films. They would even have the ability to freeze the film from their seats and turn on the lights if they need to discuss a point without the distraction of the film. But, any debate would need to be timed like a Presidential debate in order to keep within the boundaries of the time slot. Then they can return to the film.
This would be a unique program on TCM. The experts would get a chance to show off their ability to analyze a film or a particular actors' performance and we would get the chance to see them actually watch a film and utilize their talents accapella, so to speak, without the ADDED benefit of a PREPARED script.
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> {quote:title=MyFavoriteFilms wrote:}{quote}
> > The one thing we should agree on is what we DON'T like: commercials, interruptions, editing, condensing credits, etc.
> >
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> Now, this....this I happen to agree with. We should all be in agreement on these items.
I agree with you regarding interruptions, editing, condensing credits, and modern commercials. But, I have to say that as a child of the late 50s and 60s, I actually enjoyed some of the early commercials. Commercial breaks during movies then was no big deal. One, because classic films were never edited for time and Two, it was the only game in town. We didn't have the alternative of commercial free Home Video or Channels like TCM. After a commercial break the film would take up exactly where it left off with nothing lost in between. I regarded the commercials as intermission features and some of them were very entertaining. Remember Lays Potato CHIPS with Bert Lahr, or the FRITO BANDIDO ( before politically correct kicked in ), or the Cigarette commercials. I can go on and on. And there were never as many breaks then as there are today. It wasn't until the late 60s OR early 70s that more time was allotted for Commercials necessitating the need for editing for time. The first example of this, that I remember, was the annual Thanksgiving Day airing of March of The Wooden Soldiers on New York's WPIX channel 11. I had memorized that film by heart and was annoyed to find several scenes missing. When I called wpix to complain I was told "the time was needed for more Commercials"......ARGHHHH. I was so happy when in the 80s, I finally bought my first VHS TAPE of March of The Wooden Soldiers only to find that it was the same edited version shown by WPIX----ARGHHHH.
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> {quote:title=MyFavoriteFilms wrote:}{quote}
> > Without regularly focusing on certain themes or actors, TCM's programming would lack any sense of order or perspective. It would seem very scattershot.
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> Not true. I think programming can (and should) be organized by studio/era/genre/artist. We don't have to go by a particular theme (for instance, movies where characters have their heads chopped off) to see an evening of MGM's top moneymakers from 1958.
Hmm, now that's a cool theme. I wonder if the Movies Unlimited Catalogue has a section under Decapitations? Only fooling.
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> The themes come across as gimmicky...and a somewhat silly way to repackage old films. *Let the films speak for themselves, their makers and their times.*
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I don't mind the Marathons, but I have a question and a technical problem that I hope someone can help me with. First, why are marathons not always shown chronologically? For example, the Andy Hardy films, I think were shown in reverse order, which is confusing. Sometimes a marathon will jump around to different years in no particular order.
Now for the technical issue. I am looking forward to DVRing the Hal Roach comedy shorts in January. However, in the past when I attempted to DVR Short Subjects, for example, Thelma Todd day this past summer and another summer day, a few years ago, of Harold Lloyd comedies, the DVR would stop before the current short completed, and the tail end would be added on to the begining of another recording. Suffice it to say, a few seconds were lost inbetween. The DVR belongs to THE DISH NETWORK and this problem happened on more then one DVR. Is this a problem with the DVRs, THE DISH NETWORK, TCM or something that I am doing wrong? Keep in mind that sometimes during marathons, where short subjects are involved, there is not that much down time in between the features. Is there a way around this problem, short of recording everything with my old trusty VCR? That would be the alternative, but it would run into alot of tapes. That would require 24 six hour tapes or 12 eight hour tapes, and four days of little to no sleep.
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> {quote:title=MyFavoriteFilms wrote:}{quote}
> I don't have the MAX channels and I have been considering it because they seem to show a lot of the Fox musicals that do not air on FMC.
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> I also use Netflix and the public library (including the inter-library loan system).
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> I agree that TCM does do a fairly good job in selecting a variety of films, across genres. But my one beef with them is that, as I have illustrated in my 'Seldom Seen' threads, they have a lot of MGM, WB and RKO titles they are not getting to...I really want them to create TCM sister channels. This should include a desperately needed TCM silent film channel.
While I don't think a TCM silent film channel would sell, I do think a TCM International film channel would be perfect. This channel could also include foreign made SILENT films as well.
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> {quote:title=FloydDBarber wrote:}{quote}
> When I was 14 years old I made a list of Slip's malapropism's and wrote down about 40 from one movie alone. My favorite was "me nebulous career" or "let me regurgitate for a second." I was crushed to found out that Groucho Marx was involved with Gorcey's wife because Leo was physically abusive. In the 1950's and 1960's these spousal abuse issues were never brought into the open.
This would be a good subject to discuss in and of itself. Is it really that important to know all the personal garbage/baggage that our film idols have amassed over the years? The only aspects of their lives that I am interested in pertain to their film roles. I could care less about their personal peccadillos. I like the Actors or Actresses, like Vincent Price for example, that keep/kept their personal affairs to themselves and only discussed their film careers.
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Still more:
Basil Rathbone
Nigel Bruce
Lionel Atwill
George Zucco
John Caradine
Turhan Bey
Martin Koslek
John Hall
Maria Montez
Joe Sawyer
George Raft
Rondo Hatton
Claude Rains
Nelson Eddy
Evelyn Ankers
Hillary Brooke
Sir Cedric Webster Hardwicke
Ann Nagel
Samuel S. Hinds
David Manners
Edward Van Sloan
Dwight Frye
Buster Crabbe
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> {quote:title=PrinceSaliano wrote:}{quote}
> > {quote:title=infinite1 wrote:}{quote}
> > There are five more Bowery Boy films with Leo Gorcey in the series. Does anyone know if TCM will continue with the remaining seven films post Gorcey that featured Stanley Clements?
> Why wouldn't they?
Because the seven Clements films, with all due respect to Mr. Clements, were missing the GORCEY/HALL chemistry that endeared the series to so many fans. It was that missing element that probably was the major factor responsible for the initial demise of the series.
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There are five more Bowery Boy films with Leo Gorcey in the series. Does anyone know if TCM will continue with the remaining seven films post Gorcey that featured Stanley Clements?
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> {quote:title=allaboutlana wrote:}{quote}
> And not found on Volume 1, 2, or 3 of their dvd sets, is *The Noose Hangs High*, definitely one of their best. But it is out on dvd on its own!
The DVD sets were made by UNIVERSAL Home Video and only included the films they made at UNIVERSAL. NOOSE was filmed at EAGLE-LION studio and was released on DVD by MGM.
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Here's hoping that some day UNIVERSAL will come out with a similar set containing all 81 of their classic Horror/Mystery films from the 30s and 40s.
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In order of Creepy/Scary I would have to choose
1. Rondo Hatton/Skelton Barnaby Knaggs
2. Bela Lugosi
3. John Caradine
4. Lionel Atwill
5. Martin Koslek
6. Boris Karloff/George Zucco
7. Lon Chaney Jr. (only in his Wolfman or Electric Man make-up)
8. Henry Daniels
9. Glen Strange
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> He bought MGM studios back in the early 1980s. And while he sold the studio, he did keep the classic MGM film library (pre-1986 MGM films, pre-1948 WB films and the RKO film library), Turner saved those films and began a preservation work on them.
And let us not forget Ted's biggest contribution to the cause of film preservation, Colorization. Nuff said.
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Well, we already have a Thanksgiving gratitude thread, why not a Christmas Wish list thread?
I'll start the ball rolling.
1. More Classic films from the 30s, 40s, and 50s, and not the usual suspects.
2. Less MODERN films from the 80s, 90s, and 2000s.
3. Less Foreign films.
4. Less Documentaries, I want to watch the films, not watch other people give their opinions OR DISCUSS boring background info. After all this is not a class room.
5. Some lesser Stars for Summer Under the Stars.
6. For Academy Award Month try something different like NOT showing films that won Academy Awards.
7. Something equally special to replace the Bowery Boys when the series runs out.
8. Bring back Cartoon Alley.
9. Add shorts and extra features to the Now Playing Guide.
10. Give films like DOUBLE INDEMNITY and SOME LIKE IT HOT a looooong rest.
11. A TCM offshoot channel to showcase Foreign Films for the people that must have them.
12. Hire Bob Dorian AND Nick Clooney, if they are still around and want to work.
13. Give Ben M. a nice long vacation.
14. Some Guest Programmers that REALLY know what they are talking about.
15. Someone to level with the folks and explain that DVDs from WARNER'S ARCHIVE and other made on demand Archives are DVD Rs, not pressed DVDs, and as such they are doomed to go bad after one or two viewings. COASTERS ANYONE?
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> {quote:title=midnight08 wrote:}{quote}
> I'm aware of the fires that destroyed most of the Fox films which is why they are so rare today. From what I read in the past most of the Fox films still existing were gathered from private collections over the years.
> I would think however that 20th Century Fox would restore "Up The River". Not only is it a John Ford film but it is the only pairing of Humprey Bogart and Spencer Tracy. It is also important as it is the first film with Tracy and Bogie in a major role.
> We are lucky though to still have this film in existance.
Isn't it kind of strange that an important movie like UP THE RIVER is in such shabby shape while other FOX films from around the same period like CHANDU THE MAGICIAN have been cleaned up and restored? By the way does anyone know the status of FOX's QUICK MILLIONS, a 1931 Spencer Tracy/George Raft Gangster film?
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I am so sick and tired of hearing SILENT MOVIES referred to as SILENT MOVIES. There is no such thing as a truly SILENT MOVIE. These films, with no spoken dialogue, come complete with musical scores. If really decent restoration is done to these films, truly appropriate music will be chosen to enhance the film dramatically. A poor choice of music might result in an unpleasant viewing experience.
Granted, that it's a matter of taste, but perhaps the author of this thread has had some experience with inappropriate music causing the negative feeling towards non talking films in general. I remember buying, a number of years ago, a few VHS tapes of some Lon Chaney films that were completely SILENT, no musical accompanyment of any kind. I hated them. Later when I was able to find copies with decent musical accompanyment I had a very different reaction, I loved them.
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DRACULA
BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN
ISLAND OF LOST SOULS
THE WOLFMAN (1941)
SCARFACE (1932)
LITTLE CAESAR
PUBLIC ENEMY
STAGECOACH
WAKE OF THE RED WITCH
PARDON US
SONS OF THE DESERT
THIEF OF BAGDAD (1940)
MARCH OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS or BABES IN TOYLAND (LAUREL & HARDY)
Warners Archive DVDRs - What is your opinion?
in Hot Topics
Posted
I have been anxious to try some of these Warner Archive DVDRs, but I hesitate to. I have read comments, mostly negative, on other boards about the cost, lack of extra features, and most importantly the format which is DVDR as opposed to a pressed DVD. Most comments complain about the DVDRs not being compatible with some players and even going sour after an initial viewing. I would hate to waste money on DVDRs that others have labeled as COASTERS. I realize that with the cutback in production of Pressed DVDS of classic old films, this may be the only way to get them on DVD, but is it really worth it to spend the money, they are more costly then regular store bought pressed DVDs, only to have them go bad after one viewing? What are your opinions?