Swithin
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Posts posted by Swithin
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*Sergeant York*
next: New England ice-cream parlour
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That's it, your thread, Mr.6.... My clue would have been to narrow the second part to Gabon!
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Willbefree, very amusing hotel story! And regarding who comes out behind in the larger picture of international trade, you may be right.
My cable company has just started running ads to the effect that their customer service is now all US-based. Much of it used to be in the Philippines. Nice people. But if their ads are accurate -- I haven't needed to phone them yet -- it would be great.
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*Leaves from Satan's Book*, which I've wanted to see, makes an excellent pairing with *Day of Wrath*, on 4/8. Good Dreyer double bill.
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Strong coffee (perhaps speedily brewed?) named for a long-serving President of a sub-Saharan African country.
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Sorry, wait your turn! I'll come up with something shortly.
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Different styles of dancing, but I definitely prefer Astaire, particularly in his '30s films with Rogers. Gene Kelly is one of that handful of actors whom I just don't like. And I'm not a big fan of the MGM-style musicals of the later (late '40s-early '50s) period.
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I'm so of two minds in the "made in America" discussion. Of course I prefer to buy American, but I know how the US economy would be hurt if people in all those other countries preferred only to buy their own local products as opposed to US products. I do feel that LLBean's quality has gone down in recent years. I had to make two returns in recent months, based on poor construction which revealed itself over less than a year. How that contrasts with my old LL Bean chamois shirt, which I got as a Christmas gift 40 years ago!
But I'm really pleased that my cable company -- RCN -- has just announced that all customer service will now be centered in the United States.
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*My Sweet Little Village* was a charming, very funny Czech 1985 film. I saw it at the old 68th Street Playhouse (on 3rd Avenue), now closed. It was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Film for 1986, must have opened here then.
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*Gone With the Wind* ?
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Well, yes, Ms. Owen had aged -- I met her about 35 years after she played Hazel -- but haven't we all!
I saw the film Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy recently. I liked it very much -- hadn't seen the television version. But I was amazed at how Ciaran Hinds had aged! I saw him on stage playing a youthful Achilles in a production of Troilus and Cressida (1990) with Ralph Fiennes, Amanda Root, and Simon Russell Beale. I guess time marches on!
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Yes, I noticed the 1937 date as well. No doubt when her obituary is published in the main British papers, that will be cleared up.
A very young (just pre-"Upstairs Downstairs") Simon Williams is in one of the great British horror films: The Blood on Satan's Claw. I've also seen him on stage in London. I once met Meg Wynn Owen, who played James's wife Hazel. She had aged quite a bit when I met her, must have been around six or seven years ago.
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It is being reported, albeit sketchily, that *Jenny Tomasin*, who played Ruby the scullery maid in the original "Upstairs Downstairs" has died. She didn't make many films but had recurring roles on many popular British television shows, including "Emmerdale Farm."
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I'm still not getting this. Can you explain the clues to me, relative to this game (in simple terms)? I thought the clues had to be a play on the words of the *title* of the movie, not hints to guess a movie based on something that happens in the movie. Please explain!
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Beautiful poster, Ray. I think the late '60s on WNBC was the first and last time I saw the film. I didn't even know it was in color. What a treat to see it last night!
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I was really happy to see *A Night in Paradise* tonight. Haven't see it in ages, an odd, campy, delightful romp with Turhan Bey, Merle Oberon, and Gale Sondergaard. After the film, RO gave a really nice tribute to Turhan Bey, who turns 90 in March and currently lives in Vienna, Austria. Thanks TCM, for this colorful and enjoyable rarity!
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I thought of that, but it didn't seem to make sense, in terms of the title.
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Kingrat, is *King Rat* your eponymous film? I don't know it at all, what a great cast!
I see Denholm Elliott is in it. I once spoke to him on the phone. I think he thought I was trying to break into his neighbor's house! I was house-sitting for a friend in London (in Kentish Town), got home late one night and was watering the front garden. When I went back in, the phone rang, asking for the friend I was house-sitting for. I said she was on holiday, and I was living there that summer. He seemed relieved, seeing a figure in the dark in front of a house across the road from him concerned him. He couldn't see the watering can! It would have been in the mid to late 1980s.
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> {quote:title=ValentineXavier wrote:}{quote}
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> As to Gilliam's skills as an animator - I am a Monty Python fan, and loved his animation. But, mainly for his sense of humor, and perspective. Anyone who has seen a lot of experimental animation, collage animation, stop-motion animation, etc., as I have, would likely tell you that Gilliam's technical animation skills were nothing special.
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OK, Val, I'll give you that point. Gilliam wasn't a particularly innovative animateur. I missed that line in my first reading of your post. I think during the days of Monty Python, that sort of animation was kind of new to American television perhaps that's why I remember it more fondly. Haven't seen Monty Python in yonks! But by anyone standards, I think 1985 was actually a particularly good year for film.
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*The Man Who Would Be King* ?
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I agree with you that Clarence Brown is in the top tier of directors. I'm sorry that I missed Intruder in the Dust. Ah, Wilderness! is my particular favorite of Brown's films. I think his use of the two shot in that film enhances the feeling and message of O'Neill's great romantic story and is one of the greatest film adaptations of a play.
In Andrew Sarris famous groupings of directors, Clarence Brown falls into the "Subjects for Further Research" category. I think Brown should be moved to the Pantheon group.
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I really wanted to like Brazil. I love sci-fi, futuristic fantasies, satire, social criticism, etc. I even knew and liked one of the actors in it. But once the film started, I just couldn't believe what I felt to be the cliched story and the excrutiatingly tedious art direction which served as a replacement for real direction. As you say, it's all a matter of opinion but sometimes I think "artists" can fool the public, and I think Gilliam does that. I sort of liked Twelve Monkeys, up to a point, but still, I wish Gilliam would stick to animation, which he did so well.
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*Mrs. Miniver*
next: lady in an ape suit
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*Brazil* is the biggest pile of crap ever put on film. Sorry, I see red when I think about that big fat pretentious cliched bore. I'm an Anglophile and love Monty Python but think Terry Gilliam (an American) is a great animateur but a lousy director. I walked out of Gilliam's *The Time Bandits*. I couldn't walk out of Brazil, because I was going to a dinner party in the neighborhood, and it was too cold to walk around.
Movie Titles-AKA
in Games and Trivia
Posted
*Sleeping with the Enemy* ?