MissGoddess
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Posts posted by MissGoddess
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Hi cinemafan...it's good to see you posting.
The "Preview" button is now a tab...the third one, just on top of the text box after you hit "Reply". You should see three tabs: "Rich Text" "Plain Text" and "Preview".Rich Text seems to cause a lot of problems like those seen in your post. Sometimes just sticking to Plain Text avoids most of them.
As for your question, I am behind the idea. It would avoid the risk of missing something of value the moderator posted in a thread I chose not to read for various reasons.
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> {quote:title=FrankGrimes wrote:}{quote}It's interesting that you share ten favorite comedies with Movieman and nine with me. That's quite a lot. And, actually, if I include *My Man Godfrey*, *Cluny Brown*, and *Holiday* on my list and take away the bottom three, we would share eleven faves.
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so many comedies have been made but not all of them really make me laugh. i think you are exploring the main ones now, which is why there's so many in common.
> I'm surprised that I'm the one with a Marilyn pic on my list.
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i almost had a couple but they were more fun than funny to me.
> My favorite comedy breakdown by decade is:
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> 30s - 13
> 40s - 12
> 50s - 2
> 60s - 3
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> I do think of the 30s as the decade for comedy. I also find the 50s to be lacking in comedies.
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I'd say mine was 30s then 60s. The kind of comedy found in the 50s seemed more domesticated, which isn't my style. I agree that the best of them were in the 30s. They were witty and saucy without being crass, zany without being dumb.
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Jim's speech on "cowardice" and the Americans vs the Europeans is one of the most brilliant things I have ever listened to in a movie.
But he makes me laugh the hardest when he realizes they've post-poned the invasion (which he thought he safely missed) because the moon was too bright. hahahahaah!
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I didn't realize I had so many Cary's! He is a comedy man in my eyes, and a Hitch-man.
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> I had no idea you liked *The Americanization of Emily* that much! I like that one, too.
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It's heavy but so funny. Paddy Chayevsky was very good.
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> *Auntie Mame* ? You? Really?
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I view it as a screwball comedy. It really makes me laugh, hard. You would hate it.
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> What's *The Art of Love* ?
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I actually haven't seen it in forever, but it's a Carl Reiner-inspired comedy from the sixties. Dick Van Dyke plays a painter in Paris who literally starves in a garret until his con-man pal, James Garner (who else?) convinces him to fake his death and suddenly his paintings become priceless. Garner pushes his friend to keep turning out paintings that he suddenly "discovers" and sells for outrageous money. I like the pairing of DVD and Jim. It's an expansion of the "Dick Van Dyke Show" episode, October Eve.
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I should have included What a Way to Go!. That movie always makes me laugh and I've been watching it since it used to show up on television more often. Margaret Dumont as Shirley MacLaine's mercenary mother is the funniest thing in it. She's so mean the mottos on the wall in their house change from sweet homilies to cynical snipes.
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It's a very talky movie which slows it down so you either have to accept the odd pace or it can annoy. Mitchum supposedly hated the movie, but then he could be a sorehead sometimes.
He seems uncomfortable with so much dialogue but that fits the character. Just seeing Cary Grant and Robert Mitchum in a movie together is worth it alone.I mainly like it for Jean. She makes me laugh. It's quite possibly my favorite performance by her, I think she makes a delightful madcap and I never would have believed she could do that. Her reaction to the duel had me rolling: "They're all wearing glasses!" The butler is hilarious.
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I think Grimes will probably like *Woman of the Year*. The little Greek boy, that whole issue really brings out the emotions in the movie like nothing else. It's my favorite of all their movies, along with *Desk Set* and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. I think David Wayne is the funny in *Adam's Rib*. I've never warmed to *Pat and Mike*, maybe because I'm not into sports too much.
These aren't necessarily in order because comedies wax and wane with me. Lately I haven't been as into them as I used to be. Number one will always be, though.
I left out the Chaplin silents and the Laurel & Hardy and Marx Bros movies, too.
1. My Man Godfrey
2. Nothing Sacred
3. Cluny Brown
4. Teacher's Pet
5. Mr. and Mrs. Smith
6. Arthur
7. The Americanization of Emily
8. It Happened One Night
9. Auntie Mame
10. Barefoot in the Park
11. Lover, Come Back!
12. To Be or Not To Be
13. The Lemon Drop Kid
14. The Grass is Greener
15. The Man Who Came to Dinner
16. Ninotchka
17. My Favorite Wife
18. Sullivan's Travels
19. Susan Slept Here
20. You Can't Take it With You
21. Penelope
22. The Awful Truth
23. Holiday
24. Indiscreet
25. Bringing Up Baby
26. Libeled Lady
27. One Hour with You
28. The Road to Utopia
29. The Art of Love
30. The Philadelphia Story
Edited by: MissGoddess on Aug 16, 2011 9:58 PM
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> I don't have a heart, so I'm "safe."
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Very funny.
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> Oh, I understand now. You are right about that. The focus of the story is purely their love. A film like *Now, Voyager* is deeper.
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> And I didn't like the nod.
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Too bad!
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> It was pretty good. I do enjoy the Hudson/Day/Randall connection. They really are fun. Just as with *Lover Come Back*, I wasn't big on the ending. I'm not that crazy on Doris throwing a prolonged fit. I like her short outbursts more. Rock is so very good at being serious in comedy. My favorite line is this:
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I feel the same about Doris, though I don't remember her fit. This movie was more about him and Randall than her character. I loved Clint Walker and how insecure Rock acted even though he was trying to fix them up.
Tony is so funny. Those are great moments you picked. Like CineMaven said, these movies can really cheer you if you're feeling blue.
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I also love Jennifer's dresses.
> It's Holden. I can't see how a woman like Suyin would fall for him. Yet, in *The World of Suzie Wong*, I think he's great. He just seems like a jerk in *Love is a Many-Splendored Thing*.
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Ha!! Really?? I didn't think so. I like him. I liked his persistence.
> Yes. It's about the kind of love you share and how it can come to mean so much even if it's not what others believe it must be. They have something together. Suyin especially feels this. And she places her heart in danger by accepting this love. That's the danger of it all. Still, she is reborn after dying with her husband years ago. She had buried herself in her job.
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She had. Didn't she say something like "I'm happily dead"? but the fact she impulsively adopts an orphan shows she has these needs she's repressing.
I love her friend, the English doctor.
> *I also am a sucker for the theme music.*
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> Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
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Oh, it gets me every time. I think it's strings. Strings just floor me. They go straight for the heart.
> *It's an old fashioned love story, and I love that about it.*
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> What makes it old-fashioned? The Chinese world that Suyin lives in? The superstitions? This does make it old-fashioned, to me.
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Oh no, I mean the movie's style. Star-crossed lovers, mushy music, even the nod to Now, Voyager with the cigarettes. And the fact that the entire movie is a love story. Not pretending to be about something else. It's unabashedly a love story, and that is very old-fashioned.
> I can believe that. What gets me with *An Affair to Remember* is that the one lover hides the painful truth from the other out of fear but also respect. Just the shot of the wheelchair crashes me. There's nothing that powerful in *Love is a Many-Splendored Thing*.
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I agree about that scene, it's devastating. The look on Grant's face, I just go to pieces.
> I can't believe you're a romantic.
Those lines stuck with me, as well. I find them to be very true. Love can make you more aware of everything around you. Life becomes more important. Of course, that scene represents the entire film.>
Thank you for those caps. Yes, it's the best scene, and says it all. It's usually better to show rather than use dialogue, but it's well written.
What about Send Me No Flowers?
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> {quote:title=FrankGrimes wrote:}{quote}*And what about Love Is a Many Splendored Thing? I can't believe you have that movie in your collection. That's sappier than An Affair to Remember!*
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> And it's not as good. I didn't like the relationship between Mark (William Holden) and Suyin (Jennifer Jones). It never felt close enough for my tastes. But I did like how love is being defined by the film. That's what kept me going.
There is a stiltedness there, for sure. It may be because Jones despised Holden so much. It doesn't bother me, I guess I like what you said, it's about the nature of love and bringing down barriers, finding new hope. I also am a sucker for the theme music. It's an old fashioned love story, and I love that about it. It moves me more than An Affair to Remember, I must say. I read the book by Han Suyin, it's based on a her true story, though "Mark" was an Englishman. I like the idealism and the fact hou don't always see a woman caring so much for ideals, not just the ambition of her job. She's very rigid about them.My favorite scene is in, I think it's Macao, where they go away together and she's locked the door until he came back to her. Then they watch the funeral, and she talks about how love has transformed her senses. It's very beautiful to me.
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And what about *Love Is a Many Splendored Thing*? I can't believe you have that movie in your collection. That's sappier than *An Affair to Remember*!
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Not from a bus boy.
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No one's pushing me to Miami Beach!
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> And isn't that how it sometimes goes? One girl can really appreciate a guy but the girl the guy likes doesn't.
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Yes, well, you guys always go for the crazy, mean beauties.
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> And I usually love that. The thing is, he wasn't expected her to fall for him, either. He just wanted to give her something she really wanted.
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Yes, he was totally unselfish.
> She really did love Pinks. It's as if he was really her love. She'd do anything for him.
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She appreciated him and it's like she thought he was so pure.
> And when do you ever see Eugene playing such a character?! I just loved how Your Highness treated them. She smacked them almost as hard as you smack me!
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They were kind of like Fred and Ethel once they married.
> That's a very good point. Only a male shrink like the one in *Blind Alley* would care to dig deep with a guy. I loved how Claude (Vince Edwards) wanted to enjoy his days. It's that kind of quirkiness that really appealed to me. So ironic.
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You'll probably like *Blast of Silence*.
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I couldn't believe the boy was gunned down! And the doctor wasn't affected by it!>
I'll have to watch it again for that.
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> THE BIG STREET SPOILED
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> I was prepared for an "all's well" and I still would have really liked the film if that's what happened. I was just as shocked as you by what happened. And, you know, this is one time where I wanted it to be different.
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It brought me up short. I had seen it before yet I completely forgot how it ended so it surprised me again. Here he's finally got what he wanted, and it just crashes.
> It is Capra-esque! I've seen Agnes in three films of late and she has shined in each of them. She's great.
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She brought a lot of sympathy and heart to the movie. She really loved Pinks, and admired him. I think it's cute she marries Eugene Pallette.
> Raven!
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I mean I don't care about hearing how a killer goes about his "job". If they'd asked him about his childhood that's different. But guys don't ask guys about their childhood. It took the woman (Veronica Lake) to do that in *This Gun For Hire*.
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> But it really wasn't about them. I wish it were. But I liked seeing hot-headed Doc.
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Sometimes I just focus on the surroundings rather than the main character.
> *You mean he's a Cinderella Man?*
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THE BIG STREET SPOILED
> Yes, for the most part. He has his dream. I guess that's what fairy tales are, mostly.
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I was stunned by the ending. I didn't expect that. Usually, they'd show a "change of heart" and all's well that end's well.
> Nicely done! I loved Pinks' friends.
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Yes, very Capra-esque. Agnes Moorehead was great.
> I can believe that. I wish the tragedies were done better. So random.
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They worked for me.
> But they wouldn't dare ask question after question!
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Because it doesn't matter how a killer thinks. That's where I lose interest.
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> As I usually say, "silly." I was hoping for a deeper film, but all I got was the analysis of a dream. I liked the flashback. That was really good. The climax of the film was unsatisfying.
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I like all of the people being trapped together. Those scenarios appeal to me.
> Yes, I loved *The Big Street*. It made my top 100. I thought it was a male fairy tale. It matched me perfectly with how I view myself and my own feelings on love and devotion. I'm definitely a "bus boy."
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You mean he's a Cinderella Man?
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> In many ways, this is the American version of *Sidewalks of London*.
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I think it was in this thread that I made that very comparison. They are rather similar. That Lucy, she was a mess. I really hated her the first time I watched it. Now I can see some humanity.
> So you cry throughout? I never knew it affected you that much.
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After you've seen it, lived with this couple, and watch it again...it's more emotional because you know what's coming and you know the cost.
> A lot of it. The film is very "fatherly," which is something I really liked. I really love the kind of family dynamics that are found in westerns. *The Tin Star* "family" reminded me of the one in *Hondo*. I feel the westerns genre is the very best at highlighting the needs of people. From man to woman to child.
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Yes, it distills these things, boils them down to their essence.
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> I thought Perkins' youthful inexperience as an actor fit extremely well in *The Tin Star*. I liked him a lot more here than in *Goodbye, Again*. Henry Fonda is more than exceptional in the film. Morgan (Fonda) is very sure of himself. He's very matter of fact.
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I love his character.
> What I found quirky with the film is that, here is a hired killer and he's got these two hanger-ons with him throughout. The one is on edge, wanting the killer to get on with it. The other seems to enjoy the entire ride, finding the killer to be fascinating. Usually a hired killer works alone. Not here. He's got chaperones!
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Yes, Liberty Valance and his mermidons.
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Jackie,
If you hit reply and in your reply box go to the Rich Text tab...the second to last icon is the quote function (two "balloons"). Unfortunately, if you want to break up the quote, you have to then switch back to Plain Text. It's a pain.
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Ooh, yes, of course how could I have forgotten Mason's theme! It is scary sounding now you mention it, Jackie.
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> {quote:title=FrankGrimes wrote:}{quote}*I thought the movie had style and certainly was "gritty" (since that is considered a plus today, if not by me) however I didn't care for Edwards, he can't act, and I prefer* *Hard Contract on a similar theme (though I'm prepared to admit it's not as well directed).*
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I didn't expect you to like that one. Do you think any of the other regulars would like it? I can only see Jackie possibly liking it.>
> Did you find it quirky?
I found it very individualistic. *Hard Contract* gets in my way, it's much quirkier. What I liked most about *Murder by Contract* is it's clearly one man's picture...the director/producer. I can see a person behind it, behind the whole film, and each scene, the music, etc. I like and respect that. You know what movie it reminds me most of in feel and style? *Blast of Silence*.
Yes, I think Jackie would like it, too. She'd zero in on all its strengths and find things in it I'm incapable of seeing until someone points them out.
It was cute seeing Kathy Browne in a bit role, so young. I know her only from the sixties westerns she appeared frequently in.
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Where is the "Kiss on your list"?
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1. The Big Street (5)
2. The Tin Star (1)
3. Penny Serenade (2)
4. Send Me No Flowers (3)
5. Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (7)
6. Arsenic and Old Lace (6)
7. Blind Alley (4)
Was *Blind Alley* too pat for you?
So you did like TBS and even ranked it super high of all the recent ones. Impressive. Why and what was your favorite aspect of it?
Almost all of *Penny Serenade* makes me cry so I try not to watch it too often. Even the contrivance of the hand cranked gramophone and the records is so wonderfully romantic and sentimental. Stevens, I'm just a sucker for his movies all around.
What did you like about *The Tin Star* especially? Did you like Anthony Perkins better this time (than [Goodbye, Again[/b]). I think he was more suitable for G.A. He was too weak for *Tin Star*, Fonda overshadowed him. So did Neville. Yes, I know the character is supposed to be in over his head. But this was like sending a kid out with a pop gun. It didn't affect my enjoyment of the film, though. I liked it.
The "Preview" button is now a tab...the third one, just on top of the text box after you hit "Reply". You should see three tabs: "Rich Text" "Plain Text" and "Preview".
He seems uncomfortable with so much dialogue but that fits the character. Just seeing Cary Grant and Robert Mitchum in a movie together is worth it alone.
RAMBLES Part II
in Films and Filmmakers
Posted
> What did Geraldine Brooks say to Van Heflin in "Possessed" when she watches him check out a passing cigarette girl: "It's so American to want something better."
Ha! That had me rolling. Great post. The movie is terrific at making you confront the very nasty feeling of wanting to sink poor Shelly into the middle of the lake so George can have his American Pie-Eyed dream. Every time I watch it I feel the same.
I like the all the subtle ways George is treated as "different" by the money people.