ChipHeartsMovies

My favorite horror movies are the Universal classics, and I can't imagine a Halloween that didn't include watching a couple of movies from the Dracula and Frankenstein series. For Halloween, Amazon currently has a phenomenal sale on boxed sets of the Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy, and The Wolf Man series. Nearly half-price ---they're $16.49 per set for five films in the Frankenstein/Dracula sets ($15.99/four Wolf Man) with free shipping if your order tops $25. That's barely more than $5/movie. *Frankenstein - The Legacy Collection* includes *Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, Son of Frankenstein, Ghost of Frankenstein*, and *House of Frankenstein*. *Dracula - The Legacy Collection* includes *Dracula* (both the English and the little-known Spanish 1931 versions), *Dracula's Daughter, Son of Dracula*, and *House of Dracula* *The Wolf Man - The Legacy Collection* includes *The Wolf Man, Werewolf of London, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man*, and *She-Wolf of London* *The Mummy - The Legacy Collection* includes *The Mummy, Mummy's Hand, Mummy's Tomb, Mummy's Ghost*, and *Mummy's Curse* Sadly, the Abbott and Costello meetings with these monsters is not included. http://www.amazon.com/Frankenstein-Legacy-Collection-Bride-Ghost/dp/B0001CNRLQ/ref=pd_bxgy_d_text_c Message was edited by: ChipHeartsMovies (typo)

The relationship between Hud and Homer is a large part of what makes the movie so interesting. Was Homer always so aggressively unpleasant to Hud, steering him into rebellion? Or is his attitude toward Hud the reason Hud turned out the way he is? The line about his mother having loved him, and dying, steers me toward the former.

*Los Angeles Plays Itself* (2003) --- explores the way Los Angeles has been used and depicted in movies. Very insightful and almost poetic in spots. *The Celluloid Closet* (1995) --- looks at gay subtexts in film.

What a terrific project!

I think LandLfan was referring to himself as gay, but in real life Tom Drake (the boy next door) was gay, although in the closet. Judy Garland introduces him from the audience on one of the episodes of *The Judy Garland Show*. It's sweet to see them 19 years later.

It could be that long, I haven't watched it in years. I literally have closets full of videos and DVDs, it could take an hour to dig out. It is terrific, though.

The trailer is out for the remake of *The Day the Earth Stood Still* with Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, and Kathy Bates. I'm not opposed to remakes per se (after all, without remakes you'd never have seen Judy Garland in *A Star is Born*, or for that matter *The Wizard of Oz* ), but when the movie being remade is sci-fi I'm always afraid that it will be a lot of very amped-up noisy CGI effects with nothing behind it. See *I Am Legend* with Will Smith for a sad example of this. Anyway, judge for yourself. Keanu Reeves is so flat he actually seems to work for Klaatu. But Jennifer Connelly is no Patricia Neal, that's for sure. null

CineMaven -- *I'M* not straight, but I'd cross the street for Yvette Mimieux. I've said it before...my favorite ice cream might be strawberry, but that doesn't mean I'd turn down a scoop of pistachio.

I looked up Yvette Mimieux and discovered that she was married to Stanley Donen. Who knew?

Fred, we all have movies that we personally don't enjoy that everyone else says are great. Among those that fall into this category for me: *Dr. Strangelove, Apocalypse Now* (I walked out of the theatre when it first came out), *2001: A Space Odyssey*, and *Nashville*. And I understand all the reasons that it is "great," but I don't really care for *Citizen Kane*. There, I said it. Agreed, *Somebody Up There Likes Me* is great. Watching several of these movies today reminds you what a powerful actor Paul Newman was. One of the most handsome --- almost pretty --- leading men ever, yet completely masculine and able to play a startling range of characters. It would have been so easy for him to coast on his looks, but he was one of the most accomplished actors in film history.

The upcoming revival of *West Side Story* on Broadway is being directed by Arthur Laurents (!). He says he has ideas to make it fresher without changing any of the script; reportedly he may translate some of the dialogue or lyrics into Spanish for a bilingual production. The pre-Broadway tour starts in Washington in January and *WSS* opens at the Palace Theatre March 19 (2009). The Palace is the theatre which just had *Legally Blonde* (and of course was where Judy Garland had such smash concert runs; there's a portrait of Judy in the lobby). The *Guys and Dolls* revival starts previews in February. It is the London production that ran from 2005-2007. I work in entertainment here in NYC, and the current anticipation among people I know is very high for *WSS*; for *Guys and Dolls*, not so much. *WSS* hasn't been revived in forever, while *Guys and Dolls* was done in 1992-95 with a spiffy cast including Nathan Lane and Faith Prince. *WSS* feels contemporary (and young), and *G&D* is very much a period piece. I think generally people think that *WSS* will be a hit, and that *G&D* better really be cast very well.

*Hud* is my favorite Paul Newman movie. The performance has so many levels, and the interaction between him and Patricia Neal is spectacular. I can see how it might feel a little slow if you happen to watch a more action-y movie right before, or a musical, but the performances are terrific. And the town doesn't seem that boring --- they have bar fights, rodeos, car crashes, anthrax, and attempted rapes, for gosh sakes.

Fedya -- I'm the funny-looking one in the photo.

I'm ready anytime -- I've almost finished my holiday shopping, believe it or not. But after the holidays seems like the best move for everyone. Like Lynn, I'm up for whatever people decide. Maybe announce New Year's Day, when everyone is home all day.

Congratulations Movieman (and Sugarpuss)! And let's all applaud Filmlover for creating an exceptionally fun Challenge. Let's all plan to do this again next time.

I am indeed, this year the fourth annual Bid 2 Beat AIDS auction kicks off December 1 (World AIDS Day) on eBay. I have about 600 signed celebrity items so far. Last year when I went so hard after classic film stars I had them sign multiple items, so there will be new signed photos, DVDs, etc. of Kirk Douglas, Lauren Bacall, Lizabeth Scott, Joan Fontaine, etc. Of course, most of the stuff is from more contemporary celebs. Sarah Silverman signed a couple of DVDs of *Jesus is Magic* last night; my other most recent items came from Alanis Morissette, Taj Mahal, Katie Couric, Brooke Shields, Bon Jovi, and Oscar de la Hoya. Saturday Martina Navratilova is signing several things --- I'm throwing a party she's attending. We're especially trying to get front row tickets to concerts with meet and greets backstage this year --- the first batch of requests went out today. Those sell for ridiculous money --- last year someone paid $14,000 to tour Howard Stern's studio. Gwen Stefani front row seats with a meet and greet hit $3750, and front row Madonna seats (with no meet and greet) went for over $5000. Although the economy has us scared this year. Last year's auction brought the tally raised to over $250,000. The charity benefiting is LIFEbeat - the Music Industry Fights AIDS. The auction website is www.Bid2BeatAIDS.com; the charity website is www.Lifebeat.org.

It's definitely worth a watch. I also am not a big Glenn Ford fan, but he's terrific here.

Absolutely, it is terrific. It really goes into depth about the mechanics of the way images were created and the history of the way stars were groomed, discusses several stars whose careers are not written about so much, talks about some of the also-rans that never really made it. It's extremely readable --- you just don't get bored.

Lynn (lzcutter) said: "Taylor is very conscious of her looks and very conscious of who she talks to." This made me think of Dietrich, who only agreed to appear in the documentary *Marlene* (directed by her *Judgment at Nuremburg* co-star and friend Maximillian Schell) if she wasn't filmed, and just did voice overs. She didn't want anyone to see an older Marlene. Turned out to be her final public presence.

My vote would be for Jeanine Basinger. She's the head of the film department at Wesleyan and has written several wonderful books on film, all of which I am reading/re-reading right now (I read very fast and tend to read a group of books by the same author or on the same subject in a row). She genuinely knows classic films and their history and place in the arc of cinema, the thing that sets Robert O above the likes of Nick Clooney (who I enjoyed on AMC, don't get me wrong. Both Nick and Robert O have a very charismatic screen presence, but Robert O clearly knows his stuff). And to top it off, she is entertaining. Her books are fact-filled but very fun to read. She did the (spectacular) commentary for the 2-disc special edition DVD of *The Philadelphia Story* --- maybe the best DVD commentary I've ever heard. I don't know what she'd be like on TV, but as a professor she obviously speaks in front of groups easily, so at least she wouldn't be wooden. And most important, she actually knows her stuff. This was discussed briefly in another thread (about who should do the Essentials next with Robert O), and I said there that I don't think TCM would choose someone of her demographic reach when they are so eager to court younger viewers (see the use of Rose McGowan --- good idea --- to Ben Mank, who makes me want to throw things at the television). Elvis Mitchell wouldn't upset me, but he's just okay. Here's a thought: TCM could replace Robert O with SEVEN different hosts. Saturday Jeanine Basinger discusses the essentials with Rose McGowan. Sunday Liza Minnelli introduces the fare, focused on a classic with broad appeal. Monday Elvis Mitchell does an interview and prefaces the films. Etc. After all, it would take seven people minimum to replace Robert O. At least.

I just went over to YouTube and found that some angel posted the McDonald's dance sequence from *Mac and Me*. Remember, this is (suppossedly) not a McDonald's commercial, it's a dance number in a feature film. That thing in the ratty theme-park animal-like costume is supposed to be an E.T.-type alien. This is more horrible/wonderful than I remember. Time to dig that VHS out!

Wow, this was a hard one. Every single schedule had something that I really liked. I ended up with a three-way tie among Fedya, MattHelm, and pancakes_barbara. Fedya had the most innovative groupings (around the songs), and I particularly liked The Fitzgerald and Faulkner films and the Karloffs (MattHelm) and the Cole Porter and Warren William days (pancakes_barbara). To break the tie, I counted how many movies on each schedule I would actually Tivo to watch, and took into account how many of those I have never seen. Thanks to some obscure Wampas Baby Star movies and some Warren Williams I've never caught, pancakes_barbara gets the vote. But really, everybody was exceptional. This game is so much fun! Message was edited by: ChipHeartsMovies

Damfinojr -- I haven't been to the CNN Store for about a year, maybe it has closed. If not, it's on the floor above Borders. I have a friend who works for Borders, I'll email him and ask. And I've noted the Marx Brothers address!

The ultimate product placement movie was definitely *Mac and Me* (1988). The movie was partly underwritten by McDonald's, and features a lengthy dance sequence _IN_ a McDonald's restaurant. The characters (including the lead, a boy with spina bifida in a wheelchair) prattle on endlessly about the junky food, hit the drive-throughs, etc. The film also stars Coca-Cola and Skittles, the only food that the aliens in the movie can eat (don't ask). Sears department stores shine in a supporting role. This movie is so blatant that it is hysterical, and so sappy and insincere that you hate everyone in it, from the wheelchair boy to Ronald McDonald (OF COURSE, he's there). Laugh-out-loud fun, It makes GREAT late-night viewing with a bottle of wine (or three).

The best photos I found are here: http://www.gstos.org/ww/ww-schedule.htm