CineMaven

?I'm feeling faint from the testosterone levels here...? - < JackFavell > Breathe...breathe! Get a grip, Jaxxxx. You act like you?ve never seen four gorgeous hunk o? men, all dirty and sweaty in one sitting before. Hmmm...hey, my pulse just quickened. ?This is one you recommended for a more benign Bob, but thanks for the action-label 'warning', because you're right, I don't normally like these kinds of films. And I can't believe Ralph is part of the cast (and what a cast!) But then again, I was shocked to see him in ?ROSEMARY'S BABY?.? - < Bronxgirl > So you like Ralphie boy, ey? Why. (Truly, no sarcasm...just asking). He and Melvyn Douglas grew on me as they got older. I do like Ralphie's voice though. "You and CineMaven should watch 'The Professionals.' I think you might find it entertaining, even though it's a real 'action' western. There is still camaraderie and friendship and Robbie ( :x ) is playing another of his 'sweetie' roles (he cares gently for horses, just like Ben...it's a real Ben Johnson role, actually)." - < Miss Goddess > Thanxx for the recommendation, Miss G. But believe it or not, my family saw that in the movies when it came out. I don't remember the details so it's probably worth another look. I love action in Westerns. (No talk...talk...talk, psychological stuff. Shoot 'em up & ride hard...fast). I think that's the only way to go with a Western. (Yeah, I'll say differently in the next ramble). And who can re- sist four...five gorgeous hunks of dirty, sweaty, rugged men riding horses and...oh boy, there goes my pulse again.

Going to Fire Island for the weekend. Since I'm using such an antiquated method of recording movies from television (VHS/VCR) I only have six hours to squeeze in some movies I want to see when I get back. Looked at a tiny bit of "Trail Street" this morning and Robert Ryan looks so adorable; that deep gash in his cheeks when he smiles and his eyes all squinty and every- thing. A far cry from him in "Billy Budd." (I had an old college classmate stay with me at "the villa" this week and his ex-girlfriend told him that Robert Ryan lived up in her neck of the woods years ago in Bronxville. She was a little girl at the time and didn't know why all the Moms were ga-ga over "nice Mr. Ryan." Then when she got older, she finally saw him in films. "Ohhhhhhhhhhhh.") And then there's Gene Tierney feted on Saturday...whose beauty was truly blinding. Many of both of their movies I have seen before...but since a VHS tape only has six hours on it... I decided to have these movies waiting for me when I get back: * "Men In War" * "The Shanghai Gesture" * "Sundown" (where I get two for one: Tierney and Woody...no matter how small a part he has) I know...I know, I've got to catch up with the times like you guys and go the DVR/NETFLIX route. What can I tell ya? A Maven's clock turns stubbornly slowly. (And my learning curve ain't that great either!)

A good quote is worth repeating: "It was so sad to here of Patricia Neal's passing. I first became aware of Neal through her personal battles. I finally started watching her films and I came to think of her as quite an interesting actress. She was unconventional. Her features were hard yet delicate and grew more so with time. It was all the more fascinating when she softened up emotionally. She was regal by nature and had an imperious voice, yet she reveled in complex, even sor- did situations. She was deft at maintaining control and emotional distance and when she did break the pathos could be all the more overwhelming. She simmered in soft fires. I'll miss her." - Molo14.

Bronxgirl writes Re: "Heaven's Gate" - "Me, too! For the longest time I always thought it had something to do with a Chinese emperor. Don't ask me why." Naaaah. That'd be "Gates of Heaven." (Nice shot from "The Pink Panther") by the way. Fxreyman writes - ?...why not just watch 1966's ?The Professionals? with Claudia and five he-men, Lee Marvin, Burt Lancaster, Woody Strode, Robert Ryan and Jack Palance?? Mmmmmm...he-men!!! A man?s man every last one of ?em! And a woman?s man too. < Sigh! > :x Miss Goddess writes - ?...she was sooooooooooooo stunning in that film.? Yes, Claudia Cardinale was gorgeous, but for me, there was something 'extra' about Capucine ...haughty inaccessibility I guess.

Thank you Movieman. You got it Ms. G. :-)

"...I love watching his scenes separately, picked out of the harshness of the movie, because he is so completely the soft heart that Peckinpah wanted to show and also to hide." Whew! You wrote a blazing sentence here J.F. Nice! Now, don't avert your eyes on Friday. Why miss out on a good thing.

> "CineMave, I'll jump with you off that bridge. My inferiority complex should be heavy enough to sink us both." Et tu Brutus? Say it ain't so. Not you Miss G. Why, Robert Osborne said you were adorable. Don't jump. The board needs ya.

> "How can you POSSIBLY talk about "believability" when it comes to Prez Bill Pullman flying around with Randy Quaid, Will Smith and Harry Connick Jr, defeating those evil alien slimeballs?!! C'mon - that looked SOOO real. Well... OK. "Randy Quaid, down and out, drunk, drugged, hallucinating, etc." Ya can't argue with THAT portrait, can ya?" Ha! Wow. I have a little time before I jump off the Brooklyn Bridge (see filmlover's Kim Novak thread) and the strangest thing occurred to me with this movie. I saw it in the theatre. LOVED it. Went to a three a.m. show with a bunch of people (or was it seven a.m.). Bought the hype and loved the film. When I saw it on cable a few years ago...I HATED the film. I hated that Will Smith actually punched an alien in the face. I hated drunk Randy. And Bill (No Lips) Pullman as Mr. President? I wanted to give up my American citizenship. (I did like him in "The Last Seduction" and "Malice." (Anne Ban- croft's ten minutes of screen time was worth the whole movie. In fact the whole cast was great in "Malice"). Was "Independence Day" always yucky crap? Why did I like it in the theatre and then on tv hated it? These are rhetorical questions that I can't figure out. That's never happened to me before or since. I don't like earthlings besting aliens (* "War of the Worlds" "The Thing" "Signs"). What's wrong with me. Edited by: CineMaven on Aug 11, 2010 4:00 PM P.S. * That's Spielberg's "War of the Worlds" NOT the original.

Everyone can't like everyone...and that's totally understandable. Have you ever seen "A Face in the Crowd" with Neal and Andy Griffith? He gives a tour de force performance and Patricia Neal was very good in this.

Guess a boy's best friend is his Mom...even if he is an old man. WoW!!

> "...She simmered in soft fires. I'll miss her." Molo, that's a very lovely tribute you've written about Patricia Neal. I feel it. She really wasn't just another face in the crowd. And I guess that film ("A Face in the Crowd") is my favorite performance of hers. If you scroll down here: http://forums.tcm.com/jive/tcm/thread.jspa?threadID=147964&tstart=0 our man Mongo provided a very lovely picture of Patricia Neal.

:-( Gee. :-(

There's a few that will leave a giant hole: Doris Day...Kirk Douglas, among others. That's the sad evolutionary aspect of it all.

Awww geez! I didn't know. I'm really sorry to hear this. I might not have been emotional about her, but I have always always admired Patricia Neal's talent. And that voice...whew. Such sad news. Once again our Hollywood is disappearing.

HA!

Hope and Hutton. What a great pairing for a movie. Not "Casablanca" but for another Paramount project. One of them would have to be the calmer of the two. Ehhhh...who am I kidding?

> "OMG, Maven! You really know your horror movies! It's like you were watching it with me all those years ago!" Aww man, if only. But my sister was (sort of) a good companion in that department. All her damned Barbie Dolls got in the way.

"I like to torture.." I can see how you'd do that. (I loved the way Lugosi pronounced Judge Thatcher's name). Besides, what do they know from movie stars in galaxies far far away? I sometimes mix up Sam Levene with J. Carroll Naish. Go figure.

Hell...he could even grandfather your baby. I love him to pieces!

> 'Look at this: Bob's partner is the dancer, although he tries to move his hips: > All I know is that I have a crush on Samuel S. Hinds, and he introduces Swivel Hips Cummings.

Crazy Message Board. Oops!

Fans himself with his big ol? hat...swipes its brim. Walks tall and deliberate. Purple shirt. He?s just a mountain of a man. Hope this isn?t sacrilegious but he?s so very Gary Cooper-like here...except he?s a killer. Water drops on Woody?s face. I thought he'd be mad...annoyed. But he has a slight smile on his face. So handsome. He slowly places his hat on his head, where the water drips drop ploppingly in Leone's silence; but he doesn?t mind the slow Chinese water torture. Dead eyes, skeletal fea-tures, quick to put his hand on his gun. He slowly puts his hat to his luscious lips and slowly drinks the water. Mmmm that looks sooooo good. Then Bronson shows up. ELAM: ?Looks like we?re shy one horse.? BRONSON: ?You brought two too many.? Bronson guns down the three gunmen. But who wings Bronson? And who dies last...Woody Strode. Mmmm. Edited by: CineMaven on Aug 5, 2010 10:42 PM...Mmmmmmm.

> "I love Linda Cristal. She's one of my favorites." I think I've only seen her in that western tv show, but I always liked her. I sometimes...a little bit confuse her with Linda Christian (Tyrone Power's ex-wife). Now to be honest, I didn't see the film all the way through but was James Stewart's acting a little..."hokey"? And I wonder why he didn't just dance with the girl. Fred, it takes a big man to admit to changing his mind. Glad the movie went down better with you this time 'round.

Very lovely presentation. She was really quite beautiful.

I have "Two Rode Together" on in the background as I work on my other project. Does anyone think Linda Cristal ("The High Chaparral") looks like Salma Hayek??? Just saw them take that boy off to be hanged. Whew! The blood lust was brutal. The West was not for sissies. :-(