ChiO
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Posts posted by ChiO
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What happens when two screen titans meet?
A great Artist explains his Art.
Message was edited by: ChiO
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I have deep fear of blades (e.g., knives, axes) and needles, so if those are in a movie, then my hands are over my eyes because I'm terrified; however, five minutes after the movie, the fear is gone. The real scary movies for me generally don't have much violence, but do involve ever-mounting paranoia in a relatively benign setting. Those movies will keep me thinking, looking over my shoulder, and give me nightmares. At the top of the list:
*Rosemary's Baby*
*Invasion of the Body Snatchers*
Now, our younger daughter (now 20) can watch blood and gore, be scared and entertained, and seemingly have no long term negative reaction. So what scares her?
"Daddy, those eyes...those eyes are too creepy." Tod Browning's *Dracula* just freaks her out (all of the various modern retellings she merely finds amusing). And...
"Daddy, he couldn't really read lips could he?" She refuses to rewatch *2001: A Space Odyssey* because of HAL touched her scary bone.
Go figure.
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FrankG -- I just learned from a friend that *Mermaids of Tiburon* will be released in February.
"Huh?", you say. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056233. The list of available masterworks continues to grow.
Message was edited by: ChiO
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Frank-My-Doppelganger -- Once again, you lure me into a stupid list of actors when I, too, first peruse the TCM schedule for directors.
With each list of 20, the first listed is tops for me, and thereafter it is in alphabetical order.
Actors/Actresses
Barbara Stanwyck
Joan Bennett
Humphrey Bogart
Timothy Carey (waiting for him, weren't you)
Charles Chaplin
Claudette Colbert
Marlene Dietrich
Dan Duryea
Cary Grant
Sterling Hayden
Myrna Loy
Ida Lupino
Lee Marvin
Robert Mitchum
Marilyn Monroe
Edward G. Robinson
Robert Ryan
Randolph Scott
James Stewart
Richard Widmark
Directors
Orson Welles
Robert Bresson
Charles Burnett
John Cassavetes
Charles Chaplin
Carl Th. Dreyer
Samuel Fuller
Howard Hawks
Stanley Kubrick
Fritz Lang
Joseph H. Lewis
Anthony Mann
F.W. Murnau
Max Ophuls
Yasujiro Ozu
Otto Preminger
Jean Renoir
Jacques Tourneur
Erich von Stroheim
Billy Wilder
P.S. You would L-O-V-E Secret Beyond the Door, not that obsessions are your thing.
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*The problem is not remakes, per se, but that most studios and producers have the bad sense to want to remake good-to-great films that don't need to be remade, and whose quality they can't equal or surpass*
Exactly. We tend to forget that, for example, *The Maltese Falcon* was a remake, and remember (and moan and whine) the proposed remakes of The Day the Earth Stood Still, et al. A rRemake is not the issue; making a good film with -- heaven forbid! -- some modicum of originality of vision is.
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I'm taking the Powell/Pressburger class because (a) they are generally critically acclaimed and I need the exposure, (
those Powell films I have seen, for the most part, I have liked, though like you I am not a huge fan, and (3) a good friend is teaching/moderating the class and he is incredible -- enthusiastic, knowledgable, stimulating and has never failed to expose me to films that I would otherwise never see. I think this is the 7th class I've taken with him (Unknown Noir I & II; Written by Sturges; Westerns of Tourneur; American Independents of the '60s; Hollywood Directors Post-Code), which is how we became friends. And he just had a film accepted at the South by Southwest Film Fest -- exciting stuff.The Powell films I've seen:
*The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp* -- didn't do alot for me, so I need to try again
*I Know Where I'm Going* -- after Sunrise, perhaps the loveliest film I've seen
*Black Narcissus* -- another lovely one
*Red Shoes* -- the 1st one I saw; the 1st Mrs. ChiO was a ballerina (and still teaches); I don't think I was quite prepared for the rhythm of this
*PeepingTom* -- I know what you're thinking: "You liked this, didn't you?"; no -- I loved it
Films to be shown in the class:
*Contraband* (1940)
*One of Our Aircraft is Missing* (1941)
*The 49th Parallel* (1941)
*The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp* (1943)
*A Canterbury Tale* (1944)
*A Matter of Life and Death* (1946)
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MissG -- Nicely played. You'll probably get me completely devoted to Lubitsch before Ford.
FrankG -- Reading between the lines and assuming you're serious ("What? Me serious? Get serious."), I take it that Lubitsch is not your cup of tea for two, or one. I have s-l-o-w-l-y force fed myself a few films and have come to enjoy them. *Ninotchka* I love (how did Wilder write that stuff, in his second language yet?). It took a couple of viewings for To Be or Not to Be. And Trouble in Paradise -- ahhh, so well put by MissG. I think of it as a proto-Screwball Comedy film noir -- and probably the only one. But I'm funny that way.
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So many interesting choices. Those that pop into my head (must be Kismet) are:
TV
"Little Buddy" Gilligan (Bob Denver) and The Movie Star (Tina Louise)
Bob Collins (Robert Cummings) and Charmaine "Schultzy" Schultz (Ann B. Davis)
Movies
Skip McCoy (Richard Widmark) and "Moe" Williams (Thelma Ritter)
Hank Quinlan (Orson Welles) and Tanya (Marlene Dietrich)
Brandon Shaw (John Dall) and Phillip Morgan (Farley Granger)
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My favorites:
(5) *Psycho* (1960)
(4) *Notorious* (1946)
(3) *Strangers on a Train* (1951)
(2) *North by Northwest* (1959)
(1) *Rear Window* (1954)
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Yes, M. Boyer is in it; and, yes, he is not one of my favorites; and, yes, I like him in Earrings of Madame de... Consistency is not necessarily my strong suit. My guess: (1) hearing him in French & reading him in English is preferable to hearing him in English, and (2) Ophuls is preferable to Cukor.
Never let it be said that I can't be petty.
P.S. I also like *Daisy Kenyon* even though on paper I would think that I wouldn't. So it goes. Hope you see more Herr Otto than I got around to. The next class I'm taking is on the films of Powell & Pressburger made during WWII. More films that push my envelope.
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The Music Box Theatre in Chicago (http://musicboxtheatre.com), a combo art-house & revival theatre that every city should have.
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*He said it's a film that lacks substance. It's basically a "lines" film.*
I can't -- or won't -- argue with that, but ohhhh those lines!
What I told you about Timothy Carey also applies here -- it's a conceptual thing. And, after all, Steve Buscemi is Timothy Carey with a future.
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Yes, you have to see it. I, too, treasure my copy of this film and my *Skidoo!* one-sheet has an honored place in my collection.
It is not a bad movie. It is, ummm, a different movie. If you want a bad Preminger movie, see Rosebud.
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Just received a Christmas gift from myself today -- John Cassavetes: Five Films. I have never seen *Opening Night* and I haven't seen *A Woman Under the Influence* since it's original release (I just remember being in pain for about a week). Given what appears to be a ton of extras, I should be in Heaven for quite awhile, even if my Greek Goddess spouse won't watch her countryman with me.
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I was lucky enough to see *The Earrings of Madame de...* on the big screen a few months ago. Stunning. Beautiful. Ophuls.
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At a recent screening in Chicago of his Romance & Cigarettes at which he was present, John Turturro started riffing and said something along the lines of: "People say I'm such a good character actor and I guess I should take that as a compliment, but I'm not sure if they mean what it means to me. Every role every actor plays is a character, so every actor is a character actor."
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*Der Letze Mann* (The Last Laugh) (Murnau, 1924) -- Not only a silent, but it has very few intertitle cards. Hitchcock cited it as the best example of pure cinema. And it is just a wonderful movie,
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Oops -- forgot to mention Ikiru. See, it is hard to go wrong with Kurosawa.
Watch Ikiru, *Tokyo Story* (Ozu), *Umberto D.* (De Sica) and *Make Way for Tomorrow* (McCarey), and then call an older person in your life.
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To my shame, I have never seen an Akira Kurosawa film, so at least one of his--any suggestions? Besides Rashomon?
*Seven Samurai* and *Yojimbo* are probably the most popular ones, but my favorite is Throne of Blood. *Ran* is great, too -- in fact, it is difficult to go wrong with any Kurosawa film.
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Why isn't Max Ophuls worshipped? I am hard pressed to think of another director whose camera is as lush and sweeping, but whose stories at their core are as dark.
I saw *Letter from an Unknown Woman* for the first time a month or two ago and was completely taken in. It is beautiful.
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Metropolis -- Visually stunning. A good Lang to see before delving into Langian film noir. It tends to interest me less now than it used to, but a must-see. I would also recommend seeing either or both *Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler* and *Crimes of Dr. Mabuse* (my preference is the latter) and definitely M, a film that usually is in my Top Ten, as an introduction to Lang's U.S. films.
Gaslight -- Though I'm not a huge fan of either the 1940 or 1944 version, it is a good movie to see. The earlier one may have a slight edge for me because the latter has Charles Boyer (I prefer his brothers, Clete and Ken, for you baseball fans) and George Cukor. I do like Angela Lansbury and Joseph Cotten, however, in the latter.
The Third Man -- Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. Welles may not have directed it, but it often looks like he did. And I happen to like Joseph Cotten's performance here, too.
Citizen Kane -- Sigh. The first time I saw it was in the early-'60s. I thought it was different than any movie I had seen and it instantly became my favorite movie. I try to watch it once or twice a year now. It has only improved with its age and my age. Some consider it the greatest movie of all time. They are probably right. It is the greatest movie I have ever seen. Jonathan Rosenbaum has two wonderful responses to the common criticism of Welles that he never made another Citizen Kane: (1) who needs a second Citizen Kane, one in a lifetime is enough, and (2) nobody else has made another Citizen Kane either. Revel in this one. Oh, and enjoy Joseph Cotten.
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I mean, say what you like about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it's an ethos.
There are movies that I love because they make me laugh until it hurts, but I completely and fully understand when someone else thinks they are awful. *The Big Lebowski* probably is at the top of my list. What I find most incredible is that Mrs. ChiO -- she of "Let's watch something light and cute tonight" -- finds it absolutely hilarious and walks around saying, "No, you're the Lebowski. I'm the Dude."
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Mom: "If it'll make you feel better, yes."
BronxG -- And will it make you feel better?
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kim -- The DVD of *Merrill's Marauders* is available at Deep Discount for $11.98. That's where I got my copy. Not available at Amazon or DVDPlanet.
those Powell films I have seen, for the most part, I have liked, though like you I am not a huge fan, and (3) a good friend is teaching/moderating the class and he is incredible -- enthusiastic, knowledgable, stimulating and has never failed to expose me to films that I would otherwise never see. I think this is the 7th class I've taken with him (Unknown Noir I & II; Written by Sturges; Westerns of Tourneur; American Independents of the '60s; Hollywood Directors Post-Code), which is how we became friends. And he just had a film accepted at the South by Southwest Film Fest -- exciting stuff.
Which classic stars get you pumped up??
in Your Favorites
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MissG -- I'm not familiar with Timothy Carey but I'm certainly acquiring an education. Did he mainly play villains?
Thank you. It's so kind of you to ask. If I can recruit just one person to the Carey Camp before I die, my time here would be justified. I'm giving up on FrankG and focusing on you.
The IMDb has a nice bio of the man John Cassavetes said had "the brilliance of Eisenstein" (the TCM database has no bio). His roles tended toward villains, but what is a 6'5" wild-eyed madman to do? He is a hit man of sorts in *The Killing* and Chesty Morgan, U.S. Navy, a mobster in *The Killing of a Chinese Bookie* and Crime Wave, and a member of Chino's (Lee Marvin) biker gang in The Wild One. He is a man gone mad because of his obsession with power in his The World's Greatest Sinner, a truly eye-opening spectacle of a movie. He certainly isn't a good guy in *Bayou* (aka Poor White Trash) (as a lover of the dance, you'll appreciate
On the other hand, my two favorite performances are ones where he is not a villain: *Minnie and Moskowitz* and Paths of Glory. Perhaps it is, at least in part, because Cassavetes and Kubrick were the two directors most respectful of his art, were most encouraging for him to improvise, and the dialogue in the key sequences is largely improvised by Carey. He opens *Minnie and Moskowitz*, portraying a coffee shop denizen, with a rap that is stunning. In Paths of Glory, his trip to the firing squad is the film's climax and one my single favorite scenes in all of moviedom.
The Saint of the Underground...Madman of the Method.
Of course, there are those who say he was a scene-stealing emoting teeth-clenching no-talent ham. Po-tay-toe, Po-tah-toe.