darkblue

Son of a ****! This really p!sses me off. I loved Lesley back in the day. She was beautiful (those eyes!!) and a great pop singer. Anyone remember how cute she was as Catwoman's protégé on 'Batman'? This sucks.

For some reason, Shannon kinda makes my skin crawl.

Before I saw that movie, I never knew a lightning bolt could vaporize a person.

Still cute as a kitty's ears. I was gonna say lookin' like Stella Stevens, but Stevie works too.

If there's a hint of politics (like the one I recently started about Suns News Network going off the air), I'll put it in Off-Topics. Otherwise, I recommend putting anything else here in GD. Let 'em move it if it bothers 'em.

'Soldier' (1998) is an action sci-fi movie starring Kurt Russell. A boy of about 12 or 13 is executed for not running fast enough. 'Once Upon a Time in the West' (1968) has Henry Fonda - of all people - cold bloodedly gunning down a boy of about 10. But, I get your point. People do get angry if they're presented with the death of a child or a pet in a movie. It takes a brave producer to leave that in - and there are very few brave producers. Big budget action movies are mostly for kids (of all ages), and getting an R rating (or even an NC-17 if the death is graphic) is probably what's gonna happen if kids are killed. Producers do not want that, you can be sure. I remember when I was a boy - about 11 years old - watching 'The Giant Behemoth' (1959) at the theatre and being shocked when a boy gets burnt to death by radiation from the creature. I couldn't believe I just saw a kid get killed, especially by burning, and especially in a sci-fi "dinosaur" movie.

I'm like you - reading about The Beatles is an activity I always enjoy. Right from the start (well, almost - from my viewing of 'A Hard Day's Night' in December 1964), George was my favorite Beatle. By 1966, in grade 11, most of the guys in my all-male class (I'd left the Arts & Sciences program and switched to Tech because I couldn't hack French) also cited George as their favorite Beatle. Now, if you asked our mothers, their favorite was definitely Paul - he was so baby-faced cute and sang all the granny songs. A lot of 11-15 year-old girls went for him that way as well. But true hard rockers often cited John because he had the preferred voice in the group and seemed the toughest. His songs were the favorites among my crowd, over those sung by Paul. If you asked little kids, they would often cite Ringo as their favorite. He was the funniest for them - got the best lines on the Saturday morning cartoon show. He was the "goofy" Beatle. In the music industry today - and since the late 60's - I'd have to say that George steadily became the most respected, loved and admired of all The Beatles. He played with everyone - on their albums, and everyone played with him on his. And he played many venues. George was the type who would quietly join a bar band on stage at some pub and just play - asking only that no fuss be made - no introduction - and people in the bar would maybe notice him off to the side playing and whisper "holy crap - I think that's George Harrison. Does that look like George Harrison to you?" His creativity on lead guitar is widely recognized and its contribution to so many classic Beatles songs now gets great credit as a signature part of their sound. And, though he had the weakest voice, his album 'All Things Must Pass' is the most mega-selling album of any Beatle after the breakup. His discography is quite large, rivalling Paul's (until cancer took him out of the game).

Sez you. Regardless, they were always marketed as equal parts of the group and singling any one of them out for "special" treatment apart from the others publicly just wasn't done.

David Lynch's 'Lost Highway' (1997) is certainly not a typical film. It's a surreal, perplexing movie that just has to be watched again and again - and read about - in a frustrating attempt to figure it out. Just when you think you might have it figured, doubt jumps in and says "wait, but what about....?" Then, of course, there's his ultimate cult item 'Eraserhead' (1977). The demons he was exorcising from his time living in Philadelphia is at the heart of this monstrous yet fascinating film.

Saw 'The Glass House' a couple of times in the 70's. Very good movie for its time - and, as a made-for-TV film, one of the better ones. I believe it has had a DVD release.

Which, to me, completely confirms my guess that that's why the idea of using The Beatles was rejected. In the '60's, the very idea of separating one from the others - in any manner - was unthinkable. Even if they weren't equals in the studio, they were equals in the eyes of the fans and nobody would've thought it a good idea to mess with that image.

That would've separated one of them from the other three. Which one? The one chosen to not be a musketeer may have understandably wondered about his status with the other three. Not a good thing for group unity - each was as important as the others in the public eye.

Maybe the reason Lester didn't do 'The Three Musketeers' with The Beatles is because there are four of them.

Those guys crack me up, misswonderly. Watched the 2 seasons of their show - wish they'd done more. They were on an episode of The Simpsons. They sang "it's hard to sing while you're playing guitar" during the episode.

Well, misswonderly - here's what 'Irma La Douce' means to me. It played one of the two neighborhood theatres in 1965. It was on a double bill with 'Tom Jones'. You had to be 18 to get in to the theatre then (Restricted to 18 and over) and I was not yet even 16. Three of my buddies - only 1 of whom was 18 - told me they were going to see this. I was unprepared cash-wise - had to go home and rob my piggy bank. So they went in and I told them I'd join them later. Went home, got money, went back to the theater - put on my toughest face, growl-iest voice, stood at full height, and was sold a ticket. The theatre was jam packed - balcony, floor - it was wild. I asked an usher about where my buddies were (he knew them) and he said I had to leave because I wasn't 18. I argued with him - told him he'd let two of my friends in who also weren't 18. We argued for a few minutes and he relented - but he grouchily told me to find a seat and stop searching for my buds. Good advice as there were hardly any seats left anyway. So I watch these movies and the audience is howling. Frankly, 'Tom Jones' was a much better movie, but there were a lot of Jack Lemmon fans there so it seemed like 'Irma' was the more popular feature. I gave it a 6 out of 10. Okay - nothing great. Never been big on MacLaine either. Only 'The Children's Hour' impressed me. Most of the time she leaves me cold. Liked her in 'Steel Magnolias' though. She was very good in that. Don't care for her personality that much either - but I have read 2 of her books - one in the 70's and another in the 80's. And we both believe in Reincarnation. Her recent musings on the principles of Karma which has so many upset with her are very much in line with what I have mused as well through the years. But 'Irma La Douce' is not that good a movie, despite its 7.5 rating on IMDb. Then again, I haven't watched it since the 60's so I could change my mind. After all, I'm an old man of 64 now.

I see TCM has the movie listed at 143 minutes. IMDb says the movie is 147 minutes. Wonder why the difference.

Why doesn't that surprise me about you.

Make that posts. Nipkow must've figured out that if he wants to engage in meaningful conversation, he'll have to talk to himself.

He put two sentences together and they actually "said" something?? All that stationery pedaling must be having a loquaciousness effect.

Sweatpants, huh? Also known as Philadelphia chic.

Of course. There are too few episodes which makes the wait far too long.

Yes! I very much wish that as well. The screenplay was based on a fascinating book by Peter Maas, which I read after seeing the movie. Susan Sarandon has been an amazing actor from the very start (see 'Joe' - 1970) and this movie (from 1978) is the one that made me realize it. That would be confirmed over and over well beyond the 70's.

See, I used to be in love with Patricia Heaton. On 'Raymond' I thought she was hot as hell. Now I briefly catch a glimpse of her with that helmet hairdo - looking like the Golem - and I just can't watch any more of 'The Middle'. It breaks my heart to see her so un-hot. As for 'Modern Family', I watch that. It's a mixed bag of some very funny characters and some very annoying characters, so it's a bit of a love-hate thing with me. But Ty Burrell is so hilarious, his work on that show alone is enough to keep me watching week after week. Ed O'Neil is another standout. I had a bit of an issue initially with Julie Bowen, but have learned to love her. "Claire" is pretty darned funny. And, I find her attractive (which never hurts).

Grace was pretty foxy at the start. She put on weight.

No, no white persians for me. My boy is an orange and white tabby, my girl is a grey and white tabby.