CelluloidKid
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Posts posted by CelluloidKid
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*_Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood_ (2003)*
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*Paxton, Bill*
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*Mon, Mar 1, 9:30 AM - _Possessed_ (1947)- All Times Eastern. Check Local Schedules!*
*_Possessed_ received one Academy Award nomination for Best Actress (Crawford).*
*_Interesting Trivia_*
Has no connection, other than name, to the 1931 version of Possessed, also starring Joan.
Bette Davis was originally offered the role of Louise, but turned it down to go on maternity leave.
Joan suffered a bout of bad publicity in relation to this film when she, Warner Brothers and a Pasadena sanitarium were sued for $200,000 by a woman. Mrs. Pauline McKay, who claimed to have undergone electric shock therapy while Joan and three Warners employees stood by and watched the procedure. Mrs. McKay and her husband, Charles, complained that without their authority, Joan and others watched her receive a shock treatment while she was a patient at a Pasadena sanitarium. The visit was said to have been made to obtain atmosphere and a realistic understanding of current mental health procedures for their upcoming film, Possessed (1947).
This bizarre research decision cost the studio a lesser amount than the initial claim of $200,000. An out of court settlement was reached but the months of unfavorable publicity was by far worse for Joan and the studio than any monetary payout. Los Angeles Times, February 3, 1948.
On a personal note, Joan finalized the adoption process on twins, Cindy and Cathy, after the completion of this film.
Thanks,
legendaryjoancrawford.com
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*Sun, Mar 7, 1:30 PM - _Pollyanna_ (1960) - All Times Eastern. Check Local Times!*
*The film marks Mills' first of six films for Disney and won the actress an Academy Juvenile Award.*
*_Awards_:*
Hayley Mills won the 1960 Academy Juvenile Award for her performance, and also received a BAFTA nomination for Best Actress.
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*_Washington Merry-Go-Round_ (1932)*
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*_Harriet Craig_ (1950)*
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Paul Scofield was in: _Scorpio_ (1973) directed by: Michael Winner!
*NEW DIRECTOR: Michael Winner!*
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*Jonze, Spike* - An American director and producer, whose work includes music videos, commercials, film and television.
He is best known for his collaborations with writer Charlie Kaufman, which include the 1999 film _Being John Malkovich_ and the 2002 film _Adaptation_., and for his work as director of the 2009 film _Where the Wild Things Are_.
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In 1971, Ford signed with CBS to star in his first television series, a half hour comedy/drama titled The Glenn Ford Show. However, CBS head Fred Silverman noticed that many of the featured films being shown at a Glenn Ford film festival were westerns. He suggested doing a western series instead, which resulted in the "modern day western" series, Cade's County.
*Celebri-links ...... Fred Silverman!*
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*Tommy Lee _Jones_*
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Park Avenue ... _How to Marry a Millionaire_ (1953)
*NEW WORD: Porridge!*
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*_Female on the Beach_ (1955)*
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Frank Sinatra won the Oscar for: Best Supporting Actor for: _From Here to Eternity_ (1953) directed by: Fred Zinnemann!
*NEW DIRECTOR: Fred Zinnemann!*
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*AMC Showcases Best Documentary Oscar Nominees*
*AMC Theatres, which will be hosting a marathon of all five films this Sunday, February 28, 2010.*
*It's a great idea for us doc lovers to get a showcase similar to the cinema chain's annual Best Picture Showcase. Now, for a mere $30 (of $25 if you're an AMC MovieWatcher cardholder -- which you could likely join for free on the spot), you can see, in this order:*
*_Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country_, _Which Way Home_, _The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers_, _The Cove_ and _Food, Inc._*
You also get, same as the Best Picture Showcase, a large popcorn and unlimited refills, though none of these are really popcorn movies in the way many of the Best Picture nominees are. In fact, it might be kinda off putting for you to eat corn while watching Food, Inc. Not nearly as horrible as eating dolphin sushi while watching The Cove, but still a bit ironic. The other issue I have -- not that I should be complaining since I wished for a showcase like this -- is that it's only happening at two of AMC's cinemas, NYC's Empire 25 and LA's AMC Santa Monica.
Isn't there anywhere else in this country that people like documentary film? At least the Oscar-nominated ones?
As I said in my column, I haven't seen either Burma VJ nor Which Way Home, so I'll probably pay the $25 just to see those first two films. I also wouldn't mind seeing The Cove again, so maybe I'll leave and come back (you can do this). Especially since only two movies (with the popcorn even) might not be enough of a deal. And as far as I can tell from MovieTickets.com, you can't buy admission for individual shows. But if there's no other way to see the titles before the Oscars a week later, it'll be worth it for me anyway.
As for that Best Picture Showcase, don't forget that the first day for that program is also this weekend (Saturday, February 27). Some theaters will actually be showing all ten nominees in a Butt-Numb-A-Thon-esque 24-hour marathon. Again, that's just the big cities. Most of you will at least get a decent series of half the nominees -- pegged to how your market voted in AMC's poll -- which is different depending on if you go tomorrow or on March .
http://www.amcentertainment.com/bps/
Cinematical
Christopher Campbell
Feb 26th 2010
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*Tough Act: DiCaprio as Sinatra?*
Wall Street Journal - Will Friedwald
Feb 24 2010
It's about as official as it can be: According to Roger Friedman's Showbiz411 blog (and other Internet sources) there will be, at long last, a major motion picture on the life of Frank Sinatra: Martin Scorsese will direct and Leonardo DiCaprio will star. Since Mr. Scorsese has the cooperation of the late singer's family (they have been discussing such a project for at least 15 years), he will, thankfully, be able to use Sinatra's classic recordings. The major question is, how believable will that legendary voice be when it is seen coming out of the face of Mr. DiCaprio? The central disappointment with the 1992 TV miniseries "Sinatra" was that it was impossible to suspend one's disbelief: Leading man Philip Casnoff never seemed like anything other than a lip-syncing TV actor in a tuxedo. How are Messrs. Scorsese and DiCaprio going to do better? Is the obvious fact that Mr. DiCaprio is an icon in his own right going to help them or hurt them?
The pop-music biopic has been a staple of Hollywood since "Rhapsody in Blue" and "The Glenn Miller Story." In the 21st century, however, the genre has re-emerged as a box-office bonanza. The format has so dominated the Oscars and the minds of viewers that in 2007 Judd Apatow wrote and produced "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story," a parody that proved that the biography movie was as omnipresent and spoofable as the scary movie and the date movie.
The quality levels of these films vary as widely as the artists they depict. Clearly, Taylor Hackford's "Ray" set the new standard in 2004, especially in the way it utilized music. Ray Charles himself participated in the production, which was released shortly after his death; the director mostly utilized the legendary pianist-singer's famous recordings, but Charles himself also provided new vocals for specific scenes as needed. Thanks to the movie's brilliant use of music (which is, after all, the whole point) and its meticulous attention to detail, Jamie Foxx's masterly acting job and, not least, the fortunate fact (for the filmmakers, at least) that Charles spent nearly all of his life with enormous dark glasses covering most of his face, the result was a completely convincing portrait that won Mr. Foxx an Academy Award.
Even when the subject is not present to cooperate, as in 2005's "Walk the Line" (Johnny Cash died before filming and recording began), an intelligent director and a talented cast can make it work. Star Joaquin Phoenix rendered his own vocals over re-created Cash arrangements; when I listen to the soundtrack album, I can't help but think that Mr. Phoenix not only sings considerably flatter than Cash (who wasn't exactly Sinatra to begin with), but sounds nothing like him. Yet when I watch the movie, the cinematic and musical direction and the acting are so superb that the vocals never bother me. The nadir of the genre was 2004's "Beyond the Sea," a vanity project revealing more about producer/director/star Kevin Spacey than its alleged subject, Bobby Darin, and ultimately amounted to celebrity karaoke. ("Lady Sings the Blues," from 1972, was both the best and the worst; while the screenplay had almost nothing to do with the real life of its alleged subject, Billie Holiday, Diana Ross delivered a powerful performance as the much-abused, drug-addicted singer. It's well-nigh time for a new biopic on Lady Day.)
There have been at least three full-length cinematic portrayals of Sinatra, two in TV productions that were far from satisfying. In the 1992 miniseries?which was produced by the singer's daughter Tina?Frank Sinatra's first wife, Nancy (played by Gina Gershon), was considerably more glamorous than the actress playing Ava Gardner, the sex symbol for whom he left his family and, for a time, derailed his career. HBO's eminently forgettable "The Rat Pack," which starred Ray Liotta as Sinatra, could have been titled "Goodfellas Go to Vegas."
If there is any movie that Messrs. Scorsese and DiCaprio should look to for inspiration, it's "All the Way" (aka "The Night We Called It a Day"), a 2003 Australian film about Sinatra's 1974 misadventure in that country, with Dennis Hopper playing The Chairman of the Board.
If "The Aviator," Messrs. Scorsese and DiCaprio's Oscar-decorated 2004 biography of Howard Hughes, is any indication, their Sinatra project is likely to cover a wider swath of the singer's career than just a single incident. This might well prove to be overambitious; Sinatra's saga is even more epic and spectacular than Hughes's, and would be impossible to address even in 169 minutes of Technicolor.
The script aside, the most problematic element is still the portrayal of the central figure. Mr. DiCaprio is a closer match physically to Hughes than to Sinatra. And we know how Sinatra walked, talked, sounded, how he moved his face when he spoke and sang. Messrs. Scorsese and DiCaprio would do well to follow the example of Mr. Hopper in the Australian film: He didn't mimic or lip-sync (the latter probably not by choice, since the filmmakers didn't have permission from the estate to use Sinatra's actual voice). Rather, he just gave a straight-ahead portrayal. Mr. Hopper's performance was a powerful interpretation, in the same spirit as Sinatra's own masterly portrayal of the tragic comic Joe E. Lewis in the acclaimed 1957 bio "The Joker Is Wild."
Like Sinatra playing Lewis, Mr. Hopper as Sinatra captured the essence of Ol' Blue Eyes, the spirit if not the letter: the combination of arrogance and vulnerability, the tenderness and the vitriol, his visionary brilliance as an artist?the man who transformed American music again and again?and his inexplicable need to shoot himself in the foot (also again and again). Unlike Mr. Foxx's portrayal in "Ray" and Mr. Phoenix's in "Walk the Line," Mr. Hopper's performance wasn't about the details so much as the larger truth. You have to come away from such a picture with a concrete sense of what it might have been like to have been in Sinatra's overwhelming presence. The challenge for Messrs. Scorsese and DiCaprio is to do as well?but on a larger scale?and come up with a portrayal that is worthy of its subject.
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*_Pink Flamingos_ (1972)*
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*Waters, John* - An American filmmaker, actor, writer, journalist, visual artist and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films.
Waters skirted mainstream filmmaking with Hairspray (1988), which introduced Ricki Lake and earned a modest gross of $8 million domestically.
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*Damita, Lili*
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bustle .... _New York, I Love You_ (2009)
*NEW WORD: Ash Wednesday!*
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Joan Crawford was actually Fred Astaire`s first on-screen dance partner. They appeared in _Dancing Lady_ (1933).
*Celebri-links .... Fred Astaire!*
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John Mills was in: _The Chalk Garden_ (1964) - with daughter Hayley Mills!
*NEW STAR: Hayley Mills!*
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Why the thread about hate!?
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*The MOST OVERPLAYED films on TCM:*
*Citizen Kane (1941)*
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*_Madame X_ (1977)*
The First Film That Comes to Mind...
in Games and Trivia
Posted
bon-bons ........ _Death Becomes Her_ (1992
*NEW WORD: Nuclear submarine!*