CelluloidKid
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*How sad .... Roman Polanski has had more career lows...than highs!!!*
*Never give in.. never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force.. never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.*
*Winston Churchill*
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*My knees buckled when I read this!! Good luck Roman!!!*
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*Sorry I posted again!!! My bad! But when I read this article handed by my partner I coudn't believe it!!!*
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*My knees buckled when I read this!! Good luck Roman!!!*
*People let it go!!! Hasn't the man suffered enough already!??!.*
*Roman Polanski Is Arrested in Switzerland*
By DAVID JOLLY
Published: September 27, 2009
New York Times
*PARIS ? After more than 30 years as a fugitive from U.S. justice, Roman Polanski, the director of legendary films including ?Chinatown? and ?Rosemary?s Baby,? was arrested in Switzerland on an international warrant as he arrived in Zurich for a film festival featuring a retrospective of his work, the Swiss authorities said Sunday.*
Mr. Polanski was detained by the police Saturday upon his arrival at the Zurich airport, said **** Balmer, a spokesman for the Swiss Federal Justice Department. The director was being held in provisional detention in preparation for a possible extradition to the United States based on an arrest warrant dating to 1978.
Mr. Polanski, 76, was convicted that year in a California court of unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl whom he had lured to the home of Jack Nicholson and drugged. Faced with a prison term, he fled the United States just before his sentencing.
Samantha Geimer, the girl with whom Mr. Polanski had sex, has since publicly forgiven him.
Lawyers for Mr. Polanski sought to have the case dismissed last December, claiming that the release of a documentary called ?Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired,? had showed ?a pattern of misconduct and improper communications? among Los Angeles officials.
In Paris, where Mr. Polanski was born and now lives, the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner had spoken with his Swiss counterpart, Micheline Calmy-Rey, and communicated ?the desire of the French authorities that the rights of Mr. Polanski be fully respected and that this affair rapidly find a favorable resolution.?
The French culture minister, Frederic Mitterrand, also said in a statement that he was ?astonished? by the arrest.
The organizers of the Zurich Film Festival, which had been preparing to give Mr. Polanski a lifetime achievement award, said in a statement that they received news of the arrest ?with great consternation and shock,? but that they would give Mr. Polanski the award at the earliest possible opportunity. The festival will continue as planned, they said.
Officials at the U.S. Department of Justice could not immediately be reached for comment.
Assuming Mr. Polanski does not waive his right to appeal, he can challenge both the arrest warrant and any eventual extradition order, Mr. Balmer said, and appeal both issues in the Swiss federal penal court of justice. If he were to lose those appeals, he could then get a final hearing on both issues at the Federal Court of Justice.
Mr. Balmer said he could not estimate how long any appeal might go on, but said: ?It?s true that it won?t be a matter of hours.?
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*What is funny is the "REMAKE" of: _Beyond a Reasonable Doubt_ (2009) mae the list!!!*
*WOW!!!*
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*100 worst movies of the last 10 years*
p2pnet.net
Eric Valette
Sep 25, 2009
*Shockingly horrible.*
*They?re the baddest of the bad, the worst of the worst.*
*At least, that?s what Rotten Tomatoes says in its countdown of the past 10 years.*
*And the top (bottom?) five are ???*
1.Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (2002)
Critics Consensus: A startlingly inept film, Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever offers overblown, wall-to-wall action without a hint of wit, coherence, style, or originality.
Synopsis: In the mystifying opening sequence of BALLISTIC: ECKS VS. SEVER, a double kidnapping takes place on a rainy night in Vancouver with a minimal amount of wasted time and a maximum amount of violence. A little boy is picked? [More]
Starring: Lucy Liu, Antonio Banderas, Gregg Henry
Directed By: Kaos
2.One Missed Call (2008)
Critics Consensus: One of the weakest entries in the J-horror remake sweepstakes, One Missed Call is undone by bland performances and shopworn shocks.
Synopsis: In the tradition of THE RING, THE GRUDGE, DARK WATER, and PULSE, ONE MISSED CALL is yet another moody Japanese ghost story to be adapted for American screens. Originally made by cult director Takashi Miike in 2003 from? [More]
Starring: Shannyn Sossamon, Edward Burns, Ana Claudia Talancon
Directed By: Eric Valette
3.Pinocchio (2002)
Critics Consensus: Roberto Benigni misfires wildly with this adaptation of Pinocchio, and the result is an unfunny, poorly-made, creepy vanity project.
Synopsis: Roberto Benigni (LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL) brings Carlo Collodi?s classic children?s story to life in this big budget live-action adaptation. Gepetto (Carlo Guiffre), a humble toy maker, fashions a marionette out of a log that? [More]
Starring: Roberto Benigni, Carlo Guiffre, Nicoletta Braschi
Directed By: Roberto Benigni
4.King?s Ransom (2005)
Critics Consensus: Filled with crass dialogue, unlikable characters, and overdone slapstick gags, King?s Ransom is an utterly inept would-be comedy.
Synopsis: Anthony Anderson sheds his usual sidekick status, heading up the ensemble cast as Malcolm King, a boorish, egomaniacal billionaire who owns a huge, equally tasteless marketing firm in Chicago. The cocky businessman is? [More]
Starring: Anthony Anderson, Jay Mohr, Regina Hall
Directed By: Jeff Byrd
5.National Lampoon?s Gold Diggers (2004)
Critics Consensus: It aspires to Farrelly-level offensiveness, but the PG-13 rating and a dearth of decent gags renders Gold Diggers tame, toothless, and dull.
Synopsis: National Lampoon?s Gold Diggers explores the misadventures of two completely incompetent con men, who, in desperation, turn their attention to the art of gold digging. First time director Gary Preisler directs the cast of? [More]
Starring: Will Friedle, Chris Owen, Louise Lasser
Directed By: Gary Preisler
The only mystery is why Battlefield Earth isn?t right at the top of dishonourable mentions.
At # 27, it?s an, ?Ugly, campy, and poorly acted ? stunningly misguided, aggressively bad sci-fi folly.?
*.............++++++++++.........................*
Sep 25, 2009
*Site Picks Worst Movies Of The Decade*
WIBW
Sep 25, 2009
*"Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever" had few fans upon its release in 2002. The $70 million movie, starring Antonio Banderas and Lucy Liu, was a box office failure, making just $14.3 million domestically and less than $6 million overseas.*
CNN) -- "Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever" had few fans upon its release in 2002. The $70 million movie, starring Antonio Banderas and Lucy Liu, was a box office failure, making just $14.3 million domestically and less than $6 million overseas.
And critics were scathing. "A career low for both Liu and Banderas," said Empire magazine. "Ecks this one off your must-see list," wrote the New York Post's Lou Lumenick.
But, seven years after its release, "Ecks" can now claim one honor: It's the worst movie of the decade, according to RottenTomatoes.com, the movie review aggregator site.
With the aughts winding down and September traditionally a rough month for movies, Rotten Tomatoes decided it was a good time to update an old list of bad movies and look at some of this decade's worst, said Matt Atchity, the site's editor-in-chief.
"We've seen some really, really poorly reviewed movies in the last few weeks," he said. "That kind of made us think ... to update this list and focus on the last 10 years."
"Ecks" received a unanimous thumbs-down, giving it a 0 percent Tomatometer rating. Thirteen other movies in Rotten Tomatoes' horrible hundred also had zero good reviews -- including 2002's "Pinocchio" (the Roberto Benigni version) and 2004's "Superbabies" (directed by "Christmas Story" auteur Bob Clark), but no other movie came close to "Ballistic's" expansive perfection: 107 reviews, none good.
Atchity said it's rare for a movie to pick up a goose egg on the Tomatometer.
"Usually some [reviewer], somewhere, likes something," he said.
Besides, Atchity added, it's all relative. Though the oeuvre of Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer -- the makers of critically reviled parody films such as "Epic Movie" and "Meet the Spartans" -- included four movies on the worst 100 list, their films routinely do well at the box office.
Still, Atchity defends the role of movie critics, themselves much reviled (and, given the struggles of newspapers and the rise of social media, much unemployed) in recent years. Critics may not be able to doom a bad movie, but they can give a boost to small good ones -- and they keep a dialogue going about movies in general, he said.
"I think that criticism in this day and age becomes even more important, because you can't, as a moviegoer, let the studio's marketing arms dictate what you're seeing," he said. "I think it's important as a society that we be discussing the art we're consuming."
Which brings us back to "Ecks vs. Sever." Could it be an overlooked classic?
Well, no.
"It's pretty bad," Atchity said.
*CLICK BELOW to check out the rest of the list!*
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*Anyone else watch: _Ladies of the Chorus_ (1949) last night (09/25/09)!?!. With a very young Marilyn Monroe "BEFORE" _Niagara_ (1953)!.!*
A fast paced fun film! I just loved the ending!
Kudos to Adele Jergens!
Marilyn sings Every Baby Needs a DA Da Daddy and Anyone Can See I Love You..
*_Trivia_:*
The name of the actor that plays the man who falls in love with Peggy is: Rand Brooks (Fact: Rand played Charles Hamilton in Gone With The Wind (1939)!
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*Anyone else watch: _Ladies of the Chorus_ (1949) last nigh (09/25/09)!?!. With a very young mm "BEFORE" _Niagara_ (1953)!!*
A fast paced fun film! I just loved the ending!
Kudos to Adele Jergens!
Marilyn sings Every Baby Needs a DA Da Daddy and Anyone Can See I Love You..
*_Trivia_:*
The name of the actor that plays the man who falls in love with Peggy is: Rand Brooks (Fact: Rand played Charles Hamilton in Gone With The Wind (1939)!
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*WOW! What a cold and brutal things to say!!!*
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*Trevor Rhone dies at 69; Caribbean playwright, screenwriter*
*He co-wrote the 1972 film 'The Harder They Come,' which helped introduce reggae music and urban Jamaican culture to international audiences*
By Terence McArdle
September 25, 2009
Los Angeles Times
Trevor Rhone, a leading Caribbean playwright and screenwriter who co-wrote the 1972 film "The Harder They Come," which helped introduce reggae music and urban Jamaican culture to international audiences, died Sept. 15 at a hospital in Kingston, Jamaica, after a heart attack. He was 69.
"The Harder They Come" starred reggae performer Jimmy Cliff as an aspiring singer who becomes a hero to the poor after killing a police officer. The film, co-written with director Perry Henzell, was drawn from the story of a Jamaican criminal killed by police in 1948.
For many American audience members, the film was their first view of urban Jamaican life and culture. It featured reggae by Cliff, who sings the title song; Toots and the Maytals; Desmond Dekker and others, and remained an art house staple in the United States for several years after its initial release. It also broke Jamaica's box office records, but did not enrich Rhone.
"It made money for somebody, I would imagine," he told the New York Times. "Not me."
Rhone's plays often used satire to comment on the social conflicts in Jamaica after its independence from England in 1962.
His first major work, "Smile Orange" (1971), showed the tourism trade through the eyes of underpaid hotel clerks and waiters at a Montego Bay resort. Although a comedy, the play conveys a bleak message that the exploitative nature of the tourism trade has led to racial self-hatred and malicious behavior. In one memorable scene, a clerk uses his spit and a discarded banana peel to polish the silverware.
Rhone directed a 1976 film version of "Smile Orange" that received friendly reviews.
Meanwhile, he continued to write a series of popular plays, including "School's Out" (1974), based on his experiences as a teacher in the 1960s. It concerned a missionary school whose academic standards have declined dramatically. An overflowing toilet that no one will fix and an absent headmaster -- represented by an unopened office door -- were viewed as symbols of national dysfunction.
Writing in the Times of London, theater critic Irving Wardle praised Rhone's "gifts for loving characterization and powers of story-telling."
A farmer's son, Trevor Dave Rhone was born March 24, 1940, in Kingston and grew up in a rural village, Bellas Gate, which would later inspire his autobiographical play "Bellas Gate Boy."
In 1959, he left for England to attend drama school at Rose Bruford College in Kent and returned to Jamaica in the late 1960s when he grew frustrated with the low-quality parts offered to black actors.
"As a drama school student in London, I had visions of myself as a great tragedian," he told the reference guide Contemporary Authors. "I quickly learnt, however, that classic roles available to black actors were few and far between. And such parts as there were, were invariably written by white authors with little understanding of the black experience.
"My first acting jobs in the professional theater saw me perpetuating negative and stereotyped images of blacks," he added. "My first effort at writing a play was an attempt to find something worthwhile to perform."
His plays included "Old Story Time" (1979), which follows a Jamaican family on its 40-year climb through upward mobility, and "Two Can Play" (1983), a farce about a Jamaican man whose wife has her feminist consciousness raised after her visit to the United States.
In 1974, Rhone married Camilla King. His survivors include his wife, three children and a grandchild, according to the Jamaica Observer newspaper.
McArdle writes for the Washington Post.
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*_Ladies of the Chorus_ (1949)*
*Dont forget Ladies of the Chorus tonight on TCM check local times.*
*_Ladies of the Chorus_ (1948)*
*Produced by Columbia Pictures*
It stars Marilyn Monroe in an early role as Peggy Martin a dancer who falls in love with a wealthy man. Her mother, May (Adele Jergens) worries about the class difference between the two and wonders if her daughter will be happy. The film was directed by Phil Karlson.
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*Manson follower Susan Atkins dies at 61*
By Elaine Woo
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 25, 2009
Susan Atkins, who committed one of modern history's most notorious crimes when she joined Charles Manson and his gang for a 1969 killing spree that terrorized Los Angeles and put her in prison for the rest of her life, has died. She was 61.
Atkins died at the Central California Women's facility in Chowchilla on Thursday night, said Terry Thornton, spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Atkins, who had been receiving medical care at the prison's nursing facility over the past year, died of natural causes, Thornton said. Sources told The Times she had been battling brain cancer. She was pronounced dead at 11:46 p.m.
She had been in hospice care in recent days.
Atkins was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2008 as she neared her fourth decade of incarceration at the California Institute for Women in Corona. The cancer caused paralysis and the loss of one leg.
Convicted of eight murders, Atkins served 38 years of a life sentence, which made her the longest-serving prisoner among women currently held in the state's penitentiaries, said Thornton. That distinction now falls to Patrcia Krenwinkle, who was convicted along with Atkins for the Tate-LaBianca murders
Although prison staffers and clergy workers commended Atkins' behavior during her many years behind bars, she was repeatedly denied parole, with officials citing the cruel and callous nature of her crimes. In June 2008, she appealed to prison and parole officials for compassionate release, but the state parole board denied the request. On Sept. 2, she was wheeled into her last parole hearing on a hospital gurney but was turned down by a unanimous vote of the 12-member California Board of Parole.
Atkins confessed to killing actress Sharon Tate, the pregnant wife of director Roman Polanski who was hanged and stabbed 16 times; Tate's nearly full-term fetus died with her. The next night, Atkins accompanied Manson and his followers when they broke into the Los Feliz home of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca and killed them.
"She was the scariest of the Manson girls," said Stephen Kay, who helped prosecute the case and argued against Atkins' release at her parole hearings. "She was very violent."
Former chief prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi, who sought and won death sentences for Atkins, Manson and other followers, said Atkins would be remembered "obviously as a member of a group that committed among the most horrendous crimes in American history. She apparently made every effort to rehabilitate herself."
He added: "It has to be said that she did pay substantially, though not completely, for her incredibly brutal crimes. And to her credit, she did renounce -- and, I believe, sincerely -- Charles Manson."
It was Atkins who broke open the case when she bragged of her participation in the slayings to cellmates at Sybil Brand Institute in East Los Angeles, where she was being held on other charges; two of her cellmates told authorities of her confession. After prosecutors promised not to seek the death penalty against her, Atkins appeared before a grand jury, providing information that led to her own indictment, as well as that of Manson and others. Later, in a lurid 10-month trial, she provided crucial testimony that fed the public's fascination with Hollywood celebrities, drugs, sex and violence.
It also left an unshakable image of Atkins as a remorseless killer, who taunted the court at her sentencing with chilling words: "You'd best lock your doors," she said, "and watch your own kids."
In 1971, two separate juries found Manson, Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Charles "Tex" Watson guilty on seven counts of first-degree murder. Another Manson follower, Leslie Van Houten, was convicted of two murders. All received the death sentence, later reduced to life terms after the California Supreme Court abolished the death penalty in 1972. (The Legislature later reenacted the death penalty statute.) Manson, Krenwinkel, Watson and Van Houten remain in prison.
Atkins also pleaded guilty to the murder of musician Gary Alan Hinman, who was killed in a dispute over money shortly before the Tate-LaBianca murders. She received another life sentence for the Hinman killing.
In prison, Atkins embraced Christianity and apologized for her role in the crimes. Prison staff endorsed her release at a hearing in 2005, but she was denied parole for the 13th time.
Born Susan Denise Atkins in San Gabriel on May 7, 1948, she grew up in San Jose, the middle child of three. When she was 15, her mother died of cancer. Her father sold the family home and all their furnishings to pay the hospital bills. Atkins began failing school and her father became an alcoholic who frequently left Susan and her younger brother, Steven, to fend for themselves.
Her father eventually abandoned them for good. Susan and her brother moved to Los Banos, where their grandparents lived. Susan enrolled in high school and got a job as a waitress but was overwhelmed by the stress of trying to care for her brother, work and go to class. At one point, she and Steven were in foster care. Susan dropped out of school in the 11th grade and started drifting.
Years later, she would describe her frame of mind during this period as "extremely angry, extremely vulnerable and directionless."
Of all the Manson family killers, except for Manson, Atkins "had the most unfortunate background," Bugliosi said.
The petite, dark-haired teenager hitchhiked to Washington, then Oregon, where she accepted a ride in a stolen car and was arrested on charges of car theft and concealing stolen property. She was released on probation and moved to San Francisco, where she worked briefly as a topless dancer in a North Beach bar.
In 1967 in Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco's haven for hippies and other wanderers, she met Manson, an aspiring songwriter with an affinity for hallucinogenic drugs and free sex. He called himself and his followers "Slippies," who posed as peace-loving hippies while planning a hair-raising assault on society.
According to Bugliosi in "Helter Skelter," his bestselling 1974 book on the case, Atkins was instantly drawn to Manson, who seduced girls by playing on their insecurities. She testified under questioning by Bugliosi that before she met Manson she had felt she was "lacking something," but then "I gave myself to him, and in return for that he gave me back to myself. He gave me the faith in myself to be able to know that I am a woman."
Manson also gave her a new name, partly to make a joke on the establishment he loathed but also to cut her off from her past. "Tell them your name is Sadie Glutz," he told Atkins. As in all other matters, she followed his command.
By August 1969, the family's base of operations was Spahn Ranch, a 500-acre property in the Santa Susana Mountains above Chatsworth where many old westerns were filmed. They took drugs, had group sex, stole credit cards and scrounged trash bins for food. They also practiced what Manson called "creepy crawling," which involved randomly picking a house somewhere in Los Angeles and entering it while the occupants were asleep. Bugliosi called these expeditions "dress rehearsals for murder."
On the night of Aug. 8, Manson instructed Atkins and other followers -- Krenwinkel, Watson and Linda Kasabian -- to don their dark clothes and pack knives. Manson stayed at the ranch while they drove through the Hollywood Hills, winding up at the Tate residence in Benedict Canyon.
Around midnight, the nightmare began.
The first to die was Steven Parent, 18, a friend of Tate's caretaker, who encountered the murderers as he was leaving the estate. The other victims were inside the main house: Tate, 26, best known for her role in the movie "Valley of the Dolls"; Hollywood hairstylist Jay Sebring, 35; Voytek Frykowski, 32, a friend of Polanski, who was out of the country; and Abigail Folger, 25, a coffee heiress and Frykowksi's girlfriend.
Atkins later admitted stabbing Frykowski and Tate. She said that before fleeing the scene, Watson ordered her to leave a message in the house that would "shock the world," so she used Tate's blood to write "PIG" on the front door.
At her parole board hearing in 1993, an official asked Atkins if Tate said anything to her in her last moments.
"She asked me to let the baby live," Atkins said tearfully. "I told her I didn't have mercy for her."
The night after the Tate killings, Manson led a group that included Atkins, Watson, Krenwinkel and Kasabian on another expedition. They wound up at the LaBianca home. Manson tied up Leno, 44, and Rosemary, 38, then left the killing to Watson, Krenwinkel and Van Houten. Afterward, they took a shower and made a snack in the LaBiancas' kitchen before departing. Atkins stayed in the car.
The '60s "abruptly ended on August 9, 1969," Joan Didion wrote of the shocking crimes that closed a decade pocked with assassinations, Vietnam War deaths and other violence. The Tate-LaBianca murders made some people fear "that they had somehow done it to themselves," Didion said, "that it had to do with too much sex, drugs and rock and roll."
Atkins married twice while in prison. In 1981 she married Donald Laisure, a self-proclaimed Texas millionaire who had been married 35 times before. The marriage ended when Laisure said he planned to take his 37th wife.
In 1987, she married James W. Whitehouse, an Orange County attorney who represented her at her last few parole hearings. He survives her along with a son she gave up for adoption when she went to prison.
elaine.woo@latimes.com
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*ON THIS DAY IN MOVIES: _MILDRED PIERCE_ (1945)*
Hollywood Outbreak (blog)
September 24, 2009
On this day in 1945, WARNER BROTHERS PICTURES premiered MILDRED PIERCE. Directed by MICHAEL CURTIZ from the novel by JAMES M. CAIN and screenplay by ROSS MacDOUGALL, this film is a Mother?s Day card to film noir. JOAN CRAWFORD made a comeback in the title role and shared the screen with JACK CARSON, ZACRARY SCOTT, EVE ARDEN and ANN BLYTH. Truly one of the greats.
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Don't miss "Mildred Pierce"
By Rick Nelson
Minneapolis Star Tribune
September 24, 2009
When we first approached Heights Theater owner Tom Letness with the idea of a screening a food- or restaurant-related film as a part of the Taste 40th birthday celebration, he immediately offered some sound advice: Forget about the most obvious choices.
That meant no ?Ratatouille,? ?Like Water for Chocolate,? ?Big Night,? ?Chocolat,? ?Babette?s Feast,? ?Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,? ?Fried Green Tomatoes,? ?Waitress? or ?Eat Drink Man Woman,? he explained, because they?re widely available on DVD, meaning that few people will want to experience them in a movie theater.
?Go back further,? Letness said. ?Think about something more classic, maybe a little bit campy.?
That?s when ?Mildred Pierce? came to mind.
The 1945 black-and-white whodunit is as rich as a 10-course tasting menu. Director Michael Curtiz (?Casablanca,? ?Yankee Doodle Dandy,? ?The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex?) is operating in full film-noir mode, and each scene looks amazing, thanks to cinematographer Ernest Haller ?Whatever Happened to Baby Jane,? ?Dark Victory?). Max Steiner?s ("Gone With the Wind") dramatic score is one for the ages.
The cast is a gas. There?s the glorious Eve Arden, typecast as Mildred?s wisecracking best friend. Helium-voiced Butterfly McQueen makes a few memorable appearances as the title character?s maid and Ann Blyth is Veda, Mildred's social-climbing ("She's distinctly middle class," she sniffs, referencing her father's mistress) spoiled brat of a daughter.
Naturally, the whole movie swirls and churns around Miss Joan Crawford as the title character, a workaholic who favors linebacker-like shoulder pads as she claws her way to the top of the restaurant business -- suffering magnificently in the process -- despite a mountain range of obstacles not limited to a. shady investors b. the police c. a conniving brat of a daughter d. a sponge of a husband e. the breathiest, most earnest voice-overs in Hollywood history.
The movie also has a fabulous food angle. Because she?s stuck with a no-account husband, Mildred picks up pin money by baking cakes and pies for the neighborhood. Hubby eventually leaves, and Joan (sorry, Mildred) takes a job as a waitress, eventually finagling her way into owning a chain of eateries (called Mildred?s, naturally) specializing in fried chicken and making money. The restaurant scenes are brilliantly preposterousness.
Oh, and did I mention that "Mildred Pierce" features some of the campiest, born-to-be-uttered-by-drag-queens dialogue (by Ranald MacDougall, he of ?The Naked Jungle? and ?Cleopatra?) this side of ?Mommy Dearest,? including:
?I was always in the kitchen. I felt that I had been born in a kitchen and had lived there all my life, except for the few hours it took to get married.? -- Mildred
?With this money I can get away from you. From you and your chickens and your pies and your kitchens and everything that smells of grease. I can get away from this shack with its cheap furniture. And this town and its dollar days, and its women that wear uniforms and its men that wear overalls.? -- Veda
?My mother, a common waitress.? -- Veda
?Personally, Veda?s convinced me that alligators have the right idea. They eat their young.? -- Ida
?I?m sorry I did that . . I?d?ve rather cut off my hand!? -- Mildred, after slapping Veda so hard that poor Ann Blyth probably lost a few teeth
The film received six Academy Award nominations: Best Picture, Best Actress (Joan Crawford), Best Supporting Actress (Ann Blyth, Eve Arden), Best Black and White Cinematography and Best Screenplay. Crawford was the sole winner, in what turned out to be the only Oscar in her long career and the foundation for a much-needed comeback.
Turns out ?Mildred Pierce? is making a comeback of its own: Director Todd Haynes (?Far From Heaven?) is recreating the story -- based on the novel by James M. Cain, not the screenplay -- as a TV miniseries, with Kate Winslet playing Ms. Pierce.
But see the original, and see it at the Heights. Don?t know this gem? You should. It's perched just above the Minneapolis-Columbia Heights border on Central Avenue, and it's the Twin Cities' longest continually-running show palace. Among its many attributes is its mighty Wurlitzer theater organ and close proximity to a Dairy Queen, where theatergoers can pick up a Buster Bar and enjoy them during the show. (As a colleague pointed out, the theater is also not too far from the St. Anthony branch of Smashburger).
We?ll also be featuring vintage food-related television commercials (courtesy of the Mill City Museum) and a ton of door prizes. Don?t miss it! Thursday, Oct. 1st at 7:30. Tickets are $8, and you can purchase them in advance here.
See you there!
Heights Theatre
3951 Central Ave NE
Columbia Heights, MN 55421-3932
(763) 788-9079
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*Don't miss "Mildred Pierce"*
By Rick Nelson
September 24, 2009
Minneapolis Star Tribune
*When we first approached Heights Theater owner Tom Letness with the idea of a screening a food- or restaurant-related film as a part of the Taste 40th birthday celebration, he immediately offered some sound advice: Forget about the most obvious choices.*
That meant no ?Ratatouille,? ?Like Water for Chocolate,? ?Big Night,? ?Chocolat,? ?Babette?s Feast,? ?Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,? ?Fried Green Tomatoes,? ?Waitress? or ?Eat Drink Man Woman,? he explained, because they?re widely available on DVD, meaning that few people will want to experience them in a movie theater.
?Go back further,? Letness said. ?Think about something more classic, maybe a little bit campy.?
*That?s when ?Mildred Pierce? came to mind.*
The 1945 black-and-white whodunit is as rich as a 10-course tasting menu. Director Michael Curtiz (?Casablanca,? ?Yankee Doodle Dandy,? ?The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex?) is operating in full film-noir mode, and each scene looks amazing, thanks to cinematographer Ernest Haller ?Whatever Happened to Baby Jane,? ?Dark Victory?). Max Steiner?s ("Gone With the Wind") dramatic score is one for the ages.
The cast is a gas. There?s the glorious Eve Arden, typecast as Mildred?s wisecracking best friend. Helium-voiced Butterfly McQueen makes a few memorable appearances as the title character?s maid and Ann Blyth is Veda, Mildred's social-climbing ("She's distinctly middle class," she sniffs, referencing her father's mistress) spoiled brat of a daughter.
Naturally, the whole movie swirls and churns around Miss Joan Crawford as the title character, a workaholic who favors linebacker-like shoulder pads as she claws her way to the top of the restaurant business -- suffering magnificently in the process -- despite a mountain range of obstacles not limited to a. shady investors b. the police c. a conniving brat of a daughter d. a sponge of a husband e. the breathiest, most earnest voice-overs in Hollywood history.
The movie also has a fabulous food angle. Because she?s stuck with a no-account husband, Mildred picks up pin money by baking cakes and pies for the neighborhood. Hubby eventually leaves, and Joan (sorry, Mildred) takes a job as a waitress, eventually finagling her way into owning a chain of eateries (called Mildred?s, naturally) specializing in fried chicken and making money. The restaurant scenes are brilliantly preposterousness.
Oh, and did I mention that "Mildred Pierce" features some of the campiest, born-to-be-uttered-by-drag-queens dialogue (by Ranald MacDougall, he of ?The Naked Jungle? and ?Cleopatra?) this side of ?Mommy Dearest,? including:
* ?I was always in the kitchen. I felt that I had been born in a kitchen and had lived there all my life, except for the few hours it took to get married.? -- Mildred
* ?With this money I can get away from you. From you and your chickens and your pies and your kitchens and everything that smells of grease. I can get away from this shack with its cheap furniture. And this town and its dollar days, and its women that wear uniforms and its men that wear overalls.? -- Veda
* ?My mother, a common waitress.? -- Veda
* ?Personally, Veda?s convinced me that alligators have the right idea. They eat their young.? -- Ida
* ?I?m sorry I did that . . I?d?ve rather cut off my hand!? -- Mildred, after slapping Veda so hard that poor Ann Blyth probably lost a few teeth
The film received six Academy Award nominations: Best Picture, Best Actress (Joan Crawford), Best Supporting Actress (Ann Blyth, Eve Arden), Best Black and White Cinematography and Best Screenplay. Crawford was the sole winner, in what turned out to be the only Oscar in her long career and the foundation for a much-needed comeback.
Turns out ?Mildred Pierce? is making a comeback of its own: Director Todd Haynes (?Far From Heaven?) is recreating the story -- based on the novel by James M. Cain, not the screenplay -- as a TV miniseries, with Kate Winslet playing Ms. Pierce.
But see the original, and see it at the Heights. Don?t know this gem? You should. It's perched just above the Minneapolis-Columbia Heights border on Central Avenue, and it's the Twin Cities' longest continually-running show palace. Among its many attributes is its mighty Wurlitzer theater organ and close proximity to a Dairy Queen, where theatergoers can pick up a Buster Bar and enjoy them during the show. (As a colleague pointed out, the theater is also not too far from the St. Anthony branch of Smashburger).
We?ll also be featuring vintage food-related television commercials (courtesy of the Mill City Museum) and a ton of door prizes. Don?t miss it! Thursday, Oct. 1st at 7:30. Tickets are $8, and you can purchase them in advance here.
*See you there!*
*Heights Theatre*
*3951 Central Ave NE*
*Columbia Heights, MN 55421-3932*
*(763) 788-9079*
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*Joan Crawford on TCM September 2009!!*
*All Times Eastern Check Local Times!*
*Tue, Sep 29, 2009 @ 7:45 AM _When Ladies Meet_ (1941)*
*When Ladies Meet. MGM, 1941.*
Directed by Robert Z. Leonard, 105 minutes.
Joan Crawford stars as novelist "Mary Howard," who's in love with publisher Herbert Marshall and pursued by Robert Taylor. Greer Garson plays the publisher's wife.
_Awards_:
1942 Oscar nomination for Best Art Direction: Interior Decoration, Black-and-White: Cedric Gibbons, Randall Duell, Edwin B. Willis.
*_Notes_:*
? The film was in production from 6/23/41 to 8/11/41.
? Crothers' play opened 10/6/32 at the Royale Theatre in NYC and closed 3/4/33 after 173 performances.
? Spring Byington appeared in both the play and the movie.
? An earlier version of the film was released in 1933, with Myrna Loy, Frank Morgan, Robert Montgomery, and Ann Harding.
Thanks
JC Best of!
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*Syfy resurrects 'Children of the Corn'*
*CHILDREN OF THE CORN*
*_Also Known As_: Stephen King's Children of the Corn (USA) (complete title)*
*8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009 Syfy Channel*
As a Nebraska native and a corn farmer's grandson, I'm offended by this remake of the cult classic. As a TV critic, I'm offended by how badly the film wastes the talented David Anders and Kandyse McClure. The actors--especially the lovely McClure--aren't given a whole lot to do but bicker, scream and look frightened.
They play a couple near divorce who are driving through Nebraska when they come upon a seemingly abandoned, podunk town that they eventually learn is inhabited by a group of creepy, fanatical kids--who are not at all like real Nebraskans! (Well, most of them, anyway.)
This remake, adapted by Stephen King himself, sticks more closely to his original story than the 1980s movie. And although it doesn't provide enough information about the main characters to make me care whether they live or die, the movie was bloody enough to make me think twice about visiting the parents again.
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*WHAT!!!??. I guess the rent is due!!!??*
*David Cronenberg Remaking His Classic 1986 Film THE FLY For 20th Century Fox*
Collider.com (blog) - Ramses Flores
September 24th, 2009
Every day I read the latest film news and every couple of days there is always that one story which confuses me and makes me say ?what.? out loud. I look forward to these news items just because I find them more fun than the average news item. Having said all that, I never thought that I would come home one of these days to see news pop out saying that David Cronenberg would be remaking his 1986 version of ?The Fly? starring Jeff Goldblum. This all just confuses me so much because how could you make something that is already perfect better? If you are just as confused/fascinated as I am about this one, just hit the jump for more details.
THR?s Risky Buisness Blog tells us that the Canadian master of all things weird and **** up will be developing a reboot of his film with Fox. Yes, I cringed too when I read that last sentence. Cronenberg will be directing the film and potentially writing it too even though the director has said in the past that he did not want to be involved with a remake of the film. He has, however, worked on a so awesome sounding opera version of ?The Fly? that was composed by Howard Shore and was staged in both Paris and Los Angeles.
To those of you that don?t know, Cronenberg?s ?The Fly? was already a remake of the 1958 sci-fi classic starring Vincent Price. Cronenberg?s take starred Jeff Goldblum as a scientist who begins to slowly transform into a giant fly after an experiment with teleportation goes bad. If you haven?t experienced the joy of seeing Jeff Goldblum in his prime eating a donut he just vomited, walking on his roof, or breaking a guy?s wrist bone in an arm wrestling match, then you just haven?t seen one of the best horror/sci-fi films from the 80?s. If you haven?t seen the film then I bet you have at least probably seen the pretty great Simpson?s Treehouse of Horror episode that parodied the film.
I think that you can tell that I?m both a big fan of Cronenberg and his take on ?The Fly?, but it?s really not my Cronenberg fanboy inside speaking when I say that I don?t get why this is happening at all. The film holds up perfectly well and even though I can sadly see why Hollywood and Fox would want to reboot or remake the film, I just don?t get why Cronenberg would want to. THR says that the project would represent a chance for Cronenberg to return to his film and update it with modern day special effects, but I just don?t buy it.
I don?t really have a theory or an explanation for this one and that is why I?m interested in seeing where it goes. The only theory that I can come up with is that maybe Cronenberg is doing this one for the money so that he can finance a personal project, but the director?s transition to more ?mainstream affair? with his past two films (?A History of Violence?, ?Eastern Promises?) makes me believe that we are not going to see another ?Videodrome? or ?Naked Lunch? anytime soon. Plus, Cronenberg was recently attached to direct an adaptation of ?The Matarese Circle? by Robert Ludlum that was going to star Denzel Washington and Tom Cruise as two rival spies. I don?t know which will come first now, but I?m hoping for ?The Matarese Circle? since it?s Cronenberg directing a spy movie and that is just cool.
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*_Two Weeks in Another Town_ (1962) .... WOW! What a sad beautiful film!*
Edward G. Robinson gave 1 hell of performance. He should have been nominated for an Oscar!
Kirk Douglas was just ruthles!
I just love films that came out that really showed the "dark" side of fame..the dark side of glamour!
*Other films I enjoy in the "Genre" of "Dark Hollywood"!*
*Sunset Blvd.* (1950)
*The Day of the Locust (1975)*
*The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)*
*The Player (1992)*
*A Star Is Born (1976)*
*A Star Is Born (1954)*
*A Star Is Born (1937)*
*Lady Sings the Blues (1972)*
*The Legend of Lylah Clare (1968)*
*What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)*
*Valley of the Dolls (1967)*
*The Country Girl (1954)*
*All About Eve (1950)*
*The Star (1952)*
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I just love the promo for _Ben-Hur_ (1959) W./ a rabbi and a priest discussing the chariot race in both the 1959 version, & the 1925 version.
What a great promo! I just couldn't stop laughing!
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Still can't post a pic of the book!
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Sept. 24, 2009
*NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) -- A theater in Newport that hosted the likes of Orson Welles and Oscar Wilde is being reopened.*
The Newport Casino Theatre was built in 1880 by Stanford White, the renowned architect for the rich and famous whose murder in 1906 became a tabloid sensation.
It served as a ballroom and theater, hosting recitals, Shakespeare performances and other events for wealthy patrons who spent summers in Newport. But it has stood vacant since closing in 1987.
The building is owned by the International Tennis Hall of Fame. It's undergoing a $4.6 million renovation this fall and will be maintained by nearby Salve Regina University, whose students will produce plays.
Workers are installing heating, air conditioning and new electrical systems as part of the renovations.
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*Universal Acquires Rights to Make 'Barbie' Movie*
by Dawn Taylor
Sep 23rd 2009
Cinematical
The casting call will be very specific: "Seeking young blonde woman, 6' tall, measurements 39-19-33. Must wear high heels and be able to drive sports car. Math skills not necessary."
Variety reports that Universal, emerging triumphant after months of negotiations, has wrangled the rights to make a live-action Barbie movie. Mattel has a long history of holding a very tight rein on the image of their premier money-earner, so you can bet that there's enough clauses and caveats attached to keep a dozen lawyers in custom suits.
"Barbie is the most famous doll in history, a unique cultural icon in the world of brands," Universal Pictures chairman Marc Shmuger told Variety, and Mattel claims the doll has a staggering 99 percent brand awareness. The audience for a Barbie movie is as established as that of, well, the enormously successful Disney princesses. As Mattel licenses the rights from Disney to make the princess dolls and accessories, it can't have escaped their notice that there's big bucks to be earned by tying products to movies that little girls love.
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*Don't forget Thu, Sep 24, 2009 Robert Mitchum films!!!!*
*Thunder Road (1958)*
*Young Billy Young (1969)*
*Home from the Hill (1960)*
*Thu, Oct 1, 2009 @ 3:30 AM _Where Danger Lives_ (1950)*
Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell (1968)!! What a great film!
in General Discussions
Posted
I have never seen: _Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell_ (1968) untill the other day when I came across it on 1 of the HBO channels.
What a cute and very touching film!
Great performances from a talented cst and crew!
Shelley Winters. Gina Lollobrigida, Telly Savallas, Phil Silvers, Peter Lawford & Lee Grant!!!!
Twenty years after their initial war-time visit three U.S. servicemen hold a reunion at an Italian village. They all have fond memories, especially of local girl Carla. But she has been telling each of them that they are the father of her daughter Gia, so they have all been paying well for her upbringing. As this dawns on the threesome old rivalries surface, but times have changed and complications such as wives, middle-age, and the need to protect Gia's future start to surface.
*_Awards and nominations_*
Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Musical or Comedy (Gina Lollobrigida)
Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song ("Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell")
Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written American Original Screenplay
David di Donatello for Best Actress (Gina Lollobrigida), winner
Thanks,
Wikipedia.