misswonderly3

I don't really mind Sarah Jessica Parker. Don't get me wrong, I'm not particularly a fan, either; I've only ever seen one episode of "Sex and the City". I'm benignly indifferent to her. One thing I respect her for, however: when she first started out, she was advised and encouraged to get a "nose job", and one can see why. However, she refused, saying this was the way she looked and she was not going to get cosmetic surgery to change it. This was at a time when the whole cosmetic surgery thing had taken off to an almost frightening degree, and women of all ages, shapes. sizes, and appearances were getting one thing or another "corrected". As though there's only one certain way a woman ought to look. Sarah Jessica Parker is not "pretty" or traditionally good-looking in any way, as some who have listed her as one who irritates have stated. But she makes the most of her looks, she has her own personal style -and style she has - and I like her for refusing to conform to this prescribed concept of female beauty. I cannot comment on her acting, as I've never seen her in anything. (I originally said "I've never seen her act", but then I could just see all her detractors saying, "no one has" ! )

I wouldn't say *Psycho* is a comedy per sec, although I'm not at all surprised if Hitch himself referred to it that way. It's definitely got some funny scenes in it; a lot of them are as creepy as they are funny. Even the final scene, Perkins/the mother, wrapped in a blanket in the jail cell, talking to him/her self , nutty as a fruitcake, as they say, makes me laugh, though uneasily. The creepy smile he gives into the camera at the very end says it all. *Psycho* is not a "comedy" if we're talking labels and genres and all that. I"d say it was a horror/suspense film that thinks it's a comedy sometimes.

> {quote:title=MovieMadness wrote:}{quote} > It looks likes Kiss Me Deadly and Gilda are the next ones up for Saturday. Thanks, MovieMadness, these are both great noirs. If we're talking noir "essentials", these are two a noir fan should see.

> {quote:title=Stephan55 wrote:}{quote} > What about La Belle et la B?te (1946) by Jean Cocteau? > I thought for post WW2 France, still in shambles, it had excellent production value and was very enchanting. Right, Stephan, *La Belle et la Bete* is an outstanding film, Jean Cocteau really knew what he was doing with it. It's got that mysterious dream-like quality that I like so much in movies, but rarely find. And it's the best filmed version of a fairy tale I've ever seen. The animated Disney version, many years later, doesn't hold a candle to it ( no pun intended.)

I like your dog's name. Although I don't know why he'd object to Jive Talking. However, we don't have to worry about that today..we've got Leonard Cohen musing on The Sisters of Mercy. If you don't like *McCabe and Mrs. Miller*, just listen to the song, which is beautiful.

> {quote:title=JonasEB wrote:}{quote} > Anyone else notice that just about every Civil War themed film made before WWII is from the P.O.V. of the South or seems to favor the South? I know why the studios did it that way but nevertheless... There's something inherently more dramatic about The South - maybe it's the heat, maybe it's the magnolias, maybe it's all those mint julip drinks. It's more interesting than the north. I've read *The Red Badge of Courage*, but fell asleep the one time I tried to watch the film of it. I don't blame the movie, though. I'll give it another shot ( no pun intended.)

Maybe they should transfer this thread over to the games forum and call it the "make that connection" thread. Posters could feel free to just make stuff up, like I often do. :I Edited by: misswonderly on Apr 4, 2011 5:40 PM

Somebody mentioned the camel walk a few days back, so here are the Ikettes to tell us all about it. I was looking for Tina, but I guess she wasn't on the scene yet..unless she's one of those Ikettes? If so, I didn't recognize her. Maybe Uncle Bob would be up to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7WEbwOXN2c

Who doesn't love *The Best Years of Our Lives* ? I've heard that it's considered to have one of the best soundtracks, ever.

mark, let's hope so...there are so many more great noirs that haven't been anthologized in a set yet. I wish I knew more about "rights" issues concerning this, because I think part of the problem with some noirs we'd love to see in a boxed set is their unavailability. If they do put together a Noir Volume 6, I hope they go back to putting commentaries on them.

It's a little-known fact that both Humphrey Bogart and Gary Cooper spent their summer holidays at the Alberta tar sands, and that this had adverse effects on their health.

Ya got me there, finance, baby. Maybe it's a case of the closer you are to something, the less you see it. (That sounds very wise, doesn't it, but I'm not sure what it means.) Oh very well, I do vaguely recall demonstrations of some kind, I think at Queen's Park. There were a lot of Canadians - and not just young ones - who were against the American involvement in Vietnam.

By the way, Canada is in the midst of a federal election right now, and the Alberta tar/oil sands are one of the issues being debated. It's interesting that neither of you guys picked up on what I said about the serious environmental concerns around Canada's largest source of oil. On the other hand, there are many who defend the tar sands industry, claiming that very careful measures are taken to cause minimal damage to the environment. By the way, I like Sean Penn. He's an interesting actor and he makes unusual movies. He has kind of a "street" look, certainly no George Clooney. But I like Sean's looks, I don't know why some people go "eeuw" (referring to Sean). The age difference between him and Scarlet Johansen is not worth even mentioning, as this is a situation with couples, both famous and ordinary, that has occurred since history began. It's nothing new, and it's nobody's business but the two people involved. It's just struck me, this post is mildly schizophrenic. Edited by: misswonderly on Apr 4, 2011 10:04 AM

I don't know, I was a kid then, I didn't pay any attention to political dissent. I do remember some talk of draft dodgers from the United States fleeing to Canada. I think one of my teachers was a draft dodger.

Well, now, this is most unfortunate. What started out as a thread deploring the wretched mindless excess of our wretched and mindless culture, and then somehow morphed into a (for me, anyway) fun thread about Canada (hey! that makes it sound like there's a connection between the first and the second subject under debate ! ) has now apparently morphed again into an arguement about who supplies the U.S. with the most oil. I will say this: The supply of oil being extracted in Alberta used to be called the tar sands, because the oil from the source has to be extracted from tarry sludge, and it's a complicated and many believe very environmentally damaging process. But the companies that own these sands somehow got the media to change the name to "oil"sands, because, obviously, it sounds better and is free of the kind of connotations the word "tar" has. It's a hugely controversial issue in Canada, and many ecologically-minded Canadians object to the tar/oil sands industry altogether and feel it should be stopped or at least paused until further environmental studies are completed. But I still say that, warmer weather notwithstanding, Canada is much more like the States than Mexico is, and more than most Americans realize, except we have a more stable banking and financial system (it's considered one of the best and most stable in the world, according to the world monetary fund.) Also, speaking of beer, Canadian beer is much better than most American beer, which is watery and flavourless by comparison (oops, fighting words! ) Edited by: misswonderly on Apr 4, 2011 2:25 AM

Lovely stuff, casablanca, baby. Here is a fantastic jazzy version of the song, Doodlin' , It's got funny, clever, kind of loopy lyrics, and it's a great melody that works well as a jazz song. It's sung by the fabulous Sarah Vaughan. Now, why someone thought this song matches up with Lauren Bacall, I'm not sure, but I don't have a problem with it. But I'm posting this video for the song, the Lauren pics are just gravy (pretty good film lover's gravy, though.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYbJjNYtXyE

*On Dangerous Ground* - love it ! Robert Ryan give his usual torn man full of rage on the verge of falling apart characterization. That sounds sarcastic, but I didn't mean it to -Ryan does this type of character so well. There's always some hint of desperation, of sadness, in his eyes, regardless of how brutal he's being. He's one of my favourite actors. And Ida Lupino - I think she was one of Hollywood's most under-rated actresses. So this movie would fit well with the trivia question: "What film noir is set mainly in the countryside, has snow, and a blind person ?"

> {quote:title=finance wrote:}{quote} > As an aside, this question just occurred to me. Was there any major actor in classic films who was rarely done by impressionists because his voice and speech patterns weren't distictive enough? Nobody "does" Ray Milland, as far as I know. Regardless, I like Ray, and he's star of the month for April. Maybe we should scrutinize his mannerisms and try our own impersonations of him.

> {quote:title=mrroberts wrote:}{quote} > I am no good at posting links; could someone post a link to youtube: "Kirk Douglas, Frank Gorshin, and George Segal", tribute to James Cagney Is this what you wanted?

*The Tall Target* may have not made it to the Civil War line-up for this month, but it is playing Thursday June 30, at 9:45 a.m. I think it must be worth checking out- I see it's directed by Anthony Mann.

So, *The More the Merrier* was on this morning. TCM tends to show it a lot, but that's fine, I'm not going to go the "what the H is the matter with TCM showing the same movies again and again..." route. Anyway, I love *The More the Merrier*. And I swear, that scene on the apartment steps, the one where JOEL McCREA is touching her shoulders and holding her hand and Jean Arthur is completely enamoured of him, and flustered and excited and embarrassed all at the same time, is one of the sexiest scenes in moviedom. You know what's coming next... JOEL McCREA ! JOEL McCREA ! Makes all leading ladies Get carried away !

> {quote:title=nitratefiend wrote:}{quote} >... Given the terrible slaughter that both sides experienced, there many great ghost stories associated with the War -- entire armies of the dead marching through towns in the night and so forth. But does anyone know of any good scary movies that have been based on these tales? There must be some Civil War ghost movies kicking around...I know there are a lot of ghost stories connected with the War, but whether any of them were made into a movie or not, I cannot say. One would think so. I know when I was in Savannah last fall, there were ghost stories galore, some, though not all, related to events from the Civil War. Of course, Savannah suffered far less than the other cities in the South, because when Sherman finished his March to the Sea there, the good citizens of Savannah yielded their fair town to him, on condition that he not burn and destroy it as he had so many other cities and plantations in the South. Sherman agreed, and made a "Christmas present" of it to President Lincoln.

Jeff Buckley is kind of what they call an "acquired taste", so I promise I won't throw a hissy fit if nobody likes this. But he was an inspired song-writer, and had an astonishing voice. His music is often strange and intense, but memorable. Listening to one of his songs is like vicariously experiencing someone else's dream for three minutes. He was folk singer Tim Buckley's son. Here is one of his most "intense" songs, So Real : Edited by: misswonderly on Apr 2, 2011 4:07 PM

Here is a link to the TCM article about their Civil War programming this month: http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/373965|0/The-Civil-War-Mondays-Wednesdays.html edit: hmm, it looks like this connection isn't working. Just go to the home page and when the" Civil War" display comes on, click it, you'll get the article. Edited by: misswonderly on Apr 2, 2011 12:16 PM