misswonderly3

The "Steampacket" ?

I have another complaint about complaining. Why do so many people think Ben Mankiewicz is "smug" and "sarcastic" and worst of all, doesn't even like the very films he introduces. I've never gotten that impression about him, and I've watched him hosting the afternoon movies many times. Sure seems to me that he likes what he's talking about. Nor did I ever think he "looked like a slob". Why should someone introducing "classic" movies on a television station wear a suit and tie? Many university professors dress fairly casually, and as long as they come through with good information and background on the film, who cares how they're dressed? Besides, he dressed in, I believe the term is, "business casual".

At the risk of taking my own thread slightly off-topic, but on the subject in general of new technology: One thing I deplore about many new films is the injudicious use of computer-generated images. It's everywhere. I truly never know anymore whether something I'm seeing in a recent movie is real or CG. One example: I saw the Coen brothers' *True Grit*, and delighted in the visual beauty of the penultimate scene, the one where Cogburn and the girl are racing across the landscape on Mattie's horse; it's night time, and we see their silhouette against the starry sky. It's a beautiful, uniquely cinematic image. And it was slightly spoiled for me when I found myself wondering, "Is that real, or is it CG? "

Keith Richard(s) released his autobiography a few months ago. This put in mind of a rare Stones track in which Keith does the vocals. This song is one of his high points. From one of the Stones' best albums "Let It Bleed", here's You Got the Silver : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1Cm52Gif3U

Uncle Leo, like all the supporting character actors on Seinfeld , was absolutely hilarious. I'm sorry to hear that Len Lesser died.

> {quote:title=thomasterryjr wrote:}{quote} > . > I recently posted a thread about my three most hideous, psychotic film characters I have come upon: Richard Widmark's Tommy Udo character in "Kiss of Death", Javier Bardem's Anton Chigurh character in "No Country For Old Men" and Bob Hoskins' Joe Hilditch character in "Felicia's Journey". I knew as I was writing the post when I stated that "Felicia's Journey" was released in 1999 that this would be a thumbs-down and a turn-off to some of you and you would not even reply to the post. > Hey, I replied to it ! You didn't reply to my reply.

Guess you were metaphorically goosed on that. I thought all the @?!&*%# was an allusion to Valentine's post, and the fact that the King in *The King's Speech* incorporates some pretty serious cussing into his speech therapy.

Interesting stuff, kingrat. The only thing you said that surprised me a little was including Robert Walker in the list - although he definitely has a gay vibe in *Strangers on a Train.* I love Bruno, what a nut case! But I hadn't heard that the man who played him might have been a closet case.

> {quote:title=Kinokima wrote:}{quote} > What do you mean why? I said because I am a collector and I like how shelves look filled with DVDs and Books not everything on a hard drive where you can't even see it. If I have to keep everything on a hard drive I don't know what I am spending money for at all. Might as well just rent the videos or take the books from the library. There is no value in keeping it stored where you can't show it off. Maybe there is value for you but not for me. > > And I also don't need to be told that everything is going digital. I worked in publishing & have a library science degree. I know all about it, it's still depressing to me. > > I also don't mean that it is depressing that things are available for streaming or downloading. That's great if you just want to watch something. And I have been doing this for a very long time. But if I want to _own it_ I want the physical product not something digital. Kinokima, I so agree with you about all this. Everything is becoming digitalized, I've even heard that soon instead of pictures on the walls, people will have a computer screen with a work of art they can change every day. Everything I care about - books, music, movies - is becoming less and less physical and tangible, more and more something stored in a computer. I know on some level that it's the art of these things, not the things themselves, that matter. I know it's the text in the e-reader, the music in the iPod, the movie in the Netflix stream, that counts. People will probably argue that why should I care if actual books, records and CDs, and celluloid/video/dvds disappear, the art these objects carry is still around for me to enjoy, just accessible in a different way. But, it just isn't the same ! I like the physicality of these things, the scratchy sound of the needle on vinyl, or even the sensation of slipping a compact disc into the player , the feel and look and even the smell of books ( no jokes please, books, especially well-bound ones, really do have a scent), and even my videos and dvds, on the shelf where I can kind of gloat over them - I like these things, and lament their inevitable passing.

> {quote:title=phroso wrote:}{quote} > Kinokima, I think we're actually supposed to be disappointed when we meet Laura.... By the time she shows up, the goddess who we've been led to expect turns out to be a pouty yuppie in need of a life coach and better taste in men. phroso, that's hilarious ! And true.

Guess Mr. O'Toole is just a fortunate son - or not, depending on how you look at things. It must have been a bad moon rising on all those nights he never received an Oscar, but perhaps he's happy with his honourary one - or maybe still hoping to get a "best actor" award, up around the bend.

Yes, I watched it this afternoon. Plus I taped it (Hallelujah ! I can finally say that - taped ! ) Anyway, I won't post any spoilers, I'll just say I loved it. Janet Gaynor had a very sweet face, suits silent films very well. The young man who plays her beloved is very good-looking and appealing too. Why am I just talking about the looks of the lead actors ? It was a wonderful film, with that mysterious almost other-worldly look that many silent movies have. I was totally engaged in watching it. After seeing a film like that, I'm more puzzled than ever with people who say they don't like silent movies. The more I watch them, the more I like them.

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It's much easier to control the degree to which your car windows are up or down if it's manual. The automatic window opener/closer never seems to get it quite right. I've never understood the supposed advantages of automatic car windows. (Although this isn't exactly "new" technology..."automatic" windows have been around since post-code movies, haven't they? ) hey, by the way, all the edits in my previous post were due to spelling mistakes

> {quote:title=kriegerg69 wrote:}{quote} > Do you use the spell checkers in your word processors? I don't like being told how to spell by anyone who isn't a human being. Unless it's a dictionary, preferably a hard copy Oxford. Edited by: misswonderly on Feb 17, 2011 12:28 PM Edited by: misswonderly on Feb 17, 2011 12:29 PM

JonnyGeetar wrote of *Laura*: "1.Clifton Webb plays it too gay, I like him,and I'm thrilled this gave him a (deserved) comeback, but he plays it too gay and it makes the whole thing a little "huh?" Well, he played it gay because I'm pretty sure he was gay (not Waldo, Clifton). Have you seen him in Dark Corner ? He's pretty much the same, maybe a little less...extreme. There's been talk here before about Laird Cregar, and maybe he does fit the way the character was in the book better, but I love Webb's Waldo Lydecker, I think he's perfect as the asexual obsessed admirer of Laura. And all those incongruities you point out, valid as they may be, I just think add to the quirkiness of this film. In fact, I consider *Laura* to be quite a funny movie, as well as a legitimate film noir. Check out any of the Vincent Price/Judith Anderson scenes...they're hilarious. ps I love *Laura*, but I also love *Double Indemnity*. They're so different, it's hard to decide which is better. Edited by: misswonderly on Feb 17, 2011 11:32 AM

I pay little attention to the Grammys, but I did hear that they recognized the very original "indie" band from Montreal, Arcade Fire. I think it was in "best rock album of the year" category. That would be their newish album, "The Suburbs". Anyway, these guys are great, they make really interesting music. Technically they are a Canadian band, but their lead singer and song-writer, Win Butler, is from Texas. So it's a hybrid. Here is a song from their second album, "Neon Bible" - Keep the Car Running : And, I'm going to "cheat" again by throwing in the studio version, because you can't hear all the unusual instruments and the well-executed arrangements as well on the live show -

> {quote:title=lily54 wrote:}{quote} > speaking of low tech... don't you just love in the classic films the telephone booths, telegraph machines and old time technology. My favorite scenes are when they show the old newspaper and police station scenes from the 30's. "Hold the presses" - instead of computers the reporters use manual typewriters and pencils. The police stations with the old switchboards and pin's on a map for intricate and exact GPS locations. You gotta love it! We've come a long way, baby! I do love it - that's one of the things I always notice and enjoy about old films, especially film noir, is things like tele-type -they show it so proudly ! - and newspapers being printed with roaring headlines about some crook or other. Love the telephone booths - half the plotlines in these old movies wouldn';t work today, because of cell phones. Pins of the map, switchboards, - so much fun to see.

Wow, you live in Atlanta? Isn't that the home base for TCM? I spent some time in Georgia last fall, but it was in Savannah (which I loved.) I wanted to see more of this state, including Atlanta, but we didn't have time, just drove through it. Maybe next time. That's amazing that you have all that vintage stuff -a rotary phone, a typewriter. I love it. "Tea from a teapot"? Does that mean you drink hot tea? When I was in Savannah, everyone assumed you wanted iced tea if you ordered tea. They'd say, "Sweet ?" At first I thought they were referring to my cherubic appearance, but then I realized they meant how did I want my iced tea, sweet or not sweet.

Good thing we both have a sense of humour, fred, baby. (Sometimes I think we should call you "*Freud* C. Dobbs". )

Seems there are a lot of "low techies" out there. Speaking of tech, has anyone heard about this robot, "Watson", who was on Jeopardy? I hear he/it was doing pretty well.

Dammit, fred, I don't want to argue. I wasn't "arguing" , I was "splaining".

> {quote:title=C.Bogle wrote:}{quote} > Somewhere out in the garage I have a 30 year old VCR about the size > of an aircraft carrier that no longer works, but I think it could be fixed and > maybe someday it will. Work as a VCR player or an aircraft carrier? Edited by: misswonderly on Feb 16, 2011 4:34 PM

jonnyg, I think you're mixing all the TCM "apologists" into one bag. We're all separate and different people, just as the TCM "critics" are all individuals. I don't even consider myself an "apologist", since the word means "a person who argues in defense or justification of something" . I personally don't know enough about how Turner Classic Movies works to defend or justify it. All I ever wanted to say, and I should have known better than to say it, was, Don't we all have more interesting things to talk about on these boards than what's wrong with TCM? That's all. And I do think that instead of several threads, each one a specific grievance about the station, it might be more productive if all the complaints were concentrated onto one main "Concerns" thread. Maybe the powers that be would sit up and take notice, more than with a dozen small but similar threads. Anyway, I am not an "Apologist" for anything, nor do I write 8 paragraph long posts defending TCM, if only because I don't know enough about all that stuff, plus I'm too lazy to look up all those facts and paste them here. I didn't begin the Marie Osmund joke, but I did think it was mildly funny, and thought maybe it could lighten things up a little around here. People don't always have to get so mad about everything. It seems to me that your most valid concern is what you said here: *"we DO NOT GET ANY FEEDBACK FROM TCM ITSELF AS TO WHY"*. I can see that; with all the recent threads critiquing TCM, it does seem incumbent upon them to offer a response; it would show courtesy and that they're listening to their fans. I also think, though, even if they did do that, it would soon get forgotten about and the complaining would start again. Maybe a personal email to all those who have concerns? A statement on the home website? Maybe a TCM "ad", with one of the top TCM decision makers addressing some of the viewers' concerns'? I don't know. Never claimed I did. ps -Guess I won't be competing with you in my "Date with Ben Mankiewicz" campaign. Edited by: misswonderly on Feb 16, 2011 2:31 PM

So, Ty had two sides to him...sort of a "Two Face". I'll never see a "Three Stooges" movie the same way again. Edited by: misswonderly on Feb 16, 2011 2:12 PM