misswonderly3
-
Posts
12,768 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
36
Posts posted by misswonderly3
-
-
I haven't seen *Convicted* , but I'd like to (sometimes, whether it'd due to the airing time of the film or some other reason, I miss something I'd normally make a point of watching or recording.).
Glenn Ford is usually, good, I like him in both noirs and Westerns - I think he's an under-rated actor.
As for *Pushover*, I don't hate it or anything. I was just a little disappointed, my expectations for any noir title are usually pretty high. Of course, there are mediocre noirs as there are mediocre films in any genre. And you know what? - I'd rather see a mediocre noir than a less-than-outstanding movie of any other type. If I don't like the story or characters, I can always sit back and enjoy the shadows, the mise-en-scene, and those great fedora hats.
MFF, yes, Carey and Malone made a more believable and nicer couple.
Edited by: misswonderly on Dec 8, 2010 1:32 PM
-
Swithin, I am in complete agreement with you...you'll notice I did not use the word "tragedy" in conjunction with *All Mine to Give*. The main characters, at the beginning of *Requiem for a Dream*, are more or less in control of their lives ( mostly "less", perhaps), and because of their desire to make their lives "better" in some way, ( the usual aspirations: acquire more money, look better by losing weight, etc.), they begin a long slow descent into misery. An interesting variation on the classic definition of "tragedy" ( ie, the once high protagonist falls because of a personal weakness, ) is that the protagonists in *Requiem* voluntarily create their own weakness by developing an addiction to a drug (different dependencies for different characters.)
Still, I think they have this in common with the characters from *Of Mice and Men* and *All Mine to Give* : they all begin with an initial innocence, and an expectation that the world will be good to them.
And, the world being what it is, such expectations are betrayed.
Edited by: misswonderly on Dec 8, 2010 1:31 PM
-
Sorry, mark, I am not a pushover for *Pushover*. It just doesn't "work" for me. I don't sense any "chemistry" between MacMurray and Novak, and the window-spying business is clumsily done and just strikes me as silly. I wanted to like it, but in my mind it's definitely a lesser noir.
-
I agree, Swithin, *Requiem for a Dream* is heartbreaking..again, the initial innocence of the young man and woman whose lives are virtually ruined by the end of the film contributes to the poignancy of the story - a genuine tragedy.
-
Scott Fitzgerald is a good example of the reason why I usually prefer books to stay on paper, and not be made into films. He's a great writer, but for some reason his work has not been translated well to screen. It may have even "put off" potential Fitzgerald readers who see the dismal movie versions of his novels.
He also wrote a number of interesting short stories, mostly forgotten today.
-
Today is, of course, the anniversary of John Lennon's death. I'm sure the radio stations will be playing tunes such as "Imagine" and other moving melodies from his solo career, but I think most of his best songs were written with the Beatles. My favourite Beatles album right now (it changes ) is Revolver. Lennon contributed some great stuff to that, including" Tomorrow Never Knows" (a musical iconoclast ) and "And Your Bird Can Sing". I'm posting the latter. Delicious guitar riffing and sweet classic Beatles harmonies:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p2XIfOO-TY
( I suspect this is an abbreviated version - didn't know that when I posted it, sorry.)
Edited by: misswonderly on Dec 8, 2010 11:17 AM
-
MacaulayConnor - hey, welcome ! I have seen *Come Live With Me*, and I agree, it's a great example of what I was trying to say about Stewart being "sexy". It's a nice little film, too. And Hedy Lamarr ! What a beauty !
wanderingchild, I think people got the idea that James Stewart had a goofy voice, or at least a goofy way of speaking, from his earlier performances, in which he kind of bumbles and stammers. He gradually lost that vocal style, and by the time you get to *Rope* and the Anthony Mann Westerns, he's worlds apart from the "shucks, you ought to know what I mean..." earnest young man that you see in his 30s work (which I like just as much as his later films - just saying, he changed.) But yeah, I love his voice and the way he speaks.
On another thread, someone mentions his drunk in the pool scene with Katharine Hepburn from The *Philadelphia Story*. He's so good in that scene ; he conveys all the myriad confusing emotions his character is experiencing, and at the same time, he's great fun to watch.
-
MyFavouriteFilms:
What you say about the introductions, the "outros", the comments by Osborne and Mankiewicz and other hosts, makes me sad. It saddens me that you so consciously and deliberately eliminate , in your recordings off of TCM, every single thing that makes the presentation of a film unique to Turner Classic Movies. The very things that you seem to loathe are the things that make me love this station.
Yes, I love the movies they show for their own sake. But I also really enjoy the host's comments, the "shorts", the little promos for tcm (like the young girl making origami tcm letters), and even the ads for dvds, the tcm catalogue, etc. All these things make me feel like I am part of a bigger community, the TCM classic movie-loving community. They make me feel " cozy". It's like listening to music on the radio, instead of playing my cds. (I do both) There's a warmth to all the programming that goes on around the films tcm shows. It's like the raisins ( programming) around the coffecake ( the actual films.) The cake's the main thing, but the raisins make it more fun to consume.
I get the feeling that if you could, you'd skip the station altogether and just get your movies from some other source. Nothing wrong with that, I guess. It just surprises me that despite the disdain you seem to feel for TCM - which is, after all, not just the movies alone, but that sense of "community" and shared love for old films that I was speaking of - you continue to watch it.
-
Van Heflen as Robert Taylor's sidekick in *Johnny Eager* plays an intellectual lush who's never sober once throughout the entire film.
-
Welcome, Rich Siq (hope I got that right.)
*Of Mice and Men* is a heartbreaking novel. And both film versions of the book that I've seen (but especially the 1939 version ) do it justice.
I think what makes it so poignant is the idea of George feeling he has to do what he does to Lennie (don't want to write any spoilers here) to protect him from terrible cruelty. He has always been Lennie's best friend and protector. Another aspect of the story that makes it exceptionally sad is Lennie's innocence - innocence in the sense that he has no idea of what he has done, or how he has done it. Lennie just wants to live on a nice farm with George and look after the chickens.
Perhaps it is this same innocence, this complete absence of understanding of why bad things happen, and lack of control over what in turn happens to them, that is also a contributing element to the emotional power of *All Mine to Give*.
Edited by: misswonderly on Dec 7, 2010 11:16 PM
-
Ray Milland struggling to stay off the demon drink in one of his best performances, *The Lost Weekend*
-
ooowhee, we are so getting down this week ! Hey, that must be the Edwin Starr who did "War !! (uegh- good god y'awll - ) What is it good for? ---Absolutely nuthin' say it say it say it...")
6 degrees of separation (or fewer) from Rufus Thomas to Carla Thomas to Carla and Otis to just plain Otis -here he is with "SHAKE ! " :
-
I guess that means we'll have to wait our turn in the Q (ueau) !
markfp2, thanks for the sensible advice - like everything in life, being reasonable and patient always helps.
-
I don't think James Stewart was much like Henry Fonda or Gary Cooper. He was much more interesting than either of them. No offence to Coop fans, but Stewart could act circles around him.
-
clore, I don't have much to say about flatscreen prints, but I do like the fact that you used the word "phooey" in your thread title. Everytime I see it there, I laugh. It's a good word.
-
It would be nice to have some kind of time-frame in terms of how long one might have to wait to see one's request.
-
Today TCM is airing a tribute documentary about the great jazz musician, Dave Brubeck. Here are two lovely tracks from his album, "Jazz Impressions of New York". This recording is not as well-known as some others of his, and some critics say there's a reason for that. But I disagree, I think the entire album is very fine, Here's "Autumn in New York".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYmoNVvyI40
I was also going to post another track from that same album, "Upstage Rhumba", it's great ! However, youtube doesn't seem to have it, so here's something more well-known by him, "Unsquare Dance" :
Edited by: misswonderly on Dec 6, 2010 5:42 PM
-
Henry Fonda and Tyrone Power? Apples and Oranges. I think of them as very dis-similar. For one thing, Ty was "sexy", Henry was " principled". Ty was rarely principled. Henry was never sexy. ("IMHO" )
-
"Do the Strand" was, I think , the first Roxy music song I ever heard. so, shall we add that one to the list for the TCM Dance-a-thon?
I'm stuck on Carla Thomas. Here she is with Otis Redding. Otis, despite his success, apparently still wears overalls, ergo, he's a "Tramp" :
-
I was unaware of that personal relationship between Stewart and Margaret Sullivan. That at least in part explains the genuinely romantic , almost erotic, atmosphere between them in their films. (Margaret Sullivan was lovely, and not just in the way she looked.)
Sprocket Man, I know Stewart and Fonda are often compared, and for good reason - they were both about the same age, they were contemporaries, they both worked for the same director on many occasions, and they were personal friends. They also both, in very different ways, projected an "image" of " the average decent American man"; I cannot think off-hand of any films in which either actor played a committed hard-core criminal. (Except, late in his career, Fonda in *Once Upon a Time in the West.* )
Still, I do feel that Stewart displayed more range than Fonda; and I always suspect, when watching Henry Fonda, that he was not endowed with an overly generous sense of humour. Now this may be because he so often was given the role of "straight guy" in comedies such as *The Lady Eve* , which he does very well. But Fonda always looks kind of "mad" to me, his righteous American indignation over injustice often seems to descend into mere ill-temper to me sometimes. Of course he's perfect in films such as *The Wrong Man*, *The Oxbow Incident*, and *Twelve Angry Men* (in which he appears as the least angry of the twelve ! )
Still, I can imagine James Stewart playing all those roles to equal effect. But I'm not sure I can see Fonda playing the Scottie role in *Vertigo* . (for instance )
I like Henry Fonda well enough, I am not "bashing" him -I'm just saying I don't agree with your opinion that Fonda was as good, if not better, an actor than Jimmy Stewart.
(Hope I got all my grammar, spelling, and vocabulary correct in that post. I've noticed, Sprocket Man, that you are quick to point out such errors .)
Edited by: misswonderly on Dec 6, 2010 10:18 AM
-
It goes without saying that films such as *Casablanca* and *The Maltese Falcon* are well-beloved by TCM fans. But I do have to wonder why people see fit to request such readily available films. Not only are they aired all the time -and not only on TCM - but they are easily available for purchase, you don't even have to go on a website to order them, you can just walk into your local mall and find a retail outlet that sells them, probably in quantities. So it does seem odd that people feel the need to request something so easy to access.. Also, if you're even a casual movie fan, (as opposed to us fanatics here) surely you've seen those titles many times. I could probably recite whole sections of dialogue from them in my sleep.
I see it as tantamount to someone calling up a radio station and requesting "Stairway to Heaven."
-
mrroberts, thanks for the tip. Next time I'm in your fine country (or at least in Pennsylvania) I'll have to make a point of checking out that museum.
Kinokima, yeah, *The Philadelphia Story* has it all - Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart. Double whammy.
-
MFF, I personally never get the sense that Stewart is overacting. but then, I'm kind of weird that way -if I like an actor, I tend not to notice their acting one way or the other. That is, I'm paying attention to their presence on the screen, for sure, but I'm not thinking "He (or she) wasn't very convincing there" or "Wow, they should have dialed it down in that scene " etc. I like them, and I totally accept their performance of whatever character they're playing.
I think it's connected with that "suspension of disbelief" thing for me: just as I don't really notice or care about rear screen projection, careless continluity, etc,, it doesn't interfere with my enjoyment of the film if I am engaged in the story and the characters, the same can be said for my feelings about acting, or overacting. If they do it, what can I say, I'm completely involved in the film and I don't notice it.
Anyway, I often kind of like it when an actor is "over the top", Sometimes it really works, and it's fun to watch them tearing up the scenery. I love it when James Stewart becomes really intense -for someone who has quite a reputation as playing a nice and decent guy, nobody can do "mad" like James Stewart.
As for "he's not Gable" : oh yeah, I know. I like Clark well enough, he's pretty good, but I've never found him sexy or attractive. Handsome, yes, but he's always struck me as " what you see is what you get". Jimmy Stewart, now, can convey a multitude of emotions with one facial expression. He seems "many faceted " to me, and that makes him mysterious and far more interesting than a straightforward guy like Gable. And that makes him (Stewart) sexy, in my opinion.
Edited by: misswonderly on Dec 5, 2010 6:59 PM
-
I didn't know *All About Eve* was based on a short story, nor did I have any idea that Margo and Eve were modelled (sort of) after real people. I wonder, was there an actual George Sanders type?
clearskies wrote: "...the only book I didn't finish was "Moby Dick." Have you seen the Woody Allen film, *Zelig* ? It's a running joke in the movie that one of the Zelig character's ambitions is to read (to the end ! ) Moby Dick . I think he finally does, right at the end of the film, when he's "cured". Zelig's got something on me...I only read the bits I had to to fake it in my first year English class .
National Board of Review opens up the Oscar Season
in General Discussions
Posted
...But that can't be the complete list - there are some good films that are still to be release in 2010. Richard Lewis' *Barney's Version*, based on the Mordecai Richler novel, should at least be given consideration. Now to be honest, I haven't seen it yet, it's to be released just berfore Christmas (where I live, anyway). However, from everything I hear about it, it should be on some kind of possible Oscar nomination list.