misswonderly3
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Posts posted by misswonderly3
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I am enjoying all the silents tcm has been showing this month, in conjunction with "Moguls and Movie Stars". Well, I shouldn't say "all", that implies that I've seen them all. Let's say I've enjoyed the ones I've watched, and I've recorded the rest. (Sometimes I can't keep up! )
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> {quote:title=MissWatusi wrote:}{quote}
> I didn't go to school with anyone who became famous, but I taught someone that became an adult film actress. She was also on the cover of Hustler!!!!
Well...who? Let's not be coy, what's her name?
(edited after initial posting) ...actulally, I just noticed you said "adult" film actress. I didn't really take it in what that meant. So, never mind about her name, I probably wouldn't have heard of her.
Edited by: misswonderly on Nov 21, 2010 1:51 PM
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Checked out the link -Thanks ! That was really informative, I had no idea they'd done all that stuff with silent films. (silent film stock? )
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I have seen at least three fairly good movies, first -run, just in the last couple of months: Clint Eastwood's *Hereafter*, Woody Allen's *You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger*, and a very good little film with an "indie" feel to it, can't recall the director's name off-hand, about John Lennon's teen years, *Nowhere Boy*. They were all worth seeing. I don't want to get into a detailed discussion of the varying merits and flaws of each film, that's not what this thread is about. But each of the three was intelligent, well-done, well-acted, and interesting. None of them used 21st century gimmicks to hold the audience's attention. All three were thoughtful and engaging movies well-worth the money I spent to go see them.
I feel that there still are many new movies being released that are worth going to see. (I don't care about the snacks - if I want to munch while watching a movie, I sneak my own through in my purse .)
Edited by: misswonderly on Nov 21, 2010 11:33 AM
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I have a technical type question about this series' segment on silent films, and in fact about silents in general: Does anyone know why sometimes silent movies are not so much black and white, or even sepia-toned, but appear in pinkish or bluish shades? They're still basically b & w, definitely not colour, but instead of black, grey and white, they look somewhat pink, or blue. Sometimes even sort of golden. What's up with that?
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Nothing made me stop going to the movies nowadays. I still go. Why do you assume we wouldn't ? Just because I like old movies doesn't preclude my liking new movies. I love movies, old and new. I don't make a decision as to whether I'll watch a film based on whether it's old or new, I make it based on whether it's good or bad. There are many bad old movies, and there are many good new movies.
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So, "diegesis" is both a rare and, I gather, debilitating disease, often confused with a certain type of mental illness, and a whole wheat cookie with chocolate topping. I wonder if those who suffer from diegesis consume more than the usual amount of the biscuit treat?
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I never think about the "bodily functions" aspect of SOD in movies, unless it's sex.
Hey, I guess this thread is kind of a sister thread to "Things you can do in movies but can't do in real life". A list of the impossible or at best unlikely things people do in films, which we lowly real life people can only watch, suspending our disbelief and our bodily functions. (or we'll miss part of the movie.)
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It's for sure a different Elvira. Mine is Canadian, and has connections with Second City comedy. Here's a link about her, if anyone's interested"
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traceyk65 wrote:
"...There's a lot more to discuss in the Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman, but they don't seem get the sort of fanatic following the HP books do."
Good point. I literally could not stop reading the Dark Materials books, I remember neglecting almost everything else (boring stuff -meals, laundry, going to work -well maybe not that last one ! ) while I read all three of these great fantasy books. Incidentally, the publisher ( not the same publisher as the one for the HP books) for the " Golden Compass" series did the same thing - they issued a "young people's'" version, and an "adult" version; same books, different covers.
I love The Golden Compass so much that I purposely stayed away from the movie when it came out.And I like Daniel Craig ! But I knew the film, no matter how well done it might be, would not be the same as the story from the book I'd created in my imagination.
I guess we're kind of straying from the original topic. I do have a couple of unusual movie experiences, but I think I'll wait on posting them for a bit. I don't want to hog this thread.
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The silents they've been showing on TCM provide a good example of "suspension of disbelief". In keeping with that "think of it as a cartoon" mentality, the physical risks the characters apparently took would be giving me a nervous breakdown if I took them seriously. I'm thinking in particular of Harold Lloyd climbing up that building ! ! ! in *Safety Last*.
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What is it about those c&w singers that has such an appealing innocence? Is it the sparkles on their suits? Is it the way they wink at the camera? Maybe their refreshing simplicity? Sais pas, but those c&w videos always make me smile.
The Elvira on this CBC radio show I'm talking about is hilarious, I can't see how you wouldn't think she was funny. Which Elvira are you thinking of?
The British band Traffic were one of the best to come out of the burst of musical creativity from the UK in the late 60s. They often sang of things fanciful and fey, and in that sense flirted with prog rock, but never really crossed over into progrockivity. This is one of their best and most well-known tunes, *"Dear Mr. Fanatsy"* . (Fantasy was also their record label.) I don't know what the story is on the video that accompanies this, but I love it.
Edited by: misswonderly on Nov 20, 2010 4:26 PM
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I must admit I've never seen any of those Korman/Edgar Allen Poe films. They seem just a tad lurid, even for me.
There is an interesting film from 1983, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, starring Matt Dillon (I like Matt Dillon a lot ), *Rumblefish* . It's shot in black and white, except for a flash of colour every now and then, whenever the main character goes into his local pet shop and sees a fish he likes, the fish is shown in colour. It's very effective.
Similarly - and apologies if anyone else has already said this - *Schindler's List* is in black and white, except for the terrible scene in which the Jewish people in the ghetto are being rounded up to be sent to the camps, and one little girl in a red coat is running away, frightened, looking for her parents, trying to avoid the Nazis. Later the little red jacket is seen in a pile of clothes, a bright red spot in a hill of black and white, and we know the child was caught . It's an incredibly moving camera shot, and the use of colour /b & w adds emphasis ; another example of the wonders of cinema.
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VP19 wrote:
"...I am sort of a bit surprised that TCM isn't using "My Man Godfrey" as an illustration of both screwball comedy and themes of film during the Depression..."
I agree...I think *My Man Godfrey* would be a perfect choice for both of the above.
However, I suppose it's because , as JackFavell points out,
"...This show is about the studios, not about genres. " *It Happened One Night* serves the purpose of the series' focus more. Still, IHON is a delightful film; I wish I could go on an exciting road trip with Clark Gable. I wish that I could take an inter-city bus on which everyone sings together . And I wish I had a white blouse with black vertical slanting stripes on it, like the one Claudette sports throughout most of the movie.
Edited by: misswonderly on Nov 20, 2010 12:38 PM
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> {quote:title=finance wrote:}{quote}
> Has there ever been a screwball noir?
I should think that would be a contradiction in terms.
Edited by: misswonderly on Nov 20, 2010 12:30 PM
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tracey, I love children's books and have read many of them as an adult. I think any person who loves to read and who appreciates good literature recognizes that good writing is good writing, and believe me, there are many books for children and teens that are better-written, more insightful, and tell a better story than a lot of "adult" fiction. The Harry Potter series fall into that category.
I remember receiving a huge shipment of Harry Potter books a few years ago, when I worked in a book store. I was kind of chagrined -no, annoyed - to see that there were two editions of the same Harry Potter title (doesn't matter which one, since the publisher did it for all of them), The exact same book, same text word for word, but with a different cover, the "adult" edition, was shelved in the adult fiction section of the store, and the " children's" edtion of course shelved in the children's section (actually, there was a children's and a teen's section, so the HP books were kept in three different places in the store.)
My point is, it's silly that the publisher felt they had to issue the HP titiles in an "adult" edtion so that adults who wanted to read it supposedly wouldn't be embarrassed to be seen reading a Harry Potter books. The books are great, no need to feel funny reading them. As I said, there's more philosophy, character development, and good writing in the Harry Potter series than in a great many books for adults.
Whenever I read children's or teen's fiction, I'm proud of it. I select my reading material carefully, whatever its intended market may be (God , that sounds snooty, sorry) and if I'm reading a kids' book , I'm reading it because I think it's just as valid as an adult book.
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Ok, my mistake, I see what you mean. I also looked up "Screwball comedy" on wikipedia, and , as you stated , it lists *It Happened One Night* as generally regarded as the first screwball comedy". (Not that I didn't take your word for it, I just wanted to research this genre a little more.)
I will say, I freely admit that I am fairly ignorant regarding this genre, probably because it's never really been one of my favourites, so I've never been motivated to read much about it. As i've said in other threads, I tend to get irritated by the unrealistic behaviour of the characters. I know, we're just supposed to relax and "go with it"; I guess screwballically speaking, I'm too po-faced for this genre.
Also, although I do concede the very good points you made about how IHON contains various features that perfectly fit the screwball genre, it still feels more to me like a romantic comedy (and a very good one at that.)
Several of the elements of screwball comedy that you listed apply equally to romantic comedy .
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Jim Morrison.
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Perhaps I'm wrong about that (the black and white dream thing), Even after trying to find a list of such dreams on the net I couldn't come up with anything specific, that is, a colour film that changes to black and white to denote the character is dreaming. And yet, I swear I've seen this done many times/
Or maybe I dreamed it...
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> {quote:title=Kinokima wrote:}{quote}
> LOL in all seriousness I expect It Happened One Night being used to highlight screwball comedies since that is playing on TCM after Moguls Wed night.
With respect, Kinokima, I don't consider *It Happened One Night* to be a screwball comedy at all. Comedy, yes, it's certainly light and has some very funny moments. But isn't "screwball" comedy a very specific type of comedy, characterized by kooky characters (usually female), and zany situations? I do agree with whoever suggested that *Bringing up Baby* was a great example of screwball comedy. It's got a crazy unrealistic set-up, and right until the end the film celebrates the dis-assembling of order. Cary in a lacy negligee, Kate running around in the forest looking for Cary's "bone" (we won't go there), misunderstanding all around. I like this film a lot, I think it's an example of when screwball comedy works.
"On the other hand", there's nothing in *It Happened One Night* that couldn't, well, happen. The Claudette Colbert character is stubborn and self-centred, and maybe by running away from her father she's upturning the established order (that is a screwball trait), but she never actually behaves in a way that you can't imagine a character in her position behaving. Nor does Gable. The humour in the film is more gentle, less frantic, than what you get in screwball comedy. I see *It Happened One Night* as much more a romantic comedy (as someone else pointed out) than a screwball comedy.
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Something languid and majestic about that Eno track.
There's an interesting radio show on CBC in the mornings, it's called "Q". (I think you can pick it up in the States but I can't remember how.) Every Friday the host has this comedian, "Elvira" on, to talk about her two picks for her " Hall of Shame" that week. ( C.B., you'll be pleased to know that William and Kate and their engagement announcement were one of her picks for today's Hall of Shame -Elvira's no royalist, either.) Anyway, she's very funny, and the theme song that introduces her "bit" on the show is -you guessed it, "Shame Shame Shame". There were a multitude of versions, so I just chose one at random. Here is Shirley and Company:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBdgW87Ia_8
( All right, this is the one for Uncle Bob and the gang- great beat, very danceable, but not too fast-
We'll have Osborne and Baldwin on Dancing with the Stars yet.)
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finance, I don't want to be a smarty-pants, but I think Brian Jones was still alive and even technically still a member of the Stones when "Jumpin' Jack Flash" (great song) came out in May 1968. Jones died a little over a year later in July 1969.
I 'm pretty sure you're right about Mick and Keith firing him, though. Poor old Brian was useless by that time anyway. (I think it was two or three months before his death that he was kicked out of the group.)
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"...sumptuous visual images ..."
Arturo, what a great way to put it. Exactly so.
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Poinciana, I'm not crazy about boxing movies either, as a rule. But I consider *The Set Up* as more a film about people, about the character Robert Ryan's playing, about making choices when your pride and sometimes your very sense of self is challenged. Ryan is great in this.
I'm thinking he must have consumed a lot of diegesis cookies to get himself in shape for that fight.
Bless you, TCM, for showing "The Bishop's Wife" this holiday season
in General Discussions
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Not to go on and on about this, but I'm thinking maybe it's more of an issue to say "Christmas" in Canada (where I live) than in the States. I've known more than one person who works in retail who was specifically instructed to not say "Merry Christmas" to the customers, or they'd be "spoken to" by management. possibly fired if they do it again. Now that's sad and ridiculous.