speedracer5
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Posts posted by speedracer5
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I really loved Erich Wolfgang Korngold's score for The Adventures of Robin Hood. It was so rich and fit the action and characters perfectly. My favorite part is probably the music that plays when Robin Hood, wearing the deer around his shoulders, makes his entrance into Prince John's party.
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And who buys DVDs anymore?
Lol. I do. I might just be a weirdo though.
While I can't say that I see everything in the movies, I do go out occasionally. I see people of all ages, not just children and not just the dreaded millenials. I would venture to say that movie theaters aren't as popular now, aside from Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and whatever other things people use to stream films, is because the prices are so high. Even though movie theater chains claim that they only make money off of the concessions--which is probably why those are so high. The movie studios are probably charging the theater chains an exorbitant amount of money to show the film, so the theater chains have to recoup their expenses somehow. The last movies I've seen in the theater are the ones that have been repeatedly derided here (even without the "derider" having seen the film) and they've all been excellent. There are still good films being made.
The last movie I saw was TCM's two night only showing of White Christmas. My husband and I, at 30, were not the youngest ones there. There were people of all ages there enjoying this film. I think it's great to see that there are people of all generations interested in seeing films from the Golden Era.
On Jan 11 and Jan 14, TCM is showing The Wizard of Oz in select theaters. I plan on going to that one as well :-)
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I was all over the map last week...
DON KNOTTS RELUCTANT HERO COLLECTION
I'm reading his autobiography and wanted to revisit his work. Loved the nostalgia factor of GHOST & MR CHICKEN, with Knotts playing to perfection his charactor "the nervous man". Loved the Vic Mizzy musical score, plethora of great charactor actors like Reta Shaw, all in a fun story. A kid's movie adults can enjoy too.
I watched THE LOVE GOD which was mildly amusing. Adorable Anne Francis co stars and featuring eclectic 60's costuming. Fun! I got tired watching THE SHAKIES GUN IN THE WEST and took it back to the library. Better in small doses.
THE SUN ALSO RISESWanted to see this after discussions about Errol here. I found it funny when an actor said "The most beautiful woman I've ever seen!" when Ava Gardner walked into the room. She was far from her most stunning self, sadly. I didn't mind Errol being older at all, his charm still came through for me. Wonderful to see a very young Robert Evans, of Evan-Picone and later successful studio head.
(Woo hoo! Tonight my movie buddy gives me a bunch of TCM recordings from Nov-Dec!)
I picked up this same Don Knotts collection a few months ago. I haven't watched it yet though. I'm looking forward to it. Don Knotts is hilarious. I loved him in The Andy Griffith Show and Three's Company.
Re: The Sun Also Rises. I have wanted to see this, but have been hesistant, because I've heard how much older and haggard "my Errol" looked and I'm afraid that it'll be true. Although I've heard the same about his early 1950s films and I was pleasantly surprised to see that he didn't look that bad, just older. I don't expect him to look the same in a 1958 movie as he did in 1935's Captain Blood of course. I guess I shouldn't be so shallow, but that's the truth as to why I haven't watched this film yet.
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I think it is supposed to be a social networking site, except unlike facebook, instagram, etc. the users share about their love of films (and related topics) instead of their love of themselves. There is a profile feature, the ability to have "friends," create groups about a specific topic, join said groups, and write blogs.
The problem with it in my opinion is that it hasn't been designed properly for the website to flow and work properly. The profile feature is constrained by character limits. There is no ability to personalize and really give a good idea of "you" to others on the site. I also hate the fact that the formatting on the blogs and message boards within the groups don't allow for proper formatting. Instead of being able to make paragraphs to ease the reading of long statements, everything is one big block. You also cannot edit after posting, which I find irritating.
I dislike how all the sections are displayed with large thumbnails instead of allowing a user to toggle between a list format or the thumbnails. It is also difficult to find blogs and groups about a specific topic.
There are many issues with the CFU site. The concept is good and I would participate, however, the way the site is laid out right now, it just doesn't work for me. I find the message boards preferable.
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Oz was just too strange to be in the same place as Kansas.
True. I also wonder if Dorothy told the farm hands that they had doppelgangers?
If that's the case, then maybe Oz is some sort of parallel universe. Oz is Kansas, but is Kansas on acid.
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Thank goodness the broom was sufficient proof. Imagine how that head
would have smelled after several days of being carried back to Oz. Yikes.
The WWOTW had a pretty big carbon footprint for sure. And who knows
what toxic chemicals were unleashed when the hourglass was broken.
Glinda's environmentally friendly ways are much better and obviously
a better match for the Emerald City.
Oz was just too strange to be in the same place as Kansas. It was almost
too strange for Hollywood, U.S.A. I wouldn't be surprised if Oz again took
the name of Professor Marvel and hit the Midwestern state fair balloon
ride circuit. Quite a come down from being an all powerful wizard.
Maybe the state fair is where the Wizard got all that chintzy crap he gives to people seeking his assistance. He makes up some BS about how they had [whatever] the whole time and then re-gifts the junk he won from the Carnie games at the fair!
Maybe he enters hot air balloon championships. Can you race those things?
Re: the WWOTW and her big carbon footprint. I forgot about her hourglass and lets not forget the red smoke that appears when she enters and exits somewhere. No wonder she's green! She's probably stained her skin as a result of the rough chemicals she uses to make her dramatic entrances and exits. Perhaps that's why it only takes water to melt her. She's probably ruined her body.
The Emerald City definitely earned its reputation as a "green city." After all, they had a horse that could change colors instead of getting multiple horses in different colors. Not to mention the beauty department who cleans up what someone already has instead of getting something new. I like that they recycle.
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There are ever so many great films TCM has introduced me to that, like many of you, I can't even think of them all. And I keep watching awesome movies on TCM that I never heard of before and thinking, "Why have I never heard of this? This is awesome!"
Three holiday movies TCM introduced me to are now holiday essentials in our house: FITZWILLY, A HOLIDAY AFFAIR, and REMEMBER THE NIGHT. The latter is also one of my tip top favorite movies for any time of year.
I'm glad many of you mentioned people because TCM has opened my eyes to many actors. One recent one pops into mind. Last summer on TCM's SUTS festival I discovered the awesomeness of Betty Grable. I only knew her as the pin up girl in STALAG 17 and The Other Chick in HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE. But that day last August I realized she was a fantastic singer and dancer who could also act and do comedy, plus extremely charismatic and likeable. More than just a pretty figure--she was a true triple threat! Now I look for those Betty Grable films on TV. They're mostly on FXM but TCM introduced me to Betty's awesomeness.
I knew about Betty Grable from her guest appearance on an episode of The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour and from reading in Desi Arnaz's autobiography (or maybe another book?) that before Lucy, Arnaz dated Betty Grable. I had seen her appearance on 'Lucy-Desi' multiple times and figured that she must have been one of those stars who were "popular at the time." I hadn't realized how extensive a career she had prior to that late-1950s TV appearance. Thanks to this past summer's SUTS spotlight on Grable, I got to see what she was known for. I probably watched more live TCM that day than I had all year. I usually record everything, but I actually watched I think 5 Grable movies in a row and recorded others I missed. Thanks to Dargo's recommendation, I also saw her noir turn in I Wake Up Screaming. Betty Grable was fantastic and I hope that TCM continues to gain access to her films.
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That question seems to be up in the air. And does the Wizard rule over everything or is
he just the head guy in Oz? Does his mandate extend everywhere? Hmmm. I think the
bubble shows that Glinda was green conscious ahead of her time.
I don't know if The Wizard ruled over everything. He definitely had the inhabitants of Oz fooled that he was so powerful. Toto exposed that scam right away. He seemed to serve as more of a counselor where he helped people find things out about themselves that they didn't realize. What is he going to do with the Witch's broom? Is it an alternative travel vehicle to use when his balloon inevitably gets a hole in it or he runs out of fuel? Or perhaps the broom was a less morbid way to prove that the witch was gone. Though, The Wizard only told Dorothy to bring the broom, he didn't say anything about killing her. We're lucky that Dorothy didn't bring the Witch's head back on a pike.
I like the idea that Glinda was green conscious. Definitely more environmentally friendly than the Wicked Witch polluting the air with her threatening smoke messages and polluting the poppy fields with chemicals.
I know The Wizard was planning on bringing Dorothy home in the balloon. Does this mean that Oz and Kansas exist within the same world? Or is the balloon capable of traveling between worlds? With Dorothy not in the balloon, I wonder where The Wizard went?
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I'm of the age where I could have seen the TV series. Except, we only got two networks where I lived and due to my low grades, my father eliminated TV watching for a semester or more. He actually cut the power cord.
Regardless, there is one episode on the boxed set of the Thin Man. It is on the DVD with the TCM features on Myrna Loy and William Powell. Peter Lawford played Nick. Ironically, he also used his personal car which was a rare one in the opening sequence. If memory serves, Sinatra and Martin had similar cars.
Interesting. I'm not a fan of Peter Lawford. His voice irritates me. But I've only seen him younger in his 40s movies. Maybe he's less annoying in the 50s? I can't see him as Nick Charles, but I haven't seen it either so I can't judge his performance. I don't have the Thin Man boxed set, I collected the movies individually. I see on Netflix, the bonus disc from the box set is available. I'll try to get my hands on it.
That's interesting about Lawford using his own vehicle. If it was indeed a rare vehicle, that would definitely add to the idea that the Charleses were well off.
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Here are some great photos by Phil Stern:
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Phil Stern was a photographer for Life and Look magazines and was also a WWII combat photographer. He was known for getting more candid photos of the stars. He photographed many famous Golden Era stars like Marilyn Monroe, Humphrey Bogart, Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando and so many more.
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At least Cruise has some pretty good performances under his belt.
The one I'll NEVER be able to understand becoming a leading actor A-lister is Kevin Costner. I've said it several times before in these forums, but I'll say it once more - he is one of the least dynamic actors to ever gain the type of status he somehow attained. A bargained soul is the only explanation I can think of.
Agreed. One day, when it was pouring rain outside, I got out all my Robin Hood movies and watched them. Compared to Errol Flynn, Cary Elwes, Daffy Duck, and even the Disney cartoon Robin Hood, Kevin Costner's interpretation is so dull. He lacks the energy, the charm, everything that Robin Hood traditionally possesses, Costner lacks. The best person in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves was Alan Rickman. His interpretation of the Sheriff of Nottingham was like the rock n' roll Sheriff of Nottingham. He was my favorite character. The film, if you were to sub-out Costner and replace him with someone else, like Brad Pitt for example, it would have been better.
The problem with Costner, is that he kept making what I can only imagine were Kevin Costner vanity projects-- Waterworld, The Postman, etc. and he tries so hard with them, but the first mis-step was always casting himself as the lead. Some of his films have good ideas, but he doesn't execute the character very well. Maybe he should stay behind the camera.
I can't believe Dances With Wolves won Best Picture over Goodfellas.
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While I wasn't looking at Blair as "nubile," I can see where that would come from. She's definitely grown up since The Exorcist and she was wearing the skin tight roller disco costumes and bikinis. I thought she was "cute" and believable as the "flautist prodigy turned roller boogie skating champion." I thought her co-star was terrible and it annoyed me when he kept doing ice skating jumps in his routine. Maybe skating is skating, but I wanted to see dancing.
I loved the costumes and all the routines. Makes me sad that roller rinks were pretty much done when I was growing up. There might be a few here and there but they're definitely not in their heyday anymore.
While I still maintain that Xanadu is my favorite roller disco skating movie, I feel like I need to see Skatetown USA too, so then I can probably assert my opinion that Xanadu is still my favorite roller disco skating movie.
I hate to say it, but if I found Roller Boogie for under $5 somewhere, I'd probably buy it.
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Yes, Martha Ivers has Stanwyck and Kirk Douglas. Shocking ending, for the time. I think Heflin is a very good actor.
Cry Wolf, I think that was it. It was very good, and out of type for Flynn.
I'll definitely check out 'Martha Ivers,' Stanwyck appeared in some very good film noirs. I loved Sorry Wrong Number. Great ending there as well.
Cry Wolf was a departure for Flynn and I thought he was excellent. It just goes to show how versatile and underrated he was as an actor. He could do more than swashbuckle and look hot in tights
I'll have to see more of Heflin. I've seen him in: Santa Fe Trail, They Died With Their Boots On, The Three Musketeers and Presenting Lily Mars. Looks like quite a few of his films are slated to air in the next few weeks.
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but what was up with the chintzy crap the Wizard gave them?
HAH! Leftover like the balloon from the Fair! Just goes to prove anything you want to be or anywhere you want to go is already in your head.
Meanwhile, even though you ended up going home, you melted a poor green unwashed woman whose sister you murdered.
I liked the Coroner's song the best.
She's not only really dead, she's really most sincerely dead.
I can't believe I still love this movie to pieces!
Someone here asked about the Lollipop Kid who presented Dorothy with the lollipop - I think he just recently passed away.
The Coroner was hilarious.
Not only can the witch not bathe, it also must never rain in Oz. After Dorothy murders the witch, granted it was justifiable homicide as she had lit the Scarecrow on fire (which let's face it, if you're made of straw, catching on fire is inevitable) but the guards act grateful that Dorothy had freed them from the Witch's tyranny. They clearly outnumbered her and her flying monkey minions, why didn't they just kill her? Maybe they didn't know that water was her kryptonite.
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How about we double, you and William and me and Flynn?
He's all yours! I saw him later, in a detective movie (I think?) and like him much better. I may be mixing him up with another swashbuckling actor.
Scott is excellent in The Strange Loves Of Martha Ivers, which is shown a lot, and features another favorite of mine, Van Heflin. But her obscure ones are even better.
Enjoy, youngster, you are in for a treat.
Lol. Flynn appears in a mystery/comedy film Footsteps in the Dark (kind of in the Thin Man vein) where he plays a banker by day and mystery novelist by night. His mystery writing ends up getting him involved in a real mystery. The film was funny. Flynn was beautiful as always. It also features three great character actors: Alan Hale, William Frawley, and Lee Patrick. The funniest part in my opinion is when Australian Flynn speaks in a fake stereotypical "Texas" accent. Flynn also appears in a film noir, Cry Wolf, co-starring Barbara Stanwyck. I thought the film was pretty good as well. Of course, I'd probably watch Flynn in anything. I never tire of looking at the man. He could be doing a dog food commercial and I'd be entranced.
Does The Strange Loves of Martha Ivers also have Barbara Stanwyck? I think I remember seeing that one scheduled during Stanwycks SUTS tribute and didn't watch it for whatever reason. I think it's because I recorded like 5 other Stanwyck films. I've liked Van Heflin in the films I've seen with him (mostly Flynn and Judy Garland movies). I'll look out for this one as well.
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When Margaret O'Brien was on the TCM cruise last December, she said that she is still good friends with Jerry Marin and his wife.
That's good to know. Sadly, Marin might be the only person from the film who is still alive. I still think the Munchkins are a little creepy. Not the actors, just the characters.
Though the whole "follow the yellow brick road" exchange cracks me up--probably the funniest part of the whole Munchkin sequence.
Follow the yellow brick road! (nasely voice)
Follow the yellow brick road! (gravely nasely voice)
Follow the yellow brick road! (high pitched squeaky voice)
And at the end, when the wizard takes off in the balloon, because he started the balloon and untied the ropes while Dorothy was saying goodbye, why couldn't he bring the balloon back down? If he didn't know how, how did he land in Oz? Did he crash land?
I know that the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Lion all had their brain, heart and courage (respectively) inside of them the whole time, but what was up with the chintzy crap the Wizard gave them?
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Thanks, speedracer, same here re the likes!
Aren't pre-codes wonderful? They are so grown up and so adult and the narrow minded and it blows my mind that the narrow minded little prude Hays or whatever his name was convinced TPTB to shut down truth telling honest movies.
I'm SO glad you have been made aware of Ann Harding and my - my, mind you, he's all mine!
- beyootiful Warren William! You must, simply must catch Impact when it shows again, it is an amazing noir.You must, simply must also catch anything another favorite of mine is in, Lizabeth Scott. Especially considering she is still with us, aged 92, and I oh so wish TCM would have her in their studio. I would love to see Ben M. interviewing her.
The Pre-Codes that I've seen were really good. It's amazing that these films pretty much have the type of subject matter that films nowadays do, then we had the time period where the films were sanitized (although there are many filmmakers who were excellent at skirting around the Production Code using innuendo in their films) and now we're back pretty much where the pre-codes started, except with more profanity and explicit sex. The Pre-Codes were more clever in many respects than today's films. In Red Headed Woman, there was a scene where you can very clearly see Jean Harlow's n ipple. I wasn't a fan of Harlow at first, but she's growing on me.
I saw Double Harness with Harding and William Powell. I honestly recorded it for Powell, because at the time, I hadn't heard of Harding. I would like to see some more of her work.
I just saw Don't Bet on Blondes with your Warren William last week. I really liked him. I recorded the film though for the two fleeting scenes of my boyfriend, Errol Flynn. How about we double, you and William and me and Flynn?
I'll look out for Impact, thanks for the recommendation. I'll also look out for Lizabeth Scott. I have seen her in that noir she made with Bogart.
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Speed racer-you state that The Thin Man wasn't a well known classic. You and your dad must be young. There was a tv series in the 50s based on the movie then sometime in the 70s/80s there was a Broadway musical called Nick & Nora based on the movie. The Neil Simon movie, Murder by Death, which was a spoof of an Agatha Christie type story, had a married couple in it based on Nick & Nora. The plot of the movie is that a famous author invites a bunch of detectives to solve his own murder, or something to that effect (I find it pretty funny and it's going to be on in January when they're doing the Friday Night Showcase with a salute to Simon.) So I feel like people of a certain age are familiar with the characters. The original film had several Oscar nominations.
This is in no way a dig at you. I'm not surprised that you wouldn't be aware of them, but I'm just a little surprised your dad isn't unless he's in his 40s. It just makes me feel old.
I was born in the mid 80s, my dad was born in the early 60s. I had heard of the Nick and Nora TV Show, but that was after I'd seen the movies.
Murder By Death sounds interesting. I'll definitely make sure to DVR it when it airs on TCM. Thanks for the recommendation!
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You may wish to look at Cracked.com's appraisal of Glinda:
http://www.cracked.com/article_18881_5-reasons-greatest-movie-villain-ever-good-witch.html
"So, Glinda steals the shoes, THEN, she straight sells Dorothy out by telling the Witch that the shoes are now superglued to the girl."
An unbiased synopsis of the movie:
LIKE!!
That description of The Wizard of Oz is hilarious. Maybe we could apply a b&w filter to the film, add some contrast, and turn the film into a horror movie. I wonder what the Wicked Witch of the East was doing before she met her demise? Perhaps she was adding some touch-ups to the yellow brick road or something. Maybe she was replanting the flowers in Munchkin land.
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Assuming that TWOTE died intestate, I believe Glinda had the right to
dispose of the ruby slippers in any manner she saw fit. And I think the
Wizard would have supported this decision on the basis of that good
old Kansas folk wisdom that possession is 9/10ths of the law.
Is Munchkin land in Glinda's jurisdiction? If so, it must be a huge land seeing that she has to travel by bubble.
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Thinking of Oscar winning actors and actresses who might be available:
Eva Marie Saint
Cher
Anjelica Huston
Richard Dreyfuss
Jane Fonda
Jeff Bridges
Sally Field
Kevin Kline
Alan Arkin
Sophia Loren
Julie Andrews
Diane Keaton
Sissy Spacek
Kevin Spacey
Shirley MacLaine
Jody Foster
Kathy Bates
Holly Hunter
Rita Moreno
Estelle Parsons
Lee Grant
Sidney Poitier (depending on his health)
Mary Steenburgen
Linda Hunt
Dianne Wiest
Olympia Dukakis
Geena Davis
Whoopi Goldberg
Susan Sarandon
Marcia Gay Harding
Melissa Leo
Feel free to add your thoughts!
I think Sally Field, Susan Sarandon, Rita Moreno and Kevin Spacey would all be great choices. Although some of the actors who are still active in film might not have as much time to dedicate to hosting. Although, I'm not sure how much time they spend on their hosting duties and whether hosting the Essentials would be a huge commitment.
I think Cher would be a great choice. She's interesting (to say the least), intelligent, experienced in film-making and knowledgeable about film. She would also be well known to the public and might attract more viewers.
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If not already viewing, you would probably like the Fox Movie Channel. They show "old" movies from 3:00 AM ET to 3:00 PM ET and usually without commercials. A lot of them are noirs, crime and similar not shown on TCM or seldom shown. Only downside is that they tend to show them often during a week, so not as much variety as TCM.
Try it, you'll like it!
I'm not sure I have the Fox Movie Channel! We have Dish right now, but in a couple months, my husband and I hope to be moving into our own house and we're probably going to go with a different provider. (Right now, we're living with my parents as a means to save up for our house and pay off some debts so I don't have much say in what TV we have). I've heard a lot about this channel on this board. When I set up my new TV provider, I'll have to see which plan includes FMC as well as TCM. It's good to know that FMC is commercial free for 12 hours. I can't be bothered with commercials.
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Excellent question, LP. I wouldn't know where to start on the movies. But as a genre, noir, noir, and more noir.
I can't even think of a movie (well, maybe Impact with Brian Donlevy), but I thank TCM for the actors I have met - Marian Marsh, Conrad Veidt, Conrad Nagel, Evelyn Brent, Margot Grahame, Marian Marsh, Trixie Friganza (be sure to catch her short!), Cathy O'Donnell, Clive Brook, Frank Fay, Douglass Montgomery, Gladys George, Jeanne Eagels, Geoffrey Bayldon, Peggy Cummins, Richard Barthelmess, Richard Dix, the gorgeous Ann Harding, the wonderful Lizabeth Scott, and last but most importantly, the lovely and unequaled Warren William.
To name just a few.
LIKE! (I ran out of likes earlier, lol)
While I had heard of the term "pre-code" prior to TCM, I didn't really know what that meant in terms of content of film. Thanks to the Pre-Code Fridays in September, I got to see quite a few of them. Now, when I look at the month schedule, I can identify pre-codes by the year of release and some of the actors who appear. I just learned about Ann Harding and your beloved Warren William.
Ann Harding, in particular stood out to me because of her hair. There aren't many actresses from that time period who didn't have the bobbed hair with the tight waves. I wonder how hard her hair was to keep clean?
- beyootiful Warren William! You must, simply must catch Impact when it shows again, it is an amazing noir.
Glinda's authority to give the ruby slippers to Dorothy
in General Discussions
Posted
Do the books ever say what the shoes do? Why does the WOTW want them? and why does Glinda want to keep them away from the WOTW? They're obviously coveted for more than their teleportation powers, since neither the WOTW nor Glinda are lacking in that department. Maybe they're made out of real silver and the WOTW wants them so she can cash them in due to the high price of silver. Perhaps most of the Oz economy's money are the Silver shoes and they don't want the WOTW to get her hands on them and cash them in and use the money to remodel her castle, or control the Oz inhabitants because they'll be financially dependent on her.
I haven't read the novels myself, but I've heard that in the books, Dorothy & co. have to put on green colored glasses when they enter Emerald City, but they don't in the film.