speedracer5

LzCutter, Do you know how the films for The Essentials are chosen? Are they chosen by Robert Osborne? By the host? Is it a 50/50 split between the two? Do the programmers choose the films?

Great post LP! I've stated this many times in various threads across the boards, there are A LOT of films I haven't seen, many of which are considered bona fide classics-- Gone With the Wind, It's a Wonderful Life, Doctor Zhviago, Lawrence of Arabia, the list goes on. I don't need TCM to introduce me to these films though, I know about them and could obtain them if I wished. What I do need TCM for is to introduce me to the lesser known classics or even the classics that aren't as revered and well known as GWTW. An example of this would be The Thin Man series. I know that the first film is a classic, but I feel that it's really only considered a classic among the classic film lover community. I don't think the film is as well known as other films from The Golden Age. For years, I had heard of The Thin Man and for some reason, I thought it was a series of Westerns. I really don't know why I thought that, but I did. "The Thin Man" just sounded like the name of a cowboy to me. My dad (who also likes old films) for whatever reason, thought that "The Thin Man" was a sci-fi movie. It was on TCM when I finally watched The Thin Man and was entranced. I suddenly loved William Powell, Myrna Loy and Asta. I loved the relationship between Powell and Loy, loved how the story unfolded, loved Loy's costumes, just loved the whole film. From then on, I tried to catch the other films in the series. I am proud to say that because of TCM, I now have all six films in my movie collection. There are tons of films I found about about thanks to TCM that I've added to my film collection: Picnic, Miss Grant Takes Richmond, Four's a Crowd, Gilda, The Clock, Captain Blood, The Sea Hawk, Auntie Mame, the list goes on and on. There were many of my favorite actors whom I'd seen a few of their films, but thanks to TCM, I was able to see more of their films: Errol Flynn, Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Katharine Hepburn, William Holden, Lucille Ball, Cary Gant, Humphrey Bogart, Gene Kelly, Judy Garland, etc. There are other actors whom I'd heard of (but hadn't seen in action) or learned about for the first time thanks to TCM and people here at this forum: Ida Lupino, Ann Sheridan, Jean Harlow, Fred MacMurray, Claudette Colbert, Barbara Stanwyck, Jean Arthur, Edward G. Robinson, James Cagney, and the list goes on. I agree with Andy when he stated that TCM is an invaluable resource for classic movie fans and I'm happy to have access to it and to these boards where I can discuss films with like-minded people. I've learned about a ton of great films here and really appreciate the conversations and information that I've been provided with other the last year or so.

lol. Those Munchkins were creepy! Are any of them still alive? I thought I'd heard that the lollipop guild guy (the one who hands Dorothy the lollipop) was still around? But he might have died by now. I've always wanted to read The Wizard of Oz book series. I suspect that the books may answer some of our questions, or perhaps create new ones? I bet there are a lot of character back-stories that aren't filled in in the movie.

Re: James Bond. I would have loved to have seen him prior to being 007. Has he always been so sophisticated? Did he always prefer martinis, shaken not stirred? (maybe he used to be a boilermaker type guy!) How did Q and M get started at MI6? Perhaps James Bond underwent some type of Pygmalion make over and went from "geek to chic" ?

I like the idea of another film in the vein of White Christmas. Maybe it could center around another holiday or season. Or maybe Bing and Danny go on tour with The Sisters-- since presumably they're coupled off and married (?) now. If they've got the good songs and dancing routines like in White Christmas then they can't go wrong! Perhaps we could merge Holiday Inn with White Christmas and take ideas from both films somehow and make some super musical!

Cher would be good. She's been having some health problems recently which are probably taking a toll on her ability to tour extensively. Hosting The Essentials would definitely be a more low-key job.

No. I will not be helping you out-- nobody cares.

Thank you for the recommendation MissWonderly. It looks like The Ref is being added to the Netflix Instant Queue on New Years Day. I'll check it out! Kevin Spacey is always excellent even if the film he's in isn't. I'm also all about dark humor type films.

Marie Osmond’s Easy Lemon Cheesecake w/Blueberry Topping Ingredients8oz Cream Cheese – Soften by bringing to room temperature 14oz can Sweetened Condensed Milk ½ cup “Real Lemon” brand Lemon Juice 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract Ready made Graham Cracker Crust MethodUsing a mixer, whip softened cream cheese until fluffy. Add Sweetened condensed milk and continue to whip. Add lemon juice and vanilla. When all ingredients are mixed well, pour into a ready-made graham cracker crust (or you can make your own). Place in refrigerator for a few hours to chill. After chilled, serve with your favorite fruit topping (Fresh, frozen or canned), or enjoy plain. I do question her choice of using bottled lemon juice instead of juice from a real lemon. If lemon is such an integral ingredient, hence "Marie Osmond's Easy Lemon Cheesecake..." I don't know why you wouldn't use something fresh.

The slippers possess some sort of power right? Otherwise, I don't think the Wicked Witch of the West would want them so badly. I don't think she cared about the slippers just because they belonged to her deceased sister and the Wicked Witch of the West was feeling sentimental. She definitely didn't seem like she even cared that her sister was dead. My guess is that the Wicked Witch of the East somehow came into possession of the slippers, and the Wicked Witch of the West was upset and forever was trying to get them back. By crushing the Wicked Witch of the East with her house, Dorothy did the Wicked Witch of the West's dirty work for her and upon finding out her sister was dead, the Wicked Witch of the West came back to collect what she'd been trying to get for years. I would suspect that perhaps by possessing the slippers, the Wicked Witch of the East was the most powerful person in Oz. By giving the ruby slippers to Dorothy, I believe that Glinda was acting in the best interest of the Munchkins and all the other inhabitants of Oz. Glinda sees the good in Dorothy and feels she will take care of the slippers. What happened to the slippers after Dorothy clicked her heels and went home? My favorite lines in the whole film come courtesy of the gatekeeper at Emerald City. "Well bust my buttons!" -and- "Who rang that bell?" Good poll Holden!

I just revived an old thread that was already posted a month or so ago. Are you going to go through all the old threads and have them re-categorized?

I've somehow caught the last two weeks' worth of The Essentials, last week was Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and tonight was My Fair Lady. I hadn't seen the former, but have seen the latter multiple times. Next week is apparently The Thin Man, which I've also seen multiple times, but it never gets old, so I will probably watch it if I happen to not be busy at 5pm when it comes on. I know that The Essentials is derided on this board and I can understand why. While my intent isn't to start the Drew Barrymore bashing session again, I have to agree that she isn't the best choice for hosting. I have to think the "Barrymore" name played a large role in Barrymore's selection for co-host. There have to be other people with "names" that could also serve as good hosts. I missed TCM when Ileana Douglas was co-host, I wouldn't mind if she came back. Anjelica Huston I think would also be a good choice. I know Alec Baldwin is somewhat controversial, but when I've seen him with Osborne, I've liked their rapport. Listening to Barrymore defend My Fair Lady as an Essential, her justification didn't seem very organized or convincing. I felt like she was just throwing random metaphors and statements out that sounded like she knew what she was talking about. The point in my resurrecting this thread was I was curious how The Essentials are chosen. Does Drew Barrymore have free reign in choosing a set amount of films to discuss and then is tasked with defending her selections against Robert Osborne? Do Osborne and Barrymore collaborate on which films to choose? Or are the selections 50/50? Does Osborne choose half and Barrymore chooses the other half? I was curious because I've seen a couple segments of The Essentials now where Osborne has disagreed with a specific film being declared "essential." I think this is an interesting point of view to display as it shows how subjective the term "essential" is and I think it can open up a dialogue between people who want to defend (or deny) a film's right to be declared "Essential." I do like Lorna's suggestion that films be chosen as Essentials based on other criteria like cinematography, film score, etc. I think there can be a wider array of films selected. Although I think there need to be some parameters that are followed. If every film is declared "essential" are any films "essential" ? These are the "Essentials" that are slated for 2015 so far... 1/3/15 Bus Stop 1/10/15 Metropolis 1/17/15 Foreign Correspondent 1/24/15 Coal Miner's Daughter 1/31/15 Twentieth Century 3/7/15 Roman Holiday 3/14/15 A Tale of Two Cities 3/21/15 Now Voyager 3/28/15 The Prisoner of Zenda I've seen a few of these before, but ended up missing Foreign Correspondent even after having it recorded for months on the DVR. We just switched boxes, so I lost everything I hadn't watched. I am looking forward to this one. I look forward to seeing "essentials" that aren't always the usual suspects. Although, it baffles me why Double Indemnity hasn't been featured and something like Bus Stop is featured again. In my opinion, Double Indemnity is pretty much the film noir to end all film noirs featuring Barbara Stanwyck as the femme fatale to end all femme fatales.

I took your advice Fedya, and googled this. Surprised to find there was such a developed plot line and apparently at the time was a rather ambitious project (as far as adult films in the 1970s go). I find it hilarious that the lead actress was working under the pseudonym "Merrie Holiday" when she made this film. In the film, she was Carol Scrooge, Editor in chief of a Playgirl type magazine. She's working her poor employees to the bone (no pun intended, or was it?), including Bob Crachitt whom is forced to work on Christmas Eve on layouts for the upcoming issue. From reading the plot, it sounds like it stays faithful to Dickens' novel.

For some reason I find the idea of a pornographic A Christmas Carol hilarious. Each of the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future will have their way with Ebenezer and get "Scrooged." There is much storyline potential here.

I know what "white noise" is. What is pink noise?

Thanks Primos! I thought I had seen a lot of movies until I became more active on this board and learned that there are TONS of movies I haven't seen that I'd like to. I appreciate that people here are nice and willing to offer recommendations on their favorite films. From all the recommendations I've taken people up on, I haven't been disappointed. I just found the 1951 'Christmas Carol' on Netflix and added it to my queue. I also just realized how dense I am on literature apparently, I did not realize that A Christmas Carol was a Charles Dickens novel. Wow. Go me. Lol. In addition to watching more movies, I apparently also need to read more. Unfortunately for me, these two activities do not go hand in hand.

I have been trying to find out the scoop on what happened with their relationship and why they ultimately didn't marry, but I haven't found anything yet. Crawford's mother, Helen Broderick, appeared in Top Hat with Lucy and fixed her up with her son. I did find it interesting to learn that they both died on the same day-- April 26. Crawford died in 1986, and Ball in 1989.

Lol. I like "Frenchy" dying while doing something selfless. I'm shocked! Shocked that I'm dying! I like the Rick and Ilsa ending up together angle. I also like them moving to "the Valley." Lol. While being a housewife in the 1970s, Ilsa tires of the monotony and leads a resistance of women against the traditional gender roles. She later becomes a leader of the ERA movement.

I like it! Because you know that Nick and Nora were totally engaged in pre-marital shenanigans.

Lol. This is a much bleaker version than I had envisioned, however I do find the idea of him turning Rick in to the Nazis very interesting. After all, Rick did kill one of their own, Major Strausser. This would be an interesting twist. While I don't know about the Louis' VD aspect, I do like the idea of this sequel leading to a spin-off film, Mr. Skeffington (which would also explain how Mr. Skeffington ended up blind. VD is an appropriate explanation),That would be interesting and bizarre, but I like it!

I haven't seen the '51 version. I'll try to keep an eye out for it. There are so many versions of that film and the general story is so well known, it is interesting to see different directors/actors/etc. interpretations of it. Thank you for the recommendation!

I actually have the DVD. I got it for $7. I have a two-disc version that has the original b&w version and a colorized one. Good to know about Spinster Mary. I have a pretty good hunch that if Donna Reed didn't marry James Stewart, she'd probably be able to meet and marry another man. I doubt Stewart married her out of pity or thinking he was doing her a favor. Lol. I'm speculating, I haven't even seen the movie, but I have seen Donna Reed.

I'll just come out and say, it, I have never seen It's a Wonderful Life. I am going to remedy that this year though. While I don't mind sweet films, it depends on the type of sappiness it is. Hallmark Channel sappiness is a no-go for me; but if the sappiness seems geniune, then I can usually handle it and while I don't dislike Jimmy Stewart in any way, sometimes for me, a little of him can go a long way-- depends what type of character he is playing. I think I liked him better in the "more mature" part of his career. Anyway, I look forward to seeing what all the hype and "non-hype" is about. Films though that I find irritating: Bad Santa. I don't have an issue with raunchy humor, but there wasn't anything funny about this film. While the idea of Santa being grossly inappropriate is kind of funny, it wasn't in this film. I don't know what it was about it that didn't work for me, but I don't feel compelled to watch it again. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the live action one). First off, they took a 30-min cartoon (or a children's picture book) and stretched it out to a two hour length. They filled in the Grinch's backstory. I know this is a theme that I'm exploring in another thread, but I just didn't like where they went with this one. I always figured that the Whos banished the Grinch to the mountaintops because he was a jerk. Instead, in the live action film, we're told he exiled himself there after being taunted relentlessly by the Whos because he looked different than they did. Suddenly, the story became more about the Grinch seeking revenge instead of him just hating Christmas and the Whos' incessant singing of "Welcome Christmas." I believe the live action film also accuses the Whos of being materialistic; whereas in the cartoon, it is obvious that the Grinch assumes that Christmas is only about the gifts until he hears the Whos singing Christmas carols despite all their decorations and gifts being stolen. It is then when his heart grows three sizes and he finds the strength of 1000 Grinches + 2 and saves the gifts from falling off the mountain. Having him discover this and coming down the mountain and returning the gifts and being made the guest of honor in the cartoon is a much more satisfying conclusion than the one offered in the live action film. In the live action film, the Whos plead with him to return to Whoville and he is eventually made guest of honor at the feast. All these changes/additions to the plot are just too much of a variation on Dr. Seuss' original tale. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. The Claymation special from the 1960s. I like the other classic Christmas specials that came out during this decade (Charlie Brown, Grinch, Frosty) but I don't like this one. The voices of the reindeers are irritating. Hermey the elf who wants to be a dentist is really annoying. The only characters I like are: The Snowman; The Abominable Snowman and The Misfit toys. Jingle All the Way. While I like Phil Hartman, I'm not a fan of Schwarzenegger. He gets on my nerves. Though, what this film does do well is capture how ridiculous some people act during Christmas especially when it involves purchasing a coveted toy for their child. The exorbitant price hikes when purchasing items from toy scalpers, the fighting in the store, everything. Isn't Sinbad in this movie too? I wonder whatever happened to him? For some reason, 20 years later, this film is somewhat of a cult classic among younger generations. Kind of like what Hocus Pocus has become for Halloween. I have to agree with the consensus on the 1938 A Christmas Carol. It was so boring. The kids were so annoying. My favorite version of this story is A Muppet Christmas Carol. My last entry for this list: Every single Christmas-themed movie ever produced for The Hallmark Channel. ::gag:: There are not enough words to describe how much I loathe the films that The Hallmark Channel produces.

I like this idea. We know that Nick was a detective at some point, but by the 1934 film, he was married to Nora (who I think is a socialite, or just rich, I'm not sure, but financially, they're set). I could see them meeting during one of Nick's cases or perhaps they met at a nightclub while Nick was drowning in his 10th martini of the evening. Lol. Plus, more Asta is always a plus in my book.

This would be interesting. I could see Louis and Rick forming/joining a Resistance group in efforts to thwart the Nazi occupation of France. This would allow Paul Henried and Ingrid Bergman to come back as well. Victor could team up with Rick and Louis. By this time, perhaps Ilsa has joined her husband in his efforts. The four of them could be major players in a resistance movement in France. Perhaps Louis, seeing that he is law enforcement, afterall, could serve as some type of double agent to gain access to the Nazis, while simultaneously fulfilling Resistance duties. They could return to Casablanca and see that Rick's Cafe American (which he sold to Ferrari) has been turned into Ferrari's headquarters for the Resistance movement he is involved with in Casablanca. Somehow, Sam would have to be worked into the plot as well. Maybe for some extra romance/drama, Rick and Ilsa start having feelings for each other again, which serves as a distraction for Victor who is heavily involved in the resistance movement.