[I Just Watched...]

Has anyone read Ayn Rand's book The Fountainhead ?  

EDIT: I wanted to know how well the movie followed the book.  Apparently my husband has read the book.  After finishing The Fountainhead, he decided he'd had enough of Ayn Rand and isn't pursuing any of her other works.

[Elton John won again for maybe for perhaps the worst song of his career]

25 minutes ago, JamesStewartFan95 said:

I thought that they selected the wrong Frozen II and Toy Story 4 songs.

I haven't seen either film, so I wouldn't know.

I saw the first Frozen and thought it was okay, but hardly worth the hype.  I thought Tangled was way better. I also really got sick of "Let it Go." 

I love Toy Story but I'm conflicted as to whether a 4th one needs to exist.  I thought that the third one ended the story perfectly.  

[How Do You Approach Your Film Viewing?]

15 minutes ago, LawrenceA said:

 

I've had a Letterboxd account for a long time ( https://letterboxd.com/LawrenceA/ ), but have only recently begun messing around with it. 

At first I just clicked the "watched" button for what I'd seen, but have recently begun the laborious task of trying to put ratings in. Having seen over 17 thousand movies, it's quite an undertaking.

My question to you two (and anyone else who uses the service) is what's the purpose of the separate "Like" button? It seems to me that one could tell what movies you liked by the ratings you leave. Are you supposed to both rate them, and then "Like" the ones that you rated highly enough? It seems redundant.

I've been reviewing the films that I've already seen as I re-watch them.   If it's a recent watch, then obviously my initial thoughts are fresh in my mind.  But going back to all the movies that I've seen, unless it's something I've seen a million times, I usually can't remember enough specifics to write a decent review. 

I was thinking that maybe the Like button is for people who don't want to review films? 

I don't really know.  I pretty much click it every single time unless I really hated a movie.  I agree though that it's redundant. 

I'm "following" you now o.O

[Elton John won again for maybe for perhaps the worst song of his career]

11 minutes ago, Dargo said:

I've always thought this album was one of few by any artist which doesn't contain a bad song on it.

That album is fantastic. I agree, there is not a single bad song on it. I have the CD, but I really want the vinyl. 

[What film got you started?]

When I was little, when AMC still showed old movies, every Saturday morning we used to watch Laurel and Hardy.  I seem to recall Marx Brothers marathons and some Three Stooges sprinkled in there.  Then I would see old movies here and there like the annual viewing of The Wizard of Oz, and I remember renting Psycho and The Birds.  We also used to rent movies and eat take-and-bake pizza every Friday night (video store was next door to the pizza shop).  I rented every single Hayley Mills movie. 

But honestly, what really got the ball rolling for me was I Love Lucy.  I discovered I Love Lucy on Nick-at-Nite in the mid-90s (at 11-12 years old or so) and loved Lucille Ball. Which led to me borrowing books about her from the library.  Which then led to me learning that she had a movie career prior to I Love Lucy.  This led me to the AV department of the library, where I was able to borrow many Lucille Ball movies on VHS from the library.  I clearly remember borrowing Too Many Girls, Sorrowful Jones, The Long, Long Trailer, Du Barry Was a Lady, and Stage Door.   I remember seeing Gene Kelly in Du Barry Was a Lady, and then hearing that he'd died shortly thereafter.  I then borrowed Gene Kelly movies like Singin in the Rain to learn about him.  My trend of learning about other actors continued as I watched more and more films.  But I can trace it all back to I Love Lucy.

Then in high school, I had a period where I felt like I was weird for liking old movies and old television shows.  While I still watched Nick-at-Nite, I kind of kept my love of these things on the downlow.  Then when Nick at Nite went to pot and I Love Lucy was no longer airing, I kind of stopped watching it for awhile (!).  Then, one day, as a 20-something adult, I had an epiphany and was like "why am I denying myself things that I truly love and enjoy?"  So back to old movies and television it was and I haven't looked back.  In the last 15 years or so, once I had TCM again, I've really gotten back into it and increased my knowledge of old movies and television tenfold. 

[Favourite Guilty Pleasure Films]

I don't particularly agree with "guilty pleasures" as I don't feel guilty for liking anything that I enjoy.  However, falling under the definition you provided above, I love:

Clue

The Brady Bunch Movie

A Very Brady Sequel

UHF

Big Trouble in Little China

Roadhouse

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Cocktail

Flashdance

The Legend of Billie Jean

Barbarella

Love Actually

Overboard (1987)

She's All That

Weekend at Bernies

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

Gremlins

Dirty Dancing

So I Married an Axe Murderer

Xanadu

Roller Boogie

 

Probably a third of my movie collection is comprised of so-called guilty pleasures.  If there are sub-genres that I love it's the following: 80s-90s teen sex comedies, 50s-60s teen beach movies, ladies in prison, movies that feature a lot of dancing, but aren't necessarily musicals (a la Dirty Dancing, Flashdance, Footloose),  roller disco films, anything involving some type of makeover... 

But I don't feel guilty about loving any of it.  All films are proudly displayed.

 

 

[Elton John won again for maybe for perhaps the worst song of his career]

4 minutes ago, Dargo said:

Whaddaya talkin' here, Sepia?!

Sure, the first one pretty much sucks, but I always turn up the volume a bit whenever Philadelphia Freedom comes on the radio!

(...and besides, YOU try writtin' a song for a professional tennis team and see how far ya get, dude!)  

Lol. I like "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" not because it's good per se, but because it's fun.  My dad absolutely loathes "Philadelphia Freedom."  He says that it's because in 1976 that's all they heard on the radio during the bicentennial celebrations.  He just got sick of the song.

My favorite Elton John songs are: The B**** is Back, Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding, Your Song, Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting, Grey Seal, and his version of The Who's Pinball Wizard.  The Elton John part of Tommy is the best part of the movie.  The second best part? Ann-Margret throwing baked beans all over the room.

Right now, I'm looking for a copy of his "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" album on vinyl.

[I Just Watched...]

Does Alexis Smith appear in any films with her husband, Craig Stevens? I know that they're both in Dive Bomber, but they're not really acting together in that film.

[I Just Watched...]

1 minute ago, jamesjazzguitar said:

Alexis Smith is good in The Woman in White a Warner period drama with Sydney Greenstreet,  and Eleanor Parker (playing two characters).    (but like in a lot of movies,  Agnes Moorehead gives the most compelling performance).

 

 

This was a great movie! I also liked Alexis in a more comedic role in The Doughgirls. 

[Have you seen these 10 classic films..?]

I love 664 White Christmas.  I watch it multiple times every Christmas season. I also love 667 Paper Moon. I feel a special kindred spirit with 668 The Karate Kid, it came out in theaters the exact day I was born. I saw 669 Much Ado About Nothing once in school.  It was okay.  I also enjoyed 670 Chicago mostly because I like the music. 

I think 662 might be Lillian Russell with Alice Faye (?).  I haven't seen it because I recognize the picture from the DVD case. I just learned about 661 Min and Bill from a podcast I listened to about Marie Dressler, I haven't seen the film though.

I haven't seen the other films.

[I Just Watched...]

5 hours ago, TikiSoo said:

Interesting....ever since I first saw Alexis Smith in THE HORN BLOWS AT MIDNIGHT as a kid, I had a thing for her. You could tell she was tall, and had beautiful red hair even in b&w...there is just something natural, yet elegant about her. "Alexis" was even my first choice of name if I had a girl (I didn't)

Funny, reading her bio on Wiki, she was brought up in LA but wasn't "discovered" by the studios until college. Also on wiki:

Smith was born in Penticton, British Columbia to Gladys Mabel Fitz-Simmons (a Canadian) and Alexander Smith (a Scot).

OK, so my terminology has yet again been corrected.

I really like Alexis Smith.  I think she's gorgeous and I like the stoic quality that she brings to many of her roles.  I loved her in Gentleman Jim.  I want to see The Turning Point with Smith, William Holden, and Edmond O'Brien but it hasn't shown up on TCM recently. 

[I Just Watched...]

1 hour ago, TomJH said:

It sounds like her voice. By the way, despite his presence in this scene, I've always suspected that Errol wasn't on the set when Alexis sang this number but was cut in later. You never see his face in a shot with her.

Alexis and Errol actually sing together in Montana.  I always liked that part of the film even if it's a little goofy. 

[Elton John won again for maybe for perhaps the worst song of his career]

I thought Elton John's song was pretty good and I loved Rocketman.  I honestly thought all of the other songs were pretty boring.  The Frozen 2 song was just a re-hash of "Let it Go" and I cannot remember any of the other songs.

I feel like Elton John and Bernie Taupin's Oscar wasn't necessarily for that particular song, but for their career as a whole.

[You can dis the oscars, but you still talk about em.]

1 minute ago, LawrenceA said:

I like Greta Gerwig quite a bit. I was aware of her as an actress before her becoming a director, and I'm happy for her success. I haven't seen Little Women, but it's likely I'll find her work on it more interesting than that of nominee Todd Phillips' on Joker, a movie where one of the weakest elements was the direction.

I didn’t realize that Gerwig was an actress. I just watched “Joker” last night. I thought it was good, but I hardly think it’s the greatest movie I’ve ever seen (obviously that’s “The Long, Long Trailer”). Perhaps it was over-hyped? I did think Joaquin Phoenix did a great job though. The thing I loved most about the movie was the soundtrack! For whatever reason, using such old songs (not contemporary for a movie that takes place in 1981), gave the movie a dystopian feel. I loved seeing the clip of “Shall We Dance.”

I liked “Joker” but I don’t think I need to see it again. What I do need to see again however, is “Batman: The Animated Series” with Mark Hamill as Joker. That was a great show and I haven’t seen it since it was new! 

[You can dis the oscars, but you still talk about em.]

1 minute ago, Dargo said:

(...OR as I just said in another of these Oscar themed thread: "Half the fun of watching the Oscar telecast is waiting to see who is going to make an a$$ out of themselves")

Honestly, this and seeing who will wear a hideous gown is why I watch. 

[You can dis the oscars, but you still talk about em.]

21 minutes ago, Bethluvsfilms said:

I will concede on one point....I know in the directing category there has been very scarce directing nominations for women, and to date Kathryn Bigelow is the only female to actually win Best Director. But as a woman, and I can only speak for myself, if I was a woman director, I would want to be nominated and win for my work, not because I was born a female.

There are some fantastic female directors out there right now.  Greta Gerwig is a fairly new to movies and of the two films of hers that I've seen (Lady Bird and Little Women) I thought that both were fantastic.  I have no doubt that she'll win an Oscar someday.  She's only a year older than me too which I find interesting.  Usually the directors are at least 2-3 decades older than me.  Ava DuVernay's films are well received as well.  I have no doubt that she'll also win an Oscar at some point. 

[You can dis the oscars, but you still talk about em.]

5 minutes ago, slaytonf said:

A sentiment I have not doubt shared by all women directors.

I feel like it would be disappointing to know that you were nominated to fill a quota.

In order to prove that women and minorities were underrepresented, you would have to prove that the nomination committee was purposely overlooking them due to race, gender, etc.

[You can dis the oscars, but you still talk about em.]

Just now, slaytonf said:

I like both the American and British versions.  But I was talking about Antiques Road Trip, a show where two antiques experts roam around Britain buying antiques and then auctioning them in competition to see who earns the most money.  You can find it on YouTube.

Oh I've never heard of that show! I'll have to look for it.  Thanks!

[You can dis the oscars, but you still talk about em.]

30 minutes ago, Bethluvsfilms said:

I love it when something totally unexpected and shocking happens.

I'll never forget when Adrien Brody went up to the podium to accept his Best Actor Oscar for THE PIANIST in 2002 and he takes Halle Berry off guard and locks lips with her.

Now THAT was an Oscar moment no one could have foreseen.

Nothing like that happened at this year's Oscars, or in recent Oscar telecasts over the years.

I suppose I'll keep on watching the Oscars anyway no matter what. I hate to break my own traditions, lol.

YES! The 90s had so many of these great moments: Roberto Benigni climbing all over the chairs, Jack Palance doing push-ups on the stage... Any time Billy Crystal hosted with Jack Nicholson front row. I also love when people trip on the stairs. 

I have a dream of someday being an Oscars seat filler.

[You can dis the oscars, but you still talk about em.]

26 minutes ago, slaytonf said:

For some reason I like that show.  If it had been described to me, I would have thought there would be no way I would spend my precious time here on Earth watching it. 

Same with Antiques Road Trip.

I love Antiques Roadshow!  I especially love the episodes when they look back on past appraisals and then reveal if the item is worth more or less now than at the time of the show.  I like when the item is worth less because they play a funny "Wahh Wahh" sound with it.

My favorite part of The Great British Baking Show are the illustrations of what the baker is attempting to make.   I also like that everyone is supportive and nice to one another. There is no large cash prize incentive, so people aren't compelled to be mean and nasty.  It's just a pleasant show.  I've also learned so much about European desserts.  I would have never known that there was a British Tennis Cake (literally a sponge cake with a tennis court on top) or what a Battenberg cake was. 

[You can dis the oscars, but you still talk about em.]

10 minutes ago, Bethluvsfilms said:

I used to watch the Emmys, but lost interest, as I stopped watching the newest shows when the new seasons started out in the fall.

I'm mostly into just watching TCM or my DVD's now.

I always watch the Emmys even though I usually haven't seen 99% of the shows.  I have no idea why. It's probably because I like to snark on the fashion.  When I was little (in the 90s, lol) with my mom we'd always watch every award show (to snark on the fashion), the Olympics and every figure skating event. I know a lot about 90s figure skating--which is why I loved I, Tonya so much.

There are just way too many shows to watch.  To quote the lady on the internet whose apartment burned down: "A'int nobody got time for that." 

I have my select shows that I actually watch: Archer, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Great British Baking Show... But I mostly watch Hulu, Disney+, TCM, Food Network (I love Chopped and Worst Cooks in America), and my DVDs. 

[You can dis the oscars, but you still talk about em.]

3 hours ago, Bethluvsfilms said:

I'm all for more nominations for women and minorities.....but again I say it should be based on their talent, not on their gender or race.

When you start giving nominations to appease a certain group (even if the performances or direction are mediocre), then the awards become meaningless.

The Academy is under no obligation to hand out nominations based on affirmative action.

::steps on soapbox::

I think the Oscars (and anything really) start to lose meaning if you're just selecting people to fill specific slots. 

"Well, this film really was superior, but we don't have a film from a woman yet, so I guess we'll have to pick this one."  I think is a really crappy way to go about choosing nominees.  That's not to say that there weren't worthy films from women and minorities.  However, in order to say that so-and-so group is underrepresented or not even being considered for an award, you'd have to prove that such and such film was worthy and the nomination committee purposely overlooked it because it was made by a woman (e.g.).  

I agree that everyone who made a film deserves consideration, but much like affirmative action when it comes to the job market (e.g.) or collegiate scholarships, it's sometimes a difficult idea to agree with when it isn't clear that someone is being chosen for their ability or because a company (e.g.) needs to have a woman or a minority among their staff. 

At this point, while yes, I definitely agree that EVERYONE deserves a chance at a nomination and hopefully winning an award, the constant "so and so group is underrepresented at the Oscars" argument starts to feel stale when it is literally the same every year.  The armchair activists sit at home whining about representation.  Are they doing anything to perhaps spread the word about these filmmakers' films? Probably not. 

::steps off soapbox::

[You can dis the oscars, but you still talk about em.]

4 hours ago, Bethluvsfilms said:

I admit I watch the Oscars no matter what, it's become a tradition to me,  but I swear some of the speeches were really long-winded (cough, cough, sorry Joaquin),

As I said it another thread, it got tedious after awhile, first the digs from Chris Rock about the lack of diversity in the nominees this year in the acting awards this year (never mind the fact that there were 2 African American Supporting Awards last year) and the ENDLESS subtle patroninzing from the female presenters about no female nominations in the directing category.

I am sorry now I didn't just skip the whole show....I can easily find out who won on the Internet.

 

I always watch the Oscars and the Emmys, every year.  I have since I was little. Golden Globes I'll catch here and there.  The Grammys I used to watch but have lost interest over the years when they started giving awards to just anyone. 

But Oscars, Emmys, and Olympics are the events I always watch no matter what.

[Have you seen these 10 classic films..?]

22 minutes ago, Fedya said:

Every time I see mention of Goodbye Mr. Chips, I think of the piece Peter O'Toole did for TCM talking about his getting the lead in the musical remake despite is spectacular inability to sing, and they cut to a shot of O'Toole singing "Where.  Did.  My.  Child.  Hood.  Go?", for some values of singing.

He must have gone to the same singing school as Rex Harrison and William Shatner.

[Have you seen these 10 classic films..?]

25 minutes ago, Fedya said:

Have you seen Love Crazy?

Yes I have.  I forgot about that film--which I don't know how.  The sight of William Powell without his mustache was etched in my mind for days after seeing the film for the first time.  Talk about someone needing a mustache!