ValentineXavier
-
Posts
6,917 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
2
Posts posted by ValentineXavier
-
-
When the Tea Party started, they called themselves "tea baggers." I have seen the clips on cable. It was after they found out the other meaning that they stopped calling themselves that.
Personally, when used in context of a political opinion, I would not assume the sexual meaning was intended. But, I would suspect that, just as most Republicans refer to "The Democrat Party," instead of 'The Democratic Party,' using the term "tea bagger" is probably a veiled insult, without really alleging the sexual connotations.
-
> {quote:title=Ascotrudgeracer wrote:}{quote}Watching it on AMC at this moment...what a pleasure!
> Can't tell you if it's cameras, lenses or Clooney, but this movie is beautifully filmed in glorious b&w that looks like the 1940's.
>
> This movie proves my point; the vintage look CAN be accomplished and is far superior to the crappy look of today's offerings.
Glad you're enjoying it. I liked it too. Sorry you didn't catch it a while back, when it was on a channel w/o commercials.
-
It Came From Outer Space 1953
Them! 1954
The Monster that Challenged the World 1957
The Black Scorpion 1957
The Blob 1958
I believe that all of those have been shown in the last year, as was *Shapes of Things to Come*. I'd really like to see *This Island Earth*. It's a favorite of mine, and I don't think TCM has shown it.
-
> {quote:title=SoCalGal16 wrote:}{quote}. Many more then Barry Sotero has done in 3 years in office. But then again, Trump has talent. A modern day P.T. Barnum.
SCG, I also believe that the reason you were called a "tea bagger," aka a 'tea partier' is because of this part of your post, not anything you said about Baldwin.
I believe the spelling used by Birthers, conspiracy theorists, and Tea Party members is actually "Barry Soetoro," This is part of some of their theories that President Obama is not a US citizen.
You seem to be insulted by being called a Tea Party member. Given the opinions you have posted, I don't think many people would reasonably expect you to find that an insult, even if someone on the left considers it a pejorative.
That's as far as I'm going to go with this. I just wanted you to understand why you were labeled as you were. Although I disagree with your political opinions quite a bit, this is not a political forum, so I will make no attempt to refute them, and will not touch this subject again.
-
Well, I am *VERY* happy to be seeing complete, uncut eps of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour on the Encore Suspense channel, and think them very appropriate there.
But, then I am rather unhappy that once or twice per B&W ep, they run a color ad banner near the bottom. Ugh.
-
Thanks for posting that. It gives definitive answers to lots of common questions. I'd say that it also indicates why we don't have true HD on TCMHD yet.
-
Michael, perhaps you could move this thread to the Czech Republic. It could use a good praguetologist...
-
From *The President's Analyst:*
>*Dr. Sidney Schaefer:* You know, one thing I learned from my patients... they all hate the phone company. It's interesting; even the stock holders of the phone company hate the phone company!
>*V.I. Kydor Kropotkin:* I know. Bedouins hate the phone company. Matter of fact, I've never been in a country where everybody didn't hate the phone company.
and:
>*V.I. Kydor Kropotkin:* Are you trying to tell me every phone in the country is tapped?
>*Don Masters, CEA Agent:* That's what's in my head.
>*V.I. Kydor Kropotkin:* Don, this is America, not Russia!
-
Colorized movies look like crummy prints of old cartoons. They should just give up trying to make the colorized films look 'realistic,' and set out to use the coloring to make them look like cartoons. At least then, they would look like good prints of new cartoons...


-
> {quote:title=finance wrote:}{quote}Noirish elements in HOLIDAY AFFAIR? Like what? Mitchum's daughter says the studio put him in this to counter his arrest.
>
Aha! One more noirish element I didn't know about!
Seriously, I didn't claim the film was a noir, or even a near noir. It isn't. But, all of the actors are noir stars. Mitchum does get a noirish sort of bad break. Even some of the dialog, taken out of context, sounds sort of noirish:
>*Connie Ennis:* Oh, you're always so wrong about me. I have a wonderful memory of a husband and a marriage. You're trying to take it away from me.
>*Steve Mason:* Nobody wants to do that. I know. I'm sure Carl doesn't. All anybody wants is for you to live in the present and not be afraid of the future. You know, maybe it could happen again if you quit pretending that something that's dead is still alive.
-
TCM tries to show all films in their original aspect ratio, but some obscure films haven't had WS transfers, and some films that have had OAR WS transfers still show up in 4x3. But, most films that were made in WS are shown in their OAR.
On TCM-SD, that means they are letterboxed. On TCMHD, they are shown WS, so they will fill your screen (side-to-side, at least,) without having to be zoomed. Of course, 2.35:1 films will have black bars at top and bottom. The rare 1.85:1 film that is actually shown at 1.85:1, (not 16x9, aka 1.78:1) will have very thin black strips top and bottom, if your TV doesn't have too much overscan.
But, TCM still isn't showing any true HD yet. They are uprezzed to HD. So, they usually look as good as an anamorphic DVD, but aren't HD. Speculation is that TCM doesn't have access to enough of its lineup in HD to start HD transmission yet. Me, I think they should be showing what there is available in HD, in HD.
-
It's usually called *The Fearless Vampire Killers*, but the full title is:
*The Fearless Vampire Killers or: Pardon Me, But Your Teeth Are in My Neck*.
-
> {quote:title=Ascotrudgeracer wrote:}{quote}Those cameras from the 40's and 50's gave a texture to film that was so beautiful. Those machines must be somewhere...why not dust them off and use them? Utilize the mid-century microphones and recorders, too.
>
> As for the performers, I believe people today do not look like people from the classic days of cinema, AND it's more than hair and the fact that humans are forever getting larger. It just seems like when they try to make a WW2 movie today, the actors/actresses don't look right.
Steve Soderbergh, in his 2006 film *The Good German*, used some old equipment, and old techniques, to give a period look. From the IMDb:
>The film was shot as if it had been made in 1945. Only studio back lots, sets and local Los Angeles locations were used. No radio microphones were used, the film was lit with only incandescent lights and period lenses were used on the cameras. The actors were directed to perform in a presentational, stage style. The only allowance was the inclusion of nudity, violence and cursing which would have been forbidden by the Production Code.
>Steven Soderbergh, wishing to shoot this film the old Hollywood way, banned the use of sophisticated zoom lenses used by today's cinematographers, returning to the fixed focal-length lenses used in the past. Furthermore, only incandescent lights were used which provided harsh, unnatural lighting. There were also no wireless body microphones, which would allow the faintest whispers to be heard, on set. Sound was recorded the old-fashioned way, with a hand-operated boom mike held above the actors head, which consequently forced the actors to speak in loud, crisp English.
-
I'll bet they held the anchovies.

-
Robert Mitchum
Errol Flynn
Orson Welles
Paul Muni
Malcolm McDowell...
no particular order
-
Ouch! Fuller and Garnett are two of my favorites!
I don't care much for Lucas either, but *THX 1138* is a great film.
-
I'll add Kurt Vonnegut and Thomas Pynchon to the list. I'd even add Edgar Rice Burroughs to the list. When I was a teen, I couldn't put his books down.
-
> {quote:title=phw wrote:}{quote}I couldn't swear 'They Live' was edited and at least they tried to adhere to the original aspect ratio albeit with a smaller image because the source obviously wasn't HD.
>
I recorded *They Live*, and made an anamorphic DVD, but I haven't watched it yet. I have it on LD, but haven't watched it in years, so I can't say whether it was cut. No, it wasn't in HD, but I don't know what you mean by a "smaller image." From TCMHD, the image filled the screen side-to-side, and was in the OAR.
> It just seemed pointless screening 'The Fog' especially when the director goes out of his way to shoot 2:35:1 widescreen anamorphic.
> I'd expect that kind of treatment on Sci-Fi (can't type Sy-Fy) Channel or 'regular' TV... but a dedicated movie channel like my dear old TCM... just seems wrong.
>
Yeah, I don't like seeing WS movies in 4x3 either. I don't know why TCM can't get *The Fog*, or *The Green Slime*, and a few other films that definitely have WS transfers, in their OAR. Some obscure, older films have only 4x3 transfers available, so I understand those being in 4x3.
> I hear what you're saying about the old B&W movies... my initial frustration and despair with TCM HD arrived during the Halloween movie marathon when I was hoping to be able to see all my old Universal Classics in glorious HD... but instead got a horrible 4x3 squeeze... but i guess there's no money in paying to upres all that old content.
>
I don't know what you mean by the "horrible 4x3 squeeze." When I watch a 4x3 film from a HD channel, I just set the screen size at "4x3," not stretched to "Wide." The 4x3 isn't squeezed. 4x3 films, shown on TCMHD, look just a bit better than the same film on TCMSD.
> It's only a minor gripe... but through the vagaries of TV broadcasting... SD transmissions look terrible on my TV and so if i can't watch stuff on the HD channels then I tend not to watch it. (not sure if it's an issue with my TV or with the Time Warner Cable signal)
Some HDTVs do a lousy job with SD sources, some do a great job. I have a 56" Samsung DLP TV, and SD looks quite good on it. Not as good as true HD of course. But, way better than SD looked on my old 48" SD CRT RPTV.
Edited by: ValentineXavier on Dec 11, 2011 3:14 AM
-
I've been away for a couple of days, and want to offer my 1.99 cents... As some have said, trolls aren't that big a deal, usually. It's just words on a board. Some time back, I advocated replying to trolls with: ~~~^~~^~~~ to indicate sharks in the water. Some said that was too inflammatory.
I think a banned list, perhaps including the post that was the last straw, is a good idea. It should have a button, not be a column on the main page.
I don't think more complicated registration is the answer. We all have to give an email address. New registrations using an email address from a banned account could be blocked. Yeah, I know, some people have several, but they would run out eventually, or be inconvenienced to acquire more. That might help a bit. Or at least, annoy them.
If someone who was banned comes back and is civil, that's fine with me. I know at least one poster here was banned a time or two, and is now quite civil, and a good contributor.
-
No, no, no, you've got it all wrong... it's the one where Mitchum spots the young son of a good lookin' woman shoplifting a toy. He tries to cover for them by swallowing the evidence. But, he chokes to death, and falls dead at Santa's feet. This scares the bejezus out of all the little kids waiting in line to see Santa, and they run screaming through the store. A Christmas tree with lighted candles is knocked over, starting a huge fire that kills a store full of holiday shoppers.

-
Ooww! My ears!

-
> {quote:title=mrroberts wrote:}{quote}Doesn't look like there are any film noir pictures on the horizon at TCM or FMC, guess its the time of the year, no Christmas themed noirs made.
Well, sort of. *Christmas Holiday* is a solid noir, with Christmas as part of the setting.
There is Michael Curtiz's film *We're No Angels*, a slightly noirish crime/comedy film, starring:
Humphrey Bogart ... Joseph
Aldo Ray ... Albert
Peter Ustinov ... Jules
Joan Bennett ... Amelie Ducotel
Basil Rathbone ... Andre Trochard
Leo G. Carroll ... Felix Ducotel
John Baer ... Paul Trochard
Gloria Talbott ... Isabelle Ducotel
Lea Penman ... Mme. Parole
John Smith ... Medical Officer Arnaud
And there is the 1949 film *Holiday Affair*, which is very Christmasy, and has a few noirish elements, and a noir cast:
Robert Mitchum ... Steve Mason
Janet Leigh ... Connie Ennis
Wendell Corey ... Carl Davis
Gordon Gebert ... Timmy Ennis
Griff Barnett ... Mr. Ennis
Esther Dale ... Mrs. Ennis
Henry O'Neill ... Mr. Crowley
Harry Morgan ... Police Lieutenant (as Henry Morgan)
Larry J. Blake ... Johnson - Plainclothesman
Helen Brown ... Emily
-
>William Lundigan ... Ben Gammon
>Betsy Palmer ... Emmy Verdon
>Jane Greer ... Karen
>Keenan Wynn ... Marshall Keats
>Cliff Edwards ... Webber's Manager
>Harry Einstein ... Mr. Laurie
>Jay C. Flippen ... Happy Gallant
>Reginald Gardiner ... Felix Allardyce
>James Gleason ... Dolph Grimes
>Jack Haley ... Stanley Leeds
>Florence Halop ... Mrs. Laurie
>Buster Keaton ... Harrison
>Chico Marx ... Mr. Kramer
>Sylvia Sidney ... Mrs. Kramer
>Shepperd Strudwick ... Reagan
That's quite a cast, alright!
-
Check your schedule. It's coming to TCM very soon.

"Yes we can can!" said Little Nicola.
in Your Favorites
Posted
What great names we had for bands back then - Moby Grape, The Chocolate Watch Band, Strawberry Alarm Clock, Lothar and the Hand People, Oedipus Rex and the M-F-ers...