JamesJazGuitar
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Posts posted by JamesJazGuitar
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You say you don't understand where I'm coming from and it appears you really don't but since you asked me not to discuss this topic I will not. All I will say is that I live in Laguna here in CA, I play in a band with a few gay guys, my bro-in-law is gay, and thus I hang out with gay guys all the time. If you wish to try to understand my POV let me know, otherwise we can drop it.
As for my favorite actors; it is Leslie Howard. I really love the intelligence he brings to the screen.
Take care.
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Sorry but no one pointed anything close to a weapon at someone like Rock even in the USA of the 50s. Now if you were talking about a nation like Iran I would agree with the use of the term forced. Rock could of done a few films banked some money and then told the studio he wasn't going to play the game and moved to a gay friendly place like San Francisco. He had his reasons for NOT doing so. I don't fault his choices but he had a say. To imply otherwise is folly in my view.
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Interesting point about Ladd verses, say, Joel McCrea. The movie doesn't go into why Shane has decided to no longer be a gun fighter. Is that because Stevens and the Producers didn't feel that was necessary to the story line or because of the limitations of Ladd as an actor to convey those type of deep rooted feelings?
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I agree with your take here, but heavily influenced is not on the same level as forced. I also agree with your take that they are "aware of the threat and potential danger of coming out". Thus back to Rock; He was aware and made the choice, along with his agent and the studio heads in the 'know' to lay low in order to have a career as a leading man. I don't fault the studio for 'playing games' but instead the general public and backwards views of the times that made these games necessary.
Sadly we have not come far enough. I was part of the defeat Prop 8 team here in CA and even in this liberal state our efforts failed. We will not be pushing this again in the 2012 election because the times still have not changed enough.
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Rock and others were not forced into anything. If they didn't wish things to be left private they could of exposed them. Of course it would of hurt their careers. It is reasonsable to assume that Rock was protecting his own economic interest as well as the studio's.
I agree that no one should have to leave their sexual orientation private but sadly one might wish to for reasons that benefits them economically or even emotionally (e.g. say if one lives in a religious family). Thus they are still making a choice and conceding their personal power to the will of others.
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Is Joan 3 months pregnant here? Maybe it is just the angle of the shot but I didn't even know who it was at first. Not a good picture of Joan at all.
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Well that saying does imply there might be something wrong with being gay but to me the reason is because to a many people (sadly about 50%), there is something wrong with being gay. Sadly too many people just don't have a mature understanding of human sexuality. I'm in a very liberal state CA and my wife and I worked hard to try to defeat Prop 8 but to no avail.
But I can see why some in the gay community could find the saying offensive since of course there isn't anything wrong with being who one is.
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I really enjoy No Man of Her Own. Very good pre-code movie. The best scene and what clearly gives the movie the stamp of pre-code (other than Lombard gets out of her cloths to go swimming), is where Gable clearly is pushing Lombard for sex and he goes to flip a coin; Head they get married tails, they,,,, then the coin is filped and it faids to Gable putting a ring on Lombard.
I saw this scene about 20 years ago when I was just getting into classic movies and I didn't know anything about pre-code movies (hey, I hadn't seen Night Nurse yet!), and I was very surprised.
No Man of Her Own is one of Lombard's best early, non screwball comedies. Gable is always great as the heal that does good in the last real.
Edited by: jamesjazzguitar on Nov 25, 2011 7:08 PM
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acquired taste, which is a euphemism for "sucks".
Hey, I can see where the above is true; i.e. people are using the term 'acquired taste' as just a way of being nice and avoiding saying something 'sucks', but this isn't how I use it.
Take the Kinks; To me many of their songs are an acquired taste; Ray wasn't the best singer or someone with a great (pure), type of voice. As for the music, while their 'hits' were structured like typically pop songs, their albums had many songs that have less then pop sounds. Compare Soap Opera to Muswell Hillbillies!
So if asked about the Kinks I might say they are an aquired taste, but I don't think they suck! They are one of my favorite bands.
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I'm sorry I wasn't talking about what one does for work but for pleasure i.e. a hobby. I'm a software engineer working with statistical algorithims and I while I enjoy my work, it isn't my hobby. I find it rewarding to have a life long hobby where one has to gain skill and knowledge endlessly. So much the better if the hobby combines both physical training as well as mental.
As for movies; there are thousand of movies and one has to make a choice of what to see and just as important what one will NOT see (i.e. what movies are not 'worth' putting aside time to enjoy or not).
Without anytype of what you are calling "analysis", how to do decide what movies you will watch not watch? I find it had to believe you just ramdomly pick movies, but hey, maybe you are different than most.
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Giant
in Hot Topics
With regards to comparing different movies, we had that thread with a comparision between Gone With The Wind and Laurence of Arabia. I can see a comparision with these movies between Giant since all are epics.
Take LOA; I know some people (the wife is one), that feel this movie is boring. I can see why since there are some long stretches where there is no dialog. But I find the 'style' of the movie and the over stroy more interesting than that of Giant.
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Just to ensure you are not confused; Cary Grant is really not an angel but only a man. I have to remind my wife of that all the time!
The Bishop's Wife is also my favorite Holiday movie. The movies has a very good message but it gets it across in a non heavy handed way. Fine character actors also in Lancaster and Woolly.
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Giant
in Hot Topics
I tried to go back and determine why FHTE was even added to this conversation. Of course anytime there is a thread related to a specific movie one can say 'film X is better' but there should be some connection between the two films. e.g. the same director, common actors, common theme or plot etc.. something.
I don't see any connection either. Of course maybe I missed prior post where sometype of connection was made.
Edited by: jamesjazzguitar on Nov 24, 2011 2:24 PM
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Your point about the Mitchum version of The Big Sleep is one of the reasons for making a remake. i.e. the movie can be more true to the original story.
Note the in the Bogie version the gay theme is still there but one has to really look for it. For example, the name of the young gay man is Carol. This is fairly common in censored movies; give the gay guy a feminine name. Then there is how Carol lays out the body on the bed like it is a shrine. Thissays that the relationship between the dead man and the young man was more than just employer employee. Last there is the scene where Bogie and Carol have a fight in front of the house. Bogie lets Carol punch him first. This is done to show that gay men are weak and that the tough Marlow can let Carol get the first lick and still take him down. I have the book and this scene is in the book. The way it is written in the book makes it clear Marlow believes gay guys are sissys and Marlow uses the 'F' word (the other F word), a lot to make this point.
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Well you should study something complex like playing jazz guitar and you might change your POV. Doing something that requires both mental and physical skill and training is a very spritual pursuit.
Increasing skill and knowledge of something complex does increase one's pleasure, but of course only to a certain degree. But there does need to be a balance. I just played with a friend of mine yesterday that has a lot more skill and knowledge of jazz guitar than I do. He taught me a lot (my head is still spinning!). But the guy analyzing things way too much and this does impact his pleasure. i.e. he is unable to just 'jam' and let go. So while I learned a lot I have more 'fun' playing with other jazz guitar players that are around the same skill and knowledge level as me. Life is about balance.
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The purpose of a trial is NOT to determine truth but to either convict or not convict. That is it. If someone is convicted that doesn't mean they really did the crime. The same is true if someone is found innocent. i.e. that does NOT mean they did NOT do the crime.
With regards to the public; well to many it doesn't matter what the outcome of the case is they will still believe what they believe regardless. Take the OJ murder case where OJ was found 'not guilty' (note this is different than innocent). Many still believed he did the crime. If he was convicted many would still believe he did NOT do the crime (e.g. the authorties framed him). In other words the results of the trial often does NOT change the perception of a lot of people.
But I do see your very valid point about Casey. If she is treated unfairly I hope she sues those that do so and wins a big settlement. There was a trial, a result was decided. Time for folks to move on. Those that are full of hate towards her are the ones with personal issues.
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I love that line: they may soon be watching the Kardashians
There is only so much time in a day therefore one has to make choices in how they use available time (i.e. time not working, sleeping etc...), to view movies, listen to music, view art, etc...
Thus we are all making choices even if one doesn't think much about the choices they make.
I just believe one gets more out of an art form the more 'effort' one puts into it. One doesn't need to treat this effort like a scholar but if one doesn't understand what motivates their choices they indeed may end up watching the Kardashians.
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Well clearly technology will reduce or replace many current middle class jobs, thus the real important question is will it also create ENOUGH new ones?
For example, LA Country is trying to ban automatic checkout at markets. Now the politicians say the reason is because teens can buy booze at these checkouts, but the real reason is that the politicians are backed by the grocery store union. Fresh Express, the largest new chain of grocery stores ONLY has automatic checkout. Of course they have people in the stores to assist but Fresh Express has been able to reduce their staffing by at least 50%.
I'm a software developer and have a pattern for software I created. I can say that all the software I have created and marketed in the last 25 years has reduced middle class jobs by increasing automation.
Another example is restautrants; A few new ones now have no wait staff. One uses their I-Pod to check the menu and order. The order pops up on a screen for the cooks. These are high end restaurants and not fast food joints. They then use minimum wage employees to bring out the food. Do we tip the maker of the software?
The current issue of The Economist has a great article all about this. It is a lot more hopefully than I am. For the sake of the middle class I hope they are right and I'm being too much of a Debbie Downer!
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I agree that MacCambridge is very natural being so very forceful but in all of the roles I have seen she is very forceful. So I wonder if she could of done a more subdue type of role.
Note that many say Bette Davis is too forceful (i.e. over the top), and this is true in some of her roles but she also has low key performances (The Corn is Green, All This and Heaven Too, The Great Lie etc..), where she tones it down and Davis does some great acting in those roles.
Could MacCambridge do those type of parts? I'm not saying she cannot, but the roles I have seen her in (where she was very good), were all forceful parts.
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Well The Big Sleep is my favorite 40's film. Yes, there are a lot of sexual undertones (even between men), and the wisecracking dialog is just great. Bogie Marlow trades cracks with almost everyone in the film. Each scene is great and packed full and then the movie moves on to the next scene,,,,
Have you seen both the war released version and the general release version. There are many differences between the two (e.g. difference actress paying Mrs. Mars, more Bogie Bacall scenes in the latter etc..
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Yes, from what I have read, Bogie got along very well with his co-stars. But as I said Bogie was a very well trained actor and by the 50s I'm sure he wasn't happy having to redo take after take because of Audrey. Funny you mention Bacall. Bogie should of been A-OK with Holden having an affair with Audrey, since Bogie should understand what it is like having to work very a young and hot startlet!
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I would go with Rita Hayworth and then Maureen O'Hara. But I'm not sure Rita can be classified as a red head.
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Well here we completely agree. Typically I also don't participate in the 'best' type of rankings either, but instead like the favorites type of threads. The primary reason is I don't feel I'm qualified. Now if the topic was best jazz guitar player I would since I could site very technical accepts of jazz guitar playing.
Even in a favorite type of ranking if one's experience is limited, what they list as their favorite is somewhat compromised. For example if one is asked what is your favorite ice cream favor and one has only tasted vanila and chocolate, what they say is their favorite is limited by their limited experience. To me that makes their opinion about even their favorite less valid (or compromised might be a better term), but I do see your point that they are fundamentally valid (i.e. valid within their scope of experiece).
Note I'm very much into wine and this topic about 'everything is subjective,,, no, no there are measures of quality), is a big topic. Building a solid wine collection cost a lot of money. Thus there is a need to move beyond what is just someone's favorite (typically a sweet wine for a novice), to a more standardized way of trading our experiences as wine snobs.
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Great list but I have to disagree with one choice;
Daryl Hannah in Splash
That wasn't a foot, that was a fin!
old gay guy
in General Discussions
Posted
As you noted maybe 'this' is just all about the use of a term. We are clearly fighting the same good fight and I know I will not stop until all my friends are treated as equals. So clearly 'no harm no foul' between us.
To get the discussion back to the movie industry, I see a related topic between how Butterfly Mcqueen or Hattie Mcdaniel are viewed today and Rock Hudson by their community. I try hard not to judge any of them for the decisions they made. What I find interesting is how their community often judge their actions choices. I saw the movie Gandhi the other day. I don't expect others to be like that man. He was truely unique but it was interesting to see how he handled the struggle for equality.