Filmgoddess

I think you hit the nail on the head that no one wants to talk about so soon after someone's death: many people who worked with Andy Griffith found him a difficult and unpleasant man. Like you, I know several people who worked with him and some said they never had a more unpleasant experience in their lives. I don't think this is all that unknown within the Hollywood community. It may be why so many awards that so many others received over the years (Emmys, Kennedy Center Honors, SAG awards, Oscars, etc.) never came his way. That's not fair, but there it is.

I loved MURDER SHE WROTE but hated everything about the ANDY GRIFFITH and MATLOCK shows. That kind of "homespun, rural" humor is just to my taste. For the record, I also hate the MA AND PA KETTLE series for the same reason. Opie Cunningham was always the kind of little boy whose lunch money I wanted to steal when I was a kid. Annoying.

Huh? HUGO received more Oscar nominations than any other film in 2011. And it won 5. It's not like was overlooked. So I'm confused by your comments. It didn't win the big awards but it certainly was well-honored. I think many saw it as a technical achievement while people connected more to THE ARTIST. Made perfect sense to me. But they're both great films, neither is "lesser" IMHO, and they should be enjoyed and seen forever.

I hated MONEYBALL. Just didn't get it. It was SO long and I fell asleep a half dozen times. I'm not much interested in baseball or numbers so it just had no appeal to me. Jonah Hill? Someone please explain that one to me. The film that was totally overlooked that shocked me was 50/50 which I thought was completely brilliant. Far superior, IMHO to MONEYBALL.

HUGO and THE ARTIST make a great double feature. The other night I paired THE ARTIST with SINGIN' IN THE RAIN which also makes a great double feature. I think THE ARTIST is NOT over-rated or over-hyped in any way. Sure, it's derivative but at the same time it's highly original in that no one is making silent films anymore. There are even very few title cards and what I find so wonderful and beautiful about the film is that it shows today's audiences (and I think that that is what caught everyone by surprise) that you don't need words in order to convey as much -- if not more -- emotion and heart. You really care about these characters. Those of us who are film fans already know this but today's moviegoer doesn't. They think it has to have lots of loud sound and blaring color. Movies don't have to have that. For that reason alone, the film deserves the accolades it got. I loved HUGO but it suffered from terrible marketing. I didn't go see it at first because I thought it was a kiddie film. That's how they marketed it. It's a VERY adult film. I think that was the worst marketed film of 2011. It's terrific. It was a hard choice but I think, in the end, the Academy which rarely gets things right really got this one right.

It makes sense for a major film star but, let's face it, Mr. Griffith was not a major film star, not even a minor one really. He was primarily a TV star so this shouldn't be all that surprising.

So what? Are you the Sheriff Taylor of the Thread Police?

I have to admit that I didn't much care for Mr. Griffith's TV work except for the occasional interesting TV movie like WINTER KILL. "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Matlock" are simply not my cup of tea. But I do think he had some interesting film roles that I like much better and that get very little notice since he became such a TV icon. One role in particular that I liked was in his second-to-last film WAITRESS in 2007. He played an old customer named Joe. It's a highly underrated film and the kind of late-in-life role that often gets one an Oscar. He was not even nominated. Not sure why. It's a terrific bit of work and I highly recommend it. The film is better known, it seems, for the tragic story of its director and writer. It's really a terrific film.

I think it was just called "acting."

The TV icon, who also had a few important film roles, died at his home in NC this morning.

To be honest, and I love Cagney, I think he's not very good in LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME especially compared to Doris Day who is wonderful. I feel he's just too over-the-top and there is a subtlety missing in this performance. It's caused me to not really like the film.

Don't get me started on Tom Hanks. Two Oscars to that mediocrity is something that I will never understand. FORREST GUMP and PHILADELPHIA are two of the worst movies -- and performances -- I have ever seen. There's often no rhyme nor reason to what the Academy does and that proves that point.

I don't know if it's a "valid point" but it's your opinion and you're not only entitled to it but you're free to express it. Period!

Wayne was not diagnosed with the cancer that killed him until January 1979, 3 years after the completion of THE SHOOTIST. He had influenza during the filming. His heart trouble occurred in 1978, 2 years after filming. But there's no doubt that the last few years of his life were difficult from a health perspective.

I think THE SHOOTIST is an okay film but I don't think there's anything particularly special about it. There's not doubt Wayne had to fight hard to finish the film (he'd die 3 years later) but I don't think it's a particularly noteworthy or different performance than the one he'd been giving for some 50 years except that he's old. I saw the recent TRUE GRIT the other night along with the 1969 TRUE GRIT and I must say that the newer one is superior in almost every way. I think if not for Wayne's performance the 1969 version would be forgotten. I liked him in it but everything else about that film screams mediocre especially Kim Darby who Wayne said "was the worst actress I ever worked with." Amen to that. But as a film that I would return to, probably not. I will enjoy the Coens' TRUE GRIT forever. It's a minor masterwork.

Fay Bainter in THE CHILDREN's HOUR Cecil Kellaway in HUSH HUSH SWEET CHARLOTTE and GUESS WHO's COMING TO DINNER Lillian Gish in THE WHALES OF AUGUST (but not Bette Davis who was godawful)

These are so obvious that, perhaps, that's why they haven't been mentioned yet: Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea in RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY Barbara Stanwyck in THE THORN BIRDS Jessica Tandy in DRIVING MISS DAISY Wendy Hiller is ALL PASSION SPENT Peter Vaughn in THE REMAINS OF THE DAY Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn in ON GOLDEN POND

I loved Jean Kent as the wife. I didn't find her "over-the-top" at all. Just cold, very cold, which is what I'd expect for that kind of wife in that kind of position. Michael Redgrave is wonderful. I just think that Donat would have brought a bit more warmth to the role although, of course, that would have been a completely different interpretation. Anyway, I love that film.

I much prefer Robert Donat to Leslie Howard. I can appreciate some of Howard's work (although not in GWTW in which I find him atrociously bad) but Donat really moves me at times. As much as I love Michael Redgrave in THE BROWNING VERSION, I've always wondered what Donat would have done with that part.

My favorite Robert Donat performance is in THE WINSLOW BOY, an unjustly unknown film (to most people). He's just splendid in it.

Lana Turner was not a great actress, but she was a great star. And I'm willing to bet you that her performances in THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE and IMITATION OF LIFE will be remembered long after Joanne Woodward's film work is forgotten.

You sound like a wee bit obsessed, IMHO ; No, I have no interest in signing petitions for boxed sets of John Garfield films (I have all the ones I want on DVD) as I reserve signing petitions for things that really matter like world peace, famine, and helping the homeless. As for how Mr. Garfield died, I wasn't making a judgment. I was stating a well-known fact. Period. End of Sentence. Here endeth the lesson.

Yes, and the M and O stand for My Opinion.

It wasn't a "step-up" for me as I hate L'Avventura (and most of Antonioni's work) and I'd never seen The Damned. I went by the TCM guide and was suprised to wake up and find Avventura on my DVR. So, instead of a 3 hour movie I got a 2 second instant DELETE.

Tilda Swinton was amazing in KEVIN. She should have been nominated. I don't think I would have voted for Streep this year (she should have won for PRADA) but would have gone with Viola Davis who was just heart-breaking in THE HELP.