Filmgoddess

Coup d'****? Doesn't that belong on the Blondes thread?

Doctor Zhivago is a great film for curing insomnia. It was the beginning of the end for David Lean. It's so bloated and so dull. 15 minutes of great visuals can't make up for 3 plus hours of boredom. One can like the film but I don't think any plausible claim can be made that it's a "great" film.

Monty: Just in case you didn't know, most films are works of fiction, including documentaries. No one is assassinated in SEVEN DAYS IN MAY (although there's a hint that one of the characters is) but it involves a takeover of the govt by a segment of the military and the main plot is the discovery of that plot. It has nothing to do with the JFK assassination and the book was written before that event happened. Liking a movie has nothing to do with agreeing with a position it might be taking. Darn, this is so hypothetical that it's even hard to respond. Oh, for the record, I believe that LHO acted alone and that the vast majority of conspiracy theories are the delusions of sad minds. But that has nothing to with the fact that SEVEN DAYS IN MAY is a great film.

Monty: I'm not sure what the reference to "conservative" fare means but it's early in the morning. It's about good movies although, for the record, the most evil villain in ADVISE AND CONSENT is the liberal peacenik who drives a character to suicide with no regrets whatsoever. If that's the kind of thing you're referring to. Movies are not liberal or conservative to me. They're only good or bad.

Yes, this stuff is a relic from the 50s. Which is why the FCC trying to set the rules for the internet is so funny. These people are living in the past.

That's odd as my guide shows that EMMA will be showing at that time. Must be a misprint. Actually that's worse as the test will come in the middle of the program instead of at the beginning when it could be delayed. Our papers here are still saying a "3 1/2 minute test" as of this morning. I guess we won't know until it happens. Either way, an interruption is an interruption and even a 1 second one will ruin any movie one is watching.

There are some people -- left or right doesn't seem to matter -- who cannot separate how they feel politically from any other subject. We all encounter them. They see everything through that prism. So if someone has an opinion that they disagree with they don't argue the opinion they just call the person an "idiot" or some other such name. The point is to denigrate the person rather than enage in a discussion of that person's opinion. You see it on cable news all the time. It's rather sad and rather pathetic. I know people who will not even look at a film of Charlton Heston's because of what they perceive as their disgreement with his political views. Silly and about as intellectually dishonest as it can get. I remember Tim Burton taking a gratuitous swipe at Heston in his film ED WOOD and only later finding out that he was completely wrong about the guy and giving him that splendid cameo in his (awful) remake of PLANET OF THE APES as a way of making amends. If only some people on the internet could be so magnanimous.

FEMA will be conducting its first national test of the Emergency broadcasting system on Wednesday, November 9th at 2 PM Eastern Time. This will interrupt -- for between 2 and 5 minutes -- all broadcasting on cable and regular TV. So tomorrow, unless TCM delays the broadcast, the first few minutes of EMMA (1932) will be lost. Just a reminder!

Watching MR. BLANDINGS always makes me feel good. It's like listening to Mozart. Just thinking about the film right now I can recall the scene with Myrna Loy telling the contracter about the paint colors (not red like a Jonathan but ...) and I can smile and crack up.

There's a group of movies made in the 1960s all on similar themes that I never tire of seeing and you've mentioned one: SEVEN DAYS IN MAY ADVISE AND CONSENT THE BEST MAN I think I've seen MAY 25 times at least. I could practically quote each line. But everytime I watch it I'm still waiting to see how it turns out. It's a VERY underrated film.

This is 2011. Have you heard of a DVR? Netflix? Amazon? DVD recorder? The Pony Express?

I will never understand people who don't like to see movies more than once. I have a couple of friends who always say "why do you own all those DVDs? If you've seen them once, you know how it ends." And these are people with advanced degrees. LOL. That's not the only reason to see a movie. There are so many movies -- probably hundreds -- that I have seen at least 5 times and never tire of seeing. I wouldn't know where to start.

When I was a little girl and watched these movies on Saturday morning I had the best kind of crush on Johnny Sheffield. I always wished there were guys like that in MY high school. Alas, not. He had such a naturally athletic body. My only complain is that he never would really fight on that series and was always getting captured or beaten by guys that I always thought he could destroy with one finger. Was this some pseudo-pacifist thing or what? He was so hot and cute. I can't wait to see what my reaction is today after not having see these for over 40 years.

Absolutely. If TCM is going to treat blonde women as objects I wouldn't mind a little equal time and give us a whole lot of great-looking men as objects. Starting with Tarzan isn't bad. Now, let's get a whole series of those Hercules/Maciste movies and that will satifsy two huge groups of TCM viewers: women and gay men

Good riddance. It was last relevant when a certain peanut farmer was in the WH.

They're both idiots when it comes to injecting their politics into their film criticism. But I get it. We know EXACTLY where you're coming from.

Leonard Maltin is so lowbrow and his writing style is pretty much grade school.

You mean as opposed to the critics -- like Ebert -- who filter everything through a Socialist-Far Left lens of holier-than-thou I know better than you indignation? Pot, kettle, black as usual in these pointless kinds of discussions.

He even uses some of his Yiddish expressions occasionally. I laughed out loud.

And it's quite obvious in several scenes that he's not as big and muscular as he is in other scenes. His legs seem to shrink at a couple of points. I can only imagine how ripped and big he looked before the producers asked him to lose 20 lbs of muscle as they thought he was too ripped when he auditioned! That's one fine hunk of man. So glad to see these again which I haven't seen since childhood.

The sexiest/best-looking Tarzan was, no doubt, Lex Barker; the flabbiest was Weissmuller the last 5 years he did it; the most middle-aged looking was Jock Mahoney; the best chest was Gordon Scott. But far and away the best legs go to Mike Henry. Absolutely yummy being reacquainted with his stunning par of gams the past couple weeks. Thank you TCM!

I'm no feminist but I have to admit I find the whole topic of "Battle of the Blondes" somewhat offensive. Will we get an equivalent "star of the month" in "Battle of the Pecs" or "Battle of the Handsome Men?" There is something that is just a tad bit sexist about the idea of highlighting women in this way. I sure hope TCM will give male stars the same treatment.

Can't stand Ebert. Mine would be David Denby at the New Yorker. Joe Morgenstern in the WSJ would be a close second.

I can't believe that Cabaret is 40 years old! Boggles the mind. I also know that I have no interest in seeing it so that at least eliminates any need to get that level of pass!

I don't know why this would bother anyone. One can just choose not to watch. There are often days like that. For me, I'd prefer a day of William Hopper films than one of Esther Williams. Or a day of films devoted to Mischa Auer than a day of films devoted to Gregory Peck. We all have different tastes. It's nice to see TCM try to appeal to every niche.