AddisonDeWitless
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Posts posted by AddisonDeWitless
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it's also interesting to see the very handsome William Reynolds playing MacMurray's son, he was also Jane Wyman's son in All that Heaven Allows and was in Has Anybody Seen My Gal?- both by Sirk.
Other than his Sirk films, his credits are kindasorta iffy- he did a bunch of TV and a dreadful B-movie called The Thing that Couldn't Die!
Wonder if he and Sirk were, um, tight....?
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it's almost lit like a film noir, lots of shadows...
I love getting a glimpse of Palm Springs-like resorts in films from the 40's and 50's.
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*REALLY* could've done *without* the ham-fisted, completely UNFUNNY and (shock!) overly generalized and dismissive assessment of HOLLYWOOD's product of yesterday and today with the condescending and REALLY SEXIST swipe at "single women in their thirties" who like teen vampire movies by *ManksiewanksieBooBoo.*
God, he must play a mean raquetball or have negatives of someone burying a body or something to still be here, what, ten years now....?
ps- Really WHO writes this stuff?
Edited by: AddisonDeWitless on May 9, 2013 8:04 PM
Edited by: AddisonDeWitless on May 9, 2013 8:05 PM
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Many of the comments on the imdb page for Driving Miss Daisy are astoundingly negative. Among them (and I paraphrase from memory): "this thing actually won Best Picture?!" "Dan Aykroyd is community theater bad in this" and- not as bad, but still not exactly radiant praise: "why do so many people have such a hard time believing this won Best Picture?"
Ouch.
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WEIRDNESS. Just did research and saw Lansbury and Jones did the play this year, in AUSTRALIA.
h3. Australian tour (2013)
The Broadway production of Driving Miss Daisy toured Australia early in 2013, starring [Angela Lansbury|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Lansbury|Angela Lansbury], James Earl Jones and Boyd Gaines.
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O...M...G!
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> {quote:title=Hibi wrote:}{quote}Why did he pick him for VP?
Hell, I don't know- like I was there? Maybe he threw a dart and it landed on Nixon's name...(I think Nixon had made quite a name for himself as a senator....maybe?)
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> {quote:title=Hibi wrote:}{quote}BETTE MIDLER??? ****! I cant believe that one. Way too young for one. ....
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> *Lansbury was pitched the role as a tv series,* but turned it down. Are you thinking of Vanessa Redgrave on Broadway? That was last season or a few seasons back?
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> Didnt Beresford direct Jane Fonda's last movie that bombed? (I cant remember) I wanted to see it, but it never played locally.........
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I think the Midler/Murphy idea was born when the script was pitched to Disney. And have you seen the end of For the Boys ? They hagged her out quite convincingly in that one.
Lansbury was pitched the role as a TV series? Where'd you hear that? Again, kinda' a head scratcher as she was right in the middle of Murder She Wrote's 13-season run and had a contract with Universal when it woulda' been pitched her way. I kind of feel like she might've been too associated with Murder... for her to click with audiences in such a different part; I also have to say I think she is too physically imposing (5'11) to make it work.- but that's maybe a quibble.
*I know I read somewhere* that Lansbury and James Earl Jones were doing the play on B-way or off b-way in 2013, maybe it had a limited run (they're both in their 80s; and I know Lansbury was recently on b-way in the revival of The Best Man in 2012), but *I know* I read it- on gawker.com maybe?- because I remember scratching me head at the casting while thinking "good for them!"
I don't think Beresford has ever worked with Fonda- and actually, Jane has been in some pretty good-sized hits since ending her self-imposed retirement with Monster-in-Law. She's playing Nancy Reagan next in the Oprah-starring film The Butler directed by the dude who did Precious.
Edited by: AddisonDeWitless on May 9, 2013 7:05 PM
Edited by: AddisonDeWitless on May 9, 2013 7:07 PM
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> {quote:title=finance wrote:}{quote}But Zanuck's biggest duds were the money-losing musicals of the late '60s which got him fired from his position at Fox---DOCTOR DOOLITTLE, STAR!, HELLO DOLLY, etc.
I don't think he produced those though, at least *he had no producer credits on imdb for them*. Maybe he was in charge of production when Fox released those (more or less the same thing, I guess.)
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they like to sometimes invent those "so and so was considered for the role" stories around pre- and post-production to drum up inn-terest for the film.
as per imdb: [Katharine Hepburn|http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000031/], [bette Davis|http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000012/], [Lucille Ball|http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000840/], and [Angela Lansbury|http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001450/] all were interested in playing Miss Daisy. Studio executives also considered a [bette Midler|http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000541/]/[Eddie Murphy|http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000552/] pairing.
The Midler/Murray story I've heard numerous times. Bette Davis was- at the time- was too ill for me to believe she had a shot or really thought she could do it- she also would've been hard to swallow as a demure southern lady. Hepburn maybe could've done it...maybe...Ball (who also died in 1989 if I recall correctly) and Lansbury would've been wrong for the role (although it's worth noting that Lansbury is actually currrently (?) appearing in Driving Miss Daisy on Broadway with James Earl Jones as Hoke- sounds like a double miscast to me, but whaddo I know?)
It's hard to imagine anyone but Jessica Tandy in the role, and it's nice that she was able to parlay her Oscar win into a nice little run of films thereafter, wherein she earned another nomination for Fried Green Tomatoes and really should have gotten a third nod for Nobody's Fool.
It's also also worth noting that the unnominated Bruce Beresford who directed Miss Daisy- the first film without a director nod to win Best Picture since Grand Hotel- went on to do some TURKEYS afterwards: among them Last Dance, Silent Fall, A Good Man in Africa, Paradise Road, and the successful but critically despised Double Jeopardy.
He also directed an Oscar-winning performance from Robert Duvall in Tender Mercies.
Edited by: AddisonDeWitless on May 9, 2013 5:47 PM
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just caught the TCM Remembers trib to Harryhausen.
The tender music kinda clashed with the images of skeleton warriors, the hideous medusa and all the reptile beasts, but the sentiment was there.
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...and Miss Daisy does have a lovely score- which I was shocked to read was done entirely using synthesizers with no orchestra!
ps- equally surprised to have just perused the awards info for the film and discovered the score and the (lovely) cinematography were not even nominated.
oddly enough, Dan Aykroyd was.
Edited by: AddisonDeWitless on May 9, 2013 4:10 PM
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i did stick around to watch Driving Miss Daisy afterwards, a film I have seen numerous times and a film that- as a southerner- I have to say does capture the south well (although it appears to be a south perpetually bathed in sepia tones and spring-blossoming trees.)
it's also one of those films that deals with subtle changes and occurances in everyday life over a long span of time, which is something I always find compelling when done well.
it's a lovely film and a simple film and a well-acted film, but I get that it's a film that **** people off and- yeah- I *totally* get the irony that it won Best Picture while films that made BOLD, UNMEASURED STATEMENTS about race- Glory and Do the Right Thing! didn't even get nominated.
It's a film that kind of wants to say something but never quite does.
It implies plenty, but what does that get you?
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> {quote:title=Hibi wrote:}{quote}LOL. Never saw any of the movies on your list!
you lucky thing, you!
ps- you never saw Jaws 2?
pss- no one saw Wild Bill.
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Yes, it was *SO INSULTING* to give Frid (and the other original cast members) barely-there, lineless cameos- not even extras really.
yet Christopher Lee gets at least six minutes of screen time and a speaking roll... like he needed another credit to his name.
Seriosuly, don't wind me up on this one, I can go ALL DAY.
Edited by: AddisonDeWitless on May 9, 2013 3:55 PM
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and it's worth noting that of Zanuck's duds, some were *really spectacular* though:
Neighbors (possibly) hastened the demise of John Belushi and (at the time recent Oscar-nominee) Cathy Moriarty didn't work for years afterwards (and seriously: have you seen it? it is ONE OF THE *WORST* FILMS EVER.)
Wild Bill cost $30 million and made $2 million- release was delayed (I think?) for *years* while it sat on the shelf (and it hastened the demise of Ellen Barkin's career.)
Jaws 2 began the franchise's descent into film infamy (and it's the most boring of the sequels, at least Jaws 3 and Jaws: The Revenge are entertaingly awful.)
Clean Slate ended Dana Carvey's career and I distinctly recall the critical drubbing Planet of the Apes took when it came out- probably one of the worst reviewed movies of the new millenium.
so I guess, if you're gonna flop: go big.
Edited by: AddisonDeWitless on May 9, 2013 3:46 PM
Edited by: AddisonDeWitless on May 9, 2013 3:49 PM
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it's very hard for me to discuss the Burton/Depp Dark Shadows in rational, calm, measured terms. It made me *so angry* because it had such *great potential* and some *good actors who were well-cast* as well as a thoughtful production design that actually didn't eclipse everything else (as is often the case with Burton movies) but *Holy S***!*
You're being nice to call it a "clinker."
It *CLUNKED. IT CLINKED. IT STANK. IT STUNK.*
*Sersely, I'm punching Tim Burton in the face if I ever meet him.*
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now that I think about it: did Stanwyck *ever* do a color film?
was Cattle Queen of Montana in color?
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*What I really miss* are the old TV/VCR combos (you know, TV with VCR attached.)
*That* was the height of technology to me, no need for improving upon.
Edited by: AddisonDeWitless on May 9, 2013 1:16 PM
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Thanks for starting this thread.
I fleetingly watched some of it, as I have minimal tolerance for HOLLYWOOD tributes to HOLLYWOOD (esp. since my time there) AND I have to say (and this is just a gut-feeling) that the guy just looked like a self-important jerk to me...I can SO see him throwing a chair at a second assistant who booked him in first class on a flight that only had first and coach, not first class, business class and coach.
When it got to the part on the Dark Shadows remake though I started screaming at the TV: *"WHAT???He produced that???!!! NO. UH-UH. Give the Oscar back, give the Thalberg back, dig him up from Forest Lawn and move the body to Cleveland."*
*I F-ING HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE THAT MOVIE.*
And honestly, in retrospect:
*Good films Zanuck produced:* Jaws, The Sugarland Express, Cocoon, (arguably) Driving Miss Daisy, Big Fish, Sweeney Todd, Compulsion
*Meh* *films Zanuck Produced:* Reign of Fire, Road to Perdition, True Crime, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Rules of Engagement
*Horrible, no good, very-bad (and in some cases career-killing) films Zanuck produced:* Alice in Wonderland (remake), Planet of the Apes (remake), Neighbors (one of the worst films EVER), Cocoon 2, Jaws 2, Deep Impact, Chain Reaction, Wild Bill, Mullholland Falls, Yes Man, Clean Slate, and of course, the aforementioned and deservedly shat-upon Dark Shadows.
so his bad to good ratio is 18:5.
ps- this is all my opinion, of course
pss- never seen The Eiger Sanction
pss- I know making a good film takes a lot of luck too. Sometimes you work like a dog and the souffle doesn't rise, but in the cases of a lot of these- *they are horrible.*
psss- he and the wife also produced some Oscarcasts that were real SNOOZERS.
Edited by: AddisonDeWitless on May 9, 2013 12:41 PM
Edited by: AddisonDeWitless on May 9, 2013 12:44 PM
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oh s***.
now you're gonna get mad at me.
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If you offered me a free VCR, I would *hop on that in a heartbeat.* There are GOBS of rare old titles that you can only see on VHS- and it's worth noting that a lot of classic films have been edited and/or changed for their DVD releases while they *were not altered from their theatrical release version* when released on VHS ( Star Wars comes to mind as an immediate example, not that anyone (including me) gives a rat's a** about that one.)
(aaaaand a lot of people on the board kvetch about how their DVRs mess up stuff from TCM by cutting off too soon or coming in too late.)
About the only drawback to a VHS is that the tapes will deteriorate with time...but then, the same thing happens to some (cheaply made) DVDs too.
So no, DeWitless is very pro-VHS. Make no mistake.
PS- Betamax, however, is punchline material.
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> {quote:title=misswonderly wrote:}{quote}Speaking of great classic fantasy films, have you seen Jean Cocteau's *La Belle et la Bete* (Beauty and the Beast), 1946 ?
Oui, and I agree. It is one of the (tragically) few "farn" films that I *really, really liked* on seeing (and the only one I can think of that I really liked that wasn't done by Akira Kurasawa.) It would make a nice companion to Alice and Midsummer no doubt.
*I'm not against farn films, mind you,* I just like to keep my reading and my movie-watching seperate entities.
I remember we had a small fracas over Le Grand Illusion a coupla' years ago and I was all: "eh, I don't get it. The only film of Jean Renoir's that I like is La Belle et le Bete " and everyone was like "that's a Cocteau film, you knob" and I was all "oh. Well, I still didn't like Le Grand Illusion. "
ps- I started watching Orpheus once and didn't dislike it, but didn't finish.
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I was thinking, Alice in Wonderland (1933) would make a really intriguing double-bill with the 1935 all-star Warner's version of A Midsummer Night's Dream, although the latter would come out as the better film- it's like the filmakers on the second venture learned from Paramount's mistakes.
Is it just me or has it been a while since Midsummer Night's... has aired on TCM?
ps- I'm *all for* a whole night of thirties fantasy films, they did fantasy right in those days.
Rarely seen Douglas Sirk, Stanwyck/MacMurray film on Thursday, May 9 at 8!
in General Discussions
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I am pretty sure at the time Joan was known as "the sexiest grandma in HOLLYWOOD" (she became a grandmother at something like 38- eek!)
Barbara is doing a *terrific* job so far (natch.)