AddisonDeWitless
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Posts posted by AddisonDeWitless
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> {quote:title=kingrat wrote:}{quote}
> Not everyone likes Samuel Fuller--I have very mixed feelings about some of his films--and the four shown in the tribute were not the ones I would recommend for
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> I SHOT JESSE JAMES is Fuller's first film, and it shows. PARK ROW is his Frank Capra film; some like it, others find it dull, with lots of speechifying.
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I always like what you have to say, and I agree across the board with you. In particular, you nailed my feelings for Park Row and Jesse James. I am in particular not a fan of the latter, it lead another Fuller tribute a year or two ago if I am not mistaken and it shows on TCM more than I think it merits. The same is not true for Pickup on South Street.
And I liked what I saw of Shock Corridor (aka The Private Madness of Roscoe P. Coltraine) before I konked out for the nite.
ps- someone below mentioned the underappreciation of Vincent Sherman. I have to note that Vincent had his own tribute earlier this week and, even if he didn't say it, he ought to be , known as "The best damn director who never directed one fully satisfying film"
pss- Nic Ray said that of himself. I don't agree with that assement.
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{quote:title=Hibi wrote:}{quote}Has there been any announcement whether Drew will continue next season? I am Curious.
I don't think so, kind of doubt it (she is still a pretty hot property and is due to drop that kid soon)
I am honestly hoping they'll drop the whole idea after this season, the well is damn near dry.
Or maybe they'll re-invent the show to include films that are not necessarily *ESSENTIAL* or *flawless* or *GREAT* but are nonetheless inn-teresting for their casts, datedness/timeliness/ uncanny prescience, socio-historical significance or just for the fact that they're not A Face in the Crowd. (again.) Films like The Loved One (1964), China Seas (1933), They Won't Believe Me (1947ish), Flamingo Road (1949), Tomorrow: the World! (1944), Targets (1968), Prosperity (1933), Stars in their Crowns (1950), The Breaking Point (1950), Murder by Death (1974), No Man of her Own (1950), Cluny Brown (1946), Lil' Abner (1957)- (trust me, it's hilarious), The Painted Veil (1934), One, Two, Three (1961)
Or they could just grab Gigi, reheat, and serve.
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> {quote:title= finance wrote:}{quote}.......and, at the risk of being accused of piling on, to those of you that think Drew is beautiful, she looks to me as if she was competing with Michael Jackson for the honor of who could have the greatest number of botched plastic surgeries.
Very rarely find I fault with anything you write, but in this case, I think you're wrong all around.
Sarah Bernhardt she ain't but I can't think of any other major movie actress besides maybe Kate Winslet who has had a more positive influence on women's body image than Drew "Yeah, I'm a size 10, and your f-ing problem is ?"Barrymore. I respect and salute her for that all the way.
I also respect her for the fact that Ever After made a shitpile of money, because if you can't act, there are three things you should not do: 1. accents 2. period films and 3. work with Anjelica Huston.
But I digress.
She is also someone whose path I crossed during my Dickensian ride in HOLLYWOOD and she is sweet as pie (unless you're dating her, in which case, keep some Bactine handy)
I would also gosofar as to say, Botox aside, she looks to me as if she hasn't had as much (or any) done as her contemporaries.
Have you noticed Ashley Judd is Korean now?
Edited by: AddisonDeWitless on Jul 17, 2012 1:12 PM
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it's inn-teresting that people have invoked The African Queen once or twice in this thread, because when I saw Alice Adams was coming on, I was rather tempted to create a new post called, something to the effect of, Books with Horrible Unhappy Awful Endings that were turned into Great Movies.
My whole Alice Adams experience will always be tainted by my having read Booth Tarkington's Pultizer-winning novel first. It is very much the same as the film only, oh, ALICE FAILS COMPLETELY IN HER CONQUEST, HER FATHER IS RUINED, HER SUITOR BAILS AND THE LAST SCENE IS OF HER ASCENDING THE STAIRCASE AT THE SECRETARIAL SCHOOL, BROKEN AND TRAGIC. Granted, I was younger and more idealistic on reading it, but never has such a middle finger been given to a reader...
Unless you've suffered through CS Forrestor's gawdawful book The African Queen, which has all the malaria and leaches, BUT unlike to ace-ending to the 1951 film, ROSIE AND ALLNUT FAIL, I MEAN F***ING FAIL UTTERLY TO BLOW UP THE GERMAN BOAT AT THE END.
(As an aside, I throw in that I have never read The Bridge on the River Kwai, but the ending to it, as is my understanding, is much the same story or non-story, as it were).)
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> {quote:title=finance wrote:}{quote}The part near the end where they invite MacMurray for dinner was particularly painful to watch. Drew's closing commentary was even more painful to watch.
It is an all-around uncomfortable movie, not a fun or relaxing romp- certainly no air of escapism that it seems to me audiences circa 1935 could've used. Give me My Man Godfrey any damn day of the week or year over Alice Adams.
Although, it is one of Hepburn's finest hours, and it IS a film that speaks to anyone who has ever been on the outs socially (it rung a bell with me when I saw it as a lonely teenager, especially the scene were Alice goes home and cries after the party) it's a SHOCK to me that it earned a Best Picture nomination in 1935 opposite the more adventure-toned, exotic and light-hearted(ish) fare such as The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, David Copperfield, Mutiny on the Bounty etc.
...And as far as finest hours go, Alice Adams is NOT ONE for Hattie MacDaniel, IMO.
As for Drew-Poo- I thought we had all agreed that the mute button was the way to go on that matter. Everytime one of you kids gives in and turns the volume up, you get hurt, and I am just trying to prevent that.
(You think the Essentials crew sometimes messes with her by waving a laser pointer all over the room and watching her chase it around deliriously until she runs into a wall? I hope so.)
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From what little I've seen of Return to Salem's Lot (mostly the last half, and it was recently), Samuel Fuller was quite good in it. He plays a vampire hunter and is very natural with just the right amount of tongue-in-cheek. (In doing it, he was surely trying to get the scratch together to finance something.)
I have to admit I was disappointed by Park Row. Something about it just didn't scan with me.
It would be inn-teresting if TCM (who seem to have a fondness for Fuller) showed Shark! - a film circa 1969 that I read Fuller disowned even though he directed most of it because a stunt diver was killed on it.
Am I getting that wrong?
Edited by: AddisonDeWitless on Jul 15, 2012 8:58 PM
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Zaat! (1975) has been shown twice.
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> {quote:title=hlywdkjk wrote:}{quote}
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> Last month the AMC Networks were dropped by the DISH Network over an unexpected price increase....
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F'real?
This is like me announcing to everyone in line at the Starbucks that my usual rate for licking them in the face is going to go up from $5 a lick to $6.75. ($2 extra if you want me to spit in your coffee.)
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> {quote:title=Capuchin wrote:}{quote}
> Phineas and Ferb has the sensibilities but not the artwork. I think Walt would approve. I can envision thirty years from now some people saying they went into science/engineering because of that show.
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Very much agreed. It is a charming and funny and INTELLIGENT show from start to finish, full of nothing but positive encouragement for our young men and women. Sadly, it is sandwiched between "sitcoms" where girls wearing leapard print leotards, giant fire-engine red sneakers, and a pound of mascara recite some of the stalest dialogue since The Facts of Life was put down two decades ago and seem to be perpetually indoctrinating our little girls that acting like a SUGAR-FROSTED, BRAIN-DEAD SPAZZ is the key to attaining Nirvana.
Futurama had a brilliant parody of Niceklodeon recently. One of the execs was showing a new show called Popular Slutt Club to a focus group of children. You would have to see the execution of it, but my friend and I laughed for like three solid minutes.
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I know not much about this, but I have a *hard time* being sympathetic towards Viacom for the simple (but admittedly esoteric) reason that, when I'm not watching TCM, the news, or something on youtube, I like to watch old episodes of Murder She Wrote at tvland.com
(I know it's utter hokum, but I enjoy the high-grade cheese of it all and revel in the non-stop cavalcade of vintage C and D-list Hollywood guest stars as well as the occasional character actor and/or studio system refugee (Van Johnson! Marie Windsor! Carroll Baker!)
Now when I go to watch Murder She Wrote on TVland.com my whole computer screen is covered in an *unstoppable, unblockable, unshrinkable,* *pop-up that cannot be closed without closing the whole window:* alerting me that "DIRECT TV HAS DONE THE UNTHINKABLE! THEY'VE CANCELLED MTV! NICKELODEON! ETC..."
That **** me off a lot.
I get that you're annoyed, *BUT DON'T LOCK UP MY COMPUTER AND MAKE ME LISTEN TO THE STARS OF Jersey Shore TELL ME WHAT A DAMN SHAME IT IS THEY WON'T BE ON MY TELEVISION THANKS TO DIRECT TV*.
And as far as I am concerned, Direct TV is doing America *NOTHING* *BUT A HUUUUUGE FAVOR BY GETTING MTV AND NICKELODEON AND (IF THERE'S A GOD) THOSE PAINTED STRUMPETS ON THE DISNEY CHANNEL OUT OF SIGHT AND SOUND NOT ONLY FROM THE EYES AND EARS OF OUR CHILDREN, BUT FROM THE REST OF US AS WELL.*
As far as I am concerned, God bless you, Direct TV. You are the men of the effing year. Can you also do something about The Kardashiai? I will wear one of those effing dishes ON MY HEAD if you can get those talentless mouth breathers off the air waves.
Edited by: AddisonDeWitless on Jul 14, 2012 8:59 PM
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I know, right?
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At the bottom of this is a link (that I probably inserted wrong) but it can be seen on youtube under "espn fails penn state coverage"
I include it because it features Ben on his internet "news" show The Young Turks pretty much ripping on ESPN for what he deems their lackluster coverage of the Penn Sate Scandal (granted there is some praise and granted, he's quoting mostly from another article.)
I include it not for incendiary purposes, but to show that Ben HIMSELF holds a network he doesn't work for to a pretty high standard, criticizing away when he feels they come up short in some departments, such as research, etc. So why should he (or anyone?) mind anyone doing the same for our beloved TCM?
(Also he gets busted by an assistant for being all "I know I'm right about this fact, so shut up" and he is actually TOTALLY WRONG. It's great.)
Edited by: AddisonDeWitless on Jul 13, 2012 8:41 PM
ps- did you know he reads, a lot. ? Like a lot more than you.
Edited by: AddisonDeWitless on Jul 13, 2012 8:48 PM
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Dangerous (1935) for which Bette Davis won her first Oscar.
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We are SO simpatico on Bomba the Jungle Boy.
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A scene from Neil Simon's 1976 Murder by Death as played by the inimitable Maggie Smith:
*NORA CHARLESTON*
"Why would anyone want to steal a dead body?"
Nick leans in an whispers something in her ear.
*NORA CHARLESON*
"Oh, that's tacky. That's really tacky."
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> {quote:title=hlywdkjk wrote:}{quote}
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> Maybe he has made his preferences known to the programmers on what he would like to show during his stints and we just don't know it. I don't think it is just happenstance that he intros alot of westerns each week.
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yeah, but why not go ahead and let him slap a "Ben's Picks" mantle on them, since the guy has such pull and such a fanbase?
I mean, one of the reasons I am very dedicated to Osborne is that his Bob's Picks are the big gift to us TCM FANS (freaks) I have learned about so many COOL movies that I never knew existed or had given little thought or time to, from Stars in Their Crowns to Cluny Brown to That Really Awesome Thing With Robert Young and Susan Hayward Where He Plays a Murderous Husband and I Wish I could Remember the Title.
Even his picks that I don't love, ie The Razor's Edge, are inn-teresting, breaths of fresh air compared to the more boxed in Third Man/ Face in The Crowd/ From Here to Eternity choices we get foisted upon us so often, and they get us talking.
*BOB'S PICKS ARE ON TONIGHT, IN FACT, It looks like someone's freed another Fox Title Gentlemen Prefer Blondes from its shackles for a well-deserved 8:00 pm showing, He is also showing a Biopic of Oscar Wilde that I've never heard of and My Reputation a pre-feminist melo starring Barbara Stanwyck and the rumptastic George Brent.*
Maybe if some of us had more of an idea of Ben's picks/tastes/ possible propensity for showing us inn-teresting things which we heretfore did not know about, we might develop more of a tolerance for him.
(and by we, I mean me.)
But I have noticed, the Saturday/Sunday afternoon picks are getting increasingly repetitive and epic-heavy, with a lot of Beach Party titles thrown in.
Edited by: AddisonDeWitless on Jul 12, 2012 10:57 AM
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Hee hee- not necessarily on that second part. I really did mean it when I said *LET BEN HAVE A "BEN'S PICKS" AFTERNOON ONE WEEKEND A MONTH.*
I'd be inn-terested to see what he'd select, and after nine years he's earned it, no? In fact, I don't think he's EVER had a chance to select four films to show us.
As for replacing RO, those thoughts depress me and I prefer not to think about them.
Honestly, I'm just grateful for the movies, it may get to a point where financially, TCM just has to present their evening selections without a chaperone.
(clutch pearls here)
Edited by: AddisonDeWitless on Jul 11, 2012 4:23 PM
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An alternative choice for a weekend host, you mean?
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sigh.
i am going to try to temper this in such a way it doesn't blow things all the hell up and get a big ole' cast-iron MASTERLOCK slapped on this thread.
Ben notes in this article that we fans are big on taking the net to task when they gaffe. THEN WHY HAVE THE INTROES AND OUTROS BEEN SO RIDDLED WITH INNACURACIES FOR THE PAST YEAR? Everything from the wrong actors appearing in films, to incorrect plot summations, to a completely erroneous write-up this week of Crime Wave (great film nonetheless, and thanks for showing it.) And then there's the double soundtrack Jane Eyre, The Lonely Are the Brave kerfuffle, the numerous quibbles about less-than-pristine prints being aired (that last one I'm not such a stickler about, but it seems to be an ongoing issue.) Yes, I'M GRATEFUL for TCM, but there have been plenty of instances of late where I at least would've sent a stern letter to the research department.
The other point I'd like to make, is that after nine years I don't really know who Ben Mankiewicz is and I can't say as I really care.
I don't see the charisma, the interest, or the qualifications to be where he is, doing what he is doing...And honestly, I have felt a little bad for the guy lately because I know it can't be easy to have to regurge that same damn spiel for the 24th Saturday afternoon in six years about how "Dr. Zhivago was not a critical hit when it was released in 1965 and David Lean took it personally. He didn't work again until Ryan's Dau..
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
(Then of course I remember Homeboy is probably pulling down five figures a year for doing this weekend gig and possibly gets to keep the wardrobe.)
Look: I'm not trying to get kicked off this site, start a kerfuffle, or get this thread locked and scrubbed- but I just have to say it: not only do I not see the need for the guy, I don't know why he still wants this job. I don't see any improvement in his delivery. I've never heard him say one intereresting fact or make one notable observation about a film or star that can't be found in the imdb trivia section for said film and/or star. I don't see any of this alleged "humor" (irreverant or otherwise) in these intro/outroes outside of the occasional crass word choice or ham-fisted political dig, and while I don't hold him responsible for the research department's gaffes, it is a little galling that someone who has been doing this for nine years and doesn't seem to have his schedule jammed with a whole lot of other responsibilities can't do his own writing/fact checking (after all, he knows it matters to us.+)+
IN CONCLUSION: I say to the net, you're obviously not getting rid of him, so let the guy DO SOMETHING. Just as Osborne has his Bob's Picks, let Ben make some selections on occasion, four films an afternoon one afternoon a month. Or are you trying to drive him crazy by having him intro Beach Party and Ben Hur in some endless form of torture?
As said, I'm not angry and I'm not trying to be mean, over the past year, the programming on the net has IMPROVED SO MUCH that I'm willing to mute-and-forget-Manksie...but I don't know I'm a pragmatist at heart, and I hate to see money being wasted, especially when it could go to acquiring something other than North by Northwest to show on a Sunday afternoon.
Peace out, and again, PROGRAMMING DEPARTMENT- I DON'T KNOW IF THERE HAS BEEN SOME SORT OF COUP-D'ETAT WITHIN THE RANKS, BUT YOU GUYS ARE DOING SO MUCH BETTER, THANK YOU!
PS- However, please give Sex and the Single Girl a rest though. It supersucks.
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be thankful Rex Reed has been put in the cryogenic deep freeze, girl had issues.
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Oh no, it was Duvall, for sure.
You can view it on youtube. Look up "Eileen Heckart Oscar."
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With all the news lately focusing on the recent great white sighting around Cape Cod, and the photo out there (someone more tech savvy than me, wanna post it for me? 'cause I have the hardest time posting pics since they reformatted this site recently) of a kayaker being stalked by an ominous dorsal fin, I cannot help but reflect on a scene in the film that has always FASCINATED ME:
The Estuary Scene
It's the halfway mark to the film, where the real shark shows up after the kids with the cardboard fin are busted. A woman painting a seascape spots the dorsal, screams for help, is ignored until the crowd starts to mill her way.
Then, so many iconic, brilliantly framed images:
The shark proceeds through the pond, a brilliant shot of the littlest son of the Police Chief playing in the foreground as the massive dorsal-to-tail spread of the beast glides past in the background. We get the full scope of the shark as the chugging theme music pauses for a moment of silence, as if to say "holy s***, this f***er is BIG!"
The oblivious children argue on the sailboat, and the boy scout instructor in the red dinghy asks "hey you guys okay ovah deh?' the fin cutting immediately behind him a classic example of the "Look behind you, ****!" moment in the cinema.
Then: the first big reveal of the shark, even before the "chum some of this s***" scene and it's quite effective, even artful. The accurate depiction of the sideways great white, head just out of the water, taking the screaming man down before he can reach the bright red, slick dinghy- it's just been burned into my brain since the moment I saw it.
I hate that Spielberg makes crap now, because this one scene in this one film has so many touches of art in it: from the use of music to the repeated motifs (the son sings Do You Know The Muffin Man? before this attack just as he did in the scene earlier where the shark eats the boy on the raft. There is also the presence of music to let us know there really is a shark this time (note the absence of any score during the cardboard fin scenes.)
Not that this scene is without flaws: The Jaws Companion was very critical of it, calling it the one weak part in the whole movie. I disagree, but I do note that we've been shown and told that the shark is a night feeder, so why he is all of a sudden out to be seen by all in the middle of the day is a bit off, but (just as with the air tank) Spielberg has us by now, and we'll buy it.
The scene itself has an inn-teresting history: it was originally shot with a different ending (photos of which have ended up in a lot of promotional materials) where the shark, with the victim in his mouth, goes after Brody's son, who is pushed out of the way as the shark takes the man under.
Although the DVD has numerous deleted scenes in pristine order and in the "deleted scene" scetion, this scene is only available in some grainy, un-processed shots halfway through The Making of Jaws featurette that comes on the DVD.
Although I think all concerned were right to not go with (it looks kind of cheesey and it's too horrific, much like Joe Alves's storyboard suggestions that Spielberg ignored) this version of the scene, I WOULD LOVE TO SEE A RESTORED VERSION OF IT.
Any chance it'll be on the Blu-Ray this August?
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I would also cite Heckart's work in The Bad Seed as one of the best examples of someone doing an amazing job in a thankless role in a s****y movie. (See also: Marjorie Rambeau in Torch Song.)
Heckart beat Shelly Winters for supporting actress in 1973; Shelley was up for The Poseidon Adventure, and I'm sure Shell was doubly **** because Robert Duvall presented and made a horse's *** out of himself by breaking into laughter after Winter's name was preceeded by that of Susan Tyrell for Fat City. (He claimed he was laughing at Jimmy Caan who was mugging in the front row, either way I say: "it's not your moment boys and you need to both shut and grow the f*** up.")
I think I'm getting off topic here.
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I paraphrase this from distant memory:
During one of the 31 Days of Oscar broadcasts a few years (three? four?) ago, he introduced Written on the Wind and ended with what seemed like a definite diss of Dorothy Malone saying (something akin to): "and here, containing an Oscar-winning performance from Dorothy Malone, a call by the Academy that had some of us cheering, and some of us scratching our heads in wonderment for years after, is Written on the Wind."
Um, "Meow!" right? 'Specially since she's still alive and it's my understanding she was not invited to attend the "Oscar Family Album" portion of the 1998 show by oversight.
I also have to throw in that, silly as Written on the Wind is, she actually is fantastic in it. It's a gusty performance, and sometimes a gutsy performance that doesn't entirely come off is much more inn-teresting than a successful, but tame one. Besides, Mercedes Macambridge was so slong for the ride with Giant, Mildred Dunnock is fine in the tedious Baby Doll, but it's not an Oscar role, Patty Macormack was out of her league and Eileen Heckart- who was sensational in her brief screen time in The Bad Seed was likely seen as lucky to be in the running (although she could've/should've gotten it for Somebody Up There Likes Me from the same year )
That's as close as I can recall to anything Os has ever said that was less than glowing.
Edited by: AddisonDeWitless on Jul 10, 2012 2:57 PM
What's on tonight: SAM FULLER
in General Discussions
Posted
> {quote:title=Hibi wrote:}{quote}Well, Pick Up is a Fox film, so it's not like TCM can show it often........
Right. Just like Love is a Many Splendored Thing, The Razor's Edge, The Song of Bernadette, Night and the City, Peyton Place
Man, how long has it been since they've played one of those?