CinemaInternational

Miracle on 34th Street, the Star Wars series, Journey to the Center of the Earth, The Sandlot, Rookie of the Year, Millions, one Garfield the Cat film, and (maybe) Never Been Kissed. Most of the rest of (adult-oriented contemporary) Fox will likely be appearing on the now completely owned Hulu. But Fox got the short end of the stick....

Jaws in The Spy Who loved Me. Took his job seriously....

"Tis a bit of unexpected casting news, but Oscar winner Emma Stone is being strongly considered to play Clara Bow in a 2021 release called Babylon, which focuses on the tumult of Hollywood's switch to sound. Brad Pitt is strongly being considered to play a composite character mostly inspired by John Gilbert. Stone's La La Land director, Damian Chazelle, is directing with Paramount releasing. The film currently is expected to be two and a half hours long. But maybe I am putting this up because i think its high time a film was made about Bow, and that Stone, while very talented, is a bit of a surprise pick (she's much taller that the real-life actress). But I think she can pull it off. Your thoughts?

Parachute Jumper just became the 500th movie I have seen from the 30s! And before the end of the year I'll be at 4,000 movies seen in total!

They have a lot of top contenders true. But think of last year. Roma looked like it would win, and then, no, it was not it. There were reports that Academy members were angry that streaming films were up for Best Picture. I think it will carry over this year. Netflix will win other categories but will be iced out in Best Picture by Once Upon a Time in Hollywood or 1917.

I think that the problem has been coming for a long time, but its only exploded in the last decade or so. Part of the reason why so many major studio films are the way they are is because of how blazing the Indie boom was in the 90s. Especially at Miramax. With the studios wanting to cater more to younger demographics, they relegated most of the "movies for grownups" to the indie studios. And then everything was in a holding pattern until the stock market crash in 2007. Many independents shuttered then and the major studios, by then used to blockbusters being their biggest, cut back on "riskier" titles, aka the dramas adults like. Then the comedies went. And streaming came. And the indies grew even smaller. So now, most of the big films meant for adults are released in the last quarter of the year, and you need to watch carefully because some come and go in a flash.

Criterion Sale November

Gone with the Wind. Una O'Connor as Scarlet O'Hara Jimmy Durante as Rhett Butler Walter Brennan as Ashley Wilkes Hattie McDaniel as Melanie Wilkes

Did anybody catch the funny story Martin Short had about Bette Davis following The Big Picture? He said that she satirically had a sign on the door of her apartment saying "No Smoking Please".

I saw it on a VHS tape yesterday. Wonderful film......

I have a copy of that book as well. Its a great read, even for someone like me who doesn't have a child. It's author was nominated for a Pulitzer a few years ago.

Two little suggestions though: Hold off a bit on Citizen Kane and Casablanca. Both are famous classics, but their reputations proceed them and sometimes people can be disappointed in something they have heard so much praise about. Hold off a bit to see if they are hooked on classics to show them to them. Stay far away from films with blackface scenes: Holiday Inn, Babes in Arms, unfortunately Swing Time. Go for Top Hat if you want to show them a Fred and Ginger. Also other types of people playing other ethnic backgrounds, even respectful to the cultures like The good Earth.

If you're going for an even younger crowd, Bringing Up Baby would work. Kids would love it. I'd also reccomend The Thin Man, and maybe throw in some Hitchcocks like Rebecca or Strangers on a Train or yes, that old TCM standby, North by Northwest. Random Harvest would be a pick that they might not have heard of, but for most romantics, it does the trick very nicely. Pre-codes might interest them due to the snappiness and pace of them.

I think the problem is bigger than Marvel, it's the whole way people watch things anymore really. Somewhere, a few years ago, it seems, more people started waiting for films to watch on streaming or decided to opt for more "peak" TV, and only went to theatres for the latest spectaculars. As a result, independent film has shrunk considerably, more films are forgoing theatres, and the major studios invested more and more on a smaller number of films. And so its become a bit of a crisis. I was talking to Lawrence the other day in a thread about how I was even growing nostalgic for movie years 15 years ago (something I never thought I would say). Back then, many were wringing their hands on how poor the major studio films were. But you can list many of their productions in the early 2000s that would not be made in the current major studio climate.

Scorsese wrote this op-ed in the New York Times. I am re-posting it here in its entirety, so you can read it without clicking on a link or anything:

Souls at Sea is on DVD, just only in set form. The TCM Vault Universal Rarities collection.

1. The Landlord 2. The Ballad of Cable Hogue 3. Darling Lili 4. Donkey Skin 5. Patton 6. Lovers and Other Strangers 7. Puzzle of a Downfall Child 8. Sunflower 9. The Walking Stick 10. Catch-22 11. The Great White Hope 12. Ryan's Daughter 13. I Never Sang for My Father 14. Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon 15. The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes 16. The Aristocats 17. The Only Game in Town 18. The Wild Child 19. Brewster McCloud 20. Diary of a Mad Housewife 21. Five Easy Pieces 22. Airport 23. The Conformist 24. MASH 25. On a Clear Day You Can See Forever

A few months ago when the 1969 set Tarantino film was opening, I asked what your favorite films of 1969, 50 years ago this year, were. Now we are less than 2 months away from the first year of the 1970s turning 50. So with that in mind, a retrospective look at that year is in order. Just feel free to make a list of your favorites, or just name a film or two. Anything you wish.

I did like Yesterday a lot (the only others I saw from this year so far were Toy Story 4, Downton Abbey, Late Night, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World and Dumbo), but I haven't seen any of the others, although Us, The Laundromat, and Shazam! will be on the docket. Maybe The Highwaymen and Spider-man too. Year-end titles are always the most intriguing of the year anymore and are often quite intriguing, but i find myself even getting nostalgic for movie years even 15 years ago. It seemed more fruitful for good movies over all back then. Am I crazy for thinking that?

Really, it's all harmless fun, but really it doesn't matter much in the grand scheme of things. I mean, i don't think that any of us are really in an Olympic style race to climb higher or higher. The reputation points I brought up, I have only checked them once maybe twice before today. they're fun, but nothing to get into a hissy over.

Just out of curiosity, were there many from the early part of this year that received a 7 (aka an almost reccomend grade) from you? I ask because so far, much of this year seems a bit flat to me.....

Let's not forget what happened in 1987, shall we? Bette Davis appeared on The Tonight Show and got an ovation just for lighting her cigarette.

And is bound to be present in at least three acting races and Best Picture..... and Laura Dern will probably win. It hits regular Netflix in a month's time. This weeks other releases included Midway, Roland Emmerich's take on the famous WWII battle, Doctor Sleep, the sequel to The Shining, Honey Boy, Shia LaBeauf's autobiographical tale, and Last Christmas, over which everybody is talking about the twist ending ..... but if you've ever heard the 80s Wham! song after which it was named (and after all the Christmases where they have put it on the radio, who hasn't?), the twist is glaringly obvious. Just look at the lyrics to the song. oh, and one other film too, a documentary called The Kingmaker, about Imelda Marcos. Seems to be a top candidate for Documentary at the Oscars.

On the page, I linked up above.... and again here, just for safekeeping http://forums.tcm.com/topmembers/?filter=pp_reputation_points TheCid reacted to my one post, so that's one more point it seems.....

I don't know how exactly it all works. I was just going by the numbers on the page....