therealfuster

that make you either loopy or a dedicated fan. To a movie buff, there are certain things that spell sincerity in one's obsession. For example, I never leave a movie in a theatre, till all the credits have rolled. I like to collect credits in my mind that amuse me, that detail certain roles like: Loudmouthed Man Drunken Floozy Girl with Bushy Bleached Hair Dog in Elevator Older Woman wearing a Babushka I just find these entertaining, and enjoy reading them and seeing who played such parts, even though it drives my companions insane while waiting for me. Another thing I like to do, is listen to see if the screams in a film are the patented Wilhelm Scream, that has been utilized in films as far back as "Distant Drums" which starred my idol, Arthur Hunnicutt, up to the Star Wars saga. Now...if I meet another fan who actually knows what the Wilhelm Scream is, then I am assured I am speaking to a dyed in the wool film fan, and not a phony. To an outsider, these traits which I see as true movie lore knowledge, are looked at more as mental aberrations which may spell insanity, pejoratively speaking. So I do hide these peccadilloes of peculiarity from all but the most astute movie fan that I encounter. What oddball things do you do or look for in movies, which classify you as a movie freak, but in the best way? If you mark your TV Guide with a highlighter and always have at least six blank videocassettes on hand, you may have a movie addiction!

You expected no rebuttal as to your conviction in the overwhelming talents of Spielberg as a film giant? Sorry to disappoint you, but that was a bit myopic. Have a nice weekend!

good money NOT to see those movies. Could we instead take up a collection, just to get you your own collection of these OOP prints, and then you could watch them in the peace and privacy of your own home, instead of infiltrating the airwaves with such flotsam and jetsam? Personally, I don't think my tv screen is big enough to take in the teeth of both Marie and Donny in a widescreen showing. I'd rather see a guest interview with Robert Osborne interviewing Marie's first husband, and then a documentary on that guy who was the Salamander letter forger and bomb enthusiast in Salt Lake City. Work on it in the suggestion area, okay? I'm singing "Paper Roses" just for you as I write this post. Enjoy!

between stupid and clever, Tom but your rejoinder was much closer to the latter. Yay...another fan of the song "Stonehenge" I bet? I have David St. Hubbins' autograph. I hope you die of envy!

there are the Elvis programmers, which could just have numbers on them, as they are all interchangeable, and then there are a few in which there is some discernible storyline like "King Creole" or "Jailhouse Rock". Sure...they were made for teens and young fans, but a few have pleasant storylines, like "Viva Las Vegas" and Ann-Marget makes that one jell. They're kitsch, but just like junk food, man [or woman] cannot live by filet mignon alone. For a real laugh, see "Change of Habit" with Elvis as a doctor treating autism in children, and Mary Tyler Moore with giant fake eyelashes, as a nun, out of habit. Funny!

"Caged". Shot by the same guy, Carl Guthrie who lensed the tense Steve Cochran flicks, "Highway 301" and "Storm Warning" how can "Caged" miss with actresses like Hope Emerson around to scare the bejeebers out of younger ones like poor sweet Eleanor Parker, and the film also had the tough as toenails Jan Sterling, who was quite the tart in Billy Wilder's "Ace in the Hole", but in real life was married to that sweet Paul Douglas. I'm sure you'd like it, but I've never seen it shown on TCM. Maybe we should request a Women's Slammer and Big House Nite for an upcoming TCM festival? This flick even has an appearance by Gordon MacRae's wife, Sheila and also has bits by Lee Patrick and Jane Darwell, with little Ellen Corby around for good measure and Agnes Moorehead to keep them all in line. If you are offended by subtle hints of behaviour from the Island of Lesbos, don't watch!

I could not only watch a great Hollywood musical, which is something no other country really made as well, and particularly MGM, but I could watch a whole week of musicals. Gene Kelly, Rita Hayworth, Fred and Ginger or Judy or any of his other partners, Dan Dailey or Bobby Van, with Ann Miller hoofing it, and Mitzi Gaynor or Cyd Charisse in those amazing spectaculars. I particularly like any film directed by Busby Berkeley, or even just dance segments, which are hallucinogenic. Are you now sorry you asked, "who would want to watch a whole day of musicals?" If you want to see just "music" go turn on VH1 and see if Britney sings in the shower in her new reality show.

unite! David St. Hubbins will be standing in for Michael McKean this coming week as a TCM Guest Programmer on Tuesday, May 24 at 8pm when he showcases Preston Sturges's "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek", Stanley Kubrick "Paths of Glory" and other esoteric films. As a fan of rockumentaries and documentaries, I find "This is Spinal Tap" with its nods to Dylan's "Don't Look Back", and films like "The Last Waltz" to be the sine qua non of such films, but true rock documentaries like "Monterey Pop" or even "Pink Floyd at Pompeii" are always at the top of my list too. In honor of David St. Hubbins first appearance on TCM, what are your favorite rock documentaries or sendups of the genre? I look forward to TCM having Nigel Tufnel as Guest Programmer when they show a night of habadashery films.

I knew of that award. I was just hoping that they did not honor him again, unless it was posthumously. Oh, you mean you like those films of Spielberg's that you mention? Edgar Ulmer he ain't, but then Edgar Ulmer did not have those budgets either. Let me get this straight...to you this is a great resume below...right?: "JAWS", "CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND", "RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK", "E.T.", "THE COLOR PURPLE", "JURASSIC PARK", "SCHINDLER'S LIST", "AMISTAD", "SAVING PRIVATE RYAN" "Raiders" was okay, being that he did take off on the old serials and all but I'll give more credit to the collaborator for that one. I'm not that impressed but if you feel "lucky" to have Spielberg in your universe, so be it. I did like that episode of "Night Gallery" that he did with Joan Crawford at least. I wlll assume being the big fan you are, that you saw the event on tv that Spielberg organized, that paid tribute to Akira Kurosawa back some moons ago? I'll go along with what Akira Kurosawa said at the event honoring him, arranged by Spielberg and some other "famed" filmmakers. Kurosawa mentioned that he'd been asked what it takes to make great movies, and if making money is the intent, then make go make blockbuster movies and sequels with immediate returns, but don't ask why a film like "Rashomon" worked. It may have been a bit of a slap in the face, but at least Kurosawa knows how to make original films. I'm happy for you that you are so impressed with Spielberg. He seems like a nice guy as a person and quite down to earth, but I will pass on his movies though....even with your glowing recommendations, Mongo. I have some shelf paper to put up tonight in my kitchen cabinets, or I'd rewatch all your favorites in the Spielberg oeuvre. I'd rather see "Night and Fog" than any of the ones you esteem, but I'm sure for you..all Spielberg's films fill a niche and that's good and you should continue to love them, and don't let my denigration bother you, as you seem a bit nonplussed about my rebellious non-allegiance to the Spielberg cartel. As Olivia might say, "To each his own!"

I am a big Elvis lover, and I'm not being harsh but just honest. Shoot, I made my boyfriend take me to Graceland last year as it had always been a dream to visit there, and I also hit Sun Studios which was a real wonderful place and full of nostalgia. I love Elvis, and I have sympathy for him, and think he was a goodhearted person, but he must take some responsibility for decisions he made, not when he was 21 and trying to please his mother Gladys, and make a few bucks to help her and his dad, but later on when he was over thirty, and had eyes to see and ears to hear. I do think the Colonel was crooked, but I also think that Elvis was smart enough to be a bit more savvy about his own career. One can't always blame those who take advantage of them. You have to let them do that....by your own free will. No offense..it is obvious you are an Elvis fan, and so am I, so we're on the same page here, and regardless...Elvis was an amazing entertainer with limitless talent to be sure and we can agree on that. Thanks for discussing these issues with me!

I've seen "The Red House" on TCM. It is also out in a dvd version, and I own both a really cheap print and a more expensive one, and they both look really decent. It has not be remastered but even a $5.99 copy, which I've seen at Borders in the cheapie rack, looks pretty good. Have you seen that film already? It is an underrated gem in my opinion, and Eddie is wonderful in it. As is good old Judith Anderson in a rather likable part not like Mrs. Danvers. Enjoy!

reminds me of the story about the participants in Monty Python, who had the BBC censor one of their sketches, when the participant [Graham Chapman I think] in a skit said his hobbies were....well that other word for "onanism", and strangling animals. The BBC left in the animal strangling part, but bleeped the first word, which starts with "m" if you are not biblically erudite. I had to go back to the first post in this thread, to see what this brouhaha was all about. The poster stated that he had been "ambushed" by the "profanity" in "A Fish Called Wanda" and that said poster was "startled" by "curse words vomiting their way into the living room" and then asks if this is not a concern of anyone else. Well, franky my dear, no, it is not. I have total faith in TCM and know that they only show worthwhile films, which never smack of sheer commercialism, and hence whatever I see or hear is usually understandable. Unless you are hoping to see reruns of "The Donna Reed Show". Notice I didn't say "Leave It to Beaver" because that show had some grit and reality, but the Donna show was a creme puff paradise of saccharine sweet situations. Firstly, let's define "profanity". The dictionary states: "pro?fan?i?ty ?? 1. The condition or quality of being profane. 2. a. Abusive, vulgar, or irreverent language. b. The use of such language." Note...according to this definition, the tv show "Roseanne" could be considered "profane" as it was quite abusive, as was Ralph Kramden of "The Honeymooners", and as are some of the more prominent televangelists and other religious figures who vent on tv, and most Monty Python episodes which aired on Public Television, which were definitely irreverent. Vulgar could be anything from watching Bea Lillie dance on the Ed Sullivan Show to seeing Jessica Simpson burp on her reality show. Now...let's define "nudity": "nu?di?ty 1. Having no clothing; naked. 2. Permitting or featuring full exposure of the body: a nude beach. 3. Unclothed as in a human figure, used for an artistic representation." I am pretty appalled myself by what appears on regular cable channels, with gyrating, mostly unclothed morons on the E-Channel, and ads for "Girls Gone Wild" [but as yet no "Boys Gone Wild" dvd's] but I have never seen anything on TCM, which does not have some semblance of gravitas or comedic value, regardless of its nearness to the definition of profanity or nudity. To deny any scenes of nudity, would remove an important scene from a great film like "The Pawnbroker" and smacks of the attempts in the past to have diaperlike drapery put on Michelangelo's characters in the Sistine Chapel. What's next...putting a brassiere on the Venus de Milo, since someone can't handle seeing it at the Louvre and feels "ambushed" that it is right out in public? To kindly put it...grow up! Everyone is nude under their clothes, and the sooner you learn this, the less you will be shocked at, if you have to visit someone in the hospital, or if you see a dog with no pants on, or if you go to the circus and are shocked by an elephant, who did not have Disney animate it. TCM is a movie channel for world cinema. World cinema is not like watching a Mary Kate and Ashley Olson film, which has superfluous sex scenes, which I would not want to see either. TCM films are full of life, and occasionally real life has nudity and profanity, even if it is in only small measures. The boxed set of Monty Python has the silly insets of some undressed women, that get expurgated on tv occasionally, which are so tame as to probably not be offensive to my grandmother. TCM shows exact recommendations at the start of each film, for which audience it is intended for. Any adult over 21, who says they are a movie fan, and goes into watching a film with Monty Python participants like "A Fish Called Wanda" and is shocked and thinks they were "ambushed", is reminiscent of Shakespeare's line...:"The lady [or man] doth protest too much." It would be wrong for any Monty Python film NOT to offend! I've seen no movie on TCM that has ever transgressed the boundaries of decorum, unless one is offended by seeing men in drag as in "Some Like It Hot" which might offend someone, if they are looking for something to be offended by.... Keep showing great world cinema and minor classics, TCM and don't worry about those who would put a kilt on Michelangelo's David or stop Rhett from saying "Damn" or make sure Rhoda Penmark dies at the end of "The Bad Seed". That's more than two cents worth, but I'm not here to see countless repeats of "Savannah Smiles" or "The Making of Left Behind". Keep up the good work, TCM!

it could be for Spielberg, Travolta or Cruise! Think about that, and you'll get out your vinyl of the soundtrack from "American Graffiti" and remember the good times and when Candy Clark [as Debbie] said to Charles Martin Smith [as the Toad]..."Guys pay, girls don't pay!" Let's face it...awards are mostly odious anyway. The real fame lies in the films and memories of patrons who paid to see a film, not in what some self serving board of directors puts on tv, in a display of grandiose largesse.

from another relatively new poster at TCM! I may be hallucinating but I think I saw this James Joyce tale on TCM awhile back, but I could be wrong. It is a great movie to be sure. And will probably always be better than any adaption of "Ulysses" which seems too monumental to be encompassed on film. Use the search function to see if Huston's "The Dead" could be playing in the future, or suggest it as a movie for TCM to show, by utilizing the upper menus. I hope you enjoy posting here!

Considering your taste, I'm wondering if you've seen James Mason in "The Night Has Eyes"? This film has everything you'd want...a murderer, the Yorkshire Moors, suspense, brooding deluxe, and atmosphere galore! It is quite scary and one part of it actually gave me the shivers, and I don't scare easily. I don't know if it's been seen on TCM, but I bought it on VHS in a boxed set of suspense thrillers, with "The Red House". Those British films set on the Moors do seem to have the most atmospheric miasma to be sure. Oh, I forgot another movie theme I am a sucker for....jungle flicks! Even B to Z grade drive-in pabulum, like "The Leech Woman".

which was not appreciated by its source creator. Just today this amusing news story came out over the airwaves: "Godard Slams Tarantino Legendary director Jean-Luc Godard has hit out at Quentin Tarantino - one of his biggest admirers - for using the title of one of his 1960s films without financially rewarding him. Maverick film-maker Tarantino took the name Band A Parte (Band Of Outsiders) from the New Wave icon's 1964 movie and used it as the name for his production company. But Breathless filmmaker Godard, 74, is less than impressed by the Pulp Fiction director's intended flattery. He says, "Tarantino named his production company after one of my films. He would have done better to give me some money."" This reminds me of the misappropriation of the Ray Bradbury title, "Fahrenheit 451" by Michael Moore, which was also not appreciated by the originator. Can you name other movies or film portrayals, of which the original maker or subject was not pleased, as in uncredited remakes or paeans of praise that felt flat?

I have to leave now, so will not be able to check for right answers till tomorrow, but my clue is...El Rancho Floor Show.

for his performance in the film adaption of "The Glass Menagerie", there is hardly any film he is in, which does not benefit greatly from his normalcy and grounding effect. Have you ever seen Cornell Woolrich lensed "The Window" where Kennedy plays the father of Bobby Driscoll? This is definitely a film which is underrated and superb!

a grown man. He did not have to follow any directives by the Colonel or Hal Wallis, or anyone at RCA Victor, concerning his career. More than anyone, being one of the biggest, if not the biggest rock stars and recording artists of all time, he could certainly have called the shots, if he did not want to do films like "Girl Happy" or other dreck. My guess is he was a bit lazy, and resting on his laurels, and it is easier to blame the Colonel. It is true that the Colonel tried to dissuade him from doing any international tours or filming in foreign countries, due to the Colonel not wanting to have to get a Visa or passport, but if Elvis had wanted to do anything, I'm sure if push came to shove, he could have had things his own way. Maybe he preferred just taking it easy with the Memphis Mafia, renting out roller rinks and movie houses and going out with his friends, and not taking advantage of roles which came his way, like when Barbra Streisand offered him the role, that eventually went to Kris Kristofferson in her film, "A Star is Born". I think Elvis could have done that role justice, but if he preferred playing only heroic roles, than it is his own fault if he let the Colonel's belief that he would be in Barbra's shadow by taking on the part. Sure the Colonel was a con man and user, but if you keep a viper up to your neck, don't be surprised if he bites you. I am a big Elvis fan, but I still feel he was responsible for his own career choices.

don't get any better than "Caged" with Jan Sterling, Hope Emerson, and the ravishing Eleanor Parker. Have you seen it? Prison pics are great, and I'd forgotten that genre. Who can forget Cagney flipping out in the mess hall in "White Heat"? I also like "Birdman of Alcatraz" although it was a highly sanitized version of the true story.

aka City of the Dead, is a fabulous film. An exercise in restraint and understatement, and it just packs a wallop, and a lot of it is done by the lighting, mists and camerawork alone. The woman playing the inn owner/burnt at the stake witch...oh, shoot I can't remember her name, is so wonderfully frightening. The girl is played by Venetia Stevenson, daughter of the director and actress, Anna Lee and former significant other of Russ Tamblyn and then singer Don Everly, with whom she had a daughter who made her Axl Rose's mother-in-law for a short time. Now that's really scary! Again...any horror buff of the Universals, should enjoy the great Christopher Lee in "City of the Dead" as it is incredibly atmospheric.

and that other book by that, was it Silver person, but did not find either of these books worth buying. They both mostly rehash old info, and are not really well that written, plus there were errors and one could do better by just finding all the old articles from Cahiers du Cinema, instead of reading excerpts that the authors have selected to support their views. I'm sure for someone totally new to movies, they might be fine though as an introduction.

Venetian Blinds! Yes, that's what makes a Noir film. Actually....I don't really believe that there is such a thing as Noir. And I say this after reading every book on Noir, that I could get my hands on for years, after reading up on everything that Cahiers du Cinema has said at the start about the Post-War American films, with the dark sensibilities, fatal flaws, emasculated males, femme fatales and other tipoffs. After talking to a few authors even, who take their Noir straight, think they are experts, yet even they cannot agree...my belief is that Noir is just other genres reclassified due to a few abstruse plot lines, like flashback or downbeat ending, and perhaps unlike Jazz, asking for a definition does not mean that you will never get it. Noir is a state of mind. Some people see The Maltese Falcon as Noir, but it does not even compute, yet there have been tales since time immemorial which could classify as Noir, with its constantly hazy structures. So I say...just look for the shiny wet streets and venetian blinds, and you mostly cannot go wrong. Save your money...Dark City is just a rehash and all you need to know about Noir, you can see by watching TCM films with Mitchum.

are my long suit! So I will be working on your missive diligently, Tom to discover the true message. May I call you Tom or is that an anagram or other type of wordplay? I'm glad to see that another Net Vet has encountered the phenomenon of this garden variety, wannabe scoundrel, in the cyber world of the bogus. Really...there should be a movie made of this type of behaviour. I would vote for that man who made "Sweet Smell of Success" to direct it, as he could rip the lid off the proliferation of such cons. I stayed up and watched the Welles film, "F is for Fake", even though I own the DVD...duh! It was fascinating and the aspect of some people playing along with frauds and fraudulent people, because they too are getting something out of it, can be parallel to frauds in other arenas, which seem to pass unnoticed by the vox populi. Thanks, Tom and did you watch any of the Welles films last nite?

"Butterfly" and even have read the book, and don't know if I should be proud or hang my head in shame. It was by James M. Cain I think, who is always worth reading. A great film for Pia Zadora fans, the first woman to prove Andy Warhol's contention that everyone would be famous for 15 minutes in the future, due to her husband installing billboards with her photo on them, a la the late Judy Holliday/Gladys Glover method. Not a great film by far, but certainly fun to watch...