vanjac14
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Posts posted by vanjac14
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10/14 should be 10/15 in the last post.
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The PBS special, American Masters: Gene Kelly, was on
Ch. 60 in the San Franc. CA area tonight, 10/14.
Has anyone else see this? An excellent companion
piece to TCM's musicals. An exceptional and talented
dancer, director, etc.
Van
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I liked Pennies from Heaven very much. Have watched it on
tape several times lately. I love the mix of the music
with the heart-rending background scenes of poverty,
starvation, the depression, etc. Esp. when the bum sings
and dances the title song, with the horrors in the
background.
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gwt said
>Van I hear you I once heard someone say Ginger Rogers did >everything Fred Astaire did in a dress, in high heels and >backwards!
Exactly! Van
(I am used to the usenet convention of everything getting
quoted with > < . BTW, do many of you ever visit Usenet
forums. I was on the net long before there was any web,
and Usenet and email was all we had. It worked. Of course,
all the graphics are great, high speed etc. I used to sit
there with my 2400 bps modem. We thought it terms of a few Kbytes of data--I would never consider dealing with something like a whole Meg. I had no idea things would explode as they did.)
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To those who didn't like all 3 "That's Entertainment" on
one night--that's what a VCR is for. I taped it and
still am watching part II. I am glad they were all
together, as it made it easy to tape. Now I have them
all to watch whenever I feel like it.
Don't let the time they happen to come on TV mean
anything as far as watching them. We can now watch
what we feel like watching just about anytime.
BTW, I get DISH satellite, and I used to tape one thing
while watching another. DISH doesn't allow that.
Why are they so out of it. Its not hard to set things
up so that this is possible. If cable can do it, certainly satellite can do it. I tried to tell them that, but
they put it off into the indefinite future.
Maybe if enough people put some pressure on them?
Van
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Hope this is the right place for this comment about
TCM doing dancing and musicals.
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Thanks to TCM for putting on all these great films without
commercials to ruin things.
I am enjoying the musicals and dancing, but I want
to say something I have long thought:
I see "That's Entertainment" and talk by and about Gene Kelley and others (I can' bring myself to criticize Fred Astaire, he is great, and other men are also great dancers).
However it is the women dancers that make the performances.
I don't think enough attention is paid to this fact.
Its like ballet, the men are good, but the stars are the women--and they do it on their toes (ballet) or in high heels. And the great clothes and costumes.
There is nothing like watching someone dance like Sid (Cyd?) Charisse (sp?) or Ginger Rogers--there are so many great and beautiful women dancers .
Men talk like women are sort of sidekicks, rather than the main stars.
Am I getting my point across here?
Van
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I like the Age of Innocence. I have seen some complaints that
"nothing happens" or that its too subdued and low key,
e.g., no sex. But that is one of the things I like. It gives the
feeling of the repression of sex that was felt before 1900, IMO.
(Obviously I wan't alive, but I believe Victorian attitudes
put a heavy hand on peoples behavior.)
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What ever happened to AMC. I find that once you decide that
commercials just infect your mind and destroy your peace of mind,
that watching TV with commercials becomes unbearable.
AMC used to be OK. Now it is just another trash TV station.
Thank god for TCM. I hope they never go commercial.
So many great film discoveries. I just saw
Love Me Tonight. A great film--why had I never heard of it?
Van
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Love me Tonight is a great film. Did you hear
Robert Osbourne going on about it? He is right.
How do great films like this get missed and sink into
obscurity.
Thank god for TCM!
Van
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I have never seen Polanky's Macbeth. I saw Kurosawa's version,
I forget the title, where the forest moves toward the castle and
T. Mifune gets an arrow thru the neck.
I will look for it at the video store.
I also should get a combo DVD VDR player. Tapes are getting
to be like old Betamax tapes--obsolete. Maybe DVD is good
enough to get to a steady state for a while.
I guess this is how technology evolves.
I wonder when and if computers will get to a semi-steady state?
Van
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I went and rented some videos:
La Ronde, The Bride Wore Black,An Autumn Afternoon (Ozu)--
I have always like this one, and some Shakespeare,
Richard III (1955), King Lear (1971), Othello (1952, O. Welles).
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I thought you were talking about the S. King novel
made into Carrie. I guess I should have known
we are talking about classics.
I have never seen that Carrie. I would like
to. I have heard of the book, but can't recall if
I ever read it or not--probably not.
Van
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All I have seen of "Letter from an Unknown Woman" is
the clip that TCM showed in Scorcese's 3 pt. US films
documentaries. It looked good though, and I would
like to see it. Makes me think of some others too,
like EG Robinson in that film where he murders a
heartless woman who takes him for a ride.(Scarlett Street?) It has Dan Duryea, always great too. Saw him in "The Killing" recently, that was TCM I think.
My mind is wandering all over, sorry.
I have seen Olivier in Henry V, but not Richard III.
I saw Portrait of Jennie recently too. I have always
liked it.
Kenneth Brannah was the name I was thinking of.
At first, I thought I could never like him,
as he can't play a hero like Olivier can
(he does both Henry V and Hamlet), but as I said
I have even grown to appreciate him. I thought
his recent "Much Ado About Nothing" was pretty good
(not great, but I enjoyed it).
I don't recall much about Carrie. I didn't even know
the people you mention were in it. I will have
to watch it again soon.
Van
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I decided to put this in 2 posts, or it would be
too long.
I also get DISH and Showtime channels,
with Sundance CH, etc.
I saw Lawrence Olivier do Hamlet recently.
I was one of those who didn't have the patience
or tenacity to get into Shakespeare for
the 1st 55 years of my life, but now that
I have finally learned how to watch/read him,
I understand why people rave about him.
IMO, you have to watch carefully, and
see it several times
to appreciate Shakespeare. It doesn't
hurt to go to Project Gutenburg and
get the text and read it too, which is
what I do.
But you get more than
you put in. After seeing Hamlet twice, I really
started to appreciate it. It gets better
everytime I see it. It is one of the
few things one can watch again and again
and it just gets better. I even
got to like--damn, his name is on the tip of
my tongue--he did Hamlet, complete version,
and "Much Ado about Nothing". Anyway, I even
like his versions of Shakespeare, though after
Lawrence Olivier, what can I say?
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I was looking over this topic, as I have heard
of "Letter from an Unknown Woman",
e.g Martin Scorcese speaks of it
in his 3 part US movie series, and it sounds
like a great film. Strange how it takes
time to figure out which films are good.
I guess one needs perspective, like with most
everything.
Anyway, I would like to see it.
I must say in my 1st post, that TCM is a great
network, and free. Like getting all of
Carl Dreyer's movies, and many other
simliar things for those of us who like
good films--I guess we are called film buffs
or some such thing.
Anyway, I see the Heiress mentioned.
Truly one of the all time greats. I have
it on tape and never tire of it. I will
watch again soon. I have many on tape that
I watch over and over. Do people really think
deHavilland is not beautiful?
Even made up to be ugly, she clearly is not
really ugly, not by a long shot.
A beautiful woman, IMO.
BTW, does anyone ever watch Classic Arts TV.
I saw a clip of an interview with Joan Fontaine.
There are many great documentaries out there
on films/actors/filmakers/artists.
I would like to see some more on TCM.
Does anyone from management read these posts?
Van
Joan and Gertrud---Again?
in General Discussions
Posted
IMO it doesn't hurt to have 2 chances to see these, they
are seldom seem, and worth seeing twice.
The pay stations like SHO etc. show the same films for
months, several time a week.
TCM does pretty well, again, IMO.
Van