lzcutter

Isn't Day-Lewis notoriously reclusive?>> I considered Ben's list and my addition, a wish list. It would probably take a miracle to get either Joan Didion or Day Lewis but it's fun to think it could happen.

Anne, I must agree wholeheartedly with Filmlover and Klondike on Black Adder. It is hysterical. I used to stay up late on Saturday night to watch it here in Los Angeles. One of the channels, late at night, ran them in succession. Rowan Atkinson, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie long before he was House. The final season was WWI and not the laugh a minute romp the others were but that season is incredibly poignant in its humor. I think BBC America runs them from time to time.

On a slightly different note-here is a list of people I would love to see as guest programmers: David Lynch, John Waters, Gore Vidal, Joan Didion, David Sedaris, Sarah Vowell, Whoopi Goldberg, Pedro Almodovar, Bette Midler and Stephen Sondheim.>> Ben, Great list! I would love to see all of them (especially Didion) and would like to respectfully add Daniel Day Lewis.

Jack, The old MGM lot is now owned by Sony. The Thalberg building is still there though there have been rumors of it being renovated (not in a good way) on the inside. The wall around the lot and the Water Tower are still there. Now there is a boatload of satellite dishes as well. The former back lot is now mostly housing developements with street names of famous MGM movies.

MissPurvis, I vaguely remember when Tippi is buying the love birds that it is the Friday leading into Labor Day weekend. So, I guess that would make it late summer?

It's weird-there were years when I don't remember shedding a tear and now I can cry at the drop of a hat. What's up with that? Is it a "symptom" of middle age?>> Ben, 'Fraid so. The right commercial can make me tear up to.

Garand, Some of my fondest memories of film school are from Prof. Richard Jewell's classes. He taught American Film from the silents to 1950 and his Westerns genre class taught me to appreciate the westerns of others besides John Ford. Before anyone asks, Drew Casper taught the American Film from 1950 to the then present day. Drew also taught a class on Hitchcock and one on musicals but I always preferred Rick Jewell's classes. We also had Arthur Knight teaching the Introduction to Cinema class as well as what was referred to as Thursday Night at the Movies. Every Thursday evening, Arthur would screen a new about to be released film and have a major player from the film talk about the making of the film afterwards. I'm still good friends with a handful of folks I went through film school with and we often still talk about those days and laugh. The film history classes are much more memorable to me than the film making classes I took. Go figure.

Kyle, Can you repost the picture? The link is broken in your original post!

Can you clarify your question regarding "The Godfather"? >> Mongo, I could be wrong but I think she is referring to scene at the top of the movie where Don Vito and the undertaker talk. The undertaker's daughter honor has been impugned and the undertaker wants the young man responsible to pay. Don Vito while not happy to be disturbed on his daughter's wedding day, basically says that he cannot refuse the undertaker's wish because it is his (the Godfather's) daughter's wedding day. He says that he will take care of the undertaker's request but reminds the undertaker that should the occasion ever arise when the Don needs help, the undertaker cannot refuse.

You'd hope maybe with the new Columbia deal, maybe TCM could finally show Two Rode Together, which they apparently couldn't get for the John Ford tribute last year. >> Two Rode Together was leased to the Encore Western channel last fall. The contract may still be in affect, I'm not sure. But it's been run more than a few times on the EWestern channel this year.

I suppose if they have 1,200 titles available on HD format right now, they could have at least another 1,200 ready by the end of the year.>> It's possible but mastering for high def is expensive and given MGM's money woes that may preclude them from having all 4100 titles on high def by the end of the year. Also, as you pointed out, most people likely would be looking for their famous pre-1986 films for this channel and those films aren't owned by MGM.

Well, it'll be interesting to see what movies they are going to run on this channel seeing as they don't own the majority of MGM films. MGM films prior to 1986 are controlled by Warner Bros. The UA films that MGM released fall into a gray area with Sony having rights to certain UA titles. There aren't enough films in the post-1986 film library to run 24/7 without encore viewings several times a month. I'm guessing they are planning on showing their television shows and possibly new content?

As far as I know, the videos that are posted on Youtube do not fall under the fair use doctrine. They say at the outset when you post a video, do not post if you do not own the rights. That means that you have to clearance or releases if you are posting anyone else's image other than your own. If it's images of you and your friends, probably not a big deal. If it's images owned by the studios, and you are posting without their consent, then they can send a cease and desist letter or email to Youtube and demand the video be taken down. If it's images owned by the studios and includes famous faces that have estates looking after how that image is used, they can demand the video be taken down. You can post a video on Youtube and say but I wasn't making money and the estate can still say, doesn't matter, you don't have permission to use or license to use that image. I say all this because it is a problem with images not only in films but in still photographs as well. There are some dead celebrities whose image you can not use without the estates permission no matter what.

P.S. Lzcutter: what do you mean by a long link? >> Anne, When someone posts a link to books or dvds from Amazon or items for sale on ebay, they typically have very long links for us to click on. This link will take us to the Amazon or Ebay pages where we can find the item in question on sale. Because the link is so long, it disrupts the margins when the message is posted to this board. Typically, to the author of the message the link will appear normal when writing the message and not disruptive of the margins . But when it is posted, to keep it from wrapping around to the next line the link will appear across one line and that disrupts the margins. By using tinyurl.com, that website turns the long link into a short link that won't disrupt the margins of the page for all of us but still works to take us to the Amazon or Ebay pages.

I moderate a fan list and one participant said that she received a letter telling her that her film clip montages of this performer?s work had been removed for copyright reasons.>> Ayres, Sorry, it has taken me so long to respond. I have not been keeping up with the board this week. Alot of it may have to do with certain actors and performers have passed on and their images are carefully cared for and monitored by their estates. Some estates take their job very seriously and require permission to use the likeness of their family member. Other estates are grant a little more latitude. The estates of the very famous like Monroe, Dean, Sinatra, Presley, Bogart, Brando, Astaire, Kelly, Hepburn, etc are well known for demanding permission for use of the images. They demand this because of the down side is that by being more tolerant they have often seen the images selling everything under the sun and as well as for more nefarious purposes. Many estates decided that rather than see the image being used to promote everything from floor wax to dust busters and beyond, that they had to take control. So, it has become a catch-22. While some folks only want to use the images to promote the good works of a star we all have to pay for the nefarious types that wanted to make a buck no matter what..

Ben, Kim Stanley was very much admired by her peers. They talk about her as a stage actress in Rick McKay's wonderful "The Golden Age of Broadway" documentary. I love her narration in Mockingbird and adore her in her later years as Pancho Barnes in The Right Stuff.

Thanks for the compliment, MissGoddess, Liberty Valance is one of my favorites and I love to talk about Ford movies, especially the westerns. Glad you liked it. Hope you get the chance to see it on the big screen there in NYC one of these days.

Judyfan, According to the crew from Warners in the Home Theater Chat the other night, a box set of Garland-Rooney films are coming with lots of extras.

Posters can avoid long links by using tinyurl.com They take the long link and make a working short link out of it. www.tinyurl.com

Now, I tend to think that most film reviewers, while a few genuinely love film, see almost too many movies for their critical health. It becomes an exercise in self-referential idolatry or elitism that I don't care for at all. >> I think you hit the nail on the head there. I love my Pauline Kael books, my Roger Ebert books because they love(d) film so much. They opened my eyes to look for things that I might not have noticed. But for the most part, Ebert withstanding, few critics today write with that passion for film. You don't have to agree with Kael and Ebert but at least it was thought provoking reading. f I'm going to see a movie that interests me before it opens, I will often avoid reading reviews or interviews with the principals. That way, it is somewhat fresher for me.>> I do the same because inevitably a major plot point or the ending gets revealed in today's reviews and interviews. Oddly, I'll find the funniest little things to be the most enjoyable in movies. The light captured at a certain time of day, the apparent artlessness of an old movie story, or the discovery (for me) of a wonderful, small scale performance.>> You are not alone. Often the supporting characters will be more interesting than the main characters and I will end up wishing the movie had been about them. Also, good cinematography goes a long way with me. Many of these aspects of film enjoyment are never mentioned in reviews, in my experience.>> Film Criticism has changed a great deal in our lifetime. Hope all is well and I agree with your last point on responding quickly and dominating the conversation as well.

Pinecone, Last night in the Home Theater Forum Chat, the crew from Warners announced that coming to DVD would be: The Big Parade The Magnificent Ambersons (they just found a better set of elements to restore) Paramount has announced that Wings is coming to DVD sometime this year. The African Queen is still tied up in rights hell.

But why -- OH WHY!!! -- would you assume that giving a counter-opinion is in any way, shape, or form, any kind of attack that Dewey should take personally? Just because I (or anybody else for that matter) happens to have the contrary view, doesn't mean it's an attack on Dewey!>> Perhaps because of the way you worded it. Instead of giving your opinion of Kael or not responding to Dewey's post at all, you chose to point out to him that she is an awful critic who may be an interesting writer. You get upset when others respond less than enthusiastic about things that matter to you. Why do the same to them?

Yep a real shame and with that new version knocking around , may be people will not be so interested in the older greater version a crying shame.>> Mr Dash, I think it may have less to do with today's generation and more a factor of other possibilities. It may be tied up in rights hell or as it was a Goldwyn production, it may not fall under Warners Home Video or Sony or Fox but one of the other studios that don't produce many classic films on DVD as the other three.

As for Pauline Kael, well, it's already been mentioned here several times why she was an awful critic (albeit perhaps an interesting writer).>> Part of the disfavor with Kael may be generational and part of it may have to do with her book on Citizen Kane. But many of us, like Dewey, grew up reading Kael's film criticism and her film essays. Her books such as "I Lost It at the Movies" and others, were very popular back in the day and many of her essays are well written. I didn't always agree with her but her passion for film came through in every sentence. She may not be everyone's cup of tea but Dewey certainly didn't deserve to get slammed by you for liking Kael. The header on this thread is after all an Opinion Poll.

It's being reported that the numbers of viewers for this year's Oscar telecast were up slightly over previous years.