lzcutter
-
Posts
12,344 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
9
Posts posted by lzcutter
-
-
Loved the opening of "Directed by John Ford" tonight on TCM.
The opening scene from "The Searchers" is one of my favorites. So much emotion passes over Martha's face before Ethan even gets to the house. And then when he does get there, he dismounts and kisses her forehead.
Sets up the whole reason for Ethan to spend the next seven years searching for Debbie without a single word being said.
Wonderful.
-
Filmlover,
I know how much you love this film and it was because of your love for the film that I watched.
Am glad that the "Cool, Considerate Men" number has been added back in because of all the songs it was my favorite.
Was very glad to see William Daniels long before he became Dr. Craig on St. Elsewhere.
Thanks for putting it on your original Challenge schedule and thanks TCM for running it.
-
To all those who live in Los Angeles and want to see the family mansion that Larry, hopefully, went to a dinner party or two at:
For the next two weeks the Greystone Manor in Beverly Hills is opening its doors for tours:
http://www.beverlyhills.org/presence/connect/CoBH/Garden%20Festival
It is one of the historic mansions left in Beverly Hills owned by some branch of the Doheny family. Was the original home of the AFI in the 1970s/1980s.
Many a golden era film star graced its doors (and hopefully) our very own Larry!
-
TCM, too bad you're hiring idiots.>>
I am betting not a day goes by that Charles Tabesh, Dennis Millay, heck even Tom Karsch, the CEO of TCM does not curse what AMC became.
Everyday the men and women of TCM go to work and have to deal with those in the media and those on this TCM board who, no matter how many times TCM Programmr posts that TCM is not going to go the way of AMC, no matter how many interviews Tom Karsch gives that says TCM is not going the way of AMC, they cannot escape it.
Now, they get to be called idiots because cable providers are upgrading their equipment to a digital signal so that cable providers don't lose their business to DirectTV and Dish network.
We live in digital times. Cable providers, cable networks, broadcast networks, consumers, everyone is adapting to the fact that digital is here to stay.
TCM did not start this revolution. TCM was not the first cable network on the block to take the plunge to a digital server. TCM is not forcing you to buy a high definition television. TCM did not legislate that by 2010 all televisions have to be on a digtial signal.
The techinical times that we live in are mandating that. Just as when radio gave way to television, its called progress. We, the consumer, are out there buying flat screen plasma and lcd televisions and making them one of the most sought after Christmas gifts. We, the consumers, are buying high definition televisions because we want the best picture quality we can get.
TCM is not holding a gun to our heads making us do any of that.
If TCM stayed on a video server instead of upgrading to a digital server, they would be unable to air the movies we have been watching the last few years. If TCM stayed on an analog signal, there would be no TCM for us to enjoy.
TCM is not mandating progress, we the consumer are demanding that TCM stay current with the times because we want to continue to watch the channel.
I suspect the problem is more with progress and change than with TCM.
Either way, the employees of TCM don't deserve to be called idiots.
-
I'm not saying our younger folks are all immature, far from it, only some of them don't know the difference between debate and argument. >>
MrsL,
I don't think age is really the problem with knowing the difference. I doubt that the problem here is just with the younger folks. I think we are all guilty in one way or another of arguing instead of debating, of acting immature and continuing an argument long after its run its course because, if for no other reason than we can because the internet offers us that anonimity.
As long as no one can see us we are free to say the first thing that pops into our mind (no matter how immature, how rude or crude it may sound) because, we think, there are no consequences. There are consequences, the diminishing number of new threads and long time posters is a very real consequence.
I also think the young people that come here understand and get comedy as well as drama, horror and all other genres. They are coming here because TCM is showing them films they are interested in. When they get here, we tend to dismiss them as being young and not knowing what they are talking about or we tend to dismiss them as part of that mythical slackard generation that doesn't understand good films because none are made today.
If they didn't understand good films they wouldn't be here. They come here wanting to talk about their love of film and we keep dismissing them with profanity, calling the films they like stupid and with sweeping (often demeaning) generalizations about their generation and then we take offense when they call us on it.
We should all be able to talk about film without insulting, hurting people's feelings or using profanity regardless of our age. Did you (the universal you, no one in particular) write a heated response, take the time to reread it before hitting the post button. Does it get your point across in a lucid way without demeaning someone? If not, rewrite it, then hit the post message button.
We have the power to edit what we write. We shouldn't be in such a hurry that we abdicate that power in order to make a point at someone else's expense.
Message was edited by:
lzcutter
-
w/ Bing Crosby/ White Christmas
w / Mary Wickes - The Man Who Came to Dinner >>
w/Paul Henreid/ Now, Voyager
-
MissGoddess,
Last night I listened to the promo again (a beautiful promo by the way) and I agree, it's Tom Petty.
He's toned down his Southern dialect a bit but by really listening the audio and not watching the visuals, helped me realize it was Tom Petty.
For those in Los Angeles, Bogdanovich will be at the Linwood Dunn Theatre at the Academy (the one on Vine here in Hollywood) this Thursday evening with his "Sacred Monsters" monologue where he discusses at length (and likely does impersonations) of the classic film stars and filmmakers who befriended him when he first came to Hollywood back in the mid-1960s. He spent quite a bit of time talking with them over the years before he became the wunderkind of the early 1970s with "Last Picture Show".
It's likely to be a fun evening and I believe that tickets are still available.
I hope that TCM tapes him doing this one of these days because I've heard it really is quite a fun way to spend a few hours.
-
<>
Delores,
A number of classic DVDs that I own have the title:
TCM and Warner Brothers presents:
Name of studio era film here
TCM is actively involved in film preservation. Charles Tabesh and Dennis Millay, TCM employees, recently discovered 6 films from the RKO collection that, for whatever reasons, were not part of the WB/TCM library. (There was even a thread here that had the article from Variety a few weeks ago.) They worked together to bring those films back to the library and we should be seeing them on TCM hopefully in the not too distant future.
Tonight's premiere of "Directed by John Ford" (with new interviews from some of today's legendary filmmakers) was made possible, in part, by TCM's involvement. Every time that TCM shows a newly restored film from the vaults they are helping to further the cause of film preservation. Their original documentaries on "Complicated Women", classic film stars and classic filmmakers helps further film preservation by reminding us of our film heritage.
What else is TCM doing? For a company that no longer owns its film library, TCM is one of the leaders in film preservation. They work on a daily basis with Warner Brothers and others on helping to preserve and restore our film heritage.
By actually buying the DVDs that they produce, we, in turn, help them with film preservation.
The selling of classic film dvds is a very niche market but thank god folks like George Feltenstein and his crew, Charles Tabesh and Dennis Millay and many other unsung heroes in the trenches continue day after day to believe that there is a market for these films and they go to bat for us everyday in trying to bring those films to us.
Buying illegal dubs off Ebay or only taping films shown on TCM and never buying the real deal does not help the cause. It helps to further the myth that classic film lovers don't buy classic film DVDS.
Perhaps the better question asked is not what is TCM doing to help film preservation but what are we doing to help TCM further film preservation?
-
P.S. this time Brad, I have to disagree with you, I prefer my studio, classic films to be shown during primetime. That is when I can really sit down and watch. >>
MrsL,
It was for folks like you that I originally started this thread. I know many of you were put off by October's prime time schedule and I didn't want you to miss the films that are being shown this month.
-
w / Danny Kaye - The Five Pennies >>
w/Bing Crosby/ White Christmas
-
We try to carry on a discussion about an actor and someone comes in with an accusation of sarcasm, or rudeness, and then the conversation branches off into a disagreement about personalities, and the original thread is lost, and the people who had been talking, get sidled off the subject. If I'm wrong, I wish someone would come along and prove it to me using these boards as an example. Show me a good, long discussion of a movie, or actor during the past month that wasn't interrupted by some kind of off the wall criticism.>>
Anne,
You are not delusional about the boards. The last two months here have been very hit and miss in terms of any meaningful discussion about movies or filmmakers or actors. When I wanted to post to Moirafinnie's great Cinema College I had to go back 33 pages to find that thread. That thread was started in mid-September and on the day it started there were four pages of threads in the General Discussion forum. Sixty days later we are luck if we average one page per day of posting.
Why the big decline? Some of it is the approaching holidays and many of us have children in school and our real lives make it harder to spend time here. Some of it is the fall-out over he who must not be named/the man of many names and the meltdown that occurred in early September.
But some of it is our own fault (and by our I am referring to all who take the time to post here). We seem to have gotten in the habit of complaining about everything that is wrong with one another, wrong with TCM and many have gotten very confrontational and rude in their attempts to get their points across. A couple of people with children like to read these boards with their kids and help foster a love of classic films in the next generation. They ask that we refrain from using outlandish profanity. How do we respond? Some agree but a few make a point of using the outlandish profanity throughout the forums, others say it is their right to use the outlandish profanity and everyone else be damned because this is after all America and the internet and we are free to say whatever we want.
And then we wonder why people don't post here anymore. We seem to have forgotten somewhere along the line that this is not our own little soapbox, not our own individual little forum but a living, breathing community.
We often treat new posters (and old) as if they were idiots because they dare to have an opinion that is different from our own. Instead of exploring ways that we can all live and post together, we turn on them and on each other. We used to foster a sense of friendship with one another, now we seem intent keeping everything and everyone at arm's length and seem to think that being rude is better than being friendly.
Each time we do is a nail in the coffin of the community of this board. Yes, by now we know there are posters who do not like the TCM of today (we've been arguing that for almost a year now, almost every week, of every month). This continual harangue of TCM only inspires more harangues on other topics and more harangues only reduces our community on a daily basis as more and more posters opt out because they are tired of reading the continual battles.
At some point, can't we just agree to disagree about TCM and move on to talk about the movies, the filmmakers, the actors, the things that brought us here in the first place? How many of us came here initially because we dislike what TCM is doing?
I came here to talk about something I love passionately, the movies, their power, their influence, the filmmakers, the actors, the good films, the camp classics, the bad ones and the worst ones ever made.
And I don't think I was alone. I would hope that is why the majority of us came here.
Somedays, though, it feels like Mr Potter has indeed taken over Bedford Falls.
So, how do we reclaim our community feeling and get back to talking about film in a way that is more interesting and deeper than "that film is a piece of crap".
I'm open to suggestions.
-
One week of decent programming makes up for a whole month, surely!
>>
Fudge,
The good news is that the majority of the films (even in primetime) being run this month are from the studio era.
So, this week is just the beginning.....
-
A well versed disclaimer before the cartoons is all that is needed for the unedited versions of these cartoons/films to air as they were originally shown.>>
Ah, if that was all that was truly needed. The Fox Movie Channel a few years ago tried to run the Charlie Chan series and was hit with threats of boycotting by various groups who felt that the Charlie Chan character was a sterotype whose day had passed. These groups not only threatened boycotts of the FMChannel but all the other Fox networks and products (such as all dvds from 20th Century Fox).
FMC pulled the series. They very quietly released the box set earlier this year with very little fanfare.
All the other studios are very aware of this problem. Some, like Disney, choose to just not release the films they know to be hot-issue buttons (Song of the South).
Others, like Time Warner, have "sanitized" versions of the more "offensive" cartoons that they will only allow to be shown.
I agree with those who believe that these films are part of who we are and part of our heritage and should not be placed in the back of the vault never to be seen.
Perhaps somewhere down the road, TCM can put together a program for these cartoons and films similar to their Race and the Movies program last May. Perhaps by showing them with a historian to speak about their place in history and who we were as a society might allow these films to again be seen without being sanitized.
I know that over the years, Leonard Maltin has done a series for Looney Tunes where he talks about just this issue.
TCM would probably have an upsurge in viewers for a program like this (and they likely know it). It's likely getting the okay from legal and the higher ups whose job it is to protect the bottom line and the share holders that need to be convinced.
Maybe one of these days.
-
Does the home page show you as logged in? Your name and then sign out and then account info in red in the upper right corner?
I
-
W / Elvis Presley / King Creole >>
w/Ann Margaret/Viva Las Vegas
-
The entire month of November seems studded with gems. Will be interesting to see if you find anything to top "Hi, Nellie". Is it really better than "Shh, the Octopus?".
-
Wanted to give all those folks who were alienated by October's schedule a head's up that the majority of this week on TCM, including prime time, is filled with studio era films.
Happy Viewing one and all!
-
Anne,
The log-in on the home page is still there. It's in the upper right hand corner of the screen under Member Services right next to the movie database. You can either sign in or register if you are a first time user. You can sign in on the home page there and then go to the message boards without having to log in a second time.
-
MissGoddess,
In the Tech Forum is a sticky where TCM asks that you alert them to problems with cable provider's signal:
http://forums.tcm.com/jive/tcm/ann.jspa?annID=10
you might want to let them know. It is definitely a problem with your cable provider and more than likely some issue with the recent upgrade to digital.
-
W / Anne Francis / Bad Day at Black Rock
>>
W/Robert Ryan/ The Longest Day
-
w/ Robert Mitchum - The Angry Hills >>
With Shelley Winters/Night of the Hunter
-
Come Live With Me w Jimmy Stewart...
>>
Lee Marvin/ The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence
-
Force of Evil w John Garfield..>>
Paul Fix/The Star of Texas
-
The Academic Credentialing Dept. here at the College reports that they have received a rather cryptic visit from the Immigration and Naturalization Service regarding the resident status of our erstwhile chef, Felix, who seems to be better known to them as one S.Z. Sakall. >>
We in the Film Restoration Department, are shocked that our beloved Chef Felix may not be who he says he is! He delighted us with stories of working in his way around Europe in small places such as Rick's Cafe American (the way that Chef Felix described it, a wide swath of humanity passed through those doors) and one person in particular (the Chef never said who) came there for the waters. Imagine that!
We have on occasion dined with Sydney Greenstreet and while he does not have the personality of our beloved Felix, he is an mediocre chef with a very high opinion of himself.
We are keeping our fingers crossed that Chef Felix will ride to Prof. Stanwyck's rescue yet one more time and we will all able to enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving feast.
In the meantime, perhaps, Mr Pangborn's assistant should take to spiking his morning coffee with a little something to keep him from getting so easily flustered. We have seen it work wonders for others on campus.
Directed by John Ford
in Hot Topics
Posted
Thank you TCM for helping to restore and expand this wonderful documentary. The expansion to include Bogdanovich today plus directors Eastwood, Scorcese, Spielberg and Hill added to the film and turned this into a much more powerful documentary than it originally was.
For anyone that loves Ford, the Ford stock company and Ford movies, this is a must see.
I was tearing up at least a half a dozen times based on the power of the clips they showed.
The interviews with Stewart (esp. the scene in Two Rode Together), Fonda and Wayne were excellent and lovingly restored.
Added bonus was Maureen O'Hara looking fabulous in a 1992 interview conducted by Lindsay Anderson and "Dobie" Carey telling some great stories (especially about the rock that Ford threw at him).
It is stuff like this that makes me glad that TCM exists.
To all involved, I send my deepest appreciation.