MattHelm

I almost forgot about Rusty's Hurricane Express serials, too. I started a thread at about the time of the first challenge that mentioned serials, and there were a few people who were interested in seeing them on TCM. So, it was the concerted effort of a few people, which I think is what made them take notice, not just myself, or any one person.

Hey, that is a good method. It worked for the first movie I tried it on, and the article gives you the date it aired. Thanks.

Kyle, Love the idea and flexibility of your Challlenge idea. As in the last two Challenges, you've read my mind. I was thinking of a night with some of the franchise films you mentioned, but under a different theme, when doing my Challenge mental exercises just after the last one ended. I'm in. Thanks for PMing me about the new Challenge or I probably wouldn't have stumbled onto it till October 7th at 11:59 PM.

Most of those materials existed but weren't utilized in the way they later were. It's just foam latex. And things like air bladders that they use to make the skin look like it's swelling is basic technology; just tubes and balloons. The robotic understructure does give things more of a life-like look, but it's the artistry that makes it look real whether it's supposed to move, or not. One of the reasons why they held back on the make-up effects to a point, just dawned on me. Back in the studio days, except maybe a few movies, they wanted you to recognize the actors underneath the make-up, including the character actors. Even in the Planet of the Apes movies, you can recognize the eyes of the actors. Most of the exceptions were movies where the actor transforms into a creature and is seen both in person and in make-up.

The difference though between Pottersville and Bedford Falls isn't so much as unbridled capitalism, as it is a lack of capitalism. This is where Capra is attacking the New Deal and FDR. Potter is much more than a corrupt businessman, he owns the town and has a monopoly on the businesses ... in the 30's FDR monopolized public utilities in some areas and his National Recovery Act held the monopoly on regulating what prices businesses could sell goods at, even at the Mom and Pop store level. One dry cleaner who charged below the government regulated price for pressing pants was actually jailed for three months. Anyway, capitalism flourishes when businesses thrive and expand, creating new jobs where the people have more money to spend and keep the economy growing. Like when George talked Wainwright into opening his plactics company in BF to employ all those who were out of work. If you noticed, the businesses in Pottersville weren't ones that created jobs. When they show Violet being arrested it gave the impression of prostitution. The dance halls and pawn shops suggest that the only thing available to these people were deperate jobs and means of making little money, which gives nothing back to the economy. Just because someone's making money off others, doesn't necessarily mean it's capitalism. Capitalism has to be a two way street. That's why the Depression lasted so long, it was a dead end street. Unbridled capiatlism is when the economy is strong, yet businesses still try and cheat people. The economy in Pottersville wasn't strong because George wasn't there to save it. As for China, they use capitalism to make their state stronger, but it doesn't flourish because capitalism is only for the government and the corporate class. Their economy will surpass ours, but the majority of people are poor and don't contribute much to their economy because they don't receive much. China makes money off of taxes, tourism, exports, gambling in Macao, corporations with branches in Hong Kong, but the people never see that money. In Communism there is no such thing as private property, the state owns everything, so capitalism is dead at the public level. Those people have no rights to buy and sell anything, like we do. If they want to open a business they have to grease a lot of palms, just to get in line to apply for a license to open a tofu stand. Then they have to give up most of their earnings to the state if they do get the license. So the size of their economy means little when the majority of people will stay poor.

It depends, when those goods that stop flowing go from desires to basic necessites, then people will care. "Big Business" has become a mantra, blamed for everything bad that happens in this world. It's big government that's the problem, because the bigger things get, the more complex and corrupt they get. There are good and bad people in government and business. What I like about Capra is he shows that there's good and bad and that as a whole, democratic government and big business can't be labeled so easily. For every Potter, there's dozens of George Baileys and Sam Wainwrights. One version where George comes back he sees himself as had he become a corrupt person in that world. You have the good George and the bad one and they end up duking it out. That script has the inner struggle Capra was fascinated about in his movies, weak people who take the easy route through the corruption of capitalism, and those who make the choice to not corrupt the system. It's not really unbridled capitalism, it's unbridled people. You see this inner struggle with Edward Arnold in You Can't Take it With You. He wasn't a bad guy, he just lost touch with people and regains it. Or, Claude Rains in Mr. Smith.

I think It's a Wonderful Life is one of the best political movies ever made, and many don't recognize it as such. After Capra made the Why We Fight documentaries, he made IAWL as a "Why We Fight at Home" message. Potter was a stand-in for FDR and a lot of the political parts of the movie are Capra's criticism of the New Deal.

I would have loved to have seen that.

Oh yeah, I'll miss the hurricane evacs ... only if for the chance that my place is wiped out and I can move back to MA with the insurance money. The only time I can stand it down here is in the winter when it's less oppressive. I miss that smell of wood burning that heralds the fall and winter seasons up in New England. I miss the snow even more. Since I left in 2002, they've had record breaking snow consecutively, every winter since, which rubs it in. You've reminded me of a tradition my family used to have ... we used to collect driftwood at the beach for our Christmas day fire in the fireplace. The wood is loaded with salt and after being left to dry, when it's burned the salt causes the fire to sparkle in different colors. If it's cold enough for a fire this Christmas, try it.

What I find interesting between the modern artists and the old school guys is that the make-up technology these guys use today was possible to have achieved back then. So it seems like the progress is an achievement on the grounds of ingenuity in artistry, rather than technology alone. I love, and was inspired at a young age by the two Jacks, Pierce and Dawn, then John Chambers' "Apes," but when compared to Rick Baker, using the same prosthetic materials Chambers used, the difference is in the level of artistry. When sculptors became make-up artists, or the other way around, they elevated the art. The better the sculptor, the better the make-up artist. You got to love them all, though.

I'm a New Englander in Florida and can't stand the heat and humidity. My time here grows short. My favorite movie houses are ... Rock Hudson's house that he converted from a barn in, All That Heaven Will Allow, and Sinatra's love interest's house in, Some Came Running. The latter movie matched the novel's description of the kitchen to a tee. I love those colonial house designs with fireplaces in the kitchen. An ex-girlfriend of mine lived in a colonial with a kitchen fireplace and those movies remind me of her house. Make that All That Heaven Allows, I was thinking of a Springsteen song. Message was edited by: MattHelm

These guys are rarely talked about in these boards, unless it's Lon Chaney. I was glad that TCM paid tribute to them a few months ago, but I feel that it wasn't enough. Chaney, the Westmores, Tuttle, Jack Pierce, Jack Dawn, Stuart Freeborne, John Chambers ... to name the best of the old school ... Dick Smith, Rick Baker, Tom Savini and Rob Bottin, to name the new guys in the past 30 years. From nose putty and grease paint, to foam latex prosthetics, who are your favorites?

To me, a great director, like any great visual artist, is one who uses great compositions and knows how to frame a picture. He/she has enough knowledge of both cinematography and art direction so that they can convey his/her vision as to the lighting and set/colors that need to be acheived to bring that vision to life. A great director has to also be able to cull the best performance out of the actors. And lastly, a great director is one who can use all these skills to tell a story.

Larry, When your career is as dead as Ben's is, it doesn't require any acting to play a corpse. Maybe if Costner played a part opposite Ben in a movie, Costner's career might seem livlier in comparison and get him back on the radar. He wouldn't have to proposition masseuses (or is that masseusi?) to get publicity, then. Matt

Hi Larry, I ran into a screenwriter from LA in Boston a few years ago, who apparently worked on the script that Damon and Affleck "wrote," with another half dozen people, at a screewriter's agency. It seems their version was nothing like the finished project, and was much worse. Their version had Damon's brainiac character running from the CIA who wanted him to develop weapons or whatever, since he was a genius. Hence, the "Hunting" in the title. They should have shown the bums in Harvard Sq. instead of those two ... or were they the bums in Harvard Sq.? I hope Aff-lack has no lines in the Reeves movie and just posed for morgue photos. Matt

Love Elmer Bernstein's The Man With the Golden Arm. A couple of current composers that I like are Danny Elfman and Angelo Badalamenti.

The Whistler radio show lasted from 1942 to 1955 and it was influenced by The Shadow. Actually, of the original Shadow who was the host of the stories and never really took part in them, until he became the main character on the radio show version. Anyway, The Whistler narrates the stories with a touch of dark humor, asking rhetorical questions of the characters, setting up the unfolding story, like he did in the movie. The Whistler was the forerunner to the original Alfred Hitchcock Presents with its unexpected twists and surprise endings. If you want to check it out, go to radio.macinmind.com and check the schedule out. You can link up to the online radio show if you have one of the supporting applications.

Too bad you missed the beginning, it did lay the groundwork but also, you missed the signature opening narration, "I am the Whistler, and I know many things, for I walk by night. I know many strange tales, many secrets hidden in the hearts of men and women who have stepped into the shadows. Yes, I know the nameless terrors of which they dare not speak." I hope they show the rest of the series.

I'm glad they're showing The Whistler tonight. I was planning to use it in the next challenge (if there is one), and wasn't sure if I could, under the rules. There's a radio station on iTunes that plays the old radio show, amongst others, every night. Great stuff.

Rusty, is that from some kid's book? Sounds familiar. Actually, you're more bound to find Sylvia Plath wannabes and bohemian clove-smokers trying to out-existential each other, in Harvard Square, rather than directors (real or imagined).

I feel like Jimmy Two Times from Goodfellas ... "I'm gonna go get the papers ... get the papers."

How'd that happen?

You know how it is ... when we exhaust a subject we're prone to wandering.

You know how it is ... when we exhaust a subject we're prone to wandering.

Well, low profile for Florida, yes. But when I head back up north I'll trade the wrap around sunglasses for the eye patch and no one will bat an eyelash at me while hanging out in Harvard Square.