filmlover
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Posts posted by filmlover
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Isn't that something. "Mars Attacks!" played last night and nobody died.
Yes, it's quiet so far.
Speaking of "quiet," I can't believe that no one (including myself) thought to post something that people should have been watching for "All Quiet on the Western Front" this morning. It's a genuine classic.
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Something I have thought for awhile, too, is that the late Sixties and Seventies were truly the "Golden Age' of film books. Citadel turned out those great "Films of..." series, and many other publishers produced lots of heavily illustrated books about films. I feel such a disappointment when I go into a book store today and see nary a history of film. Most books today deal with the release of some current film like Superman, X-Men, and James Bond. The few others that are out there are sparsely illustrated. And, lol, some have titles such as 500 or 1,000 Movies You Must See Before You Die. (So, after, you have seen them all, you should just end it all?) There was also a plethora of film bios or autobiographies of stars and directors in the Sixties and Seventies.
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I have them all, too. The 20th Century Fox is the weakest, though, because it didn't have a picture for every film like the others did.
Also worthy of note from Crown Publishers, which did most of these, is The Hollywood Story.
To me, though, the most indepth, the most detailed research into a studio's history are Republic Confidential vols. 1 & 2 and Valley of the Cliffhangers. All deal with Republic Studios. They were all written by the same person, Jack Mathis, but he died awhile ago so it looks like we will never see the vol. 3 of Republic Confidential, the volume that was to list all their films. (Volume 1 dealt with the studio and Volume 2 dealt with the players.) Mathis had complete access to all of the records and he spent many years in producing each volume. The Valley of the Cliffhangers book was all about Republic serials and you will probably never see a film book on any subject so magnificent again.
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That would definitely open the field to many more movies. For composers who produce, you would have to include Rodgers & Hammerstein. For directors who act, the first that comes to mind would be John Huston. You could also include John Sayles and Henry Jaglom. And let's never forget Orson Welles.
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Pierce Brosnan is in it.
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lol, and one more, but I don't think you will want to use this one. Ernest Lehman wrote short stories, of course, but he also directed one movie. Hang on, here it comes. Portnoy's Complaint. Not exactly what TCM needs.
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Ah, have another one for you. Carl Reiner. Wrote the novel, Enter Laughing, in 1958, wrote the Broadway play that was produced in 1963, and then directed the film in 1967 (as well as co-wrote it). You can also select any of his other directorial features.
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Well, Woody Allen did write the play (and later, film) of Play It Again, Sam. However, he was writing for the screen (with What's New, Pussycat) before he was a Broadway playwright, I think. And you would have to pick a different film than PIAS because that was directed by Herbert Ross.
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Clavell's King Rat was published in 1962 and Tai-Pan in 1966, both best sellers, and before 1967's To Sir, With Love.
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I have tried to construct a Challenge theme of "directing authors" but can't get past Michael Crichton and Clifford Odets. Anyone have a few others to add?
I have one for you. James Clavell, who wrote the novels King Rat, Shogun, and others, was the director of To Sir, With Love (he also wrote the screenplay and produced it). (Did you know he also wrote the screenplay to the original version of The Fly?)
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Lucille Ball should've played in Ball of Fire like originally planned.
Gad! Barbara Stanwyck was perfect casting. I loved her in it and think it might be my favorite with her.
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Thank you, Matt.
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And you couldn't let it go at just, "I don't agree with you and here are reasons why I like TCM as it is...etc."? You come in with guns blazing and say the other person starts the fight if they respond in kind?
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But if she hasn't then there would be one...and what would be its purpose? Yelling at each other will solve nothing except turn regular people away from reading what this thread or others are about.
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brad, let's not carry that fight in here. I think we are all tired of seeing it on other threads. sweetbabykmd's expressed her opinion, which I didn't agree with, but I answered her post with one of my own with facts civilly. We can have debating, not baiting.
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You're right, Matt, there probably will be. And I think TCM tries to present an all-around view of movies, from past to present, which is great. That's why we have Silent Sunday night AND foreign films AND cartoons AND shorts AND TCM Underground, too. And I guess that's what steps on the toes of some people: they want TCM to be only their specific taste, of course...most of which were listed in my first post below, lol.
I love the old 1930s and 1940s films the best, but I am very glad to be presented with a well-rounded movie history from beginning to present.
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I have subscribed for years and am glad I do. I get my issues weeks in advance of a month, and the only times I have ever missed getting an issue just the post office delaying it sometimes (then I call to the TCM NP magazine # and it gets me a replacement quickly).
If you really do want to subscribe, why not just call them at their toll-free subscription # 1-800-TCM-1002? But since you mention you are in Canada, you might want to ask first if the copy you get is for Canada's TCM schedule. There are differences. By the way, you mention you are living in Canada, but to the left of your posts it says you are in Atlanta, GA.
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I'm sure very few if any TCM personnel actually go on this website, if they do they obviously don't care what is being said.
The TCM programmer does look in here, as we've seen him post, as well as others. There have been answers to our questions from time to time. And the TCM programmer has acknowledged our contributions in the Programming Challenges we post and used some of them in the schedules on TCM. So I think they do care. I just think they would need thick skins to have to read so much negativity from a few who can never be happy no matter what they do, kmd.
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2007 has just started, yet I have being reading the same old complaints already ("TCM going way of AMC," "Oscar month is terrible," etc., etc.). I am surprised that the people at TCM don't feel like just saying the hell with it all and pulling the plug on the network.
I wrote something about a month ago in a thread, but I think it deserves repeating:
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There's something I was thinking the other day that I wanted to address to everyone after reading through various threads:
Someone was saying TCM should only run films that are not on DVD.
Another column is devoted to films that people think TCM runs too much.
Another column has people writing about films that TCM doesn't show enough.
Other people said TCM should be showing all of the Fox, and Paramount, and Universal films.
Some want no films made after 1955, some want more.
Some want more foreign films, some want none.
Some want more silent films, while others don't want any more to air.
Some want no war or musical films. Some don't like westerns.
Some love Oscar month while others hate it with a passion because they show more recent films.
And all this leads into my point...and that is sometimes we ask TCM too many times to be all things to all people. We praise them but say get more, get more! Have we no other channels on our satellites, cable, or rabbit ears? Are there no video stores in our vicinity?
Can't we just acknowledge what a great job they do and be happy with what we do get, without getting upset because they: 1. rarely show, or 2. never show, or 3. show too many times ________________ (fill in the blank with the title or star)?
It's like we want this one channel to handle every single thing we want to see, with no regards to what their limits might be (budget, availability, etc.).
I say cut them some slack.
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Criterion is issuing some nice titles in February:
"49th Parallel" (aka "The Invaders") starring Laurence Olivier and many others on February 20th.
SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES
New, restored high-definition digital transfer;
Audio commentary by film and music historian Bruce Eder;
The Volunteer, a 1943 Powell and Pressburger war-effort short starring Ralph Richardson;
A Pretty British Affair, a BBC documentary on the careers of Powell and Pressburger, which considers their WWII-era collaborations and features rare footage of the filmmakers together;
Excerpts from Michael Powell's audio dictations for his autobiography;
Original theatrical trailer;
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing;
PLUS: A new essay by film scholar Charles Barr and Powell's 1941 premiere speech
What looks to be a great Paul Robeson box set is listed on Amazon as coming out Feb. 13th.
Paul Robeson: Portraits of the Artist
contains: The Emperor Jones / Body and Soul / Borderline / Sanders of the River / Jericho / The Proud Valley / Native Land / Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist
Disc One: ICON - The Emperor Jones and Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist
New digital transfer of The Emperor Jones, created from the best surviving elements;
Audio commentary for The Emperor Jones by historian Jeffrey C. Stewart;
Our Paul: Remembering Paul Robeson, a new video program including interviews with filmmaker William Greaves and actors Ruby Dee and James Earl Jones;
Robeson on Robeson, a new interview with Paul Robeson Jr. about his father's career and art;
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Disc Two: OUTSIDER - Body and Soul and Borderline
New, digital transfers of Body and Soul and Borderline created from the best surviving elements;
Audio commentary for Body and Soul by Oscar Micheaux historian Pearl Bowser;
Musical scores by jazz recording artists and composers Wycliffe Gordon (Body and Soul) and Courtney Pine (Borderline);
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing;
Disc Three: PIONEER - Sanders of the River and Jericho
New, digital transfers created from the best surviving elements;
True Pioneer: The British Films of Paul Robeson, a new video program featuring interviews with Paul Robeson Jr. and film historians Stephen Bourne and Ian Christie, and including film clips from Song of Freedom (1936), King Solomon's Mines (1937), and Big Fella (1937);
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing;
Disc Four: CITIZEN OF THE WORLD - The Proud Valley and Native Land
New, digital transfers of The Proud Valley and Native Land created from the best surviving elements;
"The Story of Native Land," a new video interview with cinematographer Tom Hurwitz, son of Frontier Films cofounder and Native Land codirector Leo Hurwitz;
1958 Pacifica Radio interview with Paul Robeson (Courtesy of Pacifica Radio Archives);
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
The boxset also contains a book featuring an excerpt from Paul Robeson's Here I Stand, new essays by Clement Alexander Price, Hilton Als, Charles Burnett, Ian Christie, Deborah Willis, and Charles Musser, a reprinted article by Harlem Renaissance writer Geraldyn Dismond, and a note from Pete Seeger
Bicycle Thieves
SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES
New, restored high-definition digital transfer;
Working with De Sica, a collection of new interviews with screenwriter Suso Cecchi D'Amico, actor Enzo Staiola (Bruno), and film scholar Callisto Cosulich;
Life as It Is, a new program on the history of Italian neorealism in cinema, with scholar Mark Shiel;
Documentary on screenwriter and longtime Vittorio De Sica collaborator Cesare Zavattini, directed by Carlo Lizzani;
Optional English dubbed soundtrack;
New and improved English subtitle translation
The Naked City, a great film noir, is scheduled for March.
New, restored high-definition digital transfer;
Audio commentary by screenwriter Malvin Wald;
An analysis of the film?s New York locations by Celluloid Skyline author James Sanders;
A new video interview with NYU film professor Dana Polan;
Footage of Jules Dassin from his 2003 appearance at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art;
Theatrical trailer;
Stills gallery;
PLUS: A new essay by Luc Sante
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Your life is not complete until you've seen "Manos: The Hands of Fate."
The films are funny but nothing beats the commentary on the short, "Mr. B. Natural". I can't watch that without tears of laughter streaming down my face.
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The next TCM Programming Challenge which will begin February 1st. It would perfect for ANYONE who would like the feeling of programming a week of TCM movies.
Announcements of the Challenge will begin appearing in the General Discussions Forum around the middle of this month. It is a lot of fun (and work, too). In doing the Challenge, you imagine yourself to be the TCM programmer and schedule one week of TCM programming (following certain criteria given at the beginning of each contest).
The TCM Programming Challenge is a fun-only contest for other fans of TCM that was started here by fellow Message Board poster, path40a, in early 2006 as a great exercise for fans of TCM on the Message Board. The great thing is that TCM's programmer looks in on each contest and if he finds ideas he likes he will borrow them to use as part of his schedule. Many of us have been fortunate enough to have our themes used on TCM.
I do hope that you - and anyone else who would like to participate in the next Challenge - will watch for my announcement in mid-to-late January in the General Discussions Forum. I won the last Challenge and thus have the honor of hosting this next contest.
Here's are samples of entries from our last Challenge contest:
http://forums.tcm.com/jive/tcm/thread.jspa?messageID=7858920
http://forums.tcm.com/jive/tcm/thread.jspa?messageID=7855779
http://forums.tcm.com/jive/tcm/thread.jspa?messageID=7859238
Do not start putting together any schedules yet, though. Each time someone gets to host the Challenge, they get to add certain programming criteria to the contest, and I am am looking forward to introducing some of my own. Wait until February 1st to find out the rules.
Keep an eye out for Challenge announcements in the General Discussions Forum.
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This happens all the time, one 'premier' showing and never again.
mrsl, it will be on again on Feb. 20th.
lol, TCM can't win. If they show a film more than once in a short period some people get upset, but if it is a film they like the rule doesn't apply. LOL.
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You're right. Darn, I was looking forward to seeing this rare Bogart. It's not listed for a future showing on the database. I hope TCM can get it.
TCM personnel sure have to put up with a lot
in General Discussions
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Just as nobody would die if this website was canceled, with the exception of yourself and brad and a couple of others - whatever would you do with yourselves?
kmd, what makes you such a bitter person? Yesterday, I was telling bradtexasranger in this thread that acting civilly to you is better than coming in here looking for a fight. I even said yesterday you were just stating your opinion. But even so, like others here, I have been so tired of your negativity and anger for such a long time.
You've showed your scorn about TCM and a number of the people on this board repeatedly. Even when TCM announced a while ago the incredible news that they would soon be playing some films thought to be long lost, I recall your comment was just "Finally a step in the right direction." Well, damning praise, indeed.
Several people on these boards have asked me in PMs how in the world you came up with your screenname of "sweetbabykmd"? I know I gag when I try typing "sweetbaby" because you are anything but. The only part I can type is the "kmd" end part, which I feel surely stands for your attitude towards so many people here, "kill - murder - destroy".
If you don't like the boards, why do you stay?