Thursday, November 5, 2009
....New Plans!
.....as you all have noticed, my movie watching has dwindled considerably. With the holidays just around the corner I have found it difficult to keep up with movies while painting and keeping Mootinis running! Crazy times but good times :) So be patient and I'll do my best - my revised goal is to make it to 100 movies total! I'm really excited because once I reach 100 movies I'm going to make a nice big juicy post about all my favorites along the way - people and movies who surprised me (Spencer Tracy)....and those that were exactly what I hoped for (Jimmy Stewart) :) It's going to be a lot of fun. Number 84 will be Arsenic and Old Lace. At that point I need to take a serious look at my list and make sure the remaining 16 movies are MUST SEES. So help me out if you have any ideas!!
Day #83 - Gigi
IMDB Link-
Yesterday I watched Gigi - going in with no expectations I came out feeling fine about it...just fine. Not crazy one way or another. The story has been told so many times it's hard to be too moved by it - basically any story of a girl who is in love with an older man but doesn't catch his attention until she is all made over. Think My Fair Lady - in Paris.
Leslie Caron plays Gigi, a young French girl who is raised by her Grandmother and her Aunt, a high-mannered and elegant woman who never married but has plenty of lessons and knowledge to impart on Gigi, namely, how to properly walk, sit, talk and eat. Gigi of course is beautiful but sloppy - she runs everywhere, plops in her seat, and tells it like it is. Louis Jordan plays Gaston, a rich bachelor whose exploits land him in the daily news pretty consistently. Finding the rich life and its women and company a bore, Gaston finds company in Gigi and her Grandmother. After spending a weekend away with Gigi - Gaston and Gigi still see each other as just friends.....but at the same time, Gigi's Grandmother and Aunt see a huge opportunity to bring them together. When the idea is presented to Gaston, he at first is appalled - after all, Gigi is just a baby! After a bit though, he realizes that he is actually in love with her....and well, the rest you can fill in.
I didn't know that Gigi was going to be a musical - and it was a strange kind of musical to me. The songs were more talking than singing. It was the first Lerner/Loewe musical since My Fair Lady, so ....I must not be a big fan of them because most of you know how I feel about My Fair Lady...Audrey or not. Maurice Chevalier narrates the piece and has the same kind of talking/singing. He's very handsome though and I love his accent. I read that he actually acted with a stronger accent than what he had in real life and that he was a real penny pincher. Anyhoo, the thing about musicals is that I don't actually like them very much. It's strange though because The Sound of Music is arguably my favorite movie of all time - but yet when I see OTHER musicals I don't like them!! This one felt very Mary Poppins'y, just in the sense of it's color and feel. Why were movies so oversaturated?? So essentially, it was a cute movie but I would recommend others is this is the feel you are going for :)
Gigi won many Academy Awards in 1958 - Best Picture, Best Writing, Best Score, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Director, Best Film Editing and Best Song. WHEW! 9 wins overall. That surprises me a bit.
Day #82 - Harvey
IMDB Link
Harvey, I wanted to like you. I really did. ....but you know, I didn't. In fact, I was over you about an hour in. This one was hard for me - I love, love, love Jimmy Stewart so I figured as long as he was in it I was good to go. Just seeing him at the opening of the movie made me smile and laugh. What really drove me crazy, and I mean CRAZY, about this movie was Josephine Hull who played Veta, Elwood Dowd's (Jimmy Stewart's) sister. I'm sorry, but I found her to be SO annoying - her constant whining and crying and fretting about drove me mad. It certainly didn't help that she had such a big part in the movie. ....interestingly enough, she won an Academy Award for her role. Honestly, with some of these old movies I really wonder what the Academy was thinking.....harsh, I know.
Harvey is the story of Elwood P. Dowd. Elwood lives with his sister and her daughter, Myrtle May, in the house he used to share with his mother before she passed. All would be well except that Elwood has a best friend who has created a lot of problems for Veta and Myrtle - this best friend just happens to be Harvey - and Harvey happens to be a 6 foot 3 1/2 inch rabbit. Along the way we learn that Harvey came about just after Elwood's mother passed, and we as the audience should assume that this is how he dealt with the trauma of the loss. He befriends everyone he knows and spends most of his time with Harvey, drinking at the local bar. When he introduces Harvey to a group of socialites dining with his sister and niece, they are so embarassed that they decide to commit him to the local institution. When they take Elwood there, a huge mix-up occurs which ends Veta in the institution and Elwood out of it! Once they figure out the mistake, Elwood is gone and they set out to find him. The thing about Elwood is that even though he sees Harvey, he is such a good man that the doctors and nurse at the institution really start to care for him. In fact, by the end of the movie, the head doctor is convinced that he also sees Harvey. Veta stays dedicated to committing Elwood until the end, when she realizes that even though he has some issues, he is far more pleasant as is than if she were to change him through medication. Thus, a happy ending.
Harvey was based on a Pulitzer-Prize winning book and Jimmy Stewart also portrayed Elwood P. Dowd on Broadway. I believe Josephine Hull was also part of the Broadway cast, oh joy. In the film, Elwood refers to Harvey as a "pooka", which basically means that he is an apparition which usually takes the form of a large animal, in this case, a rabbit. Although the only other person to see Harvey is the doctor, I think as the audience we are not led to believe that he for sure does or does not exist....it's an interesting way to tell a story.
Word has it that Steven Spielberg is remaking this movie in 2010 - the latest rumor is that Robert Downey, Jr. will play Elwood P. Dowd. I don't think he looks or acts much like Jimmy Stewart - I think Tom Hanks would be a good choice - but I don't put anything past Robert Downey Jr.....he's extremely talented.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Day #81 - Away We Go
I looooooved the cast in this movie - fantastic all around! I was really unsure of John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph....to me, John Krasinski is just Jim from The Office and I wasn't sure I could see past that....and Maya Rudolph seemed too old I guess. But they both did an amazing job - their dialogue was really natural and there were a few semi-emotional scenes where John Krasinski especially really surprised me. The supporting cast though really makes this movie a gem - Allison Janney might be my favorite actress ever, she just cracks me up. Some of the other friends and family were played by Catherine O'Hara, Jeff Daniels, Maggie Gyllenhall, Paul Schneider and Jim Gaffigan.
I definitely recommend this movie - it was directed by Sam Mendes and it's just really sweet!
Friday, October 9, 2009
Day #80 - Gran Torino
Clint plays Walt Kowalksi - he's an old Korean War vet who lives in the same neighborhood he did decades ago, even though over the years he slowly became the only white man around. Walt is grumpy, extremely prejudiced and lonely...his wife just passed away and he has a terrible relationship with his two sons. A Hmong family live in the house next door but they seem to really hate him and vice versa - he sees the youth around his neighborhood as disrespectful and the people as having no pride in their properties. One night Walt catches Thao, the Hmong teenage boy who lives next door, trying to steal his prize possession - his 1972 Gran Torino. Despite this incident, Walt saves Thao and his sister Sue on two separate occasions when they are being harassed by the Hmong gang they are trying to avoid. People start to respect Walt for this, and Thao is sent to work for him to pay off his shame for trying to steal his car. With no real role model in his life, Thao becomes close to Walt as Walt teaches him how to be a man. Though their relationship helps them both greatly, it creates a lot of problems as Walt continues to put himself in between Thao, Sue and the Hmong gang.
I thought the story was pretty good - I think it could have delved deeper but that may have been a bit of Clint's acting too. I liked the ending a lot - I really wasn't expecting it and that is refreshing! Did anyone else see it? :)
A few snippets from Roger Ebert's review...
"I would like to grow up to be like Clint Eastwood. Eastwood the director, Eastwood the actor, Eastwood the invincible, Eastwood the old man. What other figure in the history of the cinema has been an actor for 53 years, a director for 37, won two Oscars for direction, two more for best picture, plus the Thalberg Award, and at 78 can direct himself in his own film and look meaner than hell? None, that's how many."
"Among actors of Eastwood's generation, James Garner might have been able to play this role, but my guess is, he'd be too nice in it. Eastwood doesn't play nice. Walt makes no apologies for who he is, and that's why, when he begins to decide he likes his neighbors better than his own family, it means something. "
Day #79 - Wolverine
Wolverine tells the story of Logan (Hugh Jackman) before he became Wolverine (before all of the other X-Men movies). The movie starts by showing us a glimpse of his childhood and then travels through time showing Logan and his brother Victor (aka Sabertooth) fighting in many wars before it jumps to the future where Logan and Victor are being recruited by William Striker into a team of mutants. After Logan learns that their intentions are not entirely good, he leaves the team, as well as his brother, who is growing increasingly violent. To seek revenge for Logan leaving, Victor seemingly kills Logan's wife, sending Logan on his own quest for vengeance. He returns to Striker and agrees to be part of an experiment in which they fill his body with the metal adamantium (sp?). Hence his transformation to Wolverine. The remainder of the movie is basically Wolverine seeking out Sabertooth and eventually Striker, after learning that his experiment was actually a farce.
The real surprise in this movie for me personally was Sabertooth...ooooooh Liev Schreiber, you are scaaary my friend. He really freaked me out!! I like how understated his teeth were and I was creeped out by his movements. He had a GREAT evil look! Hugh Jackman was great as Wolverine - and I liked Gambit but I thought his character would be bigger? I was quite elated to see Dominic Monaghan in the movie as a mutant...love him. Charlie! As for the action, I don't particularly care for action that is wild and overdone, which I felt like it was at times in Wolverine...it was just too much, too unrealistic. What did you all think?
Day #78 - Blazing Saddles
So I've had Blazing Saddles at my house for probably a month and half - that tells you how excited I was to watch this movie - the only reason I had it was because Chris hijacked my Netflix account again. So tonight I bit the bullet.
About 30 minutes in, all I could think was...."Is this supposed to be funny? ...and if so, why?"
Then 35 minutes in I thought..."what on Earth is going on with Gene Wilder's hair?" LOL
The first half I really didn't care for at all - the second half was better and I did laugh out loud a few times, but this is really, really not my cup of tea. I just....don't get it. Why is it so funny? The scene where the men are sitting around the fire eating beans? I wanted to throw up! I have had a bad taste in my mouth since seeing Gene Wilder in Willy Wonka but I did like him more in this movie. Chris and I decided that what makes him creepy is that he talks so quietly all the time...and slowly....but it also makes him kinda cool? Haha :)
Is this the first movie where someone said "Excuse me while I whip this out?" Classic Marlie and Melissa quote that I never knew came from this movie.
Blazing Saddles was nominated for 3 Academy Awards - Best Film Editing, Best Music and Best Supporting Actress...ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Was no one else acting that year? Unbelievable.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Day #77 - Bringing Up Baby
Bringing Up Baby is a comedy starring Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn and I thought the plot was allllll over the place - the dinosaur bone, Baby, the aunt - and that's really why I think I need to watch it again - I may have missed some transitions. I have to admit that although Cary Grant is not one of my favorite actors, I found him to be really, really funny in this movie...I especially loved when he was wearing the women's fuzzy robe. His comedic timing is fantastic. Interestingly enough, I really do love Katharine Hepburn but didn't care for her in this at all. I found her to be really annoying - I mean, with her voice, she can only be taken in regular doses and her character in Bringing Up Baby was SUPPOSED to be annoying and a big talker so it was just too much.
Bringing Up Baby is a screwball comedy - does anyone have any thoughts on what exactly a screwball comedy is compared to a regular one? I have some ideas but was curious. They seem to be very fast-paced and comedy is already tough enough for actors to pull off - I imagine it was quite a challenge. I'm still hoping to see one of Rosalind Russell's screwball comedies :)
Day #76 - Love Happens
Movies like this leave me thinking about at what point the script decided to go a certain direction. The story in this movie is actually pretty moving and has a lot of potential for a deeper exploration of human emotion. If you took away the gimicks and the cliches, it becomes a solid drama....but that's not what they went for, so we end up with a good romantic dramady instead of a great drama...thoughts? I would like to take the script and give it to PT Anderson - add some true reactions and reality and see what you end up with. Just a thought.
In a nutshell, Aaron Eckhart plays Burke, a motivational speaker of sorts. Burke wrote a book called A-OK and holds seminars for people who are trying to deal with the loss of a loved one. Since he lost his wife in a car accident, he seemingly has had to cope with the same feelings as his audience. However, we come to find out that he has not practiced what he preaches and is still holding on to his wife's death. While in Seattle, his hometown, for a seminar, he meets a local florist named Eloise. Eloise helps Burke to confront some of his unresolved issues and by the end of the movie he has come clean to his audience and to Eloise. The movie is definitely sad and I cried a few times - doesn't take much these days!
Day #75 - Sunshine Cleaning
Sunshine Cleaning is about two sisters who are very different from each other. Amy Adams plays the older sister, Rose, and is the more responsible one - her younger sister Norah is reckless and rebellious. She is played by Emily Blunt, who I love...but who maybe shouldn't try American accents :) It was odd. The sisters lost their mother to suicide when they were really young so they were left under the care of their father. Rose used to be really popular in high school but seems to have lost most of her friends along the way and gained a son but no husband. She works for a cleaning company and is sleeping with a man who I presume was an old high school boyfriend...only problem is, he's married. So you could say Rose's life isn't exactly what she hoped for. When Rose learns that there is more money to be had in crime scene cleanup, she starts her own company with Norah, hoping to make something of herself. The movie goes on with various cleaning situations and a fairly predictable relationship between Rose and Norah. There were a few funny moments but overall it was a downer - I give it 1 thumb up.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Update
Hi all!
Just to let you all know, NO the blog is not over yet :) I've received some rather menacing threats regarding my blog but rest assured it was only a small break! A couple of weeks of traveling to New York City, North Carolina and Georgia in addition to a rush of Mootinis orders had me swamped! All of that being said, it was nice to get a few moments without movies....WHAT?!! Did I just say that? I guess 70+ movies in is about as far as I can go before I feel worn down! I will pick up again very shortly - please don't leave me :)
......and leave me comments!! You know who you are! ;)
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Mickey Rooney's Impersonations of Clark Gable & Lionel Barrymore
After reading Julia's comment on Captains Courageous, I found a great video of Mickey Rooney doing impressions of Gable and Barrymore :) Hilarious!!!
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Day #74 - The Guns of Navarone
The Guns of Navarone was made in 1961 by Columbia Pictures - directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Gregory Peck, Anthony Quinn (LOVE) and David Niven. The Guns of Navarone were actual guns that were positioned on a cliff in Greece overlooking the Aegean Sea - their location enabled them to sink Allied ships while maintaining a spot which was heavily protected and fortified. Peck, Quinn and Niven were part of a selected group of soldiers sent on a near impossible mission to destroy the guns. As the guns were positioned on the edge of a cliff, the beginning and end of their mission involved scaling the straight up and down face.
I love Gregory Peck as much as any woman with a brain but I'm not sure military roles are really his strong suit. He has a very signature look on his face all the time - like he is amused....or smug? How do I describe it? He always looks like such a nice guy - it works great if you are playing Joe Bradley or Atticus Finch but I'm not sure it's quite as convincing as a military commander. All I see when I look at David Niven is the Pink Panther so that took him out of the game - and Anthony Quinn, well, I just love him. I also saw him in Lawrence of Arabia but I have to admit, and I am NOT ashamed to say, that I FIRST saw him in A Walk in the Clouds. Yes, thank you.
The Guns of Navarone won an Oscar for Best Special Effects but was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Score, Best Sound and Best Screenplay.
Day #73 - Captains Courageous
_01.jpg)
IMDB Link
Awww, this movie was really cute :) It took me awhile to get into it - I was afraid it wouldn't hold my interest but it eventually did - about 45 minutes in. I was really looking forward to seeing this since my Mother-in-Law recommended it as a great Spencer Tracy movie - and as this challenged has led me to become a great fan of his, I knew I was in for a treat. I didn't expect this kind of a role though! Tracy played a Portugese fisherman who spoke in broken English, which, at first, was really annoying - but I got used to it after a bit and it wasn't so bad. I guess at first I didn't understand he was Portugese and so I though he just sounded uneducated.
Captains Courageous centers around a young boy named Harvey - Harvey's father is very wealthy and his lack of attention to his son has led Harvey to become spoiled and entitled. He bribes kids at school to get what he wants and has few friends to show for it. One day he admits to a teacher that he had tried to bribe him to make his history exams easier and got kicked out. When his Father hears the news, he is shocked, mostly because he really doesn't know his son at all. He decides to take Harvey with him on a ship to Europe - when Harvey accidentally falls overboard, he is picked up by the fisherman Manuel (Tracy). Harvey spends the next several weeks with Manuel and the other men on the fishing boat - Manuel takes an interest in him, teaching him how to fish and telling him stories of his own Father who had died at sea. Harvey sees how little his own father had taught him and really latches on to Manuel, learning many valuable lessons before returning back to the mainland - I won't ruin anything else from the ending :)
I just really loved the relationship between Manuel and Harvey - Manuel could appreciate the simple things in life and found very little value in money and material things - quite the opposite of how Harvey had been brought up. In one of the scenes in the movie, Manuel challenges another one of he fisherman to a contest to see who can catch the most fish. When Manuel finds out that Harvey ruined the other guys line so that he and Manuel could win, Manuel forfeits the challenge and treats Harvey to silence. I really liked this bit of plot because Harvey was learning things about integrity and honesty when he had been so oblivious before. I enjoyed Freddie Bartholomew as Harvey - he was prett insufferable as the snotty kid at school but once he got on the fishing boats he was much more tolerable :)
I just really loved the relationship between Manuel and Harvey - Manuel could appreciate the simple things in life and found very little value in money and material things - quite the opposite of how Harvey had been brought up. In one of the scenes in the movie, Manuel challenges another one of he fisherman to a contest to see who can catch the most fish. When Manuel finds out that Harvey ruined the other guys line so that he and Manuel could win, Manuel forfeits the challenge and treats Harvey to silence. I really liked this bit of plot because Harvey was learning things about integrity and honesty when he had been so oblivious before. I enjoyed Freddie Bartholomew as Harvey - he was prett insufferable as the snotty kid at school but once he got on the fishing boats he was much more tolerable :)
Spencer Tracy won a Best Oscar for his role as Manuel. The movie was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Screenplay and Best Editing in 1937.
Ohmygosh, can I please take a second to talk about Lionel Barrymore? He played the Captain of the ship and I just saw him a couple of weeks ago in You Can't Take it With You. He is so hilarious - Chris and I were constantly laughing at him because he has this way of yelling his lines where I have NO idea what he's saying! It just all runs together! I like him a lot :)
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Day #72 - On the Waterfront
WOW. On the Waterfront was fantastic. Marlon Brando - fantastic. If there is one actor that all actors worship, it is Marlon Brando - the king of the Method, he had a style that many since him have tried to emulate. Throughout the course of this challenge his name has come up constantly as other actors list who they admire and respect. I was really excited to see him in this movie as I knew it was one of his most famous roles.
On the Waterfront is about Terry Malloy, an ex-boxer who works on the docks of New Jersey - not only is he a dock worker, he works with the mob that runs the local union. The mob is headed by Johnny Friendly (Lee Cobb), whose right hand man Charlie Malloy (Rod Steiger) happens to be Terry's older brother. The men of the dock follow the "D&D" rule - Deaf and Dumb - they know that you simply don't speak out against the mob unless you want to swim with the fishes. After one of their own, Joey Doyle, is killed for speaking out against Friendly and his men, Terry starts to wonder if what they are doing is right. One day he runs into Joey's sister, Edie (Eva Marie Saint), who is dedicated to finding out who killed her brother. As his interest in Edie grows, she works with Father Barry (Karl Malden) to help Terry follow his conscience and speak against the mob in court. Meanwhile, Friendly warns Charlie to keep his brother in line - leading to the famous scene between Charlie and Terry in the back of the cab. Charlie has basically been sent to kill Terry but can't to it - and Terry shares with Charlie the loss he feels over the life he could have had if he had been allowed to box without the intereference of the mob ("I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody"). In the end, Terry must stand up to Friendly and win back the rights of the union workers.
Watching Brando to me is a bit like watching Spencer Tracy just in the sense of naturalism. I imagine that the things he does are not written on the page - that he starts with the script but then adds in mannerisms and gestures that are subtle yet make him feel like a real person. He really feels vulnerable to me - specifically, there is a scene where he is talking to Edie in a salloon and she forces him to face his conscience - he kneels down on his knees and looks up to her, asking her what is wrong. It's such a tender moment and yet he can turn around and be just as tough in the next scene- really amazing.
On the Waterfront was nominated for 11 Oscars and won 8 - Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor (Brando), Best Actress (Eva Marie Saint), Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing. The three Oscars it did not win all came from Best Supporting Actor nominees to Rod Steiger, Karl Malden and Lee Cobb. The quote "You don't understand. I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody instead of a bum, which I am" was #3 on AFI' list 100 Movies, 100 Quotes, behind "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn" and "I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse."
Elia Kazan was the director of On the Waterfront and apparently used this movie as a vehicle for telling his own story of ratting out colleagues to the House Un-American Committee - Roger Ebert covers this really well in his review which is linked below:
Day #71 - Ben Hur
Ben Hur. I can't believe it's taken me so long to see it. I guess I thought I had magically watched it sometime without realizing it - but honestly none of it was familiar. I thought it was absolutely amazing - I loved the story and was moved by the set design and effects, especially in Rome. Ben Hur follows the story of Judah Ben Hur, a wealthy native of Jerusalem at the time when it was being taken over by the Roman Empire. When Judah turns against the Roman placed Governor - coincidentally his boyhood friend Masalla, and is wrongly accused of attempted murder on a Roman soldier, he is banished to the gallows and his mother and sister are placed in jail. He vows revenge on Masalla, his anger and hate fueling his will to live. After saving the life of a Roman General who commanded the ship he worked on, Ben Hur was adopted by him, living in Rome for a short period of time becoming a champion Charioteer. He leaves Rome to search for his family and find his revenge on Masalla, eventually defeating him a chariot race which leads to Masalla's death. I don't want to say much more about the plot as I don't like to give away too much - the movie continues as Judah reunites his family and finds his faith through the witness of Christ's crucifixion. I had a couple issues with the ending but overall really loved the movie.
There were a number of things that I loved about this movie - first of all, Charlton Heston. Throughout my challenge I have found a couple of people who I could cast in the story of my life - and for the role of my Grandpa Eckelman I am casting Charlton Heston. I can't quite put my finger on it but I believe it's something in how he moves his mouth. Mom and Melissa, any thoughts? I'll find a good pic for above. Anyhoo - Heston was really great in the role of Judah Ben Hur. I haven't seen him in a movie before and was surprised at how much I liked him. He had a good mix of strength and masculinity but at times he was also a bit feminine (for lack of a better word). Interesting. So another thing I loved was the story of Jesus - although not the primary story, I think that the question of faith and hope is really important in this movie and in the end plays a huge role. Throughout the movie you hear talk of the man from Nazareth - I just like that you never see the face of Jesus and the story only exists to strengthen that of Ben Hur and his family. Finally, wow - enough can't be said for the chariot scene. Apparently it took 5 months to film and of course that was before there were any computer effects so it was all straight camera work - amazing.
Ben Hur saved MGM from bankruptcy - a huge gamble, it really paid off by earning $75 million at the box office. It also won 11 Academy Awards - a feat only equalled by Titanic and Lord of the Rings - Return of the King. What I simply CANNOT understand is how it won 11 Oscars and lost only one for Best Screenplay - how on EARTH can you win Director, Picture, Actor, Supporting Actor, Set Decoration, Costume Design, Cinematography, Special Effects, Film Editing, Sound and Music and NOT Screenplay!? Are you kidding? Impossible.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Day #70 - You Can't Take it With You
I got crazy swamped with Mootinis so unfortunately my movies took a backseat - I actually watched You Can't Take it With You a few days ago but haven't posted yet - I'm so behind! Tonight I am starting on Ben Hur - I think I will post in two parts since that's how I'll have to watch it. Very excited :)
You Can't Take it With you is a 1938 Frank Capra movie starring Jimmy Stewart, Lionel Barrymore, Edward Arnold and Jean Arthur, amongst others. It's VERY Capra-esque, very similar in many ways to It's a Wonderful Life. The story is basically about love/family/friends vs. money/what money can buy. Alice (Jean Arthur) lives with her family in a crazy home - they have picked up many strangers over the years which has led to a wild and interesting bunch of people bunking together. Alice's grandfather (Barrymore) truly feels that one should only spend their life doing what makes them happy and places next to no importance on money and material things. Alice spends her days working as a secretary for the Tony Kirby (Jimmy Stewart). As part of the Kirby family, Tony has a ton of money and power as his Dad controls much of the going-ons in the city. When Tony and Alice fall in love, Alice's family only cares about her happiness and so they are supportive - however, Tony's family is none too happy. They think Alice is far below what Tony deserves and they think her family is absolutely out of control. One night, the Kirby's are visiting Alice's family and all goes haywire, resulting in everyone getting arrested!! While everyone is in jail, Alice's grandfather tries to tell Mr. Kirby that if he were take away his money, he would have no friends, because, after all, "you can't take it with you.". This was my favorite part of the movie - I really like the message in the movie, that money may buy you nice things, but in the end, it's the people that care about you that really matter. In a very "Capra-esque" turn of events, Mr. Kirby eventually sees the errors of his life and makes friends with Alice and her family.
You Can't Take it With You was the 1938 Best Picture Oscar winner. Frank Capra also took home the Best Director statue :)
Jimmy Stewart is, of course, so cute. I love him. ...and I really enjoyed Lionel Barrymore. I definitely recommend this movie - and give it some time. It took awhile to grow on me and in the end I was really happy with it:) Chris really liked Jean Arthur, as he also did in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. I liked her a lot until I found out she didn't like working with Jimmy Stewart, at which time I declared her to have no soul.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Day #69 - The King and I
The King and I was such a cute movie! Admittedly it took me awhile to get into it - I think with musicals, if you aren't already familiar with the music, it takes some time - or mutiple viewings - to really appreciate it. I also thought a few of the scenes were quite bazaar, but they were overshadowed by the cute scenes. Honestly without Yul Brynner this movie would have been so much less endearing. EVERY time he said "et cetera et cetera" I laughed out loud - or every time he said something was "scientific".
Deborah Kerr's character was very similar to Maria's in The Sound of Music just because she was so proper but had some real strength to her - and coming in to watch over all of those kids was similar as well. I hate that she didn't do her own singing. It seems like it wasn't that uncommon back then but now it would be unacceptable. Can you imagine if say, in Chicago, Renee Zellweger acted but someone else sang? There would be such an uproar.
......and since when did Rogers and Hammerstein musicals have sad endings like this? Sheesh! So - The King and I won 5 Oscars - Best Actor (Yul Brynner), Best Art Direction, Best Costumes, Best Music and Best Sound. It was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Director (Walter Lang), Best Actress (Kerr) and Best Cinematography. Did you know that Yul Brynner was actually RUSSIAN? Yet he plays the King of Siam so well!
Day #68 - Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights - ah, is this a romance? drama? tragedy? all of the above? What a GREAT movie - I really enjoyed it. Another 1939 classic, Wuthering Heights lost the Academy Award to Gone with the Wind, and I think, rightly so - but that being said, it was a fantastic movie. This was my first Laurence Olivier experience and OOH LA LA, what a man. Very handsome. Merle Oberon played Kathy and I didn't care for her much - she was alright, neither here nor there. You know who I really liked in it? The servant - Isabella, played by Geraldine Fitzgerald. She and Olivier were both nominated for Oscars but did not win. Wuthering Heights was directed by William Wyler.
This story revolves around the relationship of Heathcliff (Olivier) and Kathy (Oberon). When Kathy and her brother are kids, their Father brings home an boy from town - he acts as one of their servants but he and Kathy become really close friends. When their Father dies, Kathy's brother treats Heathcliff very poorly, and as Heathcliff and Kathy fall in love, they know they are forbidden to be together. Though Kathy loves Heathcliff, I think she was really tempted by the rich life of her neighbors and often used it against Heathcliff, knowing he could not give her that. One day, she meets her neighbor Edgar and as time passes he falls in love with her, proposing marriage. Kathy is forever torn - Heathcliff is her real love but Edgar could give her money and a lavish lifestlye. Eventually she chooses Edgar, and even after Heathcliff leaves for America and returns with money and status, even purchasing Wuthering Heights, she cannot be with him. Heathcliff marries Edgar's sister, not out of love, but out of a desire to be close to Kathy - he leads a miserable life. When Kathy becomes ill, he asks her to haunt him, to drive him mad - just not to leave him alone - and when she dies, she does haunt him until the day he joins her.
The only problem I had with this movie was that Heathcliff and Kathy were kind of unlikable - Kathy was in love with Heathcliff but kept choosing Edgar - what?! She wasn't in love with Edgar so really it just made her superficial. Heathcliff was passionate and brooding but not altogether a nice man - so in the end, I loved the movie but definitely want to learn more about the characters to see what I was missing.
Day #67 - The Ballad of Jack and Rose
Jack and Rose are a father and daughter who live alone on an old commune on an island off the Eastern coast of the U.S. Right away you see that Rose really worships her Dad - he is the only man she has ever known and they seem to have a strong bond. Early in the movie we learn that Jack is dying, and he is worried about how Rose will fare after he is gone. In order to fix this problem, he goes to the mainland to see a woman who he has dated off and on, Kathleen (Catherine Keener - amazing). Kathleen has two sons from other men and I think Jack felt like if they moved in, they could provide care for he and Rose, especially after he died. He calls this an "experiment" and once Kathleen and her sons move in, everything changes. Seeing her Dad with another woman, Rose acts out, trying to lose her virginity right away and cutting all of her hair off. As the viewers, I think at this point we are really starting to understand there is more than a father/daughter relationship between Jack and Rose - and perhaps that is why Jack really brought Kathleen to the island - to protect Rose from himself. The rest of the movie shows the challenges the two families face in trying to live together and how Jack and Rose eventually have to face the truth of their relationship - I won't ruin anything for you by going into more detail.
I thought this movie was EXCELLENT. I LOVED the writing and the story was very original. The acting was of course amazing - I was surprised to see Camilla Belle (Rose) act alongside DDL - I was afraid she would disappear but she really held her own. It's not a light-hearted movie but I strongly recommend it.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Day #66 - 500 Days of Summer
500 Days of Summer is about a guy, Tom, who meets Summer, a girl who works in his office. In a nutshell, he is a believer of love and relationships - she, however, does not believe that love exists. She prefers independence and freedom. As they begin their relationship, she tells him she doesn't want anything serious - he says OK, but you know he will try for that anyway. The movie actually starts by showing her breaking up with him, and the remainder of the movie takes you through the 500 days of Tom's life after the day he first met Summer. I've already talked about the actors and the story - but let me say about the style - it's very unique. I appreciate its originality but what on EARTH was going on with the mini coreographed dance in the middle of the movie? OH my goodness, no.
I'm going to label this as Romance - NOT Romantic Comedy....it's more of a Romanti Drama but I don't have that as a category ;)
Day #65 - Easy Rider
There is a theater here in town called The Enzian that shows some mainstream movies but really focuses more on "indie" type films and old classics. It's not a large theater because it holds different sized tables and you get to order food, beer, popcorn, etc. Tuesday nights are for "cult classics" and last night was Easy Rider. Having never seen it before, I was curious - I've heard about it for a long time but didn't know much other than it had to do with drugs and motorcycles.
Easy Rider was written by (and starred) Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda in 1969. It's about two guys who take off from LA on their motorcycles headed for Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Along the way they meet some interesting, and some not-so-friendly strangers. One of these strangers is played by Jack Nicholson, who, to me, really stole the show. He was hilarious. The "UFO" scene was hysterial. In the scenes where they are smoking pot they are ACTUALLY smoking, haha. There are a lot of drugs which I typically don't like but I didnt' mind it here. The movie feels pretty iconic but I think you had to have seen it at the time it came out to really appreciate it. Another one of those movies where context is key.
Peter Fonda was intriguing to me - first of all, he looks just like his Dad...but also, I don't know, he has this interesting look to him. Dennis Hopper was about what I expected - apparently he was in a bad state of drug-induced paranoia during the production of this movie and many of the crew quit. I wonder if they were high when they cut the movie too - I didn't care for how it was edited, really choppy and jumpy.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
Day #64 - From Here to Eternity
iMDB Link
The movie takes place before, during and after the attack on Pearl Harbor - mostly before. Lancaster plays Sgt. Warden, stationed at Scofield barraks in Hawaii. He is a tough leader, and for the most part, all business - except for, of course, the Captain's wife - Karen Holmes (Kerr). Knowing the Captain isn't in love with his wife and that she was certainly not faithful to him, Warden pursues her and they have a secret affair. In the meantime, a new guy shows up to report to Warden's unit - his name is Prewitt (Clift). Prewitt is an amazing bugler and boxer - the boxing team is excited for him to join the unit but find he is completely unwilling to box. They hound him throughout the movie and his refusal to box earns him double work and bad treatment - yet he still won't box. The best part of the movie, in my opinion, is Frank Sinatra. Sinatra plays Private Maggio, who takes an instant liking to Prewitt and they become good friends. Maggio is a bit of a jokester and drinks a lot. One night he takes Prewitt to a club where Prewitt meets Lorene (Reed), a prostitute, and they fall in love as the movie goes on. I don't want to write much more on the plot - it's definitely worth seeing the movie and I don't want to ruin anything - but basically, as the attack on Pearl Harbor gets closer and closer, the relationships between all of these characters grow and evolve, culminating in how they all wrap themselves up in the attack.
I actually did not care at all for the relationship between Warden and Karen Holmes. The scene on the beach where the waves crash over them kissing on the beach was, unfortunately to me, a HUGE disappointment. They had JUST met each other and so there was no real desire to see them together - I really didn't care about them yet. I think it should have been some kind of unrequited love or a real struggle for awhile in the movie and then perhaps this scene. That being said, Burt Lancaster is really a big guy, is he not? He competed a lot with Marlon Brando, which I can definitely see - they are both big guys with a pretty similar look. I wonder if, when this movie came out, this scene was very risque (sp?).
What I DID care for was the relationship between Prewitt and Maggio - and Prewitt and Warden. Prewitt and Warden's relationship changed a lot as the movie went on and really ended on this mutual respect between the men. Apparently Lancaster was really intimidated to work with "Monty" Clift as he found him to be "perfect". Back to Sinatra real quick - Chris and I just really loved him. He was such a TINY little man, I just wanted to put him in my pocket. His acting was great in this movie and he plays a drunk very well, haha. This was my first Sinatra, Kerr, Lancaster and Clift movie - the only actor I had seen before was Donna Reed in It's a Wonderful Life, and this was a very different role for her.
I read a bit on IMDB about Montgomery Clift and it seems like he had a very difficult life - plagued by alcohol, drugs and guilt over his homosexuality. He died very young of a heart attack.
I can't embed this video so I'll have to add the URL instead - this is a video of Frank Sinatra accepting his BEst Supporting Actor Oscar:)
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Day #63 - Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
I turned to Chris when the movie was starting and said, ya know, I think this is my first Stanley Kubrick movie - to which he said, what about A Clockwork Orange? 2001 A Space Odyssey? Full Metal Jacket? OK - so it's actually the fourth Kubrick movie I've seen - oops! Dr. Strangelove is a political satire which pokes fun at the cold war and how people reacted to it. The movie opens with Sterling Hayden, an American General named Ripper, calling for all American bombers flying over Russia to strike their targets with nuclear weapons. Clearly seeing that Ripper has gone mad, his Executive Officer, Mandrake (Seller's first role) begs him for the code to call off the strike, which he refuses. Meanwhile, General Turgidson (Scott), hears of the strike and alerts the President (Seller's second role) and his staff - they react by calling in the Russian ambassador who tells him that if they strike Russia, Russia will release the doomsday machine which will destroy the world. The movie continues as the two sides try to work out the situation - and in the meantime, the bomber pilots go through a pretty hilarious series of checks to release the bomb, only to find out it is stuck and needs to be manually released. The BEST part of the movie is when Dr. Strangelove is introduced - back in the war room, I believe he is there as a strategist or something? He sits in a wheelchair and wears sunglasses and talks with a very strange accent - he tells everyone that basically once the doomsday machine is released, they can survive by drilling into the ground and taking a couple hundred thousand people down there to survive. Dr. Strangelove (who is Seller's third role) says there should be a 10 to 1 man to woman ratio and that the women should be selected based on their sexual desirability. I assume this is why all the men in the room decide to "stop worrying and love the bomb". Strangelove is hilarious though, his hand is out of his control and he keeps doing the Hitler salute and accidentally calling the President "mein Fuhrer".
As I said, I think this movie requires multiple viewings but I can see why it's AFI's 3rd Best Comedy - I just need a bit more time with it. I didn't laugh out loud much - only to George C. Scott a couple times and at the end with Strangeloe. That being said, I didn't laugh at ALL the first time I saw The Big Lebowski and now I'm hysterical the whole time!
Dr. Strangelove was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director (Stanley Kubrick), Best Actor in a Leading Role (Peter Sellers) and Best Screenplay - unfortunately it did not win any.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Screen Caps from Dr. Macro!
_01.jpg)
_10.jpg)
_14.jpg)
_02.jpg)
I found this great website - Dr. Macro's High Res Movie Scans...and found some fantastic screen caps! Dude. Look at William Holden in that second pic from Sunset Boulevard - he is SO good looking!
Trailer - Avatar
Avatar is James Cameron's upcoming and highly anticipated new movie - Chris and I read an article the other day saying that Avatar will change the way people feel about movies and what the possibilities are for effects and visuals - the trailer looks AMAZING.
Day #62 - The Time Traveler's Wife
*Spoilers*
SO - he time travels....and he can't control when he leaves. He goes to the same places a lot so can he control where he goes? He finds out from a doctor that he has a genetic anomaly....but then there seems to be no more tests as to how to fix it or how he can control it. They have a child who can time travel yet she can control it. SO this begs the question, why did she not teach him? Especially when they find out he's going to die there is still no attempt at trying to fix it. He asks his daughter ONCE how she controls leaving and she says she sings...so they sing together and he goes anyway. Is that really the only attempt?
I believe that if you are going to incorporate time travel into your story, you need to answer all of these questions for people like me. If you are going to write it in willy-nilly, then use another idea. Like with LOST - Good Lord, does anyone know what's going on? There are SO many questions with the time travel aspect that it's just frustrating.
So even though I seem very irritated, it is actually an enjoyable movie if you can go in knowing you won't get all your questions answered - I'm so biased because I love Rachel McAdams - she is so great!
Day #61 - Mogambo
I chose to watch Mogambo because it was a John Ford film and it featured an older Clark Gable which I was interested in seeing as well as Ava Gardner. I haven't seen Ava Gardner in anything yet but I've heard of her so many times. At the time of this movie, Ava was Mrs. Frank Sinatra - filming took place in Africa so Frank was apparently on set most of the time. Also, Grace Kelly starred in Mogambo and spent many an off-screen moment locked away in Clark Gable's tent :)
Three things - ONE, Clark Gable looks really good with gray hair :) TWO, Ava Gardner is really not what I would have pictured at all - she is really beautiful, no doubt, but she has a real exotic look to her. Is exotic the right word? I don't know - it's not really. Anyhoo- number THREE is that I'm sorry, but I'm really not a Grace Kelly fan. She's so beautiful but her acting makes me cringe - just feels so forced. What do you guys think?
I was working on the computer while watching Mogambo so I didn't follow it TOO closely but Clark Gable plays a man living in Africa who runs a gaming company and hosts safaris and such for visiting tourists. When Ava Gardner's character shows up one day, I think he doesn't like her right off the bat because she's a woman and surely she has no idea how to handle herself out in the wilderness. She really proves to be tough and they have a short affair before she heads out of Africa. On the day she is scheduled to leave, a husband and wife, Grace Kelly, arrive. It isn't long before Gable develops feelings for her as she is quite beautiful and not altogether too in love with her husband. Oh but WAIT - Ava's boat hit some trouble and she was forced to come back to camp - so now we have ourselves a nice little love triangle that actually plays out in a pretty funny way.
I found this quote that Ava said about Bette Davis and I really liked it...
"Maybe I just didn't have the temperament for stardom. I'll never forget seeing Bette Davis at the Hilton in Madrid. I went up to her and said, "Miss Davis, I'm Ava Gardner and I'm a great fan of yours." And do you know, she behaved exactly as I wanted her to behave. "Of course you are, my dear," she said. "Of course you are." And she swept on. Now that's a star"
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Day #60 - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner is about a mother, Christina, and father, Matt, (Kate and Spence) who welcome back their daughter Joey and SURPRISE! her fiance John from a trip to Hawaii - everything sounds wonderful until they find out that he is black....and as they are white, it comes as quite a shock. Certainly in this days it wasn't nearly as accepted, in fact, it was banned in 14 (or 17?) states. Christina, though shocked at first, decides that Joey and John are quite in love and is therefore accepting of the marriage so long as Joey is happy. Matt, however, is very unsure - scared of the future that they are making for each other and their kids, he decides that maybe he is not quite so accepting. Joey and John are leaving that very night and hope to get their parents' approval before they leave. Joey invites John's parents to join them for dinner, even though John has yet to tell them that Joey is white.....once they arrive and see her, they are shocked as well, taking similar views as Christina and Matt. The remainder of the movie is a series of conversations between parents and "kids", ultimately culminating in a GREAT Spence monologue - and I won't ruin the ending for you so you'll just have to see it.
I thought the acting in this movie was phenomenal but we are dealing with some real heavy hitters - Spence, Kate and even Sidney Poitier fresh off of an Oscar win for Lilies in the Field. I'm sure the movie was controversial at the time but it really hit the issue head on. That being said, I was watching a special on Sidney Poitier and they were talking about how, in the 60's, Poitier's characters were written to be very straight-laced - he had to be polite, educated, well spoken - this was how he had to pave the way for serious African American actors to come. I found that interesting because his character in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner is pretty perfect - in fact, they don't even show he and Joey kiss, afraid audiences wouldn't like it. My, how times have changed.
If you HAVE seen this movie, do you remember the ice cream scene with Spence and Kate? Perhaps one of my favorite of this blog so far - SO hilarious.
On a side note, I said in an earlier post that the old man character in UP (Pixar) was modeled after Spencer Tracy (thanks for the info Julie!) and it could not have been more evident than in this movie!!!! So fantastic. Hence the reason I included the pic above :)
Day #59 - The Soloist
IMDB Link
I have been sitting on this movie for awhile and I've come to the conclusion that I was really disappointed in it. The preview made this movie look like an inspirational tearjerker about redemption and friendship - but I felt that overall it was more a commentary on the present homeless situation in Los Angeles....which is FINE, but then show it that way. I hate misleading previews.
The Soloist is about reporter Steve Lopez (Robert Downey Jr.) and his relationship with Nathaniel Ayers (Jamie Foxx), a mentally disabled homeless man in Los Angeles who just happens to be a former Julliard student and musician extraordinaire. When Lopez hears him play one day on the streets, he decides to write about him - how did this man wind up on the streets? As the movie progresses, Lopez continually urges Ayers to move into an apartment, take cello lessons and perform recitals - yet all of these things seem to be against the wishes of Ayers. He seems actually to be happy on the streets where there is air and space and people. My biggest problem with this plotline was how absolutely unlikable Lopez is - I'm not sure he ever really wanted to be Nathaniel's friend and many things he seemed to do for his own benefit. By the time he "redeems" himself at the end, I stopped caring. The movie also incorporates flashbacks, showing us how Nathaniel arrived in the present situation. His mental illness progressed slowly and didnt' seem to be caused by any occurance but instead was chemical. All of this could have been told to us, the viewers, without the flashbacks, which I didn't care for at all. They weren't necessary and told us very little.
The Soloist was directed by Joe Wright who also did Pride and Prejudice and Atonement, both amazing movies. Jamie Foxx was very good in his role and Robert Downey, JR. was good, but not great - in my opinion. I think Chris liked this movie a lot more than I did - I just didn't care enough about the characters and was angry at being misled from the trailer.
I like this story from IMDB...
"The real Nathaniel Ayers was invited to view the filming of the scenes at Disney Hall in Los Angeles, but opted on the day to set up his cello and music across the street and continue playing saying "I really got something going here. I think I'm going to stay and play this just a little bit longer." Steve Lopez spoke about this incident in an interview conducted by Dave Davies for National Public Radio's program Fresh Air in April 2008. He added: "I look(ed) across (the street from Disney Hall) and there he is sawing away, as he calls it. And inside this building there are maybe three hundred people, the LA Philharmonic, the cast, the crew, are shooting a movie about his life. And I said to the producer Gary Foster 'You know what Gary, we picked the right name for this thing, The Soloist. There he is.'"
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Day #58 - Love in the Afternoon
Audrey Hepburn plays Arianne, the daughter of a Parisian detective who is hired by men to spy on their wives when they suspect them of cheating. As a result, his house is full of files and pictures that Arianne loves to read through. One night, she overhears one of her father's clients say he is going to kill the man sleeping with his wife - Frank Flanagan, an American playboy and womanizer. Arianne rushes out to warn him, even though she had never met him before. She saves Frank from getting shot and finds herself meeting him the following day. Over the course of the next few weeks while Frank is in Paris, Arianne sees him in the afternoons as she cant' get away from her father in the evenings. She spins this whole tale of herself to Frank, leading him to believe she is also out with other people a lot and is no more attached to him than he is to her....however, as time goes on, they both know they are starting to fall in love! When Frank finds out who Arianne really is, a detetive daughter who lives at home and spends her time with only ONE man, he leaves, trying to save her from his lifestyle.....but can he really leave? Of course not! We all know how this turns out :)
Gary Cooper to me is SOOO Christopher Plummer. That's all I can think about when I see him. I much prefer Gary Cooper in High Noon than in this kind of romantic role. He and Audrey separately are fantastic but together.....not so much. Billy Wilder co-wrote and directed this movie and really wanted Cary Grant to be in it, but he said no. I am wondering if Cary Grant had issues with Audrey...he never did a movie with her and was offered one more than once. This, by the way, is my SIXTH Billy Wilder movie, can you believe it?!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
