Day #69 - The King and I

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"Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera" :)

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

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Heeeeeey Laurence Olivier :)

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

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I can't believe it took me so long to watch this movie - as a huge Daniel Day-Lewis fan I should have been all over it. The Ballad of Jack and Rose was written and directed by Rebecca Miller, daughter of famed playwright Arthur Miller and wife of Daniel Day-Lewis (which, I can't really imagine - I wonder what that's like?!). For the first half hour or so of the movie, I could NOT take my eyes off of DDL. For the FIRST time ever, I felt like he was so exposed - here I was looking at the closest thing to the actual man - not a character. When you see Bill the Butcher or Daniel Plainview, the last person you see is DDL. But here - it was different - he wore clothes like what he typically wears, he spoke with a Scottish accent, very similar to the British accent he would normally speak in, his hair was as it typically is and he even had his earring in. I felt like this was as close as I would come to seeing him raw.

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.

Day #66 - 500 Days of Summer

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I have many different feelings about this movie. I just got back from seeing it - I had really high expectations and I was a bit disappointed. Two things I really liked about it - first of all, the story was REAL. It wasn't froo froo and full of happy endings and perfect situations and dialogue. Secondly, I knew going in I was going to love Zooey Deschanel, I already did - and sure enough, she was SO cute. That being said, I didn't care for the guy AT ALL - Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He just didn't make me care about him, I found him to not have much charisma or anything worth my attention. I know it's harsh, but hey - it's my blog :)

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

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Talk about an unexpected ending. I didn't see that coming AT ALL.

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.

Oscars Best Movies Montage - AMAZING!!

Amelia Poster

Cool!

Day #64 - From Here to Eternity

iMDB Link

From Here to Eternity was a HUGE Oscar favorite in 1953 - it won 8 Oscars out of 13 nominations including Best Picture, Best Director (Frank Zinnemann), Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Film Editing, Best Supporting Actor (Frank Sinatra) and Best Supporting Actress (Donna Reed). Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift and Deborah Kerr ("is it Karr or Kerr?" - great quote) were also nominated in the Lead Acting category but none of them won - strange.

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:)

Frank Sinatra Acceptance Speech

Day #63 - Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

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This movie was definitely funny - and bizarre - and nothing like I expected, haha. I really think this movie might take multiple viewings to really appreciate the humor. I know I didn't pick up everything I was supposed to nor did I fully understand it. Before Geoffrey Rush portrayed him in a TV movie, I had never heard of Peter Sellers - is that sacrilege?! Sellers, often touted as one of the greatest comedians of all time, was known for playing multiple characters in the same movie and played three in Dr. Strangelove. George C. Scott, known for his later role in Patton, and Sterline Hayden also starred.

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.

Screen Caps from Dr. Macro!

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

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Everything I know about time travel I learned from Back to the Future - if you go back in time, don't run into yourself. If you change something in the past, it WILL affect the future. If you want to visit 1985, just punch it into the Delorian. 88 mph and a flux capacitor will get you there. At least with Back to the Future all of the questions were answered - you knew how to time travel and how to control it. I get really annoyed when movies (and TV shows - LOST anyone?) try to cover time travel and it makes NO SENSE. The Time Traveler's Wife was a nice love story and it certainly helped that Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana were the stars because I love them both - that being said, the more I think about the story, the more questions I generate.

*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

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Mogambo is another "random" movie choice that came out of TCM's "Summer of Stars" - I know I've mentioned this several times but haven't explained it. For the month of August on TCM, every day is dedicated to a different star. So, last week, one of the days was Clark Gable day so I basically just DVR everything on that day and then pick and choose from it later!

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"

Day #60 - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

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LOVED it!!! Loved the movie, loved Spence, loved Kate, loved everything. I have found, that over the course of 60 movies, I have fallen totally in love with Spencer Tracy. I'm not sure I have EVER seen acting done so naturally and efortlessly. I know I'm a broken record with him, but he makes me smile just seeing him enter a scene. In this movie especially he was such a cranky old man which was so endearing to me. Spencer died just 17 days after filming was wrapped on this movie and received a posthumous Best Actor Oscar nomination. Katherine Hepburn and the director both put the salaries up to back Spence in this movie as the studio was so unsure of his health, fearing he would not be able to finish the movie. Kate drove him in every day and they worked until he got too tired and then went home. He's so amazing.

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

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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.'"

Day #58 - Love in the Afternoon

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Another random choice :) - this one from Audrey Hepburn day on TCM! Love in the Afternoon was a cute but strange movie. I think I would have liked it more if I had been even remotely convinced at the romance between Audrey Hepburn and Gary Cooper. He was much too serious and just seemed SO much older than her...there wasn't much chemistry, I don't know...has anyone else out there seen it? Julia? I did like it though, it was a cute story. Let me take a few steps back...

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?!

Day #57 - They Met in Bombay

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Totally random choice. Today is Clark Gable day on TCM and the first movie I recorded was They Met in Bombay because it co-starred Rosalind Russell and I looooooooved her in The Women. Filmed in 1941, They Met in Bombay is about two thieves (Clark and Rosalind - and yes, I'm on a first name basis) who unknowingly go after the same jewel - after they discover each other's intentions they become partners and travel together, escaping the police. In the meantime, of course, they fall in love :) When Gable poses as a British officer, he involves himself in a battle which ironically enough earns him a hero's medal - turns out he isn't such a bad man after all :) Now, I don't know about you other women out there, but did anyone NOT fall in love with Clark Gable? Come ON! I must say though, the first Gable movie I ever saw was, probably like a lot of other people, was Gone with the Wind. I don't think he changes his character much from movie to movie so I just see Rhett Butler everywhere. Which is really just fine :) :)

Just FYI, Clark Gable was named AFI's 7th Greatest Male Stars of All Time, behind Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, Marlon Brando, Fred Astaire and Henry Fonda. He was nominated 3 times for Oscars, winning 1 time for It Happened One Night. His nominations were for Mutiny on the Bounty and Gone with the Wind.

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus Trailer

This trailer looks AWWWESOME. I have two words for you. Christopher. Plummer. I have two more. The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus is the movie Heath Ledger was in the middle of filming when he died - in order to keep the movie going, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law all stepped forward to take over filming of the rest of Heath's part, donating their salaries to Heath's daughter, Matilda. Amazing.

Day #56 - Julie and Julia

I am VERY excited to finally post a review for Julie and Julia, the inspiration for my blog that was started 56 movies ago :) I LOVED it - it was SO cute and fun :) Meryl was absolutely perfect as Julia Child - what I love about Meryl is how absolutely subtle and natural she is. You know all of her mannerisms, gestures, expressions, etc. aren't all in the script but she adds them in so well, you never feel like she isn't the exact character she is playing. I just admire her as an actor so much and I know she will go down in the history books as one of our greatest.

If only my blog could be as successful as Julie Powell's - I could get dedicated readers and a book deal! Alas though, I think the only people reading my blog are those who I beg to look at it :) (and I appreciate you all!) Julie Powell set out as a writer early in her life and after her half finished novel wasn't picked up by a publisher, she took up a desk job...several years later on the brink of her 30th birthday, she thought, wait a second, everyone else has blogs, why can't I? I have thoughts! I'm a writer! So she blogged about something and someone she really loved - cooking and Julia Child :) The movie follows her through her battle to complete 525 recipes in 365 days, a feat which challenges her and the relationship she has with her husband and friends.

Intertwined with her story is that of Julia Child - first arriving in Paris with her husband, who is an Ambassador, she looks for something to pass her time and finds Le Cordon Bleu, a cooking school. Her love for food and cooking lead her to a collaboration with two other women in writing a book on French cooking for American women, specifically, housewives without servants. Her story is also full of challenges as she struggles to find the exact voice her book needs and a publisher who wants it.

There are a couple of things I LOVED about this movie - the first was the relationship between Julia and her husband Paul, played by the always fantastic Stanley Tucci. Here is a love story between an unlikely couple - he was short and bald, she was tall and a big woman - neither were conventially good looking. But they were head over heels in love with each other and that was really awesome to see. The other thing I really loved was the character of Julia - laid back and cheerful, she seemed phased by very little, rarely getting exasperated or frustrated. If only we all could be more like her! Apparently Julia Child was 6'-2" so they had to employ a lot of forced perspectives and things like raised countertops and really high heels to make Meryl, at 5'-6", look really tall!

I highly recommend this movie to everyone - I know you will all enjoy it!!

The Lovely Bones Trailer

Has anyone read this book??

Day #55 - Blade Runner

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Well, Chris hijacked my Netflix queue again so we got Blade Runner in the mail :) It's good though - I've heard a lot about this movie over the years so it wasn't too bad to watch it. I actually was working on my website during the movie so I didn't focus as much as I should have it - but you know, I think that was okay because by the end of the movie I was pretty convinced that giving it my full attention wouldn't have saved it for me. I'm not a big sci-fi fan and this one was just too much for me. The end was weird and it gave me creepy vibes.

As a "guest reviewer", Chris brought up a really good point about the movie. The producers of Battlestar Galactica (THE GREATEST TV SHOW EVER!) were greatly influenced by Blade Runner so we ran across a lot of story details that felt really familiar to us. Had we seen Blade Runner first, it may have felt more original, but unfairly so, we found it to be old news. The awards it should have been nominated for it was - cinematography and special effects. The production design was AMAZING - a very cool look at the future.

Blade Runner was Ridley Scott's 1982 masterpiece starring Harrison Ford - over the years it has become a real cult classic. Edward James Olmos made an appearance - WAHOO ADMIRAL ADAMA! Overall I was not a fan but if you like sci-fi, this might just be your cup of tea.

Day #54 - Confessions of a Shopaholic

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I wanted to take this opportunity to talk about romantic comedies. I'm a pretty typical woman in that I love romantic comedies - I know they are predictable and cheesy and unrealistic but I still watch them every time :) That being said - they don't need to be completely unoriginal and poorly written. Too much of the time, filmmakers rely on big name people to attract you to movies that are just awful. For example - I love Jennifer Garner. I'll definitely see a movie just for her. So I'm guilty. I went to see Ghosts of Gilfriends Past and wanted to walk out. Just because it's a romantic comedy doesn't mean it needs to sacrifice story and character. Look at the Marlie Arnold classics - Sleepless in Seattle and When Harry Met Sally - funny, romantic, cute, great characters, great story. Step it up romantic comedies!

Onward now to what I watched a couple of days ago - Confessions of a Shopaholic. Not a great story and there were definitely some cheesy ridiculous parts - but there were also some cute parts and I feel like Isla Fisher really saved this one. I really liked her :) Unlike Katherine Heigl who I don't even remotely care for, Isla Fisher is fun and cute and you really want to be like her....which let's face it, is the WHOLE reason we women watch romantic comedies!

...and end soapbox.

"This Means Something....."

Great quote - from an even greater movie :) Who knows it?

Day #53 - Serpico

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Chris and I first heard of Serpico while watching an episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - Charlie plays Pacino's character and wears a poncho, yelling at other cops that they are all corrupt. It's fantastic. So Chris hijacked my Netflix queue and there ya go - Serpico. We actually knew nothing about it other than Pacino was in it and it had to do with corrupt cops haha :) Serpico was made in 1973 and was directed by Sidney Lumet. This is my second Lumet film after 12 Angry Men and I actually think this is the first time Pacino has appeared - ah!

Al Pacino plays Frank Serpico, a New York cop who prefers working undercover in street clothes - he's a bit strange, and after the other cops find out he is unwilling to accept money from criminals like they do, they turn against him. An honest cop like Serpico makes them all look bad, and Frank grows increasingly unhappy with his lack of advancement. In the end, Frank turns to an outside agency to investigate the corruption in the force - a big no no - a cop turning against cops. Though not an inspiring film per se, I did find Serpico to be a great symbol of one man standing up for the right thing in an extremely difficult situation. At the end of the movie, Frank ends up getting shot in the face - he survives but retires from the force and the investigation contines on.

I liked this movie a LOT more than I thought I was going to - older cop movies have a certain grittiness to them that I don't always care for but this I didn't mind. Pacino was AMAZING as Serpico and honestly I think his costume designer should have won an Oscar - his outfits were hysterical. Always trying to blend in, he has an interesting array of prints and patterns, a bit of hippy style and some rather ridiculous hats. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a good Pacino performance and/or a great cop movie.

Al Pacino won nominated for a Best Actor Oscar but lost to Jack Lemmon in Save The Tiger. I love watching "early" Pacino because it just reminds me how AMAZING of an actor he truly is.

Day #52 - Dances with Wolves

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Dances with Wolves has to be one of the greatest stories ever told. I don't know if it would sneak into my top 10 but I would say definitely top 15 best movies :) I saw this movie all the way through when it first came out in 1990 but I'm sure my 10 year old self wasn't quite up to the task of appreciating it :) Since then I had seen scenes here and there but I was shocked at how much I had forgotten! I love Kevin Costner in this movie but for me it's the Indians that make it so great - Mary McDonnell as Stands with a Fist, Graham Greene as Kicking Bird and Rodney Grant as Wind in His Hair. Mary McDonnell is just amazing - if I didn't know any better I would say she really didn't know how to speak English, she is just so convincing! Kicking Bird grabs your heart right from the get go and Wind in His Hair is captivating - I loved the story of how he and Dunbar's relationship grew to be so strong. Of course my heart went out to Two Socks - I watched this two nights ago and I'm still distraught that he died - who does that?! I want to strangle the writer for writing that in!!

Dances with Wolves was nominated for 12 Oscars and won 7 - including Best Picture, Best Director (Kevin Costner), Best Cinematography, Best Music, Best Film Editing, Best Sound and Best Screenplay. Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell and Graham Greene were all nominated for acting Oscars but unfortunately didn't win - I would love to have seen Mary win, but let's see what else was going on that year....

1990 was the year of Awakenings, GoodFellas, The Godfather III and Ghost. What I completely disagree with is Jeremy Irons taking home an Oscar for Reversal of Fortune over Kevin Costner. Come ON. Mary McDonnell lost her Oscar to Whoopi Goldberg in Ghost - ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!! Whoopi was good and all, but did the Academy even SEE Dances with Wolves? Ugh. Finally, Joe Pesci beat out Graham Greene for Supporting Actor....whatever. I hate Good Fellas so I'm biased against Joe Pesci.....can I also say....not only did Jeremy Irons beat out Kevin Costner....he beat out Robert DeNiro in Awakenings....WHAT??!!!!! AAAHHH! This is almost as bad as the Tommy Lee Jones win over Ralph Fiennes in Schindlers List but I'm not EVEN GOING TO GO THERE.

I digress.

As I'm sure most of you know, Dances with Wolves is the story of John Dunbar, a Union soldier stationed at a secluded outpost in the West to fulfill his desire to see the frontier before it was lost. When he arrives, he is all alone except for his horse and a wolf who he names Two Socks (so cute). He cleans up the fort, writing in his journal and waiting for his replacement, who will never come. One day he surprises a woman who he finds near his camp, bleeding and hurt. He takes her to the Sioux tribe, which shows them that he did not mean them harm. The Sioux feel that they can gain much by talking to him and hopefully finding out when the white men will come and how many there will be. So Kicking Bird and Wind in His Hair go later to greet Dunbar - although Kicking Bird is friendly and welcoming, Wind in His Hair takes a long time to warm to the white man, not trusting his motives or thinking he is worthy. Over time, they are able to learn each other languages through the help of the woman Dunbar saved, Stands with a Fist - a white woman who grew up with the Sioux. Dunbar spends more and more time with the Sioux, helping them to find buffalo and learning their ways. He and Stands with a Fist fall in love and get married. The Sioux, however, cannot avoid the advancing armies of men looking to take over the frontier. As they look to move their camp, Dunbar returns to his fort for his journal where he is captured by the army and branded a traitor for joining the Sioux. As usual, I don't want to ruin the ending for anyone - I've already said a TON. Let me just say though, that for those who have seen it - the ending with Wind in His Hair on the cliff made tears run down my face - it was just so moving and wonderful. :)

Woa, woa, woa....check this out!

Viggo Mortensen was originally cast to play John Dunbar. Mortensen will, however, be playing John Dunbar in the upcoming sequel to this movie, The Holy Road (2011), as Kevin Costner has stated that he will not be reprising his character.

Day #51 - Jezebel

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Ah, yes. My first Bette Davis experience :) Jezebel was recommended to me by my Mother-in-Law and I'm so glad I took her up on it - I had never heard of Jezebel before she mentioned it. Released in 1938 by Warner Brothers, Jezebel was oddly similar to Gone with the Wind which would come out the following year. Bette Davis and Fay Bainter both won Oscars for it - this essentially took Bette Davis out of the running to play Scarlet O'Hara in Gone with the Wind as she had basically already played the role in Jezebel. I found Bette Davis to be FAR more beautiful than I thought she would be. In picture she always looked a bit bug eyed, haha, but I thought she was really pretty - and BOY she has the evil look down pat. She even puts it to Vivien Leigh.

Jezebel is about Julie Marsden (Bette Davis), a southern Belle in New Orleans before the Civil War. Very headstrong and fearless, Julie gets angry at her banker fiance, Preston Dillard (Henry Fonda), when he won't leave a meeting to go dress shopping with her. She gets back at him by choosing a red dress for the upcoming ball (scandal!) - a ball where every unmarried woman wears white. Wanting to teach Julie a lesson, Preston makes her dance in front of the whole crowd, even after Julie realizes her mistake and begs him to let her leave, humiliated. Preston then leaves her, thus breaking their engagement. Julie was convinced he would return immediately, but when he doesn't come back for a whole year, she is desperate to apologize and humble herself to him upon his return. She holds a ball to celebrate his return and even wears her white dress to greet him - however, it was too late - Preston was married to a woman from New York. Eager to get back at him, Julie uses her persuasive ways with her friend Buck, hoping he will challenge Preston to a fight. He ends up challenging Preston's brother and in a turn of expectations, Buck ends up killed. Preston then comes down with yellow fever which was sweeping the city. In a last minute move of redemption, Julie offers to accompany Preston to the isolated island, knowing that she is sure to contract the fever herself and die.

I like Henry Fonda a lot, but not in this role - partly because I just don't think he fits the part well but also because with the movie being so close to Gone with the Wind, he just can't compete with Clark Gable and Leslie Howard! As I said, I really liked Bette Davis - very evil and perfect. I would really like to see her in more movies!

Here's a good video from the movie - this is where Julie first meets Preston's wife at the ball. You can see her BEAUTIFUL white dress :)

Day #50 - Pat and Mike

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This movie took me two screenings to get through as I actually fell asleep the first time! I loved Hepburn and Tracy together again but I didn't care much for the movie - it just didn't keep my interest. It was kind of fun to see Kate playing golf and tennis - I have read that she was really good at sports.

Kate Hepburn plays Pat, a woman who is a great athlete but who seems to be held back by her fiance - as is typical for Kate's roles, she didn't want to feel like she was tied down to any preconceived notion of what women should and should not do. He treated her like property, and after competing in the Women's Nationals for golf, she decides to not go home with him as planned. Instead, she goes to find Spencer Tracy's character Mike - an Agent/Promoter, he introduces himself to Pat at the golf tournament, hoping to make some money from her. Pat and Mike then embark on a relationship where he promotes her sports and they slowly start to fall in love, despite Mike being a bit shady in his work and Pat working through things with her fiance.

So yah, overall, I have enjoyed the other Kate/Spence movies much more than this one but am always glad to mark ones off the list!

Day #49 - Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

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I have a lot of catching up to do - I've seen 3 movies since my last review! Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is a movie I have seen bits and pieces of many times but never the movie in entirety....and for being such a Jimmy Stewart fan, I think that's quite a sacrilege. Ah, Jimmy. Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy. I love you so much!! Really, he's so perfect, I just smile when I see him on the screen because he makes me really happy and I just feel so good :) He's definitely my type too - I always like the nice guys :)

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is perhaps one of the most inspirational movies I've ever seen - the story really reminds you of what politics and Washington should be about. Jimmy Stewart plays Jefferson Smith, a naive Minnesota Boy Ranger (aka Boy Scout) - when the Governor needs to fill a Senate with someone who will sit there and not ask questions so that a bill he backs will go through, he thinks Jefferson is his man - after all, this man has no business in the Senate! When Jefferson arrives, he is in awe of the monuments and the history of the city and can't wait for the Senate to convene. He is especially excited to work with his mentor, Senior Senator Joseph Paine, a respected friend of his father's. When Jefferson decides to pass a bill to open a boy's camp in Minnesota, he doesn't realize he is interfering with the very bill he was meant not to disturb. When persuaded to back down, Jefferson stands up for himself and against the corruption and greed that he realized had taken over politics. Jim Taylor, the real political force behind the bill Smith fights goes on a rampage, creating a scandal he thinks Jefferson cannot overcome. However, with the help of his secretary, he finds a way to prevail!

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is a 1939 Frank Capra film which was nominated for 11 Oscars! It took home only one for Best Original Screenplay. A few years later when Jimmy Stewart was awarded an Oscar for The Philadelphia Story, he felt it was actually overdue credit for his work in Mr. Smith. Many politicians at the time felt the film depicted Washington as corrupt and were outspoken against the film. European countries also banned it as they didn't want their citizens to see democracy at work. The American Film Institute named it as #27 on the Greatest Movies of all Time.