I Just Watched...

[EP Millstone]

Since we don't have a "Coming Up on TCM" thread here--at least I don't think we do--I wanted to remind everyone of the delight in store in the wee small hours tomorrow morning (Monday): Yes, it's THE OSCAR . . .

One of the writers of The Oscar (and the writer who fairly/unfairly reaps the lion's share of the blame for that movie) was Harlan Ellison.


"I practically wept. I saw this film for which I had worked for a year, and people are laughing in the theater and they're laughing at dramatic moments. And I'm sinking lower and lower and lower in my seat. I remember it as if it were yesterday. I said, 'This is the end of my feature film career.' " -- Harlan Ellison

"I saw a screening of THE OSCAR at the Egyptian in 2000, and Harlan Ellison was there. During the 5 seconds of black before the movie actually started, he yelled out to the audience that this was the best part." -- Frank Reynolds

Demanded Harlan Ellison, "Death to All Hollywood Awards Shows!"

[txfilmfan]

They should program The Oscar back-to-back with Valley of the Dolls...

Had to go look to see what Academy Award noms it got: Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color and Best Costume Design, Color.

[EP Millstone]

They should program The Oscar back-to-back with Valley of the Dolls...

. . . which would be a Harlan Ellison double-feature!

"The perpetually emphatic novelist Harlan Ellison left the project and had his name taken out of the credits after the softening of certain aspects of the film’s ending." -- Valley of the Dolls: This Merry-Go-Round

"Original screenwriter Harlan Ellison had his name removed from the credits, because he vehemently disagreed with the tacked-on 'happy' ending that the studio insisted on inserting." -- Internet Movie Database

[jimimac71]

Ben Mankiewicz has been spied moonlighting on CBS Sunday Morning.
He interviewed comedian Nick Kroll.
I turned in to see a story about Charles Schulz.
He passed away 23 years ago just after creating his final comic strip.
I’m a fan of Peanuts. Who isn’t?
I do happen to live in Santa Rosa, CA.
“Sparky” was originally from Minnesota but lived here while drawing Peanuts.
All that snow in the comics and TV shows must come from his youth.
Personally, Ben is better with interviews than movie intros.

[txfilmfan]

Ben's been on Sunday Morning for years. His TCM job is just one of many. All the hosts have multiple gigs going, and TCM is just a part-time thing. Same was true for Robert Osborne.

[Intrepid37]

I just watched David Lynch's 2017 series 'Twin Peaks' in its entirety.

I had watched all of the original series - both seasons - as well as the film 'Fire Walk with Me', so I was really quite interested in where the story would go 25 years later. The doppel-Cooper plot was a lot of fun. Overall, this series didn't have nearly as much humor embedded, but was just as entertaining in its own way. It also had the benefit of having the adorable Naomi Watts in it. I'm not often smitten by blondes, but damn, she is cute.

[jimimac71]

Ben's been on Sunday Morning for years. His TCM job is just one of many. All the hosts have multiple gigs going, and TCM is just a part-time thing. Same was true for Robert Osborne.

Well … To quote Ben Matlock, “put my leg in a tea kettle.”
It was worth watching for the Charles Schulz story.
Don’t get me started on not enjoying TCM movie intros.

[LiamCasey]

I just binge watched SS-GB (2017) w/ Sam Riley, Kate Bosworth and James Cosmo on Amazon Freevee. This BBC series is based upon the 1978 novel of the same name by Len Deighton whose earlier novels were the basis for the Harry Palmer series of movies with Michael Caine. And is set in a November of 1941 within an alternate history where the previous year's Operation Sea Lion was successful and Nazi Germany has occupied southern Great Britain (not unlike the ancient Romans in that extent) and never got around to Operation Barbarossa against the USSR. And, in this setting, we have a English Scotland Yard homicide detective who reports to a local German SS officer and who is investigating what appears to be a routine murder until another SS officer arrives suddenly and suspiciously and takes charge of that investigation. An investigation which eventually involves the British Resistance, atomic scientists, the Wehrmacht, unseen American marines and King George VI. Plus the long-dead Karl Marx.

Now I read (and enjoyed) the source novel once soon after it first came out in paperback 40 years ago so I'm not going to rely on my memory and attempt any comparison between the novel and the television series (But I will admit that the ending felt different to me.). However I've always been interested in World War II history so alternate histories of that global conflict are right up my alley. And I enjoyed this adaptation of it. So if The Man in the High Castle (2015-2019) appealed to you, this probably will too.

[CinemaInternational]

Let's put it this way arout the very....aromatic film The Oscar. It's one of the very few films that I found so terrible that I couldn't see it through to the end. I couldn't take it anymore. I have sat and seen the wntirety of some ghastly cinematic abominations in my day, but The Oscar was one of the straws that broke the camel's back. As far as I recall, Eleanor Parker was the only one that kept her acting ability intact as that thing unspooled.

Also it should be noted that it gets the lowest possible grade, 1 star, from the TV Guide programming guide, a true rarity for TCM where most films get 2 and a half, three, three and a half, and even perfect fours. This one is that distinctive.

I know that, for some reason known to God alone, The Oscar received a new digital remaster a few years back before receiving a Blu-Ray release. The print I saw on TCM back in 2013 was a dreary pan-and-scan version that began with the old Columbia Pictures Television logo from the mid to late 1980s, indicating it was a nearly 30 year old print then. I wonder which one will play this morning: the now 35 year old pan and scan print, or the snazzy new widescreen "enhanced" one from Kino Lorber.

And I will give this "special" film a publicity blurb it deserves: "The Oscar makes Valley of the Dolls look like Hamlet in comparison!"

[TikiSoo]

I know that, for some reason known to God alone, The Oscar received a new digital remaster a few years back before receiving a Blu-Ray release. (snipped)
And I will give this "special" film a publicity blurb it deserves: "The Oscar makes Valley of the Dolls look like Hamlet in comparison!"

Wow- anywhere else a bad film would be turned off & immediately forgotten...but not classic film fans! Bad movies only get us "started"

[Intrepid37]

Bad movies can often have a charm of their own.

And it can be very entertaining to make a movie about the making of a bad movie. Example: James Franco's The Disaster Artist (2017) about the making of Tommy Wiseau's The Room (2003).

[txfilmfan]

Let's put it this way arout the very....aromatic film The Oscar. It's one of the very few films that I found so terrible that I couldn't see it through to the end. I couldn't take it anymore. I have sat and seen the wntirety of some ghastly cinematic abominations in my day, but The Oscar was one of the straws that broke the camel's back. As far as I recall, Eleanor Parker was the only one that kept her acting ability intact as that thing unspooled.

Also it should be noted that it gets the lowest possible grade, 1 star, from the TV Guide programming guide, a true rarity for TCM where most films get 2 and a half, three, three and a half, and even perfect fours. This one is that distinctive.

I know that, for some reason known to God alone, The Oscar received a new digital remaster a few years back before receiving a Blu-Ray release. The print I saw on TCM back in 2013 was a dreary pan-and-scan version that began with the old Columbia Pictures Television logo from the mid to late 1980s, indicating it was a nearly 30 year old print then. I wonder which one will play this morning: the now 35 year old pan and scan print, or the snazzy new widescreen "enhanced" one from Kino Lorber.

And I will give this "special" film a publicity blurb it deserves: "The Oscar makes Valley of the Dolls look like Hamlet in comparison!"

Just popped it on. Academy ratio. Looks like they just popped in a VHS tape, TBH.

[CinemaInternational]

Lady in Cement (1968)

Source: FXM on Demand

Sonewhat humdrum follow-up to the previous year's Tony Rome, this too stars Frank Sinatra as a Miami detective trying to solve a twisting, turning murder case that begins when he discovers a nude corpse of a woman with cement shoes while scuba diving one day, and ends up encompassing several more murders, including one that is falsely pinned on him. Sinatra seems slightly distracted in scenes in this film, as sometimes he seems invested in his world-weary role and sometimes he doesn't. Raquel Welsh is pretty good as one of the suspects, Lainie Kazan does well in a one scene part early on, while Bonanza's Dan Blocker, playing a heavy, cannot escape his claim to fame as the famous TV theme song plays in one scene in which he appears. There is some good, hard-boiled noir style diologue toward the end, but at other times, the film isn't very involving, and frankly given how shady many of the characters are, black and white would have fit this film better than bright color. But, then again, this was in changing times (several scenes and images in this film woukd not have passed muster even two years earlier), so probably they would not have tried in black and white.

[TikiSoo]

Don't know if this qualifies, but last night I watched Showtime's documentary on Sheryl Crow. These "music legend" documentaries have ranged from excellent (Linda Ronstadt) to terrible (Jeff Lynne) and in-between (Dolly Parton, Tom Petty) and this one falls in the first category of excellent.

It should not matter to you if you like the star or the genre, but be a full narrative including colleagues, family, performances & the star themself. The key to this doc is the producer & director is Crow's long time best friend & manager-who was part of the story! He was there & witnessed the events firsthand.
I've been a big fan of Sheryl Crow's music from the beginning, having most of her albums. She always struck me as a "together" kind of gal and most impressive singer/writer/musician. Her home made videos published during the pandemic were generous & helped bring some cheer to my lockdown.

Learning more about her, where she came from, her family dynamics and her complete focus on her art & career was covered by her & those who know her. The aspects of dealing with fame was an eye opener & Joe Walsh's insights on the subject are particularly notable.



https://youtu.be/FCSkonIngWM