CinemaInternational wrote: ↑December 23rd, 2023, 5:15 pm
Since Lorna and Tiki have made a go of it telling personal stories of their movie journeys, I guess I might as well join in.
My name is Brendan. I was born in 1995, which means that I am pretty close to being the baby of the board (I think NickandNora and LostHorizons are both a year younger). I caught the movie bug extremely early, while I was a toddler, actually. By the time I was three, the fever was in full force, of course mostly kids films at that age (a lot of Disney) .... (Full confession: I used to have an earlier account on the TCM messageboards before the one you know me from. Nobody would remember me from back then, but I remember having a tiff with the late FredCDobbs. I hope I have matured and have become a more empathetic person since then. I definitely know I am not as brash and arrogant as I was, which is good)
Thanks for sharing!
At the TCM message boards, I also had a run-in with another poster. That person sent me a nasty private message because I dared to correct them publicly. They also belittled me on those boards because I enjoy Disney movies.
There were a few know-it-all posters there who irritated me royally, but there was only that one that I got into an argument with.
DISNEY FANS are NOT to be mocked, they are to be genuinely feared (a healthy, awe-based fear mostly.)
with DISNEY you ABSOLUTELY MUST admire the SHEER ARTISTRY and COLLECTIVE TRIUMPH of the hand-drawn animation features, I mean- things like thIS:
DRAWN BY HAND IN THE MID NINETEEN THIRTIES, that is some serious collective artistic achievement.
i'm a DARK DISNEY FAN, which is legit fandom in and of itself- I recall seeing FANTASIA on the big screen ca. 1995 and LIKE, REALLY "FINDING" MYSELF during the NIGHT ON BALD MOUNTAIN SCENE....also ALL THE WICKED QUEEN SEQUENCES in SNOW WHITE. Also THE (sadly) NOW DEFUNcT SNOW WHITE RIDE AT DISNEYWORLD THAT WAS SCARY AS ****, AND THE FLAMING COFFIN IN "MICKEY'S CHRISTMAS CAROL" AND THE ENTIRETY OF THE BLACK CAULDRON.
Disney is down with the darkness, and I have eternal respect for that.
sorry, got a little sidetracked talking about THE DARKNESS.
Don't feel bad about getting into it with DOBBSEY, MR. INTERNATIONAL- he was a PRICKLY PEAR.
One thing I miss a lot about YE OLDE MESSAGEBOARDES were the genuinely insane people i got to witness at a safe distance, like THE MARIE OSMOND FAN GUY or THE GUY WHO WAS PISSED THEY NEVER PLAYED "HOT SPELL".
Last edited by Lorna on December 24th, 2023, 10:55 am, edited 1 time in total.
I recall seeing MICKEY'S CHRISTMAS CAROL on the big screen at a PACKED SATURDAY MATINEE ca. 1984.
Granted, it's been four(ish) decades since, but I recall a decided shift in the mood of the room after "THE COFFIN ERUPTING WITH THE FIRES OF HELL" scene.
I watched as much of THE TRIUMPH OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, a BRITISH PRODUCTION from 1935, as I could stand.
It was on that certain cable network and i'd never heard of it.
lucky me.
I have a sneaking suspicion that the titular triumph involved him boring every one of his costars into a FUGUE STATE and then rifling their pockets for change.
This movie dares you to watch it.
It's also set in 1935, not the Victorian Era (curious) and the cast is at least 50% Americans- and not just Americans, but Americans imported from WARNER BROS GANGSTER PICTURES.
recommended only if you have to perform surgery without anasthesia but have an internet hook-up (it's public domain and on youtube, i'm not posting the link here because i'd rather not contribute to anyone's seasonal depression.
Remember the Night (1940) is a good addition to the Christmas movie list. We have Barbara Stanwyck & Fred MacMurray in fine form in a story about redemption, and a Preston Sturges script with a few eccentric characters that hits the emotional notes. It’s sentimental but appropriately so.
Lorna wrote: ↑December 24th, 2023, 10:45 am
sorry, got a little sidetracked talking about THE DARKNESS.
Don't feel bad about getting into it with DOBBSEY, MR. INTERNATIONAL- he was a PRICKLY PEAR.
One thing I miss a lot about YE OLDE MESSAGEBOARDES were the genuinely insane people i got to witness at a safe distance, like THE MARIE OSMOND FAN GUY or THE GUY WHO WAS PISSED THEY NEVER PLAYED "HOT SPELL".
Yes, LHF, there indeed were some folks who posted at the old TCM message boards who appeared to suffer from advanced (possibly undiagnosed) psychological disorders.
And, yes, I'm glad that I was at a safe distance from those people.
Besides the ones you mentioned, there was the poster whose love/lust/obsession with the original WEST SIDE STORY seemed to be such an integral part of their soul that they went into slice and dice mode with anyone who deigned to critique his/her holy cinematic text.
And then when Steven Spielberg's new adaptation was announced and later released, the personal attacks that the poster flung at the young woman who was cast as Maria reached a level of vileness that was frightening.
At least the Marie Osmond fan's postings ultimately led to the wider dissemination of Ms. Osmond's cheesecake recipe.
I loved the Spielberg West Side Story. The only problem I had with it was that, in addition to the pandemic, it was partly responsible for the demise of Ivo van Hove's Broadway revival, which I thought was brilliant. The revival closed due to the pandemic with hopes of reopening, but the film, which was released as the pandemic eased, prevented the reopening of the van Hove revival.
Cinemaspeak, Remember the Night is a personal favorite. It is most likely the most underrated of Christmas films. It is so beautifully handled, and its always great to hear of people watching it and enjoying it.
AllHallows, That is likely the quintessential version of the Dickens saga, which says something because there have been so many versions and variations over the years of it.
It's been many years since I saw The Homecoming, but it served as the introduction to The Waltons, which was a wonderful series. I think I heard once that Patricia Neal did not continue to the actual series because she was unsure that she had recovered enough from her strokes to take on the sprawling job of a weekly series.
BagelonaPlate, yes, your username comes from Funny Girl, a memorable line in a terrific film (and may it be stated, your username was one of the most memorable on the old boards). I didn't know you were so young; it's such a relief to see another young soul who will continue the respect for the wonderful films of the past. It seems as though we have several favorites in common. (Disney, Julie and Barbra were staples of my childhood, The Sound of Music is my mother's favorite film, Meryl is one of my father's favorites, I had a big crush on Catherine Deneuve as a teenager, and I saw every single film Blake Edwards directed. Plus I love movie musicals, and there haven't been many of them I ever disliked.). You are very lucky to have had the chance to see so many Broadway musicals, it seems like a very vivid artform, and it endures.
If that poster is the one I am thinking about, don't feel bad. He seemed to think of himself as the social arbiter of it all, that his opinion was supreme. It wasn't. Being in that position, being harassed over one's personal feelings about film is a terrible one. And I'm sorry that you had to go through that. It always hurts, especially when several gang up on you at the same time. Don't worry about know-it-alls or about "consensus opinion", your own personal cinematic opinions are the ones that matter.
[And feel free to encourage your cousin to join, she'd be very much welcomed here by everyone. It's up to her of course, but she'd have plenty of good company here]
Lorna, , several things to attend to....
A) The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes definitely is stodgy and starchy. It's probably the most boring take on the classic character. Hollywood films were exceptional in the 1930s, but British films in the early 30s were often very creaky. The British really didn't get the hang of making talkies until the late 30s/early 40s. [Your comments on how boring it was reminded me of Libby Gelman-Waxner's comments on 1990's After Dark My Sweet , which I shared once on the old boards, but should do again]
B) I miss movie theatres as well, but on my few times there in recent years, there were so few people there. The very last time I was there (in September), I nearly fell over when I found out that the price for a matinee ticket was $9. Having big audiences, which I remember from going to see kids films years ago, was always great because you got a genuine feel of what the movie was doing for a whole group of people and not just oneself.
C) Yes, Disney used to have this edgy dark side, which surfaced in animated films ranging from Snow White, Pinocchio, and Fantasia, through the Sleepy Hollow segment in 1949 and the Maleficent scenes in 1959's Sleeping Beauty, through later offerings like The Black Cauldron and Atlantis: The Lost Empire (both of these I saw at age 6, the latter in the theatre, where the film actually broke in the middle of it. I was too young and too scaredy cat for both of them at the time, and I would reckon that Atlantis might even be given a PG-13 if it was reissued today, as it had two seriously freaky scenes, and a lot of vivid animated violence). It also surfaced in some live action offerings (they had a moment in one other 2000s release, Eight Below, that caused such a jump scare in the audience that even the adults were screaming). I wish that they had the bravery to do something like it again.
The Black Cauldron ended up being a crucial film for me. I disliked it the first time, but when I came back to it years later, I absolutely loved it, and my complete reassessment of it gave me the courage to get out of a bad situation in my life. I love the musical score in it, the movie is very brave, and the animation is great. And my username handle on the old IMDb boards was Taran of Prydain (I miss using that as a username, it had an element of intrigue and mystery that utterly ordinary little me never had)
D) Thanks for what you said about Dobbs; am glad it was not just me.... I did see Hot Spell once. It was good but nothing that would set the world aflame with the burning passion that the poster had for it....they had a reality program on TV this year where one contestant's mystery relatives were Donny and Marie, and the other contestants were absolutely clueless as to who they were. That Marie-fanatic poster would have been able to sniff things out in a New York minute.
Holden, Swithin, I thought the remake of West Side was decent. I missed the original Jerome Robbins dancing, and the new Tony was very bland, but Maria was well cast as was Anita, I was deeply touched by Rita Moreno getting the chance to sing "Somewhere", and it was the liveliest Spielberg directing job in some time.
Also Holden, no need to feel ashamed about how you feel or felt about the 50s; they are a decade that be slightly misleading at first. I am glad you found some films from that era that you admired. But everyone has at least one era they don't like quite as much as the others.
CinemaInternational wrote: ↑December 24th, 2023, 5:20 pm
J
Holden, Swithin, I thought the remake of West Side was decent. I missed the original Jerome Robbins dancing, and the new Tony was very bland, but Maria was well cast as was Anita, I was deeply touched by Rita Moreno getting the chance to sing "Somewhere", and it was the liveliest Spielberg directing job in some time.
Choreography is a problem these days. The lack of the Robbins choreography was a week link in the van Hove production as well. Robbins and Agnes de Mille get short changed these days. I saw a production of Gypsy in London a few years ago, starring Imelda Staunton. It was good, but they only used the Robbins choreography in the "You Gotta Get a Gimmick" number.
CinemaInternational wrote: ↑December 24th, 2023, 5:20 pm
J
Holden, Swithin, I thought the remake of West Side was decent. I missed the original Jerome Robbins dancing, and the new Tony was very bland, but Maria was well cast as was Anita, I was deeply touched by Rita Moreno getting the chance to sing "Somewhere", and it was the liveliest Spielberg directing job in some time.
Choreography is a problem these days. The lack of the Robbins choreography was a week link in the van Hove production as well. Robbins and Agnes de Mille get short changed these days. I saw a production of Gypsy in London a few years ago, starring Imelda Staunton. It was good, but they only used the Robbins choreography in the "You Gotta Get a Gimmick" number.
Somewhat understandably, new choreographers want to create their own stuff rather than recreate previous work. But many of these dances are now iconic, and many in the public come away disappointed with the new material. As an example, one of the biggest disappointments for me in the last 20 years was the sluggish Turkey Lurkey Time from the Promises, Promises revival.
txfilmfan wrote: ↑December 24th, 2023, 5:41 pm
one of the biggest disappointments for me in the last 20 years was the sluggish Turkey Lurkey Time from the Promises, Promises revival.
”Marrriiiia, I JUST HATE that girl playing Maria….
