WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

[RedRiver]

This is a thoughtful, intelligent "Girl's Movie." And I'm a guy!

Eve never had to punch a line. Just her good common-sense delivery is wonderful too

A common mistake of amateur actors is trying to MAKE a line funny. It's either funny or it's not. Just say the damn line!

every reel or so there would be a loud explosion or blast of music.

"You slept through THE GUNS OF NAVARONE?" We've discussed before that sleeping through a movie is not necessarily a reflection on the story. It says more about the human body! I doze off during practically everything.

[CineMaven]

CineMaven, great summation of "My Reputation", one of my favorite Stanwyck roles. I too adore Lucile Watson as her mother. I believe that both Davis and Crawford past on this film and thank goodness for that.

Thanx Mongo. I had a good time with it.

A common mistake of amateur actors is trying to MAKE a line funny. It's either funny or it's not. Just say the damn line!

<< (( SPIT TAKE! )) >>

"ALICE ADAMS"


Kate portrays a girl who just keeps getting in her own way. She breaks my heart. Saaaaay, I wonder if she's really a pre-cursor to Harriet Craig...

[Sue Sue Applegate]

I thoroughly enjoyed My Reputation thanks to Cinemaven's alert, and thoroughly appreciated her reflections!

And I loved Stanwyck's clothes, done by Leah Rhodes, a Texas gal. She apprenticed to Orry-Kelly and was responsible for Lauren Bacall's look in her earlier films, mainly setting her standard in The Big Sleep. She also dressed Ingrid Bergman in Saratoga Trunk, Hedy Lamarr in The Conspirators, and many others.

[MikeBSG]

Last night I watched "Cinderella Man" (2005) directed by Ron Howard.

Based on the boxing champ James Braddock, the movie reminded me of "The Natural" in its structure. A young up-and-comer gets sidelined by bad luck, then, at the brink of being too old for his sport, gets a second chance.

The first half of the movie gets Braddock up to his shot at the title. The second half is about the big fight. I have to say this was a very good movie. I ended up liking it more at the finish than I did at the start (and how often does a movie get better as it goes along?) Russell Crowe was fine as Braddock, Paul Giamatti had just the right touch as his manager, but the real surprise was Craig Bierko as Max Baer, the guy Braddock faces for the title. He actually seemed to be acting (creating a character who was flamboyant and angry) in the boxing match as opposed to just slugging away.

I know that for a lot of people, Ron Howard will always be "Opie" but I think he has made some pretty good films: "Splash," "Parenthood," "Apollo XIII" and "Cinderella Man." I might even put "Ransom" in there as well. Granted, he has made turkeys too, such as "Gung Ho" and "Willow". And some of his films I just have no interest in seeing. But I think he is a pretty good filmmaker in the classical tradition.

[RedRiver]

Even A BEAUTIFUL MIND is interesting. Deserving of multiple awards? Maybe not. But I was never bored. Never insulted.

[CineMaven]

In checking out April’s post in the VINTAGE MOVIE MAGAZINES ONLINE forum, I clicked on it and was surprised by this magazine cover posted by Morlock R. Emmett Sweeney as I perused around. The cover girl's listed as Joan Bennett.



I swear, at first glance, I thought it was her:



CHARLIZE THERON

Am I crazy, or don't the two look-a-like? The marcelled blonde doesn't resemble Joan Bennett.

[feaito]

I agree Theresa, that drawing of Joan Bennett also resembles a young Grace Kelly and/or Madeleine Carroll; It must have been made around the time this picture of Joanie was taken:

[Robert Regan]

Those magazine cover paintings usually looked not quite like their subjects. I think they were trying to make the dreams look even dreamier and not incidentally, to get the women of America, the World, to spend more money on "beauty" products!

[moira finnie]

In addition to Apollo 13, many of Ron Howard's films as an actor and director have examined the lives of people at work and how what we do shapes who we are. They weren't always successful commercially or critically, but the fact that he chose these subjects makes him quite a different filmmaker, especially when they show how work is sometimes the only thing isolated people have to hang onto in life; a theme he developed quite well in the very different Night Shift and A Beautiful Mind.

The Migrants (1974): a forgotten made-for-tv movie about a migrant family in which he appeared as a son who wanted to break the family pattern
Night Shift (1982)
Backdraft (1991)
The Paper (1994)
A Beautiful Mind (2001)

[MikeBSG]

Today, I tried to watch Guy Maddin's "Twilight of the Ice Nymphs," but I just couldn't get into it.

However, the same DVD had "The Heart of the World," (2000). This was outstanding.

It is a six minute short film that harks back to the silent Soviet avante-garde cinema. It plays like a cross between "Aelita" and "Metropolis" with bits of "New Babylon" thrown in. (I know, "Metroplis" is Weimar Germany, not USSR) Sometimes Maddin's use of archaic styles leaves me baffled, but this time it worked brilliantly. This is a movie that reminds you why you became a film buff in the first place.

[feaito]

I have just watched a film of which I hadn't many expectations: "Passage to Marseille" (1944), but which I found very well done, acted and quite moving. Bogey is a French Patriot who gets sent to Devil's Island and from there he escapes with fellow convicts (shades of "Strange Cargo" ?) Helmut Dantine, Peter Lorre, George Tobias and Philip Dorn, all magnificent in their roles. Vladimir Sokoloff plays and elederly ex convict who finances the escape. Michele Morgan is Bogey's wife back in France. Claude Rains is another French patriot; Sydney Greenstreet, an unpleasant officer loyal to the Vichy Government; Victor Francen, the likable ship's captain; Hans Conried, a despicable man....John Loder, a journalist...It is incredible the amount of talent that the studios handled in those days!! Amazing!! A very well done film that blends heroism, tragedy, war, romance, patriotism, adventure et al. Immensely entertaining with an absorbing plot.

[feaito]

Yesterday I saw "Adam and Evelyne" (1949), a smart romantic comedy starring soon-to-be husband and wife Stewart Granger and Jean Simmons. Granger was 16 years older than Simmons. They met each other when Simmons had a bit role in "Caesar and Cleopatra" (1945), when she was 16 years old... In this film, reminiscent of "Daddy Long Legs" and "Pygmalion", Simmons is an orphan brought up by Granger. Truly engaging and well done. The supporting cast is very good, with such pros as Mona Washbourne and Wilfrid Hyde-White. This film proves that Britain could produce very good romantic comedies as well.

In fact, in real life Simmons was Granger's Galatea as well. He was her mentor and taught her many things on her way to stardom. When they met, Granger was married to actress Elspeth March, who in turn had helped him with his career and had given birth to two sons. Then Granger divorced her to marry Simmons. When Granger went to Hollywood there he and his wife became very close to Michael Wilding and his young wife Liz Taylor. Liz Taylor was even younger than Simmons and Wilding was also many years her senior. She had a similar beauty than Jean. And I read that gossiper Hedda Hopper wrote that Granger and Wilding were lovers! Granger was very annoyed by those unfounded rumors, because Wilding was his best friend.

[feaito]

Thanks for that information Kingrat. It seems a far-fetched rumor anyhow.