tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41891206823984211082024-03-13T13:21:25.671-04:00Wide Screen WorldRichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11376065182154885503noreply@blogger.comBlogger1542125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189120682398421108.post-71874911429199832992021-03-09T07:00:00.154-05:002022-11-02T19:40:42.521-04:00Fin <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fBafq0Iczsg/YAtwogzmpvI/AAAAAAAAWdA/-upzW7gXohYJ5Qjx6a-zoGzXdDwHwyblgCLcBGAsYHQ/s300/7979F015-4DC4-494D-B9E4-0EB1AA493A8C.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fBafq0Iczsg/YAtwogzmpvI/AAAAAAAAWdA/-upzW7gXohYJ5Qjx6a-zoGzXdDwHwyblgCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/7979F015-4DC4-494D-B9E4-0EB1AA493A8C.jpeg" /></a></div><br /><h3 style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="http://byrichwatson.blogspot.com">Visit me at my new website, </a></i></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="http://byrichwatson.blogspot.com">By Rich Watson</a> </i></h3><div><br /></div><div>Ten and a half years ago, I started this blog. That’s a fair-sized chunk of my life. What began as an exercise in journalistic writing grew into something much more. I’ve made friends as a result of WSW, gone a few different places and done a few things I probably wouldn’t have otherwise.<p></p><div>This blog was always meant to be a way for me to put my writing skills to good use—but now my writing goals have changed. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you’ve followed WSW long enough, you know I’ve struggled with becoming a fiction writer. I’ve had a novel manuscript for seven of those ten-plus years and you’re probably as sick of hearing me talk about it as I am with rewriting it, but I’m closer to done now than I ever have been. I want to pitch it to a publisher. I want to build a career off of it. I wanna try at the least.</div><div><br /></div><div>Which is why I’m starting a new blog. <b><a href="https://byrichwatson.blogspot.com/">By Rich Watson</a></b> will be where I take everything I’ve learned about blogging to the next level. It won’t look like WSW, but I like to think the feel will remain. I hope you’ll join me.</div><div><br /></div><div>The movie industry has changed dramatically as a result of The Virus. Streaming services have multiplied and frankly, there are way too many of them out there to keep up with. I’m missing out on new movies I could’ve and would’ve seen had the theaters not closed. </div><div><br /></div><div>The theaters here in New York are back now, which is good, but even so, a part of me feels like I may have lost my mojo for film blogging. Too much has changed too quickly, but even if that weren’t true, I don’t want to maintain two blogs, nor do I want to stick to the oldies format for this one.</div><div><br /></div><div>So I’m afraid this is a wrap.</div><div><br /></div><div>To everyone I thanked at <a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2020/08/wsw-at-ten.html">my tenth anniversary party</a>, consider yourself thanked again, in addition to a few more shout-outs: Don & Katha Cato at the Queens World Film Festival, the LAMB movie blogger collective, my guest bloggers Andrea McEnaney and Maria Ramos, and most of all—you. </div><div><br /></div><div>Because you helped make WSW possible.</div><div><br /></div><div>And that means a lot.</div><div><br /></div><div>Thanks for reading.</div><div><br /></div><div>Rich Watson</div><div>Queens, New York</div><div>2021</div></div>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11376065182154885503noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189120682398421108.post-35035610215167334632021-03-08T07:00:00.088-05:002021-03-08T07:00:00.195-05:00Star Trek: City on the Edge of Forever<i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3aNEmkOGiVs/YAtxVKdQaQI/AAAAAAAAWdI/JUT6oXIryYAKtkTdUhu615zMen0-_AjdACLcBGAsYHQ/s700/C29E5046-A715-4B1F-9641-FC81B5D811FF.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="700" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3aNEmkOGiVs/YAtxVKdQaQI/AAAAAAAAWdI/JUT6oXIryYAKtkTdUhu615zMen0-_AjdACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/C29E5046-A715-4B1F-9641-FC81B5D811FF.png" width="320" /></a></div>The Joan Collins Blogathon is an event dedicated to the life and career of the film and television actress, hosted by <a href="https://weegiemidget.wordpress.com/2021/01/02/joan-collins-blogathon/">RealWeegieMidget Reviews</a>. For a list of participating bloggers, visit the link at the host site.</i><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0708455/">Star Trek: City on the Edge of Forever</a> </i></div><div>Netflix viewing </div><div><br /></div><div><b>1930</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Took the last bit of money I had to make it to New York and everything went to hell not long after. Stock market. The hell did I know about the stock market and whether or not it was gonna crash? If what the papers said was true, white folks’ greed got the best of them—and this time they done took the rest of the country down with them.</div><div><br /></div><div>I lost my room on 123rd and spent the past few weeks living rough. For damn sure Harlem didn’t have no work to be found, so I headed downtown. Man, so many whites on the streets, with no place to go, lost, tired... It wasn’t just niggas feeling the hurt from this... “depression.” It was everybody. The whole damn world done turned wrong-way up and changed how we live.</div><div><br /></div><div>And wasn’t no end in sight as far as I could see.</div><div><br /></div><div>By the time I reached 21st Street Old Man Winter came and I had to get my black ass inside some kinda shelter before I froze. Don’t know what I would’ve done if that English lady at the mission hadn’t taken me in.</div><div><br /></div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tnCFCwTa1s0/YBB2ZiY_F7I/AAAAAAAAWeA/Ok3lNY1TRH44lUGI3IwiBa6LT5v_d_VLwCLcBGAsYHQ/s707/0B5ED47B-E897-4335-978A-765082D2A4A6.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="530" data-original-width="707" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tnCFCwTa1s0/YBB2ZiY_F7I/AAAAAAAAWeA/Ok3lNY1TRH44lUGI3IwiBa6LT5v_d_VLwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h300/0B5ED47B-E897-4335-978A-765082D2A4A6.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">***</div></div><div><br /></div><div>My first job in Manhattan was washing dishes at a diner on the Upper West Side. The owner’s wife worked the register and I got paid under the table. She’d sweet talk me and act like she was my friend, but then she’d do things like short-change me on my pay and claim I was fifteen minutes late to work when she knew damn well it was only five—and she let other people slide who would come in a whole hour late.</div><div><br /></div><div>Even that was better than back home, where they said this one nigga sassed some white lady when he swore up and down she spoke to him first. All the pieces of him weren’t found afterward.</div><div><br /></div><div>White men were bad enough, but you took your life in your hands even standing near a white woman.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then I met Edith Keeler.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h7vL_5yqjU4/YBB2hwSuGWI/AAAAAAAAWeE/7x5DpYEY8pUQbyCYVPchEKH1z-iaaJwJQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/4F037FA8-B0D7-4297-AD74-5358013A7B70.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1377" data-original-width="2048" height="269" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h7vL_5yqjU4/YBB2hwSuGWI/AAAAAAAAWeE/7x5DpYEY8pUQbyCYVPchEKH1z-iaaJwJQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h269/4F037FA8-B0D7-4297-AD74-5358013A7B70.webp" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>She ran the mission. Over dinner, while I combed the want ads, she’d stand in the front of the dining room and talk all this mess about how the future would be better one day, only it wasn’t some pie-in-the-sky rap like the preacher man said. She’d say people would learn to get along better with each other on they own, that they’d quit hating and fighting and lynching and do things like send rocket ships to the moon and even other planets. </div><div><br /></div><div>Was she touched in the head or something? Woman would have to be to think white folks would ever change. Maybe that was why she was here, unmarried, not living in some fancy house somewhere. Her people knew she wasn’t right, so they stuck her here, away from everybody else. For a moment I almost felt sorry for her.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then I remembered the owner’s wife at the diner and the white lady back home and stayed the hell out of her way. I was grateful she gave me shelter and a hot meal, but that didn’t mean I had to get mixed up in her business.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v5n-vy8bxFU/YBB2zzKrjrI/AAAAAAAAWeM/kRmEeqOvRfQ9Tsy5DZifVNDyUawF2LfKwCLcBGAsYHQ/s539/454211B4-FE0E-4618-9C33-BFDD95A8F0BA.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="404" data-original-width="539" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v5n-vy8bxFU/YBB2zzKrjrI/AAAAAAAAWeM/kRmEeqOvRfQ9Tsy5DZifVNDyUawF2LfKwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h300/454211B4-FE0E-4618-9C33-BFDD95A8F0BA.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Every evening at the mission round dinnertime, she’d talk that jive to the out-of-work men eating. Some of the people there liked listening to her ‘cause she was good-looking (for a white lady); others didn’t care so long as they got a bowl of soup in them, but not me. I had to ask myself: was Miss Keeler for real? She couldn’t be, but the way she spoke—so confidently, so reassuringly—made you want to believe the things she said about a better future were true. Some took her seriously.</div><div><br /></div><div>But I had been fooled by whites before.</div><div><br /></div><div>Days passed without no work. Every night I returned to the mission and lined up with the others for soup, looking for a reason to keep going through this Depression, which done took the livelihoods of more and more people. Hoover was against congressional relief to out-of-work folks—and why not? Man thought this would be all over in six months. </div><div><br /></div><div>He wasn’t out here. He didn’t see.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ezjJuqrJ6ss/YBMMdP4zfBI/AAAAAAAAWes/wfAGZAqCy5sfXgYR1l32xtBiR-oyhZpUwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1200/77867FF8-DCE0-43BF-A077-AE5C9FABCECB.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="629" data-original-width="1200" height="210" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ezjJuqrJ6ss/YBMMdP4zfBI/AAAAAAAAWes/wfAGZAqCy5sfXgYR1l32xtBiR-oyhZpUwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h210/77867FF8-DCE0-43BF-A077-AE5C9FABCECB.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Miss Keeler still did her song-and-dance, but then she found a fella, some guy named Jim. He and his friend arrived at the mission a couple of days ago. They weren’t as beaten down as the others who came this way, but they were new.</div><div><br /></div><div>Early one evening I trudged down Tenth Avenue after another long-ass day, paper under my arm. I turned left on 21st Street and saw Miss Keeler outside the mission for the first time. She was with Mister Jim.</div><div><br /></div><div>She recognized me. That was one hell of a surprise; I sure nuff didn’t stick out—or did I? </div><div><br /></div><div>She asked how my job search went. Why? What business was it of hers? Did she think I was up to something funny?</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aiO2SHDqWao/YBMMpw75q6I/AAAAAAAAWew/y2eY3JF-w8IM8Jl6tTX-pZhsLtLjN1OsQCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/476491FA-DD07-4DDD-9080-2C8180068F56.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aiO2SHDqWao/YBMMpw75q6I/AAAAAAAAWew/y2eY3JF-w8IM8Jl6tTX-pZhsLtLjN1OsQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h300/476491FA-DD07-4DDD-9080-2C8180068F56.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>I avoided her eyes and mumbled something about going from shop to shop in Hell’s Kitchen this afternoon. A beat cop strode across the other side of the street, eying me talking to Miss Keeler and Mister Jim, blocking the sidewalk, breathing the same air... He twirled his nightstick and walked on by and I exhaled.</div><div><br /></div><div>“These conditions won’t last. People are working to correct them.” Miss Keeler smiled. “You’ve got to have faith that they’ll succeed.”</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Yeah, and I’ll bet you got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell me too</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Yes, ma’am, I’m sure they will.” </div><div><br /></div><div>Her smile faded.</div><div><br /></div><div>A man squeezed past us from the avenue, headed east.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Have you eaten yet?” said Mister Jim. “You look like you haven’t had much today.”</div><div><br /></div><div>That was the truth.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Was on my way back to the mission for a bite now, sir.”</div><div><br /></div><div>They looked at each other.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wNzApXcVp14/YBMM6svEcWI/AAAAAAAAWe4/KLWsIeRTVTckqaNGdGSfXKIJXS4JeGYowCLcBGAsYHQ/s740/F40E2A99-4941-4635-957C-A9282057A384.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="555" data-original-width="740" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wNzApXcVp14/YBMM6svEcWI/AAAAAAAAWe4/KLWsIeRTVTckqaNGdGSfXKIJXS4JeGYowCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h300/F40E2A99-4941-4635-957C-A9282057A384.webp" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>“Would you care to eat with us tonight?” said Miss Keeler. “You could have something other than soup for a change.”</div><div><br /></div><div>I gawked at them. They wanted to be seen eating with a nigga. Right. They’d do me a favor and feel ten feet tall and then they’d tell people how they took a nigga to dinner out of the kindness of they hearts, and wouldn’t that make them strut?</div><div><br /></div><div>Their eyes, though, suggested something else. It wasn’t nothing I ever saw in white folks’ eyes before, so I almost didn’t recognize it, but damn if it didn’t look like... compassion. Empathy.</div><div><br /></div><div>I wanted to say yes. Man, I was tired of having to watch what I say around whites, to control how I behave and even think, lest my anger and frustration at them make me do something I’d regret for the rest of my short life. </div><div><br /></div><div>These two, though... they made me feel I could be myself around them.</div><div><br /></div><div>Instead I took a step backwards.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Uh, that’s okay, ma’am, I’ll be alright eating at the mission.” <i>Get your ass outta here, boy, too many people around watching...</i> “Good night, ma’am. Good night, sir.” I back-walked a few more paces, turned and did my best not to break into a run. Once inside the mission, my heartbeat slowed and I could relax again.</div><div><br /></div><div>My insides twisted into knots instead. Why couldn’t Miss Keeler be like other white folks and pay me no mind?</div><div><br /></div><div>Why did she have to be so decent?</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-60_pbfM0MFg/YBMNIFPBz2I/AAAAAAAAWe8/Uv83gmyTVJIT83MVvwFSObC9eMlbj-6TwCLcBGAsYHQ/s707/9609C27C-4E6C-41B9-99F8-23E2EF293BC3.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="530" data-original-width="707" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-60_pbfM0MFg/YBMNIFPBz2I/AAAAAAAAWe8/Uv83gmyTVJIT83MVvwFSObC9eMlbj-6TwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h300/9609C27C-4E6C-41B9-99F8-23E2EF293BC3.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">***</div><div><br /></div><div>I wasn’t around when she got hit by that truck and killed. From what witnesses at the mission said, Mister Jim and his friend saw it happen right in front of them. One guy swore he saw Mister Jim keep some other guy from pushing her out the way of the truck. That didn’t make no sense... but who the hell understood how white folks acted?</div><div><br /></div><div>I wish I could see her one more time. I wish I could’ve gone to dinner with her and Mister Jim to see if we had anything at all in common. I wish this goddamn Depression would end so the world could go back to normal.</div><div><br /></div><div>What good was a better future without friends to share it with?</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nZ391dDEtXc/YBMOIYWqtLI/AAAAAAAAWfI/lwQRV989GwgL_pA-Swtq_BEGjTf_PyT2gCLcBGAsYHQ/s540/8F9ED063-1138-4B6E-8304-279422F3D00F.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="405" data-original-width="540" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nZ391dDEtXc/YBMOIYWqtLI/AAAAAAAAWfI/lwQRV989GwgL_pA-Swtq_BEGjTf_PyT2gCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h300/8F9ED063-1138-4B6E-8304-279422F3D00F.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><b>1932</b></div><div><br /></div><div>I left the mission behind and found a job in construction. Even got a room in Greenwich Village. There were times, though, when I thought I wouldn’t last one more day.</div><div><br /></div><div>Hoover won’t get reelected. He mishandled this Depression and folks are getting wise to the fact. Governor Roosevelt talks like he’ll go much further than Hoover ever did to turn the country around. I almost feel I can trust him.</div><div><br /></div><div>I think Miss Keeler would’ve felt the same. </div><div><br /></div><div>Every now and then I think of her. I could never be as hopeful as she was over the future. Too much damn prejudice and hate gets directed at me every day to ever think the world will put all that mess aside... but thanks to her and Mister Jim, whites look less like one uncaring mob and more like individuals, some of whom are better than others—like FDR. And if some can be that way, maybe more can. I think that’s the most I can hope for in this life.</div><div><br /></div><div>You can leave talk about rockets in outer space to the movies.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-un-7QrDt3DA/YBMOb1gr5vI/AAAAAAAAWfQ/N_2lPHiiUmU_5mSPKvRWf2eznXkbjBVpgCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/A0844E32-D5DB-4680-9999-F2E5337E8399.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="234" data-original-width="400" height="234" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-un-7QrDt3DA/YBMOb1gr5vI/AAAAAAAAWfQ/N_2lPHiiUmU_5mSPKvRWf2eznXkbjBVpgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h234/A0844E32-D5DB-4680-9999-F2E5337E8399.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>———————</div><div>Also:</div><div><a href="https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/The_City_on_the_Edge_of_Forever_(episode)">The “City” entry at Memory Alpha</a></div><div><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-City-Edge-Forever/dp/1631402064">The graphic novel adaptation</a> </div><div><a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/stalled-trek-the-city-on-the-edge-of-foreclosure">The puppet parody</a></div><div><a href="https://youtu.be/m7F-Mc_wKgw">Joan Collins at 2015 Trek convention</a></div><div><a href="https://youtu.be/E1P7Q0TU4NE">Shatner and Collins on “City”</a></div><div><a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/6/29/17518928/harlan-ellison-star-trek-grudge-science-fiction-rip">Why Harlan Ellison hated “City”</a></div><div><a href="https://medium.com/the-establishment/the-surprising-problem-with-star-treks-most-celebrated-episode-28a066bee829">This guy didn’t like it either</a></div><div><a href="https://youtu.be/wPL86FiBZ7E">Guardian of Forever revisited on <i>Discovery</i></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Other shows with Joan Collins:</div><div><i><a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2013/07/stanwyck-on-tv-dynastythe-colbys.html">Dynasty</a></i></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XV8Myxc29VQ/YBDJ6Forj3I/AAAAAAAAWeU/3x04tPKzlu8qydTdB_vWFs8BkluZXYY5wCLcBGAsYHQ/s500/661F1B6B-3B2E-4338-B2E0-25000049DE87.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="357" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XV8Myxc29VQ/YBDJ6Forj3I/AAAAAAAAWeU/3x04tPKzlu8qydTdB_vWFs8BkluZXYY5wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/661F1B6B-3B2E-4338-B2E0-25000049DE87.jpeg" /></a></div>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11376065182154885503noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189120682398421108.post-38307795782477836672021-03-01T07:00:00.320-05:002021-03-01T07:00:00.203-05:00Netflix new release roundup for February ‘21<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5jwGJt-jI4c/YBGhoOwZ9jI/AAAAAAAAWec/seEv8z_UcSE3XG-SvdhfoCHdTc08CXX7QCLcBGAsYHQ/s838/FF736889-025E-414D-B8F8-98227ADC7A45.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="409" data-original-width="838" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5jwGJt-jI4c/YBGhoOwZ9jI/AAAAAAAAWec/seEv8z_UcSE3XG-SvdhfoCHdTc08CXX7QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/FF736889-025E-414D-B8F8-98227ADC7A45.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I’ll have a major announcement on March 9 that you’re gonna want to be here for. I probably should spill the beans now, but I’ll wait. In the meantime, not a lot of new stuff on Netflix that I watched...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9XjXviMUaUk/YDludkvG1fI/AAAAAAAAWio/9BHNYpnLKKMleQewEex__QAkyJvO5xtGACLcBGAsYHQ/s290/04ACC5A6-282A-4A2D-B9FA-8F5D485323F7.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="174" data-original-width="290" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9XjXviMUaUk/YDludkvG1fI/AAAAAAAAWio/9BHNYpnLKKMleQewEex__QAkyJvO5xtGACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/04ACC5A6-282A-4A2D-B9FA-8F5D485323F7.png" /></a></div>—<b><i>Malcolm & Marie</i></b>. Up-and-coming filmmaker and his girlfriend come home from the premiere of his film only to hash out lingering issues pertaining to his worth as a director and her value to him as a muse. You probably know by now that writer-director Sam Levinson <a href="https://www.distractify.com/p/when-was-malcolm-and-marie-filmed">made this during the quarantine period last year</a>, which is a story unto itself, and lately it became <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2021-02-10/malcolm-and-marie-sam-levinson-responds-to-critics">a lightning rod for other issues of the moment</a>, but honestly, I didn’t think of or care about any of that when I saw it. It’s been called a Millennial <a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2020/12/whos-afraid-of-virginia-woolf.html"><i>Virginia Woolf</i></a>: bickering couple, one long night, black and white. Some of it was excruciating to sit through, I admit: the language, the wandering narrative, but the acting from John David Washington and Zendaya was fine, especially given the difficult circumstances they must have gone through to make this film. Good not great.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>BONUS!</b> I had the opportunity to watch <i>One Night in Miami</i> on Amazon Prime last month. The feature film directing debut of Oscar-winning actress Regina King, it’s a fictionalized account of the night in 1964 when four legendary black men—Cassius Clay (before he became Muhammad Ali), Malcolm X, Sam Cooke and Jim Brown—hung out together, after Clay defeated Sonny Liston to become the heavyweight boxing champion. It’s based on a play. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I remember King from her days as a child actress on television and it’s wonderful to see how much she’s progressed as a filmmaker. This film is basically just four guys in a room but, as you can imagine, they have some important things to say to each other, things that speak as loudly to us today as they did then. The only name among the stars I’m familiar with is Leslie Odom Jr. (the guy from <i>Hamilton</i>) as Cooke, but all the stars—Eli Goree (Clay), Kingsley Ben-Adir (Malcolm) and Aldis Hodge (Brown) are exquisite. A solid film debut from director King.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">———————</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The reopening here in NYC: on the local level, Cinemart in Forest Hills posted on their Facebook page that they thought they wouldn’t be ready to go until April 1. The Kew Gardens Cinema also said they’d need a little time to get ready.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Also, Jersey City mayor Stephen Fulop announced last month that <a href="https://jcitytimes.com/loews-to-get-renovation-and-national-acts/?fbclid=IwAR2ESJxCt12uq8w8-9hUM6_pWeTFgptGK6_wafudSbz_smQLv8cuYxYptC8">more money is going into the Loews Jersey theater’s upgrade</a> and a commercial operator for the redevelopment plan was conditionally named. They’ll have to close for eighteen months beginning next year, but when they reopen, look out. Booking national acts to play there is on the long-term agenda, but Friends of the Loews will still be the non-profit partner and movies will still have a place there.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Unrelated but worth checking out: <a href="https://www.timeout.com/film/the-50-most-beautiful-cinemas-in-the-world?fbclid=IwAR1g9MfEjM4Qk20mb-9RnXCVscFBbtwKAvWVxF5e-25tsZo8_X-kQY_vKA8">the 50 most beautiful cinemas in the world</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">More on the other side.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9DOej0JHDBg/YB4hn2aK26I/AAAAAAAAWgo/3wDNi9VQZmkQ4ZuO9Unje8nHKEFMjWlgwCLcBGAsYHQ/s272/82516745-3126-4E86-A03A-E8E627C57983.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="272" data-original-width="185" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9DOej0JHDBg/YB4hn2aK26I/AAAAAAAAWgo/3wDNi9VQZmkQ4ZuO9Unje8nHKEFMjWlgwCLcBGAsYHQ/w136-h200/82516745-3126-4E86-A03A-E8E627C57983.jpeg" width="136" /></a></div>I never saw <i>The Sound of Music</i> and honestly, I don’t have much interest in it, so I associate Christopher Plummer with other roles. I know enough about the movie, though, to grok his place in the film. I doubt he did much in the way of singing. But that’s okay. Every time I saw him in something, he was never less than entertaining: usually as a heavy, but once in awhile he played good guys, like in his recent Oscar-winning role in <i><a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2011/05/beginners-advance-screening.html">Beginners</a></i>. He was a Klingon in <i>Star Trek VI</i>, the film that made me a Trekkie, and he was one of the better Trek movie villains.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Absolutely no complaints about him at all. Strong actor; charismatic, often humorous, the kind of actor you couldn’t help but pay attention to when he was on the screen. Sister Celluloid has a transcript from <a href="https://sistercelluloid.com/2021/02/05/the-stands-were-alive-as-julie-andrews-and-christopher-plummer-relived-the-sound-of-music/">an interview with Plummer and Julie Andrews</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">———————</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The giant-sized annual edition of <i><a href="http://www.allthatnoir.com/">The Dark Pages</a></i> is now available, which includes my piece on the Lucille Ball film <i>Lured</i>. The theme is the year 1947, and there are plenty of articles in this year’s edition to satisfy your craving for noir. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">———————</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Crystal from <a href="https://crystalkalyana.wordpress.com/">Good Old Days</a> had posted a brief hello on Facebook on February 13 but then she took a turn for the worse. She had to be put in a medically-induced coma on the 19th. She came out of it on the 26th and was doing well enough to want to resume work on her Katharine Hepburn biography. It seems as if the worst may be behind her. She’s lined up for something called nerve decompression surgery this week.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Next post is coming on the 8th.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><p></p>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11376065182154885503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189120682398421108.post-12856288279236907982021-02-26T07:00:00.509-05:002021-02-26T07:00:00.375-05:00Fantastic Four (1994)<p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BJzSp1e6HOU/YArqP_jSSnI/AAAAAAAAWcg/QCKED3YymyELBpupNBuz18u9fhFdaLaOACLcBGAsYHQ/s1200/9B4E2201-A1B4-422D-A20D-B417A32E44E0.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="670" data-original-width="1200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BJzSp1e6HOU/YArqP_jSSnI/AAAAAAAAWcg/QCKED3YymyELBpupNBuz18u9fhFdaLaOACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/9B4E2201-A1B4-422D-A20D-B417A32E44E0.png" width="320" /></a></i></div><i>The 2021 So Bad It’s Good Blogathon is an event devoted to films commonly perceived as bad, yet enjoyable, hosted by <a href="https://takinguproom.wordpress.com/2020/11/18/announcing-the-third-so-bad-its-good-blogathon/">Taking Up Room</a>. For a complete list of participating bloggers, visit the link at the host site.</i><p></p><p><i><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109770/">Fantastic Four</a></i> (1994)</p><p>YouTube viewing</p><p>I don’t recall where I first learned there would be a movie based on <i>Fantastic Four</i>, my favorite childhood comic book—in one of <a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2018/11/excelsior.html">Stan Lee</a>’s editorial “Bullpen Bulletins,” perhaps. I specifically remember seeing a flyer at my local comic shop announcing the guy who played Reed Richards would appear for a signing. </p><p>As time passed, and it became clearer the movie would not come soon to a theater near me, I was disappointed. This was before the renaissance of comic book movies that began with <i>Blade</i> and <i><a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2011/04/x-men.html">X-Men</a></i> and <i><a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2011/04/spider-man.html">Spider-Man</a></i> and continued with <i>Iron Man</i> and the cinematic universes of Marvel and DC. Films like <i>Batman and Robin</i> and <i>Superman IV</i> taught me to lower my expectations.</p><p>Then the FF film went straight to video, and bootleg copies popped up at conventions. At one, a dealer played it on a small TV screen and I finally caught a snippet.</p><p>I believe it was the scene with the Human Torch flying. (I say “the scene” because it’s the only one in the movie!) I recognized it as the Torch; that was encouraging, no? Maybe it would’ve looked better on a big screen. Maybe it needed to be seen from the beginning for me to truly appreciate. It wasn’t fair to judge based on an out-of-context clip from a bootlegged copy shown at a noisy and crowded comic convention.</p><p>Besides, I had seen a few photos of the cast: they got the costumes right (except the “4” logo was so low it was practically on their stomachs), the Thing was massive and rocky like he was supposed to be (even if he kinda looked made out of papier-mâché), and they really overdid it with the grey in Reed’s hair, but the most important things were the acting and the story. As long as I could believe in the whole thing, the rest wouldn’t matter. One day I would see it and judge for myself.</p><p>It couldn’t be that bad, right?</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p><a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2015/08/wsw-flixchatter-comics-vs-movies.html"></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rFW5yBwxD90/YAso791GpbI/AAAAAAAAWc4/JU07MZIbx2MDkrR_qQrTztN94imlwSHagCLcBGAsYHQ/s1300/D29461DE-E10E-4912-BE0F-9E3A5E25BD4B.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="732" data-original-width="1300" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rFW5yBwxD90/YAso791GpbI/AAAAAAAAWc4/JU07MZIbx2MDkrR_qQrTztN94imlwSHagCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h225/D29461DE-E10E-4912-BE0F-9E3A5E25BD4B.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2015/08/wsw-flixchatter-comics-vs-movies.html">I have pondered</a> why Hollywood can’t get the FF right on the big (or even the small) screen when they’ve succeeded with weirder concepts—and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/aug/29/fantastic-four-most-mismanaged-superhero-franchise-film-comic-book-marvel">I’m not the only one</a>. The name has become so tarnished in Hollywood it would take a superhuman effort indeed to rehab it in the eyes of the public, though I’m sure Marvel Studios will try its best.<p></p><p>If I was Kevin Feige, I’d make a Doctor Doom movie first. Arguably the greatest supervillain in comics history, Doom has an origin story that’s practically Shakespearean in its elements of nobility, hubris and tragedy, but just as the FF have never been perfectly captured in four (count ‘em!) movies, neither has their toughest, most popular adversary. If villains like <a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2019/10/joker.html">Joker</a>, Venom and Morbius can have movies, so can Doom.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rQiUUTD8i2s/YA8C9KE_pvI/AAAAAAAAWdY/EVeVEWYCn7oDO68HuNSLrfepUOe6xHqTQCLcBGAsYHQ/s768/9BC1CCAA-545F-4768-9AA8-F42F23A5485E.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="768" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rQiUUTD8i2s/YA8C9KE_pvI/AAAAAAAAWdY/EVeVEWYCn7oDO68HuNSLrfepUOe6xHqTQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h300/9BC1CCAA-545F-4768-9AA8-F42F23A5485E.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p>In fact, I’d build a trilogy around him: first film, the origin, ending with him putting on the mask and armor for the first time; second film, he takes over his homeland of Latveria; third film, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Strange-Doom-Triumph-Torment/dp/0871356600">an adaptation of this</a>. </p><p>Throughout it all, I would weave the creation of the FF into the background, with Reed as a minor, but important, recurring character, like how Nick Fury started out in the <i>Avengers</i> solo films. I’d show only enough to build an interest in them, so that when the time was right, I’d relaunch the FF, but <i>only</i> after an interest had been built and sustained—and I wouldn’t have to bother with retelling the origin, either. But perhaps Feige will spearhead something just as good.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--5ThygH8B8Q/YA8DmfH1g4I/AAAAAAAAWdg/AVk44ulJW7YWfltFaKF5vjWaVYm9rVbBQCLcBGAsYHQ/s300/5C7DAAFC-09B4-4C11-87DB-04CC23229414.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--5ThygH8B8Q/YA8DmfH1g4I/AAAAAAAAWdg/AVk44ulJW7YWfltFaKF5vjWaVYm9rVbBQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h300/5C7DAAFC-09B4-4C11-87DB-04CC23229414.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p>In the meantime, let’s set the WABAC Machine to the 1990s, when Fandom Assembled could only dream of a cinematic universe, and live-action versions of characters like Spidey and the Hulk could only be found on <a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2020/08/spider-man-1977.html">the small screen</a>.</p><p><a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/fantastic-four-roger-corman-movie-937101">A recent documentary</a> covered the making of the first FF film: German production company Constantin Films had held an option to make an FF movie, and in 1992 they brought in the legendary B-movie king Roger Corman to produce, since they knew he could do it fast and cheap. Music video director Oley Sassone helmed a screenplay by Craig J. Nevius & Kevin Rock, at a budget of a million dollars. </p><p>Imagine making a Marvel movie for only a million dollars today. That wouldn’t even cover Robert Downey Jr’s entourage. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9YkckjxfIdA/YA8EtcvkvuI/AAAAAAAAWdo/TRrljBZLUAMELFvZipufXff-I0BA2WaQACLcBGAsYHQ/s300/A50BF83C-0DF1-4BCD-8E51-658423CDD547.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="247" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9YkckjxfIdA/YA8EtcvkvuI/AAAAAAAAWdo/TRrljBZLUAMELFvZipufXff-I0BA2WaQACLcBGAsYHQ/w329-h400/A50BF83C-0DF1-4BCD-8E51-658423CDD547.jpeg" width="329" /></a></div><p>It’s not a good movie overall: plot holes, shoddy FX, way too much of Doom gesticulating to compensate for his face mask, an annoying secondary villain.</p><p>That said, a fan of the source material, i.e., the original comic book, would recognize this, for the most part, as the Fantastic Four. There are details I could dwell on, but I did get a sense the filmmakers actually read the comic, which is more than I could say for the other three movies.</p><p>Anybody else, however, would likely chuck this after the first half hour and put on <i>The Incredibles</i> instead, and I wouldn’t blame them. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V8C37LJGFCk/YA8HCic_FZI/AAAAAAAAWdw/ZjPg0nQ8tnU_BNDdEPBDm7gVaeYUXTF-gCLcBGAsYHQ/s850/4FFA509F-2641-4476-A4B2-04C019ED625D.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="850" height="220" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V8C37LJGFCk/YA8HCic_FZI/AAAAAAAAWdw/ZjPg0nQ8tnU_BNDdEPBDm7gVaeYUXTF-gCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h220/4FFA509F-2641-4476-A4B2-04C019ED625D.webp" width="400" /></a></div><p>——————</p><p>Previously:</p><p><i><a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2020/02/left-behind-2014.html">Left Behind</a></i></p>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11376065182154885503noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189120682398421108.post-67125937954421782492021-02-22T16:44:00.004-05:002021-02-22T17:14:06.196-05:00New York movie theaters set to reopen in March!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tLQW_Cjx_a4/YDQgf4WVX2I/AAAAAAAAWiQ/Rp8RhD4BO-kL-akxip5zSerkcrUOjeVnQCLcBGAsYHQ/s618/ED07A896-DA4E-4514-819C-945DC5FDFCCF.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="618" height="265" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tLQW_Cjx_a4/YDQgf4WVX2I/AAAAAAAAWiQ/Rp8RhD4BO-kL-akxip5zSerkcrUOjeVnQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h265/ED07A896-DA4E-4514-819C-945DC5FDFCCF.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="background-color: white;">“</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;">With New York City reopening, the studios will hopefully have more confidence to keep their release dates as planned, which is a huge step in the process of recovery for the entire exhibition industry...”</span></blockquote><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;"></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white;"><a href="https://deadline.com/2021/02/new-york-city-movie-theaters-buzz-brewing-that-governor-andrew-cuomo-might-give-ok-to-open-five-boroughs-1234698454/?fbclid=IwAR2r8Quxfg7nmGDm76t9in3lTQlIfNum66x6qN05AKexaz6wFdLvp3XQI3c">FINALLY</a>.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white;">I’m of two minds about this. </span></span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Georgia;">I knew this day would come sooner or later, and of course I’m thrilled, but at the same time I’m trepidatious. How can I not be? Spending two hours inside an enclosed room, immobile, without outside exposure, with a large amount of strangers who may or may not keep their masks on, is less enticing now than it was last summer when I was so sure I’d go back right away and follow all the social distancing protocols and blah blah blah. </span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Georgia;">Spending Thanksgiving and Christmas with small groups of friends prepared me for this moment, I suppose (Virginia and I also went to a museum last fall), but I honestly didn’t think it would come quite so soon. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white;">I’ll return, but I won’t run right out on the first weekend. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white;">The bigger takeaway from this, of course, is what this means to the movie industry in general. Local theaters—the chains, indies and revival houses—will stay in business after all. How they’ll compete with the streaming services is another question, but at least they’ll have gotten past the worst of it.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white;">Thoughts?</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11376065182154885503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189120682398421108.post-37252345709707115402021-02-01T07:00:00.410-05:002021-02-01T07:00:00.175-05:00Netflix new release roundup for January ‘21<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pizmYfMaQ9Q/YAHhKmL1n7I/AAAAAAAAWbs/BXYX5x5T0gc2VoJSvaOQ0rfbvClQGR9MQCLcBGAsYHQ/s838/3FDBF942-9C40-41A3-A15E-11619386E9E4.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="409" data-original-width="838" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pizmYfMaQ9Q/YAHhKmL1n7I/AAAAAAAAWbs/BXYX5x5T0gc2VoJSvaOQ0rfbvClQGR9MQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/3FDBF942-9C40-41A3-A15E-11619386E9E4.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p>...and that was just January.</p><p>What a month, huh? Our long national nightmare is finally over, though the mess DT left behind will take years, if not decades, to clean up, and a whole lot of people out there will try to impede the process... but now that adults are in charge of America again, we stand a good chance at making some progress. To ease us back to movie-related discussion, if you haven’t seen <a href="https://twitter.com/projectlincoln/status/1348301868305362949?s=27">this video from Arnold Schwarzenegger</a>—the former California governor, remember?—take a look at it.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x9nqtnPbbto/YAHha3gal_I/AAAAAAAAWb0/gRrj72AgtMklyV0VmfPUqA2ekueXRXnkQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1353/5CF23F41-5722-4BA9-A1E6-62CD7FE601B8.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="774" data-original-width="1353" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x9nqtnPbbto/YAHha3gal_I/AAAAAAAAWb0/gRrj72AgtMklyV0VmfPUqA2ekueXRXnkQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/5CF23F41-5722-4BA9-A1E6-62CD7FE601B8.png" width="320" /></a></div>—<b><i>The Midnight Sky</i></b>. George Clooney and a little kid are stuck on an Arctic base but they’ve gotta send a message to a spaceship returning from a scouting trip to another planet, telling them not to come home because the earth is effed up. This was done well and all, but man, I’m tired of all these depressing space exploration movies: <i>Interstellar, Gravity, First Man, Ad Astra</i>. I realize SF can’t all be action-adventure shoot-em-ups, but space travel used to represent hope. What happened? Clooney also directs and produces; as an actor, he’s in full-on Grizzly Adams mode, and everyone’s grim and silent and sad. Just the kinda thing we all need right now, isn’t it?<div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XsUCGMMJEqY/YAxcC4YoC6I/AAAAAAAAWdQ/pJu0ZBExgywXuVcm2NAgCKZj0D4HrCuMACLcBGAsYHQ/s276/64E6AD07-FBA7-4DB3-B59F-94AA0416ECED.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="276" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XsUCGMMJEqY/YAxcC4YoC6I/AAAAAAAAWdQ/pJu0ZBExgywXuVcm2NAgCKZj0D4HrCuMACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/64E6AD07-FBA7-4DB3-B59F-94AA0416ECED.jpeg" /></a></div>—<b><i>Pretend It’s a City</i></b>. Vija told me about this one (she read about it; she didn’t see it): a documentary mini-series, in half-hour installments, on writer Fran Leibowitz, her love-hate relationship with New York, and thoughts on life in general, directed by Martin Scorsese. This is actually their second collaboration; the first movie he made about her was in 2010. I had no prior experience with her; never read her work, never seen her speak, barely even knew who she was, but I can see why Marty put her on film. One part Woody Allen, one part Dorothy Parker, her observations on New York life are quite funny and very often on the nose, to those of us who have lived here long enough. This is someone I could easily see chatting with on a subway car, complaining over a variety of things that are wrong about the city, but mostly I’d be listening. I think there’s a lot to appreciate about this even if you’re not a New Yorker.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vq8VrQ3XY4o/YBQ0LCcXDLI/AAAAAAAAWfk/ezfh13j28A00MSI24fp20HvLrZGmiGBuQCLcBGAsYHQ/s948/C07E59B6-21EC-42C5-8F91-59B591541B5E.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="435" data-original-width="948" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vq8VrQ3XY4o/YBQ0LCcXDLI/AAAAAAAAWfk/ezfh13j28A00MSI24fp20HvLrZGmiGBuQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/C07E59B6-21EC-42C5-8F91-59B591541B5E.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>—<b><i>Outside the Wire</i></b>. US-military-made cyborg teams up with disgraced drone pilot to hunt down European terrorist looking to acquire nukes—but said cyborg has agenda of his own. Anthony Mackie gets to channel his inner Van Damme in what some critics have called an SF <i>Training Day</i>. It was okay, but not emotionally involving. Doesn’t have the heart of <i>Terminator 2</i> or the brain of <i>Ex Machina</i>. It’s basically an excuse for Mackie to kick ass—which, granted, he does really well! Newcomer Damson Idris is appealing as the human reluctantly paired with this cyborg, but otherwise, well, I probably would’ve passed on this if it were a theatrical release.<br /><p>More on the other side.</p><span></span><span><a name='more'></a></span><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YTi-CETD25E/YBIy1Mwc1uI/AAAAAAAAWek/R4mU9u5uq5sByUhrWyWBYOAKRQcuzOMwgCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/55FE04F5-67E4-482B-B7C0-9978E572FC1E.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="267" data-original-width="400" height="134" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YTi-CETD25E/YBIy1Mwc1uI/AAAAAAAAWek/R4mU9u5uq5sByUhrWyWBYOAKRQcuzOMwgCLcBGAsYHQ/w200-h134/55FE04F5-67E4-482B-B7C0-9978E572FC1E.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>We said goodbye to two fine character actresses last month.</div><div><br /></div><div>First: did you ever see Cloris Leachman in her youth? She was a stunning beauty. You wouldn’t know it from her movies, though; she tended to play very unglamorous roles, but damn, was she good in them, whether drama, like her Oscar-winning role in <i><a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2011/11/last-picture-show.html">The Last Picture Show</a></i>, or comedy, like <i>Young Frankenstein</i> or <i><a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2020/04/history-of-world-part-i.html">History of the World Part I</a></i>. On TV, of course, she was one of the breakout stars of <i>The Mary Tyler Moore Show</i> (a wee bit before my time). Fabulous actress in everything she did. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/27/entertainment/cloris-leachman-obit/index.html">Sad to know she’s gone</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5zyaUrmRnNc/YBOCk4vkoBI/AAAAAAAAWfc/qTj163gIXkMYb94r2jAIsl-7i4EOgNYGQCLcBGAsYHQ/s546/14D24897-F221-41B1-9CD4-B44C67D951A8.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="546" data-original-width="483" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5zyaUrmRnNc/YBOCk4vkoBI/AAAAAAAAWfc/qTj163gIXkMYb94r2jAIsl-7i4EOgNYGQCLcBGAsYHQ/w177-h200/14D24897-F221-41B1-9CD4-B44C67D951A8.jpeg" width="177" /></a></div>Second: I’m glad I reviewed <i><a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2020/08/the-autobiography-of-miss-jane-pittman.html">The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman</a></i> last year so I could see Cicely Tyson at her best. She lasted a very long time in Hollywood, working well into her nineties and receiving numerous accolades late in her career—not just “lifetime achievement” type awards, but awards and nominations for current work! That’s remarkable, but I think <i>Jane</i> might’ve been her most notable. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/28/entertainment/cicely-tyson-obit/index.html">Classy lady, and a pioneer to boot</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div>———————<br /><p>My film club has examined the strange and wonderful delights of pre-code cinema lately. In December we watched <i>Of Human Bondage</i> with Bette Davis, and last month Vija picked out two more: <i>Millie</i> with Helen Twelvetrees and <i>The Kennel Murder Case</i> with William Powell.</p><p>I found the former mostly shallow and empty-headed, at least until the murder plot twist, but at least it had Joan Blondell playing a girl in what sure looked like a lesbian relationship. The latter had Powell in a Nick Charles-like role before he actually became Nick Charles, only without Myrna Loy and much of the accompanying wit and chemistry. I wasn’t blown away with either one.</p><p>We mostly talked about what constituted “pre-code” content in both movies. They seemed pretty interested in them—I linked to <a href="https://pre-code.com/">Danny’s website</a>, of course, and that helped. I think we may watch some more in the future. </p><p>———————</p><p>Good news: Crystal from <a href="https://crystalkalyana.wordpress.com/">Good Old Days</a> has woken from her coma after two months and six days, according to her brother Jarrahn on Facebook. Apparently the first thing she heard was an Olivia de Havilland movie. As of January 28, Crystal remained in critical care but will get transferred to intensive care soon.</p><p>————————</p><p>I will definitely have a post for you on the 26th, though I don’t know if there’ll be anything else before then. Check my Twitter page at @ratzo318 for announcements.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/hs5j8uUR2nc">Blücher</a>!</p></div>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11376065182154885503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189120682398421108.post-60869169654593476222021-01-27T07:00:00.257-05:002021-01-27T07:00:00.855-05:00Winchester<i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span></span><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gpblBJ8FNxo/YAI1zhe3O2I/AAAAAAAAWb8/HQfRhm9u5mUeJnLRVmapEhvArbX8WRUGwCLcBGAsYHQ/s648/0EBA6AEC-7AB4-4857-B961-6E2271B9517F.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="339" data-original-width="648" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gpblBJ8FNxo/YAI1zhe3O2I/AAAAAAAAWb8/HQfRhm9u5mUeJnLRVmapEhvArbX8WRUGwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/0EBA6AEC-7AB4-4857-B961-6E2271B9517F.png" width="320" /></a></div>The Home Sweet Home Blogathon is an event devoted to themes of houses, homes and/or family, hosted by <a href="https://takinguproom.wordpress.com/2020/12/03/announcing-the-home-sweet-home-blogathon/">Taking Up Room</a> and <a href="https://weegiemidget.wordpress.com/2020/12/03/home-sweet-home-blogathon/">RealWeegieMidget Reviews</a>. For a complete list of participating bloggers, visit the link at the host sites.</i><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1072748/">Winchester</a></i></div><div>Netflix viewing </div><div><br /></div><div>In 1886, Sarah Winchester moved from her home in New Haven, CT into a two-story farmhouse in San Jose. The widow of William Wirt Winchester of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company—the manufacturer of firearms—she had inherited a fifty-percent ownership of the company and over $20.5 million, so she was wealthy, but she had also lost her infant daughter and only child to a children’s disease called marasmus.</div><div><br /></div><div>According to published accounts, a medium, who had allegedly been channeling Sarah’s husband at the time, told her to make the move west for a specific reason: to build a residence not just for herself, but for the ghosts of those who died from Winchester rifles. Thus began the creation of one of the strangest houses ever built.</div><div><br /></div><div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4YEoEMsWPFo/YAnPdQaR2JI/AAAAAAAAWcU/pqwHRwCsGqQx5SpGT6fa6D9IcdeRy54DQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1544/B9D4C5E5-674F-4851-B6C1-83C49E82A221.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1029" data-original-width="1544" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4YEoEMsWPFo/YAnPdQaR2JI/AAAAAAAAWcU/pqwHRwCsGqQx5SpGT6fa6D9IcdeRy54DQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h266/B9D4C5E5-674F-4851-B6C1-83C49E82A221.webp" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>Today the mansion is known as the <a href="https://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/">Winchester Mystery House</a>. It takes up 24,000 square feet of space (puny in comparison with the William Hearst Castle further south along the California coast), with 160 rooms, at a price of $5 million. <a href="https://m.facebook.com/winchestermysteryhouse/videos/2283957328574950/">Here’s a live walkthrough of the house from last April</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Was the house haunted? Rooms were added to it, day and night, until Sarah’s death in 1922 because, the story goes, she believed in the presence of ghosts, and the rooms held them at bay. <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/real-story-of-sarah-winchester-mystery-house-12552842.php">The truth is much more mundane</a>, but that hasn’t stopped speculation over the house’s supernatural connection, and a few years ago, Hollywood took a stab at telling the story.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Winchester</i> doesn’t tread new ground in horror cinema, but it’s classier than most, thanks largely to the presence of Helen Mirren as the titular widow. In an original screenplay written (with Tom Vaughan) and directed by the Spierig Brothers, Sarah’s competence is challenged by the WRAC, who send Jason Clarke, playing a doctor, in to determine whether she’s sane enough to still be co-owner.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8r-DvTxO3M0/YAnPpOKIQ6I/AAAAAAAAWcY/MSc2joN22yIWcSXld2F3LtNxYv6DUroKgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2000/D727FE11-C8CA-41BC-9440-74DF4B8CEC18.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1244" data-original-width="2000" height="249" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8r-DvTxO3M0/YAnPpOKIQ6I/AAAAAAAAWcY/MSc2joN22yIWcSXld2F3LtNxYv6DUroKgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h249/D727FE11-C8CA-41BC-9440-74DF4B8CEC18.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>The film relies too much on jump-scares and only scratches the surface of the wider issues of profiting from weapons manufacture. It also has elements of other horror flicks: <i>The Amityville Horror, Poltergeist, The Omen</i>, etc. </div><div><br /></div><div>I remember wanting to see this when it initially came out. The mediocre reviews kept me away, but it’s not terrible. Clarke, the guy from <i><a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2012/12/zero-dark-thirty.html">Zero Dark Thirty</a></i>, holds his own opposite Mirren nicely, and Sarah Snook is good as Mirren’s niece.</div><div><br /></div><div>If nothing else, <i>Winchester</i> got me interested in the real-life elements behind the story, which are fascinating in and of themselves.</div><div><br /></div><div>————————</div><div>Related:</div><div><a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2014/10/malabar-farm-ghosts-and-hollywood.html">the tale of Malabar Farm</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Other movies about houses:</div><div><i><a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2015/10/house-on-haunted-hill-1959.html">House on Haunted Hill</a></i></div><div><i><a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-old-dark-house.html">The Old Dark House</a></i></div><div><i><a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-house-that-would-not-die.html">The House That Would Not Die</a></i></div>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11376065182154885503noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189120682398421108.post-58780159772233774742021-01-20T12:00:00.003-05:002021-01-20T12:00:00.835-05:00Can’t you feel a brand new day?<p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TQkNGLn_UtA" width="320" youtube-src-id="TQkNGLn_UtA"></iframe></div><br /><p></p>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11376065182154885503noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189120682398421108.post-67381446081642922882021-01-18T07:00:00.193-05:002021-01-18T07:00:00.181-05:00Books: Days of Thrills and Adventure<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FmexJJmuIQE/X_SCZWrjg8I/AAAAAAAAWag/pY-_cy1oFEgtqeVdluPiKo2F_t55DP51ACLcBGAsYHQ/s431/B900314B-8ACD-42F7-816A-7F41ACC4B799.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="431" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FmexJJmuIQE/X_SCZWrjg8I/AAAAAAAAWag/pY-_cy1oFEgtqeVdluPiKo2F_t55DP51ACLcBGAsYHQ/w148-h200/B900314B-8ACD-42F7-816A-7F41ACC4B799.jpeg" width="148" /></a></div>A couple of years ago, I wrote about the old movie serial <i><a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2019/02/adventures-of-captain-marvel-chs-10-12.html">The Adventures of Captain Marvel</a></i>. It was the first serial I had ever watched, and despite its questionable plot structure and two-dimensional characters, it had action to spare and was entertaining, in its way.<div><br /></div><div>Serialized fiction has made a comeback in the 21st century, not just in movies, but in television and books. A single story, told in multiple installments—as opposed to multiple stories featuring the same characters, like Andy Hardy or Lassie—has become more enthralling than episodic stories to modern audiences. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Why? <a href="https://birthmoviesdeath.com/2014/11/21/its-a-serialized-world-get-used-to-it">Here’s one theory</a>, which boils the explanation down to the natural evolution of the medium. The storytelling style of the Marvel or Star Wars movies has its roots in the serials of the Golden Age, from the silents through the post-war era.</div><div><br /></div><div>In 1970, Alan G. Barbour wrote a coffee-table book about those serials called <i>Days of Thrills and Adventure</i>. This was another gift from my librarian pal Bibi, sent last Christmas. It’s an overview of the classic movie serials, great and small, packed with photos, written more as an appreciation than as a critical analysis.</div><div><br /></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ur9JwaUNGAk/YAHAzMH4M5I/AAAAAAAAWbk/2qdYXT6uhLomMgBY9TjVrtEjwAHIe9G6ACLcBGAsYHQ/s500/51D950FE-B4D2-45C4-9D40-43CF512277D1.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="404" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ur9JwaUNGAk/YAHAzMH4M5I/AAAAAAAAWbk/2qdYXT6uhLomMgBY9TjVrtEjwAHIe9G6ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/51D950FE-B4D2-45C4-9D40-43CF512277D1.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Movie serial actor Buster Crabbe</td></tr></tbody></table>Serials followed a basic formula—good guy/bad guy dynamic, cliffhangers at the end of every chapter, constant action—which audiences of the day adored, especially children. Cowboys, detectives, federal agents, pulp heroes, spacemen, jungle men and others engaged in outrageous adventures, nabbing villainous masterminds and their lackeys. </div><div><br /></div><div>Barbour charts them all, describing not only the stories and the actors (and actresses) who starred in them, but also the filmmakers and the studios who brought them to life. He devotes a chapter to the talented stunt men and gives shout-outs to key crew members in fields such as special effects and model making. Don’t expect deep criticism here; this is written from the fan perspective, and that’s okay.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Days</i> has tons of photographs. To someone unfamiliar with serials, they provide a sense of the variety of action to be found, as well as the often exaggerated, larger-than-life scenarios, often done on the cheap, as quickly as possible. </div><div><br /></div><div>Serials almost never reached the heights of the average John Ford or Howard Hawks film in terms of art, but their aspirations were different. With them, entertainment came over and above everything else, and audiences of the 30s and 40s were more than satisfied.</div>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11376065182154885503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189120682398421108.post-91437696146885164282021-01-15T11:00:00.000-05:002021-01-15T11:08:20.527-05:00The Two Popes<p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xc56cjdNS4k/X_SdsB2keRI/AAAAAAAAWaw/iSThX_583sE6Za61S-khofw25MhiHwElQCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/50765972-0404-4DFF-845A-B68F1FCF2154.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="354" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xc56cjdNS4k/X_SdsB2keRI/AAAAAAAAWaw/iSThX_583sE6Za61S-khofw25MhiHwElQCLcBGAsYHQ/w177-h200/50765972-0404-4DFF-845A-B68F1FCF2154.jpeg" width="177" /></a></i></div><i>A Luso World Cinema Blogathon é um evento dedicado a filmes e cineastas em língua portuguesa de todo o mundo, organizado por <a href="https://criticaretro.blogspot.com/2020/11/announcing-second-luso-world-cinema.html">Critica Retro</a> e <a href="http://www.spellboundbymovies.com/2020/12/01/banners-for-the-2021-luso-world-cinema-blogathon/">Spellbound by Movies</a>. Para uma lista completa dos blogueiros participantes, visite os links nos sites de hospedagem.</i><p></p><p><i><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8404614/">The Two Popes</a></i></p><p>Netflix viewing </p><p>One of the brightest lights in recent Brazilian cinema has been director Fernando Meirelles. The São Paulo native discovered film through his father, who made 8mm parodies with his family and friends. In college he studied architecture, but also sustained his interest in filmmaking. He entered indie TV and experimental film after graduation, which led to advertising. He co-founded the ad firm O2 Films.</p><p>In 2002, he co-directed, with Katia Lund, the movie <i>City of God</i>, a crime picture based in a suburb of Rio de Janeiro, based on a novel inspired by actual events. O2 Films was one of the production companies. The film was an international sensation, and was nominated for four Oscars, including Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ALDWlo4sii8/YAG8ojqZ--I/AAAAAAAAWbM/xvdvR2erbZEI4nmiQoMoFSUPiJjx5LbugCLcBGAsYHQ/s700/7CDDCA0E-994C-41F4-801F-2166C79CAB7C.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="520" data-original-width="700" height="297" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ALDWlo4sii8/YAG8ojqZ--I/AAAAAAAAWbM/xvdvR2erbZEI4nmiQoMoFSUPiJjx5LbugCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h297/7CDDCA0E-994C-41F4-801F-2166C79CAB7C.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p>In subsequent years, Meirelles made the Oscar-winner <i>The Constant Gardener</i>, as well as the films <i>Blindness</i> and <i>360</i> and the HBO series <i>Joint Venture</i>. When the Summer Olympics came to Rio in 2016, he directed the opening ceremonies. In 2019, Meirelles adapted the play <i>The Two Popes</i> for Netflix.</p><p><i>Popes</i> loosely tells the story of the relationship between Pope Benedict XVI and the future Pope Francis, back when he was still Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, in the wake of the 2012 scandal over corruption within the Vatican. Anthony Hopkins plays the former and Jonathan Pryce plays the latter.</p><p>Meirelles recreated the Sistine Chapel in the famous Cinecitta studio in Rome. <a href="https://deadline.com/2019/12/the-two-popes-fernando-meirelles-mark-tildesley-crew-call-interview-sistine-chapel-1202815075/">This podcast explains how he did it</a>. St. Peter’s Square was computer-generated. Additional filming was shot in and around Rome as well as Argentina.</p><p>Pryce and Hopkins were both Oscar-nominated, for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, respectively. Pryce spoke some Spanish and Hopkins spoke some Italian and a little Latin. They both came across very convincingly.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FxRTQm9dNlI/YAG81K2rXgI/AAAAAAAAWbQ/g_sdGkiJmkoEMF1jmZ9VE5zPI1-CMOmqACLcBGAsYHQ/s480/0121C4F7-C04A-4ECE-AC8F-868225C2120D.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="480" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FxRTQm9dNlI/YAG81K2rXgI/AAAAAAAAWbQ/g_sdGkiJmkoEMF1jmZ9VE5zPI1-CMOmqACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h266/0121C4F7-C04A-4ECE-AC8F-868225C2120D.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p>I can’t say the story moved me that much, not being Catholic, but the contrast between the two holy men and their differing visions for the future of the faith was presented well. <a href="https://time.com/5753982/the-two-popes-movie-true-story/">The reality behind the popes</a> and their connection to each other is different, but this is, after all, a dramatization. The adapted screenplay by Anthony McCarten was also Oscar-nominated.</p><p><i>Popes</i> is an ambitious production depicting a crucial turning point in religious history, told on a small, almost intimate scale.</p><p>———————</p><p>Previously:</p><p><a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2019/11/manoel-de-oliveira-late-blooming.html">Manoel de Oliveira</a> </p>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11376065182154885503noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189120682398421108.post-40151285819190703862021-01-02T07:00:00.005-05:002021-01-15T11:13:08.197-05:00Netflix new release roundup for December ‘20<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WHHShexsXGw/X9wohnGDqMI/AAAAAAAAWYU/wvWL3anMg2sTccqX-8StFBWuE-WOct1twCLcBGAsYHQ/s838/2459935A-7D84-469F-A07C-F7084DCC06B7.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="409" data-original-width="838" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WHHShexsXGw/X9wohnGDqMI/AAAAAAAAWYU/wvWL3anMg2sTccqX-8StFBWuE-WOct1twCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/2459935A-7D84-469F-A07C-F7084DCC06B7.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>The Vaccine is out in the world now, and it’ll take some time before its impact on the future of the film industry can be measured. One likes to believe 2021 couldn’t possibly be any worse than 2020, but getting past that nightmare of a year with not only a new president on deck but a legitimate defense against the Virus does give one reason to be hopeful. Zod knows we could all use that.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YNRNnHheD_s/X94tv5jSb2I/AAAAAAAAWYc/l21fVDck2-M04M1Xa1kZWqzYruFeKGt7gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1800/68AD7612-471A-4006-BA6F-6A403ACB2FD1.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1012" data-original-width="1800" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YNRNnHheD_s/X94tv5jSb2I/AAAAAAAAWYc/l21fVDck2-M04M1Xa1kZWqzYruFeKGt7gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/68AD7612-471A-4006-BA6F-6A403ACB2FD1.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>—<b><i>Mank</i></b>. The making of <i><a href="https://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2015/12/citizen-kane.html">Citizen Kane</a></i> through the eyes of co-writer Herman Mankiewicz. I was kinda drowsy when I watched this, plus it was really talky (what a surprise, a movie about a writer was packed with dialogue). It was cool to see historical figures like Orson Welles, Louis B. Mayer, Irving Thalberg and William Randolph Hearst depicted, but ultimately this didn’t thrill me as much as I had hoped it would. David Fincher directs from a screenplay by his late father Jack. Gary Oldman acts drunk most of the time as Mankiewicz and Amanda Seyfried as Marion Davies was good, but overall I thought it was kinda meh.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Yu67V-eWL5c/X94uE_wHW1I/AAAAAAAAWYk/Wy4L_QlyQogCMKkSxqOaOmIXE0IWMV1EgCLcBGAsYHQ/s960/3C0226F1-C2AA-4A1F-AA0C-885C68A257B8.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="643" data-original-width="960" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Yu67V-eWL5c/X94uE_wHW1I/AAAAAAAAWYk/Wy4L_QlyQogCMKkSxqOaOmIXE0IWMV1EgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/3C0226F1-C2AA-4A1F-AA0C-885C68A257B8.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>—<b><i>Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom</i></b>. Early 20th-century blues pioneer Ma Rainey comes to Chicago with her band to record her songs, but her ambitious trumpet player has ideas of his own about how her music should be played. Co-produced by Denzel Washington, based on the play by August Wilson, Viola Davis is damn near unrecognizable in the title role but is also a force of nature, taking the contempt she holds for the white men controlling her career, the suspicion she has over Chadwick Boseman (in his final role) subverting her position as bandleader, and her general world-weariness and putting it into the blues. Boseman stands a strong chance at winning a posthumous Oscar with his performance; how very sad it is that he’s no longer with us.</div><div><br /></div><div>———————</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WQvWTGLHMdg/X-JPWk6ed6I/AAAAAAAAWZM/XDW-w4unjI8n8W2RSnX_9aCIS2zgOSY6gCLcBGAsYHQ/s549/DFBC7D20-38BA-4D27-9E69-564F9D6CD8C9.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="548" data-original-width="549" height="199" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WQvWTGLHMdg/X-JPWk6ed6I/AAAAAAAAWZM/XDW-w4unjI8n8W2RSnX_9aCIS2zgOSY6gCLcBGAsYHQ/w200-h199/DFBC7D20-38BA-4D27-9E69-564F9D6CD8C9.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>By now you’ve heard about Warner Brothers’ deal to release all its 2021 films on HBO Max <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/12/3/22150605/hbo-max-warner-bros-movies-2021-simultaneous-release-matrix-godzilla-suicide-squad-space-jam">at the same time as they’re released theatrically</a>. It’s a plan that has rubbed some people the wrong way, <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/christopher-nolan-rips-hbo-max-as-worst-streaming-service-denounces-warner-bros-plan">among them Christopher Nolan</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div>It’s awful hard to look at this and not think the genie is out of the bottle. It’s not likely to return, either. The theatrical distribution model was struggling before the Virus and if it’s a matter of financial survival on the studios’ part, even with a Vaccine now available, I’m unconvinced they’ll go to bat for the theaters without a strong motivation. Maybe one will come. </div><div><br /></div><div>That said, the recent stimulus deal signed last month offers some hope, and this piece offers <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-22/wonder-woman-and-hbo-max-are-making-movie-theaters-better">more reasons to be cheerful for the long-term future of theaters</a> (though watching movies at home <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/critics-notebook-movies-have-always-had-their-place-on-the-small-screen">has its merits too</a>).</div><div><br /></div><div>More on the other side.</div><div><br /></div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xCmf_zG0vy8/X-JP6HkwnSI/AAAAAAAAWZU/sxGn_dsBh_gB5zhYTSSRm59mSv7iPrGEACLcBGAsYHQ/s1604/63731647-F077-449D-A958-E33EFA58BA9B.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="1604" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xCmf_zG0vy8/X-JP6HkwnSI/AAAAAAAAWZU/sxGn_dsBh_gB5zhYTSSRm59mSv7iPrGEACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/63731647-F077-449D-A958-E33EFA58BA9B.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>And then there was the thing with <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/16/entertainment/tom-cruise-covid-mission-crew-trnd/index.html">Tom Cruise yelling at his <i>Mission: Impossible 7</i> crew</a> for not following safety protocols for The Virus. </div><div><br /></div><div>There are an awful lot of sides to this situation: the very notion of yet another MI movie; the reality of Cruise, the poster boy for a poisonous and destructive cult (<a href="https://www.indiewire.com/2020/12/tom-cruise-covid-rant-publicity-stunt-leah-remini-1234605721/">which is difficult to ignore in this case</a>) as the one looking out for other people’s lives; the question of whether or not this could’ve been handled in a private way. As the film’s producer, though, it was his right and responsibility to enforce the rules set up to keep everyone on set safe. I doubt he would’ve went ballistic if this wasn’t a last-straw situation; <a href="https://www.nme.com/news/film/a-covid-19-outbreak-has-hit-the-set-of-mission-impossible-7-2803450">MI7 has suffered several Virus-related delays</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div>As a human being he may come up short in other, unrelated areas, but as an actor and producer, tales of his professionalism have abounded for years, and with reason. He doesn’t need the money he stands to make from another MI flick. This wasn’t about that, and his rant made that clear—<a href="https://amp.tmz.com/2020/12/18/tom-cruise-mask-valve-not-cdc-recommended-warned-against-covid-rant-mission-impossible/?__twitter_impression=true">but his choice of mask could be better</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>——————</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2559552/will-2021-be-any-better-than-2020-at-the-movie-theaters">Here’s a sobering gaze into the crystal ball for 2021</a>. I know I personally don’t expect to see a new movie in theaters before the summer at least. A lot will depend on how quickly The Vaccine is distributed, but hell, I can wait. I’ve waited this long.</div><div><br /></div><div>How will the Sundance Film Festival operate this year? <a href="https://www.indiewire.com/2020/12/sundance-2021-how-virtual-festival-will-work-1234601903/">Mostly virtually, from the look of it</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Oscars, by contrast, are still expected to operate <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/2021-oscars-ceremony-will-be-an-in-person-show/article33229014.ece">live and in person</a>, at least for now.</div><div><br /></div><div>Also: here’s a remarkable story about a local actor turned filmmaker who put together a short fictional series chronicling <a href="https://www.bxtimes.com/bronx-actor-doesnt-quit-creates-his-own-show-hires-crew-with-his-own-savings/">how The Virus has impacted his neighborhood</a>. (Thanks to Virginia for the link.)</div><div><br /></div><div>———————</div><div><br /></div><div>Karen’s special annual edition of <i><a href="http://www.allthatnoir.com/">The Dark Pages</a></i> is almost set to go. This year’s theme is the year 1947, and I’ve submitted a piece on the Lucille Ball film <i>Lured</i>. Hopefully the issue will be ready to go this month. If you like film noir, give it a try; Karen has been publishing TDP for years and does a good job with it.</div><div><br /></div><div>The next scheduled post will be the 15th; the first of two blogathons for this month.</div>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11376065182154885503noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189120682398421108.post-21603771258905188162020-12-23T08:00:00.003-05:002020-12-23T09:25:39.294-05:00Klaus <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uM_-ynmxBv8/X9Et1C_wqRI/AAAAAAAAWW8/leiQZK8QZMoBGdFhZkfVuzXFwJfunq4mgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/9D60DA13-3D0C-409D-B2E3-A0914193A2B9.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uM_-ynmxBv8/X9Et1C_wqRI/AAAAAAAAWW8/leiQZK8QZMoBGdFhZkfVuzXFwJfunq4mgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h225/9D60DA13-3D0C-409D-B2E3-A0914193A2B9.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><i><a href="https://m.imdb.com/title/tt4729430/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">Klaus</a></i> </p><p>Netflix viewing </p><p>The real-world origin of the mythological figure known as Santa Claus goes way back—<a href="https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/santa-claus">I mean waaaaay back</a>—but Hollywood has had their share of fun creating origin stories more befitting such a beloved character. </p><p>I remember, for instance, the Rankin-Bass animated TV special <i>Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town</i>, featuring voice actors Mickey Rooney and <a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2015/11/fred-astaire.html">Fred Astaire</a> (this year is its <a href="http://mercurie.blogspot.com/2020/12/the-50th-anniversary-of-rankinbasss.html">fiftieth anniversary</a>). In 1985 RB made a second origin story, <i>The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus.</i></p><p>Last year, Spanish animator Sergio Pablos added his Netflix feature film <i>Klaus</i> to the pile and gained an Academy Award nomination for his effort. A former Disney imagineer who worked on <i>Tarzan</i> and <i>The Hunchback of Notre Dame</i>, he and his team at SPA Studios animated the film by taking 2D digital animation and <a href="https://www.insider.com/how-netflixs-klaus-made-2d-animation-look-3d-2020-1">lighting it as if it were 3D</a>.</p><p>The story involves a young postman, a privileged rich kid, assigned to a remote northern village in order to establish a successful post office and prove his worth. He stumbles upon a way to get it going when he meets a reclusive toymaker and encourages him to make toys for the children of a community at war with itself. Complications ensue. Jason Schwartzman voices the young postman and JK Simmons (who sounds just like Peter “Optimus Prime” Cullen in this) voices Klaus.</p><p>I like that <i>Klaus</i> is (mostly) grounded in the real world, with almost nothing in the way of what could be considered “magic.” The usual myths about Santa have a real-world foundation and are developed through the rumor and exaggeration of the children. </p><p>The animation reminded me of the work of Don Bluth in places. It doesn’t resemble the Pixar/Dreamworks CGI style we’ve come to expect these days, but it is something more than traditional 2D. The effect is startling, and it brings a fresh twist to computer animation. I kinda hope it catches on.</p>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11376065182154885503noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189120682398421108.post-90391977115576156952020-12-21T19:34:00.001-05:002020-12-21T19:37:05.186-05:00Congress saves movie theaters!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_52pCkBLF0s/X-E-H-FHPDI/AAAAAAAAWY4/Ru1hebYSv5kg_pqk_hCC_oQLUjxzQpKUgCLcBGAsYHQ/s275/55109C6B-39C7-4633-A4AB-09B49C6FDEE5.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_52pCkBLF0s/X-E-H-FHPDI/AAAAAAAAWY4/Ru1hebYSv5kg_pqk_hCC_oQLUjxzQpKUgCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/55109C6B-39C7-4633-A4AB-09B49C6FDEE5.png" /></a></div>“...<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: "IBM Plex Serif", serif; font-size: 15.008000373840332px;">The agreement includes over $284 billion for first and second forgivable PPP loans, expanded PPP eligibility for nonprofits and local newspapers, TV and radio broadcasters, key modifications to PPP to serve the smallest businesses and struggling non-profits and better assist independent restaurants, and includes $15 billion in dedicated funding for live venues, <b>independent movie theaters</b>, and cultural institutions. The agreement also includes $20 billion for targeted EIDL Grants <a href="https://variety.com/2020/music/news/congress-agreement-stimulus-save-our-stages-1234867403/">which are critical to many smaller businesses on Main Street</a>.” [emphasis added]</span><p></p><p>This has been a crappy year all around, but it’s certainly ending on a positive note.</p><p>Thoughts?</p>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11376065182154885503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189120682398421108.post-17379818967656542902020-12-16T07:00:00.002-05:002020-12-19T11:58:05.403-05:00Zoom and movie fans in 2020 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YGUMYtb-SAY/X9puhStLzrI/AAAAAAAAWXg/AWXqPD5v00gI9kS2IUq1TnA8oLNyTRPpQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1200/D04F91D1-9D07-4702-9C90-4687AAA31922.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="737" data-original-width="1200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YGUMYtb-SAY/X9puhStLzrI/AAAAAAAAWXg/AWXqPD5v00gI9kS2IUq1TnA8oLNyTRPpQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/D04F91D1-9D07-4702-9C90-4687AAA31922.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>Right now, we can’t go to the movies, or anyplace else, without taking precautions against The Virus. That may change in 2021 (knock on wood). Streaming services have taken over as the primary means of distribution, and with the recent news about <a href="https://variety.com/2020/film/news/warner-bros-hbo-max-theaters-dune-matrix-4-1234845342/">Warner Brothers’ game-changing commitment to streaming next year</a>, it’s gonna be how many of us experience movies for a long time, even after The Virus is under control.<div><br /></div><div>New methods for fans to talk about movies have gained prominence as a result of the new stay-at-home culture this year, and one of the most widely used has been Zoom.</div><div><br /></div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VY0hAfp3Ezw/X9p0qb1HInI/AAAAAAAAWXs/25mh5fdUoI8lVB9zNp9x4IU7RRBk5bO1ACLcBGAsYHQ/s619/9DDFC15D-6BF9-4E53-AF17-C10329B7D6F3.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="437" data-original-width="619" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VY0hAfp3Ezw/X9p0qb1HInI/AAAAAAAAWXs/25mh5fdUoI8lVB9zNp9x4IU7RRBk5bO1ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/9DDFC15D-6BF9-4E53-AF17-C10329B7D6F3.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>There are other video conferencing apps on the market, but Zoom appears to be the popular one; I’ve been using it since about May and most of the Meetup and Facebook groups I’m part of use it too. Virginia uses it for most of her online music groups. It has its limitations when it comes to live performances, though she’s found ways around that. I don’t know how Zoom is regarded in other fields. I’m here to discuss it from the movie fan’s perspective.</div><div><br /></div><div>The learning curve for using Zoom wasn’t as steep as I expected, though organizing a meeting was harder to master than merely attending one. Once I got the basics down, I had to teach my mother, a notorious technophobe, how to use it. She’s gotten somewhat comfortable with it by now.</div><div><br /></div><div>I remember when reports of strangers crashing private meetings became a thing. I’m satisfied, based on my and my mother’s and Virginia’s experiences, that steps have been taken to prevent that from happening. I have yet to experience any “Zoom-bombing.”</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P822dU3ddhg/X9p19dWIc_I/AAAAAAAAWX4/532mhfhZOWcdkpjp8Zgvmwb6l2lWOYNEQCLcBGAsYHQ/s634/0B8C9863-34D3-4816-9F2F-AAC1CB803C15.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="423" data-original-width="634" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P822dU3ddhg/X9p19dWIc_I/AAAAAAAAWX4/532mhfhZOWcdkpjp8Zgvmwb6l2lWOYNEQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/0B8C9863-34D3-4816-9F2F-AAC1CB803C15.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>Vija chose to move her informal movie club to Zoom once the theaters closed. She had a slightly easier time figuring out Zoom than my mother, though there have been mistakes along the road. We’ve been discussing mostly old movies, picked out either online, like on YouTube, or through a local cable sub-channel. We’ll watch it beforehand and discuss on Sunday, often going off-topic.</div><div><br /></div><div>When there’s three or more people involved, Zoom puts a time limit of thirty minutes, which has made discussions shorter than most of us would like. I’ve suggested we should each contribute towards paying for unlimited time, but so far Vija seems content with things as they are. </div><div><br /></div><div>We mostly connect from home, though occasionally someone will join while outside. The conversations are unstructured; Vija acts less like a moderator and more like just another friend to talk to. Recently we discussed <i>Of Human Bondage</i> (the Bette Davis version) and subjects included Somerset Maugham, the role of women in the late 19th-early 20th century, and reading the book in school.</div><div><br /></div><div>By contrast, I recently discovered a Zoom group a bit more organized. Jocelyn from the blog Classic Film Observations & Obsessions <a href="https://classicfilmobsessions.blogspot.com/2020/11/fun-with-virtual-classic-film.html">recently mentioned</a> her Meetup group Reel Classics of Greater Boston, who meet online now to discuss old movies. </div><div><br /></div><div>Their operation is much more structured: slides, questionnaires, sub-groups within the larger Zoom meeting format. When I sat in on their recent discussion of <i>Scarface</i> (the original), I came with a couple of pages of notes I took as I watched the film in advance. This group struck me as consisting of more hardcore film nerds who’d be less inclined to go off-topic—and I was right.</div><div><br /></div><div>It took me a little longer to adjust and fit in. The notes were less necessary than I thought they would be, but I don’t regret having them along. It was a larger group, so breaking into smaller groups for a brief period was a good idea. That was something I had never done in any previous Zoom meetings and it made discussing the film easier.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IqPrfsoS6KM/X9p2hl79gpI/AAAAAAAAWYE/ZF-rfPNkRDUd_zjHrslVsWwluzpwwNwSACLcBGAsYHQ/s521/0B40E216-7B94-4B16-A2CF-B5B2F6F52808.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="521" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IqPrfsoS6KM/X9p2hl79gpI/AAAAAAAAWYE/ZF-rfPNkRDUd_zjHrslVsWwluzpwwNwSACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/0B40E216-7B94-4B16-A2CF-B5B2F6F52808.png" /></a></div>I guess you could say Vija’s group is like friends gathering in a cafe after a movie to chat (which we often used to do after a movie) and Jocelyn’s group is like a club where cinephiles gather to express their opinions. Each way has their appeal; if I were to hang out in the latter group longer and got to know some of the people better, I’d probably become as relaxed as I am in the former group—those are friends I’ve known for at least a decade, and I’ve known Vija for more than half my life.</div><div><br /></div><div>Either way, Zoom as a facilitator for connecting people is good to me: one can control the audio and video (helpful if you’re having a bad hair day), one can send text messages within the group, sub-groups within a meeting are nice when you’ve got a big group and want a more intimate conversation, and you can talk to people from around the country and the globe. I don’t have much experience with other video conferencing apps so I can’t compare and contrast; some might be better, some might be worse. Until we can all go to the movies together again, though, this will do.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.wired.co.uk/article/future-of-zoom">The rise and future of Zoom</a></div>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11376065182154885503noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189120682398421108.post-31743930301251470132020-12-09T07:00:00.000-05:002020-12-09T07:00:02.930-05:00Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?<p><i><span></span><span></span></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nkpkT6FFt3A/X6QTo8cwS7I/AAAAAAAAWSw/4ZKScFAkvu4h-Bl3N_5BiQ7yJa-JdStAACLcBGAsYHQ/s600/7F0FC2AA-61BD-49C7-BAFA-7568FE460BC4.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nkpkT6FFt3A/X6QTo8cwS7I/AAAAAAAAWSw/4ZKScFAkvu4h-Bl3N_5BiQ7yJa-JdStAACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/7F0FC2AA-61BD-49C7-BAFA-7568FE460BC4.jpeg" width="320" /></a></i></div><i>The Celluloid Road Trip Blogathon is an event focusing on cities and towns in movies, presented by Hometowns to Hollywood. For a complete list of participating bloggers, visit the link at <a href="https://hometownstohollywood.com/blogathons/the-celluloid-road-trip-blogathon/">the host site</a>.</i><p></p><p><i><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061184/">Who’s Aftaid of Virginia Woolf?</a></i></p><p>In the summer of 1995, I worked as a counselor at a sleepaway camp in Massachusetts. To someone whose childhood summers were spent at day camps, this was a new experience. </p><p>While I relished the opportunity, I probably would’ve suffered cabin fever without the occasional break from hikes in the forest, swimming and canoeing in the river, and daily recreation on the camp grounds. This was for the kids more than the adults, after all. </p><p>Fortunately, there was a town to which I could retreat on my days off: a tiny college community called Northampton.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XtW51SbzcUQ/X6QfLAYJCBI/AAAAAAAAWS4/x-8mCHNMciMlISS9HiEoUrb4-5b_-hZMwCLcBGAsYHQ/s768/21CFB51F-69D2-4157-ACB3-86AE3893C163.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="768" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XtW51SbzcUQ/X6QfLAYJCBI/AAAAAAAAWS4/x-8mCHNMciMlISS9HiEoUrb4-5b_-hZMwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h225/21CFB51F-69D2-4157-ACB3-86AE3893C163.webp" width="400" /></a></div><p>The college that supported the town and helped shape its identity was <a href="https://www.smith.edu/">Smith</a>, a liberal-arts women’s school located on the cusp of the downtown area. In 1966, theater director Mike Nichols, in his Hollywood debut, helmed the adaptation of <i>Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?</i>, a Tony-award winning play by Edward Albee set in an unspecified New England college town. In Nichols’ version, Northampton stood in as the town and Smith as the school; exteriors were filmed around campus. Later, Nichols would say he could’ve used a sound stage for those shots without any great difference.</p><p>Smith, established in 1871, is one of the “Seven Sisters,” a group of northeastern women-only schools. Two, Radcliffe and Vassar, are now co-ed, but the rest—Smith, Barnard, Bryn Maur, Mount Holyoke and Wellesley—remain women-only.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IeQ4wbzqgFc/X6Qfe2-H9jI/AAAAAAAAWTA/0a1zoQcIpi0phPTY3AMtHtPjXazH8KfZgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/25A693BC-4144-472D-A787-C209C8262514.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1613" data-original-width="2048" height="315" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IeQ4wbzqgFc/X6Qfe2-H9jI/AAAAAAAAWTA/0a1zoQcIpi0phPTY3AMtHtPjXazH8KfZgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h315/25A693BC-4144-472D-A787-C209C8262514.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p>I attended a music seminar hosted by Smith in 2018 and familiarized myself with the campus for the first time. It’s the picture of a New England school: staid brick buildings are spread proudly across green and inviting grounds designed as a botanical garden and arboretum by world-famous landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted.</p><p>In <i>Woolf</i>, Richard Burton plays a professor at Smith and Elizabeth Taylor is the daughter of the school’s president. They’re a bickering married couple, and over the course of a single night, all the resentment and pent-up rage festering between them for years gets unleashed at the expense of younger couple George Segal and Sandy Dennis, acquaintances they met at a party.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ssu9wqKXjEk/X6QfrcxnTWI/AAAAAAAAWTE/e08Y2kM91y40c4kvpDVDxU1rJybGIpaeQCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/04CDAF8D-4BC4-40CB-A9A2-B8BAD0B371D8.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="223" data-original-width="400" height="223" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ssu9wqKXjEk/X6QfrcxnTWI/AAAAAAAAWTE/e08Y2kM91y40c4kvpDVDxU1rJybGIpaeQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h223/04CDAF8D-4BC4-40CB-A9A2-B8BAD0B371D8.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p>Both play and film were supercharged with unprecedented levels of language considered profane and sexually frank at the time, and even today, <i>Woolf</i> has lost little of its coarse edge. It was a key film in <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-ca-mn-virginia-woolf-20160615-snap-story.html">the eventual dismantling of Hollywood’s long-running production code</a>, which limited what could and couldn’t be said and done in an American movie. It went on to win five Oscars.</p><p>Northampton may have been the first time I got a feel for life in a college town (I stayed home for college and didn’t live on a campus). <i>Woolf</i> doesn’t display the town outside of a sequence in a roadhouse, which is clearly a set, and it would’ve looked very different in 1966 anyway, but my experience of Northampton was of a small, but hip and happening place with record stores, bookshops, cafes with live music that stayed open late and diverse eateries.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TWeSiNEPVI0/X6QgDkJq3nI/AAAAAAAAWTM/uxTSaOEhT3sPJtsYxqohptbNXliLdOLpQCLcBGAsYHQ/s840/C337D2D4-FB85-4151-B6B9-B75C9C73CB0A.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="840" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TWeSiNEPVI0/X6QgDkJq3nI/AAAAAAAAWTM/uxTSaOEhT3sPJtsYxqohptbNXliLdOLpQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h225/C337D2D4-FB85-4151-B6B9-B75C9C73CB0A.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p>On my days off from summer camp, a bunch of us would load up the van and travel east on Route 9 from the Berkshire mountains to Northampton’s Main Street and spend the day eating or shopping or both. I was enamored with a gift shop that sold silly little trinkets and a record store with bootleg material and rare imports. At the time, there was also a museum of comic book art.</p><p>While researching for this post, I was pleasantly surprised to discover there are more movies set and/or filmed in Northampton than I thought. After <i>Woolf</i>, Nichols returned there five years later for <i>Carnal Knowledge</i>. Recent Oscar winner <i>The Cider House Rules</i> is set in Maine but was partly filmed in Northampton. There’s also the Mel Gibson crime film <i>Edge of Darkness</i>, the Alec Baldwin-Nicole Kidman thriller <i>Malice</i>, and <i>In Dreams</i>, a fantasy directed by Neil Jordan, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?locations=Northampton,+Massachusetts,+USA">among others</a>. <i>Woolf</i> is by far the best known.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-czZU4rmzvXw/X6tFKo5avrI/AAAAAAAAWVA/720Z_Taehl4bfkDSzFEaLSC5Tg1qHuVAQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/5187723C-A2F2-43AC-90B7-973A8B3D0B53.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1236" data-original-width="1600" height="309" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-czZU4rmzvXw/X6tFKo5avrI/AAAAAAAAWVA/720Z_Taehl4bfkDSzFEaLSC5Tg1qHuVAQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h309/5187723C-A2F2-43AC-90B7-973A8B3D0B53.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p>Could I live in a place like Northampton? Maybe... artistically speaking, it’s lively and diverse, and pre-pandemic, it even had a nightlife, but it’s a bit too small for someone used to a major metropolis like New York. I would need a bicycle to get around, which is what I did when I lived in Ohio, but I’m not certain how good the infrastructure for biking is in Northampton, not to mention the surrounding area. If you know me, you know I consider such things important. I could definitely spend a summer there, at least.</p><p>As for the camp, I enjoyed it so much I came back the following summer. I still miss it.</p>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11376065182154885503noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189120682398421108.post-38364560760263322652020-12-06T09:00:00.002-05:002020-12-07T08:58:39.179-05:00Fourteen Hours<p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RkDQjcnkZuM/X8zleblpHqI/AAAAAAAAWWw/M-xzSDvVPY8J-M-rLW2FPSWwYfiglAJggCLcBGAsYHQ/s800/BB5FD2C3-CD97-44A9-B3D1-8B5F18CA6500.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RkDQjcnkZuM/X8zleblpHqI/AAAAAAAAWWw/M-xzSDvVPY8J-M-rLW2FPSWwYfiglAJggCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/BB5FD2C3-CD97-44A9-B3D1-8B5F18CA6500.jpeg" /></a></div>Crystal from In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood is seriously ill, <a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2020/12/fourteen-hours.html">according to her brother Jarrahn</a>, and while a blogathon may seem unimportant in the face of that, Gill from RealWeegieMidget Reviews <a href="https://weegiemidget.wordpress.com/2020/12/06/blogathon-the-agnes-moorehead-blogathon-is-here/">has agreed to take over in her absence</a>. I don’t know Crystal well, but I know she’s a dedicated classic film fan whose blog has a strong following. Here’s hoping she recovers as soon as possible. Best wishes to her family.</i></div></i></div><p></p><p><i><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043560/">Fourteen Hours</a></i></p><p>YouTube viewing </p><p>Henry Hathaway tends to be associated with westerns, and indeed, some of his biggest hits as a director were in that vein: <i>How the West Was Won, The Sons of Katie Elder</i>, and of course, the original <i>True Grit</i>. A perusal of his IMDB page reveals a variety of movies, including war, film noir and drama. While he may not have had a clear signature style as a director, he was one of a number of Hollywood filmmakers from the Golden Age who turned out reliable product again and again; a go-to man.</p><p>A former assistant director during the silent era, he got his break in the early 30s making adaptations of Zane Grey westerns with Randolph Scott. In 1935, <i>Lives of a Bengal Lancer </i>with Gary Cooper got a Best Picture nomination and Hathaway was on the radar.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bPI6yZQ6WGo/X6V2P1zkM-I/AAAAAAAAWTk/NQpZpVlLNt0ZlyC2te-_XXUjycdsPi_rQCLcBGAsYHQ/s569/F334C1A9-CED4-49F5-826E-D0889ABC333F.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="569" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bPI6yZQ6WGo/X6V2P1zkM-I/AAAAAAAAWTk/NQpZpVlLNt0ZlyC2te-_XXUjycdsPi_rQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h300/F334C1A9-CED4-49F5-826E-D0889ABC333F.png" width="400" /></a></div><p>During WW2, Hathaway came to 20th Century Fox and stayed there well into the 50s. Among the many films he made there include today’s subject, <i>14 Hours, </i>which is classified as a noir but it struck me more as a straight drama so that’s how I’m labeling it. It’s an ensemble about a guy who wants to jump from a great height off the ledge of a Manhattan building and the effort expended to talk him down. It’s loosely inspired by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_William_Warde">a true story</a>.</p><p>Naturally, most of the action centers on the ledge and the nearest window and the space between, and Hathaway combines both location footage in midtown Manhattan and a recreation of the building facade to shoot that tight space from different angles.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iljQgArhUrk/X6V3ZKPDADI/AAAAAAAAWT8/hGUCAFrZZiU4wULubKvYncPpFCgS3fVKQCLcBGAsYHQ/s450/0686E92A-3553-4750-A542-5DA77753B317.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="450" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iljQgArhUrk/X6V3ZKPDADI/AAAAAAAAWT8/hGUCAFrZZiU4wULubKvYncPpFCgS3fVKQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h300/0686E92A-3553-4750-A542-5DA77753B317.png" width="400" /></a></div><p>Richard Basehart, so very different here than in <i><a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2019/11/he-walked-by-night.html">He Walked By Night</a></i>, spends almost the entire film on that ledge and give him credit, he looked pretty scared and confused the whole time. Could it be because he performed with a sprained ankle and a case of poison oak?</p><p>Paul Douglas, Linda Darnell’s husband in <i><a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2017/09/a-letter-to-three-wives.html">A Letter to Three Wives</a></i>, plays a beat cop who attempts to bond with Basehart to get him off the ledge. I liked him a lot. He embodied the working class spirit of the old New York, where everybody talks in that familiar street lingo and their rough exterior hides a big heart underneath.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZDXrF-MQMwg/X6V6Ow4c6zI/AAAAAAAAWUI/yAIUu9595Y8wE0GeJU7AqH1b5wDfC8XTwCLcBGAsYHQ/s259/E74AACBA-3052-4999-9D6E-F2483BE72653.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="259" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZDXrF-MQMwg/X6V6Ow4c6zI/AAAAAAAAWUI/yAIUu9595Y8wE0GeJU7AqH1b5wDfC8XTwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h300/E74AACBA-3052-4999-9D6E-F2483BE72653.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p>Because it’s an ensemble, we get many different perspectives of the event, from New Yorkers of different classes, engaged in different things while the attempted jump takes place, some interested in what’s going on, others less so.</p><p><i>14 Hours</i> was Grace Kelly’s first film. The future princess of Monaco had a small role as a wife in the middle of a divorce when Basehart attempts his jump; her lawyer’s office is across the street and she can see everything going on. Legend has it Cooper visited the set and Kelly caught his eye. One year later, boom—<i>High Noon</i>. You know the rest. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HCnO-vfp-2c/X6V6bW3lSYI/AAAAAAAAWUM/U9INekzGlzE9EeylnhJclcnob7YS_rrVACLcBGAsYHQ/s576/10B5F39F-D504-42C7-9FFE-8CBD0D65238A.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="576" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HCnO-vfp-2c/X6V6bW3lSYI/AAAAAAAAWUM/U9INekzGlzE9EeylnhJclcnob7YS_rrVACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h300/10B5F39F-D504-42C7-9FFE-8CBD0D65238A.png" width="400" /></a></div><p>This was also the debut of Jeffrey Hunter and John Cassavetes, plus Ossie Davis and Richard Beymer have small parts. Many familiar faces are in this movie, but don’t blink or you may miss them!</p><p>However, the familiar face we’re here to discuss (finally) is Agnes Moorehead. She plays Basehart’s mother, alternating between terror for her son’s life and anger at her husband, with whom she doesn’t get along.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O9JIQbn-AvM/X6V7DvpWB8I/AAAAAAAAWUU/X8uYC_Cn8VUpuX76O-SWxe6c4VWRZPejACLcBGAsYHQ/s448/8F32DC5F-5251-471B-B953-A9FDB1DCA6DE.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="335" data-original-width="448" height="299" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O9JIQbn-AvM/X6V7DvpWB8I/AAAAAAAAWUU/X8uYC_Cn8VUpuX76O-SWxe6c4VWRZPejACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h299/8F32DC5F-5251-471B-B953-A9FDB1DCA6DE.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Barbara Bel Geddes plays Basehart’s fiancée. She wouldn’t make<br />another movie after this until <i>Vertigo</i>, seven years later.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Moorehead’s early career was in radio, and of course she was part of Orson Welles’ Mercury Players troupe. She followed Welles to Hollywood and appeared in his first three feature films, <i>Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons</i> and <i>Journey Into Fear</i>. She was a four-time Oscar nominee and a Golden Globe and Emmy winner who also had great success in radio.</p><p>In television, she was a major supporting character on <i>Bewitched</i>, plus she appeared in that fantastic near-silent <i>Twilight Zone</i> episode in which tiny aliens invade an old woman’s home. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-972Tx6LMSsw/X6V8KZ77JaI/AAAAAAAAWUg/PqzzUdr4mI0NNKFjLbFUXqy0vJhA0_EmwCLcBGAsYHQ/s576/F0C636B0-10F1-45F3-BE28-949C56811C65.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="576" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-972Tx6LMSsw/X6V8KZ77JaI/AAAAAAAAWUg/PqzzUdr4mI0NNKFjLbFUXqy0vJhA0_EmwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h300/F0C636B0-10F1-45F3-BE28-949C56811C65.png" width="400" /></a></div><p>The Emmy she won was not for either, though; it was for <a href="https://www.caftanwoman.com/2020/12/the-second-agnes-moorehead-blogathon.html">an episode of <i>The Wild Wild West</i></a>, which I also watched for this post. Moorehead hams it up as a Bond-like villain, a society dame who marries young girls off to rich men and knocks the men off so she can gain power through control of the girls. It’s a very diva kind of role and Moorehead looked like she had fun with it, if nothing else.</p><p>I’ll always remember her for her part in the animated <i>Charlotte’s Web</i> that was T-double E-double R-double R-double I-double F-double I-double C-C-C: she was the goose on Zuckerman’s farm who helps Charlotte save Wilbur’s life, in her own way. Given Moorehead’s history in radio, for which she was highly praised, voice-over work in animation seemed a natural fit for her; I’m surprised she didn’t do more in this field.</p><p>Moorehead carved out a long career for herself in multiple media, one that got better as she got older.</p><p>—————-</p><p>Other films with Agnes Moorehead:</p><p><i><a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2015/12/citizen-kane.html">Citizen Kane</a></i></p><p><i><a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2011/03/dark-passage.html">Dark Passage</a> </i></p><p><i><a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2013/06/caged.html">Caged</a></i></p><p><i><a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2013/07/hush-hush-sweet-charlotte.html">Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte</a></i></p><p><i><a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2019/02/charlottes-web-1973.html">Charlotte’s Web</a></i> (voice only)</p>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11376065182154885503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189120682398421108.post-12284258197901993932020-12-05T07:00:00.000-05:002020-12-05T07:00:06.734-05:00Ray Massey in Hollywood (and England)<p><em style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"></em></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><em style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1VNBt5ouuh4/X6RMWgegJ4I/AAAAAAAAWTc/jEl-3Yhi6pAfiyaT6kIjxk3mUcQP0rNSwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1350/38A2B3A6-49EB-4314-9493-C6A36125B471.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1350" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1VNBt5ouuh4/X6RMWgegJ4I/AAAAAAAAWTc/jEl-3Yhi6pAfiyaT6kIjxk3mUcQP0rNSwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/38A2B3A6-49EB-4314-9493-C6A36125B471.png" /></a></em></div><em style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The What a Character Blogathon is an event devoted to the great character actors of classic Hollywood and the often memorable supporting roles they played throughout film history, hosted by </em><em style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://aurorasginjoint.com/2017/11/01/announcement-sixth-annual-what-a-character-blogathon/">Once Upon a Screen</a></em><em style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">, </em><em style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://kelleepratt.com/">Outspoken & Freckled</a></em><em style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">, & </em><em><a href="https://paulascinemaclub.com/2017/11/02/wac-2017/"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Paula's Cinema Club</span></a></em><em style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">. For a complete list of participating bloggers, visit the links at any of the host sites.</em><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><p></p><p>Earlier this year, I watched the film <i>A Matter of Life and Death</i> and for the first time, I really noticed actor Raymond Massey. A supernatural drama in which the life of a British WW2 pilot is judged by an afterlife court, Massey plays the prosecutor, an American colonial. His character added a unique perspective to the story, and I found him quite convincing. Like all of the actors in this blogathon, he’s one of those people you saw a lot of in old movies and always liked, even if you never quite knew who they were.</p><p>The Toronto native was lured to acting after serving in the family tractor business in his youth and spent almost a decade on the British stage. In 1931 he came to Broadway in a production of <i>Hamlet</i> that didn’t go over well. Fortunately, though, by that time the movies had already came calling.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AEwVepM2fK0/X8e0_ofEOcI/AAAAAAAAWWY/3u4VVpFYEZowSZ-UKK9EsRu-v_i5faTqgCLcBGAsYHQ/s593/733ED375-CDA0-4AAE-A148-2CCB5635DE29.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="593" data-original-width="520" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AEwVepM2fK0/X8e0_ofEOcI/AAAAAAAAWWY/3u4VVpFYEZowSZ-UKK9EsRu-v_i5faTqgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/733ED375-CDA0-4AAE-A148-2CCB5635DE29.jpeg" /></a></div>His film debut was in a British picture called <i>High Treason</i>, and alternated between British and American movies throughout his career, as well as the stage.<p></p><p>In 1938 he starred in the Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway play <i>Abe Lincoln in Illinois</i>. Two years later, he made the film adaptation with director John Cromwell, and from that point on Massey’s career became intertwined with the iconic US president. He played Lincoln four more times, both in film and television. His great height (six foot three) and his chiseled features made him a natural for the part. <i>Abe</i> was his one Oscar-nominated role.</p><p>I watched clips of <i>Abe</i> for this post. Massey certainly comes across as theatrical; the camera lingers on him for long stretches without cutting while he delivers a speech, so he really knew the role by this point. It’s been awhile since I saw Daniel Day-Lewis as Lincoln, but from what I remember, I think he tried to humanize Lincoln a little more, whereas Massey’s version perhaps speaks more to the historical Lincoln we as Americans grew up with... but the role suited him well. </p><p>Massey also played the abolitionist John Brown twice—and despite being Canadian, his family’s roots could be traced to before the American Revolution. Eventually he became an American citizen.</p><p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3LFiQ467Zrk/X8e1Ifr7C3I/AAAAAAAAWWc/DSWSuYTqvBoyl5m7QnZs7Cz2YMXOgnkOACLcBGAsYHQ/s420/0EA0EAE2-7C85-4595-92DF-38A1C8413E94.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="337" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3LFiQ467Zrk/X8e1Ifr7C3I/AAAAAAAAWWc/DSWSuYTqvBoyl5m7QnZs7Cz2YMXOgnkOACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/0EA0EAE2-7C85-4595-92DF-38A1C8413E94.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">with Chamberlain in <i>Dr. Kildare</i></td></tr></tbody></table>In 1961, NBC aired a popular medical series called <i>Dr. Kildare</i>, based on the series of MGM movies, starring Richard Chamberlain. Massey played his older partner, Dr. Gillespie (played in the pilot by former Kildare Lew Ayers). The show lasted five seasons.</p><p>Massey was married three times; his second wife was stage actress Adrienne Allen, and they were together for ten years. When they divorced, their lawyers were the husband and wife team of William Whitney (representing Allen) and Dorothy Whitney (representing Massey).</p><p>After the Masseys split up, the Whitneys did the same, and in an unusual twist, the former Masseys married their lawyers, the former Whitneys. And as if that wasn’t enough, this turn of events went on to inspire yet another married couple, Ruth Gordon & Garson Kanin, to pen the battle-of-the-sexes comedy <i>Adam’s Rib</i>.</p><p>There’s even <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Massey_(cocktail)">a cocktail named for Massey</a>.</p><p>————</p><p>Films with Raymond Massey:</p><p><i><a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-old-dark-house.html">The Old Dark House</a></i></p><p><i><a href="https://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-prisoner-of-zenda.html">The Prisoner of Zenda</a></i></p><p><i><a href="https://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2020/05/a-matter-of-life-and-death.html">A Matter of Life and Death</a></i></p><p>Previously:</p><p><a href="https://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2019/11/una-oconnor-and-her-final-resting-place.html">Una O’Connor</a></p><p><a href="https://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2018/12/good-witch-rediscovering-margaret.html">Margaret Hamilton</a><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><a href="https://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2017/12/alan-hale-sr-more-than-flynns-sidekick.html">Alan Hale Sr.</a></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2016/12/mein-leiber-herr-sig-ruman.html">Sig Ruman</a></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2015/11/shelley-winters.html">Shelley Winters</a></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-circus-kid-veteran-funnyman-joe-e.html">Joe E. Brown</a></span></p>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11376065182154885503noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189120682398421108.post-85776124719151513952020-12-01T08:45:00.002-05:002020-12-02T10:50:37.819-05:00Netflix new release roundup for November ‘20<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-APgNxkjAjy4/X8ZIhCeLyxI/AAAAAAAAWWQ/GQABc_NQdy4qBONymZjKZ3iR_Ct1VGsNwCLcBGAsYHQ/s838/BF6B0975-1ABD-4E58-A447-63063FE9A37A.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="409" data-original-width="838" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-APgNxkjAjy4/X8ZIhCeLyxI/AAAAAAAAWWQ/GQABc_NQdy4qBONymZjKZ3iR_Ct1VGsNwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/BF6B0975-1ABD-4E58-A447-63063FE9A37A.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p>I’m watching much more Netflix now than before, and not just for the new releases. I think I’ve come to depend on it a bit, as a way of coping. A movie a day, plus two or three TV episodes, isn’t too much, is it? At least I’m not bingeing.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-saaY5hFo6P8/X63_Ywv7-7I/AAAAAAAAWVM/_l7-4FHiLScSUGgrER3I2x4VJ51BcEU-gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1000/926F4CB3-DB31-4BB0-AC01-CF29775DFE06.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1000" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-saaY5hFo6P8/X63_Ywv7-7I/AAAAAAAAWVM/_l7-4FHiLScSUGgrER3I2x4VJ51BcEU-gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/926F4CB3-DB31-4BB0-AC01-CF29775DFE06.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>—<b><i>The Trial of the Chicago Seven</i></b>. The anti-Vietnam protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, and the violence that resulted as a result of the confrontation with the Chicago police, gets revisited in this film from writer-director Aaron Sorkin. Specifically, it’s about the trial of an unconnected group of individuals at the heart of the protests, including irreverent activist Abbie Hoffman, memorably played by Sacha Baron Cohen. He’ll get Oscar nominated for certain. Sorkin uses cross-cutting between places and times to bring life to a very talky but riveting screenplay, in addition to actual television footage from the late 60s. In a time when Americans have been agitating for more drastic change in society than ever before, this movie leaves a deep impression.<p>——————</p><p>So <i>Death on the Nile</i> and <i>Free Guy</i> <a href="https://www.screendaily.com/news/all-eyes-on-wonder-woman-1984-as-disney-pushes-death-on-the-nile-free-guy-out-of-2020/5154693.article">moved to next year</a> and <i>Wonder Woman 1984</i> will debut <a href="https://variety.com/2020/film/news/wonder-woman-1984-hbo-max-release-1234804411/">in theaters and on HBO Max simultaneously</a>. The Tom Hanks western <i>News of the World</i> and the video game adaptation <i>Monster Hunter</i> are still expected to play theatrically in 2020... for the moment. <a href="https://slate.com/culture/2020/11/wonder-woman-1984-movie-theaters-dying-streaming-sucks.html">This Slate article</a> goes into streaming amidst the current status quo and how unsatisfying it can ultimately feel in a world with diminished theatrical distribution.</p><p>More on the other side.</p><p></p><span></span><span><a name='more'></a></span><p>For obvious reasons, there’ll be no list of top five moviegoing moments this year. If I had to pick one anyway, I suppose it would be when I saw <i><a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2020/01/jojo-rabbit.html">Jojo Rabbit</a> </i>way back in January. Had a good audience for that one and they enjoyed the movie a whole lot.</p><p>Speaking of moviegoing, the Loews Jersey Theatre reopened with limited capacity and online ticket sales in October. They had a twin Halloween bill of <i>Beetlejuice</i> and <i>The Uninvited</i>. In November they showed <i>Planes, Trains and Automobiles </i>and <i><a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2014/07/duck-soup.html">Duck Soup</a>.</i> I didn’t make it either month.</p><p>They’re still going through their regular renovation procedures, in addition to Virus-related cleaning practices. For the screenings, they close off every other row and make people sit farther apart than usual.</p><p>In a post on their Facebook page dated October 1, they discussed what they called the “ambitious plan” agreed to by Friends of the Loews (FOL) and Jersey City back in June to <a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2020/06/loews-jc-to-get-40m-renovation.html">renovate the venerable theater to the tune of $40 million</a>:</p><p></p><blockquote>...Since the announcement in June, FOL and the City have been working to put the plan into motion, so we've been waiting a little while before explaining things in more detail to all of the Theatre's supporters and friends. But as things move along in that department, and FOL starts the process of opening the Loew's back up after the long pandemic shutdown, this is probably a good time -- so we'll have a discussion of this out in the next week or so.</blockquote><p></p><p>Here’s a recent <i>New York Times</i> piece on <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/27/movies/nyc-indie-movie-theaters.html">how indie theaters in NYC are getting by</a>, which includes an interview with Cinemart Fiveplex owner Nick Nicolaou. And here’s a related <i>Times</i> story on <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/10/movies/nostalgic-classic-movies.html">how nostalgia for old movies and old pop culture in general is thriving</a>.</p><p>—————</p><p>Since switching to an online format back in March, the Queens World Film Festival has spent the year holding virtual screenings of movies by indie filmmakers. <a href="https://queensworldfilmfestival.org/donate-become-a-friend-of-the-queens-world-film-festival/">Now they’re holding a fundraiser</a> to help keep them going into 2021. The plan is to hold next year’s festival June 23-26. If you’re able, drop a few bucks in their hat because they do good work and have for years.</p><p>—————</p><p>Virginia and I had spent the past two Thanksgivings with our mutual friend Kate and other friends at her place in Manhattan, but this year there were just four of us, we two plus Ann and Kate. I was naturally trepidatious this year; I almost bowed out of it, but we took all the precautions you would expect us to and it turned out fine. It came down to them really wanting to stick with it in spite of everything, and I felt inspired by their example. I cooked bread. It went over well.</p><p>—————</p><p>Taking time off from here paid off: the latest draft of my manuscript is finished. The bad news, though, is that I know I absolutely have to write at least one more draft. This version changed the original ending of my story for the first time—obviously a major adjustment, but a necessary one. I’m convinced this version is better. It’s certainly smaller, by at least 30,000 words, probably more, and some of the cuts were extremely painful. Maybe 2021 will finally be the year I finish this beast. We’ll see.</p><p>Three blogathons coming up this month, beginning on December 5, so come back for that. Might review a Christmas movie later on. Maybe.</p>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11376065182154885503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189120682398421108.post-37084288400864151762020-11-16T07:00:00.001-05:002020-11-16T20:36:36.732-05:00Topaze <p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S4h8FvaNVcs/X5gjfC6ppVI/AAAAAAAAWSQ/wIUZ5pO34DwW3hnufy5C6mNE_i0_EfmcwCLcBGAsYHQ/s705/D993479D-35A5-4CD3-82CF-830CBA3282DF.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="705" data-original-width="564" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S4h8FvaNVcs/X5gjfC6ppVI/AAAAAAAAWSQ/wIUZ5pO34DwW3hnufy5C6mNE_i0_EfmcwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/D993479D-35A5-4CD3-82CF-830CBA3282DF.jpeg" /></a></i></div><i>The 2020 Barrymore Trilogy Blogathon is an event honoring the prolific Barrymore family of actors, especially the siblings John, Ethel and Lionel Barrymore, hosted by In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood. For a complete list of participating bloggers, visit the link at <a href="https://crystalkalyana.wordpress.com/2020/09/15/announcing-the-sixth-annual-barrymore-trilogy-blogathon/">the host site</a>.</i><p></p><p><i><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024684/">Topaze</a></i></p><p>YouTube viewing </p><p>The Barrymore clan of thespians dominated the American entertainment field more than any other family in the 20th century. The modern representative, Drew, is very much active; she currently has a daytime talk show on TV.</p><p>The clan goes back at least as far as the 19th century and possibly further than that—<a href="https://medium.com/bigger-picture/it-runs-in-the-family-the-barrymores-66337f84f204">this article gives you an overview</a>—but classic movie fans are perhaps most familiar with the triumvirate of siblings John, Ethel and Lionel. I’ve talked about Ethel before; for this year’s blogathon I’ll discuss John.</p><p>His father Maurice was a Broadway actor and a middleweight boxer, and was the first in the family to assume the stage name Barrymore (he was born Herbert Blythe), after English actor William Barrymore. John’s mother was also an actor, Georgiana Drew; the Drew name has also been handed down the generations. John was the youngest of their three children, after Lionel and Ethel.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DIs1JmQgKNg/X7E1uWwq_2I/AAAAAAAAWVk/UsRaiU9I490fJUMEq92KhsdjOoLpuMVhQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1363/67A02947-76DB-491C-8B61-52C422F3D251.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1065" data-original-width="1363" height="313" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DIs1JmQgKNg/X7E1uWwq_2I/AAAAAAAAWVk/UsRaiU9I490fJUMEq92KhsdjOoLpuMVhQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h313/67A02947-76DB-491C-8B61-52C422F3D251.png" width="400" /></a></div><p>They called him “The Great Profile”—he made a movie by that name too—though I’ve looked and looked and I can’t see what was so special about <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=john+barrymore&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS845US845&hl=en-US&prmd=ivn&sxsrf=ALeKk02JVxrPgmKUKahZvBDk3J6uPrSvRg:1603740730052&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjw3Zrk_9LsAhX3oXIEHa7GBZUQ_AUoAXoECAkQAQ&biw=375&bih=636&dpr=2#imgrc=bhG1t_yDd2NRRM">his profile</a>. Aquiline nose, thin lips, sturdy chin, I see all of that, but you could say that about lots of other men. I guess it was a cultural thing no one cares about anymore.</p><p>I don’t have anything against him. He was fine in the other films I’ve seen him in, but I never thought of him as being over and above other actors. I don’t think he’s better than, say, Spencer Tracy, for instance. In fact, I prefer Lionel—but maybe I haven’t seen enough of John’s films.</p><p>Not only has John played himself in movies, so have others: WC Fields, Fredric March (a disguised version), Errol Flynn, and Christopher Plummer, among others, so obviously there was something to his legacy that inspired familiarity, kinda like when someone imitates Bogart or Cagney or Brando.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KMTZcvrbJE0/X7E18tcRtaI/AAAAAAAAWVo/cQLJu0bGUX0EXbIcwSsW-LoAztqU5Qw6wCLcBGAsYHQ/s802/6A27E03D-E93A-468F-BEF3-A7C076D9DC34.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="802" height="249" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KMTZcvrbJE0/X7E18tcRtaI/AAAAAAAAWVo/cQLJu0bGUX0EXbIcwSsW-LoAztqU5Qw6wCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h249/6A27E03D-E93A-468F-BEF3-A7C076D9DC34.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p>John was a stage actor for years before entering film, where much of his reputation was built. Unfortunately I can’t see him in this context; perhaps if I could, I’d appreciate him more. As a silent film actor, he also excelled; his celluloid portrayals of Hamlet, Jekyll & Hyde and Richard III were probably the definitive versions for those who never saw him on a stage.</p><p>When sound came to the movies, John signed with Warner Bros. at first, then MGM, plus he made some films at RKO during this time. It was at RKO that he made today’s subject, <i>Topaze</i>, produced by David O. Selznick, an adaptation of a play.</p><p>In France (though, of course, the principal actors don’t bother with accents), a meek schoolteacher is too good at his job for the likes of the aristocratic mother of a brat, which leads to his dismissal—until he’s snatched up by the father to help promote his sparkling water, unaware that it’s a subpar product.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7tKYQEhRsUI/X7E2Kh9iL9I/AAAAAAAAWVs/y5uK-LgQEqIwf4093WhdIvMKy1qDxSsEwCLcBGAsYHQ/s474/9CA0173F-FBF4-40C8-A2D9-7D1777080DCC.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="363" data-original-width="474" height="306" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7tKYQEhRsUI/X7E2Kh9iL9I/AAAAAAAAWVs/y5uK-LgQEqIwf4093WhdIvMKy1qDxSsEwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h306/9CA0173F-FBF4-40C8-A2D9-7D1777080DCC.webp" width="400" /></a></div><p>John reminded me of Lionel in his portrayal of <i>Topaze</i>: his tone of voice, some of his mannerisms, were reminiscent of Lionel in <i>Grand Hotel</i>, made a year earlier. I imagine the two of them were probably competitive, each trying to outdo the other.</p><p>I was more interested in the subplot about the baroness who got Topaze fired because he wouldn’t give her brat a passing grade. Later in the movie they meet under different circumstances and Topaze makes a feeble attempt to disguise himself. She doesn’t recognize him, which I didn’t buy.</p><p><i>Topaze</i> had some funny moments, but it didn’t have as much of a satirical bite as other, later films like <i>It Should Happen to You</i> (a guileless innocent caught up in the cynical world of advertising) or <i>Being There</i> (a guileless innocent used as a pawn by others but remains uniquely himself). It was a nice idea, but ultimately not that interesting.</p><p>Myrna Loy is wasted in this movie as the mistress of the sparkling water baron. Anybody could’ve played her role.</p><p>———————</p><p>Previously:</p><p><i><a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2015/08/portrait-of-jennie.html">Portrait of Jennie</a></i></p>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11376065182154885503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189120682398421108.post-18399821372052185732020-11-13T14:00:00.008-05:002020-11-17T07:55:23.322-05:00Movie theaters need bailout ASAP<p><span style="background-color: white;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uB2Dtrpedvo/X67XaFpCQXI/AAAAAAAAWVc/IHnr9MpmScosQ9J-5vzBPoe6LVx8MoiAQCLcBGAsYHQ/s976/447AAF0F-EE31-4BDB-8F33-232C543203DB.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="549" data-original-width="976" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uB2Dtrpedvo/X67XaFpCQXI/AAAAAAAAWVc/IHnr9MpmScosQ9J-5vzBPoe6LVx8MoiAQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/447AAF0F-EE31-4BDB-8F33-232C543203DB.jpeg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: white;">“...</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white;">We’re pushing for a $15 billion grant program for businesses that have had a substantial hit because of the crisis. These include stages, concert halls, movie theaters. Under the legislation, if you were in business and doing well in 2019 and then got shut down and hammered in 2020, you can get grants of just under half of what your earned revenues were in 2019. That would be the bridge that provides enough liquidity to keep these companies alive <a href="https://variety.com/2020/film/news/movie-theaters-wonder-woman-1984-no-time-to-die-coronavirus-1234825708/amp/">until we get to the other side of this thing</a>.”</span></span><p></p><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; font-family: helvetica;">Not much more for me to add. This interview covers it all.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; font-family: helvetica;">Thoughts</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; font-family: helvetica;">?</span></div>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11376065182154885503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189120682398421108.post-6816245849636340592020-11-07T15:57:00.005-05:002020-11-07T16:00:16.130-05:00“Being president... is entirely about character.”<p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zemrWBIc_hE" width="320" youtube-src-id="zemrWBIc_hE"></iframe></div><br /><p></p>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11376065182154885503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189120682398421108.post-91372803816078115842020-11-01T12:00:00.000-05:002020-11-01T12:00:03.620-05:00Netflix new release roundup for October ‘20<p><span></span><span></span><span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oAlcnC6Oobs/X4WzBH2xIjI/AAAAAAAAWRM/YuY4t__8DBAYJuPt3w42Z59X4Q82jQ3YACLcBGAsYHQ/s838/A99F2765-3F54-443E-B185-4C3F18BFB1C5.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="409" data-original-width="838" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oAlcnC6Oobs/X4WzBH2xIjI/AAAAAAAAWRM/YuY4t__8DBAYJuPt3w42Z59X4Q82jQ3YACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/A99F2765-3F54-443E-B185-4C3F18BFB1C5.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">Good movies can still be found this year through streaming sites, and my site of choice remains Netflix. I suspect the overwhelming majority of this year’s Oscar candidates will come via the streamers, so here’s what I’ve been watching over the past weeks. </span></div><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jOwADMYc-rs/X4WvWRjFwiI/AAAAAAAAWQ0/ocrOAmeiALgovJPfdfoAL_vQjG90G-hygCLcBGAsYHQ/s720/F1945109-D47A-4FAB-8A74-B8CA170F5484.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="405" data-original-width="720" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jOwADMYc-rs/X4WvWRjFwiI/AAAAAAAAWQ0/ocrOAmeiALgovJPfdfoAL_vQjG90G-hygCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/F1945109-D47A-4FAB-8A74-B8CA170F5484.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>—<b><i>Da 5 Bloods</i></b>. The surviving members of a Vietnam platoon return to Vietnam forty years later to find the remains of their commanding officer, as well as to reclaim a cache of gold they appropriated during the war. Spike Lee captures the beauty of modern Vietnam well, its cities as well as its jungles, and the story is relevant, as you would imagine one of his joints to be. Delroy Lindo’s finest work has always been with Spike, and this may be his best performance ever, MAGA cap and all. A Best Actor nomination is all but assured. Also, how wonderful it was to see the late Chadwick Bozeman one more time, in a key supporting role, to remind us what a treasure we lost in him. Even in a normal year, this would be one of the year’s best.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2Onpropf8Ew/X4WvdERa-3I/AAAAAAAAWQ4/UUObBT1uwF879LxMIkmcWLmh8TNRLknywCLcBGAsYHQ/s750/82E0EB6B-B725-4445-A0EB-363D04A047D0.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="750" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2Onpropf8Ew/X4WvdERa-3I/AAAAAAAAWQ4/UUObBT1uwF879LxMIkmcWLmh8TNRLknywCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/82E0EB6B-B725-4445-A0EB-363D04A047D0.png" width="320" /></a></div>—<b><i>The Old Guard</i></b>. <i><a href="https://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2012/09/highlander.html">Highlander</a></i> meets <i><a href="https://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2017/04/unbreakable.html">Unbreakable</a></i>: a race of immortal beings live in secret, righting wrongs around the world. They encounter a new one of their kind at the same time a pharmaceutical company wants to discover what makes them tick. Gina Prince-Bythewood was known for romantic dramas like <i>Love and Basketball</i> and <i><a href="https://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2014/11/beyond-lights.html">Beyond the Lights</a></i>. Who knew she had an action movie in her? And this one hits on all cylinders: Charlize Theron, who has been making a pretty good post-Oscar career as an action girl, rocks it in this one: kicking ass left and right, but with a vulnerable and human side to her as well. A multi-culti cast that goes all over the world, in a movie <a href="https://collider.com/the-old-guard-2-will-there-be-a-sequel-explained/?amp&_gl=1*jsjkua*_ga*THhSUEFYekc0WURfWWFUbzhWN2RPZmIyVXdnekpoc04yWHhXOGZqcnh2OEJfNXZNQlNmczNmQTBoc0ZNOE1rcw..">that could be the start of a new franchise</a>—once The Virus is under control, of course.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iTVI2rs1xFI/X4WvkQsQYDI/AAAAAAAAWQ8/5-_NZqaSSpUHx20A9O1k8NrJ5yzWWxL3wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1000/5839BD65-63B0-4936-A0AA-34FAD853F89B.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="1000" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iTVI2rs1xFI/X4WvkQsQYDI/AAAAAAAAWQ8/5-_NZqaSSpUHx20A9O1k8NrJ5yzWWxL3wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/5839BD65-63B0-4936-A0AA-34FAD853F89B.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>—<i><b>I’m Thinking of Ending Things</b></i>. I feel about Charlie Kaufman’s new film the way I did when I saw Darren Aronofsky’s <i><a href="https://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2017/09/mother.html">Mother!</a></i>: there was definitely a singular artistic vision here, at work in a story that starts out relatively mundane and ends surrealistic and utterly bizarre, but I’ll be damned if I can interpret any of it. My guess is it’s a meditation on aging and the deterioration and fragmentation of memory, though it seems to start as the woman’s story and ends as the man’s, which didn’t make sense. Like <i>Mother!</i>, I went into <i>Thinking</i> blind, assuming all I needed to know was the writer-director and his rep (I have <i>got</i> to stop doing that). Ludicrously talky, it bored me silly in places but I kept thinking well, sooner or later there’ll be an explanation for all this. There wasn’t, not that I could tell.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z6EiL01Moss/X5Nc4bbaQWI/AAAAAAAAWSI/ya29zPJlMMYmk2M3OeWaDXiBaXElaIEzwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1200/C16A97B5-7E64-445F-BCDE-8557C436396F.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z6EiL01Moss/X5Nc4bbaQWI/AAAAAAAAWSI/ya29zPJlMMYmk2M3OeWaDXiBaXElaIEzwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/C16A97B5-7E64-445F-BCDE-8557C436396F.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>—<b><i>Rebecca</i></b> (2020). The critics were less than charitable to this latest version of the world-famous Daphne DuMaurier novel memorably adapted by Alfred Hitchcock in 1940, but I didn’t think it was as mediocre as they said it was. The set design of Manderley was thrilling, as were the location shots, and weird dream sequences aside, I found it watchable. Lily James is less mousy as the nameless protagonist than Joan Fontaine, and Armie Hammer felt a bit less cold and uptight than Laurence Olivier, but Kristin Scott Thomas as Danvers was the best part for me. It won’t make me abandon my Criterion DVD of Hitch’s version, but for what it is, it’s alright.<p></p><p>More on the other side.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p>Most of Queens’ local, independent movie theaters, as far as I can tell, are preparing for a future reopening once the word from the governor is given. So far, the only Virus-related casualty is the Squire Great Neck in Nassau County, the former Movieworld. I only made it there once since the move from Douglaston; I would’ve liked to have gone back.</p><p>The Kew Gardens is still active on their Facebook page. In a post from August 13, they said they’re “prepping the inside for our ‘new normal,’” and they addressed why alternatives such as playing films outdoors wouldn’t work for them: “It makes no sense for us to do anything other than direct our funds & energy into making our REOPENING all you hoped it would be & would expect from us.”</p><p>Cinemart in Forest Hills had been showing movies on an outdoor screen underneath their marquee and adjacent to the cafe next door. In a Facebook post on September 26, they promised “more pop-up movie nights during this time.” They also mentioned a documentary about <a href="https://www.indiewire.com/2020/09/the-projectionist-trailer-abel-ferrara-documentary-new-york-theaters-1234585364/?fbclid=IwAR2Jetr0jL_dohVUciz-WCEbot8VlvqoCPx90oPeDQoWDeolOB1Tch8vl4o">Cinemart owner and New York indie theater mogul Nick Nicolaou</a> directed by Abel Ferrara.</p><p>The Museum of the Moving Image has <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/899731242/ensure-momis-future">a Kickstarter page</a> going to help raise money to ensure their reopening “in the coming months—the number of visitors must be limited to 25% capacity, and operating costs have increased,” according to Director of Development Becca Keating in a recent e-mail.</p><p>Here’s an account from a critic based in California <a href="https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2554972/i-went-back-to-a-movie-theater-for-the-first-time-since-march-and-it-was-weird">on returning to the movie theater</a>.</p><p>——————</p><p>The reduced time spent here has definitely helped my fiction writing. I’m revising my baseball novel YET AGAIN, only much more drastically this time, chopping away entire chapters and streamlining subplots in order to get to the most important parts. I’m even changing the ending. I might change the title. Basically I’m doing all the things I would’ve been scared to do with this story even a year ago, much less five. The end product is recognizable as the story I’ve devoted much of my writing life to (outside of this blog, of course), but I think—hope?—think it’s a better story this time. </p><p>But I’ve said that before.</p><span></span><p>——————</p><p>Remember when I made that chicken paprika dish as part of <a href="https://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2019/10/murder-she-wrote-cookalong-glynis-johns.html">Silver Screen Suppers’ <i>Murder She Wrote</i> cookalong</a>? Well, I recently talked to Jenny and she says her MSW cookbook won’t be ready to go for awhile—she’s looking at October 18, 2021 (Angela Lansbury’s birthday) as a possible release date. She is still looking for test cookers, so if you wanna give it a try, <a href="https://www.silverscreensuppers.com/the-murder-she-wrote-cookalong">let her know.</a></p><p>——————</p><span></span><p>So Tuesday is The Day: either America descends further into a pale reflection of the great democracy we once were, or we admit we fucked up severely four years ago and make a course correction while there’s still time.</p><p>You know where I stand: DT has to go. He never should’ve been allowed anywhere near the White House to begin with and he is not the man I want leading us into a post-Virus world. Please don’t forget to vote. </p><p>I’ll be back the 16th with another blogathon post.</p>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11376065182154885503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189120682398421108.post-64529089355749092392020-11-01T07:00:00.017-05:002020-11-01T07:00:00.257-05:00Shaken and stirred<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6wcxbrl90oM/X54KmaR4L9I/AAAAAAAAWSk/1attj-v6yd4AWQgek-_vUKxpqZLUO8yyACLcBGAsYHQ/s976/E3C6AE6B-A049-479D-8792-7248799A6BBD.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="976" data-original-width="976" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6wcxbrl90oM/X54KmaR4L9I/AAAAAAAAWSk/1attj-v6yd4AWQgek-_vUKxpqZLUO8yyACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/E3C6AE6B-A049-479D-8792-7248799A6BBD.jpeg" /></a></div><br />...by the news, that is. <p></p><p>It was just a couple of weeks ago that I had watched <i>Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade</i> on Netflix. Hadn’t seen it in years and I wanted to see if it held up. It did, more or less.</p><p>But of course, Connery... <i>Sean</i> Connery... will be remembered for much more than that. When <i>No Time to Die</i> eventually gets released (the current date is April 2, 2021), I fully expect it to be dedicated to the memory of the man who helped kickstart one of the greatest film franchises ever and embodied one of the greatest film characters for a generation, and maybe for all time—no disrespect to his successors. James Bond was a product of his time, and though times may change, and characters may evolve with them, the original legend can never truly die.</p><p>I’m more familiar with Connery’s later work, of course, especially <i><a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-untouchables.html">The Untouchables</a></i>, where Brian DePalma and David Mamet embellished the legend of real-life hero Eliot Ness by adding a hard-nosed Irish cop who teaches Ness how to bring in Al Capone “the Chicago way.” Larger than life role in a larger than life movie. No doubt in my mind Connery earned the Oscar.</p><p>Connery was one of the dwindling number of true movie Superstars remaining. Once they’re gone, the book will have closed on their reign forever.</p><p><a href="https://maddylovesherclassicfilms.wordpress.com/2020/10/31/farewell-sean-remembering-sean-connery-1930-2020/">Maddy’s obit is quite professional</a></p>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11376065182154885503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189120682398421108.post-58343328316733616972020-10-31T07:00:00.332-04:002020-10-31T07:00:00.181-04:00I Drink Your Blood/I Eat Your Skin<p><i><a href="https://imdb.com/title/tt0067229/"></a></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><span style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="332" data-original-width="220" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k8hZfmNDSp0/X4DBdbSW8AI/AAAAAAAAWP0/yzFaHei4mZUqk6INlcA2PDfhPrw_UgBPACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/5639B660-3E28-4897-B844-BB5F3E1A6295.jpeg" /></span></i></div><i><a href="https://imdb.com/title/tt0067229/">I Drink Your Blood</a> </i><p></p><p><i><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054724/">I Eat Your Skin</a></i></p><p>YouTube viewing </p><p><br /></p><p>The closure of movie theaters this year as a result of The Virus has led to a resurgence in drive-ins. <a href="https://brooklynbased.com/2020/05/26/the-summer-of-the-drive-in/">Here’s a first-hand account</a> from this past summer of a mother taking her family to a drive-in. In Queens, <a href="https://rooftopfilms.com/drivein/queens/">a drive-in has been born</a> (with a Brooklyn extension), plus <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/06/08/a-diner-turned-drive-in-in-queens">a local diner set up one in Astoria</a>. Others have sprung throughout the tri-state area.</p><p>Years ago, I wrote about <a href="https://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2013/08/to-save-drive-in-you-must-destroy-it.html">ways drive-ins could improve</a>, and while my suggestions would be less feasible in the face of a pandemic, I still believe they could work in normal times. As things stand right now, drive-ins are a nice way to retain the traditional theater-going experience.</p><p>In the 60s and 70s, drive-ins were repositories for, shall we say, more adventurous cinematic material, the kind that appealed to younger audiences. Horror films were among the more popular genres. </p><span><a name='more'></a></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D7uIj9gU7do/X4DBneCJ3DI/AAAAAAAAWP4/juZAG81vNNoEtv0uv5IRbyFJQTFua5WZQCLcBGAsYHQ/s780/A38DCDDE-F4F1-4855-8BD0-EA477EDC9552.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="780" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D7uIj9gU7do/X4DBneCJ3DI/AAAAAAAAWP4/juZAG81vNNoEtv0uv5IRbyFJQTFua5WZQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h180/A38DCDDE-F4F1-4855-8BD0-EA477EDC9552.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p>Director-turned-producer and distributor Jerry Gross took advantage of this trend by placing an emphasis on exploitative posters, taglines, and especially titles: <i>Vice Girls Ltd., Girl on a Chain Gang</i>, and <i>Teenage Mother</i> were among the films he produced in the 60s. (He also distributed <i><a href="https://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2020/07/sweet-sweetbacks-baadasssss-song.html">Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song</a></i>, among other indies.)</p><p>In 1970, in the wake of the Charles Manson murders, Gross’ Cinemation Industries commissioned writer-director David E. Durston to make a cheap, graphic horror film without any supernatural elements. Inspired by a news item about an attack by rabid wolves in Iran, the result was I<i> Drink Your Blood</i>, a film in which a Satanic cult unknowingly ingests blood from a rabid dog and goes a little cuckoo.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K2ODShNsR_c/X4DBuoQAOSI/AAAAAAAAWQA/vPUH6tiTgwsPfyKkM1HgNJqA_Cmp6odvQCLcBGAsYHQ/s800/52683D01-CA3E-4BA0-BD21-9CA2A7D755AD.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="616" data-original-width="800" height="308" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K2ODShNsR_c/X4DBuoQAOSI/AAAAAAAAWQA/vPUH6tiTgwsPfyKkM1HgNJqA_Cmp6odvQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h308/52683D01-CA3E-4BA0-BD21-9CA2A7D755AD.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p>A year later, Gross acquired the rights to a 1964 zombie movie written and directed by another multi-hyphenate, Del Tenney, called, um, <i>Zombies</i>. In that one, a jet-set novelist travels to a Caribbean island with his agent and the agent’s wife to work on his latest book, only to run afoul of the local voodoo cult (strangely, the name “Voodoo Island” does not provide them with a clue that this may not exactly be Club Med). Gross chose to put the two films together as a mandatory twin bill for the drive-in market, and <i>Zombies</i> was retitled <i>I Eat Your Skin</i>.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Both movies are crap. <i>Blood</i>, made when the boundaries on sex and violence in movies had been pushed much farther, at least has nudity and more gore than <i>Skin, </i>not that it counts for a great deal in the end—but it did earn an X rating. This was during a time when movies like <i>Midnight Cowboy, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls</i> and <i><a href="https://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2011/12/fritz-cat-seen-online-via-youtube-12.html">Fritz the Cat</a></i> were getting Xes, so I suppose that’s saying something.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GdZBLBUXGWQ/X4DB1YZubHI/AAAAAAAAWQE/fDm4yJ6mcTI5Xo1qAjzV0dJ6sfgDzXaoQCLcBGAsYHQ/s630/98080F81-179F-40ED-9DDB-11896E387888.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="630" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GdZBLBUXGWQ/X4DB1YZubHI/AAAAAAAAWQE/fDm4yJ6mcTI5Xo1qAjzV0dJ6sfgDzXaoQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h300/98080F81-179F-40ED-9DDB-11896E387888.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p>The Satan cult in <i>Blood</i> made me think (hope?) it would be along the lines of <i><a href="https://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-devils-rain.html">The Devil’s Rain</a></i>, but the Satanic elements are jettisoned once the rabies takes hold and the killing starts, and while the deaths are mildly entertaining by today’s standards, perhaps the creepiest element of the film are the horrible things done to animals—including rats. If you’re any kind of animal lover, this movie is absolutely not for you!</p><p>As for <i>Skin</i>, it treads the same ground as <i>I Walked with a Zombie</i> and <i>White Zombie</i>, with POCs and their scary, foreign rituals and their covetousness of white, blonde women. It also had some elements of <i><a href="https://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2017/10/island-of-lost-souls.html">Island of Lost Souls</a>, </i>though that’s not evident until the end, when the big bad’s master plan is revealed <i>after</i> it was foiled.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xbi2L64Tp5o/X4DB-K8utAI/AAAAAAAAWQQ/lEhMrvigJZ4zbpURhe0ebETEUPKLPMXSwCLcBGAsYHQ/s576/1BC84D01-F867-4436-BEEF-EFB4BA913207.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="324" data-original-width="576" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xbi2L64Tp5o/X4DB-K8utAI/AAAAAAAAWQQ/lEhMrvigJZ4zbpURhe0ebETEUPKLPMXSwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h225/1BC84D01-F867-4436-BEEF-EFB4BA913207.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p>But of course, these movies’ deficiencies did not keep them from developing a following that persists even today. In 2017 a book came out devoted to <a href="https://www.newsobserver.com/entertainment/books/article159474939.html">70s drive-in films and drive-in culture</a>. </p><p>These movies are fun in a campy, retro way, no doubt, and every so often, especially around this time of year, they can be good for a laugh, but the level of devotion these and similar drive-in movies get continues to puzzle me. Maybe it’s because I don’t drive?</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/GXyFAf0Xns8">The drive-in trailer for both movies (NSFW)</a> (and spoilers)</p>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11376065182154885503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4189120682398421108.post-1857045108525225312020-10-17T07:00:00.057-04:002020-10-31T08:18:22.820-04:00Love Among the Ruins<div><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_84HOuxRerM/Xzw6y-dA8sI/AAAAAAAAWEo/JLXiWRmWyL8tfMOPJG1JIiCAyPqHLhkuACLcBGAsYHQ/s800/23E829A7-6546-423D-B672-1B5F557E352A.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="524" height="410" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_84HOuxRerM/Xzw6y-dA8sI/AAAAAAAAWEo/JLXiWRmWyL8tfMOPJG1JIiCAyPqHLhkuACLcBGAsYHQ/w268-h410/23E829A7-6546-423D-B672-1B5F557E352A.jpeg" width="268" /></a></div>The Spencer Tracy & Katharine Hepburn Blogathon is an event celebrating the lives and careers of the famed Hollywood couple, presented by <a href="https://crystalkalyana.wordpress.com/2020/08/18/announcing-the-third-spencer-tracy-and-katharine-hepburn-blogathon/">In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood</a> and <a href="http://loveletterstooldhollywood.blogspot.com/2020/08/announcing-third-spencer-tracy-and.html">Love Letters to Old Hollywood</a>. For a complete list of participating bloggers, visit the links at the host sites.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i><a href="https://imdb.com/title/tt0073310/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">Love Among the Ruins</a></i></div><div>YouTube viewing </div><div><br /></div><div>Katharine Hepburn made more TV movies than you might suspect for an actress whose film career began in 1932 and was almost as active in the theater throughout her life. </div><div><br /></div><div>Her migration to the small screen began after the death of Spencer Tracy in 1967, probably not a coincidence. All told, she made nine films for television, beginning with a remake of <i>The Glass Menagerie</i> in 1973 and ending with <i>One Christmas</i> in 1994, her final film role.</div><div><br /></div><div>In 1972, Hepburn appeared on <i>The Dick Cavett Show</i> and was asked if she would ever make a film with Laurence Olivier, the legendary British actor who was so big they named an acting award after him. Hepburn smiled and said, “Well, neither of us is dead yet. Even though you may think so.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And that set certain wheels in motion...</div><div><br /></div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SKhbYtuXcNQ/Xzq4NEfuS8I/AAAAAAAAWC8/HU9Uqn49n4Mz0jRHwpkClLEtRtr3ISoigCLcBGAsYHQ/s660/A148F4DB-286E-48D3-B825-C02F4FAA7157.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="660" height="310" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SKhbYtuXcNQ/Xzq4NEfuS8I/AAAAAAAAWC8/HU9Uqn49n4Mz0jRHwpkClLEtRtr3ISoigCLcBGAsYHQ/w512-h310/A148F4DB-286E-48D3-B825-C02F4FAA7157.jpeg" width="512" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>To this point, Hepburn had made eight films with director <a href="https://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2012/06/george-cukor-and-his-women.html">George Cukor</a>, including her 1932 film debut, <i>A Bill of Divorcement,</i> and the two wanted to collaborate again. They dusted off an original screenplay by James Costigan originally intended for the husband-and-wife team of Alfred Lunt & Lynn Fontaine called <i>Love Among the Ruins</i>. Hepburn approached her friend Olivier to see if he had any interest in the film. He didn’t. <a href="https://emanuellevy.com/review/love-among-the-ruins-how-katharine-hepburn-manipulated-olivier-3/">Film journalist Emanuel Levy picks up the story</a>:</div><div><blockquote>...Cukor and Hepburn proceeded to write a long, personal letter to Olivier, which consisted of a series of questions: “Do you find the relationship—thus cast—not interesting Do you find it not funny Do you find it too trivial Would there be any particular thing which could make you do it, and if so, what Say it’s just hopeless, and we will both blow our brains out.” Cukor decided to be cute and mention their biggest professional failures. “What a combo!” he told Larry. “The star of <i>Romeo and Juliet</i>; the girl who was so successful in <i>The Lake</i>; and the director—fresh from his success—of <i><a href="https://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2013/08/gone-with-wind.html">Gone With the Wind</a></i>. Irresistible!”</blockquote></div><div>Olivier was amused enough by the letter to change his mind.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4ERDGsL4bSw/Xzq4Ya5rPMI/AAAAAAAAWDA/v1wqwr8lvQsWHCWHNFIqJxr0j7uu3o2swCLcBGAsYHQ/s512/5D08E0B2-7389-49D0-B125-C4AA431FFEB0.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="512" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4ERDGsL4bSw/Xzq4Ya5rPMI/AAAAAAAAWDA/v1wqwr8lvQsWHCWHNFIqJxr0j7uu3o2swCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/5D08E0B2-7389-49D0-B125-C4AA431FFEB0.jpeg" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Hepburn plays a widowed stage actress in pre-WW1 London, at the center of a scandal involving a younger man, a suitor who claims she stood him up at the altar and was now taking her to court for “breach of promise.” Olivier plays Hepburn’s attorney. A big fan, he met her briefly long ago and has carried a torch for her ever since, but she doesn’t even remember him. The movie aired on ABC in March 1975.</div><div><br /></div><div>Hepburn and Olivier make a great combo, as you might imagine, and they both get a number of moments to play off each other and chew a little scenery during the courtroom scenes. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R7BWTE5pFkc/Xzq4hJQA_SI/AAAAAAAAWDI/L9dJdVzhicEwMeGGDA4EUgoFrMtAXeZ2QCLcBGAsYHQ/s512/1A59A34C-DD58-4435-A961-8DB8114FE226.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="512" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R7BWTE5pFkc/Xzq4hJQA_SI/AAAAAAAAWDI/L9dJdVzhicEwMeGGDA4EUgoFrMtAXeZ2QCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/1A59A34C-DD58-4435-A961-8DB8114FE226.jpeg" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Olivier’s character only knew Hepburn for a few days, but he totally loved her, and he had to watch her marry someone else instead. No one else lived up to her memory in all the years since, and now he has to defend her in a case against a young man who reminds him more than a little of himself when he met her. It’s a bittersweet situation, to say the least, but fortunately the tone of <i>Ruins</i> is light and comic.</div><div><br /></div><div>When Hepburn’s character speaks of her late husband, it’s hard to not think of Tracy. Though they never married, they shared an intimacy akin to that of husband and wife. Here she’s a kind of British Auntie Mame. It’s not hard to imagine a younger man falling for her; the big question is whether this particular young man did.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8PyDyMcxRQM/Xzq4orBSC-I/AAAAAAAAWDQ/TXZ3dNpReRMHt0gu5X7TPFpPIueuG1h0wCLcBGAsYHQ/s660/A9C4BD10-974C-43AF-892E-828D523034DD.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="660" height="310" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8PyDyMcxRQM/Xzq4orBSC-I/AAAAAAAAWDQ/TXZ3dNpReRMHt0gu5X7TPFpPIueuG1h0wCLcBGAsYHQ/w512-h310/A9C4BD10-974C-43AF-892E-828D523034DD.jpeg" width="512" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Ruins</i> feels more or less like a Cukor film, one that flew in the face of the “New Hollywood” era of cinema, the one that promised to “bury” Cukor and his generation—and even if this wasn’t a theatrical release, it showed the oldsters still had plenty of life left: it won seven Emmys and a Peabody Award, including Emmys for Cukor, Hepburn, Olivier and screenwriter Costigan. Worth watching.</div><div><br /></div><div>This post was originally scheduled for August, during my month of TV movies, but when Crystal and Michaela announced this blogathon, I knew I had to move it. Just lucky, I guess.</div><div><br /></div><div>—————————</div><div>Other movies by Tracy and Hepburn:</div><div><a href="https://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2015/05/desk-set.html"><i>Desk Set</i></a> (Tracy & Hepburn)</div><div><i><a href="https://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-african-queen.html">The African Queen</a></i> (Hepburn)</div><div><i><a href="https://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2014/01/dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde-1941.html">Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde</a></i> (Tracy)</div><div><i><a href="https://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2013/10/libeled-lady.html">Libeled Lady</a></i> (Tracy)</div><div><i><a href="https://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-actress.html">The Actress</a></i> (Tracy)</div><div>Plus:</div><div><i><a href="https://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2017/06/books-tracy-and-hepburn.html">Tracy and Hepburn</a></i> (book review)</div>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11376065182154885503noreply@blogger.com7