Movies, Mom & Me

• 
  Commentary:  Yes, yes, yes, I own this silly, cotton candy movie. Let me explain. When I had cable TV it used to show up often enough on TCM to satisfy my need for a Funny Face fix. Once I disconnected, though, at least once a year I would find myself on my local library site placing a hold on the movie (it comes from another library in the local system) so I could watch it yet again. And, no, I don't watch it for the story, I watch it for the fashion, for the dances and for the delight that was and is Audrey Hepburn. I know Hepburn has been in many other movies, most notably Breakfast at Tiffanys. Movie gods forgive me, I don't like it. I don't like the "thriller" she's in with Peter O'Toole. I don't like Charade. I can handle Roman Holiday (it reminds me of The Princess Diaries, which I can also handle but wouldn't bother to own) and Sabrina (a bit more than Roman Holiday) but would never seek them out. The Nun's Story is interesting and I might check that one out again but, well, maybe not. The Children's Hour is equally interesting, but I'm not sure I'd check that one out again, either. There are, of course, others. Many. I just don't seek them out. Maybe I will. Maybe I won't. But Funny Face, all I can say is, when I find myself in an Audrey Hepburn mood, only Funny Face will do! And, by the way, Kay Thompson is a hoot, a perfect foil for, and as much of a draw in this film as, Audrey Hepburn. Think pink!
  Update 8/12/2021:  Can you handle it? One more excellent, in depth review of Funny Face researched (that's right, I do mean researched!) and written by The Blonde at the Film, Cameron.
  Update 6/2/2022:  This post was originally published on 2/5/2018 but disappeared from public view. I am now reinstating it.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Audrey Hepburn	Jo Stockton	Fred Astaire	Dick Avery	Kay Thompson	Maggie Prescott	Michel Auclair	Prof. Émile Flostre
  Robert Flemyng	Paul Duval	Dovima	Marion	Jean Del Val	Hairdresser	Virginia Gibson	Babs
  Sue England	Laura	Ruta Lee	Lettie	Alex Gerry	Dovitch	Suzy Parker	Specialty Dancer Pink Number

  
    The Wikipedia write-up for this film is here.
    Release Date: 1957
    Directed by Stanley Donen.

Labels: 20th-century-chick-flicks1, comedy1, dance, fred-astaire, me-favorite1, musical1, period2, romance1, spectacle1

# posted by gail @ 11:06    0 comments    email......this post

• 
  Commentary:  Why, oh why, do I own this movie, especially since, after Mom's death, I quickly passed Mrs. Miniver, a favorite of hers, on to the library? Aren't they both Greer Garson movies? Aren't they both painfully poignant, an attitude that Greer Garson was particularly adept at playing? Isn't Greer Garson as uniquely beautiful, stunning, really, in both? Yes, yes and yes. I can only say, I was indifferent to the WW II promotion of Mrs. Miniver and oddly intrigued by the WW I fallout of this movie. This movie, however, was not one of Mom's favorites, even though it was and is one of mine. So, I didn't own this movie until after she died.
    What do I love about this movie? Well, first, Greer Garson. She has the same effect on me as Audrey Hepburn. I can't stop looking at her. The story, while bizarre, is involving. I love how Garson portrays the duality of her situation as an employee of her husband when he doesn't realize she's his wife. Her glossed over loss of her child is a bit jarring, but that's the only false note in the movie, for me, other than the fact that the story, itself, is implausible. Finally, I enjoy this movie so much that, between watchings, I forget that it's black-and-white! By which I mean, remember the scene where her husband-by-convenience (once her husband by love) gives her the bejeweled necklace and she fishes out the beaded necklace he once gave her and fondles it? I always remember those necklaces in color and am always shocked when I watch that scene, yet again, in real time and realize those necklaces are portrayed in black-and-white! It's that effect on me that I love about this movie.
    It's also the best of a snuggle-in-on-a-snowy-or-ho-hum-day movie for me.
  Update 6/2/2022:  This post was originally published on 2/5/2018 but disappeared from public view. I am now reinstating it.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Ronald Colman	Charles Rainier/John Smith	Greer Garson	Paula Ridgeway/Margaret Hanson	Philip Dorn	Dr. Jonathan Benet	Susan Peters	Kitty Chilcet
  Henry Travers	Dr. Sims	Reginald Owen	Biffer	Bramwell Fletcher	Harrison	Rhys Williams	Sam
  Una O'Connor	Tobacconist	Margaret Wycherly	Mrs. Deventer	Ivan F. Simpson	Vicar	Marie De Becker	Vicar's Wife

  
    You want the Wikipedia write-up? Here it is.
    Release Date: 1942
    Directed by Mervyn LeRoy.

Labels: 20th-century-chick-flicks1, drama5, me-favorite1, popcorn-and-soda2, romance1

# posted by gail @ 11:00    0 comments    email......this post

• Who's watched:  M & G
• Mentions:  none
• 
  Commentary:  This was one of the last Christmas movies we purchased before Mom's death. I'd often wanted a copy of it because Mom had fond, though vague, memories of it. The version we purchased included the black-and-white and color editions. Although there are several b&w movies I'd refuse to watch in color, It's a Wonderful Life, for instance, or High Noon (yee gads, what a horrible idea, High Noon in color), the usual Tracy/Hepburn movies, Miracle on 34th Street (the original one), I have to say, I like this one in color better than the b&w version, although, in it's favor, that's the version we watched first. I gave Mom a choice and she chose color first. This edition contains a special feature which documents the colorization process. Once I understood how it's done, the idea didn't seem quite so disgusting. But, I still want my Now, Voyager in black & white.
    Review opinions on this movie run the gamut. I've linked a negative review to the title of this post. Here's a foursome of much more positive reviews of the film. So, you know, watch the movie, take your pick.
  Update 5/24/22:  Yet another post published on 4/09/09 that "disappeared" and I had to recapture.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Bing Crosby	Jim Hardy	Fred Astaire	Ted Hanover	Marjorie Reynolds	Linda Mason	Walter Abel	Danny Reed
  Virginia Dale	Lila Dixon	Louise Beavers	Mamie	Irving Bacon	Gus	James Bell	Dunbar from Hollywood

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1942
    Directed by Mark Sandrich.

Labels: 20th-century-chick-flicks1, Christmas, comedy1, dance, fred-astaire, louise-beavers, musical1, popcorn-and-soda3, romance2

# posted by gail @ 11:20    0 comments    email......this post

• 
  Commentary:  This movie turns on Sarah Tobias' (played with verve and extraordinary competence by Jodie Foster) dance in the game room of the bar she was in the night she was raped. The dance is joyously energetic, celebratory, expressive and, yes, seemingly provocative, except that it is clear she wasn't trying to provoke anything, she was merely expressing. That dance, more than anything in the movie, is what defines the criminal injustice in what happened to her next. The idea of rape was clearly present in the minds of the watchers even before the dance took place. The rapists were simply waiting for the opportunity to do the deed. It didn't matter on who they perpetrated the rape. It could have been any of the women in that bar. It just happened to be Sarah. It was Sarah because, if you notice, all the other featured women in the bar left as the rape took shape in the minds of the rapists and onlookers or as it commenced. This movie is, in my opinion, a brilliant commentary on male society's perspective on rape. To men, they are not the perpetrators, women are, for simply being, well, women. Although a dance preceeded this rape, rarely does anything objectively "provocative" preceed most rapes. Thus, the presence, or absence, of a provocative dance is not up for question. The movie clearly underlines that rape isn't something women, or men, for that matter, provoke, it's something that men perpetrate upon weaker members of the society, women, primarily, but not exclusively.
    I initially saw this movie a long time ago, possibly on television, but I can't be sure. I'd forgotten about it until it popped up in a sale of film products featuring female actors and other crew. Suddenly, I was remembering the extraordinary effect it had on me. It did not make me afraid, so much, as disgusted at the shenanigans through which the legal system put this case. It smartened me up right quick, as they say in the trades. I've never had to participate in such a case, and hope I never do, but thinking, yet again, about this movie still kindles a sense of righteous anger in me.
    Let me state this clearly: As a woman, and, only, as a woman, I neither like nor trust men. I learned this, first from my father, not explicitly, but implicitly, ambiguously. Even when some man, somewhere, says or does something with which I concur, which is often, I am guarded. I am always thinking, in the back of my mind, that at any moment that particular man is going to say or do something else that will completely undercut any act of seeming fairness or support. That's just what it is to be a woman in this society, and many others. It could be different but, in 1988, when this movie was released, and now, in 2022, as I just completed watching it for the second time in my life, this remains true. And, men wonder why in the world some feminists want to separate from, or get rid of, men.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Jodie Foster	Sarah Tobias	Kelly McGillis	Kathryn Murphy	Bernie Coulson	Kenneth Joyce	Ann Hearn	Salley Fraser

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1988
    Directed by Jonathan Kaplan.

Labels: 20th-century-chick-flicks1, character-study, dramaE, feminist, jodie-foster, legal, violence4

# posted by gail @ 12:10    0 comments    email......this post

• 
  Commentary:  Once again, Rock Hudson rises to the challenge of helping Douglas Sirk subtly undermine late 1950's American lives and values. [Are they only American, and only mid-20th century, values? See the the following movie write-up, Ali: Fear East the Soul for an interesting perspective on this question.]
    Once again, I haven't yet seen this movie, so I don't have a lot to write about. For an interesting perspective, though, check out the Wikipedia article linked above to Sirk's name. Further, take note that Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, a German remake of this film, was released almost exactly 20 years later.
    In addition, it's interesting to note that according to the Wikipedia article linked above about Sirk, movie critics have changed their reactions to his work over time, and, apparently, continue to do so. Regarding Far From Heaven, a 2002 period film written and directed by Todd Haynes, Haynes is unabashed in his recognition of the influence of Sirk's work on him and this particular movie of his.
  Update Sometime in early 2022:  I have not only seen this movie, I've seen it more than once and will probably watch it again and again. For all its melodrama, it is a film to get lost in for me because it echoes an era I just missed but that, nonetheless, had a huge impact on how my generation made its way in life. This is not a movie I would have enjoyed as a young woman, but, now, I not only appreciate what it was saying and the era in which it was made, I love the lushness of the production and its subtle undermining of all it appears to promote.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Jane Wyman	Cary Scott	Rock Hudson	Ron Kirby	Agnes Moorehead	Sara Warren	Conrad Nagel	Harvey
  Virginia Grey	Alida Anderson	Gloria Talbot	Kay Scott	David Janssen	Freddie Norton	William Reynolds	Ned Scott
  Charles Drake	Mick Anderson	Jacqueline deWit	Mona Plash	Hayden Rorke	Dr. Dan Hennessy	Leigh Snowden	Jo-Ann Grisby

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1955
    Directed by Douglas Sirk.

Labels: 20th-century-chick-flicks1, Criterion3, douglas-sirk, dramaE, melodramaA, rock-hudson, romance5

# posted by gail @ 16:30    0 comments    email......this post

• 
  Commentary:  Yes, I read the book. Decades ago. When I was a teenager. When it was, sort of, taboo literature for girls my age. I also saw the movie when I was a teenager, and have seen it several times since, when it's been featured on some TV channel. It's hard to describe what kind of a hold this movie has over me; why, for instance, I so enjoy watching the turgid stories of these three young women and their torrid lives. I can tell you that I never considered owning this movie until I noticed that Criterion had put out an edition of it with loads of special features. "Ah ha!" I thought. "This edition will help me explain to myself my fascination with this movie!" I'm not sure that's what happened, but I can tell you that I spent an entire afternoon indulging in the movie and each one of the special features, including reading the accompanying booklet cover to cover.
    This movie is the ultimate chick flick. Although the focus is supposed to be on the "dolls", the pills that these women consume in order to follow their dreams, the truth is the pills are incidental. The bonus material often refers to it as "camp", but, I can tell you, its campiness is not why I love this movie. I don't love it because it reminds me of the decade of the 1960s. Frankly, even though I was a teenager during that decade, I was pretty much a bookish girl-woman who lived a life that could have been described, from the outside, as dull. I didn't have glorious dreams like the women in this movie. I love the movie because I love reveling in the stories of embattled chicks, whether they're on "dolls" or not. There. I said it.
    You'll notice I've labeled it as both a "pussy-flick" and a "women's movie". For me, it's both. It is not a "20th-century-chick-flick", as none of the romances follow that particular type of romantic story. Nobody ends up with their man. It contains scenes that are so full of pathos they can only be described as pathetic and scenes that are touching and thoughtful. It contains a lot of other scenes that are, frankly, just plain cheesy. Sometimes, too, those cheesy scenes are so over-scripted that, while you're watching, you know you're supposed to find them moving but you can't help but giggle, even if you're watching the movie alone. Ah, but those scenes are, dare I say it, the most fun!
    Finally, yes, it's true, Roger Ebert was mildly disgusted by this movie (I say "mildly" because he gave it two stars, rather than one). So, he and Russ Meyer co-wrote what they intended as a parody, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. I never saw that movie, although, apparently, according to Wikipedia, it duplicated the fate of the original, first ignored, then loved, then culted and partially reappraised. Roger Ebert even wrote an explanatory review of Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. I didn't read the review, only skimmed it. I probably won't ever see this movie, but, you know, if you can't beat 'em, I guess ...
    Thank you, Criterion! A master coup!
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Barbara Parkins	Anne Wells	Patty Duke	Neely O'Hara	Paul Burke	Lyon Burke	Sharon Tate	Jennifer North
  Tony Scotti	Tony Polar	Lee Grant	Miriam Polar	Susan Hayward	Helen Lawson	Martin Milner	Mel Anderson
  Alexander Davion	Ted Casablanca	Jacqueline Susann	Reporter #1	Richard Dreyfuss	Asst. Stage Mgr.	Judith Lowry	Aunt Amy

  
    Here, as usual, is the Wikipedia write-up of this movie.
    Release Date: 1967
    Directed by Mark Robson.

Labels: 20th-century-chick-flicks1, buddy, Criterion1, drama2, fantasy1, me-favorite1, popcorn-and-soda1, psychological1, pussy-flick, richard-dreyfuss, romance1, tragedy1, women's-movie1

# posted by gail @ 16:11    0 comments    email......this post

• 
  Commentary:  Up front, I'm not a fan of this movie, nor of the Annette Bening/Warren Beatty remake, although I love Sleepless in Seattle, which is so full of this movie it practically vomits it. When I first saw and fell in love with Sleepless in Seattle I had never seen this movie, any remakes of it, nor was I familiar with the story. Once I became my mother's companion and we began sharing our love of watching movies, I finally saw this movie on one of the many cable channels to which we subscribed. [I'm telling you, we were really into movies!] Mom did not remember if she'd ever seen it, but she didn't care for it. I clearly remember her saying, when the movie finished "Well, that was silly!" My thoughts, exactly.
    So, what am I doing with this movie in my collection? It came in another one of those four-packs. I was looking for one (old) movie, in particular and it was cheaper to buy the four-pack with it than it was to buy the movie as a single.
    All I can say about this movie, An Affair to Remember [Wikipedia link to this film], is, at least I have a disc record of a movie to which lots of other movies refer but that I never liked, and, I'm sure, never will, not even in its next remake. I'm sure there will be another remake!
  Update 8/14/19:  Well, I decided to watch this movie, tonight, as, the more I tried to recall it, the more I realized all I could remember was the Annette Bening/Warren Beatty/Katharine Hepburn remake, for which I didn't much care, and the references to the original in Sleepless in Seattle. Wow! Was I surprised! I'm thinking, now, that maybe I never really saw it, it may have been one of those movies that I'd glance at between chores, checking on Mom watching it, while she and I were companions. I have little knowledge to base this on, but it seems very 50's-ish in it's portrayal of romance (which shouldn't be a surprise, considering that it came to the screen in 1957): witty, intelligent, full of stock secondary characters who are (thankfully) used lightly, lush orchestration almost to a fault, strong female lead, independent male lead, oh, come on, you know the 50's drill. I was born in the 50's and raised primarily outside the U.S. without much television so I was either too young or too far away to see any of these films until decades later when they became available on tapes/dvds, I moved back to the states and finally (after many years) was in the presence of a television. It's an interesting exercise to watch these movies, and this movie, now. I found myself wondering, as I watched (which often happens when I watch one of these 50's movies), if I had been exposed to them when I, as a U.S. kid, was supposed to have been exposed to them, would my perception of what it is to be a woman be any different, now? It's very late, tonight, though, and my mind isn't sharp enough to give much cogent thought to this, but I wanted to make a note of it, perhaps write/think, here, about it, later. Here's the beginning of a list of movies I own that would fall into this category for consideration: The Best of Everything; Funny Face; I don't know, maybe I was too young to have been exposed to these movies at a time when conditions would have been ripe for them to have an effect on me; I mean, in 1957 I was 5 years old for most of the year (I'm an autumn child), thus, I can't imagine that I would have been intrigued by this movie, in particular, and many, of that time, in general, had I seen them during their first runs; ... more later ...
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Cary Grant	Nicolò Ferrante	Deborah Kerr	Terry McKay	Richard Denning	Kenneth Bradley	Neva Patterson	Lois Clark
  Cathleen Nesbitt	Grandmother Janou	Robert Q. Lewis	Self as Announcer	Charles Watts	Ned Hathaway	Fortunio Bonanova	Courbet

  
    By the way, the great Marnie Nixon sings for Terry McKay.
    Release Date: 1957
    Directed by Leo McCarey.

Labels: 20th-century-chick-flicks1, cary-grant, popcorn-and-soda1, romance1

# posted by gail @ 19:00    0 comments    email......this post

• 
  Commentary:  What am I doing with this disgustingly dated soap opera in my collection? Why would I deign to own it? Good question. It belongs to that category of movies which includes the likes of Valley of the Dolls, the better of which is, for instance, The Group. The Best of Everything, even though in many circles it is considered a classic of the genre, it is also, in my opinion, one of the worst. And one of the most fascinating. I was not raised by this era's dictates, although I have an elder sister who got in on some of them and I remember my mother's fascination with, for instance, gloves, hats and dresses of the style featured in the movies. I escaped all that, somehow. But it is the memory of my mother's fondness for the fashion and attitudes of this era (even though she was not a classic 50's woman, or mother) that allows me to be captivated by this movie. This movie is a perfect encapsulation of what it was like to be a young woman in the 50's. It is what the women of Mona Lisa Smile imagined for themselves and often achieved. The interesting thing about this movie is that it was made, picture perfect and spot-on, as the era was waning, unbeknownst to the characters in the movie or the eager viewers in 1959. The women portrayed in this movie, a mere few years later, read The Feminine Mystique, The Second Sex (usually in that order), and catalyzed Second Wave Feminism.
    I, born in 1951, announced stalwartly to my mother when I was tottering on puberty, in the early 60's, that I was not going to get married or have children because I wanted to have sex with more than one man in my life. I was too young to understand that this was not my primary reason for shying away from marriage, children, mutual housekeeping, but I got the trajectory of my life right, blessedly. Not a 50's attitude, but surely an attitude marking the era in which I came of age.
    Because I saw enough of the dregs of the 50's women's lives, though, despite the fact that I was never interested in that, I was (and still am) drawn to considering the life that us young women of the 60's were eschewing. I think it has something to do with how era begets era. This movie is an encapsulation of the era that birthed mine. I think my attraction to this movie is based on that recognition. The following snippet of conversation between Mike Rice (played by Stephen Boyd), an editor-in-chief of a Fabian publication, and Caroline Bender (played by Hope Lange and possessing an interesting and appropos-to-the-period character last name), a secretary at Fabian later promoted to reader, then editor, illustrates what the era previous to mine wanted from its women:
  
    Mike Rice: Don't you get caught, Caroline.
    Caroline Bender: Caught in what, Mr. Rice?
    Mike Rice: In a bind, Caroline. Or in a bottle, Caroline. In Fabian's (the publishing company for which they both work) publishers of quality, Caroline. Get out quick. Work six months or a year. Prove whatever you have to prove. Then marry the med student or the law student and "love" happily ever after.
    Caroline Bender: I plan to.
    Mike Rice: No business career? No fame? No fortune?
    Caroline Bender: No.
    Mike Rice: No ambition?
    Caroline Bender: None.
    Mike Rice: How Wonderful.
  
    I remember the first time I saw this movie, when my mother was alive, I was flabbergasted at the structure of women's lives it displayed and guffawed as I told my Florida sister about the movie. I no longer guffaw when I watch it. I, rather, contemplate it and how it is, exactly, that my generation and generations since emerged from it. And wonder, are we likely to repeat it in some future incarnation?
  Update 8/3/21:  You'll notice, since I wrote this, I've acquired The Group and Valley of the Dolls. With pleasure. Extra credit question: What does this say about me?
  Update 6/4/22:  I'm telling you, everything in this movie is up for analyzation grabs. As I'm entering this in my movie journal I notice that "the boss" of Fabian Publishing is named "Fred Shalimar". Shalimar is the name of a suffocatingly heavy perfume that was popular in the late 50's and early 60's (and other periods of time). Much to my chagrin, I proudly owned a bottle when I was a young teenager; saved my own money for it; loved it so much I took it on vacation, one year. It broke under the lack of pressurization in the airplane baggage hold (and stunk up everything in my suitcase, by the way, which was fine with me). I immediately replaced it at our first vacation stop, Honolulu, HI.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Hope Lange	Caroline Bender	Stephen Boyd	Mike Rice	Suzy Parker	Gregg Adams	Martha Hyer	Barbara Lamont
  Diane Baker	April Morrison	Brian Aherne	Fred Shalimar	Robert Evans	Dexter Key	Brett Halsey	Eddie Harris
  Donald Harron	Sydney Carter	Louis Jourdan	David Savage	Joan Crawford	Amanda Farrow	Ted Otis	Dr. Ronnie Wood

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1959
    Directed by Jean Negulesco.

Labels: 20th-century-chick-flicks1, drama4, joan-crawford, popcorn-and-soda2, romance1

# posted by gail @ 16:08    0 comments    email......this post

• Who's watched:  Bought this movie AMD
• Mentions:  none
• 
  Commentary:  Funny about this movie. Yes, it's yet another emotional and, this time, comedic fluff movie that I bought after my mother died, for the same reasons I bought all the others. It was, as well, one of the movies that I recorded on our DVR long before my mother died and kept there because both of us enjoyed watching it so much, thus, watching it now has the added dimension of remembering my mother's and my shared pleasure in the movie. Although we enjoyed the entire movie, we especially liked the title sequence featuring Harry Nilsson's "The Puppy Song". Too bad this guy died so young. This isn't the only one of his compositions that intrigues me. I bought it in order to erase it from the DVR and, of course, watch it at my leisure.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Tom Hanks	Joe Fox	Meg Ryan	Kathleen Kelly	Parker Posey	Patricia Eden	Jean Stapleton	Birdey
  Dave Chappelle	Kevin	Steve Zahn	George	Dabney Coleman	Nelson Fox	Greg Kinnear	Frank Navasky

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1998
    Directed by Nora Ephron.

Labels: 20th-century-chick-flicks1, comedy1, female-director3, meg-ryan, popcorn-and-soda2, romance1, shared-favorite, tom-hanks

# posted by gail @ 13:29    0 comments    email......this post

• Who's watched:  Watched and bought this movie AMD
• Mentions:  None
• 
  Commentary:  I admit it. I'm a Flashdance junkie, just like millions (maybe billions, considering its stunning entry into the global cultural lexicon; if you doubt this, watch Caro diario; my library system used to have this film; it doesn't, anymore, I just checked). Yes, the story is dumb, yes it's pretty much badly acted, yes it's a pussy flick, but I don't care. I love the music/dance sequences. My favorite is the Maniac sequence. My second favorite is the Manhunt sequence: LOVE it when the dancer crawls across the floor! My third favorite is the one that features a reaction to television, Imagination. This is not to say that I don't like any of the other dance sequences. I found myself craving this film after my mother died, (much as I craved, with much personal embarrassment, the movie City of Angels) because I felt like I needed to feed off its energy. It worked, and still works. I guess, with City of Angels, I needed to feed off its grief process. Did my mother ever watch it? Possibly, during one of its infamous (but infrequent) television reruns, although I can't remember. Whether or not she saw it, would she have liked it? Absolutely, for exactly the same reasons I like it. I refuse to say any more on the grounds that it might incriminate both of us.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Jennifer Beals	Alexandra Owens	Michael Nouri	Nick Hurley	Lilia Skala	Hanna Long	Sunny Johnson	Jeanie Szabo
  Cyntha Rhodes	Tina Tech	Kyle T. Heffner	Richie Blazek	Lee Ving	Johnny C	Ron Karabatsos	Jake Mawby

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1983
    Directed by Adrian Lyne.

Labels: 20th-century-chick-flicks1, audio-visual, coming-of-age1, dance, me-favorite2, musical1, popcorn-and-soda2, pussy-flick, romance1

# posted by gail @ 12:21    0 comments    email......this post

• Who's watched:  M & G
• Mentions:  none
• 
  Commentary:  I picked this up because Mom and I so enjoyed the video versions of Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility that we own. A friend told me that I'd probably like this version of the Jane Austen novel, too. I'm usually wary of friends recommending movies to me, but she was right. Mom and I both enjoyed this one. Film adaptations of Jane Austen and others' works can be disappointing; Mom and I have been disappointed before. This one isn't. I still prefer the books, but this movie and the other two JA adaptations we own bring the characters and environments to life.
    You'll notice I've sorted this movie into my "20th-century-chick-flicks1" category. Yes, I know, it's based on an 1817 novel, which indicates that the peculiar type of romance depicted here is, in essence century-less. All I can say in my defense it, they didn't make movies in 1817.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Amanda Root	Anne Elliot	Ciarán Hinds	Frank Wentworth	Susan Fleetwood	Lady Russell	Corin Redgrave	Sir Walter Scott
  Fiona Shaw	Mrs. Croft	John Woodvine	Admiral Croft	Phoebe Nicholls	Elizabeth Elliot	Samuel West	Mr. Elliot
  Sophie Thompson	Mary Musgrove	Judy Cornwell	Mrs. Musgrove	Roger Hammond	Mr. Musgrove	Simon Russell Beale	Charles Musgrove

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1995
    Directed by Roger Michell.

Labels: 20th-century-chick-flicks1, dramedy1, period3, romance2

# posted by gail @ 14:45    0 comments    email......this post

• Who's watched:  M & G
• Mentions:  *1* *2*
• 
  Commentary:  Both Mom and I could watch this movie every day for a year, then turn around and watch to celebrate the following New Year's Day. Plus, this video includes the full length docu-video about the Kendall's School of Dance, which inspired Baz Lurhmann to write this story. This documentary, alone, is worth the price of the video...and then, you get the main feature! What a treat!
    Although Paul Mercurio is a professional dancer in real life, his acting is a bit stiff. This has a negligible effect, though, because Tara Morice is as liquid an actor as she is a dancer and the two are supported by a host of excellent Australian actors.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Paul Mercurio	Scott Hastings	Tara Morice	Fran	Bill Hunter	Barry Fife	Pat Thomson	Shirley Hastings
  Antonio Vargas	Rico	Armonia Benedito	Ya Ya	Barry Otto	Doug Hastings	Sonia Kruger	Tina Sparkle

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1992
    Directed by Baz Luhrmann.

Labels: 20th-century-chick-flicks1, bill-hunter, dance, drama8, popcorn-and-soda4, romance2, satire2, shared-favorite

# posted by gail @ 13:27    0 comments    email......this post

• Who's watched:  M & G
• Mentions:  *1* *2* *3*
• 
  Commentary:  Ahhh...be still my heart! I love this movie so much it's hard for me to decide whether this or All About Eve is my favorite Bette Davis movie. First, of course, Bette Davis. What a character she plays in this! What a wonderful job she does! Second, the story. I consider the end strikingly unusual, but, I reminded myself that this movie played in 1942: Women were losing men to war, revelling in their independence and sudden ability to make a living and be both needed and wanted by the workforce...I guess I shouldn't consider it quite so striking. And then, of course, there's Claude Rains. My infatuation with this man is absolutely unreasonable. I kept wanting and expecting Davis' character to become romantically involved with his character, a psychiatrist. And, then, of course, the cigarettes. Read the mentions for information about how they went over in our household...definitely a surprise.
    I can't, unfortunately, comment much about Paul Henreid's performance. For me, he was simply an object off which Davis bounced. However, there was one other performance in the movie I considered devastating: Gladys Cooper as Mrs. Vale. Not only was her character wickedly written, her performance was flawless. her portrayal was so subtle, she transformed Mrs. Vale into a quiet horror; always much better than an obvious horror.
    The first part of the title is linked to an alternate review in which quite a bit of dialogue is quoted. As well, once again, as with the Joan Crawford Collection, I've linked the second part of the title to a site that gets it done when it comes to collections (and other reviews, as well). His review of this movie is the fourth down the page. Thank you, DVD Savant, now CineSavant!
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Bette Davis	Charlotte Vale	Paul Heinried	Jeremiah Duvaux Durrance	Claude Rains	Dr. Jaquith	Gladys Cooper	Mrs. Windle Vale
  Bonita Granville	June Vale	John Loder	Elliot Livingston	Katharine Alexander	Miss Trask	Mary Wickes	Dora Pickford
  Frank Puglia	Giuseppe	Ilka Chase	Lisa Vale	Franklin Pangborn	Mr. Thompson	Janis Wilson	Tina Durrance

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1942
    Directed by Irving Rapper.

Labels: 20th-century-chick-flicks1, bette-davis, claude-rains, drama9, mother-daughter-dynamics1, popcorn-and-soda4, romance2, shared-favorite

# posted by gail @ 13:24    0 comments    email......this post

• Who's watched:  M & G
• Mentions:  None
• 
  Commentary:  Although I'm nowhere near a Bette Davis expert, this movie seemed to me like a Bette Davis miscast, at first, although my inordinate love of Claude Rains took my mind off this for quite awhile. Despite this, it didn't take long for me to believe her portrayal; a credit to Davis, not the casting, I think. Mom loved the intense, obvious melodrama. She also got lost in the lush period flavor and imagined, afterward, that the movie had been in color; which I understand is a typical reaction to both this movie and Jezebel. I'd watch this movie again, just for the pleasure of watching Claude Rains again.
    Once again, as with the Joan Crawford Collection, I've linked the second part of the title to a site that gets it done when it comes to collections (and other reviews, as well). The review for this movie is the second review on the page. Thank you, DVD Savant, now CineSavant!
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Bette Davis	'Fanny' Trellis Skeffington	Claude Rains	Job Skeffington	Walter Abel	George Trellis	Richard Waring	Trippy Trellis
  Jerome Cowan	Suitor Edward Morrison	Dorothy Peterson	Manby	Marjorie Riordan	Fanny Rachel Trellis	Johnny Mitchell	Johnny Mitchell, Fanny's daughter's husband

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1944
    Directed by Vincent Sherman.
  

Labels: 20th-century-chick-flicks1, bette-davis, claude-rains, drama9, melodramaA, period4, romance2, shared-favorite

# posted by gail @ 13:23    0 comments    email......this post

• Who's watched:  M & G
• Mentions:  None
• 
  Commentary:  This came with About a Boy. If it hadn't, I probably would never have viewed this one, certainly wouldn't have bought it. It's definitely another frippery, but not exactly my style, although Mom liked it very much, so much that when I asked her, after our viewing, if we should keep it or trade it in, she looked at me as though I was crazy and said, "Keep it! Of course!". So, we're keeping it. I have to say, I very much enjoy the roommate. There are parts of the movie, though, that are distinct rip offs of Four Weddings and a Funeral. I enjoy those parts much more in FWAAF than I do here. As well, in FWAAF Hugh Grant is fresh. In this movie he seems to be leaning on past performances, to the detriment of this movie. He tends to be one note, anyway. Although I like his note, I prefer it well played.
  Update 7/31/21:  Just a self-actualizing note here. I chucked FWAAF to the library and kept this! Have I watched it since I got rid of FWAAF? No. So, the next time I thin my collection, perhaps you should expect this movie's title to be changed to garish yellow. I'll watch it first, though, just to make sure. Maybe there's something about it I'll like that I didn't like, or, at least, couldn't handle, through another watching of FWAAF. We'll see.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Julia Roberts	Anna Scott	Hugh Grant	William Thacker	Hugh Bonneville	Bernie	Emma Chambers	Honey Thacker
  James Dreyfus	Martin	Rhys Ifans	Spike	Tim McInnerny	Max	Emily Mortimer	Perfect Girl

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1999
    Directed by Roger Michell.

Labels: 20th-century-chick-flicks1, emily-mortimer, julia-roberts, popcorn-and-soda4, romance2

# posted by gail @ 22:32    0 comments    email......this post

• Who's watched:  M & G
• Mentions:  *1*
• 
  Commentary:  Although the story is pleasant enough and I enjoy the romantic comedy no matter how many times I see it, this movie is a hallmark for me because I lived in Seattle when it was being filmed, saw it during its first run in Seattle and watch it more for its ability to transport me back to Seattle than anything else. Mom enjoys the story.
  Update: 5/14/2022:  Just want to mention, after all these years, since I first saw this movie, in Seattle, where I was living during its initial release, I not only haven't grown tired of it, I watch it regularly, yearn for it, even, at least once or twice a year. When I learned one of my nephews was relocating to Seattle, I immediately made space in my day to watch this film. It's not the story, although that's entertaining. It's Seattle, the star of this movie, for me. As I watch I rewalk the streets and even mentally insert scenarios that are pertinent to me, and only to me. The story? Eh. The setting? Ahh!!
    One final observation. In reading (long after I saw the movie several times) the critical rundown in Wikipedia on this movie, I realized they all missed the subtle satire undergirding the movie, which is what actually lifts it out of the category of "maudlin". Maybe you have to live in Seattle to catch this.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Tom Hanks	Sam Baldwin	Meg Ryan	Annie Reed	Bill Pullman	Walter Jackson	Ross Malinger	Jonah Baldwin
  Rob Reiner	Jay Matthews	Rosie O'Donnell	Becky	Gaby Hoffmann	Jessica	Victor Garber	Role Name
  Actor Name	Greg	Rita Wilson	Suzy	David Hyde Pierce	Dennis Reed	Caroline Aaron	Dr. Marcia Fieldstone

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1993
    Directed by Nora Ephron.

Labels: 20th-century-chick-flicks1, comedy1, female-director2, me-favorite3, meg-ryan, romance3, tom-hanks

# posted by gail @ 16:57    0 comments    email......this post

• Who's watched:  M & G
• Mentions:  *1* *2*
• 
  Commentary:  This came as one of five in a Joan Crawford Collection (Click the part of the title that says "The Joan Crawford Collection" for a different summary and review). I've watched this movie three times, once, the first, on TCM. The link, by the way, will take you to TCM's "article links" page for their website, where you can access even more information on the movie.
    Mom and I continue to be transfixed by this movie, especially the clothes and the in-color fashion sequence. Joan Crawford is a riot as the seductress. The opening credits alone are worth seeing over and over.
  Update 9/23/21:  I just want to mention, I remain, since Mom's death, a staunch fan of Joan Crawford and this movie. You might notice that I also have the remake of this movie, The Women - (2008). Although I enjoy Annette Bening's performance in it, I love Bette Midler as The Countess, I'm glad they included a lesbian and I salute the attempt not to pay fealty to the catch phrase on the cover of this version, "It's all about men!", still, the comedy isn't quite as heightened in the 2008 version and the showing of Mary Haine's clothing designs is kind of a letdown. During that scene it's hard not to be distracted by the thought, "Couldn't they have gotten a better designer for this movie?!?"
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Norma Shearer	Mary Haines	Joan Crawford	Crystal Allen	Rosalind Russell	Sylvia Fowler	Mary Boland	The Countess De Lave
  Phyllis Povah	Edith Potter	Paulette Goddard	Miriam Aarons	Phyllis Povah	Edith Potter	Joan Fontaine	Peggy Day
  Virginia Weidler	Little Mary Haines	Lucile Watson	Mrs. Morehead	Marjorie Main	Lucy	Dennie Moore	Olga, the manicurist

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up on this movie.
    Release Date: 1939
    Directed by George Cukor.
  

Labels: 20th-century-chick-flicks1, joan-crawford, marjorie-main, me-favorite3, popcorn-and-soda5, romance3, satire2, women's-movie1

# posted by gail @ 02:34    0 comments    email......this post

• Who's watched:  M & G
• Mentions:  *1*
• 
  Commentary:  When we are in the mood to be perfectly delighted, we watch this movie. Before we owned it, I even went out of my way to rent it when I thought we needed a shot of what it offers. It worked for us last night when we watched it.
  Update 5/9/2022:  I still find myself needing this movie, enjoying this movie, watching this movie. The comedy and hilarity is this movie is so well done, so deadpan. Julianne's reaction to hearing her best friend, Michael, is getting married? Priceless. The scene where one of the bridesmaids accidentally freezes her tongue to an ice sculpture? Priceless. The I Say a Little Prayer scene? Priceless. And then, and then, the movie wraps up in a sweet, realistic, dignified manner. Priceless.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Julia Roberts	Julianne Potter	Dermot Mulroney	Michael O'Neal	Cameron Diaz	Kimmy Wallace	Rupert Everett	George Downes
  Philip Bosco	Walter Wallace	M. Emmet Walsh	Joe O'Neal	Rachel Griffiths	Samantha Newhouse	Carrie Preston	Amanda Newhouse

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1997
    Directed by P.J. Hogan.
  
  

Labels: 20th-century-chick-flicks1, buddy, comedy2, julia-roberts, paul-giamatti, romance3, shared-favorite

# posted by gail @ 10:36    0 comments    email......this post