Thursday, May 02, 2024
Behind the Candelabra
- Commentary: Wow, wow, wow! Was this movie hard to find, as a "new" copy (i.e., not yet sold) here in the U.S.! If I lived in Europe, or England, or possessed a Region 2 disc player, I would have one of several new or used copies from which to choose. Not here. I'm not sure why, since it's an HBO production, but, whatever. I hope I (blindly) chose a playable, decent version. We'll be finding out, soon. I'm not sure what I'm going to do (other than return the movie to the seller) if I don't get lucky in my choice. Why, I can't help but wonder, is this movie impossible to find as a newly pressed disc in the U.S.? I can't even begin to guess.
Anyway, we'll find out about the quality in about a week. Yeah, I know, it also "comes", here, across the pond, with an extraordinarily long delivery time, even though the site from which I ordered it is housed in the U.S. I'm wondering if the store in question has to order it from Europe.
I was reminded of this movie in a show I was watching about movies that seem to have been forgotten (in the U.S., anyway). Yes, I've seen the movie. When I initially watched it, I really liked it. Michael Douglas, what can I say, a master actor who always has a new trick up his sleeve. Then, I forgot about it, for years. It wasn't until today that I realized why I was allowed to forget it. For some reason, here in the U.S., we're neither encouraged nor allowed to remember and watch it. Which is especially disappointing considering the impossibility of me finding an unplayed, "new" copy of it. What is your excuse for this, HBO, considering that I could easily obtain a new, unplayed copy of it in The Lands of Region 2 if I lived there? Really! What are the sneaky, very probably corrupt, corporate machinations behind obliterating a quintessential American movie in America??? Why, Steven Soderbergh have you allowed this to happen?
Anyway, with any luck, and I expect I'll need a lot of luck working on my behalf, the copy that will arrive at my home next week will be a decently watchable copy. Keep your fingers crossed for me, Dear Reader, and I'll be doing the same.
I'll report back.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Michael Douglas Liberace Matt Damon Scott Thorson Dan Aykroyd Seymour Heller Rob Lowe Dr. Jack Startz Debbie Reynolds Frances Liberace Scott Bakula Bob Black Boyd Holbrook Cary James Tom Papa Ray Arnett Nicky Katt Mr. Y Cheyenne Jackson Billy Leatherwood Paul Reiser Mr. Felder David Koechner Adoption Attorney
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 2013
Directed by Steven Soderbergh.
Labels: biography3, debbie-reynolds, michael-douglas
Sunday, November 27, 2022
Mr. Imperium
- Commentary: Under construction.
Another movie released the year I was born.
In order to access the full article on this movie linked in the title of this post, you'll need to click into the beginning of it on TCM. It's worth it.
Here is a shorter, kinder review.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Lana Turner Fredda Barlo Ezio Pinza Mr. Imperium Marjorie Main Mrs. Cabot Barry Sullivan Paul Hunter Cedric Hardwicke Bernand Debbie Reynolds Gwen Ann Codee Anna Pelan The Guadalajara Trio Themselves
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1951
Directed by Don Hartman.
Labels: birth-year, debbie-reynolds, goflexA, marjorie-main, musical2, romance5
Monday, February 05, 2018
Kiki's Delivery Service
- Commentary: I was a long time coming to own this film, even though I'd seen it more than a few times, including, and mostly, when my mother was alive. I came, in fact, very close to not owning it. I've seen several of Miyazaki's films but own only three: this one, Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro. I often enjoy Miyazaki films but, except for the last two in my list, they seem a bit stodgy and predictable, regardless of the seductive animation, contraptions and spirits. Yes, this one seemed stodgy and predictable to me, too, which is why I didn't previously own it. Two conversations and one event occurred, though, that finally convinced me, a few months ago, that I should add it to my collection.
The first conversation took place a few years ago. My Arizona niece told me that she had organized a film club that was going to feature only films written, produced, directed and acted primarily by women. Kiki's Delivery Service was going to be their first feature. "Oh!" I said. "That movie is primarily created by a man, Hayao Miyazaki!" My Arizona niece argued with me that it couldn't be, so I looked it up online while on the phone with her and gave her all the details. I don't know if that film was cancelled from their repertoire. After that incident, she and I didn't discuss the film club, anymore.
The second conversation was an extended one between myself and my Colorado sister. In telling me about her grandson and what he was learning in school, she mentioned that in one of his classes they studied the significance of the female archetypes portrayed in Kiki's Delivery Service. Although I'd seen the movie more than once with Mom, I couldn't remember much about it, it never made much of an impression on me except that Mom loved it. My sister butted up against a brick wall when trying to remember anything about the movie.
The incident was that, because of my conversation with my sister, I decided to check the movie out of the library. The entire system owned only one copy, secured at an obscure branch library, so I had to put it on hold. This copy had been checked out and mishandled so many times that it was unplayable. That's when I decided to order a copy, thinking that, once I viewed it a few times, I'd donate it to the library. I'm sure they would be pleased to own a brand spanking new copy and, being a Disney movie, it's not cheap for them to obtain. So, I've owned the movie for a few months and watched it a couple of times, keeping in mind both conversations I've had about it. I may keep it, I'm not sure. My interest in it, at the moment, is mostly "scholarly", but, after a few more playings, we'll see whether the library ends up with my copy or I do.
By the way, I'm instituting a new category for this movie, coming-of-age. I'm not sure how many movies I own that would fit into that category. It wouldn't surprise me if this is the only one. But, I'll do a quick check.
Update 6/4/2022: I've kept the movie. I will not be turning it over to the library. And, yes, I continue to watch it, at least once a year.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Kiki Kirsten Dunst Jiji Phil Hartman Osono Tress MacNeille Ursula Janeane Garofalo Tombo Matthew Lawrence Fukuo Brian Cummings Kokiri, Kiki's Mother Kath Soucie Okino, Kiki's Father Jeff Bennett Madame Debbie Reynolds Barsa Edie McClurg Senior Witch Debi Derryberry Madame's Grandaughter Sherry Lynn
Release Date: 1989
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki.
Labels: anime, coming-of-age1, debbie-reynolds, dramedy1, fantasy2, kirsten-dunst, mom-favorite1, super-hero2
Friday, April 10, 2009
Singin' in the Rain
- Who's watched: M & G
- Mentions: *1*
- Commentary: I don't care why critics think it's a great movie...I just love it. Every single moment of it; especially the dancing and singing in the rain and the dance sequences with Reynolds, Kelly and O'Connor. LOVE watching O'Connor and Kelly together. They both looked like they just "[Had]'ta Dance"! Mom loved this movie, too. The only reason we didn't own it before last year is that it showed on TCM so much that it seemed as though we didn't need to own it...until I ran across a copy of it on the cheap and decided it was time. Also, I consider this movie film art because of the way dance was translated to the screen.
Roger Ebert, by the way, wrote twice about this movie, once in 1998 (the review linked to the title of this post) and again in 1999, for his "Great Movies" collection of reviews.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Gene Kelly Donald Lockwood Debbie Reynolds Donald O'Connor Cosmo Brown Katy Selden Jean Hagen Lina Lamont Millard Mitchell R.F. Simpson Cyd Charisse Dancer Douglas Fowley Roscoe Dexter Rita Moreno Zelda Zanders
If you still feel the need for the Wikipedia article on this movie, it's here.
Release Date: 1952
Directed by Gene Kelly & Stanley Donen.
Labels: comedy1, dance, debbie-reynolds, film-art1, musical1, popcorn-and-soda3, romance2, shared-favorite
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
How the West Was Won
- Who's watched: M & G
- Mentions: *1*
- Commentary: This is one of my parents' historical favorites. I remember watching it in the theater but discovered, upon rewatching it (I got it for my mother's birthday this year) that I'd misremembered quite a bit of it and apparently mixed it up with another movie that featured the great prairie land grab, which isn't covered in this film. My mother, who has become much more sophisticated about the depictions of Native Americans in movies, although there is actually little in this film but N.A. hearsay, was unsettled enough by what it included to voice her objections. Otherwise, we both enjoyed the sprawl, became surprisingly involved in the stories, loved some of the individual performances (Will Geer's, in particular, as the patriach of a river pirate family and Carroll Baker's surprisingly subtle performance as a pioneer wife). I was intrigued by the Civil War sequence, as well. My mother devoured the entire movie and breathed a satisfied sigh through a satisfied smile when it was over. "Let's start that again," she said. Luckily, we had another movie which she was equally anticipating, Jeremiah Johnson. This movie will be one of those "snowy/rainy day when I'm baking" movies, I'm sure. I don't think I'll become as fascinated with it as I have The Ten Commandments, of which I often find myself needing a fix, but I don't think I'll ignore it when I'm playing it for Mom, as I do some movies.
P.S. There are so many stars in this movie that I almost considered only listing one per section. The point of these listings, though, is to highlight actors in whose work I might like to luxuriate on, say, a couple of back-to-back snow or monsoon days. Leaving this movie out would be a travesty to that desire.
Thus, in order to make the listings a bit less jumbled, I'm setting them up as did Wikipedia, by section in the multiple tables below.
The movie is narrated by Spencer Tracy.
The Rivers Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role James Stewart Linus Rawlings Carroll Baker Eve Prescott Rawlings Debbie Reynolds Lilith Prescott van Valen Karl Malden Zebulon Prescott Agnes Moorehead Rebecca Prescott Walter Brennan Col. Jeb Hawkins Brigid Bazlen Dora Hawkins Lee Van Cleef River Pirate
The Plains Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Gregory Peck Cleve Van Valen Robert Preston Roger Morgan Thelma Ritter Agatha Clegg David Brian Lilith's attorney John Larch Gambler Grimes Clinton Sundberg Hylan Seabury
The Civil War Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role George Peppard Zeb Rawlings Andy Devine Cpl Peterson Harry Morgan Gen. Ulysses S. Grant John Wayne Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman Russ Tamblyn Confederate Deserter Raymond Massey President Abraham Lincoln Ken Curtis Cpl. Ben Jay C. Flippen Huggins
The Railroad Actor Role Actor Role Henry Fonda Jethro Stuart Richard Widmark Mike King
The Outlaws Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Lee J. Cobb Marshal Lou Ramsey Eli Wallach Charlie Gant Carolyn Jones Julie Rawlings Mickey Shaughnessy Deputy Stover Harry Dean Stanton Member of Gant's Gang Jack Lambert Member of Gant's Gang
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1962
Directed by Henry Hathaway, John Ford and George Marshall.
Labels: carroll-baker, dad-favorite, debbie-reynolds, eli-wallach, gregory-peck, harry-dean-stanton, henry-fonda, james-stewart, karl-malden, lee-j-cobb, mom-favorite1, spectacle2, spencer-tracy, thelma-ritter, western
