Top Ten Posts I Think Give You The Best Glimpse of ME

Learn more and check out the TTT schedule now available through November!

My blog is still pretty new. Although I imported my “more opinionated” blog that I kept from previous years, I’ve learned to enjoy the arts more and leave my troubles behind me. It’s been almost one year since I’ve decided to shed my old skin and embrace a new one which involves going to the movies, the theater, and reading a good book every now and then. I can’t say all the movies and theater and books I’ve attempted were great and worth enticing others to follow suit, but the journey has always been and will always be worth it. I figure, why not share my thoughts (albeit one sided from time to time) with an audience I hope to increase some day. Enjoy!

Book Reviews:

1. The Hunger Games - After reading the HP series I found myself becoming nostalgic for YA books. It turns out you’re never too young to read them. And while I will NEVER read the Twilight series, there are other “less popular” but just as great if not better YA series out there. The Hunger Games was my official stepping stone…

2. Let’s Pretend This Never Happened - I believe this is one of the best reviews I’ve ever written simply because this is one of the best books of 2012 I’ve ever read. I’d also go so far as to say it’s the best comedic true story I’ve ever read as well.

3. Cinder - A YA series I happened to come across one day while browsing in the book store. The cover caught my eye and the description was unforgettable. Had I known I’d have to wait a year before the next one came out I probably wouldn’t have read it. I still remember waiting for the next HP book to come out and needing to stand in line over night to buy it at the stroke of midnight. While this series probably won’t have that kind of pomp and circumstance I’m glad I read it and can share my thoughts on it with you. Just be aware book 2 (Scarlet) does not come out till February 2013.

4. The Little Red Guard - I enjoy reading autobiographies very much. My long list of book signings I’ve been to can attest to it. I don’t just buy them I read them. This story however differs from any autobiography you’ll ever read. It was, and I believe still is, a best-seller and a true story of a 3 generation family growing up in China. I read this book in under a week and appreciated the author for sharing this story.

Movie Reviews:

5. Rear Window - Just one of many movies I’ve seen growing up that now I get to see on the big screen!

6. TCM Presents… Julie - I’ve started this new section on my blog that will have me reviewing a movie I watch on TCM that I’ve never seen before. I just love Robert Osborne. Don’t you?

7. Snow White and the Huntsman - I have to give credit where credit is due to Kristen Stewart who proved to me sometimes it’s the movie not that actors that can give me the wrong impression. A slice of humble pie anyone?

8. Dark Shadows - Another reminder but this time in the reverse. Just because I love a particular actor doesn’t mean they’ll be amazing in any movie they do. Johnny Depp disappointment but lesson learned.

9. Titanic - A movie I avoided for as long as I could, then my brother dragged me, kicking and screaming. Here is my review of a movie I didn’t want to see, EVER!

The Greats:

10. Marlene Dietrich - Something else I’ve added to my blog is this segment known as “The Greats.” It doesn’t have to be related to movies. It can be anyone or any place. I like lists so I love this idea I started.

Original Article

The Greats: Alfred Hitchcock

Born: August 13th, 1899 in Leystone, London, England

Died: 29 April 1980 (aged 80) in Bel Air, California

Occupation: film director/film producer

Active Years: 1921 – 1976

1 Spouse/1 Child

I don’t know a single person in my life who has never seen at least one Alfred Hitchcock movie. I know of over 50 of his movies that I want to see. Not just because he’s popular and has many classic “must-see” movies in his library, but because, in my humble opinion, he’s the best director who ever lived. He did things with camera angles and cinematography that even the fanciest of cameras and the best directors of today could never do. Many have tried but none can get it just right. It can be argued that no green screen or CGI graphics today could do better than Hitchcock. He didn’t just break the mold of filming, he invented molds! 

Take Rope for example, starring James Steward and Farley Granger, among many other stars. In this movie he did something no one had ever done. He had a stage built specifically for what he had in mind. He wanted to do continuous filming without taking any cuts or having to film a scene over again. It’s similar to watching a Broadway show but in a movie theater. Back in the 40’s and 50’s however, one roll of film could only shoot up to 10 minutes before a new roll would have to be put in. Watch the movie to see how he got around it, and if you happen to get the special edition copy, watch the extras to learn the controversy behind the script and how the set had to be manipulated simultaneously while filming. Something that was never done before, until Hitchcock stepped onto the scene.

One thing about almost all of his movies that I love looking for is how or where he makes his cameo appearance. Some movies you can see it’s him outright but others, like Rope, you’d have to know the history of the movie to know where he is. Although, his size and distinctive face, make it hard NOT to notice him when he’s on camera.

There is so much that can be said about any number of Hitchcock films. Watch them alone or with a group of friends. He’ll keep you guessing and he’ll inspire even the writer in all of us to get to work on something just as good. He knew how to work with people. He was able to get the best and worst out of anyone who was willing to put their career in his hands. His characters all had a depth that he was able to reveal best when there were no lines at all. Just by the angle of the camera on the actors face and you’d know what kind of person they were. Watch James Stewart in Rear Window or Vertigo and see what I mean. Or The Birds, a movie with very little dialogue but speaks volumes when it comes to content and acting ability. The only thing better than watching an Alfred Hitchcock film is the occasional added bonus of TCM’s Robert Osbourne giving you some history and fun facts before and after the movie. Or pick up any book about his movies. My personal favorite and go to guide is:

Hitchcock Filmography

(movies I’ve seen will be marked in BOLD)

No. 13 (1922) (unfinished) Always Tell Your Wife (1923) (unfinished) The Pleasure Garden (1925) The Mountain Eagle (1926) (lost) The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927) The Ring (1927) Downhill (1927) The Farmer’s Wife (1928) Easy Virtue (1928) Champagne (1928) The Manxman (1929) Blackmail (1929) Juno and the Paycock (1930) Murder! (1930) Elstree Calling (1930) The Skin Game (1931) Mary (1931) Rich and Strange (1931) Number Seventeen (1932) Waltzes from Vienna (1933) The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) The 39 Steps (1935) Secret Agent (1936) Sabotage (1936) Young and Innocent (1937) The Lady Vanishes (1938) Jamaica Inn (1939) Rebecca (1940) Foreign Correspondent (1940) Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941) Suspicion (1941) Saboteur (1942) Shadow of a Doubt (1943) Lifeboat (1943) Aventure Malgache (1944) Bon Voyage (1944) Spellbound (1945) Notorious (1946) The Paradine Case (1947) Rope (1948) Under Capricorn (1949) Stage Fright (1950) Strangers on a Train (1951) I Confess (1953) Dial M for Murder (1954) Rear Window (1954) To Catch a Thief (1955) The Trouble with Harry (1955) The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) The Wrong Man (1956) Vertigo (1958) North by Northwest (1959) Psycho (1960) The Birds (1963) Marnie (1964) Torn Curtain (1966) Topaz (1969) Frenzy (1972) Family Plot (1976)

Which Hitchcock movies have you seen? Which was your favorite? Why? Which have you always wanted to see but haven’t yet?

Original Article

The Greats: Marlene Dietrich

Born: Marie Magdalene Dietrich on December 27th, 1901 in Schöneberg, German Empire

Died: 6 May 1992 (aged 90) Paris, France

Occupation: Actress/Singer

Active Years: 1919 - 1984

1 Spouse/1 Child

Marlene Dietrich is known for a great many things. Some things people don’t know of today. For instance? In one of her first movies, “Morocco” (1930), there is a scene where she’s in a mans tuxedo (pictured above) singing. Not only is this shocking to the audience viewing this movie, but when she finishes the number she then kisses another woman on the lips! Now, if you know anything about that time period you’ll know a woman wearing pants wasn’t exactly a common thing to see in a movie, but to then show her kissing another woman? I’m surprised it wasn’t banned from all major movie theaters immediately. But Marlene Dietrich not only broke many molds that woman in her profession were forced into, she created some of her own. To me, she was her own icon. She is one of a handful of women who were able to transition, quite effortlessly, from the era of silent movies in the 1920’s, into talkies in the 1930’s. And although her accent might have caused many to doubt her staying power in America, that was proven wrong quickly by the movies she appeared in. They all seemed made for her. They showed off her talents in a myriad of ways. Along with her ability to act and capture your heart and soul straight away, she had a voice of like an angel, a “Blue Angel” to be exact. I only hope I get the chance to see more of her movies on TCM as well as own them someday on DVD as well. Now, allow me to share with you a few movies she’s known for, along with those I’ve seen, and can honestly watch over and over again, because she is in them.

Judgement at Nuremberg (1961), directed by Stanley Kramer

Touch of Evil (1958), directed by Orson Welles

Witness for the Prosecution (1957), directed by Billy Wilder

No Highway in the Sky (1951), directed by Henry Koster

Stage Fright (1950), directed by Alfred Hitchcock

A Foreign Affair (1948), directed by Billy Wilder

Kismet (1944), directed by William Dieterle

Desire (1936), directed by Frank Borzage

Morocco (1930), directed by Josef von Sternberg

Blue Angel (1930), directed by Josef von Sternberg

Have you seen any Marlene Dietrich movies? Which was your favorite? The ones I’ve seen above are in bold. My favorite of them all, that I can see every single day and never be bored by it? Witness for the Prosecution. If you ever get a chance, in my opinion, to watch this movie, do it! You’ll be glad you did!

Original Article

Top Five Fridays: Bette Davis Movies

I can think of no greater actress than Bette Davis. She easily conveyed every emotional range imaginable on screen; from romance & comedy in “The Man Who Came to Dinner,” to insanity in “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?”

You name it she’s done it and shared it with us, her loyal fans, for decades! It is because of her incomparable  talents that I’m also including her as the first on my long list of “The Greats,” a series I’m putting together, where every week a famous person, place, or thing, will be highlighted.

And although she was nominated for 10 times, only winning her first two noms, I feel she should have won so much more. Of the five I’m choosing to mention to you now, only two of them was she nominated for, neither of which were winners for her. I find it’s the movies these actors are less known for that I find to be their best performance. Enjoy!

The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942)

Bette Davis is not known for her romances. She is even lesser known for her comedy. But these acting abilities are not lost on her! She rises to the occasion with the help of Monty Woolley (Sheridan Whiteside) and Richard Travis (Bert Jefferson). Throw in the other acting genius of Ann Sheridan, Jimmy Durante, Billie Burke and Mary Wickes, and you’ve got yourself an amazing cast just waiting to make you laugh and cry and feel great! This movie has the perfect balance of wit, seriousness, and laugh out loud comedy you could ever ask for. If you’ve never seen it, you should, and be glad I’ve introduced you to the lighter and brighter side that is the many faces of Bette Davis.

Watch on the Rhine (1943)

As serious topics go, this one ranks highest, for me, for Bette Davis movies. It takes place during the heightened time of WWII when a lot of “underground” work was done and people were really terrified for their lives. There were a lot of popular movies set around this time period that caused this movie to fall low on the list of WWII movies but this one will forever rank in my top 3. This movie has an amazing monologue delivered by Bette Davis that will always be burned in my mind. Yet another example of how great she is.

Deception (1946)

How Bette Davis was not nominated, nor did she win for this movie I’ll never know?! Then to have two amazing actors like Paul Henreid and Claude Rains who were both in Casablanca also, made this movie one I could not stop watching. She plays a woman who loves one man but is in awe of another who also loves her and won’t let her go. The movie can still appeal to women as well as to men, which is what makes it so good.

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)

Easily on of her best and well known movies she’s ever done. She used her age and her eyes to invoke such an image of insanity that one cannot easily forget. She played the role of psychotic sister so well you almost feel sorry for her as well as being scared to death of her. It’s the stereotype of what people assumed happens to the mind of child prodigy’s who grew up and no longer had the fan-base they used to. Her sister, played by Joan Crawford, is just as amazing in the role she plays of a helpless cripple who truly loves her sister even though she knows she’s insane. At the prime of their life and they both are and still able to deliver performances no less than perfection.

All About Eve (1950)

Bette Davis received an Oscar nomination for this movie but lost out to Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday. Do I disagree with this choice having seen Born Yesterday? Not really. Honestly, Bette Davis should have been the Meryl Streep of today. What I mean by that is she should have not only been nominated for every movie she was in, but she should also have won them all as well! That’s not to say the other nominees weren’t just as deserving, especially Gloria Swanson for Sunset Blvd.! But there’s nothing that can be done. The choice was made and yet again, Bette Davis is without a trophy. I guess she can be a good example for why being nominated is just as honorable as winning? Especially after seeing her in this movie! She plays vixen all too well! She plays a famous stage actress who is getting a little long in the tooth and is slowly being replaced by a younger model both on stage and off. At first her lover, friends, and management think she is overreacting about the whole situation until Eve’s (Anne Baxter) true colors are revealed. That’s when it REALLY starts to get good! Be prepared to be left on the edge of your seat, rooting for Bette the entire time, with this movie.

Just One More…

Pocketful of Miracles (1961)

Bette Davis could not have been a better choice to play Apple Annie alongside Glenn Ford as Dave the Dude. In short, this movie is about Apple Annie, whose daughter (Ann-Margret) she was able to send away to a prestigious school, is coming home to introduce her fiancé and his father to her mother! Well, her daughter doesn’t know that her mother barely makes ends meet by selling apples. In comes Dave the Dude, a well-to-do gangster who believes Apple Annie’s apples bring him luck, without them, nothing goes right. In order to increase the territory he owns he must keep the luck of the apples alive by doing this one good deed for Apple Annie: turning her into a lady. All the while Joy Boy (my favorite character played by Peter Falk) is trying to set his boss straight and get him to forget about those dumb apples. It’s a comedy, it’s a romance, and it’s an all-around feel good movie the whole family will love!

What movie helped you to discover Bette Davis? Which Bette Davis movies are your favorite?

Original Article