So, the end of the semester started out swimmingly. Had a knock out voice jury, aced the first part of my exams, and participated in wonderful performances with really positive feedback. The grades started filtering in, and…all As!

Until. Dun dun duhhnnn. Completely fell apart this morning to finish out my last two exams. I don’t know what happened. I studied. I tried. I do well in those two classes on a regular basis. I never get exam anxiety. But something happened while I scanned the exams. I just stopped comprehending. French looked like Chinese. Passages from books I have memorized seemed like alien code. I started to panic, nausea set in, and I tanked. I have never been so disappointed and frustrated with myself. Upon hours of self-reflection and torment, I still don’t know what happened. However, the knot in my stomach has loosened a little, and I keep trying to remind myself there is nothing I can do about it now.

I know now: never panic. If you find yourself staring at an exam wondering why it’s in a language you don’t understand, stop, breathe, and freakin’ relax. Close your eyes and take five minutes to meditate before mentally returning to the test. Don’t make like me and hyperventilate on the verge of tears for two hours.

Blah. Anyways. Onto happier topics…I am home with my dear family in Gloucester, MA. We’re heading to Cincinnati tomorrow to spend a week with my father’s side of the family. Then I’ll be in NYC until the 3rd, followed by a short stay home, then back to NYC until I go back to school in Boston on the 11th. Does that make any sense…? I hope so. My point is, if you’re around NYC for any of that time, let me know.

THANK YOU FREDDY AND GINGE. FOR CHEERING ME UP.

Oh this should be a secret but I can’t hold it…I’m probably maybe hopefully possibly yes yes yes going to Madrid for spring break. GLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

Joy in the Week of December 14

Mary J. Blige's new release "I Am"

1. Mary J. Blige’s “I Am” – Great performance by Mary J. Blige on the “So You Think You Can Dance” finale! Then again on “Jay Leno”, “Jimmy Kimmel”!  She’s looking gorgeous and sounding fantastic! Look for the new CD on the 21st and hear the single here.

2. In The Loop – With nothing on television, I ordered this movie based on some positive word of mouth and the hilarious trailer. This is a modern day farce, following inept British politician Simon Foster who finds himself drawn into US political wrangling over whether to go to war in the Middle East. I found myself laughing out loud a number of times, thanks to standout performances from Tom Hollander as Foster amd from Peter Capaldi as the extremely foul-mouthed UK Press Secretary Malcolm Tucker. There is a lot of swearing and people behaving badly in this movie, but the delivery of both is very very funny, even when the tangled plot gets lost in the halls of government.

3. Fred Astaire’s firecracker dance in “Holiday Inn” – After watching several seasons of “So You Think You Can Dance”, one needs reminding of the masters of popular American dance. This seasonal favourite contains this legendary dance routine – I would love to see if it could be recreated today.

4. Watching “Serendipity” for the ###th time – This is my favourite Christmas-sorta romantic comedy of all time! It was on several times this week, and the softie in me just can’t switch the channel when John Cusack opens the book cover of “Love in The Time of Cholera” and sees “Sara Thomas”, and does THAT LOOK.  Then the soundtrack kicks in with Shawn Colvin’s “When You Know“! Sigh!

Dark Chocolate Panforte by Sapori

5. Sapori’s Dark Chocolate Panforte – I brought this yummy cake-confection to a very tough meeting this week. I was told later by someone that all they remembered from the meeting was the cake! Available at some Italian bakeries, Amazon.com and at Highland Farms grocers in Ontario.

6. Alicia Key’s new “The Element of Freedom” CD – For the most part, a really good collection, especially the ballads. It will be welcomed into stockings this Christmas!

7. Guilty pleasure of the week song “Fireflies” by Owl City – Becoming overplayed on Top 40 and Adult stations, but as I listen mostly to Urban and Jazz radio, I have not overdosed yet!

8. Random Acts of Kindness – At a company function, a co-worker won basketball tickets and gave them to me because she wasn’t a basketball fan and heard that I was. When I offered to pay her for them, she refused. “Merry Christmas”, she said. After another rough week at work, her kindness was a highlight.

…Or Not!

1.  Jakob does not win SYTYCD.

2. Canada at Copenhagen – Did we expect anything different?

3. TV schedules at this time of year – Holiday specials don’t cut it for me – keep running new episodes, we are still watching TV!

4. Raptors up and down play – Brilliance one moment and then utter despair the next! When can I get off this roller coaster of emotion!

Ghost Story is a 1981 American horror film based on the book of the same name by Peter Straub. It is directed by John Irvin and it stars Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., John Houseman and Craig Wasson (in a dual role). It was the last film to feature Astaire, Fairbanks, and Douglas, and the first film to feature Michael O’Neill.

Directed by
  John Irvin

Writers
  Lawrence D. Cohen Writer
  Peter Straub Novel

Producers
  Douglas Green … co-producer
  Ronald G. Smith … associate producer
  Burt Weissbourd … producer

Cast
  Fred Astaire … Ricky Hawthorne
  Melvyn Douglas … Dr. John Jaffrey
  Douglas Fairbanks Jr. … Edward Charles Wanderley
  John Houseman … Sears James
  Craig Wasson … Don Wanderley/David Wanderley
  Patricia Neal … Stella Hawthorne
  Alice Krige … Eva Galli/Alma Mobley
  Jacqueline Brookes … Milly
  Miguel Fernandes … Gregory Bate
  Lance Holcomb … Fenny Bate
  Mark Chamberlin … Young Jaffrey
  Tim Choate … Young Hawthorne
  Kurt Johnson … Young Wanderley
  Ken Olin … Young James

Make Up Department
  Irving Buchman … makeup artist
  Albert Jeyte … makeup artist
  Robert Jiras … makeup artist
  Philip Leto … hair stylist
  Rick Sharp … makeup artist
  Dick Smith … special makeup

Special Effects Department
  Henry Millar Jr. … special effects

Visual Effects Department
  Syd Dutton … matte artist
  Dennis Glouner … matte photography
  Bill Taylor … matte photography
  Albert Whitlock … special visual effects
  Henry Schoessler … matte crew

Trivia:

• The last feature film for veteran actors Melvyn Douglas, Fred Astaire, and Douglas Fairbanks Jr..
• Melvyn Douglas (Dr. John Jaffery) is actually mentioned in the novel on which the movie is based.
• Fred Astaire (Ricky Hawthorne) is actually mentioned in the novel on which the movie is based.
• Young Ricky Hawthorne says, “I can’t dance.” Old Ricky Hawthorne is played by Fred Astaire. This line wasn’t in the novel.
• Searching for someone qualified to score a story dealing with elderly people, the production team was reminded of Le chat (1971), a French film about a bitter old couple spending time arguing. That’s how Philippe Sarde was hired and why some of the main theme of that precise film is repeatedly used in the score of “Ghost Story.”
• Robin Curtis’ film debut.
• The pipe organ used is the same organ that was used by Lon Chaney in The Phantom of the Opera (1925).
• Interiors were constructed inside the abandoned Union Station, the former New York Central Railroad’s passenger train station on Broadway in Albany, NY and included a two story set. The murder or death scene was filmed on the second floor of that set. Scenes were filmed in sequence and the two story set was significantly aged after the death scene so that it later appeared as the derelict house. After the movie, the old station was refurbished and restored to its former grandeur and served as office space for Fleet Bank and now Bank of America.

My Paintings

Painted a lot today and I’ve finally got something that looks halfway decent – a light grey at the top with a sort of curved spear of black, green, white and charcoal poking up through it.  Another spear of reddish brown poking up on right, into a big area of ochre (that might be going lighter tomorrow, when I can buy more white).  Bottom half of canvas is a complex mass of shapes in reds, ochres, grey, black and blue, criss-crossed with charcoal lines – looks a bit landscapey.

This one goes well with two previous, the striped one that ended up looking like a Heron and the pink, orange, green and black patchy one.  Nice to have done some paintings I actually like; haven’t done that for weeks.

I think I’m going to stick some of my pictures in this blog – I’ve realised the obvious, that its not interesting to read descriptions of pictures; why do the paintings and then describe them in words?  I’ll have to charge the camera batteries up first, however. 

Short blog today, since I’ve done a lot of painting.

Watched “Carefree”, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, with a brilliant swing dance song, called, of all things, “The Yam”.  Written by Irving Berlin, I think (the music, not the film, which is nonsense).

Listening to; Byker Hill, Trad, arr. by Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick

“If I had another penny I would have another gill,

I would make the piper play “The Bonnie Lass of Byker Hill…”

Blackpaint 18.12.09

I am greatly enjoying the new rumor that the Kaulitz brothers will be appearing in an upcoming issue of GQ Magazine (DE), wearing top hats and tails, in the style of Fred Astaire.  Keeping an eye out!

Don’t forget, today is the day the “World Behind My Wall” video premieres on Tokiohotel.com!! As if you could forget!

h/t: danyta

Noun: Specialization.  Opinion: Ugh.

Our society likes specialization; we hire based on it, we pay based on it, we respect based on it—if you’re Tiger Woods and amazingly gifted at a so-called sport no one can stand watching without a hit of antipsychotics, we’ll still grant you multi-billion dollars worth of endorsement packages even though your taste in women exhibits the kind of unimaginative mind usually possessed by lobotomized monkeys.  Find your pigeon-hole, we tell our kids, and acquaint yourself with every single shade of beige it’s painted in.

This is coming from a good place, really.  We value stability—it’s not a bad thing, especially if you’re living within firing range of Baghdad’s Green Zone.  But if you’re reading this, it suggests you have the means and time to spare on completely asinine activities.  The last thing you need in your life is more stability.  With the money, time, and mastery of English you possess, you are in the enviable position of investigating the instabilities that could potentially reward you with immense gratification and insight.  I have a lot of thoughts about this that are hard to convey in a little entry, but suffice it to say that while I think specialization has its merits, personal fulfillment is not one of them.

Yet exploring the world outside your pigeonhole is not a simple task.  It takes iron-clad nerves to put your cheaply-won sense of identity aside and start something new.  It sucks to be a beginner.  It is deeply humbling for an adult and a pain in the ass.  But you’re not a beginner forever, and even if you suck balls at this new pursuit forever, the profits you gain from being well-rounded are yours forever.

Fred Astaire was seventy-eight when bitch broke his wrist trying to ride on a skateboard.  Those of you shaking your head and clucking away can shove your sanctimony somewhere up an orifice, along with the pole, hamster, your head, and the fist of your bunkmate from that one time at band camp, cuz that story’s nothing less than a testament to AWESOME.  He was awarded a lifetime membership to the National Skateboard Society (the who?  I dunno.  Source: Wikipedia), an honor we all aspire to deep in our hearts of random and unattainable desires.  The point is one does not find oneself teetering on top of unstable platforms and calling ourselves a gangster on wheels in retirement if one has not been doing irrational and novel things as a course of habit.  For every wrist broken, Astaire had probably done a jamillion ridiculous things that did not result in traction.  He probably picked up rock climbing, Arabian racing and downward dog somewhere along the way.  This did not keep him from being pretty good at his area of expertise.  Boss could twinkle his toes like no one else in a tuxedo.

While I’m conjuring up dead white men to make my non-argument, even Einstein had some pretty harsh assessments of the ills brought upon humankind by specialization.  Even I will concede that Einstein was pretty smart, though he never did gain the level of respect as a philosopher that he did as a pioneer of genius-worthy hairdos.  Since I’m tired of typing, cue the copy-paste:

Every serious scientific worker is painfully conscious of this involuntary relegation to an ever-narrowing sphere of knowledge, which threatens to deprive the investigator of his broad horizon and degrades him to the level of a mechanic.

(Next time you go to the doctor, take that piece of information with you.)  Specialization makes you bad at what you do do, not to mention downright sucky at what you don’t.  You’ve limited the number of applicable ideas and principles you have access to.  Besides, when all you know tomorrow is what you know now, you’ve just wasted a day in your finite life.  You missed an opportunity to be inspired and fulfilled and enthused and smarter and wiser and better-looking (maybe).  So don’t complain to me if you’re bored and dull and prematurely old and stupid and lame and ugly (definitely).

So go out there and try something new, something that has interested you—listen to that voice that beckons you to pottery, to salsa, to Vietnamese, to homoerotic liaisons—there has to be a reason it’s calling.  It’s dishonest to ignore it.  Just be the asshole who doesn’t know what she’s doing.  You’ll be fine.  Yeah, people will judge (what?), but it’s not about them, it’s about you.  It’s your fucking life.  Make it interesting, make it yours, make it worth your time on this grisly little planet.  Sponge up what good the universe has to offer.  When you’re seventy-eight with eight hip replacements under your belt, you’ll have better stories and a bigger smile than the rest of them who never indulged their curiosities and broke free from the fetters of stasis.  You won’t have repressed your soul into a dehydrated turd.  You might be poorer and wobblier, sure, but at the end the Great Accountant in the Sky will not be tallying up your virtues in terms of dollars and number of embarrassing moments avoided.  I don’t know this for sure, but I’m willing to literally bet my happiness on it.

DAMN, I NEED TO HIT THE GYM AGAIN

Why did I become a photographer? Do I really love taking pictures or I just like the idea of being a “photographer”? Do I have the right reasons for my passion and obsession for this hobby, for this job? Can a person fake his talent, his eye, his happiness, his vision? Can I just act like a photographer for decades, for the rest of my life and get away with it? Can I just be easily a photographer the moment I invest in a digital camera? I think the most important question is - CAN I FOOL MYSELF AND THE WORLD? I was 18 when I took my first pictures in art school, that was right after I gave up painting and writing and focused on my photography and after a couple of years worked as a graphic designer in Saudi Arabia and Dubai, later Hong Kong, my designing job supported my love for travelling and documenting them, the skylines, the people, the parties, the beaches, the friends, then one day got tapped in Dubai to shoot a DSquared2 advertorial and the rest is history as they say, that was roughly 6 years ago, and the first 3 years was a slow pace into the transition to photography and giving up graphic design altogether, once you learn to love something you need more time to care for them, being a camera person keeps me busy and occupies most of my days for the past years, I take portraits of beautiful people, “Damn, I need to hit the gym again” is the no# 1 reaction to my work, especially with men, I don’t know if thats a good sign, but for some reason I think I should get a commission to all the countless gym memberships I sold, I take pictures of men like I take pictures of buildings, they have to look magnificent, naked, architectural and mysterious.

THE ARTIST & THE POLITICIAN

It’s been a work in progress and a never-ending learning and developing my style that I could call my own, I thrive on adversity, makes life more interesting and journal-worthy. But like any other industries, you don’t only have to worry about your trade and your own business, the industry of beautiful people is also filled with the nasties, politics is deeply entrenched in the very structure of the fashion industry machine. There’s more politics in the fashion house than the white house, and half the wit and education, thats the irony. Thousands of very talented individuals, countless photographers gave up the battle, lensmen who loves photography to their bones, but hates the politics, artists who can’t stomach it, or just basically not built for it. Everytime you look at a billboard in Time Square,  you can’t help but wonder, what this people behind this beautiful pictures have to give up, have to sell, have to kill to get this job? Yes, gone are the days when photography is only about taking good pictures, knowing the camera, going to an art school or just get a Photography for Dummies book, it’s not only about lenses and tripods and reflectors, it’s not only about models and lighting and creativity anymore. You have to be a hustler, a mobster, a bully, a pimp, a thief or a prostitute to be on the top of the foodchain, and unfortunately there’s no university in the world you can learn Fashion Industry Politics or even a Fashion Politics for Dummies book.

MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN, THE SEQUEL

L. B. ‘Jeff’ Jefferies, Diane Arbus, Billy Kwan, Laura Mars, Harlen Maguire, Dick Avery, Anna Cameron,  Jeff Kohlver, Seymour ‘SY’ Parrish, Lucy Berliner, Alexandre Rodrigues, Russell Price , Charles Castle, Robert Kincaid and Richard Boyle are some of the most unforgettable characters that I’ve ever seen in the silver screen and there’s one thread that binds them all together. The hunky thespians (some of my favorite actors today)—Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes 2009), Patrick Wilson (Watchmen 2009), and Bradley Cooper (Hangover 2009),  cinematic legends—Clint Eastwood (Gran Torino 2008),  James Stewart (The Man Who Knew Too Much 1956), Fred Astaire (The Sky’s the Limit 1943) and Robin Williams (Mrs. Doubtfire 1993), and Hollywood megastars—Nicole Kidman (The Portrait of a Lady 1996), Julia Roberts (Pretty Woman 1990), and Faye Dunaway (Bonnie and Clyde 1967) have something in common. They will always be my personal favorite actors, because they played once in their remarkable careers a role with bravado, grace and intelligence—the role of a photographer.

If your life is a movie, will it be a Romance? A Thriller, a Mystery or Crime saga?  Perhaps Drama, a War or Adventure Epic? A Horror or a Comedy? A Musical or an Action Sci-fi? Some people who thinks they know me (the Frenemies**) will say my life is a downright HORROR movie, a gay psychopath monster photographer who makes everyone’s lives miserable, sounds like “The Midnight Meat Train, The Sequel” to me, some people say I’m also DRAMATIC, so i guess, there’s a possible bromance lurking between the bloodbath, my life has been casualy summarized into a D-list cult flick in the 70’s.

OSCARS LOVES SHUTTER BUGS

Obviously film and photography are close relatives both use film or digital cameras to capture the world as they see it and tell their different stories. The Academy Awards (Oscars) obviously loves photographers, most films featured on the list are either nominated or have won a major award, most of them for their roles as photographers, many iconic and important films all over the world revolves around that guy (or girl) holding a 35mm, whether they’re risking their lives to reveal a monster of war or a revolution, psychopatic photographers tracking or stalking the protagonist or a photographer tracking a psychopath,  fashion photographers having illicit and scandalous sexual affairs, shutter bugs falling in love with their muse or just becoming obsessed with their subjects, or a combination of all that, these are the characters that have helped millions of moviegoers around the globe (including me) a glimpse into the life of the imaginary, the gritty, the tender, the romantic, the obscene, the savage, the genius and the human—the photographer.

**a future article you’ll find here in Dangerously Naive.

1.

Rear Window (1954)
Through his rear window and the eye of his powerful camera he watched a great city tell on itself, expose its cheating ways…and Murder!

The legend Alfred Hitchcock exerted full potential of suspense in this masterpiece.  Could easily be my favorite movie of all time. James Stewart as L. B. ‘Jeff’ Jefferies, a wheelchair bound photographer spies on his neighbours from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder. Grace Kelly co-stars as Jeff’s girlfriend Lisa Carol Fremont. Nominated for 4 Oscars (Best Cinematography, Color – Robert Burks,  Best Director – Alfred Hitchcock,  Best Sound, Recording – Loren L. Ryder, Paramount,  Best Writing, Screenplay – John Michael Hayes and other 4 wins and 5 nominations.

Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Writers: John Michael Hayes (screenplay) Cornell Woolrich (short story “It Had to Be Murder”)
Release Date: 14 January 1955 (Japan)
Genre: Crime | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

2.

The Year of Living Dangerously (1983)
A Love Caught In The Fire Of Revolution.

A young Australian journalist (on his first job as a foreign correspondent), Guy Hamilton (played by Mel Gibson) tries to navigate the political turmoil of Indonesia during the rule of President Sukarno with the help of a half- Chinese dwarf photographer Billy Kwan as Guy’s local photographer contact, a role for which Linda Hunt won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Jill Bryant (Sigourney Weaver) as Guy’s love interest, a British Embassy officer. Combining political intrigue, steamy romance, and engaging characters, Peter Weir’s well-crafted, highly enjoyable adventure is one of the few successful efforts to make a Casablanca-like movie for modern audiences. The film was shot in both Australia and the Philippines. An Oscar win and other 7 wins & 15 nominations. Also on the list of my all time favorite classics.

Director: Peter Weir
Writers: C.J. Koch (novel) C.J. Koch (screenplay)
Release Date: 21 January 1983 (USA)
Genre: Drama | Romance | War

3.

Road to Perdition (2002)
Pray for Michael Sullivan.

Jude Law as Harlen Maguire a psychopathic assassin who likes to photograph his victims, Harlen tracks hitman Michael Sullivan Sr. (Tom Hanks) and son in Illinois during the Great Depression. Paul Newman (in his final theatrical screen appearance) as John Rooney, an Irish American organized crime boss of Sullivan Sr., and Daniel Craig as Connor Rooney, the crime boss’s son. A story that had minimal dialogue and conveyed emotion in the imagery. Somber, stately, and beautifully mounted, Sam Mendes’ Road to Perdition is a well-crafted mob movie that explores the ties between fathers and sons.  Winning several awards, 17 wins & 51 nominations, including the Academy Award for Best Cinematography win, and nominations for Best Actor in a Supporting Role- Paul Newman. One of the best film produced this decade in my list.

Director: Sam Mendes
Writers (WGA): Max Allan Collins (graphic novel) and Richard Piers Rayner (graphic novel)
Release Date: 12 July 2002 (USA)
Genre: Adventure | Crime | Drama | Thriller

4.

Closer (2004)
If you believe in love at first sight, you never stop looking.

Julia Roberts as Anna Cameron, a quietly independent divorce and successful art/portrait photographer, Jude Law as Dan, a thoughtful but unsuccessful novelist and journalist, who authors a book about Jane (Natalie Portman), a gorgeous young runaway from New York’s seedy sex industry, and Clive Owen as Larry, a dermatologist with the lust and manners of a soccer hooligan. The plot revolves around the infatuation of the couples for one another, an elaborate character study of two London couples as they engage in an ultimate game of partner swapping. The film was recognized with several awards and nominations, including Oscar nominations (and Golden Globe wins) for both Portman and Owen for their performances in supporting roles, and other 8 wins & 20 nominations.

Director: Mike Nichols
Writers (WGA): Patrick Marber (play) Patrick Marber (screenplay)
Release Date: 3 December 2004 (USA)
Genre: Drama | Romance more

5.

Hard Candy (2005)
Strangers shouldn’t talk to little girls.

After three weeks chatting with the 32-year old fashion/portrait photographer Jeff Kohlver (Patrick Wilson - Watchmen 2009) ‘Lensmaster319′ in Internet, the mature 14-year old Hayley Stark (Ellen Page – Juno 2007) finally meets. Suspecting that he is a pedophile, she goes to his home in an attempt to expose him. The first feature film for director David Slade, who previously had worked mostly in music videos. Disturbing, controversial, but entirely engrossing, a well written with strong lead performances. A movie that stays with the viewer long after leaving the theater, garnering 5 wins & 6 nominations in different award giving body.

Director: David Slade
Writer (WGA): Brian Nelson (written by)
Release Date: 14 April 2006 (USA) more
Genre: Drama | Thriller more

________

One Hour Photo (2002)
The things that we fear the most have already happened to us...

Robin Williams as Seymour ‘SY’ Parrish, a creepy photo developer and photographer. He has a vast knowledge of modern photography and develops photos at a one-hour photo lab in a local department store and becomes obsessed with one of his customers, a young suburban family, the dad, Will Yorkin (Michael Vartan), the mom Nina Yorkin (Connie Nielsen) and their kid. Williams won a Saturn Award for Best Actor (2003) for his work in the film, other 5 wins and 14 nominations.

Director: Mark Romanek
Writer (WGA): Mark Romanek
Release Date: 13 September 2002 (USA)
Genre: Drama | Thriller

6.

Cidade de Deus/ City of God (2002)
If you run you’re dead…if you stay, you’re dead again. Period.

Based on a true story, a shocking and disturbing, but always compelling story of two boys growing up in a violent neighborhood slums of Rio de Janeiro take different paths: one becomes a photographer (Alexandre Rodrigues as Buscapé – Rocket), the other a drug dealer (Leandro Firmino as Zé Pequeno – Li’l Zé). The story is told through eyes of Buscapé, a poor young fisherman’s son who dreams of becoming a photographer one day. The film received four Academy Award nominations in 2004: Best Cinematography (César Charlone), Best Directing (Meirelles), Best Editing (Daniel Rezende) and Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay) (Mantovani). Before that, in 2003 it had been chosen to be Brazil’s runner for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but it was not nominated to be one of the five finalists.

Directors: Fernando Meirelles  Kátia Lund (co-director)
Writers: Paulo Lins (novel) Bráulio Mantovani (screenplay)
Release Date: 2002 (Russia)
Genre: Action | Crime | Drama

________

The Midnight Meat Train (2008)
The most terrifying ride you’ll ever take.

Bradley Cooper as Leon, a documentary/art photographer who attempts to track down a serial killer named Mahogany (Vinnie Jones) dubbed the “Subway Butcher” and discovers more than he bargained for under the city streets of New York. A creative and energetic adaptation of a Clive Barker 1984 short story of the same name (which can be found in Volume One of Barker’s collection Books of Blood), with enough scares and thrills to be a potential cult classic. 4 wins in different categories.

Director: Ryûhei Kitamura
Writers (WGA): Jeff Buhler (screenplay)
Clive Barker (short story “The Midnight Meat Train”)
Release Date: 7 August 2008 (Russia)
Genre: Crime | Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

7.

Funny Face (1957)

Fred Astaire as Dick Avery, a fashion photographer in search for an intellectual backdrop for an air-headed model, expropriates a Greenwich Village bookstore. When the photo session is over the store is left in a shamble, sales girl Jo Stockton (Audrey Hepburn) comes to the rescue. They offer Jo a modeling contract, which she reluctantly accepts only because it includes a trip to Paris. Eventually, her snobbish attitude toward the job softens, and Jo begins to enjoy the work and the company of her handsome photographer. Richard Avedon designed the opening title sequence and consulted on the film, and Bill Avery was the still photographer. Nominated for 4 Oscars and other win & 5 nominations.

Director: Stanley Donen
Writer: Leonard Gershe (written by)
Release Date: 13 February 1957 (USA)
Genre: Romance | Comedy | Musical

________

The Bridges of Madison County (1995)

Clint Eastwood as Robert Kincaid, a photographer in the farmlands of Iowa on assignment for National Geographic magazine and wanders into the life of a bored, middle-aged Italian housewife Francesca Johnson (Meryl Streep), for four days in the 1960s. They fall in love, but she’s married with children. A film adaptation of Robert James Waller’s wildly popular, bestselling novel. Eastwood and Streep, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1996 for her performance in the film, other 6 wins & 6 nominations.

Director: Clint Eastwood
Writers (WGA): Richard LaGravenese (screenplay) Robert James Waller (novel)
Release Date: 2 June 1995 (USA)
Genre: Drama | Romance

8.

Under Fire (1983)
This wasn’t their war but it was their story…and they wouldn’t let it go!

Nick Nolte as Russell Price , a star photographer, one of the journalists in a romantic triangle are involved in political intrigue during the last days of the corrupt Somozoa regime in Nicaragua before it falls to a popular revolution in 1979. Ed Harris as Oates and Gene Hackman as Alex Grazier. Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins & 3 nominations.

Director: Roger Spottiswoode
Writers: Clayton Frohman (screenplay) Clayton Frohman (story)
Release Date: 21 October 1983 (USA)
Genre: Drama | War

________

Salvador (1986)

James Woods as Richard Boyle , an American photojournalist down on his luck in the US, drives to El Salvador to chronicle the events of the 1980 Salvadoran civil war. While trying to get footage, he becomes entangled with both leftist guerrillas and the right-wing military.  The film was nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Actor in a Leading Role (Woods) and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (Stone and Boyle), and other 3 wins & 6 nominations

Director: Oliver Stone
Writers: Oliver Stone (written by) and Rick Boyle (writer)
Release Date: 23 April 1986 (USA)
Genre: Biography | Drama | Thriller | War

9.

Photographing Fairies (1997)

Toby Stephens as Charles Castle, a photographer numbed with grief after the sudden death of his young wife, devotes himself to his work as a photographer in World War I. Charles is given some photographs purporting to be of fairies. His search for the truth leads him to Burkinwell, a seemingly peaceful village seething with secrets where he becomes drawn into a web of passion, romance and violence. Ben Kingsley as Reverend Templeton. 5 wins and 3 nominations.

Director: Nick Willing
Writers: Chris Harrald (written by) Steve Szilagyi (book)
Release Date: 19 September 1997 (UK)
Genre: Drama | Fantasy | Mystery

________

High Art (1998)
A story of ambition, sacrifice, seduction and other career moves.

Ally Sheedy as Lucy Berliner, a very talented drug-addicted lesbian photographer that contributes with high-art photography magazine Frame meets a young female intern for the magazine, Sydney ‘Syd’ (Radha Mitchell) both of whom seek to exploit each other for their respective careers, while slowly falling in love with each other. Berliner’s photography (Sheedy) was based on Nan Goldin’s work. The photographs themselves were made by Jojo Whilden. 7 wins and 14 nominations.

Director: Lisa Cholodenko
Writer: Lisa Cholodenko (writer)
Release Date: 12 June 1998 (USA)
Genre: Drama | Romance

10.

Eyes of Laura Mars (1978)

Faye Dunaway as Laura Mars, a very successful high-end fashion and advertising photographer and Tommy Lee Jones as Detective John Neville notes striking similarities between her art photos and those of real crime scenes. The screenplay, adapted from a spec script titled Eyes, written by John Carpenter, was Carpenter’s first major studio film. Producer Jon Peters, who was dating Barbra Streisand at the time, bought the screenplay as a starring vehicle for the actress, but Streisand eventually decided not to take the role because of “the kinky nature of the story”, as Peters later explained. The role went to Dunaway, who had just won an Oscar for her performance in Network. It was shot entirely in New York and New Jersey. The famous sequence where the Laura Mars character photographs a group of models against a backdrop of two burning cars was filmed over four days at New York’s Columbus Circle. Gallery Exhibition Images of Laura Mars are shot by Helmut Newton. Despite its lukewarm critical reception, the film was a box office hit, earning $20M off of a $7M budget, 1 win and 1 nomination.

Director: Irvin Kershner
Writers: John Carpenter (screenplay) and David Zelag Goodman (screenplay)
Release Date: 2 August 1978 (USA)
Genre: Horror | Mystery | Thriller

________

Blow – Up  (1966)

David Hemmings as Thomas, a successful mod photographer in London whose world is bounded by fashion, pop music, marijuana, and easy sex, feels his life is boring and despairing. But in the course of a single day he frolics with young models, then meets the mysterious Jane (Vanessa Redgrave), he accidentally captures on film the commission of a murder. The film was nominated for 2 Oscars and other 7 wins and 4 nominations.

Director: Michelangelo Antonioni
Writers: Michelangelo Antonioni (story) Julio Cortázar (short story)
Release Date: 18 December 1966 (USA)
Genre: Drama | Mystery | Thriller

________

Other film’s that centers around the life of a lensman:

Robert Downey Jr. as Lionel Sweeney

Mad Dog and Glory  (2000)

Gentlemen’s Relish (2001) (TV)

No Small Affair (1984)

Stardom (2000)

Head in the Clouds (2004)

Femme Fatale (2002)

The Notorious Bettie Page (2005)

Fairy Tale: A True Story (1997)

The Photographer  (2000)

Harrison’s Flowers (2002)

The Truth About Cats & Dogs (1996)

Catch & Release (2007)

Pecker  (1998)

________

“Whether he is an artist or not, the photographer is a joyous sensualist, for the simple reason that the eye traffics in feelings, not in thoughts.”

- Walker Evans, American Photographer (1903-1975)

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As dates go in history, December 2nd is a biggie.

Case in point:  Charles Dickens held his first public reading in New York City on December 2, 1887.  Wonder if anyone said, “Please sir, I want more”?

Or, if you’ve ever shaved any part of your body, thank Gillette — he patented the first disposable razor on this date back in 1901.

And, in a surprising find for even the Internet, Ringo Starr had his tonsils removed on December 2, 1964….which kinda explains a lot.

But of all the events that have taken place on this day in history, I declare December 2, 1998 the most monumental…at least, in my world.  For on this day, 11 years ago, Rory Diggins Dugan Curtsinger was born a chocolate cockapoo in southeastern Missouri.

I didn’t have the great pleasure of meeting him until January 12, 1999 — his adoption day — but I celebrate both….usually with a birthday cake for his human friends  (’cause Rory prefers meat, cheese or peanut butter).

Business took me out of town today, but never fear — I will be with the birthday boy this evening.  And we’ll do something worthy of the history books…and of all the love and joy this amazing little pup has brought into my life.

Happy Birthday, Rory Dog!

XOXO
Mama Dog

I watched Holiday Inn over the Thanksgiving break. It really is a wonderful movie but I was reminded of two things during Bing’s number honoring ol’ Honest Abe in song and dance: (1) I forgot all about this scene and (2) acts of what we would now classify as racism and bigotry are a near-certainty in many movies that we now deem “classics”.

We would not allow this to exist in movies released in the 21st century (barring one silly, tropic example) without immense media criticism and backlash at the studio, writers, and actor(s).  And so I asked myself:  Do we let these instances slide in movies of the past (the “classics” especially) as products of the era and are we simply too hypersensitive in 2009?  Might it not be helpful to make fun of ourselves and poke fun at our insensitive history – would that not potentially alleviate some of the racial tensions?

Check out the scene in question:

Beginning in the mid-1980s, several stations cut this entire scene from their broadcasts of Holiday Inn.  I disagree with this decision because the use is only insensitive by our standards, not those of the 1940s.  True, Jim Hardy’s (Bing Crosby’s) plan to perform in blackface is a selfish attempt to keep his lady (played by Marjorie Reynolds) disguised from Ted Hanover (Fred Astaire) but it is an attempt at costume rather than insult.

Exploring the “legacy” of blackface, historian Gary Giddings wrote in Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams, The Early Years 1903-1940:

Though antebellum (minstrel) troupes were white, the form developed in a form of racial collaboration, illustrating the axiom that defined – and continues to define – American music as it developed over the next century and a half: African-American innovations metamorphose into American popular culture when white performers learn to mimic black ones.

This is a complicated question.  I’ve wasted some time at work mulling it over and writing this out… now I will be resume the pre-holiday rush that is the norm in higher education.

Swing time, de Fred Astaire y Ginger Rogers.  A disfrutarla.

Quatro videos com Fred Astaire no Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxsXFm64JCQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD7sqGJ3NBg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7c4QiBGpBs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc6RTekKVmg

Intellectual Jo Stockton is appointed the new Quality cover model in "Funny Face".

(Stanley Donen, 1957)

November 25, 2009

by Joel Crary

In my review for “Roman Holiday“, I professed my affection for Audrey Hepburn, describing her as an actress I could watch forever. Not many actresses could make the transition mid-picture from bookworm to fashion icon convincingly, but Hepburn is allowed. She always presented a duality of chaste spunk and sex appeal without extending herself too far in either direction. “Funny Face” needs her to be a success.

It also needs Fred Astaire, who by this time in his career had become accustomed to staging scenes of song and dance more organically than the stage could afford. It’s especially evident in a scene where fashion photographer Dick Avery and consummate fashion magazine professional Maggie Prescott (played by consummate stage professional Kay Thompson) invent a routine on the spot to fit in at a party of Parisian beatniks. Another film might have seen the disinterested crowd spring into action alongside the leads, but Astair and co-choreographer Eugene Loring are aware of their environments. The stars adapt, rather than vice versa, and the scene works.

Musicals like “Funny Face” exist to showcase the singing and dancing talents of their stars, with a few light and breezy scenes thrown in to set up the next performance. Hepburn, who can certainly dance, makes up for her rather average vocal ability by giving her character some comedic oomph. Dick and Maggie cross Jo’s path in a Greenwich Village bookstore, on location to make their Quality cover girl appear more intelligent. The bookish employee haughtily condemns their profession as superficial before they eject her from the store entirely, but Dick sees something in Jo that might sell a lot of magazines. He convinces Maggie to give her a shot at modeling and before long, everyone is off to Paris to launch a new clothing line.

The film is hardly a deep-cutting satire of the fashion industry, but it does play pretension on both sides for laughs. Jo repeatedly advocates for a school of philosophy called “empathicalism”, which sounds impossible to discuss with others who don’t follow it. Her dream is not to model clothing, but to meet Flostre (Michel Auclair), her hero, a professor of philosophy and the founder of empathicalism. As luck would have it, he lives in Paris and becomes the catalyst to Jo’s willingness to travel. Unfortunately, Dick is right about what, exactly, his empathetic mind is good for.

One musical number features Astaire, Hepburn and Thompson enjoying three separate days out in Paris, singing and dancing in split-screen unison. Hepburn’s best number takes place in a smoky cafe as she seems to improvise moves to free form jazz and swing, much to the amusing feigned horror on the face of Astaire. At 58 years of age, Astaire largely keeps his own routines reasonable, taking the opportunity to shine as an imagined bullfighter and an acoustic guitar-pounding tortured artist. The Gershwin songs are good, not great, with the title tune serving as the centerpiece.

Director Stanley Donen, who had worked with Astaire previously on “Royal Wedding” and boasted directorial duties on musical classics “On the Town” and “Singin’ in the Rain”, flirts with a pop sensibility in “Funny Face” that I found especially appealing. I liked the way he plays with photographic images, splashing them with wild colour over songs and dialogue that talk about how magazines influenced 1950s American women. I was hoping that “Funny Face” would delve deeper into ideas concerning celebrity image and femininity, but things are kept swimming pretty close to the surface. Not a single character in the film is self-aware, so no grand lessons are learned other than the obvious. Jo and Dick are happy together, fashion and philosophy be damned.

Jo’s interpretive dance to free form jazz and swing:

I’m not allowed to watch Dancing With The Starts this season, Brennan won’t let me.  Okay, that’s not entirely true.  Yes, he made fun of me, but many others did the same, and the show honestly just didn’t hold the same excitement for me that it once did. 

My (our) first season was the 5th, the season of Helio Castroneves, Mel B and Marie Osmond.  Yaw and Brennan,  being the amazing friends that they are, would come over every Monday and Tuesday to enjoy whatever vegetarian delight I could come up with and sit through two hours of dancing festivities.  Since beginning my following of the show in season 5, I have seen every single minute of every single episode through season 8 and the triumph of Shawn Johnson.  Every sequin, every bangle, every dip, slip and trip for four seasons straight I witnessed. 

Then this season was announced.  Outside of Donny Osmond – who, by the way, has my full support for tonight – I really wasn’t interested in most of the cast, and as my obsessive behavior for the show had reached an all-time high, I realized it was time for a break.  While I haven’t watched an episode of Season 9, I have seen bits and bobs about the progression as the weeks went on, including comments on last night’s freestyle routines.  There really are no words for how devoted (obsessive, crazed) I have been to this show, and as such, I am fully confident in making the following assessment: The decision of who takes home the mirror ball trophy, and the sparkly glory that goes with it, all comes down to the freestyle dance.

Let us certainly not overlook the fact that there are nine weeks preceeding the finals and that one must knock off 7, 10, (or this season) 12 other competitors to even have the chance to uninhibitedly shake what yo momma gave ya, and I will absolutely give credit to all those performances that got the final three into, well, the final three.  But let’s look at the tape as to what the competition really boils down to.

Gilles Marini, Season 8 Runner-Up Previously known only as the naked dude on Sex and the City, Marini came out of nowhere to be the front-runner in season 8.  Pelvic thrusts, undeniable chemistry with partner Cheryl Burke, that French accent and oh so obvious good looks made this ’star’ a fan favorite early on.  The very partner that turned him into the Don Juan of the Ballroom completely screwed him over though by choreographing a lack-luster freestyle, focusing more on her and less on him; you know, the star.  Judge Carrie Ann Inaba didn’t let that go unnoticed, and the judges’ scoring accurately reflected the audience’s take as well.

Melissa Rycroft, Season 8 Second Runner-Up Jilted on national television by her super-tool fiance, Jason Something-or-the-other, Rycroft jumped into the competition only two days before the start of the season, replacing an injured Nancy O’Dell.  America’s new sweetheart already had ballet training and a few years as a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader under her belt, and she made good use of those skills to dazzle the audience at every turn.  I was a Melissa fan, and I’ve always been a huge Tony Dovolani supporter, but what was supposed to be a freestyle turned out to be ’see how many lifts we can do in a minute and thirty seconds.’  Poor judges remarks and scores were earned immediately followed by being announced as first out in the finals.

Lance Bass, Season 6 Second Runner-Up Oh, Lance and Lacey.  Rebels of the ballroom they certainly were, and after a roller coaster of early performances, they finally hit their stride.  After all that hard work to make it into the finals, they went for a full-on hip hop freestyle and in their minds, that meant no lifts.  No lifts in DWTS Finals world means no points and no votes.  They also threw in some random Cha Cha steps, which instead of showing that they tried to incorporate some things Lance learned throughout the previous 9 weeks made the dance entirely disjointed, and the judges certainly did not enjoy.

Mel B, Season 5 Runner-Up With a partner like bad boy of the ballroom Maksim Chmerkovskiy, in addition to her feisty personality and undeniable flash, no one saw two-time Indy 500 champ Helio Casotroneves pulling ahead in the final lap for a victory over Ms. Brown.  On the first few beats of her freestyle, I was prepared for a mind-blowing exhibition to Timabaland’s ’The Way I Are’.  I was bored from the beginning, and Mel B seemed to stumble almost as though she had no idea where she was or why she was in a tight red corset with all those lights shining on her throughout the dance, and I wasn’t alone; judges remarks reflected my thoughts and Mel went home empty-handed.

Marie Osmond, Season 5 Second Runner-Up Okay I’ll admit it, Marie was not really one of the top three dancers from this season, though I loved her from the start.  Her fans, and not her footwork, kept her going week after week, but nothing could save her from the Bride of Chucky-like baby doll freestyle to the Rolling Stones’ tune, ‘Start Me Up’.  I love Marie, I love Jonathan (seriously, if I’m ever on DWTS, I want him as my partner), and I love the Stones, but this collaboration was an absolute nightmare.  The doll thing was cute for a couple of seconds, paying homage to fans who buy her line of dolls, but it was way too much, way too creepy, and way not enough dancing for anyone’s taste.  Her freestyle is still talked about to this day as one of the worst in series history.

Now let’s look at who beat them. 

Shawn Johnson, Season 8 Champion In a final three lovingly made fun of for being the ‘who’s that’ of the ballroom instead of ‘who’s who’, Shawn Johnson took home the mirror ball in spectacular fashion with a freestyle that left even the hearts of the audience racing.  The girl’s an Olympic Gold Medalist in gymnastics for crying out loud, and Mark Ballas squeezed out every last drop of energy within her for the 1:30 minute show.  It is possible for one to argue that, as I mentioned before, none of the last three standing had much of a fan base and that, being fresh off an Olympic victory, Shawn had a bit more of a following.  I’m telling you seriously though, it all came down to her freestyle, and a lack of freestyle finesse from her competition.

Warren Sapp, Season 6 Runner-Up I wanted Warren to win so badly I could taste it.  For some reason, I couldn’t stand Brooke Burke and I absolutely loved the idea of a former defensive tackle channeling Fred Astaire.  He was amazing throughout Season 6, particularly in the smooth dances, and his freestyle was what pushed him ahead of Lance into the final two.  Warren Sapp in a silver sequined vest?  Priceless.  Of course, his freestyle wasn’t fawned over by the judges like Season 6 champion Brooke Burke’s performance, which leads us to…

Brooke Burke, Season 6 Champion I wasn’t the biggest fan of this freestyle, probably because I wasn’t the biggest fan of Burke, but the judges absolutely ate it up.  Carrie Ann said it was one of the best ever, and the fans agreed by crowning Burke Season 6 champ.

Helio Castroneves, Season 5 Champion Yes, Helio had Julianne Hough, fresh off her Season 4 victory with Apollo-Anton Ohno as a partner.  Believe me, it wasn’t her fan base that got them first place, it was the ridiculous choreography in the freestyle.  Every second was jam-packed with passion, excitement, lifts that tiny little Castroneves should never have been able to pull off, and oh Helio, that smile.  True, they didn’t get a perfect 30 with fussy pants lift policewoman Carrie Ann’s 9, but the dance was beyond spectacular.

Obviously I don’t know the results of tonight’s Finale, and it’s quite possible all my theories and conjectures could be thrown right back in my face, but I’ll be durned if Donnie Osmond doesn’t take home the trophy based on Kelly Osbourne’s stumble and Mya’s iffy performance.  Of course, Donnie’s 8 million-strong Mormon fan base doesn’t hurt either…

*Notable exception: Joey Fatone and Apollo-Anton Ohno, Season 4.  Either could (should) have won that season.  Interesting though, Laila and Maks took home third after receiving only 26 points to the fellas’ perfect 30’s.  Coincidence?  I think not.

70. 5th Avenue Girl (Gregory LaCava, 1939)
Another great film to come of the Golden Year of cinema, 5th Avenue Girl is something of a somber romantic comedy. It’s a funny movie about poverty and being ignored by your family! Sounds like a howler, right? But really, it manages to be very funny and very touching at the same time. Mary, played with a healthy does of world weary cynicism by Ginger Rogers, is a poor girl hired by Mr. Borden, the always wonderful Walter Connolly, to come live in his home as pose as his new ladyfriend to help him in his attempts to get his family to notice him again. His wife, his son, and his daughter all ignore him while paying attention to his money. The scheme definitely works, but complications arise when the attentions of his son (played by a pretty darn dreamy Tim Holt) toward Mary turn from suspicious to romantic. 5th Avenue Girl joins movies like My Man Godfrey in the category of socially conscious screwballs of the Depression era, but it definitely has a darker tone overall than most of the film of this type. The film is also notable for Verree Teasdale’s performance as Mr. Borden’s wife.

069. Kongo (William J. Cowen, 1932)
There are some movies that have such a strong atmosphere you can actually feel it physically, on your skin and in your bones. Kongo is one of those movies. It’s a film with such deplorable characters and horrible goings-on that it really could only come out of the pre-code era. And it has an atmosphere of so much wrongness, dirtiness, and sexuality that it almost oozes off the screen. Walter Huston is incredible as the depraved Flint, a cripple who reigns over a cult of natives in Africa. He’s a twisted individual who’s completely self obsessed and bent on revenge. In the film, most of his wrath is brought down upon Dr. Kingsland (Conrad Nagel), a doctor who he kidnaps in hopes that he’ll be able to heal him, and Ann (Virginia Bruce), the  main pawn in his revenge scheme. The brutalizes the two of them, getting them addicted to drugs and forcing Ann into prostitution. It isn’t a pleasant movie to watch, but it is an incredible look at the darkest side of human nature you could possibly find. Along with Huston’s masterful performance, Nagel and Bruce are incredible. Their characters become so broken and hopeless. They’re really the only sympathetic characters in the film, and watching them be just so utterly destroyed is pretty heartwrenching.

068. Anna Karenina (Clarence Brown, 1935)
It’s kind of amazing that a studio would even attempt an adaptation of Anna Karenina, a story that’s all about adultery, after the pre-code era. Despite the restrictions of the era, of the many adaptations of Tolstoy’s novel, Clarence Brown’s 1935 version is probably the best. This was actually the second time Garbo had played Anna Karenina. She’d made a silent, modernized version in the 1920s opposite her then paramour John Gilbert, entitled Love. The role is one that suits Garbo and her talents so amazingly well, and it’s hard for any other actress in the  role to measure up to her.  Particularly impressive are the moments between Anna and her son. Garbo loved children, though she never had any of her own, and the few scenes she shared with children throughout her career are some of the most purely emotional and open moments Garbo ever had onscreen.

067. Five and Ten (Robert Z. Leonard, 1931)
While Marion Davies was always at her best in comedies, she did have some seriously dramatic acting chops. Where so many films during the Depression were about the poor, Five and Ten told the story of a family who acquires new wealth, and the negative effects that has. So I guess it sort of said to the Depression audiences, “Don’t feel bad about being poor. Look at how awful and miserable the people who have money are.” The film looks at the Rarick family as they become members of the new rich. Instead of being blissfully happy with their new money, each family member faces their own problems. Jennifer (Davies), tries to become a member of society, but is generally shunned because she doesn’t come from old money. Her mother (Irene Rich) is bored with her life since her husband works so much, and she takes up with gigolo. Avery, Jennifer’s brother, played by Douglass Montgomery, spends all his time worrying about the problems of his family and it starts to drive him a little crazy. Where the wealthy families in films like Merrily We Live are endearingly nutty, the Raricks are an incredibly sad family to watch.

066. Follow the Fleet (Mark Sandrich, 1936)
There are so many ways in which this is not your typical Astaire/Rogers musical. First, fter Flying Down to Rio, Fred and Ginger were almost always cast as the leads. This time they share pretty equal screentime with a less interesting, but still charming, couple comprised of Randolph Scott and Harriet Hilliard. Second, the pair usually played characters of considerable wealth, or were, at the very least, comfortable. In Follow the Fleet, he’s a sailor and she’s working hard at a dance hall just to make ends meet. Finally, this is the only film in which one of their dances breaks character and they’re actually performing the dance as other characters. These differences make for a breath of fresh air in the Astaire/Rogers canon. For once they’re a completely ordinary couple, trying hard to raise some money. The films features two of their best dances, the beautiful “Let’s Face the Music and Dance”, and “I’m Putting All My Eggs In One Basket”, a lighter number which shows off Ginger’s incredibly gift for physical comedy.

THIS MUST BE THE PLACE (NAIVE MELODY)

.recorded in 1982 and released in 1983 i wonder as one must if perhaps this must be the place i waited years to leave from the pet shop boys album behaviour released in 1990 was in any way knocking off the title a bit.

.just a bit?

.feet on the ground head in the clouds billboard produced by laurel woodcock.

]]> http://obscureclassics.wordpress.com/2009/11/22/top-100-of-the-1930s-75-71/ Sun, 22 Nov 2009 16:20:54 +0000 obscureclassics http://obscureclassics.wordpress.com/2009/11/22/top-100-of-the-1930s-75-71/

075. Hide-Out (W.S. Van Dyke, 1934)
Hide-Out is a mobster movie in so much as it’s about a mobster. But instead of being a Little Caesar type story of the rise and fall of a gangster, it’s a romantic dramady. Montgomery’s Lucky really is no good. When he ends up at the Miller family farm after being shot, he intends to use the family’s kindness for as long as he can until he recovers and then return to his life of crime. But he starts to actually genuinely like the family, especially Pauline, the daughter, played by a charming Maureen O’Sullivan. At first he is after that one thing that bad boys are after when it comes to girls, but he realizes her really loves her and that makes him want to turn his life around. The movie is a really good piece of character development for Lucky, and Montgomery’s performance as both the heartless Lucky and the changed man is very good. He makes the development feel very natural. The love story, while simple, is surprisingly romantic, and there’s a an incredibly charged scene where Lucky and Pauline take refuge in an empty house during a rainstorm.

074. City Lights (Charles Chaplin, 1931)
City Lights is easily the most loved Chaplin film (though not my favorite). Chaplin resisted sound for many years, continuing to make silent films into the 1930s. This is a pure romance, about the selfless power of love.  The Tramp is willing to go through all sorts of things for the Flower Girl, in hopes of making enough  money to pay for an operation to restore her sight, even though he knows that once she can actually see him, and see that he’s not the wealthy man she thinks he is, that she might not want him anymore. It really is beautiful to see a love story where the character is so entirely selfless. There isn’t an ounce of selfishness in his actions. In addition to being touching, it’s an incredibly funny movie. Nobody could combine the drama of romance with the extreme humor the way that Chaplin did. The two blend together to create a perfect romantic comedy.

073. Libeled Lady (Jack Conway, 1936)
William Powell and Myrna Loy made a huge amount of films together. Their most notable are obviously the Thin Man movies, but Libeled Lady is easily their best non-Thin Man movie. I’m a big fan of the love-quadrangle thing in old movies, and this movie has one of the best. Powell, Loy, Spencer Tracy, and Jean Harlow make a great team, and it makes for three of the best pairings in classic romance – Loy and Powell (obviously), Tracy and Harlow, and Harlow and Powell. I think Harlow’s performance is particularly impressive because she spends a good portion of the movie acting like the last thing she wants to do is marry Powell, when in reality that was what she wanted more than anything (Powell and Harlow were an item until her death in 1937).

072. Shall We Dance (Mark Sandrich, 1937)
Shall We Dance really doesn’t get a lot of love among the Astaire/Rogers films, which is unfortunate and not entirely fair. Sure, while the dancing is good, it doesn’t really match a few of their other films, and with the exception of “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off” there isn’t an amazingly memorable number. But what it lacks on the musical front it makes up for by having one of the most original stories and the pair’s film canon. No mistaken identity here. Fred and Ginger play two famous dancers who the press mistakingly think are married. It’s a good premise that leads to some fantastic comedy, and great performances from its leads. Especially Ginger, who spends much of the movie acting annoyed and put out by Fred’s obvious attractions. And while there’s no mind blowing dance accompanying it, “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” is one of the best songs Fred ever sang, and Ginger’s reaction shots to it are beautiful.

071. Midnight Mary (William A. Wellman, 1933)
Thanks to the ultra-pious good girl image she cultivated for herself in the late 1940s and 1950s, when people think of Loretta Young think almost exclusively of that ultra-pious good girl. So a lot of people are often surprised to go back in her filmography and look at her pre-code work, in which that good girl was a far away thing. This is especially true of Midnight Mary, an amazing character study where Young plays one of the most flawed heroines of the era. Mary gets dealt a shit hand early on, and her life just devolves from there, from prostitution to a dangerous relationship with a violent criminal. This film is so obviously pre-code. It seems that every time Mary makes a strong moral decision, it backfires on her completely, but whenever she does something bad things kind of work for her. In the end, Mary is her own worst enemy, thinking that she doesn’t deserve any better than the life she has. Young’s performance is incredible, and this is one of the best characters to come out of the decade.

By Katie Richardson

Once upon a time you danced in a ballroom and grinding was for coffee and meat.

(Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers)

I miss classy ..

Picture by: dunno source Caption by: reine-haru via Our LOL Builder

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095. The Gay Divorcee (Mark Sandrich, 1934)
After their show stealing supporting performances in Flying Down to Rio, RKO paired Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in their first starring vehicle in 1934, The Gay Divorcee. The set up of mistaken identity definitely established a standard story point for many of their films in the following years, but Fred and Ginger are always so charming that nobody really cares that the plots all look kind of the same. The Gay Divorcee is definitely noticeable as an early entry in the pair’s canon. The dancing isn’t quite as awe inspiring as it would be a few years later. But what they may lack in technical proficiency, they make up for with chemistry. Fred and Ginger are one of the all time greatest screen teams because of all the ways they clicked together on screen, with or without the dancing. As always, they’re surrounded by a wonderful supporting cast including the delightfully daffy Alice Brady and the dependably befuddled Edward Everett Horton.

094. Inspiration (Clarence Brown, 1931)
Inspiration, Greta Garbo’s third talkie, is often dismissed as lifeless, and it’s leading couple (Garbo and Robert Montgomery) as being without passion. It’s easy to see how some might think that, seeing as how it’s surrounded by pre-code melodramas being made at the same time. But this film is anything but lifeless and passionless. It’s simply a lower-key melodrama than most films that were being made at the time. For addressing such a typically pre-code topic, it remains a remarkably gentle and patient movie. Garbo played a lot of these long suffering, self-sacrificing women, who loved their men enough to know when to leave. She played the character so many times because she was good at it, and it worked, as it does here. The relationship between Montgomery and Garbo is a lot less in your face than so many of her other pairings, because in this case we’re dealing with a man of extreme repression. There’s a lot going on underneath the surface with Montgomery, and their relationship, in this movie. Inspiration is all about the thing going on just outside of our line of vision. That’s why it usually needs to be seen more than once. You have to realize where you’re supposed to be looking.

093. Romance (Clarence Brown, 1930)
This vaguely titled melodrama is the ultimate forbidden love story. Greta Garbo, at her absolute most beautiful, is an opera singer with quite a past who falls in love with a man of God played by Gavin Gorden. Director Clarence Brown isn’t particularly creative with the camera (save for one particularly tense and steamy scene between the lovers toward the end), but he makes up for it with lush and glamorous costume and set design. Garbo’s gowns in this movie are exquisite. The fact that the story is so simple is what makes the film special. There are no crazy twists and turns. We know the way it’s going to end the second the story starts. It’s the knowledge of the inevitable which makes watching the love story unfold so heartbreaking. This is the love story from which so many modern love stories derive.

092. What Price Hollywood? (George Cukor, 1932)
Five years before William Wellman’s A Star Is Born became the cautionary tale for young stars exceeding their mentors, George Cukor’s What Price Hollywood told the same basic story, with an even more heartbreaking twist of unrequited love. Constance Bennett is the young starlet here, every bit as charming as the naive Hollywood newbie as she is as the seasoned Hollywood vet. The criminally underrated Lowell Sherman is her mentor, a gifted producer who teaches her how to be a star. Unfortunately he’s a drunk, and the more her star rises, the more his falls, and his unrequited love for her doesn’t help, especially when she married another guy. In the early 1930s, the film industry was still relatively young, and it wasn’t an entirely usual thing for people on the inside to take a cynical look at the inner workings of their bread and butter. It had been done before, of course, but not quite as brutally and heartbreakingly as it was in What Price Hollywood. It showed, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that even the ones who seem like they have it all don’t have it all.

091. Lovers Courageous (Robert Z. Leonard, 1932)
The set up and story for Lovers Courageous, Robert Z. Leonard’s stunningly visual ode to the complications of love, is rather simple. Rich girl meets poor boy. In any other movie, this set up might lead to some pretty humdrum boring stuff. But when the girl is the endlessly charming Madge Evans and the boy is sexy and suave Robert Montgomery, you’re well on your way to an entertaining movie experience. Add to that the fact that Robert Z. Leonard managed to express the beauty of love on front of the camera with some surprisingly gorgeous settings and camera work, and you’re got a pretty nice little love story to kill less than an hour and a half with. Montgomery and Evans are one of the unsung duos of classic film. They made some of the best romances of the 1930s together, and had the perfect spark and chemistry for each other. Montgomery, who is often known for playing snarky men of considerable means, is quite low-key here, a humble and romantic minded playwright who enjoys the simpler things in life, specifically the beauty of one Miss Evans. It’s a charming, visually pleasing love story with a satisfying conclusion and a couple that’s impossible not to root for.

Stay tuned for 90-86

By Katie Richardson

I see them everywhere… on my computer, on billboards, in the pages of magazines and on my TV screen… dead celebrities drinking champagne and dancing with vacuum cleaners and driving cars that came out decades after they were rotting in their graves.

It’s easy to see why advertisers want dead people to endorse them. Dead people are safe: they’re known quantities. It’s unlikely an ad campaign will get torpedoed by new revelations or scandals. They’ll never be accused of sexually assaulting a waitress in their hotel room or getting addicted to prescription pain killers. And even if we did find out something juicy and new about James Dean or Marilyn Monroe or Steve McQueen, would it hurt their image or just add to their mystique?

Dead celebrity endorsements are big business.

Einstein made $10 Million in 2009, according to Forbes latest annual list of top earning dead celebrities.  All the way back in the 2006 edition of the Forbes list, Corbis image licensing said Albert Einstein was their most requested person. As Tony Soprano might say, “Einstein is a good earner.” Of course, in his case, his earnings go to a good cause. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem gets the cash, including a share from Baby Einstein (Disney), although how would Albert have felt about their recent settlement for misleading claims of jump starting juvenile intelligence? Do you think he’d be proud that being a character in Night at the Museum ended up with him as part of a Happy Meal movie tie-in at McDonald’s?

If you want to hire a dead celebrity like Marilyn Monroe to sell your products, just click on over to the Legends Media Archive. You’ll find advertising-friendly images for dead celebs from John Belushi, Ingrid Bergman and Ty Cobb to Jackie Robinson, Mark Twain and Natalie Wood.

Live celebrities are no better. Some of them have even tarnished their reputations by becoming product hucksters. Are you old enough to remember when Orson Welles did commercials for Paul Masson wine: “We will sell no wine before its time.” More recently, we all had to cringe when Ed McMahon made a Cash4Gold commercial his last role.

But whether you think they sold out or not, it was their choice. Nobody forced them to make those commercials.

The dead can’t do that.

These dead celebrities have been stripped of their most basic right: the right to self-determination, to choose what they do or do not do. They are slaves to the choices of their estates, or of the people who own the copyright on their images.

Some cultures honor their dead. We exploit ours.

There’s nothing illegal about it, although the FTC is considering new regulations concerning celebrity endorsements, according to this blog post by Jonathan Faber, licensing expert and former president of “CMG Worldwide, Inc., whose clients include Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Babe Ruth, Chuck Berry, Princess Diana…”

One of the proposed new rules is that “Advertisers should only use endorsements of celebrities if the advertiser believes that a celebrity subscribes to the views presented.” (Not a problem for the Marilyn Dom Perignon campaign, since it was her favorite champagne, or Steve McQueen driving a Ford Mustang, which he did famously in the 1968 cop classic, Bullitt.)

But this post isn’t about morality or legality. This post is about marketing.

The point of celebrity endorsement advertising is to make a connection between the celebrity’s persona, the product and the audience. If a celebrity swears by it, that’s good enough for me.

When done wrong, it can backfire. Who would believe that Paris Hilton ever ate at Carl’s Jr. or that Tiger Woods, one of the richest athletes in history and currently the top earning athlete endorser actually drives a Buick.

When done right, it can build a brand. When Brooke Shields said that nothing came between her and her Calvins, Calvin Klein became the must-have designer jean.

But what’s right about using a dead person to endorse your product? Does having David Spade talking to a now dead Chris Farley make you more likely to want to get Direct TV, or less? How many people went out and bought a Dirt Devil because some art director used special effects to force Fred Astaire to dance with one?

I know vampires and zombies are all the rage these days, but can someone please explain to me why anyone thinks a dead celebrity who never used a product can make a convincing sales pitch to the living?

Fred Astaire: Good old Totley castle.

Gracie: Isn’t it beautiful? It’s almost pretty enough to be a filling station

George: Filling station? This castle is more than 300 years old.

Fred: Oliver Cromwell went through here in 1648.

Gracie: Well that was good time in those days.

Fred: I mean he went through the castle, Gracie.

Gracie: Couldn’t stop the car, huh?

George and Fred: No! Couldn’t stop the car!

 Freed Astaire. Dancing Cheek To Cheek – His 56 Finest, 1926-1952 by Fred Astaire

2009 (56 tracks, 2:38:22)

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