Tuesday, April 5, 2016

The Letter D

The A to Z Challenge


...Gary Cooper to Patrcia Neal (The Fountainhead) to

1. THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL-1951-SCIENCE FICTION



DIRECTOR: Robert Wise
STARS: Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Sam Jaffe, Hugh Marlowe
PLOT: Peaceful alien lands on a paranoid Earth, gets shot, escapes the hospital to understand humans. Everyone is full of fear making Gort one unhappy robot.
QUOTE: Gort! Klamath Barada Nikto
OSCAR NOMS: Nil
OSCAR. WINS: Nil
LOVE: That cool music by Bernard Hermann
FAVOURITE SCENE: when everything comes to a standstill
FAVOURITE CHARACTER: Gort!
TIDBITS: The doorman to Graumann'sChinese Theatre played Gort because he was so tall but he was a 99 lb weakling and couldn't lift Patricia Neal ( hidden wires were used)
SIX DEGREES(MORE OR LESS) OF SEPARATION: Patricia Neal to Gray Cooper( The Fountainhead) to Burt Lancaster(Vera Cruz) to Katherine Hepburn(The Rainmaker) to Anthony Hopkins ( The Lion in Winter) to ...

DRACULA-1992-HORROR


DIRECTOR: Francis Ford Coppola
STARS: Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Keanu Reeves, Anthony Hopkins, Tom Waits
PLOT: Toothy bad boy comes to England and finds his reincarnated wife..romance, blood, bats & rats ensue.
QUOTE: Children of the night, what beautiful music they make.
OSCAR NOMS: Art Direction
OSCAR WINS: Best Costume, Sound Editing, Makeup
LOVE: I love both the great cinematography and the music
FAVOURITE SCENE:  Old Dracula helps Johnathon shave( apparently Gary Oldman was a bit drunk during this scene)
FAVOURISTE CHARACTER: Dracula!
TIDBITS: Coppola didn't want to use all the new CGI so he went very old school with many tricks  first done in the silent era. The only computer graphic is the blue flames. Also during rehearsal, all was a ok but when when filming began, they openly disliked each other and no one knows why.
SIX DEGREES (MORE OR LESS) OF SEPARATION: Anthony Hopkins to Katherine Hepburn (Lion in Winter) to.....til tomorrow.

63 comments:

  1. I've been meaning to watch The Day The Earth Stood Still for ages! I've seen the newer version with Keanu Reeves but I hear that the original is so much better.
    Good luck with the A-Z Challenge :)
    My theme for the A-Z Challenge is my favourite fictional characters at ElenaSquareEyes.

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    1. The original is far superior to the remake which I just decide was never done.

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  2. I'll watch anything with Keanu in it :)

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    1. A Keanu fan I see. He's ok in Dracula but was hired mainly because he was hot at that time

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  3. Keanu Reaves was always such a dramatic charater. He always put so much soul into his work. Nina no doubt contributed some spice and curry into his performance in Dragula

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    1. I am not a huge fan of Keanu but he was good in this film. Winona was just wonderful and Oldman was brilliant.

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  4. Dracula was a cool flick. Reeves bumbled his way through his role, but Oldman was amazing as the Count.

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    1. I thought Oldman should have been nominated for an Oscar because he was that good.

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  5. The 1930's movie should be seen also.

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    1. Oh, I agree, Bela Lugosi was excellent as the count and the other film, the silent film Nosferatu is a brilliant piece of cinema

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  6. Hi, dear Birgit!

    I have seen both D movies and they are both favorites. I was only two years old when The Day the Earth Stood Still was released and I remember first seeing it when it was run on television as part of a syndicated movie package that circulated in the 50s. The famous command "Klaatu barada nikto" stuck with me all these years. That's a very interesting piece of trivia about the man who played Gort.

    It takes a lot to scare me, but Coppola's 1992 film Dracula chilled me to the bone, most likely due to the fact that he used old school film techniques that harked back to the silent era. Dracula is exceptionally well done and Winona Ryder was never as stunning as she was in that picture.

    Thank you, dear friend BB!

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    1. I love the Day..because it is such a telling reveal on the times. Those words are perfect and often quotes and Klaatu was even the name of that mysterious band from the 70's( I have a couple of their albums). This Dracula film is very scary due to the styling of it. I love the scenes of th girls in the maze and his face in the clouds...creepy.

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  7. This was a terrific version of Dracula - Gary Oldman was brilliant in it.
    I've never seen The Day the Earth Stood Still.

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    1. The Day the Earth Stood Still is so intelligent and it doesn't age

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  8. This was a terrific version of Dracula - Gary Oldman was brilliant in it.
    I've never seen The Day the Earth Stood Still.

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  9. Seen both at my sea. Oldman nailed it indeed in Dracula.

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    1. He did nail it and should have been up for an Oscar!

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  10. That was interesting that Coppola didn't want to use CGI; nice to hear some old school guys (though I do realize the movie is over 20 years old, nice that people will try to figure out ways to shoot things without resorting to CGI:)

    betty

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    1. Yup! He was against this and felt since the book was written in the late 1800's when fIlm first began and Nosferatu was made in 1922 and still freaks people out, he wanted to have the old style uses and even used some old cameras from that day also. Cool eh?

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  11. I think my favorite part of this blogging series is the tidbits. I love all those little known facts.

    Can you imagine making a movie with a bunch of people you didn't like and didn't like you? The whole process is so intimate and goes on for quite a while. Interesting that everyone on Dracula didn't get along. I guess they were all glad when it was over.

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    1. It was the 2 main leads that didn't get along but, I agree, can you imagine having to kiss someone you hate...blechhh.

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  12. TA DA! This is the first post where I've seen both movies! And loved them both.
    That remake of TDTESS with Keanu Reeves? Drek.

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    1. Glad you saw both and both are great. That remake is dreck

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  13. TA DA! This is the first post where I've seen both movies! And loved them both.
    That remake of TDTESS with Keanu Reeves? Drek.

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  14. Saw the Day the Earth Stood still recently on TV. Never saw the Dracula movie. Not into horror.

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    1. I hope you saw the original and not the remake

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  15. Enjoying your Letters Challenge, you have some great Alpha images. Saw #1 but not #2. NOt a big Sci-Fi fan. It's fun to watch "Earth" and realize it was state-of-the-art for its day, but so hokey with all the special effects we now have to jazz up a movie. TFS

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    1. Oh I love the simple effects but that's just me.

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  16. me... not into horror but dracula is so popular ... i saw it on my laptop on broad daylight ... just so it does not get on to me....
    TDTEES was once on an airplane and i saw a little bit before i snoozed off

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    1. This is a horror film I like since I don't like all the scary stuff. I hope you didn't see the remake which is horrible. The original is much better

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  17. I love seeing the old SciFi movies. They really are an interesting perspective of what people envisioned the future to be. Some are truly prophetic. Some just plain laughable.

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    1. This one is far from laughable and hold up even today

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  18. As a Dracula fan (not of vampires, just Count D), I was so excited about Coppola's remake of Bram Stoker's tale... and bitterly, bitterly disappointed after seeing it. See, I fell in love with Stoker's romantic figure, so aptly portrayed by Frank Langella in John Badham's 1979 film—and utterly destroyed by Gary Oldman (I love Oldman, just... not in this one). Remember, Frank Langella never wore fangs. The role didn't call for any special effects... but Coppola missed that memo, I guess ;)

    Thanks for the visit over at Life In Dogs , Birgit... I'm so glad you're enjoying the series.

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    1. Frank Langella was a very sexy Dracula but I loved Gary Oldman's performance. It just shows how personal films can be

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  19. I have seen some scenes from Dracula, but I never actually watched it through. It has some great actors involved.

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    1. It does have some great actors and I love it but that's me

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  20. Oh I love those old SciFi films! I'm not particularly into SciFi now but I love the old campy ones. I'll have to check this one out.

    I like the old Dracula too...

    Michele at Angels Bark

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    1. There are many campy sci-if and horror films from the 50's but this one above is excellent and above average. Love tHe Dreacula film and it's my favourite next to the silent Nosferatu and the 1931 Bela Lugosi film

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  21. I greatly enjoyed The Day the Earth Stood Still, but for one reason or another, was never a big fan of this version of Dracula.

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    1. Oh bummer on the Dracula film but you are not the only one and I don't get it but that shows how personal films are

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  22. The Day the Earth Stood Still is till a classic with me. Now I want to watch it with my kids.

    I’m exploring different types of dreams and their meanings.
    D is for Daydreaming and Downloads
    Stephen Tremp’s Breakthrough Blogs

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    1. This is such a good film. I also love to rewatch it too

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  23. Is the quote: "Gort! Klamath Barada Nikto?" Or "Gort! Klatu Barada Nikto?"

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    1. Meh. It's all Greek to me.
      Or alien.

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    2. It's the second one and it's the way I spelled it...Klaatu. I have to find out where the language comes from but it's not Greek or even Russian

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  24. I Loved the Day the Earth Stood Still. Great film. One of my favourite classic sci fi films.

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  25. I did see Dracula. Now I'm curious as to a Katherine Hepburn film starting with E... Or have I read the degrees of separation wrong?

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    1. Sorry but yes, the film with her and Robert Young is Spitfire and Robert Young is in the film for the letter E

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  26. Not a big science fiction fan (with a few exceptions), so I haven't seen the first film, but I am familiar with the title.I did see Dracula, but thought it was weird. The one starring Frank Langella was much better, IMO.

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    1. This is one film that I love.....well both of them. I have to disagree and love this one more than the hubby hubby Frank Langella

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  27. I have more movies to watch.

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    1. Yes and you can let me know what you think:)

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  28. I have more movies to watch.

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  29. I love that you include quotes. The Dracula quote is pretty darn freaky.

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    1. It's one of my favourite qUtes period. Bela Lugosi also said it wonderfully

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  30. I've seen Dracula, but not The Day the Earth Stood Still. I'm not a huge Sci-Fi fan. I have a few Sci-Fi movies and books that I absolutely love, but the genre as a whole is not my favorite. I'm your newest blog follower. I just dropped by to say hi during the challenge. It seems your theme involves movies for every letter so I will definitely be back. I'm a huge movie fan. Nice to meet you.

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    1. Nice to meet you too. I am not a huge sci-fi film but this one I love! I love the this Dracula film also so much

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  31. I remember that particular version of Dracula being a tad boring...or at least I thought it was. I should probably give it another try.

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    1. Hahahaaa...I love this one because of the limited use of cgi and the whole styling of this. I think it's because the director brought back the way they used to film pictures and it left me enthralled...plus I love Gary Oldman's acting in this

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  32. Birgit, we have The Day the Earth Stood Still, 1951 and a remake. Oddly, I wasn't too impressed with the movie. I really wanted to like it, too. I haven't seen this version of Dracula, but it could be one that I would like, though. Thanks for sharing!

    ~Curious as a Cathy
    All Things Vintage: Dear Diary #AprilA2Z

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  33. Hollywood is an ispirtaion to many movies in India. We had a bollywood adapatation ( cannot call it remake) called PK of 'the day earth stood still' which was a smash hit over here.

    Nice to extend your six degrees of separation and look for Bollywood / Kollywood / Tollywood/ Sandalwood movies.

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  34. Loved the Dracula movie. Keanu... oh my!
    x Asha

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