Skipping Thursday Movie Picks-Have Nuttin!

Over at Wandering Through The Shelves, they have the TV Edition and one is to pick 3 shows that are non-English. hence my look above..OK that really is not me but the same expression was on my face.  I think I popped a few brain cells to boot and I need to keep them since I drowned quite a few in my drinking youth days.

I decided to talk about a film...yup one since I do watch many in a month I knew I could give my 2 cents worth. So the film I chose is....

THE GREATEST SHOWMAN-2017

STARS-Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams, Zac Efron, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Keala Settle, Sam Humphrey.
Director-Michael Gracey
Writers-Jenny Bicks, Bill Condon
Oscar Nomination-Best Song-"This is Me" by Benj Pasek & Justin Paul

This is about the life of P.T. Barnum of "Never give a sucker an even break" fame. We see him as a small boy to a down on his luck, every man loved by a woman who gave up her fortune to be with him and have a few kids to boot. Poor, but with a vision, he starts a museum about weird oddities with little success until he brings in real life oddities or, as they were called in the day, Freaks starting with Tom Thumb and the Bearded Lady. Before he knows it, he is rolling in the mulah but he is still considered low brow so he fetches the beautiful, talented opera singer from Europe, Jenny Lind to appeal to the cultured but losing sight of his family-both his wife and kids and his family of "oddities".

This is an excellent film and should have been up for Best Picture instead of Shape of Water which won and Dunkirk(blecchhh-I'll get heat for that:)) because it has more depth than those 2 films and it is better directed. The music is stellar which is why I have no idea why it was not nominated for best Score, plus Art Direction and Costumes. Shape of Water was nominated in both areas and I just don't get it. So what if "Shape of Water" was filmed and shown in greens and has a under water, icky look. This film is much better in both areas. The singing is superb but I will say that the director and cameraman should learn from what Fred Astaire insisted on...to film the musical number in full length. It is always distracting to get into a dance number only for the camera angle to change to a close up of their feet or face or just another angle. Please keep the shot where it should be. I know Arlee Bird loves this film which made me finally watch it and I am glad I did. If you care to listen I have the song, "This Is Me" that I think, should have won the Oscar up against "Remember Me" from Coco that did win. You choose which song should have won and before you listen, do you recall either because I can remember the song from The Greatest Stuntman but can't remember the song...hahahaaa.."Remember Me"... I don't! Take a listen...

now the Oscar winner...

Unless you dislike musicals (Shady), I recommend this film and Hugh is always nice on the eyes.

Birthdays a Go-Go

My hubby’s sister, brother in law and Nephew all have birthdays within a week and a half of one another...crazy!! Her birthday was on March 16th, their son was on the 24th and her hubby is tomorrow so we got together for brunch in beautiful downtown Hamilton. I am being facetious because Hamilton is a steel worker town with the once beautiful bay now a cesspool of smoke stacks and the smell can be a wonderful odor of scratchy throat puke combined with a nose hair wilting of chemo ooze. Their daughter lives there up on the escarpment which is nicer and she chose this place that was ok for food but too rich for my blood. My hubby disliked the grub since he likes eggs sunny side up, bacon and home fries not eggs Benedict covered in hollandaise sauce and a potato that looked like it was garroted and then seasoned. The company was grand and we did have a great time although I was exhausted. Where was I? Oh yeah! Card making and here they are...finally, since I did ramble on above..

Black, grey cardstock. Saying and squirrel stamp, embossing powder, brown dye ink and embossing ink. Scissors, gold stickers, brown pen.

Crafty Creations-Anything Goes
Happy Little Stampers- Special Day
The Fairy & The Unicorn-Anything Goes-Optional, Alice in Wonderland

This was a fun one to make for brother in law where I stamped the funny saying and embossed it with topiary embossing powder. I stamped the squirrel on glossy white cardstock and fussy cut it out. And added the border and saying after I coloured it in brown. I am now following The Fairy and the Unicorn because I love anything magical. I think squirrels fall under that since they have appeared i movies talking and helping out the damsel in distress. besides it is the beast for my hubby's coat of arms. While others have the mighty lion or other great beasts, my hubby has ...the squirrel.

Misti sprays, perfect pearl powders, brushes, stickers, brown pen, cardstock

Alphabet Challenge-Z for Zesty Colours
Happy Little Stampers-Use Mist

I tried to make this nice and simple by taking a white card and, using citrus colours from these misti paints, I sprayed them  to create the “look”.  I adhered it to the red and then the dark brown cardstock but not before using perfect pearl powders in green, bronze and yellow around the edges. I just used the double sided tape (I always use this on all my cards) to put the card together and finished it off with sticker borders and the saying after it was coloured in a brown pen. I know, Hard to see the saying but it does look better in real life...that sentence just sounds strange:).

Flower stamp, Birthday saying stamp. Black dye ink and clear embossing powder. Tombow markers, rainbow dye stamp pad, psychedelic powder, glossy goo, border sticker, butterfly stamp, stickles, glue and flower crystals.

Retro Rubber Challenge-rrcb107-Tic Tac Toe-I chose Sparkle, Leaves, Heat Embossing
Cute Card Thursday-Spring Fever
Sparkles Monthly Challenge-Stamp your own background
Stamping Sensations-Over The Rainbow
The Flower Challenge-Anything Goes

I loved making this card with a new stamp I just purchased a couple of weeks ago. I stamped the flower stamp all around and coloured it in with my tombow markers. I used glossy accents..goo, to create that “wet” look. I stamped the Happy Birthday stamp (one of my first stamps..so 17 years old??) with the rainbow pad and embossed it in the psychedelic powder. I pieced it onto some blue cardstock which was, in turn, placed on my flower base. I added the border, the stickles and the flower crystals. I added the butterfly for the final effect.

There we have it...all done!

Thursday Movie Picks-Private Eye

Talk about a huge list, last week was a tough one for me, this time, I was wondering which movies to pick and where to go..so many choices! I'll be interested to see what the others have chosen and, if you head on over to the brainchild of this weekly event, Wandering Through The Shelves, you can find out:) . I did do a theme within a theme so here we go...

1. THE BIG SLEEP-1946

How can one not choose a Humphrey Bogart Film?! This is his area of expertise and one can understand why, hell, I could have just done a Bogie salute here but I went a slightly different route. This is his second pairing with his wife, Lauren Bacall and he has the tough, hardened P.I. down to a science. He plays Philip Marlowe (Raymond Chandler wrote a series of books about this detective) who is hired by an elderly General to find the General's daughter which leads him into a plot that no one can truly figure out but no one cares. You have blackmail, murder, gambling and, of course the older sister, played by Bacall. There is a famous scene where Bogie and Bacall are talking about horse racing..yeah and I want to sell you swamp land in Florida. To get by the censors, who were dumb asses, their sex talk devised  around horse racing, can make one hot and bothered. This is a great Film Noir that no one should miss.

2. LADY IN THE LAKE-1947

Robert Montgomery (Elizabeth Montgomery's dad-you know, Bewitched) plays Phillip Marlowe who is fed up with the P.I. business and decides to write a book. He is asked to a publishing house only to find out they don't want his book but his P.I. abilities to find a woman. The lady wants Marlowe to find her boss's wife (even though she has the hotsies for her boss)and Marlowe is on the search. Of course there are twists and turns and what is a Film Noir without a evil bitch, I mean, duplicitous Femme Fatale. The uniqueness of this film is that Montgomery, who is the director of this movie, shot it from a first person perspective so, even though he is the star of the film, you only see him twice, when he is looking in the mirror. This was his last film for MGM after being with this studio for almost 20 years. It is worth seeing although I think there are better movies, but I chose this because of its uniqueness.

3. THE LONG GOODBYE-1973

Elliott Gould plays ...guess? ...Yup, Phillip Marlowe,  as a down on his luck, out of step with time, P.I. hired by his good friend to drive him near the Mexico border...before any wall was even mentioned except for the one in Berlin.  As soon as Marlowe returns, 2 cops pick him up questioning him about his friend's wife who is murdered. The cops throw Marlowe in jail but release him 3 days later when they find Marlowe's friend dead in the desert, ruled a suicide. Of course, Marlowe doesn't buy it which leads him down a trail of more murder, twists and a Femme fatale. This is updated to the present time(well, for that time) but it has the feel of  a 40's Film Noir with major updates. Gould is excellent as the P.I. and you have to love all the verbal bantering that Robert Altman, the director, is famous for. Love the fact that Gould and Sterling Hayden's scenes together were mostly ad-libbed because Hayden was drunk and stoned on pot most of the time.

Which P.I. Movies would you choose?

Thursday Movie Picks:Movies You Thought You'd Hate But Ended Up Enjoying

That title was lengthy and it made me think....if you saw some fireflies flicker before they died, that was my brain cells....see, does that make any sense?  Anyways let’s get to it and then go and visit Wandering Through The Shelves and see what everyone else chose as their pleasant surprises. Here are my 3...or 4

1. SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION-1994

I can’t believe I actually didn’t care to see this film which means I was one of the many who was turned off by the title...ughhh was I wrong! This film is now one of my all time favourite films ever. It stars Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne, whom you know is not guilty but is sent up the river to the horrible prison called Shawshank. There, he meets God....yes...God, you know, Morgan Freeman, who becomes his best friend  and we see how Andy calmly gives the finger to the bad cops especially the crooked Warden. To find out why Redemption is in the title is to give away the whole film but, once I saw it, I realized this is the best title this film deserved and it was robbed at the Oscars by the nice watching but insipid film, Chocolate boy aka ..Forrest Gump.

2. HELLBOY-2004

I hear there is a remake in the works this year and I will see it but I really enjoy this film and the sequels which surprises me because I made fun of this flick and now I am eating crow and feel humbled by my snootiness. This Stars Ron Perlman, who always played someone behind tons of makeup and is most famous from the TV Show, "Beauty and the Beast" where he played beauty..nyuck, nyuck. Where was I...oh yes, it starts off with the nasty Germans, aka Nazis, of course, who open a portal to bring some evil entity through, with the help of Rasputin, to this reality. Thankfully they are thwarted by the Americans but not before a cute little red demon baby comes through. The baby grows up knowing right from wrong and does what he can for good. Of course the evil Rasputin and the 2 main Nazi bitches are back but they have to go up against Hellboy and the other people with powers who are working for the good. Yes, this sounds like WTF?? But the director is Guillermo Del Toro and he creates quite a fun movie.

3.  DISTRICT 9-2009

I was asked to watch this by my niece and I did..begrudgingly but I was taken with the unique story and the message behind this story. A spaceship comes to earth and the aliens, really big flies that look quite ugly but are harmless, come to greet us but we, through fear and bigotry place them behind a huge chain link fence(do your best Trump impersonation) and they are kept within there where they are now living in a big slum. They become dependent on the humans and the humans look at them with contempt. There are police who go through this area and one is bit by an alien and he slowly mutates into one of them. As he mutates, everyone begins to shun him and his long held beliefs are slowly changing as a result. I found this film quite brilliant and worth a viewing.

4. THE TOOTH FAIRY-2010

There was nothing on the other night as I was making some cards and a scrapbook so I put this film on. Is it dumb? Oh yes it is, but I was surprised at how funny it was and engaging. Dwayne, The Rock, Johnson plays a down on his luck hockey player dating this wonderful woman, played by Ashley Judd, who has 2 kids. Anyway, his nickname is The Tooth Fairy since he separates the other hockey players' teeth from their mouths. He dashes the dream of one kid saying tooth fairies don't exist and he is now in deep doo doo with the tooth fairy world run by the elegant Julie Andrews. He is now a tooth fairy for 2 weeks much to his chagrin. It's predictable and won't win any awards but I was pleasantly surprised by how fun and endearing it is.

Which films did you think would suck or you thought you would dislike only to find the exact opposite?

Oh, My dad's birthday is today and he would have been 106 years old. Happy Birthday Daddy!

Thursday Movie Picks-The Cold War

The Cold War...and I'm not talking about how cold it is outside and how some people are waging war with the cold but the actual cold war that many of us can remember quite well. I recall watching Bugs Bunny only to have the test of the Emergency Broadcast Network come on and state it is only a test...yadda yadda. The best way I know is the actual wall that separated East and West Berlin and the number of people who died trying to cross that wall to get to freedom. It could be a real stand off between the East and West border guards if someone tried to escape. I remember a mother, father and their baby who successfully crossed the Spree river and made it! It was very daring for them to do since most died trying to use that method of escape. I am actually choosing 3 films that have nothing to do with the wall but still fit the theme. The brainchild for this series, Wandering Through The Shelves, has a different theme for each week. Now, on with the show...

1. THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE-1962

This is the far better film than the remake with Denzel Washington (sorry Denzel), about a group of men taken prisoner by the Chinese and brainwashed to kill the enemy in their own country. In fact, this film was not shown for many years(either due to Sinatra buying up the rights or lack of interest) which is a shame because it is brilliantly acted. Laurence Harvey is at his best (usually he is quite wooden) as the sad sack hero from the Korean War, who has been brainwashed to assassinate a political rival so the Chinese Communist government can gain more control. Frank Sinatra plays a fellow soldier who has memories of his time as a hostage and slowly realizes what is ready to happen. A brilliant script  that hinted at taboos, placed fear in the public and a brilliant performance by Angela Landsbury as one of the worst mothers ever filmed make this film a must see.

2. FAIL SAFE-1964

Another film made the year I was born and, yes, a depressing one but a brilliant film. It stars Henry Fonda as the President who finds out that, due to a computer error, planes have been sent to bomb Moscow. Attempts are made to stop the bombs but attempts fail. We see how everyone in the Oval office and the Military do what they can to prevent a nuclear fallout with great sacrifices made. Yes, it is bleak but it is a great film and worth seeing.

3. THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD-1965

Another black and white film with shadows, cigarette smoke and sadness all around but I just can't help myself. I almost want to call these kitchen sink movies although they are not-that is for more depressing dramas of this time period. Anyhoo, this stars Richard Burton as a retired spy who comes back for one last mission-to play a drunken ex spy who decides to give info to the East German police. He does not count on all the double crosses and intrigues plus falling in love with Claire Bloom. A brilliant telling of a famous novel that I need to read one day.

Which 3 would you choose?

Creativity...at Last!

Glitter a Go-Go, Glitter card stock and regular cardstock, Sizzex machine and cuddlebug machine, Embossing pad, die cuts, mermaid stamp, prisma colour pencils, gems, scissors, glue pen

Simon Says-Anything Goes
Crafty Creations-Anything Goes
Color Throwdown-Coral pink, periwinkle blue, Grass green, Sandy Colour-CTD532

Finally! I actually have made 3 other cards but I have not posted them yet plus I tried making ornaments using my alcohol inks which was fun but getting the white paint inside the ornament to make the glass balls opaque was a challenge since I bought think paint. The messy story will appear later on this year once I spray them with a glossy finish.

I had so much fun creating this card and card making makes the bad crap disappear like a fart in the wind (To quote from Shawshank Redemption). I stamped and coloured the mermaid and fussy cut her out. I added the sparkle and used hairspray to set the sparkle so it would not come off on one's fingers. I used my cuddlebug machine to roll the sandy coloured cardstock, in the embossing folder, through, and adhered it to the glitter cardstock and adhered that to the blue cardstock. I took a new diecut and used the sizzex to roll the blue paper, and then the green paper, to cut out the design. So easy and fun! I glued all of it down including the mermaid and then added some gems to complete the look. The little sentiment can be used for anything and almost anyone. I would never give this card to my hubby but that idiot in the ballgown at the Oscars would be happy to get this:)

I hope I can post every week if not more on my card making. Time will tell:) Have a great week!

Mounta Rushmore of Movies

Look at me write this week which is all about movies in one form or another. I found this new blog, Two Dollar Cinema, who  has created a  great post to be done by March 1st...I am right on the deadline. Simply, choose 4 of something cinematic-could be Oscar wins, 4 shirtless men that you pant over, basically anything pertaining to film, that should be carved into Mt. Rushmore. Here are the rules...

1. I'd like to have all posts done by Friday, March 1st (where I'll create a master list, linking back to all of your lovely sites), but it's cool if you're an overachiever and finish early. Or not at all.
2. When you've finished, send me a heads up/dick pic on twitter @twodollarcinema , reply in the comments below, e-mail me (twodollarcinema@gmail.com), make circles out of black smoke that Amy Adams will decode, Hell, cut a note out of old newspaper headlines, I really don't mind. Just let me know that you're in and that I love you so much. 
3. In your post, please use the rad banner my wife designed in eleven minutes.
4. Share the announcement, if possible. I don't really know anyone, uh, except you. 
5. I just want to tell you both good luck, we're all counting you.

here are the 4 I think should be carved into Mount Rushmore:

1. Mary Pickford-April 8, 1892-May 29,1979

This lass is known as America's Sweetheart even though she was born in Toronto, Canada and her sassy playing of children with her famous curls, even though she was well into her 30's, captured the imagination of the world. When she married Douglas Fairbanks Snr, they were known as the king and queen of Hollywood where famous people, including Kings, Queens and Sultans all vied to be invited to their famous home called Pickfair (Pia Zadora and her husband bought the place and razed it because she thought it was haunted-the bitch). When they went on their honeymoon to Europe, they were mobbed to the point that Fairbanks had to hoist Mary on his shoulders so she would not be crushed. Why do I choose Mary? This little gal (5ft), before she was 20, was one shrewd businesswoman who became the first woman to earn over a million dollars. No producer wanted to tangle with her because she was excellent in getting what she wanted money wise. She was the first woman to demand a share of the profits of her films plus own them and, along with Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin and D.W. Griffith, helped form United Artists. This production company, albeit not what it once was, is still around to this day. She is also a founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences plus she held an executive position with United Artists until the 1950's which is no small feat for a woman born before women had the right to vote.

2. HEDY LAMARR-NOV. 9, 1914-JAN. 19, 2000

This great beauty was born in Vienna, became famous for an erotic 1933 film called Ecstasy and made her way to Hollywood where the public fell in love with her face...much to her distaste. Her very famous quote is, "Any girl can be glamourous, all you have to do is stand there and look stupid."  This lady, who was the inspiration for Snow White and Catwoman, loved science and inventing. During the war, she was hearing how the ships were being torpedoed and the Allies were found due to radar.(If I am wrong correct me since I am not a science person at all). Together with a composer, named George Anthiel, she created something called frequency hopping. This, she thought would make it difficult for the submarines to locate the ships etc...but, in the stupidity of the U.S. military machine they scoffed at her invention. Later on, after the war,they found how useful it was and used it without paying her a cent. Now, she did give this information freely to them because of the war but, later on, they just used it and never even gave her credit. She is the founder for all we have today-Wi-Fi, cell phones, GPS, Bluetooth...can you imagine! On top of this, she helped Howard Hughes (her boyfriend at the time) redesign the wings of his plane to make it more aerodynamic. One smart cookie!

3. LUCILLE BALL-AUGUST 6, 1911-APRIL 26, 1989

We all know this famous lass unless you have been hiding under a rock. Technicolour Tessie, as she was described in the 1940`s, worked in Hollywood for many years but became very famous for her TV Show with her real-Life husband, Desi Arnaz called...I Love Lucy. Desi was a great businessman like his wife and they both insisted on their TV Show being filmed with 3 cameras, like the movies, which is why it is still of great quality today. They also insisted on the rights to their show, when this was not the norm at all, so they benefited from all the reruns and made tons of money. They also bought RKO Studios and created Desilu Productions. When they separated and, later, divorced, Lucy kept control of the Studio and was the first Woman executive to head a TV studio. When Star Trek was ready to be axed, the fans wrote in, and she made the decision to keep the series going. Her studio headed many shows including her own series, Star Trek, Mission Impossible and The Untouchables. What a Force!

4. OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND- JULY 1, 1916-AND STILL GOING AT  102 YRS OLD

She may look demure and so, so sweet but she is one strong woman who fought the studio system and won! She is the last cast member(except for the one who played her baby) from Gone With The Wind that is still alive and kicking. Remember, just a year and a half ago, she took on the TV show `Feud:Bette and Joan because she did not appreciate the way she was portrayed`and was not asked for her permission (she lost). Way back in the 1930`s she signed a 7 year contract with Warner Brothers and was often teamed with Errol Flynn (A rogue who loved her but she knew better). Warner Brothers was known as a tough studio with Jack Warner at the helm (so he thought but he often got away with murder..not literally...as far as I know). If a star disliked a part and refused to do it, they could be suspended for 6 months which would be added to their contract. Betty Davis and James Cagney both fought the studio but never won and had to go back to work with more years added to their 7 year contract. In 1943, she wanted out of her contract thinking her 7 years was up but Warners added 6 months. Warners had no idea who they were dealing with, Olivia hired a great lawyer and fought in court and won and this law is now called The De Havilland law. She was blackballed for 2 years as a result but she gained her freedom and all the other actors followed bringing this 7 year contract clause to an end giving the actors more control over their artistic endeavors. When Olivia returned to work with paramount Studios, she made the film To Each His own and won an Oscar as a result. What a classy tough lady who is no shrinking Melanie.