Thursday Film Picks-Man’s Best Friend

 

Oops...I mistakenly had it to post in June...

Let’s face it, most people love animals…thank God! God spelled backwards is dog and they can be from heaven…as long as they are with the right owner. I love animals and dogs especially because they just love so much. Our Harley is a big goof who loves to be cuddled, is jealous of the cat, and is very…very food motivated. He will grab the toast out of the toaster..yup, he is that big. He will grab bags, bones anything he finds outside and, once in his jaws, good luck in prying his jaws open. Could my Harley work in the movies? Hahaaaaaa…nope but there are some famous dogs who have with Lassie being at the top along with Rin, Tin Tin, Marley, Benji and so many others. The most recent is that cute border collie from, “Anatomy of a Fall” who stole the film, in my humble opinion. I thought of the dogs who stole the film from the actors and actresses and have become famous in their own right. Here are my 3..

1. THE THIN MAN-1934

The film stars William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles in the first of many films where they play these characters as Nick, a private eye, marries an heiress and both drink happily while figuring out who the murderer is. Their faithful companion, Asta, is played by Skippy, who knows what to do, when and how to do it….whatever it is. Off camera this wire fox terrier bit Myrna Loy so he could be a bit of a snot. The dog appeared in 2 more Thin Man films plus others and the audiences loved seeing him. This dog lived for 20 years…pretty damn good.

2. THE WIZARD OF OZ-1939

This iconic film made Judy Garland a star and has become a perennial favourite. We know the story about Dorothy being whisked away in a tornado to land in the land of Oz and he travels to get back home. Along with her is Toto, played by Terry, who is always by her side and her one connection to home. Toto was injured on the set when one of those purple guards accidentally stepped on her paw and broke it. Terry stayed with Judy Garland who nursed the cute cairn terrier and tried to buy the dog from the owner but to no avail. Terry was in other films but this is her most famous role, she passed away at 11 years old in 1945.

3. THE ARTIST-2011

I need to watch this film again because I love it! I know there is a dislike for the film now but, I think,  the acting is excellent and truly showcases the terror and heartbreak that many film stars from the silent era were facing when sound came in. Careers were done and some even did commit suicide. This shows how one, Douglas Fairbanks style actor, must deal with the coming of sound. His dog, a Jack Russell, is always by his side and comes to his rescue when he most needs it. The dog had no name in the film but Uggie became famous. How can one not love this dog? Uggie lived until 2015 a bit shy of turning 14. 

Bonus

MARC ANTONY AND PUSSY FOOT

The classic Warner Bros. Cartoons are priceless and there are a few cartoons with these 2 characters and I just love them. 

Latin One More Time

 

Harley can pout like most people can and here he is trying to win an Oscar. I thought Harley needed another blog look because he has not been here for a bit. He has nothing to do with Latin music but I don't care. I'm joining in the free style, this week, Monday Music Moves Me. 

1. BARCELONA NIGHTS BY OTTMAR LIEBERT-1990

This is from his CD, "Nouveau Flamenco" which I bought as soon as I heard this song. This guy is a German who loves the Spanish sound and is now a monk. Strange but gifted.

2. GRAVITY BY JESSE COOK-1996

This man is an award winning Canadian who is an expert with the guitar like Ottmar and others but he is just superlative.

3. LA COPA DE LA VIDA SUNG BY RICKY MARTIN-1998

Ricky Martin wowed the Grammy awards when he sang there and he wowed me to. Strange, as this was one of the very few times I watched this show. He was from the boy group, Menudo, and i knew him when he was on my soap, "General Hospital". This song became the official Fifa World Cup song when it was held in France. 

What other Latin or Flamenco type songs can you think of?

Thursday Film Picks-Bad Moms

 

So we all went goo goo and ga ga over wonderful mothers and that’s great but there are mothers that never should have had children because they were awful. I could have chosen “Mommie Dearest” THE film for bad moms. Let’s face it, Joan Crawford was not a great mother and, actually, not a great person, with many issues, so this flick is an easy go to, but I decided to choose 3 other mothers that define horrible and here they are…

1. NOW, VOYAGER- 1942

Bette Davis shines in this great film about a mousy, scared of her shadow, woman beaten down by her over-bearing, nasty, manipulative bitch of a mother, played to the hilt by Gladys Cooper who was nominated for an Oscar. Bette ends up in a sanitarium and with the help of a gentle psychiatrist, played by Claude Rains( Bette’s favourite co-star) gains confidence and beams as the new Charlotte. She goes on a cruise where she meets Paul Henreid and they have an affair hinted at by him lighting 2 cigarettes and handing her one. This sexy move followed Henreid for the rest of his life, much to his chagrin. They also shared a sleeping bag and could look at the stars. When she returns, she could hold her own against her mother. It is well acted, romantic and empowering.

2. THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE-1962

This film was banned for decades ( so I have read in many books but this seems to be incorrect) and only came back in the 1990s, I believe. It was considered too volatile on the political manipulations that occur in this film. Lawrence Harvey plays a troubled war hero who is trying to rebuild his life with a Wonderful girl but has nightmares. Frank Sinatra was also part of a group of soldiers, in Korea, who is also having nightmares and Harvey was part of this team who, apparently, saved everyone but, in fact, these soldiers were brain washed by the communists and Harvey is the key component in their plan to take over the U.S. government. You find out his mother is all part of this plan. She has so much ambition that she will have her son tortured and brainwashed just so she can get ahead. Actually, considering how Putin has his fingers in the U.S. government and Trumpy is his puppet…this is not far off. This is a dour but brilliant film and worth seeing.

3. SYBIL-1976

This is a TV movie starring Sally Field as the multiple personality, Sybil. Her performance drew rave reviews and showed the film industry that she had real talent. In this 2 part TV movie you find out that Sybil has many personalities and is under the care of a psychiatrist, played by Joanne Woodward. You slowly see Sybil implode  before she starts to get better and get to the root of her mental disorder. Can you take a guess? Yup, her mom is one of the worst mothers ever! When I watched this I thought her mother belonged in a horror film because she was beyond disgusting and that green kitchen is the worst place to be since mom sexually abused her daughter with utensils. It's abhorrent but brilliantly acted by the whole cast. The mother, played by Martine Bartlett, drew accolades for her disgusting portrayal. It's a must see for TV movies.

What horrible moms come to your mind?

For Mom

 

My mom, I miss her so much. Just about every person who met her thought she was just great. When my mom lived adjacent to a convenient store, she would talk to the kids who worked there and one kid was thinking of not going on in his education but, later, a woman knocked on my mom’s door and she thanked my mom because her son decided to stay in school because of what my mom said. I could talk to her about anything and she was there for me and rarely judged. Now, mind you, she was no saint, she did favour my brother, without her really knowing this. When I was a kid, a school trip went to Marineland and I bought this little bobblehead seal and was so happy that she had it always on her desk because she almost always kept what my brother made or bought her. When my mom got dementia she was wanting to give everything to my brother and I kept reminding her what she told me when her mind was sound. She told me the seal would go to Baron and I asked why. She said because Baron bought that for her but when I told her it was I who bought it, she looked at it and said, “ oh, well, you can throw it out then”. I just looked at her, shaking my head. Now, don’t get me wrong, she bought me a beautiful dress for my birthday( just don’t tell your brother that she spent so much on me), she often told me how proud she was of me and that she was so very thankful that I was with her.

 She loved her classical music with Beethoven being her favourite ( the 7th Symphony, her favourite of his) but she loved folk music and she loved to dance! In fact she once won a dance contest when she still lived in Germany ( she said it was for a dance similar to the one you see in “The Sound Of Music”). She loved to sing and was in the choir when she was a kid. She was told she could have a career in singing but the war and, later, her smoking, killed that chance. Still, she sang up until the day she died. Many young people loved that she would dance to many rock songs. She couldn’t listen to it, as her shoulders would shudder in discontent ( she could be such a ham) but the last wedding she went to, she was quite famous because she danced to AC/DC with many of the bride and groom’s friends asking who she was and that they thought she was cool. I guess she was and she was my mom. I am adding this to the mom special over at Monday Music Moves Me…

1. CATCH A FALLING STAR SUNG BY PERRY COMO-1957

Many, many years later, she asked me why she loves the music from the 50s now and  I told her that was her fun time when she was in her 20s and felt the most free despite her many responsibilities. She really loved this song and found it enchanting. In fact, the day she died, January 15, 2018, a month shy of her 90th birthday, the nurses and PSW’s told me she was singing this song in the dining room at lunch. After lunch, she went to go for a sleep and never woke up. What a nice way to go actually.

2. A TYPICAL LANDLER PLAYED ON THE ZITHER BY ANTON KARAS-DATE UNKNOWN

My mom, and I, love the zither and Anton Karas made it world renown after he became famous with The Third Man Theme. I am certain this probably comes from the 1950s or 60s and the Landler ( there should be 2 dots over the “a”) is a typical song(s) stemming from as far back as the 1600s. She knew many of these songs and loved them.

3. WOLGALIED WITH ANDRE RIEU-2018

This is from a Frank Lehar opera about a soldier who stands beside the banks of the Volga and became famous for soldiers in WW2 on the German and Russian side. My mom, a survivor of WW2 and the Russian takeover, suffered from PTSD but never got treatment for it. She could talk to my dad, a veteran of WW2 who fought with the Canadian army and was part of the liberation of Holland. They met many years later, in 1959, and they could talk about what they experienced. My mom was a huge believer in the veterans no matter what side. She felt a strong kinship to the allied veterans and did lose 2 brothers during the war, one was 1 year old and the other, 19. She was part of the resistance movement thinking it great fun placing the TNT under the bridges to prevent the German army from advancing. Any song belonging to the veteran, she held close to her heart. 

Have to add this..

BACK IN BLACK SUNG BY AC/DC-1980

This is one of the song my mom danced to at the last wedding she went to. We both danced to this and she was the rock star because most people her age were not dancing to this…only her and loving every moment. She couldn’t listen to the song but dance? Yup!

What songs did your mom love?

Enjoyed My Day

 

Christmas Card Throwdown- Scandinavian 

Dream Valley- For a Man or Boy

Crafty Animals- Anything Goes 

I took a stencil and, using a stencil brush, brushed in red colour from a dye ink pad onto white cardstock. I repeated the design on the bottom and then, stamped the reindeer in red and heat embossed it in red sparkle. I added the crystals and, voila!

Fab N' Funky- For A baby, child or teen

Sparkles Christmas- use Ribbon or Twine

I have a bunch of wooden designs and took the snowman and sprayed it with distress blue spray. I had this leftover card stock cut out like a frame. I placed silver dye ink on the Embossing folder and embossed this through my cuddlebug. I put blue pearl Embossing powder down and heat embossed it to get a nice Sheen. I glued a sparkle paper under the framed blue cardstock and added the snowman after I placed the orange twine around its neck as a scarf. I used black ink pen to make the eyes and mouth. Finally, I stamped the letters for "Merry Christmas" coloured them with my tombow markers, fussy cut them out and put pop up dots on the back to adhere it to the card. I thought of this for my friend’s 2 girls who are teens..well, one of them and I think it works. What do you think?

I hope everyone had a nice weekend  we had our Victoria Day weekend and it was quite nice. 

Thursday Film Picks-Sacrificing Moms

 

My mom would have given her life for me and my brother. She felt we were her biggest accomplishments ( thankfully, not disappointments). Since Mother's Day just past, I thought I would talk about 3 films where mom did her all for her ungrateful..er scratch that, for her sweet children. Here are my 3...

1. STELLA DALLAS- 1937

I may have spoken about this film before but it's a great film starring Barbara Stanwyck as a woman, from the wrong side of the tracks, who marries a rich guy and has a daughter. As soon as she has the daughter, her love goes to this baby even though she didn't show much aptitude for anything before. She makes sure her daughter has the best and, when she realizes her daughter is embarrassed by her mom's classlessness, she makes sure to stay out of the picture. It's very well acted but I will say, even when I saw this as a kid, I thought her daughter was a bit of a jerk, or jerkess. 

2. JOHNNY BELINDA-1948

This is a favourite film of mine starring Jane Wyman ( the first Mrs. Reagan) as a deaf mute living on a farm with her dad and Aunt. Along comes this kindly Dr who realizes that she has intelligence but must cut through the blindspot of the dad and aunt. When they notice that she can talk through sign language, they are overjoyed until she is raped by the local thug. No matter, she loves her baby and will do everything she can to protect her baby. It is a touching and sweet film despite the violent part but, thankfully, they don't show anything( unlike today where they feel they have to show this). I love this movie and thought the acting was excellent.

3. IMITATION OF LIFE-1959

Lana Turner plays a somewhat ok mom who loves her ambition of being an actress over being a mom or 50s housewife( I am with her on the latter). She meets up with Juanita Moore, a black lady with her own daughter who could pass for white. This beautiful mom cares for both girls and even the other mom living with Lana and caring for everyone. We follow the ups and downs of the 2 moms and the daughters. When the daughter from Juanita does not want to be known as black and doesn't want anyone to know her mom. Her mom, devastated, accepts what her daughter wants and sacrifices everything for the love of her ungrateful bitch of a daughter. Sorry, too harsh? This is a lavish soapy directed by Douglas Sirk known for these films and the lush style. I still need to see the 1934 original with Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers which I will, one day. Oh, this film came out around the same time that Lana’s 14 yr old daughter was on trial for the stabbing death of Lana’s mafia boyfriend. The rumour is that Lana stabbed her boyfriend but her daughter took the rap declaring she was protecting her mom. WHO knows what is true except he was dead…good riddance.

What film can you think of that represents a sacrificing mom?

Which Won The Oscar 1947

 

The year is 1947 and, not controversial at the time, today 2 of these songs would not ever make it on the soundtrack. It’s sad because I actually like both but I am not known to be politically correct so let’s see if you can guess who won the Oscar, which was nominated and which came up nil. I’m joining Monday Music Moves Me over at Cathy’s blog, Curious As A Cathy.

1. ZIP-A-DEE-DOO-DAH SUNG BY JAMES BASKETT

This song was written by Allie Wrubel with lyrics by Ray Gilbert for the film, “Song Of The South” and was a big Disney hit that you heard on the TV Show and in all the theme parks because it’s supposed to be a happy song but now it is very controversial. It’s considered racist and an Uncle Tom feel. I guess this man, who sang this song, is happy even though he was a former slave. You know, I still have not seen this film but plan to. Sadly, James Baskett died after making this film at only age 44. He suffered from diabetes and heart problems. Young Johnny is played by Bobby Driscoll who ended up hooked on drugs and died from a drug overdose at 31. He was buried in a paper's grave. 

2. PASS THE PEACE PIPE SUNG BY JOAN MCCRACKEN

This song is from the film, " Good News" about kids in school( I danced like this, didn't we all?). The song was written by Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin and Roger Edens and sung and danced by the inimitable Joan McCracken and dance troupe. I'm certain kids today would be incensed by the Indian musical references which is how the white folks thought the Indians sounded. Anyhoo, it's a lot of fun and a rare time to see this actress who died of diabetes at age 44. She was the wife of Bob Fosse who helped him in his career and she helped Shirley MacLaine too. 

3. CHIQUITA BANANA SUNG BY XAVIER CUGAT

We must have heard this song in many commercials for bananas but it actually wad in the film, "This Time For Keeps". Lina Rimay sang the song but it became more famous when Carmen Miranda sings it. I always liked this song.

So...which one won the Oscar, which was nominated and which came up zilch?

I can't resist....