Thursday Movie Picks: TV Edition-Books You Want To Be Adapted Into A TV Series

 

Ughh...This was a tough one because many of the books I read have already been adapted into something so I went to my Go To knowledge which are Movies/Actors/Actresses. Wandering Through The Shelves picked a doozy and I had to put my thinking dunce..er thinking cap on. I will also state these are Mini-Series or now called Limited-Run Series. These will also be on the good old fashioned regular TV-No Netflix, Prime, Disney, HBO, Hulu, Gulu, Zulu, Boo-Boo. Here they are...

1. CAST OF KILLERS BY SYDNEY D. KIRKPATRICK-1986

I have always been intrigued by the murder of William Desmond Taylor, a pretty famous director, back 100 years ago. He was murdered on Feb 1, 1922 and the murder has never been solved. Careers of some big stars were harmed because of his murder and the sensationalized antics of the newspapers. Famous stars, Mable Normand and Mary Miles Minter were thrown to the wolves by the newsmen. It was found out that William Desmond Taylor was actually, William D. Tanner who walked out of his home in New York City(I think, 1909) and never returned, leaving his wife and daughter behind. This book was brought to my attention by Joel, whom I think is the Guru for anything Hollywood. Mr. Kirkpatrick wanted to write a biography on King Vidor, a very famous film director but, when Mr. Kirkpatrick found a steel box, hidden away, with all the investigative notes by King Vidor on the Taylor murder case, he decided to write a book on this murder. It does go step by step through all the crap that was written about Taylor, the people involved and what was unfounded and what was surprising. I found the book went a bit to the romantic glow of it (when Vidor meets Mintor in 1967 and is dumbstruck at how Minter looks and behaves) plus I think he may have taken some liberties (Vidor and Colleen Moore relationship as he was not in the room with them) but I do like the investigation. I would love to talk with Joel about who Vidor thought was guilty because I am not 100% certain of this author's assessment or even Vidor's. Anyway, why no film has been made about this big murder is beyond me.

2. LOUISE BROOKS BY BARRY PARIS-1989

I have always been enamoured with Louise Brooks because of her intelligent beauty. I had no idea about her rebellious nature nor her sexual appetites and F You attitude that got her into many troubles. Barry Paris wrote an excellent book about her life detailing many events that just leave you gobsmacked. She is best known for playing in the 2 German films, "Pandora's Box" and "Diary Of A Lost Girl" both directed by G.W. Pabst (whom she slept with...she also had a one night stand with Garbo). It would be a brilliant mini-series to see this actress's life come alive but it would have to be intelligently written so, I think, PBS, should have this. The only problem is...who could play this rebellious lady with a strong, screw you attitude, but with great intelligence. If you can think of someone today who could play her, that would be great. Please no Keira Knightly. 

3. MARLENE BY MARIA RIVA-1992

I could not put this book down and it is not a "Mommie Dearest" type book but a very detailed account of a world famous star, Marlene Dietrich, and the image she had to always portray. It truly showcases how narcissistic Marlene was and how she manipulated her husband and his beautiful, intelligent, sweet but frail mistress, Tamara, who finally was placed in a mental institution. Marlene went from shocking the film industry by wearing pants and kissing girls to box office poison only to return in a western before helping out the war effort, singing for the troops sometimes behind enemy lines. She also gave herself to many a soldier since they need something before they may die in battle the next day. She became a Cabaret star (I don't get it) in very "revealing" outfits. When she fell off the stage in the 70's and broke her leg, she retired to her Paris apartment spending the last years of her life in bed...never moving from it...literally!. This is an excellent document on a very disturbed but talented woman. Again this must be shown on PBS and who could play Marlene? Please no Meryl (ughh) and no Jennifer Lawrence. Maybe Diane Kruger??

The clips I chose are lengthy but they give a good insight into the possible films that could be done.

Which books would you choose to become series?

Weekly Song Challenge

 

Let’s be musical and enjoy all the tunes we love. I think Jingle, Jangle, Jungle really takes in this way of thinking. I love this weekly challenge and enjoy the themes. Here are this week’s themes

A SONG THAT MENTIONS A PLANET IN THE TITLE

A SONG THAT MENTIONS SOMETHING YOU WEAR IN THE TITLE

A SONG THAT MENTIONS AN ANIMAL IN THE TITLE

1. VENUS BY BANANARAMA-1984

I enjoyed the 80s so much. I was in university, drank like a fish, had many fun antics and danced almost every weekend to the music that really sounds like it comes from the 80s. This is one of these songs and I love dancing to it. Little did I know it is originally from "Shocking Blue" in 1969.

2.  TOP HAT, WHITE TIE AND TAILS SUNG BY FRED ASTAIRE-1935

Fred Astaire is synonymous with white tie and tails and a great top hat. He could dance like no one could (Gene Kelly is his match but totally different style as Gene is more for jeans and a t-shirt) and this routine just epitomizes his style. This song was written by Irving Berlin for the film "Top Hat"  and seems made for Fred Astaire. I know all of you own at least 2 suits with tails.

3. THE LION SLEEPS TONIGHT SUNG BY  THE TOKENS-1961

My brother played this to my parents and me and My mom and I really loved this song. I love the way this man controls his voice and can have this range of voice. It was sad when he passed away. When I looked up this song, I had no idea about the battle for the rights to this song which was originally written by, South African, Solomon Linda but it was called "Mbube". Ahh, the behind the scenes battles. 

Let’s hear which songs you choose.

Cards..boring title

 

CHNC- something for a lady or girl

Simon Says-Add a Sentiment

Addicted to Stamps-Christmas

I missed the challenge for Christmas Card Throwdown for the colour choice, but I still completed the challenge and am happy with it. I used alcohol inks in pink and turquoise and spread it around for this background effect. Next, I took my  holly embossing folder and ran it through my cuddlebug for the holly image to appear. I used my gold paint and brushed on the gold so it would paint only the raised images(mostly). I glued it onto gold cardstock and set it aside. I took the alcohol inks again and created a 2 tone in the same colours. I have an ornament die cut which I used on gold glitter cardstock and ran that through my sizzex to cut out the ornament image. I glued the ornaments onto the 2 tone cardstock I just created and fussy cut them out. I used ribbon to make it appear as if they are hanging down and added 2 pink gems at the top. The final was cutting out the background for the saying, gluing it in place and adding the sentiment. 

Christmas Card Throwdown-Birds

Crafty Animals-Anything Goes with Animals

I am into my embossing folders recently so I took this one with the pretty cardinal and, before embossing it, I took 3 distress ink pads and placed them directly onto to folder. I put my white cardstock in and ran it through the cuddlebug. The raised images were still white but the background gave this neat background effect. I coloured the raised images with my pastel chalks. I added white gliiter on the snowflakes and the top of the branch and pinecone. I glued it onto red cardstock and gold finishing it off with some border stickers. 

Wishing you all a fabulous day!

Thursday Movie Picks-Treasure Hunt

 

Time for some levity and it is all about Treasure Hunting so, needless to say, I am not picking the great film, "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (We don't need no stinkin' badges!) because I wanted more fun this time. Head on over to Wandering Through The Shelves to see what everyone else has chosen for this theme. Here are my 3...

1. CHARADE-1963

This is a nice classic film directed by Stanley Donan about a recently widowed woman, played by Hepburn, who meets a man, Grant, when in the Alps. Without realizing it, she holds onto a a treasure that many people are after, including Grant. She has no idea where to look but when big oafs like George Kennedy and James Coburn come after her, Grant is there to save her. She knows better than to trust him since the CIA operative(played by Walter Matthau) informed her about the stolen loot and who is all after it. This is comedic, romantic and fun which is nicely directed by Stanley Donan (not directed by Alfred Hitchcock).

2. IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD-1963

SYLVESTER!!!! Yes, I have picked this film before but, I just can't help it because it is perfect for this theme and I love it for the true zaniness of it. There are many cameos in this film(Don Knotts, Jerry Lewis, etc..) starting with Jimmy Durante driving like a nut on a mountainous road passing all these vehicles before he hurls off a cliff. The vehicles all stop and the men venture down to Durante who tells them there is a treasure under the "Big W" before he, literally, kicks the bucket. The men make it back up to the gals, by the side of the road, and soon decide to split the treasure if they work together. Well, that doesn't work and they all scramble, like nutjobs, back into the cars to get to the treasure. You have a married couple, another married couple with the loudmouth mother-in-law in the backseat, 2 best friends and a repair man all trying to run the other off the road. Before you know it, they pick up other people who also try to get in on the action. The police? They know all about the treasure and follow all these bumbling buffoons hoping they will lead them to the treasure. Poor Spencer Tracy is the police chief henpecked by both his wife and his daughter. Dick Shawn as Sylvester, is brilliant as the stoned out of his mind son of Ethel Merman, who keeps calling him yelling his name. I remember watching this movie with my dad and the climax of the film, had my dad laughing so hard, tears ran down his cheeks...one of my favourite memories. It's a long movie but you don't realize it and it is a fun time to escape from today's world.

3. ROMANCING THE STONE-1984

Before Kathleen Turner played Chandler Bing's dad(on "Friends"), she was a downright sexy gal in the 1980s. I have to say, it always pissed me off that she played a Transvestite(Transsexual??, I don't mean to be ignorant but I get mixed up) on "Friends" because she had gained weight and her husky voice got a little deeper (just like Lauren Bacall). It came out later that Turner is a recovering alcoholic but also suffers from severe rheumatoid arthritis so the drugs she takes does not help with weight. She, to me, is still beautiful and vivacious...so there. Ok, back to the movie which is so much fun about a mousy, pent-up romance novelist who receives a map in the mail from her brother-in-law whom she finds out has been killed and her sister, kidnapped. She goes to Columbia to save her sister and give the map to the kidnappers when the bus she is on is taken over by a corrupt cop who wants the map for himself. Enter devil-may-care and Vidal Sassoon hair man, Michael Douglas, who saves the day much to his and her's chagrin. Let's just say, they end up in the jungle running from people who want this map that holds the key to the treasure. Along the way, they also have a pint-sized nemesis in Danny DeVito. This is such a fun movie that spawned a brief affair between the 2 leads that settled into a lifelong friendship along with Mr. DeVito. It also spawned a sequel and a nasty marriage black comedy with all 3 in the later movies. You can tell they all had a lot of fun. 

Which 3 treasure hunting films would you choose?

Weekly Song Challenge

 

Another week for Jingle, Jangle, Jungle to bring some fun music themes to us and this week is no different. I always try to choose songs that pop into my head right away. I don’t seem to be of this time..oh well. Maybe I will surprise you one day and choose classic rock which I do love. Here are her 3 themes:

A SONG WITH A BODY PART IN THE TITLE

A SONG WITH A TOY IN THE TITLE

A SONG WITH A TIME OF DAY IN THE TITLE

1.SLIPPING THEOUGH MY FINGERS SUNG BY ABBA-1981

This song is from their final album(The Visitors) which I own and love. It’s a song about mom and her daughter and it is so touching. I think of my mom now.....

2. MUSIC BOX DANCER BY FRANK MILLS-1979

French-Canadian Franks Mills got an international hit with this song and was played so much that many people got sick of it. I always loved it from the time it came out when I was 15. I always love music boxes and find them enchanting. This song just made me feel happy during rough times because of being so bullied. I love this song.

3. NIGHT AND DAY SUNG BY SHIRLEY BASSEY-1959

This is another song I just love so much and first heard it in the Astaire/Rogers film, The Gay Divorcee.  It is a Cole Porter song created for the 1932 Broadway musical, The Gay Divorce. The title had to be changed for the film because of the Hays Code. ...no divorce can be happy...There are so many renditions of this song and wanted to choose Thomas Hampson who is a great opera singer but also known as the Ambassador of the American Song because he makes it a point to research the songs etc.. that he will sing. Alas I could not find it when I searched through here but I did listen to Shirley Bassey("Goldfinger" theme song fame). I think of a man singing this but she does a great rendition. I made it a point not to show Astaire and Rogers even though I love it and I hate, I repeat, hate Diana  Krall's singing. I just can't stand anything she has sung and feel she is grossly over-rated. Yes...my humble opinion. 

Can you think up 3 songs that fit the themes?

Thursday Movie Picks: Movies that Confuse You

 

There are movies that I have watched and just thought..WTF?!? I have not watched any Jean Luc Godard films nor seen Marienbad(thank God), but I have seen films that just confuse me and anger me because I wasted my time watching that film. I will be curious to find out what everyone else thinks so head on over to Wandering Through The Shelves to find out what everyone else has chosen. Here are my 3...

1. PERSONA-1966

This is an Ingmar Bergman film starring his 2 favourite actresses Bibi Andersson and Liv Ullmann. One plays a famous theatre actress who suddenly stops speaking. Every test is done so they figure it is  a mental issue. To help her out, the doctors and her husband all feel it is best to place her on a secluded cabin in the middle of nowhere with a nurse who just won’t shut up. This nurse talks all the time. Soon the 2 seem to mesh with one another especially that they look very much alike. They seem to be taking on the other’s personality.  I just sat there ...watching this film, as their faces appear straight on the camera or half on and half off the camera with Freudian themes..ughhh.  I just felt all my brain cells seeping out of my ears. I knew this was supposed to make me think philosophically but I just shook my head. This is supposed to be Bergman's masterpiece but I am just scratching my head wondering ...what's the point?

2. THE MATRIX RELOAD AND REVOLUTIONS-2003

Why...why must they make sequels to films that were big and ended in a positive manner? Oh yes...money. These 2 films were mostly about looking sleek in a shiny, skin tight pleather outfits with dark sunglasses, have tons of fight scenes that make you go ..oooh and aahhh.  And have a plot that makes me think of a balloon quickly deflating and then drop to the ground. Oh yes and then we have that big rave concert thing while Neo and Trinity have tribal sex.. she dies...nope she doesn’t but Neo dies..maybe. Probably not since there will be a 4th movie coming out. Ughhh

3. TREE OF LIFE-2011

WTF?? This grown up man, played by Sean Penn is trying to deal with his issues with his dad, played by Brad Pitt in the past. We know Sean had 2 other brothers but one died way back when.  In between the basic plot we have to think so, so hard about the philosophical nature of what the director, Terrence Malick, wanted to say.  Again, my brain cells seeped out and I felt like I had the IQ of 7. I hate pretentious films and find all of these films are just that...pretentious.

Which films confused the hell out of you?

Weekly Song Challenge

 

Another week and more songs to listen to. Head on over to Jingle, Jangle, Jungle to hear other ditties. Here are the 3 themes:

A SONG WITH "LOVE" IN THE TITLE

A SONG WITH A NUMBER IN THE TITLE

A SONG THAT MENTIONS A SPORT IN THE TITLE

1. INDIAN LOVE CALL SUNG BY JEANETTE MACDONALD & NELSON EDDY-1936

This song is so often parodied nowadays that we only know it as a parody and, I think, I can understand because it is so gooey but with these 2 famous operatic love birds, they do their level best to believe in them. This song was  by Rudolph Friml & Herbert Stothart for the 1924 production of Rose-Marie. She is an opera star with a bad brother who has high-tailed it to Canada. There she meets a Mountie and, well, love blossoms. When Jean Harlow died, at age 26, the funeral was a star-studded affair and MacDonald & Eddy sang this in the church....ughhh.  What about you...oooh, ooh, oooh, ooh, ooh, ou??

2. MAMBO #5 SUNG BY LOU BEGA-1999

Ok, I am showing Lou Bega with Andre Rieu and his Orchestra because I thought it was a lot of fun to watch. Many were just dancing up a storm. I love this song and danced to it many times without knowing that this song was in the courts for 7 years! Apparently, there is a version by Cuban, Damaso Perez Prado from 1949 and, the Prado's estate sued Lou Bega winning the case but it was declared a new song by Prado and Bega (who is actually German!) so Bega was aok. 

3. THE HOCKEY SONG BY STOMPIN' TOM CONNORS-1973

I guess I should be a hockey nut since I am a proud Canuck but ...I'm not, I shall leave that to my brother. This song is now an institution and is played at every game, at least, in Canada. I guess it is split up in 3 parts for the 3 periods of the game and the Stanley Cup is mentioned. So, Here is for Canada!

Which songs come into your head?