Thursday Movie Picks- Islands

 Oops..forgot to  post...really exhausted yesterday 

Islands....Canadians love going to Islands like Cuba, the Dominican, never mind the cruise ships that stop at many islands. We do this between November to April because we bitch about our winters. I, personally, would love to go to Bora Bora ever since I saw a travel show about it when I was 8. Once I started thinking about movies taking place on islands, I realized how many are really out there. Did I ever tell you how I got shipwrecked on an island with a cute boy with blond hair? We grew up and decided to make babies or try to make them? Yeah, I am Brooke Shields...hahaaaa. Another great theme from Wandering Through The Shelves and can't wait to see what everyone else will choose. One day I will choose Shutter Island...I promise but here are my 3...

1. AND THEN THERE WERE NONE-1945

This is my favourite version of the famous Agatha Christie story called " Ten Little Indians" based on that horrid rhyme how each little Indian died. A group of people have been invited to this creepy island by some rich dude with an agenda. They are met by the housekeeper and her husband who will wait on these people who all seem to be a pillar of the community. A secretary is also along for the journey. Very soon, they realize they have been judged a found guilty for a crime they committed and are murdered. This is a great movie with a fun cast of characters and it is from one of my favorite books by Agatha Christie which I have read several times.

2. THE LITTLE HUT-1957

I saw this flick decades ago and would like to see it again because, even as a kid, I was annoyed by how her hubby treated her and that she was thought of as a piece of meat. It is the 50s after all and men are men. It stars David Niven, Ava Gardner and Stewart Granger as 3 people who survive a ship wreck. Ava and Stewart are a bickering married couple with Niven as his friend and right hand man. She vats her eyes at Niven who takes the bait not thinking she just feels neglected. Soon both men want her and think that they can share her. I thought it was ok but nothing major and I wanted her to tell both men off and leave them. Oh well, it's supposed to be a sweet, romantic comedy. I need to see this again.

3. THE SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON-1960

This is a Disney movie that made a ton of money and us a rollicking good adventure. The Swiss family want to get away from the Napoleonic wars and start a new life but didn't count on the ship being attacked by pirates and the crew leaving the family high and dry. The ship runs aground in a deserted island and the family decide to make the best of it building a beautiful abode in the trees  that  would make Tarzan jealous. The pirates are still around and the family decide to scare them off. When the pirates grab another ship, the 2 boys decide to save a young lady only to find out later that it is a girl. Teen boys just love to love, baby, and create some tension before they must deal with the pirates again. This is a good movie from days gone by during Disney 's heyday when Walt was still alive and the studio was not an evil empire. I hope to see this again.

Which island movies can you think of?

Oscar Songs 1964

 

I don't believe I chose these songs but I feel like I already posted about this. I think old timers disease is coming in to play. The year is 1964...yup, my birth year, and I am choosing 3 songs that either won, was nominated or passed along and had neither. You get to pick which one won, which was nominated  and the last...neither. 

1. GOLDFINGER SUNG BY SHIRLEY BASSEY

I love this song and I really like Shirley Bassey's singing but, I found out, many people don't, which shocks me. This song was written by John Barry with lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley for the James Bond film of the same name. Poor Shirley Eaton dies from being covered in gold...quite the shock for a little gal like me when I finally saw the film. Funny...when Shirley sang the song, John Barry was conducting it and made her keep that final note for so long she almost passed out.

2. CHIM, CHIM, CHEREE SUNG BY JULIE ANDREWS AND DICK VAN DYKE

So, we know this popular tune from the famous movie, " Mary Poppins" and it's one of my favourites along with " Let’s Go Fly a Kite". Despite people bashing Penis Van Lesbian's ( Dick Van Dyke) bad Cockney accent, I liked this duet. This song was written by the brothers, Richard and Robert Sherman and Julie Andrews admitted that this is one of her favorites.

3. MY KIND OF TOWN SUNG BY FRANK SINATRA 

This was at the height of the Rat Pack's popularity when they were drinking, smoking and carousing  all along the Sunset Strip of Las Vegas. They all seemed to be the epitome of cool. They made a few films, one being "Robin and the 7 Hoods." Little did we know that Frank had to be #1 and wanted to party. Dean didn't really drink( apparently it was Apple juice). Peter Lawford was getting the cold shoulder, from Frankie, because he couldn't get his brother in law, John Kennedy, to stay at his compound; Joey Bishop would go to bed as soon as his gig was done and Sammy was just trying hard to have everyone be friends. Oh well, let's believe in the dream of cool.

So which one won the Oscar, which was nominated and which tanked in both cases?

Thursday Movie Picks- Movies in a Mall

 

The Mall...we all go to them some loving it and others, the opposite. Frankly, I like to go to the small, independent stores. It will be interesting to find out what everyone has chosen because, I had a hard time finding a film I saw that takes place in a Mall. I went a bit off kilter going with department stores. Check out Wandering Through The Shelves to see what people have chosen. Here are my 3...

1. THE FLOORWALKER-1916

I saw this quite a few years ago and laughed my head off. It shows how acrobatic Chaplin was. This was the first movie to show an escalator to hilarious effect. It's only 30 min. Long so you can go to YouTube and watch it if you want. The basic plot is Chaplin walks into the store creating havoc. Meanwhile the manager and the floorwalker wish to rob the place. They get thwarted by you know who, but they try to make Chaplin look guilty by asking him to be the floorwalker. This is very funny, to me that is. 

2. THE BIG STORE-1941

This is a Marx Bros movie so if you are not a fan, don't watch it, but I love this flick even though this is not one of their best. This was supposed to be their last picture but they made 2 more because Chico needed the money( he loved to gamble). Margaret Dumont ( her last pairing with these nuts) is a Department store owner and her son has no interest in the store. Someone wants to kill him because he wants the store for himself...the dreaded manager. What is the aristocratic gal to do but hire these 3 nuttbars to find out who tried to kill her son. Antics ensue all over the store especially on the mattress dept. I love that Harpo plays the harp twice. It's funny and a great way to sit back and forget the troubles.

3. WHO'S MINDING THE STORE-1963

Jerry Lewis...playing, what else, a moron, who, inexplicably, has a beautiful girlfriend who loves him. ( she must be French). He plays a dog walker and is trying to save up enough money to marry his lady love. The mother in law can't stand the twit so, to make him quit and leave she hires him to work at her department store. You see, his gal is filthy rich and she has not told him. He is set up with horrible tasks to do at the stores, with funny results. It seems nothing can break the determination of this idiot. It is quite funny and one I enjoy watching with Lewis in it.

Which movies would you pick?

June is Bride month...when did that come to be?

 I have been a bridesmaid more than once and have been a bride once. So much money has been invested in weddings that it has become big business. Ughhh!  I have been to the typical weddings, to very tasteful weddings, to one supremely tacky wedding which is one of my fondest memories. The stripper married our neighbour and her bridesmaids forgot which aisle they were walking down the way they shimmied their hips to the altar. You had the " beam me up, Scotty" cake complete with 1970s plastic bride & groom on top, even though this was 1993. The oil beads dripping around the cake was to make it look like rain and a light inside it to catch the glow. A Polish Elvis tried to sing some songs, but when the groom went up his bride's dress to get the garter and stayed up there way too long while she gave some squeaky noises, we knew it was time to leave. Aside from your wedding, any memorable ones you'd like share?

I am going classic this time but I will present a part 2 at the end of the month for Wedding month. 

Walking down the aisle to music is always the first highlight, so I am presenting 3 traditional ones.

1. THE WEDDING MARCH BY WAGNER-1850

Wagner was a real rascal, I know he was antisemitic, which is disgusting, but he was a brilliant composer if a bit too heavy handed, to put it mildly. He was a scoundrel who loved women, was always poor and ran from his creditors. He did fall in love with Liszt's daughter, Cosima, and it turned out to be a happy union. He was purely in the Romantic Era and this piece, from Lohengrin, is very famous but, I don't care for it, to be honest. 

2. AIR ON A G- STRING BY BACH -LATE 1700S

No, this is not about a stripper farting while dancing to "Come Fly with Me", but a beautiful piece of music often played when the bride, draped in a fluffy meringue, walks down the aisle. Good ole Johann Sébastian could bring out the worst in people for his exacting measures ( yup, he was German) but he created some great works of Baroque music. 

3. PACHEBEL'S CANON BY PACHEBEL-1680

He is another Kraut from the "Baroque you bought it" Era. This piece is so popular now that it gets played for weddings, funerals, in movies and, probably some strip show. I admit, I love this piece.

Which speaks to you? I had none of these at my wedding. I had a Celtic piece.

Which music did you ir your wife walk down the aisle to? 

Thursday Movie Picks-Fantasy

 

This is a toughie.....Not! I love this genre and could picks a ton of films in one year alone. Wandering through the Shelves picked a good one and one that can be used every year and never choose the same film twice. I tried to do a theme within a theme so here we go...

1. HERE COMES MR. JORDAN-1941

I love this original film that stars Robert Montgomery as a sports guy, who plays the trombone, who gets into an accident but wasn't supposed to die. The dumbnut angel took his soul too soon and now it is up to  the head angel, played by a fav of mine, Claude Rains, to try to make things right. He decides to place Robert's soul into the body of a very wealthy man who was murdered. He is placed into that body but must deal with his nasty wife and her lover, who offed him. He contacts his old coach and falls in love with a gal not happy with his business practices. It's funny, sad and poignant. Warren Beatty made a really good remake called "Heaven Can Wait". I would skip the Chris Rock remake. 

2. BETWEEN TWO WORLDS-1944

I remember this film as "Outward Bound"  which was the original title of the film made in 1930 with Leslie Howard( I still need to see that version). Paul Henreid plays a man who thinks he is holding back his wife during the war, in Britain. While she is out, he puts the gas on to commit suicide. His wife is at the terminal to get a permit to board the ship, she is trying to find a way out. There we meet a bunch of people who all are waiting to get into a cab to bring them to the boat. The wife leaves, we see the people get into the cab and promptly get hit by a bomb. The wife returns and is so upset that her husband wants to take this route since she wants to be with him. They decide to be together. Suddenly we see the couple on the boat wondering how they got there. The people from that cab are there too and the young couple realize they are dead. They are the only ones who know except for the one steward played by Edmund Gwenn. I love this movie and finally got it on DVD last year. You have the array of people you get to know...a married couple, the man is nice but his wife..ick! The angry young man with a chip, the size of Trump's ego, on his shoulder. A woman who believes men are jerks, a kindly old lady and so on. I really think it's a unique movie even if you know the typical characters. I can watch it over and over.

3. STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN-1946

This is truly known as " A Matter of Life and Death" but, when I first saw it, it was titled Stairway... This stars David Niven as the pilot of a doomed war plane who makes sure his men get out ok but he has no parachute so he knows he is doomed. He ends up talking to a radio operator, played by Kim Hunter, happy knowing he spoke to her before he dies. Here lies the rub, he ends up washed ashore with not even a scratch! Yup, a dumb angel forgot to take his soul but they only realize after David  meets the girl on the other end of the phone and they fall in love. Now David must fight for his right to live to he can love the woman he met. Another great movie with some neat effects like that Stairway. It's a film by Powell and Pressburger who are known for their beautiful looking films and unique story telling. I think it's a gem.

Which fantasy films are your favourites?

Musical Art

 

Who doesn't have some painting, statue or whatever hanging on their walls? We love some form of art whether it is classic, nature, modern etc...we love to hang something on our walls that make us feel good. I thought, why not talk about songs that were inspired by art so here we go.

1. VINCENT BY DON MCLEAN-1971

Of course this has to be recognized since it is one of the best pieces of music about art. Don McLean was inspired when he read about the life on Vincent Van Gogh.

2. MONA LISA SUNG BY NAT KING COLE-1950

This is one of the best known song renditions of this famous song written by Ray Evans and Jon Livingston for the movie Captain Carey U.S.A.  and won the Oscar that year as well. Nat King Cole made it into a huge hit.

3. SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE SUNG BY BERNADETTE PETERS AND MANDY PATINKON-1985

This is a famous musical, by the legendary Stephen Sondheim, about George Seurat and his very famous painting, "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte". It is a fictionalized account about the pointillist painter Seurat and his affair with Dot, his long time mistress At the heart is his master work, "Sunday in the Park" that takes on a life of its own. One day I will see this musical that actually won a Pulitzer. 

What art song can you think of?

Star of the Month

 

JOHNNY WEISSMULLER

BORN- JUNE 2, 1904

DIED- JANUARY 20, 1984

AGED-79 YEARS

DIED FROM- PULMONARY EDEMA

MARRIED TO- 5 TIMES! (HE WAS A BUSY BOY) MOST FAMOUSLY TO LUPE VALEZ

CHILDREN-3 THE YOUNGEST DIED IN A CAR ACCIDENT I WHEN SHE WAS JUST 18

TALENTS-FAMOUS OLYMPIC SWIMMER. THE FIRST TO SWIM THE 100 METRE IN UNDER A MINUTE. WON 5 GOLD MEDALS AND 1 BRONZE IN WATER POLO. SET 67 WORLD RECORDS.

KNOWN FOR- HIS TARZAN YELL WHICH HE CAME UP WITH

I chose Johnny because he is born on the same day as me and I like him better than the Marquis De Sade who was also born on my day. (ughh, why him, why not any other writer but him). Johnny has German heritage but was born in what used to be the Austrian-Hungarian Empire and is now Romania. His family, with him in tow at 5 yrs old, immigrated to the U.S. and started life anew. He loved to swim and excelled at it winning in 2 Olympic Games in the 1920s, plus setting 67 world records. He got noticed by some scout or other when Johnny was doing an underwear ad because they were looking for a new Tarzan. 

He became THE Tarzan and made several pictures as the loincloth man who swings to the best vines. He meets Jane and, with his trustee companion, Cheetah, they live in the luxury of his home. Later, they find a baby and name him Boy(how original). Cheetah, apparently, had a thing for Johnny and got very jealous of Maureen O'Sullivan when they had to do romantic scenes. The ape would bite her when give the chance. 

Johnny was a life-long advocate for eating well and exercising devoted to the Kellogg school of dieting and healthy living (Yes, that Kellogg who was a strange, strange bird) but he ran into many health issues in the 1970s. he broke his leg and hip and almost died from an infection and then developed lung issues etc. As a side note, he saved many people from drowning in a boating accident, in 1927. He was a life guard in Chicago training for a marathon when this accident happened. Apparently Johnny was known to have saved quite a few people over his life time. 

 Johnny was also very famous for his affair and marriage to the loopy Lupe Valez who had one fiery temper plus bedded many, many, many.....did I say many?, men.  She had a habit of stabbing or firing a gun at her lover/husband as well. Gary Cooper was shot at by her and, I think, Johnny was stabbed but I could be wrong. It was superficial, thankfully. Yes, the marriage ended in divorce.

I always thought he was THE best Tarzan even though this Tarzan character is way off track from the actual Tarzan of the Edgar Rice Burrough books as Tarzan could read, write and speak eloquently in the novels. His yell is perfect which, even if you have not seen the films, you know his yell. Carol Burnett was great doing that yell on her famous TV variety show plus many others made fun/paid homage to it. 

FILMS

Tarzan The Ape Man-1932

Tarzan & His Mate-1934

Tarzan Escapes-1936

Tarzan Finds His Son -1939

Tarzan 's Secret Treasure-1939

Tarzan's New York Adventure-1942

Tarzan Triumphs- 1943

Tarzan's Desert Mystery-1943

Tarzan and The Amazons-1945

Tarzan and the Leopard Woman-1946