I am currently in a storm of classic movie viewing. Well, as much as I can in between my other duties and generally busy life. Thank goodness for DVR, I love DVR and I would give up a lot of other things before it.
Currently on TCM, the most beautiful tv station on earth, there is a nightly series of actors, directors and sundry celebrities picking their favorite movies.It has provided some interesting peeks into their tastes and a bunch of exciting movies. Some I've never seen, some old favorites, some real classics. Neil LaBute picked Manhattan and The 400 Blows, James Elroy picked a bunch of unknown film noir movies, Donald Trump picked Gone With the Wind and Citizen Kane, Harvey Firestein picked The Women. Not many surprises there!
Right now I'm watching A Catered Affair (Harvey pick-he has recently turned it into a musical) it has a 50's teleplay quality, the actors very soap opera-ish, but with more realism. Not sure if I'll see it through to the end. Although Bette Davis is quite a pull for me, I can't help but get involved with her. She's always glorious, I can't take my eyes off her. She plays a working class woman who's daughter (played by Debbie Reynolds-who is so pretty!) is getting married, it deals with the issues of what kind of wedding it will be and the social and financial pressures involved.
One of my favorite things to do during a classic movie is look closely at the set decoration. These realistic movies provide a peek into how people really lived. Not like those insane Art Deco sets from the 30's. The rooms in this NY apartment are small and crammed full of furniture and knick knacks, the lighting is harsh, the appliances antiquated. Bette Davis is pulling frozen clothes from the clothesline through the window. Wow, I'm totally sucked in now, Bette is so good at portraying this ordinary woman, I imagine this is how Mark's grandma was in the 50's very practical, no nonsense almost to a fault.
This weekend we watched Manhattan for the first time. How we managed to not watch it all these years I don't know. We love Woody Allen and Manhattan! It was a good movie, a bit disconserting at first- what with Woody dating the teenaged Mariel Hemingway. It was a relief when he started dating Diane Keaton. But she turns out to be a total basket case and not a very good match anyway. She cracked us up the way she kept proclaiming "I'm from Philadelphia! I'm beautiful, I'm smart I deserve better than this!" Turns out the teenager was the smartest, most grounded person in the movie. Mariel did a wonderous, naturalistic job at her role. She was quite real- I felt as if she could walk off the screen and live down the street. Then I would have to figure out a way to talk her out of dating a man older than her father.
The part that made me cringe the most was when Woody planted a kiss on Miss Hemingway. But I have to think if it had been George Clooney or Johnny Depp kissing a girl of that age- would it have bothered me? Maybe not so much? Is it all about looks? I tried to think of someone on a scale and age as Woody Allen in the 70's. I came up with William H. Macy. Would it be freaky to see him kissing some pretty young thing, like one of those Disney starlets? Yes, I think so. So maybe it is looks. Ah, but then I remember Love in the Afternoon with an aging Gary Cooper and a very young Audrey Hepburn. He was still quite good looking in his late 50's, but downright elderly next to the very young looking Audrey, now that was an uncomfortable pair. Looks don't work in that case.
One of my favorite parts in Manhattan took place at an ERA fundraiser, packed with lots of high brow intellectuals, having these inane conversations. Woody breaks in on one regarding a Nazi rally and how it should be responded to. One highbrow notes that the Times published a scathing satirical piece and Allen says "Well, a satirical piece in the Times is one thing, but bricks and baseball bats really gets right to the point." Just plain funny. You realize when you watch Woody Allen from the 70's how much other movies owe to his. Especially Annie Hall, every romantic comedy after seems to use parts of that movie.
Another movie we watched this weekend was Kung Fu Hustle. It was quite good! But I'll leave that for another day.
