Coming to Blu-Ray - The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962)

I was so excited to see this announcement on the Blu Ray new releases coming up:

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Wonderful-World-of-the-Brothers-Grimm-Blu-ray/134981

It's such a long and epic film with sequences of Grimm tales intermixed with drama about how the Brothers started writing and how they got inspired to write. 

I love this movie! It features Lawrence Harvey as one of the brothers, a fantastic George Pal puppetoons sequence about the Elves making shoes for the shoemaker, Great costumes and scenery, Arnold Stang as Rumpelstiltskin, Russ Tamblyn as Tom Thumb, Buddy Hacket as the Dragon Slayer, Barbara Eden, Claire Bloom, and Terry-Thomas. And an awesome musical score.

I saw this in Los Angeles/Hollywood on the big screen in 2012 at the Cinerama Dome Theater in honor of its 50th Anniversary and it was really cool to see the film projected from 3 cameras and see it the way it was meant to be seen! Russ Tamblyn was in the audience, I remember. 

It's a rare experience because there are hardly any Cinerama theaters/projectors anymore.

It's one of those films that might look terrible on a small screen/square TV in the olden days; that's probably why it hasn't been on TV much over the years, and may be one of the "forgotten films", which is a shame because it's a pretty cool movie. 

The next best thing is to watch this on a big-screen TV on DVD or Blu-Ray - even better. I hope the picture quality is good. 

This was shown on Turner Classic Movies a few times and I remember watching it on TV but honestly it is one of those movies that was made-for-cinerama and the 3-camera system. It's still fun to watch. I hope more people see it!

Ben Mankiewicz introduces the movie on TCM a few years ago:

Bell Book and Candle (1958)

This was on TCM last night and I watched it, but I did not like it overall.

The only part I really liked was when Jimmy Stewart goes to the older sorcerer to get the spell reversed; I liked the talking parrot. And I liked any scenes with the cat, especially when it runs away.

I like James Stewart, but mainly the 1930s and 40s Stewart, and some of his later westerns. In some of these '50 movies, I just don't find him believable with the younger female lead. Every time I saw him with Kim Novak it seemed like she was hugging and kissing her father. With censorship still being applied to American movies at the time I'm surprised this movie got a pass.

What they should have done is switch the parts around ---

- put Jack Lemmon in the lead opposite Novak
- put Ernie Kovacs in Lemmon's part as the brother
- put James Stewart in Kovacs' role as the author.

That would have been better!

But Stewart was such a huge box office star that time, him in a supporting role would never have happened.

Another take on this film from the blog Flickers in Time here

Misery (1990)

The two lead stars of Misery - James Caan and Kathy Bates - recently reunited for a photoshoot for the annual "Reunions" issue of Entertainment Weekly.

Here's a link to the story and video clip from "The Today Show", featuring the two stars reminiscing about their time on the film:

http://www.today.com/popculture/misery-loves-company-kathy-bates-james-caan-reunite-discuss-1990-t49286

I recently re-watched this movie after almost 20 years, and was surprised how well the movie holds up and is able to thrill even after seeing it three separate times.  Also featuring small roles by the late Richard Farnsworth and the late Lauren Bacall, who are both very good in this.

If you haven't seen this movie before, I recommend it for a good Halloween watch.

The Accidental Tourist (1988)

"William Hurt gives an exquisite performance as a man shattered by the death of his son, who comes out of his shell when he meets a kooky, aggressive young woman (Geena Davis) who couldn't be less his type. Finelhy wrought, extremely faithful adaptation of Anne Tyler's novel dares to take its time; may be too slow ffor some viewers, but offers many rewards." (from Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide).

I think Leonard Maltin is right, that many viewers won't like the slow pacing. But that's exactly what I love about the movie. It was such a refreshing respite from the loud, shaky-cam, crashing and GCI explosions of some recent superhero blockbusters.

Also I like the premise that the William Hurt character - Macon Leary - is a writer of travel books for business travelers. The movie starts off kind of sad, with his marriage dissolving with his wife (Kathleen Tuner), but then he meets Geena Davis' character who brings a bit of spark back into his life.

Geena Davis, as the dog trainer to Macon's dog,  won the 1988 Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, but her role could be considered a lead role. I love the dog in this movie, which was the same dog that was in the 1990s TV show Dharma and Greg.

Also there are some nice scenes of Baltimore (the film is set there and was filmed there).

A less-interesting (but still entertaining) subplot in the film involves Macon's sister (Amy Wright) falling in love with his boss, a book publisher played by Bill Pullman.  His sister and and his two brothers (Ed Begley Jr and David Ogden Stiers) are portrayed as being a bit more eccentric than he is.

Directed by Lawrence Kasdan. Nominated for Best Picture of 1988.

Han Suyin, Chinese-born author of ‘A Many-Splendoured Thing,’ dies at 95

Renowned Chinese-born writer Han Suyin, whose autobiographical novel was turned into the popular 1955 American film Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing, has died. She was 95.

Han Suyin was the author of about 40 books on modern China.

Read an article from the Washington Post here:
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1075192/chinese-revolutionary-author-han-suyin-dies-95

In the 1955 film, Han was played by white actress Jennifer Jones. Back in those days you could not have an interracial romance on screen. That was a big no-no. Even if the leading man was William Holden. The film won oscars for score, costume, and song, which was a huge smash.

Han Suyin

The Descendants, Young Adult, The Muppets (2011)

The Descendants

Very good film, but sad. Set in Hawaii. George Clooney's wife is comatose after a boating accident.

Clooney must explain to his two estranged daughters, one age 17 and the other age 10. They are mean and bratty at first, but they mature as their mom's condition deteriorates and they grow closer to their dad.

Clooney is good. The scene when he discovers that his wife was having an affair with another is heartbreaking.
Clooney knows how to make this character sympathetic and real.

Later in the film, Clooney and his cousins must settle a real estate deal with land given to them by their ancestors; they are the titular descendants. This is a serious movie, and explores how these characters deal with their greif and pain. The director Alexander Paine knows just when add a dose of humor. A very moving film filled with great regional music and great scenery throughout.  Co starring Robert Forster and Beau Bridges.

The Muppets was much better than I expected.  Very nostalgic, with references to 80s pop culture and songs, past Muppet movies, and the original Muppet Show TV series, which was filmed in London. I liked how they even got one of the original hosts of the show to have a cameo, Alan Arkin.  I give the writers (including Jason Segal) credit for bringing back the Muppets.

The movie's story centers around "the world's biggest Muppet fan"  Walter, and his desire to see the Muppets back together again. (My interpretation of this odd character is that Walter is supposed to represent any Muppet fan) According the story, the Muppets have all gone their separate ways---Scooter works for Google, Inc,....Sam The Eagle works for a network news show...etc.  Kermit and Miss Piggy still have their "on-again/off-again" relationship and it's amusing to see them together again. There are some very funny moments and the jokes are witty and fast paced, continually breaking the fourth wall.  According to some reports, the film was edited down considerably --- and it shows; some celebrity cameos go by too quick and are less-than inspired.  For example, rather than seeing just a 2-second glimpse of Mickey Rooney, it would have been neat to see him encourage Kermit to go "put on a show" or have some related dialogue.


Young Adult

Directed by Jason Reitman (Up In the Air, Juno, two movies that I liked). And written by Diablo Cody. With this writer-director team I felt this would be a very interesting movie, and it is. In a nutshell, Young Adult is a character study of an alcoholic, single thirtysomething writer (Charlize Theron) who finds inspiration for her young adult/teen novels from her own experiences. She lives alone with her cat in her big-city high rise apartment and watches reality television when she has writer's block. One day, an email from an old flame inspires her to return to her hometown and rekindle the relationship. Well, perhaps rekindle isn't the accurate term...she actually wants to steal him away from his wife and kid! She also manages to bump into several other people from her past and we learn more about her through these characters. For example, we learn midway through the film that she was the prom queen of the high school, and was once the most popular girl in school. Now, she's an outcast with unrealistic expectations about life and relationships. By the end of the film, she's ready to head back to the big city of Minneapolis to start all over again. There is no epilogue; we can only imagine what her life would be like, a good way to end this film, I think. 

Midnight In Paris (2011)

I've been looking forward to this new Woody Allen movie all year, and I finally saw it. Much of the film is just what I expected: part fantasy reminiscent of Purple Rose of Cairo (one of my favorite films) where Owen Wilson's character Gil - a writer on vacation with his girlfriend - meets some of the great artists and writers of the 1920s and earlier (in his dreams, of course). My favorite part was when he meets Toulouse Lautrec in a can-can and this is a really fun part.

In the film Gil makes a comment that Parisians are more sophisticated than Americans, and dreams of living there. He is also a nostalgia buff and idolizes artists of the past, which is a preoccupation that is criticized by other characters in the film.

At midnight each night, his dreams come true and is magically is transported back into time to Paris in the 1920s, and gets "advice" from the likes of Gertrude Stein and Ernest Hemingway. Gil's left wing political views aren't explored any further, even when he comes into contact with all of these artists who would have shared his political passions. One character makes a comment about Trotsky which made me want to see a scene with Trotsky and Gil (it doesn't happen but that would have been interesting!).

I always love it when a film brings together so many historical figures because it always makes me want to learn more about them. In the movie, we see short glimpses of Cole Porter, Josephine Baker, and filmmaker Luis Bunuel, but they are very short and those people don't become supporting characters, which I was secretly hoping for. I'm not a Bunuel expert so I probably missed some of the inside jokes that Allen writes in here. Picasso shows up, and I wished there were more scenes with him. I'd even love to see Chagall at work. Oh well, now we're talking about my dream and not Gil's.

The movie met my expectations for the most part, and I pleasantly surprised to see so many shots of great Paris landmarks. I've been there and this brought back alot of great memories of my trip. Someone even mentions going on a trip to Mont St Michel. Wow - I've been there too and how fun it would have been to see that on the big screen. Has there ever been a movie filmed on Mont St Michel? I wonder.

But still, there is something missing from this film that I still have not been able to put my finger on. I don't consider this to be a masterpiece like I think Purple Rose is. I walked out of this movie longing to see John Huston's Moulin Rouge again. Now that's a great film.

Norman Corwin turns 100 years old today

Today, May 3, American writer, journalist, screenwriter, producer, and essayist Norman Corwin celebrates a milestone birthday: 100 years young!

He began his radio career as a local commentator. He moved to New York City in 1938 and produced Norman Corwin’s Words Without Music for CBS. Two of Corwin’s masterworks, “The Plot to Overthrow Christmas” and “They Fly Through the Air with the Greatest of Ease,” debuted on this series.

In 1941, CBS’ Columbia Workshop gave Corwin a 26-week radio series; he responded with stories ranging from the whimsical to the darkly serious to the inspirational. A similar approach was taken on 1944’s Columbia Presents Corwin.

In December of 1941, Corwin wrote and produced We Hold These Truths, an all-star celebration of the Bill of Rights’ 150th anniversary. This landmark program aired over all four networks simultaneously.

Corwin created the special V-E Day broadcast On a Note of Triumph, which Carl Sandburg called “one of the all-time great American poems.”

Listen to "On A Note of Triumph" - the entire broadcast - from NPR (1 hour long) (opens in a new window; Flash player needed)

It's absolutely fascinating!

Three months later, he wrote 14 August, a V-J Day documentary narrated by Orson Welles.

Corwin wrote and produced over 100 programs during the golden age of radio. Notable programs include:

The Plot to Overthrow Christmas - December 25, 1938
They Fly through the Air with the Greatest of Ease - February 19, 1939
Spoon River Anthology - March, 1939
Descent of the Gods - August 3, 1940
Mary and the Fairy - August 31, 1940
Psalm for a Dark Year - November 9, 1940
We Hold These Truths - December 15, 1941
America at War (series) - February 14, 1942
The Lonesome Train - March 21, 1944
Untitled - May 30, 1944
Home For the 4th - July 4, 1944
El Capitan and the Corporal - July 25, 1944


On a Note of Triumph - May 8, 1945
The Undecided Molecule - July 17, 1945
14 August - August 14, 1945
God and Uranium - August 19, 1945
Hollywood Fights Back - October 26, 1947
Could Be - September 8, 1949
Document A/777 - March 26, 1950

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He also wrote screenplays for motion pictures, and was nominated for an Oscar in 1956 for the words he gave to Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn in "Lust for Life" about the life of Vincent Van Gough.



Filmography:

1967 "Sametka" (story)
1962 "Madison Avenue (writer)
1960 "The Story of Ruth" (writer)
1958 "The Naked Maja" (writer)
1956 "Lust for Life" (screenplay - Nominated for Oscar)
1956 "No Place to Hide" (screenplay)
1953 "Scandal at Scourie" (writer)
1951 "The Blue Veil" (wrter)

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In the early 1970s Corwin produced and hosted the television show Norman Corwin Presents.

In 1979 he hosted Academy Leaders, a weekly showcase for short animated films, such as those produced by the National Film Board of Canada.

Corwin wrote several books, which include Trivializing America; plus many essays, letters, articles and plays.

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In recent years, National Public Radio has aired several new Corwin plays under the title More By Corwin. These included:

Our Lady Of The Freedoms, And Some Of Her Friends - A play about the Statue of Liberty.

No Love Lost - A lively debate about the nature of democracy in America, in the form of an imaginary dialogue between Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr; the work is based on their writings. This play featured Lloyd Bridges, Jack Lemmon, Martin Landau and Corwin's friend William Shatner. Shatner appeared in a number of Corwin productions.

The Writer With The Lame Left Hand - Based on the life story of Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote. This production featured Ed Asner, Charles Durning, Samantha Eggar and William Shatner.

The Curse Of 589 is a comedy about a physicist (William Shatner) who comes across an honest-to-goodness real life fairy, with a working magic wand.

The Secretariat - A play on the meaning of prayer. This production featured Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy, Phil Proctor, and William Shatner.

50 Years after 14 August - A reflection on the end of World War II. Co-produced with Dan Gediman.

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A 40 minute long documentary was produced about him in 2005. Partipants in the documentary included Robert Altman and Walter Cronkite. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject. (It lost)

These days he keeps busy as a writer in residence at the Journalism School at USC. He writes articles for various publications, and is active in various organizations in and around the Los Angeles area.

Last year someone wrote on Huffington Post that Norman should have a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to Radio. Read the Post Here. I wholeheartedly support that idea, as his work is legendary.

We wish Norman all the best on his 100th birthday today!

Sources:
Biography from the Radio Hall of Fame
Norman Corwin Official Website (http://normancorwin.com)
Wikipedia entry: Norman Corwin

The Patricia Neal Story (1981, Made-for-TV)

My favorite film starring Patricia Neal (b. 1926) is The Subject Was Roses (1968). In my opinion, she delivers one of the finest film performances of the decade.

Roses was her "comeback film" role.

In between Hud (1963, for which she won the Best Actress Oscar) and Roses, Ms. Neal suffered three life threatening aneurysms, all in 1965.

She was pregnant at the time, and was even filming a movie, John Ford's 7 Women. (Anne Bancroft stepped in to fill her role in the picture).

In this fine biographical TV-film (first televised in the United States in December 1981), the actress' rehabilitation process is portrayed. Pat had to learn how to walk and speak -- and to live -- again after her coma. If you watch the film, be prepared to be moved by Glenda Jackson's (b. 1936) remarkable, Emmy-nominated performance.

Dirk Bogarde (1921-1999) also gives an intense performance as her supportive and loving husband, British writer Roald Dahl, and was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor for his moving portrayal. And if the name Roald Dahl sounds familiar, it is because he wrote the original "The Fantastic Mr. Fox", which was just adapted into a stop-motion animated film last year and is up for an Oscar this weekend.

Television actress and model ("All My Children") Sydney Penny, only 10 years old at the time, plays one of their daughters.

Veteran character actress Mildred "Millie" Dunnock (1901-1991), a friend of Ms. Neal's in real life, portrays herself in the film, in a very candid performance which required her to play herself as she felt at the time: scared, and at times, hopeless.

It's an emotional film. In one scene, after Pat is released from the hospital, she's back at home recovering and is watching the Oscars, longing to be there in person to present.

The film, though inspiring, is also somewhat bittersweet in hindsight: Neal and Dahl divorced in 1983 (after thirty years) due to his infidelity.

Ms. Neal, now age 84, continues to act and make public appearances.