If I were a co-screenwriter of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)

I went to see it in theaters over this past weekend and had a good time watching it! It was hard to keep me from the theaters because I've loved this movie and franchise since I was 8 years old. The movie had some decent effects and made me laugh several times so it was a winner for me. I also really enjoyed the "throwbacks" and "fan service" in there. 

The "amateur writer" in me kept thinking of a few more touches that would have made this movie even better and even funnier in my opinion. I know that sounds ridiculous but if I were a co-screenwriter, I would suggest to my colleagues these extra touches: (warning: spoilers) 

 1. First of all, I love that Slimer, the green ghost, is back. I missed him in the last movie, and even in 1989's sequel, he wasn't used enough. Now, in this new movie, it turns out he's been camping out in an attic in the firehouse for 40 years, eating cheese snacks in a bed made out of snack wrappers. Love that touch. We needed one or two more funny moments, though. In the scene where Paul Rudd is talking to Phoebe (who is not in her room), there is a missed opportunity there. After Rudd finishes his speech, have the door unlock. Cut to a close up of the door unlocking. Show Rudd think Phoebe opens the door. Then a close-up on Slimer tilting his head looking confused like a puppy. Cut to Paul screaming in shocked surprise. Cut to Slimer screaming and shutting the door. That would have been hilarious. 

 2 There were quite a few scenes down in the basement with the containment unit. I liked those scenes, but we needed to see a Twinkie. Either on a plate, or someone eating a Ding Dong or Cupcake or something! 

 3. The scenes with Kumail Nanjiani were really funny. But there was one part where I was waiting for something really funny...in the part where he's learning how to light a candle, the young character Podcast moves the lighted candle closer to the unlighted one and says "he's just a beginner...he needs it closer" or something like that. At that very moment Kumail should have retorted by saying, "No...I can do it!" and immediately made the candle light up, then look at his fingers in amazement. That would have been hilarious. 

 4. There was a scene in the diner with Melody the ghost sitting at a booth. The ghostbusters fire their weapons and cause some major damage from what I remember (windows break, booth explodes). There should have been one extra scene showing the owners say "Great. Thank you. Now you're going to pay for the damage, right?" Add a few "cameos" in there by some younger comedians or something playing waitstaff and/or an owner. That would have a been a funny extra touch. 

 

5. At the end of the movie when Melody makes one final appearance to Phoebe, the two should have kissed! Or at least tried to. To make the scene humorously light, start playing the theme to the 1990 Ghost in the background (Unchained Melody). Not only would have added the extra romantic touch but it's a throwback to the classic "ghost" movie where the hetero characters do the same thing. To make it even funnier, show Slimer playing "DJ" and playing the song using an old cassette tape in a boom box. The place was filled with gadgets from the 80s and 90s so there must be tapes, records and boom boxes in there.  Then have the music fade out and distort due to the slime that creeped into the radio, then cut away to Melody fading out. That would have left me feeling satisfied, and then think about wanting to watch the movie "Ghost" again. And not only that, it shows how mischievous Slimer could be and would be a set up for his coming back in the next movie. 

6. We have a missed opportunity at the end for some comeuppance for the Mayor. We loved how he got gushed with a marshmallow tidal wave in the first movie. Bring back that little round ballish ghost creature that we saw several times in the movie....he'd be perfect at the end, and could give one last spew of vomit at the Mayor. You don't even need to show the vomit; just show the little round dude standing there tugging at the Mayor's leg, we'd know what's coming, and that would have been hilarious. 

Oh well. That's just what came to my head as I watched the movie. Am really hoping to see more of Slimer in the next movie! Signing off for now.

Goodfellas (1990), and State of Grace (1990)

I recently watched Goodfellas in its entirety (not just bits and pieces) and enjoyed it. When I first tried watching it, I thought it was really boring, but now I find great appeal to it because it shows how an "outsider" like Ray Liotta's character, who is Irish, finds community and respect with the Italian mobsters.  Speaking of mob films, I still haven't seen Martin Scorcese's 2019 movie The Irishman yet; it was nominated for several Oscars a few years ago, but didn't win any.  

State of Grace (also from 1990) also features an Irish-Italian mob theme. I've known about it for years, but never watched it until recently. It's about an Irish cop (Sean Penn) who goes undercover and gets caught up with an Italian mob, who fight against the Irish mob including his friends. It's really suspenseful and makes you wonder how Sean Penn is going to get out of the predicament he's in. Ed Harris and Gary Oldman are in it and they are great as well. I liked the scenes showing New York. One day I want to go there, I keep saying that. 

Best Picture Winners I don't like: Grand Hotel and Green Book, plus Round Midnight

I recently caught up with two Best Picture Winners for the first time; both of them I didn't like!

Grand Hotel is a movie I've known about forever but never saw --- finally I had a chance to watch recently, but realized I wasn't missing much. I felt the characters were introduced to the audience too quickly and I kept trying to follow with what everyone's purpose in the hotel was. Joan Crawford shows up as a stenographer/reporter needing to interview Wallace Beery for some reason but gets distracted for about 20 minutes fighting off flirtatious advances from John Barrymore's character. Beery has a German accent in this film and his character is different from other tough-guy roles I've seen him in. Lionel Barrymore comically plays a doctor but is ultimately un-interesting. Greta Garbo also shows up but also was really un-interesting to me.

This movie didn't work for me! Apparently it was turned into a musical about 30 years ago but I can't imagine how better or worse it would be with songs. 

I also did not like Green Book.  I didn't find the Viggo Mortensen character very likeable or believable at any stage of the film. At the very start of the movie he is shown throwing two glasses in his garbage can at home because two Black workers drank from them. If he hates Black people so much I can't believe that he would ever take the job as a driver for Mahershala Ali's jazz musician character, which is almost made to be slightly comical when more seriousness should have placed on his character, I felt. And the movie should have focused more on him instead.  

The movie as a whole just didn't work for me. The blogger and former TV personality Bobby Rivers wrote about Green Book and I tend to agree with his assessment; he explains a bit better than I can - Blog post from Bobby Rivers' blog talks about Green Book

I also recently watched another movie about a Jazz player and his white friend -  Round Midnight - it's been on my "to-see" list for years and I finally watched it for the first time, and I liked it. Liked it much better than Green Book. Like Green Book, Round Midnight is also about a Black jazz musician (Dexter Gordon) in the 1950s-early 60s era, but in a different country and in a neighborhood with less racial prejudice. Instead of at the prime of his career, Dexter Gordon is at the end of his career - and life. He's a heavy drinker. 

The film shows how he befriends a white Parisian man who has idolized him all his life. When they meet and become friends, the white man becomes his caretaker and lets him live in his home with his daughter.

It's similar to Green Book in that it is ultimately a bout how an artist inspires another man's life. But in Round Midnight there's lots of jazz and musical performances from start to finish. I was convinced that Dexter Gordon was this jazz musician in Paris, and that he really was an alcoholic. It was almost difficult to watch because I really felt I was watching a real person disintegrate on film. 

Andy Warhol's 1970s/80s Journal Entries about Movies and Celebrities

Before the pandemic hit, I attended an exhibit of Andy Warhol's paintings at Chicago's art museum and it was really impressive; his paintings are often very simple but there was usually some deep meaning behind them. I followed up my trip by reading some of his books and one was a collection of his journal entries from the late 1970s and 1980s. I really dig collections like this because they are essentially autobiographies, and usually more personal and candid than a traditional autobiography which can be more formal and structured. 

The entries by Warhol gave me sense of his mind like I never knew.  He would write about going to church every Sunday. Or seeing mundane things like "saw a squirrel eating a nut" (8/20/79). Or who or what he saw at a party or a restaurant in New York. Or reminisces and brushes with movie star friends like Paulette Goddard. In some of the 1985 entries he wrote about his experience on the "Love Boat" tv show. And he even talked about meeting with Donald Trump and his wife who wanted him to do some art to be on display in one of his buildings. 

My favorite parts of the collection were any time he would reference or comment on a recent movie he had seen. 

I've included a few excepts/quotes as well as some of my own thoughts. It's funny - Andy Warhold would write in his diary in a very similar way that I blog....basically commenting on a few random things that stood out to him about a film or something. And I love how he philosophizes as well, such as "Life really does repeat itself. The old songs come back in a new way and the kids think they're new and the old people remember and it's a way of keeping people together I guess, a way of living". (8/2/78) I think he would have really used Twitter alot if were around back then. 

The following excepts come from the book The Andy Warhol Diaries, which is a printed collection of the artist's journal entries. The book is edited by Pat Hackett. 

Note: anything in red is written by me and not a quote from the book.

Jan 29, 1978 - There was a dinner for the New York Film Critics and celebrities were there. "Maximilian Schell was there and he'd gotten a supporting role award for Julia. I had  never met him before and I was disappointed that he was fat, but he was really sweet. He said that I did great things for him in Germany, that he'd seen Flesh and hated it and then gone back to see it again and again and loved it, and that he though, 'if this is a movie, then I can make a movie too.'

April 4, 1978 - a screening of Louis Malle's movie "Pretty Baby". "Interesting...strange....It was a cute idea for a movie, but nothing comes of it - like they had pickets picketing against the sin in New Orleans but nothing happened because of it."

May 30, 1978 - "I began watching The Valachi Papers on TV with Charles Bronson, and then I fell asleep, and then I woke up and ran to the window when I heard a voice say "Open Up, it's the narcotics squad" and then I realized it was on the TV".  

July 27, 1978 - Watched 20/20 and instead of saying, "In the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes" it was so funny to hear Hugh Downs say "As Andy Warhol once said, in fifteen minutes everyody will be famous". People on TV always get some part wrong. Like "In the future fifteen people will be famous"

Oct 12, 1978 - "I watched TV.... All Fall Down. When Brandon DeWilde kicks the picture of Warren Beatty and Angela Lansbury grabs it and holds it close - it's so good, you know? Who wrote the movie? Was it the one who committed suicide who was like Tennessee Williams? The one who wrote Picnic? Inge.

Nov 19, 1978 - "Went to the Coronet to a screening - The Deer Hunter was the new kind of movie - three hours of watching torture. It took place in Clairton, Pennsylvania, where all my cousins afe from, and in the movie they said was Russian-Polish, but that was just to make it more something, because it was really Czechoslovakian. It had John Savage, and lots of good looking kids".

"It starts off, it's three buddies drinking. For a whole hour it's the Polish Wedding, and they could have cut it, but it was fun. So real and so beautiful. It shows a new kind of people in the movies that haven't been shown before, so it's really good. Then they go shooting some deer, so you know that from there it's going to cut to Vietnam. In the end Chris Walken puts a gun to his head and shoots himself dead and Bobby DeNiro says "Oh Darling, I love you I love you" holding his bleeding head, something like that.  

Aug 2, 1979 - I started watching Brief Encounter and at first I thought it was really good but then I started thinking what a stupid story about a lady who would give herself a problem when she had a happy marriage, and it was just dumb and I hated it". 

Aug 17, 1979 - Went to Gulf  & Western building for a meeting with Paramount Pictures to do the poster artwork for their new movie Serial. I didn't realize it was such a big meeting. I was 15 minutes late and there were 20 people there.....the guy - his name was Cohen with a "K" - Kohen, he pointed out the window, he kept saying, "You've got to do a good job so I can keep the office". He saying, "I'll know it when I see it." He was so old fashioned.

Note: Warhol did not do the poster art for the movie.

Sept 16, 1979 - went to a party for the opening of Yanks movie. Met Richard Gere "(He) said ten years ago he came in on a bus from new Jersey and went to see our movie Bike Boy at the Village and he said from then on, he's been trying to be an actor". 

Jan 7, 1980 - went to see American Gigolo - "at the end of the movie there's a scene where a pimp is being thrown out off a balcony by Richard Gere and you see my three posters in the background - the Torsos. The scene is played against them"

May 26, 1980 - wrote about seeing The Empire Strikes Back. 

Aug 12, 1980 - wrote about meeting Sean Young..."she's in some James Ivory movie that's about to come out" (Jane Austen in Manhattan starring Anne Baxter in her last film). 

Oct 16, 1980 - he wrote that it was in the news that Mary Tyler Moore's son committed suicide. I didn't know that, that's sad. Andy mentioned the suicide in "Ordinary People" and wrote "everyone's going to hate her now because they will think that that's really her".

(I haven't seen that movie in long time so I'll need to check that out again.). A few months later, he met Mary for lunch and wrote about that too.

Oct 26, 1980. Andy wrote "I watched Sabrina on TV and William Holden and Audrey Hepburn looked so old. It seemed so old-fashioned talking about Long Island and the North Shore.....I watched Hooper on TV and my God, it was great. Just Burt Reynolds and his usual lines. He played a stunt man."

Nov 16 1980 - "watched Saturday Night Fever on TV and it was great"

January 13, 1981 - "watched Giant on TV from 1 - 5:30. It's so long. I even went to church in between and when I came back it was still on. James Dean's acting when he gets old is the worst thing. But they did a good thing - when he's drunk and talking into the microphone it's like a rock star...he's right on top of the microphone and it's just noises coming out and so it's abstract"...

Feb 22, 1981 - "Jerry Hall called...said that poor Mick (Jagger) has been down in Peru with the Herzog movie and it rains all day and he has to sleep on a wet mattress and Jason Robards was taken away with pneumonia to a hospital in NY" 

- Note: the movie they were talking about was Fitzcarraldo which came out in 1982 ....I haven't seen it. Both Jagger and Robards were re-cast.  

Later that day, Andy Warhol wrote that he went to a black-tie birthday affair (for lawyer Roy Cohn) with about 200 people. "Lots of heavies" he wrote, and noted that Donald Trump was there. That was interesting. Others he saw there were Gloria Swanson, Rupert Murdoch (TV mogul), Mark Goodson (TV mogul), and others.  Interesting how Trump has had TV connections going back 40 years; I think people forget all the media ties he has.  (in later journal entries, Andy writes about his meetings with Trump, but there was nothing too remarkable or unsurprising).

March 13, 1981 - Andy saw Jack Nicholson at a party...wrote..."I told Jack how great he was in Postman and that everybody thinks Jessica Lange is great".

April 14, 1981 - Worked until 5:30. Jon Gould invited me to a screening of Atlantic City that he was giving for his crowd. 

June 12, 1981 - "I watched Urban Cowboy and John Travolta just dances so beautifully. It was a really good movie

July 12, 1981 - "Saw a wonderful movie on TV - Coal Miner's Daughter, and I wish I taped it. Oh I wish I was married to a husband like that."

Aug 28, 1981 - "Paramount was having a screening of Mommie Dearest (cab $6).....it was absolutely great. Faye was really good. Really. Oh this movie affected me so much. Movies are really affecting me lately. What's happening to me?"

In January 1982, Andy wrote about meeting with Robert Towne, the screenwriter of Chinatown who was working on a new movie Personal Best, about to be released. Andy also wrote about going to see the play in NY Torch Song Trilogy (later would be a movie) and meeting with Harvey Firestein who created the play (and also acted in one of Warhol's plays years earlier).  

Jan 15, 1982 - he went to see the "new" Coppolla movie "One from the Heart" starring Frederic Forrest (who was in Apocalypse Now). I never saw One from the Heart. Andy wrote "was boring...stinkerroo..and Forrest is one of my favorite actors and he'd gained about 20 pounds for the role. It was pretty but looks aren't enough, it's not going to make it"

June 5, 1982 - "went to see My Dinner with Andre....I feel asleep....it was so boring. Hippie talk. I guess the kids are thinking this is intellectual because it tells about feelings". 

June 16, 1982 - He wrote about seeing "Grease 2" for the third time. He really liked that movie!

June 17, 1982. He wrote about seeing Blade Runner and wasn't sure what to make of it..."It's like Dick Powell playing Philip Marlowe. And if I ever saw this as a script, I wouldn't know what to think. And they say these lines seriously, it's all done like it's real problems". 

Sep 1982 - watched "Looking for Mr Goodbar....(Richard Gere) was so good in it....couldn't watch the ending because it was too crazy"

March 25, 1983 - "Decided to see The Outsiders which was just opening, and I loved it. It was like watching Lonesome Cowboys. You can't believe it - young boys with dyed hair reading poetry in the sunset. The Sal Mineo type. And then they're in this old church hiding and the boy says, "All I really want you to do is read Gone with the Wind out loud to me". And all the boys are so cute. And this schmaltzy music playing as if the boys are going to kiss. Things were all cut up so they didn't make sense. It was like seeing Bruce Weber photographs. Every boy was a raving beauty". 

May 15, 1983 - Went over to the Criterion to see Beathless (tickets $10). It's strange to see Richard Gere doing this. It\f it'd been somebody like Matt Dillon it would have been like a James Dean movie. It's that Satre way, the nothingness thing. You would think existentialism would be still modern, but it isn't. ....it's strange to see someone that age doing that, but maybe that'll bring back that kind of person...."

April 1, 1984 - "Decided to see The Ten Commandments (playing in a local theater)...And let me go on record: Cecil B DeMille is the worst director ever. We'd missed an hour but was still three hours to go and a half hour intermission. And all those actors were terrible. I mean Edward G Robinson, forget it. And forget Yvonne DeCarlo and Anne Baxter, too. Charlton Heston was okay, he was good-looking. The orgy scene was (laughs) people dropping grapes on each other - it sounds like an old Andy Warhol movie, right? And then they would lift their skirt two inches off the floor. That was it. That was the orgy. Edward G Robinson - you couldn't believe it."

Nov 12, 1984 - went to see Stranger Than Paradise...it's good"

Feb 1, 1985 - Andy went to see a film with his friend Tab Hunter - Lust in the Dust, a b-movie. "The movie was awful but I had to lie to Tab and say I loved it. He was literally trying to act. He tried to be Clint Eastwood when all he should have done was be Tab Hunter"

March 19, 1985 - he went to see Desperately Seeking Susan. "It's like those sixties movies but the opposite - the sixties movies had too much sixties and not enough story - and this has too much story and not enough eighties. It's boring"

July 22, 1985 - Went up to see Kiss of the Spider Woman...I liked the movie. And I guess people are wanting artsy movies now, or something. It's the right time. 

Aug 13, 1986 - went to see Stand By Me at the Coronet. These four little kids and there's the fat kid, and the brilliant kid, and the crazy kid."

Sep 29 1986 - saw Blue Velvet - "what a good movie, so weird and creepy. Alot of couples walked out. And Dennis Hopper was finally good."

Oct 8, 1986 - saw Color of Money "I slept through most of it. I just wasn't interested in pool, and nothing was explained". 

 

 

Little Big Man (1970) and Midnight Cowboy (1969)

I've been wanting to see this movie forever, and finally did and really liked it! It reminded me of Dances with Wolves from 1990, primarily because it's about a white man raised by an indigenous tribe. Dustin Hoffman was an interesting choice to play this part. He was a big box office star from this time period, and he brings alot of that everyman essence to this part which I think is important for this role.

At the start of the film we meet Hoffman's character - a 120 year old man being interviewed by a reporter (William Hickey) interested in his long life and his supposed acquaintanceship with Civil War General Custer in the 1800s.

The old man lives in a nursing home; I have a relative who just moved into such a place, and they can be lonely places. I could understand why this old man would want to talk and tell his life story to someone who will listen. And he's had a long life, a really long life. He talks about being raised by a Cheyenne tribe, and later befriends historical figures Bill Hickock and General Custer. These sequences are episodic, but I really seeing him brush with historical figures. This was an idea that was used somewhat similarly later in the movie Forrest Gump, but I think works really good in this film.

I like how the old man narrates the movie throughout; this gave me the feeling that I was always being told the old man's story and not someone else's. He talks about the various "stages" of his life.... "My Indian Years", "My religious years", "My Outlaw Days", etc.  Faye Dunaway has a small supporting part where she plays a religious man's wife who becomes a prostitute later on.

I couldn't believe that it was Richard Mulligan playing a dramatic role as General Custer; I only knew him for his comedy roles on TV but he is really good in this.

There is also great standout performance by a Native American actor in the film - Chief Dan George. His part is significant as Hoffman's father figure and wise mentor who has some interesting (and racy) dialogue. I imagine that the audience of 1970 would like his line where he says, "Does she show enthusiasm when you mount her?" (referring to Hoffman's spouse).

It's unfortunate that the movie's marketing posters (as shown above) make this movie to look like a comedy, with Dustin Hoffman made to look like Don Knotts in The Shakiest Gun in the West. This is a really profound drama (with occasional comic relief), that was ahead of its time showing the perspectives of both indigenous and white peoples. Equally unfortunate is the lack of accolades that year - no Oscars...not even a Best Picture nomination. In 1970, the big winner was "Patton", which was a more traditional war film with a hero that audiences could probably relate to more. Little Big Man was unfortunately overshadowed by it, and I don't think audiences were quite ready to embrace such a film yet. Not until Dances with Wolves 20 years later.

I also re-watched Midnight Cowboy which I haven't seen in more than 20 years but remember liking it overall, especially the chemistry of the two leads (Voight and Hoffman). I forgot that there was a sequence where they go to a hippy artists' party in New York, and there are some real cameos by Andy Warhol protégés. After attending a Warhol art exhibit recently, I've been reading some of his biographies and a book of his journal entries; interestingly in one entry he wrote that he wanted to do a cameo in Midnight Cowboy but couldn't do it because he was in the hospital recovering from a gunshot wound (in the summer of '68).

I loved seeing all the on-location scenes of New York; I kept my eye peeled for any interesting posters that would have been of the times. I saw one poster/billboard with Jonathan Winters on it. And another poster was a movie ad for "Doctor Doolittle" starring Rex Harrison, which was interesting. Flash forward 50 years and we have yet another remake of "Doolittle" in theaters starring Robert Downey Jr (I'm planning to skip since it doesn't look all that appealing to me).

Another scene in Midnight Cowboy that I had forgotten about happens at the end where Joe Buck beats the old man in his hotel room, almost killing him (his actual death isn't shown but it's implied he might have killed him). This makes me feel less sympathetic toward the character, and even reminded me of what Brad Pitt does at the end of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (my least-favorite sequence in that movie); now I'm wondering if Tarantino intended that scene to be an homage to Midnight Cowboy.

Read a blog post about this movie by Avvaganda.com here

New York Stories (1989)

This film came out in 1989, an anthology, composed of three short films (about 40 minutes each) from 3 directors.

Woody Allen has one of the films, called "Oedipus Wrecks". He plays himself, a single man who is dating Mia Farrow (who has 2 kids - one of them Kristen Dunst). He also has a mother who is always making disapproving comments, is overly critical, and generally overbearing. I have a relative with the same personality! There's a part where she comes over to his office and interrupts a business meeting. The old mother is played by Mae Questel who was the old senile lady in Christmas Vacation. She's really funny in this and should have been in more movies. I liked the short because it shows how Woody deals with her and learns to cope with her and accept her and I could relate to that.

I couldn't relate to the short film that Francis Ford Coppola directed. It's about a rich girl who lives in a hotel in New York. She has a famous musician dad (Giancarlo Gianni) and wants to see him reunite with her mom played by Talia Shire. There's also a new rich boy who comes from royalty from an unnamed country. The girl befriends him. There's also a robbery, and some funny moments with her butler played by Don Novello. He's the only down-to-earth character in this and funny; I don't know why he hasn't done more movies. Most critics don't like this short. It feels really choppy as if were three half-hour sitcom episodes cut to 40 minutes. His daughter Sophia Coppola co-wrote this, so there may be some personal/semi-autobiographical content in this, but I'm not sure. I know Francis' father was a professional flautist, so certainly there's a familial connection there.

In one scene, some of the characters take a stroll in New York's Central Park, and there's a cool shot of this awesome-looking bridge (see below). I'd love to see that bridge one day if I ever get a chance to visit New York:

Finally, Martin Scorsese's film Life Lessons is the first short, and it's pretty good. Scorsese only directed; he didn't write this film. Nick Nolte plays an artist in New York with a big studio apartment with lots of paint and canvases, and he has an apprentice/former lover (Rosanna Arquette) who lives there too. It's basically a simple story, and it's lighthearted and funny.  Nolte makes a good artist, I thought. Believable as he whips his paintbrush and oil paints on the canvas. He reminds me of a friend I had (who died last year) who was about the same age as Nolte's character in the film. We went to art galleries together and browsed and talked about the art. He even loved to paint on canvas (I have some of this paintings I want to keep) and inspired me to do more painting as well.

Lady Bird (2017), Francis Ha (2012), and Mistress America (2014)

Francis Ha is an independent comedy that's filmed in black-and-white--I'm not sure why exactly the director chose black and white, but I like it, and generally I find any modern-day black and white film to be interesting. If I had to guess, I'd say that director Noah Baumbauch wanted to go for a classic movie look, which is OK by me. It's also considered Greta Gerwig's breakthrough role and perhaps the one that got her the most attention, maybe at least from independent film fans. The director had previously worked with her on the film "Greenberg" which I haven't seen yet. Francis Ha puts Greta in the lead, in a comedic role, and it's a simple film, basically just following her character around as she spends time with her friends and romantic interest (Adam Driver) and finding work as a dancer in New York. She also manages to get away and fly to Paris on vacation for two days. Who does that? Francis does. I actually knew someone who did that---go on some overseas trip for a weekend and come back, so I guess it's not entirely implausible. Francis is an interesting character, and funny because Greta is really funny. "Modern Love" by David Bowie is this movie's theme song. A blogger (can't remember who) wrote that they hated this movie, but I don't know why. I liked it alot.

Mistress America is the next film by Baumbach, and also stars Greta in the lead. Her character is almost the same as Frances, and when I watch this movie I think of this as the sequel. I really love this movie and liked it even better than Francis. We first meet the character of Tracy, played by Lola Kirke, who is starting her first year of college. She wants to be a writer. She doesn't know a soul, but she has a relative in New York played by Greta whom she befriends; Greta shows her New York. I love her character because she wants to do so much with her life; teach exercise/spinning classes, open her own restaurant. She has lots of dreams. I love her character because even though she's about 10 years older than Zoe, she's still looking to find her place in the world. The movie has a great soundtrack (You Could’ve Been A Lady by Hot Chocolate is this movie's theme song) and I love the writing. Greta is really kooky but likeable. Another review of this film from the blog Cinema Scope here.

Lady Bird is Greta's first directorial film, and she wrote it is as well (but doesn't star in it). It's semi-autobiographical, though. The lead role is played by Siaorse Ronan, who plays a teenager in high school who is coming of age, and the film focuses in on her last year of high school, climaxing in the senior prom. She has a best friend - I don't know the name of the actress - who decides not to go to the prom and feels like an outcast. I really liked this character, but I liked Siaorse's character too, as she deals with her family, her mom (Laurie Metcalf) and religious/Catholic traditions, and her romance with someone who may not be right for her. The film has a light comedic tone throughout, and reminded me of a John Hughes film of the 1980s like Pretty in Pink or Sixteen Candles; it just seemed to have a similar tone. Also, I imagined this character to be a younger "Frances Ha".

Even though all three of these films are not officially connected with each other, I like to think of them as a trilogy, with Lady Bird being the first movie. Francis Ha would be the second, and Mistress America the third.

If you've seen all 3, what do you think? Do you also see a connection with the three in a similar way?

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

Sidney Lumet directed this film about a bank-heist gone awry based on a true incident. Al Pacino (Sonny) and John Cazelle (both from The Godfather) decide to rob a bank and take it over, holding everyone inside hostage. The robbers use guns to scare and intimidate but Pacino's character doesn't want to hurt anyone. It's a great performance and you are convinced that he's this character, who wants the money to pay for his lover's sex change surgery. Chris Sarandon plays the lover who calls Sonny on the phone a few times; it's a small part but memorable. Charles Durning is also good as a cop who wants to negotiate and deal with Sonny to let the people out. Meanwhile, the local crowd outside gathers and even cheers on Sonny as a hero, and the hostages inside are getting hungry. In one of my favorite scenes, Sonny decides to order a pizza and cokes; the pizza delivery guy comes and you get the sense that this is his greatest claim to fame so far in life. The ending is sad, as the police follow Sonny and Cazale to the airport where they think they are going to be let go and fly away. It's an interesting film that shows how one criminal incident can grow into a cultural and news media sensation. 

The French Connection (1971)

Two NYPD narcotics cops - Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider (from Jaws) - track down drug dealers and a shipment of heroin from France.

Spanish actor Fernando Rey plays the heroin smuggler they're after.

I didn't always understood why this movie won so many Oscars and Best Picture, and thought it might have to do with the famous car chase scene.

But watching other cop films that were made before this, I can see how different a film this is in comparison, and how it influenced later films.

I watched this film in college as part of a film appreciation course I took during my Senior year.

This film was followed by a second movie 4 years later, "The French Connection II", which I haven't seen. (Also a TV-movie "Popeye Doyle" was made in 1986 and starred Ed O'Neill).

Peter Boyle was originally cast to play the lead, but turned it down because his agent thought the movie was going to be a failure.

The Wolfpack (Documentary, 2015)

The 6 brothers, all cinephiles

The Wolfpack is a new documentary about how 6 brothers from NYC ( the titular "wolfpack") slowly emerge from their sheltered, zombie-like existence (they do call themselves zombies, and even dress like them for cosplay). For most of their lives, these young, bright kids are prohibited from leaving their housing project by their overprotective (and questionable) parents. The boys' only entertainment is watching movies and re-enacting them -- movies such as The Nightmare Before Christmas, Pulp Fiction and The Dark Knight (apparently not Hamlet, Macbeth, or anything by Shakespeare or Neil Simon).

The film also features some brief interviews with the parents, especially the dad, who loves to watch old TV shows like The Honeymooners. It's a really strange but a true story, and disturbing at times, especially when we learn that the father has been physically abusive (he took Ralph Kramden's line "Bang Zoom" too literally).

This doc feels right at home with other "reality/lifestyle" TV shows like the Kim Kardashian show or Honey Boo Boo; everything shown on camera is observational rather than investigative. The director doesn't pry too deep in their lives, nor asks difficult questions we may want to know about the family -- such as their cost of living arrangements and details about the physical abuse the mother and children had to put up with from the alcoholic father, who appears on camera briefly and envisions himself as an enlightened hippy.

One of the more interesting things about this whole story is not included in the film - the story about how the director - Crystal Moselle)- became interested in her subject matter. Apparently one day she happened to stumble upon the brothers in a park as they were acting out scenes from a Quentin Tarantino film. The family soon let her in the apartment, and she began her quest to put together a film about this quirky family. I give her credit for the film and for getting the family to appear on camera.

Gloria (1980) by Cassavetes and Trucker (2008)

At the beginning of Gloria, a young boy escapes from the mob after his entire family is killed; the killers want the boy, too, but Gloria (Gena Rowlands) steps in to protect him.

The movie was filmed entirely on location in New York, which is almost a third main character.  At one point I caught of glimpse of a Barnes and Noble bookstore, which was neat to see. And in the subway there's a billboard for a radio station with Kenny Rogers' picture on it (he was a big deal in that period of time).

It took some getting used to the actor who plays the orphan. As I understand, the child was not a professional actor, and not the best actor, either. Apparently he "won" a "Razzie" for Worst Supporting Actor that year, unfortunately.  It really does feel like the child was miscast, and he usually feels unprepared and unmotivated to act or deliver his lines. However this might have been a smart casting choice on the part of director John Cassavetes. Since the character's entire life is shaken to its core in a matter of minutes, there's an edge to the boy, and after awhile I got used to him.

In Peter Bogdanovich's book "Movie of the Week", Peter talks about how John Cassavetes - the film's writer-director - originally wanted Peter to direct and Barbra Streisand to star. Barbra didn't want to do it because she didn't think anyone would believe her in the role.

Gena is great Gloria, a complex character that is fascinating to watch. There's a touching scene in the middle of the film when Gloria takes the young boy to a cemetery and teaches him the importance of saying goodbye. She says to him (paraphrasing), "Your parents are not here, but you can still talk to them here. Pick any stones - those look like nice ones. Say whatever comes to your heart". The scene made me break down emotionally. Gloria cares about the boy even though she's connected with the mob herself.  She has a sense of decency.  The ending of the film is also a tearjerker.

I also watched another movie with a similar mother-son theme, Trucker from 2008. It stars Michelle Monaghan as a young trucker who is reluctantly reunited with her 10 year old son when the father becomes terminally ill.  After a number of arguments, the two both learn to accept each other. This film also has a few heartbreaking scenes including one involving the sick dad (Benjamin Bratt) trying to explain to his son he is going to die.  I recommend this movie, which co-stars Nathan Fillion as an unhappily married man who loves Michelle.

Here's a 2023 review of this movie from the blog Laura's Misc Musings. 

Another review from Flickers In Time (blog)

The Sunshine Boys (1975)

I first watched this movie on television about 25 years ago, and it was a pleasure to watch it again for the first time in so many years. It's still a very funny film and I found myself laughing many times throughout. I love the character that Walter Matthau brings to life - an old vaudevillian comedian who will not give up acting, even if it means working in commercials. It sort of reminded me of when Betty White and Abe Vigoda did a Snickers commercial a few years ago for the Super Bowl.

Richard Benjamin plays the nephew who is trying to reunite the old man with his old comedy partner played by George Burns.

Some modern productions of The Sunshine Boys  update the characters to be pioneer TV stars rather than vaudevillians, which I suppose works just as well. But in the original play and this film, the whole vaudeville thing really works well. George Burns was an actual vaudevillian, so he was absolutely perfect for the role as Matthau's partner. When this movie came out in the 1970s, we still had vaudeville stars still living, but today there aren't any around anymore. Mickey Rooney was probably the most famous vaudevillians still living until he passed away this year.

I like Burns' line when he says to Matthau, "You know...I don't think we get along too good". That really sums up the movie in a way. The two comedians are able to reunite, and in a way say their last goodbye, realizing they are better off going their separate ways. I love the movie because it portrays two people who can't get along, but really love each other - sort of like a family member or friend you use to have, but just can't be with them too often. Such a great story, and great humor by Neil Simon.

It'd be cool to see this show performed live on stage.

Hester Street (1975)

Hester Street tells the tale of a young Jewish couple's migration to New York at the turn of the 20th century.

Carol Kane is very good as the young wife torn between her traditions and modern American culture. Doris Roberts, in an excellent supporting performance, plays a neighbor in the apartment building where the couple lives (if you've only seen her in her television roles then you haven't seen one of her best performances).

The immigrant husband is played by Steven Keats, an actor who sadly passed away at a young age several years ago.

The film, shot in black-and-white with much of the dialogue in the language of the immigrants, is so authentic in its recreation of this era - at times I felt I was watching a documentary.   The costumes, music, and set design are all impressive and deserve praise.

Available on DVD. Other reviews of the film:

The Movie Night's Group Guide to Classic Film

Cinema Fanatic

Vintage Everyday

Laura's Miscellaneous Musings 

Mister Buddwing (1966) starring James Garner

The movie begins with James Garner's character waking up on a park bench in New York with a serious case of amnesia. He has no identification other than a strange phone number and a ring with initials.

I loved the movie's mystery that slowly unfolds over the course of the film; the Garner character slowly remembers his past which is revealed via flashback sequences. The movie was shot on location in New York and I loved seeing all the scenes on the street. 

The film has a good supporting cast:  Jean Simmons, Suzanne Pleshette, Angela Lasbury, Katherine Ross, Jack Gilford, Nichelle Nichols.

They all play interesting characters that Garner meets along the way who may or may not be truly related to his character.

One of my favorite scenes occurs when a man in a park may or may not have discovered that Garner's character is a escaped mental patient. A cop comes up to Garner and questions him intensely, only to be sidetracked by a bunch of young college kids who stage a faux protest. 

It is directed by Delbert Mann (Marty), and features a cameo by Joe Mantell who played Marty's best friend Angelo. 

Interesting bit of trivia: It was nominated for Best Costume (B/W) and Best Art Direction (BW) for the year of 1966. It lost to Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?   

If you are a longtime reader of my blog, you will remember that I think Virginia Woolf's Oscar win for Costume is one of the most bizarre wins in the history of the Oscars.

Believe it or not, the Oscar nominations for Mister Buddwing are almost as bewildering. For example, James Garner wears the same suit and tie throughout the entire film, which takes place over the course of a couple days. I don't ever remember seeing the suit spotted in any way. As far as art direction, much of the film showed Garner on the streets of New York: in a park, on a bridge, on the streets, in a taxicab. Oscar-worthy technical achievement?  Sigh! No wonder 1966 was the last year Black-And-White Oscars were presented.

Nonetheless, the movie is enjoyable with bouts of humor, but it is not a comedy. Overall the tone is somewhat somber.  I recommend the movie if you are fan of James Garner or anyone in the cast, or want to see New York City in the mid-1960s.

Additional Reviews:  Filmsnoir.net | Original New York Times review

The Magnificent 60s

The Lonely Guy (1984)

This post is my contribution to 1984-A-Thon hosted by Forgotten Films. Click here for a list of all the participating blogs in the blogathon.

1984's The Lonely Guy is one of my favorite Steve Martin films, along with Planes Trains and Automobiles and Roxanne.

This movie (originally panned by Ebert but enjoyed by Siskel - watch their TV review from 1984 here) is a romantic comedy with lots of amusing sight gags and a bit of dark humor. Neil Simon is credited as one of the screenwriters.

In honor of its 30th anniversary, I've come up with 30 reasons why I enjoy this film.

1. Steve Martin's performance. My favorite moment in the film might be when he's interviewing for an apartment and has to answer all the landlord's questions in rapid succession.  Comic brilliance.  

2 The opening credit song Love Comes Without Warning by America and theme music by Jerry Goldsmith. Cheesey, but it seems to fit this era.

3. How it satirizes self-help gurus and dating in general (albeit dating in the 1980s). A well- known 80s' relationship guru of the time - Dr. Joyce Brothers - even agreed to make a cameo appearance.

4. The running "lonely guy" gag. Martin's character lives in a society where single, hopeless-romantics are stigmatized with that label. To enjoy this movie, I think you have to buy into this  premise.

5. The opening scenes giving us a brief history of lonely guys through the ages, such as the caveman who always had to spend New Year's Eve alone. 

6. All the visual humor. For example, when Martin goes apartment hunting, one of the apartments he visits is half underwater!

7. In the memorable restaurant scene, a spotlight shines on Martin after he orders a table for one! Martin sits down and asks the waiter, "Could you turn off the spotlight?" The waiter goes *snap* and off goes the light. Even Roger Ebert who hated the movie enjoyed that scene. 

8. Charles Grodin as Martin's sad-sack best friend. Grodin is a great sidekick to Martin, and creates a memorable character who is sort of like a  human "Eeyore" from Winnie the Pooh. Martin is the more upbeat and ambitious of the two, and they make a great  screen pairing. 

9. In one of my favorite scenes, Martin visits Grodin who has life-size cardboard cutouts of celebrities in his apartment (1980s-era celebrities, of course). A police officer comes by the apartment and painfully admits that he's a "lonely cop" and wants nothing more than a life-size cut-out of Gene Hackman (who of course played a hero cop in The French Connection).

10.  The scene where Martin meets Iris (Judith Ivey) in the diner, and how Iris can immediately tell that he's a "lonely guy". 

11. After the first meeting, Martin loses Iris' phone number and forgets her name. Martin frantically calls almost every almost everyone listed in the phone book. "Hello is there a Doris there? How about Bess or Tess?"

12.  The subway scene. In a classic scene, Martin is riding on a NY subway, looks out the window and suddenly sees Iris. He then grabs a can of spray paint from a gangbanger to write a message on the glass, impressing the gangbanger who exclaims: "Man, you are one baaaad backwards writer!"

13. How Martin's character is a greeting card writer, and the funny greetings he comes up with. I bet that this was the first time the occupation has ever been depicted on film, years before 500 Days of Summer featured a character with the same occupation.

14. The fact that it was directed by Arthur Hiller - who helmed one of the 1970s' most popular romances, Love Story.  He adds a touch of sentimentally that gives the film heart. I like how when the lovers daydream about each other, the scenes are superimposed on free-frame shots.

15. The New York setting, and all the scenes in Central Park. 

16.  The rooftop scene, where Martin cries out for Iris and is joined by other guys on rooptops crying out for women they lost.

17. Martin meets a girl in a bar and starts to tell her how much he wants a real serious relationship, and after a long emotional pitch by Martin, she reveals that she's just looking for sex. 

18. Martin and Grodin pop in VCR tapes of crackling log fires or scenes of fish swimming in an aquarium.

19. Martin and Grodin both buy ferns and treat them like real people. I've never been able to think of ferns in the same way again.

20. Martin visiting his psychiatrist. He rings the doorbell, and the doctor says, "Talk into the box". Martin bares his soul while a nosey neighbor listens to all.

21. The chess scene where Grodin plays chess with a computer that talks back.

22. Martin's fast-talking landlord. 

23. Crooner Steve Lawrence singing "Isn't it Romantic?". You can't have him in a movie without a little singing.

24. How Martin's character finds success with his best-selling book, "A Guide for the Lonely Guy" yet still struggles with his relationships.

25. Martin dressed as Chaplin at a costume party.

26. Grodin watching a sci-fi movie all by himself at another party. 

27. The channel surfing scene. Toward the end of the film, Martin has a disturbing vision of wasting his life away on the couch watching TV, and is thrown into the garbage. He suddenly  jumps off his couch, looks at his remote as if it were a loaded pistol and tosses it to the ground. It's a hilarious moment.   

28. Martin's own personal police escort as he runs to find Iris.

29. The very last scene of the movie. A great pay-off for Grodin's character, and a happy ending that leaves me smiling every time I see it. 

30. Seeing all the outdated technology.  The Lonley Guy feels like it was made a half-century ago or more, as characters use antiquated technology like typewriters, push-button phones, address books, and VHS tapes. No one uses cell-phones or does any texting, tweeting, online dating, or facebooking.   

But this nostalgia factor is one of the reasons why I love The Lonely Guy, and other movies from the 1980s.

If you feel the same, be sure to check out more movies from 1984 in the 1984-A-Thon hosted by Forgotten Films.

Jimmy Stewart in The Shopworn Angel (1938)

The Shopworn Angel is one of my favorite movies because it's not a typical romantic comedy with a happy ending.

The year is 1917 and WWI is underway. Jimmy is a soldier stationed in New York before being sent overseas. We get a sense of his character's loneliness when he goes into a soda shop to write himself a few postcards. 

Margaret plays Daisy, a nightclub singer famous enough to get her picture in a magazine or two. How to describe her personality? Well, let me put it this way; from the first minute she appears onscreen in her high-rise apartment, you get a good idea of how she might treat someone like Jimmy if she ever had the chance.

Alas, they do meet-cute and Jimmy is instantly hit by cupid's arrow (bless his little heart) despite unreciprocated feelings from Daisy and sneers from her jealous boyfriend-manager, played by Walter Pidgeon (Mrs Miniver). Jealous of a country bumpkin, you might ask? It's true - in one scene, Mr. Miniver knocks over what appears to be a ceramic Statue of Liberty that Jimmy won at Coney Island (Ah, the days when they gave out fragile ceramic prizes).  

Jimmy is very good in this role. His character, Private Bill Pettigrew, has all the idealism that we love about Jimmy Stewart which makes the character so convincing. Pettigrew's sincere determination to win over Daisy before he leaves for the trenches will melt your heart. I swear, every time I watch this movie and see Jimmy with a box of chocolates in one hand and flowers in the other I ask myself will they or won't they? He and Margaret Sullivan had such great chemistry; it's hard for me to choose which movie with them I love more - this one or Shop Around the Corner.

All of the performances are top notch, including a very memorable performance by Hattie McDaniel who has to make a very brave decision toward the end of the film. If you have not seen this film, I highly recommend adding it to your must-see list. It's a beautiful, thought-provoking film.  Directed by HC Potter.

If you want to read more about the making of the film, check out the TCM full synopsis here, where you'll find trivia and more about the production (before she died, Jean Harlow was considered for the part of Daisy). 

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This post is part of the James Stewart Blogathon hosted by the Classic Film & TV Cafe. You can view the complete blogathon schedule here.

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After Tomorrow (1932)

Movies were only with sound for 5 years when Frank Borzage's underrated After Tomorrow came out. This may be one of my favorite movies I've seen from 1932. Really impressed me.

This movie features a standout performance by Josephine Hull, who only made a handful of pictures including Harvey with Jimmy Stewart nearly 20 years later. She's younger in this movie, but still very motherly, and quite an overbearing mother in fact.  She plays Mrs. Piper, mother to Peter Piper (Charles Farrell) and says things like, "in every man lurks a beast that can be aroused." Hey, that was pretty steamy stuff to say back then in the pre-code era.

Petey wants to get married to Sidney (Marian Nixon). But they're dirt-poor, and pinching every penny they have left. After all, this is the Depression (set in New York). Mother loves her boy so much that she tries to break up the marriage. Minna Gombell plays a much more verbally abusive mother to Sidney. And soon there is little doubt that the marriage will ever take place, even after a very funny impromptu rehearsal sequence.

The Line King: The Story of Al Hirschfeld (documentary, 1996)

An outstanding documentary about Mr. Hirschfeld (1903-2002), the famed artist best known for his caricatures of stage and screen celebrities for over 70 years. I am a huge fan of his work and watching this documentary (which was nominated for an Oscar) was a real treat.

The film features clips from numerous celebs sharing their best Hirschfeld memories, Hirschfeld interviews and home movies, and of course, hundreds of drawings he did through the years. But he didn't just do drawings, he painted and sculpted too

I learned that at age 18 or 19 years old, he worked for Selznick pictures, and did poster artwork and eventually took over the art department. He die many caricatures of movie stars during this period.

In 1926 he started sketching Broadway show for numerous New York newspapers, and did it for the rest of his life. He also did numerous TV Guide covers over the years.

Games (1967) starring Simone Signoret, James Caan, and Katherine Ross

Interesting trio of actors

It's a psychological thriller starring Simone Signoret, James Caan, and Katherine Ross. Any movie featuring those three actors really piques my interest. It's one of Caan's early roles. Prior to this movie he terrorized Olivia de Havilland in Lady in a Cage. 

Went to see a screening of this last week at the Music Box Theater, which showed it in 35 MM. The film opens with a neat credit sequence featuring an animated deck of cards. Caan and Ross play a wealthy married couple living in a 2-story New York townhome. The interior of the home is decorated with all kinds of art and arcade-type amusement games such as pinball machines. The couple play host to the kinds of parties that Andy Warhol might attend, and they amuse their guests with bizarre stunts and tricks.

I love this poster.
It seems to exclaim "SHOCKER!"

Character actor George Furth plays a hipster party guest with a 60's perm. He seems to be having a ball, while their housekeeper gleefully announces that she's leaving town on a three-week vacation. Whether or not she'll be back is anyone's guess. Then there is the grocery errand boy who has a crush on the lovely Katherine Ross. He pops in and out of the house at the most inconvenient of times.

Outshining every other performer is none other than the great Simone Signoret (Diabolique), who enters the young couple's lives one day, and soon, the "games" begin - mind games if you will. The kind that put those in Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf to shame. Real guns are used, and there's real danger. To her, pinball games are mere child's play.

There are some plot twists that are better left unsaid so as to not spoil anything. I was really surprised at the outcome of everything, and wasn't expecting what was going to happen. A few of my theater companions found the movie predictable, as did Roger Ebert in his review of the film.  But for the most part, the film had me in suspense. One scene involves a cat who had me thinking it might do something that may or may not happen. You'll have to see the movie to find out.

A mind-bending thriller that you will not soon forget. Directed by Curtis Harrington.

Working Girl (1988)

 "A naive but ambitious secretary (Melanie Griffith) tries to outfox her wiley boss (Sigourney Weaver)  by closing a big deal - with the help of a man (Harrison Ford) who she just happens to fall in love with" (from Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide)

Harrison Ford and Sigourney Weaver:
modern day movie legends

I watched this office comedy again after 25 years and it made so much more sense to me now than it did when I first saw it (before I entered the "working world"). Melanie Griffith's character has to office-sit and house-sit for her boss (Weaver) when she's away and it's fun to watch her fascination with everything. Great chemistry between her and Ford. Joan Cusack is great playing the wise-cracking best friend.  Alec Baldwin in an early role is slimey ex-boyfriend.

The Staten Island Ferry with the World Trade Center
in the background. 

My favorite part in the movie is when Melanie (posing as an executive) and Ford crash a wedding just to network with a potential client (Philip Bosco).  And I love the final scene of the movie where Melanie enjoys her new office.

Roger Ebert gave the film 4 stars in his review from 1988. He noticed some similarities between this film and The Graduate, also directed by Mike Nichols. It was nominated for several Academy Awards including Best Picture of 1988. A great '80s classic.

Review from the blog Surrender The Void here