Monthly Archives: May 2011
My Love For Woody Allen: Week 2
You can read part one of my four-part look at Woody Allen’s filmography here and don’t forget about the Woody Allen Blogathon on May 20th! This post covers Allen’s work from 1982 to 1990. It’s the beginning of his fruitful decade-long collaboration with Mia Farrow and contains some of Allen’s greatest and most memorable films.
Movie Quote of the Day – The Mummy, 1999 (dir. Stephen Sommers)
Evy: You’re wondering, “What is a place like me doing in a girl like this?”
Rick: Yeah, something like that.
Oscar Vault Monday – A Star Is Born, 1937 (dir. William A. Wellman)
The original version of the twice re-made A Star is Born (though, the plot quite resembles 1932’s What Price Hollywood?), is quite wonderful. Perhaps not as memorable as the George Cukor/Judy Garland 1954 musical adaptation, the 1937 version is miles and miles better than the mediocre 1976 Barbra Streisand version. It’s also in the public domain, so it’s available to watch for free in various quality all over the internet. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, winning one: Best Writing Original Story (won), Best Writing Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Assistant Director, Best Director, Best Picture. W. Howard Greene was rewarded an honorary plaque for the color photography of the film, an award that was “recommended by a committee of leading cinematographers after viewing all the color pictures made during the year”. The other films up for Best Picture that year were: The Awful Truth, Captains Courageous, Dead End, The Good Earth, In Old Chicago, Lost Horizon, One Hundred Men and a Girl, Stage Door and winner The Life of Emile Zola.
Movie Quote of the Day – The Sound of Music, 1964 (dir. Robert Wise)
Max: He’s got to at least *pretend* to work with these people. You must convince him.
Maria: I can’t ask him to be less than he is.
Woody Allen Blogathon
Woody Allen’s newest feature Midnight In Paris opens in the United States on May 20th, 2011. To celebrate this I’ve started writing about his filmography (having recently finished watching all of his films). You can read the first post here, there are three more to come before the 20th. But on that day I’d also like to do a blogathon, wherein everyone contributes something. It could be on your favorite Allen film, your least favorite, a scene, an actor, anything in relation to Woody Allen and his films. If you’re interested in participating, use one of the graphics below (or make your own!) and post it to your blog with a link back to this post and on the day of I will gather them all together! Your post doesn’t have to be written on the day of the blogathon, just be sure to send me the post before that day, so I can link them all. You can send your links to here: maryag7[at]gmail.com
I look forward to your contributions!
Movie Quote of the Day – Mommie Dearest, 1981 (dir. Frank Perry)
Joan Crawford: Noooo wiiiiire haaaaaangers! What’s wire hangers doing in this closet when I told you no wire hangers, everrrr?!
What’s The Big Deal About The Big Screen?
I love seeing movies in theaters. I always have. One of my earliest memories is seeing Willow on the big screen when I was about three years old. In recent years I haven’t been able to go to movies on the big screen as often as I used to. And most recently I’ve been really into classic film, so it’s been doubly hard to see anything on the big screen. Though, when I was in college I went to the Pacific Film Archive to see classic films occasionally. I saw my first Buster Keaton film there (Seven Chances) and I saw The Shop Around The Corner (twice). One of the first things I did when I went to college was to see Nosferatu at the PFA with a live organ accompaniment. I saw a handful of other films over the years there, too. When I lived in San Francisco I only managed to see one classic film at the Castro – George Stevens’s Giant. It was amazing. I did, however, see a few cult 90s films there, too. This past weekend at the TCM Classic Film Festival I saw about 11 classic films or so on the big screen within a four day period. It was mind-blowing. Seeing Citizen Kane on the big screen at Grauman’s Chinese Theater was life-changing. I fell in love with A Place In The Sun, a film I was previously eh about. I discovered the humor in Becket. I lost all ability to function while watching West Side Story. So what is it that makes seeing a film on the big screen so dynamic?
Movie Quote of the Day – The Magnificent Ambersons, 1942 (dir. Orson Welles)
Narrator: Something had happened. A thing which, years ago, had been the eagerest hope of many, many good citizens of the town, and now it had come at last; George Amberson Minafer had got his comeuppance. He got it three times filled, and running over. But those who had so longed for it were not there to see it, and they never knew it. Those who were still living had forgotten all about it and all about him.
Guest Post: Ten Great Films To Get You Hooked On Pre-Code Hollywood
Trevor Jost, whom I met this past weekend at the TCM Classic Film Festival, has graciously written this post, sharing with us some Pre-Code Hollywood films he hopes will get you hooked on the era.
Movie Quote of the Day – The Shop Around The Corner, 1940 (dir. Ernst Lubitsch)
Alfred Kralik: Can you see her?
Pirovitch: Yes.
Alfred Kralik: Is she pretty?
Pirovitch: Very pretty.
Alfred Kralik: She is, huh?
Pirovitch: I should say, she looks, she has a little of the coloring of Klara.
Alfred Kralik: Klara, Miss Novak of the shop?
Pirovitch: Now, Kralik, you must admit Klara is a very good looking girl, and personally I’ve always found her a very likable girl.
Alfred Kralik: Well this is a fine time to talk about Miss Novak.
Pirovitch: Well, if you don’t like Miss Novak, I can tell you right now you won’t like that girl.
Alfred Kralik: Why?
Pirovitch: Because it is Miss Novak.
the diary of a film history fanatic 