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| carrobin |
 Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 9:00 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| TCM has done a nice job today of distracting those of us who couldn't take any more 9/11 reminiscences. I finally saw "42nd Street" all the way through (pretty good movie, despite Ruby Keeler's dancing) and also watched "Guys and Dolls" all over again. I resisted "Annie Hall" because I couldn't spend all day glued to the TV, but just finished watching "Casablanca." Next up is "Mister Roberts," but I'm hoping to pull myself away and get some work done. (And yes, I have a DVD player and many disks to watch, but TCM often entraps me.) |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2011 7:49 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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| 42nd Street is a wonderful movie. Oddly, according to Danny Peary, the one constant in all the original reviews was praise for Keeler's dancing. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2011 8:26 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6949
Location: Black Hills
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| I actually went for not being distracted and watched the Naudet brothers documentary (the one that started as a docu on a probie fireman "becoming a man" at Engine 7, Ladder 1), intro'd by Bob DeNiro and finishing with some decade-later follow-up material. Makes you realize that, while the word "hero" is obscenely overused and misapplied in these times, these FDNY guys are the real thing. Very emotional, even for a Nebraskan who was far removed from the events on that day ten years ago. I think one of the Engine 7 guys put it really well when he said, "I hadn't realized how evil Evil could be...." A tale of lost innocence, for a lot of people. |
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| Trish |
| Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2011 9:06 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 2438
Location: Massachusetts
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| Best Actress - Angelica Huston - The Grifters |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2011 9:17 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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| What's the frequency, Kenneth? |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 8:31 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6949
Location: Black Hills
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| Syd |
| Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 8:58 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12894
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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I didn't get far into volume 4 of The Blues. This one is about gospel and blues, which is a potentially fascinating subject with lots of great music, but the director chose to use a clumsy framing device about a young boy in Mississippi and his mentor, and both people can't act. It drove me quickly up the wall. I may have to purchase the soundtrack.
Volume 5, "Godfathers and Sons," is about Chicago blues, or more specifically Chess Records. Mark Levin is the director; our guides are the rapper Chuck D of Public Enemy and Marshall Chess, the son of Lawrence Chess and the nephew of Philip Chess, the co-founders of Chess Records. Marshall was himself a music executive in the sixties, and for several years was the head of the Rolling Stones record label. Chess Records was a major influence in breaking black music to a wider audience. Among their stars were Bo Diddley, Etta James, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon and Little Walter. If this cast sounds vaguely familiar, it may be because Chess Records is also the subject of Cadillac Records.
The movie's greatest strength is that the first hour is virtually non-stop music, either in foreground or background, and nearly all of it is good. Eventually, to give the movie structure, it inevitably comes down to Marshall Chess reuniting the players of the album Electric Mud, which apparently was plugged-in Muddy Waters and company, and widely admired and despised. After an hour or so, I started finding Marshall's enthusiasm wearing; I was much more interested in the old records and performances, and the various artists.
Nevertheless, it's worth watching and definitely worth listening to. It has the best soundtrack of any of the series so far. I'm not that big a fan of Public Enemy, but I liked Chuck D as co-host. He's got a nice perspective on the history of the blues. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 7:19 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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Syd wrote:
Volume 5, "Godfathers and Sons," is about Chicago blues, or more specifically Chess Records. Mark Levin is the director; our guides are the rapper Chuck D of Public Enemy and Marshall Chess, the son of Lawrence Chess and the nephew of Philip Chess, the co-founders of Chess Records. Marshall was himself a music executive in the sixties, and for several years was the head of the Rolling Stones record label. Chess Records was a major influence in breaking black music to a wider audience. Among their stars were Bo Diddley, Etta James, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon and Little Walter. If this cast sounds vaguely familiar, it may be because Chess Records is also the subject of Cadillac Records.
Leonard and Phil Chess.
Early Chuck Berry was also at Chess. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 9:51 am |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12894
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| So much for memory. |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 10:11 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6949
Location: Black Hills
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| Vol. 5 sounds like a good double-feature with "Cadillac Records." I am so there. Love the Chess classics. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 10:45 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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Quote: Philip Chess (born 1921) is an American record producer and company executive, the co-founder of Chess Records.
He was born Fiszel Czyż in a Jewish community in Częstochowa, Poland. He and his brother Lejzor, sister Malka and mother followed their father to Chicago in 1928. The family name was changed to Chess, with Lejzor becoming Leonard and Filip becoming Philip
In classic Wikipedia community writing style, the transition from Fiszel to Filip isn't explained.
So Czyz was transmuted into Chess so that the Polish immigrants wouldn't use up America's supply of Z's and Y's. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 12:31 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6949
Location: Black Hills
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It's sad to see Poles making S's of themselves.
Finally snagged a copy of the (Noodle Shop) Blood Simple remake. Will watch this evening and report back. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 1:25 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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It was awful.
Like a Chinese after-school special.
Zhang YiMou doesn't do comedy well at all. |
Last edited by gromit on Wed Sep 14, 2011 4:29 pm; edited 1 time in total
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 2:45 pm |
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| Just picked up Thank You For Smoking. Haven't seen it. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 5:04 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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Nor sure if folks are familiar with Alexander Kluge, but he's a famous intellectual in Germany -- a filmmaker, writer, social critic and television personality. His films tend to be a bit offbeat, using disjointed narratives, montage, combining actual footage with staged action. I've seen 7 films from his early period, from 1966 - 74. They often deal with socio-political issues, though are never didactic. His collage technique is mostly brilliant low-budget filmmaking. I guess Godard is the closest point of reference.
Most of his films feature a female protagonist who is obsessive and energetic, but often directs her energies in misguided schemes. Occasionally it's as though Lucy Ricardo were a committed communist, though that's far too glib. I really like the rhythm of his films, along with the realist presentation, and simple story overlays. There's a nice subversive layer through both the narratives, the style and the overall approach.
The best is probably Yesterday Girl aka Anita G, which stars his sister Alexandra Kluge in a very New Wave influenced film. It's combined on the Filmmuseum 2-disc set with Part-Time Work of a Domestic Slave in which the female lead moves seamlessly from being an illegal abortionist to a labor organizer.
I just finished watching In Danger and Dire Distress the Middle of the Road Leads to Death, a sort of vague espionage film combined with actual protest footage as the police evict hippies from two large buildings slated to be demolished. Kluge has quite a way with titles.
I've got the full Kluge 30 disc set.
It looks like after one more feature from 1976, Kluge switched over to documentaries. Not a huge leap as In Danger and Dire Distress has a fair amount of actual footage of neighborhood protests, police riot control and various political meetings interspersed. To make it into a film, Kluge simply has the East German spy reporting on the hippie eviction proceedings. Though typically the heroine is obsessive and misguided, submitting extremely long reports deemed worthless and bizarrely attending an astrophysicist conference she is convinced is the only progressive thing actually happening in Bonn. And there's a second female main character sleeping with and stealing form politicians. The two story lines intersect only in the most literal way, when the seductress crosses the street past the protests the spy is watching. You have to draw your own connection on politics, sexuality, the role of women, or whatever, as it remains open to many interpretations.
There's an intelligence and sly humor, a gentle satire, scattered throughout, along with oblique social commentary. These aren't highly polished films by any means, but it's intriguing guerrilla filmmaking, with a fairly rigorous aesthetic. Try to get hold of some Kluge. Some of the best post-war German cinema.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Kluge |
Last edited by gromit on Wed Sep 14, 2011 7:19 pm; edited 1 time in total
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