Razzberry

Season 2 is now up on Amazon! A 3 episode mini series now called 'A Very British Scandal' starring Claire Foy and Paul Bettany as the Duke and Duchess of Argyll. Loved it.

The hatred directed toward Skyler in BB was disturbing and bizarre, but that has nothing to do with my disappointment on seeing Kim going to the dark side.

I assume that includes the little black address book that was so casually tossed into a box of junk by the movers...

It's been a long time so maybe I forgot what exactly changed Kim from a conflicted and interesting person into "that awful woman with the ponytail".

No matter how many times I see Blood Simple, I still enjoy it immensely. The Coen's dark humor and noir-ish storytelling was like nothing I'd seen before. The Man Who Wasn't There is also right up there with my favorites. Sure wish they'd make neo-noir Fridays a permanent feature. Eddie Muller really knows his stuff. I always enjoy his segments as he doesn't sound like he's just reading off a prompter.

Change of Habit, 1969. Elvis Presley, Mary Tyler Moore, et al. 1/10 Elvis plays a doctor, of all things, and Moore an undercover nun or some such. The ridiculous plot includes Dr. Elvis's unusual treatment for autistic children. His theory is that autistic kids are just really, really pissed off, and if you let them scream long enough they'll get it out of their system. Sure enough, his patient is miraculously cured and they hug it out. This was (mercifully) Elvis's last movie. Songs featured: I honestly can't remember and only saw it 3 days ago. Loving You 1957, is delightfully on the other end of the spectrum. Stars Elvis with Lizabeth Scott and Wendell Corey. 8/10 One of Elvis's earliest and most charming films, before they became the slick cookie-cutter productions with ludicrous plots and forgettable, generic music. Elvis is very young here and showed promise as an actor. He pretty much is playing himself as 'Deke Rivers', a local kid who sings when he's not driving a delivery truck. Liz Scott is a press agent/manager for band leader 'Tex' (Wendell Corey), but is quick to see how female fans swoon over Deke's good looks, dance moves, and rockabilly sound. She works her ass off booking the band into small venues all over. When some town councilmen try to ban Deke and his devil music, Liz fights for rock and roll as a 1st Amendment right and milks the publicity for all it's worth. Their characters grow close, and it's nice to see the age gap (Scott was 35, Elvis 21) is not really an issue for a change. It never goes beyond a passionate kiss anyway, which she cuts short because it's just a bad idea to get that involved with her clients. Songs featured: "Teddy Bear", "Loving You", "Got A Lot Of Livin' To Do", "Hot Dog" and "Mean Woman Blues". Sadly in 1954 Lizabeth had been outed as gay by the sleazy tabloid Confidential. She sued but lost, and gave Hollywood the finger after this film. Wendell Corey was a raging alcoholic who died of a pickled liver at 54, and Elvis died on his bathroom floor at 42.

A Kiss Before Dying, 1956. Starring Robert Wagner, Joanne Woodward, Mary Astor, Jeffrey Hunter Synopsis: A ruthless college student resorts to murder in an attempt to marry an heiress. Another of a handful of noirs filmed in color, this is different in other ways as well. The opening graphics and theme song reminds me of a Doris Day rom-com. The first scene of a tearful and pregnant Woodward quickly dispels that notion. Her handsome sociopathic boyfriend Bud (Wagner) smooth-talks her down, but you can already see his wheels turning. She's the daughter of a rich copper mine owner who will disinherit her if the pregnancy becomes known, and this threatens Bud's plan to marry into wealth. When she won't go along with talking her father into accepting Bud, she's coldly thrown off of a 12 story building. Problem solved, except he goes too far with his diabolical plan. Woodward and Newman have a habit of bad mouthing films they've done, and this was no exception. She claimed that this was the worst film ever to come out of Hollywood. Not by a long shot, and critics disagreed. It's one thing to be embarrassed about your own performance, but it's disrespectful of everyone else to label it garbage. It was even remade later with Matt Dillon, though I haven't seen that one. She's getting on my nerves too. When she trips and falls down the bleachers, it gives him an idea... Jeffrey Hunter is a reporter and more eye candy. I loved the sporty little Ford he drove as product placement. Even when he stopped to make a call, the car stayed in the frame. Mary Astor plays his long suffering mother.

Speaking of Blanche DuBois, I was watching Streetcar again and suddenly had an epiphany. When Blanche walks by the poker game and says "Don't get up gentlemen, I'm just passing through" it struck me that Dylan's 'Things Have Changed' has that it the lyrics, and as sung by the fabulous Bettye Levette it could be Blanche's theme song! Hard to believe she's 73.

Desert Fury, 1947. Starring Lizabeth Scott, Burt Lancaster, John Hodiak, Wendell Corey, and Mary Astor Synopsis: The daughter of a Nevada casino owner gets involved with a racketeer, despite everyone's efforts to separate them. Desert Fury is so much fun that the plot-holes are barely noticeable. Filmed in glorious Technicolor with beautiful scenery and a great cast, the gay subtext slides right by the Hays office. Wendell Corey makes his film debut as a henchman with a twist. His growing resentment and jealousy of Paula (Scott) threatens to blow the lid off Chuckawalla. Paula isn't bad, she's just spoiled and bored, ignoring the warnings of her mother Fritzi (Astor), a hard-boiled dame who owns the Purple Sage casino, known for its table games and rooftop landscaping. The casino and Fritzi's hard work allows Paula lots of free time to tool around in her 1946 Chrysler New Yorker Town and Country convertible. For some reason she's love-struck when she meets Eddie Bendix, but others know he's bad news. Burt Lancaster is the strapping young sheriff with fluffy hair who's also smitten with Paula. When Eddie and Johnny show up he alerts with ears pinned back. These two left under a cloud of suspicion surrounding the death of Eddie's first wife, and why exactly they've returned isn't clear except to show great interest in the portion of bridge where her car went off. This is never explained, but it doesn't really matter. Fritzi doesn't allow Paula into the Purple Sage and is appalled to see her new companions. Turns out Fritzi has a dark past with Eddie. She 86s the lot of them, which only makes Eddie more attractive to Paula, so she enlists Burt's help.

Thanks for mentioning this one! I agree it's excellent.

I didn't yell, but I was thinking it. Very odd. I don't think I've ever seen so much heavy lifting from other works all in one place. Rear Window, Copycat, a bit of Body Double, and countless people who've crashed through skylights.

Act of Violence, 1949. Directed by Fred Zinnemann (A Man for All Seasons, Oklahoma!, From Here to Eternity, The Day of the Jackal, High Noon) Starring Van Heflin, Robert Ryan, Mary Astor, Janet Leigh Synopsis: An embittered, vengeful POW stalks his former commanding officer who betrayed his men's planned escape attempt from a Nazi prison camp. A very intelligent and thought provoking film from Zinnemann, and his only film-noir. The acting is stellar with everyone on their A-game, and the taut script makes the time fly by. The first time I saw it, however, I couldn't jump the hurdle of sympathy for Heflin's character at all. In the POW camp he wasn't being tortured or even under suspicion. The Nazis had no clue about an escape until he just waltzed in and gave up his men. His excuse of "He gave me his word they wouldn't be punished!" is absurd - he's a fucking NAZI you dimwit! Besides, I thought it was an officer's duty to attempt an escape, or maybe I've watched too many war movies? Anyway, after the war he comes home and is a pillar of his community with a thriving business, a young wife (Janet Leigh), and a baby. He's not shown to be troubled in any way, so I guess he's good at compartmentalization. Then one day Robert Ryan, the lone survivor, limps into town packing a gat and a grudge, and blows his perfect world apart. One can hardly blame Ryan - in fact I was rooting for him at times. Acts that are so egregious to go unpunished will fester and remain unhealed, so Heflin probably should have been tried for treason, but then we wouldn't have this brilliant film that questions cowardice, revenge, law and order, punishment, and forgiveness. Next time - there's something queer going on in Chuckawalla between Wendell Corey and John Hodiak, and Lizabeth Scott's the last to know.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/26/media/amazon-mgm-deal/index.html "MGM has a catalog with more than 4,000 films and 17,000 TV shows, according to Mike Hopkins, who heads Prime Video and Amazon Studios. "The real financial value behind this deal is the treasure trove of IP in the deep catalog that we plan to reimagine and develop together with MGM's talented team. It's very exciting and provides so many opportunities for high-quality storytelling," he added." Sounds like they discovered there's no fresh ideas worth a damn and remaking classics is the only way forward.

I guess owning a piece of James Bond is the primary motivation. Personally, I couldn't care less about the Bond franchise but it's a prestigious money-maker.

Although Sam Goldwyn is probably stirring in his grave to hear "Shark Tank" mentioned as a top draw to MGM, I'm excited about Amazon buying them. They already have an extensive classic catalog, something Netflix isn't interested in, so this is a good fit.

One of the best opening scenes ever. The Letter, 1940. 9/10 Directed by William Wyler Stars Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall Nominated for 7 Oscars Bette plays the wife of a rubber tree planter in Malay. The man she shot was a family friend. The Production Code made this sound ridiculous, but her husband and the cops are dimwits. She gives the usual song & dance about how the gun "just went off" and everything was "a blur". They buy it, until an incriminating letter she wrote to the victim turns up. The man's wife disagrees and the two have a showdown. Bette and Herbert Marshall weren't quite so lovey dovey in their next picture together The Little Foxes

It looks like Sigfreid & Roy's white tigers have gone feral in Vegas. I might just have to see this.

Baby Doll, 1956. The writing up top is very small but says: She's nineteen. She makes her husband keep away. She won't let the stranger go. She looks more like 15 so these alleged middle aged victims are stupid. Baby Doll sleeps in a crib sucking her thumb, yet the opening music is a bluesy, stripper number. Karl Malden is shown spying on her through a hole in the wall. Everything about it was disturbing. Then Baby Doll wakes up, and things become clearer. We learn that her dying father had arranged the marriage to then somewhat prosperous cotton farmer Malden so she would be taken care of. The unbelievable agreement was hands off until her 20th birthday, which is 3 days away. The farm is actually failing, the house is falling apart, the furniture repossessed, and Baby Doll, despising her dumb redneck husband, is getting desperate. It's obvious Baby Doll calls the shots. Whenever they get in the car, Baby Doll sits in the back. She inquires about a job, but she's unskilled. Eli Wallach also has a beef with Malden and uses Baby Doll to get to him. They find common cause. It turns out to be just a dark white trash comedy, which can be fun. Carroll Baker is wonderful in the role, and Malden is despicable, but the ad campaign and marketing of this film is the worst ever. Pedophiles everywhere must have been incensed at the bait & switch.

Speaking of stolen identities, I recently rewatched The Boys From Brazil and it was still good even though I knew the twists. Laurence Olivier is incredible as a Simon Weisenthal-like character and Nazi hunter. Gregory Peck is Dr. Joseph Mengele who lives on a ranch in South America where several natives have odd blue eyes and various deformities.

The Two Jakes, 1990. Directed by Jack Nicholson Starring Jack Nicholson, Harvey Keitel, Meg Tilly, Madeleine Stowe Not as good as Chinatown but a worthy successor. If a bit too "talky" and confusing at times, the beautifully done LA sets and cinematography makes up for it. It's 1948, 10 years after Chinatown ends, and Jake Gittes (Nicholson) is still haunted by the past and in the PI business, but more prosperous now. The second Jake is Berman (Keitel), a real estate developer who shot his business partner after finding him together with his wife (Tilly). This time it's oil and gas, not water, that drives the plot. Evelyn Mulholland Mulwray only lives on in Jake's flashbacks and newspaper clippings, but her sister-daughter Katherine is very much alive. 7.5/10 Jake survives with the triggering cigarette still clutched in his paw, Fedora in place, and a headache. You might say he's hot on the trail and returns to work immediately. Stowe plays Mrs. Bodine, the wife of the guy who was shot by Jake Berman. She thinks "whipstocking" refers to some kinky act he was engaged in. Apparently it's not.

Looking forward to this!

Okay, this one is specifically for age differences, between the characters or actors, so no need to delete. I've noticed something interesting when the roles are reversed. When the woman is older than the man, this is usually the main plot point. He's often seen as a victim, with a younger woman waiting in the wings for the time when he can escape the cougar's clutches or come to his senses, like "Don't worry, he'll be ok once this madness is over." The Mother The Reader The Graduate Sunset Blvd.

Oh wow, I looked but somehow I missed it! Hopefully a mod will delete this one.

Tonight, Thursday May 20 11:00 pm Pacific on TCM Born To Kill, 1947 Stylishly directed by multiple Oscar winning Robert Wise (Sound of Music, West Side Story) Starring Lawrence Tierney, Claire Trevor, Walter Slezak, Elisha Cook Jr. This movie is disturbing, (and not only because Lawrence Tierney), but his character is so evil. Hell, most of them are. More so than usual in a genre not known for romance. Synopsis: A calculating divorcée risks her chances at wealth and security with a man she doesn't love by getting involved with the hotheaded murderer romancing her foster sister. This line kills me. His minion's objection isn't because it's wrong or crazy, but isn't feasible. A match made in hell...

This is something that's been around since silent films but I became so used to it that I never gave it too much thought until lately. The most egregious examples involve men that are old enough to be the female's grandfather, yet this is just the tip of the iceberg. Love Anthony Hopkins but he's a frequent flyer in the club. Jimmy Stewart with Kim Novak and Grace Kelly Clark Gable with Grace Kelly and Marilyn Monroe Woody Allen, Daniel Day-Lewis