Jump to content

Type keyword(s) to search
Log-in Changes With Upcoming Upgrade

TCM: The Greatest Movie Channel

mariah23

By mariah23
in Movies

  • Reply
  • Start Topic

Recommended Posts

EtheltoTillie

EtheltoTillie

(edited)

Well, I got to watch the Jerry Lewis documentary just in time. They took it off before midnight eastern time. 
What can I say?  You get to see a fair amount of the actual clown film. It’s just jaw-droppingly awful. I can’t agree with your friend, @Milburn Stone.  Did you watch any of it yourself?  
Jerry’s comment near the end was incomprehensible. He said where’s  the comedy in walking 65 children into a truck.  He then says you could find it but he was unable to provide it. No, Jerry. No one could find it. 

Edited by EtheltoTillie
  • Like 1
  • Replies 11.2k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Popular Posts

Rinaldo
Rinaldo

Never have I valued TCM as much as I did Sunday afternoon, after a tense visit to the ER Saturday afternoon and the OR Sunday morning. (Spoiler alert: the surgery solved everything, I got sent home Mo

Charlie Baker
Charlie Baker

An item I copied from a Hollywood Reporter news round-up: Carol Burnett, 90, Proves You’re Never Too Old to Pitch At the Paley Center premiere of the Bob Mackie bio-doc Naked Illusion in May

Rinaldo
Rinaldo

He had mixed feelings about it for a while; he had a genuine fondness for Julie Andrews, for instance, but (as with many performers) he got annoyed that he was known to the world for one popular movie

Posted Images

Rinaldo

Rinaldo

I had a good time this month rummaging around on different services and channels and watching all the Christmas Carol versions I could find. One of the pleasures of the project was find that they could all coexist; almost all of them had virtues absent in another version. There are a number of excellent portrayals of Scrooge: Alistair Sim, George C. Scott, Patrick Stewart, Michael Caine are all very fine, and each finds different legitimate facets to stress. I do still think there's room for another film that puts a priority on bringing to life exactly what Dickens wrote; the book is short enough that the goal might be attainable. I don't think the departures are criminal or anything, but I have yet to see, for example, the weird SF-like Christmas Past of the novella.

On the whole, with due deference to many others, my heart remains with the 1984 George C. Scott telefilm, his Ebenezer being the most pleased with his own sarcastic wit (right out of the book -- Scrooge is constantly punning and one-upping in his interactions), and the cast of British eminences being top-tier. But others will have their own favorites. 

  • Like 3
  • Love 3
Spartan Girl

Spartan Girl

(edited)
9 hours ago, mariah23 said:

I guess we already have the first person for 2025 TCM Remembers-Olivia Hussey passed away at age 73.

Zefirelli was a monster, but his Romeo and Juliet was beautiful and that’s all because of Olivia and Leonard. When I heard Olivia had cancer, I feared the worst, and once again, it sucks being right.

Edited by Spartan Girl
  • Like 3
EtheltoTillie

EtheltoTillie

(edited)
11 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Zefirelli was a monster, but his Romeo and Juliet was beautiful and that’s all because of Olivia and Leonard. When I heard Olivia had cancer, I feared the worst, and once again, it sucks being right.

My husband and I saw this on our first date, in 1974. It was not first run. We also stayed for the midnight show of Pink Flamingoes, as I know I’ve posted before. 

Edited by EtheltoTillie
  • Like 3
Rinaldo

Rinaldo

11 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

his Romeo and Juliet was beautiful and that’s all because of Olivia and Leonard.

I do understand the sentiment (I fell for the movie on first run, and still love it), but I do think we have to give Zeffirelli his credit. The look and flow of it are his (OK, the music is Nino Rota's), and appealing as the stars are, they never made the same impression onscreen again.

  • Like 5
Fool to cry

Fool to cry

18 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

I do understand the sentiment (I fell for the movie on first run, and still love it), but I do think we have to give Zeffirelli his credit. The look and flow of it are his (OK, the music is Nino Rota's), and appealing as the stars are, they never made the same impression onscreen again.

One thing about this movie and the Taming of the Shrew adaptation he made with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton the year before is they weren't these polished overlit movies made in a Hollywood studio. They were these earthy, on location productions that felt authentic to the time period.

  • Like 4
Sarah 103

Sarah 103

On 12/28/2024 at 8:01 AM, Spartan Girl said:

Zefirelli was a monster, but his Romeo and Juliet was beautiful and that’s all because of Olivia and Leonard. When I heard Olivia had cancer, I feared the worst, and once again, it sucks being right.

I realize I'm dating myself with this comment. In high school, we watched the Baz Luhrmann version, but my mother insisted I watch the Zefirelli version, and I am so glad she did. It is the better version. There were parts of the play that did not make sense until I saw his version. The young leads gave excellent performances. Also, it does an excellent job of showing what their world was like.

  • Like 7
Milburn Stone

Milburn Stone

19 hours ago, Fool to cry said:

One thing about this movie and the Taming of the Shrew adaptation he made with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton

On the subject of Liz and Dick, TCM has screened The V.I.P.s at times, and I'm always surprised how much I like it. I remember as a youth reading reviews of it when it came out that said it was soap opera garbage but to me, finally seeing it as an adult, I thought the parts that were meant to be funny were funny and the parts that were meant to be serious were kind of moving. I wonder if the contemporary reviews were driven by righteous anger at Liz and Dick for their off-screen shenanigans during the making of Cleopatra.

FWIW, I can't imagine even people who hate The V.I.P.s not admiring Maggie Smith's performance in it.

  • Like 3
Rinaldo

Rinaldo

I'm addicted to comparing film (or video) versions of the Shakespeare plays, which I started reading at an early age. The Hamlets, for instance, all cast different light on what their makers found important, and I can jump around happily among half a dozen versions. There are an astonishing number of Midsummer Night's Dreams, all remarkably different from each other, and there's fun to be had in most of them (my own personal favorite, if pressed, is the Glyndebourne video of Benjamin Britten's opera, but that's just me). 40 years ago we had no films of Much Ado About Nothing; now we have two good ones.

With Romeo and Juliet it gets especially complicated, because there's so much more text in the play than any film wants to (or should?) retain. The Zeffirelli got to me at the ideal age, and I still like to revisit it, but I can see its faults (like the dead studio sound of some of the post-dubbing -- like many Italian films it largely gave up on getting the sound right on location, and had the actors rerecord their lines after the fact, not always perfectly synced, let alone given proper distance perspective). The old MGM version is pretty much DOA, but it is at least beautiful in terms of design and B&W cinematography, and John Barrymore's Mercutio gives us a wonderful glimpse of a previous generation's stage style. There's also a sumptuous 1954 version directed by Renato Castellani, with a vivid Romeo from Laurence Harvey, some British stalwarts in support, costume designs based on Renaissance painting, and lots of Italian locations (looking much cleaner than a decade later for F.Z.). Luhrmann's adaptation is well known enough not to need description from me. The BBC "Complete Shakespeare" version uses by far the most complete text, but for me never really comes to life. I also discovered a 2013 film that I somehow never heard about at the time, with Hailee Steinfeld as Juliet. Apparently the fact that the screenplay includes additional lines by Julian Fellowes provided some critics with an easy chance to take cheap shots at it, as if nobody had ever taken a new look at the over-familiar plays before. I found it effective and entertaining, and Fellowes's embellishments intelligently conceived.

  • Useful 1
Charlie Baker

Charlie Baker

I know I've posted here before that, since there are so many conventional versions of Christmas Carol, that it's a shame that Patrick Stewart's masterful one-man stage performance wasn't preserved on video or film.

The recent National Theatre Live presentation which I think played movie theaters--I saw it on PBS--of Romeo and Juliet was rather condensed and stylized, but pretty effective.  Jessie Buckley and Josh O'Connor were the leads, with the likes of Tamsin Grieg, Deborah Findlay, and Adrian Lester in the supporting cast.

I like the old Romeo and Juliet from MGM for the reason @Rinaldo refers to in Barrymore's performance.  It has the feel of a theatrical "package" production of the past, with stars too old for their roles and a staid, if lovely presentation.  And it usually works for me on that level.  I haven't seen it in a while though.  

  • Like 2
Tom Holmberg

Tom Holmberg

(edited)

For those planning to go to the new Bob Dylan movie, TCM on New Years Day will be showing "Dont Look Back" (1967), D A Pennebaker's documentary on Dylan's 1965 British tour (just months before the Newport Festival).  The film is considered one of the top documentaries.

Edited by Tom Holmberg
  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
  • Useful 1
EtheltoTillie

EtheltoTillie

20 minutes ago, Tom Holmberg said:

For those planning to go to the new Bob Dylan movie, TCM on New Years Day will be showing "Dont Look Back" (1967), D A Pennebaker's documentary on Dylan's 1965 British tour (just month's before the Newport Festival).  The film is considered one of the top documentaries.

That's a good one!

  • Like 2
Wiendish Fitch

Wiendish Fitch

(edited)
On 12/27/2024 at 11:55 PM, Rinaldo said:

On the whole, with due deference to many others, my heart remains with the 1984 George C. Scott telefilm, his Ebenezer being the most pleased with his own sarcastic wit (right out of the book -- Scrooge is constantly punning and one-upping in his interactions), and the cast of British eminences being top-tier. But others will have their own favorites. 

I adore that one. George C. Scott is one of my favorite Scrooges: sardonic, bitter, and he thankfully keeps the scenery chewing to a minimum. I also appreciate how, like Michael Caine and Alistair Sim, Scott wasn't a frail, bent little old man (I can't tell you how much I hate when Scrooge is portrayed that way). He's under the age of 60 (seriously, do the math, that's most likely how old Scrooge is) and physically imposing. The 1984 version also has my favorite:

Jacob Marley (Frank Findlay is over the top and theatrical, but in all the right ways)

Tiny Tim (Anthony Walters, believably frail but cute)

Ghost of Christmas Present (Edward Woodward, aka the original Equalizer!)

Bob Cratchit (David Warner plays a good guy for a change!).

 

To sum up, my Mt. Rushmore of Christmas Carols:

1984 telefilm

Muppets

Mickey

1951 version with Alistair Sim

Edited by Wiendish Fitch
  • Like 4
Rinaldo

Rinaldo

2 minutes ago, EtheltoTillie said:

Where is the love for Mr. Magoo!  He's near the top for me. 

For me too! I was going to mention him, but that message was getting self-indulgently long, and I tried to edit it down. But in my first draft I listed him alongside the other 4 actors I named. Mr. Magoo did a serious job there (and had a surprising amount of authentic Dickens dialogue to work with).

It doesn't spoil it, but I do have a genuine question about his version: why did they put Christmas Present first? I've never seen any background info that answers that.

  • Like 3
Wiendish Fitch

Wiendish Fitch

Mr. Magoo is also a good one. Controversial opinion: "Winter was Warm" is every bit as good as "When Love is Gone" (I do love a "Scrooge getting his ass dumped" song!).

Did you know they sometimes put on Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol as a live play? Here is a montage from 2019. Gavin Lee's Magoo is a delight, and Sierra Boggess crushes it as Belle.

 

  • Like 1
  • Useful 1
Rinaldo

Rinaldo

43 minutes ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

Controversial opinion: "Winter was Warm" is every bit as good as "When Love is Gone"

Apologies -- I know it can be disappointing to be told that one's favorite opinions aren't controversial after all 😉 , but I think you'd find that there are loads of people who love "Winter Was Warm," me among them. It (like the rest of Mr. Magoo's score) is the work of the same formidable team that did the score for Funny Girl, after all: Jule Styne and Bob Merrill. And it's received other recordings after the original one. Here's a lovely version by the great Victoria Clark:

 

  • Like 4
Rinaldo

Rinaldo

I've seen only short bits of it as yet, but I thought the 5-host New Year's Eve worked out rather well. Seeing our hosts spending time together, sharing their pleasure in movies that we generally don't get to see them talk about... (I know they all present all sorts, but Eddie and Jacqueline especially do have their special niches on the air), that was fun. Maybe I'm a pushover, but It did feel like a bit of a party to me.

  • Like 5
EtheltoTillie

EtheltoTillie

I watched Repeat Performance for the first time. Spoilers ahead.

What a bittersweet ending. I kept hoping poor Richard Basehart would get a break. That husband was the worst. Everyone should have killed him as a group. Anyway it was a really clever movie as they came up with good twists showing how you couldn’t escape fate. 

  • Like 1
  • Love 1
EtheltoTillie

EtheltoTillie

On 12/31/2024 at 4:33 PM, Wiendish Fitch said:

Mr. Magoo is also a good one. Controversial opinion: "Winter was Warm" is every bit as good as "When Love is Gone" (I do love a "Scrooge getting his ass dumped" song!).

Did you know they sometimes put on Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol as a live play? Here is a montage from 2019. Gavin Lee's Magoo is a delight, and Sierra Boggess crushes it as Belle.

 

Who's cutting onions in here?  Wow, the Lord's Bright Blessings . . .  This whole video

  • Like 1
Wiendish Fitch

Wiendish Fitch

7 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

I watched Repeat Performance for the first time. Spoilers ahead.

What a bittersweet ending. I kept hoping poor Richard Basehart would get a break. That husband was the worst. Everyone should have killed him as a group. Anyway it was a really clever movie as they came up with good twists showing how you couldn’t escape fate. 

Love Repeat Performance, I'm glad it's getting the recognition it deserves. Joan Leslie was never better, and I 100% agree that Barney was the worst. No joke, I've seen Repeat Performance 3 or 4 times, and each time I say aloud, "Hey, honey, if you don't want to kill him, mind if I take a shot at it??"*

*Pun ABSOLUTELY intended.

  • Like 1
  • LOL 1
EtheltoTillie

EtheltoTillie

Oh, I forgot to mention the group discussion of Repeat Performance.

SPOILER ALERT:
  It was revealed that in the source novel, the Richard Basehart character was transgender, or transsexual or whatever you would have called it in 1947, but he would go from Mary to William and back and forth.  And apparently the roles were reversed:  Awful husband Barney was the one who was reliving his life for the past year.  The gender/queer stuff would not have made it to the screen in 1947, but they managed to convey an undertone of it in the way William was scripted and acted. 

  • Like 1
Milburn Stone

Milburn Stone

(edited)
On 1/2/2025 at 2:02 PM, Tom Holmberg said:

You left off "Scrooged"

I was gonna say Scrooged, because of all the versions, it's the most relatable to our world. (IMO.)

That seems to be what the creators had in mind. When it came out, but before I saw it, it sounded to me like it was just a goof on the Dickens tale. But I remember it as being pretty serious underneath the tomfoolery, and being a bit shaken by it. Today's Scrooge would not be an old moneylender. He might just be a cold-hearted network executive. Or the head of a hedge fund, stripping an acquisition for parts.

 

 

Edited by Milburn Stone
  • Like 3
Sarah 103

Sarah 103

On 1/3/2025 at 6:00 PM, Milburn Stone said:

Today's Scrooge would not be an old moneylender. He might just be a cold-hearted network executive. Or the head of a hedge fund, stripping an acquisition for parts.

I would say the last option,  "the head of a hedge fund, stripping an acquisition for parts," works the best for the story. 

  • Like 2
Rinaldo

Rinaldo

On 1/9/2025 at 4:02 PM, Tom Holmberg said:

TCM will be be showing "Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid" twice, two days apart, on Jan 11 and Jan 13.  Have you ever seen this happen before?

I can't recall details, but I seem to remember that there have been some similar instances. (Aside of course from "Noir Alley," which gives us a preview of Sunday morning's feature the night before.) In some cases a title that they've procured fits two different days' themes, so they use it for both. Waste not, want not.

  • Like 1
Charlie Baker

Charlie Baker

(edited)

Other than those film libraries that TCM outright owns, I wonder if their deals for individual films might have limited windows, as in, they can be shown only so many times within a certain stretch of time, and these might vary film by film? I have no idea how these rights issues operate, though.  Scheduling showings so close together does seem unusual. 

This week's Noir Alley, on Watch TCM, was Deadline at Dawn, new to me, but Eddie said he showed it the first year of Noir Alley.  It's the only film directed by theatre legend Harold Clurman, though how much of the finished product is his work is open to question.  Well done, from a Cornell Woolrich story with some fun and flowery dialogue from screenwriter Clifford Odets (a collaborator of Clurman's), offered up by a good cast. The plotting does get murky, but the atmosphere is right on, and the cast keeps it involving.

Edited by Charlie Baker
  • Like 1
  • Useful 1
EtheltoTillie

EtheltoTillie

I recommend everyone catch Metropolitan. I rewatched it yesterday for the first time since it opened. They were showing it on party night. I never thought the socialites were very much like their real life counterparts, but it’s still well observed as to many of the customs of the prep school class. It’s a little talky—at times it feels like a prepster version of My Dinner With Andre. But it’s also just a lot of fun. I loved

Spoiler

Chekhov’s toy gun. And how Audrey smiles at the end when Tom bursts in. 

 

Whatever happened to Whit Stillman anyway?  He made two more movies and not much else. 

Fool to cry

Fool to cry

(edited)
1 hour ago, EtheltoTillie said:

I recommend everyone catch Metropolitan. I rewatched it yesterday for the first time since it opened. They were showing it on party night. I never thought the socialites were very much like their real life counterparts, but it’s still well observed as to many of the customs of the prep school class. It’s a little talky—at times it feels like a prepster version of My Dinner With Andre. But it’s also just a lot of fun. I loved

  Reveal spoiler

Chekhov’s toy gun. And how Audrey smiles at the end when Tom bursts in. 

 

Whatever happened to Whit Stillman anyway?  He made two more movies and not much else. 

Its been more than 25 years since I saw Metropolitan but I still remember the phrase "untrammeled malevolence".  Also the line "It's a composite!"

Edited by Fool to cry
  • Like 1
StatisticalOutlier

StatisticalOutlier

On 1/13/2025 at 7:47 AM, EtheltoTillie said:

He must have trust-fund money or something

My recollection is that he comes from the world depicted in Metropolitan.

I adore that movie.  I have it on my DVR and watch it every couple of years.  There's just something about it.   (Plus the girl in the movie with the longer dark hair is a dead ringer for one of my college roommates.)

And I adore Whit Stillman.  He's among the group of directors that I've seen every feature they've made, almost all of them in theaters.  Jim Jarmusch is another.  Of course it helps that their filmography is relatively small, but still--there's something great about seeing their films as they come out, without the benefit of knowing what they'll do in the future.  Kelly Reichardt is another.

  • Like 1

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...