Defiant Success

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Monday, April 11, 2011

100 Things I Love About Movies

Man, a lot of memes have been floating around the internet lately, haven't they? Anyway, this one has you stating 100 reasons for why you like movies. Oof, this will be painful.

"Well, nobody's perfect."
The acid-soaked dialogue of Sweet Smell of Success
Judy Garland's rendition of "The Man That Got Away"
Montgomery Clift's lone scene in Judgment at Nuremberg
"Made it, Ma! Top of the world!"
The cinematography of Lawrence of Arabia
Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr's embrace on the beach
The final moments of Requiem for a Dream
Henry Fonda's introduction in Once Upon a Time in the West
"Shut up and deal."
The final scene of On the Waterfront
Tony Curtis' Cary Grant impression
"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."
Ennis and Jack's reuniting kiss
"I'm as mad as hell and I'm going to take this anymore!"
Lauren Bacall's "look"
Kirk Douglas' ruthlessness
"I can eat fifty eggs."
"Here's looking at you, kid."
"I'm six five, two-twenty and there's two of me."
"You talkin' to me?"
REE-REE-REE-REE-REE!
Dun dun...dun dunn...
The close-up kiss between Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift
"What's in the box?"
Marlene Dietrich's accent
Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor's feuding in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
"Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!"
Han shot first
Marlon Brando oozing sexiness in A Streetcar Named Desire
"Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night."
Jimmy Stewart's final speech in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Alec Baldwin's lone scene in Glengarry Glen Ross
Matt Damon oozing creepiness in The Talented Mr. Ripley
"I'm just a transvestite."
The ending for It's a Wonderful Life
"They call me Mr. Tibbs!"
The crop duster chasing Cary Grant
The opening credits for Manhattan
Leonardo DiCaprio's descent into madness in The Aviator
The score for Schindler's List
"Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?"
James Wong Howe's cinematography
The Death Star exploding
Life's honesty in Budd Schulberg's scripts
Harry Lime's first appearance
Norman Bates' stare into the camera
James Cagney's tap dance down the stairs
Frank Galvin's closing statement
The final shot of All About Eve
"The, uh, stuff that dreams are made of."
"I have always depended on the kindness of strangers."
Jack Lemmon as an all-around nice guy
Gregory Peck's prank on Audrey Hepburn
"I know it was you, Fredo. You broke my heart. You broke my heart."
Paul Newman's blue eyes
Audrey Hepburn's elegance
Cary Grant's suave nature
The cinematography of Children of Men
Casey Affleck in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
The finale of Bonnie and Clyde
The quick dialogue of His Girl Friday
Tom Joad's "I'll be there" speech
The slo-mo opening credits to Raging Bull
Mark Wahlberg in Boogie Nights
William Holden's cynicism
Joaquin Phoenix in Two Lovers
Katharine Hepburn's voice
Jack Nicholson's shark tooth grin
Colin Firth in A Single Man
Elizabeth Taylor's violet eyes
Robert Mitchum in The Night of the Hunter
"I am a golden god!"
The final scene of The Boston Strangler
"You tearing me apart!"
Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot
Paul Newman and Robert Redford's bromance
Ralph Fiennes in Quiz Show
John Belushi smashing the guitar
The "magic trick"
Clint Eastwood's squint
"I am big! It's the pictures that got small."
Edith Head's designs
"I'm Spartacus!"
"They call it a Royale with Cheese."
"Here's Johnny!"
"I see dead people..."
Humphrey Bogart in In a Lonely Place
"They're here already! You're next! You're next!"
"Wouldja do me a favor, Harry? Drop dead!"
"I'll have what she's having."
The opening scene of The Philadelphia Story
Michael Shannon's two scenes in Revolutionary Road
"What have you done to its eyes?!"
"My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."
"Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?"
The four principal actors of Closer
The visuals from The Nightmare Before Christmas
Rita Hayworth singing "Put the Blame on Mame"
Saul Bass-designed opening credits

Ugh, that was more annoying than I thought.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Doesn't everyone love a good mystery? However, not all mysteries are good.

At a party celebrating a movie's starting production, a local woman is poisoned. Who would kill an innocent woman? But then details emerge that she wasn't the intended target.

The Mirror Crack'd, an adaptation of an Agatha Christie work, is noted for the five major actors in its cast: Angela Lansbury, Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, Kim Novak and Tony Curtis. Of the quintet, my favorite performance comes from Novak mainly for her one-liners ("I could eat a can of Kodak and puke a better movie!") and her catty remarks to Taylor ("Chin up, dear...both of them.").

Even though the cast is excellent, the movie however isn't. The story falters halfway through, which ironically enough is when I figured out who the killer was. I read somewhere that The Mirror Crack'd would have made a better TV movie. And I gotta admit, I have to agree.

My Rating: ***1/2

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Sidney Lumet: 1924-2011

The acclaimed director of such classics as 12 Angry Men, Dog Day Afternoon and Network, died this morning from lymphoma. He was 86.

~June 25, 1924 - April 9, 2011~

Friday, April 8, 2011

Father of the Bride

Marriage is hard. Well, not always the marriage itself. More so planning the wedding, as shown vividly in Vincente Minnelli's Father of the Bride.

Stanley Banks' (Spencer Tracy) daughter Kay (Elizabeth Taylor) has recently announced to her parents her engagement, thus causing a whirlwind from planning the wedding.

Considering the only roles I've Taylor in were dramatic (A Place in the Sun, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Suddenly, Last Summer), so it was nice to see her in a lighter role. She had this certain aura to her that made people notice her, which is clear in Father of the Bride.

As for Tracy, I knew that he could do comedy after seeing Adam's Rib. He captures the right of essence from the stresses of something sounding so simple as planning a wedding.

I was smiling from ear to ear during most of the movie, especially when Stanley first sees Kay in her wedding dress. Yes, I had seen the remake years ago, but don't fix anything that ain't broke.

My Rating: *****

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Pitch #3

I have been writing a lot of short stories recently. A few of them are related to Hollywood and the movie industry (no surprise). The one I'm currently working on I'll share the plot and characters with you. It's entitled Dying Embers.

Set in the mid-1930's, the story revolves around a burned-out silent film star whose career ended from the advent of talkies and a scandal involving an aspiring actress. Three of his friends, also actors, try to keep his spirits up, but his life starts crashing down on him.

THE CHARACTERS

Charles "Chuck" DeVola, the lead character. Although he was acquitted in his trial, his career was sentenced to death. In his heyday he was known as the romantic lead, but in reality he has a fear of commitment.
Ruth Malone, a fellow actress. She is known for playing the manipulative woman on the silver screen but in real life, she is very pleasant. She is close friends with Chuck.
Clive Yorke, one of Hollywood's biggest stars. A Fairbanks-esque leading man, he has an ego almost as big as his popularity. But he also has a gentle side to him, especially towards women.
Fiona Norwood, a striking leading lady. A temptress on screen, she is actually an one-man woman. The one man is Clive, whom she marries after a brief courtship.

If this was turned into a movie, who would you cast?

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Who should play Richard Burton?

No, a biopic isn't in the works. This is actually something that's been floating around in my head for some time. I've come up with three candidates to play the Brit. Well, actually, Andrew came up with the last one.

CANDIDATE #1: Colin Firth

YES
There's resemblance in both facial structure and voice, so that's what made Firth my #1 choice.
NO
There's the matter of the eyes...

CANDIDATE #2: Clive Owen

YES
Voice (a little deeper than Burton's) and those eyes...*sigh*
NO
There's some resemblance, but not much.

CANDIDATE #3: Jude Law

YES
He was Andrew's #1 choice to play Burton when I brought this up on Twitter. Though I can picture him faintly as Burton through voice and eyes, I'd love to see Law as a drunk (yum).
NO
There isn't much resemblance between the two. Plus, I think Law is a little young to play Burton.

Might be covering the fictional casting of who would play Elizabeth Taylor in a later post. Who would you have to play Richard Burton?

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

FACT

Any good-looking man can become sexier from the following things:

Glasses

Marcello Mastroianni

Scruff

Clive Owen

No shirt

Burt Lancaster

Glasses and scruff

Jon Hamm

Scruff and no shirt

Robert Downey, Jr.

Get your act together, men!

Monday, April 4, 2011

100 Followers!

Victory! Took a little longer than I expected, but I reached 100 followers. The 100th follower is The Lady Eve of The Lady Eve's REEL LIFE.

Here's to the next hundred.

Old Hollywood Alphabet

I got inspired by the tumblr the poor dancing girl she won't dance again for this post. But considering the author is a TCM junkie, it was easier for her to come up with names for the harder letters. So here's my effort.