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classicmollywood · 3 years

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Films from My Physical Media Collection - The Awful Truth (1937)

Lately, I have been neglecting my physical media collection. So, to get me back to enjoying all those blu-rays and DVDs I have, I am going to write about each film I re-watch (or watch for the first time, if it was a blind buy).

Today's post will be on 1937's The Awful Truth, which was directed by Leo McCarey and starred Irene Dunne and Cary Grant. The supporting cast includes Ralph Bellamy, Alexander D'arcy, and Cecil Cunningham.

The Awful Truth is about a husband and wife who decide (rather abruptly in my opinion) to get a divorce. The problem? They still love each other and will do anything they can to sabotage each other's love lives. Then screwball zaniness ensues!

I like The Awful Truth a lot. I seriously laugh out loud when I watch this movie. The scene where Cary Grant shows up at Irene Dunne's recital and falls over and can't seem to get it together had me laughing so loudly! Grant had such great comedic timing and this scene represents it perfectly. Watching it you are like, "Wait, is that THE Cary Grant acting like a bumbling fool? Yup! And it's wonderful!"

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The fall occurs about 1:30 into this video.

Irene Dunne also does a great job masquerading as Grant's crass sister at his rich fiancee's party. When she does that dance in front of his "refined" fiancee's family, it is pure gold! Dunne also had great comedic timing and that whole scene is so funny.

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Sorry that the first couple of seconds are frozen. I didn't upload the video.

Grant and Dunne's shenanigans work so well because they are hilarious and have great chemistry. They are witty, funny, and play off of each other so well. They also play off the supporting cast well too.

Honorable mention to Ralph Bellamy, who sang "Home on the Range" so much and so terribly. I bet he never wanted to hear that song ever again.

Another honorable mention to Irene Dunne's hats. What was the hat budget on this film? My assumption is pretty hefty because she wears so many different hats throughout the film. A lot of the hats are best described as abstract and ones I don't think many people would wear now. But I must give an ode to Dunne's hats by sharing some of them below:

My only beef with the film is I feel like the second half of the film is a bit rushed. Cary Grant had all this time to sabotage Irene Dunne's love life, but she didn't have much time to sabotage his. Eh, it's okay. I still enjoyed the movie overall!

Some Fun Facts

The film was mostly improvised, which drove the cast crazy in the beginning. They didn't seem to appreciate Director Leo McCarey's lack of a script. When they finally got over their disbelief of this, they all actually started to see McCarey as a genius!

After the first week of filming, Cary Grant wanted out of the picture. Grant was not happy with the script-less production and begged to be let out of his contract. Grant even went as far as to offer Columbia studio head Harry Cohn $5000 to be freed from this film. McCarey was super pissed about this and offered an additional $5000 for Grant to be freed from the film. Cohn never answered them. Grant then tried to switch roles with Ralph Bellamy but was denied. McCarey held a grudge against Grant for a long time after this saga.

Cary Grant eventually trusted McCarey, and brought us comedy gold. Grant's attitude towards McCarey changed when he realized that McCarey was playing off his strengths. With McCarey's guidance and encouragement, Grant began to enjoy improvising.

Cary Grant and Irene Dunne had never met before this film. This fact is shocking, since their chemistry is ELECTRIC. The two hit it off and Dunne came to trust Grant so much that sometimes after a take she would turn to him and whisper, "Funny?"

The dog in the film was famous before this film. Skippy the dog was in high demand! Why? Because Skippy played Asta in The Thin Man series.

#the awful truth #cary grant #irene dunne #leo mccarey #columbia pictures #ralph bellamy #classic film #turner classic movies #old hollywood #film #Youtube

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allthefilmsiveseenforfree · 3 years

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Arsenic and Old Lace

You know what genre I would absolutely love to see make a comeback? The good old-fashioned farce. One main location, lots of characters in and out, misunderstandings, shouting, classic physical comedy, mistaken identities, larger-than-life ridiculous characters. When’s the last time we had an honest-to-god mainstream farce released at the box office? The closest I can really think of is Weekend at Bernie’s - that’s the level of greatness we’re dealing with here. Mom requested that I review one of the greats, Arsenic and Old Lace, which I had seen before but long, long ago. What makes this one of the greats? Well...

The play this 1944 film is based on is from 1941 and its been in continuous production ever since, so that’s a pretty good first line to the resume. The story concerns a notoriously anti-marriage theater critic named Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant) who falls madly in love and gets married to Elaine (Priscilla Lane). Before they can go on their whirlwind honeymoon, they stop by the home of Mortimer’s aunts (Jean Adaire and Josephine Hull) and that’s when things really go off the rails. See, the aunts have rooms in their house for rent, and they have this habit of poisoning the old, single men who come through looking for a room to rent and Mortimer’s cousin (John Alexander), who thinks he’s Teddy Roosevelt, buries the bodies in the basement. Which would be problem enough on its own but then Mortimer’s psychotic brother Johnathan (Raymond Massey) comes to town and things REALLY go awry.

Some thoughts:

Cary Grant donated most of his salary to charity for this film, a lot of it to the war effort in England. It’s like, you think he’s dreamy and then he just gets dreamier. What a stand-up guy.

Jean Adaire and Josephine Hull reprised their roles from the Broadway play, and you can really tell how comfortable and lived-in these roles are for them.

Imagine a world in which a drama critic is so well known that random beat reporters would know him by sight. Man, the 40s were a trip.

The Midatlantic accent is strong with Cary Grant in this one - I had to turn on subtitles after the first scene.

I love Abby’s little bouncy run.

Cary Grant is writing a textbook on facial expressions with this role. I had no idea he was such a gifted physical comedian, and this is an absolute tour de force for him.

How odd, on Halloween apparently in the 40s, children didn’t get candy, they got whole jack-o-lanterns and whole pies. Man, kids today are getting robbed!

I love that the main problem with sending Teddy to the sanitarium is that they already have too many Teddy Roosevelts and could use some Napoleon Bonapartes instead.

I completely forgot this entire Jonathan subplot from the first time I watched the movie, and I kind of hate it. I think the whole murder aunts thing gives the film enough comedic mileage, but I guess there does have to be some kind of other plot device that would lead to multiple bodies and multiple murders and the ol’ switcheroo. For me, everything concerning Jonathan kinda drags, though.

It’s hilarious to me that in old movies, romantic couples didn’t need to have any kind of chemistry or mutual interest or any connection at all other than being a handsome man and a beautiful woman. I like Mortimer and I like Elaine, but I have no idea why on earth I’m supposed to buy that they’re in love. They’re hardly on screen together!

I know I shouldn’t be surprised, but there sure is a lot of casual racism being flung about. The aunts being so affronted that a “perfectly good Methodist is going to be buried with a foreigner” and Mortimer telling the story of his ancestor being crazy because “when the Indians were scalping the settlers, he was scalping the Indians.” It’s not a great look, but like - this is America, we have built our houses on the bones of indigenous people and watered our fields with the blood of slaves.

The meta commentary with Cary Grant’s long monologue about how people in plays and movies never hear anything, they’re all so stupid because they’re hanging out in a house with murderers and not even being scared or worried is so good. You can see how the humor and craftsmanship of this writing would inspire someone like Wes Craven writing Scream or Phoebe Waller-Bridge writing Fleabag or any other self-aware smirking postmodernist gem.

What I’m trying to say is that this movie is still genuinely FUNNY, and the pace feels quick and steady enough to keep you engaged and wanting to know how on earth Mortimer is going to escape this night alive.

What’s interesting is that even in 1944, the plot of this play/film is that cops are absolutely useless at their jobs, protect their own at all costs, and ignore evidence in favor of protecting their friends. The more things change, the more they stay the same y’all.

Do yourself a favor and seek this one out immediately. It holds up so well (in spite of a few problematic attitudes), the physical comedy is superb, and the madcap energy of the whole thing makes it feel incredibly modern and fresh even after 80 years.

#1209n2020 #arsenic and old lace #arsenic and old lace review #cary grant #raymond massey #priscilla lane #jean adaire #josephine hull #john alexander #movie reviews #film reviews

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Best Romantic Movies on Amazon Prime Right Now

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Some movies brave enough to tread where only pop songs and poems go, and try to capture all the drama, contradictions and happy, bubbly feelings that come along with romance and love. It’s high-time that we honor them and defend them against their unearned sappy reputations with the best romantic movies on Amazon Prime.

We’ve scoured Amazon Prime to find the best romantic movies available for your viewing pleasure. Here are the best romantic movies on Amazon Prime. Ok, some of them are perfectly sappy.

The Big Sick

Kumail Nanjiani and his wife Emily Gordon’s theatrical debut made big waves when it came out for the singularity of its vision and just how plain funny it is. Now Amazon gets to reap the benefits of producing a bonafide romantic indie hit by getting its exclusive streaming rights. The Big Sick is the real life story of comedian Kumail Nanjiani meeting and falling in love with his wife, Emily (who is played by Zoe Kazan in the film).

Kumail and Emily’s courtship process is difficult enough to begin with due to Kumail’s family pressuring him to find a nice Pakistani girl to settle down with. But soon things get even more difficult as Emily suffers a health scare and Kumail must suddenly contend with that situation and Emily’s eccentric parents who have just come to town. The Big Sick is a clear vision from talented people and tells a beautifully convincing love story while making plenty of room for laughter. Not only that but it’s a big win for our list of best romance movies on Amazon Prime.

Watch The Big Sick

What If

Canadian drama What If (originally known as The F Word before the MPAA got its greasy fingers all over it) is a fun romantic movie and a tremendous showcase for its two young stars Daniel Radcliffe (you know what he’s from) and Zoe Kazan (The Big Sick). Radcliffe stars as Wallace – a directionless young man living in Toronto who decides to become more social after his girlfriend cheats on him.

Enter Kylo Ren (Adam Driver playing a character who is unfortunately not named Kylo Ren) who takes Wallace to a party where he meets the alluring Chantry (Kazan). Wallace and Chantry immediately fall for each other. Unfortunately there’s the small matter of Chantry’s boyfriend. What If? is a sweet little Canadian flick that knows how to push its audiences romantic buttons.

Watch What If

Still Mine

Still Mine isn’t necessarily about romance. It’s about love – a deep prevailing love built up over decades. Craig Morrison (James Cromwell) is a farmer in rural New Brunswick, Canada. He intends to build a new house for his ailing wife Irene (Geneviève Bujold) but runs into trouble with the local municipality’s bureaucracy prevents him from doing so.

Still Mine is as romantic a movie about bureacratic development regulations as has ever existed. Cromwell and Bujold have wonderful chemistry and paint a portrait of profound, abiding love.

Watch Still Mine

Some Kind of Wonderful

Some Kind of Wonderful doesn’t have the same pop culture standing as other John Huges films like Sixteen Candles or Pretty in Pink. Still this remains a worthwhile entry into the Hughes canon on teenage love.

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Keith Nelson (Eric Stoltz) is a high school outcast who has his eyes set on popular girl Amanda Jones (Lea Thompson). Thankfully he has his tomboyish Watts (Mary Stuart Masterson) to help court her. Based on that meager plot description, you may think you know where Some Kind of Wonderful is going to end up, and…you’re probably right. That doesn’t make the journey any less satisfying.

Watch Some Kind of Wonderful

To Catch a Thief

You know who would make a great romance film? The guy who did Psycho. Yes To Catch a Thief is a classic romance film from none other than Alfred Hitchcock. Of course, there’s a lot more going on in this heist thriller.

Cary Grant stars as retired cat burglar John Robie. When another burglar starts copying his act, Robie has to undergo One Last Job (TM) to catch…a thief. In the process John comes across the wealthy Frances (Grace Kelly) and the two strike up an unlikely romance for the ages.

Watch To Catch a Thief

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Hello, My Name is Doris

Between TBS’ Search Party and Hello, My Name is Doris, director Michael Showalter had a stellar 2016. Hello, My Name is Doris is a wonderfully sweet, equally tragic and completely hilarious romantic comedy. Sally Field stars as the titular Doris, a lively woman in her 60s who after the death of her mother becomes infatuated with a younger man.

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With the help of cliched self-help materials she does whatever she can to get his attention. Hello, My Name is Doris is an empathetic romantic comedy that will change how you view age.

Watch Hello, My Name is Doris

Sabrina (1995)

Let’s get one thing out of the way right now. Sabrina‘s theatrical poster is dope. When I was a kid and I would pass the VHS cover in Blockbuster, I couldn’t help but think “Wow, that is a real adult movie.” At a young age, the mere sight of a woman’s lascivious red lipstick (lascivious in my head at least) was enough to fry my brain. Poster aside, however, Sabrina is an excellent romance with some real star power. It’s a remake of the 1954 film of the same name starring Billy Wilder and Audrey Hepburn.

This version was directed by the great Sydney Pollack and stars Harrison Ford, Greg Kinnear, and Julia Ormond. Weirdly enough Greg Kinnear plays the ultimate rich playboy while Harrison Ford plays his studious older brother. Weird casting choices but it works out alright thanks to each actor’s chemistry with Ormond.

Watch Sabrina

Ghost

Ghost is much more than just the reason you can no longer attend a pottery class without giggling. It’s a legitimately great sci-fi romance yarn. Patrick Swayze stars as Sam a banker who is killed by a mugger. Immediately post-death he discovers that he has become a ghost and can no longer directly interact with his girlfriend Molly (Demi Moore).

Sam sets out to solve his own murder and somehow reconnect with the woman he loves. Ghostcomes along with all the corniness of an early ’90s blockbuster but its central theme of love trying to achieve the impossible plays in any decade.

Watch Ghost

Brokeback Mountain

Longing is a crucial part of the formula in any romance movie and Brokeback Mountain has it in spades. Ang Lee’s 2005 film played a crucial role in bringing queer cinema to the mainstream and it did so by presenting mostly straight audiences with a universal depiction of love and passion – the kind of love that supersedes the norms and expectations of everything in your life to that point.

Heath Ledger and Jake Gylllenhaal star as 1960s Wyoming cowboys Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist. While herding sheep on the Brokeback mountains, Jack makes a sexual pass at Ennis and the two begin a summer-long physical affair. The movie then follows the pair through the subsequent decades as they try to return to their “normal” lives, all the while unable to forget their time on Brokeback.

Watch Brokeback Mountain

Letter to Juliet

Somewhere along the way, Hollywood decided to let Amanda Seyfried become the queen of romantic comedies set in exotic locales…and that’s perfectly fine with us.

In Letters to Juliet, Seyfried stars as a New York fact checker Sophie on “pre-honeymoon” with her fiancé in Verona. There she learns of the phenomenon of “letters to Juliet” where women women bring love letters to Juliet Montague’s Verona courtyard. When Sophie answers a letter from 1957, she embarks on a decades-spanning journey of love and self-discover.y

Watch Letters to Juliet

What Men Want

Back in 2000, only one film had the distinction…nay, the courage of trying to figure out What Women Want. The answer, apparently, was Mel Gibson. We don’t talk about this movie that much.

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2019’s What Men Want is a loose remake of the earlier film. And it has something that the original never did: Taraji P. Henson! Henson stars as Ali Davis, a sports agent who gains the ability to read men’s minds after meeting a shaman. The movie puts Ali’s male-dominated profession to good use and in the process tells a nifty little romance story.

Watch What Men Want

There’s Something About Mary

More than two decades later, it’s still wild to see that above screenshot. Like, that ran in newspapers. It was on a poster! And if you don’t know why a photo of Cameron Diaz with a unique hairstyle is a big deal then you’ve likely not seen the Farrelly Brothers 1998 gross out classic There’s Something About Mary.

This is not so much a romance movie as it is an exploration of the pitfalls of attraction. Diaz stars as Mary Jensen…and there’s just something about her. Ben Stiller, Matt Dillon, Lee Evans, and Chris Elliott all play men who are helplessly in love with Mary and trying to win her affection. In the process, many injuries as sustained.

Watch There’s Something About Mary

Moulin Rouge!

If you like your romance with more than a dash of Baz Luhrmann saturated colors and big, sexy musical numbers then Moulin Rouge! is almost certainly the movie for you.

This 2001 film is set in 1900s Paris amid the Bohemian movement. When Christian (Ewan McGregor) falls in love with Moulin Rouge cabaret actress and courtesan Satine (Nicole Kidman), he must contend with her impending betrothal (or really sale) to the Duke of Montrose. As one might imagine, this is resolved with quite a bit of singing and dancing.

Watch Moulin Rouge!

Sylvie’s Love

Amazon Prime’s 2020 film Sylvie’s Love positively oozes jazz era atmosphere and tells a compelling, decades-spanning love story in the process.

Tessa Thompson stars as Sylvie Parker, a young woman who one day meets an aspiring saxophonist (played by Kerry Washington’s husband and former NFLer Nnamdi Asomugha) and in her father’s record shop in 1950s Harlem. This leads to sweeping romance that guides the pair through the era’s jazz music scene.

Watch Sylvie’s Love

The post Best Romantic Movies on Amazon Prime Right Now appeared first on Den of Geek.

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letterboxd · 3 years

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Watching John Malkovich.

To understand better why Letterboxd members set out on quests to watch specific actors’ entire filmographies, we invited Tim Rod to describe her dangerous and seductive journey through John Malkovich’s screen history.

For many film lovers, 2020 has been a year of catching up: on franchises, on directors’ filmographies, on historical gaps and top 100s. But for some Letterboxd members, the year indoors has been an opportunity to hyper-focus on a single actor and their work.

Jeremiah Lambert is on a Bacon Fest, Naked Airplane has embarked on a wild ride through the works of De Niro, Hackman, Hoffman, Nicholson and Pacino. Joey is preparing for next year’s centennial of The Kid by churning through Charlie Chaplin’s catalog (with David Robinson’s biography Chaplin: His Life and Art in hand). A quick Twitter survey found others churning through a performer selection as wide-ranging as Burt Lancaster, Parker Posey, Maggie Smith, Nicolas Cage, Cary Grant, Kevin Costner, Robin Williams, Adèle Haenel, Alan Arkin, Sam Rockwell and a Seth Rogen thirst project.

It can be a bumpy journey. In one performer’s oeuvre the quality will range widely, the genres too. But the rewards are many in a close study of craft, and there are revelations, whether it’s that Australia’s Miranda Otto deserves more recognition, or it’s “the total acceptance, lack of judgment, and vulnerability with which Alan Arkin has played so many of his flawed and wonderful characters”.

With Christian Bale in ‘Empire of the Sun’ (1987).

In 2020, no fewer than three movies and two television series starring John Malkovich have been released: Arkansas, Valley of the Gods and Ava, as well as The New Pope and Space Force. The legendary actor has kept himself busy, and I know this because I have seen most of his filmography—41 films and two series—in the span of a single month. I adore Malkovich, always have, and I came out of this experience with a deeper admiration for him, and with some thoughts about his unique, remarkable skills as an actor. (And, I had a really good time.)

Allow me to begin by saying that John Malkovich is the best part of every movie he is in. No matter the movie, Malkovich will always steal the spotlight, and he can turn a good movie into a masterpiece, or an average movie that wouldn’t catch anyone’s attention into one worth watching, if only to see him do his thing.

He’s starred in movies that are considered masterpieces by many: Being John Malkovich (1999), The Killing Fields (1984) and Empire of the Sun (1987). Movies that may be considered the opposite of masterpieces, like Supercon (2018), Eragon (2006) and the most recent Ava (2020), and he’s also starred in some gems that I knew nothing about but am glad to have discovered, such as The Convent (1995), Eleni (1985) and The Ogre (1996). Malkovich has brought to life iconic characters including Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Tom Ripley, Hercule Poirot (in BBC’s The ABC Murders), the artist Gustav Klimt, and several of David Lynch’s people, in the short film Psychogenic Fugue (2016).

As Mitch Leary in ‘In the Line of Fire’ (1993).

Malkovich has received two Academy Award nominations, for Places in the Heart (1984), in which he played Edna’s lodger, the solitary yet kind Mr. Will, and for In the Line of Fire (1993), where he played the complete opposite: the psychotic Mitch Leary, determined to kill the President of the United States. Though Malkovich is not a classic action-film actor, his work in that genre is driven by logic, intellect and emotion, and the delicacy that he employs to challenge concepts of masculinity and keep us guessing. His soft and collected voice threatening Clint Eastwood over the phone is scarier and more effective than a deeper one would have been.

That voice. Malkovich has admitted that he hates the sound of it, that he would always avoid listening to it, just like so many actors avoid watching their own films, but I’m bewitched by his voice and I could never get enough of it. It can be tender, sweet and calming, seductive when the role requires it, and terrifying. With that versatility, it’s not surprising that he has done some narrating work as well, for films including Paul Newman’s The Glass Menagerie (1987) and Alive (1993).

Malkovich is at his best when seduction and villainy combine, as they do in Dangerous Liaisons (1988). Vicomte Sébastien de Valmont has been performed by many actors over the years, but I find Malkovich’s take to be the most memorable and exquisite. He captures perfectly the depravity and evilness of Valmont, but also the nuances, his journey from womanizer to man genuinely in love and, ultimately, his tragic redemption. He even brings a comedic aspect to the character that adds more depth and dimension.

With Glenn Close in ‘Dangerous Liaisons’ (1988).

Valmont is an awful human being, a monster even, and yet, every time I watch this movie, I find myself fascinated by his mastery of the deception, his sensuality and complete control of the situation, until the situation is “beyond his control”. In her review of the film, Catherine Stebbins calls John Malkovich “a sexual force of nature”, and I completely agree. If you want to see more of Malkovich’s sensual side, other notable mentions include The Sheltering Sky (1990), The Object of Beauty (1991) and Beyond the Clouds (1995).

And then there’s Being John Malkovich (1999), in which ‘John Horatio Malkovich’ displays so many facets of his craft. The fictionalized Malkovich is possessed by different characters, one of them a woman. Catherine Keener’s character falls in love with a subtly different version of Malkovich, when he is a vessel for Lotte (Cameron Diaz). Even though Lotte doesn’t have full control of Malkovich, he uses his femininity to bring the character-inside-the-character to center stage, delivering a subtle-yet-perfect performance. Even when we don’t see Lotte, we know she’s there.

John Malkovich as John Horatio Malkovich possessed by Lotte, in ‘Being John Malkovich’ (1999).

Not many actors could pull this off as brilliantly as John Malkovich does. To be fair, not many actors have been given the chance that Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman gave Malkovich: a film with his own name in the title.

I’ve discussed some of the most well-known of Malkovich’s performances, but I’d like to mention an overlooked one that I found heartbreaking and noteworthy. I didn’t know of the existence of The Ogre (1996) until I took a closer look at Malkovich’s filmography. It’s not without its flaws, but I found myself absorbed in the fairy-tale story of Abel, a naïve French prisoner of war who is taken to Nazi Germany and used to recruit children for Hitler’s Youth. Once again, the actor’s duality is on display, as Evan writes in his Letterboxd review: “Malkovich is both queasy and endearing as the (ig)noble simp who just wants to save the babies.” The Ogre tells a tragic story, but thanks to Malkovich’s tenderness, we can’t help but have sympathy for his character. At times it reminded me of the innocence of Lennie in Of Mice and Men (1992), another of the actor’s more noteworthy performances.

One of Malkovich’s great contributions to cinema is elevating an average movie just by being in it. One such role is as English conman Alan Conway in the bizarre true story, Colour Me Kubrick (2005). Malkovich admitted in an interview that he thought his performance was good, and I agree. If there’s one reason to watch that film, it’s to see Malkovich playing an eccentric conman who poses as Stanley Kubrick, using different voices and accents. As TajLV writes, “if there were anything to commend this film other than Malkovich, I’d happily rate it higher”.

As Alan Conway in ‘Colour Me Kubrick’ (2005).

One fun fact: I sometimes forget John Malkovich is American. Maybe it’s because he has starred in many European productions—out of the 41 films I watched, 18 were European. Malkovich is of European descent, has lived in France for a decade and speaks fluent French, which allowed him to star as the mysterious Baron de Charlus in Time Regained (1999), with entirely French dialogue. He also delivers lines in French and Portuguese in A Talking Picture (2003) by Manoel de Oliveira.

You’ve probably heard Malkovich use words, expressions and even entire lines of French dialogue on more than one occasion. He does this often, which gives him a certain European vibe, consistent with his own character, mannerisms and dress sense—elements that he sometimes brings to his characters. Maybe that’s the reason he has played so many intellectuals and artists: professors, scientists, detectives, painters, writers, a scientist and a robot, and even the Pope… It seems there’s nothing John Malkovich can’t do, including directing.

To end my marathon, I watched his directorial debut, The Dancer Upstairs (2002), an assured movie adapted from a novel about the Maoist uprising in Peru in the 1980s, starring Javier Bardem. It was a nice surprise, and a strong start to what could have been a career as a film director, if not for the fact that he doesn’t have the patience to do it again. I recently read an interview where Edgar Wright revealed advice he always gives to directors, which is to make their second movie the one that will define them. I wonder if we will ever see John Malkovich’s second film, but for now, I hope he keeps gifting us with more unforgettable performances. At least we know that in the distant future, along with all the movies he has already appeared in, people will enjoy a never-seen-before performance when Robert Rodríguez’s short 100 years is released in 2115.

If there’s one thing I have learnt after watching most of his filmography, it’s that John Malkovich is one of the best and most versatile actors of our time, with the most unique voice I have heard in cinema, and with a rich filmography that encompasses every genre. And he’s not only a brilliant actor, but also someone I find personally fascinating. I truly find comfort in him. I hope we all get to enjoy his art for years to come, because his talent is limitless and I know he still has so much more to give. John Malkovich deserves all the praise for being a force of nature in the theater and film industry for over 40 years.

Tim is a Letterboxd member based in Spain, who has recently moved on from her John Malkovich marathon to a Sacha Baron Cohen quest.

#letterboxd #letterboxd community #john malkovich #actors #actor #acting #craft #acting craft #dangerous liaisons #most watched actor

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disappointingyet · 4 years

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Vivacious Lady

Director George Stevens Stars Ginger Rogers, James Stewart, James Ellison, Charles Coburn, Beulah Bondi USA 1938 Language English 1hr 30mins Black & white

Highly enjoyable match-up of two of the greats of Hollywood’s golden age

Standard operating procedure for the romantic comedy is that one or both members of the potential couple will be in complete denial about their feelings until late in the picture. But there is a smaller strand of rom-coms in which the protagonists are fully in touch with their emotions, but other stuff gets in the way. And this mostly charming 1938 movie falls into that camp.

Peter Morgan Jr (James Stewart) is an assistant professor despatched by his father/boss (Charles Coburn) to New York City to retrieve his wayward cousin Keith, who is always getting involved with unsuitable women. But when he meets Francey (Ginger Rogers), the nightclub singer-dancer Keith is chasing after, Peter Jr is just as taken with her. And, after a night wandering around Manhattan together, she falls as hard for him.

The problem is how Peter Jr is going to introduce his new wife – with her scandalous profession – to stern Peter Sr, the president of Old Sharon University and his mother Martha (Beulah Bondi), who collapses with ‘heart problems’ any time conflict arises. Obviously, he doesn’t tell them when he gets off the train, otherwise there would be no movie. And one of the things that is true is that an initial lie tends to spiral…

The key decision the filmmakers had to make was what angle to take with Francey. Sure, she’s a fish out of water in this small college town, but how much of one? How brassy do they want to go? And the answer, maybe surprisingly is, not very. Apart from getting into one physical fight, her behaviour isn’t really at odds with those around her. Nor really is she playing much of a role – she does sign up as a botany student, but, again, the film doesn’t use that to either have her constantly be almost exposed or show brilliant scientific instincts.

The plot outline, then, is daft, but the movie within it feels fairly restrained. What it relies on is a decent script and a top-notch cast. You’ve got two great stars surrounded by the finest available character actors. It’s nice to see Rogers paired with a leading man who was only three years older than her (and, indeed, looking younger than 29 here) – and Stewart is exactly who you’d cast as the straight-laced academic doing something a bit wild for the first time. My favourite of the supporting players is Franklin Pangborn as the apartment manager trying to maintain the rules.

One sour note: like a number of comedies of its time, Vivacious Lady does include a couple of black servant turns that are uncomfortable to watch now. You could argue that in both cases the gag revolves around the notion of ‘white people are crazy’ but that’s no defence really.

That apart (and I realise that can ruin a film for some, and that’s a perfectly reasonable position to take), this is a lovely movie that gives two of Hollywood’s most endearing stars plenty of room to work, and they make the most of it.

Note for British audiences: Vivacious Lady is currently available ‘for more than a year’ on the BBC iPlayer.

For more on Ginger Rogers: reviews of her starring opposite Fred Astaire here, here and here; with William Powell here, with Cary Grant here, and with Katharine Hepburn here.

#ginger rogers #james stewart

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fashiontrendin-blog · 6 years

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The Most Stylish Actors Of All Time

http://fashion-trendin.com/the-most-stylish-actors-of-all-time/

The Most Stylish Actors Of All Time

It’s pretty simple to look good on-screen. You have a whole team of costume designers, hair stylists and photographers whose entire job is to make you look excellent. Off-screen, you’re on your own.

While a lot of off-duty actors tend toward the dull or bizarre (see: Johnny Depp), some manage to maintain their movie star cool in impeccable outfits. We’ve narrowed all of cinema history down to nine perfectly dressed men. These are the best-dressed actors ever, with some insider tips on how to steal their style, if not their A-list handsomeness.

Sidney Poitier

The gold standard of smart-casual. Poitier wore a suit like he was born in it, but his real strength was in-between dressing. A shirt and tie with a cardigan thrown over the top, or a subtly coloured shirt with a crisp blazer.

He made the toughest dress code look like a breeze. “My goodness his bow tie game is strong,” says stylist Sarah Ann Murray. “His choice of neckwear is a lesson in appropriate knot size and secondly, in how to choose tasteful patterns to elevate a classic charcoal grey notch-lapel suit – his trademark look.”

Steve McQueen

The thing that made Steve McQueen so stylish is that he always looked casual, whatever he was wearing. Whether he was in a jeans and a T-shirt, a polo and blazer, or a three-piece suit, he wore everything like that was the outfit that was most comfortable for whatever his day held.

His look wasn’t crisp, but rather everything looked like a trusty favourite he’d pulled from the wardrobe for the umpteenth time. Though crucially, none of it looked tatty.

To get the look, keep one part of your outfit just a touch disheveled. Team an old denim shirt, with sleeves rolled, with clean, slim chinos and desert boots. Wear a sharp tweed jacket over a single-colour sweater you’ve had for years, even if the neck has stretched out a bit. If it’s all pristine it’s not McQueen.

Alain Delon

Delon is the quintessential effortlessly stylish Frenchman. His is a style that’s very hard to emulate because his clothes are doing none of the work. Nothing he wears is unusual, just simple shirts in staple shades, light-coloured chinos or a neat grey suit. The style comes from his comfort in them. To try to get the look you kind of have to stop, well, trying.

“To obtain this look, don’t be too forced,” says Olie Arnold, style director of Mr Porter. “The more you overthink it, the more forced it’s going to look.” Stock up on menswear staples like a blue linen shirt, unstructured blazers and some investment sunglasses.

“I would also say that there’s a lot to be said in a great haircut and some fantastic accessories,” says Arnold. “It will take your look a long way.”

Cary Grant

Grant is the epitome of masculine elegance. “If there was ever anyone that embodied the term classic it would be him,” says Murray “Even down to styling his pocket with a simply folded white pocket square and a plain tonal shade in his ties.”

He’s almost always formal, from exemplary black tie to more casual takes on tailoring like unstructured jackets or patterned separates. And you can see that he’s put thought into every detail. This is the opposite of effortless style. He really tried and he got it right every single time.

Robert Redford

Redford’s peak was the seventies, his shaggy hair and big sunglasses era. His manly casual look is a very easy one to copy. “Robert Redford wore his casual looks loosely, so that they were never tight to the body,” says Arnold. “Not only did this allow movement, it also left him room to layer up, which is a rule I’d give to men wanting to emulate this look.

“My advice would be to invest in a good overshirt, field jacket, a rugged pair of boots and some really well-cut jeans.” The Redford look works for any age, and the older those investment items are, the better they’ll be.

Paul Newman

Preppy is the word that best describes Newman’s style. His button-down shirts, light chinos and loafers are as all-American as you get, but he kept them from looking starchy by rolling his sleeves right up, wearing his shirts a little creased and usually adding some big, unpreppy sunglasses. It took the Ivy League stiffness out of it.

Another key to making his look work, says Murray, is quality. “You can see his appreciation for natural, sumptuous fabrics.” Simple things look great when they are beautifully made.

Richard Gere

Hardly anybody came out of the eighties with their style credentials intact. Lots of actors looked memorable (Eddie Murphy in head-to-toe red leather; Michael Douglas in mega-shouldered suits; all the Brat Pack in variations on double denim), but few had a look that you’d want to copy today, unless for fancy dress purposes. Richard Gere may be the only man who left the decade sartorially unembarrassed (maybe Harrison Ford, too).

Gere learned a lot of lessons from his breakout role in American Gigolo, for which he was dressed by Armani, and did a toned-down version of dramatic 1980s fashion. He still had the double-breasted suits, belted camel coats and stone-washed jeans, but with less exaggerated tailoring and no garish patterns. He’s kept that simple-but-expensive-looking aesthetic into his sixties.

Ryan Gosling

The Gos looks great in red carpet tailoring. Most men do, but he has a particular knack for looking cool and comfortable in anything from white tie to dressed-down separates. The man’s a lesson in well-fitting tailoring. But the thing that Ryan Gosling is a true master of is casual dressing, knowing the importance of three key elements: jackets, good knitwear and boots.

He’s mostly in some version of jeans or chinos and T-shirt, which every man has in his wardrobe in multiple variations, but he lifts them with a seemingly endless selection of really excellent outerwear – patterned bombers, battered leather jackets, peacoats in every colour – and sturdy boots. In recent years, he’s injected some X-factor with patterned knitwear, which shouldn’t work but always does. Those things together turn a thrown-on outfit into a look.

Donald Glover

Look at any photo of Glover on the red carpet and tell us he’s not the best formal dresser of all time. He looks good in the classics but he excels at pushing the envelope turning every shade of tailoring – brown, purple and orange included – into something wearable. Anybody can look good in black tie, with the right tailor, but it takes boss-level skill to take risks with formalwear and not look ‘wacky’.

“This takes practice,” says stylist Murray. “The time and effort (read trial and error) is an important part of the journey to expanding your personal style, but trying small elements one at a time is a realistic approach to updating your wardrobe with some daring pieces. You’ll be at Donald Glover-level of purple tuxedos in no time – or maybe just stick with a jacquard gem-stone tone shawl lapel option for now.”

Oh, and when he’s not wearing a suit, his collection of statement jackets is outrageously good. No wonder he was our best-dressed man of 2017.

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larryland · 7 years

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“Arsenic”—Old Hat?

by Barbara Waldinger

Can this 1941 farcical black comedy still amuse an audience in 2017? You bet–check out Berkshire Theatre Group’s production of Arsenic and Old Lace on The Fitzpatrick Main Stage. If its initial pre-war audience craved an escapist entertainment, perhaps we too might be grateful to enjoy a good laugh and avoid today’s headlines. Joseph Kesselring’s fast-paced story of crazies and murderous misfits appears in the nick of time.

The plot, you may recall, concerns the Brewster sisters (Harriet Harris and Mia Dillon)—two sweet, charitable old ladies who take it upon themselves to poison lonely, aged, unattached males in order to put them out of their misery. Their visiting nephew Mortimer (Graham Rowat), upon learning to his horror that a dozen men are buried in the cellar, determines to save his aunts from prosecution. The play is, believe it or not, fact-based. Beginning in 1907, one Amy Archer-Gilligan operated a convalescent home in Windsor, Connecticut. Residents, including a couple of her husbands, began disappearing after Archer-Gilligan convinced them to pay a flat fee of $1,000 to cover expenses incurred during their lifetime (which didn’t last very long). Investigations of no fewer than 48 deaths in a four-year period produced evidence of poison. A gruesome tale, but Kesselring decided to give it a comic twist after a nudge from his producers.

Arsenic and Old Lace was an immediate hit, running on Broadway from 1941 to 1944, and its success had interesting ramifications. A film version, directed by Frank Capra and starring Cary Grant, was shot in 1941 but its release was delayed until the Broadway run finally ended three years later. Capra had wanted Boris Karloff to repeat his Broadway role in the film (Jonathan Brewster, Mortimer’s brother), but the producers wouldn’t allow him to leave the stage production. Capra had to settle for Raymond Massey, who was then made up to look like Boris Karloff. In Kesselring’s play, the homicidal Jonathan had undertaken to disguise his identity, but the surgery, performed by his drunk, incompetent accomplice, was botched and he was turned into a Karloff look-alike. Even without Karloff, the movie was immensely popular.

Translated into many languages and performed throughout the world in theatrical, film, and television versions, this play has always been a favorite of community theatres.

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But professional theatres, at least in the Berkshires, have not turned to this old chestnut recently. Berkshire Theatre Group’s Artistic Director Kate Maguire has taken it on, and turned it over to Gregg Edelman, who encouraged his actors to broaden the comedy into over-the-top farce. In this, he followed Frank Capra. Cary Grant believed his performance as Mortimer was one of his worst, complaining: “I couldn’t do that kind of comedy—all those double takes. I’d have been better as one of the old aunts!” Yet Graham Rowat excels in his role as Mortimer here. He plays a fast-talking, fast-walking, double-taking drama critic who hates the theatre. Whenever he is onstage we are swept up in the urgency of his mission. Mia Dillon and especially Harriet Harris perfectly capture the unawareness of the sisters who don’t see that they’ve done anything wrong, as they proudly describe how they poison their victims and use their batty nephew Teddy (Timothy Gulan), who believes he’s Theodore Roosevelt, to dig their graves in what he imagines are the locks of the Panama Canal (actually, the cellar). Wonderful performances, both. Gulan, incredibly energetic, repeatedly blows his bugle and screams “CHARGE!” as he runs up San Juan Hill (the staircase). The most lovable aspect of his performance is the way he expects and receives the respect due to a president. The third nephew, Jonathan (Matt Sullivan), the creepiest of the eccentrics, engages with his aunts in a competition to see who has killed the most people. He provides the scariest moments of the play, while his long-suffering comic sidekick, the German Dr. Einstein (Tom Story—well-played) just wants to lead a stable, normal life. Gerry McIntyre, who plays a police officer dreaming of being a playwright, brings enthusiasm and a dancer’s physicality to this improbable cop. Katie Birenboim, as Elaine Harper, one of the few rational characters, plays the “straight man” to her fiancé, Mortimer. Although she exhibits admirable spunk, she has a disconcerting habit of speaking out to the audience, regardless of whom she is addressing.

The finely detailed old Brewster home (designed by Randall Parsons) is said to have been modeled on a boarding house where Kesselring lived while teaching at Bethel College in Kansas. The Brooklyn living room is mostly brown with blue trim, filled with feminine touches—curtains on all of the windows, a lovely blue and gold tablecloth, many old photos, one of which happens to be a portrait of Amy Archer-Gilligan (!), and the all-important window seat with a pull-up cover recessed below two tall windows. Sound designer Scott Killian supplies period songs but his most amusing contribution is the organ music that signals frightening events to follow. Costume designer (Hunter Kaczorowski) dresses all of the characters in appropriate clothing but the most interesting outfits are worn by Gulan as Theodore Roosevelt (at one point he wears two hats for an African safari). Lighting designer Alan Edwards adds to the macabre atmosphere, enabling us to see what the characters are up to, even in semi-darkness.

The play is long: by the third act, after two intermissions it can get a bit tedious. There are 14 characters, some of whom could have been excised without sacrificing the essential plot. However, like a fireworks display, enough colorful personalities are thrown in to keep the action going. With strong performances and capable direction, Arsenic and Old Lace can still elicit laughter after all these years.

Arsenic and Old Lace runs from July 27—August 19 at the Berkshire Theatre Group’s Fitzpatrick Main Stage. For tickets call 413-997-4444 or online at berkshiretheatregroup.org.

Berkshire Theatre Group presents Arsenic and Old Lace. Cast: Katie Birenboim (Elaine Harper), Ryan Chittaphong (Officer Klein), Mia Dillon (Martha Brewster), Timothy Gulan (Teddy Brewster), Harriet Harris (Abby Brewster), Walter Hudson (Mr. Gibbs/Mr. Witherspoon), Gerry McIntyre (Officer O’Hara), Graham Rowat (Mortimer Brewster), Tom Story (Dr. Einstein), Matt Sullivan (Jonathan Brewster), Michael Sullivan (Officer Brophy), Walton Wilson (The Rev. Dr. Harper/Lieutenant Rooney). Director: Gregg Edelman, Scenic Designer: Randall Parsons, Costume Designer: Hunter Kaczorowski, Lighting Designer: Alan Edwards, Sound Designer: Scott Killian, Wig Designer: J. Jared Janas, Stage Manager: Jason Weixelman. Running Time: 2 hours 30 minutes including two intermissions; at Berkshire Theatre Group’s Fitzpatrick Main Stage, 83 East Main Street, Stockbridge, MA., from July 27; closing August 19.

REVIEW: “Arsenic and Old Lace” in Stockbridge “Arsenic”—Old Hat? by Barbara Waldinger Can this 1941 farcical black comedy still amuse an audience in 2017?

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