Happy New Year!

My all-time favorite New Year's Eve movie excerpt "When Harry Met Sally".


 

Nora Ephron's Take

One of my favorite screenwriters of one of my all time favorite, no, definitely my all time favorite romantic movie, "When Harry Met Sally", has died.  

Nora Ephron is being eulogized in every online news medium the news, talk shows and more.  Why?  She seems to have been the Everywoman we want to be...only a wee bit more diverse and talented in each genre.

Her best loved films include "Sleepless in Seattle", "You've Got Mail", "Julie and Julia", "Silkwood", "Heartburn".  She wrote books about her body, her pregnancies, her divorce from Carl Bernstein, family dynamics, friendship.  I read her last book, "I Hate My Neck" after my husband gave it to me one Christmas.  It was an absolute scream.

I genuinely looked forward to her films.  I expected them to be heartwarming, compelling, romantic and always funny.  

I admired her work although I didn't follow her life.  Judging from the accolades pouring onto the internet, she sounds like one of her characters:  witty, warm, thoughtful, sarcastic, passionate and hungry!  The woman was a Feminist and a foodie!  

I like that she smiled in all her photos.  I like the anecdote I heard Willie Geist tell this morning about being seated next to her at a Washington "insider" style dinner recently.  On her other side was a big name Wall Street guy & Willie said she teased the guy all night long saying things like  "Are you really angry at Obama because he was mean to you?"  He said the guy was cringing.

I like hearing she could be the funniest person in the room and get her point across.  This link takes you to "the best of Nora Ephron interviews".  It won't embed for some reason but worth the viewing.  http://on.aol.com/video/remembering-nora-ephron-517405449

Clip below is "best scenes from some of her movies".

For more on Nora Ephron, check out these well-written pieces on ABC News  and Huff-Post.

Let's All Go To the Snack Bar: Drive Ins turn 79

Today's Google doodle celebrates the 79th anniversary of the drive-in movie theatre.  If you don't know the history of how they began, google it. I am one of those "midlifers" referred to in one of the dozen or so articles I read, "snuggling on the bench seat of ...cars while watching a B movie".

As a late-Sixties teen, my drive-in experiences, while not particularly torrid, were a big part of dating, a learning curve for dealing with boys and, often, an hilarious group experience with friends.

The San Fernando Valley suburbs of Los Angeles are where I cut my teeth on "adult" things.  The drive-in played a significant role as a relatively safe venue for drinking, smoking cigarettes, smoking pot.  As the passion pit of choice, many of my friends had their first or ongoing sexual encounters there. One friend was busted by cops walking the grounds & peeking in cars for illegal or illicit activity.  Unfortunately, she was in a state of deshabille while in the act with her boyfriend.  If memory serves, they were taken to the police station while their parents were called.  Jeez.  My dad would have put me in convent school if it had been me.

I distinctly remember one night my boyfriend, my best friend, her boyfriend and I went to see "2001".   That movie was supposed to be groundbreaking and ahead of its time.   It was, however,  long and boring.  We did the usual things kids did when bored:  drank beer, smoked a joint, got the munchies, went to the snack bar, bought food and candy, ate it and made out.  My GF was so intoxicated she passed out.  She had thick hair down to her waist.  When it was time to go home, we woke her.  She had a Sugar Daddy stuck in that hair.  We couldn't get it untangled.  It was truly stuck.  And Sugar Daddies were BIG.  

Her mother had to cut that thing out of her hair leaving a rather unsightly cut in the middle of the back of her head.  She took the brush to her behind when she finished cutting.  She later cut me out of her wedding as a bridesmaid.

The Sepulveda Drive In was the cheapest drive in in the Valley.  A car load was $1.25.  They definitely showed B movies but we'd all go anyway because nobody had any money and we always had to pony up gas money for the driver.

If you wanted to see a first run movie at the drive in, you'd hide with several friends, in the trunk of the car or under blankets in the back of the station wagon.  Surprisingly, it worked over & over.

My favorite part was always Intermission when the screen lit up with animated food singing & dancing "Let's All Go To the Snack Bar".   I can still sing it.  And do you remember "mushy roomy rooms"?    

I don't know when drive ins lost their luster.  I know as long as we lived in SoCal, we'd go.  Our first viewing of "Star Wars" was at a tri plex drive in and it was thrilling.  As children during the heyday of the drive in, our parents put us in jammies, drove to the drive in, backed the station wagon or truck into the space where we watched the movie from the comfort of our own car bed.  It was great!

Rockin' the Red Carpet at the Oscars

Christian Bale (r)  Mark Wahlberg

I cannot recall a time I didn't watch the Oscars.  My earliest memories are with my mother.  She loved them.  It was a chance to see all the great studio stars come out.  Of course, in those days you still had the great stars attending.  By "great" I mean the studio system glammed-up stars of old:  Bette Davis, Greer Garson, Gregory Peck, James Stewart, Burt Lancaster, etc.  My favorite star of that era was Katharine Hepburn.  Mother and I would wait to see if she'd show.  She never did (well, one year, she finally did).  

The Awards show became a controversial place to make political statements.  I remember Marlon Brando sending Sacheen Little Feather to accept his Oscar and make a plea for the plight of the Native Americans.  As co-presenters, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins made at least one major political statement about the war in Iraq.  

                                                                   

Mostly it's about "Who are you wearing?" or not as in the case of the infamous streaker on stage with David Niven.  I remember Barbra Streisand winning for "Funny Girl" in her awful see through pant suit.  Boy, was that an embarrassment.  I remember a number of Cher get ups, not just the one that gets shown all the time.  Most of all, I remember Bob Hope as emcee.  He was always funny.  He always remarked on his never being nominated for an Oscar.                                                       

Amy Adams

Last night, I watched the show.  It was tediously long with very few highlights.  My husband kept saying, "Can't we watch a movie instead?"  But, I waded through an hour of pre-show fashion (my favorite part) and the entire 3hr 40min ordeal with long-winded acceptance speeches by people nobody really knows or cares about (harsh but true) and the over-the-top decision to have beautiful Anne Hathaway change seven times.  (Seven times!) and the always painful habit of focusing on every nominee in the audience when the winner is about to be announced and the worst part of all, a leering and insensitive Kirk Douglas who cruelly made the Best Supporting Actress nominees wait while he made a spectacle of himself and then wouldn't get off the fucking stage.

Seriously, what an asshole!  Unfortunately, he's lauded as "old Hollywood" and the "old Lion" so he is forgiven. 

  



Awesome Helen Mirren

 I haven't seen most of the movies that were nominated, nor the performances.  I will say, Colin Firth gave a lovely acceptance speech.   Let's just celebrate the red carpet.  It's more fun.       

A 50+ Sharon Stone
Wow!







Reese Witherspoon







Cate Blanchett



Justin Timberlake, his mom
I love the boys who brought their mothers.

   

Nathalie Portman

Mila Kunis

Halle Berry

Russell Brand sans Katy Perry
He also brought his mother.

                                           

I've seldom had as much trouble arranging photos as I have this particular post.  If they are haphazard it's because I give up.  It's probably the Blogger template.  I've read other complaints about it.  I should switch to Word Press but then I'll have to re-learn everything.  waaaah!

 

The American President: Still Relevant

Sixteen years after its release, "The American President" is still topical.  If it were released today,  it would be reflective of our current political landscape.

As a story, this has it all:  a well paced plot, a problematic love affair, dirty politics, ethical dilemmas, altruism vs practicality, etc.  Written by Aaron Sorkin who went on to adapt this as the great television series, "The West Wing", the movie has legs...good lookin' ones too!    

There are so many "moments" that resonate.  Here are two of the best. 

Scene set-up:  In order to placate his Right Wing opponents, hopefull improve his favorability ratings and smooth the way to re-election, the President decides to sacrifice an environmental bill his lobbyist girlfriend, Sydney Wade, has diligently worked to pass.  This decision comes after a lambasting from his political adviser played by Michael J. Fox.




Who is right?  I don't know but the dialog is great.  Somebody should have run and re-run this movie for the Obama Admin last year when they were taking the "high road" as it were.
 
Sydney learns of the renege on the part of her boyfriend, the President.  She breaks off their affair very succinctly. 

"Mr. President, you have bigger things to worry about than losing me.  You just lost my vote."   

Ouch! 

Scene Set-up:  The Prez delivers the speech we've all waited for; the speech his administrative advisors have begged him to unleash. 


Perhaps someone will suggest to the inner circle at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue this film may be streamed any night on Netflix. 

Stop Look Listen

Anybody remember this short? It was made in the Sixties by former Disney animators Chuck Menville and Len Jansen. I just saw it on TCM today and was spellbound. The process used is called stop-motion pixilation. I remember seeing this back in the day.   What strikes me is how clever it is as were a number of  special effects pre-computerized animation.

Seems Like Old Times

"Annie Hall" is on right now.  I have seen it so many times and I continue to watch it because it is timeless.  I usually get sucked in because of Diane Keaton.  I love her.  If I could be any actress, it would be Diane Keaton.  Her personality, her sense of style, her comedic flair, her dithery silliness.  There are so many Keaton movies I love but I guess this is my all time favorite. 

I love this song and I chose this scene because it's a poignant, wistful counterpoint to the comedy.  Boy meets girl, they charm one another, boy refuses to commit, girl starts seeing psychiatrist, boy loses girl. There isn't a mis-step in this movie.  It's classic Woody Allen.  I have incredibly mixed feelings.about Woody Allen because of his bizarre personal life but, that's another post.

Theme Thursday Park

The very first thing that came to mind when I read the TT word was how we used to park to neck.  My fondness for parking knew no bounds as a teenager.  And I wasn't the only one.  Most of us girls operated under the constraints of remaining virgins until we were married.  Most of the guys operated with the intention of thwarting that plan.  To park and to neck was a pretty good prelude to some kind of sexual activity, you know, first base, second base, third base...HOME!   They called it "scoring".  How very male.

                                             Interior shot from hotrodhotline.com

One of the great things about cars back in the day was bench seats.  Unless a guy had a sports car, the car had bench seats.  Bench seats allowed you to spread out, as it were.  You could lie down.  You could have sex.  You could just fool around.  It was comfortable.  Bucket seats were unsatisfactory.  You'd end up climbing in the back seat which was usually too tiny. 

                         

from Saturday Evening Post article

A favorite place to park was the drive in. What a gift!  An evenings' entertainment with a movie, food and usually some heavy necking.   If I was headed to the movies on a date, my parents didn't often ask "where?" They usually wanted to know "What movie?"  My father was much more concerned about the risque value of the movie than the risque activity that might ensue.  Of course, we usually double dated so he probably figured little would happen.  I remember one particular night on a triple date.  My best friend and her boyfriend were in the back of the station wagon.  Remember those little fold down seats?  His brother drove their parent's wagon so he was in the front seat with a new date, a nice quiet girl.  My boyfriend and I were in the middle seat.   His brother and my girlfriend were definitely hot and heavy in the back.  At one point she yelled at him, "Bill!  Why don't you ever cut your fingernails?"  I think my boyfriend and I started laughing but our driver was very embarrassed.  Some first date!

I actually recall some of the the movies I didn't really see:  "2001:  A Space Odyssey", all "The Pink Panther" flicks; "One Million Years BC"; "Planet of the Apes"; "Fahrenheit 451" and probably many more.  None of these movies mattered to us.  The ones that did, the ones we thought would be important or worthwhile, we dressed up for and went to the movie theatres in Westwood or Hollywood or Santa Monica. The experience was just better with big screens, great sound system, beautiful comfortable old theaters. 

But I digress.  It's about parking isn't it?  I still think parking is a nice way to spend an evening.  Take a drive, go sit on a hill overlooking a city of sparkling lights or the ocean while you park on the sand or a drive in restaurant where you can still eat in the car.  I love cars and the joy I've experienced in them...and that includes parking!

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Since I'm now in the movie review business, here's another recommendation.

Had the great pleasure of watching "Fantastic Mr. Fox" this past weekend. I had never read the book. I had no idea what it was about. I usually approach what I view as children's movies with some trepidation, often expecting them to be overly saccharine or silly or something.

This is a wonderful movie. It's clever, smart, witty with incredible voice overs by the actors, all of whom fit their personae.  Most of all, it's wickedly funny.

George Clooney voices the wry & sly retired-from-chicken-thievery Mr. Fox, now a respectable family man and journalist.  Bored with his predictable life, he goes back to the old business, putting them all in jeopardy.

The soundtrack is lots of fun with a cool mix of oldies and original music by Jarvis Cocker.

Theme Thursday Sign

Until the Academy Awards this year, I had never heard of the movie, "District 9". I was downloading movies of interest to our Netflix account when the film came up for its first award.  I added it to the list.

My husband and I viewed the movie this weekend and it literally took my breath away.  It is not what it seems; not overblown science fiction, not a cheap thriller or creature feature. This story has depth, emotion, pathos, moral choices, political content. It's about discrimination, racism, isolation, persecution, genocide, torture. It's a futurist morality play that echoes our mutual pasts.  Boy, is that scary.

What does this have to do with signs, you ask? The dvd opens with a sign of side by side images, one that looks like a men's bathroom logo, the other bug-like and unexplained.  Unlike the video game screen shot above,  there is no writing on the movie screen shot to tell you what to do or why you are staring at these images.  We eventually tried highlighting one and found ourselves on PLAY".

The importance of the signs is made clear a bit later.  Without destroying the movie for you, let's just say it's a must see for anyone with a thinking mind.  It isn't pleasant and there is no fairy tale ending.  The director manipulates the audience with skill, shifting emotions back and forth between characters.  No clear hero or anti hero although at times they come close.

Some of the signs used in the movie were also used as a means of advertising in certain cities.  The signs apparently went viral.  More importantly, it's what they reveal about the content. 

Theme Thursday Kiss

Great screen kisses came immediately to mind when I read this week's thematic subject: kiss. Too many to include so I'll just cover some of my all time faves.

The sweetest most adorable kiss ever was in "Lady and the Tramp".

The longest movie kiss ever filmed (probably up to that time) is between Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant in "Notorious". Roger Ebert wrote, "The production code forbade a kiss lasting longer than three seconds, and so Bergman and Grant alternate kissing with dialogue and eye play, while never leaving one another's arms. The sequence begins on a balcony overlooking Rio, encompasses a telephone call and a discussion of the dinner menu, and ends with a parting at the apartment door, taking three minutes in all. The three-second rule led to a better scene; an actual 180-second kiss might look like an exercise in slobbering."

All I know is, I'd like to have spent two minutes in Cary Grant's arms.

Then the iconic scene "From Here to Eternity". It's still hot.

Oh my.

One of the great movie endings is the New Year's Eve scene from "When Harry Met Sally"; memorable lines and a memorable kiss.




Watching two people fall in love on screen is electric. "To Have and Have Not" gives it up in spades. Whew! Lauren Bacall was one gorgeous dame.

The scene: Slim (Lauren Bacall) kisses Steve (Humphrey Bogart)

Steve: What did you do that for?

Slim: I've been wondering if I'd like it.

Steve: What's the decision?

Slim: I don't know yet.

(They kiss again)

Slim: It's even better when you help.

-- To Have and Have Not, 1944

Now, this is not the scene I wanted from "Gone With the Wind". That scene comes at the end of the first part of the movie after Rhett has helped Scarlett, Melanie, her newborn baby and Prissie escape the burning of Atlanta. He leaves them on the crest of a hill overlooking Tara as he explains he's joined the war effort on the side of Confederates and he asks her to kiss him as a soldier going off to war. She complies momentarily then pushes him away. That was probably the scene over which most women swooned back in the day.

I'll settle, instead, for a funny scene from "GWTW" below when Rhett doesn't kiss her. . .



Oh Rhett!

Theme Thursday Wind as in "A Mighty..."

Love Christopher Guest's movies and his well-tuned ensemble. They are all crazy. I don't know how much is scripted and how much ad lib but if I were going to be in the movies, these are the type I'd want to be in.

Divorce Sixties Style

I wouldn't have been caught dead going to see this movie in 1967. I was way too cool for this kind of drivel. Forty plus years later, it's a fascinating look at mid-Sixties' suburbia. If you long for the old days & ways: smoking in public, drinking like a fish, wearing ladylike clothes, a bar in your basement, precociously wise kids and a single salary supports a family of four, this is the movie for you.

Everyone smokes; the housekeeper irons and smokes at the same time (multi-tasking!); the husbands smoke & drink hard liquor alot a la Mad Men. Tim Matheson, my favorite Animal, plays the oldest son. The upper middle class home about-to-be-bequeathed-in-the-settlement is worth $50,000 (can't find a starter trailer for that nowaways!). The live- in housekeeper makes $250 per month. Top salesman, Jason Robards, makes $32,000 per year and it's good money except for the alimony he's paying ex-wife, Jean Simmons. To solve this financial problem, he's pimping her out, in a manner of speaking, to the best potential new provider. She looks gorgeous; still elegant and perky. Makes me remember a movie she did a few years later called "The Happy Ending"; another movie about marriage but not the least bit lighthearted. Great song came out of that movie, "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" by that most talented of movie songwriting couples, the Bergmans. They also wrote "The Way We Were" my all time favorite love song.

Ahhh, suburban nostalgia from the Sixties. And the movie isn't half bad either. Really!