New Year's Resolution Week Thirty Five: Rear Window

I couldn't wait for this week.  I love Hitchcock.  Truly Madly Deeply love Hitchcock.  I just took the TCM Hitchcock course and got an even better appreciation of him.  I can't say enough about his genius.  So I was really really really looking forward to watching this one.  I've seen in several times before, but I can always watch Hitch again.  I've said before, lately I've been in the mood for either happy movies or pretty movies.  This is a pretty movie.  So yay!

So dinner.  Well, I wasn't up for much tonight.  I was full and this film is just such a true cinematic experience, that I felt very very comfortable serving traditional movie fare!  POPCORN!  It really doesn't hurt that popcorn happens to be one of my favorite foods ever.  I love it so much that it doesn't even need butter.  Pop it in oil, add some salt, and it's just perfect.  Like Hitchcock.  ;-)

Really, is there anything more beautiful than a big old bowl of popcorn?

This movie really is all about Hitch.  The sets, the shots, the color, the framing.  I mean everything was perfect.  Each scene was a poem.  The most impressive set, of course, was the apartment complex.  Each apartment was complete.  It was a very elaborate set.  Hitch was never one to go half way.  I've really come to appreciate him as an artist.  The TCM class that I took really taught me so much about him and changed my perspective of him.  I've always loved Hitchcock.  You cannot be a film buff and not love Hitch.  It's a rule.  I think his genius lies in his ability to create a film that can be enjoyed on many levels.  You can enjoy it simply and just watch it as a movie, you can read deeper into it and see the innovation that Hitch used to pull out your emotions and make you think.  

See how he pulls you into this world?  Just like it pulls Jimmy Stewart.

Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly.  They do really good in their roles.  But were their performances exceptional?  Mmmm, no.  Do I think they could have been done by mediocre actors?  Yes.  Hitch could get what he needed out of anyone.  They were props to get his vision out.  Jimmy Stewart was there to move the story along.  And Grace Kelly?  Well, she was there to reflect the light.  So lovely, but the acting?  Not so much.  For me, all of the emotions and storytelling came from the direction and the shots.  

So lovely.  But I don't know that she served any other purpose.

Everything to Hitch is a prop.  From the actor to the camera.  Notice the reflection in the lens.  Everything is so deliberate.  You pull so much from Hitch's work if you want to.  

Raymond Burr was a great bad guy too.  That look is chilling! 

I really enjoyed this movie.  Like I said, it can be enjoyed on so many levels.  If you just want pretty, it can be that.  If you want to good story, it can be that.  If you're in the mood to analyze a film and read deeper into the techniques Hitch used to convey his story, you can do that too.  Notice the details.  That is the brilliance of Hitchcock.  I had a great night.  AND there was popcorn.  <3

Love,

Olive

New Year's Resolution Week Thirty Four: On The Waterfront

I saw this movie many many years ago when I took a summer creative writing course in high school.  Why did we watch this film?  Can't remember.  We also watched Jaws.  I remember the teacher talking a lot about the emotions the directors were creating in scenes.  That and him talking a lot about the blacklisting of Elia Kazan.  I also remember I kinda liked On The Waterfront.  I wasn't a great student(understatement).  I always did better in summer school.  I always had to take summer school to make up for all of the Fs I got during the regular school year too.  Why I did better in summer school? Dunno.  I did amazing in college, so go figure.  Anyway, this was one of the first classes that I actually did good in and felt accomplished.  So I have very very good memories of this movie, so I was looking forward to seeing it again.

I was out of town and the silent summer film festival was going on last weekend.  That's part of the reason I'm so behind, and I've been super busy all week, so I really had to squeeze in this movie.  I didn't make anything special to watch with this.  Just didn't have time.  I couldn't think of anything anyway.  Just no time.  So no food porn.  Sorry!

Maybe it was because I was so rushed, I just couldn't seem to enjoy this film.  However!  I could appreciate this film.  Was I struck by Kazan's directing?  Not really.  Mind you, I've just come off of a Hitchcock binge because of the TCM class.  No one compares to Hitch.  Try and disagree with me.  Try.  So that could have colored by opinion as well.  Right now it would take something really extraordinary and striking to draw my attention to a shot.  The direction just seemed to kind of blend and not distract.  Maybe that's what he meant to do though, because what really stood out in this movie was the acting.  You didn't need any big fancy scenes.  The acting was so powerful.

Brando.  My God.  What more can you say?  He overwhelms every scene.  I would hate to work next to this man.  He is just so good.  I know nothing that I can say about him will surprise anyone.  He is not overrated.  Personally, I would have found him obnoxious, but on the screen?  Genius.  I know that he put everyone through hell, but the performances that came out of him.... 

He made it look so easy.  It wasn't.  For anyone.

Next, Miss Eva Marie Saint.  I can't believe this was her first role.  You really couldn't tell she was acting.  I was very impressed.  I always saw her as a Hitchcock blonde.  Kind of a decorative ornament.  She is so much more than that.  Especially in this film.  I think Brando brought out the best in her.  She shines the most in scenes with him.  Even the simple ones.

Her first taste of alcohol.  So simple, yet played so perfect and delicate.  Just right.

  So like I said, I could appreciate this movie, I just didn't like it very much this time.  It was so dark and moody.  It was supposed to be, I know.  I know.  I just wasn't in the mood for it.  Lately, I just want happy or at least pretty.  This was neither.  It's a very very good movie if you are in the mood for massive seriousness.  I'll watch it again someday.  

I kind of like that I can appreciate something that I don't particularly like.  Makes me feel like a grown-up.  Naaaaaaaah!

This is what y'all wanted, isn't it??  MWAH!

Love,

Olive

New Year's Resolution Week Thirty Three: Seven Samurai

So tonight is going to be...interesting.  A three and a half hour film in Japanese.  THREE AND A HALF HOURS!  IN JAPANESE!  I don't even want to do something I really like for three and a half hours.  And I'm not feeling too hot tonight.  Ya gotta do whatcha gotta do though, so we'll see.  I guess.

Since we're dealing with a Japanese film, well, we all know what that means!  Sushi!!!  I love sushi.  Plus I didn't have to cook.  Like I said, I'm not feeling so good, so that was a blessing.  I ordered some miso soup, a salad, some veggie sushi, veggie tempura, and almond cookies.  LOTS of food, and no, I didn't finish i all, I just like variety.  It makes me happy.

Japanese dinner.  No depression glass though, sorry.  I wasn't up to doing dishes anyway.

Now for the movie.  Did I make it through?  Yes, yes I did.  Was it as hard as I thought? No, no it wasn't.  It actually went pretty fast.  I was surprised.  It was a little hard to sit through.  I just can't sit still for that long, so I wandered a bit.  Not good, because you can't be distracted AND read subtitles, but it is what it is.  I watched for the most part.  Far more entertaining than I expected.  It was funny and dramatic.  You genuinely liked the characters.  There was a lot of warmth to this film, which I wasn't expecting from Japanese cinema.  There were also several story lines, so there was something in there for everyone.  I really liked it.  Could it have been done faster?  Absolutely!  I felt like there was a lot of unnecessary scenes.  I understand why there were there, but I just don't have patience for that stuff.  You can tell me you work hard without showing me.  But not everyone is me.  Thank goodness, right?

Here are The Boys in all their glory.  You'll like them.

If you've got THREE AND A HALF HOURS to kill, go for this movie.  You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll get to see Samurai butts, and learn how to say "shit" in Japanese.  A lot.  (Unko - FYI)

Next week might be late, maybe even really late, cause The Silent Summer Film Festival is going on, and that's gonna win.  I'll get to my resolution though.  I have so far!  

Love,

Olive

New Year's Resolution Week Thirty Two: Roman Holiday

I know nothing about this movie.  Nothing except that Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn are in it.  I guess I never really had any desire to see it.  Turns out, it's a princess movie.  I don't really like princess movies.  They just don't do much for me.  Too fake or something.  I just can't get into them.  They're pretty and everything, but they take too long.  They spend too much time showing just the pretty.  I always feel like they could be pretty and getting on with the story.  I do really like the two stars though, so I'm hoping they'll get me through this.  Although, Audrey couldn't get me through My Fair Lady. Gosh, I just don't like that movie or the live musical.  Ugh.  Maybe Gregory Peck can pull me through.  I hope.

So dinner.  When I was in Rome I lived off of two things, pasta and pizza.  So fresh and amazing there.  Contrary to what everyone told me, I didn't see too much of a difference between American pizza and Italian pizza.  At least not the margherita pizza.  They just used fresh mozzarella instead of the shredded mozzarella we use.  It was overall lighter, but that's about it.  Same thing with the pasta, everything was fresh and lighter.  They also had incredible table wine.  I'm not a big fan of wine, but this stuff was so good!  I drank so much one night my teeth and lips were stained purple.  It's cheap too.  So I picked pizza tonight.  I was in the mood, and I had some pizza dough and fresh mozzarella to use up.  I made a really simple margherita pizza.  Crushed tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, pepper, oregano, garlic powder.  Nice and easy.  Since I can't have wine anymore, I opted for a nice big bowl of red grapes.  Hey, I take what I can get!  And I always like some sweet with my savory.

Red grapes and margherita pizza.  Not very pretty, but the depression glass is!

So onto the movie.  Weeeeell, it was kinda meh.  Predictable.  It's a princess movie.  I did love seeing so much of Rome.  It is such a beautiful city.  You get to see all of the tourist locations.  The Colosseum, the Spanish Steps, the Roman Forum, the Mouth of Truth, the Trevi Fountain, etc....  Seeing so much of Rome was my favorite part of this movie.

I'm looking at The Spanish Steps...aaaaand maybe the gelato.....

Miss Audrey was her usual elegant, delicate, beautiful self.  No big surprise here.  She's lovely.  This wasn't a big challenging role.  She did fit it perfectly though.  I liked seeing her all drugged up, that was funny.  I also liked seeing her kick some ass.  Such a tiny little thing smacking some brutes around.  Pretty cool.  

I did like watching her fight.  

Now for Gregory Peck.  I do love this man.  He's always so stoic.  Reminds me of Gary Cooper, but with more emotion.  And I love his voice.  It's wonderful.  He was fun in this movie.  Different from other roles I've seen him in.  I liked him.  He played the role well. Even though you knew he was deceiving her, you didn't dislike him.  That's hard to do.

He's so purty.

The movie was nice.  It wasn't as bad as I thought.  Predictable yes, but light and enjoyable.  Not too much silly.  I expected a lot of silly.  Now that I think about it though, you can't do silly with Gregory Peck.  Just doesn't work.   Dinner was very good.  Too much food.  How I love fresh mozzarella and basil!  I had a much better night than expected!

Love,

Olive

New Year's Resolution Week Thirty One: Singin' In The Rain

So we all know that I hate musicals.  Right?  Well this is the exception.  Now, I don't love every second of this film.  Some scenes are just too damn long.  I fast forward though them to be honest.  So with my finger on the fast forward button, I was all ready for tonight!  ;-)

I wasn't hungry.  At.  All.  Even junk food didn't sound good to me.  So no dinner tonight.  Sorry.  I didn't have any ideas anyway.  Booooo.

This movie is just fun.  It makes you smile.  Makes you happy.  I even like some of the singing and dancing.  The songs get stuck in my head though.  I've got "Good Morning" on repeat right now.  It gets stuck in my head from that stupid orange juice commercial too though, so I can't blame the movie.  It just happens.  Speaking of songs, I think "All I Do Is Dream Of You" is in like every other movie Hollywood ever made.  Someone must have had stock in this song!  Or they got it cheap.  Really good song though.  My favorite is Ms Joan in Sadie McKee, of course!  Joan makes everything better.

Now Gene Kelly.  ::::sigh::::  Gene Kelly.  Is there anything better?  The man is just beautiful and charming.  Gorgeous Irish boy.  He's so funny in this.  I just love his voice in this as well, singing and talking.  There's something so warm and inviting about it.   It kinda hugs you.  This is not a deep role or anything, so he's not showing off any acting chops, but he is wonderful in it.  He does exactly what he is supposed to do....make you adore him.  And it doesn't hurt that he is so very very pretty.

I just love this man.

Then there is Debbie Reynolds.  She's just perfect in this role.  Strong, smart, adorable, beautiful.  That's really hard to pull off!  She's very much the girl next door and you root for her from the beginning.  She was only 19 years old when she did this.  Her talent is just amazing.  No wonder she became a legend.  We really lost something when she died.  I miss her.

Adorable and beautiful is really really hard to pull off!

Now for Jean Hagen.  My gosh is she unlikable.  From the start.  She's supposed to be, but ugh, does she do a good job.  She's so beautiful, but everything about this woman is irritating.  Even that stupid star they put on her face as a beauty mark.  I think I've said this before, but I always get her confused with Judy Holiday.  I think it's the voice.  I adore Judy Holiday though, so that makes me like Jean Hagen a bit.  Not much though.

Beautiful, but really obnoxious.  REALLY OBNOXIOUS.

I think you all know the scene that I don't like.  That completely explainable 17 minute dance scene. What is that?  I know most people love it.  I don't get it.  I'm just not that kind of a girl.  I've got too much to do.  Fast forward.....

There's lots of cool dance moves in this, but I just can't warm up to this stuff!

So in spite of the fact that I didn't get to have any delicious for a second week in a row, I did enjoy myself.  Good good movie night!

PS: Snub Pollard has a teeny part in this.  Could be part of the reason this is a musical I actually like!  I'm like that.

Can you find me?

Love,

Olive

 

New Year's Resolution Week Thirty: All About Eve

Everyone loves this film.  You have to love this film.  It's like a rule of classic film fans.  I do have to admit that I sometimes find the films that everyone loves kinda meh.  I think it's because of the buildup though.  Maybe it's the nonconforming rebel teenager that still lives somewhere deep down inside me.  Or maybe I'm just moody.  I am moody, I do admit it.  And I usually end up liking them on second viewing.  I liked this movie from the start though.  I've seen it many times and it's always good.  I never mind watching it again.

I woke up Sunday morning sick.   I ate some old Thai food the night before.  Tasted fine to me.  Did not taste fine to my stomach apparently.   So I was not up to eating dinner.  Not up to much of anything. Bleck.  My joints were aching and I had a headache and other nasty things.  I had to work the next day, so I couldn't really sleep it off because I knew I wouldn't sleep at night then.  You ever try and rest and feel better and not sleep??  It sucks.  Anyway, no food was to be had.  Pity because I had some wonderful appetizers planned for a fancy faux cocktail party.  Oh well, next time.

So this blog is late too.  I wasn't feeling good.  So not up for writing.  I did watch the movie on time though.  Promise.

Like everyone else in the world, I love Bette Davis in this movie.  Everything about her.  Her delivery is amazing.  I think it is the role that is probably closest to Davis as a person.  Honestly, I've never been a huge fan of Davis' acting. (Don't hit me)  I just find it unnatural.  Can't help it.  She did great in this film and of course, Baby Jane.  There are a few others as well, but overall, I never get lost in her roles.  Plus periodically, she seems to use this high pitched voice.  I can't figure out why other than her voice got deeper as she got older and she felt that it aged her.  Just my thoughts.  As Margo Channing though, wow.  Perfection!  Even the way she looked.  So perfect.  Her hair, her makeup, her wardrobe.  I even love her name in this!  I think this is her signature role.

It doesn't get any better than this.

Next Anne Baxter.  Ugh.  Ok, she does an amazing job in this film.  She's so good, I cannot stand her.  I'm not supposed to either.  She's a fake, phony, manipulative, butt kisser.  I find her so irritating.  Can't believe the other characters fall for her BS.  That's the one disappointing part of this film.  From the get go, I wasn't fooled.  I think I should have been!  Her true colors should have been a bit more of a surprise, don't you think?  Her awfulness makes me adore the ending even more.  Not many movies make me evil giggle, this one does.  

Get as naked as you want honey, I still don't buy your BS.

That touch of Marilyn in this film makes me love this film too.  She is stunning.  You can see her star power right away.  She just lights up the screen and she's so funny!  Her delivery is spot on.  To me, she steals every scene.  Can't help it.  I love her.

Sic 'em girl!!

So even though I was so so sick, I still had a pretty good night.  Wish I woulda had some delicious food.  Wish I wouldn't have felt like crap.  Other than that, a fine time was had by all.

Love,

Olive

 

New Year's Resolution Week Twenty Nine: Gun Crazy

I love Noir, just love it, and this one looked really good.  My favorite is Detour, and this had the same shoe string budget.  Those are usually the best, dunno why.  I knew nothing about the movie other than it looked kinda cheesie, so I was going into this blind.  And fortunately, I was just in the mood for that!

I had no help for food again, so I had to come up with my own.  In noir films, they always seem to end up in diners, so I started thinking about diner food.  I love diners.  I'd rather eat at a diner than anywhere else.  What can I say, I'm a simple girl.  Denny's is the best ever.  It's America's Diner!  Anyway....  Now most of the time at a diner, what do you get?  Breakfast!  Which is perfect, cause of the schedule I had to keep this week.  I missed watching the movie last night and had to watch it this morning.  So breakfast!!  And I had all of stuff in the house, so no grocery shopping.  Nice.  I like pretty simple breakfast, so I made hash browns, toast and eggs.  However, the eggs I used were fresh duck eggs.  If you like eggs, and you can score some duck eggs, I HIGHLY recommend them.  They are so rich and flavorful.  The yolks are nice and big.  Decadent!  To drink, since I can't have coffee(BAHHHH!), I made this drink called Inka.  It's a polish coffee substitute made from wheat.  Not a trace of caffeine, cause even decaf has a touch of it.  It's not going to fool anyone, but it's really not bad.  I added some all natural creamer, and it was pretty yummy.

Breakfast on depression glass!!!  Toast, duck eggs, hash browns, and Inka.  I got to use my depression glass coffee mugs!  It's from France.  ;-)

I was so impressed with this film.  Shoe string budgets tend to bring out the best in classic films for some reason.  Maybe because they can't rely on fancy stuff to get the story across, maybe because they hire actors and staff that really need the work and try harder.  Dunno, but they're good!  The two main characters were played by Peggy Cummins and John Dall.  I'd never heard of these actors before nor seen a film with them in it.  At least not that I remember.  

Peggy Cummins plays a wonderful femme fatale.  She's striking and strong and manipulative.  She's a wonderful actress, she conveys so much with her eyes.  They give her away and let you know what she really is right off the bat.  Her acting reminded me a lot of Jane Greer in Out Of The Past.

Lookit her check him out!  Her use of her eyes is amazing!

John Dall plays a sweet simple nice guy.  You root for him.  He's great at making you like him, and you actually like him so much and understand his character that you desperately want him to make the right choices.  But it's noir, and you know he won't!  The attraction between Dall and Cummins is amazing.  You can feel it.  I wonder if they were together in real life?  The attraction is that good!

The attraction between these two seeps through the screen.

I loved the story line, and was excited to see what would happen next.  It really held my interest.  There were some wonderful scenes, especially when they were shooting.  There were very creative shots that helped keep the excitement up.  

Isn't this cool?

I had a great time with this.  Breakfast was awesome, I did add too much oil to the hash browns, so they were a little too greasy.  Never thought I'd say that!  HA!  The duck eggs made up for it!  And butter and bread?  Well, you can't go wrong with that!  Ever!  The film was even better than expected.  I loved it!  The ending really surprised me.  I highly highly recommend this film, even if you don't like noir,   It's that good.  Oh, and go watch Detour too!  Fab-u-lous!

Love,

Olive

PS: They did end up eating in a diner, by the way.  I was ridiculously excited about it!

They had hamburgers, maybe if they had breakfast, things would have turned out better!