Ha! Ahhh, a few seconds to the new year in Italy--gotta go check my cams!
Buon Anno, tutte!
Well, now I don't know what movie to watch tonight! When I dug out the tape on which I have "Holiday", I discovered that the other movies on the tape are "The Graduate" and "Wuthering Heights". (Back in the days when I first got a VCR, Ted Turner hadn't yet bought up all the good movies, so I used to tape lots of movies off of AMC and squeeze multiple movies onto a single tape.) I've seen "Holiday" fairly recently, but I haven't seen "Wuthering Heights" in ages, and I've heard good things about it from a trusted source (yeah, I'm talkin' to you), so maybe I'll watch it instead.
I enjoyed "The Incredibles" because it was silly and fun, which was exactly what I was in the mood for. However, I don't really understand why Joe Morgenstern (the Wall Street Journal's movie reviewer, with whom I usually agree) chose it as the best movie of the year. I thought the best parts were the scenes with the costume designer who designs all the super-heroes' costumes. She has a hilarious speech in which she describes several of her designs, including one that's made of a fabric that's "virtually indestructible, but still breathes like Egyptian cotton". If they made a sequel about her character, I'd go see it in a minute.
Still no glimmer on Raggedy's question. The only fictional TV writer I can think of is the character Dick Van Dyke played on The Dick Van Dyke Show, but that wasn't a movie, and he wasn't part-time. Maybe inspiration will strike in 2005.
Well, I'm off to eat and drink for New Year's--I am also glimmerless, although I have a sneaky idea--but I have to figure out Part time mention with president.
bree, the costume designer is EVERYONE's favorite! And one look and you know they are doing the legendary Edith Head! The glasses, the haircut and the accent! it's wonderful!
I have to see if Holiday is available in DVD, I still only have the laser disc of it!
Happy New Year all! Back on tomorrow!
I'm very happy to hear that Bree enjoyed the movie and is now settled in to enjoy a good cry with Heathcliffe and Cathy, a movie which I did not recommend, mind you. I only said it's my favorite of all time. Of course, I was madly in love with and still carry a torch for Olivier.
It's taken me an hour and a half to recall the host of those AMC good old days. Bob Dorian, I believe. Wonder what he's doing these days.
I do hope Loislane goes easy on the partying tonight. That party stuff can be rather scary at times.
And now, I'm worried about Mac. Did she enjoy the movie and is she safe at home? Please let us know, Mac.
Well, 45 minutes to go and then I'll see what I can do about uncorking that bottle of champagne. I'm getting very impatient waiting.
See you all next year.
Let's take a cup 'o kindness yet for auld lang syne:
or
"What do they know of heaven and hell, Cathy, who know nothing of life?"
(just thought I'd let you know which movie I decided on)
Sigh -- great photos, both of them!
I remember Bob Dorian on AMC too, but for some reason the host for this one was Gene Klavan. It was a Valentine's Day special, but of course I have no idea what year.
Happy New Year, everyone!
HAPPY NEW YEAR
Wise choice, Bree. Great quote. <sigh>
Yes, yes, I'm home. Went to the movies, then to the grocery store (for cabbage and black-eyed peas for tomorrow) and then came home and made a bunch of New Year's phone calls.
I saw Beyond the Sea - the one about Bobby Darin, directed by and starring Kevin Spacey. I had a blast. The music was wonderful, and Spacey can really sing and dance. I must say that I don't really remember Bobby Darin (or Sandra Dee) very clearly, so I had no conflict with reality at all.
Gee, mac, do you mean you didn't see any of the "Tammy-thon" that one of the movie channels aired last weekend? Of course, Sandra Dee wasn't the original Tammy (the role having been originated by Debbie Reynolds), but she played the character in a couple of sequels. I caught a bit of "Tammy and the Doctor", in which an impossibly young Peter Fonda played the doctor (back in the days when his career was still on a leading-man-in-romantic-comedies track), and Sandra Dee attempted a southern accent that even I could tell sounded nothing like anything that has ever been spoken in the South, or any other part of the world.
VCR alert: Morgan Freeman will be the guest on tomorrow night's installment of "Inside the Actor's Studio". Has the man ever given a bad performance?
And then there was Sandra Dee's dramatic role opposite Troy Donahue in "A Summer Place".
And Gidget.
I think almost every movie magazine in the Sixties featured Sandra Dee and Bobby Darin on its cover. I remember Darin mostly for "Mack the Knife", but don't remember him performing "Beyond the Sea" which apparently was his big hit.
Glad you enjoyed the movie, Mac.
Am in complete agreement about Morgan Freeman, Bree.
I saw The Aviator this afternoon. As always, I am impressed at the scale of what Scorsese has achieved. I'm just not sure I liked the movie.
I definitely liked Cate Blanchett as Hepburn. I'm still digesting the rest of it.
What didn't you like about Aviator, Mac?
Well, it took nearly 3 hours to tell only 20 years in Hughes' life. I didn't mind the time too much, but I was surprised that more of his life story wasn't told.
And several of the descending-into-madness scenes seemed redundant to me. We already know how he ends up.
Anyway, I don't want to tell too much about it before Bree has a chance to see it!
OK. Fair enough, Mac. Thank you.
May I recommend an oldie. It stars Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon.
I'm off to do laundry - if I'm not too sleepy, I'm going to watch House of Sand and Fog which I've got from Netflix.
I'll have to get some info on Netflex now that I have a DVD player. I won't be able to copy the new movies though. They're copy protected. (My problem is that I want most of the movies I see. )
Whatever you do, don't rent The Chronicles of Riddick. I pushed the wrong button on my TV trying to get a channel that I didn't know had been changed and got Riddick on Pay Per View. Comcast said they won't charge me.
i adore Morgan Freeman, and thank you sooo much for the stunning pix, Aggie. God, weren't all of them impossibly beautiful then? Gee Lawrence, Cary...sigh.
Hope you all had a great time! We ate and drank slowly and through many courses. Serious fun. Then we walked home around 1-1:30am and crashed! Still read a bit to get to sleep and zonked until this am around 10am!
Ahhh, vacation.
Taking in some of the Monk-athon on USA; great fun to catch a few of the great ones I missed.
Then I get my Holiday fix!
You won't believe it, Loislane, but just a few minutes ago while I was putting some pieces in my daughter's jigsaw puzzle, I was wondering how your New Years Eve party turned out and was going to post an inquiry. You beat me to it. Sounds like you had fun.
I have a very old book of portraits of the stars of the 30s and 40s and some 50s titled: They Had Faces Then. I thought that was a good name for it.
Recap:
Psychiatrist
Pianist
Fictional U.S. President (Part-time)
TV writer (Part-time)
