Snippets

I’ve been reminded recently that taking care of a kitten is a shit ton of work.  There is an extra mouth to feed (which has to happen separately because Cosmo will eat ALL the things) and then there is the dedicated time to wearing out the kitten each night.  Layer that with giving Cosmo tons of extra attention and being ever vigilant on where the kitten is and what he’s getting into.

Seriously, it’s like a full time job.  On top of my super busy full time job.

All that to say that again my movie viewing has been sporadic at best.

Beth recently posted something on FB about what movies folks will always stop on when channel surfing.  What will you pick up at any point and watch?  This was a great post; it’s so interesting to see what people have watched enough times to make it a “keeper".

Well, that has pretty much been my life for the last couple weeks…although the films I watched needed to also have the added criteria of being dispensable at any moment.

So I thought for this post, I’d take you through some of the films that I will almost always stop on and the snippets I got to see.

National Treasure - released in 2004

This movie is on all the fucking time.  Seriously. Almost every hour of every day you can find this movie on some channel or another.  And I’m not saying this because I mind.  I enjoy this movie completely.  I just find it astonishing.

I think this film has such staying power because it’s really fun and because you can drop in, watch a bit, then blink out pretty easily.  Nicholas Cage is charming and he and Justin Bartha (Riley) have great chemistry.  Honestly, I can take or leave Diane Kruger.  She leaves me kind of cold.

This time I popped in on National Treasure when they were at the dad’s house with the Declaration of Independence.  They had just stolen it and were looking to check the back of it for secret messages using lemon juice and a blow dryer (like you do).  Jon Voight plays the dad…I’m never sure what to think about him and sadly that’s largely due to his daughter.  She acts circles around him, without a doubt, but what kind of dad are you to raise such a wing nut in the first place? (We can all pretend Angelina is this benevolent, artistic activist but we can’t forget that she practically MADE OUT with her brother at an awards show. Blick.)  I popped back out when the authorities started to chase them.  Honestly, I probably would have hung in longer, because I can get totally sucked into this movie, but I’m pretty sure Finn had knocked something over that I had to deal with (this will become a theme in today’s post).

(My drink pairing for this movie is always a Sam Adams. Because, come on!)

Enchanted - released in 2007

I love this movie.  I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve watched it.  It’s got all the elements I enjoy - Cinderella-esque, musical numbers, animation. Trifecta of good.

When I worked on Madagascar (the first) we were working with this world-renowned animator, James Baxter.  He had worked at Disney for years (on the biggies: Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Lion King) and all our animators revered him.  He’s like an animation celebrity.  I don’t think he was having the best time working on our film (he wasn’t a huge fan of working on computer animation at the time) and left DW to start his own company, doing hand animation, toward the end of production.  The first film his company worked on:  Enchanted.

Enchanted uses both 2D and 3D animation.  James’ company worked on the 2D stuff.  The film was produced by Walt Disney Pictures, so naturally the design is pure Disney and beautiful.  The 3d is also lovely and charming.  

I picked up this movie toward the end…Giselle is a 2D girl come to life in the real world.  She is engaged to a prince in the 2D world but meets someone (Patrick Dempsey) in the real world and falls in love.  My snippet comes when her 2D prince has followed her to the real world, takes her on a “date” (which never happens in the animated world - they just meet and get married the next day), then they go to a ball, where Patrick is.  There is a super romantic dance scene, then the Wicked Witch (Susan Sarandon, who is always awesome) turns into a computer animated Dragon and creates havoc.  This is where I had to leave it, because Finn knocked something over and I had to deal with it (See? A theme.).

(My drink pairing for this is a Pina Colada or something equally sweet and fruity.  The kind of drink that you suck down then realize you are hammered.)

The Mummy - released in1999

This is another movie I love.  Again, it has so many elements I require in multiple viewings - a re-vamp of a classic monster movie, funny, special effects.

This was maybe the last time I think poor Brendan Fraser looked good in a film.  He was already starting to deteriorate in The Mummy Returns, poor guy.  Plus, I think he just hasn’t chosen good roles for himself since this film.  Rachel Weisz has done much better, obviously, and I include her marriages in this.  She clearly married Darren Aronofsky to prove she is a deep thinker and possibly a bit bleak…like his films.  Then she married Daniel Craig because she had enough of deep thinking and wanted a hot body.  I can’t blame her.

I dropped in on this film right after they fight the Mummy the first time.  They are back in Cairo and Fraser is trying to get Weisz to go back to England.  She doesn’t want to be treated like a weak woman, so she’s fighting him every step of the way.  The Mummy comes to call on her, but a cat confronts him and makes him dissolve into a whirlwind of sand.  Nice effect, especially for the time.  I will admit, this film is ALL about the particle animation, though.  They use it a BUNCH.  I’m not judging…just saying.

The moment I watched had the added bonus of one of the American archeologists being sucked dry from the inside out by the Mummy.  Excellent!  Then…Finn knocked something over and I had to deal with it.

(My drink pairing for this film is a Pimm’s Cup. It’s British, which this film sometimes pretends to be.  Perfect.)

My takeaways:

#1 - I’d love to hear what movies you guys pop in and out of when they’re on TV.   Leave me comments!

#2 - This photo depicts what my life is like right now.  Surprisingly, this did not result in a “knocked over” situation!

xoxo...hashtagSueslife

Everybody loves a ginger!

I haven’t watched any movies (or really much of anything) for the last two weeks.  This is 100% due to the fact that I obtained something much more entertaining…a kitten.  

Finn is his name.  He is ridiculous and adorable and ginger.  He just turned 3 months old and is as small as can be.  I am totally in love.

I had forgotten, because it’s been awhile since Cosmo was tiny, but when there is a kitten in your house it’s pretty much all you want to watch.  So no movies.  Because this:

What I thought I’d do instead, is highlight some excellent performances by ginger cats in films.

Jonesy 

Alien - released in 1979

Jonesy is the resident cat on the Nostromo - the commercial hauler that was sent out into deep space to answer an SOS.  And I can guarantee, if Jonesy had been captain of that ship, there was no way in hell they would have responded to that call. He knew that was a suicide mission from the moment he woke up from hypersleep.

An example - Jones was having NONE OF IT when Harry Dean Stanton was trying to get him to come out of his hidey-hole.  “Um, HDS,” Jonesy mews, “there is a big mean motherfucker behind you and I’m pretty sure he’s gonna eat you.”  Harry Dean didn’t respond (he is SO not a multitasker) so Jonesy slinks back into the safe place and Harry bites the big one.  “Told you.”  Jonesy thinks. “Idiot."

Jonesy makes it off the Nostromo presumably in one piece (I think after the first film there was speculation that the alien had impregnated him...but no way - he’s a badass cat!), off to live another day and chase holographic mice.

(My drink pairing is a huge glass of milk.  If you don’t know why, go watch the movie immediately.)

Cat

Breakfast at Tiffany’s - released in 1961

Cat is the quintessential ginger tabby.  He’s big and handsome, mellow and independent.  He and Holly (Audrey Hepburn) have the perfect relationship…they lead totally independent lives together.

In reading about Cat today, this was a little gem I found and thought was spot on:  The simply named “Cat” endures all sorts of horrors as the pet of Audrey Hepburn’s Holly Golightly, not the least of which being Mickey Rooney’s racist depiction of Yunioshi.

Heh.

I wouldn’t really call what he endured “horrors” per se (well, the Mickey Rooney performance to be sure).  He lived through some wild 1960's parties, some petting and a gooey smooch scene at the end.  He’s all mashed in between Audrey and George Peppard.  I’m sure he’s thinking, “Get. The fuck. Off me.”

Cat (real name: Orangey.  Seriously, person who named this cat?  That was the best you could do??) was quite the actor, apparently.  He was in The Incredible Shrinking Man and the Mission: Impossible television show.

He won a PATSY (animal equivalent of an Academy Award) for his work in this film.

(My drink pairing for this is a gin martini with a lemon twist.  Classy.)

Crookshanks

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - released in 2004

There are all sorts of theories about Crookshanks, apparently.  Originally owned by Lily Potter.  Is actually Regulus Black.  I love when people have a TON of time on their hands.

Crookshanks is another great ginger cat!  He takes care of business in the Harry Potter books and films.  He knows Scabbers is a big fake.  He is a friend of Padfoot (Sirius Black).  He’s kind of always a dick to Ron. 

Crookshanks is played by a cat named Crackerjack, and I read that the trainers had to collect all the hair he shed, ball it up and clip it back on to him to get his ratty, unkempt look.  Poor method-actor Crackerjack!  Plus, I have this picture in my mind of Crackerjack doing all his stunts, perfectly and in one take, but thinking “Jesus CHRIST it’s hot in here.  Can someone turn on a goddamn fan?”  In a British accent.

Okay, maybe not.

(Duh.  Drink Butterbeer.)

Puss in Boots

Shrek 2 - released in 2004

Well, come on.  You knew I was gonna add this one, right?

This was the first animated movie I worked on when I started at Dreamworks.  I remember sitting in animation dailies and our animator was creating the shot where Puss uses his sword to mark the tree with a P.  I couldn’t believe how stinkin’ adorable he was!  And then to hear Antonio Banderas’ super sexy voice coming out of him?  I thought “oh shit, this is gonna be big.”  I mean, what cat lady WOULDN’T want her adorable tomcat to sound like Antonio Banderas?  That’s like a win-win, right ladies?

Puss is the ultimate ladies cat, but loves his bros as well.  Once he meets Shrek and Donkey, they are bosom buddies and he’s loyal to the end.  Maybe not so cat-like, actually, but hey - it’s a cartoon.

Working on this film was a fantastic introduction to working at Dreamworks Animation.  I had a dream boss (lookin' at you, Dahlman!), the animators were not only top in their field but also so nice, and hilarious directors.  Then, it became the highest grossing animated film, holding that title until this year, I think.  What a way to start a new job, huh?

Puss arguably steals the movie.  He has SO many good lines, one of my favorite being when he's getting arrested and they find a little baggie in his boot.  "Catnip!" the guard cries.  "Um...that's not mine" says a sheepish Puss.  God love that little stoned cat!

(My drink pairing would be my (well deserved and certainly abused) drink of choice during those years...Margarita, on the rocks, no salt.)

My takeaways:

#1 - I helped rescue a ginger kitten when I was about 24 years old.  He grew into a fine cat and I've wanted one ever since.

#2 - I didn't mean to slight any other cat actors (cactors?).  Siamese, Persians, etc, have made their mark (figuratively) on the silver screen.  

#3 - If anyone is in a shitty mood, come visit me.  You can't stay grumpy when you watch a kitten play.  It's a law.

xoxo...hashtagSueslife

Mamma Mia!

This year marks 20 years since my mother passed away and today would be her 95th birthday, so I'd like to do a bit of reminiscing in this post. Hope you don't mind.

As anyone who has read my blog before knows, my mom was a huge influence on my movie watching (and let's be honest, my everything else) from way back and typically on or around her birthday I try to watch a movie that either she loved or that I think she would love.  The year my mother passed away, serendipity stepped in and on her actual birthday a local theatre had a Gone With the Wind revival, which was her favorite movie ever.  It was pretty epic to go see that movie on that particular day.  My emotions were very raw, as you can imagine, but it was kind of soothing to watch the gorgeous, lush Technicolor images I had seen SO many times in my youth; it made me feel almost like she was there with me.

Some Athena Anita Caragianis Erokan bullet points for your enjoyment:

• She was fiercely loyal to her family.
• She had two brothers and three sisters and, of course, her parents (my yiayia and pappou).  She would do anything for them and missed them terribly when she lived in Istanbul and California.  She even named one of her sons after her baby brother, John.  These are the people that made me understand all about Greek pride. 
• I think she still watches over me:  the most striking example being the day after she died.  It was Christmas day (of all fucked up things) and my family was trying to retain some semblance of normalcy, I think.  I was driving over to the East Bay in the early morning.  Just before I got on the Bay Bridge I got pulled over by the highway patrol. Seriously?? I immediately started thinking "okay, I'm gonna tell them my mom died yesterday and I'll start crying..."  I was actually trying to channel my mom because she was really good at getting out of tickets.  Once, when she was pulled over for speeding, she said "Officah..." in the Bostonian accent she never lost and the cop (who OF COURSE was from Boston) immediately caved and let her off the hook.  She batted her eyes and giggled.  Honest to God. Anyway, it turns out the cops noticed that my tire was dangerously low, called AAA and waited with me until the guy came to change my tire.  Weird, right?
• She knew how to negotiate a deal.
• When I went to Turkey several years ago and met my father's family, all they could talk about was her.  I'd say "What was my dad like when he was young??" and they would all say (seriously, ALL of them) "Oh, your dad was so nice and your MOTHER...!".  Then they would launch into crazy stories about how she shook everything up when she moved there.  One of my favorite stories was about three young girls (cousins?  I'm still unclear on how everyone was related in my dad's family!) who wanted my mom to teach them English.  My mom said sure, but they had to repay her by doing chores for her.  These girls had NEVER done chores before (my dad's family had money) and were horrified but my mom stood firm.  Apparently this stuck with them because they told me this story 50 years later!
• She was also amazingly good at bartering/haggling - which is infinitely embarrassing when you are a preteen.
• She was ridiculously brave.
• My dad was in the Turkish Navy and in the early 50's it was pretty uncool to have a Greek wife (like he-could-get-kicked-out uncool).  So when she moved there (which was brave enough - leaving her home, parents and siblings to go start a family in a foreign country!) she had to change her first name so no one would know she was Greek ("Athena" would have been a dead giveaway).  They picked "Anita".
• She was PC before it was hip.
• When I was 11 years old and told her I wanted to spell my name Sioux (I think we were studying Native Americans, this was way before Siouxie Sioux...I'm old, people), she was having NONE of it; reminding me how rude it would be since we weren't American Indian. I was irritated but she was right.
• She was ridiculously accident-prone.
• She had a shit ton of scars, including one at her hairline from falling through a plate glass window when she was little.
• When I was young she literally almost rolled off a cliff in Santa Cruz onto the rocks at the bottom.  I nearly had a heart attack that day.
• She was a terrible influence on my friends.
• I would come home from work when I was in high school and she'd be sitting at the dining room table with some of my friends, all smoking.  Smoking. With. Them.  Sigh.  They loved hanging out with her.
• She was a total lightweight.
• One glass of alcohol made her goofy and giggly.  Once she was walking behind me after drinking half a glass of wine at a Christmas party and stumbled, dumping it all over me.  Thanks Mom! Your 15 year old smells like a dive bar!
• She could be kind of a jerk.
• To be "funny" she would comb my leg hair.  Har har.
• She was NOT okay when I was a jerk.
• Her famous line, when I was being an asshole, was "I always love you, but right now I don't like you."  Brutal.
• My brothers had a different experience with my parents than I did.
• She frequently told people that she felt it was MUCH easier to raise boys than girls.  When I finally did the math on that one and realized she meant ME specifically (I have no sisters) I confronted her.  She just smiled at me.
• She was pretty hilarious.
• When she lived in Turkey and was learning the language, she was entertaining with her mother in law (who was a bit stuffy, as I understand it).  She wanted to ask my dad's cousin if he was too warm and if she should open a window (I think he was some big wig in the town or something so everyone was being extra polite), but mispronounced the phrase and asked him if he had to take a shit (to be fair, the phrases sounded similar according to her).  She thought it was funny. My grandmother was horrified.  The cousin LOVED my mom after that.  And I think they opened the window.

There are a million things that I miss about my mom, but maybe the biggest things are her smile and laugh.  She had a huge, often used laugh. And her smile lit up a room. I would give anything to see it again.

And in case you want to channel a bit of Anita Erokan (which I highly recommend...it's liberating) you can start by yelling "You have a prairie!  Move!!" to any cars that are in your way when you're driving and then maybe watch a movie. Here are some (beside GWTW) she enjoyed:

Singin' In The Rain (or anything with Gene Kelly, frankly)

It Happened One Night 

Gilda

Ocean's Eleven (the original of course)

Wuthering Heights  

Silverado

Funny Girl (mostly for Omar Sharif, who had "bedroom eyes" - her phrase)

Happy birthday Mom.  I'm making some baklava in your honor.

xoxo...hashtagSueslife

Raiders! (no, definitely NOT the football team)

A few years ago I went to see a film called Raiders of the Lost Ark:  The Adaptation, which is a shot for shot "remake" of Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark made in the early 80's by some kids from Mississippi.

Then a couple weeks ago, I followed that up with a viewing of Raiders! The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made, which is a documentary about the film and the creation of the one scene they were unable to do when they were children:  the WWII plane blowing up. 

Watching this movie brought up ALL SORTS of childhood memories for me, most of which star my dear, dear friend Norm.  In fact, Norm is the first friend I ever had being that we met when he was born, 4 months after me.  Truth be told, we got married by maybe a clown (?) at a carnival when we were about five.  I'm not sure we ever had it officially annulled.

(this is one of my favorite pics of Norm and me. It captures us perfectly - Norm is clearly explaining physics to my family and I'm thinking "kitty!".  Also, I just noticed that my plastic (not stuffed) cat apparently was ready to attack Norm's cowboys!)

Norm and I were some original role-playing gamers.  One of the first things I remember us doing was re-enacting Daktari, a show that probably no one remembers (Daktari is Swahili for Doctor).  It ran for four seasons (who knew!?) and was the story of a (white white white!) veterinarian and his daughter who live in Africa and tend to the animals there.  They also defend the animals from poachers, etc.  They had two pets - Judy the chimp and Clarence the Lion (I think we can make a well educated guess as to why I loved this show).  

We constantly dragged ALL of Norm's stuffed animals out and "played" this show.  We were still a product of our times, however, so Norm always was the vet and I was the daughter.  Still, I remember her as being pretty cool so I was okay with this casting.

Fast forward ten years to the summer of '78.  I know I've written about this before, but Star Wars blew our minds.  I mean BLEW. OUR. MINDS.  Norm and I had a bet going as to who would see the film 10 times first (Norm won, dang it!) and it seemed like our every waking moment was discussing, analyzing, being one with this film.  Total immersion.  In between throwing Norm's dog Timmy his stick (he was OBSESSED with that stick - Timmy, not Norm) we started quoting the film.  And I don't mean random quotes.  I mean we started at the beginning and quoted to the end.  Norm was always infinitely better at remembering than me, but we had a blast doing it.

Remember, this was before videotapes (although there may have been an LP with some of the dialog?) so we were just recreating from memory what we had seen in the movie theatre.

Watching the documentary Raiders! took me right back to that time.  Basically, these two 11 year olds saw Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981 and it BLEW. THIER. MINDS.  They loved it so much, like we felt about Star Wars; they had to somehow become one with it, they needed to ingest it.  And clearly just quoting the hell out of it wasn't enough for these guys - they decided to dedicate their summers to recreating it shot for shot.  I'm sure they didn't think it would really take the whole of their next seven summers (and I'm sure they wouldn't have thought in their wildest dreams that 30 years later they would STILL be working on it), but they were fully committed.  

They nearly set their house on fire, spent their entire allowances and in the end nearly killed someone, so to call it an amateur production is a gross understatement.

But they just fucking did it.

And I admire them for that.  If Norm and I only had a way to access a video camera back then...Timmy could have TOTALLY played Chewbacca. 

Both of them, Chris Strompolos (Greek!) and Eric Zala, had troubled childhoods and clearly needed something to distract them.  And fortunately they have very different skill sets - Chris is a natural born actor (Greek!) and Eric is a total organized, anal-retentive producer-type - so their partnership was perfect.

They discovered that nothing was easy, so they became super innovative in scheming up ways to create each scene.  Their other partner in crime was a guy named Jayson Lamb.  He was at the time (and continues to be) an incredibly eccentric kid who became their special effects wizard.  

My favorite thing is that they would view their "dailies" at the TV station Chris' mom worked at.  At some point an adult who worked there saw that they basically set Eric's basement on fire for the Mongolian bar scene and called foul.  So they got some vagrant-y type dude who lived on Chris' family's property to "supervise". I think he might have been drunk and/or stoned the whole time.

Like all creative collaborations there was plenty of internal strife.  The boys ended up hating each other for years (to be fair, Chris the Greek was pretty much a massive douche and Eric the producer was very wimpy,  And Jayson was and remains just flat out weird) after they were finally finished with the project (minus the explosion scene).

Many years later a VHS (Clearly someone was doing their own archeological dig to find a fucking VHS!) surfaced at an underground film festival in Austin.  This led to a bit of actual fame for Chris, Eric and Jayson.  Their film became a cult phenomenon that eventually led to a Kickstarter campaign to get that last coveted shot in the can.

Well, you can imagine that nothing went smoothly (including that they practically killed their explosion "expert"...I'd hazard to say he was no "expert" since he nearly blew himself up), yet in the end they get their shot and it makes for an incredibly entertaining documentary.  It's lovingly done, you get the feeling that the filmmakers wished they had done something as cool when they are 11 years old.  As do I.

(My drink pairing with this is Bartles and Jaymes Wine Coolers (do they still make them??).  Seems like that's what these guys would have stolen from their mom's fridge for their wrap party.)

My takeaways:

#1 - Honestly, this puts me in the mind of the documentary, American Movie (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMFZOu8rDUQ) which is fucking brilliant.  If you haven't seen it, watch it as soon as you can.

#2 - I'm pretty sure neither Norm's parents nor mine would have been okay with any of these kind of shenanigans so our project would have been shut down before it was started.

#3 - Norm, even though our marriage was a sham, you know I still love you!

xoxox....hashtagSueslife

Raymond Chandler

Many of you know this...I'm an audiobook fan.  I had a moment of doubt about them initially when I realized that the reader and director/producer are influencing my interpretation of the characters by giving them voices and my interpretation of the story by their vocal inflections,  but once I reconciled that I was ALL IN.  I have no doubt that I am influenced but mostly I feel that its an enhancement much like a film's interpretation of a story. (And some folks - you know who you are - question how you can skim through parts in an audiobook.  You can.  The technical term for it is  "napping" ;)

Recently I chose to listen to Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep, primarily because the reader, Ray Porter, is one of my favorites (and it was on sale).  Wow it was awesome. It turns out I hadn't read any Chandler (I thought I had but I think I was getting him confused with Jim Thompson) and I have to tell you, I kind of fell in love.  I have been a longtime fan of pulp fiction and film noir, most notably Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon - both book and film - and I guess I was expecting it to be in a similar vein.  The vein might be similar but the blood is WAY different.  (Apologies for that terrible metaphor.)

His style is masculine, terse, sarcastic, wry, witty, elegant, poetic.  Nearly every phrase he writes is quotable.  His dialog is amazing. Chandler's main character, Philip Marlowe, seems less jaded than Sam Spade which makes him a bit more accessible.

Chandler wrote a often quoted critical essay about crime drama in 1944 called The Simple Art of Murder.  He describes his thoughts on Marlowe which sums up exactly what I'm thinking but much more eloquently:  "a complete man and a common man and yet an unusual man.  He must be, to use a rather weathered phrase, a man of honor - by instinct, by inevitability, without thought of it and certainly without saying it.  He must be the best man in his world and good enough for any world.  I do not care much about his private life; he is neither a eunuch nor a satyr; I think he might seduce a duchess and I am quite sure he would not spoil a virgin; if he is a man of honor in one thing, he is that in all things."

Interesting coming from a guy who was kind of a mess.  He lost jobs due to alcoholism (my favorite thing is he insisted he write the entire last act of The Black Dahlia while blind drunk and the studio went for it!) and only wrote 7 novels plus a smattering of short stories and screenplays.  

He was also sarcastic as fuck in his real life.  As a girl who nicknames most of her coworkers, I appreciate a man who, because he wasn't a fan of hers, called Veronica Lake "Moronica Lake". Heh.

Another thing I love about him is his wife was a total cougar - she was 18 years his senior!  Go, Cissy Chandler!

Plus, cat lover!!

Anyway, Ray Porter also read the audiobook for Farewell My Lovely as well, so I decided to listen to both then watch both the films.  Here you have it.

The Big Sleep - book published in 1939, film released in 1946

First thing to note: They smoke so much in this film I thought I was going to get emphysema just from watching.

Second thing to note: The book has some severely antiquated views regarding homosexuality.  One must read (listen) with an eye to the era in which it was written.

Third thing to note: Since when does it rain all the fucking time in LA?  Did this happen more in the 1930's than it does now?  What up??

Favorite quote from the book:  When Carmen is crawling around trying to grab a gun off the floor Marlowe says,  "Get up, Angel.  You look like a Pekinese."

Raymond Chandler's stories in general are pretty convoluted (he's heavy on stylized, awesome writing, light on plot), so the film tries to streamline this.  I actually like the ending in the book a bit more than the film version, it's grittier and more fucked up.

Howard Hawks directed this and William Faulkner actually wrote the screenplay.

It's a mystery with a gumshoe detective and duplicitous women who need his help.  Classic pulp fiction; the actual plot is almost incidental. 

Humphrey Bogart plays Philip Marlowe and Lauren Bacall plays the femme fatale, Vivian.  This is the second film Bogart and Bacall are in together and WOW can you see their chemistry.  It's electric.  Apparently they had filmed To Have and Have Not (also directed by Hawks) and had started their affair on that film.  They were already filming The Big Sleep when THAHN was released.  The response to Bogie and Bacall was so great that they ended up re-editing The Big Sleep with some juicier scenes to capitalize on the relationship.  The Big Sleep was actually released two years after they were married.  They have an amazing story actually - May/December romance, truly the love of each other's lives.  You should Google them and look at pics when they are together.  Who knew Bogie smiled?  It's simply heartwarming.

I also credit my film school education and mother's love of movies with knowing that the guy who played the ill-fated Harry Jones in The Big Sleep was also in The Maltese Falcon as one of the best characters - the wimpy, weepy Wilmer Cook - Joel Cairo's (Peter Lorre) thug/boyfriend.  Elisha Cook Jr. was one of the great character actors of the time.  He's really awesome in both films. 

(My drink pairing for this film is two fingers of cheap whisky.  From your "office bottle".)

Murder My Sweet (book title: Farewell My Lovely) -  book published in 1940, film released in 1944

First thing to note:  this film actually came out BEFORE The Big Sleep, so Dick Powell was the original Philip Marlowe on film.

Second thing to note:  They changed the title because Dick Powell was a singer/dancer and the studios thought that Farewell My Lovely might be mistaken for a musical because the name is...whimsical?  Whatevs.

Third thing to note:  This book keeps the antiquated ideas coming but this time about race.  Sigh.

Favorite quote from the book:  I have two (out of the MANY)

1 - "Even on Central Avenue, not the quietest dressed street in the world, he looked about as inconspicuous as a tarantula on a slice of angel food."

2 - "She gave me a smile I could feel in my hip pocket."

This movie takes quite a leap away from the book.  The beginning and end are both significantly different.  There is a weird middle section where Marlowe is in a hospital getting pumped full of drugs which they kept in - I'm thinking they kept this because they got to do bizarro "special effects" like a filter over the lens to create a "web" effect and some awesome multiple-door layered effect with the doctor moving through the doors like a ghost.  Innovative for the time.  Not so much now.

The films keep Chandler's wry sense of humor, which is good.  In this film, Marlowe strikes his match on the ass of a Cupid statue. That actually made me LOL.

Also, you always have to hand it to old films to get a beat on the fashions of the day. It's actually alarming how high Dick Powell's pants are (see below) and my theory is that is why they had to shorten tie lengths back then - to compensate. 

(My drink pairing for this is less drink but still mind-altering - smoke a marijuana cigarette (to use Chandler's vernacular). I'm sure it will make that hospital scene infinitely more palatable.)

My takeaways:

#1 - I took a Film Noir class in college (which might have been the point I realized that I loved being a film major) and it was probably my favorite class ever.

#2 - Another class I took was Family Melodrama.  The film I remember most was Magnificent Obsession (Rock Hudson/Jane Wyman)- and one of the main characters was in Murder My Sweet - an actor named Otto Kruger.  He was almost godlike in Magnificent Obsession, but he was definitely a bad guy in Murder My Sweet.

#3 - Someday I'll have to do a post on Noir films specifically.  SUCH a great genre.

xoxo...hashtagSueslife

I'm ready for my close up, Mr DeMille

Hi gang!  

First of all, I recently realized that this blog is a year old!  I am humbled and honored that anyone AT ALL is still reading it!  You guys are seriously the best.

Another thing that honors me is when anyone feels they want to join me in this endeavor.  

So for this post, I am VERY happy to present my blogguest, the inimitable Lisa Franklin. We have known each other for probably 25 years now (maybe a bit more but a girl doesn't have to divulge ALL her secrets).  We bonded over old movies and crazy evenings in shitty SF music clubs.  She writes beautifully and has an amazing sense of humor, as you will see below.  

She is a person that makes me laugh so hard I ache and fills me with love.

Here, she gifts us with a glimpse into a family tradition.

xoxo....hashtagSueslife

The Ten Commandments

Passover in my family always involves several rituals.  When my children were small, no Seder service was complete without the re-enacting of the plagues.  Each plate had a paper bag next to it full of afflictions and scourges.  At the appropriate time during the Passover dinner when reading out loud about the plagues, we would reach into our bags and then…  Mayhem reigned!!  Ping-pong balls were thrown at each other across the table while we recited “fiery hail”!  “Three days of darkness” – don your sunglasses!  Rubber bugs were bandied about (sometimes onto plates of Gifilte fish (ick), and haroset (yum!) during “pestilence”.  The little plastic cows we each had next to our plates were knocked over during “livestock disease”.  Frogs were flung and imaginary lice were scratched! 

Another ritual was equally as important to our family:  the watching of Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments” (1956).  It was on TV every year around the time of Passover and Easter.  Years ago during the kids’ Easter break, when we were all on vacation in Raleigh, N.C. - all 5 of us piled into one room in a Motel 6 eating Ramen made in the coffee maker - we turned on the T.V., and there it was!!  As dependable as an argument over pool toys!

And this spring, to our absolute delight, my daughter and I were privileged to see all 3 hours and 39 minutes of this movie spectacle (presented by TMC) on the big screen!  The film was shown how it was originally presented in movie theaters in 1956 - Cecil B. Demille came on the screen first talking about the extensive research that went into the film.  The film score included a musical prelude, intermission, and audience exit music.  

Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner play the two warring brothers fighting not only for their father’s attentions, but those of Nefretiri, played lusciously by Anne Baxter. Charlton is at his chiseled best as Moses.  Yul Brynner, at his uber-manliest, plays the pharaoh, Ramses.  Woo friggin’ hoo!  Head shaved, he struts, he poses, his muscles bulge and pecs glisten as he refuses to let Moses’ people go.  Anne Baxter is magnificent as the lover of young Moses (the fun Moses – before he has that chat with the burning bush and becomes absolutely no fun at all.)

The Pharoah’s daughter is childless and plucks a basket from the river.  In it is a baby (played by Heston’s real son), an infant set onto the Nile because Ramses’ father (Pharaoh, Sr.) issued an edict that all first born male babies should be put to death.  The pharoah’s advisors had warned Pharoah, Sr. that a Jewish leader had been born that would free all the slaves.  Pharoah takes no chances and orders all Jewish male babies murdered. Moses’ mother sets baby Heston afloat.

Moses grows into the manly man of Charlton Heston.  Ramses hates Moses because he is favored by Ramses’ father and Ramses fears that Moses will be chosen as the next ruler of Egypt.

Anne Baxter’s Nefretiri is promised to Ramses, but she has the hots for Moses in a big way.  Apparently saying Moses’ name 2 times in a row in a low husky voice in every other sentence while clasping his oiled biceps is the best way to display her passion.  (“Oh, Moses, Moses, you stubborn, splendid, adorable fool!”) Baxter is costumed in rich, flowing fabrics and jewelry and owns the screen, big or small, when she steps onto it.  She is, by far, my favorite character.

Ten Commandment Tidbits

•  10 years in the planning, 3 years in research, 3 years in writing and more than a year in the actual shooting, this version was the biggest undertaking in the history of film at that time.  At least 14,000 extras and 15,000 animals were used in the film.
•  Edward G. Robinson (who was actually blacklisted at the time) plays Dathan, the slimey slave trader
• What???  Lily Munster (Yvonne DeCarlo) plays Moses’ shepherdess wife, Sephora.
• Notice the short but illuminating interaction between Nefretiri and Moses’ wife bonding over the fact that once Moses had that tete a tete with the burning bush, his reed for both of the women went limp:

Nefretiri: You need have no fear of me. 
Sephora: I feared only his memory of you. 
Nefretiri: You have been able to erase it. 
Sephora: He has forgotten both of us. You lost him when he went to seek his God. I lost him when he found his God.

• Yul Brynner did extensive weight lifting, since in many scenes he would be bare chested (and we thank Yah-weh for every scene).
•  “Every year since 1973, the American TV network ABC airs this film on Easter, or Passover. In 1999, when for some reason ABC chose not to televise it, they received numerous irate phone calls from people accustomed to watching it every Easter than they have for any other film they have ever telecast.” - Wikipedia
• The parting of the Red Sea took 3 years to execute and one million dollars of the film’s thirteen million dollar budget.
• There is a 1923 silent version of “The Ten Commandments” also directed by Cecil B. DeMille.  Because it was filmed prior to the 1930 Hayes Code (which put restrictions on film for “morality” reasons) it is supposed to be pretty racey.  Breasts popping out of thin fabrics, titillating sexuality. 
• Charlton Heston talked DeMille into using his own voice for the voice of God.  Heston believed Moses would have heard God’s voice in his own head. 
• According to Charlton Heston's autobiography, the filming of the orgy scenes was so arduous that one disgruntled female extra exclaimed, "Who do I have to f*** to get OUT of this movie?"

Watch this extravaganza while feasting on Matzah (unleavened bread) and Haroset (chopped apples, nuts, and wine).  Best paired with a 2016 Manischewitz Concord Grape Wine.  Le Chaim! 

Judgey McJudgerson

Anyone who has had more than a five minute conversation with me probably knows I'm a fan of the TV show The Voice.

Don't judge.  I know that these shows are silly and fixed (at least to a degree), and I'm not even a fan of any of the judge's music but there is something about it that sucks me in.  Maybe it's the Adam/Blake bromance?  Or the fact that Pharrell seems like the nicest guy ever (apparently my brother and sister-in-law call him the Buddha, heh!)?  Or, most likely, it's because it's a show of people with crazy amazing singing voices that start out looking like they did their own hair and makeup and end up looking like superstars.

Anyway, don't worry...this isn't a post about that TV show.  But the other day I was flipping through the channels and the movie Burlesque was on.  And this post idea was born.  Let's examine movies the celebrity judges of The Voice have been in.  Lucky for you all, there are only a couple (I don't count Pharrell doing the music for movies like Despicable Me...the judges have to be "acting").

Christina Aguilera

Burlesque - released in 2010

This is Xtina's foray into feature films.  Its only 6 years ago, but she looks really young in this film.  She's also tiny.  And her hair is a lovely, healthy blonde, not the super bleached out, looks-like-it's-gonna-break-off-if-anyone-breathes-too-close-to-her platinum that it is now.  Well, actually RIGHT now it's a pale shade of lavender.  With weird rings in it.  Not my favorite look for her, but honestly if anyone can pull it off, it's Xtina.  She's also gained weight since Burlesque.  She looks great, but her outfit choices as a Voice coach are a bit suspect.  Half the time it looks like her boobs are going to pop out of her shirt if she takes a deep breath and she is consistently stuffed into something that looks two sizes too small.  I firmly believe one wouldn't even notice any weight gain if she dressed for her actual body instead of painting on these ridiculous outfits (and I'm not talking about wearing a muumuu...just wear a size 4 instead of a 0). 

Exhibit A - hair AND boobs from this week's Voice episode:

Anyway, the movie.  

I remember when I first saw this film, in the theatre.  Actually, let's be honest - I don't really remember all that much because I saw it with the ladies of Clandestine and Nalgenes of margaritas were in hand (and mouth, eventually).  What I DO remember is that it was pretty much just us 4 girls with rows and rows of gay boys.  Fabulous!  I also remember Clandestine having a glitter eye makeup epiphany.  Xtina sports some excellent eye art in this film.  Well, always really.  See above pic.

This is not a terrible movie.  It is also not a particularly good movie. It's truly "meh". It's a musical in the newer sense of the term - the songs still reflect the story arc but it's performances, not just Kansas farm girls meeting munchkins.  So Xtina's character delves into the world of burlesque at a club owned by the inimitable Cher.  Cher always delivers, IMHO.  She only has one song in this movie, but she sings the fuck out of it (if I remember correctly, some of the gay boys in the theatre might have clapped).  While I was watching I was hoping a conversation like this might have happened when they were casting:

Movie Exec:  Sorry Cher, this is a Christina Aguilera vehicle.  You know, we are breaking her into films so she's going to sing all the songs.

Cher:  Um, I'm mother-fucking Cher.   Half Breed, my daughter is now my son, a goddam fashion icon. CHER.  I'm doing a song.

Movie Exec:  Yes ma'am.

Stanley Tucci plays her gay best friend.  This was in Tucci's hey day of playing gay men (Devil Wears Prada).  I read that some folks find this a tad insulting - that a straight guy gets these roles when there are plenty of great gay actors.  (I wonder if Nathan Lane is the one calling foul on this?)  I can completely sympathize, but I have to give it to him.  He plays a really good gay best friend.

I don't think I'm gonna talk much about the story of this movie because #1 - there is barely any and #2 - it's really about Xtina singing.  And WOW is she a great singer.  I'm also gonna give her an acting shout out.  On The Voice, I don't always like her; she knows her business, but she seems snooty and cold and sometimes (mostly) when she's being all lovey with someone it feels forced to me.  She actually transcended that a bit in this film.   I'm not saying she's the next Meryl Streep, but it felt like she was actually "acting" like a nice person.

(My drink pairing for this is - obviously - a Nalgene of margaritas.  Probably made with Trader Joe's Margarita Mix. Yum!)

Adam Levine (and a bit part for CeeLo Green)

Begin Again - released in 2014

This movie was written and directed by John Carney, the writer/director of Once.  If you haven't seen Once, I highly suggest you watch it.  It's his first film, it's sweet and lovely and all about musicians.

This movie is also about musicians - clearly a subject that is close to Carney's heart (he was in a band called the Frames in the early 90's).  I liked this movie a lot.  Carney has a beautiful way of showing broken people slowly heal themselves through their music, their relationships and their relationship to music.

It's basically about a songwriter (Keira Knightly who, for obvious reasons I've always called Snaggletooth Knightly...there was a moment where I was actually worried that she employed an orthodontist, but I was happily incorrect...that crazy tooth is still there.  Top, screen right.) who gets dumped by her musician boyfriend when he becomes famous and a very down on his luck music executive (Mark Ruffalo) who is a total mess.  They meet and they begin to heal.

Adam Levine plays the successful musician boyfriend.  He cheats on Snaggletooth with someone he had just met.  Parts of this movie resonated with me in ways that I wish it didn't.  It's humiliating to become a stereotype and it makes me sad to think that so many people have their heads turned so quickly by the smallest amount of fame.  Suddenly love and loyalty mean very little to them and so much to those they leave behind.

Whoa.  Sorry.  Baggage alert.

Anyway, on The Voice, Adam Levine seems like an intensely focused, talented spoiled brat.  His character in this film doesn't seem to stray much from that, so while I thought he was good in this I don't feel like he made any great acting strides, you know?

Mark Ruffalo and Snaggletooth were both great.  They did have Snaggletooth sing, which I thought maybe wasn't the most amazing choice.  She's not bad but (like the Tucci argument) there are so many great actresses out there that can really, really sing.  Why not pick one?

There are some interesting supporting folks in here as well, like the aforementioned CeeLo Green (no acting skills at all...he's just CeeLo in all his charming glory) playing the performer that "made" Mark Ruffalo as an agent. Catherine Keener plays Ruffalo's wife (with very few lines which was a blessing...she bugs).  Mos Def plays his business partner and James Corden plays Snaggletooth's friend.  

I love James Corden.  I really, really do.

Similar to Once, Begin Again has an ending that on paper would seem very unsatisfying, but in actuality is just perfect.  Well played, John Carney, well played.

(My drink pairing for this film is a nice chardonnay - all bright notes and citrusy.  Nothing is shocking here but it's completely enjoyable.)

My takeaways:

#1 -  I think if I had never had my last relationship experience I would have liked Begin Again A LOT more.

#2 - I stand corrected about Blake Shelton's movie credits.  He was a voice in the new animated feature, Angry Birds and he's apparently in an Adam Sandler movie.  No matter.  I'm not gonna revue it.

#3 - I think Pharrell has the most beautiful face.  

xoxo...hashtagSueslife