I have once again began my summer ritual of watching classic movies, or at least movies that the “experts” think are classic. To help me and others with this, Turner Classic Movies (TCM) has designated August the Summer Under the Stars. Every day in August, TCM will select a star and for 24 hours they run nothing but movies starring that star. We have already had a Bogart day and a Gregory Peck day and this week we have a few days and movies I think you should check out.
Wednesday the 16th is Joseph Cotton day and for those of you who do not know him, he is a great actor that has appeared in classic movies involving Alfred Hitchcock and almost every Orson Welles movie, it seems. There are a few to look for this day.
At 7:45AM East, set your DVR for Citizen Kane, Orson Welles' masterpiece that many consider the greatest movie of all time. To tell you the truth, I did not think so highly of it, but it is shot beautifully and tells a great story of a great man who has a very full life, but can’t seem to enjoy it. Also DVR The Magnificent Ambersons that immediately follows Citizen Kane, which is directed by Orson Welles. I personally enjoyed this movie more than Citizen Kane. At 10 PM East watch The Third Man, a nourish thriller that watches Joseph Cotton track a friend through Vienna, a friend that may or may not be dead. Very cool movie again starring Orson Welles.
Another day worth checking out is Thursday the 17th. Carole Lombard is the star this day and is said to be one of the great comediennes in movie history. I myself will be seeing some of her movies for the first time. At 11 AM East My Man Godfrey is being shown and it also stars William Powell from the Thin Man series. I have always heard that this is a classic screwball comedy and I am DVRing it for the hype. As for any others to watch, consult your guide, DISH does a great job of supplying a star rating to the movies, and I use that to gauge whether or not to watch.
On Friday the 17th, we have Bela Lugosi day. You know, Dracula. As far as I knew, Lugosi only made one movie, but he has made enough for a full day on TCM and Dracula isn’t one of them. I will tell you one I am DVRing is White Zombie at 8:30AM East. The simple reason is that DISH gives it a 3 star rating and stupposedly, this is the movie that Rob Zombie took his band name for White Zombie. Also check out Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein at 8 PM East. This is my favorite Abbot and Costello movie and is also the only one of these Abbot and Costello movies that DISH gives a 3 + rating. It involves not only Frankenstein, but Bela Lugosi as Dracula and Lon Chaney, Jr as the Wolfman and a small cameo by Vincent Price as the voice of the Invisible Man. It is so cool to see all these legends in one movie and it is also pretty damn funny.
A movie I have seen that I highly recommend is The Body Snatcher at 1:30 AM East. It also stars Boris Karloff and involves a doctor who runs a teaching school that needs fresh bodies to dissect and practice on. Boris Karloff helps with the supplying of said bodies and helps the creep factor go way up in this macabre flick. This movie is very dark and eerie and Lugosi only has a small part in this film, but does a great job.
I need to quit here because most of you probably don’t care about this stuff, but I have to say this, if you do not watch any of these movies, watch this one. Saturday the 19th is Audrey Hepburn day. While my favorite Hepburn is Katherine, I highly recommend a movie called Charade that stars Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant that is being shown 9:30 AM East this Saturday. It is a thriller/comedy/mystery that is so good that I bought the stupid remake of it, The Truth About Charlie (which sucks so bad), to get the free DVD of Charade that was packaged with it. This movie is so smart and the is acting so great that I guarantee that even if you do not like movies that are pre-1980, you will love this. Take a chance, all the movies shown on TCM are a great alternative to the crap that is being shown on network TV this summer.
Monday, August 14, 2006
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7 comments:
I will most deffently check out your suggestions. I am a sucker for the classics and smart flicks.
This weekend I caught: 'The Chumscrubber' which had Ralph Fines, Rita Wilson, Glen Close to name a few. It was bizzare! Not at all what I expected and just weird.
Also watched 'The Constant Gardner' which I found rather dull (and I was highly disappointed with it.) Also watched 'Red Eye' when I woke up in the middle of the night and had nothing to do.
How was Red Eye, I had heard it was very good.
I haven't watched a rented DVD in I don't know how long. I have so many movies from TCM DVRed that I can spend my DVD movie on Stones tix.
I have not rented anything in AGES and am trying to cut back on buying because (a) I need a new tower for storage and (b) I dvr like crazy.
Rear Window was on the other night and I dvr'd that...so will probably watch when I get home.
Red Eye didn't do it for me either. It was short 1 hr 45 min...and I just wanted to shake the chick on the plane. It wasn't horrid, but I wouldn't go out of my way to watch it either. But check it out if you get the opportunity...perhaps you would like it.
Rear Window is my favorite Hitchcock movie, as well as one of my alltime favorites.
The suspense in that movie is unbelievable. Great movie with a great Grace Kelly. It will have you shouting at the TV screen and begging Hitchcock to give you a break to catch your breath.
Dude! I watched Rear Window last night before RockStar went on. It was absolutly amazing!!!
This is a keeper for sure. I was bummed though, because I didn't realize the night I recorded it, they were having a Hitchcock marathon. So I missed all the greats, like Vertigo.
Vertigo is not one of my favorites. It is very good, but I guess it was weird seeing Jimmy Stewart portray a character like that.
Strangers on a Train, North by Northwest, Notorious, and Shadow of a Doubt are my other favorite Hitchcock films.
Did you buy your concert tix yet? I am not a big James Stuart fan....but do enjoy him in most of his stuff.
I remember watching Hitchcock each week on tv as a kid.
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