Halloween Fever

Halloween was technically yesterday here in Aus, but nonetheless I just wanted to post some Halloween-themed pics I kind of manipulated using a photo editing program called Photofiltre. I didn't do much editing, but it was fun nonetheless.





{edit: unfortunately the images have lost some of their quality during the upload, but oh well}

C'est tout.

Life's Big Questions

Another survey, courtesy of a user over at imdb. I thought I'd post my response here instead of there because most of those threads have relatively short shelf lives...over to the survey.

1. What's bigger, movies or life? Movies-they're my life support system, along with family and friendship of course.

2. Paste one movie quote that you find profound: One that I can't get enough of ever since hearing it: "The heart is a resilient little muscle." -- Woody Allen in Hannah and Her Sisters. You can't hear it on paper, but in the film it somehow comes across as the sweetest, cutest and moving thing. I don't know what breaking up is like, but the remedy is this quote I am sure.

3. What's the one thing (tangible or non-tangible) you most regret losing? I have no idea.

4. Are you a romantic? If so, have you ever been in love? I used to be a romantic, but now I'm more cynical for no reason (I've been watching too many movies about adultery and fizzled out romances courtesy of Woody Allen). I'm also probably not a romantic because I've never been in love...except unrequitedly for a movie or book character....hmm...

5. What's one song you can't get enough of right now? I love Bobby Caldwell's Beyond the Sea. It's nice and jazzy and breezy.

6. What's your favorite fashion accessory (other than clothes of course)? I love the hats of the 20s and 30s.

7. Tell us something about the last film you watched: Zelig. A mockumentary about a man from the late 20s who has a psychological disorder where he assumes the identity of those around him. Among other things, he achieves wide fame and ends up falling for his psychoanalyst and finally his condition becomes less of a nuisance. It's a Woody Allen treasure. <3>

Favorite movie from The Archers (alias Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger)? The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp. From the moment I heard of it I was sceptical about its appeal. Anything with the word 'colonel' sounds too military like and bland. Somehow this movie, in its glorious technicolour and great storyline, was anything but bland.

9. About how often to you post here on IMDb? Very rarely. I read other people's comments more. What can I say, I'm an observer first and participator second.

10. Coffee or Tea? Bleh, I dislike coffee (and yet I was addicted to it when I was 12, go figure), but tea is practically a staple. I drink it every morning with milk.

11. Favorite subjects? Cinema studies, Literature, Sociology-related subjects, Philosophy (which I've been really taking indirectly through Self & Other).

12. If you could be one film character for one day, who would you be? The ultimate question and yet I'm stuck. I have no definitive answer for this, so I'll have to answer with one out of a million choices. Any of Jean Arthur's characters would be great, but I'd especially like to be her Connie Milligan, no-nonsense working girl with sharp wit who's secretly yearning for romance. Why definitely.

13. What is your best and worst quality? I can't be objective about this, but at my best I'm an honest, kind, perceptive and humble person. At my worst, I'm narcisstic, insecure, unsociable and irritating/irritable. Woops, that was four qualities each, narcissicm (sp?) creeping in again.

14. What is your motto? It's simply, be happy.

15. If you could listen to one voice for the rest of your life, whose voice would it be? Charles Boyer. Sexy French accent yes.

16. If you had one superpower, what would it be? The power to be incredibly witty, now that is talent if you ask me.

17. What came first, the chicken or the egg? This question just puts me round in circles. Unanswerable.

18. Name one historical figure you find absolutely fascinating: Anne Frank. Remarkable writer, utterly complex, firm believer in good at such a time of atrocity. Her life and her diary haunt and inspire me whenever I return to them.

19. If you could live during one time or place, where would it be? Hollywood in the 30s and 40s.

20. If you could change one thing about you, what would it be? To be more productive and put some more effort into things rather than run away when the going gets tough.

A Survey (classic-ish style)

A survey mood! I found the following one on this blog
http://harlowcutie11-dreaminginblackandwhite.blogspot.com/.
It's classics-ish which is a bonus.

1. What is your all-time favorite Clark Gable movie?
Probably Gone with the Wind, it's Clark at his roguish charming best I say.

2. Do you like Joan Crawford best as a comedienne or a drama-queen?
Hmm, she's a great drama-queen, particularly in Mildred Pierce. But she's delightful when she's wise-cracking like say in Grand Hotel or The Women. Perhaps a tie?

3. In your opinion, should Ginger Rogers have made more musicals post-Fred Astaire?
I kind of wish she had made a couple or so with Gene Kelly...

4. I promise not to cause you bodily (or any other serious) harm if you don't agree with me on this one. So please be honest: do you like Elizabeth Taylor? Hm?
She can be quite a tour-de-force actress at times (particularly in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Suddenly, Last Summer) and she's stunningly beautiful, so I like her for the most part.

5. Who is your favorite off screen Hollywood couple?
Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. 50 years of marriage, I think that's wonderful. <3

6. How about onscreen Hollywood couple?
Hmm...a tie between Fred and Ginger and William Powell and Myrna Loy.

7. Favorite Jean Arthur movie?
The More the Merrier (I like Mr. Deeds Goes to Town a bit more, but I think The More The Merrier is more of Jean's film).

8. What was the first Gregory Peck movie you saw?
Roman Holiday, but I got my first glimpse of him in the court room scene in To Kill a Mockingbird. I don't think I saw how powerful a person can be on screen until that moment.

9. What film made you fall in love with Alfred Hitchcock? (And for those of you that say, "I don't like Hitchcock" -- what is wrong with you?!)
I've admired Hitchcock for a while, but it was seeing Vertigo last year that gave me a newfound appreciation for his art.

10. What is your favorite book-to-movie adaption?
Gone with the Wind.

11. Do you prefer Shirley Temple as a little girl or as a teenager?
Hmm, I haven't seen any of her films of her as a little girl, and yet that's the image of her that is most prominent in my mind.

12. Favorite character actor?
Charles Coburn.

13. Favorite Barbara Stanwyck role?
The Lady Eve, I think it's the most layered role I've seen of hers so far (I still need to make my way through most of her filmography though).

14. Who is your favorite of Cary Grant's leading ladies?
He worked terrifically with just about all of them, but I've liked him most with Kate Hepburn, Ingrid Bergman and Irene Dunne.

15. Bette Davis or Joan Crawford?
There's a truckload of movies I need to see of both, but so far Bette is a finer actress. But to give Joan credit she has quite a dazzling and dynamic screen presence.

16. What actors and/or actresses do you think are underrated?
Actors: Charles Boyer Actresses: Jean Arthur, Irene Dunne, Claudette Colbert

17. What actors and/or actresses do you think are overrated?
Not sure...I mean I know Marilyn, Audrey and James Dean are probably the most exposed of classic cinema, but their talent beneath their iconic/commodified images is much underrated outside the classic loving sphere imo.

18. Do you watch movies made pre-1980 exclusively, or do you spice up your viewing-fare with newer films?
I was kind of exclusive for a while, but spicing it up is good and allows me to appreciate a wider ranger of films.

19. Is there an actor/actress who you have seen in a film and immediately loved? If so, who?
Maybe Rosalind Russell. When I saw her in His Girl Friday I immediately thought that was one of the best performances an actress could have the opportunity to give.
Also Humphrey Bogart. I saw him in Sabrina and felt I knew immediately he was a good actor.

20. Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire?
Fred Astaire for me.

21. Favorite Ginger Rogers drama?
I recently saw her in Romance in Manhattan and thought she was so touching in there, particularly when faced with the moment where her brother was to be taken to an orphanage. It's a good depression era film and Ginger excels as the struggling working class girl.

22. If you wrote a screenplay, who would be in your dream cast and what roles would they play? (Mixing actors and actresses from different generations is allowed: any person from any point in their career.)
There are probably trillions of 'if only' pictures I could imagine (though strangely they're not coming to me now), but here's one: Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly and Ginger Rogers. The plot would probably be a recycled love triangle one that allows the two leading men to dance with Ginger and then for there to be a nice number at the end where they all come together to dance (something like the near end of Broadway Melody of 1940). It would be made in the early to mid 40s, shot in colour, produced by Arthur Freed and perhaps directed by Vincente Minelli.

23. Favorite actress?
Audrey Hepburn, though she might be more my favourite all round humanitarian and role-model.

25. Favorite actor?
Humphrey Bogart.

26. And now, the last question. What is your favorite movie from each of these genres:

Drama: Bonnie and Clyde

Romance: A Matter of Life and Death

Musical: Top Hat

Comedy: The More the Merrier

Western: Shane

Hitchcock (he has a genre all to himself): Vertigo

Blue Skies Turn to Grey

I'm not supposed to have much free time right now (not with my last essay of the semester hanging in the air and upcoming exams trailing not far behind), but I'm so pooped this evening or night. Blogging sounds like a good diversion.

But then we get to this pressing question: What to write about this time? I was going to write about film highlights I've had lately, but as it turns out, there has been really only one standout film I've seen since New York New York.

A back-story: Two or so weeks ago, on a Sunday night when I should have been researching for a French debate (which wasn't so crash hot in the end, but I digress), I chose instead to embark on a three hour filmic journey. It was something I had eagerly wanted to watch ever since a) I found out it was a good film and b) I grew really interested in the actress Jennifer Jones.

I mentioned the film's length, 3 hours, and on average such a length can give me pains and an incessant looking over at the time. Heck, even a one hour and a half film can have the same effect. But this film -- and I've neglected to give its title, Since You Went Away (1944) -- stood faithfully by rule number one "Thou shalt not bore". It was an engaging treat, combining interesting storylines with interesting characters.

The film circles around the Hilton family, who has recently had to separate from their husband/father who went to war (the second world war to be specific). And so we get a picture of what this war was like for those on the home front. We see this family feel that slightly bit emptier and then pick themselves up and do what they can for both the war effort and for their personal happiness. It's a bumpy ride for them, since they encounter happiness, then sadness, death, and then hope. And so you get this homely atmosphere, perhaps a little sweet and sentimental, but all the same their journey is genuinely touching. You want them to have all the happiness they could get really.

I can't quite explain it in minute detail, but this film was a treasure. There's something both slightly ominous and then sparkling about it. It never wants to be completely depressing nor completely light and make something frivolous out of war, so it straddles between the middle line and the result can be a sort of bitter and sweet combination.

All the main actors do a top notch job, but there were two that particularly stood out for me. There's Monty Wooley who plays a sort of war veteran (if I'm correct) who stays at the Hilton family's house because of housing shortages. He starts off kind of grumpy and keeps to himself, but gradually you find he has endearing qualities. He doesn't exactly have the most screen time, but he's a character who adds something to the atmosphere and whose presence gradually becomes familiar and more potent as you progess to the end.

Then there's the tour-de-force that is Claudette Colbert. I've seen four of her films and she's not one to disappoint. It isn't that she does something dramatic and dynamic with her role, it's really how she subtly underplays and remains the constant source of strength of the film. She plays the mother role and she's the kind of warm, understanding and capable mother one would like to have. She displays the range of her talent in this film, showing why she is one of the best comediennes of the 30s and 40s during the lighter moments. She's equally good in the more dramatic moments, displaying well her emptiness and struggles in the absence of her husband.

The cast is pretty much what is called an all star cast. You have:

- the aforementioned Jennifer Jones as the older sister, who matures from naive teenager to someone who learns what it's like to deeply love and then to lose that loved one,

- Shirley Temple (yes, the cute curly blonde Depression star with the addition of a few years) as the younger sister, who's as chatty and chirpy as any younger sibling is known to be,

- Joseph Cotten as the charming and cheeky-ish dear family friend,

- Robert Walker as Jones' love interest (curiously, and perhaps painfully, Walker and Jones were once married in real life, and were pretty much estranged during the production of this film. In an arguably cruel twist, David O. Selznick --producer and lover of Jones at the time--decided to make them the estranged couple love interests in the film. I think the chemistry is there in the film, but it's almost unsettling to watch with the above knowledge),

- Hattie McDaniel, as the Hilton's servant and dear friend is as warm and engaging as always,

- and in a great, deliciously catty role is Agnes Moorehead, portraying an irritable character to perfection.

So that's that. This is a great film. I think it would fit perfectly on a double billing with 'The Best Years of Our Lives' to show classic Hollywood's representations of the during and after effects of war. An idea for future curating?

Change Your Mind {Jane Eyre part deux}

True to my fashion, I've decided to go blogging on the night before my French debate. I should really be preparing my heart out, but no, I have something 'important' to say.

Two entries ago I wrote a positively gushing love note to what was one of my favourite books of all time 'Jane Eyre'. And all was going well until my Literature tutorial last week. And unforuntately I can't look at that novel the same. Now it seems bizarre, contradictory and not quite the celebration of women's rights I once saw (because why does Jane keep insisting on calling Rochester 'my master'. Sure I could once bypass this and even mentally erase it, but not anymore).

Plus, why does the book end with Jane pondering on St. John Rivers, the guy she declined to marry? Is she not happy with Rochester? Suddenly the love she must have felt for him somewhere in the middle of the novel feels like it deteriorated at the end. And did Rochester ever really love her? After all he was planning on making her his mistress. Right now to me he seems predator-like and only wanting selfish desires out of the relationship. By the time he's blind and a shadow of his former life, it feels like he's more happy that he's got someone, and someone who loves him than because he loves her.

Well it's still an intriguing book, but it's not quite the same wildly romantic read it once was. Now I only have cynical lens when I approach it. But upon reflection, that's not so bad. I've gotten an alternative reading out of it, sure, but maybe it's more intriguing and dark this way.

But yes, by a general rule, it's best to steer clear of literature subjects that feature your favourite novels on their reading lists. If you have a malleable perspective like me, you're bound to never look at the novel in quite the same beloved way.