Classic Movie Picks: December

Each month, I scour the Turner Classic Movies Now Playing guide for upcoming films that I can't miss. The highlights are posted here for your reading and viewing pleasure! (All listed times are Eastern Standard, check your local listings or TCM.com for actual air times in your area. Each day's schedule begins at 6:00 a.m.; if a film airs between midnight and 6 a.m. it is listed on the previous day's programming schedule.)

12/4: If you only know him as the director of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, then tonight's line-up is a lovely introduction to the wider filmography of Mike Newell. (My only complaint is that they aren't showing my favorite Newell film, Donnie Brasco, an excellent film about the mob, as told through the eyes of an undercover FBI agent. Bonus pick for December: rent Donnie Brasco!) Enchanted April (8:00 PM) and Four Weddings and a Funeral (10:00 PM) are charming glimpses of the British upper middle class during two very different time periods and Amazing Grace and Chuck (12:00 AM) is a somewhat forgotten movie from the end of the Cold War era with an intriguing premise - can a little league boycott serve as a catalyst for global nuclear disarmament?

12/6: All of Me (8:00 PM)
In January, I was repeatedly subjected to the trailer for The Pink Panther 2, starring Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin. Each time I saw that trailer I had two reactions: "Wow, this movie looks stupid," followed by, "I wish I was watching All of Me."

12/25-26: "Holmes for Christmas" (12/15, 8:00 PM - 12/26, 6:30 PM)
To coincide with the Christmas Day release of Sherlock Holmes, TCM presents a marathon of 17 Sherlock Holmes films. The evening of the 25th will provide a variety of interpretations of the Holmes mysteries, including the first two films starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as Holmes and Watson, respectively, Billy Wilder's The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, and the British Hammer Film Productions version of The Hound of the Baskervilles starring Peter Cushing as Holmes and Christopher Lee as Sir Henry Baskerville. The 26th offers a day of the definitive detecting duo of Rathbone and Bruce; their series of films from the 1940s will play in chronological order.

Throughout the month, TCM will be showing holiday-themed films. To find all scheduled showings, I suggest you go to TCM.com. Here are a few that I am looking forward to watching while sipping a mug of cocoa:
Fitzwilly - starring Dick Van Dyke as a butler who steals in order to keep his beloved, but clueless, mistress in the black. Also with Barbara Feldon and her hypnotically soothing voice.
Christmas in Connecticut - no, not the one directed by Arnold Schwarzenegger. This is the original, with Barbara Stanwyck getting a lesson in how to flip pancakes and falling in love with the dreamy Dennis Morgan.
In the Good Old Summertime - I actually prefer this musical remake of The Shop Around the Corner, starring Judy Garland and Van Johnson, to the excellent original. I suppose I am a sucker for all the singing, dancing, and beautiful costumes, which are unfortunately absent from the older film. And despite the name, it can be considered a Christmas movie.
Meet Me in St. Louis - another Judy Garland musical in glorious Technicolor which has key sequences set during Christmas. This is the film which gave us the classic carol "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."

Giving thanks for foxes, Ed Asner, and the fact we're not living in an Emmerich film

I've said it before, Roland Emmerich hates Earth.

If his filmography to date was not proof enough of this grudge, take a look at this still from his latest special effects showcase, 2012.

Yep, right there above the plane's wing, that cloud of smoke is giving us all the finger. As if the premise of the film weren't already a big-enough "F--- you" to the human race, he's actually flipping off the audience while they watch!

Ok, I need a palate cleanser.

Aww, those adorable scamps! I feel better already.

Now, I must confess that the blog will be taking a short hiatus. I promise it's not because we at Cinema Then and Now harbor an Emmerich-esque contempt for our audience. Rather, we are taking a holiday break and will return after the Thanksgiving weekend with classic film picks for December and other sure-to-be illuminating film commentary.

But, until then, here are some wonderful time-wasters!

Film clips from UP, one of my favorite films of 2009, courtesy of The New York Times, as well as trailers for 2012 and The Fantastic Mr. Fox. And if you haven't decided which film to see over the holiday weekend check out the NY Times Critic's Picks. Based soley on the photos above, I'm definitely planning a date with Mr. Fox and his friends.

The Great Ones

So, the other night I sat down to watch Vertigo for the first time. (I realize this calls into question my earlier claim about having seen most of Hitchcock's films, but I promise that I have! Vertigo was the only really famous film of Hitchcock's that I hadn't seen.) I was already familiar with the plot of the film, I even knew the characters' names, because Vertigo is one of those films often classified as "Great." The "Great" films are the ones in the canon, the ones that get dissected in college courses, the ones that always show up on the "ten best..." lists.

I started thinking, what other "greats" have I missed. First, I thought of the canonical films I had seen: Gone with the Wind, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, 2001: A Space Odyssey... I concluded I had seen most of the obvious titles, so I tried to think of the ones I hadn't seen that are also considered great. The titles that came to mind first were Bride of Frankenstein, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, and The Shining.

Of course, I have reasonable excuses for never watching these movies. Bride of Frankenstein, and Frankenstein for that matter, are so affliated with Halloween that they seem like seasonal films. I never feel like watching them until October, but by then they are checked out from the video store - because apparently everyone else has the same inclination. As for McCabe, well I'm not a big Julie Christie fan, so I've just never been motivated to see it. And The Shining is obviously far too scary for me to actually watch.

There are many places to find a list of great films. Some lists, like AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies or past winners of the Best Picture Academy Award, have slightly more credibility than others like IMDB's Top 250 . I decided to peruse Roger Ebert's The Great Movies because I thought there would be a variety of foreign and American films, as well as old and new films. I was pleased to see that out of the 315 movies on Ebert's list, I had seen 137. While that is a pretty respectable number, I still hadn't seen over half of the list.

It's not quite time for New Year's Resolutions, but I'm making one for 2010. Starting now and throughout next year, I will attempt to watch as many of The Great Movies as I can. Some will be easy - that Apocalypse Now DVD has been sitting on my bookcase for years. Others will be more difficult - I really don't want to watch El Topo. I think the real challenge will be choosing to rent Bergman's Winter Light (Great) when I actually feel like renting Cockfighter (non-Great). There may be almost 200 of Ebert's Greats left for me to choose from, but there are thousands of non-Greats begging to be watched, calling out to me with their Siren song.

New Film Festival for Classic Movie Lovers!

Exciting news for classic movie fans: Turner Classic Movies will host their first Classic Film Festival in Hollywood April 22-25, 2010!
No information yet on what films they'll be showing, but with historic venues like Grauman's Chinese and Egyptian theatres, almost any film would be worth watching.
Passes go on sale November 18. Hopefully there will be more programming information by then.
Needless to say, I have a deep interest in this festival. Can't wait to see more details!

http://www.tcm.com/festival.jsp

Classic Movie Picks: November

Each month, I scour the Turner Classic Movies Now Playing guide for upcoming films that I can't miss. The highlights are posted here for your reading and viewing pleasure!
(All listed times are Eastern Standard, check your local listings or TCM.com for actual air times in your area. Each day's schedule begins at 6:00 a.m.; if a film airs between midnight and 6 a.m. it is listed on the previous day's programming schedule.)

This month TCM is showing two of their original documentaries from 2009. First up is Johnny Mercer: The Dream's on Me, featuring archival footage and film clips tracing the career of the famous lyricist. The doc debuts on 11/4 followed by Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, for which Mercer wrote the lyrics; it replays on 11/18 in honor of Mercer's birthday, along with 24 hours of films containing his songs. On 11/14, TCM will replay the excellent 1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year, an original doc about that legendary year in film which produced Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, Stagecoach, and many other beloved films.

Unofficially, TCM is also spotlighting Alfred Hitchcock this month. Catch thirteen Hitch classics, including all three collaborations with the ultimate "cool blonde" (and TCM Star of the Month) Grace Kelly.
11/2: Vertigo (8:00 PM), North by Northwest (10:15 PM)
11/7: Family Plot (10:00 AM)
11/9: Topaz (8:00 PM)
11/12: Dial M for Murder (8:00 PM), Rear Window (10:00 PM)
11/13: To Catch a Thief (8:00 AM)
11/14: Saboteur (8:00 PM)
11/16: Mr. and Mrs. Smith (4:15 PM)
11/23: The Man Who Knew Too Much [1934] (1:30 AM), Blackmail (3:00 AM), Jamaica Inn (4:30 AM)
11/26: To Catch a Thief (8:00 PM)
11/28: The Man Who Knew Too Much [1956] (2:00 PM)
11/30: Rear Window (2:15 AM)

Also this month:
11/7: Tonight's line-up highlights directorial debuts. I'm especially interested in The Duellists (1978) directed by Ridley Scott at 10 PM followed by Gumshoe (1971) directed by Stephen Frears.
11/15: Stay up late or wake up early to see A Matter of Life and Death (1947) at 4:00 AM. David Niven stars as an injured aviator who must argue before a heavenly court for the chance to go on living. Directors Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger bring a wonderful sense of fantasy and romance to this truly unique film.
11/20: An 11-film marathon dedicated to "society sleuth" The Falcon starts at 6:00 AM. The Falcon was first portrayed by the debonair George Sanders and the role was later taken over by Sanders's brother Tom Conway. The marathon includes 4 films starring Sanders and 7 starring Conway; however, they look and sound so alike that you may not notice the switch.