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.)

After selecting my picks this month, I realized that they were unintentionally dominated by Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland! Their seeming omnipresence on the film schedule is due to Mickey being the December Star of the Month and Judy being his frequent and celebrated co-star and the mother of Liza Minnelli, who has her own Private Screenings special debuting this month. (I actually could have included even more of Rooney's films, but this blog entry is too long already. If you're interested, read about more of his films here.) So if you aren't in the mood for Mickey or Judy, do not despair - I've also thrown in a few picks that don't feature either one.

"Moguls & Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood"
12/6, 8 PM - Episode 6: The Attack of the Small Screens
12/13, 8 PM - Episode 7: Fade Out, Fade In
The final two episodes of this entertaining and educational documentary series tackle the rise of television and the end of the studio era.


12/3, 3:30 AM: Night of the Living Dead (1968)
5:15 AM: Good Eating Habits (1951)
The TCM programmers were feeling cheeky this month! Tonight, George Romero's classic horror film about flesh-eating zombies is followed by an educational short about proper nutrition. I wonder if it has anything to say about munching on brains...


12/9: Mickey, Judy, and Buzz
9:30 AM - Babes in Arms (1939)
11:15 AM - Strike Up the Band (1940)
1:30 AM - Babes on Broadway (1941)
Classic musical team Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland bring boundless energy and charm to these iconic "backyard musicals" directed by Busby Berkeley. Rooney has all his talents on display here singing, dancing, playing instruments, and even doing impressions (watch for his takes on Clark Gable, Lionel Barrymore, and Carmen Miranda, among others). In fact, he received a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his role in Babes in Arms. Though these films aren't sequels, the stories are similar - young performers must rally together to "put on a show!". Babes in Arms was the first production of Arthur Freed's now-legendary musical unit at MGM, and a major box-office success. Look for Donna Reed, Ava Gardner, and Margaret O'Brien to show up in very small roles, as well as Mickey Rooney's father, Joe Yule.


12/11 & 12/14: Liza and Family
12/11, 10 PM & 2:30 PM - Private Screenings: Liza Minnelli
12/14, 8 PM & 3 AM - Private Screenings: Liza Minnelli (encore)
Another installment of TCM's excellent interview series debuts this month, featuring the triple-threat, showbiz-scion, and "E.G.O.T." winner, Liza Minnelli. And to celebrate, TCM has scheduled two nights of films featuring Liza and her talented parents. On 12/11, between 8 PM and 5:30 AM, you can watch films directed by Liza's father, Vincente Minnelli, several of which star her mother, Judy Garland. On 12/14, following an encore presentation of Private Screenings, check out three films starring Liza, including her Oscar-winning turn in Cabaret (1972) and A Matter of Time (1976), which was directed by Vincente.

BONUS: 12/12, 7:30 AM - Minnelli on Minnelli: Liza Remembers Vincente (1987)
Stay up all night and catch this great documentary by film historian Richard Schickel which focuses on the films of Minnelli the director.


12/16: The Hardy Family
6 AM - Andy Hardy Comes Home (1958)
7:30 AM - Love Laughs at Andy Hardy (1946)
9:15 AM - Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble (1944)
11:15 AM - The Courtship of Andy Hardy (1942)
1 PM - Andy Hardy's Double Life (1942)
2:45 PM - Life Begins for Andy Hardy (1941)
4:30 PM - Andy Hardy's Private Secretary (1941)
6:15 PM - Andy Hardy Meets Debutante (1940)*
8 PM - Judge Hardy and Son (1939)
9:45 PM - Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever (1939)
11:30 PM - The Hardy's Ride High (1939)*
1 AM - Out West with the Hardy's (1938)
2:30 AM - Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938)*
4:15 AM - Judge Hardy's Children (1938)
5:45 AM - You're Only Young Once (1938)
7:15 AM - A Family Affair (1936)
* indicates my must-see picks for the day
All day Thursday and into Friday morning, TCM is showing all 16 of the Hardy Family films, in reverse order of release date. These charming films about a wholesome family living in the small town of Carvel, USA were big hits in the late 30s and early 40s. Mickey Rooney, as teenage son Andy, became the breakout star of the series and the majority of the Hardy films focus on his misadventures, romantic and otherwise. You'll notice that the first film, A Family Affair, starred several different actors than the rest of the series with only Rooney and Cecilia Parker, as the Hardy children, and Sara Haden, as Aunt Milly, reprising their roles. Many of MGM's starlets made stops in Carvel throughout the series, including Donna Reed, Lana Turner, Marsha Hunt, Esther Williams, and Kathryn Grayson. Ann Rutherford, as Andy's on-again-off-again girlfriend Polly Benedict, and Judy Garland, as younger gal-pal Betsy Booth, also make frequent appearances.


12/21, 8 PM: Sunny Side Up (1929)
Tonight's programming honoring classic screen couples starts out with one of Hollywood's first popular screen teams- Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell. This film was the first "all-talking" picture for the duo, and it goes all-out with plenty of musical numbers peppered through the story of a shopgirl who wins the heart of a society man.


12/26: Disney Live-Action Classics
6:30 AM - Old Yeller (1958)
8 AM - Pollyanna (1960)
10:15 AM - The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975)
12 PM - Swiss Family Robinson (1960)
2:15 PM - The Love Bug (1968)
4:15 PM - The Parent Trap (1961)
6:30 PM - The Age of Believing: The Disney Live Action Classics (2008)
8 PM - Escape to Witch Mountain (1975)
10 PM - Return from Witch Mountain (1978)
Don't miss the documentary, The Age of Believing, about the history of live-action films from Disney Studios. It includes lots of film clips from the Disney heyday of the 60s and 70s, and interviews with many of the films' stars. And throughout the day, TCM has scheduled a marathon of fun Disney films. The line-up doesn't include some of my childhood favorites like Mary Poppins, Bedknobs & Broomsticks, and Pete's Dragon; but I think that just speaks to the high quality of the Disney catalog. My must-see picks today would be Swiss Family Robinson, for the awesome tree house, which can still be explored at Walt Disney World; The Love Bug, for Disney live-action staple Dean Jones; The Parent Trap, for the double shot of Hayley Mills; and Escape to Witch Mountain, to see if it is still as creepy as it seemed when I was a kid.


12/26, 1:15 AM: The Red Balloon (1956)
This whimsical French film was a childhood classic for many of the baby boom generation and hopefully today's kids will enjoy it, too. It was also the winner of several international awards, including the Academy Award for best original screenplay. The Oscar nod is especially surprising since the story, of a boy who discovers a balloon with a mind of its own, is told without dialogue.


12/30, 1 AM: The Comic (1969)
I love Dick Van Dyke in light comedies and musicals (you can catch him in Fitzwilly on 12/3), so I was surprised and intrigued when I heard about this serious film in which he plays a famous comedian of the silent era whose alcoholism, womanizing, and rampant ego ruin his life. Van Dyke is a well-known admirer of Stan Laurel and other comedians of early Hollywood; however, he and director/co-writer Carl Reiner do not shy away from the darker side of the comedy business. This month's MVP Mickey Rooney and Michele Lee co-star.

BONUS: 3 AM - Pulp (1972)
Michael Caine stars as a pulp novelist hired to ghostwrite the memoirs of a shady ex-actor (played by, who else, Mickey Rooney), and finds himself pulled into a murder plot.

Happy Holidays, everybody!

On other websites...

Happy Thanksgiving! This is one of my favorite times of the year because it means fun parties, delicious food, and, of course, lots of new movies! Here's a gathering of some interesting articles, interviews, and other links inspired by films in theaters this week...

According to this article from the L.A. Times, Disney plans to say “the end” to animated fairy tales after the release of Tangled this week. I will admit to being disappointed, but as an adult, I am also no longer the target audience for these films. Who am I to judge today’s youth for their apparent dislike of classic stories and desire for cartoons about video games?

Now that At the Movies has permanently closed the balcony, it seems that A.O. Scott has more time to…go to the movies...and to write a reflective essay for the New York Times about Megamind, Unstoppable, and the very nature of movie-going.

And with the release of Made in Dagenham, IFC has provided a handy chart to help you decide if this is the “feel-good British film” for you, or if you should just re-watch The Full Monty.

From Fresh Air, a nice interview with Tom Hooper, director of John Adams, The Damned United, and the new film The King’s Speech.

The latest Tron: Legacy trailer, which I saw before a screening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, heavily features a disturbing, computer-generated “young” Jeff Bridges which creeped me out even more than Voldemort's nose-slits. See, the problem with digital Jeff is that I already know what young Jeff Bridges looks like, and it’s not “old Jeff Bridges with the wrinkles removed.” If you, too, have been scarred by the wrongness of Tron: Legacy, watch this True Grit trailer to see Bridges looking suitably grizzled as one-eyed bounty hunter Rooster Cogburn.

Notes from the Austin Film Festival

Last month I attended the Austin Film Festival & Conference and got an early look at some of the films now playing (or soon to be) in theaters. Lately I've become accustomed to avoiding new releases, so I am happy to be able to recommend three new films which I saw at the festival. Because it is based around a screenplay competition, AFF has branded itself as a "writer's festival," so it is ironic that what impressed me most about these films weren't the screenplays, but the strong performances that anchor each one.

Conviction tells the story of Betty Anne Waters, a working mother and high school dropout, who spent nearly two decades trying to clear the name of her brother Kenny, sentenced to life in prison for a murder he did not commit. Since the film is based on a true story, the eventual outcome is never in question; however, the film is compelling because we want to know how they got there, what obstacles they faced and what sacrifices were made. Because it comes to define her life, Betty Anne's single-minded quest to free her brother is repeatedly questioned. But she simply cannot conceive of giving up. Ultimately the film challenges the audience to ask themselves, "what would I have done?" Hilary Swank as Betty Anne is the standout among a talented cast which includes Sam Rockwell as Kenny and Minnie Driver as Betty Anne's classmate. While I don't think that this role will earn her another Best Actress Oscar, her performance here reminds us why she deserved the first two.

Another real-life tale of endurance is 127 Hours, starring James Franco as Aron Ralston, an outdoor adventurer who is forced to amputate his own arm after being pinned under a boulder in a remote canyon. TV shows like Survivorman or Man vs. Wild explain how someone might survive alone in extreme conditions. What is hardly mentioned, except in the fine print disclaimer, is that these are situations you would never, ever, encounter except in the most disastrous of circumstances. As we learn more about him, it is clear that Ralston approached his excursions into the canyons, and life in general, with a misguided hubris. Watching him learn humility and the folly of shunning meaningful human connections makes us aware of our own fragility and how our relationships with other people help to keep us safe. Rather than making you wonder if you could survive such an ordeal, this film might make you realize that, thankfully, you will never be in that situation because _____. (Fill in the blank for yourself: you live with someone who loves you, you call your mom every Sunday, you always go hiking with your buddy from REI...) Since most of the film takes place in the canyon, it is basically a one-man show for Franco, and he is riveting as he deftly shifts between comic affability and tragic desperation.

My favorite movie of the festival was Blue Valentine. Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling play Cindy and Dean, a working-class couple with a young daughter, whose marriage is becoming increasingly strained. They are two basically decent people who just aren't meant to be together. But they are together, for better or worse, and through flashbacks we see the progression of their relationship from first meeting to the present day. The concept and presentation are not new, but the filmmakers prevent the story from becoming overly predictable by continually taking a scene that feels familiar and using it to reveal something new about these characters. Characters, by the way, who are portrayed brilliantly by Gosling and Williams. It is the strength of their performances that keeps you interested in this doomed romance. The MPAA has rated Blue Valentine NC-17, presumably due to several sex scenes (the MPAA does not have to give a reason for their ratings). So, most movie-goers may have to wait for the DVD; however, the film is set for a limited release on December 31 to qualify for Oscar consideration. It would be very unfortunate if people were discouraged from seeing this film because of a misguided rating.