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.)
7/1: Farley Granger Mini-Marathon
1:30 PM - Behave Yourself! (1951)
3 PM - Strangers on a Train (1951)
4:45 PM - Side Street (1950)
6:15 PM - They Live by Night (1949)
Handsome leading man Farley Granger passed away earlier this year; however, today we get a mini-marathon of films in honor of his birthday. In these 4 films Granger plays a (somewhat) innocent man who gets tangled up in other people's crimes. The line-up includes what might be Granger's best film, the Hitchcock-directed Strangers on a Train; as well as two films co-starring Cathy O'Donnell, who is probably best known for her role as Wilma in The Best Years of Our Lives.
7/12: Rock N' Roll High School
6 AM - It's Trad, Dad! (1961)
7:30 AM - Bye Bye Birdie (1963)
9:30 AM - Juke Box Rhythm (1959)
11 AM - Senior Prom (1958)
12:30 PM - Rock Around the Clock (1956)
2 PM - Beach Blanket Bingo (1965)
4 PM - The Cool Ones (1967)
I love watching films from the 50s and 60s which tried to capitalize on the burgeoning teenage market and the new popularity of rock music. These were low-budget "B" movies made for teenagers, but usually saddled with corny storylines by "square" adults. However, the generally upbeat tone and lively musical performances make even the dumbest stories fun. Bye Bye Birdie is an exception here because it was based on a hit Broadway musical, so the budget was bigger, the story a bit more layered; however, the reactionary attitude toward rock n' roll remained - it makes kids crazy!
7/23, 9:30 AM - The Tall Target (1951)
Dick Powell stars as detective John Kennedy (no, not that one), the only man who can prevent the assassination of Abraham Lincoln aboard a train traveling to Washington, D.C for his inauguration. This film was directed by Anthony Mann and was inspired by an actual attempt on Lincoln's life. This minor historical footnote has been elaborated upon to create a modern conspiracy thriller, which builds tension even though we know the conclusion (Spoiler Alert: Lincoln lives). Nice period details, such as shots of the Capitol under construction, add an extra level of interest.
7/29, 2 AM - Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One (1968)
In this installment of TCM Underground, director William Greaves has young actors audition in Central Park for a fictional project about a troubled couple. His cameras also capture what goes on "behind the scenes," such as crew member gossip, gathering onlookers, and other distractions. This avant-garde documentary had enough of a cult following (including actor Steve Buscemi) to merit a sequel, Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take 2 1/2, in 2005.
7/31: The Chaplin Family
2:15 AM - Peppermint Frappe (1967)
4 AM - A King in New York (1957)
Stay up late to catch this double-feature starring the talented Chaplins. Peppermint Frappe is a doppelganger story, similar to Vertigo and Obsession, set in Spain during the repressive Franco regime. It is a dark character study of a lonely doctor who becomes so obsessed with his friend's new wife, played by Geraldine Chaplin, that he tries to mold another woman into her image - which shouldn't be too difficult, since she is also played by Chaplin.
A King in New York stars Charlie Chaplin as the king of a small, broke country who comes to the USA to make money; however, after befriending the young son of a Communist couple (played by Chaplin's son Michael), the king finds himself on trial for Communism. At the time this film was made, Charlie Chaplin was living in Europe, barred from re-entering the US due to his outspoken political views. King was Chaplin's satrical take on American consumerism and political paranoia during the McCarthy era.
Next month, Summer Under the Stars!
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Allen Abroad
by AJ
I would have loved to have been around during the late 1950s/early 1960s: all the men wore sharp suits and skinny ties, women wore dresses, the music was great, movie musicals were actually good. Of course, I wouldn’t have been able to go to the better movie theater in my hometown because it was for “whites only.” But that's not part of my 60s, that is to say, my dream of the 60s.
In Midnight in Paris, the latest film from Woody Allen, an unsatisfied screenwriter/aspiring novelist played by Owen Wilson is visiting Paris with his fiance and her parents. Gil's (Owen Wilson) idea of a great time in Paris is different from his fiance's, which includes spending a lot of time with a pretentious, pseudo-intellectual played quite well by Michael Sheen. Gil pines for the Paris of the 1920s, when you might find people like F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, and Picasso at the same party on any given night.
A lot of reviews have tried to step around the actual plot of this film, describing it instead as a movie about a "young engaged couple forced to confront the illusion that a life different from their own is better." That plot description comes from IMDB and is similar to descriptions on other websites and periodicals. But it really isn't a spoiler to tell you that late one night as Gil takes a stroll an older model car pulls up next to him and he's invited for a ride by some revelers on their way to a party. At the party, after meeting Zelda and her husband "Scott," Gil realizes that, somehow, he's been transported to the Jazz Age Paris that has been the focus of his nostalgia. That's not a spoiler because Woody Allen is a genuine auteur and storyteller. He could make a whole movie about a couple dealing with illusions of the life they want to be living which takes place entirely in the real world, but I'm glad he didn't and chose to add magic to Midnight in Paris. But Gil wandering into 1920s Paris is the just the tip of the iceberg.
It's the not the actual historical Paris of the 1920s Gil finds himself in, but what we think that time and that city would be like. The movie is a dream of that time period. There are so many great moments with the personalities Gil runs into during his nights in Jazz Age Paris. You should recognize the names of the people he encounters from prerequisite college courses you may have taken. The most notable of these names are Gertrude Stein and Ernest Hemingway, whom Gil gets to help him with his book. Now that's an aspiring novelist's dream if I've ever heard one. I won't say too much else about his nights in bygone Paris since the charm and humor of those scenes comes from who he just happens to run into at parties and cafes. The movie doesn't go into how it is that Gil is able to wander back in time. I think the movie, like Gil, is too thrilled to bother asking how or why.
The movies Allen has made abroad have all dealt with heavy themes, even the comedies. Match Point, Scoop, and Cassandra's Dream involved murder; You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger was interesting look at people's plans and schemes; Vicky Christina Barcelona, which I enjoyed very much, was a comedy in that it wasn't a straight drama. Midnight in Paris is filled with romance, nostalgia, magic, and whimsy. It's an entirely enjoyable experience. You wouldn't think that Owen Wilson would be a great stand-in for the Woody Allen-esque character in a Woody Allen movie, but his cadence and energy are great fit for Allen's dialogue. Come to think of it, Wilson's struggling thief in Bottle Rocket isn't that far off from Allen's characters in Take the Money and Run or Small Time Crooks. 
I get to watch a version of my dream of the early 60s in American Graffiti and Mad Men, though the latter downplays any nostalgia for that time period. If I ever was able to wander back to that time I'd like to be able to come back to my time as well. If I spent all my time back there what would I have to be nostalgic for?
I would have loved to have been around during the late 1950s/early 1960s: all the men wore sharp suits and skinny ties, women wore dresses, the music was great, movie musicals were actually good. Of course, I wouldn’t have been able to go to the better movie theater in my hometown because it was for “whites only.” But that's not part of my 60s, that is to say, my dream of the 60s.
In Midnight in Paris, the latest film from Woody Allen, an unsatisfied screenwriter/aspiring novelist played by Owen Wilson is visiting Paris with his fiance and her parents. Gil's (Owen Wilson) idea of a great time in Paris is different from his fiance's, which includes spending a lot of time with a pretentious, pseudo-intellectual played quite well by Michael Sheen. Gil pines for the Paris of the 1920s, when you might find people like F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, and Picasso at the same party on any given night. A lot of reviews have tried to step around the actual plot of this film, describing it instead as a movie about a "young engaged couple forced to confront the illusion that a life different from their own is better." That plot description comes from IMDB and is similar to descriptions on other websites and periodicals. But it really isn't a spoiler to tell you that late one night as Gil takes a stroll an older model car pulls up next to him and he's invited for a ride by some revelers on their way to a party. At the party, after meeting Zelda and her husband "Scott," Gil realizes that, somehow, he's been transported to the Jazz Age Paris that has been the focus of his nostalgia. That's not a spoiler because Woody Allen is a genuine auteur and storyteller. He could make a whole movie about a couple dealing with illusions of the life they want to be living which takes place entirely in the real world, but I'm glad he didn't and chose to add magic to Midnight in Paris. But Gil wandering into 1920s Paris is the just the tip of the iceberg. It's the not the actual historical Paris of the 1920s Gil finds himself in, but what we think that time and that city would be like. The movie is a dream of that time period. There are so many great moments with the personalities Gil runs into during his nights in Jazz Age Paris. You should recognize the names of the people he encounters from prerequisite college courses you may have taken. The most notable of these names are Gertrude Stein and Ernest Hemingway, whom Gil gets to help him with his book. Now that's an aspiring novelist's dream if I've ever heard one. I won't say too much else about his nights in bygone Paris since the charm and humor of those scenes comes from who he just happens to run into at parties and cafes. The movie doesn't go into how it is that Gil is able to wander back in time. I think the movie, like Gil, is too thrilled to bother asking how or why.The movies Allen has made abroad have all dealt with heavy themes, even the comedies. Match Point, Scoop, and Cassandra's Dream involved murder; You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger was interesting look at people's plans and schemes; Vicky Christina Barcelona, which I enjoyed very much, was a comedy in that it wasn't a straight drama. Midnight in Paris is filled with romance, nostalgia, magic, and whimsy. It's an entirely enjoyable experience. You wouldn't think that Owen Wilson would be a great stand-in for the Woody Allen-esque character in a Woody Allen movie, but his cadence and energy are great fit for Allen's dialogue. Come to think of it, Wilson's struggling thief in Bottle Rocket isn't that far off from Allen's characters in Take the Money and Run or Small Time Crooks. I get to watch a version of my dream of the early 60s in American Graffiti and Mad Men, though the latter downplays any nostalgia for that time period. If I ever was able to wander back to that time I'd like to be able to come back to my time as well. If I spent all my time back there what would I have to be nostalgic for?
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