The Wizard of Link

Journalistic Skepticism What are the 20 Best Movie Weddings? I'm surprised the AFI hasn't made this list yet.
Mind of a Suspicious Kind looks back over Danny Boyle's filmography prior to the release of 127 Hours
Totally Looks Like Miss Hattie (Despicable Me) = Dolores Umbridge. Huh. I do see it now.
Movies Kick Ass compares The Wizard of Oz with... Andrei Tarkovsky's Stalker?


Self Styled Siren has a really interesting post on the Shirley Temple / John Ford film Wee Willie Winkie (1937) and...
Self Styled Siren ...another post on the attendant hulabaloo at the time by way of controversial critic/ screenwriter/ novelist Graham Greene who called wee Temple "a fancy little piece" in a review that prompted litigation.
Coming Soon First photos from the upcoming 647th film adaptation of The Three Musketeers (2011). This one stars Mads Mikkelsen and Milla Jovovich.
Antagony & Ecstasy reviews Cairo Time. I love this bit.

Which is an extremely good reason why you should never let a plot synopsis be the sole reason you choose your movies (whereas choosing them because of the lead actress - now that's just good sense).

Total Film has been surveying the movie blog landscape. I'm happy to be included on page 3 of their "another 600 movie blogs" but my goodness... 1200 is a lot of linkage with no real gain for anyone right? I mean you can't exactly list it in your bio. It's not like "Declared one of the top one thousand two hundred movie blogs!" is much of a blurb. But I kid. It's nice to be included. What's scary is that's probably only scratching the surface of all the movie blogs in the world.

offscreen
Wall Street Journal on "Judy Garland Lost Tracks"
Playbill on "Judy Garland Lost Tracks." Ummm... how had I missed this news? Seriously. Must have now. Either my brain is a sieve or the internet is because how are people totally discussing this and I didn't even know about it?! Argh. More Judy = yes.
Mighty God King "we need a human behavior patch" See, complainers? I'm not the only movie blogger who sometimes has to let off a little political steam. If you're not sometimes angry about things going on in this world, ur doin it wrong.
Parabasis "let freedom ring" another fine post on the anniversary of MLK's historic speech.
Boy Culture on last week's Scissor Sisters concert. I was there. T'was so fun, sexy, energetic, crazy, etcetera.
OMG Blog catches up with Björk. We hadn't checked in with her in awhile and we're going to Iceland soon. Yay.
The Film Doctor reads the latest horror novel The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing To Our Brains.

"You won't link me when I'm angry"

Hell on Frisco Bay Silent Summer at the Castro. Love the poster for the Louise Brooks picture (such a great movie). This can be filed under the Grass is Always Greener. NYC has a ton of cool film programs and I'm always wishing I could go to the Castro's film programs.

The Film Doctor good piece on a second look at the 'suicidal cool' of Tom Ford's A Single Man.
Serious Film File this one under Lines I Wish I'd Written. On Peter Jackson returning to The Hobbit

"If only there was some convenient metaphor for some thing people just can't bring themselves to let go of."

Movie|Line Angelina Jolie's "lightning round" of possible future projects. Why does the MTV reporter pronounce Maleficent so bizarrely. Did he never see the glorious Sleeping Beauty as a child? P.S. I love Jolie and I love Maleficent but for all that is holy I cannot stand the thought of that fusion under Tim Burton's direction. I literally would have to be dragged to see it which, well, if you understood how much I loved Maleficent you would understand the utter devastation I'm feeling.

Coming Soon meetings have begun for Wicked with several directors interested (JJ Abrams, Rob Marshall, James Mangold, Ryan Murphy). If you're wondering why I haven't written about it, it's that we have no substantial news and I'm just feeling disaster coming. By the time they make this -- if they ever make it -- the market will have already been flooded with about 6 or 7 other Oz projects that are further along in development. I just don't understand why they waited so long. Hopefully The Wizard of Oz (1939) itself gets some sort of cool rerelease for its 75th anniversary in 2014.
/Film if people who cared about superheroes actually read The Film Experience (I know from comments that that's not really your thing) they would realize I'm a genius because I totally predict these things. MORE trouble with The Avengers. Edward Norton is not returning as The Hulk. I knew this superhero team using all big stars was r-i-d-i-c-u-l-0-u-s from the get go and I already called the delays and cancellations and cast issues. I still have trouble believing we'll ever see the film which is why those constant commercials for it interrupting the narrative of Iron Man 2 irritated me so much. (Just concentrate on the movie we're watching!!! This is not too much to ask of a movie. In fact this is just a basic storytelling requirement.) Most sites on the web feed on every crumb from studio pr about superhero movies like it's a manna from heaven, devouring it all as gospel facts until the fact changes which prompts another flurry of articles. Do movie websites do this because of page views or are they all true believers? If they are maybe I should stop writing the equivalent of "Santa Claus doesn't exist".

But what's this...?

HitFix Marvel Studios publicly dissing Edward Norton? Bad bad form. If that's the way they're going to play the movie game, why would any name actor want to work with them again? I mean, aside from the money. But Marvel Studios isn't the only studio that can offer big money.

The Hot Blog David Poland agrees that it's unprofessional.

Cinema Blend it might be Joaquin Phoenix replacing Norton. This news strikes me as hilarious since... well... when did Joaquin Phoenix suddenly get a "so easy to work with!" reputation that he'd be deemed an upgrade from Norton?

she'snotme. shedoesn'tlinkmyname. she'llneverlinkwhatihave. itwon'tbethesame.

Antagony & Ecstasy says these 10 are the best performances by an actress in history. Love the bookend choices so much.
i09 Megan Fox poses with her lesbian mannequin. This is easily my favorite Megan Fox performance
Cinema Blend Katey wants to see Christopher Nolan duke it out with James Cameron in a 3D debate. Me too
Movie|Line has updates on those Wizard of Oz projects


Mediaite Adventures in mispronounciations with Catherine Zeta-Jones. She's just a girl who c*** say no. She's in a terrible fix.
Low Resolution Joe Reid begins to count down his favorite Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes. Consider it a corrective to Logo's Spike crazy countdown. Read it because you love Buffy! [I'm guessing because all cool people do.]
My New Plaid Pants JA also makes a Best of Buffy list
PopEater talks to Carrie Fisher about Wishful Drinking. She always gives good interview
Socialite's Life Dakota Fanning has her priorities straight

And yes... I am aware that the first Sofia Coppola trailer "Somewhere" teaser debuted yesterday (while I was at dinner). I am unable to post about it right this second. Let's discuss several hours from now. It'll still be there.

Off Topic Just Cuz
Have you seen this mashup of Madonna / Gaga set to Madonna's underappreciated "She's Not Me" tune. It may be a slam on Gaga but it's still fun.



The way I kind of look at it is that I miss Madonna ALL THE TIME so if Madonna (my fav celeb ever) isn't going to make epic videos anymore -- and she hasn't been really trying in that realm, her very own kingdom (!), in awhile -- I need the Gaga.

P.S. I think there should be some sort of title moderation on YouTube. So many videos label themselves official this or that when they're something quite different. It can be absolutely maddening to search for a new movie trailer and have to wade through hundreds of bad fan videos or cheap gags first. The world OFFICIAL is more grossly overused on YouTube than "Exclusive" is on movie news sites or the naughty F word is in a Mamet play. That's how overused it is. For the love of search engines, please stop lying to the world.

Where Are the Musicals? (Part Two)

Last week I thought I was being a little bit overdramatic when I started worrying about the absence of future movie musicals. But maybe I wasn't dramatic enough. Is it time for panicked hysteria? Just ten years into the genre's spectacular rebirth -- which I trace back to the 1-2-3-4 spectacular punch of Dancer in the Dark (00), Moulin Rouge! (01), Hedwig (01) and Chicago (02) -- it seems to be dying again.

I read today that plans for Hairspray 2 have been halted. It's not often you hear of sequel ideas to hit films being cast aside. Adam Shankman's statement about the dead sequel sounds rational on the surface:

That got killed. I was so happy with the first one, let's leave well enough alone. It's all good.

Since when were Hollywood types ever all zen about the "leave well enough alone". They live for easy money and what is easier than getting a big opening weekend out of pre-sold popularity be it through sequels, remakes, reboots or reinterpretations? Hollywood (speaking generally of course) never has original ideas. What's more they're usually spectacularly proud of their insistence on repeating themselves.

The only musical in development that's getting discussed lately is a remake of My Fair Lady. A remake.

Even weirder and more worrying is that Universal reportedly decided against a Mamma Mia! sequel (2008) even though ABBA has a thousand other great songs that could be similarly massacred for coin if such a film were to exist. I never in a million years thought I'd be freaked out about that decision, "Hooray!" being the only sane response. But I can't recall one time in the history of ever that a major studio has decided not to make a sequel to a movie that grossed over half a billion dollars.

All right... I exaggerate a little. But I'm scared because I love my song & dance. Mamma Mia! is currently the 50th highest grosser ever worldwide*. As it turns out, there are a few higher grossers that don't have sequels (yet) or weren't sequels to begin with. Of the other 49 the stand-alones are (in descending order)

• Avatar (sequel in development)
  
• Titanic (a wee problem called historical accuracy prevented sequels)
• Finding Nemo
• Independence Day
• E.T. The Extra Terrestrial
  
• 2012
  
• Up
• Forrest Gump
• The Sixth Sense
• Kung Fu Panda (the sequel arrives next year)
  
• The Incredibles
• Hancock
• Ratatouille
• The Passion of the Christ
  

That's fourteen other movies, a few of which will undoubtedly get sequels. It seems like the only reason a hit movie doesn't get a sequel is if its lead character dies, or if it stars Will Smith (two examples there, but isn't he his own franchise? Maybe those are sequels) or if it's made by Pixar and isn't named "Toy Story".

If Wicked needs bankable 20something stars,
Anne Hathaway & Amanda Seyfried can both sing.

All of this, plus the weird absence of money-magnet "Wicked" in Hollywood's current Oz-mania production slate, is really getting to me. The stage show's cumulative gross is approaching half a billion dollars (it's currently at $469 million and it still earning over a million a week) Why wouldn't Hollywood be rushing to capitalize on it?

I'm officially very worried. It's too easy to blame it on Nine which cost a fortune (What did they spent the money on? It takes place on a stage! How did that cost $30 million more to make than Mamma Mia! or Sweeney Todd?).Perhaps the problem is actually Sweeney Todd. It earned $152 million worldwide which sounds like a decent amount... until you stop to consider what Burton/Depp pairings usually make.

You'd think it'd be an ideal time to grow a hit musical. The past ten years should be seen as ample fertilizer: the genre has produced hits, several song and/or dance adept celebrities have become much more famous/bankable (Hathaway, Jackman, Harris, Chenoweth, Tatum, Seyfried), musical theater stars have started to gain more fame outside of New York than they have in some time (Cheyenne Jackson, Jane Krakowski, Audra McDonald, Lea Michelle, Idina Menzel) and then there's a little something called Glee on TV. Maybe you've heard of it?

Greenlight some musicals, suits! Just make sure they don't cost as much as Nine so you have a chance at a profit. That shouldn't be hard. It's not like Sweeney Todd looked bad for $30 million less. It looked great. It just didn't sound that way.

*none of these figures are adjusted for inflation. The biggest musical hit of all time (and the third biggest hit of any type ever) is The Sound of Music (1965) which made over a billion dollars in today's numbers.

Robert and Boorman and Drew! Oh My!

Jose here.

Was Dorothy (Judy Garland) lying to us when she told us there's no place like home in The Wizard of Oz?



Judging from the way movie people are flocking back to Oz, it seems the little girl from Kansas might've missed something in her first trip.

As of today there are six, count them, films in development that have something to do with Frank L. Baum's timeless classic or the Victor Fleming film adaptation and that's not even including the much awaited stage to screen translation of Broadway blockbuster Wicked.

Everyone wants a piece of Oz and projects in development have attracted the attention of people like Drew Barrymore, Sean Astin and even the guy who made Deliverance.
But before we surrender to confusion let's go through each of the projects.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Set for release in 2011, this CGI adaptation of the original book will mark director John Boorman's first foray into animation.
Call me morbid but I'm really dying to see what the man who made The Exorcist II brings to Oz. Boorman has a great eye for set pieces and his interest in fantasy is notable (to a good effect in Excalibur and to WTF in Zardoz, which coincidentally got its title from the wizard) and besides what is Deliverance if not a violent, testosterone driven interpretation of the Oz mythology? Sans flying monkeys of course.

Dark Oz
Based on a comic book the film is set to be directed by Pearry Teo and will star Pras Micheal of The Fugees.
While this one sounds interesting to say the least, I was left more intrigued by one of the comic book tie-ins called Oz Squad which has Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion form a secret organization appropriately named the "Gale Force" created to protect Emerald City.
I'm usually a purist when it comes to things like these but the fact that the comic book outraged Baum scholars and has only now resurfaced as a groundbreaking work makes it sound quite enticing.
My only objection? An element in the plot called the Tik-Tok, which would make a Ke$ha appearance almost inevitable.

Surrender Dorothy
The lovely Drew Barrymore (left in all her emerald colored glory from Whip It) is set to direct this sequel from a screenplay by Zach Helm (Stranger Than Fiction). In the story, Dorothy's great great granddaughter must learn to use the ruby slippers to prevent the Wicked Witch of the West from taking over Oz.
Originally Drew was set to play Dorothy but with the screenplay in development limbo for almost a decade, the now obviously older actress might just want to stick to behind the camera duties.

Dorothy of Oz
Another CGI version, this one is based on a book by Baum's great grandson Roger S. Baum and is directed by Dan St. Pierre (who served as art director for Disney's Tarzan).
In the plot Dorothy (rumored to be voiced by Lea Michele) is sent back to Oz right after her first trip where she meets a man made out of marshmallows and a china doll.
This one is also set for release in 2011.


The Witches of Oz
The official synopsis reads:
The Witches of Oz follows the exploits of the grown Dorothy Gale, now a successful children's book author, as she moves from Kansas to present day New York City. Dorothy quickly learns that her popular books are based on repressed childhood memories, and that the wonders of Oz are very, very real. When the Wicked Witch of the West shows up in Times Square, Dorothy must find the inner courage to stop her.

Sean Astin, Ethan Embry and Lance Henriksen star.
For clips, photo source and more information about this film click here.

The Great Powerful
If you've just had enough of Dorothy, this might be the film for you.
Instead of focusing on the heroine this one is more interested in the man behind the curtain.
This film will tell the tale of the wizard's life and how he ended in Oz. Robert Downey Jr. is set to play him and when you read sources describing the wiz as a man "leading a life of charlatanry" who sounds more appropriate to play the part?
The film might be directed by Adam Shankman (hmmm) or Sam Mendes (yay and hmmm).

And yes, no news on a big screen adaptation of Wicked yet (other than the one already being filmed inside my head with Anne Hathaway and Reese Witherspoon in the lead roles).

So what's your take on all this? Are you faithful to Judy Garland or are you willing to see other Dorothys? Do you think there's something as too much Oz or is this making you salivate?

If Boys Don’t Cry, Then Why, Oh, Why Can’t I?

Stephen here from Peel Slowly. Nathaniel gave me the go-ahead to post about Hilary Swank. Surprised?


Swank gets a hard rap from the Film Experience, but I’d like to take us all back to when she was just “this beautiful androgynous person” (in the words of Boys Don’t Cry director Kimberly Peirce).

Prior to seeing that film when it was new in 1999, I had no idea who Hilary was, and since the film begins with her already in Brandon Teena mode, I wondered if the filmmaker got a male actor to act like a girl acting like a boy (think Victor/Victoria, only with us, the audience, as James Garner). That’s how much Hilary’s performance blew me away.


I always looked at the film as interpreting Brandon’s tragedy as a kind of Pinocchio story: someone who wants to be a boy is severely punished for lying. I suppose I thought that because of moments like the one pictured above. Lord knows Peter Sarsgaard and Brendan Sexton III’s characters scared me as much as these guys did in Pinocchio.

But in Peirce’s very incisive audio commentary, she refers much more to the film The Wizard of Oz as point of reference. For example, during Boys Don’t Cry’s opening credits, Teena has just “become” Brandon and goes to meet a date at the skating rink. Peirce explains that Brandon’s entrance to the rink is the final step of his mental transformation

We…set up a shot sequence that made you feel like you were walking inside the landscape of your fantasy.

It was a…structure inspired by The Wizard of Oz: A shot of the character; a shot of the landscape she walks into; the door opening; the character going through; and us going right through that door with them.”

This clip I made helps illustrate her point. It has Peirce’s commentary, Brandon’s “passage to manhood,” and Dorothy’s entrance to Oz…



Peirce’s entire commentary is riddled with these fine examples of how she uses the camera to transform Brandon’s experience—as best as she can imagine it—into a cohesive film. To hear her thoughts on the difference between fantasy and reality; self-loathing as a by-product of an oppressive environment; Brandon’s self-destruction; etc, makes it very clear that the film’s impact was no accident.

There are those who have lost faith in Ms. Swank, but this film and her performance still have teeth.
*

"Certificate of Death" A Legendary Munchkin Passes

Sad news arrived this morning. The Coroner from The Wizard of Oz (1939) passed away yesterday. I would tell you that "Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead" is one of my favorite scenes from The Wizard of Oz but the statement is meaningless; Every scene is "one of my favorite scenes" from The Wizard of Oz. I love that movie like it's a family member or body part.

Meinhardt Raabe (1915-2010)

As coroner, I must aver
I thoroughly examined her.
And she’s not only merely dead,
She’s really most sincerely dead.

There are so few people of any height left alive from what's often regarded as cinema's greatest year. I don't know how many Munchkins are still with us from Oz but some must remain. After all, there were baby Munchkins, too.

According to the IMDb there are six cast members of Gone With the Wind still with us: Cammie King (75), Mickey Kuhn (77), Anne Rutherford (89), Mary Anderson (90), the legendary Olivia de Havilland (93) and Alicia Rhett (95). I want them all to live forever so that that one never drifts away.
*

Screenwriter Extraordinaire.

Jose here reporting from the 25th Guadalajara International Film Festival.


A few days ago our workshop had the opportunity to have a long talk with novelist/screenwriter Barry Gifford (Wild at Heart, Lost Highway, Perdita Durango). Being in Mexico as we are, most of the conversation was spent on Gifford's love of border towns and the shady characters who inhabit them. "Borders always represent another country" he said before he addressed his fascination with criminal minds in exotic locales.

For all of you Film Experience readers who love The Wizard of Oz as much as Nat and I do, I thought it would be interesting to share how its influence on Wild At Heart came to be.

"It was all David [Lynch]" Gifford said "I was in France doing publicity for the book [version] and when I saw it for the first time the day before it screened at Cannes I saw the homage". Apparently producer Samuel Goldwyn hated the original, more realistic, ending (which is in Gifford's book) and asked Lynch to rewrite it. That rewriting created one of the most fascinating merges of classic and contemporary film.

When asked how he came up with the title Wild at Heart he revealed that it came to him by chance. Years later he found out that it was one of Tennessee Williams' favorite things to say ("say a prayer for the wild at heart") and felt the playwright was exerting some sort of blessing on his work from beyond the grave.

"this whole world is wild at heart and weird on top"

Psycho-Linkasis (Starring Viggo Mortensen)

id
My New Plaid Pants Michael Fassbender and Viggo Mortensen onscreen together. For David Cronenberg? And they're playing psychoanalyst giants/friends/rivals Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung? Please let this be as masterfully sick as Dead Ringers! This is the best movie news since The Hurt Locker's Best Picture win. It's even better news than that if the movie is great.


The Playlist Two new Wizard of Oz movie projects and neither of them are Wicked? Okay worst movie news of week.
Coming Soon Lone Scherfig (An Education) is moving on from Carey Mulligan and on to Anne Hathaway (!) The movie is a romance called One Day (co-starring Jim Sturgess).
MTV Amanda Seyfried will be The Girl With The Red Riding Hood for teen-girl angst obsessed Catherine Hardwicke (thirteen, Twilight).

ego
Flaunt Magazine has a feature interview with Vincent Cassell, he of the Monica Bellucci loving, good French movie-making and Eastern Promises closeted Viggo-lust. Regarding the latter: Isn't everyone gay for Viggo... or shouldn't they be?


I bring this up primarily because I always look at Flaunt Magazine in the book stores (pretty pictures!) and I never buy. So I felt a sudden pang of guilt when I got the press release on this new issue. And no, I have no idea why there's an albino peacock on the cover instead of Vincent Cassel. But I like this bit on French cinema

“Things are very different in France,” muses Cassel. “In Hollywood there’s politics; young actors have to do big, stupid movies to eventually be a box office figure and have access to great directors, stuff like that. But in France the market is a little different. In a minute, you know everybody, so you stick to what you like because, otherwise, you won’t be able to come back to it.”

You can see American actors struggling with this all the time. See Julianne Moore and Nicole Kidman's frequent trips into films they aren't suited for in order to maintain their fame levels and enormously salaries within the drama-hating reality of the American box-office.

Antagony & Ecstasy "in the spirit of whiny, unconstructive criticism" names the 10 worst best picture winners
The Awl Apple's subconcious / conscious take-over of the movies and especially Sex & The City

super-ego
LA Times Variety lets its best known critics go. Such a different world than it used to be. Pretty soon PR departments will be the only paid opinion-makers... which is something I'm sure The Corporate Machine always wanted.
Film Essent defends Jason Reitman post-Up in the Air Oscar loss
/Film Clint Eastwood is now the director for that Dustin Lance Black scripted J Edgar Hoover biopic. What a strange combo?!?!

Jose Gives Thanks.

Jose here.

Although we don't have anything resembling Thanksgiving in my culture (Penélope Cruz was talking about that on Letterman the other day) I have a special place in my heart (and stomach) for turkey, gravy and pumpkin pie.

I also feel very grateful for the following: Technicolor, Woody Allen banter, Judy Garland's smile, the millisecond of suspense between normal talking and spontaneous singing in the musicals, post-Volver Penélope, the Truffaut/Hitchcock book, still being thrilled by the sepia-to-color switch in The Wizard of Oz, Nino Rota and La Strada, Julia Roberts' laugh, Scarlett and Rhett, Bette Davis' eyes, Ingrid Bergman's Italian phase, Jett Rink, Jacques Tourneur horror flicks, The Blob, pre-supermom Gwyneth, WALL-E, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Anne Hathaway at award shows, Brando as Kowalski, Meryl!, Gene Kelly's butt, subtitles...


Audrey Hepburn's weird morning eating habits circa '61, Nathaniel letting me write all of this, West Side Story, Madge dancing as Susan, the Green Fairy and knowing that as I write this there's still thousands of movies I haven't seen, ready for me to feel grateful about them later on.
*

Monologue Over the Rainbow.

Jose here trying to stop obsessing about The Wizard of Oz without any success...

The beloved masterpiece turns 70 tomorrow and remains as fresh and delightful as the day when it first came out.
Its timeless success is owed to what I think is the greatest monologue in film history, Judy Garland's iconic delivery of "Over the Rainbow".

As Dorothy Gale, Garland puts onscreen the ultimate performance of misunderstood childhood; you know the one, where we make everything way bigger than what it is, where we drown ourselves in a glass of water and the easiest solution is always the one that comes in the shape of escapism. For Dorothy it's the threat that her dog Toto will be taken away from her for destroying one of her neighbor's gardens.

Her Aunt asks her to "find a place where you won't get yourself into any trouble" which prompts the girl to belt out the Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg tune, as she looks towards the sky wondering if whatever is beyond the rainbow will help her.

The Academy Award winning song had originally been removed from the film after producers deemed it "dull" following a preview. Fortunately they had a change of heart and re-inserted what has become an anthem for those in need of assistance in times of great stress. Here is the scene for those who have never seen it or simply crave to enjoy it again:



Interestingly the song also has some lines and verses which are rarely used and have remained obscure, but help to add more to that feeling of angst inside Dorothy. This introductory verse for example, is limited mostly to theatrical productions of "Oz" and was sung merely once by Garland herself.

When all the world is a hopeless jumble
And the raindrops tumble all around,
Heaven opens a magic lane
When all the clouds darken up the skyway,
There's a rainbow highway to be found
Leading from your window pane
To a place behind the sun,
Just a step beyond the rain

It seems as if it would've helped the song obtain more depth, but considering how flawless the sequence is, the verse is important if only in terms of historical value.

There is also a second chorus,

Someday I'll wake and rub my eyes
And in that land beyond the skies,
You'll find me
I'll be a laughing daffodil
And leave the silly cares that fill
My mind behind me

which has been used even less times (Jewel sang it once).

What becomes clear from these unused pieces is that the place Dorothy sang about was always Oz and that the film's finale, again perfect and not to be tampered with, only adds a touch of melancholy to the fact that Dorothy found the place she dreamed of but had to give it away.

If that happiness/sadness duality isn't magic, I don't know what is then...

Mad Men at the Movies 1.2

Sharing the movie references in Mad Men episodes just for fun, love of trivia, open discussions and occasional enlightenment.

1.2 "Ladies Room"

Paul: [conducting a tour of the office] Account Management: Where prep schoolers skip arm in arm a la The Wizard of Oz, joined together by their lack of skill and their love of mirrors. Account executives are all good at something ...although it's never advertising.

[Pointing to an office. In Rod Sterling voice] Submitted for your approval, one Peter Campbell, a man who recently discovered that the only place for his hand is in your pocket.

Do you watch it?!? Have you seen it, The Twilight Zone?

Peggy Olson: I don't think so. I don't like science fiction.

The image of account executives skipping like pig-tailed girls from Kansas makes me smile. And speaking of pig-tailed girls... OF COURSE Peggy doesn't like science fiction. Is there anyone on the show more focused on reality as is? I mean apart from her temporary break from it.

Other Arts & Entertainment references
Television: "People Are Funny", Nixon's Checkers broadcast and "Shirley Temple's Storybook".

previously

The Assassination of Animal Rights by the Coward Jesse James.

Hello, Jose from "Movies Kick Ass" here. Have you ever wondered when animal treatment began being monitored in the film industry? Well, neither had I until the other day when I was browsing in YouTube looking for cinema urban legends.

I obviously started with the infamous Munchkin suicide from The Wizard of Oz and was amazed by how many people taped themselves examining the events a la Sherlock Holmes. Fortunately the whole thing is just a myth; it was proved that it's a bird and not a person. But this led me to feel sorry for the poor bird who was kept as an ornament inside a studio while they shot the movie (if studio bosses were mean to Judy Garland, I shudder thinking how they treated stock actors, extras and animals).

My search didn't lead me too far away from Emerald City because it was in 1939 when the American Humane Association began monitoring how animals were treated after a controversial
sequence in Jesse James where a horse was killed after falling off a cliff.

The horses were blindfolded (made me wonder about the poor horse in Gone With the Wind's burning of Atlanta) and when one passed away he was simply replaced by a new one (sums up the early film era huh?), incredibly even more animals died in the making of this movie and going back in history there's a large record of inhuman treatment onscreen (Thomas Edison was notorious for this).

Fortunately things have changed since (except in Lars von Trier land but that's another story...) and now all movies featuring animals have an AHA representative to make sure they stick to the rules. I guess 1939 was more significant in film history than just for the quality of the movies, but for the changes being made inside the industry.

Oh and no animals were harmed in the making of this blog post.

Beauty Break: Catsuit

meow

literally!

clip, clip here
clip, clip there
we give the roughset claws
that certain air of savoir faire
in the merry old land of Oz

Victor Fleming: Did the Auteurist Theory Do Him Wrong?

You must... you simply must set aside ten minutes today to read this terrific piece at The New Yorker on Victor Fleming and 1930s Hollywood. It digs into Fleming's heavily debated contributions to the twin immortals of 1939 (Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz -- he was a replacement director on both) and what it unearths is fascinating, indeed. Frankly my dears, I gave a damn... several damns if you're counting.

<-- Clara Bow on Fleming: "Of all the men I've known, there was a man."

For instance, I knew that Vivien Leigh didn't like Fleming and was angry that George Cukor who worked with her closely on her performance was fired. But I had no idea how complex and influential Fleming's relationships to Hollywood's top actors (Gable prominent among them) and actresses actually were (nor what an actressexual -- ok womanizer but we're splitting hairs here -- Fleming was. He had affairs with Clara Bow, Norma Shearer, Lupe Velez and Ingrid Bergman among others). This is but one of many quotes worth sharing.

"Despite his later reputation as a ‘man’s director,’ ” Sragow says, “Fleming launched or cannily revamped a host of female stars from the 1920s on.” The hot-wired Bow did her sexiest, best work for him, in “Mantrap” (1926), and he got sensationally funny performances out of Jean Harlow in “Red Dust,” “Bombshell” (1933), and “Reckless” (1935). The sacred male companionships of seventy years ago did not have the effect of downgrading women—anything but. Fleming, along with his friend Hawks, created women onscreen who were resourceful, strong-willed, and sexual—the kind of women they wanted to hang out with, partners and equals who gave as good as they got. For a while, they, too, were an American ideal.

Selznick, Fleming, Leigh & Gable on the contentious Gone With the Wind set

Gone With the Wind gets the most time in the article. It's a great read and now I think I'll have to look into Victor Fleming: An American Movie Master as well since this essay references that work frequently.

Tues Top Ten: Green Skinned Wonders

This list is dedicated to two crushes from childhood that never went away: First, Yvonne Craig (i.e. Batgirl!) who once played an Orion slave girl on Star Trek (prized for their eroticism). Second, Daryl Hannah... who is more caucasian than green but she doesn't think so. Leonardo DiCaprio may get all the press for being an environmentalist but Daryl is the hardcore real deal. I absolutely love her and you should, too. Plus you know: "California Mountain Snake" ... (red and yellow but you know -- snakes = green in the broader sense. Wha--Where am... Oh yes, the list).

Ten Best Green-Skinned Movie Characters

10 Speaking of snakes... One of the scariest things I ever saw as a kid was Medusa in The Clash of the Titans (1981). Don't stare too closely at her lopsided [shudder] key-lit eyes. You know what can happen... I'm so thankful that model work and stop motion haven't completely died in the movie making world because they are so much freakier than CGI as visual effects go. Yes they are remaking that one... and supposedly it's happening any minute now. The Parisian action director Louis Leterrier is helming. His last film was The Incredible Hulk so he must have a viridescent fetish. (How do you say "Orion slave girls" in French?)

09 I know Marvel and the Media have told me that I must prefer Leterrier's Incredible Hulk to Ang Lee's Hulk but I rarely do as I'm told. One reason to prefer the first Hulk (review) is that he seemed more phosphorescent and if you're going for scientific experiments gone awry which accidentally grant superhuman powers, why not saturate? Commit to the absurdity! (see also: Dr. Manhattan)

08 Buzz's run in with those squeaky aliens in Toy Story...

The Claw. The Claw is our master. It decides who will go and who will stay.

is still one of the funniest bits from any movie ever. I cherish the memory. I saw it with my brother and we had no idea what to expect (Pixar wasn't yet synonymous with instant classics). We laughed so hard that we missed the next few jokes that followed it.

07 Alligators (in general). Confession: I make a beeline at the zoo to see the alligator/crocs even though they never ever ever move. I wait and wait. They don't move! I love them onscreen even more (they move!) whether they're wrestling with Tarzan underwater, starring in comedic horror movies (Alligator) or trapped in supporting roles in cartoons (The Rescuers, Peter Pan)

06 Oola and Jabba The honeymoon was over even before the Jedi returned. Those crazy kids just couldn't work it out. She found him too possessive. He hated her independent streak. So he fed her to the rancor monster. What an a******.

05 This is more of a sideways fantasy than a reality. Plus no green-skin. There's talk of a Green Lantern movie very soon but the thing that would be brilliant that they'll never even consider doing is a hugely dense and populated sci-fi television series of Green Lantern Corps. Think of how many stories they could tell. There's more than just Hal Jordan to the Green Lantern mythos and we've got plenty of spandex single hero movies already. Try something new. The Pitch: Battlestar Galactica meets Dollhouse meets the superhero genre. Earth not included.

04 Kylie Minogue as "The Green Fairie" in Moulin Rouge! (retro) The most inspired / deranged pop star cameo ever? Maybe. Has anyone reading tried the newly legal absinthe? Did she appear to sing you showtunes? If so please tell me she knows more than just one song.

03 Yoda Make this list he must.

02 Even if I hadn't just been back to Wicked, there's no denying The Wicked Witch one of the top spots. I'm only denying her the top spot so that she'll terrorize me with an "I'll get you my pretty" or some such.



01 Kermit the Frog. The Muppets are Love.

Who would you include in a top ten green list? I admit I found the pickings a little slim. Blue is definitely more of a movie color.

previous top tens: overdue for Oscar, best TV of 2008, female directors, etc...
*

One Long Day in the Big Apple City

Shhhhhhh. Dorothy has had a long day. As a 'Friend of...' I share in her exhaustion so I'll be back to blogging tomorrow. But first...

Cast This!
See in truth I'm not dozing with the poppies. I'm actually off to see Wicked for the second time (I haven't seen it since the original cast. It's years later so....wish me luck. You know how these Broadway shows depreciate). When they make the inevitable movie version about Glinda and the Wicked Witch's pre Dorothy days who would you like to see cast as the bubbly good witch and her moody green skinned frenemy? They'd need to be 20something, charismatic and gifted at both singing, pathos and comedy. Who should play their carefree mutual love interest Fiyero? And finally which classic old stars would you love to see dragged out of movie retirement and into those plum supporting parts (Madame Morrible and The Wizard)? Who could possibly make it into a great movie in the director's chair? He/She would have to be wizardly, too.

Link Six-Pack

In Contention "tech support" look at this year's visual effects race
Daily GreenCine rounds up W. commentary
Low Resolution finds comfort in the smile of a child. Awwww (no, really)
Gold Derby EW's silly "recall the vote" project doesn't fix the Best Actor race of 2003. I personally suspect that if Johnny Depp hadn't polluted his genius creation of Jack Sparrow with redundant second and third go-rounds, everyone would have realized by now that his was the best.
Stale Popcorn 'Black and White Fridays' on The Wizard of Oz. Interesting choice: Keeps Dorothy in "Kansas" for the whole movie, don't it?

Must Read (in case you haven't already)
My New Plaid Pants -has a G-R-E-A-T interview (and it's only part 1. Wheeeee) with the creator of Pushing Daisies, our current favorite thing on TV or thereabouts. Plus: I love pie. Just thought I'd say

October's Musical: Cabin in the Sky

It's the "Musical of the Month"

On the 6th of each month I'm writing about one hand-picked musical. Anybody who loves the genre is invited to join in by screening, commenting, or publishing their own take on it. I started the series with three goals in mind: reacquaint myself with films I haven't seen in a long time, promote rental ideas for readers, enjoy films I've never seen (there are many) from within my favorite genre. Cabin in the Sky (1943), Vincent Minelli's first full directorial effort and a rare all-black musical from Hollywood's early days, falls into the latter camp. I am so pleased that you chose it from the list offered. It's a delight.

The story of gambler Little Joe (Eddie "Rochester" Anderson) and his ever-praying wife Petunia (Ethel Waters) is a riff on the classic Faust tale. It's one in a long line of literary and filmed entertainments that deal with Heaven and Hell's eternal battle for our souls. Some are heavy dramas but often they're comedies. The premise lends itself to goofy sets, outre performances and good triumphs over evil uplifts. Early in the film Joe nearly dies and the forces of Heaven & Hell agree to give him six more months on earth: repentance and good behavior wins him that dreamy 'cabin in the sky', more of the same wicked lifestyle will trap him in "H-E-double toothpick" as me mum used to say.

The last movie I personally remember seeing with this out-of-fashion premise was that awful Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta flop from 1983 Two of a Kind though I know there've been others since then. Anyone remember that film? It gave the world Olivia Newton-John's last big hit "Twist of Fate" and not much else worth mentioning.


Anywayyyyy.... Little Joe is a sinner who can't resist the dice or one of the devil's favorite gals "Georgia Brown" (the legendary Lena Horne). His wife Petunia prays and prays and prays for him to change and renounce both gambling and Georgia. And then she prays some more. Early in the film, Joe is shot in the local club Jim Henry's Paradise by a ne'er do wells he owes money. As he lay dying, the battle-lines for his soul are drawn (that six month contest) between Lucifer Jr's squad and some rather uptight angels. While convalescing Joe expresses bewilderment that Petunia is so confident that he won't stray again.

Little Joe when you're good, something in here [*points to heart*] starts singing.

And the lord seems to say, 'All my angels are playing beautiful music because they feel so happy for you. Can you hear it down there?' And I listen and sho' nuff I hear it as plain as if I was up in heaven myself. They were teaching me their prettiest tunes. Then I realized that's the Lord's way of telling me to be happy.

She then sings Joe this musical's gorgeous title song, beaming with both romantic and spiritual love all the while. Ethel's voice is expressive, nuanced and mature. Here's the way I see it/hear it: Musicals make the world beautiful. I hear them as plain as if I was up in heaven myself. They've got the prettiest tunes. Musicals are the Cinema's way of telling me to be happy.

There's a lot to enjoy in the film: Ethel Waters voice and performance were rich, the songs --many of them famous -- were quite good and Eddie Anderson's comic timing and inimitable screech in the song "Consequence" provided much amusement as he tries to ward off the advances of Georgia Brown. Though the film was obviously difficult to finance due to its risky all-black status in a racist era (many theaters wouldn't show the film in the 40s), there's still a bit of variety and ingenuity in the limited sets that are utilized. I loved the freezer burn detail on the air conditioned devil's office. Funny. For a musical it's skimpy on costume changes as well, but once Georgia and Petunia face off at Jim Henry's Paradise it's a feathery, glittery event that you wish you could see in full color. For film buffs there's some amusement to be had in the recycling of cast members from Gone With the Wind (1939) and sets and special effects direct from The Wizard of Oz (1939).

Yes Cabin in the Sky made me happy despite the odd warning or "disclaimer" that ran before the movie started.


That warning indicates "films" as in this is a stamp that's been placed on other films too? But unless I missed something (which is possible as a white boy) there wasn't all that much to be offended by on the race front. More troubling was the sexism but you'd never see a warning placed on a film from this era about that, now would you? And, what's more, the kind of sexism that Cabin in the Sky trades in --very popular in 40s movies, especially noirs, with seductive women painted as dangerous destroyers -- isn't all that dated, cinematically speaking. Both of the female characters are blamed for Joe's sins. Georgia Brown is blamed for seducing him (Men have NO CHOICE about who they sleep with, don't you know?! He says sarcastically) And later even Joe's devout patient wife is blamed for his tailspin when she fails to 'stand by her man' at one crucial point. Little Joe somehow wins points for Petunia's good deeds but she loses some for his free fall??? Heaven Can Wait ...for feminism apparently.

I leave you with the lovely Lena Horne's cut song "Ain't it the truth" which was deemed too scandalous what with Lena singing gleefully whilst enveloped in a decadent bubble bath.



Isn't she a honey?

Musical of the Month'ers
Movies Kick Ass 'Heaven... I'm in Heaven'
StinkyBits - finds this movie "fascinating, strange, well worth watching."
Criticlasm thinks Ethel Waters rules the piece
StinkyLulu -profiles Lena Horne's famous role as "Georgia Brown"
If you write about it, send me the link...

Next Episodes
November 11th (delayed) -Nov 6th marks the exact 10th anniversary of the release of Todd Hayne's glam rock oddity Velvet Goldmine (1998). It was a big moment in the careers of Toni Collette, Ewan McGregor and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Lots of angles to be explored by any willing bloggers.
Dec 6th ~'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas' with Judy Garland in the classic Meet Me in St. Louis (1944).