We mourn the loss of one of the 20th century’s most glamorous figures, Zsa Zsa Gabor, who went from teenage Hungarian beauty queen to much-married movie star and died today at age 99.
Long before social media and personal brands, she was a master of self-promotion, including perpetuating and mocking her own image. She said, “I am a marvelous housekeeper. Every time I leave a man I keep his house.” Her nine husbands included hotel magnate Conrad Hilton, actor George Sanders, and the one who survives her, Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt, who paid a princess to adopt him when he was in his 30’s so he could (arguably) gain a title and who claimed to be the father of Anna Nicole Smith’s child (he was not). He was more than 20 years her junior.
In later years, her sister Eva Gabor was better known because she starred in the popular television series “Green Acres.” But Zsa Zsa had a lead role in “Moulin Rouge,” directed by John Huston and also appeared in “Gigi” as the subject of the song, “She’s Not Thinking of Me.”
My favorite Christmas story is A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and I enjoy as many versions as possible every year. I love it in just about any of its movie incarnations. “Bah, humbugs” have been muttered by Scrooges played by top-notch dramatic actors like George C. Scott and Albert Finney, former Miss America Vanessa Williams, former Fonzie Henry Winkler, Jim Carrey, and former “Saturday Night Live” star Bill Murray. I love them all. I’ve love the Tim Curry and Jim Dale audio versions available on Audible.com, both delightful. And I have the book, of course, with wonderful illustrations by Ronald Searle.
Here are my very favorite versions on film and I try to watch each of them every year.
5. “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” Who better to play Scrooge than his namesake Scrooge McDuck? And who better for the part of the unquenchable Bob Cratchit than Mickey Mouse? This compilation DVD includes other Christmas goodies “The Small One” and “Pluto’s Christmas Tree.”
4. “The Muppet Christmas Carol” has the distinguished actor Michael Caine as Scrooge and the equally distinguished Kermit the Frog as Bob Cratchit. Special mention of A Sesame Street Christmas Carol as well, for younger audiences.
3. “Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol” The voice talent is outstanding, with Broadway star Jack Cassidy (father of teen idols David and Shaun) as Bob Cratchit and of course Jim Backus as Mr. Magoo, in this version an actor playing the part of Scrooge. The tuneful songs were written by Bob Merrill and Jule Styne, who later went on to write “Funny Girl.” (The legend is that their song “People” was originally written for this movie.)
2. “A Christmas Carol” This MGM classic features the top stars of the 1930’s. Watch for future “Lassie” star June Lockhart as one of the Cratchit children — her real-life father Gene Lockhart played Bob. (He also appears in another Christmas classic, as the judge in “Miracle on 34th Street.”) Reginald Owen plays Scrooge and this one has my favorite Fred, Barry MacKay. I love Dickens’ description of Fred’s laugh: “If you should happen, by any unlikely chance, to know a man more blest in a laugh than Scrooge’s nephew, all I can say is, I should like to know him too. Introduce him to me, and I’ll cultivate his acquaintance.”
1. “A Christmas Carol” This is the all-time best, with the inimitable Alistair Sim as Scrooge. There has never been a more embittered miser or a more jubilant Christmas morning rebirth. When he orders that turkey for the Cratchits and walks into his nephew’s celebration at the end, everything Dickens hoped for from his story is brought to life.
For hard-core “Star Wars” fans only! SPOILER ALERT!
From Slashfilm: What the differences between the trailer and the finished film show us about the reshoots. Particularly interesting is the decision to soften Jyn’s character.
Most of this dialogue compiled from various trailers is very different. Jyn’s troublemaker backstory is mostly removed from the finished film. Her responses are more antagonistic and somewhat snarky. We had heard that the reshoots reworked the Jyn character to make her less arrogant and abrasive and more empathetic, and it appears this is true.
And, as you might imagine, there are a couple of very detailed lists of the Easter eggs and references to other “Star Wars” stories, including The Verge, Den of Geek, and Screen Rant.
New on Netflix: Trollhunters from Guillermo del Toro
Posted on December 17, 2016 at 8:00 am
From the limitless imagination of acclaimed filmmaker Guillermo del Toro comes a tale of two worlds set to collide in the epic saga, “DreamWorks Trollhunters.”
When ordinary teenager Jim Lake Jr. stumbles upon a mystical amulet on his way to school one morning, he inadvertently discovers an extraordinary secret civilization of mighty trolls beneath his small town of Arcadia. Suddenly destined to play a crucial role in an ancient battle of good and evil, Jim is determined to save the world – right after gym class.
This all-new Netflix original series, premieres worldwide December 23, 2016.
Trailer: Yellow Day, A New Faith-Based Film for Families
Posted on December 16, 2016 at 3:55 pm
Camp Grace in Mobile, Alabama is the setting for “Yellow Day,” a new faith-based film for families to be released on VOD platforms in North America on December 27th 2016, with special church community screenings across the country . The VOD release follows a previous limited theatrical release and will be the first time that the movie is widely available.
“Yellow Day” Stars Drew Seeley (“Another Cinderella Story,” “High School Musical”), Lindsey Shaw (“Pretty Little Liars,” “Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide”) and Ashley Boettcher (“Lost in Oz,” “Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street”). It is a love story and spiritual adventure intertwined with animation sequences that give it a contemporary, yet fairy-tale feel.
