Two More Neglected Christmas Classics

Posted on December 22, 2008 at 1:51 pm

We’re No Angels (the original with Humphrey Bogart, not the remake with Sean Penn) is an off-beat Christmas story about three escaped convicts who end up solving the problems of a middle-class French family with the help of a pet viper.

“The Holly and the Ivy” isn’t available on DVD yet but I have hopes, maybe by next Christmas. It occasionally turns up on Turner Classic Movies. It is a quietly powerful story about an English clergyman (Sir Ralph Richardson) who gets together with his adult children for the holidays, leading to some accusations and reconciliation as he realizes that he has been more thoughtful and sensitive to his parishioners than he has been to his family.

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Which Character Would You Like to Be?

Posted on December 19, 2008 at 12:00 pm

Entertainment Weekly asked its readers which movie character’s life they would like to have and got some wonderfully wide-ranging answers. Yes, some wanted to have lives with lots of money, lots of superpowers, and lots of smooching with very attractive co-stars. But some wanted the spectacular homes (two mentioned the house in “Practical Magic,” travels, or adventures of their characters. Some wanted to be characters in the Harry Potter series, there were a smattering of Twilight-lovers and superhero-wannabes. I was interested to see how many people answered with the movies that affected them most as teenagers — “Sixteen Candles,” “Ferris Beuller’s Day Off,” “Say Anything,” “Clueless.”
That’s the great pleasure of stories, isn’t it? The chance to live those lives in our fantasies. My dream home from the movies is the house on the water in “Rich in Love.” My dream superpowers might be the ones from “My Super Ex-Girlfriend.” But my dream significant other is the one I have — no movie dreamboat comes close!

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‘The Band Wagon’ — on CWB’s Amazon Advent Calendar 2008

Posted on December 17, 2008 at 5:00 pm

Thanks so much to my dear friend Lilah Lohr for showing me Andy Ihnatko’s wonderful blog Celestial Waste of Bandwidth and especially his Amazon Advent Calendar. I love his tribute to the classic musical “The Band Wagon,” which he bravely asserts is the best ever.

Okay, “The Band Wagon.” You need to know two things about this movie: One, that it is indeed “The Band Wagon” and not “The Bandwagon.” Getting it wrong is a rookie mistake and the true film snobs to whom you were so shabbily attempting to ingratiate yourself will see to it that you’ll never get into a Max Ophuls film festival in this town again.

Secondly, that it is the single greatest musical ever made.

I would not call it the best ever, but “The Band Wagon” is simply sublime and Ihnatko’s commentary is delightful. If you have not seen “The Band Wagon,” take a look — I promise you will say at least three times, “That song is from THIS movie?” It includes standards like “A Shine on Your Shoes,” “Dancing in the Dark,” and, yes, “That’s Entertainment” plus one of the most deliriously silly musical numbers ever filmed, “Triplets” and the song Ihnatko loves, “By Myself.” And it has the wicked and brilliantly danced satire, “Girl Hunt.” It also has a better book than most of the musicals of its era, with a shrewd insider’s take on artistic pretension and a frank acknowledgment of issues of aging and risk-taking in work and in life, and one of the most gorgeously romantic dance numbers ever, with Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse dancing in the dark, waltzing in the wonder of why we’re here. It doesn’t get any better than that.

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Holiday Movie Moments

Posted on December 14, 2008 at 11:19 pm

I love Kris Rasmussen’s list of favorite holiday movie moments from Idol Chatter. Some of my favorites are included and I was especially happy to see one most people overlook, the Cary Grant/Katharine Hepburn movie “Holiday:” Made by the same team behind the classic “The Philadelphia Story,” it is a rare chance to see Grant show off his acrobatic skills.

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Tribute: Van Johnson

Posted on December 12, 2008 at 6:18 pm

Van Johnson, one of the best light comedian/song and dance men of the 1940s-50s, died this week at age 92. His boyish, All-American good looks made him a popular choice for musicals, romantic comedies, and some dramatic roles as well. He was so well known as the ideal boy-you-wish-lived-next-door performer that Cole Porter included him in the lyrics of his song “Give me a Primitive Man.”

Johnson could play a lead but he was better as a wise-cracking wingman for Gene Kelly in Brigadoon and Henry Fonda in Yours, Mine and Ours. My favorite Van Johnson performances include In the Good Old Summertime, opposite Judy Garland in the musical pre-“You’ve Got Mail” remake of “The Shop Around the Corner,” about the two warring music store employees who don’t know that they are real sweethearts through an anonymous letter exchange. I also love the neglected gem “Wives and Lovers,” which has a wonderful scene where he watches with combined fascination and horror as his daughter makes her lunch. Johnson was not the best singer, dancer, or actor but he was fun to watch because he was so comfortable and natural on screen and always looked like he was having a good time.

And I love this little dance number from “I Love Lucy.”

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