New Year's Movie Meme

The Girl with the White Parasol has a little movie meme for New Year's and I thought it would be fun to participate! I haven't done one of these in a while (I think the last one I participated in was the one I co-hosted with Millie) and I really enjoyed it! So, here are my answers, and Happy New Year!!

1. What is your all-time favorite Grace Kelly costume?

I love the blue gown she wears in To Catch a Thief! In a way it also reminds me of the one Deborah Kerr wears in An Affair to Remember.

2. What classic film would you nominate for a remake?

None of them... modern remakes give me the heebie jeebies! Although, that being said, I love some classic remakes like The Maltese Falcon, An Affair to Remember (no idea how this keeps coming up), and His Girl Friday.

3. Name your favorite femme fatale.

Barbara Stanwyck in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers. I know most people, if choosing Stany's best femme fatale role, would pick Double Indemnity but goodness, that hair. I will never get over the hair. (I don't even care if it was part of the character, intended to look cheap, etc. It distracts me like ca-razy)

Runner up: Audrey Totter in Lady in the Lake!

4. Name the best movie with the word "heaven" in its title.

This is one of my all-time favorite romances! Also, I think it's a terrific example of powerful acting. It's absolutely amazing what Charles Boyer and Bette Davis can convey without speaking. You get the impression that their love is deeper than any other love that ever existed, yet they never speak of it and they never express it. It's left unspoken, but oh-so-palpable.

5. Describe the worst performance by a child actor that you’ve ever seen.

"Shaaaayyyne! Come back Shaaaayyyyne!" Ahh that little kid annoys the heck out of me!

6. Who gets your vote for most tragic movie monster?

I know it's not technically an old movie (at least I hope not, since I was already 3 years old when it was released) but I think it's a classic nonetheless. And I really can't think of a more tragic movie monster.

7. What is the one Western that you would recommend to anybody?

The Ox-Bow Incident. Westerns aren't my favorite genre, but I could watch this one a dozen times. It's not a typical western... more debate about law and order than cowboys and Indians, but I think it's a must-see western and a must-see classic film.

8. Who is your ideal movie-viewing partner?

My cat. I'm not a huge fan of watching movies with other people, just because I like to lose myself in the film. I like to be able to stare goofily at my screen when there's a happy ending or start bawling with mascara running down my cheeks during sad scenes without feeling self-conscious.

9. Has a film ever made you want to change your life? If so, what was the film?

Movies in general changed my life, but I don't think any particular movie made me want to change my life (if that makes sense?) Overall film has had a huge positive influence on me, but I can't think of one single movie that made me alter anything about how I live.

10. Think of one performer that you truly love. Now think of one scene/movie/performance of theirs that is too uncomfortable for you to watch.

Dirk Bogarde. With the most dreadful mustache in movie history (and that's including all of THESE.) It makes the last part of Esther Waters unbearable for me to watch!

11. On the flip side, think of one really good scene/performance/movie from a performer that you truly loathe.

Really not a fan of Edmund O'Brien as a leading man, but I think he did a fine job in The Barefoot Contessa.

12. And finally, since it will be New Year's soon, do you have any movie or blogging-related resolutions for 2012?

I need to watch more movies! In 2011 I watched a pitiful amount of movies because my schedule was so hectic, but I intend to make up for that in 2012. It seems like a small goal, but at least one a week would be an improvement!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

I hope everyone has a fantastic holiday season! See you in 2012! :)

xoxo Kate

A Classic Movie Christmas

A little video I put together with classic film clips, featuring Christmas-y and winter-y scenes! I had so much fun making this!! I've actually been planning on making a video set to this song (Goldfrapp's version of Winter Wonderland... I know, I know, I can't seem to stop making videos set to their music!) and I'm so glad I finally found time to do it in time for Christmas this year! :)

And in case you missed it, here is my New Year's video from last year!

They shoot horses, don't they?

One of the reasons I stopped blogging here for a while was because I was finding it so hard to think of something to say after I watched a really good film. I'd know it was good, I'd feel completely moved and I'd want to share my feelings here, but I wouldn't have the words. That happened to me again today after watching They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

I don't even know how to describe it. It was so incredibly sad and heart-wrenching. The acting was beyond good. I'm a big fan of Jane Fonda and Susannah York, and I've seen quite a lot of their films, but I've never been more impressed with their acting than I was today. They were so raw, but not over the top. They were just so REAL. Here are two actresses that are very familiar to me as stars and personalities, and they were so engrossed in their roles, so accurate in their portrayals of tired, exhausted and desperate women, that I completely forgot they were acting.

If you don't like depressing movies, definitely avoid this one. But otherwise, I highly encourage you to check it out. Although I don't recommend watching it when you're feeling particularly down in the dumps... it is seriously downbeat, and after watching it I felt pretty mopey for a good couple hours! Incredibly in awe of what I had just seen and overwhelmed by the amazing acting, but mopey nonetheless.

Celluloid and Canvas - James Mason

As part of my lifelong mission to convince the world that James Mason was a lovable sweetheart in real life, and not at all like the creeps he portrayed in movies such as Lolita and Georgy Girl, I present this fact: James Mason loved cats. So much so that he wrote a book about them with his wife. (Cue simultaneous aww's!) "The Cats in Our Lives" is a little tribute to all of the cats that Mason & his wife, Pamela Kellino, had known. Mason actually illustrated the book, as well!

It's been out of print for some time, and sat on my amazon wishlist for years without ever ending up in my shopping cart. Its rarity seemed to always go hand in hand with a pretty steep price. So I was absolutely over-the-moon with excitement when my brother gifted me a copy for my birthday this month!! I didn't even know until I opened the book that Mason had illustrated it! As soon as I saw all of the beautiful pen & ink drawings of furry felines, I blurted out "I have to scan this for my blog!"

And so here they are, all of the illustrations in "The Cats in Our Lives" by James Mason! If this doesn't convince you that he was a sweet old chap, I don't know what will! ;)

fanatic guilt

As I walk by my record collection I can see his eyes peering up at me, hypnotizing me, calling me to pick up his record and listen. I shift my focus to avoid eye contact, grab my Marianne Faithfull Broken English album and quickly, guiltily, place it over his. I can't stand to look at him right now.

Such is the anguish of fanatic guilt; when you spend months, years (or in my case almost a decade) obsessed with a celebrity to the point of embarrassment, only to have that obsession start to fade. There was a time when I listened to nothing --and I mean, nothing-- but Frank Sinatra. Dean Martin's voice would only seep out of my speakers if it was accompanied by Frank's in a duet. The only way that a David Bowie song would reach my eardrums is if his music was playing in a supermarket or my parents had popped in one of his cds in the car and I could not escape. I was the most fanatic of fans, to the point that his face was plastered around my room, screen-printed on my t-shirts and taped to my first cell phone as a make-shift case.

Every year on December 12th my family and I would celebrate his birthday by watching a double feature of his movies and a concert while eating pasta topped with sauce that I made using Sinatra's recipe. For every Christmas from 2000 to about 2009, my presents were entirely Sinatra-themed. I relished Christmas shopping because it was the one time of year when I could hear his voice loftily floating through the air without having put it there myself.

And so I felt a bit of a sting the other day when my mom recalled an event from a few years ago and added "that was during your Sinatra phase."

Was it really a phase? And was it really over? I sulked a bit and marched up to my bedroom. As I sat on my bed I noticed a Pogues record on my turntable. A quick glance at the art adorning my walls would prove that I'm a fan of Anna Karina, Giulietta Masina, Louise Brooks, Sunday in New York, Dirk Bogarde and Jane Fonda but you'd never guess that I like Sinatra. The only presence he maintains in my bedroom is a magnet on my bulletin board, tucked under a photo of my cat, and a pile of records that haven't been touched in years.

I can see his eyes peering up at me, hypnotizing me, calling me to pick up his album and listen. But, wracked with the guilt of a fan who has let her interest slip away, I can't stand to look at him right now.