DEVELOPING STORY: Millie loves Jimmy Stewart

We're unearthing all kinds of Millie dirt tonight on Silents and Talkies! After some diligent research, we've just discovered these startling quotes from the internet's most fervent James Stewart opponent! Who knows what other secrets lie lurking beneath the mind-smushing brilliance of Classic Forever!?

ps. Reports of my dislike for Dirk Bogarde are greatly exaggerated (cough, and falsified, cough)

BREAKING NEWS: Millie thinks Bobby Darin is "frightening"

You heard it here first, folks. She might claim to be a Bobby Darin fan but now her secret is known to the world -- Millie actually thinks Bobby Darin is frightening. I'm sure the fangirlness was just a cover for her secret Bobby Darin hating world domination plot.

ps. The post on her blog about me having a change of heart about Laurence Harvey is all lies. LIES I TELL YOU!!!

my first time: pretty in pink

Somehow I've made it over a quarter century without seeing a lot of must-see movies. And for a movie fan that's pretty pitiful. I've seen the really big classics (Casablanca, Gone with the Wind, Citizen Kane, The Wizard of Oz) of course, but there are a lot of films that have eluded me -- particularly the ones that seem to be required viewing if you want to be considered a member of my generation.

Star Wars. Never seen it!! I know! How is this even possible? I can spout off a list of my favorite Guy Kibbee movies like it's nothing but I can't even name one member of the brat pack. (Okay, Molly Ringwald. I can name one. But still.) Even though post 1970's movies aren't usually my cup of tea, I feel compelled to play catch-up, as if I've missed out on a cinematic rite of passage.

Last night I started with Pretty in Pink. I [head buried in my arms from embarrassment] had watched She's All That, a high school rom-com from the 90's that I saw in theaters when it was shiny and new. I was engulfed in a tsunami of nostalgia, sue me! Anyway, Netflix knew my shame and suggested Pretty in Pink afterwards.

I actually really liked it! I loved the soundtrack and Annie Potts' character, Iona, was completely fabulous. I want to be her. The plot reminded me a lot of those cheesy 90's films like She's All That (popular guy falls for unpopular girl, misunderstandings happen, and then there's a happy ending) but it had a much more offbeat vibe. I don't really know enough about 80's cinema to detect if it was a hallmark of the decade or the film itself, but the characters seemed a lot less shallow than they did in the 90's. They were a little more creative and seemed like unique individuals, not really stereotypes (at least the main characters didn't, there were definitely some vapid minor players that have become a hallmark of every movie that takes place in a high school setting.)

Overall, do I feel like my life before Pretty in Pink was a deep dark pit of despair and now everything is whole again? Not really. I liked the movie, but I'll still take Sullivan's Travels over it any day of the week. Honestly I'm not expecting to find my motion picture soulmate in my mounting pile of unwatched modern classics. I might be pleasantly surprised, but I'm pretty sure Sunday in New York is secure in it's #1 favorite slot. I do hope, however, that I'll become better schooled in the art of the cultural reference and have a broader knowledge of my all-time favorite hobby.

comfort food

This place has been more silent than talkie lately, am I right? 

2013 has been really rough so far, and more and more I find myself wanting to come back here, to my world of classic movies and old friends. I miss Silents and Talkies. I miss movies, for that matter. I keep yearning to watch them, feeling pangs in my chest and a pit in my stomach that won't go away until I finally sit myself down in front of some black and white moving images. But I never seem to find the time and those pains just stay there, a constant aching reminder that I'm starving for the comfort food of classic film.

In February, my beloved cat Hypatia passed away. I've been having a really hard time moving on. It's especially tough because she was my everything. As I've mentioned before, I don't really date and all of my friends are online. I feel so completely, utterly alone without her. Every time I think I'm getting a little better, something happens that puts me right back where I started. Yesterday I had to pick up one of my other cats at the vet. It was my first time back there since I said goodbye to Hypatia and it took all that I had to keep my composure. Part of me just kept thinking "maybe when they hand me the pet carrier, Hypatia will be inside and this will have all been a horrible nightmare." But that didn't happen. Other things have gone wrong this year too (another big one being the slow and steady decline of my etsy shop) but Hypatia's passing has been the primary reason for my heavy heart.

I think one of the reasons I miss --and need -- movies right now is that they can reflect the emotions you're feeling and act like a friend giving you a warm embrace, whispering in your ear, "I know how you feel." Not many movies deal with my particular brand of grief, but watching a film where an actor conveys the agony of losing a loved one or the feeling that their world is falling apart, it helps you heal in a way that nothing else can. It says that whatever you're feeling is human and you're not alone.

Of course then there is that other reason that movies help -- escape from reality. When I turn on Follow the Fleet, I'm no longer a sad wreck sitting alone in my empty bedroom, but an audience member at a shipyard show. Follow the Fleet is one of my go-to movies when I'm feeling blue. Despite failing to watch as many movies as I'd like to right now, I have at least watched this one quite a few times in the last two months. If Fred Astaire singing "Let's Face the Music and Dance" can't make you feel better, I'm not sure what can!

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Every time I try to come back here I seem to lose my focus and let things go for a few weeks.. a few months.. a year. But I really want to stick around this time. I miss having an outlet for my thoughts and talking about the movies I love with lovely people. If you're an old friend who still has an active classic movie blog -- or if you just found my blog and have a classic movie blog -- please let me know in the comments so I can visit your site. xo

Scary Movie Suggestions

I hope everyone on the east coast is doing okay this week! I'm typing this up and scheduling it now (Monday night) since our power has been browning out and I'm sure we're going to lose it pretty soon. I'm actually surprised it's held up this long, since it's been rainy and SUPER windy for almost 24 hours now.

If you DO have power, this is kind of a good time to watch scary movies, yes? Me and my family have been watching our favorites for the last two days while the wind is howling outside. Here are some eerie flicks I highly recommend:

+ Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) and Doctor X (1932) - Both of these movies were filmed in a two-strip technicolor that looks really, really creepy. The subject matter is spooky enough, but the murky greenish tint really adds so much scary oomph! Both star Fay Wray and Lionel Atwill and if you like classic horror (as opposed to blood-and-guts horror) they'll definitely scare your pants off!

+ The Vampire Bat (1933) - Another Lionel Atwill movie (he was in some really scary films!) that spooks me every time. I think this one is more unsettling than Dracula (even though I do love that one, too!)

+ Scream of Fear (1961) - I wrote a blog post about this one last year, here. It's a Hammer film, so I was a little wary about watching it (I'm really not big on gore, and in my experience Hammer films usually come with buckets of it) but it's more of a psychological twisted sort of horror. Not gory but DEFINITELY scary!

+ The Innocents (1961) - Just the opening credits of this movie creeped me out so much that I had to make my brother keep me company for the rest. It's a gothic, atmospheric thriller based on The Turn of the Screw. It's one of those movies where what you *don't* see is scarier than what you do!

+ The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947) - This is more of a murder mystery than a horror film, but it definitely has the feeling of a scary movie! And I have goosebumps just thinking about the painting they show in the film (you'll know it when you see it!) eek! Also, it has Barbara Stanwyck (my favorite actress) so that's always a plus!

+ The Body Snatcher (1945) - Halloween wouldn't be Halloween without at least one Val Lewton film, and my favorite is The Body Snatcher. This movie also proves that Boris Karloff could be pretty scary even without the Frankenstein makeup ;) Maybe even scarier.

Scratch that, new plan!

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I've been sticking with my one film a day challenge for a little over a week, but I decided I'm not going to blog about each movie. The main reason being that some movies just don't inspire much thought outside of "I liked that movie" and that doesn't really constitute a blog post. I also feel like one post a day is just going to annoy the heck out of anyone who is still reading this blog (if there is, in fact, anyone still reading this blog lol)

Anyway! I'm going to make a list to keep track of the films I'm watching instead. Sometimes I'll still post about a movie if I feel like I have something to write about, but otherwise I'll just be adding it to this list here. Also I decided that if I'm really short on time, an Alfred Hitchcock Presents (hereafter referred to as AHP) episode will suffice as a movie.

1. Come Blow Your Horn (9/15/12)
2.  The Honey Pot (9/16/12)
3. The Lady Vanishes (9/17/12)
4. Theodora Goes Wild (9/18/12)
5. The Birds (9/19/12)
6. AHP: Premonition [S1 E2] (9/20/12)
7. Hot Enough for June (9/21/12)
8. Aladdin (9/22/12)
9. Hercules (9/22/12)
10. Sabrina (9/23/12)