tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21463545.post8468166237719314664..comments2024-03-25T15:38:16.880-07:00Comments on Surrender to the Void: Thursday Movie Picks: The Stagethevoid99http://www.blogger.com/profile/03055459287396592446noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21463545.post-49930237531545865612017-08-25T20:58:12.347-07:002017-08-25T20:58:12.347-07:00I haven't seen any of your picks but have want...I haven't seen any of your picks but have wanted to see Prairie Home for a long time. You have intrigued me with the movie with Orson Wells as a character...well, himself.Birgithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09439720285857050428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21463545.post-67992370514868280142017-08-25T11:55:51.594-07:002017-08-25T11:55:51.594-07:00Who doesn't love the stage? It lends itself so...Who doesn't love the stage? It lends itself so well to cinema, Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21463545.post-61498949749452537952017-08-25T04:45:42.611-07:002017-08-25T04:45:42.611-07:00The only one I've seen here is A Prairie Home ...The only one I've seen here is A Prairie Home Companion and I really liked that one too.Brittani Burnhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07975067259283007280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21463545.post-50933602853082471052017-08-24T19:23:24.175-07:002017-08-24T19:23:24.175-07:00I forgot about Prairie Home Companion, that was ve...I forgot about Prairie Home Companion, that was very good. pilch92https://www.blogger.com/profile/12263559408792146826noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21463545.post-55579744305146444732017-08-24T16:45:40.282-07:002017-08-24T16:45:40.282-07:00Some great catches. I don't adore The Last Met...Some great catches. I don't adore The Last Metro as I do some Truffaut films but it was a fine film with superior work by Catherine Deneuve.<br /><br />I'm with Daniel on Prairie Home Companion, it had some great parts-Lily Tomlin and Meryl Streep as sisters was a highlight but it didn't quite gel as some of his films do. Not painful but no classic.<br /><br />I agree Me and Orson Welles is an overlooked gem mostly for Christian McKay's great performance. Efron was okay but still very callow, he needs to find some more films like this to at least mix in with the inane trash he's been pumping out lately if he hopes to have any sort of career longevity. <br /><br />I reached back for my titles today but I highly recommend all of them especially the first.<br /><br />The Velvet Touch (1948)-Stage star Valerie Stanton (Rosalind Russell) attempts to break ties with her longtime producer and paramour Gordon Dunning (Leon Ames) after the closing of her latest play so she can move on with her life and career but during an argument in his office she accidently kills him. Unobserved she leaves and as suspicion falls on Gordon’s former flame Marian Webster (Claire Trevor) the film looks back at how matters came to such a pass. Meanwhile jocular policeman and theatre buff Captain Danbury (Sydney Greenstreet) investigates. Nice stage atmosphere and excellent performances add much to this undeservedly obscure, efficiently made little drama with a twist of noir thrown in that has a great ending.<br /><br />A Double Life (1947)-You’ve heard people jokingly tell others when they are getting carried away with something to “not get lost in the part!” but that’s just what happens in this noirish drama that won Ronald Colman a Best Actor Oscar. Anthony John (Colman) is a famed stage star greatly respected for his Shakespearian interpretations. The problem is that he lives the roles both onstage and off, when playing comedy he is the best guy in the world but when the material is dark so are his moods which among other things has led to the end of his marriage to his frequent costar Brita (Signe Hasso). Now he’s undertaken Othello and as he immerses himself deeply into the role his sanity begins to slip putting all around him including Brita and his mistress Pat (a young, whippet thin Shelley Winters) at risk. <br /><br />42nd Street (1933) - Aspiring hoofer Peggy Sawyer (Ruby Keeler) is a greenhorn new to the Broadway stage where through a friendship with two other chorines, the brassy Lorraine (Una Merkel) and the loose “Anytime Annie” (Ginger Rogers) she gets a spot in the chorus of a new show “Pretty Lady”. Through huge contretemps the star of the show has to bow out and Peggy is plucked from the line and told by the producer Julian Marsh (Warner Baxter) “You’re going out there a nobody…but you’ve got to come back a STAR!” And she does with the help of mind bogglingly elaborate dance numbers staged by Busby Berkeley. Incredibly influential musical invented just about every cliché in the book. joel65913https://www.blogger.com/profile/14526657073681774683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21463545.post-49703503130361525512017-08-24T16:39:36.202-07:002017-08-24T16:39:36.202-07:00You got me on this one. I haven't seen any of ...You got me on this one. I haven't seen any of these.Dellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05634519605152190304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21463545.post-91134585847145591782017-08-24T13:54:27.733-07:002017-08-24T13:54:27.733-07:00I picked The Last Metro, too! It really is a beaut...I picked The Last Metro, too! It really is a beautiful looking film, and the cast is fantastic. I like but don't love Prairie Home Companion - it never really comes together for me in the way Altman's best films do, but it is enjoyable. I haven't seen Me and Orson Welles but I've heard great things about Christian McKay's performance.Danielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11480863610135936930noreply@blogger.com