The Boy Friend 1971

Its seems to me that there was a love affair in the 1970s with the 1920s and 1930s

with films like Bugsy Malone,The Purple Rose of Cairo, Death on the Nile , Valentino ,Cabaret , Murder on the Orient Express Broadway shows like Chicago , and of course the OG Great Gatsby,

But one of its crowing glories must be Ken Russell's Extravagant and Decedent Spectacular  The Boy Friend' often stylized as "Ken Russells The Boy Friend" This May be one of the Ultimate Play within a Play examples best executed ,

A jolly Romp paying homage to the Busby Berkeley  Musicals of the 30s, caricaturing attitudes of the 20s  Suffering from on the whole from a hangover from the 1960s.

The Boy Friend is a MishMash of creative ideas some of which work fantastically , other which Fall flat to say the least, In any case its certainly worth watching If you like Twiggy , the 20's/30's and Ken Russell's work in general  You will certainly appreciate this film , While the Boy Friend is not really widely known as it should be probably because it hasn't been released on a good quality format until very  recently, and while its not the best musical film in the world , its definitely needs more praise and public application than it has,
The Original Stage version of The Boy Friend written in the 1950s and set in the 1920s just follows Polly brown a nouveau riche English  girl attending a Private seminary in  the French Riviera, unlike all her friends at Madame Dubonnets school for young ladies Polly is the only girl without a Boyfriend ,partly because she is very shy, and mainly because Her father very cautious that all the boys that would want to date her because shes an heiress to millions .
Polly as a result has resorted to telling everyone she has a boyfriend who writes her letters from Paris,(which she forwards herself from Nice ,But as Carnival Time approaches , her little Ruse is endangered of being exposed as she has promised that her 'Boyfriend" would be attending the Carnival ball and as yet she dosnet know any boys let alone have a boyfriend in general .
In the Film version of the show 'The Boy Friend is being performed in a seedy seaside carnival theater as a matinee show somewhere in the south of England , here a third dimension is added to all of the characters from the boyfriend in that is they exist in the real world in the 1920s in England and inhabit their roles  from the Boy Friend of the stage 

Aria 1987

This film follows a similar structure of a live action style of Disney's fantasia 1940 ,   In that it is a live action pastiche  motive of various different pieces of classical music arias from opera giving  their own artistic interpretation by some of the best directors at the light at the time , A few of them funny a lot of them tragic and all of the visually beautiful in every which way .Aria is a  mixed bag with some sequences  not quite as good as others particularly the first segment by  Nicholas Roeg ,but I'm whole most enjoyable ,
 All of the sequences Are linked together by the last segment Il Pagliacci  starring John Hurt  directed by Bill Bryden  each sequence is intercut between  them to give the premise some sort of overall blending , if any .

Directors responsible for the segments such as Robert Altman ,Bruce Beresford ,Jean-Luc Goddard, Derek Jarman ,Ken Russell and music video Star director of the 1980s Julian Temple , this film could've had so much potential particularly if the two segments that was supposed to be directed by Fellini and Woody Allen were included I think we would've been looking at an absolute masterpiece of cinema and art ,  however apart from my own personal bias  it seems to fall a little bit short but you have to watch some of the bad to enjoy the most of the good .
The first segment which I think does the most damage to the piece is Un ballo in  maschera  a fictionalised account of the 1931 assassination attempt at King Zog the 1st of Albania notable for his shooting back at the assassins whist leaving a performance of word of trivia he was actually leaving a performance of Pagliacci  interesting enough ,the director Nicolas Roeg ( The man who fell to earth with David Bowie ) puts his wife at the time to Theresa Russell in a Male drag performance as The aforementioned King Zog  which may have seemed  like a good idea  at the time  that brings absolutly little  else interesting to this historical pantomime ,

Roeg  was primarily a cinematographer for David Lean before venturing into the directors chair, particularly for Dr Zhivago and Lawrence of Arabia you can tell his touches on the film especially with the lighting of the Theresa Russells face in the theater box scenes  in much the same way as was beautifully done for Julie Christies in  Zhivago and of Peter O'Tooles in Lawrence of Arabia  The other point of interest is the beautiful inter cutting editing between the assassination attempt scene and the swirling around of the characters dancing  on the stage in the performance which is  expertly done  but aside from these minor points the first segment drags the rest of the film down really and  if it was included shouldn't have   been the shown as the first  offering  in the first place.

 The second segment La Vergine Degli Angeli from The Force of Destiny music by Giuseppe Verdi  features two teenage girls and a small boy who out of boredom and from what I can see parental neglect ,steal a car with dire consequences ,this one is very shortest segments  and certainly one of the most emotionally devastating , directed by Charles Sturridge  as far as I can see it was mostly a theater director ,this is one of the best pieces in the film collective shot in black and white   It is placed well in the film despite the first sequence before it  and serve me as a contrast to what follows .The film has garnered some criticism as I can understand it because of some of the blatant  female  sexualisation , somewhere in the trailer for this film I Believe either Playboy magazine or  hustler Magazine gave it four stars or something to that effect ,so I can quite understand its reputation as a film collective thats Nude for Arts Sake and only fit for SBS television after 11 at night..
This is most particularly the thirs segment Armide music by John Baptiste Lully,
This is directed by Jean-Luc Goddard and is a in a vague retelling of the Operas plot  regarding Christian Knights in a foreign land with  local witches trying to seduce them with magic to pacify and  then destroy them But one witch  feels remorse for them for  not being able to love for themselves and so on....

In This version of events the Knights are Bodybuilders in a Gym with young Nubile girls wearing only a flimsy robe and nothing else! PS the robes stays on for about 5 minutes  or possibly less .
In between the clunking of the Gym equipment you can hear  Lullys music  while naked girls rub the body builders in a almost naive but but curiously perverse fashion,,the girls touch themselves within their robes and strike poses completely nude with physical gestures only to be  found in antiquity and renaissance works of art. The Bodybuilders however seem  to take absolutely  no notice of them or whats going on around them while they are pumping iron,,this almost reminiscent of Jane Russell in Gentleman Prefer Blondes With the Entire Olympic team ignoring her as she struts her stuff by the pool except a little bit more weirdly symbolic  and ridiculously decedent in gratuitous female nudity,
its probably not the best in this collection of the best of Goddards Either but certainly a curiosity
Comes the Forth in the segments that of  Rigoletto, Music by Giuseppe Verdi once again
Unlike the Dramas that have been framed in the previous two Verdi Segments  this one is more along the lines of a traditional farce ,Directed by Julian Temple  (who directed most of the quintessential Music Videos of the 1980s) and Starring National Lampoons Vacation Beverly DeAngelo this follows the amorous paths of a married couple , One a Producer,the other is ex Actress Wife who  go  sneaking out behind each overs backs to have extramarital affairs , little do thy know  unfortunately that both couples will be staying at the same location for their dirty weekend , the Famous Madonna Inn in California , what follows is a series of misadventures, head trauma, drug taking,dancing and getting their freak on, but not necessarily with the person they think they will be ,

I love the  the fact the Producer is 'working on the film' which he is unknowing starring in (ARIA) ,making reference to Fellini and Woody Allen's involvement ,this could be perhaps made with the belief they were committed to  do a film each for Aria and made before the knowledge they had pulled out, but could have been a little jab at them in the film for not being able to contribute.
Its the most Humorous of the segments but the punchline of this could have been a lot better than it was ,just saying.

The Fifth Segment comes from Australian Director Bruce Beresford and features Music from one of  cinemas most beloved Composers Erich Wolfgang Korngold  who along with Max Steiner dominated  Hollywood  in the 30's with sumptuous  scores for films such as The Adventures of Robin Hood,The Sea Hawk,Captain Blood,Kings Row just to name a few...Korngold a contemporary in style at least to Richard Strauss used some of earlier records and inserted them into his latter film compositions such as Robin Hoods famous main title, and the aria featured here is from his venture into opera , The Dead City.

 This segment has a quality of a place literally frozen in time, like say Brigadoon, coming to life every 100 years here two lovers undress and profess their love before lovemaking (yes more nudity) and believe it or not thats  a teenage Elizabeth Hurley underneath tat gold weave and bushy eyebrows .
The combination of the serine  images and music reminiscent of the golden years of Hollywood merged with a Strauss tone poem,  leave u feeling almost guilt for interrupting this beautiful secret world and its inhabitants .
Next on the list of offerings is a more creative interpretation of an aria , at the helm is Robert Altman in recreation of opening night at Paris's Théâtre Le Ranelagh  in 1734. According to the brief blurb at the beginning of the segment  The French aristocracy had bizarre tastes in  forms of entertainment, if your still unsure please check up on The Dangerous Liaisons or the Marques DeSade , The audience of this opening night  is not filled with aristocracy but rather  various  assortment of inmates from an insane asylum. The reaction from these demented souls to the highest form of performance art (at the Time) is priceless entertainment

value to the ruling class, and as a film rather turns voyeurism on its head , The camera follows the motley crew of different characters panning throughout the arches and architraves  of the theater and floats through the various inmates ,and their ghostly powder covered almost cartoon like facades leaving you amused and bemused by what their interpretation of the performance is  , a performance in fact that you never see though , as the camera focuses completely on the audience, their reaction and nothing else , an interesting offering at least with an experienced driver at the wheel

Following this comedy of sorts is one of the ultimate tragedies in Opera and indeed in this film collective , Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde by Richard Wagner,this film erroneously credits  this film as Brigid Fondas (Single White Female , and Henry Fondas Grand Daughter) Film debut , and even if this isn't true it certainly would be been a great start.  This is almost a music video is it artistic structure and the  picture perfect finale for a great love epic that ultimately meets its demise it the grand fashion of even Shakespeare himself

The basic plot follows two young lovers arrive in Las Vegas a portal through life to its ultimate extravagant death. A native american being arrested on the side of the road as they drive past look into their faces and somehow senses the fates of these two souls  After driving down Fremont Street, they check into a cheap hotel room where they  make a passionate ritualistic love that causes a glass to fall to the floor and shatter ultimately becoming  the next great tragic tool in this plot,
 The last shot of the woman walking out of the casino in the morning after a big night closes this segment and leaves you with a great sense of desertion and longing

Les Girls 1957

Not to be Confused with the Infamous Club in Sydney in the late 1960s although they might have taken the name from the Movie ,Les Girls is an Akira Kurosawa 'Rashômon' styled narrative film Directed by George Cukor (My fair Lady,A star is Born,the Philadelphia Story)

that presents the story from three points of view Beginning as a Courtroom drama Sybil (Kay Kendall) a former Burlesque showgirl accuses Angele another Former Showgirl of having an affair with Barry (Gene Kelly), in her current published memoirs whilst Angele who is suing for Liable Damages insists that it was actually Sybil who was having the affair. Finally, Barry gives his side of the story. One of Kellys last Dancing pictures
and showcases the last original work by the great American composer Cole Porter,
One of tis last outings for poor Kay Kendell, She suffered from Leukemia but he Husband Rex Harrison who had left his wife to marry her after he found out from a doctor she had the condition never let her know her time as finite and gave her the last loveing years of her Life, I didnt know much about Leukemia until my Mother died of it in 2014 , its a horrible painful way to die I cant image how  Rex Harrison Back in 1957  kept it from her by saying it was a dietary issue , Now every year around march i do the Worlds greatest Shave and have all my hair cut off , I do it every year now so I always sadly remember this film about that time.
Not Your average style musical by any means ,
its quite entertaining,trying to work out who is telling the truth as there are traces of it to be found if you watch carefully

The Woman in White 1947

Credited as the First Real Mystery Novel and the inspiration for the writing style of Dracula The Woman in white is an Elaborate adaptation of Wilkie Collins' 1800s novel that follows a Penniless drawing instructor Walter Hartwright ( Gig Young who won an oscar much later for 'they shoot horses dont they') falls in love with one of his students beautiful Laura Fairlie (a luminous Eleanor Parker the Countess from the sound of music) who is already promised to evil Sir Percival Glyde (John Emery)

. Marion Holcombe (a gorgeous Alexis Smith  a Lesbian Glamorzon who is in the closet by all accounts but seems to be visually and authentically  offended by Gigs Advances) helps Laura while slimy Count Fosco (Sydney Greenstreet' Casablanca/ Maltese Falcon) helps Glyde. And who is that mysterious woman in white that appears and disappears so rapidly?
Its got some weird Gothic appeal and some great suspense,that is smothered in a Max Stiener Score which is almost impossible to find a good clear quality of sadly  , as well as sporting a pre Nancy drew character in Marion.
 its been adapted into a full blown as somewhat unsuccessful stage show by Andrew Lloyd Webber and has been adapted for television in the 1980s with one of Edith Heads Last Costume design Credits. if 1940s Victorian Gothic of Dr Jekyll and the Spiral Staircase  does it for you this may also enjoy this rare mystery.

Rebecca 1940

Hitchcocks first American Film flooded with Lesbian Subtext and Gothic Noir Still troubled by the death of his first wife Rebecca,(Laurence Olivier r) falls in love with a shy introvert (Joan Fontaine "Suspicion").

They get married, but the second Mrs. de Winter discovers that Rebecca still has a strong hold on everyone in the house, particularly on Mrs. Denvers, the housekeeper, who begins driving the young wife to madness.

Rebecca Is Never seen in this film not even in a but she takes up a great chunk of it , who is this Bisexual human soul cannibal who still casts shadows on all who have lived around her and do you need to kill the living to destroy the dead?

Ricki and the Flash 2015

When i Saw ths film advertised i upon little research thought it to be only about an aging Stevie Nicks styled Rock Goddess whos career was on the slide coming back to her old home to help her wayward daughter through a mental collapse, thinking this an extremely unlikely scenario i just held onto the fact that Meryl Streep could turn any sows ear into a silk purse, upon revelation that the Character was in fact from a second rate cover band that had an album released way back when the concept began to have a little sense of gravitas at least, Ricki Rendazzo and as Linda (Meryl Streep) is the lead singer in her eponymous band 'Ricki and The Flash'.She and her group nightly regale customers with versions of songs (beautiful performed by Meryl must say) songs old and new (watch the version of Gaga's bad Romance it will have you Gagging with delight) she lives that existence that most parents hope their teenage children will soon grow out of and not continue into their third trimester of life,but Ricki at least seems to be happy in this gypsy life with on/off FWB bassets Greg (Australian actor Rick Springfield), the casting choice of which im not entirely convinced on ,Kris Krisofferson would have been a much better option,

Out of the Blue she is contacted by her Husband Pete (Kevin Kline, wasted in this role)who has some good moments but Somehow i wished he could have brought his crazy to the table (eg Wanda,).Pete contacts Ricki out of Desperation as their Daughter Julie (Mamie Gummer Meryls own daughter in real life ) is experiencing a total mental breakdown after unexpectedly her left her only after a short lived marriage,Mamie Gummer brings her acting chops to the table but as Katherine Hepburn once said about her mother Meryl as an actress 'you can see all the gears turning' meaning the sense of desperation and fire could have been a little but more restrained.
These events lead to some interesting scenes in the movie earlier on, particularly the group dinner with her children she hasn't meet in over 20 years particularly her Gay son Adam (Nick Westrate , Mildred Pierce tv series) ,who is every inch of the word an Addison Dewitt short of an 'All About Eve'.
All the good Character development must be said to exist up until sadly the middle of the film where things go array slightly lets just say.
The bottom of the film falls out halfway through the picture in between the return from her ex husbands house and the prolonged musical scenes which seem to be purely filler and only enjoyable due to Meryls performance. of Ricki playing with her group. There seems to be a great disappointment that Rickis Daughter Julies absence in the bridge of the film does a lot of damage to her and Rickis characters eventual return , one could argue that Ricki absence up until this point as a parent would not especially make a difference to the character development , But when she does return for a wedding (strangely coming down the isle long after the bride ) Rickis prompting of her to continue seems just a little weak , this is greatly underlined as this is well into the better half towards the end of the film .
But the scenes that following and the conclusion are satisfying if not a little expected , but this is the ending you are really secretly rooting for .
On the whole see the film for Meryl and Mamie, they work very well together and I can only hope for great things in her future , worth noting also is the confrontation scene between Ricki and Petes current wife Maureen (Broadway Star Audra McDonald) who really lets Ricki have it and good for her ,anyone who can steal a scene from Meryl deserves all the credit they can get .
Also Cameos are Great to say the Least, from Rupauls Drag Race Alumni ,Trans community Giant, and Supermodel Carmen Carrera ,Americas most sort after session musician Rick Rosas and drummer Joe Vitale all worth Noting .I was disappointed mainly by the middle of this film which gets saved by the performance by Meryl, after watch her back to back , Hearing her as Julia Child, and then as Ricki , two completely different sides of the Piano altogether, she could be mistaken for Patti of Selma , Marge Simpsons Sisters ,
Ricki lived away from her Family to really live to be the person who she believed she was, without compromise at the cost of perhaps her family ,should we judge her as this film should be judged for its faults?
Ill let you be the judge .

A Star is Born 1954

Hello, everybody. This is Mrs. Norman Maine."


As in most of the opening sequences of George Cukoors films ,
the opening scene , whilst seeming meaningless gives a clue to the plot and its outcome ,this film is no exception showing a grand opening night in Hollywood where One Spotlight short circuits and becomes extinguished and another Spotlight being suddenly turning on,

This is the premise of a Star is Born.

.
At an annual Hollywood Charity Event ,Norman Maine (James Mason) a Slipping Alist Actor with a percent for drinking at any time of the day for any reason at all , is so completely intoxicated they his minders are trying desperately to delay or defer him from appearing on stage in his embarrassing current state,as a result Esther Blodget (Judy Garland in the performance of her life) and her group of travelling musicians go on earlier to perform the routine,Norman Maines Minders cannot contain him or his wandering hands,any further seeing him coming from the sidelines Ester tries to stop him from coming on the stage by trying to corner him in the wings , but the spotlight hits them and to the surprise of the greater assembled company Norman Maine appears on Stage grasping a flustered Ester after being slapped in the face by him.this their first meeting ,

The concept of making a star is born a musical film as it was later with Barbra Streisand seems easy enough but when presented by the notion that Norman Maine, a Gary Cooper styled actor would know anything about music or singers and be able to give Ester the assurance to continue ,maybe its the performers or the Chemistry but it just works , and it works marvelously
Although it was intended as a vehicle for Judy Garland, you don't need to be a big Garland fan to enjoy it. It's seems more tragic than the '37 version (apart from Frederic March's and Janet Gaynors brilliant performance) because you can see Judy Garland is actually a star, its almost semi autobiographical is some scenes particularly the makeover scene which given Garlands treatment at MGM when she as a Child seems so cruel , needlessly heartless ,and clinical , it makes it seem almost chilling to watch .Her unnecessary guilt at husband Normans dying career and personal collapse is so poignant and heart wrenching it bars repeating the question why oh WHY did Grace Kelly Win the Oscar and Not Judy?.
James Mason expertly portrays Norman's struggle to be happy for his wife when his own career and life has hit rock bottom. the roots of which stem from actual sources such as Wallace Reed a silent movie Michael Fassbinder who after a accident on the set of 'The Land of Giants' and time constraints set up by shareholders and producers induced him to regular doses of morphine to complete the film without delays due to his injuries and constant pain,this lead to his addiction and subsequent death, The story is inherently tragic because it's so true but these two stars really add something that not only makes this work as a musical but as a dramatic testament to the trials and tribulations of creative people struggling for a personal life under the Hollywood Studio Machine .

The Cell 2000

This is Silence of the lambs meets the Matrix,The race to Find a killer inside a forth dimension of as yet unexplored science that  danger to destroy



Psychotherapist Dr. Catherine Deane (Jennifer Lopez )who is part of a revolutionary new treatment which allows her mind to literally enter the mind of her patients. Her experience in this method takes an unexpected turn after their current treatment program seems to be stalling  when an FBI agent comes to ask for a desperate favor. asSpecial Agent Peter Novak (Vince Vaughn, when he used to do Serious Films)
 has just tracked down a notorious serial killer, Carl Stargher (Vincent D'Onofrio), whose pattern  is to abduct women one at a time and place them in a secret area where they are kept for several  hours in an elaborate machine until they are slowly drowned.after which he 'makes them over' in a very macabre fashion into his sexual play toys This is of course quite  Unfortunate as  the killer has fallen into an irreversible coma due to a rare illness which means he cannot confess where he has taken his latest victim,who is trapped in the Machine which shall eventually slowly take her life Now, Catherine  must race against time to explore the twisted mind of the killer with an as yet fairly unsuccessful treatment with uncertain side affects  to get the information the FBI  requires,
 What she finds is though the looking glass and beyond the seventh circle of hell
The films of Director Tarsem Singh have a particular visual quality that could almost be a product of the short lived french film Movement Cinema Du Look, which some have said prefers style over substance this can been seen in subsequent films such as 'the Fall' and 'Immortals' all of which are visually stunning , this is also due to the work of legendary costumer designer Eiko Isioka, who has been a presence with Singh from the beginning as well as for her stunning work on  1992's Dracula , Visual references can also be strongly made between this and such music videos as Madonnas Bedtime Story and Nine Inch Nails Closer to the keen eye.

Gaslight 1944

Why do the flame go down? Lights in the London house are from fixtures with gas flames, and when you light one light, it reduces gas supply to the other lights in the house that are close by, and the light dims. But no one in the house has lit any other lights! And there are also footsteps overhead, from a nailed closed attic. Neither of the two servant ladies sees or hears either of these signs. Paula Anton (Ingrid Bergman) thinks she is losing her mind, just as she has lost the broach her husband Gregory (Charles Boyer) gave her. Her new marriage is falling apart; she cannot go out lest she make another embarrassing scene. Is it the house?

The house where her aunt, a famous and beautiful concert singer, had been murdered when the young Paula was actually in the house. What does her new husband, who plays the piano beautifully, do for a living? Nothing. Why does he go out every night and leave her alone, alone to fret and worry? Who is the man who sees them at unexpected times and places, a man we the audience soon learn is Brian Cameron (Joseph Cotton), a Scotland Yard detective. He is curious about the unsolved murder of Alice Alquist, the aunt who looked a great deal like the beautiful Paula does now; it was a murder that defied the investigators. No motive, no suspects. No clues. You now have the clues to this Oscar winning (Best Actress) dark mystery. Introducing (first picture) Angela Lansbury (Best Supporting Actress nominee) in the role of one of the servants. Remake of a British film ,Ingrid fully deserved the Oscar as a woman driven mad by a murderous husband.

Judgment at Nuremberg 1961

Judgment at Nuremberg ) is a retelling of the post World War II Nuremberg Trials of the judges of the Third Reich who sent many to the death camps, originally written for TV the film is directed by Stanley Kramer "On the Beach "and "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner " starring Spencer Tracy,

Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich as the voice of post Nazi Germany , Maximilian Schell (Oscar), Judy Garland, (Wildcard ! )Montgomery Clift,and (Star Trek) William -Captain Kirk -Shatner. Such a trial did occur,by the U.S. Nuremberg Military Tribunal in 1947. By the time the film was made, all of the convicts had already been released, including four of them who were sentenced to life in prison!!!!    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055031/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Under Capricorn 1949

Is a bit of a space oddity , Directed By Alfred Hitchcock, set in Australia in the earl 1800's and Beloved by the French Critics,Hitchcock finished the decade the same as he did in the 1930's with the last , with a arty experiment, "Jamaica Inn ' this Like Rope has a series of unedited shots and is More of a psycho-Drama , Think Rebecca Downunder

But unlike Rebecca the only thing that holds it is Ingrid and the many secret devils she deals with through drink and forgetfulness , its shot in colour and looks great,
doesn't really show any signs of be "Hitchcockian' till the last part of the film, Hitchcock only went down the period drama three times, 'Waltzes from Vienna ' which he only did for the money lets face it, "Jamaica Inn" has its moments but not many and 'Under Capricorn'
its not widely seen so give it a go..

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042004/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Mildred Pierce 1945

Mink Clad Murder

Mommie Knows Best…..

In time middle of the night in a beach house on the upper side of town shots ring out, The Dead Man crys out……..Mildred!……and falls to the floor its seems an open and shut case,,,,but what really happened?
Mildred Pierce (Joan Crawford Strange Cargo)a housewife spoils her daughters Especially the eldest while husband Bert looks over the fence for some afternoon delight while his buddy Wally Fay(Jack Carson’A Star is Born) trys to get is paddle in(In Vain) .

They soon divorce, leaving Mildred to raise the girls on her own. Elder postwar class driven daughter (Biatch)Veda (Anne BlythThe Great Carouso) goads her mother about their lack of money and in response Mildred proposes opening a small restaurant. one thing leads to another,and she becomes incredibly successful and even love seems to be around the corner, but money soon starts to by love in the manner of clothes, education, and payoffs all of which leads to the beginning of the film in classic noir style .Also in the cast a wonderful sardonic Eve Arden (Grease) is the wise cracking sidekick to joan crawford to give humor to this black film.




Its only that sort of mother loving that Joan Crawford can deliver…….




What Price a Mothers Love ?http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037913/?ref_=nv_sr_2

Notorious 1946

The Keys to the Kingdom....

Notorious 1946 is a film Directed By Alfred Hitchcock

Following the conviction of her German father for treason against the U.S., socialite ala Paris Hilton Nae Kim Kardasian , Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman "Casablanca")becomes a party girl. After a boozie night out she is approached by a undercover government agent T.R. Devlin(Cary Grant"North by Northwest") who asks her to spy on a group of her father's Nazi friends operating out of Rio de Janeiro.

A romance develops between Alicia and Devlin, but after finding out the lengths Alicia will need to go through and the previous relationship between herself and the man they are trying to track (Claude Rains' Casablanca) , Devlin cools off , this drives Alicia to the Very heart of Evil being prepared by the breakaway Nazi group and Her life hangs in the balance without anyone to help her.. Its got the humor and the man woman society incapability , with a great heightened suspence especially when Ingrids Veil Starts to slip, watch out also for Leopoldine Konstantin who plays Claude Rains Vindictive dominating mother, perhaps even a vision of what 'Mrs Bates' Could have been like when Alive.

This Film is always famous for "That Crain shot" which is one of the most remarkable zooms without editing or special effects in Cinema History.

check it out dont get caught!http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037913/?ref_=nv_sr_2

My Cousin Rachel 1952

Remember Melanie From Gone with the Wind..?

Imagine her now with a potential streak for homocide!

As we are welcomed by the opening shot , even before the main title sequence begins , we are greeted by the image of a hanging corpse , a murderer that as per tradition dictates is flaunted at crossroads of two counties in the Cornish countryside. As our Narrater Richard Burton states to the audience" that death is the price of a murder" in almost a Film Nor fashion we get an ominous sense of what is to follow.

When Philip Ashley's (Richard Burton "Cleopatra" before hitting the bottle and Liz)much-loved (and rich) cousin Ambrose dies, he is convinced that Ambrose was murdered by his new wife Rachel (Olivia De Haviland "Gone With The Wind)to inherit his wealth.

But when he meets Rachel and falls in love with her, he knows that his suspicions must have been unfounded. But were they, or is Rachel just trying to use Philip to get at the estate Ambrose left to him instead of to her? And will she murder him next?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044937/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2

The Lost Moment 1947

Directed by Martin Gabel

based off a Henry James Short Story

which is in turn based The actual incident involved a cache of love and private letters of by Lord Byron.


Robert Cummings (Dial M for Murder)is a publisher who is trying to find a trove of love letters that were supposedly written by one of early 19th Century great romantic poets, Jeffrey Aspern. - a sudo Lord Byron
He ends up in Venice, where he enters the house of Aspern's still living lover over 100 years old (Agnes Moorehead) and her niece (Susan Hayward),where these famous letters are kept hidden away ,

as a lodger He succeeds better than he expects, because the letters do exist - but to get to them he has to be nicer and nicer to the niece who is a hard cold woman.During the Night there are noises of haunting piano scales echoing over the flowing streets of Venice, there are things seen that should never been seen or heard of long buried in this Gothic drama

that brings the dead and the living together,

its really worth a look
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039583/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Juliet of the Spirits 1965

is a film directed by Federico Fellini

Juliet is a 40 something bored married woman who after a strange experience during a New Aged Séance , starts to feel a contact with Spirits as she did as a child She soon becomes aware he husband is having an affair and starts to explore her spititual and sexual self through daydreams and Nightmares,

Do you like my Instagram Pic ?

Described by "Annie Hall" as the smoking gun of Fellinis self indulgence , (he was experimenting with LSD at the time) it is however a film that profiles how people who have forgotten how to live either through career or marriage and become lifes Wallflowers can deal be helped to deal with their own psychological hang ups and empower themselves to live without guilt or shame.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059229/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Mr Smith goes to Washington 1939

One of the Most Powerful Political films ever made even till this day (circa 2016)

banned by the Communists the Nazis and the fascist's,

Heavily criticized by American Politicians and members of 'Their' press, shows how much a man can suffer in body and spirit for what he believes to be truth (A frank Capra Style) referenced in films from to Legally Blonde and tv shows like the Simpson's its a touchstone for both sides of politics

and recommended by Henry Rollins You Have to see this one before you die!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031679/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Making Love 1982

Before Brokeback mountain There was another Great Juggernaut of GLBT film that broke new ground for Gay Men In Cinema this was
‘Making Love made in 1982 Directed by Arthur Hiller
chronicles a Successful young L.A. doctor Zach (Michael Ontkean ‘Clara’s Heart) and his equally successful television-producer wife (Kate Jackson ”Larceny ,Charlies Angels OG tv Show”) find their ’seemingly’ Perfect Marriage ripped open when Zach suddenly deals his long repressed Gay tendencies .Enter Bart (The Gorgeous Harry Hamlin’Clash of the Titans’)

A regular mans man, man-whore drop dead gorgeous novelist,, who walks into Zach’s workplace one day and opens up a new window , and Zach falls in Love almost at first site .He cancels his dinner dat with his wife and share a couple of beers and tongue kisses with Bart. But the problem of the future arises nad while Zach wants to stay in Bert but burns seems to have a more world weary and distant about a commitment,

This may seem slightly soap operaish but even these days when this is shown on tv (Foxtel) its always on at 2 oclock in the morning this was not made for tv this was the first major film to deal positively with love sex and relationships among men, it even had a disclaimer shown before it when it was first shown in the style of the psychedelic drug films of the 60’s,

and unlike today It almost totally the carers of those involved which seems really sad , the performances are sound and it isn’t a melodrama like a Douglas Sirk film. although the somewhat erkish 'I listen to Gilbert and Sullivan records' stereotype red herring is a little bit off, they might as well said he cross dressed ,

Like ‘Boys in the Band’ This should be seen for its Historic Value as a Major motion picture to show Gay man is normal People who live and Love, not as Stereotypes( aside from Music Tastes) ,or swishy handbag holders and camp sexless comic relief,(like that guy in Mean Girls), its not an exploitation films. It Chronicles a real Live triangle and a relationship continues after love.

The VIPS 1963

Grand Hotel at the Airport boasts an allstar cast including Elizabeth Taylor Richard Burton (Whos afraid of Virginia Woolf) Rod Taylor ('The Time Machine' Aussie Aussie Aussie!) Maggie Smith (Oh so Young) Orson Welles (big as a house) ,Margaret Rutherford(Oscar thankyou!) and Louis Jourdan (Gigi)

The Film follows a bunch of varied High profile Celebrities who are trapped at an airport due to weather conditions , the close confinement causes (as a result) various issues teetering on the edge in their lives coming to a head which includes ... bankruptcy, Tax evasion , Lost of Property ,,Divorce and Elopement.
Love is found and is lost but all is resolved well in a sense , The Plotline following Taylor/Burton is Based on an actual event involving the time when Vivian Leigh(Gone with The Wind) tried to do a runner on Laurence Olivier with Australian Actor Peter Finch . the scens between Maggie Smith and Rod Taylor are so realistic (perhaps as they may or may not have been hooking up at the time)
its melodrama without the Douglas Sirk touches and deph of feild, but it holds your attention, watch it at least for Margaret Rutherford's performance and the cute little scene she does with her real live husband , the film is a waiting room with more than just out of date magazineshttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057634/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Dead Man 1995

Dead Man is a 1995 film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch. It stars Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Billy Bob Thornton, Iggy Pop, Crispin Glover, John Hurt, Michael Wincott, Lance Henriksen, and Robert Mitchum (of th OG Cape Fear fame in his final role).

The movie is something of a Modern Western, dubbed a "psychedelic Western" if you will by by director Jarmusch, an Spirit Journey if you will a journey not just from life to death but a spiritually awakening, Dead Man includes some very twisted elements of the Western Genre things that may not just exist in 'The Hateful Eight" but in the core soul of all Spaghetti Westerns, this even goes beyond the common Western film gene, it is a film of great beauty which encompasses the universal acceptance of dying and the voyage that follows .Jim Jarmush continues her journey films with this tangent,following Johnny Depp travelling into the heart of the west and experiencing the very worst of western style justice and the very best f guided through this infero.  The film is shot entirely in black-and-white. i saw this back to back with 'Lost Highway' and It was the calm before the storm its bloody good


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112817/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Julie and Julia 2009

Not knowing really anything about Julia child aside from Milks impression of her on Snatch game on Rupauls Drag Race I walked into this film with a open mind,
I walked out almost feeling like I watched the sequel to Enchanted except Giselle lives in a dark and dingy New York Apartment ,in a Crappy Job, who Cooks Julia Child  recipes ,

It Follows a similar narrative to the film the Hours ,passing between the past and the then present year of 2002 but cohesively making a lot more sense .The   DW Griffith  style of editing blends the  stories  which are inter-cut sawing evenly between Julia's 1949 and Julies 2002 .
Julia Living with her husband in a FO type of position in France and Julie working in a Government department dealing with the aftereffects of 9/11 .
Both Woman Deal with their existence by finding a solace in cooking , Julia going from not being able to boil an egg to learn how to cook in the french style and Julie in her move to a new apartment and her soul shattering job to setting herself a challenge of starting up a blog and cooking all of Julia Child's recipes from her Book "Mastering the Art of French Cooking"  over a period of a year and describing it to the world of the WWW..
Julia ,Played to the utmost perfection by Meryl Streep , finding it difficult to acquire a French Cookbook in English strives not only to learn the learn the French Language , but to learn how to cook from scratch, and not only Cooking in General but French Cooking.Julie (Amy Adams) who is able to cook , struggles to find the balance of homelife and the completion of her herculean task of cooking every single entry in Julias cookbook , I watch her as she sits on the floor crying about her failed dish wondering where all the birds and bugs are that normally help her tidy her house  and help her make dresses out of shower curtains and rugs while singing a happy little working song.
 I found the entire experience like eating at a new restaurant not knowing anything about the menu ,and finding the entire experience thoroughly enjoyable

The Seven Year Itch 1955

A Window into a cultural phenomenon perhaps long past

In the summer in New York during the hottest Month The Husbands of New York Send off their Wives and Children on Holiday to the beach for at least a month, in that time the Husbands shave, buy a new shirt get a facial, and go 'Wild" ,they go get plastered on alcohol they stay out all night they get tattoos, and pick up women. 'The Apartment' and The Seven year Itch' Chronicles this perhaps forgotten mid century pastime. Richard Sherman (Tom Ewell,'' Adams Rib'') Like many of his fellow NewYorkians has sent his wife and kid off for the summer with stick instructions not to drink too much and not to smoke,Richard is a mind mannered man in a publishing company who is nearly sitting on 40 , Alone in his family's apartment his imagination goes wild , he starts to imagine many beautiful women throwing themselves at him ,but rejecting them all on the basis of him being married, all of a sudden who walks into his life but one of the most sexy woman of the 20th century.

Penny for your Thoughts ?

An unnamed girl (Marilyn Monroe) moves into the apartment upstairs,and gets her Fan , stuck in the doorway (so to speak) from then on Richards imagination runs wild with the possibilities .He struggles between finding excuses to for her to come down to his apartment by luring her over with his apartment air conditioning and the guilt about feeling the need of cheating on his wife, Marilyn was never better in fact if any reason at all if you've never heard of Billy Wilder the director or Saul Bass the maker of the main titles (who did work for Hitchcocks Vertigo,Pyscho, and for Martin Scorsese Cape Fear and Casino) You will see this film because of the famous scene with Marilyn in her white Gown with the wind from the subway blowing up which is featured on every poster of this film.

Tom Ewell plays the same midlife crisis man he always seemed to play and well and Evelyn Keyes (Gone with the wind)who has some scene stealing moments . This could be culturally appropriated today on stage and you could cast Pamela Anderson for all anyone cares but Pam could not hold a Candle to the moments of sensitivity and sensuality especially in that quarter where the veil drops and reveals the girlisnt just a bubblehead but actually quite deep in her thinking and empathetic ,this film today still stands as the ultimate Mans Midlife crisis film and how differently he uses his energy to have a last gasp at youth, some men come to the same conclusion as Dorothy in the wizard of Oz 'that at the end of the day there's "no place like home' and others use adultery to change partner and their lifestyle for good for good . Perhaps whenIm older I may Appreciate this film a little more as someone who feels the need to be invigorated by the youth or the attraction of another to show men a different reflection inanother's eyes, but unfortunately it wont be Marilyn Monroe.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048605/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Something's Got to Give 1962

One of The Most Famous Unfinished films in Hollywood History Something's Got to Give is the Last Marilyn Monroe
appeared in.A Remake of 'My Favorite Wife' it was directed by George Cukor and Starred Dean Martin Cyd Charisse its was one of only two films being shot by 20th Century Fox the other being Cleopatra (which was running massively Budget)
The Story Involves a man who has recently remarried 5 years after his wife's apparent death in a shipping accident, after returning from his honeymoon he soon learns his first wife(rescued from a desert island) is alive and well which creates one or more complications due to complications with Monroe Cukor, and the studio the production was halted shortly after Monroe would soon be dead.Released on dvd in the most completed chronological form form in 1999 featuring Monroe's famous nude scene (The first of a Major star at the time) its a glimpse of that might have been if completed,


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0217055/?ref_=nv_sr_2

The Misfits 1962

Nothing can live unless something dies...

Roslyn (Marilyn Monroe 'The Seven Year') Itch is a very beautiful yet disturbed woman who has just got divorced. She meets to traveling stock workers , Guido(Eli Wallach ,) and Gay(Clarke Gable 'Gone with the Wind), who take her to Guido's house in the country (the House where his wife had died)to relax and forget the difficulties of the past few weeks.

Everything is fine at first, but soon the two men fall in love with Roslyn and start showing some bad aspects of their characters. Soon they meet another friend of Gay's(Montgomery Clift , Interesting as Mr Gable was a big old Homophobe ), and the four of them go to hunt some wild horses (for Dog meat). This is when things just... explode!
These guys are all misfits who cling to each over through their loneliness and their deep seeded troubles, although this is never spoken they are all chasing what seems to be the remains of the tail end of their life,
As Clarke Gable and Marilyn Drive off towards the morning star, knowing that in the real world they would both soon be dead within a matter on a month is quiet special and ironic to watch .
But its very special for Marilyn too as she honestly believed Gable to be her Birth Father, so it must have felt like a relief to hold his hand as they both drive off into what lies ahead.

The Women 1939

Forget Meg Ryan and Eva Mendez this is the original and the BEST!,
To those of the Sex and the city generation who saw the remake and found it a crap copy , please see the original if ur eyes dont roll to the back of your head just because the films in black n white....plot was totally reworked sand thought

The Women follows the lives of a handful of wealthy Manhattan women, focusing in particular on Mary Haines (Norma Shearer), a cheerful, contented wife of Stephen and mother of Little Mary. After a bit of gossip flies around the salon these wealthy women visit, Mary's friend and cousin Sylvia Fowler (Rosalind Russell) learns from a manicurist that Mary's husband has been having an affair with a predatory perfume counter girl named Crystal Allen (Joan Crawford). A notorious gossip, Sylvia delights in sharing the news with Mary's other friends and they all show their true colours..


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032143/?ref_=nv_sr_2

Nightmare Alley 1947

With a bit of coaching from a seasoned vaudevillian , Stan Carlisle (Tyrone Power'The Rains Came')) becomes Stanton the Great, spiritualist, seer, con man a bit like a John Edwards. His tutor is Zeena(Joan Blondell 'Grease'), a soft-hearted carny seduced by Stan's clean good looks and smooth spiel, seduced into giving up long-withheld trade secrets.

Pete is her partner from the old days, a sad-eyed down-on-his-luck alcoholic whose best years are behind him. Stan's wants to get Zeena to give up the privileged knowledge of their 'Mind Reading act, after an accident claims the life of Zeenas Husband the Pair go Into business, This Noir is about the Danger of Believing your own Hype,
The Origins of the word 'Geek' surface in this film and let me say it bares little resemblance to' Revenge of the nerds' rather that of a frenzied lowest form of Human life ,a zombie fed on alcohol , whos mental deficiency has reached the lowest it can go, it plays an important role in the film, and sheds not only a dim craggy light on a type of macabre carnival life forgotten but the modern practice of taking advantage of grief stricken and lonely people through spiritual means

Top Noir here..

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039661/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Marnie 1964

This is said to have killed the career for Hitchcock,
buts its the best of his Physco- Dramas film and one of the most experimental

The beautiful Marnie Edgar(Tippi Hedren) is a first-class bookkeeper and the apple of her employers' eyes. She happens also to be a compulsive thief who has taken her last employer, Sidney Strutt, to the cleaners before disappearing into thin air. 
But with Mark Rutland  (Played in an silky smooth stalker by Sean Connery) she attempts robbery once too often. He forces her to marry him in a bizarre act of sexual blackmail , and out of la weird sort of predatory obsession  for her uncovers the mysteries of her past that contributes to her penchant for taking other people's money.

Marnie Failed for a Myriad of reasons at the box-office at the time and changed Hitchcock from being the leading Master of Suspense to Falling behind countless copycats ,creating inferior  versions of "Spellbound" ,"Psycho", and "North by Northwest" throughout the 1960's and Beyond.
This should however not put you (the viewer) off as this is one of the best physiological studies in film of all of the 60's bare none !

You Will See Red!

Legend of The Lost 1957

Directed by Henry Hathaway

Paul Bonnard (Rossano Brazzi "South pacific")arrives in Timbuktu in search of a guide to escort him into the Sahara desert. American Joe January (John '
Duke' Wayne) a jolly drunkard takes the job despite misgivings about Bonnard's plans. Dita,(Sophia Loren) a prostitute who has been deeply moved by what appears to be Bonnard's spiritual nature, follows the two men into the desert. Eventually the trio arrives in the ruins of a lost city, where Bonnard hopes to find the treasure his father sought years earlier before disappearing. But what Bonnard finds alters him in unexpected ways, with tragic results

A remake with Jolie could be interesting but Loren's shoes are hard to fill
with the bulk of the film reaches the desert, 'cabin fever sets in , you can tell the cinematographer was a littlke bit in love with Loren caus there is no point in the film where she looks bad, she and the duke play well off eachover,almost better than Cary Grant in Houseboat this ones a"lust in Dust" film
dont get sand in your undies!

All This And Heaven Too 1940

Warning.... will empty a tissue box really quickly

All This and Heaven Too is a Film the pulls every emotional heartstring a peron could have , in one of the Stella performances Bette Davis had given in her career ,
This fits into the Mary poppins /sound of Music gene of Nanny comes into home and brings happiness to family with two exceptions, No singing and ends in a grisly Murder (spoiler alert) Based of a true event.
A governess in 19th Century France, who lands a position working for Theo, Duc De Praslin (Charles Boyer from Gaslight) and his family. The children adore the new, governess, but Boyer's psycho bitch wife, the Duchesse (Barbara O'Neil Scarlet's Mother ),in a very different character from that she played in Gone with the Wind a year before, is resentful of the intrusion into her family. The new addition to the family works her magic on everyone but the Duchesse. Theo and Henriette, predictably, begin to fall in love, which further complicates things, sending the crazy wife into even more rages of insanity.If you have a good eye you will notice that one of the children is June Lockhart (The mother from lost in space) to as the eldest child who gives such a touching and genuine performance with her big wide eyedness , she trys to be strong  and show a strong front for her younger sisters and brother , All of this builds momentum until a climactic crime of passion takes a life.
its been forgotten but is really a good story, It shouldnt be remade but it is was it could win a swag of oscars

Our Man in Havana 1959

Highly recommend this one…

Based of Graham Greene novel

Jim Wormold(Alec Guinness ‘Bridge on the river Kwai, Star Wars’) is an expatriate Englishman living in pre-revolutionary Havana with his teenage daughter Milly. He owns a vacuum cleaner shop but isn’t very successful so he accepts an offer from Hawthorne(Noel Coward .’The Italian job’ and the second coming of Oscar Wilde ) of the British Secret Service to recruit a network of agents in Cuba. Wormold hasn’t got a clue where to start but when his friend Dr. Hasselbacher(Burl Ives, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) suggests that the best secrets are known to no one, he decides to manufacture a list of agents and provides fictional tales for the benefit of his masters in London. He is soon seen as the best agent in the Western Hemisphere but it all begins to unravel when the local police decode his cables and start rounding up his “network” and he learns that he is the target of a group out to kill him Also starring Maureen O’Hara(The Quiet Man) as British intelligenceWritten in the wake of the popularity of the James Bond Novel Phenomena, and released three years before the franchise begin with ”Doctor No” Spys and the Cold war were a score of fear and speculation at the time, the Novel and the film more so make fun of this as well as present a possibility of real espionage and contract killing as the result of ‘Hype’ of the Red Scare , this film although a parody shows the real consequences of what happens when you dont check your facts and believing in ‘Santa clause’Although the New Government of Cuba was More than happy for Graeme Greens novel about the baptista regime, showing it to be corrupt and the thoughtless meddlings foreign spies from both Britain and America , The Book and the Film were subsequently withdrawn after Greens comments about the treatment of Intellectuals and Gays and Lesbians ,People don’t realize when they put posters of Che Guevara on their wall , they forget when he worked with Fidel Castro he actually supported putting intellectuals and Homosexuals in concentration camps, subsequently this important film about the change in power in Cuba from the Batista’s seems to be little know in its own country.
as a time capsule of a period in history its fascinating to watch a generation who lived in fear of the Bomb and the blunderings of both sides to resolves this the best way they can by sheer stupidity.
Alex Guinness is great as a British ‘Jimmy Stewart’ everyman who wants the best for his family and plays both side of politics like a poker game with deadly consequences.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054152/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1